Chapter Two: Greetings and Salutations 
     Walking into the new lab for her team, Brigadier General Isis quickly noticed that everyone was standing around a table and looking at an object on the center of it. Clearing her throat, she secretly enjoyed seeing everyone jump up and look in her direction.
     "Nice to see that we're comfortable here already. No need to install that pesky security system, huh?" she teased.
     Knowing that the security system had the misfortune of meeting a certain Airman Smith in the shipping department and had, as a result, been shipped to Germany meant that there was nothing more her team could do except lock the door with a key. It would be another four days before the system arrived and then she would have them start to unpack the confidential lab equipment and files.
     Her team didn't answer her. Instead they were staring at her shoulders. Raising her eyebrows as she looked them over, Colonel Irish snapped out "Attention! General on deck!" while everyone snapped to attention. Then Colonel Irish snapped out one more order, "Salute!" Everyone saluted in unison. It almost brought a tear to Isis' eyes.
     However, she wasn't going to let that stop her from doing an inspection. She pulled out a white glove and started walking around the room. She smiled to herself when she heard the collective gasp come from her soldiers. She knew they had just arrived and had not had any time to clean, let alone unpack. But she loved giving them a little grief once in a while and this was the perfect time for it.
     After a brief inspection, she told them all about her field promotion and everyone congratulated her on a promotion long-overdue and well-deserved. Deciding to meet at a bar in town later on, they all made plans to properly congratulate Isis.
     Glancing at her watch, Isis started to leave the room pausing at the door long enough to tell them that they had a meeting with General Hammond in ten minutes.
     Deciding to make a good impression, for once in their careers, they decided to head out in search of General Hammond's office and arrive early.

     After the obligatory introductions to all of the other SG teams, the newly appointed SG-13 team was told about their new assignment.
     It was a pretty straightforward assignment. It was the "oh-by-the-way-aliens-DO-exist-but-you-can't-tell-anyone" speech followed by the "Your-assignment-is-to-guard-the-gate-on-the-other-side-of-the-wormhole-and-make-sure-the-primary-team-gets-home-safely" speech.
     Considering that the universal laws of science had just been turned on its head, Isis' group was handling it pretty well.
     Knowing that the new team didn't have anything to do since most of their equipment hadn't arrived yet, General Hammond decided that they really needed to familiarize themselves with the local town and area around the base. So now that the newly appointed SG-13 was free for the rest of the day, they decided that perhaps it was time to go up to the surface and to the local bar in town. They had a lot of information to digest.

     Walking into the dimly lit bar, they each started heading towards the back of the bar. They didn't want to be bothered by too many people. Pulling a few tables together, they sat down and waited for the waitress to take their orders and bring their drinks.
     No one was talking. The waitress told the bartenders this little fact. For such a large group, they weren't talking, joking or laughing. It was like they were in a trance. She recognized their uniforms and decided that maybe something bad had happened at the base.
     Capt. Vansen had decided that she had had enough of the peace and quiet. She got up and walked over to the jukebox. Taking her time to read through all of the selections, she deposited a few quarters into the machine and made her selections.
     She was still walking back to the table when the first song started to play. As she sat down, the lyrics started to be heard...
       The lunatic is on the grass
       The lunatic is on the grass
       Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
       Got to keep the loonies on the path
     Everyone started to sing with the song. They got a questioning look from the bartenders but went about singing anyway. Everyone started to loosen up at that point.
     Ordering another round of drinks, they started to shout at the top of their lungs on the next song, holding the last word of the song until they could no longer breathe.
       And all that is now
       And all that is gone
       And all that's to come
       And everything under the sun is in tune
       But the sun is eclipsed by the moon
     When the next song came on, everyone couldn't help but laugh as they realized whom that song was intended for. As "The Power" by Snap played, when the time came to sing the chorus, the now happy group of 13 kept singing, "ISIS got the power".
     After they had been there for a couple of hours and gone through a few pitchers of beer, they noticed that the bar was starting to fill up with more people. Happy to have the distractions of those around them, they kept making rude jokes and annoying other people in the bar.
     Taking no notice of anyone else who walked into the bar, the group was busy talking about past missions when they noticed the familiar figures sitting at the bar. The group quieted down and everyone looked at each other, trying to decide if they wanted to invite them to come sit with them.
     Lt. Chic glanced up and commented, "Look, if they come over here, then I say fine. Let them join us. Otherwise, let's keep it just us tonight."
     Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. They all felt that way but no one else had the courage to actually voice it.
     Capt. Corry decided to start having some fun. She started in on a very much debated topic among the female members of the group.
     Standing up, she walked over and kneeled down next to Major Stealth. "Sir, will you please be so kind as to stand up for a moment. You too, Major Parker." she asked sweetly. A little too sweetly for their taste.
     There was a collective groan from the females at the table. Grabbing Stealth's arm and making him stand next to Parker, she asked them to politely turn around once slowly. Not really wanting to but having enough alcohol in their systems to make it sound like fun, they did as Corry had asked.
