Our winner for the 2023 Anniversary Writing Competition is Cipher! Check out his winning entry below.
Flagship Games
By: Cipher, Chief of Starfleet Engineering
“Ladies, gentlemen, and all between and beside. Welcome to the first annual Off-World Cup. This will be a test of the capabilities of our various off-world teams but also a demonstration of capabilities. The tests will involve feats of strength, precision, intelligence, cunning and daring, with the Off-World Cup going to the team and site that shows mastery.” The announcer, Councilor Hatana, stated with a broad smile to the assembled crowds. Fort Phoenix’s training grounds had been transformed into obstacle courses and there were even a few up in orbit as even the Tempest had been made into part of the course.
“In the Flagship series, the so-called “Flagship Teams” will be competing against one another. To introduce them, I present to you, the director of the Atlantis Expedition, Doctor Richard Woolsey!” Hatana clapped as she handed over the microphone to Doctor Woolsey, the IOA man running Atlantis. He smiled and accepted, forgoing a suit and tie to instead represent Atlantis by wearing their standard uniform.
“Thank you, Councilor. It is an honor to be here. Representing the home field, so to speak, I present to you – Phoenix Team One. Lieutenant Commander Michelle Hanley, Ray’oth, Doctor Koren, and Miss Blair Walcroft.” Doctor Woolsey said, gesturing to Michelle’s team. They were all clad in Multicam fatigues, to set them apart from the others, and Michelle held up a hand to wave to the crowd. The others on her team followed suit.
“Next up, from Atlantis, I present to you, Atlantis Team One.” Woolsey gestured to the team mostly clad in black, “Colonel John Sheppard, Miss Teyla Emmagan, Doctor Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex.” The crowds cheered once more as they got waves from Sheppard and Teyla, Doctor McKay did not seem as sure until the last second whether to wave or not and Ronon just stood impassively.
“Unfortunately, Altera Expedition was not able to send out their own team, they are on extended operations. But Stargate Command has made a last second roster change. I present to you, SG-1,” Doctor Woolsey said and that got everyone to look at who had just arrived in olive drab fatigues, “General Jack O’Neill, General Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson, and Teal’c of Chulak.”
Michelle couldn’t believe her eyes. She had already been expecting trouble going up against the veterans of Atlantis, but clearly someone had some funny ideas to sub in the original SG-1 for this series. Someone wanted to set these games off with a bang alright and this was going to be the past and present clashing
“And for the next series…” Councilor Hatana took over to introduce the other series’ in the lineup, but the Flagship Series was going to be the varsity one for sure. All three teams were guided off the podium to the waiting area where General Mitchell was waiting with a broad grin, one that got broader when he saw the looks on not only PHX-1’s but also AE-1’s faces.
“Now hold on a sec, no one told me there was going to be an audible called here.” Sheppard said to Mitchell.
“Last second change. Just for the games and the crowd loves it. Should be fun, right?” Mitchell replied with a chuckle.
“Besides, you’ll go easy on us old folks, right?” O’Neill chimed in, “We’re just right out of the ol retirement home, just playing canasta.”
“Begging the General’s pardon,” Michelle replied, “But no, sir. We came to compete and win.” The rest of her team nodded in agreement. O’Neill looked at her, completely nonplussed.
“Well. I guess we’ll have to do it old school then, Commander. Just remember, it was you who said it, not me.” O’Neill warned.
“Just remember, it’s a game. Try to have fun, yeah?” Daniel said. Michelle allowed a grin and a nod.
“All in good fun, sir. But if this is how we’re rolling, well, might as well go all-in, right?” Michelle replied.
“Just remember, Jackson, her callsign’s Gambler.” Mitchell teased. Michelle then turned to the Atlantis team, having not really met them before. She’d been tapped to set up a SEAL Team on Atlantis but when that went to someone else, she got the job with Phoenix-1 instead.
“Colonel Sheppard, nice to meet you and your team, sir.” Michelle said, holding out a hand that Sheppard took and shook firmly. Introductions between teams were exchanged.
“Gotta say, Phoenix Team idea’s catching on out our way in Pegasus. Lot of folks out there want to help out, do what they can to retake the place from the Wraith and Genii.” Sheppard explained.
