Okay then. So... well, I had the player statsheets decided, the ship systems decided... the whales are going to be a sort of a cat in the bag. A few things left to decide then.
So, short rundown of the ship operations.
The ship is roughly split into six component sections. Fore/Aft, Port/Starboard, Dorsal/Ventral.
Each section is sort of layered.
Top layer is the hull. This is what takes the first damage, should the ship be attacked.
Right under that - or on that, rather - are weapons. A sufficiently good hit can take a weapon off.
Further below are Systems. Each section has its own. In order of importance, they are Control, Propulsion, Sensors, Comms, Processing, Storage. By location, Fore is Processing, Aft is Propulsion, Port is Comms, Starboard is Sensors, Dorsal is Control, Ventral is Storage. A little like a submarine.
Underneath it all is Structure, one for each. It's the network of endosteel beams and corridors that actually holds stuff together, so damage to this is kinda bad.
Each system has a value, which doubles as both its health and effectiveness, following Progressive rules. Generally, if something is damaged, anything short of a Perfect Success will degrade the value. On an Epic Fail or an Overshot, a lower system can also take damage.
Here's what the system values do, besides resisting damage:
Control: This is your AI Navigator/Engineer/Gunner. A better AI will better react to things players can't be assed to react to.
Propulsion: How fast and powerful your ship is, for running after/away from whales and the occasional breaking free of grabby tentacles.
Sensors: Detect whales at range. The value is simultaneously responsible for the maximum danger rating you can detect, and the accuracy of the detection of said rating.
Comms: Useful for whenever you're stuck in space with a torn-off engine or need to call for help against a particularly nasty whale. Higher rolls bring better help.
Processing: Processes whale meat. Higher values lessen the chance of meat quality degrading while being processed, and may yield higher quality product than the raw material.
Storage: Multiplied by 100, how much whale meat you can store. Simple as that.
Weapons are a different thing, and I'll spend some time thinking about them - both ship weapons, and crew weapons, because if I don't include the ability to grab a harpoon and jump out at the eldritch sushi deposits, people here might revolt.