z.p.m
Ancient power source, cylindrical in shape and containing energy compatible with Ancient technology -- including the Stargates. A Z.P.M. derives its enormous power from vacuum energy, derived from a self-contained region of subspace time, and has a potential life of many millions of years.
Some Ancient technology requires Z.P.M.s, and the city of Atlantis relies on three of the units for its primary power generation. A Zero Point Module or equivalent power source is required for a Stargate to establish a wormhole to a gate in another galaxy. It is possible to construct a version of the device from Earth-based materials, as Jack O'Neill (under the influence of the Ancients' library of knowledge) once did to reach the Asgard when he needed their aid.
SG-1 first discovered the technology when O'Neill, again under the influence of the Ancients' knowledge, led them to the planet Proclarush to retrieve a Z.P.M. from Taonas, the Ancients' abandoned base there. They brought it back to Earth and found the Atlantus outpost in Antarctica, where the device powered the Ancient drone weapons that destroyed Anubis's attacking fleet. The module was later used to power the Stargate for the Atlantis expedition's long-distance journey to the Pegasus Galaxy.
Upon the Earth team's arrival in Atlantis two of the city's three Z.P.M.s had been depleted, and the third was reaching maximum entropy trying to stave off the ocean around the submerged city with a shield barrier. It is the Atlantis team's hope that additional Z.P.M.s can be discovered in the Pegasus Galaxy, both to power the city's defense shield and to provide enough power to gate home to Earth.
Control chairs
Device of Ancient origin which functions as a mental interface for those with the Ancient gene. The unit is often found stationed on various Ancient outposts.
Powered by an entire Zero Point Module, control chairs are chiefly responsible for defense, launching Ancient drone weapons from storage portals. They are also capable of displaying various charts, cross-referencing the desired chart from the user's mind with the file stored in the chair's computer. Control chairs are also believed to be able to network with Puddle Jumpers, allowing the user in the chair to remotely pilot them for kamikaze missions and the like.
The device is not simple to operate. In fact, it requires a considerable amount of concentration for some who possess the Ancient gene. For others, using the unit is intuitive. Those with Dr. Carson Beckett's gene therapy can also operate the technology.
In the Milky Way Galaxy, control chairs have been found at Taonas on Proclarush and Atlantus outpost on Earth. For the Pegasus Galaxy, a chair is based in a tower of Atlantis, but many likely lie at other outposts there. Other Ancient outposts, such as the one on the Dorandan homeworld, do not appear to have control chairs.
Scanner
Multi-function device of Ancient origin, capable of detecting human and Wraith life signs, radiation and power sources, and more. The device is portable and hand-held, easily concealed in a vest pocket, with a detection range of approximately 100 meters. Puddle Jumpers come standard with at least one of them.
The Wraith are aware of the technology as having belonged to the Ancients -- the Keeper recognized it on sight. Individuals detected by the device appear as blinking squares on the display. While its Ancient name is unknown, Lieutenant Aiden Ford was eager to name it a "life signs detector" when it was first discovered -- though it has other functions.
DRONES
Extremely lethal weapon created by the Ancients that, when activated, will automatically seek out a target to destroy. Not unlike a squid in its dormant appearance, drones are controlled by the mind of an operator in a central chamber, or aboard a Puddle Jumper. Multiple drones often operate in tandem with one another, and they are able to operate in space or in an atmosphere, and can easily penetrate the most advanced Goa'uld shield technology. Thousands of the weapons comprise the Ancient super-weapon discovered on Earth.
SG-1 found thousands of the weapons sealed beneath the Ancients' Atlantus base in Antarctica, just in time for Jack O'Neill -- his mind under the influence of the Ancients' library of knowledge -- to use them to swarm, engulf, and eliminate all 30 of Anubis's attack ships in Earth's orbit. Since that time, Earth scientists from the world over have traveled to Antarctica to analyze the technology in its dormant state. One lead researcher before the departure of the Atlantis expedition was Dr. Peter Grodin, operating on the international team under the command of Elizabeth Weir.
Drone weapons are not to be controlled by the inexperienced or weak-minded. One inaccurate command and a drone will come to life, seeking out a target on its own. One such incident occurred when Dr. Carson Beckett inadvertently activated the technology in Antarctica, and nearly destroyed Major John Sheppard and General O'Neill's helicopter before Beckett managed to deactivate it.
The technology can be installed in a multitude of Ancient technologies, from outposts to Puddle Jumper ships. En masse they are typically powered by Zero Point Modules, though single drones can apparently operate from smaller power sources.
