Goa'uld starships in Stargate
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- This article lists Goa'uld starcrafts in the television series Stargate SG-1.
Contents |
[edit] Al’kesh
| Al’kesh | |
|---|---|
 An Al'kesh over a P3X-116. |
|
| First appearance | "Exodus" |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa Lucian Alliance |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | Revolving Staff Cannons Explosive energy charges |
| Defences | Cloaking Device |
| Propulsion | Hyperdrive Sublight Engines |
An Al'kesh is a powerful Goa'uld medium-range bomber used in area bombardments of planetary surfaces. Originally used exclusively by the Goa'uld System Lords, after the collapse of the Goa'uld regime in Season 8 of Stargate SG-1 the primary operators of Al'kesh are the Free Jaffa Nation and the Lucian Alliance.
The Al'kesh has two main weapons: two large staff cannons in a belly turret underneath the vessel, and various explosive energy devices. These explosives are the primary surface bombardment weapon and are powerful enough to penetrate and collapse the Tok'ra's underground crystal tunnels. They can also damage the hull of an unshielded Ha'tak.
The Lucian Alliance utilised Al’kesh as cargo haulers. Tractor emitters on the back of an Al'kesh could be used to connect as many as four cargo carriers in a chain for transporting cargo across great distances. This was no doubt done to prevent the Alliance from having to use a large number of Tel’taks to transport large amounts of cargo. Cargo carriers are slightly smaller than an Al'kesh and it is unclear if an Al'kesh can enter Hyperspace while it is towing a cargo carrier. Kassa was often transported by Al'kesh acting as cargo haulers.[1]
The ship's engines give it great speed and maneuverability in sub-light flight, enough to attack a Ha'tak and evade its fire. However it is not as maneuverable as a Death Glider and thus can be shot down by one. It can also enter hyperspace, unlike a Death Glider, and has more range than a Tel'tak.
The Al'kesh is equipped with a Ring transporter that allows it to function as a light troop transporter, landing Jaffa from orbit. It can carry a cloaking device that makes it invisible to sensors, which is useful for covert missions. The Al'kesh, although smaller than a Mothership, can however carry an active Stargate.[2] The Al'kesh lacks energy shields and thus can be destroyed by two to three missiles from an F-302 or caused to crash land by a well-placed shot from a Staff cannon to its cockpit.
[edit] Death Glider
| Death Glider | |
|---|---|
 A Death Glider in flight. |
|
| First appearance | Stargate |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa Lucian Alliance |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | Twin Staff Cannons |
| Propulsion | Unknown, presumably inertial |
The Goa'uld death glider is a fast attack craft capable of great speed as well as flying in atmosphere, space and, for short durations, under water. Its shape resembles that of an insect, particularly the traditional Ancient Egyptian portrayal of the mythical winged scarab beetle. These craft can be used to strafe ground targets, as well as in air-to-air or space combat. However, their effectiveness against small targets is debatable, as they appear to have no targeting systems.
Generally piloted by Jaffa, their weaponry consists of two heavy staff cannons. Compact in size, gliders can be carried aboard Goa'uld Ha'tak vessels. With their wings folded the Goa'uld are able to house many of them in a small area. Death gliders can also be launched from the surface of a planet (such as Chulak). Unlike Earth's F-302's, they are not equipped with any method of hyperspace travel, and thus rely on a Ha'tak mothership or Goa'uld base as a staging area.
There seems to be several different variants of the death glider; some of these craft can accommodate two persons (one pilot and the other operating the weapons and other instruments), while a smaller number of these craft can hold only one person. One variation of the death glider could carry passengers and a Ring Transporter, as seen in part 2 of SG-1's pilot episode, Children of the Gods, although since it was destroyed in that episode by Major Charles Kawalsky, its like has not been seen in the show again. This vessel was slightly smaller than a Goa'uld Tel'tak ship, and may instead be a hybrid of the two.
