Rings of the Master Series by Jack L. Chalker

Long ago, the machines had rebelled, wiping out most of humanity and exiling the survivors in widely scattered reservations. Master System ruled unchallenged, the key to breaking its power -- five microchips disguised as gold rings, carefully hidden away. But then an Amerindian called Hawks stumbled across information about the five rings, and suddenly Master System developed an interest in seeing Hawks dead . . .

Hawks had refused to help the ambitious Lazlo Chen in his quest to find the five gold rings that could break Master System's hold over humankind -- and that refusal had landed him on the deadly prison planet Melchior.But when Hawks and some fellow prisoners engineered a bold escape, it seemed almost too easy. Hawks guessed that Chen was pulling the strings, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was another, greater power involved. And that scared him... moreHawks had refused to help the ambitious Lazlo Chen in his quest to find the five gold rings that could break Master System's hold over humankind -- and that refusal had landed him on the deadly prison planet Melchior.But when Hawks and some fellow prisoners engineered a bold escape, it seemed almost too easy. Hawks guessed that Chen was pulling the strings, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was another, greater power involved. And that scared him.Now the stakes were rising, and Hawks was more determined than ever to find the gold rings. But Master System was out to capture him, and Chen was trying to follow him -- and the only place his small band of rebels could hide was smack in the middle of pirate territory... less

Vulture is a shapechanger capable of absorbing the body and memories of any organic being. Without the information only Vulture can collect, the rebels will never succeed in gathering the five rings necessary to defeat Master System. Now an unknown entity seems to be giving Vulture an unseen hand. But the question is -- whose side is it on?

The renegade pirates of the giant spaceship THUNDER have collected all five of the rings necessary to eliminate the threat of Master System forever. But no one -- not even Hawks -- knows how the rings are used. And with Master Systems space fleet dogging their every step, they better find out fast!