For over 24,000 years, the System Lords of the Goa’uld Empire have ruled over the single
largest political domain in the Milky Way Galaxy, through the use of the ancient Stargate
Network, they have conquered hundreds of worlds, amassed billions of slaves and reverential
subjects, and assembled a massive wealth of resources, but while the gate network was
the tool of the System Lords rise to power, only spacefaring warships could enforce order
and security across such a vast dominion, and it was this necessity that led the Goa’uld
to raise one of the largest and most fearsome armadas the galaxy has ever seen.
As their primary sublight interceptor and most prolific combat spacecraft, the Goa’uld
employ the Death Glider, a fast and manoeuvrable attack craft, that has become a symbol of
fear and subjugation for those living under the System Lords rule.
As the Goa’uld Empire has faced no genuine threats for thousands of years, it’s military
units tend to be geared toward intimidation and ceremony, so as to project power and help
terminate civil unrest, these doctrines are apparent in every aspect of the Goa’uld
military from the armor worn by their foot soldiers to the architecture of their largest
warships, and the Death Gilder is no exception.
The fighter is operated by a pilot and co-pilot, and intended for use in large swarms, the
ship’s wing mounted Staff Cannons are indeed powerful, but fixed and inaccurate, making
individual gliders vulnerable in dogfights, but when employed in a proper formation, the
gliders can decimate enemy squadrons, or lay waste to ground targets across a wide area.
The Tel’tak serves as the primary interstellar reconnaissance craft and light transport of
the Goa’uld fleet, boasting a 25-man troop compartment, an array of transportation rings,
and even a cloaking device to shield the ship and its contents from detection.
The vessels were well-respected for their dependability and wide mission profile, and
though they were unarmed as standard, Tel’taks in service to certain System Lords were occasionally
modified to carry staff cannons and shield generators, expanding their versatility even
further.
Filling a mid-range fast-attack role, the Goa’uld Al’kesh combines the functionality
of an escort corvette with a heavy bomber, resulting in one of the most lethally adaptable
spacecraft available to the system lords.
The Al’kesh sports a dual staff cannon turret on its ventral hull, which has proven to be
highly effective against hostile fighter craft, and the ship carries extremely resilient shields
and armouring for a vessel of its size.
Much like the Tel’tak, the Al’kesh boasts a ring platform, Hyperdrive and cloaking device,
making the ship extremely valuable for those reconnaissance and transport missions that
would likely prove too dangerous for a Tel’tak to undertake, but the Al’kesh’s greatest
strengths lie in ground assault and fleet escort, where no other vessel in Goa’uld
fleet can match their tactical value.
The Cheops Class Warship is a large planetary assault craft used by numerous System Lords
across the galaxy.
Most Goa’uld capital ships are designed with large, hollow pyramids forming the centre
or in this case entirety of their spaceframe, this is done as part of an ingenious system
by which huge numbers of troops can be delivered to a planet’s surface.
Upon establishing a foothold on a new world, the Goa’uld will erect huge stone pyramids
on the planet’s surface, usually through the use of slave labour, once constructed
these pyramids would serve as enormous anchors for Goa’uld warships, allowing the huge
vessels to safely descend to a planet’s surface, and deploy their ground forces.
The Cheops class is a common choice for this practice, carrying all the necessary facilities
to serve as an effective planetside base once landed, and using its shield generators and
complement of Death Gliders, the craft is able to provide a powerful defensive screen
for its assault forces as they disembark.
Easily the most iconic and redoubtable starship design in service to the System Lords, the
Ha’tak Class Mothership is the mainstay capital warship and general-purpose attack
vessel of the Goa’uld Empire.
The vessel makes up the bulk of most Goa’uld battlegroups, and offers a potent combination
of firepower and short-range fighter support, as well as carrying all the necessary facilities
to serve as a command and control vessel.
The Ha’tak is armed with 60 Staff Cannons arrayed in all directions along the vessels
hull, as well as large supply of Naquadah Bombs, often deployed as mines or transported
to the interior of hostile vessels.
Within its launch bays, the mothership boasts twelve full wings of Death Gliders and several
Al’kesh, with many of the vessels also carrying Tel’taks for short range reconnaissance
or troop transportation.
When engaged in planetary invasions, a Ha’tak is able to transport over 2000 Jaffa troops,
and quickly deploy them to a planet’s surface, either using auxiliary craft, or the Ha’tak’s
15 separate ring transporters.
On several occasions, powerful Goa’uld have commissioned unique flagships from which to
command their fleets, and one of the most famous examples of this, was the command ship
used by the System Lord Apophis.
Originally designed for use by Sokar, Apophis’ mothership was an expansion on the design
of the Ha’tak, greatly expanding its weapons complement, and even adding cannons capable
of incinerating a conventional Ha’tak in only six shots, and completely ignoring some
less-advanced shield systems.
After seizing this powerful vessel from Sokar, Apophis used the ship to defeat the System
Lord Heru’ur, and through the combined forces and territories he had claimed from both Heru’ur
and Sokar, Apophis became easily the most powerful System Lord in the Empire.
By far the largest and most powerful Goa’uld vessel ever constructed, was the mothership
designed as the personal flagship of the supremely powerful Anubis. 2000 meters in both length
and width, the massive vessel carried hundreds of advanced staff cannons, shields capable
of withstanding continual bombardment from an entire fleet of Ha’taks, and launch bays
filled with over fifty Al’kesh and multiple wings of Death Gliders.
The vessel was constructed around its primary weapon, a plasma beam with sufficient firepower
to destroy an entire planet, or an armada of enemy warships.
This weapon was powered by six ancient crystals known as the Eyes of the Goa’uld, which,
when used in unison, could increase the output of the motherships reactor tenfold, allowing
the vessel to fire its primary weapon, or divert enormous amounts of power to its shields
or Hyperdrive.
Though the Goa’uld Empire has maintained roughly the same naval architecture for thousands
of years, they have developed a small number of specialist vessels and support ships to
complement their primary fleet.
The Troopship, is a large assault vessel, designed specifically to carry Jaffa invasion
forces to a planet’s surface.
The vessels are large, taller even than an Al’kesh, but due to their lack of shielding
and weaponry, the vessels require near constant fighter escort.
Another specialised craft is the Goa’uld Udajeet.
The Udajeet is a short range, atmospheric variant of the Death Glider.
The fighter has an open cockpit, and is piloted by fully armoured Jaffa, it is extremely cheap
to produce, and used to enforce security around small Goa’uld surface bases, or landed Cheops
Class Warships.
The last of the Goa’uld’s specialist vessels is yet another Death Glider variant, the Needle
Threader.
The Needle Threader was an attempt by Goa’uld shipwrights to design a fighter which could
traverse a conventional Stargate, in the same manner as Lantean Gateships or Wraith Darts.
Lacking the incredible technological prowess of the Ancient Lanteans, the Goa’uld were
unable to match their achievement completely, and though the Needle Threader was functional,
it proved incredibly difficult to control, and the ship was quickly discontinued from
active service.