Lost Light

The Lost Light is a starship from the 2005 IDW portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

The name is in no way an indication that tragic events, melancholy proceedings, momentously wrong decisions, and sorrowful beings will be found aboard it. Not at all.

Originally an experimental vessel built on a pre-war Cybertron, the Lost Light is now the starship utilized by Rodimus and about 230 other assorted Transformers on a quest to find the mythical Knights of Cybertron.

Though apparently unremarkable by Transformer standards, the ship is quite large—described by Ultra Magnus as 15 miles in length, and 10 miles wide, and large enough for an entire extra chamber to be attached to it in secret without anybody onboard noticing. It contains numerous habitation suites for its crew, various offices and workshops for those who require them, a bar redubbed "Swerve's" after the ship's launch, and a large oil reservoir where introspective bots sometimes go to ponder. The ship's hangars carry at least half a dozen shuttlecraft, including the Leading Light, O Fortuna, and the Rodpod. Rodimus upgraded the Lost Light's armament with a batch of proton missile launchers after a visit to Hedonia.

The Lost Light is a "hop ship" which utilizes insanely advanced quantum engines to travel almost instantaneously across vast distances, though those distances can be limited by the amount of power available to the ship. (You don't want to be standing next to these engines when they activate, as they break the laws of physics in ways that can be very unhealthy.) On top, the ship carries a group of "fuel quills", essential to its operation. Deep within its bowels are the ship's fuel furnaces, powered or at least partly dependent upon nucleon rods, and manned by the Pyrobots.

The ship was known by its previous owners as the Unitrex-1.

In another universe, the ship was painted purple and rechristened Last Light.

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

The Unitrex-1 was constructed in the city of Unitrex five million years ago, the first ship outfitted with new experimental generator on board. A crew had been selected for the vessel, including the Duobots, but before it could launch, it was infiltrated by two very unexpected visitors: a time-travelling Rodimus and Cyclonus, who had come from five million years in the future and wound up stranded when their time machine ran out of power. Seeking to recharge the device, Rodimus used Perceptor's knowledge of future quantum science to upgrade the Unitrex-1's generator so that it could perform the task, in the process retroactively creating the very first quantum generator. As he worked, Cyclonus fought off the ship's sole guard, blasting him with a Sparkeater Gun and locking him in one of the ship's chambers. Once the time case was fully charged with quantum energy, a reaction between the case and generator caused the unmanned U1 to quantum jump away through time and space, its fate unknown to anyone. Predestination: An Expert's Guide No Guns, No Swords, No Briefcases

"Farewell, my friend. Though we die, at least our enemies are taken with us. Well, one of them, anyway."

The Unitrex-1 was eventually discovered drifting near Vela Pulsar by a group of Mortilus-worshipping NAILs who had left Cybertron during the war. Twenty Plus One Finding the guard, who had mutated into a ravenous Sparkeater, they kept it alive and docile using turbofox meals. The Chaos of Warm Things The NAILs subsequently returned to Cybertron following the end of the war, where the present-day incarnation of Rodimus was in search of a ship he could use in his quest to find the Knights of Cybertron, having been denied use of Omega Supreme. Drift crossed paths with the U1's owners during the Festival of Lost Light, and purchased the vessel from them for one billion Shanix, renaming it the Lost Light after the festival, Twenty Plus One and gifting it to Rodimus. ...And the Damage Done

Rodimus successfully convinced around 200 Transformers to join him on his quest, which involved following a map that had been discovered within the Matrix of Leadership. Ultra Magnus was appointed second-in-command, with Drift as third; Ratchet joined as chief medical officer, Perceptor and Brainstorm as science officers, and Red Alert as security director, vetting the crewmembers. Rodimus, Drift, and Brainstorm conspired with Prowl to smuggle the captive Decepticon Overlord aboard the ship for study and interrogation, Remembrance Day but this was not the only "addition" Prowl ensured to the ship: he ordered his agent Ore to plant a tracker on the vessel's quantum engine, but unfortunately for everyone aboard, Ore tried to do so just as the ship was taking off. The quantum generator activated and Ore became "mashed into it," causing an explosion that preemptively warped the ship across the universe. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It Hangers On

The accident appeared to teleport the Lost Light to a random point in space, but in truth, the ship's fate was far more complicated. The malfunction of the quantum engines had narrowed its choice of destination not to a single point in space, but to two points: the location to which the Lost Light had intended to warp, and a random one. The ship responded to this impossibility by teleporting to both points—creating two identical duplicates of itself, and everyone and everything on board. The Road Not Taken

On-course Lost Light

Look close! You can count the number of decks the ship has, as well as seeing the hexagonal corridor tubes running through the ship. Those hexagon-shaped passageways actually show up in interior scenes elsewhere in the series, because Milne is just that good.

