Regarding the Q about what system for the map -
The players exited J-space with a course aimed at the planet. I was new to T5, and didn't lock onto the "M-drive has a 1000D from the star effective range", so they were under the impression they were on a ballistic course from the jump point in to where the M-drive worked at 100D. Having a bubble-drive, they'd exited at 104D
Meanwhile, the bad guys were at 99D and outbound, on a ballistic course to the jump point... or, more accurately, one was and the other chasing it.
So there wasn't so much a map as a "distance indicator" and "how far you can move to sideslip"
My bad on the T5 mis-read on rules.
I've quietly fixed it in future events, and since the players were new, they never knew there was an issue...
T5 has a comment about downloaded personalities in missiles, and self-aware missiles.
I ruled that _all nukes_ are self-awares, so they can reject targets like cities or civilian craft or whatever.... thus limiting the "every ship captain has weapons of mass destruction" issue.
The Type-S the players acquired had the classic laser/sand/missile rack, with 9 HE, 3 "probe" and 3 nukes...
So the players come across a battle in progress - a Type-S yelling for help as a 200 ton "something" is beating the crap out of hit. The 200 launches a missile at it's victim, which is jammed and explodes early as a nuke...
The ex-Navy player selects "nuke" from his missile load system, and asks the captain for permission to fire.
He gets it....
"In the Navy, when you load a nuke, there's either a red or green light for target acceptance. The Scout Service is a little different, for when you give the launch command, over the ship's intercom everyone aboard hears :
I am Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor. After I slay this foe, I will see you in Valhalla"
It's now revealed to the players that the missiles _know_ this is their one-and-only shot... but they also believe that if they do well in battle, their personality, saved at the moment of launch, will be uploaded to the factory and they will live again. Thus, they do their best to make sure the ship survives. There's a brief side discussion about what the personalities of the other 2 nukes on board are.... but no one wants to load one to find out.
The 200 launches a triplet of missiles (HEs, I'd ruled the badguy only had a few nukes) at the players. They're "Arrive next turn", and the gunner manages to lase one. I've let him have a choice between "laser in Automatic mode, trying for all three, or aiming at just one of them" ... and let him know the odds with a single laser vs 3 missiles in "AM". He makes the choice to take the high-probability shot.... and hits.
The 2nd officer manages to use the Jammer to lure one off course, which is the same kind of high drama roll, trying for one and then the other... and making the roll once.
The captain, piloting, tries evasive action, turning the ship... and fails the roll. I'd made this one pretty hard, since there's nothing in the rules about it, and 2G evasion vs 6G missile is a losing game.... but the turning means it hits amidships rather than head-on into the ship.
The ship's cook, vac suited up, is in the central hallway between the staterooms when the port/aft stateroom is hit with the missile and opened to space. The door panel blows into the ship, and the heavy "prospector"-grade suit takes the hit. Then the rush of decompression flips her over, and the door flies back into the stateroom, headed for the hole in the bulkhead.
She makes an awesome Dex roll, and "surfs" the blown door onto the hole in the hull, then begins squirting sealant around it.
This is going ok until the door across the hall breaks loose from the pressure change, and slaps down on her.
The suit's a prospector, with strength enhancers, and she climbs out from under it, then uses both doors as a temporary patch...
The cook is a devout believer in the FSM, and you can imagine the dialog along the way.
Meanwhile, Mjolnir closes to attack range... and near misses. For something like 50d damage... which is enough to cripple the other ship, and the radiation pulse is enough to do very bad things to the crew.
The battle was pretty much over at that point - other than the "how do we get planet side for repairs?" question....