Axalon (BW)
| This article is about the Maximal ship from Beast Wars. For the Autobot ship from Armada, see Axalon (Armada). |
- The Axalon is a spaceship in the Beast Wars portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
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, she was called upon to intercept and pursue a stolen Predacon starship, and was subsequently never heard from again by her superiors.
Fiction
Animated continuity
Beast Wars
When Megatron's band of Predacon criminals stole the Golden Disk and escaped in their stolen ship, the Darksyde, the Maximal science vessel Axalon was the only ship close enough with the Transwarp engines needed to pursue him.
Her crew at the start of the Beast Wars appears to have been newly assembled and the captain, Optimus Primal, was new to command. However, the Axalon itself had already been in service for at least a while. The Dinobot Airraptor once served aboard her before the Beast Wars as interplanetary surveyor and navigator.
The Axalon engaged the Darksyde in battle as soon as both starships came out of transwarp, chasing the Predacon ship to a primative world that would later be revealed as Earth. Outgunned by the Darksyde, the Axalon's engines were severely damaged and she 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 back. Despite this grim setback, Optimus Primal was not willing to allow their enemies to escape, and so ordered the forward plasma cannon to be fired at the Darksyde, a well-targeted shot that crippled the Predacon warship. Soon afterwards, both ships crash-landed. Beast Wars, Part 1
After crashing on Earth the Axalon became the Maximal's base of operations. Still flight worthy, the Axalon took her last trip into the air when the Maximals were able to salvage parts from the Darksyde when they mistakenly thought the Predacons had destroyed themselves in an energon explosion. The trip was brief and the crash, caused by Megatron, ensured that the Axalon would never fly again.
After Megatron's attempt to alter history, she was further destroyed by Predacon forces, as Rampage and some of Tarantulas's spider drones pulled her off the cliff that she was straddling. The ship's forward quarter, including the command center, split off and fell first, landing on dry land. The remainder, including her drives and primary computer center, fell afterwards and sank into the lake. The remains of the command center were salvaged to help fortify the Ark against Predacon attack. Optimal Situation Rattrap would later undertake a dangerous mission below the lake's surface to salvage the Sentinel shield control module; a simultaneous underwater battle between Rampage and Depth Charge sent the ship's remains plummetting even further into the lake's depths.
It would appear the Maximals left the remains of the Axalon behind when they returned to Cybertron. Nemesis, Part 2
In both "Primeval Dawn" and in Dreamwave's comic book series, we see abandoned segments of the Maximal encampment.
Known Specifications
As the Axalon was a science vessel, she is scantily armed and even then primarily for defensive purposes. However, her main forward plasma cannons have enough power to cripple Predacon ships (such as the Darksyde) with several well-targeted shots.
Her rear docking bay can launch stasis pods in the event of an emergency.
Toys
Beast Wars Tenth Anniversary
- Optimus Primal (2006)
- A small-scale toy of the Axalon was included.
Trivia
- Another starship of the Axalon's class was used by Ironhide's team in the Timelines story Descent Into Evil.