The Lost Light that arrived at its intended destination was temporarily crippled by the explosion of one of its rear thrusters. In addition to causing the loss of Rung, this blast freed the Sparkeater trapped in the bowels of the ship; Rodimus used the "brightest spark" aboard—Animus—as bait, luring the beast to its death by mashing it into one of the quantum engines. Unfortunately, Rodimus miscalculated and met the same fate. His dead body was interred in a coffin made from parts of the ship's engine case, and Ultra Magnus succeeded him as captain. Now no longer feeling beholden to Rodimus, Drift confessed to Magnus about Overlord's presence on the ship. Unfortunately, Magnus was not the only person to whom this information was revealed: unbeknownst to the crew, Brainstorm was a Decepticon sleeper agent, who informed the Decepticon Justice Division that Overlord was aboard the Lost Light and invited them to come and get rid of him. The DJD caught up to the Lost Light near Ofsted XVII, and though they had initially promised to leave everyone else on the ship alive to maintain Brainstorm's cover, the discovery that Drift—a former Decepticon and high-ranking target of theirs—was aboard set off their murderous instincts, and they began slaughtering their way through the crew. They murdered the whole crew and Overlord, with only Rewind escaping their rampage, and the ship was let to float derelict in space. The Road Not Taken The Permanent Revolution

Seventeen months later, a massive battle occurred around the derelict Lost Light between the Black Block Consortia and the Galactic Council over the quantum engines. The Lost Light was ripped to pieces by the fighting, its quantum foam left drifting through space among its shattered chunks, while the coffin containing Rodimus's body broke free and drifted off into space. The Permanent Revolution Births, Deaths, and Interventions

Off-course Lost Light

Silence. For over four six milllion years, nothing disturbed the crypt-like atmosphere within that dormant structure.

The version of the Lost Light sent off-course by the explosion at launch appeared over an unknown planet. The explosion of the rear thruster caused a tear in the hull through which forty Autobots were blown, so Rodimus ordered the Lost Light to be set down on the planet's surface so the lost Autobots could be recovered. How to Say Goodbye and Mean It While repairs and rescues were being carried out, the ship's crew were joined by the amnesiac Skids. Hangers On

The Autobots labored to purchase a craft to propel them into the void... a craft dubbed -- the Lost Light.

No sooner was the Lost Light airborne again than it had to contend with the threat of the Sparkeater, released from the bowels of the ship by the explosion at launch. Rodimus used the "brightest spark" aboard—Rung—as bait, luring the beast to its death by mashing into one of the quantum engines. The Chaos of Warm Things During the chaos, Skids helped Swerve find the ship's bar, which Swerve decided to take ownership of. The soon-to-be-christened "Swerve's" became the go-to destination for crewmembers looking to drink and relax. Life After the Big Bang

The crew of the Lost Light continued to grow with the arrival of staff and patients from the Autobot medical facility Delphi, including Fortress Maximus, and First Aid, who was tapped to become the next chief medical officer following Ratchet's supposedly-impending retirement. How Ratchet Got His Hands Back Soon after their arrival, the ship was damaged when it was unexpectedly struck by a piece of space debris that turned out to be the severed thumb of the Titan Metroplex. The thumb was brought aboard, but this only drew the attention of Lockdown's Titan Hunters, who boarded the ship while the entire crew was accidentally frozen in place by one of Brainstorm's inventions. Only quick thinking by Trailbreaker (still active due to his forcefield's protection) kept the Decepticons from making off with the Metroplex fragment. The Reluctant Specialist

"Yes, even by our Autobot standards, the Benign Intervention is very large..."

