Wait, these ships are me from the past? That changes everything! Now I understand what you meant with "stray bullets make it worse". That's a very cool mechanic, but not understandable from gameplay, that's how chaotic and unexplained it is. Reading through other comments, it seems like other players also didn't get it, sadly. For now you could explain it on top of your game page description (and under "how your game fits the theme" as well) so jammers get it, and after jam you can update game to clarify it better. Idea is cool, you're very creative!