Starbug

Starbug is a ship contained inside Red Dwarf. It is used by the minimal and pathetic crew as a scouting vehicle, and a ship-to-surface vessel. It has no weapons, there is a squeak on the pilot chair tilt controls, there are fluffy dice in the cockpit, and it has about nine thousand gears.

Not only that, its crashed more times than a buggy Windows 1998 model with only half a hard drive.

It saw a lot of use when it was recovered from a Red Dwarf hangar bay by the crew, only being found initially after three years of them exploring the ship. Starbug 2 was the original Starbug that they used a lot, but they did eventually find more in assorted hangars around the ship, called Starbugs 1, 3, 4 and many more.

Starbug 2 was used often by the crew because it once belonged to the captain, and so it had more improved systems and even weaponry. However, it was destroyed when a meteor hit the side of the ship and it crashed on a snowy planet, splitting in half and being rendered unsalvagable. Starbug 1 was used by the crew after that, despite its pathetic condition.

When the crew lost Red Dwarf they were forced to use Starbug as their primary vessel, and it was slowly upgraded to contain shields and weapons as well as more sophisticated technology on board, like deep-sleep stasis units and teleporters. After a battle with their future selves after the crew discovered a time machine (which Rimmer subsequently destroyed to save the crew) Starbug 1 was massively expanded to include a hangar and much more improved systems, even a hyperdrive. When the crew did eventually recover Red Dwarf, Starbug 1 was kept apart from the other Starbugs as their defence ship, and it was used several times afterwards to defend Red Dwarf.