by Tom Verreault
Remus Class Shuttle
The Remus class shuttle is a Hull Size 2 shuttle equipped with chemical rockets designed to move small parties and limited equipment around the inner region of a star system. It can land and lift off from planets and is aerodynamically designed for flight within an atmosphere. Its major drawback is the lack of a proper airlock, requiring that it mate with ships and stations equipped with the appropriate docking collar and airlock. Alternately, if all occupants are wearing vacuum suits, the air can be pumped into reserve tanks and the door opened to allow egress to the outside. While it is classed as a system ship, it also lacks the accommodations for a prolonged journey to the outer system and is largely limited to operation around the inhabited planets and stations in the inner system.
The design flaws inherent in this craft have led to them being discounted and sold off on the cheap or converted to digger shuttles. Note that the ship is presented with two rocket engines for aesthetic purposes but they are treated as 1 class A chemical engine.
HS: 2 HP: 10
ADF: 1 MR: 4
Weapons: None
Defenses: Reflective Hull
Computer: level 2 with a total of 18 fp.
Programs: Analysis 1(2), Communication 1(3), Computer Security 1(2), Information Storage (2), Drive Program 1(3), Life support 1(2), Backup Life support 1(2), Shuttle Astrogation program 1(3)
Cost (fuel sold separately)
|
Star Ship Construction Center Type |
Cost |
|
Type I |
182,000 Cr |
|
Type II |
202,000 Cr |
|
Type III |
232,000 Cr |
Variants: digger shuttle + 8000 Cr for digger shuttle nose conversion.
Romulus Class Runabout
The Romulus Class Runabout has many of the same design flaws as the Remus shuttle but its engine has been upgraded to ion thrust. The rear cargo compartment has also been converted to a 4 bunk journey class passenger cabin.
HS: 2
HP: 10
ADF: 1
MR: 4
Weapons: None
Defenses: Reflective Hull
Computer: Level 3 with a total of 44 fp.
Programs: Analysis 1(2), Communication 1(3), Computer Security 1(2), Information Storage (2), Ion Drive Program 3(12), Life support 1(2), Backup Life support 1(2), Shuttle Astrogation program 4(24)
Cost (fuel sold separately)
|
Star Ship Construction Center Type |
Cost |
|
Type 1 |
275,000 Cr |
|
Type 2 |
345,000 Cr |
Note: it is not uncommon for deals to be found on these ships with a 15% to 35% savings. If one should be available for an even higher saving one might expect some serious maintenance issues but this is the reason they say, “Don’t look a gift shuttle in the engine access penal.”
