Daedalus

"Sister ship of the Prometheus&mdash;I didn't even know it was finished."

- Rodney McKay

The Daedalus is the first BC-304 produced by the Tau'ri and the second generation of interstellar capital ship developed by the United States military. Assigned to the Fast Attack Wing, her standard mission has been to ferry equipment and personnel between Earth and Atlantis, assisting the Atlantis expedition as needed. It is currently under the command of Colonel Steven Caldwell.

The Daedalus is armed with 32 Railguns, Mark VIII and IX tactical warheads, and a bay of F-302 fighter-interceptors. It also possesses Asgard shields and beaming technology. Unlike its predecessor, the Prometheus, Asgard defensive equipment was installed during the ship's production rather than added after the fact. Following the extinction of the Asgard race, the Daedalus (as well as all other BC-304s) was retrofitted with Asgard plasma beam weapons. Propulsion consists of standard thrusters as well as an Asgard hyperdrive, capable of traveling between Earth and Atlantis in 18 days without the use of a Zero Point Module. Originally, to ensure that their technologies were not abused, an Asgard engineering expert was provided to monitor the ship's systems for the first two years of its operation. Following the Daedalus being put into service, it began acting as the main Tau'ri ship servicing Atlantis though the Apollo occasionally took up this duty and the Odyssey once did on a special occasion.

Commanding Officers

 * Colonel Steven Caldwell (2005- present)
 * Major Laval (temporary)
 * Colonel Sobel (alternate reality)

Known Crew

 * Lt. Colonel Patrick Bishop - Navigator (Allies)
 * Lt. Colonel Melissa Hocken (302 Pilot, transferred to the George Hammond temporarily)
 * Major Evan Lorne - F-302 pilot (First Strike)
 * Major Kevin Marks - Pilot and Weapons Officer
 * Captain/Major Pat Meyers - Navigator (The Siege, Part 3)
 * Captain Megan Cooper - Navigator (Aurora)
 * Captain Dave Kleinman - Weapons Officer
 * Captain Hugh Griffin (Grace Under Pressure)
 * Captain Frank Levine (Adrift)
 * Lt. Mark Stuart - Communications Officer
 * Hutchinson - Daedalus security (The Long Goodbye)
 * Anders - F-302 fighter-interceptor Pilot (No Man's Land)
 * Dr. Peter Kavanagh (Enemy at the Gate)
 * Dr. Monroe - Engineering (The Intruder)
 * Dr. Lindsey Novak - Engineer
 * Hermiod - Asgard Advisor
 * Marine

The Siege of Atlantis
After getting Atlantis' message about the coming Wraith attack, Stargate Command enacted a plan to defend Atlantis by sending a team of Marines led by Colonel Dillon Everett to Atlantis and then beaming a recently-found ZPM to the Daedalus. With the ZPM powering the Daedalus Asgard hyperdrive, the Daedalus could reach Atlantis within four days to aid in the battle. The Daedalus eventually arrives as Major John Sheppard is making a suicide run on one of the hive ships and beams him aboard after learning of his plight and getting him to decloak his Puddle Jumper. The Daedalus is then detected by Atlantis and informs the city of their presence, sending down the ZPM so that the Atlantis shield can be powered up. After sending down the ZPM, the Daedalus engages the remaining hive ship, escorting Wraith cruisers and defending Wraith Darts. At Sheppard's suggestion, the crew fires Mark VIII tactical nuclear warheads at the hive ship, but they are intercepted by Wraith Darts. Instead, on Sheppard's suggestion, Dr. Lindsey Novak gets Asgard engineer Hermiod to beam a nuclear weapon directly onto the hive ship, destroying it. The remaining cruisers retreat into hyperspace before the Daedalus can destroy them, but the surviving Darts make a suicide run on Atlantis with the Daedalus unable to intercept. Luckily, Atlantis is able to raise its shield in time to protect against the attack.

Following the destruction of the Wraith fleet, the Daedalus remains in orbit until twelve more hive ships are detected approaching. At the suggestion of Sheppard, the Daedalus travels 50 light years away to launch a first strike on the incoming Wraith fleet when they emerge from hyperspace. Through beaming nuclear warheads, the Daedalus destroys two more hive ships before the Wraith jam the transport. The Daedalus engages the fleet directly, but after taking damage and having two cruisers move in to send boarding parties, flees into hyperspace. Reaching Atlantis shortly before the Wraith fleet, the Daedalus lands for repairs and the protection of the Atlantis shield. After a plan is created to fool the Wraith into thinking that Atlantis has been destroyed, all non-essential personnel, particularly the injured are sent aboard the Daedalus which beams a nuclear warhead above the Atlantis shield on command. The detonation fakes a self-destruct after which Atlantis cloaks. After a tense wait, the Daedalus sensors inform everyone that the Wraith fleet is breaking orbit and the trick worked.

Two months later, the Daedalus ferries the Atlantis senior staff and new personnel to Atlantis. At the edge of the Pegasus galaxy, only a few days away from Atlantis, Doctors Monroe and Lindstrom are killed investigating a series of technical malfunctions and its discovered that the Daedalus was infected with a Wraith computer virus during the Daedalus engagement with them. After discovery, the virus broadcasts a distress signal to draw in the Wraith, forcing Sheppard to destroy the Daedalus long-range transmitter and consequently, Asgard sensor array. A full system shutdown and reboot from backups is performed, but the virus survives by uploading itself to the Daedalus F-302s and sends the ship on a course for the coronasphere of a nearby star in order to kill the crew and take full control of the ship. After Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay remove the navigation computers from all of the F-302s in the Daedalus fighter bay, a second shutdown is attempted and also fails. Finally, after Sheppard and McKay destroy a rogue F-302 controlled by the virus, a third system shutdown successfully eradicates it and the crew regains control of the Daedalus. The Daedalus then finishes ferrying the Atlantis expedition members back to the city.

