text: You ease the shuttle closer, and closer still. The viewscreen isn’t needed to get a visual on the probe now; you can just look out the window. It’s small, but the slender segmented form puts you in mind of a wasp, with a pair of satellites making up the ‘wings’. The design is sleek and something about it worries you. The longer you look at it the more you get the sense it’s dangerous somehow. But that’s just all the more reason to take it out of commission.
  > You disable it with laser fire to be safe.
  A precisely aimed laser from close range is a far cry from a fusion torpedo, and won’t harm the probe in any way that would prevent it from being studied. You target the spherical ‘head’ of the wasp and fire.
  
  A quick spit of green light burns a tiny hole through what you hope is the central processor. A moment later you realize your error however as the shot has not only failed to disable the probe, but triggered a response in return. The shield indicator on your screen blinks to zero for a split second, accompanied by a sound of metal clinking against the outside of the ship.
  
  “What the--”
  
  Crackling energy is suddenly crawling from every wall. The wave rips through you and your vision goes white, then black. You’re dimly conscious of hitting the floor, and then never wake up again.