Took a little time and whipped up this concept profile of a csye light cruiser, just to check wether or not I like the design. It´s about the most conservative design you can get with a spaceship: the rocket. You need to learn to walk before you can run.

Also split up the Ship into sections.

I´m almost tempted to say something like "First Person who reads all that follows now gets a freebie", but knowing myself, it´d never get done anyway. So instead, imaginary cookies for you.

1: Nose Section: Contains the forward facing Radar array, one spinner with two laser emitters and the forward engineering section. Forward engineering is holding the two emergency backup computer systems, motor for the gravity-carousel, launchers for the distress-buoys as well as the forward maneuvering thrusters and their systems and heat dumps.

2: Crew Section: Two seperate grav-carousels, each holding both crew compartements, pantry, mess, storage cells as well as the command bunker and the storm cellar. The living quarters themselves are equipped with a backup environmental system, which can recycle 1/2 reduced carbondioxide output in the onboard air and 1/4th of waste water. Heat generated during the recycling process is used to heat living quarters and storm cellar. The power feeds for the Radar, the beam-feed for the Laser as well as the forward systems heat-sinks are wired trough this section.

3: Secondary Engineering/Emergency Engine systems: This section is detacheable from section 4. It contains the primary computer core, a backup power system which includes a dragged nuclear reactor with directly attached coolant radiators, on-board radiators also used for emergency-cooling the main weapon during combat useage, as well as the main environmental systems. In case the main reactor threatens to go meltdown, or in case the rear of the ship is too heavily damaged to continue to function, the forward section can be detached at this point.
Fed by the emergency reactor, the integrated Ion-engines will be able to propel the forward section at sufficient speed to escape any battlefield, while glowing brightly enough to attract attention of rescuers.

4: Weapons section: This part of the ship contains the centrally mounted laser cannon. The array is very large, and parts of it stretch into section 5 of the ship. The laser is connected to both the internal emergency radiators of the no 3 Section, as well as the main radiator array in the no 5 section to vent heat generated while it is in operation. The Laser has a nominal output of 1GW, and all four emitters mounted on the hull use 12m diameter focal arrays. The Laser can be fired continuously until the heat sinks are filled up (about 8 secs total time), allowing for a maximum of 46870 mm armour penetration at 100 km distance (value for Titanium armour).

5: Radiator Array, Primary Engineering section: Contains the radiator wings (Shown folded), and primary engineering. The radiators are wired into the heat sinks of the laser cannon and also are used as backups for the reactor in case they are needed.
The engineering center is a two man shell encased in three inches of lead and 1m thickness water cells, mounted at the connecting joint between sections 5 and 6.

6: Reactor: Primary reactor, which provides power for the ship, with most power being eaten up by the drive system and the weapons.
The cigar-shaped attachments to the reactor shell are radiator wings (folded here), which are used to dump excess heat from both engines and the reactor into space.

7: Engine section: Nothing but a massive Arcjet drive. Ion engines are for loosers.

8: Tail section: Working end of the n-space slingshot, as well as tail warning sensors and the tail maneuvering jets. The n-space slingshot is also rigged to produce helium for reaction mass trough n-conversion: this means that the ship has -very- small amounts of fuel to burn in any given timescale, but has virtually unlimited amounts too.

This ship has several problems from the design point of view: but that is what happens if you just whip it up, I guess.

N-Joy