Zulu follows the group into the ship, inspecting the zombie pilot with some interest... and caution.
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Zulu informs the group that the zombie has a large metal bolt stabbing horizontally through it's spinal column at the neck. This is a Command Bolt, a horrible device that is illegal and disdained within the Pact Worlds. Reserved for slaves, it only allows the brain to send approved signals to the rest of the body. The users with the command codes can approve functions in advance, limiting the slave to a certain set of functions. This zombie is even more limited than the rest of its kind. As long as it has that bolt in it, it will continue to do nothing until it receives further orders from those with the command code. It appears like the code would have been relayed through the ship's communications devices from the main Corpse Fleet mother ship.
The vessel's computer system is secured, but Zulu can tell that he'd be able to unlock each of the ship's systems individually fairly easily. And that he likely isn't able to get root access to the ship's mainframe without a stroke of luck and some assistance.
"Very lucky! Ship all nice and unmanned, so team can do whatever we like." She rolls up to the console and looks around for the fiddly little openings that her teammates sometimes use to hack into things. "Maybe team can find secret info on ship computers that explains every weakness of giant Corpse Fleet mothership?"
Zulu cocks his head at Pippimi's suggestion. "Take over ship systems? Yes. With time. Hack mainframe? Very tricky. Need help, and luck."
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Zulu sits down and gets to hacking.
You hack into the systems, sifting through the machine code to unlock the ship functions from their links to the zombie pilot. You can now access the Captain, all 5 Gunner, Engineer, and Science Officer positions. It seems the zombie is hardwired into the Pilot seat. You will have to kill and physically disconnect the zombie in order to gain access to the piloting software.
You all gather around to interpret what he finds.
These computers are rather sparse on information on the main ship, referenced within as the Empire of Bones. This is normal for eoxian society, especially their military. It appears the ship receives instructions through the Command Bolt controlled pilot, sent from another zombie within the Empire of Bones. You guess that the Empire is similarly run by a zombie crew with intelligent overseers. The primary piece of information you find is the location on the Empire of Bones of the hanger which this ship came from.
Zulu gets to work, popping the cord from his custom rig and plugging it into the convieniently placed input port, happy that these dead folks at least used language protocols he was at least passingly familiar, not bastard languages of long dead cultures he had never heard of.
"We have access to all systems except pilot. Will need to remove or control this body to takeover piloting. Suggest termination."
Looking around.
"Ship. Possible infiltration vector past fleet. Have to leave ours here. Unfortunate."
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I mean, it did seem like a weaker zombie. Is there no way to hack the command bolt and get it doing something else? Perhaps manning an extra gun?
He leans in to look over Zulu's shoulder at the screen.
It seems like these computers don't offer alot on the main ship. Apparently it's called the "Empire of Bones". I guess that's normal for Eoxian military. It appears the ship receives instructions through the Command Bolt controlled pilot, sent from another zombie within the Empire of Bones.
He pauses to show a brief expression of realization.
I'm betting the Empire is similarly run by a zombie crew with intelligent overlords. Ah, the location on the Empire of Bones of the hanger which this ship came from.
He points at the critical piece of info.
Given that, I wonder if we override the pilot here if it may alert the "controller" back on the Empire.
Listening to Zulu and Lenny's analysis, Pippimi adds "Sneaking in using this ship? That sound like very risky plan, but very exciting. Maybe team can rename ship to something new too." She mulls ideas over and adds "Pippimi thinking though, if team kill pilot zombie, then what happen when mothership send instructions to ship? Can Zulu intercept instructions so that Davrin can follow even if not bolted?"
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Given that, I wonder if we override the pilot here if it may alert the "controller" back on the Empire.
Zulu's engineering knowledge gives him enough of an understanding of the Command Bolt to answer Lenny's question. "The Command Bolt is a one way connection, through the ship. The mothership, this Empire of Bones, gets information on the ship from the ship's sensors themselves and routes the commands to the zombie through the ship's receivers." You are sure that you could "read" the Corpse Fleet instructions similar to the zombie could have.
You coup de grace the zombie, stabbing directly into the brainstem.