The Lost Light finally reached its first major destination, the planet of Theophany, where the crew expected to find the Circle of Light. Instead, however, all that remained was the razed and deserted ruins of the Circle's Crystal City. The Galactic Council's enforcement ship, The Benign Intervention, also appeared on the scene, giving the Autobots one hour to explore the planet's surface. Rodimus's exploration team discovered a slumbering Titan beneath Crystal City... but Chromedome's attempts to hack into the behemoth's mind caused it to reactivate and fire a blast of energy into space, damaging the Benign Intervention and incurring the full wrath of its troops. The Lost Light was contained in an incineration shell and was seconds away from total annihilation when Rodimus's team freed the Titan, who in turn teleported the Lost Light and her crew away from Theophany. Theorizing that the Decepticons were behind the destruction of Crystal City, Rodimus decided to take the Lost Light near the Argon Nebulae, where Decepticon activity had been reported. You, Me, and Other Revelations

The Decepticon group that the crew engaged turned out not to be linked to the disappearance of the Circle of Light. Several members of the crew were injured fighting the group—including Rewind, whose misfortune was leveraged by Drift to convince Chromedome to help with the Overlord project. Before & After The days that followed were relatively peaceful, and included a trip to Hedonia for some shore leave Cybertronian Homesick Blues and a visit from the legendary Autobot Thunderclash, who was also looking for the Knights of Cybertron, Little Victories but it was not to last. During one of Chromedome's mnemosurgical incursions into Overlord's mind, the Decepticon escaped his cell Remembrance Day and went on a killing spree through the ship that left multiple dead and Ultra Magnus critically injured. Rewind sacrificed himself to ensure that Overlord was safely jettisoned into space. Under Cold Blue Stars Drift volunteered to take the fall for Rodimus, allowing himself to be banished for bringing Overlord on board. The Gloaming

When the comatose Ultra Magnus somehow departed the Lost Light aboard a shuttle, Rodimus had the Lost Light pursue him. The chase led them to an most unexpected destination: Cybertron's long-lost moon, Luna 1, where the crew became embroiled in the insane plans of Magnus's superior officer, the unhinged Chief Justice Tyrest, who had remotely summoned Magnus to him. Tyrest arrested the entire crew with the help of his army of Legislator robots, The Fecund Moon House of Ambus but the Lost Light was liberated when Tailgate shut down all the Legislators by repealing the code of law that controlled them. Eager to put the depressing detour behind them, the crew of the Lost Light soon departed from Luna 1, leaving behind Red Alert and Fortress Maximus to keep watch over the rogue moon. Stopping Tyrest's schemes had also resulted in the destruction of Rodimus's crucial Matrix-map, so the next plan was to find and join forces with Thunder Clash. This Calamitous Life The Sound of Breaking Glass An effort to get the Circle of Light survivors to join the quest did little except persuade them to go find Thunder Clash themselves. Little Victories Some time later, Rodimus's guilt over the Overlord incident got the better of him, and he came clean to the crew about his role in the fiasco. Invoking the Crisis Act, he had the ship's crew vote on his leadership. Though the majority favored him remaining in command, a large minority voted against him. Burning Bright

You can hem and haw about "off-model designs" and "inconsistent art", or you can bask in the glory of "artistic interpretation". Your choice.

The Lost Light next answered a distress call from none other than Orion Pax, the once and former Optimus Prime himself, rescuing his ship the Skyroller from the gravity well of the planet Gorlam Prime as it collapsed into a portal to the Dead Universe. Learning that the Dead Universe was also menacing Cybertron, Dark Dawn Pax and a small team ventured through the portal to investigate, while the Lost Light was charged with taking up Pax's mission in his absence: hunting down the mad scientist Jhiaxus. Before they could really get underway on their new mission, however, they were literally pulled off course by Metroplex's thumb, which began levitating and pushing against the ship's bulkhead. Winners & Losers The Lost Light followed the pull of the thumb to the ocean world of Hydrophena, where they discovered Metroplex himself, heavily wounded and under attack from the alien robot Ammonites. Into the Abyss The crew used a portion of their ship's quantum engines to recharge the damaged Titan, and, thus revitalized, Metroplex teleported himself and the Lost Light back to Cybertron, Burning Bright just in time to defeat the undead Necrotitan with which Shockwave was menacing the planet. Finis Temporis

"That... thing you wouldn't have me put down sealed itself inside the main engine room... and started tearing stuff apart!"