Duties in Pegasus
While returning to Earth from a routine resupply mission, Colonel Caldwell decided to divert the Daedalus to drop by and check on Sheppard and McKay's efforts to harness the ultimate power source. After the power source started to overload, Sheppard and McKay fled in a Puddle Jumper to escape through the Stargate before the explosion wiped out 5/6 of the solar system. However, the power source's weapon made a run on the Stargate very dangerous as Sheppard had to fly zigzag to avoid the weapon's blasts. As Sheppard tried to figure out a safe way through the Stargate, the Daedalus positioned itself between the blasts and his ship and Colonel Caldwell told Sheppard to get through the Stargate as the Daedalus ran interference for him. Thanks to the Daedalus, which suffered several hits from the weapon but no visible damage, Sheppard and McKay were able to make it through the Stargate to safety. Moments later, the Daedalus jumped to hyperspace just before the explosion.

After Sheppard's team and Doctors Radek Zelenka and Miko Kusanagi disappear, the Daedalus is sent to search for them with Major Lorne and Doctor Beckett. Despite the crew's best efforts, they are unable to locate any sign of the team before the Quantum Mirror activates and spits out destroyed Wraith Darts and pieces of a destroyed scout ship. Novak then detects what Hermiod confirms is a Puddle Jumper just before the Mirror's singularity starts to detach and close which will destroy the Mirror. The Daedalus is unable to reach the Jumper which they speculate is on automatic pilot so at the urging of Hermiod, Caldwell has the Daedalus fly in closer and pull the Puddle Jumper into the 302 bay via tractor beam. As a hive ship arrives, the Daedalus escapes into hyperspace before the hive ship can scan it. The Daedalus then carries the injured team back to Atlantis.

When Sheppard is infected with the iratus bug retrovirus, the Daedalus is at Atlantis where Novak and Hermiod work on a diagnostic on the hyperdrive due to worries about the strain from using it so much to travel between galaxies. When a cure is successfully administered to Sheppard, Caldwell tells Weir that the Daedalus will be departing in less than a week.

When Atlantis picked up a signal from the Ancient warship Aurora, the Daedalus is sent to carry Sheppard's team to the Aurora as its nowhere near any Stargates. Upon arrival, the Daedalus destroys a Wraith scout ship and stays in close proximity while Sheppard's team investigates the derelict ship. The Daedalus eventually detects two Wraith cruisers approaching but is prevented from destroying the Aurora by Sheppard's continuing presence on board. When Sheppard and McKay beam back, they have the Daedalus pull back to a safe distance as Sheppard has activated the Aurora's self-destruct. As the Daedalus monitors, the explosion destroys the Aurora and the Wraith cruisers. Before returning to Atlantis, the Daedalus crew is able to determine that the Wraith were not able to gain access to any of the information on the Aurora before it was destroyed.

After the disappearance of Sheppard's team, the Daedalus crew pushed their engines to get to Atlantis a bit earlier than they normally would've arrived to lend a hand. By the time the Daedalus arrived, McKay had returned, though nearly incoherent from a massive dose of Wraith enzyme he had taken to escape. After recovering, McKay directed the Daedalus to Edowin where the hive ship Sheppard and the others are on is going to cull. Upon arrival, the Daedalus discovers two hive ships and is unable to make contact with Sheppard. Unwilling to risk information about Atlantis falling into the wrong hands, Caldwell has the Daedalus engage the hive ships in battle. The Daedalus once more proves to be outmatched, but Sheppard is able to get the Wraith to fire upon each other. After the Wraith destroy themselves, the crew finds no sign of survivors and search with no luck for Sheppard.

Unknown to anyone, Colonel Caldwell was at some point taken as a host by a Goa'uld operative who rigged the Atlantis ZPM to overload and destroy the city when Atlantis dialed Earth next. This planned explosion was set to occur while the Daedalus was on a return trip to Earth, but the NID uncovered the plot and warned Stargate Command. Dr. Bill Lee was able to come up with a plan where a science team on P4M-399 broadcast a message to the Daedalus so they could pass a warning onto Atlantis. Hermiod was able to modify the Daedalus hyperdrive to reach speeds that would be dangerous after a period of time, but allowed the Daedalus to reach a point that it could broadcast a warning to Atlantis just barely in time to stop the destruction of the city. The Daedalus then maintained a position where it could relay messages between Earth and Atlantis before Weir recalled the ship, suspecting the saboteur might be on the Daedalus crew. After the city's ZPM started to overload, the Daedalus was enlisted to take most of the Atlantis personnel and the Athosians to the Light Bugs' Planet for safety. Lt. Laura Cadman eventually identified Caldwell as the saboteur and he was beamed to the Atlantis conference room where his possession by a Goa'uld was uncovered. The threat was averted when Sheppard used a taser to give Caldwell back control long enough to give them the needed access code to avert the overload. With the threat ended, Hermiod used the Daedalus transporter to extract the Goa'uld from Caldwell.

