Vulture

The vulture-class hover bike, also called the vulture hover cycle, was a lightly armored one-man vehicle used by the terran nations of the Koprulu sector chiefly for scouting and patrol. Despite a reputation as a deathtrap, it was prized by enthusiasts as a classic piece of engineering, and its speed made it a natural choice for cavalry-style operations. The vulture served the Terran Confederacy and later the Terran Dominion, and remained popular with pirates, raiders and prospectors long after frontline forces moved on. Among its more famous riders was Jim Raynor.

Design#

The vulture was built with speed and reliability in mind. Its limited gravity hover technology let the bike travel over rough terrain with little loss of traction or speed and reach velocities of up to 230 miles per hour. The magnetic frequency of the hover system could be adjusted to ease passage over certain obstacles, such as the tracks used by maglev trains. An onboard computer and sensors mounted in the nose kept the bike at a steady pace and provided navigation, qualities that made it well suited to patrolling the vast wildernesses around terran colonies. Built-in gravity accelerators allowed it to operate in low or zero gravity by generating artificial gravity.

The bike was not without danger. It could fail catastrophically if its repulsors froze up or its fuel cells began leaking radioactive material. The driver's seat could be enclosed depending on the model or operating environment and could be configured to carry a passenger riding shotgun, and a C-14 rifle could be holstered along the side of the nose. Technology similar to the vulture's appeared in civilian hover bikes such as the 428 model.

Armament and tactics#

The standard vulture armament was originally an anti-personnel grenade launcher, the AGP-2 Thumper. Later models could instead mount a laser cannon, and optional equipment included spider and cerberus mines, ion thrusters and a microfabricator. The bike's light frame made it ill suited to heavy combat, but it excelled as a skirmisher, especially against lightly armored targets.

In the Confederate Armed Forces, vultures operated as a cavalry-style vanguard, speeding ahead of military columns to scout and to wreak havoc on resource operations behind enemy lines. They were sometimes formed into small squadrons attached to mechanized infantry, though the speed of the bikes made it difficult to keep such formations cohesive. Vultures were also tasked with scavenging, a role that earned them the occasional nickname of scavenger hover bike.

Service and decline#

The vulture was in use by 2478. In the Confederate Armored Vehicle Corps, aspiring pilots had to pass a minimal physical fitness exam before qualifying to ride one. The bike remained in service under the Dominion Armed Forces, where Ghost Program trainees began learning to handle vultures in their second year of training.

The vulture's military prominence faded as the Dominion turned to the hellion to meet its scouting needs, the newer vehicle taking over the role the vulture had long held. Even so, vultures could still be found in Dominion service after the End War, and they remained especially popular with rebel and mercenary groups, pirates, raiders and prospectors who valued their speed and low cost.