[edit] Ha'tak
| Ha'tak | |
|---|---|
 A Ha'tak in space. |
|
| First appearance | Stargate |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa Lucian Alliance |
| General Characteristics | |
| Fighters | Several Death Glider wings |
| Armaments | Staff Cannons |
| Defences | Goa'uld Shields Cloaking Device |
| Propulsion | Hyperdrive Sublight Engines |
| Length | 600 meter diameter |
A Ha'tak is a class of starship and a general name for vessels within this ship class, as there are many variations. The most common type consists of a superstructure with a large, golden tetrahedron in the center of the ship. The superstructure is where all major functions and stations are maintained, including the bridge (pel'tak) and the cargo bay where Tel'tak transport ships can offload their cargo. Goa'uld invasions tend to include a Ha'tak bombardment from orbit that is meant to either instill fear in the populace, or completely annihilate them. The ships of the Goa'uld are generally believed to be less powerful than Asgard ships of comparable size.
Since the collapse of the old order following the Goa'uld defeat at Dakara, the chief users of Ha'taks have been the Free Jaffa military, the Tok'ra, and the Lucian Alliance.
Defensive Technology: The standard Ha'tak vessel is protected by powerful deflector shields capable of repelling conventional, nuclear, and energy weapons. As seen in "Enemies," the shields are known to be capable of protecting the ship's crew from lethal radiation for up to 10 hours while hiding in the corona of a blue giant star.
Offensive Technology: The Ha'tak class of ship is equipped with numerous staff cannons. As stated within the season one episode "There But For the Grace of God", the attacking Ha'tak vessels had inflicted damage equal to 200 megatons of explosive force when attacking the U.S. east coast. When Ha'tak ships are seen attacking ground targets throughout the series, however, the on-screen effects are usually limited to damage of a much less severe nature. The reason for the discrepancy has not been explained in canon, but the ships in question were hovering directly above them, a highly ineffective tactic for normal combat. Moreover, when used against planetary targets in series, the goal of the bombardment is not typically to annihilate the region as a 200 megaton blast would.
Fighter complement: A Ha'tak is capable of carrying dozens of lighter vessels within its hangars, to be launched as the situation warrants. Scores of Death Gliders are held within, capable of being launched in both space and atmosphere for defense of the mothership and for the assault of distant targets. Tel'tak cargo vessels can be carried for transport of cargo and troops between ships and down to a planets surface. Jaffa, vital for any planetary assault and for the defense of the ship from boarding parties, can be carried numbering in the thousands.
Propulsion, Travel, and Landing: The standard class of Ha'tak is able to travel at least 32,000 times the speed of light (about 3.65 light years per hour) via hyperspace; this calculation is based on the assertion of the Tok'ra-Tau'ri liaison Jacob Carter, host to Selmak, that a Ha’tak would require 125 years to travel "over 4 million light years" at maximum speed ("Exodus") although it has been said that throughout the show the speed of Goa'uld ships has been increasing. Although capable of transporting troops to the surface of a planet via the standard Ring Transporter, a Ha'tak may also land on the surface of a planet. Though anything pyramidal in shape will do (In two parallel versions of Earth, the Ha'taks have been able to land on Cheyenne Mountain), the Ha'tak is designed for easy and efficient landing on top of a properly constructed pyramid, which provides an immovable base for the ship and an easy departure point for the ships occupants.
Visual and Sensor Cloaking: Although no Ha'tak vessels were equipped with a cloaking device when the ships were first encountered by the Tau'ri, and no existing technology capable of cloaking a vessel as massive as a Ha'tak was known, when Apophis took over Sokar's fleet he possessed Ha'taks equipped with a functional cloaking device. It is unknown who invented this particular variation of the standard cloak, and the entirety of Apophis's fleet was destroyed soon afterward. No later System Lord has been seen to use similar technology.
[edit] Variants
The SGC has come in contact with several variants of the Ha’tak mothership, which vary in size, form, abilities and strength.
Ra's mothership was a variant that was the first Ha'tak encountered by the Tau'ri. It consisted of a single pyramid which, when landed upon a planets surface, could open its upper portion for exposure to the outside atmosphere. Aside from this, other specifications about this ship are unknown. Ra's ship was destroyed in orbit around Abydos by a Tau'ri nuclear device that had been ringed aboard by Col. Jack O'Neil during the original film. The only other Goa'uld known to use a similar, if not identical, class of ship was Heru-ur, as shown in the Season 2 episode "Secrets" (the footage of Heru-ur's ship in this episode was footage of Ra's ship reused from the film).
On the planet designated PX9-757, Apophis had been building a prototype ship with several advancements over the standard Ha'tak ("Upgrades"). The power generation chamber was situated in a large, open room and was cooled by a system stemming to all directions on the construction facility. Goa'uld shields blocked direct access to the chamber during construction. The power core was encased in trinium, and appeared to transfer energy through a "spark gap" located in the central column of the chamber.
