Ships are powered by a single energy source whose power has to be divided up among the many parts of the ship, including drives, shields and weapons. Each ship is armed with a beam weapon whose chance to hit a target is based on the target's size and the "beam quality" of the firing ship. The amount of damage caused by a hit are reduced with distance, making it primarily a short-range weapon. In addition, ships are armed with missiles or torpedoes for long-range fire. Missiles fly to a location in space relative to the ship "after" movement and then explode regardless if there is a target in that location. Torpedoes are fired in a particular direction (the eight cardinals) and explode if they pass within two grid spaces of any other material object (except other torpedoes). Some ships also include fighters equipped with missiles or torpedoes, which allow spoiling attacks. Generally the Stellar Union ships have more missiles, and the Orion ships more torpedoes.