Antarctic Stargate

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Antarctic Stargate

Summary

Discovered by accident, the Antarctic Stargate was found about 50 miles from the McMurdo Station (U.S.). It was sent to Area 51, but its use was abused by a rogue cell of the NID, after which time it was sealed and placed under guard by Stargate Command. The Stargate was then installed as the primary Earth Stargate after the Giza Stargate was presumed destroyed, but that Stargate was later found to have been recovered at the bottom of the ocean by the Russians. The Antarctic Stargate was destroyed by Anubis, and the original Giza Stargate used at Stargate Command was leased back to the U.S. by the Russians. The Antarctic Stargate was most likely the original Stargate placed on the planet by the Ancients. (1.18 "Solitudes", 2.14 "Touchstone", 3.22 "Nemesis Part 1", 4.01 "Small Victories Part 2", 4.07 "Watergate", 6.02 "Redemption Part 2", 6.04 "Frozen")

Stargate References

Left Behind by the Ancients

Atlantis in Antarctica millions of years ago
Ancient woman left behind in the Outpost
Ra installs Stargate in Giza, Egypt, after Antarctic Stargate becomes inaccessible around 10,000 years ago (image depiction of Egypt in 2995 BC)

Five to ten million years ago, the Ancients left Antarctica on Earth in their city-ship Atlantis for the Pegasus Galaxy. They left behind one of their own (a woman later called "Ayiana") at their Outpost and a Stargate. (Stargate Atlantis: 1.01 "Rising Part 1")

Even before Antarctica drifted to the southern pole and froze over, the Stargate had served this advanced human race. But over time, the Stargate became more isolated. It was used by the Ancients when they returned to Earth 10,000 years ago from their doomed city Atlantis when it was besieged by the Wraith, an advanced alien race inadvertently created by the Ancients when they introduced human life to Pegasus, and it was used by some of them once again to leave Earth for other places where they could live separately from the primitive tribes of man. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project"; Stargate Atlantis: 1.15 "Before I Sleep")

After that time, the Stargate eventually became buried in the ice and totally inaccessible. Most likely the Goa'uld System Lord Ra, who found Earth via a spaceship, installed the Stargate in Giza, Egypt, not knowing that "The First World" already had one. (Stargate: The Movie, 1.17 "Solitudes")

Discovered by Stargate Command

Carter determines this to be the Point of Origin on the Antarctic DHD
Location of the Antarctic Stargate near McMurdo Station
General Hammond looks at the Antarctic Stargate as it gives its "busy signal"

A power surge caused by energy blasts at SG-1's originating Stargate on P4A-771 resulted in the wormhole's jumping from the destination Stargate at Stargate Command to the nearest Stargate: the one in Antarctica on Earth. Daniel and Teal'c made it to the base, but O'Neill and Carter were sent to Antarctica. (1.17 "Solitudes")

O'Neill and Carter assumed that they had materialized on another planet, not knowing of the existence of another Stargate on Earth. Never before in their Stargate travels had they come across the situation where an energy surge would cause the wormhole to jump, like an electrical discharge. The two chipped away in the ice to gain access to the Dial Home Device (DHD), and Carter pointed to a symbol that she hadn't seen before and assumed it was the Stargate's Point of Origin. (1.17 "Solitudes")

As Carter tried to dial Earth, she was met with inexplicable system failures. All of the chevrons would light up and pulsate. She tried resetting the power in the DHD, but met with the same problem. (1.17 "Solitudes")

Back at Stargate Command, Daniel was trying to determine what became of his teammates. He theorized about the wormhole's jumping to a nearby Stargate that was somewhere along the same path defined by P4A-771 to Earth. General Hammond sent teams out to each planet, but they found nothing. (1.17 "Solitudes")