During one of the Daedalus trips to Atlantis, the ship was near a Jovian planet's atmosphere testing new hydrogen ram scoop technology when it was diverted to the planet Halcyon where Sheppard and his team were attempting to destroy a Wraith hive ship. When the Daedalus arrived, McKay realized the shape on the hive ship's sensors was wrong to be another Wraith ship and realized it to be the Daedalus. However, the Daedalus came in primed for battle and the Wraith Scar activated a self-destruct program in the hopes of destroying the Daedalus as well as his ship. As the self-destruct began, McKay tried to reach the Daedalus and warn them off to no avail. The arrival of the Daedalus sparked fear in the locals who believed it to be another Wraith ship before Caldwell contacted Doctor Beckett to let him know it was them and they had survived the explosion. The Daedalus had been able to beam out Sheppard's team and the Halcyonites before the explosion, but the explosion was powerful enough to flip the Daedalus over, blow out the shields in a single surge of power, cause numerous hull breaches and injuries, damage many systems and almost destroy the ship. Colonel Caldwell commented that they needed to thank General Hank Landry for insisting on shield upgrades which had saved the ship. Afterwards, the Daedalus off-loaded supplies meant for Atlantis to help the people of Halcyon and some of the ship's engineers began helping the locals with plans for new irrigation systems, water supplies and similar things to aid in improving the Halcyonites' standard of living.

Shortly after the destruction of the Prometheus in the Battle of Tegalus, the SGC loses contact with the people from Tegalus. In order to find out what happened, the Daedalus is diverted to the planet on its way back from Atlantis. The Daedalus discovers that the Rand Protectorate and Caledonian Federation went to war after SG-1 left and apparently destroyed each other, leaving behind a devastated planet with the Stargate presumably buried in the rubble.

On a trip not long after the Goa'uld attempt to destroy Atlantis was averted, Hermiod began effecting repairs to the Daedalus hyperdrive that required the ship to go on a loop of the solar system. During this time, Caldwell beams down to Atlantis to try to repair the relationships damaged by the Goa'uld. When Thalan knocks out the city's main power and thus primary systems, Caldwell suggests calling in the Daedalus to use its sensors to locate Thalan and Phoebus. However, subspace communications are also down so they are unable to reach the Daedalus for help.

After losing contact with Sheppard's team on the planet Taranis that is experiencing a supervolcano eruption, Weir dispatches the Daedalus which is on its way back from Earth to help. Arriving in orbit, the Daedalus makes contact with Sheppard who requests that the ship be used to ferry the Taranians to Atlantis. While Caldwell agrees, the Daedalus will require four trips with a 12 hour time for each trip. In the first trip, the Daedalus transports several hundred refugees, including the most seriously wounded. Upon return to the planet, the Daedalus finds the supervolcano on the verge of eruption and beams out a small group of life signs, the only life signs they can detect on the planet. Amongst the group is Ronon and Teyla who were cut off from the rest of the team who are trying to repair the Orion and were on the verge of suffocation. The Daedalus maintains orbit around Taranis and monitors the eruption. Moments after the eruption happens, the Orion emerges from hyperspace in front of the Daedalus and Sheppard informs the relieved crew that they have everybody on board. The Daedalus then ferries all of the people back to Atlantis.

Alliance with the Wraith
Three weeks later, in preparation for a coming hive ship, the Daedalus took a position just outside of Atlantis' sensor range ready to make a hyperspace jump to Atlantis to fight if needed with the Orion nearby, marginally ready to do the same. After the hive ship arrives, everyone is surprised when Michael contacts Atlantis, asking to talk. The team decides to use the Daedalus as a relay to communicate with Michael to prevent being easily tracked. Later, when the alliance with the Wraith is formed, the Daedalus is allowed to land at Atlantis without incident and McKay and Hermiod start work on breaking the Wraith jamming code by attempting to use the Daedalus to beam an innocuous canister to the hive ship while its jamming them. The Daedalus later monitors the first test of the weaponized Iratus bug retrovirus and engages a hive ship in battle briefly to give the allied hive ship time to escape to hyperspace. Later, as part of a new strategy, the Daedalus was to fly extremely close to the allied hive ship in order to beam the retrovirus to a different hive ship. Upon exiting hyperspace, the Daedalus came under fire from two hive ships, one of which was the "friendly" before the ship could raise shields. During the following battle, the Daedalus was heavily outgunned and sustained heavy damage, particularly as it took fire with its shields down. An F-302 attack led by Sheppard was launched to take out the hive ships hyperdrives with no luck. As the Daedalus recalled fighters and prepared to flee, the hive ships suddenly jumped to hyperspace. Confused and finding no sign of Sheppard, Caldwell orders the Daedalus to return to Atlantis.

Following the disasterous battle, the Daedalus returns to Atlantis where its quickly realized that the hive ships are heading for Earth. With Earth unable to send ships of its own to counter the threat, Doctor Elizabeth Weir decides to redeploy the Daedalus accompanied by the Orion to stop the hive ships before they can get to Earth. Doctor Radek Zelenka is able to determine where the hive ships will drop out of hyperspace in the void between two galaxies, but Colonel Caldwell is reluctant to commit the Daedalus as the ship has suffered severe damage and is unlikely to survive another battle. Caldwell eventually agrees and after emergency repairs are effected, the Daedalus and the Orion launch with Hermiod transferring all non-essential power to the shield so it will hold longer and Caldwell having all of the Daedalus Mark III tactical nuclear warheads loaded for immediate firing.

