"Nah, if they need knocking out, they get knocked the hell out.  I'll take the blame boss,"  Corduroy reassures him, "Good luck out there, boss.  We'll keep the coffee warmed up and the booze ready to pour."

Broke Team assembles at the airlocks.  They're all dressed in a motley-looking set of environmental suits, hastily armored with pieces of scrap metal.  Each have three tanks of air attached to the back, though Black Hat has a fourth that must hook up to the flamethrower on his arm.  The only unarmed one is Doc Iron, who seems to be carrying most of the tools, including the heavy batteries.  Morgue has the plasma cutters.

"Are you serious?  This shit is so heavy!"  Doc Iron whines.

"Good practice for you, then, Doc," Morgue shoots back.  "Captain.  Glad to be with you."

"Yeah Doc, welcome to the science adventure called field studies, where the cool and weird shit happens. You know, when you're too stuck in a lab and think about all sortsa possibilities, you tend to miss all the cool Unthinkable possibilities. That's the kinda shit you find on H.P. Lovecrafts literature, and dark derelict cargo vessels."

He routine checks his environment suit, and puts it on really fast, as if he was anticipating something to go suddenly wrong...
Like a stray rail gun round.

"Those batteries and tools are the absolute best thing to carry. They mean you aren't carrying a weapon, which means you aren't at the front, which means you aren't the first to get their face melted off by some acid spitting necrotic void demon bullshittery. we had a case of those and it fucking sucked."

He ends his small lecture on a light chuckle and gives Doc iron a small jab to the shoulder, then turns towards Morgue.

"Pleasure is all mine Comrade. Now, Gentlemen; Ready for some gallantry and heroic deeds?"

"I'm ready to get some nice cold hard cash from this that I can use to impress the girls at the bars back home, Cap'n," Glassy counters Arkady, "Dead heroes can't go cruising!"

"Of course, always gotta be about the hookers,"  Black Hat rolls his eyes.

"Don't knock it if you can't try it because you're a fuckin wildebeest."  Glassy responds.

"I'm ready when you are."  Bethlehem isn't in an environment suit, but then again, a 2 meter tall spirit made out of high-quality steel doesn't exactly need one.  "We are ready."

Kashmir just checks his magazine and gives a nod.

"On your order, captain.  Masks on everyone!  Void jump to the evil ship, remember there might be people on board, but they might also be dead and want to snack on your brains.  Standard shit!"  Morgue's power drill whirls.

There's a nasty feeling in the air as the airlock cycles...

((Arkady: Void jump whenever you're ready.  Make a Wu Wei DEFENSE. You can channel Chi to boost your roll as if it's an Internal Kung Fu technique at +5 / Chi, max 5.  Failure at any level- including a tied roll- means you and your team will miss the target airlock or even the derelict ship, to possibly disastrous results.

Stealth roll is to see how Arkady interprets it.  Fail by 10+ and you won't realize it was an attack; succeed by 10+ and you will realize it as a deliberate, serious attack instead of low-level general malevolence.  Defend against the Stealth component with Confidence or Wu Wei.
10, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3 & 2
*Attack 24 + Wu Wei 20 + AB 10 = 54
*Stealth 23 + Stealth 20 + AB 10 = 53))

((10, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7 & 5

Channel 2chi for +10 on defence
Clarity in openness +10 any skill /3chi for vs. stealth.

Wu wei def: 27 + 20 + 10 = 57
vs. Stealth: 38 + WW 20 + AB 10 = 68))

Arkady signals the jump and takes the leap. Gliding through the void's eerie silence, concentrating in the sound of his steady breathing, steeling his nerves. He wasn't sure if he really was ready for this, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna think about it too much.

The rest of his men follow him through the soundless void.  Arkady feels the pull of the void, recognizing it for what it is:  he is in the realm of the Neverborn right now, and they want to keep him in their cold bosom.  He's been in space before, far too many times in fact, but he's never felt it like this.  Space has gotten dangerous.  The Neverborn are awake and hungry.

But they hit the exterior of the airlock regardless.  Brassy and Bethlehem look as nauseous as a god and elemental can.  No doubt both of them felt it too.  There's only the sound of rebreathers echoing through the comms.

Bethlehem signs to Arkady, [You want me to take apart airlock or you try to open it first?]

((10, 10, 10, 9, 7, 3 & 1
Clarity in openness +10 Craft 2chi + 1 Solar chi
30 + 20 + 10 = 60, would take IT because I'm a reckless idiot))

[I'll try first.] he signs swiftly and immediately grabs a some tools and a battery off Doc Iron. The visor of his suit blackens as he grabs a plasma cutter to access the wiring. Those were meant to block sun originally he supposes, but there ain't no sun here.

