Atlantis
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History of AtlantisAtlantis (Ancient: Atlantus), also known as The Lost City of the Ancients/Ancestors or The Last City or simply The City, is an Ancient Cityship built millions of years ago. It finished construction in 7,298,542 BCE on Earth (Terra) where it stayed for a very long time. For a time it was situated on the continent Antarctica, which at that point was much closer to the equator than it is today. Atlantis is only one of several (perhaps thousands of) Cityships built to the same design; there may have been others on other planets in the Milky Way Galaxy, which the Ancients named Avalon. These sisterships of Atlantis have since either been lost or destroyed, wherefore Atlantis is dubbed "The Last City".
When the Ancient Plague struck the Ancient population between five and three million years ago, the survivors who weren't infected took the City (and others like it) and flew it from Avalon to the Pegasus Galaxy. It is unknown whether they landed on the planet Lantea right away; probably not, due to the approximate age of that planet. Atlantis stays on Lantea under Ancient control for at least sixty to seventy thousand years. Around every thirty years or so, the seas of Lantea get unreasonably warm, starting storm surges. The City is protected from these storms by the shields. Twice during the seventy thousand years Atlantis stays on Lantea, the Lantean sun has a coronal mass ejection devastating to all kinds of life. There are records in the Ancient database of this. One time, ca. 28 000 BCE, an Ancient research vessel manages to jump into hyperspace just as they are hit by the radiation wave, killing almost everyone onboard except the pilot, who is badly injured. They warn Atlantis in time so they can raise shields to encompass large portions of the planet, effectively stopping the extinction of life on Lantea. At the time, other Ancient scientists are researching Lantean animal life including a large species of fish with whale-like characteristics, including song for communication. This incident is recorded in the whales' genetic memory. Sometime during their stay in Pegasus, the Ancients give rise to human populations in Pegasus. On one world, they – accidentally or not – allow humans to evolve on a world inhabited by Iratus bugs. This gives rise to the Wraith, who quickly grow in number, intelligence and technology to rival the Ancient. War ensues. The Ancients try to fight the Wraith with many means, including Replicators developed on the planet Asuras, and a weapon powered by a new energy source on Doranda. Both attempts fail.
During the Ancient-Wraith War, Atlantis is submerged under the ocean for over a hundred years. This First Siege of Atlantis is also called the Long Darkness or Ever-Night. At the peak of the War, Atlantis is all that remains, and the Ancients decide to give up and flee to Earth through the Stargate (emerging on Earth via the Antarctic Gate). The survivors slowly die, Ascend or integrate into the growing Tau'ri population. The story of Atlantis—a City lost below a vast sea—spreads and is consulted, for example by Ancient Greeks. The story of the Wraith may have inspired the legends of vampires on Earth, too. The Cityship stays hidden under the sea for ten thousand years, until 2004 CE when it is discovered by the Tau'ri Expedition led by Dr Weir, after Dr Jackson figures out the Stargate address. In an alternate timeline, the first time the Expedition finds the City, the power is so depleted the City begins to flood as soon as they arrive. In the panic ensuing, Dr Weir, Major Sheppard and Dr Zelenka find themselves in a Puddlejumper (Gateship) with a strange device in the middle of it: a time machine built by Ianus. It's activated by Sheppard's ATA-gene and sends them into orbit above Lantea, 7891 BCE, at the end of the Ancient-Wraith War. They are shot down by the Wraith and crash into the sea, a few miles from the City.