Upon exiting hyperspace, the Daedalus opens fire on the "friendly" hive ship with a single missile making it through the screening Wraith Darts, causing serious damage to the ship. In the battle that follows, the Daedalus continues to exchange fire with one of the hive ships while the Orion arrives and destroys the other with a drone weapon barrage. Due to the Orion sacrificing shields to fire, the Daedalus is forced to beam the crew aboard before the Orion is destroyed and then Sheppard's team and Michael when they arrive in a stolen Wraith scout ship. Though Michael has disabled the hive ship's jamming code, the Daedalus is out of nuclear weapons and instead fires its railguns into the hive ship's Dart Bay at point-blank range, disabling the hive ship. However, the Daedalus shield is depleted and the ship takes heavy damage, knocking out life support. With not enough time to repair life support before the crew suffocates, the Daedalus sends the retrovirus gas over to the hive ship, turning the crew into Human-form Wraith and allowing the Daedalus crew to hijack the hive ship.

Following the capture of the hive ship, the Daedalus crew is able to repair life support, but hyperdrive remains off-line. After the hive ship's hyperdrive is repaired, the Daedalus is carried back to Atlantis in its Dart Bay. Upon arrival, the Daedalus disembarks from the hive ship and lands at Atlantis to begin extensive repairs to the severely damaged ship. After its discovered that a second Wraith hive ship is heading towards M8G-352 where the Human-form Wraith have been left, the idea of sending the Daedalus is discussed, but Weir tells the Atlantis command staff that the Daedalus hyperdrive still needs another day before it will be repaired. Instead, Sheppard's team takes the captured hive ship to the planet. Once Hermiod reluctantly confirms that the Daedalus is capable of hyperspace travel once more, Colonel Caldwell decides to take the ship to M8G-352 in case Sheppard and his team need help. Upon arrival at the planet, the Daedalus finds only a debris field from the destruction of the captured hive ship and no life signs in the field or on the planet. To the crew's relief, Sheppard and his team are revealed to have escaped in a cloaked Puddle Jumper. The team is similarly relieved to see the Daedalus as they had no way home without a starship. The Daedalus then ferries Sheppard's team back to Atlantis.

After the end of the alliance with the Wraith, the Daedalus is forced to undergo repairs for quite some time, something Sheppard reminds McKay of due to McKay's enthusiasm to harvest Stargates for the McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge.

Further duties
After Ronon Dex was captured by the Wraith and made a Runner once more, the repaired Daedalus was enlisted to transport Sheppard, Teyla, McKay and Beckett to Sateda to rescue him as the Wraith had disabled Sateda's Stargate. Though Colonel Caldwell was reluctant due to the likelihood of a hive ship being in orbit and the Daedalus not faring well against them in the ship's previous engagements, he ultimately agreed to take them close enough to Sateda to go the rest of the way in a Puddle Jumper. After Ronon's rescue, the Daedalus carries the team back to Atlantis.

While being mind-probed by the Replicators, Sheppard imagines Atlantis suffering a Wraith attack and asks about the Daedalus. In the simulated world, based on his own concept of the world around him, Sheppard is told that the Daedalus is weeks away and couldn't handle the seven hive ships that have appeared.

When McKay attempts to convince his sister Jeannie Miller to help with his calculations for the matter bridge, the Daedalus is in Earth orbit. McKay takes advantage of this by triggering a locator beacon to have himself and Jeannie beamed to the Daedalus in order to help convince Jeannie to help him. After Jeannie agrees, the Daedalus departs on its next trip to Atlantis, carrying McKay and Jeannie who utilize the time to work on their math with the help of Hermiod. When the matter bridge is going to be collapsed, Rod tells McKay that he has decided to have the Daedalus, still in Atlantis orbit, beam him into the energy stream on McKay's command so he can use it to return to his own universe. On Rod's signal, Hermiod beams Rod out of Atlantis and then into the energy stream on McKay's signal. Following the conclusion of the project, the Daedalus returns Jeannie to Earth due to Atlantis' ZPM being depleted collapsing the matter bridge.

After losing contact with Sheppard's team on M1B-129, Weir questions Doctor Radek Zelenka about the idea of sending the Daedalus to check on them. Zelenka tells her that the Daedalus is still on its way back from Earth and is a day or two away, rendering it an impossible option. Later, after Sheppard and Teyla shut down the mind manipulator, they are able to make contact with Atlantis and Weir redirects the Daedalus to rescue them as the planet's DHD has been destroyed. Weir also sends through the supplies they will need until the Daedalus arrives by nightfall on M1B-129.

When the McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge is completed, the Daedalus is sent to the unfinished Midway Station in the void between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies to observe the first test. After arriving, the Daedalus sensors detect a weird echo, but the test proceeds successfully, with Sheppard using the Gate Bridge to travel from Atlantis to Earth in a Puddle Jumper upon which the Daedalus gets confirmation that Sheppard had reached Earth. After Sheppard makes it through to Earth, McKay realizes that the weird echo the Daedalus is picking up is an object traveling at .999% of the speed of light. After Sheppard returns, a plan is made where the Daedalus uses its hyperdrive to get ahead of the object and then maxes out the sublight engines to get a sensor scan. The Daedalus sensors determines the object to be an Ancient Aurora-class battleship, the Tria and they are contacted by Captain Helia. The Daedalus ferries the Ancient survivors back to Atlantis and after the expedition is kicked out of the city, carries most of their equipment back to Earth.

