© Jerod Underwood Park Intro, page  5   <-  home  -> Engine propulsion systems were completely un-changeable, due to their shear bulk and lack of time to install speedier ones. Weapon systems were necessary for defense, but the newer class ships were never designed for such systems. So, several exterior ports were installed onto the outer skins of each ship. These ports would accommodate Gunnery Pods. And the major weapon, called a Plasma Bolt, is used to punch a hole into the system wide barriers was also installed on the skin of the ship, approximately on the nose section. Fortunately, shield generator technology has come a long way since the ships of eighty years ago. They run straight off of ship's power conducts and take up very little space. So, their installation was a piece of Martian Cake. On the down side, attaching all this equipment onto a ship utilizing engines designed to put out little more than enough power then was needed for engines, ship's computers, lights and life supports means a dangerous situation could occur while power is of the utmost necessity during a fire fight. Unfortunately, the generators are a part of the engine. One won't work without the other. And to get better generators, you need better engines. And with exception of the three Gunnery Pods, the ship has no room for extra generators, only batteries. Which will very quickly drain when the generators go down. On a strange note: These ship designers never seem to plan ahead in the electrical department. Funny, but true, the problem has existed for over a hundred years. Yet, no one has even attempted to fix that problem.