Why do you always change the subject? [He frowns, not catching the awkwardness in the room.]
Oh! Right! Well, apparently there's been a situation involving a certain planet and a group of rather nasty and aggressive species of insect that thrives off of electricity....or something. Basically the major city on this planet has been overrun. The power is out, most forms of communication are down, and being Christmas you would need both to well...thrive. Consider it more like we're saving lives, not just the holiday.
You and I are going to see what caused that species of insect to attack in such waves. They've always been a pest but never on that massive of a scale.