As the combatants basked in this victory, the Lost Light served as both a medical center and as a place of relaxation, as Transformers from both factions found their way to Swerve's for drink and recuperation. This downtime was short-lived, however, as Shockwave's final endgame revealed itself with the arrival of seventy billion Ammonites and the incipient collapse of space-time. The Becoming Amid swarming masses of foes, the Lost Light frantically lifted off, but soon set down again to discharge Megatron, Bumblebee, and a small team, with the intent of taking the fight to Shockwave. Black Planet After dropping off the strike team, the ship took to the air once again, its weapons picking off some 10,000 Ammonites as the battle raged. The Ammonite army were subsequently destroyed thanks to the efforts of the strike team, and the ship's crew used the Lost Light as a battering ram to smash Monstructor—the last combatant still standing—into his component Transformers. Finally, the ship swooped down in time to rescue the strike team from the collapsing singularity that resulted from the successful derailment of Shockwave's plans. ...And the Damage Done

In the wake of the great battle, Atomizer oversaw having the ship's name painted on the sides, while Perceptor and the crew restored the ship to full functionality. The ship's departure was stalled, however, by the trial of Megatron. Towards Peace The Lost Light was used to transport many Transformers to Luna 2 for the trial. Words Hang in the Air

"Fact: the Lost Light is by far the best trans-stellar transporter on Cybertron, making it the optimum choice, regardless of its condition."

Six months after the defeat of Shockwave's plans, the Lost Light finally departed Cybertron once more. A number of new faces had joined the crew... including its new co-captain, Megatron! Towards Peace Among other changes, Swerve assigned the reprogrammed Legislator "Ten" as his new bouncer, Whirl was appointed as "Entertainments Officer", bringing on a large cache of Earth movies, and Bluestreak became the latest bartender at Swerve's.

As the ship headed towards its next destination, it encountered a coffin floating in space. Megatron had it brought aboard; right about then, things began to disappear—a batch of nucleon rods, one of Swerve's Engex vats, bits of signs, doors, bulkheads, even whole crew members. Words Hang in the Air Rodimus was shocked when Megatron showed him the contents of the coffin: it was his own deceased body! His shock was soon compounded as the Lost Light itself began to disintegrate, more and more pieces vanishing into thin air. The crew evacuated aboard the ship's shuttles, as the Lost Light disappeared completely. Predestination: A Beginner's Guide Soon, all of her original crew would vanish as well, leaving only those who had joined after the return trip to Cybertron. Twenty Plus One

Those few remaining soon discovered the grisly remains of the quantum duplicate Lost Light, with Rewind as the only survivor among the murdered crew. Eventually, Nautica worked out what had happened, explaining how the two versions of the ship split during the original quantum jump. Once she directed Megatron and Rewind to deactivate the duplicate ship's quantum drums, the intact Lost Light and its vanished crew were restored to existence, while the shattered duplicate and its slaughtered inhabitants—with the exception of Rewind and Brainstorm's briefcase—ceased to be.

Celebration aplenty could be found on the restored ship... until Brainstorm arrived in Swerve's, opened his mysterious briefcase, and knocked everybody out. The Road Not Taken Well, everyone but Rung and Ultra Magnus, since Brainstorm had been spiking the engex, which they didn't drink. After disabling Magnus, Brainstorm used his briefcase to escape through time, since as it turned out his briefcase was in fact one of many, all part of a single time machine connected remotely to the Lost Light's engines. Naturally, Rodimus gave the command to give chase him down, using their own command case, the one Nightbeat found on the duplicate ship. The Custom-Made Now Armed with whatever Whirl could steal from Brainstorm's lab, and a "time phone" to keep in touch with the ship, they set off. The strain of carrying around two different time-travelers quickly began to drain the ship's engines. All Our Parlous Yesterdays

Rung had brought a model of the Lost Light with him during the Autobots' trip through time, Stet and was casually putting it together during another stop in their journey at roughly four million years ago. He was observed by the local timeframe's Nightbeat and Quark Post Hoc as well as Brainstorm, who—realizing he'd been followed back in time—promptly fled the scene. After another engaging another jump to Maccadam's, the day Megatron was arrested, Perceptor noticed that the ship had become the only temporally active event in the entire universe, with less than an hour left before the total collapse of the timeline. Then, when Brainstorm made one last jump, Megatron realized where he'd really been going—to kill Megatron. Stet However, it turned out Brainstorm couldn't bring himself to actually kill Megatron. Then Rewind took the shot instead; justifying the pre-emptive murder on the grounds that, while that the reality it would create was awful for Cybertronians, it was better for everyone else. And then Whirl implanted a Point One Percenter spark in Megatron's body, restoring the timeline. It was then that Tailgate came up with a plan to use the "time phone" to contact Cybertron in their past and try and change the future. It didn't work.

