Reading these posts reminded me of something I did in college years ago. I've spent years and years playing this game and I still love it. As an amateur computer programmer, I like to tinker with files just for fun. Using a Hex editor, I've located some of the key spots where data for the Starcon ships are and I've been able to modify them. Included in these files is a ship called Zardz. It's basically a Pkunk, but instead of doing one point of damage per shot, it does 6 and has an instantaneous energy recharge rate. I've beaten the Su-matra, the most difficult ship in the game, in about 20 secs. with 1 Zardz ship. Download them and place them in your Starcontrol 2 directory. They don't overwrite any of the existing ships, they just become new ships you can choose when you play SuperMelee. They appear just like the other ships do-they look exactly the same, but have awesome attributes.
You can download them here:
http://www.filedropper.com/superships
PS. If you want to use these ships in the role-playing game, you have to copy the modified ship file over the original ship file--Make a backup of the original first!!!