Chapter 73

The trip into Colorado Springs and back took less time than Felix figured it would, which was fine by him, as he had a rough plan to write out in the next couple of hours, radios to acquire and check over for specifications – the normal thousand items before a mission. He also had picked Walter's brain for a suitable planet to train on without being disturbed or attacked.

Once they had decided on a planet, Walter managed to gather a few maps of the area that had been gathered from years previous in a topographical style, and Felix then scrounged around for some Map-Tack but with no success. Then Walter casually suggested, "Why don't you just laminate them? We have a big machine that will do that for you in no time." Felix handed the maps back to Walter, who held up a hand while he walked Felix over to the laminating machine and explained how it worked.

Felix nodded his understanding as he had worked one similar machine years previous when he was briefly assigned to the Green Slime section, or as they were commonly known by the misnomer of Military Intelligence. So once Walter had him do the first map and it turned out good, Felix laminated the rest of the maps in short order, and folded them the proper way for quick usage. He had a chuckle as he wondered how many of the troops had used and if so – when was the last time.

The next couple of hours were spent gathering equipment for the trainees like the radios, rations, heat tabs, flashlights with filters – the normal stuff Felix was used to having and using. But he was still unsure of the knowledge level of the trainees as the USAF operated very differently from the Army, so there was some upgrading needed on their part potentially.

All the gear was assembled in the conference room area while Felix confirmed with General Landry that he in fact was allowed to go off world to the planet Walter had showed him the details of. He started off with, "Sorry to bother you General, but um ... do we have authority to train off world? I've already made plans for that sort of training and Walter has already been quite helpful."

General Landry held up a hand and replied, "I already know where you are going and why, Sergeant – I just need to work out the details of where and how do I get a hold of you if we need you back here. Like if a rescue arises, I'd like you to handle it if possible."

Felix nodded and explained about the radios they would be using, the range and how far away from the Gate he planned to be, and the frequency and his call sign. Once Felix had explained as much as General Landry wanted to know, he told the officer, "I'll leave the rest of the fine details with Sergeant Harriman, as he is your go-to guy, sir."

Landry then casually dropped a question, "Mind if I sit and listen to your mission brief, Sergeant at 1900 hours, Sergeant?"

Felix was initially surprised, but then a small smile crept across his face as he realized that this General didn't miss a thing around his base. Finally he replied, "Yeah, no problem there, sir; but I should warn you I probably give a different briefing from what you may be used to, sir."

General Landry gave a small smile in return and said, "I doubt very much you could surprise me with a different style of mission briefing, Sergeant – I used to be Intelligence for quite a while, so briefings and I are old hat."

Felix's grin increased as he gave back, "Right on, sir – see you then," saluted and then left the General to his business while he spent the next while writing up his orders and training outline. When it was almost time for the mission brief he went to see Walter about using the PowerPoint set-up.

Walter answered nonchalantly, "I already took the liberty of setting that up for you – you can have one of the trainees run it for you, while you give your briefing."

Felix chuckled as he asked Walter, "Anyone ever accuse you of being Radar from MASH in disguise? You are priceless – excellent – and thanks very much."

Walter replied, "That's what I do here – and you're welcome." The pair then spent the next few minutes going over roughly how the briefing would proceed and in what sequence the various screens were to be brought up. Once they agreed to the minor changes that Felix asked for, Walter looked at his watch and said, "Almost time for your briefing, Sergeant."

Felix looked at his watch and replied, "Right – thanks," and went to get the rest of the briefing set-up ready. He was a bit nervous about this meeting, as he had been so used to the informal briefings his old team had sat through. And that started him thinking about his old teammates – he still missed their humour and professionalism – and sarcasm. He shook his head to clear away the memories and hoped that for their sake he wouldn't screw this up.

He bowed his head and said in a low voice, "Dear Lord, please don't let me screw up."

Across the room a voice replied, "I don't think you will, Sergeant – just do what feels right and don't worry too much about protocols. I'm looking to see how these folks of mine react to you." General Landry paused and then added, "I've prayed the Sheppard's prayer a few times myself," and gave a chuckle.

A minute later the candidates started coming into the briefing room area, where Felix told them, "Grab a seat wherever you can, pull out pen and paper, and be ready to copy parts of the mission brief." He re-checked the computer was set correctly for the PowerPoint, and used that as a decoy so he could see what the facial expressions were like as they took their seats.

Once the troops were seated Felix gave them his full attention and greeted them: "Welcome to the very abbreviated course of Combat Search And Rescue 101. You obviously know who I am – the weird guy that interviewed all of you earlier," which got a number of chuckles – even from General Landry. He continued, "I gather all of you are volunteers – yes?" He received nods all the way around and continued, "Okay then – I'll start by saying that doing a mission like CSAR is not like a mission on the SG teams. I'm not saying the teams are not good – just different from what I do."

