Wraith starships in Stargate
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This is a list of Wraith starships in the television series Stargate Atlantis and Stargate SG-1.
Contents |
[edit] Wraith Cruiser
| Wraith Cruiser | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Letters from Pegasus |
| Affiliation | Wraith |
| General Characteristics | |
| Fighters | Wraith Darts |
| Armaments | Pulsed Energy Weapons |
| Defences | Organic Armored Hull Beaming Jammer |
| Propulsion | Sublight Engines Hyperdrive |
A Wraith Cruiser is a medium-size Wraith battleship. It is about as large as the Deadalus Class and is armed with powerfull Wraith energy weapons and heavily armored. It is equipped with a hyperdrive and is used to transport victims of a culling or as a scout.
A Wraith cruiser is armed with powerfull energy cannon which can fire quite rapidly. It has the ability to bombard a planet using several turrets on it's belly. The Cruiser's weapons are capable of depleting Ancient shields very quickly and a clean shot at an Aurora-class warship is capable of destroying the entire brigde section.
The Cruiser is equipped with four thrusters, that give it an incredible ability to manouvre. Unlike a hive-ship a Cruiser is capable of intercepting vessel at amazing speed. This speed allows it to evade even the most advanced Asgard weapons. The Wraith use this ship to attack or board a ship at close while a Wraith Hive-ship stays at great distance and fires salvos at the enemy. The cruiser is equipped with it's own hyperdrive, but can also be carried by a hive.
Just like a hive-ship a Wraith Cruiser is equipped with an organic armored hull. It can take a lot of shots from Earth's railguns. Also the Cruiser has a complement of Wraith Darts.("Travelers")
The interior of a cruiser is very similar to a Hive. The brigde has three or four consoles. With one of these the self-destruct can be activated and the systems can be blocked by a code. The cruiser also possess a brig very similar if not identical to those of an outpost.("The Kindred")
The first time the expedition encountered a cruiser was on a reconnaisance mission.("Letters from Pegasus") The ships were escorting tree hives when the Wraith were on their way to conquer Atlantis. Also we see the Wraith cruiser fighting the Daedalus during the counterstrike the expedition had planned. When the team was captured by Lt Ford he mentions that he escaped a cruiser on his own. We also see these ships when they are culling a planet after the prisoners escape through the Stargate. It is the first time we see the real firepower of the cruiser, because in earlier encounters it fires along with a lot of other ships.("Condemned")The ship also makes an appearance in the episode Travelers and it is in this episode that we learn that cruisers possess Darts.Near the end of season 4 Micheal uses a cruiser as his personal transport and engages the Daedalus, but has to withdraw soon. Most notable is the fact that this cruiser was able to evade the Asgard plasma beam weapon twice before jumping to hyperspace.
[edit] Wraith Dart
| Wraith Dart | |
|---|---|
 A Wraith Dart in the atmosphere of Lantea |
|
| First appearance | "Rising" |
| Affiliation | Wraith |
| References | "The Brotherhood" |
| General Characteristics | |
| Armaments | 2 Pulsed energy cannons |
| Propulsion | Sublight engines |
The Wraith Dart is a small, fast, one-man attack craft in the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis, the Dart is used by the Wraith, generally for culling planets of humans and also for space combat. The primary mission role of a Dart is the culling of humans for the Hive ships. They usually are dispatched through a Stargate or start from the larger ships if needed. If they reach the targeted area they use their culling beams to collect as many people as possible, which are later re-materialized on the Hive ships or on other locations to be fed on.[1] Each Hive contains hundreds of Darts, which are dispatched during a culling run or battle. It was later revealed that Wraith cruisers also house Darts but it is unknown how much such a ship carries.[2]
If necessary, the Darts can also be used as fighters deployed against other ships of similar size, or to attack a bigger target in large swarms. In battle, they use their energy weapons but also their culling beams. The culling beams can be used to beam away enemies from the ground or to beam Wraith soldiers directly to the attacking target. If their Hive ship is destroyed during an attack, the Darts generally start a kamikaze attack upon hostile targets in the area.[3] Furthermore, the large number of darts a Hive ship carries allows them to be effectively a form of 'shield' as the Darts are capable of sacrificing themselves in order to intercept missiles or drones, though drones have been seen dodging Darts attempting to intercept them.[4]
[edit] Technology
The Wraith Dart is capable of travel through a Stargate and is instrumental in acquiring humans to feed on.[1] Like all Wraith ships, the Dart has an organic design.[5] All Darts are assigned to a specific Wraith Hive-Ship. When the Dart approaches its mothership, it automatically activates an autopilot which flies the ship until it lands to allow for smooth docking. If the Dart has something stored in its storage device, the Dart gives the pilot the option of re-materializing the cargo.[6]