Elizabeth Weir is the only survivor, extracted from the wreckage by Ianus who integrates the technology from one of the City's transporters (similar to an Asgard transport beam). Weir wakes up to meet Ianus, who tells her what happened and where she is. She also meets Icarus. Weir tries to convince the Ancient High Council (including Moros) to give her the means to preserve the City for the Tau'ri to find, but the Council are against this kind of interference, and highly disapproving of timetravel. They order Ianus to destroy his time machine: he does, but he brings the blueprints with him to Earth to construct a second. This is why the second Expedition doesn't find a time machine in Atlantis, but SG-1 finds one to use in the Milky Way. Ianus and Weir work out a plan to save the City by rotating the three Zero Point Modules (potentiae) powering the City every 3500 years. This means Weir has to stay behind in a stasis chamber to watch over the City. The Atlantis Expedition arrives in the City, October 16, 2004 CE, led by Dr Weir and Colonel Sumner. It slowly comes to life, but power is running out. Desperate to find a new power source or a place to evacuate, Weir orders Sumner to take a team (including Ford, Bates, and Sheppard) offworld; they go to Athos. The team returns empty-handed with many refugees from Athos after the planet is attacked by the Wraith and Sumner, Bates, Teyla, Halling and others are taken captive. Just as they return to the City, Weir is about to order an evacuation because the shields are failing. As power begins to fail and shields collapse, the fail-safes written by Ianus kicks in, and the City releases its moorings to the ocean floor and rises above the water.
The Expedition begins to search for more Zero Point Modules, while complementing the remaining ZPM with five naquadah generators. These are enough to keep the City afloat, but they cannot use the Chair or the shields, and only some systems are online for them to use. The Expedition begins to discover more of the City. One night, Sheppard finds the stasis pod with an old woman: the time travelling Dr Weir. She tells them about the first timeline, and McKay connects the dots to how they survived this time thanks to her. In 2005, a Great Storm builds up. The Expedition evacuates the City, leaving only two marines to guard the Gate Room and Major Sheppard, Dr Weir and Dr McKay to recalibrate the City's four grounding stations to redirect the lightning strikes; this will power the City's shield. Before they can complete this, the City is attacked by a Genii Strike team led by Acastus Kolya. Sora and Ladon Radim are also part of the Strike Force. Lieutenants Miller and Jenkins are killed on sight. Weir and McKay are taken hostage, and Kolya tortures McKay by taking direct hold of his Dæmon, which is an extreme violation and taboo. Sheppard sees all of this happening through his connection with the City and retaliates
The Expedition then flies the City away to settle on New Lantea, which should be unknown to the Wraith. The Wraith find out about the Expedition and discover that the City is intact. They launch a fleet of Hiveships, Cruisers, and thousands of Darts. Their goal is ultimately to take the City to get control of its Stargate, which thanks to a unique control crystal is the only one in Pegasus capable of connecting to the Milky Way Galaxy by dialling Earth. The Wraith want to get to Earth to lay claim to a new feeding ground.
The Siege of Atlantis begins on September 20, 2005 CE, as the Hiveships arrive above Lantea. The City is besieged for two days, and defended by Major Sheppard in the Ancient Chair. After two days, Dr McKay comes up with a plan, to fake Atlantis' self destruct by detonating a nuke above the City and then cloak it, and, after the smoke clears and the Wraith leave, they will use the ZPMs to fly the City to a new planet. The journey to New Lantea takes several hours in hyperspace, and it is then the Atlantis Uprising happens; the marine forces commanded by Colonel Everett, sent by the SGC to assist Atlantis during the Siege, are convinced that there is a threat, possibly a Goa'uld in the City, and the Atlantis marines and other personnel fight back when Everett tries to take control of the City. The City remains under the Expedition's and Dr Weir's control. They land on New Lantea on September 23, 2005. we are the raven and the ghost | nou ani atlantus
Atlantis is finished 7,298,542 BCE, both its physical construction and the installation of its computers and AI. It is unknown how long it took to build. It is built to house thousands of people and is a home, research station, and ship all rolled into one.
The City consists of a foundation of six Piers connected to a central hub in the shape of a snowflake. Each Pier, and the Inner City, are covered with towers, spires, and other buildings in various shapes and heights. Parts of the Piers are open areas, which can be used e.g. as landing strips for smaller ships. The City measures roughly three kilometers in diameter, and the tallest tower, the Central Spire (which houses the Stargate) is around 900 meters tall. Power is derived from three Zero Point Modules (potentiae), but the City can use only one to operate main systems and raise shields. It needs three ZPM:s to use its engines. The Ancients also installed efficient solar panels on all roofs which likewise can be used for everyday power consumption, but these cannot provide the massive power required to use weapons, shields, or engines.
