Pirates! (I hate those filthy bandits.)

i noticed that too. i was up to 3 turrets by my second pirate encounter and did not have to reload.
the first time was a real pain because i had 1 turret, and the storage for the energy cells was far from the turret so every time I had to reload their shield would recharge a few points and it made the fight so much longer.

i've really started to notice that most times i have a complaint or something doesn't seem to work right its just that i haven't figured out the right way to do it yet.
the game is quite well balanced and thought out, i'm 50+ hours in and still amazed at the details i find and how deep some of the systems are.