“Yes. I was quite pleased to hear that the concept of inter-species off-world teams has evolved as it has. And I am very impressed with Haven, you’ve replicated much of the success we’ve had with Atlantis.” Teyla added.
“We can only kick the Goa’uld so many times before we gotta start doing something, yeah?” Michelle replied with a shrug. Part of her felt like Teyla’s comment was maybe a little backhanded. Ronon Dex had very little to say, just standing there as intimidatingly as he could. Blair tried to talk shop with McKay but very quickly got frustrated with the famous McKay arrogance. Clearly, Blair was now fired up to really show up McKay when the time came.
“The first round of the Flagship Series will begin soon. This will be the Fields of Fire and Water!” Councilor Hatana explained over the loudspeaker, “This will be a combination obstacle course and shooting competition, testing physical strength, manual dexterity, accuracy and reflexes! The competitors will be Lieutenant Commander Michelle Hanley, representing Phoenix! Colonel John Sheppard representing Atlantis! And General O’Neill representing Stargate Command!”
Michelle, Sheppard and O’Neill all made their way to the first station of 3, each separated by pools of muddy water and other obstacles. This one had three sniper rifles set up, each with a pair of playing cards face down held down by the magazine of each rifle.
“Station one of Fire and Water – each shooter has two playing cards and three rounds. At the thousand yard line are playing cards affixed to the target board. Your target is to land a shot in the middle area of three cards, attempting to create a winning poker hand with the cards you strike and the two cards you have. Hits outside of the blue square on the card will not count that card towards your hand. You have 45 seconds. Any questions?” The range officer manning the station asked.
“Any cards wild?” Jack asked.
“No, General.”
“Well. Worth asking.” O’Neill shrugged.
“Shooters, take your station, check your cards and ready your rifles.” At that, Michelle got behind her rifle and checked her cards. The Ace of Clubs and the Eight of Spades. There were some possibilities there, she decided as she placed them aside and loaded the magazine into her rifle. She worked the bolt and waited.
“At the sound of the buzzer, the timer starts. Shooters are you ready?” The range officer asked. Everyone called out they were and the electronic buzzer sounded the all clear to start. Michelle flicked off the safety with her thumb and traced the scope over the row of playing cards at the 1000 yard line affixed to a long board of some kind. She started to line up on the Nine of Hearts when a shot rang out and a hole appeared in the card dead center.
“C’mon kids, clock’s ticking.” O’Neill said as he operated the bolt on his rifle. Michelle didn’t respond, instead shifting her aim. The Ace of Spades was in her sights, she adjusted her aim and squeezed off a shot, putting a hole dead on in the middle. She quickly reached up and worked the bolt to eject the spent case and cycle in her second round as another two shots rang out and both O’Neill and Sheppard worked their bolts. Michelle swept her sights along and found her next card, the Eight of Clubs, hit it and moved on to find one last card just to upset one of them. With a grin, she found the Queen of Hearts and put one dead center there as well. Sheppard let out a grumble of annoyance as she pulled the bolt open and removed the magazine. O’Neill did the same and Sheppard was the last to fire his third round just as the buzzer sounded.
“O’Neill, pair of nines. The two Jacks are both out of bounds.” The range master announced before moving to Sheppard, “Sheppard, no hand.”
“Poker’s not really my game.” Sheppard shrugged.
“Hanley, two pairs, Dead Man’s Hand. Aces and Eights. Phoenix 5, SGC 3, Atlantis 1. Clear the station, assemble at the first start line!”
The next challenge was wading a pool of muddy water while carrying an ammo can that had some kind of heavy weight dumped into it. The water was cold, brown like coffee and hid both mud and rocks that made crossing harder than it looked. By the time they’d all waded through the waist deep water, Sheppard had won, Michelle took second and O’Neill had come up third.
The second shooting station awaited with submachine guns – P90s for O’Neill and Sheppard, an MP7 for Hanley.
“Shooters, you will have 45 seconds and 2 magazines to hit as many pop up targets as you can. If you expend both early, that is not a disqualifier but may impact your score so engage carefully. Ready your weapons and stand by.”
“I might have to do this with my eyes closed.” O’Neill made a show of yawning before readying his P90.
“You’ve been behind a desk too long, General.” Sheppard replied.
“I’m gonna show you both up with 20 fewer rounds.” Michelle grinned – the MP7 only held 40 per mag to the P90’s 50.