They say you're a good carpenter if you have less than ten fingers.

Guess he's a good airlock mechanic then, since he has less than two arms.

Weird shit goes through one's head in a stressful situation.

He gets to work on the airlock wiring.  Arkady pokes a hole in outer panel, accessing the airlock controls.  He's IMMEDIATELY glad he did.  The digital controls are dead, but they have analog controls as well.  If he'd started poking a hole in the airlock itself it would've explosively decompressed, blowing the outer airlock into space and possibly taking one of his crew with it!

But wait, why is the damn thing pressurized?  That's just asking for trouble.

((Awareness 9, 9, 8, 7, 3, 2 & 1
Channel 1 chi for +5 awareness
29+15+10= 54))

Arkady isolates the analog controls as best he can as to keep... Whatever's fucking with the electronics from doing any nasty tricks. Like opening both airlock doors simultaneously and venting the entire fucking ship whilst they're in there.

When he thinks he's done a good enough job, he slowly vents air out of the... Wait...

What if someone's in the airlock?

Before he initiates the vent he knocks the airlock firmly with a recognizable tone.

Ta, ta-ta-ta ta, ta Ta!

He then firmly presses his hand against the door and his head against his hand.

There is no sound in space? Bullshit. Sound is just vibrations in the air, and that principle works just as well with liquids and solids, like steel, and much farther. With steel that's 17 times as far infact. Yeah, science Cyka.

((Take a ChivJoss, you amazing bastard))

TA TA!

TA TA!

TA TA!

The responses are strong, emphatic, desperate.  Someone is on the other side of a pressurized airlock, and if the power is down in the ship, that means they are stuck.

((10, 9, 9, 7, 6, 4 & 3
Awareness: 29+10+10=49))

Blyat. Getting in just got A lot harder. With no real means of communication, It's hard to tell if theyre wearing a space suit or not. Goin in through the airlock is not an option.

He signs the others: "One inside" and taps the door, and makes a "No" gesture.

Time to come up with a plan B... The tedious way. Go through side into the bulkhead, weld it shut after the first layer, and then open the second and do the same.

Or plan C. Service hatches. It worked on Bataan class cruisers so it should work on this tub. Maybe even better because this one isn't armored like a battleship.

Lets start with plan C. He starts looking for a service hatch.

There's a lot of hurried nods.  Doc Iron is wide-eyed.  The thought that someone could be in there never even occurred to him, it seems; the others are a bit less rocked by it but even they seem chastened by the fact that if it were them, they might've caused someone to die.

Service hatches- he knows all about those!  And he's right, there are a bunch on these old tubs.  Since this is a converted residential transport, full of miner families, the old cargo container section of the hull would've been double-layered and sealed up.  But that means there have to be a bit more, fore and aft, and there's always one relatively near an airlock just in case of this sort of thing...

He finds it quickly enough, camouflaged behind paint and covered with little wards against the undead.  Getting there is easy with their zero-G tools.  The others crawl around with him, Bethlehem occasionally looking back at the airlock.

The inside of the service hatch will lead to an unpressurized, airless corridor.  That'll eventually lead to a smaller, access airlock designed for one person to enter or leave at a time, with a hand pump for pressurization.  Analog style, blyat.  It'd be a tight fit, and he'd be vulnerable going in and out, but it's better than nothing.

Arkady gestures Doc Iron to give him the other battery and the tool belt, and crams them into the service hatch. He takes a marker from his pocket and writes on the side of the ship.

"I'll open the Airlock from the inside and let you in. I'll be fast. Don't run off, ok?"

He looks at the guys, really hoping they can all read and continues, clearly more focused on Doc

"Void is creepy. Don't flip out. Stay frosty gents."

Without waiting too long for nods of acceptance, he crawls into the service hatch.

All of them sign their assent.  Doc Iron included, though he looks pretty freaked out by the whole thing.  The others seem to have this in hand, especially since Bethlehem starts ting them together with a long braided cord of steel extruded from his wrist.

Once in, he starts the pumping process. Blyat, but this takes a while, doesn't it?  It's constricted, dark, claustrophobic... but that's never stopped him before. After a small eternity his suit's sensors inform him he's pressurized and clear to open the other side.  Knowing the way these are constructed, he doesn't have long before it bleeds out and he has to close it behind him.

Once opened, he finds himself in a dark corridor, lit only by emergency lights.  There doesn't seem to be anyone in sight- bad- but there's no gore, weird growths, or other signs of Abyssal infestation- good.  The airlock is a bit further down the hall and is likewise black, shut down.

