The suspicion of Callie and the rest of the pilots was well-founded, and their vigilance paid off. As the shuttle was on the verge of entering the bay, the situation took an abrupt twist. A bulk freighter exiting one of the other bays and chugging along, minding its' own business erupted into a brief globe of flame and debris, followed by another at one of the other docking umbilicals. Immediately the communications channels were filled with flash emergency reports as other ships were forced to change course, and emergency responders mobilised. The task force were sternly ordered to 'stand by'.
Within only moments of that message, the situation took a hostile turn. Another bulk ore carrier ignited its' engines for a burn, changing it's access and building momentum, diving on its' relative axis toward the open bay, and the approaching task force mobile suits and shuttle. A few moments after changing its' direction and accelerating, the huge bulk containers attached to the skeletal framework of the ship blew away with the help of explosive bolts, before their outer shells fragmented through the same means. From the clouds of expanding metal debris, the glow of thrusters and mono-eye lights preceded the lancing blasts of beam rifles and gunfire as a sextet of Gelgoog Marine-types, laded down and strapped with additional weapon systems emerged. Immediately they started opening fire, driving toward the bay entrance in a hail of weapons-fire. Additional fire and distress reports started to come in from other areas, further from the bay entrance and the docking areas. 

All of this unfolded in mere seconds, a cascade of events that toppled like an avalanche. As the space around them that had been previously peaceful, if busy, was now a canopy of explosions and disintegrating spacecraft and infrastructure. 
"Holy shit," muttered Callie as she grimaced, setting her jaw. "Time to get our game on," she said to herself, before calling out to the rest of the unit, even as the message came from the command shuttle to do the same thing:
"Spread out, engage the hostile mobile suits and make sure the shuttle gets to safety. Protect the civilian ships as much as possible. If we can capture one of the pilots, so much the better!"