Thank Woundwort for the newest system graphics in FQM.
Hmm... I seem to have forgotten to mention him for the second batch. That will be fixed!
As for the AI problems... add several redundant tech reqs to the shield generators so that they AI will think they are more advanced than the crystalline life support. The AI will use the component that has the needed ability that has the most levels of tech requirements. So, if the cyrstalline life support requires 3 total tech levels (directly, not prereqs of those techs), then add enough redundant Shields tech reqs to each shield generator so that they all require at least 4 total tech levels. Of course, you then need to make sure that each level of shields is "more advanced" than the previous level.
And yes, having 4 tech reqs of level 1 in Shields is not a problem. The game treats it just like having only one of those tech reqs, but the AI sees it differently.