((9, 7, 3, 3, 3, 2 & 2
Spontaneous effort /2 chi
Awareness: 19+10+10 = 39
Craft: 22+10+10=42
Clarity in openness: +10 stealth / 3chi
Stealth: 32+10+10=52))

Arkady hops down the hatch and scans his surroundings, keeping his pistol in his reach. He starts creeping towards the airlock under the emergency lighting as low as he can without hindering his movement. He keeps his keeping his ears and eyes open for anything out of ordinary. When he gets to the airlock, He begins a similar process as with the outer airlock: Isolate power and controls.

Arkady skulks his way through the halls, spotting the airlock.  A quick pop of the access panel and a futzing with the wires with a battery and he's able to restore some basic power.  The airlock begins cycling.

He can hear voices far far down the corridor, low, scared, women and children maybe.

Eventually it opens and a man stumbles out, dressed in a light environment suit.  He's sweating profusely, smells awful, and is carrying a light toolbelt.  The airlock has a small steaming pile of gunk in one of the corners.  It looks like he's been in there for a day or two, especially considering his dry lips.

"Oh- oh god, you're real," He rasps.  His nametag says ENGINEER MILDREN.

"Yeah, I'm real." Arkady answers in a hushed tone. "I'm Arkady Dragomirov, captain of the research vessel Bogatyr. We got a mission to unfuck whatever's going on with these ships from dispatcher... Mildren?"

He double checks the name tag on the Enviro suit.

"Stay put, I'll ask some questions once I've let my team in."

The man is quite obviously too tired and shaken to say or do anything more.  From here on out getting his team in is easy; the cycling of the airlock takes care of the, erm, waste problem, and soon Arkady's full team is in.  Doc Iron immediately removes his helmet, which gets everyone else's quiet disapproval, even from Engineer Mildren, who seems to have recovered.

Glassy even gives Engineer Mildren a pat on the back and a small water bottle- fitting for the Goddess of Cool Springs.

"So," The Engie finally says as he sips on the bottle, "Ask away.  Fuck, I just... I could cry, man."

"Don't cry yet, It doesn't really help us. You can cry once we've solved this clusterfuck and I need you help in doing so."

Arkady gives a nod of approval to Glassy

"You wouldn't happen to be the head engineer of this ship? How did this shit go down, step by step. I need to know in as much detail as possible. Are there any ship logs or maintenance reports? Try to remember as much detail as possible, but don't get stuck on the bad shit. Think objectively. You and your crew will pull through this, since you are lucky to have literally the best engineer on the refuge to fix this."

He signals the others to set up a perimeter watch to the entrances to the room they're in, then gives a side glance to Doc Iron

"I don't wanna cause a panic or go into too much detail, so I'm just gonna say that taking off your helmet in a zero-intel space hulk is a really fucking stupid move."

He lets out a deep sight and seems to mutter to himself
"What the fuck Shun Xiao... This shit is basic... blyat..."

"But- his helmet-"  Doc Iron begins.

"Doesn't mean shit," Black Hat snickers at him, "Especially if he's sick with some kinda nasty!  For someone so smart you're really stupid!"

"Ease up,"  Morgue warns Black Hat.

Engineer Mildren seems to ignore them as he prepares his answer to Arkady after finishing his drink.  "I'm the assistant engineer," He says after a few moments, "OK, hold on... hold on..."

He closes his eyes.

"OK, so, two days ago total god-death of reactor.  There's no other way it could be anything else.  Chief Engineer Val Howard called god-death within hours.  He had to work to put up a communicator to explain what was going on, took him a day or two to get the signal out to the ships.  The whole mining group was pretty spread out and was supposed to operate out of a central location, so, it took a bit.

After he put out the call he went to his office to check the manuals and see if there was any way he could invoke a small god or put one of our other gods into the reactor.  In the meantime he set up a micronuke battery to power a few additional systems, then ordered me out to try to set up some solar panel sails, some far-thinking beautiful bastard made some right after we escaped Terran space.

Thing is, soon as the airlock began to work all power cut out.  And then nobody's been here to get me out.  He had all the welding equipment,"  Mildren says, "He should've been able to get me out or something... he wouldn't have forgot.  Objectively thinking, he's incapacitated somehow.  Val isn't the type to leave loose ends.

And, sometime yesterday, someone tried to connect with us and it didn't take.  Not sure what happened there."

"There are two people on the ship to discipline the crew, Black hat, and you are not either of them so shut the fuck up. I'll figure this shit out with Doc later, now we have shit to do."

He replies without even looking at the other, seemingly more concerned about Mildren's condition.