Six weeks after the expedition is kicked out of Atlantis, the city is taken over by the Asurans. Following the standing orders of Major General Jack O'Neill, General Hank Landry sends the Daedalus to destroy the city with a nuclear warhead. Landry questions the Atlantis senior staff for the best location for the Daedalus to deploy the warhead, telling them the Daedalus will reach Atlantis in a little under four days. Despite the senior staff, Ronon and Teyla undertaking a mission to retake the city, Landry decides to go ahead with the destruction of the city and orders the Daedalus, waiting at the Midway Station to go ahead. When their original plan to destroy the Asurans fails, the team comes up with a new plan utilizing the Daedalus indirectly. As part of the plan, the team tricks the Asurans into thinking that they intend to destroy the Atlantis shield emitters so that when the Daedalus arrives, the ship can destroy the city. The Asurans fall for the trick and when they detect the Daedalus on approach, raise the shield. Unknown to them, the team has modified the shields to emit an anti-Replicator wave that destroys all of the Asurans. Having retaken Atlantis, the team then contacts the Daedalus to call off the attack. While Caldwell is reluctant to believe them, he agrees to send down a team of Marines to check out their story first. Once Atlantis is confirmed under human control once more, the Daedalus stands down.

During the time the Flagisallus are negatively effecting the Atlantis expedition, the Daedalus arrives in orbit on one of its scheduled visits. However, Weir warns the crew not to beam down and informs Caldwell of the situation. Though Caldwell advocates killing the Flagisallus, Weir refuses. The Daedalus later takes on patients from the Atlantis infirmary, filling up the ship's infirmary, but it does little good due to the number of new patients coming in. After its discovered that a massive coronal mass ejection is coming that will wipe out all life on Lantea, Sheppard comes up with a plan to use the Daedalus to deflect the blast wave. As part of Sheppard's plan, the Daedalus positions itself dangerously close to the sun with a ZPM boosting the Daedalus shields. As a result, when the CME erupts from the sun, it strikes the Daedalus almost immediately and is deflected around the ship with the ship acting like an umbrella. While the ZPM boosted shields protect the Daedalus from the CME itself, the heat build up behind the shield causes the Daedalus to suffer some burned off hull plating, failed bow sensors and hull breaches in the 302 bay and Deck Four, the latter of which causes the ship to vent atmosphere. However, the CME subsides before the ship can take serious damage and Lantea is saved as a result.

As part of a plan conceived by Doctor Daniel Jackson to destroy the Ori, the Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy blocking the Supergate needs to be destroyed. To accomplish this, its decided that the Daedalus will be used to beam a Mark IX nuclear warhead behind the Stargate after SG-1 determines that Daniel's intel is correct and is not a trap by Adria to reopen the Supergate and let the Ori fleet through. After taking control of the Ori warship with Sangraal on it, Daniel has Major General Jack O'Neill signal the Daedalus from the Odyssey through the Supergate connection. On O'Neill's signal, the Daedalus destroys the Stargate, allowing Daniel to send the Ori warship and Sangraal through to the Alteran Home Galaxy and destroy the Ori.

Worried about the situation on M4D-058, Weir diverts the Daedalus to the planet on the ship's way back to Earth. After seeing that Geldar and Hallona are on the verge of war, Caldwell grows worried about Sheppard's team and has the Daedalus beam them out. However, Sheppard concocts a plan to avert the impending war and convinces Caldwell to use the Daedalus to help. As part of the plan, McKay hacks into the portal computer terminals on the planet and has the Daedalus broadcast a doomsday scenario for each country to the terminals. In order to add an element of realism, the Daedalus fires pinpoint shots at locations in each country, causing harmless explosions that make it seem like they are under attack during the war they believe they are fighting. The plan works and the Geldaran and Hallonan leaders return to the negotiating table.

After barely escaping Michael Kenmore on the Taranian settlement, Sheppard asks if the Daedalus is back yet and is informed that the ship is still a few days out. Sheppard requests that the Daedalus be diverted to the settlement in an attempt to destroy Michael and his Bug People, but the Daedalus finds no life signs on the planet and no sign of Michael or his Bug People in the settlement. The Daedalus recovers the DHD control crystals in a vain hope of learning where Michael dialed out to so he can be found and killed.

Following the Asuran invasion of Atlantis, the Daedalus is sent to make regular reconnaissance flybys of Asuras. The Daedalus eventually takes images showing that the Replicators are building ships, presumably for an attack on Earth. In response, a plan is developed to use the Apollo to destroy the ships before they can be launched.

When Jeannie Miller is kidnapped by Henry Wallace, the Daedalus is in Earth orbit and is employed to beam Sheppard, Ronon, McKay and NID Agent Malcolm Barrett to Vancouver, Canada where Jeannie lives. Later, after McKay is rescued, he asks if the Daedalus is still in orbit as they need to get Jeannie to the SGC immediately. At Sheppard's request, the Daedalus beams Sheppard, Ronon, McKay and Jeannie to the SGC.

Defeating the Replicators
After the Replicators start attacking human worlds as a tactic in their war with the Wraith, the Daedalus and the Apollo are both sent to Atlantis to use the tracking system Atlantis has recently received capable of tracking all of the Replicator Aurora-class battleships and their new Asgard plasma beam weapons to stop the Replicators once and for all. After Doctor Rodney McKay is unable to come up with a way to stop the Replicators in the time that he is allotted, the Daedalus and the Apollo are sent to ambush a Replicator ship that is about to destroy a human world with Colonel Samantha Carter manning one of the Daedalus control consoles. Once the Replicator ship exits hyperspace, the Daedalus and the Apollo open fire with their beam weapons, destroying it before it can react to their attack. Following the first successful attack, the two 304s destroy a second Replicator ship together before splitting up to cover more ground. Over the next week, the Daedalus is able to destroy three more Replicator ships on its own before returning to Atlantis for a resupply. While there, its learned that the Replicators are pulling back to their homeworld, ending the Daedalus and Apollo's campaign against them.

