HA'TAK

The Goa'uld ha'tak class vessel, or pyramid ship, is an attack vessel, also referred to as a mothership. It is capable of hyperdrive at many times the speed of light, is heavily armed, shielded, large enough to carry thousands of warriors and to launch a legion of death gliders against the enemy, and capable of destroying a planet from space. Typically a Goa'uld flagship is several times the size of the ha'tak class. A ha'tak mothership is powered by crystal technology and controlled from the peltac, or bridge. The main screen on the bridge uses a force field because there is no transparent material capable of withstanding the velocity or temporal displacement of hyperspace travel. The glider bays are also equipped with force fields that allow ships to enter and exit without having to depressurize the hangar. Ha'tak motherships are equipped with ring transporters and escape pods, and it is possible for a ha'tak to carry a stargate, which would use the coordinates of its given point in space. Despite their size, ha'tak ships are capable of landing, and pyramid structures on planets such as Earth or Abydos are built as landing pedestals for the ha'tak motherships.

The Goa'uld had hundreds of these vessels, and System Lords operated entire fleets. Goa'uld ha'tak vessels are no match for Asgard motherships, however certain System Lords had incorporated technological advances that made some ha'tak vessels even more formidable. Apophis was able to cloak his entire fleet of ships, Anubis developed weapons of immense power and shields impervious even to Tollan ion cannons, and Ba'al's ha'tak fleet had access to Asgard beaming technology.

Teal'c, Bra'tac, and Jacob are all capable of piloting a ha'tak vessel. Although SG-1 had captured two ha'tak vessels from Cronus and Anubis, both were lost. Cronus's ship crashed during reentry on Delmak, and Anubis's ship was lost in the Pacific Ocean. Since then, as the Tok'ra and Rebel Jaffa movement acquired a number of Goa'uld ships, the SGC also had access to ha'tak vessels through their allies. Since the defeat of the System Lords at Dakara, the Jaffa Nation has absorbed most of the ha'tak vessels formerly used by the Goa'uld, and other races formerly under Goa'uld control, such as the Lucian Alliance, have also acquired a fleet of ha'tak vessels. Many of these vessels faced the Ori invasion as Ori warships entered the galaxy through the supergate, however ha'tak vessels are far inferior to the Ori ships in size, shields, and weapons.

Cross Reference: Alkesh, Crystals, Death Glider, Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle, Force Field, Goa'uld Language, Hyperspace, Peltac, Teltac

First Introduced: Within the Serpent's Grasp

Significant Episode Reference: The Serpent's Lair, The Serpent's Venom, Exodus, Enemies, Descent, Full Circle, Fallen, Lost City, Reckoning, Off the Grid, Camelot, Flesh and Blood, Company of Thieves