Aurora class battleship
The Aurora-class battleship is a fictional class of spacecraft in the science fiction television series Stargate Atlantis. The Aurora class is primarily used by the Ancients in their struggle against the Wraith. Over the years the Atlantis expedition has come in contact with several of these ships, among them the Aurora and the Orion.
While it is not known what the Ancients' designation for this class of vessel is, the Aurora is the first of the type to be encountered by the Atlantis Expedition and the name is used by the expedition to describe further ships of the type.
Technology and design
The Aurora class are large battleships, equipped with advanced technologies. The Aurora class are vastly superior to the warships used by the Wraith, including Wraith Hive-Ships, and are capable of destroying them while suffering minimal damage. Specifications of the ship are not available, however it is large enough to carry a crew of over a thousand which is several times the maximum capacity of the Daedalus.
Offensive systems consist of drone weapons, self-guiding Ancient "missiles" which are capable of penetrating most defensive shields. It is unknown whether the ships have any other armaments. The drones on the Aurora class are shown to be controlled by a separate control chair, specifically designed for weapons. Nothing is said about whether the ships can fire salvos from the bridge as well. The vessel is protected by extremely powerful energy shields which have an orange-like color. The shields of an Aurora class battleship are contoured around the ship; however unlike an extra hull, the shields retain a bubbled shape. The self-destruct is not only powerful enough to vaporize the vessel itself but also anything within at least a two kilometer radius, including nearby ships.
Other technology includes Ancient stasis pods, supposed to be utilized by the crew in a state of emergency. These pods can be modified so their occupants can participate in a virtual construct, thereby allowing their minds to remain active during a long voyage. The pods interface directly with the ship's computer so the crew may also work on tasks while they slumber. Like previously discovered Ancient stasis pods these devices do not halt the aging process, they merely [...] The Effects of aging. Over prolonged periods of stasis, such as entire millennia, the person within the pod ages to such an extent that if revived they will eventually die.
The first Aurora class battleship encountered contains 329 crew members, however the ship can hold more people in emergencies.
The Aurora is equipped with an interstellar hyperdrive for travel between solar systems. This hyperdrive can be converted from interstellar to intergalactic with a great deal of effort, allowing the ship to cross the vast distances between galaxies. Sublight propulsion systems are used for travel over shorter distances. The ship also has the capability to hover over the surface of a planet.
The episode "Travelers" reveals that the bridge possesses a command chair which allows for navigation and piloting functions. An Ancient Control Chair located adjacent to the bridge can also control weapon systems, including the ship's complement of drones. An auxiliary control room allows for redundant control of the ship, and also present is a prison cell similar to the one in Atlantis.
Encountered battleships
Aurora
Originally on a reconnaissance mission to deliver important information about a weakness of the Wraith to the Atlantean Council, the Aurora is badly damaged in a fight, forcing the crew of the Aurora to enter the stasis pods and await rescue from Atlantis. However, they were believed dead by the Ancients and thus abandoned, leaving the crew to slumber and slowly age over ten thousand years.
After the Atlantis Expedition installs a ZPM in Atlantis, a beacon calling all Ancient ships back to Atlantis is simultaneously activated. The Aurora subsequently activates its engines, although it would still take millions of years for the Aurora to arrive at sub-light speed. The Daedalus is dispatched with a team from Atlantis, in an attempt to access the vessel.
However, a Wraith scout ship also discovered the vessel, and gains access to its systems. After [...] first officer Trebal, a Wraith takes her place inside her stasis pod, accessing the virtual reality the crew was experiencing. This Wraith's ultimate goal is to manipulate the crew of the Aurora into teaching him how to upgrade their hyperdrive technology. The Aurora's captain is no longer aware that they are in fact experiencing an artificial environment, and does not realize that he is being fooled by the enemy.
When John Sheppard enters the environment, the Captain suspects that he might have been telling the truth, but the Wraith impersonating Trebal convinces him Sheppard is lying. After Sheppard reveals that Trebal is a Wraith and eventually manages to explain the situation, the Aurora captain offers the information concerning the weakness in Wraith technology to Sheppard, but it has already been deleted from the database by the invading Wraith. With two Wraith cruisers approaching the Aurora and their bodies too aged to function on their own, the Captain instructs Sheppard how to activate the self destruct sequence. The Aurora and all hands on board are destroyed, taking two Wraith cruisers with them. The Captain's last wish is that Sheppard and his team will keep the memory of the Aurora and its valiant crew alive.
Orion
The Orion is discovered in the hangar bay of an Ancient outpost on the planet Taranis in the Pegasus Galaxy. There, the vessel had slumbered, abandoned for thousands of years after being damaged in battle, until a people, the Taranians, settled there and began to investigate the outpost. However, with their technology being too primitive to make any repairs, the Orion remained mostly inoperable until scientists from the Atlantis Expedition arrive and salvaged the ship.
The name Orion is chosen by Sheppard, as the suggested name Enterprise seemed unfitting to him (in contrast to Jack O'Neill's vocal support for giving that name to the Prometheus). The Ancient name for the ship, Hippaforalkus (the name of a Lantean general), is not considered.