All three of them went to work, the targets were only a few inches in diameter and only appeared for about a second before folding away and there was no pattern to it. And all three of them were firing on semi-automatic to get the most of their available ammo in the time allocated. But the reload was what slowed Sheppard and O’Neill down – the P90’s design was great in a lot of respects but not for speed reloading. The MP7, meanwhile, was more like a pistol as its magazine was in the grip, allowing Michelle to quickly discard the spent mag and get the new one in.
The second buzzer sounded and all three cleared their weapons and stepped back.
“O’Neill hit the most, followed by Hanley then Sheppard. Phoenix 11, SGC 9, Atlantis 7. Grab your ammo cans and move to the next start line.” The range master called out.
The next journey in water with the ammo cans required them to not only wade through water but also traverse through a partially submerged pipe with barely enough room to crouch through. The same cold muddy water awaited with mud and rocks hidden but now getting through the pipe was the challenge. Sheppard had gotten first again, O’Neill was second and Michelle was dead last after an ill-advised idea of chucking it ahead of her had then cost her time to recover the ammo can from the murky depths.
“The score now is tied at 12 for all three of you. The final challenge will break that tie. You will collect your pistol and magazines, and then take position at the start with your pistol and the ammo can. You will then throw the can as far forward as you can, take up position where it lands, fire for five seconds, and then throw the can again, repeating until you have thrown the can five times.” The range master explained.
“Is there a distance you have to throw it?” Michelle asked.
“Negative, Commander, but the closer you get it, the better view of the targets you’ll have. But it’s up to you.”
“So no underhand pitches. Got it.” O’Neill chimed in. Each of them would go in sequence, with Michelle going last. While it was better to get closer to the target, the effort was not light and by the last two throws, Michelle felt her arms starting to get a little wobbly.
“Final scores – Phoenix 17, SGC 15, Atlantis 13. Phoenix wins the first challenge!” The range master called out.
“How much off was it by?” Michelle asked.
“One each. You landed one better than the General, he landed one more than Sheppard.” The range master replied.
“And there we have it! At the end of the first round, Phoenix is in first place, SGC in second and Atlantis in third! We’ll see how things go in the next challenge, the Pillars of Knowledge!” Councilor Hatana announced over the loudspeakers. The team leaders regrouped with their teams as things got set up for the next challenge. They were grateful to find dry socks waiting for them after wading in the pools, which all three quickly pulled off their boots and swapped wet socks for dry.
“Say, what gives with the hand? Aces and Eights, I mean.” O’Neill asked.
“Famous hand. I’m not one for cards but it’s a thing. My dad’s a cop in Las Vegas and the homicide division uses it as their insignia. My dad explained it’s the hand Wild Bill Hickock supposedly had when he was killed. Old West lore.” Michelle replied.
“Uh huh. Not one for cards but Mitchell says your callsign is Gambler?” O’Neill pressed. Michelle chuckled.
“Just like his is Shaft because his nickname is Cam. Mine just comes from being born and raised in that hellhole known as Las Vegas.” Michelle replied.
“Not a fan of it, huh? Good on you. I prefer places away from big cities. Like a good lake.” O’Neill nodded.
“I dunno, I always thought it was a pretty fun town.” Sheppard offered.
“Only if you’re there for a weekend.” Michelle shrugged.
“Nah, I just like the golfing there.” Sheppard said with his own chuckle. Michelle paused and then nodded.
“Touche, sir.”
The test of knowledge came next, with SG-1 represented by General Carter and Doctor Jackson, Atlantis represented by Doctor McKay and Teyla, and Phoenix 1 represented by Doctor Koren, the team medic from Galara, and Blair Walcroft, the team engineer from Herbridia.
“I always did wonder why we kind of just had a few run-ins with those folks and then nothing seemed to happen for a while.” General O’Neill commented when Blair was introduced.
“SG-1’s first encounter with them was the crashed prison transport, wasn’t it?” Sheppard asked.
“Yeah, and we nearly got duped. Had to ask some hard questions to the mirror after that one.” O’Neill replied.
“Well, based on what I can figure, the stumbling block wasn’t that, sir. It’s the fact they don’t have a stargate and don’t want one. And it’s all run by corporations like it’s a cyberpunk thing, so the IOA couldn’t figure out how to deal with them.” Michelle explained, “Once we got past that, they were keen to open up. Just had nothing to trade worthwhile to them with the restrictions we used to have.”
