The undead.
Nearly every planetary civilization has had the same rumor, and creatures bearing that name have even appeared before now,
with differing descriptions.
A being that is a dead one after resurrection; a soul-body without substance.
Some call them death-spirits; but in certain places the description is another thing altogether.
In short, a thing that exists within the records of the known universe, but differently in every place.
Yet after the coming of the interstellar age, it existed broadly in legend only.
"These undead, are they the sort of thing like ghosts in the old tales?" Lilith shrank suddenly behind Zhao Chen, her tail standing straight up.
Zhao Chen looked at Lilith in astonishment.
He had not thought this girl would be afraid of ghosts.
No, wait…
Are you not a succubus?
By the old tales, you and ghosts should count as kin.
"Ah… this is the report we have received." The bridge petty officer handed Zhao Chen the material the institute had produced.
Zhao Chen looked it over, and broadly grasped what kind of creature this undead was.
Though what Zhao Chen was master of was starship science, he understood a little of other matters as well.
Charlotte's and Lilith's eyes both rested upon Zhao Chen, waiting for him to set it out.
"This undead, by the institute's conclusion. Is a creature that can be made substantial and can also be made insubstantial. But for the most part it can only hold the substantial state; the time it may stay insubstantial differs with the individual. And in the insubstantial state it can pass straight through a star-shield, and even through a starship's surface! But in the course of passing through, the individual undead's strength is weakened. Which is why we saw before that those pitch-black monsters, having passed through a warship's star-shield, then opened their attack upon the ship's surface, broke through the hull armor, and only then went inside," Zhao Chen set out.
"It can go insubstantial? Then can it not ignore some attacks?" Charlotte knit her brows.
Zhao Chen said: "In theory it can. But as was just said, when its body is insubstantial and an object passes through it, its individual strength is spent. So you may simply take it for a star-shield sort of defense of its own kind.[1] And they can indeed use this power besides to form a force field,[2] much like a star-shield."
Charlotte recalled the monsters that welled out of the Black Wolf Princess Cynthia's warship; they had indeed had a protective shell much like a star-shield.
"We shall call it for the present spirit-energy. Every individual undead's spirit-energy differs in strength, and what it can ward off differs likewise. But by what we see at present, this spirit-energy can serve only for defense, and cannot be used to attack directly," said Zhao Chen.
Charlotte let out a breath; happily this strange spirit-energy had no great use, or dealing with them would be thorny indeed.
"These undead attack chiefly after the manner of the hive-race's fighting types: they close with the enemy and then open an attack at close quarters. But in our study a marvelous thing was found. Which is that the undead can infect other life, and even… take control of a starship!" Zhao Chen said gravely.
Lilith said in amazement: "Control a starship?"
Zhao Chen explained: "In our study we found that every individual undead holds this power. But in most single individuals the power is limited. To infect one living body is no great matter. But to infect a whole starship! That comes about only when the undead are many in number, or when the single undead is exceedingly strong."
Charlotte and Lilith still looked half in the dark.
Zhao Chen raised his hand outright, and several phantom images appeared before them, modeling the case.
"Suppose we stand upon a battlefield now. A single individual undead kills a soldier; then that soldier's body is infected and becomes undead."
Charlotte and Lilith nodded; this was somewhat like the undead of legend.
"And suppose a mass of undead pours into a starship and kills a great many lives. Then an exceedingly strong spirit-energy wells up. And infects that starship, and turns it into, what we shall call for the present an undead starship! Upon this we have made trial as well, and confirmed the conclusion," said Zhao Chen.
"Trial?" Charlotte was somewhat astonished.
Zhao Chen nodded, and pointed at that institute report: "The institute took a T1-grade warship, and put several dozen condemned prisoners aboard it. Then they put some captured undead into the ship. Very soon the prisoners were killed. And that warship's outward appearance began to change, and it was taken over."
Zhao Chen opened a passage of video within the report and played it.
There could be seen a T1 warship under a hundred meters long, marks of decay beginning upon her hull, showing all over with rust.
"And this T1 warship they provided was in fact only 30% intact. But once the conversion was complete, the researchers found to their astonishment. That she had been restored to her original fighting state. Most of her weapons could be used as before. Only that the weapons' energy, or rather their ammunition, had become spirit-energy. How this is achieved we do not know. But such is the case. And in a certain sense her fighting power is greatly raised besides. For even if the hull is damaged and important hull modules destroyed, she still holds the power to fight. Much like… like a skeleton soldier that cannot be killed. By repeated trial, such an undead starship must have at least 80% of her structure destroyed before she can be destroyed entirely!" Zhao Chen's face was grave.
Charlotte's brows knit close.
From this she could catch how great a threat this undead was,
not one bit behind the interstellar hive-race.
"Then what do they go seeking those fixed stars for?" Lilith asked the question of the first importance.
"Up to now, what I have set out is broadly the undead's advantages. And their one defect is that their breeding requires corpses, and the fresher the corpse, the higher the spirit-energy's strength. The greater the body's original strength, the stronger the spirit-energy converted from it. In the old planetary age this was, to speak truly, a fine ability. But in the interstellar age it is somewhat a chicken's rib. For once their nature is known, we need only open the fighting distance and make sure we are not infected and converted. Which is to say that number limits their power to fight."
And here Zhao Chen's eyes darkened: "But by what our institute has found. These undead can divide themselves, by means of the fixed stars!"