After McKay is able to come up with a plan to destroy the Replicators by fusing them together, the Daedalus and the Apollo join a combined fleet made up of the two 304s, the Traveler Aurora-class battleship, seven Wraith hive ships and six Traveler generational ships to attack Asuras during which the Daedalus acts as the fleet's flagship. Upon arrival at Asuras, either the Daedalus or the Apollo severely damages and possibly destroys a Replicator warship with its railguns before the ship can raise its shields. The Daedalus fairs well in the battle, suffering apparently minimal damage and inflicting great damage upon the Replicator fleet in return, sending its F-302s to target the Replicator hyperdrives alongside the Wraith Darts and the Apollo's F-302s.. At one point, as a Replicator ship is about to destroy Todd's hive ship, the Daedalus intervenes to save the hive ship by destroying the Replicator ship with two shots from its beam weapons. After the Replicator mass collapses the subterranean power grid, Carter detects that Asuras is rich in neutronium with the Daedalus sensors, causing McKay to come up with a plan that sinks the mass to the planet's core where it will be imploded, destroying the Replicators and Asuras. After McKay implements his plan, the Daedalus beams his team out and leads the surviving ships from the allied fleet into hyperspace moments before Asuras and the Replicators are destroyed.

About a week after the Battle of Asuras, Todd's derelict hive ship is discovered with a map leading to a secret Wraith facility. Sheppard suggests waiting for the Daedalus to return to go after the facility, but McKay urges not waiting due to the head start the Wraith have on them. Reluctantly, Sheppard agrees not to wait for the Daedalus and takes the hive ship after the Wraith facility.

Destruction of Midway
After the SGC loses contact with the Midway Station following a Wraith attack on both the SGC and Midway, its decided to send the Daedalus to check on Midway on its return trip to Atlantis. Since Ronon Dex is stranded on Earth, the Daedalus beams him on board for the trip to Atlantis. Eventually, the Daedalus arrives at Midway to find it destroyed and the emergency Puddle Jumper floating nearby. Unable to raise the Puddle Jumper as Lt. Colonel John Sheppard is sleeping with headphones on, the Daedalus scoops the smaller ship up into the Daedalus 302 Bay. After the survivors are on board, the Daedalus departs to return them to Atlantis.

Skirmishes with Michael
After learning the possible location of Teyla Emmagan, the Daedalus was dispatched to investigate. It picked up Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Dr. Rodney McKay and Major Evan Lorne and his team at a nearby planet and headed to the location given to them. Upon their arrival, the two teams were beamed into the base while the Daedalus remained in orbit. Michael Kenmore showed up in his cruiser and engaged the Daedalus in battle. The Daedalus' shields held and the cruiser proved to be no match for the powerful warship. After learning from a guard that Teyla was probably on board the cruiser, Sheppard asked Caldwell not to destroy it. Realizing that the cruiser had sustained heavy damage, the Daedalus tried to disable it, firing at its engines as it ran. However, the cruiser escaped into hyperspace before any damage could be done.

Several weeks after this incident, the Daedalus was sent to retrieve the survivors of a building collapse that occurred while Sheppard's team was searching for Teyla, leaving them trapped under the rubble. The Daedalus arrived and exited hyperspace over the planet, and found itself in orbit along with Michael's cruiser. Michael realized that the Daedalus had arrived, and attempted to jump into hyperspace. However, Colonel Steven Caldwell ordered Major Kevin Marks to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive, stranding it in the star system. Just as Michael's Hybrids are were about to retrieve Sheppard and Ronon, they were beamed out by the Daedalus. As the Daedalus had to drop its shields to beam the survivors, Michael's ship was able to cause considerable damage to it, disabling sublight and hyperdrive engines as well as Asgard plasma beam weapons. As only the shields were going to hold for a short time, the Daedalus launched an F-302 fighter-interceptor strike against Michael's cruiser to which Wraith Darts were launched in response. This attack disabled the cruiser's main weapons as well as allowing a cloaked Puddle Jumper with Sheppard, Ronon and McKay to board. The strike team was able to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive and rescue Teyla (with the help of Kanaan). As soon as the team was confirmed safe, the repaired Daedalus destroyed Michael's cruiser.

Additional duties and Hijack
In the following weeks and months, the Daedalus continued it's ferrying and courier duties between Earth and Atlantis. On one occasion, it brought Richard Woolsey to his new assignment as the base commander.

When an alternate reality Daedalus appears over Atlantis, it causes great confusion amongst the expedition as the Daedalus is supposed to be well on its way back to Earth. As the First Atlantis Reconnaissance Team heads out in a Puddle Jumper to investigate the alternate Daedalus, Chuck informs them that he has gotten confirmation from the SGC that the Daedalus is in the Milky Way, on course and on schedule and expected to reach Earth within two days. When an alternate Sheppard questions Sheppard on the presence of the alternate Daedalus in his reality, Sheppard tells him that its not their Daedalus either but they are just borrowing it, causing great confusion in his alternate self.

The next confirmed trip to the Pegasus Galaxy was bringing Jeanie Miller, Dr. Rodney McKay's sister, to Atlantis when he was infected with the parasite causing Second Childhood.

