C, because Brisbane fuck yeah[...]
Can this non-Australian ask context to any of the locations above and why one seems to be okay-er than the other? I'm a bit biased because I'm a mountain girl here Living in the mountains.
The Tanami Desert and the Blue Mountains are different types of easy to fortify, easy to hide, base locations. A skyscraper in Brisbane (Capitol of Queensland, 3rd largest city in Australia) is somewhat less easy to hide. The canon SGC was built into the Cheyenne mountains and has a history of occasionally being taken over by aliens, contracting horrible alien diseases, and sometimes linking itself to inescapably horrible astrological phenomena. Situations which are slightly easier to handle discretely if you're not in Brisbane.
Early May, 2017
Your offices have wonderful view of the river, filtered slightly by six inches of ridiculously fortified and heavily tinted ballistic glass. Good views, good food, and excellent R&R for the men are just a few of the nice perk of being based in the heart of Brisbane. Of course, the fact that you're running a piece of barely understood alien wormhole technology in the heart of the country's third largest city does give certain government officials conniptions.
Your predecessor, General Oliver Lachlan, gives you a basic tour of the facilities. He seems like a good man, if a bit entrenched in political mindset rather than a military one. His tenure of the SGC was primarily a holding pattern, scouting out a very few worlds and returning with basic atmospheric and biological samples, but shying away from taking any major actions that would impact his career. He never found sapient alien life, and seems very content to leave that particular basket of snakes to you. After a few hours of talking, and going over the official transition documents, he bids you G'Day, presumably to go brief the government about how you've just been briefed. Bureaucracy is a wonderful thing.
Base Status,
Staffing: 5
Approval: 3
Tech: 2
Funding: 5
Strength: 4
You've got people, you've got money, and your tactical teams are well kitted out. Lachlan's approach to exploration has left you with little more than bio-samples that, while fascinating for plant biologists, aren't going to enthrall anyone outside the field. Lachlan's file does make a specific note that there are already some member of SGC oversight committee who have seen no benefit to the Stargate program and vehemently oppose the Brisbane SGC. Considering his lack of concrete results, those members are gaining some traction.
What are your current standing orders for Stargate Exploration? (You'll be able to change these every
four* months)
A: Focus on exploration that seems likely to find intelligent life!
B: Focus on exploration that seems likely to find advanced technology!
C: Focus on exploration that seems likely to find material resources!