Orbital Assault Carrier
- The Orbital Assault Carriers are mass-produced Decepticon starships from the Dark of the Moon portion of the live-action continuity family.
Orbital Assault Carriers were used to give the Decepticons controlling Chicago air superiority. They have multiple configurations, presumably for different roles.
They get stolen. A lot.
Fiction
Dark of the Moon film
Many years ago, a flight of Orbital Assault Carriers pursued the Ark as it left Cybertron's orbit, successfully crippling its systems and forcing it to make a crash-landing on the Earth's Moon, waylaying Sentinel Prime's mission. Much later, the Decepticons smuggled many of the vessels onto the lunar surface, and when space bridge portals were opened up they flew through, and later proceeded to wreak havoc on the Chicago skyline, deployed from larger carriers. Despite their maneuverability and firepower, they were not invulnerable; the Wreckers managed rip the hatch off of one and execute its protoform pilot, while the ship itself was commandeered by Bumblebee and his human allies. Bumblebee then used the ship to help Sam rescue Carly, though Laserbeak sent a UAV into it, downing it. Another abandoned ship was similarly taken over by Wheelie and Brains, and the duo managed to crash-land aboard a mothership and cause a vital distraction. During the fight between Optimus Prime and Sentinel Prime, Sentinel called on the ships to fire onto Optimus. Optimus tried to fight back; however, there were too many for him to handle. Fortunately, the United States military were able to shoot them down with missiles.
Dark of the Moon
Age of Extinction film
After the Battle of Chicago's conclusion, many Orbital Assault Carriers (among other pieces of Transformer technology) were recovered by humans and began getting sold around the world. Several countries entered a bidding war for the ships that was started by Russia.
Lockdown possessed several of them in his vessel, one of which was stolen by Crosshairs when the Autobots snuck aboard to rescue Optimus. Crosshairs flew out to save Bumblebee, Cade and Tessa Yeager, and Shane Dyson. The small party was pursued by Lockdown's minions piloting more Orbital Assault Carriers through the skies of Chicago, until Crosshairs instructed Cade and Shane how to operate their OAC's weaponry as he parachuted into the fray personally, taking out some of their assailants. Once Cade and Shane took out some more of their pursuers, Bumblebee flew it into an underground tunnel, where he lost control as it crashed through to the streets above. The three humans and Bumblebee proceeded to abandon the wrecked ship.
A few more Orbital Assault Carriers harried Optimus and the Dinobots while Lockdown utilized his ship's magnet to capture them. Slug managed to take one out simply by ramming one with his head when it came too close. Age of Extinction
Toys
Dark of the Moon
- Starscream / Orbital Assault Carrier (Cyberverse Action Set, 2011)
- Series: 1
- Number: 002
- Japanese ID number: CV03
- Accessories: missile launcher, missile, Chicago
- A brand-new Cyberverse Legion-class mold, Starscream comes with an “Assault Craft” similar to the kind the Decepticons use in the film. It can convert into a “Battle Station” for Starscream to stand or sit on, and a “Space Cruiser” for Starscream’s jet mode to rest on. There are molded wheels on Starscream to nestle into the groves on top of the carrier. Sadly, a cavity on the back keeps multiple planes from being able to rest on it. All three modes sit on small wheels, and there is an additional platform below for Starscream to rest on in jet mode, although he has to face backwards. Other low-slung Legion-class figures may fit in this space, if tightly.
- Several MechTech ports are available on the craft, and the removable missile launcher has a handle for it to be held by smaller Cyberverse figures as well as a 5mm post for it to attach to larger figures. There are also several C joint bars on the engines, plus one clip on the right side for connecting to other playsets.
- There is an included cardboard backdrop for display, depicting Chicago under siege.
Trivia
- Some just so happen to have a hatch big enough for a human. How convenient.