The Atlantis Expedition has brought a number of naquadah generators with it. Five of these power the City during the first year before they find their first ZPM to replace the depleted ones, each one responsible for a different part of the City. The ship's primary line of defense is its shield. When raised, the City's shield creates a bubble encompassing everything inside the City, rather than being close to the hull (such as with the Aurora and Puddlejumpers). There are ten shield emitters in the City, and all need to work properly to raise the shields. Ancient ships, such as Puddlejumpers, are tuned in to the frequency of Ancient shields and can pass through them safely, while non-Ancient ships and foreign matter cannot. The City's primary weapon is the Control Chair and a cache of drones. The drones are kept in the lower levels of the City and have three points of exit: the edge of the South-East Pier, the South-West Pier, and the North Pier. The City has two kind of engines:
The City has an Artificial Intelligence tied into all of its computers and consoles. It is connected to the Ancient Database. A person with the ATA-gene can to a degree communicate with this AI via the Chair. The AI has its own personality and makes the City sentient.
Some Ancients choose to Merge with the City when they Ascended. It is unknown exactly how many Ancients Merged with Atlantis, but at least half a dozen did so. To Ascend, a person must first Merge, or Become One, with their Dæmon. These Ancients took it a step further, tying themselves to the City's AI. This means they have a certain power to influence and--in a sense--interfere, when the Others demand that Ascended beings must not interfere. These Merging have given the City's AI a greater memory and capacity. Over time, the different personalities of these Merged have blended completely with the AI and they can no longer be distinguished or separated from the City or each other. One of the Merged was Aeliana, who had a daughter before she Ascended. Only people directly related to these Merged Ancients (and their Dæmons) can actually communicate with the City without having to use the Chair or a control console. Icarus and John Sheppard can hear the City sing. Conceivably, other Cityships had similar AI:s and maybe other Ancients Merged with these. But no one is around to hear them sing. The Central Spire is around 900 meters tall and consists of 75 levels. It houses most main operations and the most important power conduits. The tower is anchored to three identical buildings on the edge of the Inner City, each facing (in turn) the North Pier, the South-East Pier, and the South-West Pier. The Control Tower's uppermost levels are used as the brain of the City, while the Power Core sits further down. The important rooms and areas are, in order of level from top to bottom:
The Inner City comprises of buildings sitting on the main hub of the City, surrounding the Central Tower. These are all much lower in height than the Central Tower, on par with the buildings on the Piers. The Central Spire is anchored to three identical buildings in the Inner City, one facing the North Pier, one the South-West Pier, and one the South-East Pier.
Note: The names of the Piers were given by the Expedition in 2004 and derive from the direction they were pointing on Lantea, in relation to its geographical north and south poles. After the City is moved to New Lantea, the names stick on even though the geographical alignment no longer has any meaning.
The South and South-West Piers are tied together via a relatively narrow bridge of steel and naquadah. Several important sensor arrays are mounted on it. One of the larger Piers in the City.
The tip of the South-East Pier can open up to fire drones from a drone launcher platform (one of three), controlled from the Chair. The East and South-East Piers are tied together by a Bridge with smaller buildings and industrial facilities.
This is one of the largest Piers in the City with enough flat, open space to land the Daedalus and other similarly sized craft (225 meters in length). The East and South-East Piers are tied together by a Bridge with smaller buildings and industrial facilities.
This is the smallest Pier of the City. The tip of the North Pier can open up to fire drones from a drone launcher platform (one of three), controlled from the Chair. The North Pier can be accessed by a below-ground-level corridor named Section B-12.
The rooms the Expedition uses as their Mess Hall and main kitchen is located on the West Pier.
The tip of the South-West Pier can open up to fire drones from a drone launcher platform (one of three), controlled from the Chair. The South and South-West Piers are tied together via a relatively narrow bridge of steel and naquadah. Several important sensor arrays are mounted on it.
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