He paused to gather his thoughts and then continued, "I'll be up front with how the reality in this occupation is – at least as I see it. If you think you are getting medals out of this, or promotions, or fame, or any glorious ... whatever – the door is over there, folks." Felix made a conscious decision about a touchy subject with him, "So you understand where I am coming from, the reason I feel very strongly about my job is because of an incident in the past with my old unit before I came to CSAR. The short version: we were abandoned and left in denial by our own government on a mission they sanctioned, we had many wounded and dead that we were ordered to leave behind – and that was when I couldn't abide by the order. I stayed until we were finally evacuated by a friendly nation but we had no choice but to leave our dead and a few of the severely wounded behind. That hurt me deep, and from that day forward I vowed to do my damdest to make sure everyone got back to their families alive."

He took a deep breath as he now had their attention and then continued with the introduction, "What you will be learning are the basic skills I feel you will need to form a team for CSAR. So you also understand the difference – I was in CSAR training for 14 months before we graduated, plus I've been doing this for about 15 years, so I have a bit of an edge over you folks. But don't sell yourselves short, as anyone of you probably knows all sorts of stuff I don't – and it could be applicable to any mission you may go on in the future, so remember little things like what your partner did in civilian life." Felix caught the General's nod of approval from the back and gave a small smile.

He continued as he felt like he was getting into a teaching groove, which in way he was; "The skills you will require are as follows: map & compass – no GPS here folks, First Aid is a big one as it is a MUST in this job, top notch field craft, be a decent shot but also able to use any weapon available, and your brain is also one of your best weapons and you must learn to use it quickly and efficiently but also deviously when required. You will also be doing situation analysis for a Rescue to see how it can be accomplished – I've been on a few weird ones but they worked, and that is what counts at the end of the mission. That's the condensed version – any questions before we get into the orders for our training?"

The troops all looked at one another – some in amazement at the introduction they hadn't seen coming, but no hands went up at that time. He gave them about 20 seconds or so, and then carried on, "All right then – pen and paper handy – you copy down what you feel you need to write down. We're all adults here so I won't insult you by telling you what you should write down. Could one of you dim the lights in the back, please?" The lights were dimmed and Felix switched on the PowerPoint on the computer and started the mission briefing.

He went through the normal orders format that he knew blindfolded backwards – Situation, Mission, Execution broken down into phases, Service Support, and Command & Signals was last. Felix made sure he repeated any details they wanted clarified when it was time for questions, and finished the briefing with what they had to load from the assembled piles of gear and when they would be ready and dressed appropriately for going off-world. Final was the team assignments that were told to the assembled troops – most of them hadn't worked together before, so it would be an interesting time.

While the troops gathered all their gear, General Landry came over and told Felix, "That was a very good mission brief, Sergeant – you do that all the time?"

Felix replied, "I did it like that because I don't know what exactly they know and what they don't, so the more details I provide – the better for them to accomplish this training. A file shows only so much, an interview shows only so much – the rest is figured out there in the bush, sir. At least that's what works I have found with new people."

General Landry nodded in agreement and added, "I'm curious still about one item concerning you, Sergeant – why did you refuse promotions in the past? You could easily have been an officer with your knowledge and experience. Colonel Sheppard speaks quite highly of you and tried recommending you for promotion but said you were dead-set against it."

Felix gave a look that was a cross between a grimace and a smile, and then replied, "In your military that would most likely ring true, sir. I pissed a couple of people off that hold grudges years ago, and if I did get promoted it would also be the end of my time in this job. Our military has a bad habit of promoting people and placing them in a training school – which is where I do not want to be at. I'm a firm believer of 'if it isn't broke, then don't mess around with it'. They might let me stay if I were promoted to Warrant officer, but I'm not holding my breath for that to ever happen, sir."

That prompted General Landry to shake his head in amazement and turn to watch the last of his people leave the conference room with their gear to get ready for their training with Felix. Landry waited until the last person had left the room and turned to Felix as he asked, "Do you feel you can manage to get one team at the end of the week, Sergeant? We really could use a CSAR team here – it bothers me still to have taken what I feel are needless casualties."

Felix gave a small sigh but answered the General; "Too early to say right now – I have no idea what they are capable of, so it wouldn't be prudent to say one way or the other, sir." He had a sudden thought as he remembered something in particular and asked the General; "You said you were involved with Intelligence in the past, sir? Could I ask a favour of you – any chance of reviewing my patrol reports from about 3 years ago? There is something that keeps nagging at me from around that time – something that I'm missing that had caused me problems. Someone I was indirectly involved with from another agency comes to mind."

Landry looked at Felix with a perplexed expression and replied, "I don't know what I could find – could you elaborate further about what your feeling might be about?" So Felix quickly but concisely explained what happened and his gut feeling where the problem may have started. General Landry finally answered, "I'll see what I can dig up, but no guarantees, Sergeant."

Felix gave the General a small smile as he replied, "That's all I ask, sir – and thanks in advance." He looked around and added, "I better get a move on or I'll be late for my own mission." With that, he departed for his room to dress and then prepare for the week off world.

When he got to his room, he went and placed the orders in a secure drawer for the time being, and then quickly re-checked his Bergen to make sure he had enough rations and water for the week. Then he remembered they were near a water source as he planned but still made sure the 2quart bottles were full anyways out of habit. Next was a re-check of the ammo load with the various other booby-trap items and Semtex – good to go there.

