The Arboretum

I haven't even finished my current campaign and I am already putting ideas together for a sequel. Presented below is a ship I based on what my household blender would look like with wings. Raven is the ship's intended captain and pilot but really any party member who can be expected to survive another 300 years or so could fill the role. I am strongly considering a robotic engineer and a pair of Artificial Intelligences who serve as the Sensor and Communications operators respectively. 

The Arboretum

Type: Ultralight Size: Colossal

Subtype: Scout Ship Tactical Speed: 3500'

Defense: 7 Length: 80'; Wingspan:  75'

Flat-footed: 2 Weight: 275,000 pounds

Autopilot Def: 5 Targeting System Bonus: +3

Hardness: 30 Crew: 4

HD: 10d20 (200 hp) Passenger Capacity: 4

Initiative Modifier: +9 Cargo Capacity: 10,000 pounds

Pilot Class Bonus: +0 Grap Modifier: +16

Pilot Dex Bonus: +5 Base Purchase DC: 64

Gunner's Attack Bonus: +27 Restriction: None

Attack:

+27/+22/+17/+12 2 Fire-linked Needle Drivers: 12d12 (20/x2, 3,000')

+27 CHE Missile: 6d12 (19-20/x2)

Attack of Opportunity: 

+3 Point Defense System: 1d12x10

PL6 Design Specs:

Power Core: Grav-Fusion Cell

Engines: Ion Engines, Thrusters

Armor: Vanadium

Defense Systems: Improved Autopilot System, Point Defense System, Sensor Jammer

Sensors: Class II Sensor Array, Targeting System (+3)

Communications: Laser Transceiver, Radio Transceiver

Weapons: 2 fire-linked Needle Drivers, CHE (Conventional, High-Explosive) Missile Launcher (8 missiles)

Grappling Systems: None

The Arboretum is a refurbished Pioneer-class scout ship built by Vernecorp at the beginning of the 22nd century. It served as a survey vessel for various mining concerns and carried out the preliminary assessment of potential colony worlds. The most striking feature of the ship is the transparent dome that formerly enclosed a hydroponic garden but is now home to a single oak tree. A Grav-Fusion Cell provides power to the ion engines for interplanetary flight and to the thrusters for atmospheric maneuvers. The ship is well-armored given its expected exposure to harsh environments but only lightly armed.  Raven acquired the ship more than fifty years ago and has continued to travel the galaxy with it.

Being an upright cylinder, there is no "fore" or "aft", starboard is to the right of the boarding ramp and port is to the left. 

The powerful thruster engines are located far out on nacelles to either side of the fuselage, protecting the hull from their fiery exhaust* during flight. The ion engines are housed with the main body. The point-defense system's guns race up and down on a series of tracks on the hull. The ship's two needle drivers are mounted on rotating gimbals on the nacelle-support pylons.

* Thrusters deal 12d6 fire damage in a 30' diameter circle (Ref DC18 for half).

The ship's embarkation level has a retractable boarding ramp that leads to an airlock. The landing gear are located at the 1, 5, 7, and 11 o'clock positions. Towering ion engines stand on either side of the main walkway through the space. There is a locker containing an EVA suit is located on the left-hand side of the stairs leading up to the second level. A single-seat scout vehicle is stowed near the 1 o'clock landing gear.

The engineering deck is home to the grav-fusion cell that powers the entire vessel. Life-support equipment (air filters and scrubbers, water purifiers), the artificial gravity generator, and climate control/HVAC are housed in twin modules on either side of the grav-fusion cell. A drill press, lathe, welding equipment, and an assortment of tools needed to make spare parts for the ship are located against the bulkhead between the 4 and 7 o'clock positions. An elevator that services levels 2, 3, and 4 is located between the stairs and grav-fusion cell.

The weapon deck holds the loaders and ammunition belts for the needle drivers as well as the launch tubes for the ship's eight missiles.

The bridge and is located on the fourth deck. Small rooms off of the bridge contain the sensors and communications equipment. There is also a small kitchen with a large freezer and refrigerated storage area, range, griddle, and oven (located from 9 to 12 o'clock). A stairway leads up the the fifth and sixth decks.

Living quarters and the ship's shower and laundry facilities are all found on deck 5. Raven’s personal quarters contain a simple bed, desk, chair, and storage lockers for his equipment along with a small shrine dedicated to Shaundukal*.

* On a ship where Raven is not the captain, substitute an entertainment center or small library reflecting their interests. 

The passenger cabins each hold two beds and a storage locker.

A stairway leads up to the ship's arbor.

The Arbor deck holds a single oak tree that stands about 17' tall. There are four benches around the tree. The hull is transparent, allowing views of space or the alien worlds the ship visits.

Using the Arboretum in your campaign:

Depending on your thoughts of mixing fantasy and sci-fi, your adventurers could find the ship crashed on their homework, much like the ship from Expedition to the Barrier Peaks; they could acquire the ship and use ot for their own adventures, the could contract the ship to shuttle them from one world to another.