Hey! I've been experimenting with your mod and I've been combining it with other mods, namely Archon's plasma one (https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/3163-archon-plasma-mod-v0-9-2-new-railgun-turret-and-v13-support) and Stargate one (https://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/1095-weapon-variants-stargate-mod-now-with-ships-in-bounty-mode) and I've been integrating their weapons with your tech tree system, as well as updating their locale for the strings to show appropriately, and I had to reduce/augment/tweak the range of pretty much all weapons for it to work appropriately, though, but once done it really gives a nice sense of progress.
There's thrusters linked to the main eng., so having one does increase the engine output, since you get access to nice plasma thrusters, and the Warp core I linked to more advanced types of engines, etc.
Point is, your mod is pretty amazing, and with more props/weapons/etc. linked to your tech system, it makes Cosmoteer a damn cool experience.
P.S: I find lasers to be pretty effective too!
P.S.S: If you want me to link what I've done, I'd love to do that.
P.S.S.S: A combined mod with your tech system and other weapon mods would be amazing.