TFA2 0.0 - Prologue

Small Cafe, Suburb of San Diego

02:15, 14 Nov 2015

Two middle-aged men, one was black and the other one was white, casually enjoying their breakfast in one corner. Both of them wore civilian clothes, so most people would not realize that the two were active-duty officers in the military.

Colonel O'Neill took a bite of his bacon sandwich before turning to Captain Reed in front of him. "What is your decision?"

Captain Reed gave a small snort before replying, "This decision will affect my career and my life, but you only gave me 48 hours to decide."

"Reed, I know you very well. If you can't decide it in 48 hours, then you will not be able to decide it even if I gave you 48 years."

"The fuck."

Captain Reed could only swear, for what Colonel O'Neil said was correct. Then, he deeply sighed before sinking into contemplation.

Two days ago, Colonel O'Neil asked him to help him build an Amphibious Strike Group, with the capability to conduct sea control, amphibious landing & attacks, and deep strikes into enemy territory. The problem, building an Amphibious Strike Group was not trivial. Not to mention if the unit was projected to operate in the otherworld and its construction must be done in secret.

Therefore, even if the assets to be used were existing assets in the US Navy that were already labeled as design-proven and combat-proven, without any need to build it from scratch and conduct a lot of testing, the acquisition and shipment process would still have its own challenges and risks.

First, the entry point to the other world was at a coordinate at the South Pole. So, the shipments from freighter to the entry point could not go through the existing port. Considering that sending massive cargo to an empty area via a regular port would invite suspicion.

Fortunately, at the South Pole there were many uninhabited open areas that heavyweight hovercraft like LCAC could pass. For example was Marie Byrd Land, an ice field on southwest of Antarctica.

Therefore, the cargo would be directly unloaded from a freighter equipped with heavy cranes to LCAC. In this era, there was a lot of civilian freighter equipped with crane systems, especially cargo ships that were being designed to operate in remote and low-tech ports. So, it could be said that the means of transportation was halfway solved.

Second, LCAC has a maximum capacity of 70 tons and for safety reasons it must be limited to 50 tons. Meanwhile, many ship components were sent to main assembly line in a semi-assembled segment and weighed over 100 tons. To change the shipping procedure, it would need a very large influence on the shipbuilding company. The influence was also useful for disguising the production of required components as components that were ordered by US Navy.

"Well, I'm waiting, you know," Colonel O'Neil casually said to wake Captain Reed up from his sudden contemplation.

"I need to build a shipping company and exert a fairly strong influence on defense contractors in the shipbuilding industry."

After a slight smile Colonel O'Neil said, "Since a few years ago, my sponsor has been buying every company you needed using third-party names.

You will also have an unlimited budget and full power to determine the structure and doctrine to be used."

"Do you have any intel regarding areas of operation and potential threat to be deal with?" Captain Reed asked in super serious tone.

"I'm working on it."

"Then, we only have one last big problem. To hide the delivery route and shipment operation from CIA and NSA spy satellites, you need help from someone at the level of CIA's Deputy Director."

"My sponsor is ready to support you to get the position."

"Wait." Captain Reed frowned as he continued, "You know navy is my everything and I have a big fat chance to become a four-star admiral, but you want me to let it go."

Colonel O'Neil casually nodded. "Yes, I do. I beg your sacrifice to switch to CIA after you become a two-star admiral."

"O'Neil, at least make your begging look sincere."

"Do you want me to put my forehead in front of your feet? I will do it right now if you want it."

"No, I don't want it." Captain Reed pursed his lips before continuing, "But I want privilege in recruiting personnel."

"As long as the candidate is willing to not return to Earth and passes the screening process, you can recruit anyone."

"Understood," Captain Reed firmly replied.

Breakfast then continued in a casual mood, as if the previous conversation had never happened.

*****