Axalon (BW)

The Axalon

The Axalon is a Maximal exploration vessel whose mission was to explore and survey uninhabited worlds, seeding them with stasis pods so that those Transformers within could adopt the appearance of local lifeforms and conduct research undisturbed. However, it was called upon to intercept and pursue a stolen Predacon starship, and was subsequently never heard from again by its superiors.

Fiction

Cartoon continuity

Beast Wars cartoon

When Megatron's band of Predacon criminals stole the Golden Disk and escaped in their ship, the Maximal science vessel Axalon was the only vessel close enough with the Transwarp engines needed to pursue him.

The crew of the Axalon at the start of the Beast Wars appears to have been newly assembled and the captain, Optimus Primal, was new to command.

The Axalon engaged the Predacon warship in battle as soon as both starships came out of transwarp, chasing it to a primitive world that would later be revealed as Earth. Outgunned, the Axalon's engines were severely damaged and it was slowly dragged towards the surface by the planet's gravitational pull. Realizing their ship would not survive, their cargo of stasis pods were launched into safe orbit from the rear docking bay. Despite this grim setback, Optimus Primal was not willing to allow their enemies to escape, and so he ordered the forward plasma cannon to be fired. Landing a well-targeted shot that crippled the Predacon vessel, both ships soon crash-landed. Template:Storylink

After crashing on Earth, the Axalon became the Maximals' base of operations. Unlike the Predacon ship, it was still flight worthy (although only just), allowing the Maximals to repair it with salvaged parts when it seemed that the Predacons had destroyed themselves in an energon explosion. Unfortunately, the Predacons had merely faked their destruction to try and commandeer the repaired Maximal ship, and subsequently attacked the Axalon as it was preparing to take off. Although the bulk of the villains were defeated and the ship was able to take to the air, Megatron was able to board and jab his tail weapon into a key console, destroying the Axalon's transwarp drive and sending it back to the ground. The ship and its occupants landed in one piece thanks to Optimus' last-minute intervention, but the Axalon would never fly again. Template:Storylink

After Megatron's attempt to alter history, it was further destroyed by Predacon forces, as Rampage and some of Tarantulas's spider drones pulled it off the cliff that it was straddling. The ship's forward quarter, including the command center, split off and fell first, landing on dry land. The remainder, including its drives and primary computer center, fell afterward and sank into the lake, finally destroying the Axalon. The remains of the command center were salvaged to help fortify the Ark against Predacon attack. Template:Storylink Rattrap would later undertake a dangerous mission below the lake's surface to salvage the Sentinel shield control module; during the mission, an underwater battle between Rampage and Depth Charge sent the ship's remains plummeting even further into the lake's depths. Template:Storylink

As the Maximals packed up their stuff for leaving Earth, they were hauling many large crates, some of which had pieces of the Axalon's command center dangling out from them. Template:Storylink

3H comics

Following the Maximals' evacuation of Earth, the Vok returned, intent on putting a stop to Tarantulas and his plans. At this point in time, both the Axalon's salvaged bridge and the rest of the wrecked, sunken ship remained exactly where they had been abandoned. Template:Storylink

Timelines

Before leaving in earnest for its stated mission of interplanetary exploration, the Axalon was parked at a Maximal space station for a few weeks while it picked up its secret cargo. Finally, its impatient crew were able to leave, but subsequently were contacted by Maximal Defense Command Center about a rogue ship of Predacons in their area who had stolen the Golden Disk. The Axalon was ordered to pursue it.

A spectacular battle followed between the Axalon, the Predacon ship, another mysterious Predacon ship, and the Chromia 10. The latter two ships were destroyed, and the former two ships flew through a transwarp portal. Template:Storylink

Beast Wars Metals manga

The Axalon was badly damaged during a space battle with the Predacons and left floating in the orbit of Energoa. It eventually crashed into the ocean when Protoform X broke free. Using the ship's still-active armaments, the Maximals blasted Rampage into space. Template:Storylink

Beast Machines toy bios

The Dinobot Airraptor served aboard the Axalon as interplanetary surveyor and navigator. Template:Storylink

United

Fear blossomed as the news of Unicron's return spread. Optimus Primal and his crew tried valiantly to battle his new "Ark Unicron" form, but they were quickly defeated. In their darkest hour, the Axalon started glowing blue and revealed a previously unknown power: transforming into a super robot lifeform. Born again with a new living spark of its own, this powerful ally gave the Autobot army a hope of finally defeating Unicron. Template:Storylink

IDW Generation 1 continuity

The Axalon was a Eukarian starship under the command of Domitius Major. Template:Storylink Twenty thousand years ago, Onyx Prime sent the ship to find the Enigma of Combination for him. Template:Storylink Believing that his Talisman would offer them protection against an unidentified threat, he entrusted it to the crew, Template:Storylink who duly stored it inside a specialized plinth on the ship's bridge.

