Congratulations on your purchase of the Mercury-class shuttlepod, a compact and lightweight shuttle that can carry a pilot and three passengers short to medium distances. Unlike our other shuttlecraft, the Mercury has been designed as an addition to a larger ship, and so we have kept the footprint nice and tidy to enable it to fit into most cargo bays without too much trouble. It does boast a short-ranged Exonar MkII FTL drive for more far-ranging excursions, but the ideal role for this ship is a crew shuttle, perfect for planet to orbit transport and also atmospheric flight - thanks to the Mercury's light weight the gravplate vtol system enables it to suspend itself almost effortlessly in a planet's gravity well.
REAL STUFF
The Mercury is small and has a dual mode flight / hover system, plus a jump drive that allows near instant travel throughout a sim.There is a hatchway on the right side of the ship that opens on touch, and landing gear that can retract during flight. This was built in response to a need for a shuttle that is small enough to enter and be stored in larger ships' hangars or cargo holds, but also has all the bells and whistles of the larger shuttles, if not the space!