With enough juice left for one last teleport, Rodimus and Cyclonus were teleported to somewhere under Unitrex, to find an experimental set of engines. With some help from Perceptor, Rodimus upgraded the engines so as to use them to fuel the trip home, accidentally causing the origin of the Lost Light itself. Predestination: An Expert's Guide

A few days after this excitement, the ship set down on Scarvix to recharge, and Mirage opened his own bar, "Visages", which quickly caught on (that it turned out Swerve had been watering down his drinks may have played some part in this). Meanwhile, for his being a double agent, Brainstorm was summoned up before the L.L.I.L.A.C. (Lost Light Internal Legal Affairs Committee), the first such instance on the ship's journey. Ratchet discovered Ten had made a makeshift quarters for himself in one of the boiler rooms (no. 10, natch), and after a short reign as the favored place for post-war relaxation, "Visages"'s popularity crumbled when Megatron began an impromptu poetry session, causing all the bar's patrons to flee back to Swerve's. Our Steps Will Always Rhyme

Around this time, the Lost Light crossed paths with the Cosmic Carnival. Though they only intended to stay overnight, the crew wound up staying with the travelling show for three weeks, learning how to juggle in the process. The Not Knowing

Some time after, the crew received a joyous announcement from Rodimus: They'd actually accomplished something, in that they'd found Thunderclash, and he was dying! In a move prompted by unshakable grief, and most definitely not petty glee, Rodimus told the entire crew they'd been invited to Thunderclash's "pre-wake". Six hours later, near-all of the crew attended the wake, the only ones left out being the co-captains, as they "took stock". Afterward, a few crewmembers declared their intention to stick around for the actual funeral, while Rodimus went shopping at the nearest starhub. The Sensuous Frame As it transpired, Thunderclash's ship was suffering from a nasty case of personality ticks. Luckily, Skater, Flex, and Borer managed to summon Rodimus and Megatron, ridding the Vis Vitalis of them. Unfortunately the encounter destroyed Thunderclash's map to Cyberutopia, but with Thunderclash healed thanks to the ticks, he was able to leave his ship. Later, the crew held an "Earth Dance" party, and the Lost Light gained a new crewmember in Velocity, one of Nautica's sorority friends. The Frail Gaze

Shortly after the dance party, as First Aid prepared to temporarily leave the ship, having been summoned by Optimus Prime for important reasons, the Lost Light found itself being chased by a planet. In their careful investigations, the bridge crew found only one signal coming from it: a catchy tune advertising Swerve's. Further analysis showed it was made of holomatter, and being projected by Swerve himself, even as the little guy lay unconscious and dying in the medibay. A few phone calls later, and Rodimus rustled up several 'bots to project themselves onto the planet, find Swerve and figure out what was ailing him. Fortunately, they did, and the projected peril was soon no more. The One Where They Go to Earth

Then it turned out the reason for Swerve's ailment was an infection, caused by a bullet shot at him by the enigmatic Agent 113, as the agent's means of transmitting data to his fellow Autobots. Examining what was left of the data the crew found a message to the planet of the mysterious Necrobot. Spurred by a heartfelt argument by Rewind, and his own desire not to find the Knights of Cybertron too soon, Megatron allowed a detour. Meanwhile, Rodimus discovered the doodles on his desk had in fact been his way of transcribing his own map to Cyberutopia. The Not Knowing

Elsewhere, Getaway and Atomizer had been planning. With the help of Whirl, they had been trying to either get Megatron killed or thrown of the ship, and thanks to Getaway carefully working his magic over Tailgate, the little 'bot had been tricked into provoking Megatron, unaware Megatron's reaction would cost him his life. Thanks to some last minute second-thoughts from Whirl, though, Cyclonus became aware Tailgate's life was in danger. Cyclonus prevented Megatron from attacking Tailgate, but set off the already very twitchy security forces, who attacked him. This set off an unusual surge of energy from Tailgate, which washed the entire ship in a brilliant burst of light. The Lopsided Triangle The only immediately apparent side-effect of which was that it woke Thunderclash from his coma.