As you do so, you note that you were dangerously close to separating the bonds that held the zombie to the chair. Oh well, that wouldn't have mattered since the zombie is dead. You dispose of the body and turn on the ship, just to get your bearings.
The ship has long range sensors equipped. Those combined with it's latent connection to the Empire of Bones allows you to scan the ultranought. Additionally, you see several missed messages from the Empire waiting in your queue. You open the latest one up, only a few minutes old. The text is in Eoxian and reads, "Alpha team, do you read? Check in was 10 minutes ago. Sending secondary team your way, as backup, in 5."
Zulu settles into the science officers console and fires up the long range scanners to see what this ship can see.
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BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
You all watch as the screens fills with green text that starts in Eoxian then converts itself to Common at Zulu's command.
The ship's computers were right. This massive vessel is the Empire of Bones, and it is bigger than even a Colossal starship. It is practically bristling with capital weapons, when most ships you have seen capped at a single capital weapon. Like most Corpse Fleet starships, it doesn’t contain any atmosphere.
The many explosions of the ongoing battle are partially clouding the vessel's sensors so you can guess that the interference is similarly affecting the Empire of Bones’s sensors. Additionally, many of its weapons are trained on the ancient kishalee defenses throughout the system. It might be possible to slip in closer to the vessel and board it without those on board noticing. A Medium or smaller starship that landed on the Empire of Bones’s hull could remain undetected for an extended period of time. Though... the Empire of Bones has several hangar bays along its length, one of which is currently launching a small squadron of fighters like the one you are in. This leaves a wide-open entryway protected by a minor force field that keeps out small space debris. A Small or smaller starship can be landed in that bay. Alternatively, a person could slip into the bay via a space walk along the flagship’s exterior.
In the top right corner of the screen, that missed message from the Empire of Bones blinks, waiting for a response.
As soon as someone translates the Eoxian, Pippimi murmurs "Uh oh. Seems like this good time to send check in message. Zoran, time to say something reassuring like- She pitches her voice into a comically hoarse whisper -'Just eliminated all breathy-boys and breathy-girls on moon. Everything very clear. Over!'"
"Hmm hmm! Sound like plan Lenny. Very dangerous plan, but that never stop team before." Pippimi rolls over to the gunnery station, in the off chance that Zoran's convincing facade fails and a desperate defense is needed.
"Hmm, you mean bring this small little craft right in through a back door? Count me in!" Davrin grins, almost maniacally as he ponders the prospect.
"Huh, and imagine that. All this started from that little kerfuffle back on Absalom Station." And the loss of a dear friend.
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Everyone gets into their normal seats, Davrin wiping the gore and bodily juices from the pilot's seat beforehand, and you lift off! As soon as you break the atmosphere of the false moon, the conflict between the Corpse Fleet armada and the automated defenses of the Gate of Twelve Suns becomes obvious. The surrounding space is constantly illuminated by flaring beams of energy that lash out from the system’s controller moons, and gouts of incandescent flame pulled from the suns by gravitational pulses. The ancient weapons are wildly inaccurate and fire haphazardly, often fading out before reaching their targets or detonating in apparently empty space, but even so, the Corpse Fleet armada is beginning to show signs of extensive damage. The largest of the Corpse Fleet vessels is enormous —bigger than many space stations. It is surrounded by explosions and debris, both from its own hull and from the escort ships that were destroyed protecting it, forming a cloud that blocks most efforts to get a clear image of its exact shape. However, blasts from the massive ship’s powerful weapons clearly mark it as the most effective member of the armada.
Leaving orbit, you see the massive portal with your own eyes for the first time. The tip of the Stellar Degenerator is just starting to approach the portal, as if drawn to your dimension by an unseen hand. Many small ships litter the system, in dogfights with mounted defense systems. Your target, the Empire of Bones, is directly in front of you. However, there are four Corpse Fleet vessels within your flight path, patrolling the massive capital ship. A brief scan identifies them as Crypt Wardens , a military ship that is synonymous with the Corpse Fleet. Each alone is more powerful than your scouting ship, and all four would pose a challenge even to the Stellar Drifter. Thankfully, you just need to get past them, to land on the hull of the ultranought. By Zulu's calculations, it will take you about 4 minutes to reach it.