As the main mission role of a Dart is to cull humans, they are equipped with transport beams that sweep over the ground, de-materializing every person which comes into the beam without harming them.[1] The beams have also been used to transport Wraith soldiers to and from the surface of a planet, serving as a troop transport in addition to a culling craft.[3] The culling beam can also be used to scan targets, presumably for life forms to be transported.[7]
Because the Darts are built to fly through a Stargate, they are equipped with their own DHD to dial the nearest Stargate, similar to a Puddle Jumper. Also, the canopy appears to be a type of energy field that protects the pilot and becomes completely opaque. To fly it, the canopy is also used as a giant HUD projected on the roof of the cockpit that shows all information required to pilot the Dart.[6]
[edit] Tactical systems
The only weapons which a Dart houses are two forward firing energy weapons that fire in short pulses.[1] A head on, direct hit with a burst from the Dart's energy weapons is capable of destroying a Puddle Jumper instantly.[7] They do not possess guided weapon systems of any variety, meaning that they are at a great disadvantage when combating Puddle Jumpers (which possess the guided Drone weapons) or missile-armed F-302s.[5] Darts are also equipped with a self-destruct system, and can be modified for deep-penetration reconnaissance missions where they are capable of journeying from one system to another.[7]
Sustained machine gun fire from three M249 SAWs is enough to cause a Dart to crash land[8] and one shot from an AT4 is enough to destroy a dart mid-flight[1] as is even a glancing hit from an Earth railgun emplacement [3]
[edit] Wraith Hive-Ship
| Wraith Hive-Ship | |
|---|---|
 Hive-Ships in orbit of Lantea |
|
| First appearance | "Rising" |
| Affiliation | Wraith |
| General Characteristics | |
| Fighters | Wraith Darts |
| Armaments | Pulsed Energy Weapons |
| Defences | Organic Armored Hull Beaming Jammer |
| Propulsion | Sublight Engines Hyperdrive |
A Wraith Hive-Ship is a large Wraith mothership and a type of organic spacecraft, home to an untold number of Wraith who hibernate for centuries at a time[1] so that the humans in the Pegasus Galaxy have time to replenish themselves. The large ships are capable of interstellar travel[3] and landing on the surface of a planet[1][9]. They also have an enormous amount of firepower[10] and are protected by an organic armored hull which can regenerate itself[5].
The first Hive-Ship encountered by the Atlantis team was concealed beneath the surface of their home world - so much so that they did not realize it was a ship at all. It sat undisturbed on the surface for so long that tall trees grew on its dorsal surface. Only the Keeper and a small number of Wraith warriors were on guard to defend the sleeping race; after the Keeper was killed, the sleeping creatures began to awaken[1].
Each Hive-Ship functions like a carrier, accompanied by a huge number of Wraith darts and sometimes three Wraith cruisers[11].
[edit] Interior
The ships appear to have a bridge with three to four consoles present that are controlled telepathically by the Wraith (or someone with Wraith DNA like Teyla Emmagan) in the same way that the Puddle Jumpers can only be controlled by someone with the ATA Gene[12]. Deeper inside the craft lies a "Royal chamber" where the leader of the Hive-Ship sits[6][4][13]. A holographic system generates a misty screen in front of the throne to allow the Wraith a view of events[13].
The Hive-Ship contains an untold number of hibernation pods which are used by the Wraith for sleeping over centuries[1]. The ships also contain several holding cells for individuals waiting to be dealt by the Wraith. These cells are also controlled telepathically[1][10]. Another method of holding prisoners are a number of cocoon alcoves which are used to store humans for later feeding[5]. The alcoves use tentacle and spider-web like substances to hold the prisoners and can preserve people and prevent them from dying which is used only once on Lt. Ford who suffers from enzyme withdrawal[4].
One of the largest parts of the Hive-Ship is the hangar bay in which all the Wraith Darts are stored. The bays have a large number of honeycomb-like openings in the walls through which the Darts fly when they enter or leave the ship[6][10].
[edit] Technology
[edit] Offensive and Defensive Systems
A Wraith Hive-Ship has a large number of weapon ports stationed across the exterior of the ship. These ports rapidly fire blue energy pulses which are powerful enough to destroy another Hive-Ship after several hits[10]; working in concert with each other, Hive-Ships are able to bring down the Asgard designed shields of the Daedalus in less than an hour. The ship does not appear to have any point defence weapons to fight off smaller ships such as F-302s. However, the Wraith Dart has been shown to defend the hive from incoming fire[14].
