The hidden assailants caught the Flagrant Vandals completely off-guard! Their premeditated attack not only immobilized seven important ships, but they also went a step further and damaged the FTL drives of their logistics ships!
With the Beggar's Bounty and the Linever Swan unable to flee from this star system, the entire task force turned into a sitting duck! If they couldn't get those FTL drives back online, they faced two very stark choices.
Either give up the logistics ships and force the rest to flee into FTL, or make a stand and attempt to restore their FTL functionality!
A matter of such import would be a bit awkward for Major Verle to decide upon alone. Therefore, he opened a communication channel to the Antecedent in order to connect with their fleet commander.