As Davrin flies towards the ship, you receive a challenge from the first patrol ship. A skeleton's face appears in the hologram. "BRAIN TO GRIZZLY, COME IN GRIZZLY. SEND SECURITY CODES. OVER" You look around, unfortunately not finding any conveniently placed sticky notes with the codes written down. So, you decide to fake it till you make it.
You can transmit an intentionally garbled communication that appears to be a legitimate Corpse Fleet identification. With a successful DC 25 Bluff check, you convincingly answer the Crypt Warden who has just issued a challenge to you. If you fail this check, the Crypt Warden moves within 10 hexes of your ship and attempts to scan it during the next helm phase; if the Crypt Warden succeeds, your science officer must successfully dampen the life signs aboard your ship during this helm phase (see below) or the Crypt Warden attacks. If you fail this Bluff check by 5 or more, the Crypt Warden attacks.
You can fake a glitch in one of your systems, such as communications or sensors, to prevent the nearby Corpse Fleet ships from insisting on direct communication. If you succeed at a DC 20 Engineering check, you grant a +2 circumstance bonus to the Bluff check attempted for the garbled communication action until the next engineering phase.
You can use the Blackwind Sepulcher’s weapons to provide cover fire for other Corpse Fleet ships, appearing to attempt to protect them from the Gate of Twelve Suns’ defenses. If you succeed at a gunnery check against AC 25, your captain can roll the Bluff check of her next garbled communication action twice and use the better result. Alternatively, if a Crypt Warden is attacking you, with a successful check you convince that ship to cease hostilities and issue a new challenge. In this case, the captain must succeed at a garbled communication action with a –5 penalty to the Bluff check before the next gunnery phase or the Crypt Warden renews its hostilities. The Crypt Wardens can be tricked into ceasing their hostilities only once. The benefits of multiple gunners taking this action don’t stack, but one gunner can grant the captain a reroll while another gunner can trick the Crypt Wardens into ceasing hostilities.
You emulate the flight pattern of the armada’s ships, neither exposing your ship to too much scrutiny nor showing any sign of attempting to avoid it. If you succeed at a DC 24 Piloting check, you grant a +4 circumstance bonus to the Bluff check for the garbled communication action until the start of the next helm phase. Alternatively, you can attempt a DC 30 Piloting check in place of the garbled communication captain’s action, with the same possible results.
If you succeed at a DC 24 Computers check, you can dampen the life signs of yourself and any other living creatures aboard your ship. This prevents successful scans from Corpse Fleet ships from detecting life signs on a ship that should either have an all-undead crew or should have called in with a prisoner count. If a Corpse Fleet ship successfully scans your ship and detects life signs, it immediately attacks.
"Oooh, Pippimi not like look of that at all. Davrin and Zora, team counting on you!" Pippimi swivels the eoxian ship's guns around and starts shooting at random things to attempt to blend into the rest of the battle.
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Seeing the upcoming patrols, Lenny says to Davrin and Zoran Why don't I glitch our comms so they maybe leave us alone. We're about to "drive through a tunnel". That should help with whatever story you want to tell them. He flashes over-exaggerated air-quotes signs for emphasis before getting to work on the ruse.
Zulu does his best to modify the various sensors inside and those from outside to show this ship was just full of the regular number of deaders, not a hand full of very much alive (and one no alive) very ready to blow them up, sentients.
"*Krsshhha* Bone-head... *krachaaa* bringing in breathers. *psshtt* All clear." Zoran says sending through garbled snippets of conversation.
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Zoran takes full advantage of the cover fire and fancy tricks the group supports him with. After his transmission there is a pause before the skeleton's face returns. "Get that com fixed on return, Grizzly. Heard about the demerit."
Davrin keeps flying towards the goal, but you quickly receive another hail from the next patrol craft. This hail comes in eoxian text, reading "THE GHAST RIDES AT MIDNIGHT. Respond with correct countersign, over."
