//------------------------------//
// Tech Supplement: Ambassador 
// Story: Our Little Homeworld 
// by Horizon Runner 
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Ambassador MK-II Modular Corvette


Weight: 120-300 tons.
Length: 60 meters.
Max Acceleration: Variable (Avg: 200m/s/s.)
Armament: None (optional, see below).
Standard Crew: 2 (pilot, co-pilot). 
Carrying capacity: approx 300 tons, up to ~300 ponies.
Lead Designers: Flywheel LiirHra.
Can Be Piloted By: Ponies.

Notes:

The first iteration of the Ambassador was designed as a high-end inter-orbital shuttle for diplomats and overseers, of which only a dozen were constructed and only ten of which ever flew. The Ambassador MK-II was related to its predecessor in name only, being redesigned from the ground up as a multipurpose modular utility shuttle.

The MK-II almost never came to be, however. Due to resource cuts and restructuring within the Scaffold engineering department, many of the Mothership's proposed support craft were cut during development. Only the protests of Flywheel LiirHra, then the head of the design division, kept the Ambassador on the drawing boards. Flywheel believed in the design to such an extent that he personally took over development, a decision which would lead to the greatest success of his career. 

Under his management, seven proposals were developed for a middleweight shuttle with extensive hold capacity. The sixth of these was the familiar lozenge-shaped design known today. This design was selected, and further developed such that the entire midsection of the craft—starting at the back of the cockpit section and ending at the drives—could be removed entirely and replaced with a variety of modules. Proposed modules included scientific instrument packages, cargo and passenger configurations (which were by far the most commonly used), extended sensor/comms suites, and even some weapon emplacements. Several Ambassadors were loaned to the Coalition military and modified into adjustable spy satellites, using sophisticated imaging systems to track Gaalsien troop movements and industrial patterns. Two were even modified further, fitted with bomb-bays and used as suborbital point-strike bombers. The atmospheric-entry technology used in these latter craft—the Yuul'Naan and the Sky Bastard—would eventually be adapted to allow refitted ambassadors to serve as planetary landing craft, further broadening their role.

The versatility and reliability of the Ambassador design extended to the Scaffold and Mothership fleets as well. The Ambassador chassis forms the core around which both the Porter-Class tug corvette and the Mercy-Class rescue corvette are based, and later corvettes in the Mothership's employ would be heavily based on the Ambassador layout.

In addition, the Ambassador was known for its race-agnostic control interface—able to be piloted by any pony with four hooves—which would later be adapted into a multitude of designs, from variant Arrow fighters to system control consoles on the Mothership itself. This system was received warmly by unicorn and earth-pony pilots, proving far easier and more effective than older control schemes. While pegasus and even unicorn-specific layouts still existed, using them eventually became a taboo among Ambassador pilots—a cultural element which would translate over to most other corvette crews.

The Ambassador itself never faded out of view. Its usefulness as a general transport and reconnaissance craft, as well as the fact that it was one of the only ships in the fleet capable of being refitted for atmospheric entry, earned it a secure place in the Mothership's repertoire.