Wondering what was going on, Rodimus had Chromedome examine Tailgate's memories, leading to Getaway and Atomizer being imprisoned. Overjoyed to have Thunderclash up and about, the crew celebrated. Meanwhile, Froid appeared in a shuttle carrying the infamous serial killer Sunder. Speak, Memory: Part 1 Thanks to Froid, Sunder was set loose, and went on a rampage, using his mnemosurgery skills to make crewmembers involuntarily turn themselves inside out. Acting quickly, Megatron had the entire crew hide in their rooms, while he, Rodimus, and Thunderclash chased after Sunder (at least until Rodimus ran on ahead and met the guy). The chase ended with Sunder running into the shuttle bay and combining with the corpse of his brother, Sceptre. Fortunately, Sunder's rampage was ended when Tailgate suddenly displayed Outlier powers, and crushed the killer with the Rodpod. Speak, Memory! (Part 2) In the aftermath, both Froid and Sunder were placed in the brig. Filling in the Blanks

Around December 24 of that year, the ship entered Mauler territory, and the entire crew had to hide in specially prepared B.E.D.s, to prevent the Maulers detecting them. Fortunately, they didn't. Silent Light

Months passed, and the Lost Lighters began doing heroic deeds, saving organics from problems. Then, after a skirmish on Miliarium, several crewmembers were subject to a psychic attack. Tracing the attack's origin, they set off in the Rodpod to find who was responsible. Eventually arriving at the Necrobot's stomping grounds, they were attacked by Decepticons. The attack had been part of a trap. It turned out the majority of the crew weren't happy with Megatron being around and in charge, or with the 'bots who'd been "supporting" him, so they lured them off the ship, and let Getaway out. The Special Ops bot merrily filled the stranded Rodimus in on the details, before cutting off all contact, not just with Rodimus and the others, but absolutely everyone. How Bright Their Frail Deeds The majority of the crew however had not been aware of Getaway's promise to turn the stranded crew over to the Galactic Council, destabilizing Getaway's leadership. Filling in the Blanks

Three weeks later, Optimus Prime, seeing the recorded last wills and testament of the stranded crewmembers, demanded Jetfire get in contact with the ship, only for the scientist to point out they either weren't responding or couldn't. And either way, it was too late. How Bright Their Frail Deeds When the broadcast reached the Lost Light, the crew's faith in Getaway was shattered, prompting him to release Froid and Sunder to telepathically rein in the crew. Filling in the Blanks

Even later on Luna 1, Prowl and Fortress Maximus discussed the message sent out by the stranded crewmembers and how any attempt the two had made to contact them or the Lost Light had failed. Ten to Midnight Red Alert had set up a scanner for information on the Lost Light, but when it buzzed the group on Luna 1 just dismissed it as gibberish. Last Light

Under Getaway's command, the ship actually began making progress towards finding Cyberutopia, now that they had a schedule to adhere to and rules as well as ceasing all the side-quests to help out aliens. The Protectobots eventually caught up with the Lost Light, where Getaway explained the radio silence was to avoid the Black Block Consortia. Full Circle The only crew member spared the telepathic reconditioning was Riptide, who confessed to the Protectobots what had happened to Team Rodimus. The Protectobots attempted to escape the ship and tell Optimus Prime what had happened, but were captured by Getaway's brainwashed troops and placed in memory loops, while Riptide was shoved into the scraplet infested oil-reservoir. Full Circle Filling in the Blanks Riptide's natural immunity to the nudge gun allowed him escape the predators and he quickly freed the Protectobots so Defensor could reclaim the ship. Though the combiner initially gave a good account of himself, he was felled by Star Saber, with only First Aid, Riptide, and a heavily wounded Thunderclash managing to escape. Despite their escape, Getaway continued on course with trips through the Warren, eventually taking the ship directly to Cyberutopia. Journey's End

It was all for naught however, as Cyberutopia soon revealed itself to be nothing more than an elaborate illusion created by the ancient medical moon of Mederi, which failed due to the crew having no fixed idea about what Cyberutopia was meant to look like. The Lost Light then came under attack from the Phantom Fleet, using all but one of its proton missiles to defend itself, before Getaway swore fealty to the Grand Architect, allowing the Architect's insignia to be painted on the ship's underside, and the crew to be turned en masse into Sparkeaters. When Team Rodimus arrived at Mederi, Getaway baited Rodimus aboard the ship, intending to detonate the fuel furnace and kill them both. Before he could, Whirl's domesticated Scraplets devoured him, placing the Lost Light back under Rodimus's control. Lūstrāre When a massive tear in the Warren opened up above Mederi, Rodimus directed everyone to board the Lost Light, only for its engines to prove insufficient to match the gravity of the rift. Unwillingly dragged to the Benzene Cluster, the Lost Light soon found itself impounded aboard the Architect's Worldsweeper. Farsickness

