where can i buy mk IV ship parts? with energy credits?

On the exchange. Otherwise, nowhere that I know of. Only odd numbered levels of equipment (after mk2) is available for purchase from vendors for EC.

well that sucks!

I asked the same question earlier, and somebody said that you can buy them at DS9. I just reached LT. Community, so I haven't tried it myself.

You can get even MK gear (2, 4, 6, etc) from doing Exploration missions for badges and turning in the badges for gear. Ship Requisition at SB1 is one such spot and it's even uncommon quality.

To me, it sounds like odds is the rank 1 items and evens are the rank 5/6 level items for each grade.

Correction: So, I actually went to DS9, and I was wrong. They do not have Mark III or IV ship components that I could find. They do have Mark V+, but you need to be a Commander to use them.

DS9 does have Mark III ground equipment, so you can pick up some nasty weapons and shields.

So, now I'm curious, where can I get Mark III ship components? If they are in the exchange, where did the sellers pick them up? I think its weird that I can buy Mark V+, but not Mark III.

You can buy MK III ship gear at Starbase 39 in Alpha Centauri and MK V+ can be purchased from DS9. Even numbered gear can only be gotten from loot or PvP and Exploration Merits; as well as from the Exchange.

I believe SB39 (Alpha Centauri, Sierra Sector) has a reasonable stock of Rank III-IV gear. Not all encompassing by any means but I equipped my away team there and considered ship component upgrades (though decided against in favour of gearing up from missions since I was having no worries about damage or survivability)