Chapter Three - Atlantis Revamped
The massive blossoming of the shields withstood easily the puny pounding of the Lucian Alliance. With power provided by the ZPMs and the ten new Asgard Neutrino-Ion Generators, the shields didn't bend even a little.
The Tau'ri wanted to show the people of the Lucian Alliance not only the might of their flagship, their front-most vessel, but also the ingenuity of those operating it. The Tau'ri had never before engaged drones in battle in this manner. They had also never before used a flying city as a means of battle. But now they came in a mighty shielded city who could create out of thin air an army of mechanical insects. They didn't even bother to use their Ancient drones, which the Lucian Alliance knew about. They didn't even show off their new Asgard Beam weapons. They didn't need to.
They may be using technology not their own, but they were still capable of going beyond that technology. They were capable of improving. And they were more than capable to use that technology in ways not envisioned by their predecessors. Now they were using drones in a way not thought up by them. Every vessel was easily destroyed.
Staying a float, Atlantis sent out shielded puddle jumpers equipped with their own ZPMs. In them, were soldiers meant to occupy the centers of government. Back and forth, these five jumpers were just what was needed to not succumb to the weapons fire from the planet's surface. The drones themselves were used to make a blockade around the Tau'ri soldiers. They built themselves into a wall, one stacking on top of the other, to create a barrier between them and the soldiers on the ground. Any that attempted to come close earned one warning shot before being brought down.
Lessons learned from WW1 would be brought to bear here. If we don't aid in keeping their government in working order, free of corruption and collusion, they will fall into the hands of tyrants seeking to right this perceived wrong. The people of this planet deserve to have a government that still holds dear their well-being, even if only as a whole. They deserve to be fed regularly with little interruption to their daily life. They don't deserve to be forced into living a life barely worth living just for survival.
If we let them fall into the hands of those who would do us harm, then we are allowing that number to grow. We are giving them soldiers by leaving these people to their own devices. We will not like what they will do in the absence of our help. By making them our friends, instead of making more enemies, we ensure future attacks won't take place.
For this reason, Atlantis will be staying a while. It's mission will be to ensure these people are well fed and well looked after. Those who prefer the Tau'ri way of life, will wish to see it continue by turning over those still loyal to the Lucian Alliance. If we first treat them well, they will return this kindness in so many ways we can't even imagine.
After the soldiers had been dropped off, those Jumpers equipped with ZPMs would be used to ferry supplies down to the planet. If these are warmly greeted, aid workers would survey and go in as many homes as possible to find out their individual needs. These needs would be met to the best ability of Atlantis. These aid workers would also be looking for ways to improve the lives of these people. Each would be equipped with a tablet to take detailed notes of the homes they visited and of the people they conversed with.
In short, we would ensure a warm welcome by giving one first. The message is simple, we are here to help. Any action by us that violates this tenant would act as a detriment to the safety of our people there on the planet, who would be defenseless after Atlantis leaves with its drone army. We will have to be proactively conscious of their needs and meet them well ahead. We also have to keep in mind the fact that there are still those on the planet that wish us harm, but they are not reason enough alone to do nothing.
Now that Atlantis was once again in possession of not only three ZPMs meant for use in battle but also many in reserve, meant that it was in the position to do a lot of damage. Not only was Atlantis once again at full power, she was powered even further with Ten Asgard Neutrino-Ion generators meant to aid and boost the hyperdrive and shields. She was faster and stronger than ever, but she needed more for when she returned to the Pegasus Galaxy. She would have to become a mobile command platform, prepared and stocked for war.
In order to prepare her, many of her long standing buildings would be given new purpose. Colonel Carter, who had initially mastered the use of the ZPM lab almost a year ago, also put much time into understanding the replicators. She learned from the experience with Fran that human forms could be made who would still be sympathetic to their creators, so long as they were not built for destruction. To this end, she spent many hours trying to come up with a program for a human form replicator who would be able to hold the schematics of Atlantis. Not only the schematics but also with copious amounts of ways of repairing them. She also wished to program not only other building plans, but systems meant to take the dimensions of the room and its intended need and first make a 3D model and then be able to reproduce it perfectly.
After some lengthy approval processes, she was able to get passed a prototype replicator meant for testing. Testing passed with flying colors with only a few modifications needed. The replicators, ten strong to start out with, were just barely put into service while Atlantis was on its way back from aiding Destiny. During the battle there was no time to use them and no need. But now that the battle was over, Atlantis was going under reconstruction.
The replicators were working perfectly. They worked much as Fran did, by analyzing the situation and offering a better solution if they had one. They were all extremely helpful and greatly sped up the whole process. Throughout the month, more and more replicators were being created. Now those working on Atlantis numbered in the hundreds. A few had been sent back to Earth to upgrade the gate room and the mountain as a whole at first, then Earth as well.
