Alan Armstrong
Summary
U.S. Senator Alan Armstrong of California was the chair of the committee in charge of managing the funding for the Icarus Project, a $1.6 billion project designed to investigate the Stargate's nine-chevron destination referred to in the Ancient Database. He sacrificed his life while sealing an air leak that threatened the rest of the evacuees of the Icarus Base who found themselves stranded on the Ancient starship Destiny. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1", 1.02 "Air Part 2")
Character Biography
Senator Alan Armstrong of California was the chair of the committee that managed the funds for the Icarus Project. Most of the first phase of the Project was taken up in the search for a planet with a powerful core and in the building of Icarus Base on that planet in the Milky Way. After nearly two years, the next phase was manning the Base, which was under the command of Col. Everett Young. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")
When it seemed that the Project was failing to meet expectations of harnessing the power from Icarus' planet's naquadria core, Armstrong's daughter and aide, Chloe, suggested that the mathematical problem be put into an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) called Prometheus so that access could be made to brilliant young minds that they'd most likely not otherwise seek. The Dakara Weapons Puzzle was solved by Eli Wallace, a MIT drop-out, and soon he found Lt. Gen. Jack O'Neill of Homeworld Security and Dr. Nicholas Rush, the Project's lead scientist, at his door, insisting that he join their top secret government project. The Senator was proud of his daughter and often embarrassed her whenever he gave her credit for saving the Project. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")
On the day that Col. David Telford's team was to step through the Stargate on Icarus Base to the unknown nine-chevron destination, the Base came under attack. It had only been six months since Telford and his team had joined the Project. Dr. Rush felt that he had no choice but to dial the nine-chevron destination, even though he had no idea what was on the other side of the wormhole. Senator Armstrong, Chloe, and Eli were among the many people who needed to evacuate, and with the core's power becoming unstable, the only chance to survive the attack was to take a chance that the nine-chevron destination was safe. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")
The Senator and some other evacuees were trapped when the corridor they were in collapsed, separating them from the main group. They were rescued, but the Senator suffered injuries that caused internal bleeding, all of which were worsened by a blood thinner he was taking for a heart condition. (Stargate Universe: 1.01 "Air Part 1")
Once people realized that they were on an Ancient ship that was billions of light years from home, they insisted that the Stargate be dialed to Earth. After Dr. Rush used the Ancient Communication Stones to connect with someone at Homeworld Command, he claimed that he had talked with Gen. O'Neill and that O'Neill had put him in charge. He insisted that the Stargate couldn't be dialed because they didn't have enough power. Senator Armstrong didn't believe him and insisted on using the Stones himself. His medical condition was deteriorating quickly, though, and soon he had to be put on bed rest. (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")
After a brief while on the Ancient ship, called Destiny, the ventilation system began to fail. Rush and other scientists came to the conclusion that they only had a few hours of air left. They needed to seal off as many atmospheric leaks from hull breaches as they could. The main leak was discovered to be from a hull breach on one of the two shuttles that was attached to the Destiny, using the mothership's shields and air supply. If the door to the shuttle could be closed, the leak would be sealed and everyone would have another day or so, rather than hours, to live. The problem was that the door could only be closed manually from inside the damaged shuttle itself. Dr. Rush proposed that someone who didn't have the skill set needed for survival on the ship sacrifice themselves to save the others, but no one wanted to be the one to choose that person. Col. Young proposed that he himself do it, but his subordinates insisted that he was needed. (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")
Already mortally injured in the evacuation, Senator Armstrong sacrificed his life by being the one to operate the door mechanism. His heroic deed was witnessed by his daughter. (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")
Later, Chloe talked with Lt. Matthew Scott about her father: "No matter how tired he was, or how long he'd worked, or what was going on in his life, he always had time to listen to me. I'd go on and on. He never preached. He never told me what to do, even though sometimes I wished he would. He would just listen. And then he would tell me that he loved me. The best part is if I had a fight with my mom, he never took sides." (Stargate Universe: 1.02 "Air Part 2")
Chloe had the opportunity to tell her mother "in person" of the Senator's death by using the Ancient Communication Stones and swapping bodies with a woman on Earth. Mrs. Armstrong was hit hard by the news and threatened Maj. Green, Chloe's escort from Homeworld Command, that she'd make the Stargate Program public if anything happened to Chloe. (Stargate Universe: 1.03 "Air Part 3")
The matter of the final dispensation of Senator Armstrong's body came up a few days later in an administrative meeting held between Col. Young and Camile Wray, the IOA representative assigned to Icarus Base as the human resources manager. Col. Young said that the Senator's body would have to remain in the shuttle while there were still more pressing issues of survival on the ship. A little while later, Dr. Rush's team began working on making the shuttle operable, which meant that Senator Armstrong's body was removed (but the final dispensation was not revealed). The shuttle could not be brought back to full functionality, but was in good enough condition to provide transportation within the atmosphere of a planet. It was given to those who chose to stay on a planet who were hoping that the unseen and unmet highly advanced creators of this planet would be willing to help them get home. At the time that Destiny left these civilians behind, a signal was broadcasting from a large obelisk, presumably left behind by the planet's creators to indicate that there was significant forms of life there. (Stargate Universe: 1.04 "Darkness", 1.13 "Faith")
Episodes
- SGU 1.01 "Air Part 1"
- SGU 1.02 "Air Part 2"
- SGU 1.03 "Air Part 3"
- SGU 1.04 "Darkness"
- SGU 1.13 "Faith"
Gallery
Related Characters
- Mrs. Armstrong
- Chloe Armstrong
- Maj. Green
- Dr. Nicholas Rush
- Lt. Matthew Scott
- Eli Wallace
- Camile Wray
- Col. Everett Young
Related Articles
- Ancient Communication Stones
- Ancient Database in Atlantis
- Ancient Shuttle
- Destiny
- Homeworld Command
- Icarus Base
- Icarus Project
- International Oversight Advisory (IOA)
- Naquadria
- Stargate Program
Actor
--DeeKayP 21:33, 17 October 2009 (UTC)