Another proprietary design of the Andromeda Initiative, the Shackleton-class Heavy Transport is a durable, capable cargo vessel built to fulfill the Initiative’s need for heavy-lift capable vessels to help establish outposts and trade routes throughout the Heleus Cluster. Though pleased with the utility and versatility of the UT-47H, Initiative founder Jien Garson was well-aware that the Initiative’s fleet of smaller shuttles would not be enough to maintain trade routes and supply lines throughout their newly founded civilization. Initial plans to obtain a fleet of the ubiquitous Kowloon-class cargo ships were ultimately scuttled over concerns about the failure rate of the ageing design; for Garson, a vessel that had proven itself vulnerable to breakdown and boarding action even in the civilized starlanes of Citadel Space would prove more liability than benefit in Heleus, where access to replacements would be difficult and any number of unknown hazards could present themselves. Instead, as ever, Garson ordered the development of a brand-new vessel built specifically to handle Andromeda’s potential dangers. Named after the famous human explorer Ernest Henry Shackleton, the prototype vessel slipped its moorings at the Drummer Anchorage orbiting Titan in May of 2183, and by the time the Nexus set out into darkspace, it carried over thirty Shackleton transports in storage, with several others held aboard each of the individual arks.

Immediately recognizable by its alligator-head prow and four engine nacelles extending from the back of the primary spaceframe, the Shackleton is typical of most Initiative starship designs; a functional craft built around cutting-edge technology that sacrifices offensive capability for durability, reliability and speed. Like the Kodiak, the Shackleton is a contragravitic vehicle, and cannot remain aloft in atmospheric conditions without the aid of its Element Zero drive core, and like most Initiative vessels, said drive core is proportionally larger, providing the vessel with significantly improved power, speed and operational range when compared to other transports of similar tonnage. Meanwhile, its heavy armour and redundant systems enable it to weather considerable damage from spaceborne hazards and enemy fire alike and continue functioning, while extensive computer systems allow the vessel to function with a minimal crew. Indeed, the Shackleton has proven durable enough that many Outlaw warbands have taken to modifying them into “Gunhulks”, kitbashed warships akin to those employed by the Quarian Migrant Fleet back in the Milky Way.

Much of the vessel’s interior space is dominated by a series of six large cargo hangers on the lower deck, each connected to the exterior of the ship via its own designated airlock to facilitate rapid loading and unloading. Further, the holds are compartmentalized from one another and possess their own environmental systems. This allows the ship to carry a wide variety of goods on a single run; for example, one might be set for sub-zero temperatures to preserve great blocks of ice mined from Voeld, while an adjacent bay holds living plant samples in greenhouse conditions. Finally, wedged amidships between the main holds and buried deep within the ship’s superstructure lies a seventh and final cargo space, dubbed the “black box” by Initiative engineers. Only accessible through the interior passageways, the black box is designed to keep the most delicate cargos intact should the ship be crippled or outright destroyed, a task it accomplishes thanks to the reinforced armour lining both the interior and exterior of the hold, along with an independent power system and mass effect field generator. So robust is the black box that many groups throughout the Heleus Cluster have taken to storing their most vital resources within, notably the krogan of New Tuchanka and their colony’s vital seed vault. All told, a Shackleton can carry several hundred tonnes worth of cargo in a single run. This is further augmented by the six large claws framing the ship’s ventral hull allowing it to carry additional cargo containers or even prefabricated structures externally. The latter is of particular benefit for the Initiative’s colonization efforts, and several Shackletons working together can ensure a new outpost is quickly brought online once deployment has been authorized by a Pathfinder.

In the aftermath of the Nexus Uprising, much of the station’s fleet of Shackletons were seized by the Exiles to aid in their departure, their loss another significant blow, and one the Initiative has never truly recovered from. While the arrival of the various arks has helped to alleviate this shortfall, the need to bolster supply lines across the cluster means that, like with the Heavy Kodiak, construction of new Shackletons will be a key shipbuilding priority for the Initiative in the years to come.