When the team disappears on Admah and they can't connect with the Stargate again, Woolsey contacts the Daedalus to rescue them. However, the Daedalus crew determines they won't reach Admah in time to save the team. Instead, Woolsey diverts the Daedalus to M3T-842 where he sent Major Lorne's team after they received a message from McKay that Sheppard's team will make their way there. The Daedalus detects a hive ship landed on the planet and informs Woolsey they can't beam the team out as a result, but instead offers to lay down covering fire for a brief time. When Sheppard's team arrives, they find Lorne's team under attack by the Wraith. As the two teams attempt to retreat through the Stargate, McKay and Sheppard get cut-off before the Daedalus opens fire from orbit, driving the Wraith back and allowing them to escape through the Stargate. The Daedalus then flees the planet before the Wraith can send serious pursuit after it. Following the resolution of the crisis, the Daedalus later broadcasts the destruction of Admah to Atlantis.

Later, when Dr. Jennifer Keller developed a drug that enabled Wraith to be sustained on actual food, the Daedalus was sent to meet a Wraith delegation to discuss the matter. However, after believing he had been betrayed, Todd commandeered the ship and subdued the bridge crew, as well as initiated a ship-wide lockdown.

Todd took the Daedalus to communications range with Atlantis and forced Lt. Colonel John Sheppard to tell him where the Attero Device was. Once he had that information, he set course for M6H-987 where the device was. Meanwhile Ronon Dex and Keller managed to avoid capture and set out to disable the ship. The two made it to engineering and Ronon disabled the hyperdrive, weapons and shields by shooting the control crystals for them. Todd's crew managed to repair shields and hyperdrive, but couldn't get weapons back up. As a result, Todd had the ship programmed to search for the facility where the Attero Device was and to crash into it once the ship dropped out of hyperspace. They then held up in their Wraith scout ship and waited for the Daedalus to drop out of hyperspace, at which time they departed the ship. Meanwhile, Ronon rescued Keller and the rest of the Daedalus' crew and they try to regain control over the ship's systems as it descended through the atmosphere of M6H-987 on a collision course for Janus' research outpost. Sheppard, piloting a Traveler generational ship, flew it in front of the Daedalus and opened a hyperspace window large enough for the two ships, jumping them safely to the other side of the planet where the Traveler ship destroyed the remaining Vanir spaceship. Major Kevin Marks then finally managed to regain control over the ship's systems. The Daedalus then beamed up Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Rodney McKay and, after the facility and Attero Device were destroyed, returned to Atlantis. It also later retrieved a new Stargate for Atlantis to replace the one destroyed by the Attero Device, taking one from the, currently inactive, McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge.

Super-hive
"Ready missiles. We're gonna throw everything we have at this guy."

- Steven Caldwell

In 2009, Todd contacted Atlantis and revealed that his underling mutinied and managed to use several Zero Point Modules to power a formidable new Super-hive. He urged Richard Woolsey to attack and destroy it before it became a threat to Atlantis. Onboard the Daedalus, Colonel Steven Caldwell, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and the rest of the team rushed to engage the new Hive ship. However, the ZPM powered vessel proved itself an impressive opponent, crippling the Daedalus before it made a sudden jump into hyperspace to Earth. The Daedalus was eventually repaired to the point that it could return to Atlantis, but Caldwell stated that it would take "weeks" before they could make the trip back.

Atlantis' Return to Pegasus
After the IOA decided not to allow Atlantis to go back to Pegasus, it was decided that the Daedalus and the George Hammond would instead be going in shifts to battle the Wraith. After the IOA changes their minds, the Daedalus follows close behind Atlantis though it is nearly two weeks slower, first seeing the city off from a lower orbit with the George Hammond. After Atlantis is forced to land on the frozen planet due to a hyperdrive malfunction, they contact Earth to inform them of where to divert the Daedalus to since the crew expects them to be going back to Lantea. The Daedalus is able to reach the planet thirteen days after leaving Earth, with Colonel Caldwell stating that the new trip takes twelve days rather than eighteen though the ship took a day longer due to the crew having to change course. The Daedalus brings Atlantis the priority medical supplies they needed, but is unable to bring the new MANPAD systems due to a lack of room. The crew is allowed to take leave on Atlantis while the Daedalus is landed there and the ship departs soon afterwards for Earth. Though Caldwell offers to have the Daedalus stay for awhile due to a recent crisis with the Genii, Richard Woolsey refuses the offer, stating that if they had the Daedalus stay after every crisis, the ship would constantly be in orbit. The Daedalus departs as per the new ship schedule with Caldwell promising to return in a month.

The Daedalus eventually returns to Atlantis after Rodney McKay's capture, bringing Jeannie Miller back to help install safeguards against anything McKay could do to the city's systems. It is called into action alongside the George Hammond to defend the city against an attack by a hive ship and Wraith cruiser sent by Queen Death and equipped with shields outfitted by the now-Wraith McKay. During the battle, the Daedalus engines are disabled and the Hammond has to face the hive ship alone as the Daedalus works on repairs. As the Hammond attempts a suicide run, the Daedalus crew finally fixes her engines and the Daedalus resumes her attack. Taking advantage of the distraction, Colonel Samantha Carter uses the last of the George Hammond's power to fire her ship's railguns into the hive ship's damaged stern as it faces the Daedalus, destroying the hive ship. The battle leaves the Hammond without power, leaving Carter facing death due to lack of life support. However, the Daedalus beams her out and saves Carter's life. Repairs begin on both ships with the Daedalus being repaired more quickly. As a result, Caldwell takes the Daedalus back to Earth to report as Atlantis no longer has a ZPM and the Hammond's hyperdrive is still down. When the Daedalus leaves, the ship takes the most critically injured from the battle to send to the SGC through the first Milky Way Stargate they find and leave behind their F-302 wing to help in the coming battles as the Hammond was launched without one.

