I did a lot of thinking and math to determine the risks/rewards of different fleet structures, but it's all kind of technical... so if you're not interested in the details, ignore the spoiler.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Technical jargon</div><div class="spoiler_body">As for the max distance any ship should get from the fleet?  In case it is not obvious... knowing the Everest's location at any time means you could move out to the combined range of your sensors PLUS the Everest's.  Neither ship would be able to see the other, but they'd be able to see anything in between... thus greatly increasing the amount of nebula we can sweep at once.<br/><br/>Why would you move your ship out of sensor range of the Everest you ask?  Isn't that dangerous?<br/><br/>Well, first, moving farther away more than doubles the sensor range of the fleet... greatly improving our odds of locating any pirates hiding... and any other possible surprises.  That makes us safer.  At such long range, any enemy ship that spots one of us will ONLY spot one of us, making them think that ship is alone... and giving them a false sense of confidence.  As for the danger of being that far from the Everest?  Well, from what I've seen, an average sensor range for active scans to locate a ship running silent is 20 VU's.  If the Alexander and Kobras Aquairre stay between, oh, 20 and 39 VU's away, they'll be between 2 and 3 turns from getting back to the Everest... (much less if they move to flank speed) and unless they miss a sensor check and an enemy ship gets into gun range before they spot it, they'll be able to outrun almost any pursuit to return to the Everest and the safety of it's guns before they're fired upon.<br/><br/>Comparing the Everest's ability to scan an area to the ability of the whole fleet, using their superior speeds goes something like this.  The amount of space scanned would increase by a factor that includes the relative speeds of the Alexander and the Aquairre... so in the period where the Everest scans a column shaped section of space about 40 VU's across... the Alexander and the Aquairre, moving around, can scan a similar shaped section adding up to about 65 VU's across each... for a total column of space equaling approximately 100 VU across without leaving any significant sensor gaps.  (if you're curious, that adds up to a volume of space around 6 times larger then the one the Everest would scan in the same time... by itself... or that the fleet would scan if it stayed in a single file line.)<br/><br/>Er... wow... that was a bit technical, huh?  Sorry about that.  I could explain the math, but I don't think anyone needs that much tedium added to their day.</div></div><br/>To simplify... the Kobras Aquairre and the Alexander, to maximize our scanning range while minimizing the risk, should fly anywhere between 20 VU's and 39 VU's of the Everest... using their superior speed to scan the regions to the left and right (and below and above) the Everest as we go.  So long as they stay within those parameters, they'll scan a lot more of the nebula then they would if they simply stayed in formation, and won't be creating much in the way of risk for themselves in the process.  That gives them a LOT of leeway to move about as they wish.<br/><br/>What it breaks down to is:<br/><br/><strong>Risks:</strong>1. The scouting ships, (the Kobras and the Alex) will be within 1 flank speed move away from coming under the guns (and the protection) of the Everest... so that is the risk... can you survive being one combat turn away from your cruiser?<br/><br/>2. The other cost is that part of the time, the Kobras Aquairre and the Alexander will be out of direct sensor range of the Everest... so if something happens to them so quickly they can't send a message, we won't know about it.<br/><br/><strong>Rewards:</strong>1. Scanning approximately 6 times as much of the nebula as we travel than if we all stayed in close formation.<br/><br/>2. Any enemy ships we come across will probably only see one of our ships... and thereby will not know our numbers... and might be lured into attacking... and since the other ships always will know where the Everest is going to be, if they chase you, it'll be into gun range of a cruiser.