Federation Commander

In Orion Attack, there are two cargo boxes 'outside the shields' on the Commercial Platform [CP]

Three questions.

Firstly, do all CPs have these?

Secondly, are the pods attached to the CP or do they kind of float separately?

Thirdly, how do those pods work in combat, when the CP is taking fire? Does the enemy target the external cargo separately, or do they take hits before the shields, or what? And do the external cargo cloak with the platform or not, in the case of Rom or Orion CPs?

Sigh. I knew I missed something. Those are just free floating spare cargo for a scenario rule we forgot to publish. Gives the pirates another target. Mostly it just filled an empty spot on a ship card. Mike West told me not to do it, and his reason was that I'd forget to include the rules about them.

Easily fixed in Communique, correct?