Gamma Flight - Reporting for Duty

Participants: John Walker & Carol Danvers
Open/Closed: Open to anyone else who'd like to join Gamma Flight
Location(s): The Gamma Flight space station orbiting over Earth
Time of Day: Early morning 
Weather: Is there weather in space? 
Summary: U.S. Agent reports for duty on his new assignment - Gamma Flight. The restructuring of Gamma Flight is underway and, as the two superior officers, U.S. Agent and Captain Marvel meet to discuss the future of the team. 

John Walker was not a "space guy."

A lot of kids grew up wishing to be astronauts or space explorers but not him. His dreams were always in the United States military and serving his country just like his brother did. Leave space for all the "dreamers" and the "stargazers." He was more than happy to stay on Earth and protect America from all foreign and domestic threats. The thing about serving your country, however, is that you have to answer the call and follow your orders no matter how much you disagree with them. SHIELD had been disbanded and he had been discharged from active service. That was fine, if the government didn't have any use for the U.S. Agent then he would be happy to do his own thing for awhile. He had kicked around the idea of rejoining the Avengers or seeing of potentially starting up his own group. Then he got the call. 

"U.S. Agent, report to the Washington for your next assignment." It was Val Cooper, an old friend or pain in his ass. Some days he struggled deciding which. She was very much a case of not knowing whether to kiss her or flip her the bird sometimes. Still, it was an assignment and assignments were better than going back to a team that never appreciated him or respected him. No matter how much he respected Steve Rogers and admired what he did as Captain America, he just couldn't see what he saw in the band of reprobates he associated with. If the Avengers were an army, they needed to be put through the basics again. 

John reported to the co-ordinates he was given bright and early as it was his habit to do. He learned at a young age to be the type of person who arrives early and leaves late. He was quickly ushered into an elevator, down into a subterranean base, and reminded of his orders from a high ranking member of the armed services whose name he couldn't recall. What he did recall was the man reiterating how it was crucial to have "an American we can trust" on the Gamma Flight team. He got that a lot. The government types were worried that the Avengers and other heroes' allegiances were somewhere else and not to their country. They had tried numerous times to rope them into it with things like the SHRA and such. John didn't mind. If they found him reliable then that was what he would be. After a short briefing they brought him into a lab that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Big, large computers everwhere, flashing screens that took up huge walls, and digital maps of the continental united states, the moon, and other areas of interest. Along the way, he snatched a cup of coffee from a table that clearly belonged to someone else and kept moving. Thankfully whoever it belonged to liked their coffee black like he did. 

"Agent Walker, please step on to the transporter pad." John shot a glare at the pencil-necked scientist and took a sip from his cup of coffee. It was early. That was fine. He liked early. What bothered him wasn't the time of day but the assignment itself. "Gamma Flight" - or space shit as he called it. John rolled his eyes as he pulled the cowl of his uniform over his head. He was wearing his black, red, and white gear and sporting a brand new vibranium shield. Walker stepped onto the teleporter pad and took another sip of coffee. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave your coffee here." John glared at the man again. These scientists were all the same. They were nerds who were bullied in high school by men like John and then get on their high horse the second someone gives them a white lab coat. "Oh? And are you going to try to take this from me?" The man shriveled up and muttered an apology as John snorted dismissively. Coward. 

Walker stepped onto the glowing, yellow disc on the ground that laid directly over another glowing disc that was about 7 ft above his head. Wonderful. More science fiction bullshit. John sighed and braced himself. He hated space. He hated transporters. He hated all the science fiction nonsense. Put him on dry land and someone to punch and he'd gladly do it... but his country needed him. As the scientists pushed buttons, turned dials, and pulled levers, John felt himself get hotter until a blinding light flashed over his face and then he was gone. 

When he opened his eyes again, he was in a similar looking room surrounded by similar looking men. He almost loudly criticized the work of the scientists until he noticed a massive porthole in the side of the space station that he was now standing in that looked over the planet Earth. Wonderful. John took a sip from the mug but the coffee apparently didn't make the journey up into space with him. 

