Ark shuttlecraft

This article is about the various ancillary vessels carried by the Ark. For the larger shuttles featured prominently in the animated movie, see Autobot shuttle.

Ark shuttlecraft sometimes function as transport for the Autobots in the Generation 1 continuity family.

Thunderbirds are GO!!!

While the Ark itself spent most of Generation 1 stuck in the side of a volcano, the Autobots were not stranded in Oregon by any means. The mothership was positively stuffed to the brim with smaller shuttlecraft of varying designs and functions. It is possible that not all of the Ark's shuttles were spacefaring craft as many of them are not seen to leave Earth's atmosphere, though later models are capable of travelling interstellar distances. They are a convenient and apparently disposable way for the Autobots to get where they need to be when the plotmission of the week demands it.

Types of Ark shuttlecraft

Several of the shuttlecraft share similar designs, and at least five types of shuttle have been seen. Presumably each of these was designed for a specific purpose, though what that might have been is open to speculation.

Omega Delta-type

I call him...mini-Ark!

This class of Ark shuttle is capable of spaceflight and is compatible with transwarp technology. Among its features are a flight recorder that records the experiences of all the crewmembers aboard. Although a shuttle of this type was carried on board the Ark, the cockpit and controls are small enough for a Maximal to operate, suggesting that its use may have been limited to the smaller Autobots aboard. These shuttles are outwardly sturdy - the Omega Delta crashed through the bridge of the Nemesis without damage, Nemesis Part 2 but are easily damaged from the inside - the same shuttle was destroyed by a punch to the control console. Fires of the Past

Beast Era

When the Ark crashed on Earth it was carrying the shuttle Omega Delta on board, along with the deactivated Autobots and Decepticons. At the end of the Beast Wars, Rhinox appropriated the Omega Delta to defeat the Nemesis. Blackarachnia noted that the history tapes never mentioned a shuttle on board the Ark. She obviously didn't read the Marvel comics.

After it had been fitted with a transwarp cell, the shuttle flew Rhinox, along with his fellow Maximals and the captive Megatron back to Cybertron. It's unknown whether the Autobots - on awaking in 1984 - asked one another: "Dude, where's our shuttle?"

Botanica also piloted a shuttle of the Omega Delta-type. It is unknown whether it too had previously been carried aboard a Vanguard-class vessel. Home Soil

"Slave I"-type

Examples of this kind of Ark shuttle are few and far between. They are known to carry a control crystal, and are fitted with weaponry that can be detached and fired remotely by humans. Destiny of the Dinobots! Only one shuttle of this design has been seen, and neither of its two depictions gives a particularly clear view, but it would seem to share some design elements with Boba Fett's ship Slave I from the Star Wars universe.

Marvel Comics

A shuttle of this type transported the Dinobots to the Savage Land shortly after the Ark's crash. When they were buried in a tar pit, this shuttle was abandoned. The Last Stand! Repeat Performance!

Earthforce

Note: These stories do not fit into the normal Marvel continuity. See Earthforce for details.

The Dinobots' shuttle was salvaged by a human paleontologist who used its technology to care for sick dinosaurs. When this was discovered by the Dinobots in 1992, they used the shuttle's equipment to transfer Snarl's mind into the body of a Stegosaurus. What happened to the Stegosaurus's mind went unrecorded.

"Bird of Prey"-type

Similar in design to a Klingon Bird of Prey from the Star Trek universe, these shuttles saw common service on Earth in the early days of the Great War. The Ark carried at least four Bird of Prey-types, though most of them were destroyed in combat. They have a storage bay capable of holding and deploying a mobile Autobot repair bay, or M.A.R.B. and appropriately enough they can be fitted with cloaking devices.

Marvel Comics

Note: Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

Ratchet took a shuttle of this design to retrieve the Dinobots from the Savage Land. Repeat Performance! When the Dinobots went rampaging across America due to damage to their primary cybo-dendrons, the Autobots used a number of Bird of Prey-type shuttles to follow them. The first, piloted by Cliffjumper, Gears and Windcharger, was captured by the Decepticons and booby-trapped, later destroyed by Bumblebee. A second suffered heavy damage when either Grimlock or Sludge bit through the fuel tank, injuring Bluestreak and Huffer, while a third piloted by Prowl was written off when he crashed it into Grimlock. Only Prime's shuttle was undamaged. Dinobot Hunt!

All-Terrain Turbo-Transport

Pressed into service around the time of the Matrix Quest, these shuttles were capable of interstellar travel and fitted with a harpoon and towing cable. It seems likely that these craft were not originally amongst the Ark's complement but were instead commandeered from the Steelhaven.