Ark (DOTM)

The Ark was built by the Autobots in the final days of the war on Cybertron. It was built as a transport ship to take Sentinel Prime and the Space bridge technology of planet, and keep it out of reach of the Decepticons. It is very heavily armed with gun turrets and missile launchers.

Dark of the Moon comic adaptation
After the original was lost, Optimus Prime named another ship The Ark in memory of the ship and his Mentor, Sentinel Prime.

Dark of the Moon film
In the final hours of the war on Cybertron, the Ark tries to escape the battle carrying a precious cargo. It comes under attack from Decepticon Fighter craft. The crew in the ark open fire using ,the now re-positioned, main turret. Hot empty shells bounce around the gunners stations. The Ark tries to lose them by flying through a gap in a fallen building, one ship crashes. As it gets further from the surface of the planet, a Decepticon Fighter launches a cluster missile, just as the Ark reaches the upper atmosphere the missiles hit, killing the crew, and resulting in severe damage, causing it to tumble through Space, out of control.



Still tumbling, the Ark comes through the portal and crashed on Earth's Moon in the year 1962AD. The impact was detected at a research station in the Arizona desert. Its discovery lead to what is known as the "Space Race". The Apollo mission was a front to field a mission to investigate the wrecked starship. The ship carried Sentinel Prime and hundreds of space bridge pillars inside a secure vault/hold built into the hull of the ship. Later though, it was raided by someone or thing for all but five of its pillars and Sentinel.



In 1969, Apollo 11 arrived, and Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong took samples from the ship as did the other Apollos that landed on the moon. All members of the Missions were sworn to secrecy, threatened with treason if they told anyone. The Russians landed probes and somehow managed to recover a fuel cell from the ship.



In 2011, after discovering its exsistance was kept from them, the Autobot ship Xantium came with Optimus Prime, Ratchet and some N.E.S.T Lunar drones. The Drones cut through the ships hull. Optimus and Ratchet board. Optimus finds the control for the Vault, and opens it. They recover Sentinel and the five remaning pillars, including the control pillar.

Toys

 * Ark playset (Cyberverse playset, 2011)




 * The playset features, Space bridge pillars, Medi-bay, a Prison cell for Decepticons, a rotating gun turret, and a G1-esque spring-loaded launch ramp. It comes with an exclusive Roller Cyberverse Commander figure, who takes the form of one of the N.E.S.T Lunar Drones. It features lights and sounds, and Auto-Morph transformation. The thing is though, the Cyberverse Commander and Legion figures this set is meant for are to big to fit the scale of this set.