Using one of Tyrest's recall triggers, Rodimus managed to teleport himself to the Lost Light and break the ship free, reuniting the crew before charging at the Functionist Council's avatar of Primus. The Unrembering After properly allying themselves with the Architect's forces, the Lost Lighters opened twelve Matrices of Leadership, one at each of Cybertron's hot spots, the energy surge overloading Vector Sigma and vaporizing the Functionist Council merged with it. In the aftermath, the Lost Light touched down on Cybertron, its mission complete. A Spark Among Embers

"Captain. I have orders from Starfleet command. We're to put back to spacedock immediately... to be decommissioned."

Prowl soon arrived to take stock of "New Cybertron", where he decided that the Lost Light's uniquely powerful quantum generators would be removed from the ship so they could double the universally displaced planet's energon reserves. Before the ship was due to be decommissioned however, Prowl allowed the crew the reward of one "victory lap" around the galaxy. Before the ship jumped back home, the science team proposed recreating the malfunctioning launch and then shunting the quantum duplicate into a parallel universe so that their adventures would never truly end. When the time for the jump came, the Lost Light wound up back on Cybertron. As the crew said their last goodbyes, construction cranes began disassembling the Lost Light.

And far away, in some distant corner of the multiverse, the duplicate Lost Light materialized, ready to set sail for an infinity of new adventures. How To Say Goodbye And Mean It: Part 2

"Second star to the right... and straight on 'till morning."

Crew

Initial Crew

Its crew at launch included:

Additions after launch

Joining the crew after their journey was underway:

Additions after return to Cybertron

Joining the crew after their return to Cybertron or after their subsequent second departure:

Additions post-mutiny

Joining the crew after Getaway stranded Team Rodimus on Necroworld.

• Defensor (Briefly)
• Froid
• Rook (Briefly)
• Sunder
• Star Saber

Additions on the second quantum duplicate

• Krok
• Crankcase
• Roller
• Misfire
• Spinister
• Fulcrum
• Nickel
• Grimlock
• Clicker
• Anode
• Lug

Games

Transformers Legends

The Lost Light was exploring a distant planet when it came under attack by mysterious forces. Nightbeat and Windblade went to investigate and faced off against the Ammonites along with a group of Decepticons from another starship. Into the Abyss

Notes

• According to Roberts in an online interview, Fireflight intended to join the crew of the Lost Light but was talked out of it at the last minute by "someone with a vested interest".^[3]
• At least one member of the Lost Light crew was the result of artist error. In issue #16, a misdrawn Chromedome was transformed into the unofficial TFCon fan-character "Toxin" by colorist Josh Burcham via an edit to the character's lineart and colors. Additionally, a scripted appearance for Generation 1 Landmine in Spotlight: Trailcutter was drawn instead as Energon Landmine, although this wiki currently treats this as an appearance for the G1 character.
• A panel in issue #2 of More Than Meets the Eye makes clear that the bridge is located at the front tip of the ship, in the huge band of windows. An observation deck is located there as well.
• Speaking of huge, the 10x15 mile dimensions of the ship given in "Into the Abyss" don't jibe with almost any of the artwork. (For comparison: This is about the same size as Manhattan Island.) While the ship is clearly big, the given size would make characters invisible alongside it, but they are commonly visible next to it throughout the Dark Cybertron event. When set down on a planetary surface, the ship's upper reaches, presumably 5 or more miles up, should fade off into the stratosphere. Its huge size certainly would not lend itself to the shuttle-like tasks that it undertakes in Dark Cybertron, either.
• One possible plot point from the cancelled Collision Course miniseries would have followed up on the duplicate Lost Light following the end of the final issue of Lost Light. ^[4]
• In IDW's More than Meets the Eye, Fortress Maximus was originally intended to perish battling Overlord aboard the Lost Light, and the ship would be renamed the Maximus in his honor. This plotline was scrapped.^[5]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Lost Light-gō (ロスト・ライト号 Rosuto Raito-gō)
• Swedish: Förlorade Lyktan ("Lost Lantern")

References