Visual glitch. Their shields are already down, shoot them with so much as a mining array and it'll instantly be gone. Not sure what causes the glitch, but since it's purely player-side visual I never worried about it. Been around for years.
I'll do something about my superiority complex when I cease to be superior.
"Whatever happened to catchin' a good old-fashioned passionate ass-whoopin and gettin' your shoes, coat, and your hat tooken?"
