[Jack Simth]

I gave up on the series when they kept insisting the ship was unarmed.

Sure, it didn't have any systems that were specifically weapons, but the effectivness of any reaction mass drive (as their engine was) as a weapon is directly proportional to its effectiveness as a drive. This is why NASA places a small lake under the launchpad for the space shuttle; it is there to absorb all the energy. They had demonstrated that the ship has the ability to hover in place in a gravity well; flying over something at even medium range would be quite devastating, especially as the vessle was, what, 40 kilotons?