User:Locoman/Sandbox/Shuttle

The Autobot shuttle is a starship in multiple continuity families.

It's basically a funeral barge.

The Autobot shuttle is a multi-stage transport used by the Autobots around the 2005 era. Though they have a tendency to explode if you look at them wrong, the Autobot shuttles enjoy a good reputation due to their excellent safety rating. You can crash them, shoot them, set them on fire, blow them up, but the passengers will almost always walk away uninjured.

The Autobot shuttle can take off horizontally with the aid of retractable thrusters on its belly<ref>Thrusters seen in The Transformers: The Movie.</ref> that lift the ship on a ground-effect cushion before it can get up enough speed to generate lift. The shuttle uses anti-gravity pads<ref>Anti-gravity pads mentioned in "The Legacy of Unicron!" part 4</ref> for landings. It can also be launched vertically with the aid of a gantry.

Autobot Shuttles are considered antiques by the Beast Era.

The EDC has also been known to use this type of shuttle.

Fiction

Generation 1 continuity family

Generation 1 cartoon continuity

In the year 2005, the Autobots frequently used their fleet of modular shuttles to make interstellar voyages. The flight of one such shuttle became the precipitating event for the Battle of Autobot City; while on a run to Earth to collect the necessary energon cubes, Megatron boarded their vessel, slaughtered everyone aboard and hijacked it to begin their siege on Autobot City. Optimus Prime and the Dinobots manned a second shuttle and flew it to Earth to provide reinforcements; although Prime sacrificed himself to see off the invaders, Megatron returned to Earth mere hours later in the form of Galvatron and the Autobots fled once more aboard a pair of shuttles.

While making for Cybertron in response to Unicron's attack on the metal world,the two shuttles ran afoul of Galvatron's starship, the Revenge. Hot Rod's shuttle suffered irreperable damage and crash-landed on nearby Quintessa, but Ultra Magnus took advantage of the shuttle's modular nature to eject the fore of the ship, escape while Galvatron destroyed the rest of the craft, and covertly set down on the planet Junkion for repairs. The Transformers: The Movie

The Earth Defense Command owned a number of Autobot shuttles painted in their white-and-blue livery. Galvatron stole one of these shuttles and used it to make a kamikaze run on Cybertron's central power facility in advance of a Quintesson invasion. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4 During another interstellar chase, Rodimus Prime escaped destruction by ejecting the front of the ship; as the small lifepod lacked any way of supporting human life for long, the Autobots were forced to abandon the lifepod and take refuge in the nearby Autobot Mausoleum in deep space for Daniel Witwicky's sake. Dark Awakening

Madman The Transformers comic

Fleeing the 2001 Decepticon conquest of Cybertron, the Autobots evacuated Cybertron using several shuttles. The Transformers

Deviations

In a world where Optimus Prime defeated Megatron during the Battle of Autobot City, the Autobot leader ordered everyone aboard the two shuttles to return to Cybertron and vanquish the leaderless Decepticons. While en route to Cybertron, Starscream—now boasting a Unicron-enhanced form, "Megascream"—attacked the vessel, and Hot Rod's attempt to throw the villain off their trail ended with his shuttle materializing over Junkion; although he and Daniel made it to the escape pod in time, the critically damaged vessel crash-landed and killed everyone else aboard. Prime's shuttle set down on Quintessa, and after making the nessecary repairs, the Autobots flew back to their base on Moonbase Two, where Optimus took another shuttle to confront Unicron and Megascream head-on. Deviations

Ask Vector Prime

In an unstable timeline that incorporated both Transformers and GoBots, Cy-Kill and his Renegades intercepted the Autobot shuttle on its way to Earth and incapacitated its crew. As dimensions shifted again, the timeline switched to become a war between Guardians and Decepticons, with Leader-1 piloting a shuttle to Earth to aid in the battle. Finally, the universe changed to incorporate a mix of representatives from both factions; following Galvatron's attack on the two shuttles in deep space, one crashed on Antares III, where Hot Rod and Kup confronted the Master Renegade, while Major Mo's shuttle crashed on Quartex. Echoes and Fragments

Marvel comics continuity

The Autobots used two separate shuttles to get to Junkion. The Legacy of Unicron!

Beast Wars cartoon

The Ark contained at least one shuttle. After Dinobot II secretly alerted the Maximals to its existence, Rhinox piloted the shuttle directly into the Nemesis to save Optimus Primal and capture Megatron. By rigging the shuttle with a salvaged transwarp cell, the Maximals set off aboard the vessel to return to their own time period, with their prisoner in tow. Nemesis Part 2

Beast Machines cartoon

During the transwarp voyage home, however, the ship ran into a temporal disturbance and Megatron escaped, arriving on Cybertron well ahead of his Maximal captors and conquering the planet with an army of Vehicons. Once the shuttle arrived, Cybertron's automated defenses shot the ship down; Descent it crashed somewhere in Cybertropolis and was impounded at the city's Central Spaceport. Blackarachnia broke into the ship's databanks to learn what had happened to their missing memories, but the brief shootout that followed wound up destroying the ship. Fires of the Past

3H comics

The middle section of a conventional Autobot shuttle houses crew quarters and an advanced Lifeline Cybernetic Diagnostic Module that can only be used by a trained medical technician. Hot Rod and the Wreckers used one shuttle extensively on their adventures; when a plasma explosive sabotaged the ship, Packrat ejected the foremost component of the vessel and left several Wreckers behind to die. Betrayal

2005 IDW continuity

Jazz and Tracks used a shuttle to escape from a hot zone on Cybertron. Spotlight: Jazz

