For a while, I'd taken it as far as I could. Certainly, the A210 was as large as the space between my work table and ceiling would allow, and it incorporated absolutely everything that I could imagine a mobile fortress on wheels needing for long missions (bathrooms aside). So I left the A200 series on the back burner for nearly a full year, developing other designs, including the A100 series mobile headquarters in the meantime. But, at long last, I felt like it was time for a return.
As you can see, the A211 is no larger than its predecessor, and it doesn't provide the crew with much that they didn't have before. Instead, I tried to take everything that the A210 was already doing and do it better. You'll find a MUCH more impressive shuttle bay on the third floor, two new medical facilities on the fifth floor, a completely revamped Captain's Ready Room on the fifth floor, a bar on the fourth floor, and guest quarters and a revamped brig on the third floor. All told, the third and fifth floor have been completely re-imagined, and the fourth floor has undergone some change as well. In contrast, the first and second floor have not changed.
Far shot of the interior.
Our weary captain enters the A211 for the first time.
Relieved to see that he recognizes the old bridge layout from the A210, he greets his crew and heads for a nearby turbolift.
Second floor engineering looks familiar, as well.
Level 2, left wing. This off-duty room is ugly and functional as ever. Nothing's changed.
Level 2, right wing. Same story.
Little does our captain realize that nearly everything has changed on the four remaining floors.
Level 3/4, Shuttle Bay. Our captain is alarmed to discover that the old medical bay has been replaced by a shuttle dock. "Ummm...Isn't there a wall in the shuttle's way?"
"Actually...no."
This was actually the initial idea that inspired my return to the A200 series. I'd always wanted to put a main shuttle bay here, but I couldn't figure out how to do it until now. To be honest, it required using a lot of scotch tape on those flat panels attached to the swinging door.
Level 3, left wing. Our captain visits a crew member in the re-designed brig.
"What are you in here for?"
"Bad behavior in the bar."
"Oh, well tha...did you say we have a bar??"
Level 3, right wing. Our captain finds the new guest quarters for visiting leaders and ambassadors and feels the need to lie down for a moment, as an angelic beam of light descends upon his head. "A...bar?"
Level 4, left wing. The old conference room/mess hall. Thankfully, nothing's changed here.
Level 4/5, right wing. The rec deck is the same as ever. Picard watches a security team member battle a holographic opponent.
Level 5, upper corridor. Picard walks through the only corridor that allows crew members to move from one side of the fortress to the other without disrupting vital work on the main levels. He stares pensively out the window. "Maybe that crew member was just babbling," he considers while fumbling with his AA card in his pocket.
Level 5, left wing. The bar. Our captain stares longingly at the counter and prays that they don't serve Guiness. Even the captain must concede that this is a far better use of space allocated to relaxation than the old White Room. A bar provides more opportunities for socializing and connecting for off-duty crew members. Plus the Guiness is delicious...
Level 6, Captain's Ready Room. Same desk and chair in a more open and accessible space. "Lemme tell you 'bout the time I infented the Picar' Maneufer...lissen up all three a you, and get me anofer Guiness!"
Level 6, left wing. Picard stumbles upon our new experimentation room. The experimental chamber in front of him can open and hold a figure. Is it an experimentation/mutation chamber, a medical scanner, a cryogenic chamber, or a space-age coffin? You decide.
"I'm not takin' no piss in there."
Level 6, right wing. The new infirmary. Now our onboard doctors can practice some legitimate medicine in addition to torturing/experimenting upon their patients.
History of the A200 Series Mobile Command Fortress