Ah, I see. You kept the better ones.
Still doesn't explain why you don't have enough slots for more.
Otherwise you probably wouldn't have deleted them I guess.
So, open a ticket/bug report and ask them to look into the issue. Maybe you can get them to even return your deleted officers if you explain to them, that you had to do so to assign the newer ones because of the issue.
And if the Defiant suits your playstyle better you will get a one time chance to get the retrofit version for free when you hit max level.
The Souvereign is a good ship, but it is a very heavy cruiser, meant for tanking and taking damage through a big hull bonus, lots of healing and resistance abilities with moderate damage output.
If you play it like that you can take on several enemys at once, something no one will recommend to do with the Defiant.
And you will love the Souvereign or other heavy cruisers as a support/heal ship. Let them take the heavy fire and let yourself be healed by them while you shred the others to pieces.
yeah, this is why i loved akira and defiant, but crypitc in all their creepy wisdom made it such that you really have tp upgrade as you progress, and options at the top are good, but not what i want, i went with another heavy escort this time (bought a new ship) looks like akira but looks strange (ugly is the word) with deflector thing right on its nose, looks disgusting if you ask me. Buying refit defiant is my alternative, right now i am close to vice admiral, but you need 500 of something was it merit? have no clue, but you need 500 of these to get defiant.
My current sip is so underarmed its ridiculous, a bridpray can take me out in a nanosecond.
need better weapons, ( have no tactical consoles t speak off) and no decent weapons, my weapons on defiant are all class 8, and on sovereign weren't much better. guys suggestions, id welcome any good suggestion. (btw i'v been playing this game only for 2 weeks so i am relative newb).