Finally after having a final nature call, it was time to get dressed: camouflage paint on the face, neck, and hands, don the ghillie suit, place the folded map in the exterior thigh pocket, and last was the camouflaged soft hat that he had for such a long number of years. He took a last look around the room, shut off the lights and closed the locked door behind him as he headed to the armoury to get his beloved Sasha.

Once there he found himself at the tail end of the troops getting their weapons, except for the two young officers that showed up a few seconds after he was in line. He could tell by their nervous chattering about what they figured they would encounter during the training, and the one commented about what could they possibly learn from a dinosaur. They had a good chuckle about that – and so did Felix, as it was apparent they had no idea who was in front of them.

The Airman watched as each person entered the room, signed for their respective weapon and magazine, and basically controlled the flow of people entering the secure room. That was when the two young officers realized who had been in front of them when they saw the short man in the ghillie suit easily handle the large McMillan 50cal rifle. Felix didn't say anything until he noticed the two officers goggling at his rifle; he casually commented, "Mine," and left it at that.

A few minutes later once all the candidates had gathered just outside the entrance to the Gate Room, Felix moved to the middle of the troops and told them, "All right – once you are settled down for a moment ... Thank you. What I want to happen next is an equipment sound check. I will come around to each of you, have you jump up a couple of times, and we then rectify any problems at that time. Also make sure you have removed all wallets, all jewellery, any unnecessary items in your possession – place all that on the ground. It will be stored in a secure place until we return."

With that, Felix stepped back to give the candidates a couple of minutes to divest their pockets of any last minute items and place them on the floor. Once that was finished, he started at one end and quickly but efficiently went through all the candidates like a whirlwind. He found all sorts of items tucked away in their gear that also joined the items on the floor, and ignored their perplexed expressions and a couple of outrage. There was a quick visual check of the gear they had on to make sure it was squared away as well, and asked each candidate a question or two about the training mission.

He was a bit disappointed at the amount of extra items that were deposited on the floor, but he also remembered that these folks were trained by the Air Force, not his old unit. And he left it at that; they weren't trained in the same fashion that Felix had been, nor had they the experience in the boonies like he definitely did. They did have different experiences going through the Star Gate, so things weren't a total loss – it would work out for the better.

Felix had all the various items placed in the bag-lined milk crate he had brought for this purpose, and had one of the candidates take it to the Control Room, where Sergeant Harriman secured it. Unknown to Felix, a couple of particular higher-ups were watching from the shadows, not speaking but making mental notes for the future of any CSAR Ops from the SGC.

A moment later Sergeant Harriman came down the steps and gave 5 IDC's to hand over to each team; he told them what their IDC call-signs were – Felix was his normal 'Six-Two' from when he was with 22nd LRRP. The people that were given the IDC's strapped them to their arms, while Felix tucked his away inside his ghillie suit for time being.

The candidates were a bit miffed at first when Felix had them remove the extra items and placed into secure storage, but a few didn't mind as they could understand the Grey Man's logic. A couple of the candidates had heard stories about this almost mythical person – 10 feet high and was a killer – the usual wild rumours one heard about a person never seen before. But he was just an average person - nature had blessed him with the ability to be just a face in the background, even when standing a few feet away. He wasn't ugly and he wasn't handsome – he was just ... forgettable.

Finally it was almost time to depart – Felix had finally managed to lock away his nagging fear that something would go wrong if he went through the Gate again. He went to see General Landry and Walter in the Control Room to coordinate the departure style; he wanted to tell them how he departed from Atlantis and his reasoning.

He didn't see the hidden couple of people as they stayed in the shadows and away from Felix's sight and hearing for the moment as he talked with General Landry about the departure. After listening to what Felix had to say, Landry replied, "I think we can make that happen, Sergeant – shall we give this a go, Walter?"

The General received a nod from his senior controller, so Felix also nodded and went back down to his candidates and had them file into the Gate Room. He told them to line up according to their teams and then gave a final confirmatory check that they were switched on and ready to go.

Felix got a series of nods, so he looked up at Walter, spun his finger in a circle to signify to start the dialling sequence, then told the troops, "Load your weapons, round up the spout, and on safe. Remember to spread out in your team as you come through the Gate."

The room was then filled with various clacking as weapons were loaded, safeties placed on – a couple of troops looked over when they heard the distinctive heavier sound of Felix's bigger rifle being cocked.

He didn't find he was nervous so much any more – because he felt comforted knowing he had a number of troops with him this time. The end caps of his sight were flicked open, the thermal imager switched on – all this occurred while the Gate did its usual slower than molasses dialling. He told the troops, "When you go through the Star Gate on a Rescue Op, I'd recommend you have your weapon at the ready and always expect trouble."

Finally the event horizon opened with its usual loud 'whoosh' – he waited a second and then said, "Okay – lets go have some fun in the sun," and led his troops through the Gate, weapons at the ready.

At the same time the General's voice came over the PA announcing, "Sergeant Grey, you have a –" but Felix was already going through the Star Gate.

The candidates gave each other quizzical looks as if to ask 'what have we gotten ourselves into with this guy?' But they followed the strange little man through the Star Gate, as he seemed confident that he knew what he was talking about.