Tel'tak

Tel'tak are a type of spacecraft that features in Stargate SG-1.

History

The Tel'tak was a space of cargo shuttle that was developed by the Goa'uld Empire. Over time, it came to be come into the hands of various groups in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Tok'ra were noted to had made extensive use of these cargo ships.

Overview

While the primary purpose of the Tel'tak is carrying cargo, it is useful simply as a transport vessel, or for covert operations due to its fairly unassuming nature and versatility. The Tel'tak is divided into two sections: the flight area and the cargo hold. A removable bulkhead separates the two. The flight area contains the flight, navigation, and ring transporter controls, four escape pods, the pilot and co-pilot seats, and the airlock. The cargo area contains the ring transporter. To lock the doors of the hold, a crew member must key in the correct combination of five from six symbols on a keypad on the wall in the cockpit by the doors. While in flight, a Tel'tak will assume a slightly different configuration to that assumed by a Tel'tak that has landed. Towards the aft of the ship there is also a small engine room and a bathroom.

The main navigational console and environmental console is located in the flight area behind the cockpit and covered by a metal cowl. This is the nerve centre of the vessel and controls the engines, shields, life support and in some of the advanced models, the cloaking device. The cloaking device is available as an optional extra. In the cockpit, the steering console contains a glowing red globe. To make throttle adjustments or directional axis changes, the pilot moves the globe with his or her hands. The console also has several controls and buttons which perform different functions related to piloting the ship. A holographic display can also be activated, showing various pieces of information, most of which are related to sensor scans. One person can fly the Tel'tak, though the Goa'uld usually assign a co-pilot for longer missions. Inertial dampeners allow the crew and passengers to remain relatively stable during manoeuvres. Pilots can also chose to adopt a headset which displays a HUD in order to aid the pilot in controlling the craft.

In the event of a Tel'tak coming under attack from an enemy ship or careering out of control, the crew can escape by using the complement of escape pods. The pods, housed in the ship's flight area, are roughly the size of a coffin or a small sarcophagus. If the situation should require it, a crew member can enter a pod, which are located along the removable bulkhead, and close it from the inside. The pod is then ejected at a great velocity from the Tel'tak on a predetermined trajectory. It has inertial dampeners and limited life support capabilities to ensure the relative comfort of the passenger. Typically, a Tel'tak carries four escape pods.

Although there are no weapons on board the Tel'tak, it does contain a manual self destruct mechanism, which can be activated from the navigation console. During the countdown, light symbols around the console indicate the time remaining. Once the countdown to self destruction has begun the procedure can only be halted by inserting three small crystals known as Delmacs into the console to override the command.

A Tel'tak can also be upgraded with a cloaking device which allows the ship to become invisible to the naked eye, as well as most sensors. Anubis, using Ancient technology, found a means to detect vessels that were cloaked.[1] If a Tel'tak was to land on a planet and then cloak, a means for the pilot to access the craft upon leaving the vessel would be to loudly say a pre-set password that would decloak and open the airlock.

Notes

• The Tel'tac was created for use in Stargate SG-1.

Appearances

• Stargate SG-1:

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