[quote=WilsonTurner]
No total destruction.Ships are heavily armored, remember? Even the best plasma torch can't cut through too thick of metal, so to speakEDIT:Although a mass-detecting species flying their former home because of a strange parasite would be pro-story
[/quote]

Actually, they can. Plasmas can retain temperatures measured in the millions of Celsius. Unless you're using bullshitium, your metals arent immune to plasma. Even if the armor you're using is respectively thick.