During one of Carter's dialing attempts, Daniel noticed that the chevrons on the Stargate lit up and were accompanied by a slight tremor. He remembered how the Stargate used to shake when it was first dialed and realized that they had erroneously eliminated a possible location for the second Stargate: on Earth! Daniel likened the strange behavior of the Stargate at base with that of a telephone giving a busy signal when someone tries to dial his own phone number. The team discovered the location of the second Stargate—about 50 miles outside McMurdo Station (U.S.)—by correlating seismic readings with the last time that Daniel felt the tremor and observed the "busy signal". Immediately, Hammond joined a rescue team and had the Stargate's Antarctic location secured. The Stargate was crated and taken to Area 51 for storage. (1.17 "Solitudes", 2.14 "Touchstone")

Used in Rogue NID Operations

O'Neill and Jackson divert the wormhole on Madrona to the Antarctic Stargate on Earth
Antarctic Stargate on its side in a warehouse in Utah
Antarctic Stargate sealed with a "permanent" iris at Area 51

The NID is a civilian organization that oversees the study and exploitation of alien technology discovered through the use of the Stargate. Not all members of the NID are civilians, however. As with Stargate Command, though, the U.S. military had some control over the projects, especially those conducted at their secure Area 51 facility. Col. Harry Maybourne was put in charge of the projects, and he ended up getting involved and running a rogue cell that wished to steal and use alien technology that Stargate Command discovered but failed to obtain through negotiations. One such piece of technology was the "Touchstone" of Madrona (PX7-941). (2.14 "Touchstone")

The Touchstone was placed on the planet by an advanced race who terraformed Madrona approximately 900 years ago. The Madronans depended on the technology to control their weather. Without it, the planet was subject to sudden climate changes that could easily destroy their civilization. (2.14 "Touchstone")

At first, the Madronans suspected that it was Stargate Command who had stolen the device, since the thieves were dressed just like SG team members. But soon it was discovered that a thieving ring operating out of Area 51 was to blame. They were using the Antarctic Stargate, which they had replaced with a plastic replica back at Area 51, to go to planets to steal these technologies, using someone from the inside to inform them when the Giza Stargate was being used so as not to cause suspicion whenever they activated their stolen Stargate. Since the DHD with the Antarctic Stargate was still operational and held precedence over Stargate Command's dialing computer, the Antarctic Stargate became Earth's principal Stargate on Earth once more. (2.14 "Touchstone", 3.18 "Shades of Grey")

SG-1 located the Antarctic Stargate by setting up the same circumstances as when they had discovered it in the first place: They caused the wormhole to jump to the Antarctic Stargate by detonating a charge at the Madrona Stargate that was connected to Earth. The MALP they sent through was able to send some preliminary telemetry before it was destroyed by rogue agents. It took Hammond to call in a personal favor to obtain the exact location in Utah from where the MALP had transmitted before its destruction. SG-1 found the Antarctic Stargate and the Touchstone in a warehouse, but they weren't able to capture the thieves before they made their escape through the Stargate. These thieves and other rogues, including Col. Robert Makepeace (commander of SG-3 and the mole inside Stargate Command), Col. Sean Grieves, Maj. Newman, Lt. Clare Tobias, and Lt. Kershaw, were later found and arrested for treason in a sting operation executed by O'Neill and Hammond with the cooperation of the Asgard and Tollan. It took a while longer to find and arrest Col. Maybourne, but his replacement, Col. Frank Simmons, was also not a man with honor as he continued the rogue operations within the NID, but this time they were focused mostly on Earth-bound operations. (2.14 "Touchstone", 3.18 "Shades of Grey", 5.03 "Ascension", 5.20 "The Sentinel")

Hammond had the recovered Antarctic Stargate taken back to Area 51, sealed with a "permanent" iris, and put under guard—his own guard who answered directly to him. (2.14 "Touchstone")

Moved to Stargate Command

SG-1 beams the Giza Stargate out of Stargate Command to escape from Thor's Replicator-infested starship Beliskner
Giza Stargate presumed destroyed in Beliskner explosion
Antarctic Stargate active at Stargate Command

The Asgard had a major problem on their hands: the invasion of mechanical bug-like creatures that they called the "Replicators". These Replicators devoured the Asgard's advanced technology and replicated themselves using the materials. Not only did they destroy technology, the Replicators also absorbed advanced knowledge, making them much more difficult to exterminate. After Stargate Command made the Asgard their ally, the Asgard began to visit Earth more frequently, especially the Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet, Thor. (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1")

