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You can read the rules for solo and wardenless play in Mothership 1e here.
Read the previous chapter here
Scene 1 – Starting in the Engines – Chaos Factor: 8
Jerome makes the decision to run as the creature’s snapping mandibles float closer
(Speed check – 35 vs. 32 – Success)
Turning tail, Jerome runs back out to the decimated cryochamber. He has to grab the locked military case, get to the boarding skiff, and return to the patrol ship. Navarro has to answer their questions. She has to explain this…this insanity.
(Oracle question: Does the entity find a way to intercept Jerome before he can get to the military case? Odds: 50/50. Answer: (81) Yes)
Jerome is in the Cargo Hold with the flayed chained corpse when he comes to a quick halt. The flea-like creature scrambled through an air vent and floats through the room, searching for the android. Jerome observed it eating metal so it must be able to lock on to some sort of energy signature? Jerome attempts to work through the dimly lit room without being noticed.
(Body save – 15 vs. 48 – Failure. Take 1 Stress)
The entity spots Jerome and lunges for him. Jerome pulls his stun baton in an attempt to push the creature back.
(Combat check – 35 vs. 14 – Success)
(Stun baton damage – 3)
The entity reels back from Jerome’s crackling stun baton. It lets loose a screech of pain and then begins shifting, reforming itself. Jerome realizes he’s watching something potentially informative and switches on every type of scan his optics are programmed with to gain data.
(Intellect check – 52 +10 (Zoology) = 62 vs. 60 – Success)
(Oracle: Partially Strong)
Jerome watches as one insectoid limb falls off the creature onto the ground and moves like an inchworm across the bloodstained floor. It crawls away into a vent. The remaining entity shifts its appearance. For a moment, Jerome swears he sees his face emerge from the roiling mass of metallic flesh. He thinks of the Navarro he found in the cryopod and the one on the patrol ship. He’s convinced they brought a non-human onboard, and it can copy what it chooses down to the DNA level.
Jerome makes a run for the military case while the creature is morphing & changing.
(Speed check – 35 vs. 29 – Success)
Jerome grabs the military case, boards the skiff, and prepares to unlock from The Banquo and head back to the patrol ship. Before he does, he wants to scan for any trace of the autonomous appendage, adjusting the sensors to an even higher detection level.
(Intellect – 52 + 10 (Computers) = 62 vs. 14 – Success)
Jerome notices something in the vents and runs a series of sterilization protocols that should completely incinerate the fragment of the entity, chemicals & flame scorching. He even flushes the oxygen, knowing he doesn’t need it to breathe, and he hopes the entity does.
(Intellect – 52 + 10 (Zoology) = 62 vs. 39 – Success)
(I am saying that around this time, the rolls with Advantage have expired)
Scene 2 – Starting in the Engines – Chaos Factor: 7
(I chose to drop the Chaos Factor because Jerome was able to purge the entity fragment from the skiff, making him a bit safer)
Jerome pilots the boarding skiff back through the nebula to his patrol ship. He attempts to hail Lowry on the command bridge.
(Oracle question: Does Jerome make contact with Lowry? Odds: Unlikely. Answer: (91) No)
(Fear save – 80 vs. 42 – Success)
Jerome can calm his fears. He must get on board the patrol ship and drive the false Navarro off of it, no matter what it takes. He thinks of Kent’s flamethrower and how useful that will be. Then, his thoughts turn to the military case. He should try and open it now. Now that he’s on the skiff, he connects the case to the ship’s computers and begins running a program to short-circuit its locks.
(Intellect check – 52 + 10 (Computers) = 62 vs. 50 – Success)
(Oracle: Passively Young)
Jerome discovers a hard drive containing ancient data collected by the Eastern Empire when it settled the Krushka Sector centuries prior. The Science Ministry had a strange substance brought to it that had been found in one of the mines. It was biological, but exact classification proved impossible. It was designated Entity LKA-5, and development began to see if its regenerative properties could help keep the Empire’s citizens more youthful. Jerome skimmed through the data and logs and found side effects that caused the subjects to develop a hive mind and be able to remove parts of themselves that would operate independently.
Jerome assumes the crew of The Banquo were a cover for Valecore. They must have encountered records of this that made their way to the Terran System. Navarro was there to make sense of the Empire’s ruins and find the laboratories. There was probably a larger team of scientists on board, but once the entity was unleashed, it made short work of them. Its DNA is evershifting, so the standard scans couldn’t detect it. It also stabilized the DNA enough that “Navarro” would be found. His sighting of Princess on The Banquo meant that a piece of Navarro must have returned with him on the boarding skiff to relay information. From there, Jerome posits that communication between this hive mind is limited by distance. The “Navarro” on the patrol ship will not know about Jerome’s discoveries on The Banquo. He should have the advantage.