"So the chief engie went to his office to check some stuff and, no word since? Sounds kinda fishy, and no-one being able to get you outta that airlock seems... off... I don't wanna paint evils on the walls but you're the only survivor we've met so far..."

He taps his tool belt in thought and takes a look at the rest of the crew to see how they are holding, then returns to Mildren.

"So... We're gonna head to Val's office to see what the fuck is up and maybe get some new data. Then we're gonna split to two groups: One starts checking the crew status and ship in general, the other tries to see if there's something to be done in the god reactor room."

"Lead the way Mildren, We've got ya back."

"Yeah- yeah-"  Engineer Mildren nods in a hurry, "Gods-damned it's good to be breathing proper ship air again..."

There are some good signs and bad signs.  The good: there are definitely people.  Quietly sitting and cowering in the dark, sticking to their small rooms and hallways.  The bad:  they're like cowed animals, staring at the newcomers with absolute fear.  This might suit asshats like Black Hat but it's downright heartbreaking looking at Engineer Mildren try to say 'hi' to someone he's probably known for years just shut a door in his face.

"Something's gone real bad since I've been stuck... maybe they think I'm a ghost,"  He says with some worry, "Hope I'm not a ghost..."

"You're not,"  Both Bethlehem and Glassy say simultaneously. They should know, as they can see essence naturally.

They move through the dark hallways until they find the chief engineer's office, near the entrance of the engine room, right where it should be.  The door is ajar.  The room is empty.

"Not seeing anything," Glassy warns them, "Essence or otherwise."

There are certain constants in the universe.  No matter what, no matter how tidy and orderly, a chief engineer's office is always a haphazard mess of small projects, broken items, and hoarded parts.  A good chief engineer is two parts obsessive organizer mixed with one part squirrel and one part ruthless pragmatist.  This tends to make all of them a little loopy- it's hard to be an organizer AND messy at the same time- but it almost always ends up with them making their own little incomprehensible system.  One glance at the room tells Arkady all he needs to know.

The chief engineer's room isn't the usual mess.  It was rather artfully trashed.  Things moved and placed in weird locations; stuff like a screwdriver sitting next to rusted bolts, or a broken flux stabilizer hanging from a pegboard adjacent to an angle grinder.  Someone went through some trouble making it look like something hasn't been messed with.

((Make an Awareness check.  Higher the better.))

((Awareness: 9, 9, 6, 5, 3, 3 & 3.
clarity in openness +10 awareness, 3chi
33+20+10= 63))

Arkady inspects the room and it's cluttered state, but in no particular order. He just kinda takes it in. It's borderline holistic since his inspection doesn't seem to have any sort of real pattern. He just takes it in and eventually it would all make sense, like it usually would. A sum of coincidences that paint the bigger picture, and sometimes the picture is so large that the closer you inspect it, the less you see. That's when you lift your hands up and take a step back.

Eventually he mutters a few words to no-one in particular:
"It's not right. It's chaotic but... it's too organized."

He spots it pretty much immediately, and it makes sense, considering what just happened to Engineer Mildren.  To most people it's all a bunch of mechanical junk but to Arkady there's something clearly missing.

Whoever was in here last took every single item that could be use for oxy-fuel welding and cutting.  There's not a single thing in here that could be used to really work metal.  Just tools.  And once they took every last welder, cutting torch, electroflux scissor, and brazmelter they put it back into what they thought was in order.

Kashmir, always the quiet one, mutters to himself as he looks around the room too.  "This ain't right, it's like walkin in on someone crappin and findin out there ain't no toilet or sink or toilet paper... this room just looks wrong, Cap'n."

"Uh huh. Someone did a rush job at either breaching or containing. All the cutting and welding shit are misplaced. The chief engie seems like he liked his tools in order, and these sure as shit ain't. And not even the right kinda mess. It's made to look messy to throw us off..."

He ponders a while and looks at the tools.

"Better go check the reactor room then, Or whatever was the chief's last project.
...

There is still one question you haven't answered, Engineer Mildren. Who Is dispatcher Mildren? An odd coincidence?"

Engineer Mildren blinks and recoils, "I didn't- didn't realize that was a question.  Who's Dispatch-"

He pauses and his eyes go wide as he realizes something, then he breaks into a smile.

"That's got to be Loren.  My big sister," He says after a moment, "I guess she finally graduated."

"Big sis looking out for you, huh," Morgue chuckles.

"Yeah, I mean, I knew she was trying to get through Fleet Command Academy.  She did say that she wanted to move up the ranks she may have to spend time working for C&C.  It'd be just like her to monitor what ship I'm on..."