Movies - Axalon

	Movies - Axalon

==Beast Wars==

The Axalon is the name of the Maximal ship in the Beast Wars cartoon and comic books. The Axalon, commanded by Optimus Primal, was on a mission of exploration when it was diverted to pursue the Predacon criminals who had stolen the Golden Disk.

The crew of the Axalon included:

Cheetor - Possibly the pilot, but skilled as a warrior.
Optimus Primal - Commander
Rattrap - Often seen working navigation, but skilled in espionage.
Rhinox - Seemingly in charge of defense and science duties.

The Axalon also carried numerous stasis pods with Maximal protoforms (presumably the crew that would be woken up on their original mission when they arrived at their destination), which it ejected in orbit around Earth when it appeared the ship would crash and be destroyed. Eventually most of these pods crashed on Earth and the Maximals inside activated. Characters on the television series and in the comics who were among those in stasis pods included:

Airazor - Female, beast mode is that of a falcon.
Armordillo: Beast mode is an armadillo. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
B'Boom - Beast Mode is a mandrill. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Bantor - Tiger/mandril fuzor (package says he's half babboon, but appears more like a mandrill).
Blackarachnia - Female black widow spider.
Bonecrusher: Beast Mode is a bison. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Cybershark - Beast mode is a hammerhead shark. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Fractyl - Beast mode is a petradon. Became a Predacon.
Inferno - Fire ant. Became a Predacon.
Insecticon - Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Jetstorm - Dragonfly - Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Noctorro - Beast Mode is a bull/bat creature. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Onyx Primal - Beast Mode is a bat.
Optimus Minor - Beast Mode is a transmetal 2 monkey. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special and the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Quickstrike - Scorpion/cobra fuzor. Became a Predacon.
Pack Rat - Beast mode is that of a rat.
Polar Claw: Second In Command. Beast Mode is a polar bear. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Razorclaw - Fiddler crab - Appeared in the Universe Wreckers comics.
Silverbolt - Wolf/Eagle fuzor. Was briefly a Predacon before joining the Maximals.
Snapper - Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Snarl: Beast Mode is a Tasmanian Devil. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Sonar: Beast Mode is a bat.
Stinkbomb: Beast Mode is a transmetal skunk. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
Tigatron - White tiger.
Torca: Beast Mode is a killer whale/elephant creature. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series and the Transformers: Universe comics.
Transmutate - No alt mode.
Wolfang: Beast Mode is a wolf. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.

However, the Axalon was equipped with a transwarp drive capable of travel through space and time, and after engaging the Predacon ship Darkside in battle, both vessels crash-landed on prehistoric Earth. After the crash, the Axalon served as the Maximals' base of operations.

The Axalon secretly had a double mission, not just the exploration of the galaxy. In fact, it was dispatched to exile the stasis bound Protoform X. Unfortunately, X was captured by the Predacons and became the warrior Rampage. The Axalon also carried many other stasis pods, which were jettisoned into orbit when the Axalon was shot down. These pods served to add new members to the cast over the remainder of Beast Wars, including Tigatron, Blackarachnia, Airazor, Inferno, Silverbolt, Quickstrike, and finally Rampage. The pods were brought down by an energy surge caused by a Vok weapon, and most of them were either presumed destroyed or left blanks, protoforms without Sparks. Two of these blanks were eventually put to use-one as the new body of Optimus Primal following his destruction, and the other as a clone of Dinobot.

Note: In the IDW Beast Wars comic series, it was revealed that many of the protoforms in stasis pods had survived, but the Predacon Magmatron had come to Earth in an attempt to raise an army of Predacons to conquor Cybertron. He altered the temporal alignment of the stasis pods, making them undetectable by the inhabitants of the planet, and attempted to infect them all with Predacon shell programs. Due to actions by Maximal double agent Razorbeast, many of the protoforms remained Maximals.

The Axalon's status as the Maximal base of operations came to an end following the arrival of the Decepticon agent Ravage. While the Maximals were busy repairing the damaged Optimus Prime, the Predacons set out to destroy the Maximal base. Despite the best efforts on the part of the Maximals, the Axalon was dragged from it's clifftop perch and fell into a nearby lake. With the ship destroyed, the now homeless Maximals salvaged what they could to establish a headquarters inside the volcano that held the Ark. Unfortunately, without the defenses afforded the Axalon, the new base was far more easily attacked and penetrated.

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