You have direct control over the one ship you are personally in, but if you have a carrier (or just fighter bays) for example, you can order your fighters around.
And of course, you can mod the precice definition of "Fighter" to include escort destroyers if you cared to.
Come to think of it, a Devnull-style Pet Space Monster would be fun to unleash on an unsuspecting pirate clan
[ September 06, 2003, 02:57: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]