There was little more beautiful than the view of Earth from space. She’d thought it first when she was a child, when she’d seen it in movies, and she’d continued to think it throughout her life. No matter how many times she’d set eyes upon her home planet while ‘off-world’, Carol Danvers still found herself staring in awe, able to while away hours at space station viewing ports of floating alone in the blackness of the galaxy. She spotted patterns in spiralling atmospheric clouds, traced familiar continents, and joined the dots of billions lights that spanned the globe’s darkest side. Yet nothing compared to the moment the sun’s rays crested atop the sphere, bathing its outer edge in a brilliant blue light.

Knowing full well the impact such a sight could have, she said nothing upon the arrival of John Walker, the first official recruit to her personally championed ‘Gamma Flight’ programme. Set up to revive the decommissioned ‘Alpha Flight’ Low Orbit Space Station and resume its operations, Carol had sought funding from governments, military organisations and scientific bodies world over, and her passion alone had earned the project numerous backers. However, every investor’s support had come with its own set of caveats.

John Walker was the United States of America’s.

While happy to be part of an internationally recognised venture, led by a woman who’d been part of the U.S. Air Force and the Department for Homeland Security no less, their backing requested a second American commander be taken on board. Providing her with a list of candidates, Carol had chosen someone she respected – someone who, like her, had experienced the mental and physical toll active duty could take, but who’d battled their demons and come back swinging: the U.S. Agent.

His presence in front of the viewing port, situated in one of numerous Low Orbit Space Station arrival bays, suggested he’d accepted the assignment when it had been given to him.

Giving him a good few minutes to gaze at the planet he’d just left behind, Carol sauntered up to his side and joined him in marvelling at the Earth. “Not a bad view, right?” Offering out a hand, she smiled. She’d dressed for the occasion in her Captain Marvel attire, atop which she wore an open Air Force jacket, covered in patches showcasing the organisations of which she’d been a member – from NASA to Air Force Intelligence. She knew who she was meeting, and what he respected. “Thanks for joining us, Captain Walker.” Then, nodding to his empty cup, her smile became a grin. “Need another?”

John Walker

Walker noticed Danvers had walked up beside him. She was someone he could respect. Of all the Avengers, Danvers was someone whose philosophies he could agree with. She made the call even if the answer wasn't popular and she didn't shirk away from responsibility. She owned her problems and, more importantly, owned the solutions to those problems. As for the assignment? The assignment was what it was. He wasn't as enamored with space exploration as others but if this was where he needed to be to serve his country then he would do it with maximum effort. John turned and accepted her hand. "It's a pleasure working with you again, Captain Marvel. I understand that there are many in our community who do not look favorably upon me but I understand it was your call to request me for this assignment. Thank you for the opportunity." 

That was putting it lightly. He was the failed Captain America. He was the army soldier who tried to clean up the Avengers. He was the violent, brutal arm of the United States government that wasn't as friendly or gentle as the rest of the hero community. Steve Rogers was his icon and hero, but Rogers' friends and associates all loathed him. What more could he expect from scientists, adventurers, aliens, and robots? None of them knew what real life was. They all floated along on their merry journeys through space, time, other dimensions, and the sort without any consideration what the impact was for American citizens that weren't in New York or Los Angeles. He sighed and puffed his chest out. This was the line of thinking that inevitably caused him to chaff against the others in the Avengers community. 

He was stiff, rigid, and formal. Carol wasn't army but she was still in the armed services - even if the Air Force had a reputation for where the nerds and eggheads went because they were afraid of real work. That being said, she deserved the respect that the uniform afforded her and was going to be his commanding officer in the field. Though the field was going to be interesting for him to be sure. Space stuff. Was there even a field? Walker handed off the empty mug to one of the scientists. "No need, Captain. The trip and the view did all the waking up I needed. I do have to ask, though, what exactly is the assignment? I've only been told the bare minimum as the people in Washington prefer to do." 

Carol Danvers