Star Drive vs. Nemesis: name of the G1 'con ship

[Mako Crab]

It was recently suggested to me that the actual name of the G1 Decepticon ship that originally crashed on Earth 4 million years prior to the start of the show was not, Nemesis, as Beast Wars christened it, but "Star Drive." As evidence, there's this scene from Microbots when the 'cons are looking for their original ship.

Skip to 3:35 and listen to Scavenger.

YouTube - ‪Transformers: Microbots 1/2 HD‬‏

"The Star Drive is nearby," so he says. The line is vague enough that it could be referring to the ship itself or to, say, the "star drive" in the engine room. I never gave it much thought, but it wouldn't be the first time that a simple throwaway line became the name of a ship. Remember the Predacon ship, Darkside, so named after Terrorsaur welcomed Dinobot to, "the dark side!"

So what do you think? Is the Star Drive the actual name of the G1 Decepticon ship, retroactively renamed by Beast Wars, or was it never given a name until BW came along?

[Gomess]

Immediate answer: Nahhh, the Ark wasn't named in the show, I don't believe its "nemesis" was either.

Longer answer: I couldn't find the bit in question. Scavenger appears at like 3:45, but he says nothing about a "star drive" that I could hear. 'Course, I am rushing.

[Mako Crab]

Before anyone tosses out the, "Mako = Skyflight, lololol ATT!!" jokes (seriously, I've already been hit on the Allspark and TFW with this), I would say that if this topic sounds like something that would come from him, it's because I first read it in one of Raksha's essays. The exact snippet goes as follows:

Raksha
For example, a lot of fans are under the impression that the name of the Decepticon ship in MTMTE is the "Nemesis." I assure you it is not. If you watch "Microbots," you can see that the name of the ship is in fact the Star Drive. "Nemesis" may be a cool-enough sounding word on its own terms, but to accept this as the name of Megatron's ship, is to pay homage to the Beast Wars universe and thereby contaminate and disparage the G1 theme. Perhaps more significant to some, it contradicts the facts given in the cartoon. To use the BW name in a designated G1 fanfic, is simply an error and nothing more.

From her essay on how to write G1 fanfics.
http://www.theplumedserpent.com/ConQuest/cqfanfic.html

I prefer Nemesis myself and think the Star Drive is part of the engineering section, but I thought it'd make a good topic for discussion. Ugh. Just feel like I've been insulted on the other boards is all. Goddamn.

[Gomess]

Crab, I've always liked you and I feel the need to assure you that I won't be insulting you over this because I HAVEN'T A BLOODY CLUE WHAT A SKYFLIGHT OR A RAKSHA IS. =3

...But still, between you and me, I think it's pretty obvious the ship wasn't officially named in the cartoon. And I feel a bit sorry for this Raksha person for being so sure it was.

That said, I don't think much of "Nemesis" either. Kinda like Hitler calling his personal car the "Skullcrusher". Bit on the nose.

[Mako Crab]

Aww! Thanks, Gomess LOL @ Hitler's car! I guess I was just being a bit butthurt last night. Getting ragged on at one site, sure, whatever. But then I see the exact same thing on another, and I'm just like- WTF?? I'm all good now.

[Onslaught Six]

Before anyone tosses out the, "Mako = Skyflight, lololol ATT!!" jokes (seriously, I've already been hit on the Allspark and TFW with this), I would say that if this topic sounds like something that would come from him, it's because I first read it in one of Raksha's essays. The exact snippet goes as follows:

That's really fucking weird since Skyflight is kind of, you know, dead.

Raksha
For example, a lot of fans are under the impression that the name of the Decepticon ship in MTMTE is the "Nemesis." I assure you it is not. If you watch "Microbots," you can see that the name of the ship is in fact the Star Drive. "Nemesis" may be a cool-enough sounding word on its own terms, but to accept this as the name of Megatron's ship, is to pay homage to the Beast Wars universe and thereby contaminate and disparage the G1 theme. Perhaps more significant to some, it contradicts the facts given in the cartoon. To use the BW name in a designated G1 fanfic, is simply an error and nothing more.

Raksha is crazy. (Or at least she was last anybody saw of her.)

Crab, I've always liked you and I feel the need to assure you that I won't be insulting you over this because I HAVEN'T A BLOODY CLUE WHAT A SKYFLIGHT OR A RAKSHA IS. =3

Skyflight and Raksha were both mid-90s alt.toys.transformers frequenters. Most of that old guard (Walky, M. Sipher, etc.) formed the AllSpark. Skyflight died in 2003 of colon cancer and Raksha dropped off the face of the earth, probably for the better. (You think me and Dom irrationally hate Beast Wars? Read some of this lady's crazy shit.)

[Gomess]

Fuck BNFs. And you can quote me on that.

[andersonh1]

The "star drive" is the equivalent of Star Trek's "warp drive". It's just the engine of the ship, not the name.

The Ark was never named on the cartoon, but it did appear in the tech specs. I remember reading about "the Ark" in Omega Supreme's specs when I got him for Christmas back in the day, and having no clue what the Ark was.

[Mako Crab]

Skyflight and Raksha were both mid-90s alt.toys.transformers frequenters. Most of that old guard (Walky, M. Sipher, etc.) formed the AllSpark. Skyflight died in 2003 of colon cancer and Raksha dropped off the face of the earth, probably for the better. (You think me and Dom irrationally hate Beast Wars? Read some of this lady's crazy shit.)

Oh, I know. I got into some good debates with her over e-mail about the quality of BW. Which is why I was especially surprised that I was being compared to Skyflight, who was known for rigidly supporting whatever Raksha said. Even after stating outright that I prefer the name Nemesis and that I was just tossing out something for the sake of conversation, I still got jumped on. 8+ years later and people are still touchy about anything associated with those two. The response here has been more civil, but on the Allspark and TFW I just wish I hadn't even brought it up.

[Gomess]

The response here has been more civil, but on the Allspark and TFW I just wish I hadn't even brought it up.

Let that be a lesson to you. =3

...It was named the Ark in the comics first, guys. I don't have Omega Supreme's tech spec, but I'll believe Anderson... but still. Pretty darn sure Furman named it the Ark. Feel free to prove me wrong. Just can't imagine Budiansky giving it a name like that (read: a bit pretentious).