Atlantis

"It is all that remains of the greatest race to inhabit the stars."

- Halling

Atlantis, also called the Lost City of the Ancients and the City of the Ancestors, Atlantus in Ancient, is a city-ship built by the Ancients many years ago, approximately the size of Manhattan. The Ancients left our galaxy several million years ago for the Pegasus Galaxy.

Alteran use
Atlantis was originally situated on Earth on the continent of Antarctica. When the Plague created by the Ori spread through the Milky Way galaxy, Atlantis was launched from its home, leaving behind a small outpost and a few Ancient individuals, to set course for the Pegasus galaxy. It situated itself on Lantea, where it remains until the asuran satellite attack on the city.. Once there the Ancients seeded the galaxy, and life began to flourish where once there was none.

When the Wraith began to threaten the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy, the Ancient Council decided to sink the city underwater for protection. However, this was only a temporary protective measure until the Wraith arrived at the Lantea, approximately the same time Doctor Elizabeth Weir accidently was thrown back in time to Atlantis. It was decided, by the Council, to abandon the city and go back to Earth while Weir secretly stayed behind in stasis until Atlantis was reactivated in the future. Melia, a member of the Council, left this message for anybody returning from Earth:


 * "In the hope of spreading new life in a galaxy where their appeared to be none. Soon the new life grew, prospered. Here we built a network of Stargates *McKay and others talking over the Hologram* Exchange knowledge and friendship. *Above her head a sort of map appears* in time a thousand worlds bore the fruit of life in this form. Then one day our people stepped foot on a dark world where a terrible enemy slept. Never before had we encountered beings with powers that rivaled our own. In our over confidence, we weren't prepared and outnumbered. The enemy fed upon defenseless human worlds like a great Scourge until finally only Atlantis remained. This city's great shield was powerful enough to withstand their terrible weapons but here we were besieged for many years in an offer to save the last of our kind we submerged our great city into the ocean. The Atlantis Stargate was the one and only link back to Earth from this Galaxy, and those who remained used it to return to that world that was once home. There the last survivors of Atlantis lived out the remainder of their lives. This city was left to slumber, in the hope that our kind would one day return."

Due to Weir's displacement in time, an Ancient by the name of Janus set up a fail-safe mechanism so when the power level reaches critical, the mechanism holding the city on the ocean floor will release, allowing Atlantis to rise to the surface. With Janis returned to Earth and Weir in stasis. Atlantis remained under the ocean and Dr. Weir remained frozen, except during her various 3300 year awakenings to rotate the ZPMs, until the Atlantis Expedition from Earth arrived at Atlantis in 2004.

Tau'ri arrival
When the Atlantis Expedition arrived, after locating the Antarctic Outpost on Earth, they started to explore the city until they Rodney McKay figured out that the city's Zero Point Modules were nearly depleted and that the city's shield would fail, causing a massive flood. After searching Athos for safe refuge due to the inevitable shield failure, the search team eventually brought the Athosians back after a Wraith culling occurred. When the team and refugees returned, the fail-safe mechanism activated and Atlantis rose to the surface just as the shield collapsed. With Atlantis out of the risk of flooding, the Expedition continued to settle down and set up home for the Athosian refugees.

The settling down of the Athosians and the Expedition led to many situations, including security (which forced all inhabitants to live in the central piers due to the number of officers available), storage space and trust of the Athosians.

Having learned of the existence of Earth, the Wraith sent three hive ships to attack Atlantis. The Atlantis Expedition was able to destroy the three ships, but the Wraith sent another twelve. Seeing no way of destroying them, the Expedition used a cloak and a timed nuclear warhead to make it appear that the city had been destroyed. The Wraith fell for the ruse, causing them to fall into Civil War, but the secret of Atlantis is now a top priority for the Expedition members.

In 2006, live Ancients were discovered in the void between Pegasus and the Milky Way, who subsequently reclaimed the city and forced the expedition out. Shortly afterwards, the Asurans attacked the city, killing the Ancients and taking Jack O'Neill and Richard Woolsey hostage. John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Carson Beckett, Teyla Emmagan, and Ronon Dex launched a daring rescue mission, using the shield generators to emit a massive Replicator disruptor wave. The Expedition was allowed back into Atlantis, keeping one of the ZPMs and sending the other two back to Earth to help with the battle against the Ori.

After a massive attack on Asuras, the Asurans launched an attack on Atlantis, using a satellite housing a Stargate to launch a massive energy beam at Atlantis. Unable to evacuate by Stargate, and unable to fully dissipate the beam after submerging the city, the Expedition used the stardrive to leave Lantea, but the city dropped out of hyperspace prematurely and far from the new intended homeworld, with the city's Zero Point Module nearly depleted, having only twenty four hours of energy left. With the aid of a replacement ZPM, the city eventually settled on M35-117.

Technology
Atlantis has a great deal of advanced technology in it, ranging from the Stargate and puddle jumpers, to drone weapons, the stardrive and the all-important shield.

Stargate
The stargate transportes people and objects to other worlds. On the Atlantis stargate there is an energy shield that stops matter from rematerializing, similar in function to the Earth Iris. Also, due to a special crystal, it is the only Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy which can dial to another galaxy.

Energy
Atlantis' main energy supply are ZPMs, which are stored in a special room. To gain access to all of the technology and features of Atlantis, three are needed, however in case of emergency one can do the most important tasks. The city also has solar-powered generators, however they don't provide much energy. That might, however, only be in proportion to the massive amounts of energy required to operate the city. In one extreme instance, lightning strikes from a massive storm were used to power the shield. A better way of alternativly powering Atlantis comes in form of a geological drilling platform on Lantea which the Ancients built but never used.

Shield
The shield of Atlantis is a massive dome that completely imcompasses the city when activated. It protects the city from any thing ranging from orbital bombardment, to the weight of an entire ocean, to a tsunami, to coronal mass ejections. The shield can cover the city like a skin to prevent the ocean from crashing inside when the city is submerged, or to prevent air evacuation when travelling through space. Also, the shield can be expanded when necessary to protect nearly an entire planet.

Stardrive
The stardrive on Atlantis enables the city to travel to distant planets, or even galaxies, in only a few days and is incredibly powerful. It is designed mainly to work with 3 ZPMs but can be powered by 1 if the situation calls for it.

Structure
The city has the form of a giant snowflake with all buildings located on a giant platform. The most buildings are located in the middle, while other smaller ones are situated at the edges of the six pears. The control tower, the largest of the buildings, is located in the very middle of the city, housing several important rooms like the gate room, the main jumper bay and the holo room. The buildings are not very strong and need the shield to protect them from threats, such as orbital bombardment or a tsunami.

Locations

 * Ascension lab
 * Bio lab
 * Brig
 * Chair room
 * Control tower
 * Gameroom
 * Grounding Stations 1, 2, 3, and 4
 * Holo room
 * Jumper bay
 * Nanite lab
 * Section 24-B: An expansive area in one of the arms of Atlantis. Before the city rose out of the ocean after the arrival of the Atlantis Expedition, the shield in this area failed and flooded.
 * Stargate Operations
 * ZPM room

Technologies

 * Database
 * Long range sensors
 * Shield
 * Stardrive
 * Transporters

Commanding Officers

 * Dr Elizabeth Weir (Seasons 1-3)
 * Full Bird Colonel Samantha Carter (Season 4)
 * Richard Woolsey (Season 5-)