When Atlantis learns of Queen Death's impending attack, the Daedalus is determined to be too far away to reach Atlantis in time to help so an attempt is not made.

Alternate timeline

 * In an alternate timeline where Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was trapped 48,000 years in the future, Doctors Rodney McKay and Jennifer Keller returned to Earth on the ship after the deaths of Ronon Dex and Colonel Samantha Carter result in changes on Atlantis they don't agree with. On the three week journey home on the Daedalus the two grow closer and have entered a romantic relationship by the time the Daedalus reaches Earth orbit.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate reality to which Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter was accidentally transported in 2007, the Daedalus and Prometheus were the only ships Earth that had. The Daedalus detected and monitored the approach of five Ori warships.
 * In an alternate reality, an alternate Daedalus was commanded by Colonel Sobel. The ship was equipped with the Alternate reality drive, which allowed the ship to shift to several parallel universes (including ours). Sobel was eventually forced to abandon the ship and left a message, hoping that her people would find her and her crew. The ship had also jumped over M35-117 in this reality. This Daedalus ended up having two versions of the team trapped on it: one died of starvation, while the other managed to figure out how to put the drive in reverse and abandoned ship when this Daedalus returned to their reality. In their time on board the ship, they encountered a reality where Atlantis wasn't at M35-117 for whatever reason, a reality in which an alien race attacked Atlantis but were stopped when the team took out their weapons with Asgard plasma beam weapons and were later saved by a F-302 fighter-interceptor attack launched by that Atlantis, a red giant sun and an asteroid field where M35-117 had been destroyed millions of years ago by an impact.
 * In one of the alternate realities encountered by the Daedalus that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team were on, Daedalus was destroyed in 2006 during a battle with the Asurans.

Major campaigns

 * Battle of Atlantis
 * Battle of Edowin
 * Battle of the Void
 * Asuran invasion of Atlantis
 * Fall of the Ori
 * Battle of Asuras
 * Battle of M2S-445
 * Battle of M35-117 (alternate Daedalus)
 * Battle of M6H-987
 * Battle of the Super-hive
 * Battle over the Outer Rim Planet

Behind the scenes

 * In Greek mythology, Daedalus was a cunning inventor. He was the most technologically advanced man in the ancient world. It is told that he invented moving images and was the first man to fly. According to legend, Daedalus was imprisoned by King Minos. The king ordered Daedalus to build the mythical labyrinth containing the minotaur. After Daedalus completed his task he demanded that he and his son be released. When Minos refused, Daedalus thought of ways to escape the island. Finally he decided to fashion a pair of wings made of feathers bound together with wax, and taught his son, Icarus, to fly. Unfortunately Icarus failed to listen to his father's warning of not flying too close to the sun. The wax in his wings melted, the wings came apart and he fell into the ocean and drowned. Daedalus did escape, but mourned the death of Icarus for the rest of his life.
 * In the anime series Macross (adapted in the U.S. as part of Robotech), one of the super carriers attached to the SDF-1 Macross was named the Daedalus. Perhaps not coincidentally, the other carrier was called Prometheus.
 * In "Be All My Sins Remember'd", the Daedalus only ever fires two Asgard plasma beam weapons, from either side of the ship's nose.
 * Given the known distance from the Milky Way galaxy to Pegasus galaxy, three million light years, and the canon information presented in-show of the Daedalus traveling from Earth to Atlantis in 18 days, the top cruising velocity of the Daedalus' intergalactic hyperdrive would be 6944.44 light-years per hour (or 1.93 light-years per second). When equipped with a ZPM, the Daedalus traversed the same distance in four days, making the Daedalus' top cruising velocity with a ZPM 31250Ly/hour (8.68Ly/second).
 * While the Daedalus appears in the Legacy series, it is generally replaced by the George Hammond as the defensive ship for Atlantis. However, this was because one of the ships needed to report in to Earth and the Daedalus was in the best shape and was unable to return in time for the later battles.
 * Even after the introduction of the Apollo, the Daedalus is indicated to remain Atlantis' primary ship. Dialogue indicates that more often than not, its the Daedalus that comes to Atlantis rather than the Apollo which "Remnants" shows does make at least occasional trips to Atlantis. Given that the Apollo is mainly shown coming to Atlantis during "First Strike" and "Be All My Sins Remember'd", its likely the Apollo generally only comes for special missions while the Daedalus handles most if not all of the normal trips. After the first appearance of the Apollo, the next ship mentioned to be making a trip to Atlantis is the Daedalus in "The Seer" when Richard Woolsey notes that the Gate Bridge is preferable to three weeks on the Daedalus, greatly supporting this assumption.
 * The Daedalus is tied with the Odyssey for being involved in the most wars of any Tau'ri ship, taking part in battles in the Tau'ri-Wraith War, Great Enlightenment and Michael's crusade. The Odyssey took part in the Great Enlightenment, Tau'ri-Lucian Alliance war and one battle of the Tau'ri-Wraith War. In contrast, the Prometheus only fought in the Tau'ri-Goa'uld War and part of the Great Enlightenment while the Korolev only fought in the Great Enlightenment, the Sun Tzu was only known to fight in the Tau'ri-Wraith War, the Apollo only fought in the Asuran-Tau'ri-Wraith war and one battle of the Tau'ri-Wraith War and the George Hammond only fought in the Tau'ri-Wraith and Tau'ri-Lucian Alliance wars.