as for power generation, they dont require any. they just have to keep their organisms fed. living things generate their own power so long as they are sustained. as for realspace movement, its described (although not in much detail) in one of the books, dont remember which. basically, the dovin basals "grab" on to a stellar object larger than the ship, or repel from an object larger than the ship. apparently, there is no limit to the range of this ability. i would wholeheartedly agree, however, that this sort of gravity manipulation is completely fantastic in every respect. way beyond the idea of hyperspace travel. for the weapons, the plasma cannons are NOT the volcano guns. they are differentiated sporadically in the books, but they are separate. the plasma is used as a laser analogue, no mass, just energy, while the volcano gun thing is a missile analogue, and is in fact just superheated rock. i think the reason they dont use dovin basals for weaponry in most cases is highlighted in the numerous accounts of tech. ships tiring them when all they have to do is provide shielding and maneuvering. adding more stress to their regular workout would be downright stupid. as for the organisms, i dont really see how they could have possibly begun any sort of genetic engineering without starting with technology to engineer their original bio-tools.