As the ship's energon supplies ran low, Domitius chose to send their vessel off-course in the hopes of refueling; some ten thousand years ago, they arrived over prehistoric Earth, drawn to its abundant supplies of Ore-13. As they prepared to set down, however, they picked up odd transmissions... unbeknownst to them, those transmissions had been sent by Shockwave, who had also come to Earth, and, aboard an oddly familiar ship, shot down their vessel. Knocked out by the crash and with their memories scrambled by the Talisman, the crew would be used as experimental subjects by Shockwave, and the Axalon itself was eventually buried by glaciers and forgotten by all. Template:Storylink Unknown to the crew, "Onyx Prime" was in actuality a future version of Shockwave who had sent them to Earth so as to ensure history unfolded as he had remembered. Template:Storylink

In 1944, Centurion — the last surviving member of the Axalon — had broken Shockwave's brainwashing that caused him to believe that he was Bumblebee, and attempted to return to the wreck of the Axalon to die in peace. Though the Talisman had vanished long ago, some of its energies remained in the ship's storage unit. In a battle against Domitius' reanimated corpse and the creations of the Talisman, those energies briefly surged again, causing the ship, and its occupant Sgt. Savage, to vanish, seemingly to parts unknown... Template:Storylink

...or rather, fifty years in the future, when the next activation of the Talisman by Garrison Kreiger and Atomic Man caused Savage and the Axalon to rematerialize in the year 1994.

2021 IDW Beast Wars comic

A lightly armed exploration vessel, the Axalon, despite being equipped with a Transwarp Drive, was limited only to regular space travel. On a routine protoform delivery mission to H'nkshanaar-4 however, the Axalon was tasked to intercept the warship Darksyde, stolen by Predacon separatists. Unable to engage the Darksyde on equal footing, the Axalon instead locked onto the stolen craft's Transwarp Drive, following it through time. Emerging from unspace, the Axalon sustained further damage prompting Nyx to simply ram the ship into the Darksyde but this left the Axalon unable to escape the gravity field of the nearby planet, though it managed to eject its cargo of stasis pods. Crashing in a valley, the Axalon's onboard computer rebooted and reconstructed its crew with beast modes to protect them from the high levels of energon radiation on the planet. Template:Storylink

The Maximals went to work repairing their craft, sending Nyx to scout the surrounding area. Template:Storylink When she later failed to return, the Maximals began establishing a link to the orbiting stasis pods to try and expand their sensor range. Template:Storylink When they succeeded in doing so, they found a wounded Nyx who had joined up with the defected Dinobot. Surrendering, the Predacon asked to join the Maximals. Template:Storylink

With its crew having had no time to repair the shields during their night of expanding the sensors, the Axalon was left vulnerable to a direct attack from the Predacons. Template:Storylink

When Tarantulas managed to breach the Axalon, he made for the science lab only to encounter Rattrap operating a cargo-loading exoskeleton and tossed him out of the ship. Rattrap then managed to complete the repairs on the force field only for it to eject Dinobot with the other Predacons. When the hostiles turned on Dinobot, Primal had the Axalon's cannons scare off the Predacons. Bringing Dinobot back into the Axalon, the Maximals healed him and welcomed him into their crew. Template:Storylink

War for Cybertron Trilogy cartoon

The Axalon Template:Storylink had a crew of over 200 Maximals, though after crashing onto Earth in the past and engaging in a conflict with the time-displaced Predacons, only Optimus Primal, Airazor, Rhinox, Rattrap, Cheetor, and Tigatron survived Template:Storylink by the time the Autobot Ark and Decepticon Nemesis crashed on the planet. Damaged beyond the ability to fly and return to Cybertron, Optimus Primal and Rhinox checked the Ark's energon reserves in hopes of repairing the Axalon, though it was not enough. Primal then sought to salvage the Ark, though the Maximals soon after allied with the Autobots, Template:Storylink and later left for Cybertron aboard the repaired Ark. Template:Storylink

Transformers: Universe reboot cartoon

An exploration ship, the Axalon was meant to chart the unexplored reaches of the galaxy, and find a lifeless planetoid on which to dump Protoform X, a directive that only Captain Optimus Primal and First Officer Rhinox were made aware of. The Axalon had many stasis pods of over 200 Maximals.

While the Axalon launched the stasis pods it held to the planets New Earth, it, as the only transwarp capable ship within range, was directed to intercept Magmatron's band of Predacon criminals who had stolen the Golden Disk and escaped in a stolen ship.

Notes

• The Axalon's main plasma cannons were used twice in the series: during the battle with the Darksyde (the guns that dealt the crippling blow to the Predacon ship) and once more during "Call of the Wild" as backup when the topside autogun was destroyed.
• In a running gag, the glass of the ship's elevator doors is shattered multiple times over the course of the series, usually by the Maximals.
• A very similar starship, possibly Axalon-class or meant to evoke it, was used in the 2001 Robots in Disguise cartoon by an Autobot who would eventually be reprogrammed into Scourge, as seen in "The Decepticons".
• Another starship of the Axalon's class was used by Ironhide's team in the Timelines story "Descent into Evil".
• Revenge of the Fallen Jetfire's Cybertronian form in Defiance has a more-than passing resemblance to the Axalon.