Thor's starship Beliskner became infested with Replicators. Soon, the Replicators learned of Earth's location and set a course. Once near Earth, Thor beamed Jack O'Neill up to his ship so that O'Neill could help destroy it in order to prevent the Replicators from invading the planet. The little Asgard was close to death, so it was left to O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c to devise a plan that would save the planet and their ally. They loaded the ship with a tremendous amount of explosives, and as the ship hurled toward Earth's atmosphere, the team used the Asgard beaming technology and lifted the Stargate right out of the 'Gate Room at Stargate Command. Using the last bit of power stored in the Stargate's capacitors, they dialed to another planet and escaped with Thor in tow. The Stargate was presumed destroyed in the massive explosion as the debris from the Beliskner rained down in the Pacific Ocean 400 miles off the coast of California. Naval recovery teams were sent to deal with the wreckage, but they didn't find the Stargate. (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1")

Daniel, who was prevented from going with his teammates because of an emergency appendectomy, witnessed the disappearance of the Stargate from the base and concluded that his team had taken it so that they could escape the doomed starship just as he had done to escape Apophis' ha'tak a few years before (2.01 "The Serpent's Lair Part 2"). Immediately, General Hammond called Area 51 and ordered that the "Beta Gate", the Antarctic Stargate, be unsealed and brought to the base as soon as was humanly possible. (3.22 "Nemesis Part 1")

It took a little over a week to get the Antarctic Stargate operational, but it functioned just as the Giza Stargate had with the SGC's dialing computer. Normal operations resumed until about two months later when there was a sudden inability to make a connection. Daniel recognized the Stargate's malfunction as the "busy signal" he had observed when two Stargates were being used at the same time on the same planet. As it turned out, the Russians had retrieved the Giza Stargate from the bottom of the ocean and had begun their own Stargate Program in Siberia. It was discovered that the rogue NID agent Col. Harry Maybourne had helped the Russians get their Program started with classified information from the United States, and he was finally placed under arrest for treason. The Russian Stargate Program didn't last very long—only 37 days. They did, however, keep the Giza Stargate and its DHD, but agreed not to use them. (4.01 "Small Victories Part 2", 4.07 "Watergate", 5.08 "The Tomb", 5.14 "48 Hours")

When Stargate Command needed help in retrieving Teal'c out of the Stargate's buffer through the use of the DHD, a new agreement was reached with the Russians concerning the Stargate: A Russian team would be permanently stationed at Stargate Command, all mission files would go to the Russian on-site officer, and all technologies procured and developed as a result of Stargate travel—past, present and future—would be shared equally. The Russians loaned the DHD, but it overloaded and was destroyed after Teal'c's retrieval. As a part of the new agreement between the American and Russian governments, negotiated by Col. Chekov of the Russian Army and Dr. Daniel Jackson and Maj. Paul Davis of Stargate Command, Dr. Rodney McKay was sent to Russia to supervise their newly-established naquadah generator program. (5.14 "48 Hours")

Destroyed

Anubis attacks Earth through the Stargate
The "Stargate Destroyer" Anubis used in his attack on Earth's Stargate
Antarctic Stargate strapped to the X-302

Anubis wanted to get back his seat among the Goa'uld System Lords. He had been away for about a thousand years and was presumed to be dead. But, he had actually discovered Ancient research into ascension, the shedding of the physical form to live as a being of energy on a higher plane of existence (and presumably possessing eternal life), and went to the planet Kheb where he tricked the Ascended Being Oma Desala into helping him to ascend. He had been kicked off of the System Lord's council because of crimes that were so unspeakable, even to the Goa'uld, that the System Lords tried to kill him. As an ascended being, Anubis had access to the knowledge of the universe, but he was kept from using that power and was watched over by The Others, a collective of Ascended Beings that included Ascended Ancients. (5.15 "Summit Part 1", 5.16 "Last Stand Part 2", 8.18 "Threads")