     "Now ladies, I ask you, which of these two have the cutest ass?" Parker and Stealth blush for a moment but it's quickly replaced by laughter as they notice that all the ladies are blushing themselves.
     "Well Corry, I think we need a closer inspection to accurately judge that." Chic volunteered.
     Rei and Vansen quickly seconded the motion as the table started into discussion of just what makes an ass a 'cute' ass. The women saying it all depended on how the said ass looked in a pair of tight jeans while the men were saying those were perfectly fine rules for judging a woman's ass, it wasn't true for judging men's.
     "Well, look who we have here. Everyone enjoying themselves?" Colonel Jack O'Neill asked as he stood behind Vansen. She turned around to look and noticed that Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter were with him.
     "Oh yes, Colonel, we're having a grand time." Isis commented as she took a sip of her beer.
     "You want to join us?" Chic asked.
     "Oh, we wouldn't want to intrude on your time" Carter replied.
     "No intrusion Major. If we're going to be working together then we should get to know each other. Don't you agree Dr. Jackson?" Major Odis asked.
     "Yeah, we should definitely get better acquainted." he replied.
     "Well then, I guess that settles it. We'll join your group tonight." O'Neill said to Isis.
     "Great. Pull up a chair and make yourselves comfy." Isis told them.
     "So, what exactly is it that you guys do?" Daniel asked.
     "Well, it looks like we'll be protecting your backsides Dr. Jackson" Corry gleefully told him.
     "Yeah, just think of us as...OUCH!" Lt. Justin yelped. He noticed Major Franks shake his head no. Justin decided to drop the comment...for now. Perhaps later he'd be able to throw it back at them.
     "So, why don't we start by telling exactly what each of us do. Would that be alright with you Colonel?" Isis asked.
     "Fine by me, I like to know the people I'm going to be working with. Why don't we start with you," he said indicating Chic.
     "I assist in the lab work and do some ground work when needed" Chic then turned to Lt. Rei Varen.
     "And I also assist in the lab and order supplies." Rei elbowed Justin.
     "I help out in the lab too, but mostly I make sure that the lab has all the supplies that Vansen needs. I believe it's your turn Corry."
     "Besides from providing endless hours of entertainment and taking everyone's money in poker games, " she grinned, "I make sure all the lab equipment is in working order and do the repairs."
     Seeing that it was her turn next, Vansen gave an evil grin. "I boss all of the lab assistants around," she was interrupted by Chic saying "that's the truth". She continued, "cause general mayhem by randomly calling out quarantine drills and ..." she paused to take a sip of her drink, allowing Parker to add his comment "and we all love her for those-NOT!" "I'll become a thorn in your backside Colonel." She smiled at the new faces. "You'll soon find out that I talk to myself, I'll get on your nerves, and will cause no small amount of discord when I get close to a solution. And the rest of what I do is classified."
     Before any questions could be asked, Major Odis spoke up, "Well, I'm part of the ground work team." Both Majors Franks and Stealth said the same thing.
     "Well, my title is pretty self-explanatory. I'm a doctor. I'm the field doctor so you'll be seeing me on many missions." Dr. Fatguts commented while downing the last of his beer.
     Major Parker informed them that he takes care of all of the equipment and supply paperwork when he's not out in the field.
     "And I help the lovely Irish and Isis decide who gets to go out into the field." Wulfbane waggled his eyebrows at Irish as he said it. His reward was a napkin being thrown in his face.
     Sticking her tongue out at Wulfbane, Isis turned to Irish, raised an eyebrow and coyly asked, " Now what do you do again?"
     Shaking her head, Irish stood up, walked over to Isis, grabbed the pitcher of beer and said, "I make sure that we have all the beer we'll need ma'am" in her best go-to-hell voice and then proceeded to go to the bar and get another pitcher.
     "So why all the code names? Why can't we know your real names?" Daniel asked.
     "We could tell you Dr. Jackson but then, we'd have to kill you." Parker said with a wide-toothed smile.
     Isis said "We have managed to make some enemies doing our jobs Dr. Jackson. I guess Washington thought it was time we started playing in a new arena."
     "NEW ARENA! HOCKEY! WE GET TO SEE HOCKEY LIVE AND IN PERSON AGAIN!" shouted Wulfbane, Stealth, and Parker in unison.
     Rubbing her ears, Vansen stood up and grabbed her jacket off of the back of her chair. "Well guys, I'm out of here. The truck with the first load of lab equipment should arrive tomorrow. Rei, Chic, Justin--you guys need a ride back to the base?"
     "Yeah" "Sure" "Thanks" came the replies. They stood and grabbed their jackets and started for the door.
     "See everyone tomorrow and nice meeting you Colonel. Major. Doctor." She nodded at Isis and she left the bar.
     "Yeah well, I guess we all should be getting back to the base. We've got a big day tomorrow." Isis commented as she watched Vansen disappear through the door.
     Everyone said their good-byes and disappeared into the cool fall night going their separate ways.
Another adventure? Or continue this one?