Mantlo

The Mantlo is a starship from the Marvel portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.

It does this a lot.

The Mantlo is an Autobot ship sent out in search of the missing Ark. Like the Ark, it ended up crashing on Earth and becoming a makeshift underground base for its occupants.

Fiction

Transformers '84

See?

Searching for the Ark, Fastlane and Cloudraker piloted the Mantlo to many worlds before arriving on Earth, where it was the year 1017 by the reckoning of the land they ended up crashing in due to atmospheric hazards. The two immediately disembarked and sped off to continue their search, unaware that a Decepticon party had been following them through the last six star systems and nineteen planets. This party included Counterpunch, who was under secret orders from Optimus Prime, given before the Ark's launch, to make sure Megatron remained isolated from Cybertron by any and all means. And those Decepticons weren't the only ones on the Mantlo's tail: Its fiery atmospheric entry that night had been noticed by humans in the nearby Stansham Castle, a small group of whom investigated the crash site the next day. And those humans, in turn, were followed by soldiers from a Viking army that had been besieging the castle.

The human scouts discovered the Mantlo and had barely enough time to ponder what "devilry" was afoot before they were ambushed by their rivals. Fastlane and Cloudraker, on their way back to their ship, found their passage blocked by the battle. At first they stayed concealed in the trees, following Autobot non-engagement regulations. But as they observed the fight, they deemed it an uneven one in favor of the ambushers and decided to intervene on behalf of the "underdog" group. They emerged from the woods and smacked at least one of the soldiers, which terrified the Vikings, who declared their cause lost if their enemy was in league with "Niflheim-spawned abominations". They ran away and the other humans immediately gave chase, but before the clones to could continue on their way to the ship, they were attacked by the Duocons and Counterpunch. Though outnumbered, the clones' gravity-rod and sonic boom rifles made short work of the Decepticons—but Cloudraker was critically wounded by one of Flywheels' missiles.

Cradling his brother, Fastlane ran back to the Mantlo to give him CR treatment. He also took the ship airborne again, but as it lifted off, Counterpunch took a shot at it to prevent them from finding the Ark, per his mission. He scored a direct hit, and the craft plummeted. While Cloudraker lay unconscious on a medical table, Fastlane desperately tried to radio for aid. Then the ship crashed again, this time directly into Stansham Castle. Transformers '84 #0

Marvel The Transformers comics

What treasures might the Lost Tomb of Geewun hide? The supposedly mythical US season-four masters? The Hot Rod go-cart? Our long-dead sense of wonder and delight?

The Mantlo remained buried under the ruins of Stansham Castle for centuries, forgotten by the humans who lived in the area. Cloudraker stayed comatose, but Fastlane went on occasional scouting runs, becoming the stuff of local legend as a mysterious and terrifying "man of iron". He would come out of the ship via an elevator mechanism concealed in a hillside; activating it caused a small but notable earth tremor.

Fastlane's distress call kept being broadcast, and when the Ark's inhabitants awoke in the year 1984, it caught the attention of both Autobots and Decepticons. Starscream, Thundercracker, and Skywarp flew over Stansham Castle, dropping a bomb-like probe. The Autobots, meanwhile, made clandestine contact with the son of the castle's curator. And the regional human military, spooked by mysterious jets having strafed the castle, led an investigation that ended up unearthing part of the buried ship. The exposed hull had a small Autobot symbol on it, but the humans either failed to notice it or, if they did, were unaware of its significance.

At first Fastlane made no response to all this activity, but then one afternoon he emerged from the hillside again... whereupon he was quickly destroyed in a barrage of Seeker rockets. This was followed by an all-out battle between numerous Autobots and Decepticons, ending with the Autobots victorious. Optimus immediately ordered the buried ship's destruction, in keeping with the mission he had given to Punch millions of years prior. Jazz dutifully vaporized the Mantlo in a massive implosion, not realizing he was killing Cloudraker within. Man of Iron

Notes

• The Mantlo is named after Bill Mantlo, who plotted the first and second issues of the Marvel US comic.