Couple of tech/tactics questions

[Suicide Junkie]

One of the nifty bonuses with crystal tech is the facility that reduces maintenance on all ships in the system. Combined with the shield-boosting Energy Lens facility, you can have a tough, cheap defence force. Just don't leave the system!

The shard cannons are pretty crappy, unless you're up against organics, but I'd still use the shard missiles unless they go nuts on PDCs. With the 2-turn reload rate on the missiles, plus armor-piercing warhead, you can really hurt the enemy with a stack of sats.