Shuttles

Arcadia-class Surface-to-Orbit Transport Shuttle
Dimensions: 27m x 30m x 6m (approx.)
Powerplant: 2 x Micro-Fusion Power Cells
Propulsion: Twin pulse scramjets (4 VTOL nozzles), doubling as fusion torches.
Speed: Mach 5 (cruising), Mach 15 (max)
Crew: 2 - Pilot and Co-Pilot, 32 passengers (assuming passenger module installed).
Weapons: 2 x 100mm "Deeplight" Laser Cannon (wing-mounted). Modified versions carry 1 x Plasma Tribarrel in an aft ventral turret, and twin 12-shot missile pods under the wings.

    The Arcadia-class shuttlecraft has been a stalwart transport aircraft for years, seeing service in large numbers even before the construction of the Funky Horror. Originally designed for high-speed movement of personnel and equipment across the globe, they served as a testbed for many Weird Science ideas...a fact which doubtlessly explains their "quirky" handling, sarcastic autopilot, and massively overpowered engines. Needless to say, at their usual masses the glide wings are only barely aerodynamic, with a network of vectored thrust jets and an advanced fly-by-wire system keeping the craft stable. This also enables crude low-altitude flight from a POST, a capability which has led more than one Servant of Evil to really regret making the "He's behind me, isn't he?" gag.

The current, Mk IV, Arcadia is mass-produced from the Funky Horror's automated foundry systems, and presents an updated design specifically tailored for regular surface-to-orbit flights. Highly modular, with cargo compartments ranging from passenger seating (under various atmospheres and pressures, given the preferred living conditions of many Boardies) to miniature laboratories, repair shops, and SWACS units to co-ordinate fighter operations, these ships fly to and from the Funky Horror and various ground bases in a constant stream, keeping the Board's voracious need for materials supplied. Flight training on them is considered indispensable for newbies, and even the most gung-ho evil-crusher has spent a few hundred hours running cargo.

Although far from being a dogfighter, Arcadias were fitted with jury-rigged weapons and flown as a scratch squadron during the Battle of Mohaborad, and acquitted themselves reasonably well under the circumstances. Recent fears over easily-acquired anti-air weapons have led to the concept being reconsidered, and the Board have begun installing point-defence systems on these remarkable little craft, the better to defend them against conventional munitions.