First on the list, was the duplication of the ZPM lab. The Ancients somehow only thought to build one. We would bring that number to three in just under a day. The labs that were there beforehand would be stored into the Replicators store of building plans. Everything that was in the labs, even data stores, can now be easily reproduced at any time.
Considering Atlantis' current power consumption needed to maintain systems optimally, nine ZPMs would be created in about a week. However, if you plug a ZPM into each lab, that would drastically increase completion. After a week, every one of the labs were working at an increase of three ZPMs every three days. The ZPM used to quicken the process would last long enough for three cycles, or nine ZPMs, before it would have to be replaced. In other words, for every nine a lab created one would be used to create more, leaving eight. This also allowed them to create ZPMs even while Atlantis was engaged in battle or in hyperspace. For the month Atlantis remained hovering over the Lucian Alliance world, she had been able to create eighty ZPMs.
Sixty of these would go to the new Battle Jumpers. Three to new shield emitters. Twelve would go to Task Force Atlantis, six BC-304s that would be accompanying Atlantis in its ongoing battles here in the Milky Way and later with the Wraith. These six ships would remain under the command of Colonel Carter. They would each get two ZPMs to power their hyperdrives, shields and their Asgard Beam weapons. These ZPMs wouldn't be drained much by the hyperdrives, though, since they would be traveling on Atlantis. They were meant more as autonomous, but very capable, mobile weapons. They could act as independent agents when the situation presented itself, though. Especially if that mission required use of a hyperdrive. The remainder would go to the ships who would maintain the peace in this galaxy after Atlantis left.
Second on the list was the need to ease movement around the city. In time, every building would have some sort of main room equipped with an Ancient beaming transporter, like Merlin used - the ones that could transport entire rooms. For now, they focused on the most important areas of the city: Stargate Command, the Battle Jumper towers, any room with a ZPM in it, the Ancient drone storage bays, sick bay, overlooking the piers where the BC-304s would park (so that crew members could be easily deployed in case of sudden attack) and many others. In seconds, the crew of Atlantis could now get almost anywhere in the city from the Stargate. This means that now there will be a quicker deployment of additional support resources coming through the Stargate.
The Asgard Creation Devices would also help in the creation of Ancient drones. The Asgard Beaming technology would be able to lock onto anything created and beam it wherever it's suppose to go, whether that be for the Battle Jumpers, the BC-304s or Atlantis' own stockpile of Ancient drones.
Third on the list are the main towers of each pier. They are to be repurposed as puddle jumper bays. But not any old Puddle Jumper. No, these Puddle Jumpers are getting an upgrade. These will be the new Battle Jumpers. Each Battle Jumper would be stocked entirely in the rear compartment and half of the front with drones. While it could still fit through the gate, its main purpose will be in the defense of Atlantis. The battle jumpers were meant as additional firepower should the Wraith attempt to overwhelm the city ship with greater numbers, they wouldn't even have to leave the city's shield. Working in parallel with the city's own stock of drones as well as the thirty Asgard beams and Task Force Atlantis, the city's firepower has been increased over a hundredfold.
To get in and out of the Jumper, the drone storage netting would spread apart, spilling outside of the vessel, this would also help with reloading. Each building was predicted to hold twenty each. Making that many vessels would be made easier by the ninety Asgard Matter creation devices now lining every pier on Atlantis. Sixty Battle Jumpers would now accompany Atlantis into battle.
The top floor of the tower, just under the roof, in a circular control room, would house the control tower for those twenty jumpers. They would act as the watchtower for their respective jumpers, guiding and directing them.
The human form replicators worked perfectly. They repaired every damaged system perfectly and repurposed the towers very quickly. Next, they were put to work assembling the Battle Jumpers. The Asgard devices could replicate pieces, but not entire jumpers. So the only option was the replicators. They assembled all of them in just over a day. Until they individually received their ZPMs, however, they were just ordinary jumpers with extra drones, they wouldn't be as strongly shielded.
The plan was to first field test them in the Milky Way galaxy before being put them to use in the Pegasus galaxy. Nothing short of overwhelming force will be enough to get rid of the Wraith and it was hoped that these versatile and small, practically indestructible, shielded vessels would provide the extra force needed to finally eradicate the Wraith.
After that, the defensive capabilities of the city ship will be ever enhanced. On the three biggest piers extra shield emitters would be installed. All three working together would create a secondary shield just outside of the regular shield. Atlantis will have two shields should one ever fail in battle. This shield would be individually powered by its own set of ZPMs, one for each pier. Since it was known that the Wraith preferred to win with overwhelming numbers, extra protection would be provided so that when Atlantis went deep into Wraith space she would be able to withstand the onslaught owed her. This would also ensure that should the ZPMs powering the shield ever be depleted there would the original shield when they were being replaced. In time, though, the secondary shield would be powered by a total of nine ZPMs, ensuring that she would never want for protection.