Axalon

The Axalon is the name of the fictional Maximal ship in the Beast Wars cartoon and comic books. In addition, in the Transformers: Armada cartoon, the Autobots constructed a space ship that was also named the Axalon, possibly in reference to the original Maximal ship.

History
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.

However, the Axalon was equipped with a Transwarp drive capable of travel through space and time, and after engaging the Predacon ship Darksyde 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, Rampage and Transmutate. 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.

IDW comic series
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 conquer 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.

Destruction
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 its 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 Sentinel security program which granted the Axalon a perimeter energy shield, the Maximals newer volcanic base was more far vulnerable to attack intrusion by the Predacons.

The Axalon made one final appearance in the episode "Changing of the Guard", in which Rattrap pilots a submersible into the lake in order to locate Sentinel. The purpose of this was to obtain the defense system Sentinel, with which the base could be properly protected. However, during his search, Rattrap ran afoul of Rampage, but was fortunately saved by Depth Charge. Recovering Sentinel, Rattrap then escaped just in time, as the shockwaves from Rampage and Depth Charge's weapons sent the Axalon tumbling even deeper into the lake. Unfortunately Sentinel is later in the episode captured by the Predacons and installed in their base, although this has no significant impact on the story's outcome.

Crew
The crew of the Axalon included:
 * Optimus Primal - Captain of the Axalon; his background is in Science and Research and Development.
 * Rhinox - Seemingly in charge of defense and science duties, as well as adviser of Optimus Primal. Assumed second in command status later in the series.
 * Cheetor - Possibly the pilot, but skilled as a warrior.
 * Rattrap - Often seen working navigation, but skilled in espionage, demolitions and marksmanship. Was appointed second in command early in the series.

As more stasis pods were found and Depth Charge arriving in his own ship, the crew changed and expanded. New members include:
 * Dinobot - Switched sides from the Predacons. Military strategist and consistently tries to take command when Optimus is gone, although it always falls to Rattrap or Rhinox.
 * Tigatron - Lost his memories. Acted as Recon.
 * Airazor - Acted as Air Recon.
 * Silverbolt - Briefly joined the Predacons at first when he came online, but quickly realized he was a Maximal.
 * Depth Charge - On a search for Protoform X.
 * Blackarachnia - Switched sides. Eventually became an actual Maximal. Served in the Ark cave after the Axalon was destroyed.
 * Tigerhawk - Fusion of Tigatron and Airazor possessed by a pair of Vok to assassinate Megatron. Their sparks united together and inhabited the new body.

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:

Television series

 * Airazor - Female, beast mode is that of a Peregrine Falcon. Became a transmetal in the comic series.
 * Blackarachnia - Female black widow spider. Reprogrammed into a Predacon but later recovered her original Maximal programming and became a Transmetal 2 at the same time.
 * Inferno - Fire ant. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Quickstrike - Scorpion/cobra Fuzor. Willingly joined the Predacons.
 * Rampage - Transmetal Coconut Crab with tank third form. Forced into joining the Predacons. First called Protoform X.
 * Silverbolt - Wolf/eagle Fuzor. Was briefly duped into being a Predacon before joining the Maximals.
 * Tigatron - White tiger. The first protoform from the Axalon to activate. Became a transmetal in the comic series.
 * Transmutate - No alternate mode.

Comic series

 * Air Hammer - Hammerhead shark/falcon Fuzor.
 * 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/mandrill fuzor (package says he's half baboon, but appears more like a mandrill).
 * Bonecrusher - Beast mode is a bison. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Buzzclaw - Praying mantis/lizard. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Buzz Saw - Beast mode is a bee. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Claw Jaw - Squid.
 * Double Punch - Scorpion. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Fractyl - Beast mode is a Pteranodon. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Later became a Transmetal with an alternate "flying wing" jet mode. Appeared in the BotCon Comics.
 * Grimlock - The same Grimlock as the Dinobot from Generation One, now a Maximal who turns into a giant raptor-type dinosaur.
 * Icebird - Snowy Owl/Polar Bear Mutant.
 * Injector - Lion fish/hornet Fuzor. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Insecticon - Beetle. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Jetstorm - Dragonfly beast mode. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Lazerbeak - Pterodactyl. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Night Glider - Flying squirrel, turned into Transmetal 2 while still inside Stasis Pod.
 * Noctorro - Beast mode is a bull/bat Fuzor. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Optimus Minor - Beast mode is a Transmetal 2 spider monkey. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special and the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Packrat - Beast mode is that of a rat. Later became a Transmetal with an alternate car mode. Appeared in the BotCon Comics.
 * Polar Claw - Beast mode is a polar bear. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Poison Bite - Scorpion/barracuda Mutant.
 * Powerpinch - Beetle. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Ramulus - Mountain goat, turned into Transmetal 2 while still inside Stasis Pod.
 * Razorbeast - Razorback.
 * Razor Claw - Wolverine/Velociraptor Mutant.
 * Razorclaw - Fiddler crab. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Appeared in the Universe - Wreckers comics.
 * Retrax- Pill bug. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Scarem - Beast mode is a Transmetal 2 beetle.
 * Scavenger - Ant. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Upgraded into a Transmetal before exiting stasis pod.
 * Scourge - Locust. Preprogrammed into a Predacon, turned into Transmetal 2 while still inside stasis pod.
 * Sky Shadow - Dragonfly/chameleon Fuzor, reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Snapper - Snapping Turtle, Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series. Reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Snarl - Beast mode is a Tasmanian Devil. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Sonar - Beast mode is a Transmetal 2 bat. Appeared in the IDW and BotCon comics.
 * Soundwave – Crocodile/Bat Mutant.
 * Stinkbomb - Beast mode is a skunk. Turned into a Transmetal 2 while still inside stasis pod. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Terragator - Alligator/snapping turtle Fuzor, reprogrammed into a Predacon.
 * Torca - Beast mode is a killer whale/elephant Fuzor. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series and the Transformers: Universe comics.
 * Wolfang - Beast mode is a wolf. Appeared in Dreamwave Comics Summer Special. Appeared in the 2006 IDW Beast Wars comic series.
 * Vice Grip - Beetle. Reprogrammed into a Predacon. Appeared in the BotCon Comics. A repaint of Powerpinch.

Blank Protoforms used to create clones

 * Dinobot - Beast mode is a Transmetal 2 Velociraptor. Cloned from the original Dinobot and was a Predacon until the last episode of the TV series where he betrayed Megatron and died saving the Ark and the Maximals. (Dinobot carried the name of his template as the original Dinobot was dead and because Megatron used half of Rampage's spark, so the spark lacked a personality of its own.)
 * Optimus Primal - A blank protoform was used to bring Optimus Primal back in the beginning of season 2.
 * Ravage - A blank protoform was used by Magmatron to bring Ravage back as a Transmetal 2.
 * Airazor - After the beast wars, Airazor and Tigatron's spark separated. Airazor's found a blank protoform in a stasis pod and emerged as a Transmetal.

In 2006, Hasbro released a new toy of Optimus Primal, It included a Cyber Planet Key to activate a missile firing gimick on the surf board included with the figure, Also as an extra piece a small replica of the Axalon was included.