Daedalus

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

- Rodney Mckay

The Daedalus is the first 304 produced by the Tau'ri, and the second generation of interstellar capital ship developed by the United States military and its allies, assigned to the Fast Attack Wing. Commanded by Colonel Steven Caldwell, her standard mission has been to ferry equipment and personnel between Earth and Atlantis, assisting the expedition team there as needed.

The Daedalus is armed with 32 railguns, Mark-8 and 9 tactical warheads, and a bay of F-302 fighters. It also possesses Asgard shielding and beaming technology. Unlike its predecessor, the Prometheus, the Asgard defensive equipment was installed during the ship's production rather than added after the fact. Following the extinction of the Asgard race, it was retrofitted with Asgard plasma beam weapons. Originally, to ensure that their technologies were not abused, the Asgard provided an engineering expert to monitor the ship's systems for the first two years of its operation. That role was filled by the Asgard Hermiod. Propulsion consists of standard thrusters as well as an Asgard hyperdrive engine, capable of traveling from Earth and Atlantis in 18 days without the use of a ZPM.

Commanding Officers

 * Colonel Steven Caldwell (2005-2008)

Known Crew

 * Doctor Lindsey Novak - Engineer
 * Hermiod - Asgard Advisor
 * Captain Dave Kleinman - Weapons Officer.
 * Major Kevin Marks - Pilot and Weapons Officer
 * Captain/Major Pat Meyers - Navigator (The Siege, Part 3)
 * Captain Megan Cooper - Navigator (Aurora)
 * Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Bishop - Navigator (Allies)
 * Captain Frank Levine (Adrift)
 * Captain Hugh Griffin (Grace Under Pressure)
 * Hawking
 * Hutchinson - Daedalus security (The Long Goodbye)
 * Anders - F-302 Pilot (No Man's Land)
 * Doctor Monroe - Engineering (The Intruder)

The Siege of Atlantis
The Daedalus' first mission was to travel to Atlantis, which was, at the time, facing attack by a trio of Wraith hive ships. Using a zero point module discovered in Egypt, the Daedalus was able to make the three million light-year journey in less than four days. Upon arrival, the Daedalus used its Asgard transporters to rescue Major John Sheppard, who was piloting a puddle jumper on a suicide mission to destroy one of the hive ships, and to beam down their ZPM to Dr. Mckay, who used it to power Atlantis' shield. The Daedalus then launched several nuclear warheads at the remaining hive ship, which were intercepted by Wraith darts long before they reached their target. Hermiod then reluctantly agreed to use the transporter to deliver a warhead aboard the Wraith ship, thus destroying the one remaining hive and routing the assault force.

When the Wraith dispatched twelve more hive ships to attack Atlantis, the Daedalus was send to intercept them and, in the process, destroyed two more hive ships before the Wraith managed to employ countermeasures preventing the use of the Asgard transporter. After sustaining moderate damage, the Daedalus was forced to withdraw and land on Atlantis for the protection of the city's shield. Ultimately, a plan was devised to fool the Wraith into believing the city was destroyed. All nonessential base personnel were then evacuated to the Daedalus and, using the ship's transporter, a nuclear weapon was beamed directly above the city shield. The cloak was then activated while the city was hidden by the blast. The plan succeeded, and the Wraith withdrew.

After returning to Earth, the Daedalus ferried Doctor Elizabeth Weir, newly promoted Lt. Colonel Sheppard, and the rest of Atlantis' command staff back to the city. While en route, it became clear that the ship had been infected by a Wraith computer virus that attempted to kill the crew and deliver the ship to the Wraith, who desired its intergalactic hyperdrive technology. The virus was ultimately eradicated, but not before the ship's long-range communications and Asgard sensor array had to be destroyed in order to prevent the virus from using a distress call to broadcast the ship's location to the Wraith.

Duties in Pegasus
During a routine resupply run back to Earth, Colonel Caldwell diverted the Daedalus to observe Doctor Rodney McKay's experiments with what he had deemed, the ultimate power source. When the power source created a reaction that ultimately destroyed five-sixths of the star system, the Daedalus assisted in his and Colonel Sheppard's escape by providing cover for them as they fled in a jumper to the system's space gate, leaving the area just moments before the explosion.

