Atlantis

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 several million years ago, and has approximately the same internal space as found in Manhattan. The Ancients left our galaxy several million years ago for the Pegasus galaxy, taking Atlantis with them, and settled on a planet they named Lantea.

Millions of years later, after the Lanteans&mdash;the name the Ancients came to be known by&mdash;submerged the city to protect it from their enemies, the Wraith, and returned to Earth through the Stargate. Their story, over time, inspired the Tau'ri myth of Atlantis.

As of 2008, Atlantis has left both the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies for Hoag's Object with a crew of seven thuosand refugees from Pegasus including the Travelers, dozens of smaller Pegasus village refugees, and 11 rogue Earth Born members.

Ancient use
Atlantis was originally located on Earth on the continent of Antarctica, which at the time was situated much closer to the planet's equator. When a Plague similar to the one created by the Ori spread through the Milky Way galaxy, Atlantis was launched from its home, bound for the Pegasus Galaxy. A small outpost and a few Ancient individuals were left behind on Earth. Atlantis was relocated to the planet Lantea. Once there the Ancients seeded the galaxy with life, just like they had once done in the Milky-Way. Soon life began to flourish where once there was none.

Sometime later, during the war with the Wraith, Daniel Jackson traveled back in time using a prototype time travel device Janus had created. He witnessed the Wraith's barbarism and hwo even with superior firepower, the Lanteans did not stand a chance. He eventually found Janus and after having a strong moral discussion, was sent back to the future. After a hundred years of war, several dozen Wraith hive-ships destroyed all Ancient colonies until Atlantis was all that is left. Hive-ships went to Atlantis and started the First siege of Atlantis. The Ancients managed to defeat the Wraith ships every time they came, but were impossibly outnumbered, so the Ancient Council decided to sink the city underwater for protection from weapons fire. Atlantis was attached to the ocean floor with a series of intricate clamps, the city shield holding back the ocean. Towards the end of the war with the Wraith, the Ancient Janus rescued Elizabeth Weir from a Puddle Jumper which had been shot down by the Wraith. This Jumper was a time machine, designed by Janus himself. It had accidentally transported Dr. Weir back in time. During this time it was decided, by the Council, to abandon the city and return to Earth via the Stargate.

Unknown to the council however, Dr. Weir secretly stayed behind in stasis as part of a plan devised by Janus. She rotated the city's ZPMs every 3300 years so that when her expedition team rediscovered Atlantis in 10 000 years’ time, the shield would hopefully have enough power to continue to hold back the ocean so they wouldn't drown like they did in her timeline. Janus also programmed a failsafe into the city so that if power reached a critical level the clamps holding the city to the ocean floor would release, and Atlantis would rise to the surface once more. Melia, a member of the Council, left this message for anybody who might rediscover Atlantis in the future:


 * "...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 system of Stargates starting a network of civilizations which travel between the stars, exchange knowledge and friendship. 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 overconfidence, we were unprepared 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 effort 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."

Under the Expedition
When the Atlantis Expedition arrived, they started to explore the city until Rodney McKay discovered that the city's Zero Point Modules were nearly depleted and that Atlantis' 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, Janus's Failsafe-mechanism activated and Atlantis rose to the surface just as the shield finally ran out of power and failed. With Atlantis safe from the risk of flooding, the Expedition continued to settle down and set up home for both themselves and the Athosian refugees.

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 adapted from a gateship, 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. The secret of Atlantis is now a top priority for the Expedition members.

In 2006, SG-1&mdash;except for Teal'c&mdash;arrived in Atlantis on the Odyssey as a step in their war against the Ori. Samantha Carter and Cameron Mitchell took McKay on a mission to connect a Stargate to the Supergate back in the Milky Way, preventing its further use by the Ori. Meanwhile, Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran accessed the Atlantis database in the hope of discovering the location of the Sangraal, a weapon against the Ori designed by Merlin. However, the ascended Lantean Morgan Le Fay, who masqueraded as the database's holographic interface, was stopped by the Others before she could reveal it.

Later in the same year, living Lanteans were discovered in the void between Pegasus and the Milky Way, who subsequently reclaimed the city and forced the expedition out. Shortly afterward, the Asurans attacked the city, killing the Lanteans 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 city's shield generators to emit a massive Replicator disruptor wave. The Expedition was then able to reclaim Atlantis, keeping one of the ZPMs installed by the Asurans and sending the other two back to Earth to help with the battle against the Ori. }

Some time later, after a massive pre-emptive strike on Asuras by Earth's new battlecruiser, the Apollo, the Asurans launched a retaliatory attack on Atlantis. They sent a satellite housing a Stargate to Lantea, and after dialing in from Asuras, directed a powerful 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. The recently discovered geothermal drilling platform, located on the ocean floor gave Atlantis the power boost it needed to lift off, as the expedition only had one ZPM instead of the 3 which the city was designed to use. The shield had to be lowered so that more power could be diverted to the Stardrive for the crucial first few moments of flight. As the shield was being raised after this initial phase however the Asurans beam grazed the side of the main tower, causing serious damage to the main power conduits. Because of this Atlantis dropped out of hyperspace prematurely and far from the new intended homeworld, with the city's single Zero Point Module nearly depleted, having only twenty four hours of energy left. With the aid of a replacement ZPM, stolen in a daring raid on the Asuran homeworld, the city eventually settled on M35-117.

