| Atlantis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Production information | |
| Manufacturer | |
| Designer |
Ancients |
| Class | |
| Technical specifications | |
| Height/depth |
800+ meters |
| Engine unit(s) |
|
| Hyperdrive system | |
| Power output |
Massive |
| Power plant |
(optional, if necessary and available) (Installed by the Atlantis Expedition) |
| Shielding |
City-ship shielding system |
| Sensor systems |
|
| Targeting systems |
Mental (Drones) |
| Control systems |
|
| Navigation system |
Ancient star map |
| Avionics |
Mental |
| Countermeasures |
(Developed by the Atlantis Expedition) |
| Armament |
(Installed by the Atlantis Expedition) |
| Complement |
Puddle Jumpers interceptors (Installed by the Atlantis Expedition) |
| Passengers |
Hundreds of thousands |
| Cargo capacity |
Millions of tons |
| Other systems |
|
| Usage | |
| Role(s) |
|
| Affiliation |
|
- "Atlantis is all that remains of the greatest race ever 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 several million years ago. It has approximately the same internal space as found in Manhattan. The Ancients left the Milky Way galaxy several million years ago for the Pegasus galaxy, taking Atlantis with them and settling on a planet they named Lantea, which became their new capital.
Millions of years later, after the Lanteans—the name the Ancients came to be known by in the Pegasus galaxy—submerged the city to protect it from the Wraith, and returned to Earth through the Stargate. Over the ages, their story inspired the Human myth of Atlantis.
History[]
Ancient use[]
- "We know the Ancients on Earth were suffering from a plague. Uh, maybe some of them were trying to start over, seeding life in a new galaxy."
- — Daniel Jackson
Atlantis leaves Earth
Atlantis was built 30 million years ago on Earth on the island later known as Santorini.
The city was later moved to 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 inhabited by a small number of Ancients was left behind on Earth, likely because they were infected and those who were departing the Milky Way didn't want to bring the plague to Pegasus. Another Ancient called Amara remained on Santorini in a stasis pod when the rest of her people left Earth in Atlantis. Upon arriving in Pegasus they decided to settle on the planet Lantea. Once there the Ancients created a new Stargate Network and 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, several Wraith Hive ships destroyed all Ancient colonies until Atlantis was all that was left. Hive ships went to Atlantis and started the First siege of Atlantis. The Ancients managed to defeat each wave of Hive ships, but they were impossibly outnumbered. The Ancient Council decided to submerge the city underwater to protect it from Wraith attacks and intrusions. The city was submerged and held in place by a series of clamps on the sea floor, while the city's impenetrable shield maintained the atmosphere and kept the Lantean ocean at bay. Towards the end of the war with the Wraith, the Ancient Janus rescued Dr. Elizabeth Weir from a Puddle Jumper that had been shot down, a jumper that was also a time machine, designed and build by Janus himself. It had accidentally transported Weir, Major John Sheppard and Dr. Radek Zelenka back in time while they had been forced to evacuate Atlantis, only hours after arriving. In that timeline, the city's power failed shortly after the Atlantis Expedition had arrived, the shield failed and nearly everyone perished when the ocean flooded the city. Rodney McKay survived long enough to buy Weir, Sheppard and Zelenka time to escape but eventually died in the flood waters himself. The Time Jumper transported the trio back in time, but a Wraith attack shot the jumper down, killing Sheppard and Zelenka. Janus found Weir amid the wreckage and brought her back to Atlantis. 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 Zero Point Modules every 3.3 thousand years so that when her expedition team or rather the second expedition team from the current timeline rediscovered Atlantis in 10,000 years's time, the shield would hopefully have enough power to continue to hold back the ocean so they wouldn't drown like they had in her timeline. Janus also programmed a fail safe mechanism 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. Furthermore, the Stargate was programmed to accept incoming wormholes from only Earth and Starbase 290 so that the city, and Dr. Weir, would remain safe until its rediscovery by the Atlantis Expedition.
Under the Expedition[]
- "They may reside here, Teyla, but they are not the Ancestors... No matter how much you wish them to be."
- — Halling
When the Atlantis Expedition arrived in 2381, they started to explore the city until Dr. 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 Genii ataack 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.
| City-ships |
|---|
| Asuran city-ship(s) · Atlantis · Atlantis' copy · Colonia · Tower · Discenna · Admah |