[b]Uncharted Space: Returning Fire[/b]
As the enemy buzzer things close in, armor plates shift, creating momentary, tiny weakspots as they extend out and begin rearranging themselves, moving to cover the breached spot before further damage could be done, or before the enemy swarm could reach the ship. At this point, they had already closed the gap between the two ships, which was more fortunate for the Valkians than for the Etherals. Despite having a hole punched in the ship, the rearranging armor allowed for it to be covered up and contain both air and hull integrity before any major damage was received.

As the incoming swarm approached, the Valkians waited anxiously for the Swarmer turrets to reload. It [i]was[/i] a simple process: A grid-like piece with the same amount of open spots as the turret, filled with more missiles, would simply slide them in. The problem was that it all moved rather slowly. Coming to a decision, many of the Engineers and their Hunter guards climbed onto the turret's base, to protect it from whatever was out there so that it could fire its payload, and head back under. 

As the two doors above began opening, swinging out to slowly clip onto the surrounding armor, and the base started rising, they could see the strange things flying over. When one, surrounded like blades like the one that had screeched at them some time before, an Engineer, armed with an energy assault rifle, let loose. A burst of nearly transparent blue lasers lashed out, many of the lasers missing, but three of them scoring hits on the strange enemy. It promptly burst, dead or dying, and the rest of the half-dozen Engineers raised their weapons, scared and with the a bad case of the trigger finger. The four Hunters around them had their shoulder-mounted weapons ready, and their blades were out and ready for action. They were all just as scared as the Hunters, and would surely admit it some time later. At the moment, they focused themselves.

The turret rose; the strange creatures attacked and were pushed back. After only half a minute, the Swarmer turret fired, unleashing a swarm that began tearing through the swarm around the Explorer; just as before, little could stand in the path of the swarm of missiles [unless you wish to change it]. As the swarm around the ship cleared, the particle cannons at the front of the ship opened fire, attempting to cut the ship in half.

Inside, the Valkians were panicking. They were doing the usual: closing down airlocks, welding what they could shut, and freezing everything that looked to be in danger of exploding or further damage. Generally, they were all extremely frightened because one ship had punched a hole through their armor- [i]their impenetrable armor[/i]. Now, they were spraying the strange ball-thing with dozens of gallons of liquid nitrogen, in their attempt to neutralize it. Many bombs couldn't go off if they were frozen, studies had shown.

From the rear of the Explorer, a small drone appeared, jetting back and away from battle. As it reached the edge of what would be designated as a combat zone, it flashed into warp space, and disappeared.

Some distance away, the Varren fired a second barrage, rolling as it did so, and fired a third with the bottom turrets, trying to combine firepower of the different turrets for maximum damage against the unknown shield.

[b]Planet L-1[/b]
On the ground, the forces came to a halt a short distance away, the numbered-as-few units watching with apprehension and a tight anxiety. After some moments, the transport caught up, and deposited its several Hunters before scurrying off. The two GC combats also deposited their own diplomats, and they, too, scurried away, hiding in the underbrush some distance away. Looking around closely, one might see the railgun walkers hidden among a hill and a tree, ready to intervene. 

As 5 hunters and two Tinkerers cautiously walked forward, pieces of equipment in Tinkerers' hands, the leading Tinkerer put up a hand, as if to say [i]Stop![/i]

Other than that, besides coming to a halt some [safe] distance away, they just stared, unsure on how to communicate. They looked among themselves, and tried to brainstorm on how to communicate.

The other Tinkerer reached an idea, and pulled out his handgun. Instead of aiming it, however, he held it by its barrel, handgrip towards the unknown peoples. It was an awful gamble, but the Hunters' shoulder-mounted weapons, while not aimed at the unknowns, would still be able to fire faster than the handgun, which required a short charge, and was 'matched' to the specific DNA of the user, for security purposes.

[u]In Orbit of Planet L[/u]
The Varren was surprised, and quickly began turning its massive bulk. It fired its engines, fired off a message to Command and the closest Explorer, and began dipping into the gravity well, starting to slingshot itself around the planet, out of reach of any weapons.