Viper Class Scout Sloop

Not to be confused with the Viper-Class Missile Destroyer, Viper-Class Scout Sloops are small reconnaissance and escort ships of the Imperial Navy and are among the smallest Imperial starships capable of carrying a warp drive. It is used mainly for short-term spy missions aimed at specific hostile regions, and to this end is equipped with powerful auspex and augur scanners to collate as much information as possible, and immensely powerful realspace plasma engines for retreating to a safe Warp jump. However, the Viper is not heavily armed, as extensive weapon batteries would draw vital power from the sensor arrays and engines.