The prototype was destroyed by SG-1 before its completion.
Apophis' Mothership was a Ha'tak version used as the flagship of the System Lord Apophis before his death at the hands of SG-1. It was bigger than the standard Ha'tak vessels which make up the majority of the fleets of the System Lords, and also had stronger weapons, shields, and could travel at higher speeds. The interior of the ship suggests it was stolen from Sokar after Apophis took control of his armies.
Anubis' Mothership was a variant that came into being after Anubis ascended to power amongst the Goa'uld following the events of "Summit". He brought with him advanced technology which significantly increased the combat capabilities of the standard Ha'tak vessel. Anubis equipped command ship with new shields via the use of Ancient technology. This shield system not only protected the Ha'taks from the Ion cannons used by the Tollans, but also from the weapons of a Beliskner class cruiser used by the Asgard.
The ship has a highly unusual form and is not divided into two sections. It also does not have the standard pyramid in the middle, being a flat circle of large diameter. The first of these ships was equipped with a powerful energy weapon, able to destroy several smaller Ha'taks with one blast and even capable of decimating a planet's surface with enough power to destroy a Stargate. However, this weapon was destroyed through the actions of SG-1 and, later, the ship itself was destroyed by the other System Lords when it was in the atmosphere of a planet. During this attack it was revealed that the ship had a small escape vessel which is able to fly in hyperspace.
Anubis attacked Earth in the seventh season finale "Lost City" with a second ship of this variant, along with a fleet of 30 to 45 Ha'taks. The ship and the fleet were destroyed with the Ancient Drone Weapons discovered in Antarctica.
[edit] Needle Threader
| Needle Threader | |
|---|---|
 A Needle Threader in flight. |
|
| First appearance | "Into the Fire" |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | Twin Staff Cannons |
| Propulsion | Unknown, presumably inertial |
Also known as a "Gate Glider", this variant was not given a name in the show. It is designed to fit through a Stargate. Like the more conventional death gliders, it is built to be used by two people - a pilot and a gunner. While conventional Death Gliders are built with two wings, this craft has one wing curved in a partial cylinder around the central body housing the cockpit and weapons. It is armed with two staff weapons.
Only one example of this ship type has been seen, in the season three premiere episode "Into the Fire". During this episode General Hammond goes to Chulak to meet up with Teal'c and Bra'tac. They develop a plan to rescue SG-1, which was captured by Hathor and for this plan Bra'tac shows them the hidden ship, which is then piloted by Hammond and Teal'c. Afterwards they use the ship to fly through the active Stargate to the world where Hathor has captured several SG-teams and attack the Jaffa belonging to Hathor from the air. The craft's fate after this episode isn't revealed.
Bra'tac hid the ship in the forest "some hundred years" ago, where it remained undiscovered until the end of the 20th century. Bra'tac says that few pilots could master it, indicating that "threading the needle" is a skill for the young. Teal'c says of the craft that "they do not build them as they once did."
This ship is the first seen to fly through an active Stargate. This was later seen more often in Stargate Atlantis in form of the Puddle Jumpers and Wraith darts.
[edit] Tel'tak
| Tel'tak | |
|---|---|
 A Tel'tak taking off. |
|
| First appearance | "Deadman Switch" |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa Lucian Alliance |
| General Characteristics | |
| Defences | Goa'uld Shields Cloaking Device |
| Propulsion | Hyperdrive Sublight Engines |
The Tel'tak, a Goa'uld cargo ship also referred to as a scout ship, is capable of hyperspace travel and an essential part of any Goa'uld fleet. This versatile ship is used most often to transport people or cargo across Goa'uld planetary networks and is also used for reconnaissance missions. Often unarmed, a single ring transporter makes this vessel a convenient way to navigate the galaxy.
While the primary purpose of the Tel'tak is carrying cargo, it is useful simply as a transport vessel, or for covert operations due to its fairly unassuming nature and versatility. The Tel'tak is divided into two sections: the flight area and the cargo hold. A removable bulkhead separates the two. The flight area contains the flight, navigation, and ring transporter controls, four escape pods, the pilot and co-pilot seats, and the airlock. The cargo area contains the ring transporter. To lock the doors of the hold, a crew member must key in the correct combination of five from six symbols on a keypad on the wall in the cockpit by the doors. While in flight, a Tel'tak will assume a slightly different configuration to that assumed by a Tel'tak that has landed. Towards the aft of the ship there is also a small engine room and a bathroom.
