Ark

The Ark (アーク, Āku) is the name given to the Autobot spaceship that, in many universes, originally carried the Autobot and Decepticon armies to Earth.

The Ark is a Vanguard-class Deep Space Interceptor. It has five decks and houses a full crew complement of 300 Transformers (although it can be flown by only a handful if necessary). Its environment is fully automated and self-sufficient. For engines, it features 4 Hyperfuel Intake Accelerators.

It is armed with 16 particle-combustion cannons (port), 16 laser emitters (starboard), a primary starfield missile launcher, and an Overshock sonic battery.

Crew of the Ark
The Ark's crew consisted of all the 1984 Autobots. A vehicle resembling Grapple's alt-mode and called "Hauler" is also seen shortly after the Autobots revived on Earth and may represent another crew member. Some or all of the 1985 Autobots may also have been crewmembers.

The original crew of the Ark consisted of:


 * Optimus Prime
 * Roller
 * Autobot Cars
 * Bluestreak
 * Bulkhead
 * Hound
 * Ironhide
 * Jazz
 * Mirage
 * Prowl
 * Ratchet
 * Sideswipe
 * Sunstreaker
 * Trailbreaker
 * Wheeljack
 * Hauler
 * Autobot Mini Vehicles
 * Brawn
 * Bumblebee
 * Cliffjumper
 * Gears
 * Huffer
 * Windcharger

Note: ''A number of Autobots introduced later in the series (Perceptor, Red Alert, etc.) came down with Cybertonium depletion indicating they have been away from Cybertron just as long as the known members of the original Ark crew. This may indicate they were also part of the Ark crew behind the scenes and perhaps not initially repaired by Teletraan I.''

History
Other Vanguard-class ships, pretty much identical to the Ark, are seen taking refugees from Cybertron on a history tape. It is suspected that the settlers of known Autobot colonies such as Paradron were among these.

The Ark was launched under the command of Optimus Prime to search for fuel, but ran afoul of two colliding asteroids. Then the Decepticon warship attacked, and the Decepticons under Megatron boarded it. Out of control, the Ark crashed to Earth, smashing into a volcano in what would eventually become a desert. The exact location is unknown, but closely resembled the American southwest. There it rested until a volcanic eruption four million years later reactivated it and its inhabitants.