Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

Acolyte

[on the Ascent, death squad class cruiser in interstellar transit]

The white-robed acolyte entered the armoury and bowed. Sam and Honi ignored the figure as they assisted each other strapping on their armour and then equipped their weapons. The Churchmen were used to having acolytes about, they performed the various duties of servants. In the death squad, the acolytes had a secondary function; here, they were novice assassins, in training for the squad itself.

Under normal conditions, it was forbidden for the Churchmen to interact with the trainees who wore heavy deep-hooded and long-sleeved robes to hide their appearance and gender. They were unnamed, and each one was an anybody or everybody -- under the eyes of the Church each acolyte was the same individual. The exception to this rule was where the death squad's trainee acolyte was to join the team. The use of acolytes as reserves was mostly utilised in times of war when the regional squads and their acolytes would join to form an elite legion, but the most common field role for the acolyte was as a substitute for an unavailable team member -- as was the case here as Eiko was still comatose and in the midst of his ninth gefresh and was therefore unable to lead his team on to the next stage of their mission.

Sam rubbed the weapon attachment on her right wrist to push the device into its correct position and turned to the acolyte, "You. Step forward."

The robe-clad figure obeyed, head tilted down.

"A girl." guessed Honi, "Let's see your face."

The acolyte lifted her head and slowly removed the hood. The two churchmen were taken aback by the appearance of the woman before them. She was hairless, and her skin had silver sheen, that, even in the ambient light of the armoury, sparkled as if fashioned from a million tiny diamonds.

"Wow, a Beamer," whispered Sam in genuine awe. "I didn't know we had any of them in service here."

"Yeah, and a cute one at that." noticed Honi, referring to her large emerald eyes, small nose, and sharp cheek bones; she had a stoic look that hinted at confidence if not an attitude problem.

Sam gave her lover a punch to the arm, "Behave. Remember, your cock belongs to me."

"Yes, boss," a wounded Honi rubbed his arm, "But, I've never been with a beamer before, it would be--" Sam's glare cut him off.

Sun beamers were a form of genie, a term used to describe anyone possessing radical and distinctive genetic modifications beyond the usual icp enhancements .

The original beamers were explorers and colonists who spent their time beyond planetary or artificial magnetic fields that would protect them from deadly levels of space radiation; they had genetically modified their dermal layers to maximise eumelanin pigment and produce tiny and tightly packed surface crystals of an iron sulfate compound similar to pyrite. The modification gave the sun beamer a reflective skin that could effectively repel otherwise dangerous radiation across the spectrum.

The genetically inherited modification was proclaimed by the Church to be an adaptive gift of God and therefore it was possible for these genies to enter and integrate into regular society and even to enter the priesthood. But, while they were accepted, the sun beamer's genetics were considered contaminated and impure totaling negating c enhancements. This meant that they were seen by society as poor breeding partners, and inferior mates. Hence, their numbers across the systems and outside of their own environments had become few.

"You'll need a weapon Acolyte. What's your preference?" Sam asked.

The acolyte replied with a soft child-like voice that sounded much younger than would be expected from a grown woman, "Staff. I would like a staff please."

Sam rolled her eyes, "You're one of those, huh? You know, you don't need to be stylish out there -- staying alive is a much better objective than showing off your fancy fighting skills. Here take a bayonetto." Sam reached out to the wall and placed her hand on a rifle like weapon with a blade for a barrel.

"No," insisted the acolyte, "If it pleases you, Mother, my preference is for the staff."

"Very well," conceded Sam and the Churchman grabbed a nearby staff and tossed it to the girl, who caught the weapon easily and snapped it into a resting position. "No need for formalities here girl. Especially none of this Mother and Father shit. I'm Sam and this is Honi.

"It's a shame we can't give you armour, but rules are rules. You will need to be ordained before we can do away with the cloak."

"Understood. Thank you Sam."

"Okay team, let's go and kick some low-life butt!" Sam ushered Honi and the newcomer out of the room before her. It had been many years since she'd been on assignment without Eiko, and would miss the old man, but she had a good feeling about this girl; she seemed strong.