Pippimi keeps up her intense fire patterns, playing the part of disciplined Eoxian gunnery officer. As she sends several rounds off into space, she realizes that maybe she should be firing closer to the Gate's defenses.
"Ew..." Davrin realises that he has sat on a pool of zombie goo, and got rather distracted wiping it off (on Lenny's back).
"The dust hides in plain sight? Wait what? What did I miss?" His hands now clean (mostly), he grabs the alien controls but almost instinctively grasps its functions and starts emulating the flight patterns of the other ships that he is seeing.
With the rest of the crew making his ability to send messages much easier (so easy that he couldn't possibly fail), he sends another through.
"Frackin demerits...*kffffzrrt*...frackin comms...*psssrrt*...*ghhhzzaht*...over!" he says through some convincing static noises.
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The second patrol ship hovers nearby for a moment, unsure if they should let you pass without the countersigns. But Davrin's flying and Lenny's "glitches" convince them. They decide to pretend like nothing happened and keep flying.
You continue forward, getting a holo-hail from the third patrol ship. A zombie's rotting face appears, but the voice that comes out of the metal voice modulator on it's throat is distinctly elebrian. "Alpha team, give countersign and an update on breathers."
Zulu continues repressing () life signs.
Pippimi attempts to provide some convincing fire patterns this time around...
... spraying shots close to the Gate's defenses but not too close.
Rather getting the hang of it, Davrin lets the ship drag in its flight, with the occasional jerks, much like how he's seen zombies moving around.
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Davrin's flying, with the aid of Pippimi's cover fire, convinces the patrol ship and you fly past. Apparently the elebrian got distracted with the other ships they are overseeing, ignoring your traditional flight patterns.
As you come within reach of the Empire of Bones' hanger bays, a fourth patrol ship flies into your path. A ghoul's holographic face appears in the bridge, tongue licking it's gray eyeball. "Send the codes, zomboys. I hope you brought the breather bodies back, I've tired of lab grown meats."
"Mhmm...codes and ex-breathers comin-*zzzztt*"
Pippimi attempts a final barrage of cover fire to punctuate the approach to the mothership.
"Well, that seems to be working well." A firm believer of the philosophy of not fixing things if it ain't broke (and knowing Davrin, likely even if it is broke), Davrin keeps up his intentionally erratic flying.
Zulu continues to mask their group's life signs.
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The ghoul's face contorts in exaggerated disgust. "Never send a rotter to do a ghoul's job. Those codes aren't coming through, dummy. Contact maintenance once you land. Enjoy the demerit." The com cuts and you float on towards the Empire of Bones without incident. Davrin flies the ship in to the hanger designated for this shuttle, one of many hangers in a row along the Empire's side.
Davrin flies in, the hanger devoid of ships. Dull red lights illuminate this massive chamber. A heavy crane arm dangles from tracks on the ceiling, and empty racks for small fighter ships line the fore and aft walls. A nearly invisible force field covers the gaping hole in the starboard (north) end of the room, while two large doors exit to the port. In addition, there is a large window to the port (south) looking into an enclosed room. The floor holds a dozen iris hatches, each fifteen feet in diameter. Most of the hatches are closed, but one toward the fore (left) end of the bay is open.
Those empty racks along the wall likely housed small one man fighter ships that can be deployed in space or atmosphere. Those iris hatches likely house, or housed, slightly larger two man fighter ships. These ships would be used to support the larger ships in space battles or to provide air support to infantry in ground assaults. There is space in the rest of the hanger for two ships of your size. The crane is used to lift starships from the wall racks to prepare them for launch and to return them after missions. That enclosed room to the south appears to be a command post for this hanger and probably houses the controls.
You scan the interior of the ship using your vessel's sensors.
Your attempts to scan the Empire of Bones using the sensors fail due to the thickness of the starship walls, though you do detect weak signals from a distress beacon broadcasting within the ultranought; this signal isn’t strong enough to be received from the outside of the Empire of Bones. You use a comm unit to track the distress beacon to the southeast.
Zulu scans the hanger with the ships sensors.
And shares his observations.
