Ark (WFC)

The name or term "Ark" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Ark (disambiguation).

The Ark is an Autobot starship from the War for Cybertron portion of the Aligned continuity family.

The Ark, aka Project Generation One, was the city-sized ship that the Autobots left Cybertron on during the Great Exodus. Unlike other galactic transports, the Ark was extremely large, and had other special modifications made by Optimus Prime, such as its gold color, as other transports were gray.

Fiction

Exodus

When Optimus Prime removed the Plasma Energy Chamber poisoning Cybertron's core with Dark Energon, it informed him that while healing, the planet could not sustain a fraction of the life it currently did, and the Autobots needed to leave. Optimus announced Project Generation One to his comrades, many of whom deemed the notion suicidal as the Cybertronians had not left the planet since the Golden Age. Regardless, Jazz said he would rather die on a starship than on a planet, and declared "Let's build this Ark."

Alpha Trion oversaw the Ark's construction in the Well of All Sparks, installing Teletraan-1 inside, while Optimus drew out and crashed Trypticon aboard the Eight Track. When they returned, the Ark was completed and they boarded the ship. Sideswipe was appointed the pilot. Alpha Trion refused a place, aware Vector Sigma would keep him alive, while Omega Supreme, Jetfire, Ultra Magnus, Springer and the Wreckers sacrificed a chance to leave, giving time for the Ark to launch by keeping Trypticon at bay.

However, Trypticon transformed into the Nemesis and pursued the Ark into the last space bridge, but when it emerged, the Decepticons were nowhere to be found. The Ark was outside an unknown spiral galaxy where the AllSpark was detected. Bumblebee asked Optimus if they knew the way home: he replied the Matrix of Leadership would guide them back one day. Exodus

Exiles

Exiles

Games

Transformers: War for Cybertron (360/PS3/PC)

I have commissioned a new galactic transport for us, an Ark, in which we shall make our journey through the stars.Optimus Prime

After defeating Trypticon, Optimus gathered Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, Jetfire, Air Raid and Silverbolt around him, telling them he had commissioned a new ship, the Ark, to take them off Cybertron when it was time for them to leave. War for Cybertron

Transformers: War for Cybertron (DS)

Upon Trypticon's defeat, Optimus said once Megatron's threat was contained on Cybertron, they would leave the planet in the Ark. War for Cybertron

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron

Spoiler warning: Plot details follow. Please give an expiry date ({{spoiler|(story)|DATE}}) - either the date of the next episode/issue in the series or 30 days after release, whichever is sooner

Many years after the Great Exodus, Optimus Prime's time to leave Cybertron had come. He, Bumblebee, Ratchet and a squad of Autobots prepared a portal for the Ark to travel through while explaining that toughness in making the decision to Bumblebee. However a Decepticon ship attacked the Ark and stopped in in its tracks. After Bumblebee was fixed up by Ratchet, the doc ordered Bumblebee to fix varoius systems of the Ark to help Optimus repel Megatron. Fall of Cybertron

Notes

• The Ark, and "Generation One", are, of course, references to the original Ark and Generation 1.
• It is hinted (p. 226-7, 233) that Project Generation One was a contingency plan that had been in place since the Breaking of the Primes and had been a subject of discussion between Prime and Trion after the Core's corruption. Later, Optimus tells Jetfire the Core itself told about Project Generation One (p. 242), though it never uses the term in its entire speech.

References

Foreign names

Japanese: Ark (アーク Āku)