When Atlantis picked up a signal from the Ancient warship Aurora, the Daedalus carried Sheppard's team to investigate. Upon their arrival, they encountered a Wraith scout ship that they quickly destroyed without difficulty. Subsequently after that, the Daedalus' sensors detected two more wraith cruisers en route. The Daedalus then withdrew but not before Col. Sheppard activated Aurora's self-destruct. The resulting explosion destroyed Aurora and the two Wraith cruisers upon their arrival.

The Daedalus was dispatched to destroy a Wraith hive ship on which most of Sheppard's team had been imprisoned on along with Lieutenant Ford. Discovering two hive ships instead, Colonel Caldwell chose to engage them nonetheless, unwilling to risk knowledge of Atlantis' survival being spread among the Wraith. During the engagement, Sheppard managed to turn the Wraith ships against each other, destroying them. Finding no survivors, the Daedalus returned to Atlantis.

Some weeks later, the ship was returning to Earth from another resupply mission when it was used to relay a warning to Atlantis that a Trust operative had planted a bomb in the city. Doctor Weir ordered the Daedalus to return to Atlantis to assist in locating the Agent, and assisted in an evacuation of the city before the operative was revealed to be Colonel Caldwell -- actually a Goa'uld.

Following the destruction of the Prometheus, the Daedalus was briefly used in the Milky Way as well. The vessel was sent to Tegalus after contact was lost with the people of that world; there they found evidence that the two rival nations on that world had all but destroyed each other.

On one visit to Atlantis, Hermiod eventually felt the need to affect repairs to the ship's hyperdrive that involved traveling in a wide orbit around the solar system.

The Daedalus evacuated several hundred Taranian refugees from their world to Atlantis in advance of a super volcano eruption. The Daedalus remained in orbit of the planet until the eruption occurred and rendered aid to those who Colonel Sheppard had managed to rescue using the damaged Ancient warship Orion.

Alliance with the Wraith
Three weeks later, the Daedalus held position just out Atlantis' sensor range in anticipation of the arrival of a Wraith hive ship, which carried a proposal for an alliance against other factions of rival Wraith. During the ensuing efforts to weaponize Doctor Carson Beckett's retrovirus for use against a Wraith hive ship, the Daedalus observed one attempt by the Wraith to infiltrate another ship. When the other hive opened fire, Daedalus came to the friendly hive's aid as the attempt failed. During the next attempt, in which the Daedalus was to hide in close proximity to the friendly hive so as to deliver the retrovirus using its Asgard transporters, the Wraith had provided them a means to break through their countermeasures. This proved to be a trap resulting in the Daedalus' ambush by two hives with the transporters still ineffectual. After an intense battle, the two hives simply jumped away, leaving the Daedalus behind.

Caldwell then took his ship back to Atlantis for emergency repairs, where Doctor Weir ordered him to pursue and destroy the Wraith ships at any cost. Aided by the Orion, which destroyed one hive ship before being destroyed itself, the Daedalus managed to severely cripple the second, but was disabled before it could be destroyed thus resulting in a stalemate. As life support had failed, but Asgard transporters were still operational, a plan was devised to deliver the retrovirus onto the hive, thus resulting in breathable air and the hive ship's capture. Using the hive ship's hyperdrive, the Daedalus returned to Atlantis where it could be repaired.

Further duties
Again operational, the ship ferried Sheppard's team to Sateda, where a Wraith had taken Ronon Dex and was in the process of hunting him; as Caldwell was unwilling to engage the Wraith directly, the Daedalus departed immediately after releasing Sheppard's team in a puddle jumper. On another trip, the ship ferried Doctor McKay and his sister, Jeanne Miller, to Atlantis as part of efforts to recreate McKay's ultimate power source. The vessel was also dispatched to recover Sheppard's team after the DHD on the world they were visiting was destroyed by sabotage.

While observing the first test of the McKay-Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge, the Daedalus detected the Ancient warship Tria, and provided transport for the Ancients on board back to Atlantis. Some weeks later, after the Ancients had retaken control of the city and then lost it to the Pegasus Replicators, the ship was dispatched with orders to destroy the city. These orders were countermanded at the last minute by General Jack O'Neill, who had been rescued from the Replicators by a team led by Sheppard and Weir.