However, the continuous drawing of geothermal energy to power the outpost's shield by the Taranians had destabilized the underlying super-volcano, eventually causing a cataclysmic eruption. In order to evacuate the remaining settlers, the hyperdrive is repaired by Rodney McKay and used to exit the bay. Orion emerges in Taranis's orbit, just as the volcano erupts below. The ship is subsequently loaned to the Atlantis Expedition by the Taranis chancellor in exchange for helping his people resettle. Several weeks later, the Orion, under the command of Lt. Col. Sheppard, is used in defence of Atlantis from a possible Wraith attack on the city. At the time, Orion is unable to fire weapons, but has propulsion and partial shields. Its drone weapons remain non-functional.
After an alliance with a Wraith hive backfires, the Orion is sent to stop two Wraith Hive Ships from reaching the Milky Way. Major Lorne and Dr. Radek Zelenka attempt to transfer shield power to the drone weapons, which results in bringing the weapons online, but makes Orion vulnerable to Wraith weapons. Once Orion deploys its first salvo of drone weapons, destroying a Hive Ship, the second hive opens fire on the Orion's unprotected hull. As a result, the ship is destroyed, but not before its crew is successfully evacuated to the Daedalus.
It is revealed in Vengeance by Lt. Col. Sheppard that the Taranians are not happy to hear that the Orion has been destroyed.
Tria
During the testing of the network of Stargates connecting Atlantis and Earth, the Daedalus discovered an Ancient ship, said by Dr. McKay to possibly be Aurora class, traveling to Earth at a speed of 99.9% the speed of light. Due to relativity, only a few years had passed for the crew, and the hundred or so Ancients were eventually returned to Atlantis. The ship's commander, Helia, took control of Atlantis and sent the expedition back to Earth. The Tria's engines were being powered by a Zero Point Module that allowed them to travel at such a high speed in real-time, which was later installed in Atlantis to power the city following the Tau'ri withdrawal. The ship's current whereabouts are unknown, as its hyperdrive engine was burnt out beyond the repair of the Ancients themselves it is probably still close to Midpoint Station
Travelers' Ancient ship
When Colonel Sheppard is captured by a race of people known as the Travelers, he finds out that they want to use him because of his Ancient gene. The Travelers soon introduce Sheppard to an Ancient warship they found over 200 years ago orbiting a dwarf star. According to the ship's log, its crew were attacked by the Wraith. Their shields were down, the communications array and sublight engines were damaged but they managed to escape into hyperspace. However the Ancients abandoned the ship when its main drive was leaking lethal radiation due to battle damage.
Soon after the Travelers let Sheppard into the control chair of the ship, Sheppard takes the ship into hyperspace. The leader of the Travelers, Larrin, convinces Sheppard to shut down the hyperdrive due to radiation in the control room. Sheppard is then put in the ship's brig and held there. Not long after, a Wraith cruiser drops out of hyperspace and attacks the warship, prompting Larrin to allow Sheppard to attack the Wraith ship with drones. With a final shot, the Wraith destroy the forward section of the Ancient vessel including the bridge. Four Wraith manage to board the Ancient ship by flying darts into the hangar bay, though they are quickly dealt with. Several other Traveler ships also exit hyperspace nearby, having been searching for the Ancient ship since it disappeared from the fleet. Repairs are completed to the hyperdrive and the fleet departs the system, but not before Sheppard is let go in his puddle jumper. The name of this warship was not revealed.
This warship later returned investigating a gathering of seven Wraith Hive Ships above a planet under the command of Larrin. The Hive Ships had already jumped but they encountered a Puddle Jumper crewed by John Sheppard, his team and a Wraith. The Jumper landed on board and Sheppard convinced Larrin to have the Travelers join the fleet they were amassing to attack the Replicators. The warship apparently later traveled to Atlantis as Larrin joined a briefing there and later knew the location of the city. The scientists of Atlantis made it battle-worthy and it joined the Battle of Asuras with Sheppard on board to fire drones from the Weapons Chair. It survived the battle and during the course of the battle destroyed an Asuran ship that very nearly escaped to hyperspace.
Other ships
During a flashback sequence in the episode "Progeny", multiple Aurora-class battleships are shown bombarding the Asuran home planet. The Ancient fleet also includes other warships of as-yet unidentified design, confirming that the Aurora class is not the only type used by the Ancients.
Asuran Warships
In "The Seer", a vision shared with Samantha Carter by a man with precognition shows an Aurora-class battleship firing on Atlantis and destroying the central control tower. The implication is that the Asurans will destroy the city, but misinterpretation of portents is a frequent theme of the episode. This is resolved in "This Mortal Coil" when the city-ship in the vision is shown to be a copy of Atlantis containing flesh-and-blood copies of Col. Sheppard's team along with Dr. Weir, and manned by rebel Asurans who have taken the form of Atlantis personnel in order to study ascension. Faced with the destruction of this city by the main Asuran fleet, the rebel Asurans allow the copies to leave in order to provide the real Atlantis with a device capable of tracking all of the Asuran Aurora-class vessels operating in the Pegasus galaxy.
External links
- "Aurora class" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
es:Cruceros de batalla clase Aurora