Originally called Ranger Class Scouts, these scout ships saw
extensive use as a reconnaissance vehicle during the Yaeger War.
Produced by General Exploration Products of Yaeger Prime as a long range scout, much of
the Sensor equipment that had originally been devoted to planetary
evaluation was scrapped, and replaced with a improved version of
GEP's Threat Evaluation Scanners. These scanners are designed to
convey as much information about enemy ships as possible from as
far a distance as possible. The Vultures got their nickname from
the tactics and mission profiles that this ship lent itself to.
The specialized sensor arrays grant a Vulture a +4D bonus to
all checks regarding the status of enemy spacecraft. This bonus
does not apply to initial detection of enemy craft, or to passive
sensor checks. This bonus also only applies when the second crew
member, the sensor technician, is at his post.
A standard tactic of Vulture pilots is to stay at long range
and try to hit it's target with the long range plasma gun. This
weapon is not very powerful, and it takes a great many shots to
down a target with this weapon, but the Vulture is fast enough to
stay out of the reach of most foes while firing with this weapon.
Another generally used tactic is for a wing of Vultures to
wait at the edge of a large scale combat, and hit any stragglers or
heavily damaged craft if opposing craft survive the main battle.
Such wings have been known to take out capital ships whose weapon
systems were heavily damaged, and will often collect the escape
pods of either side.
Other mission profiles for Vulture class ships include
scouting missions, mainly those designed to gauge the strength of
opposing fleets, and accompanying heavier craft on attack runs.
One typical run of that sort is a wing of Vultures accompanying a
Century class bomber in a run against a
convoy of ships. The Century drops it's load of starship scale
concussion missiles, inflicting massive damage on the convoy, and
then the Vultures fly in and finish the target ships before then
can scatter and limp back home.
Note: The cost listed is in a theoretical situation, where
the Yaeger ships are available without restriction. In most
scenarios, they should not be available at all, or at incredibly
inflated prices.