Following the return of the Atlantis Expedition to the city, the Daedalus was present during an apparent onslaught by the Lantean whale-fish Flagisallus. Caldwell recommended simply shooting them all, but when it was discovered that the animals were simply reacting to an imminent Coronal mass ejection by the Lantean star, the ship was equipped with Atlantis' ZPM and sent to deflect the blast using its shield. In doing so, the Daedalus sustained considerable damage and came seconds away from destruction, but the mission was a success.

The Daedalus also assisted Sheppard's team in halting a war between two nations whom Sheppard and McKay had unwittingly been influencing through a piece of equipment on Atlantis that they had believed to be a game. In order to frighten the two sides out of confrontation, the Daedalus' weapons were used to simulate bomb explosions on the planet's surface.

Battle of Asuras
The Daedalus returned to Atlantis accompanied by the Apollo, the newest ship of the Tau'ri fleet. The two launched an attack against several Asuran Warships using their new Asgard weapons, which causing them to retreat back to Asuras. The Daedalus, Apollo, seven Wraith Hive Ships, and five Travelers ships later launched an all out attack against Asuras in an attempt to destroy the Asurans for good. The fleet, led by the Daedalus and the Apollo, held off the Asuran fleet long enough for McKay to implement the plan and left when Asuras exploded destroying most the Asuran replicators.

Destruction of Midway
At the time of the destruction of the Midway Station, the Daedalus was in orbit of Earth. The ship then beamed Ronon aboard left for Atlantis where it stopped by the Midway Station only to find it destroyed and a lone Puddle Jumper floating nearby. The Daedalus then picked the Puddle Jumper up in one of its 302 Bays and left for Atlantis with Ronon and the crew aboard the Puddle Jumper.

Skirmishes with Michael
After learning the possible location of Teyla, the Daedalus was dispatched to investigate. It picked up Sheppard, Ronon, McKay and Major 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 showed up in a Wraith 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 Col. 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 Caldwell ordered Major Marks to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive, stranding it in the star system. Just as Michael's drones 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 Weapons. As only the shields were going to hold for a short time, the Daedalus launched an F-302 strike against Michael's cruiser to which darts were launched in response.

This attack disabled the cruiser's main weapons as well as allowing a cloaked 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. The next confirmed trip to the Pegasus Galaxy was bringing Jeanie Miller, McKay's sister, to Atlantis when he was infected with the parasite causing Second Childhood.

Later, when Dr. 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 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 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 transport 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. Colonel 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 starship. Marks then finally managed to regain control over the ship's systems. The Daedalus then beamed up Dr. Jackson and Dr. 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.

ZPM powered Hive ship
"Ready missiles. We're gonna throw everything we have at this guy."

- Steven Caldwell

In 2009, Todd contacted Atlantis and revealed that a Wraith subordinate ("Kenny") mutinied and managed to use several Zero Point Modules to power a formidable new Hive Ship. He urged Woolsey to attack and destroy it before it became a threat to Atlantis. Onboard the Daedalus, Colonel Caldwell, Colonel 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.

Alternate realities

 * In an alternate reality that Lt. Col. Samantha Carter was accidentally transported to in 2006. In this reality, the Daedalus and Prometheus were the only ships Earth had. The Daedalus detected and monitored the approach of five Ori Motherships.
 * In an Alternate reality, one of the alternate Daedaluses was commanded by Colonel Sobel. The ship was equipped with this universe's McKay with the Alternate reality drive, which allowed the ship to shift to several parallel universes including ours. Sobol was eventually forced to abandon the ship and left a message, hoping 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 which an alien race attacked Atlantis but where stopped when the team took out their weapons with the Daedalus' beam weapons and were later saved by a 302 attack launched by that Atlantis, a red giant sun and an asteroid field where the planet had been before being destroyed millions of years ago by an impact.
 * ''In one of the alternate realities encountered by the Daedalus that Lt. Col. Sheppard and his team were on, that Atlantis' Daedalus was destroyed in 2006 during a battle with the Asurans.

Major campaigns

 * Battle of Atlantis
 * Battle of Edowin
 * Battle of the Void
 * Battle of Asuras
 * Battle of M2S-445
 * Battle of M35-117 (alternate Daedalus)
 * Battle of M6H-987
 * Battle of the ZPM powered Hive Ship

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 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 beam weapons, from either side of the ship's nose.