The main navigational console and environmental console is located in the flight area behind the cockpit and covered by a metal cowl. This is the nerve centre of the vessel and controls the engines, shields, life support and in some of the advanced models, the cloaking device. The cloaking device is available as an optional extra. In the cockpit, the steering console contains a glowing red globe. To make throttle adjustments or directional axis changes, the pilot moves the globe with his or her hands. The console also has several controls and buttons which perform different functions related to piloting the ship. A holographic display can also be activated, showing various pieces of information, most of which are related to sensor scans. One person can fly the Tel'tak, though the Goa'uld usually assign a co-pilot for longer missions. Inertial dampeners allow the crew and passengers to remain relatively stable during manoeuvres. Pilots can also chose to adopt a headset which displays a HUD in order to aid the pilot in controlling the craft.
In the event of a Tel'tak coming under attack from an enemy ship or careering out of control, the crew can escape by using the complement of escape pods. The pods, housed in the ship's flight area, are roughly the size of a coffin or a small sarcophagus. If the situation should require it, a crew member can enter a pod, which are located along the removable bulkhead, and close it from the inside. The pod is then ejected at a great velocity from the Tel'tak on a predetermined trajectory. It has inertial dampeners and limited life support capabilities to ensure the relative comfort of the passenger. Typically, a Tel'tak carries four escape pods.
A Tel'tak can also be upgraded with a cloaking device which allows the ship to become invisible to the naked eye, as well as most sensors. Anubis, using Ancient technology, found a means to detect vessels that were cloaked.[3] If a Tel'tak was to land on a planet and then cloak, a means for the pilot to access the craft upon leaving the vessel would be to loudly say a pre-set password that would decloak and open the airlock.
Although there are no weapons on board the Tel'tak, it does contain a manual self destruct mechanism, which can be activated from the navigation console. During the countdown, light symbols around the console indicate the time remaining. Once the countdown to self destruction has begun the procedure can only be halted by inserting three small crystals known as Delmacs into the console to override the command.
A variant model of Tel'tak was used by the bounty hunter Odai Ventrell. This version possessed a staff cannon on each wing of the ship, a cloaking device, and could be remotely controlled.[1] Tel'taks used by the Lucian Alliance likely have weapons as well, and one possessed several modifications including a pulse wave generator, several hidden compartments, and the ability to create multiple energy signatures of phantom vessels which could fool enemy ships into thinking that there were other ships near by.[4]
[edit] Troop Transport
| Troop Transport | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Summit" |
| Affiliation | Goa'uld Jaffa |
| General Characteristics | |
| Defences | Armored Hull |
| Propulsion | Sublight Engines |
Large, heavily armored Goa'uld transport vessel. The troop transport can carry a large army of Jaffa ground forces into battle. The only System Lord using this vessel was Anubis. Most other Goa'uld used Ring transporters to transport their troops to the battle field. Typically, the deployment of these unarmed vessels was preceded by Al'kesh bombardements and Death Glider raids. They could be hit with a FIM-92 Stinger missile without taking much damage.[5]
The SGC encountered troop transports on two separate occasions. When Zipacna was ordered by Anubis to attack a Tok'ra base on Revanna, he sent several thousand Jaffa down to the surface. Although the Jaffa forced were successful in gaining access to the base, they were most likely wiped out when the Tok'ra Lantash used the deadly symbiote poison against the invading army.[6] When Anubis searched for the Eye of Ra on Abydos, his Jaffa force landed on the planet in several troop transports.[5] A troop transport was also seen by Rya'c on the planet ruled by Anubis on which his Gate Overloader existed[3] and another was used by Anubis to land on P3X-439.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Bounty" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Endgame" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ a b "Redemption, Part 2" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "The Ties That Bind" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ a b "Full Circle" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Summit" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Lost City" (Stargate SG-1)
[edit] External links
- Al'kesh at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Cargo Carrier at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Death Glider at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Ha'tak at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Needle Threader at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Tel'tak at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
- Troop Transport at the GateWorld Omnipedia.
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