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04/30/18 12:16 AM
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Styx Transport Shuttle (Cargo)
Base Tech Level: Standard (Clan)
Level Era
Experimental -
Advanced 3000+
Standard -
Tech Rating: F/X-F-E-E
Weight: 200 tons
BV: 1,692
Cost: 9,031,260 C-bills
Source: Crossroads
Movement: 3/5
Heat Sinks: 0
Fuel Points: 1040 (13.0 tons)
Tons Per Burn Day: 1.84
Structural Integrity: 6
Armor: 672 (Ferro-Aluminum)
Armor
Nose 205
Left Side 161
Right Side 161
Aft 145
Carrying Capacity
Cargo Space (2 doors) - 100 tons
Crew
Officers 1
Enlisted/Non-rated 2
Gunners 0
Bay Personnel 0
Quirks:
Atmospheric Flyer
Easy to Pilot
Easy to Maintain
Variants:
Bomber
Adds the "Internal Bomb Bay" quirk
Liquid
91 tons Liquid Cargo Bay
Refrigerated
87 tons Refrigerated Cargo Bay
Insulated
87 tons Insulated Cargo Bay
Cattle Taxi
83 tons Livestock Cargo Bay
Light Vehicle
2 Light Vehicle Bays
Heavy Vehicle
1 Heavy Vehicle Bay
BA Transport
8 6-point BA Bays + 4 tons misc. cargo bay
Foot Infantry Transport
20 Foot Infantry Bays
Jump Infantry Transport
16 Jump Infantry Bays + 4 tons misc. cargo bay
Motorized Infantry Transport
14 Motorized Infantry Bays + 2 tons misc. cargo bay
Mechanized Infantry Transport
12 Mechanized Squad Infantry Bays + 4 tons misc. cargo bay
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The Styx is part of an alternate history faction in the periphery, the Crossroadian Republic: A relatively high-tech but small-ish branch in the Periphery who originated from Kerensky's Exodus Fleet.
The C-200 Styx is a very common cargo shuttle designed and used by the Republic. The original design is slow and lacks any sort of defensive armament, but it is exceptionally rugged and able to carry half its weight (100 tons, enough for an Atlas, Daishi, or Nephilidae) in cargo. Its combination of high carrying capacity, durability, and its relatively cheap and minimalist design makes the Styx a highly popular design, eventually earning a civillian-shuttle redesign, which is sold by the Republic to Inner Sphere factions. While the Clans don't typically use any sort of Crossroadian equipment, Clan Diamond Shark/Sea Fox was sold a license to produce the design and has sold and distributed the Styx to the rest of the Clans.
Its high cargo capacity allows it to carry most typical battlemech designs in stowage, and variants of the Styx can carry plenty of infantry or some vehicles in specialized bays. Since the Styx has a high capacity and is about 10x cheaper than even the smallest dropship, it is often used as a "poor man's dropship". The Styx proliferated in the Republic's airspace so much that by the 3080s, experimental Jumpships and pseudo-civillian "jumpships" that are lightly or unarmed yet posses compact KF Drives are being constructed with only small craft bays and no dropship hardpoints as a cheaper replacement for the Dropship/Jumpship transport combination in the civillian sector.
Military-grade Styxes often use infantry or vehicle-carrying variants and are primarily used as planet-based defensive hardware, with multiple Styxes taking off carrying several platoons of BA, Battalions of Infantry, or Companies of light vehicles and hovercraft from place to place planetside, usually operating exclusively from within the atmosphere (since an invading warship fleet will probably have superiority in space, or they wouldn't be dropping troops). Styxes, deployed with ConvFighter or Aerospace Fighter escorts, are also often used to hot-drop Jump Infantry, Battle Armor, Hover-based Jump Tanks, WiGEs, or dropchute-modified tanks to locations and key battle sites. The ability to deploy virtually anywhere as long as the invaders lack complete air supremacy gives the planetary militia the capability to threaten the Dropship(s) at potentially any time. Rapid, well-timed drops have rapidly shifted the tide of battle several times.
Styxes are also being experimented with as offensive weapons. Carried by large warships or dropships with substantial small-craft bays, Styxes could potentially be used to supplement or replace certain dropship to drastically increase the ground forces and the number of locations an invasion fleet can deploy to. Since the Styx is both VSTOL-capable and Aerodyne, it's far more flexible in its deployment and landing options than either Aerodyne or Spheroid dropships.
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