Autobot shuttle

Let's see what you can see... This article is in need of images. Specifics: toy

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^[1] 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^[2] 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.

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.^[3]

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^[4] to repair simple problems, and a Lifeline Cybernetic Diagnostic Module^[5] 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^[6] 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^[7] or sonic warheads.^[8]

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 commanded by Ultra Magnus whose main section was destroyed by the Revenge. Orange with dark red accents. This is presumably the same shuttle Optimus Prime brought to Autobot City.
• 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.

• A human shuttle was used to make a kamikaze-run on Cybertron's central power facility in "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 4" before a full-scale planetary invasion. This shuttle was painted in the E.D.C.'s signature white-and-blue colors.
• The shuttle Rodimus Prime used in "Dark Awakening". Orange with white and light-gray accents.
• The shuttle Sandstorm and Octane use to travel to a space station in "Starscream's Ghost". Orange with white and red accents.

Others

• Two separate shuttles were used to travel to Junkion in "The Legacy of Unicron!" 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

How about "Galileo"?

• 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 the trailer for My Nezha and Transformers, one such shuttle is seen flying over the Great Wall of China.
• 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

War for Cybertron Trilogy

• Unicron (2021)

• Known designers: John Warden, Lynsey Urban and Lenny Panzica (Hasbro), Takashi Kunihiro (TakaraTomy), Robby Musso and Emiliano Santalucia (concept art), AJ Piejko-Brown and Aurora Kraus (packaging), Mark Grzesik, Sarah Jean Rovenko, and Dan Caparco (instruction design), Lee Tympanick (safety), Rachel Fleming (senior box sitter, marketing), Charlie (junior box sitter, cat)^[9]

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.

References

1. ↑ Thrusters seen in The Transformers: The Movie.
2. ↑ Anti-gravity pads mentioned in "The Legacy of Unicron!" part 4
3. ↑ The shuttle was piloted from the conning tower in "The Legacy of Unicron!".
4. ↑ Life Support Machines mentioned in Marvel UK #149
5. ↑ Lifeline module seen in Wreckers #2
6. ↑ The front module was explicitly named in Armada #10.
7. ↑ The pop-out guns were used in The Legacy of Unicron!
8. ↑ Sonic warheads were used in Armada #10
9. ↑ HasLab Unicron development reports at the Hasbro Pulse blog.