[member="Darth Voracitos"]
Larraq continued to smoke his cigarette as he reviewed the situation from the CIC oriented bridge of the Skira. Scans were picking up increased energy modulation from within various access tunnels along the outside of the ship. As fighters performed their orbit of the craft, scanning it with specialized equipment as they did, the nature of these energy modulations became more clear. The Ulur'uur Radar frigate's powerful sensors proved invaluable at probing and analyzing the surface and upper layers of the starship. Not to mention the energy fluctuations of the ships internal power sources and active electronics. Eventually, the truth behind the energy patterns inside the external access tunnels became obvious. HUNDREDS of something had been activated within those tunnels.
Whatever they were, Larraq had a quick and easy answer for the problem. The Vulcan Cannon of the Skira rotated in its housing to target the nearest access tunnel of the battlesphere. Each Haran'uliik pivoted slightly in space to point their own Vulcan Cannons at the access tunnels on the hemisphere of the ship that faced them.
The CEO of Mandal Hypernautics continued with his preparations as he divided firepower into firing clusters to target the few external structures visible upon the battlesphere. Maneuvering thrusters, primary thrusters, sensor towers, tractor beam projectors, external components of hyperdrive units, access points for fuel, water, spare equipment, replacement engine units, and thousands of tiny access points for maintenance operations dotted the surface of every ship, no matter how well-built it was. These minor structures in and of themselves were not a vulnerability. Any dozen or hundreds of dozens of these structures could be damaged or destroyed and not threaten the structural integrity of the ship. Nor would more than a handful of them extend much more than a few meters below the surface of the craft.
The point though, was to disable the ship. Even if his fleet had to reduce the surface of the warship to molten glass, Rygel Larraq was determined to have the secrets of this ship filling Mandal Hypernautics databanks and trademarked by teams upon teams of lawyers. By taking the time to scan the ship and hold off on the actual engagement for as long as possible, Larraq was guaranteeing that the first few seconds of actual engagement would be devastating to the craft and all but cripple it.
Rygel Larraq was prioritizing a 5th salvo from a dual heavy turbolaser against a sensor node when the automated systems of the battlesphere responded to him once again. Larraq was momentarily taken aback by the complexity of the automated system's response to his hail. There was almost nothing automated about it. He'd seen command and control droids that couldn't formulate such a diplomatic and suggestive verbal response.
Either that ship had a very, very advanced droid commanding it or something far more sinister was lurking within its confines...
An A.I. perhaps?
Whatever the battlesphere's secrets were, Larraq was determined to have them for himself.
The snub of a cigarette still smoldered slightly between Larraq's fingers as he tapped away at a keypad with his other hand. The physical location of the access point [member="Ember Rekali"] had utilized to retrieve their prisoner was highlighted, as well as the location of the 60 Mandalorians to successfully land upon the surface of the craft. Another push of a button opened an encrypted channel to the troops that were crawling upon the surface of the battlesphere.
“This is Captain Larraq. We have VIP targets at the following coordinates. You are the only teams to successfully breach the shields of the battlesphere. You are to pause current operations and make your way at best speed to what appears to be a shuttle docking area. You will subdue and secure any compliant or noncompliant organics that you encounter within that area. Good luck. Extraction of targets will arrive upon confirmation of area secure.” Larraq broadcast to [member="Grozurra"] and the Mandalorians aboard the ship.
To the ship itself, or whatever was controlling it, Larraq broadcast a response. “The terms of surrender are non-negotiable. Complete and total surrender. However, until such a time as my superiors have had the opportunity to weigh in upon the situation themselves, for the sake of politeness, I will comply with your request. Please stand by for VIP extraction of occupants to holding areas.”
Turning his head to look at [member="Arrbi Betna"] once more, Larraq gave instructions to the lethal Mandalorian. “I need you on a dropship. Take the best men you have, and as many of them as you need. Take the collars you brought, as well as those blasted Lizards that you've got stashed in tubes with the collars, and prepare to secure prisoners. You'll need two additional empty dropships to extract the troops that will be escorting the prisoners to you.”
“Additionally.” Larraq said as he stamped out the remains of his cigarette in an ash tray. “I want five ionic proton bombs retrofitted with analog detonators on a three minute timer. Put them on the dropship with you and those Force-Jamming lizards. I don't know how many Sith are waiting for us aboard that ship, but I know I don't want them to see this coming. Get it done Commander Betna. I'll go ahead and admit that I wasn't expecting the emptied ship of a war criminal to defend itself, nor for it to resist arrest in the first place. But if you pull this off, your share of the royalties from this operation will make you a very rich vod.”