Scene 3 – Airlock – Chaos Factor: 7
Jerome steps onto the patrol ship after receiving no response. His plan is to get to the command deck first. From there, he can assess the situation and see if his crewmates are safe.
(Speed check – 35 vs. 37 – Failure. Take 1 Stress.)
Jerome runs into Kent.
(Oracle: Strange Energy)
Kent is wholly unharmed and acts surprised to see Jerome.
“You’re back? Why didn’t you let us know? Find anything interesting on The Banquo?” Kent asks.
Jerome thinks back to the horrible sounds he heard on the last communication with the ship. Is this even the real Kent? Jerome pulls out his scanner and asks if he may check Kent. He believes Kent may have been compromised by a virus detected on The Banquo.
(Oracle question: Does Kent let Jerome scan them? Odds: 50/50. Answer: (74) Yes)
Kent laughs and says, “Sure.” Jerome pulls out his scanner and checks his crewmate.
(Intellect check – 52 + 10 (Zoology) = 62 vs. 18 – Success)
(I am interpreting a success in solo mode as letting me roll a d6 to see if Kent is infected. 1-3 Kent IS infected, while 4-6 means they are not infected. If I had rolled a failure, I would say the scan was inconclusive – roll: 4 – uninfected)
Jerome explains what he heard over the comms. Kent says they have been down in the engines. While searching for Navarro, they found some nasty damage that needed to be prioritized. Kent also hasn’t heard from Lowry but was on their way to the deck to see why he wouldn’t respond. Jerome tells Kent they need to go to the command deck and get into the Armory first. Kent’s flamethrower should prove helpful.
Scene 4 – Command Deck: Armory – Chaos Factor: 7
Jerome and Kent attempt to enter the Armory undetected. Jerome’s first step is to disable the security features in the Armory in case the entity is using it to track them.
(Intellect check – 52 + 10 (Computers) vs. 25 – Success)
The entity will not know the two are in the Armory unless it is physically present.
(Oracle question: Is the Armory all clear when Jerome and Kent arrive? Odds: 50/50. Answer: (87) No)
(Oracle: Passively Hungry)
Jerome taps the wall pad, and the Armory doors slide open. They find a large slime-covered membrane attached to the floor of the Armory, with tendrils extended to each of the weapons cabinets. Jerome deduces this must be part of the entity left behind to serve as a trap for anyone trying to get the weapons.
(Fear check – Jerome – 80 vs. 13 – Success. Kent – 38 vs. 45 – Failure)
Kent refuses to go any further into the Armory. Jerome sees sweat on their brow, their eyes wide. They are terrified. Jerome assures them they can stay in the hall, but if the entity gets Jerome in its clutches to run for the escape pods.
(Speed check – 35 vs. 60 – Failure. Take 1 stress)
Jerome stumbles as he tries to quickly reach the cabinet holding explosives. One of the tendrils wraps tightly around his leg.
(Combat check – 35 vs. 40 – Failure. Take 1 stress)
The tendril pulls Jerome towards a mouth that forms in the membrane
(Panic check – 11 vs. 18 – Failure)
(SPIRALING. Gain a new Condition: Panic Checks are at [-]. – A Condition is stuck with a character until they can receive treatment for it)
Jerome feels his legs slipping into the membrane, surrounded by fluid. He reaches out for Kent, who is standing at the threshold of the Armory.
(Kent – Loyalty save – 21 vs. 19 – Success)
Kent rushes in and grabs Jerome’s arms, pulling with all their might to free the android from this shapeless blob on the floor.
(Kent – Instinct check – 29 vs. 49 – Failure)
(Jerome takes 12 harm from the membrane)
Jerome is pulled further into the membrane and up to his torso. He can feel his systems failing. He has to pull free, or is this for him?
(Body save – 15 vs. 56 – Failure. Takes 17 more harm)
Jerome’s eyes begin to fade. Kent screams out and pulls until they find the android’s torso coming away from the lower half of his body. The warrant officer is now silent, an empty husk of bionics. Kent doesn’t notice the movement behind him, the chimera of Navarro and Lowry, who absorb the engineer into their mass.
The end
PopCult Reviews 
Fantastic write up, thank you for sharing this. Riveting!