In a surprising joint task force, the Tau'ri, Travelers, and Wraith joined forces to try and eliminate the Asurans who had begun to exterminate all human and Wraith life in Pegasus. The Battle of Asuras while beginning well quickly turned into a disaster resulting in many losses on all sides. For the next 6 months, Atlantis became the only safe refuge for the Travelers and any refugees that could be accomodated. Both the Wraith and the Asurans hunted it down until finally, in an act of desperation, 11 Rogue Members of teh expediition enlisted the help of the Travelers to take control of the city and use an experimental Wormhole Drive to leave the galaxy for one they knew the Ancients had been to. The city suffered significant damage and return to the Milky Way or Pegasus was unfeasible

Hoag's Object
''“Laura…. Where are we?”

“We’re calling this moon Saudade… and we’re safe from the Wraith and Replicators because…we’re six hundred million light years from Earth.” - ''Carson Beckett asks Laura about the planet on the horizon.

Under the control of the renegade expedition and the Travelers, Atlantis was repaired and eventually began to retake it's role as an actual city instead ofn an outpost. Approximately 10 months after arriving in Hoag's Object, Atlantis was nearly captured in an attempt by the Olim to invade. The invasion is beaten off, but at the cost of many lives.

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. Many other technologies were being developed here and continue under the direction of the Rogue Atlantis Expedition.

Energy
Atlantis's 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 cases of emergency, one can perform the most important tasks. The city also possesses several solar-powered generators, however they don't provide much energy in proportion to the massive amounts required to operate any useful technology in the city. In one extreme instance, lightning strikes from a massive storm were used to briefly power the shield in order to save it from a Tsunami. A more effective method of alternatively powering Atlantis comes in the form of a geological drilling station located on the sea floor of Lantea. This station was built by the Ancients and utilized by the Atlantis expedition when they left Lantea.

Shield
The shield of Atlantis is a massive dome that completely encompassed the city when activated. It protects the city from anything ranging from orbital bombardment, to the weight of an entire ocean, to a tsunami, to coronal mass ejections, to falling space debris. 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 traveling through space. Also, the shield can be expanded when necessary to protect nearly an entire planet, or contracted to save power. After some modifications made by Rodney McKay, the shield can also be used to cloak the city. Through manipulation of the control crystal matrix, it can also be modified to emit an eltra powerful electro-magnetic pulse, as done by Samantha Carter during the attempted Olim invasion of Atlantis.

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 to operate with 3 ZPMs, but can be powered by 1 if the situation calls for it, and if other power sources are used as well, the geological drilling platform for example. The most power is used in getting Atlantis off the surface, after this a single ZPM is able to power the city and open a hyperspace window.

Stargate
Atlantis' Stargate transports people and objects to other worlds. It also features a force field that prevents even subatomic particles from rematerializing, similar in function to the iris protecting Earth's Stargate only much more effective. Also, unlike every other Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy the Atlantis Gate is able to dial another galaxy due to a special crystal in its DHD. Atlantis' original Stargate was recently destroyed due to the use of the Attero device, which had the side-effect of destroying active Stargates. The destroyed gate was later replaced with a Stargate from the former intergalactic gate bridge network and retains both the ability to dial an intergalactic address and the ability to activate its shield, as they are not functions of the Stargate itself.

Wormhole drive
The wormhole drive is an experimental drive that was designed by the Ancients but was abandoned due to how dangerous and unstable it was as well as the immense power requirements. The Atlantis Expedition used this drive to escape the Wraith, Asurans and IOA during the Last Battle of Pegasus.

Areas

 * Control tower
 * East Pier
 * North Pier
 * South Pier
 * South-East Pier
 * South-West Pier
 * West Pier

Locations

 * Ascension lab
 * Auxiliary control center
 * Bio lab
 * Brig
 * Cargo hold
 * Chair room
 * Commander's office
 * Conference room
 * Drone weapon storage room
 * Drone weapon deployment room
 * Grounding stations 1-4
 * Gym
 * HAZMAT storage
 * Holo room
 * Infirmary
 * Janus' lab
 * Jumper bay
 * Living quarters
 * Main power room
 * Mess hall
 * Nanite lab
 * Power distribution center
 * Society research lab
 * Stargate Operations
 * ZPM room

Technologies

 * Database
 * Failsafe-mechanism
 * Grounding stations
 * Lockout device
 * Long range sensors
 * Shield
 * Stardrive
 * Stargate
 * Transporters
 * Wormhole drive

Commanding officers

 * Moros (Unknown-8,000 B.C.)
 * Elizabeth Weir (2004-2007)
 * Steven Caldwell (briefly) (2006)
 * Helia (2007)
 * Elizabeth Weir (2007)
 * Samantha Carter (2007-Present)

Alternate timelines

 * In episode Before I Sleep, Atlantis had no failsafe device and all ZPMs were running simultaneously, so the city is flooded. Weir, Sheppard and Zelenka get into a time-traveling Puddle Jumper, accidentally going back ten thousand years. After being attacked by two Wraith darts, the Jumper crashed, Weir was the only survivor. The Ancients back then refused to let her go back and corrupt the timeline. Luckily, the time-machine's inventor, Janus, helped her by creating a failsafe and making sure the ZPMs ran the city one at a time to save a little extra power.