After the Earth ship Daedalus used Asgard beams to transport nuclear warheads aboard three Hive-Ships, the Wraith reimplemented a jamming technology which prevented beaming objects either on or off a ship[14].
Significantly, the Hive-Ship differs from other known combat vessels of comparable size due to the fact that they do not have energy shields for defence during combat, something previously not encountered amongst ships constructed by technologically advanced alien races. Instead, they rely on an organic armoured hull which allows the ship a limited ability to repair itself (literally "healing" the damage). The hull and armour of the ships are shown to be able to withstand a direct hit from Mark III tactical naqahdah enhanced nuclear weapons, although the ship suffered serious damage and was rendered largely inoperable, but can only survive 3 hits from Asgard plasma beam weapons. This armour is also affected by hyperspace radiation which forces the ships to leave hyperspace after some time so that the hull can repair itself[5].
[edit] Propulsion
Due to the large size of a Hive-Ship, it is not as maneuverable as a Daedalus-class battlecruiser or Goa'uld Ha'tak class vessel[14]. However, as seen on "The Siege, Part 3" they are able to alter course to intercept ships quickly. It is also known that they can enter the atmosphere of a planet and break orbit when needed[5].
Like other races the Wraith Hive-Ships use hyperdrives for FTL travel. Their hyperdrives are however not as efficient as that used by other races, such as the Asgard [14]. Instead they have to travel in a series of jumps and, depending on the distance, must take breaks to allow the organic hull to recover from the effects of hyperspace radiation[12]. The Wraith Hive-Ships also do not have intergalactic hyperdrive capability but can be outfitted if the species gets access to the knowledge which is seen when the Wraith gain access to Ancient intergalactic hyperdrive technology by stealing the Aurora mission reports by hacking into Atlantis's central computer, after the Wraith falsely befriend them.
[edit] Size
Wraith Hive-Ships are among the largest known ships in the Stargate universe. Hive-Ships are at least 13 times larger than Earth's Daedalus class battlecruisers. It is unknown precisely how many Wraith each hive ship can carry, but the number is well into the thousands.
[edit] Destroyed Wraith Hive-Ship
The Atlantis team has destroyed 14 Hive Ships since coming to Atlantis. It is unknown how many Hive ships the Asurans destroyed when they were attacking the Wraith but one was destroyed in Be All My Sins Remember'd. According to a Wraith flight computer Atlantis captured from the Genii, there were originally at least 60 Active Wraith Hive-Ships in the galaxy
- Siege Pt. 1 - 1 Hive ship destroyed by reactivation of Lantian satellite weapon.
- Siege Pt. 3 - 4 hive ships destroyed. One via Puddle Jumper and 3 from transport.
- The Hive - 2 Hive ships destroy each other after one of the Queens is murdered.
- No Man's Land - 1 hive ship is destroyed by the Orion.
- Misbegotten - 1 hive ship destroyed by another hive ship.
- Pegasus Project - 1 hive ship destroyed.
- The Seer - 2 hives destroy each other.
- Be All My Sin's Remember'd - 1 hive ship destroyed.
- Spoils of War - 1 hive ship destroyed.
In the season 4 finale of Stargate Atlantis the Phoenix is seen destroying one hive ship with Asgard beam weapons and three more were destroyed when the Phoenix flew into one of them resulting in the other two blowing up, however this was an alternate timeline. Michael's Hive-Ship also destroyed two other hives that were weakened in battle with each other
[edit] Scout
Not much is known about the Wraith scout. They are larger than the darts but much smaller than the cruisers, serving as short-range transport vessels. They are carried by hive-ships, but do function independently ("Aurora") suggesting that they have hyperdrives.
It is possible that the small Wraith transport ship that was used to in season 2 finale episode was a Wraith scoutship however this is simple speculation. Concept art at the MGM website has an appearance of a scout ship which appeared as a bat winged space craft.
[edit] Supply ship
Used by the Wraith in the Ancient war, these ships carried hundreds, possibly thousands of Wraith victims, to be fed on at a later date. The crashed wreckage of one was seen in "The Defiant One", but the lack of an appearance of one since then seems to support McKay's theory that that model has been discontinued.
It is comparable in size to a Wraith Cruiser.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Rising". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Travelers". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c d "The Siege". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c "No Man's Land". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c d e f "Allies". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c d "The Lost Boys". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c "The Brotherhood". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Duet". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Underground". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c d "The Hive". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ "Letters from Pegasus". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b "Misbegotten". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b "Sateda". Stargate Atlantis.
- ^ a b c d "The Siege, Part 3". Stargate Atlantis.
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