The gate activation is normally on a tight schedule, as there are teams leaving on missions or returning from missions on a fairly frequent basis. Most of them produce nothing--a gate on an otherwise uninhabited world.

Once dialed, the gate can remain open for 32 minutes, though if the team doesn't go through by the 25th minute, the gate is shut down and the team departure is rescheduled for another time.

With the 5 minutes to gate activation, there's no time for any other activations, though an emergency coming in might also cause a delay or reschedule.

Nothing, however, happens in those five minutes. The address is dialed via the computer, and the gate is activated.

Once the wormhole is established, one of the $50-drones is sent through. This is to make sure nothing has changed at the destination: the gate has changed location, the DHD is still there, and there is no terrain or people waiting for them.

As the rest of the team arrives, the drone transmits the image back. Nothing appears to have changed.

"The only thing that concerns me," General Hammond announces from the control booth, "is the fact that there was no response from those people to the bright light from the stargate."

"In that gloomy atmosphere, it should have been easily visible. It is possible that they nothing about the stargate, only that it occasionally flashes with light. If nothing else happens, then perhaps they chalk it up to something like the Northern Lights."

"Anyway, be careful. As with most of these missions, there is probably something going on under the surface that we aren't aware of."

"Major Carter, did you get the 5 extra batteries for the drones? If the drones are still functional, you can use them. Without sunlight, the photovoltaic cells are pretty useless."

"Unless you have any questions, you are cleared to go."

In reply to _General Hammond (msg # 2):

“ Yes, I did Sir. No Questions here. ”


Jackie screams through the gate like a twelve year old on a roller coaster. Then she recovers her professionalism with very red cheeks.

Kyle stepped up to take his turn, just as excited as Jackie although running and screaming wasn't his style - more a bounce in his step and a broad grin on his face.

After stopping at Supply and getting his Team Bundle, plus the new Hazardous Atmosphere Bundle, he then stopped at the Armory for his weapons and was surprised to find himself issued a .45. He added the holster to his web belt and holstered the gun, then put the 3 clips into an ammo pouch. He sure hoped he didn't have to shoot any of the minotaurs. Well, he didn't really want to shoot anything, except Goa'uld. He also hoped the minotaurs weren't really 8 feet tall.

He stepped out of the Armory into the staging area, and saw SG-X8 sitting around on stand-by. Some were playing cards, one was reading a manual, and 2 appeared to be sleeping.

He smiled wryly to himself; it was nice to know that they had back-up if the excrement hit the rotary air mover.

He walked out of the staging room to the gate room, and his smile turned to a frown. Jason would have preferred he go through the gate first, as he was the more expendable of the team, but he was sure Carter could handle anything that he could have. There shouldln't have been any surprises on the other side, but he always took the phrase 'no plan survives contact with the enemy' to heart. In this case, they didn't know if there were enemies there or not.

With a brief salute in the direction of the control booth, he sprinted up the ramp and through the wormhole to catch up with the others.

Coleman lined up his equipment in his usual orderly fashion. This time, though, he was pretty well weighed down by his mission bundle, so, he used a cart to get it to the gate room. He waited for a couple seconds after Bjorn jumped through, then started throwing the bigger items through. Once that junk was through, he went ahead and stepped through himself. He loved this easily as much as the scientists did, but he always made a point to put on an air of seriousness... because every single one of these missions was quite serious, and that first step through was a critical point of weakness, so he wanted to make sure that everyone felt they could rely on him. The time for cracking wise was after they were on the other side and had secured their position.

Arrival on the other side is the same as previous trips through the gate. The drone hadn't shown any variance in the elevations, so you step through onto level ground as it looks like dirt and debris has covered over the steps down from the gate platform. The top of the platform is kept clear by the wormhole's manifestation.

Somewhat surprisingly, there is no sign of anyone around the gate. It only takes about a minute before you realize that the 'darkness' in the air is smog! It stings your eyes, and makes you cough. It also doesn't smell very good.

The smog isn't as thick down by the ground as it appears to be a bit higher up.

There's clearly a path among the rocks that leads down the hill to the rocky towers.

Kyle collects himself, looks around, and sneezes violently.

Maybe it was his military training... those times he was subjected to certain chemicals so he'd be prepared for the experience if it happened on the battlefield. Or, maybe it was just prudence and common sense... his momma hadn't raised no fool.

Whatever the case, he'd put the filter mask and his goggles on before stepping through the wormhole. If it turned out they weren't needed, he could always take them off.

Based on the reactions of the others, though, it turned out he had been prudent.

The scattered rocks provided too many places of concealment, so he quickly stepped forward about 20 paces to cover everyone and maybe flush out any enemies.

In reply to Jason Bjorn (msg # 9):

Jackie starts sneezing as she berates herself and puts on her filter mask and goggles.

“ Stupid, not everything is about fun. ”

The instant he comes into contact with the air, Coleman's eyes start to water. He smiles as he pulls out his mask. Once he's got it on, he says "This is almost as bad as Beijing on a red air status day. Maybe a slightly more pleasant smell, though.

I guess our literal path is pretty clear. Shall we go see what the locals are like?"

Coleman motions to Bjorn to take point, and, if Kyle is still struggling with his mask, he lends a hand.

While the Colonel assisted Kyle with his mask, Jason made a quick perimeter walk, mostly looking for any signs of... well, anything... people, creatures, civilization, Goa'uld, whatever.

Then he headed down the trail, going only about 20 yards to make sure the others were following. Then he kept the same distance. The rationale, of course, was that he'd be the first one taken out which would give (hopefully) enough warning to the others. In reality, most intelligent species knew enough to wait for the rear guard. It was only creatures that he had to worry about.

Speaking of that rear guard, due to be the first to die... that was Coleman; after getting Kyle situated he herded Kyle to fall in line behind Carter. Then Coleman took the rear position.

"Thank you," said Kyle between sneezes.

The team moves down the rise, pausing every 50 feet or so to survey their surroundings, but there's no sign of anyone or any creatures. The smoggy air seems to be a bit less towards the bottom, confirmed when you reach the bottom.

Visibility is a bit farther as well. You can see at least three more rock monoliths in the distance, and possibly a fourth that may have fallen over and broke.

There are several crevasses amid the rocks to either side of the path where you could hide.

The closer you get to the bottom, the bigger the monolith looms over you. It's far larger than you at first thought.

It isn't until you reach the bottom that you discern the door into the monolith, which is 20 feet high and 10 feet wide. And closed.