...is there a generic ship systems topic on the forum? I can't seem to find one, but it seems like there HAS to be one, right?
Anyway, I had some suggestions, even though they've likely be done before:
1. Repair. The ability to shut down your ship mid-battle, maybe even maxing flux, in order to slowly repair it.
2. Harden. Sorta like the fortress shield, only the entire ship goes on lockdown. Armored shutters are deployed to cover the engines and the mounts for all weapons, resulting in said engines being shut down, shields disabled and weapons locked in place, but otherwise capable of firing, for an increase in damage resistance by merit of covering every joint and weak point in the structure. I imagine this to be roughly like the armored weapons mounts and heavy armor enhancements you can put to a hull, only deploy-able and more robust.
3. Play dead. The ability to blow out the exterior hull and armor so as to take on the appearance of a scrapped ship without actually sacrificing your engines. You then can float your ship to the other edge of the battlefield and escape, assuming you manage to activate this system either a: when the AI can't see you or b: when you're taking a lot of damage but not so much the ordinance coming at you following blowing your own armor off doesn't finish you off.
4. Blowout. A lot of times fighters can really swarm together when they are trying to take out a single ship. I think it'd be cool if there was an ability to blow out your own shield, assuming you have an omni-emitter, and temporarily disable and/or knock away fighters that have gotten too close. This could also be some set amount of kinetic energy to be distributed to ships in the area. As a result, this might give more credence to the idea of ramming another ship, because then you can drive your frigate or something into an onslaught, blow out your shield and transfer substantial kinetic energy into the one ship in the vicinity, pushing it back. I'd really, in general, like some sort of system that could allow you to move your enemy about the battlefield... the side effect of this being, of course, a degree of equal and opposite reaction and an overload... possibly losing your shields for a much longer time, or even the rest of the battle.
5. Mine-laying. Not so much a system as a native weapon, like the cannons on the onslaught. After all, few ships could really be altered in such a way as to be capable of safely jettisoning large amounts of explosive ordinance into space.
6. Janitor Drones. I hate that stuff that slows down your ships. I'd love it if there was a ship of significant size that could release drones that simply flew around it, cleaning that stuff up. It wouldn't work so far as to significantly speed up forward progress, but if the big ship decides to sit on a waypoint in the middle of one of those clouds it would, over a fairly short period, greatly increase its maneuverability.
7. Jettison. An ability of tankers and cargo ships. Airlocks open and whatever they have gets sent out behind them. Increases speed and, if the pursuers are small ships, might even cause some damage... particularly if it's fuel it is spilling.
8. Taunt. Said ship increases its heat signature, broadcasts information to make it a preferred target for missiles, and possibly makes some catcalls or references to the opposing commander's mother. It instantly becomes a preferred target for all ships in range of it for as long as it stays in range of them. If it baits them by flying back out of their range, while they may try to pursue if they are fast enough, they will resume shooting at stuff they can get to. Missiles will simply start going after it. Really, this could be two separate systems, the first being more along the lines of electronic warfare, the later being as a result of just having a really strong broadcast antenna.
...and that's all I've thought of, for now. Again, pretty sure most of these have probably been suggested, but I don't see a ship systems suggestions topic, so there ya go.