Scouts

Overview
Scouts are small crafts akin to fighters but with a very different role. They are designed to detect enemies, opperate at a long range, and remain undetected. They have a crew of 3-5 and are not particuarly well armed or armored. However, they can cloak when moving slowly and have excelent sensors. Scouts are also some of the fastest and most agile ships, able to outrun most threats. Unless otherwise noted, they have no notable shielding (like other fighters). Breks command scout ships and most fleets have 3 or 4 on patrol at all times. Scouts, like fighters, launch from carriers or bases and move in squads of 2-5.

Variants
There are three scout variants. Patrol craft are utility scouts, fast attack crafts are better armede but cannot cloak, and jump scouts are like mini-submarines.

Patrol Craft
The "standard" scout ship is a patrol craft. They have a nice blend of utility and strength. They have some of the best sensors in the fleet, but have a limited range due to their small size. Patrol craft have   2, medium caliber, fixed, medium range, rapid firing, energy cannons and 4 small caliber, fixed, short range, rapid firing, energy cannons.

Fast Attack Craft
Larger then fighters, scouts can be armed with larger weapons and fast attack craft are able to deliver large payloads at high speeds against enemy targets. They have 2, medium caliber, fixed, medium range, rapid firing, energy cannons and 3 small caliber, fixed, short range, rapid firing, energy cannons and 4 long range missile batteries. This comes at the expense of the ship's ability to cloak. Fast attack craft have light shielding.

Jump Scout
Able to move into underspace for 1 minute at a time, jump scouts are sometimes called "midget subs". After a jump a jump scout must wait 5 minutes before it can enter underspace again. In addation to this, a jump scout can also move at full speed while stealthed- something that, when combined with their excelent sensors, makes them ideal watchdogs. However, this extra equipment means they need to replace many of their standard weapons. They only have 4 small caliber, fixed, short range, rapid firing, energy cannons and 2 long range missile batteries. Jump scouts are used to watch for submarines and pick them appart, sneak behind enemy lines to deliver vital payloads (set bombs or deliver troops), or even to act as first warning systems. Jump scouts are more expensive and require submarine training so they are a rare variant.

Statistics

 * Size 1 (per squad)
 * Speed 5
 * Power 2
 * Rank 2
 * Value 1 (per squad)
 * Type: Auxiliary
 * Type: Auxiliary