War Fleet: Resistance

Interesting.
“Affirmative, sir,” and Redrock took the Extractor close to the cargo bay so the gunners could get in some shots. The turrets on the module had better range, and they unleashed their fire first. But Redrock was trained to approach from an angle, which meant he took minimal damage. The gunners took down four turrets before Redrock pulled the shuttle back.
“Are we going to board it?” Kota asked, looking out the window from her place crouched on the floor beside him. The advantage of these mag-boots was that they could work like seat belts if you pumped their strength up high enough, meaning Marines could stand anywhere on the deck without being thrown around by the ship’s momentum.
“Let’s ask the captain,” Redrock said; then he turned on the intercom. “Captain, the Marines think it’s best if they board the pod. What do you think, sir?”
But there was a momentary pause. Then, it was as if the sky behind the pod lit on fire for a moment.
“Redrock, evasive maneuvers.”
“What the—”
And the cargo-module suddenly lurched towards them and hit them on the right flank. In Redrock’s hands, the controls went haywire. Momentarily, the Extractor was sent spinning into space.

11
Olsen watched the screen in confusion as the cargo-module opened the bay doors on the side facing the Okranti. It just didn’t make sense. Unless they’d secured the weapon in restraints — which was highly unlikely, given its size and the timeframe — then it would just float out into space. And it did, emerging slowly from the cargo-module as if the Arstans didn’t care about recovering it.
“It looks like the Okranti’s ready to enter FTL-warp, sir,” Santiago said.
Olsen tapped in frustration on his chair arm. “What the hell are they up to?”
Suddenly, a message from the Extractor came on the intercom. “Captain, the Marines think it’s best if they board the pod. What do you think, sir?”
And then it came: a massive explosion from inside of the cargo-module.
This did three things. First, it sent the module on a fast collision course towards the Extractor mining shuttle. Second, it ejected the artifact at great velocity in the direction of the Okranti. And third, it caused a massive plume of fire to launch out of the open bay doors.
Of course, space being space, nobody heard the explosion. Olsen had often considered adding a sound-effects box to the CIC, just to augment the battle experience. But admittedly, that would be a waste of military resources. Meanwhile, Olsen dropped his coffee cup on the floor.
“Redrock, evasive maneuvers,” he said.
“What the—”
All went silent as Olsen and the rest of the officers watched the Extractor spin off into space. A hatch had opened on one of the Okranti’s modules, which engulfed the object as soon as it entered the ship, the doors quickly snapping shut behind it. A massive white flare then bloomed, and the Okranti entered FTL-warp, leaving the Tapper alone in the Hardy-Myers section, surrounded by rocks and abandoned modules.
“Sir,” Schmidt said. “High energy readings are coming from the remaining modules. They’re gonna blow.”
“Dammit. They initialized a self-destruct. Get the shields up immediately. Redrock, you’re on your own out there. Get away from the module.”
There was no response from the Extractor. The Tapper’s shields came to life a few seconds before the shield-generator lattice started to glow yellow. Then it exploded in a brilliant display of red-hot shrapnel and fiery clouds. Olsen kept his eye on the Extractor, praying that it would make it through. It was still spinning out of control, but the cargo-module had set it on its own course, like a billiard ball.
That module exploded last, shortly after the weapon modules. The explosion from the cargo-module only barely scratched the shuttle. It didn’t look like it would damage it at all, but still, Olsen had no clue as to the state of the Extractor’s hull from the impact before.
“Redrock, what’s your status?” he said. “Do you read?”
Silence. Was Olsen going to have to send out an escape pod to investigate? He’d go out himself if he had to. Redrock had joined as an ensign pilot when Olsen had been just a lieutenant commander on the Grashorn, and he’d seen him rise to the best pilot in the squad before Olsen had ruined both of their careers.
“Redrock, dammit. What happened out there? Report in.”
A crackle came on the line, and then Kota answered. “Sir, I’m sorry. I only just managed to reach the controls.”
“Kota, what happened? Redrock?”
“He’s on the deck floor, sir, unconscious, but uh,” Kota’s voice was strained and shaky. “But breathing. We took a bad hit out here.”
“Can you pilot the shuttle, Kota?”
“Affirmative, sir. The controls seem to be working. I’ll initiate thrusters and bring her back in.”
Olsen breathed a sigh of relief. “Schmidt, lower shields for the Extractor’s return. Kota, make sure you get him to sickbay immediately.”
“Yes sir,” Kota replied, and Olsen didn’t listen to Schmidt’s response.
“Sir.” Santiago turned to Olsen in alarm. “The Tauian ship is back.”
Indeed, the sleekly-built ship was now there. Olsen had been so busy with the Extractor, he hadn’t even seen it uncloak. Damn, he was just about to go and call Fleet Admiral Brownstone to find out if she knew anything. “Hail the ship,” Olsen said. Hopefully, Ambassador Oort was still on their side.
The Tauian’s skin was now emitting a shade of magenta. It turned its faceless head towards the screen. “Greetings, human,” it said. “I thought you might want to continue our conversation, and still I mean you no harm.”
“Wonderful,” Olsen said. “Where did you just go? I would have thought you’d be able to provide some assistance, if this weapon was so important to you.”
“My ship isn’t currently equipped for battle. Despite this, you seem to have handled yourself well, given the situation.”
“We lost the weapon.”
“You did,” the Tauian said, and then he fell silent.
“Ambassador Oort, what is that thing capable of? We need to find out why the Arstans want it so badly. What does it do? Does it power another