While the Eusans suffer from a festering fear of the dark, the Ruk celebrate their victories and the battles that have yet to come. The usually reclusive council member Haefil Usef made a public announcement regarding the recent skirmish: "They beat us once; our forces had been reduced to scrap and debris. This is different. Today we struck back, three of their corvettes and a yacht were destroyed. There shall be no peace until they have suffered the grievous casualties we have! *A deafening cheer is heard from the crowd* "We shall not forget those who were lost. We lost out home, our lives, our loved ones. It is gone. The ANIMALS who did this shall pay with blood! *Control of the crowd is lost; flowers fly and firearms discharge into the air.*" The Ruk are out for revenge. Improvements in stealth technology make them a deadly foe, but a lack of numbers and the sheer size of the Eusan Federation will not make this an easy task. This does not deter the Ruk, they will do anything to get back at the brutes for what they have done. Meanwhile, in the Federation's Eastern Frontier, something sinister is brewing. Convinced the recent attacks were coincidences and that paranoia has gripped the hearts of Eusan authorities, Alin Rustford, Captain of the Stellar-Class Destroyer E.S.S "Uncapturable" was regrouping to his wing with improper leisure. About 28,000 miles away from his fleet, he receives a message from one of the crew telling him about something that appeared on the sensors. He lazily lifts his fingers to the keys on his keyboard, typing back telling the crewman to rerun the scan and double check. Shortly after, the crewman replies saying it is indeed there, to which Alin demands a second opinion. He receives a second opinion by his desktop flooding with notifications. Nearly a hundred objects just appeared on radar, and they're approaching the ship... Fast. Alin raises himself off of his chair, and bolts to the bridge. Once there, he orders the PDCs to fire. Three PDCs have broken rotation mechanisms, and maintenance was delayed. 2 more fire before running out of their scarce ammunition while the lasers delay due to the reactor being on low power. The bridge shakes, alarms blare, the ship has been breached. Drones. Radio chatter flares with screaming. Ensigns shout of being attacked by drones in the hallways. The map of the ship shows a spreading blob of red representing compromised sections. Alin panics, if he isn't quick, he too will fall prey to the drones. He dashes to the escape pods, delegating command to one of the guards at the door before reminding the guard that "The captain goes down with the ship". The crew fights tooth and nail to destroy their assailants, but their fire proves overwhelming to mere sailors with limited arms. In a matter of minutes, the E.S.S "Uncapturable" was ironically captured. Alin Rustford escaped the ship and was dishonorably discharged (Unconfirmed reports claim Rustford was threatened with public skinning). The captured destroyer would return to Ruk territory for investigation and study. Unbeknownst to the Ruk, however, a trail is left...
