Shuttles, too be honest, are one of the most common ships seen in Star Trek. Every series had them and they appeared in almost every episode (even if not used). We have a runabout but why not a shuttlecraft? It seems like that one should automatically come with the ship.
Now I have an idea that would be really cool to add in-game.
First, every ship comes equipped with at least one shuttlecraft. Now when you want to pilot it, you click a tab in your status. Then your shuttlecraft appears next to your ship and your ship becomes a pet.
When your in a system and you activate your shuttlecraft, then your ship becomes static and comes to a full halt.
If you're in sector space, the same thing happens to your ship. However you're given a choice. It can either:
A) wait for you where you left it. Then you can just fly around only in your sector block.
Or set a course for your ship (Let's say Sol then Risa) and you just go straight to risa in your shuttlecraft. Now a timer will count down for how long it will take for your ship to get to Sol, stay a couple seconds, and then come back to meet you. Or you could just send it to Sol and then meet it there. Either way the point is, the AI will take control of your ship AKA your first officer, and you would go alone wherever you want (In that sector block) .
Comments
If it's too much effort to create a "placeholder" copy of your capital ship at the place where you switched into the shuttle, maybe it would be easier to just allow switching between your big ship and the shuttle on an ad-hoc basis. Meaning: you click a button, and you switch into your shuttle. Click the button again and you're back in your big ship. Regardless of where you are.