Things were not proceeding as the Exarchs briefing had suggested they would, it was supposed to be a simple specimen collection raid on a newly discovered species world. Standard operating procedure was to jump in as close to the planet as the systems gravity well would allow, broadcast a standdown and prepare for collection order to the target, then retrieve specimens when the carrier group made planetary orbit in 2 to 5 days.

    That was how it was supposed to go, how things always went. How it was going was an entirely different matter. The species had no ships in orbit and scans of the surface showed only small craft, likely tenders for when larger vessels arrived, nevertheless the fleet raised shields when maximum standard weapon range was reached hours before orbit was made. Approach was uneventful, a flurry of messages and signals were directed at us but were all ignored as was standard, until on final approach for orbit a signal overrode all comm frequencies and visual links, replacing them with a grotesque cackling skull with 2 bones crossed behind it. 

    Low energy discharges were registered from multiple installations on the planet’s surface and large projectiles could be detected on collision courses with the carrier and its 2 cruiser escorts. Point defense systems spun up and fire converged on the incoming munitions but everywhere the barrage of energy connected with the targets the energy simply dissipated. A desperate salvo from the main guns on one of the escorts managed to connect and there was a brief flare as one of the projectiles was incinerated. The feeling of triumph was short lived as the remaining dozens of devices struck the shields of various vessels and weren’t even slowed down, piercing the barrier and burying themselves deep into the hulls.

    Instead of the feared explosions that would normally follow there was nothing, bulkheads slammed shut in the area around the breaches and the shields gradually reassembled where they had shattered on impact. Ship to ship communication was still being blocked by the animated bones but intraship hardlines were still functioning. The escorts had commenced firing on the detected launch points with main batterys while the fleet pulled back out of orbit to assess damage. The first repair crew to an impact site reported the projectile was still intact and appeared to have doors on the sides, attempts to pressure blow it back out into space revealed it had magnetically clamped onto the interior hull. The last recorded communication from the team stated that the doors on the pod were opening. The story repeated itself at every breach point, combat teams were dispatched and signaled that there were boarders before falling silent themselves.

    We watched from the bridges viewports on our frigate as the guns on the escorts bombarding the launch points fell silent one by one, as the carriers engines cut out. A few minutes later the carrier resumed signs of activity and the horrible bone effigy faded from the screen, an all bands priority communication went out to the fleet from the Exarchs personal command channel on the carrier. The visual link opened to all fleet channels simultaneously, instead of the expected face of the Exarch a similar sized biped in an armored exosuit sat on his throne, the clear visor revealed a hairless face and a single pair of eyes. The creature started to speak but its language was not yet in our translators database so it was simply a lot of guttural yapping and groaning, it looked off to the side and started gesticulating wildly with its 2 upper limbs. It continued grunting and groaning to something unseen out of visual range to the side until gradually we started hearing translated speech.

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    "I don’t give a damn if their computers are cramped, you tell her to get her digital ass in there and translate for these idiots so we don’t have to blow them all up. What? She’s already translating? I’m live? God dammit. "

    The being turned back to the screen and stopped flailing its arms about before addressing us. "Attention dumbasses, you have menaced and or threatened this demilitarized mining colony according to the statutes of what constitutes authorized use of force for self defense of a free colony of the Solar Combine. All vessels still operational are ordered to stand down and prepare for boarding, resistance will be met with lethal force. Compliance will see you treated fairly under Combine RoE and you will be returned to your point of origin after assessment by ..."

    The being was interrupted by one of our sister ships firing on a small flotilla of vessels that had departed the planet on an intercept course for us. The being on the screen dragged one of its subdigits across its neck.

    "Grav sling a chunk of ore at that ship at full power, make sure the rest of em’ see it" 

    A high energy discharge was detected from the planet and milliseconds later the aggressor ship was a cloud of particulate matter blooming away from fleet.

    "Resistance will be met with disintegration, we could have vaporized every single of you 4 days ago when you entered the system and started broadcasting your "surrender and be abducted" message but Combine law states we must afford you every opportunity to surrender, all of the messages to which you ignored. Luckily we had days to modify escape pods into boarding pods so we didn’t have to wipe you all out, unfortunately the only man-portable weapons we had were clubs and mining lasers so there’s not a lot left of the crews on the vessels we boarded. Await further instructions from the personnel boarding your vessels."

    The screen went blank, no thought of resistance was in anyones head anymore. An armored, shielded warship had been erased from existence by an angry mammal hurling a chunk of rock at it. They had been boarded by civilian personnel carrying clubs and mining equipment, who had ridden in on modified escape pods and simply smashed their way onboard. How were you supposed to plan for that?

  Holy Union Vessel- Penitent Flame, Captains Log, recorded while in confinement aboard Solar Combine military vessel en route to Combine Intelligence outpost.