Anubis sent his lieutenant, the Goa'uld Osiris, to a System Lord summit to request his acceptance back into the fold, under the condition that he would rid the Goa'uld of the Tok'ra and of the Tau'ri (the humans of Earth) first. His other lieutenant, the Goa'uld Zipacna, oversaw the near-absolute wipe-out of the Tok'ra when he attacked their home base on Ravanna, while Anubis saw to the destruction of Earth himself by sending a naquadah-laden asteroid on a collision course with Earth. SG-1 managed to save Earth from this attack. (5.15 "Summit Part 1", 5.16 "Last Stand Part 2", 5.17 "Failsafe")

So, Anubis tried again through the use of a piece of Ancient technology that he had discovered. This technology focused a beam of energy through a Stargate's active wormhole and slowly overloaded the destination Stargate's capacitors. The resulting explosion, enhanced by the naquadah in the Stargate's composition, would mean not only the destruction of Cheyenne Mountain, but also the eventual death of the planet. The combined brainpower of the world's two most knowledgeable Stargate scientists, Carter and McKay (recalled from Russia by the Pentagon), wasn't enough to come up with a solution in the time needed to save Earth. Finally, the "simple" solution of removing the Stargate from Earth to explode harmlessly in outer space was executed. Stargate Command removed the Antarctic Stargate from the base by taking it up the facility's silo and strapping it to the bottom of a new experimental space-worthy fighter jet designated as the "X-302". Col. O'Neill flew the fighter into space, activated a brief hyperspace window, and sent the Stargate and the fighter three million miles from Earth. Fortunately, O'Neill ejected before the X-302 jumped into hyperspace. The detonation destroyed the Antarctic Stargate. (6.01 "Redemption Part 1", 6.02 "Redemption Part 2")

Teal'c's son Rya'c destroyed the Ancient device that Anubis used (called the "Stargate Destroyer" herein), and Stargate Command once again had to negotiate new terms with the Russians concerning the Stargate Program. The Russians agreed to lease the Giza Stargate to the United States, and in exchange they would get money, plans for the X-302 and X-303 (Prometheus), and a Russian officer appointed to SG-1 to replace Daniel who had recently died and ascended (5.21 "Meridian"). O'Neill, however, convinced Hammond to permit him to appoint the alien Jonas Quinn to the team for his contributions in the saving of Earth during Anubis' attack. The Russians were given their own team, as had been previously negotiated in part by Daniel himself less than a year prior to his death (5.14 "48 Hours"). This team became SG-4, under the command of Lt. Col. Sergei Evanov. (6.02 "Redemption Part 2", 6.16 "Metamorphosis")

Antarctic Stargate in Alternate Timelines

Antarctic Stargate discovered through seismic activity in an alternate timeline
Antarctic Stargate being lowered down Cheyenne Mountain facility's silo
Recon team goes through Antarctic Stargate in a "puddle jumper"

In an alternate timeline, the Stargate was never discovered in Giza, Egypt, by Professor Langford because Ra took it with him when the Egyptians attempted their rebellion about 5000 years ago. Through clues left behind by a future version of a time-traveling SG-1 who had traveled back in time 5000 years and had been the ones to actually affect the timeline, the Air Force uncovered the Antarctic Stargate and began their own program of Stargate travel. They had been warned about the Goa'uld and other aliens who would eventually try to invade or destroy Earth, so they decided to send a reconnaissance team to Chulak to investigate the threat. Just as the Antarctic Stargate in SG-1's timeline had been brought in and taken out through Cheyenne Mountain's silo, so was this newly-discovered Antarctic Stargate. Unfortunately, the team's first mission through the Stargate ended badly, so they, too, decided to travel back in time to fix what had gone wrong. The "original" timeline was restored, and because of this restoration, the Antarctic Stargate no longer exists. (8.19 "Moebius Part 1", 8.20 "Moebius Part 2")

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--DeeKayP 18:43, 16 July 2008 (PDT)

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