Behind the cymeks, a fleet of robot warships accelerated and veered around them to arrive first, sleek projectiles with enormous engines and heavily loaded with artillery. The machine warships were one-way units, never meant to go home; their engines burned hot, saving no fuel for a return journey. They came in so fast that by the time the orbiting Rossak sentry stations detected them, the thinking machines had arrived and opened fire. The picket ships and the sentries at the system's perimeter never had a chance to launch a shot?  
Clinging to his past successes, remembering when the ideas had flowed so easily, he refused to give up on the new concept. His innovative shields had remarkable potential, but perhaps he was thinking in the wrong paradigm. His canvas was large and his mission vague, but his strokes had been too broad!