USS Apollyon RPG
Auxilliary Spacecraft
"One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."
The USS Apollyon regularly carries twelve Federation shuttles, one of which is designated exclusively as a medical shuttlecraft and one designated as an executive transport.
Many of them have been modified in some way to better serve the mission requirements of the USS Apollyon.
Fastest of the shuttles on the USS Apollyon are seven of these type 10 shuttlecraft.
They are straight from Starfleet stock, having been freshly painted before their delivery to the USS Atlantis.
Their names are Shuttle Elliot, Shuttle Earnhardt, Shuttle Stewart, Shuttle Kenseth, Shuttle Labonte, Shuttle Waltrip, and Shuttle Petty.
These shuttles are highly agile and very fast, being able to achieve a velocity of over 9.8 warp for an extended period of time.
Their hulls are heavily armored so that they can survive multiple weapons discharge and impacts.
The spaceframe is based on a type 6 shuttlecraft, and the RCS are directly taken from the type 6 stock parts.
Its dimensions are 9.64 meters in length, 5.82 meters abeam (in width), 3.35 meters in height, and it has an unloaded mass of about 19.73 tonnes.
According to the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, "defensive systems [of the type 10 shuttlecraft] mirror those of most other auxiliary spacecraft and encompass phaser emmitters, micro-torpedo launchers, shields, and signal intelligence jamming devices."
In addition, "onboard computer systems include a shortened version of the Danube-class runabout computer core, partitioned into five polled processor segments for optimum decision-making.
Provisions have been made for bio-neural gel pack peripherals and upgrades."
"Planetary landing systems include both fixed and deployable surface pods.
All other required hardware, such as formation lights, emergency beacons, transporter, pressure suits, and surface survival packs, are present in this model."
The three shuttles assigned to the USS Atlantis are exactly alike in their design, although different pilots have a favorite because they "feel" different.
When used together, these three shuttles form an outstanding fighting team, their effectiveness on a scale with the "killer bees" of old.
Occasionally, each one will need a fine-tuned adjustment to keep it operating within the exacting demands of the pilot.
The USS Apollyon carries one of these Type 18 Shuttlepods.
It is the Shuttle Plato, named after the philosopher credited with first writing about the legendary City of Atlantis. (This shuttle was transferred from the USS Atlantis to Starbase One until the construction and christening of the USS Apollon.)
This type of shuttle is capable of sub-oceanic travel as well as travel through thick atmospheres, including those which are methane-based.
These type shuttlepods measure 4.5x3.1x1.8 meters.
The Shuttle Plato is equipped with phasers and a micro quantum torpedo launcher, with up to eight of the 13.3 cm more torpedoes may be added to its cargo.
For underwater operations, it may be armed with underwater plasma torpedoes.
It is capable only of sub-light speeds, though it can sustain these speeds (up to .9995c) for an extended period of time.
According to the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual,
"Each can carry two operator crew and up to four additional passengers, or cargo.
The shuttlepod is limited to impulse travel only, though it may maintain a superluminal velocity if released at warp.
The role of the shuttlepod is varied, including starship escape, planetary surface ops, and ship-to-ship transfers.
The craft is equipped with limited phaser armaments, but can be modified to mount a number of small weapons systems."
The Shuttle Plato has very good agility and carries the micro quantum torpedo launcher with sixteen micro quantum torpedoes.
Each micro torpedo measures 13.3 centimeters.
The micro torpedo launcher can also launch the miniature class-1-S sensor probe, and the Shuttle Plato carries three of these.
The USS Apollyon carries one of these Type 9 Shuttlecraft.
It is the Shuttle Aristotle, named after another great philosopher of Plato's time.
(Again, this shuttlecraft was brought from he USS Atlantis and stationed on the USS Apollyon just prior to christening of the vessel.)
Capable of high-warp, this is the shuttle of choice for long-range transport.
The Type 9 shuttlecraft are a harkening back to the days of the "killer bees," swarms of small, fast, and highly maneuverable shuttlecraft designed for close combat.
The Shuttle Aristotle is equipped with phasers and a dual launch quantum torpedo system with two torpedoes.
Due to its design, it cannot carry any significant amount of cargo, and its crew capacity is limited to five.
The USS Apollyon carries three of these Type 6 Shuttlecraft.
They are the Shuttle Mitchell, the Shuttle Eaker, and the Shuttle Earhart.
They were named for historical figures that had a tremendous impact in the rise of aviation, which ultimately spawned the movement to explore space.
They all are armed with phasers only.
They are built to withstand a short attack and make use of the latest in hull technology, including ablative armor.
The Shuttle Earhart has been modified to travel at warp factor 9.995, making it the fastest shuttle on the USS Atlantis, though it cannot sustain this velocity for more than an hour. Further, the Shuttle Earhart is designated as the commanding officer's personal executive shuttlecraft.
The Shuttle Eaker has been specialized for close combat to work with the Shuttle Aristotle when necessary.
Adjustments made to achieve this specialization include fine-tuned settings on the inertial dampeners, extra battery packs to power the phasers, and the removal of equipment to decrease the shuttle's mass.
Shuttle Mitchell is a stock shuttle, still in the same condition as originally issued by Starfleet.
Shuttle Earhart was in use during the second disappearance of the first USS Atlantis and was then assigned as a personal transport vehicle for Commander Ryder in his duties as a Starfleet tactical advisor. Since then, it has remained the personal vehicle for Captain Ryder, in the absence of a Captain's Yacht, and now serves as the USS Apollyon's executive shuttle.
The USS Apollyon carries three of these Type 8 Shuttlecraft.
The Shuttle Einstein, named for one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century, the Shuttle Darwin, named for one of the most pivotal and controversial scientists of the same era, and the Shuttle Freud, named for the most significant figure in the field of social science in the same era as the other great minds, all of whom changed the course of human thought and understanding.
All three of these shuttles are unchanged from the condition they were in when they were delivered to the USS Apollyon.
The USS Atlantis carries one of these Type 15 Shuttlepods, the Shuttle Hermes.
The Shuttle Hermes is named after the god of greek myth Hermes, the Messenger.
It is a type 15 shuttlepod as issued to the USS Apollyon by Starfleet, though possible mission-specific modifications are being considered.
The USS Apollyon also carries one medical shuttle, the Medshuttle Curie.
The Medshuttle Curie is a Type 7 shuttlecraft with special equipment for use by the chief medical officer.
"Aside from the escape options provided by the shuttlecraft, the principle survival craft is the Starfleet lifeboat or escape pod.
The current lifeboat is sized to include two main types, a six-person and an eight-person version."
The USS Apollyon was built with the eight-person escape pods in mind. Enough pods exist within the frame for each pod to only carry six people and still all of a standard crew may escape imminent danger or a ship's destruction.
Each lifeboat is 3.6 meters tall and 3.5 meters wide around the hexagonal face.
"Each lifeboat contains enough consumables and recycling capability to keep the crew alive for eight months, longer with multiple lifeboats connected in standard 'gaggle' mode.
All are equipped with navigational processors and impulse microthrusters, plus emergency subspace communication systems."
As with the USS Defiant and all other recently-designed or built craft, the USS Apollyon lifeboat units have been specially modified to be low-observable and to give off a minimal EM signature in the case that they are deployed in wartime conditions.