
Design Philosophy
-----------------

It became apparent in the early years of the 2nd Civil War
that the battles were being won or lost on the strength of
the carrier fleets. Hence, carriers became the targets of
the war, and capital ships shifted their emphasis from
planetary bombardment to carrier assault.

In a mad rush to counteract this development, the Emperor
commissioned ten-thousand Vista Class Tenders as a means
of breaking up the carrier/capital ship conflict and
overwhelming the enemy by sheer numbers. The move proved
remarkably successful.

During past battles, fighters had a strong vested interest
in protecting their carrier (without it, they would never get
back home). Hence, carriers would tend to enter realspace
at a relatively distant (safe) range from the target, losing
all possibility for surprise, and only a portion of the
squadron would be committed, reducing the overall offensive
capacity of the vessel.

The tactics of the Vista Tenders were very different. Because
several hundred could jump simultaneously, the loss of any
one, or even several, was relatively minor, and because they
were much smaller than the carriers, they were much less
vulnerable, as a whole, to the big weapons of the capital
ships. All in all, the disemination of carrying capacity among
a variety of small tenders meant that greater risks could be
taken, and this in turn changed the way the entire war was
fought.

Added to this was the fact that tankers could drop supplies of
hydrogen in the deep of space, allowing the fleets to take
advantage of their powerful engines coupled with their strangely
low fuel capacity (which made the ships far cheaper than they
otherwise would have been). Hence, for a surprisingly low cost,
the Emperor weilded a very fast, very effective tool which could
leapfrog opponents, shed damage more easily than any of the big
ships ever could, and effectively stomp the interstellar battle-
field.

After the war, many of the battlescared Vistas were retired and
sold into private hands or refurbished by the scout service.
They proved surprising effective in survey operations along the
frontier. Unlike the usual 100-ton scout, the Vistas were much
more battle-worthy (having been bred for war), and the fighter
complement (which was completely optional) allowed them to more
effectively scout situations where a possible threat was posed
by the locals. Further, their ability to leapfrog long distances
allowed them to scout systems which were too difficult to reach
otherwise. Often, particularly on long-distance scouting
missions, instead of carrying two fighters, they will carry a
load of highly-enriched fuel which they will deposit en route
for the final return jump.

