Axalon (Armada)



The Axalon was the Autobot starship initially commanded by Hot Shot and later Optimus Prime during the Unicron Battles. It was constructed on Earth as a means of returning home to Cybertron before the Decepticons did.

During the war against Unicron, it served as the Autobot flagship.

Armada
The Autobot Axalon was completed shortly after Optimus Prime's death at the hands of the Hydra Cannon, and as Hot Shot was left in charge of the Autobots, he eventually assumed command. Launch did not go smoothly, however, as the Mini-Cons refused to allow the Autobots to launch the ship without bringing the kids along. After that was sorted out, the Axalon was launched from an underwater drydock that was flooded to allow the ship to fly out of the lake near their base.



Shortly after the launch, a depressed Megatron ordered his starship to be turned around so he could destroy the Autobots within the asteroid belt. This led the Mini-Cons to man the Axalon's point defence laser turrets and call upon the remaining Mini-Cons within the solar system to enter the Matrix and resurrect Optimus Prime and create the magic mushroom Overload, who quickly defeated Megatron, sending the Decepticons into retreat. Megatron, however, was quite pleased that his old enemy had returned. .

Energon
The Axalon served as transport for the human delegation sent from Earth to Cybertron. Among the passengers were the Autobots' old friends Rad White, Carlos Lopez and Alexis, as well as human energon researcher Dr. Brian Jones and his son, Chad "Kicker" Jones.

It was later replaced as Autobot flagship by the Miranda II, and was presumebly destroyed during the Powerlinx Battles.

Known Crew & Specifications
The original crew of the Axalon included:
 * Optimus Prime/Hot Shot - Captain/Commander
 * Jetfire - First Officer
 * Red Alert - Engineer and Second Officer
 * Blurr - Helmsman
 * Side Swipe - Navigation and Sensors
 * Hoist - Whiner

The Axalon's propulsion system is considerably faster than the one on Megatron's flagship, as, according to Thrust, it was eqipped with Mark-2600 Warp Engines. For defense, it is armed with dual-barrel laser cannon turrets that can be manually fired by Mini-Con crew members.

Two ventrally-mounted launch tubes fire shuttle pods that personnel can use for evacuation or reconnaissance missions.

The ship's interiors are designed to provide comfortable and ample living spaces for Transformers, Mini-Cons and humans. Upon the stern is a large windowed observation deck.