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Lenny peers out the door, eyeing the empty hanger. Outside the large hanger door there are flashes of darkness out in space from the ongoing battles between the Corpse Fleet and the local defense systems. Within the hanger, things are still. Metal pings and cracks as the ship shifts and machinery within the walls groan and whir.
"Good idea Lenny." Pippimi activates her environmental seals "Pippimi wondering... what that distress beacon all about? Maybe coming from some kind of communications room? PA system for employee announcements? But Pippimi not get sense that Corpse Fleet guys feeling particularly 'distressed' right now." She shakes her head "Team need to find ship directory first, then go straight to bridge. Longer team takes, that bigger chance that alarm gets raised and job gets very very hard."
With her weapons and armor at the ready, she looks to the rest of the team for any preparations they need to take. Then, she rolls out of the ship and rushes as quickly as possible to the nearest door to the hanger control center.
"Let me scout ahead a bit..."
With steps light enough that make no more noise than a shadow, Davrin keeps himself to the corners, dashing from cover to cover.
Zulu hefts his rifle and steps out with the group, scanning for enemies, and also looking at the hangar with interest, first time in such a ship and all.
"Well, if we move quickly and quietly we can carve out way through whatever crew remains. Is there a way to block any other ships from landing in this hangar after us? Two more ships could easily flank us while we work." Zoran replies to Pip, his eyes zealous as ever with the multitude of Corpse Fleet likely lurking nearby.
He thinks for a moment on the distress beacon, "A trap seems unlikely as they shouldn't be expecting us but if they have captives we may be able to bolster out numbers or at least save them from undeath. Perhaps that should be our first stop...purging whatever is in our way." he muses.
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Zoran realizes that you could close the blast doors over the hanger door via the control center to the south.
Davrin sneaks out into the center of the hanger as the rest of the team congregates just outside the shuttle door. He notices three things at once. First, there are surveillance cameras everywhere. Blind spots likely exist, but it will be near impossible to move throughout the ship without showing up one them. Two, he can see inside the control room to the south. This long, narrow room is crowded with controls, monitors, and readouts that cover the walls and even the ceiling. Colored lights blink and flash adjacent to numerous switches and keypads. The starboard wall has a single, long window that looks out onto the hangar bay, and doors exit to the fore and aft. More important than that are the two zombies sitting at the controls, their eyes glazed and looking past you to some unseen horizon. Third, Davrin feels something... wrong. New vibrations in his boots that his suit's auditory sensors aren't picking up in the atmosphere-less ship. The halfling passes the info on to the group and Lenny points at the open hatch in the center of the hanger.
Davrin sneaks forward but he is interrupted by another vibration in the floor. A small craft flies up from the open hatch, a zombie soldier at the controls! His undead face shows surprise as he takes in the living intruders in the ship! You can see his mouth move, but hear nothing.
Pippimi and Davrin are quick on their feet and able to move before the small starship opens fire!
A threnody class assault fighter, this small vehicle is common across the Corpse Fleet. Normally piloted by two undead pilots, it was originally used in the Eoxian navy, before the Pact was signed, to support large ships in space combat or infantry invasions. Capable of incredible speeds, the ship relies on speed rather than durability to survive firefights. It can definitely be brought down by small arms fire in this small of a space.
Pippimi SP: 56/88, HP: 79/79
Davrin SP: 50/77 HP: 68/68
Zoran SP: 100/100, HP: 73/73
z45719 SP: 56/76, HP: 72/72
Lenny SP: 110/110, HP: 78/81
Spaceship 0 damage
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As Lenny begins to approach the open hatch, Davrin moves ahead of him more quietly. So the solarian pauses for a moment to let his sneaky friend make sure the way is safe. In a moment he's very glad he deferred!
As soon as the fighter lifts out of the hatch, he recognizes it and explains it to his companions over the comms.
A threnody class assault fighter! Very fast, but not very durable. Good aim and some well-placed shots can bring it down fast!
Pippimi stifles a yelp and draws her new acid dart rifle, lining the ship up in her sights. To her allies she comments "This going to be first for Pippimi! Not except in movies anyone ever take down starship with guns!" She fires away.