Ask Vector Prime

In Primax 208.06 Zeta, Waspscream hijacked the Autobot shuttle inside the Ark after capturing Megatron and used it to return to Cybertron, only for the Predacon conqueror to escape early and conquer Cybertron. Ask Vector Prime, 16/08/2015

In yet another universe, temporal interference waves caused by Ravage altering history resulted in Primal's ship drifting into the BT World, where Unicron's "Stare of Chaos" destroyed the commandeered vessel. Ask Vector Prime, 30/9/2015

Transformers/Ghostbusters

While the Ark concealed itself on the dark side of Earth's moon, Ectronymous Diamatron used a shuttle to land on Earth in pursuit of an anomalous Cybertronian signal, but atmospheric entry damaged the ship's communication suite. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 3 At the conclusion of his adventure with the Ghostbusters, the Autobot scientist repaired his ship; rather than return to the Ark, however, he took the shuttle elsewhere in the galaxy in search of more Cybertronian ghosts. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5

Animated

The Autobots of this universe lack the ability to fly or assume spaceworthy alternate modes, and developed a line of light, short-ranged shuttlecraft as a compensatory measure after the Great War. Although they lacked even the most basic of weapons, they were commonly used for short-ranged interplanetary trips, and sometimes stored in larger vessels such as the Autobot repair ship Orion. The AllSpark Almanac Prowl stole this emergency shuttle to make a secret trip to the Moon, where it was destroyed by a Starscream clone. A Fistful of Energon

Shuttle Sections

Ultra Magnus' shuttle detaching from its main section

The shuttle has a modular design. Adding modules on to the front section expands the shuttle's range and abilities. The addition of a small lifepod means it's possible to detonate 1/2, 3/4 or 4/4 of the ship and still survive.

Rear section

The rear section of the Autobot shuttle contains the Main Stellar Drive for interstellar travel as well as the main propellant engines.

The 'conning tower' of the rear section contains a secondary navigation center.<ref>The shuttle was piloted from the conning tower in "The Legacy of Unicron!".</ref>

The rear section also houses a cargo hold.

Middle section

Shuttle jettisoning rearmost section.

The middle section of the Autobot shuttle houses a set of backup engines partially protected by blast-away armor when connected to the stellar drive. When separated, fold-out ailerons provide a measure of atmospheric maneuverability.

The middle section houses some crew quarters, and a medical repair bay equipped with life support machines<ref>Life Support Machines mentioned in Marvel UK #149</ref> to repair simple problems, and a Lifeline Cybernetic Diagnostic Module<ref>Lifeline module seen in Wreckers #2</ref> to work in tandem with a medical technician on more complicated problems. The repair bay is versatile enough to perform anything from a simple tune-up to a complete retrofit procedure.

Forward section

An Autobot Transport Gunship<ref>The front module was explicitly named in Armada #10.</ref> forms the foremost module of the shuttle.

This section's function is to keep the occupants alive in a tight situation; it excels at short-range space combat, but is not designed for traveling interstellar distances.

Out pops a surprise!

The Gunship is armed with three cannons on the lower surface, and the 'wings' on either size can house a variety of armaments, such as pop-out guns<ref>The pop-out guns were used in The Legacy of Unicron!</ref> or sonic warheads.<ref>Sonic warheads were used in Armada #10</ref>

Lifepod

The Lifepod module is capable of carrying several Transformers a short distance, keeping them alive in time for rescue or putting down on a nearby planet. It lacks a communications system, which is pretty darn weird.

Though airtight, this lifepod has no life support system, leaving humans with just the air trapped inside it to breathe. Presumably this defect has been addressed in the E.D.C. version of the Autobot shuttle.

The Lifepod can hold six normal-sized Transformers... if they're friendly.

Shuttles in fiction

Despite the large number of shuttles in Transformers fiction, none of them have ever been given a name, and it's likely that all shuttles are nameless.

Madman The Transformers comic

• The shuttles were used in the Autobot evacuation of Cybertron in the year 2001. The Transformers

The Transformers: The Movie

• The shuttle hijacked on its way to Autobot City. Orange with light-gray accents.

• The shuttle with Kup, Hot Rod and the Dinobots that crashed on Quintessa. Orange with dark gray-blue accents.

Season 3

I bet you get sick of those colors real quick in the E.D.C.

Others

• Orange with white and blue accents.

  

  It's almost like Guido Guidi tried to draw a shuttle from memory, except he's better than that.

• Optimus Prime used a strange variant of the Autobot shuttle in Armada #8. It has many features typical of the Autobot shuttle, but also many features found on the Ark, such as gunnery turrets, and may represent a major design variant. Blue with red and gold accents.
• An Autobot Transport Gunship was used to travel to the moon in Armada #10, and was later destroyed by Megatron's Solar Scalpel. Orange with no accents.

• One shuttle was destroyed by the Predacons, but a second one was able to evacuate Jazz and Tracks from a hot zone on Cybertron. Spotlight: Jazz

Galileo (Star Trek)}}]]"?

• In the Cyberverse cartoon, the Ark carries multiple shuttlecrafts, capable of landing on planets or being remotely piloted. The Journey Escape From Earth Perfect Storm
• In Transformers/Ghostbusters, Ectotron uses a craft identical to the Autobot lifepod but his craft is capable of faster than light travel and possess a communications array. Ghosts of Cybertron Part 2 Ghosts of Cybertron Part 5

Toys

Generations

• Unicron (2021)
  • ID number: TBA

War for Cybertron Unicron comes with a mini Autobot shuttle accessory, and it can mount onto the clear stand along with the dismembered Unicron head.

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References

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