#2 is pretty much the OP @angrytigerp
Atmosphere-rated fighters that are short-ranged bricks in space & chunky transports that almost lose to mining drones, but they give a smidge of extra ground power
Practically it would be easier & better to just get a dedicated troop carrier or two, but it could get a niche in small-fleet ops & with the headcanon crowd that would pack them into the dedicated trooper. Aint no way a big honkin stinkin goose of a cruiser is going to give the same kind of precise, close-in ground support a couple wings of aero-fighters & transports could. It could knock down the big ground emplacements sure, but you'd have to park the thing a mile away and tell the cyborgs to carry a couple extra batteries after that.