“Yeah, if the Serrakin could kick the Goa’uld off the planet and co-exist with the humans, a box full of guns and C4 wasn’t much of a welcoming gift. Should’ve opened with a fruit basket.” O’Neill shrugged, his tone suggesting he might have been serious.
“Galara, haven’t been there.” Sheppard added as the teams advanced to the second stage.
“General Mitchell’s SG-1 went there, turns out they were an Asgard protectorate. Bad blood there though because he got framed for murder and had to relive some unpleasant stuff he did in Afghanistan to prove his innocence.” Michelle replied, “But otherwise, good folks to get on our side. We keep hoping to find more Asgard protectorates out there, but it’s hard without them.”
“I miss those guys. Thor was a real pal, pulled my butt out of a few fires and we helped him out too. Galaxy’s not the same without ‘em.” O’Neill shook his head. Michelle, like most in the Program, knew that the General had a special bond with the Asgard and felt their loss the hardest. For all their quirks, the Asgard had been a faithful ally of Earth and many had hoped Earth could repay the debt one day. But the Ori had come and now their legacy was the Asgard Core on the USS Odyssey.
“What is the atomic weight of boron?” The announcer asked and then General Carter buzzed in. She hesitated for a moment before a suddenly bemused grin crossed her face.
“Fat.” She replied, shocking everyone.
“Uh, no, I’m sorry, that is incorrect.” The announcer blinked before Doctor McKay answered correctly and SG-1 was relegated to third place.
“She knows the right answer, why’d she say that?” Sheppard asked, “It’s ten.”
O’Neill blinked and then chuckled. He started to laugh more fully when Carter winked at him with Jackson looking on in confusion.
“That was a long time ago, kids.” O’Neill finally said.
“If you say so, sir.” Michelle replied, confused as well.
The knowledge contest ended with Atlantis taking first with a very pleased with himself Rodney McKay and Phoenix taking second.
“Phoenix 20, Atlantis 18, SGC 16.” The scores called out. The next set of physical contests came along, pitting the strongest of the teams against each other in various skill challenges. Teal’c, Ronon Dex, and Ray’oth all battled for the glory of their teams. At the end of it, Teal’c had taken first, Ronon second and Ray’oth third.
“SGC 21, Phoenix 21, Atlantis 21. The scores are now tied!” Councilor Hatana announced, “This final contest will see who wins the Flagship Series! Each team will navigate a course simulating several aspects of a mission, including combat, puzzles, obstacles and a final dash to the stargate!”
Each team took to the start line in full gear. SG-1 was in their classic OD green fatigues, armed with P90s, including Teal’c. Atlantis were in their own favored black fatigues, also with P90s with the exception of Ronon Dex on both counts – he favored his own attire and his famous “Particle Magnum” pistol. And then came Phoenix-1, the reflection of a new era. They all wore the multicam patterned “OCP” US Military fatigues – tan with splotches of brown, white, black and green and were instead armed with MP7s, even Koren who normally only wore a sidearm loaded with Intars normally. Even the body armor each team wore was different, from SG-1’s armored vests to Phoenix-1’s more modern plate carriers.
The viewing crowds cheered for their favorites, a sign of the times when no one knew what to expect with the Tau’ri were long gone. They were now part of a galactic community, free from oppression and united to live peacefully. They would defend themselves and each other the next time another threat came to shatter that peace and enslave the galaxy and at the forefront would be teams like SG-1, Atlantis-1 and Phoenix-1.
Michelle looked around and smiled, first to her own teammates, proud to be part of the next generation of explorers and defenders, but then to the other teams, proud to stand among the ranks of those who had blazed the trail and set the standard. Good people had fallen along the way, their names were on a memorial wall at Stargate Command, but they’d be proud of those who kept on going.
“Last one there buys the beers.” O’Neill said as he adjusted his green ballcap.
“I never turn down a beer paid for by a General. Or a Lieutenant Commander.” Sheppard replied.
“We’ll try not to get too bored waiting for you all at the finish line.” Michelle chuckled as she donned her orange tinted sports sunglasses.
And with that exchange of taunts and laughs, the countdown started and the teams were off.