Who knew if they were looking to steal the Auralis for themselves!
These strict instructions reflected the general wariness that Coalition partners held towards each other. Even after they merged in a single state, they still maintained a competitive outlook towards each other!
Not a single Coalition partner was their friend. They merely allied with each other out of necessity. It was impossible for the Gauge Dynasty to program their most sensitive military assets to roll out the welcoming mat to their rivals!
"..If that is the case, then we have no other way to go deeper aside from breaching every hatch and blast door in our way."
That was going to take a long time. When a fleet carrier as valuable as the Auralis wanted to keep people out, the barriers in the way could stall intruders for hours or even days depending on their breaching equipment!
"Well, at least our opposition will have it even worse." The combat engineer quipped. "The Auralis doesn't want to let us in, but she doesn't recognize us as hostiles either. If any of the Larkinsons or Hexers try to step aboard, the ship's active defenses will immediately wipe them out. Even if they manage to sabotage these countermeasures, they won't get the core systems in time. We have a head start on anyone who comes afterwards."
Ordinarily, the Fridayman combat engineer should be right.
Yet the first infiltrators the Larkinson Clan had sent was a single stealth shuttle.
The invisible vehicle had actually launched from the expeditionary fleet shortly after the Auralis became a ghost ship.
Even while mechs were still battling it out with each other, the stealth shuttle stayed far away from the hot zones and quietly slipped to the underside of the Auralis.
When the shuttle hatch oriented towards the ship slid open, two figures floated into view.
A heavily-suited woman and a cat clad in form-fitting black armor landed on the hull of the lifeless capital ship.
"You know what to do, Lucky." Calabast transmitted to the cat. "Follow the routines and instructions that I've sent to you. The ship diagram, hacking software and false data provided by DIVA should work. Even if they don't, just switch over to the backup plan. One way or another, we'll be taking over the ship, and it will all be thanks to you. Now get going if you want to have free rein over the ship's vault and material stores!"
"Meow!"
Lucky phased straight though meters of solid hull plating and other material designed to repel outside intrusion. Once he entered one of the outermost compartments, the cat was careful not to appear in open space.
Instead, he kept 'swimming' through solid decks and bulkheads, preventing even a shadow of his presence from getting detected by the ship's vigilant monitoring system.
When a ship like the Auralis was in lockdown mode, then her security systems became incredibly alert to any intruders!
It was one thing for other Fridaymen to step aboard the ship. It was another thing for Hexers and thieves to sneak their way inside!
Calabast had warned Lucky over and over again not to stick his head out. The cat had to rely on other senses to make his way to the center of the fleet carrier. Fortunately, his progress was fairly quick since not a single solid obstacle was able to stop a phased commando cat.
Lucky eventually passed through the reinforced layers that protected one of the core sections of the Auralis.
The primary data vault housed the AIs and much of the essential data of the Auralis.
This was an incredibly sensitive compartment. The core AI that governed the highest levels of the fleet carrier was incredibly sensitive towards any form of intrusion.
Not even the Hexers managed to figure out a way to hack or subvert the core AIs employed by the Sundered Phalanx.
As long as the core AI or the ship's systems detected anything amiss, the AIs would quickly activate a contingency plan that made taking over the ship impossible!
Fortunately, Lucky didn't need to mess with the core AI. Instead, he moved over to one of the data banks and retrieved a tiny chip from one of his Misfortune Harness' pockets.
He carefully took advantage of his phased state to attach the chip into an internal server port in one of the closed data storage units.
Immediately, the software and data inside this tiny chip went to work!
What was strange was that the Auralis did not reject the intrusion.
It would have been different if Lucky appeared into view and tried to drill a hole in the storage unit.
Yet because the chip appeared spontaneously, the initial actions of the hacking software took effect before the security systems put up its guard.
As long as the hacking program managed to get its foot in the door, the rest was easy!
It only took a couple of seconds for the contents of the chip to do its job. Soon enough, it broke apart into specs of dust.
Outside of the Auralis, Calabast and a boarding party from the Black Cats patiently waited. Upon receiving a subtle signal, the spymaster attempted to open the outer hatch.
It slid open without resistance. Calabast and her subordinates effortlessly flew inside and landed on the deck as soon as the artificial gravity took hold.
The ship greeted the new arrivals.
[Welcome back to the Auralis, Captain Arnlend. This ship is currently under lockdown. Your orders, ma'am?]
Calabast grinned. "Kill any unauthorized intruders. Don't leave any of them alive."