Unholy Star, Beyond Faith

...and release

The crew who remained loyal to Eiko and his squad gathered on the bridge of the Ascent. The wall screen had hooked into the local stream as broadcast by the theatre company, and the crew were watching their Dean's sermon with such high fidelity, it was if they were there.

"Et abrogare terminatio die. What does that mean?" asked Honi who's Church speak skills were never that good. "I unravel termination day?"

"Close, it means, I undo termination day. He just put us out of a job," replied Sam in amazement at the unexpected words from their leader. She watched on, digging into the back of the Captain's chair with her short fingernails as the Dean failed to dispatch Cardinal Kasper with the energy bolt.

She watched further as the Knights of the Star Templar flew through the smoky air from the Cardinal's box down towards the stage. The large choir above the stage had begun singing, a move she knew was to boost the drama of a stream that would become possibly even more popular than their failure at Skye. She tensed her body in sympathy with the Dean who stood with his trident held forward, knees bent and feet spaced apart, ready for combat.

Adrenaline hit Sam hard, and raw emotion took over, she drew Eiko's guns from their holsters under each of her arms, "Let's go! He needs our help."

As she raced to the door, the only one from the group who followed her, was the sunbeamer Acolyte who had dressed in full squad field armour, the silver-gold skin on her face sparkled even in the controlled light of the room.

"Well?!" Sam demanded from Honi, and the others, "What are you waiting for?"

"Sam, there's nothing we can do. By the time we got there, it'll be too late." reasoned Honi.

She knew he was right, and shouldered her weapons with a curse under her breath. She looked at the screen just as the Knights reached the stage.

They watched as Eiko disengaged his death mask moments before the Knights dropped down on the stage and engaged their golden full-helms. Their visored helmets were also holo-field tech, but unlike the death mask, their masks also served for defence.

The stream's camera zoomed into Eiko's face, and Sam could see the calm concentration in his eyes. She had seen that look a hundred times before, and each time, someone died. It was if Sam could feel his thoughts and knew that her mentor was thinking that he would have a chance against one of the knights, but not both of them together. She also knew that he wouldn't go without taking one of them with him.

She winced as she watched Eiko make a dive at the knight to his left who parried the trident lunge effortlessly with a back-arm swing of his sword. But, the Dean had improved his position, and now the two knights were in a line in front of him. Never one to play games in a fight, Sam predicted that Eiko's next move would be his death strike. She bit her lip as he thrust the spear out with his left arm. Sam saw the move for what it was, a decoy, as Eiko's natural hand was his right. Sam watched as the knight drew his blade underarm taking off the Dean's limb at the shoulder. But, even before the arm had separated from his torso, Eiko had pushed forward with his powerful legs. Faster than the camera could catch, the Dean appeared to punch the Star Templar's side under the left arm. But Sam recognised the move, Eiko had triggered his evil-sharp wrist knife, the thin, concealed blade had clicked into place just in time for a perfectly timed strike at the weak point in the knight's armour, the construction of which was almost identical to their own. The pivot motion the Dean made as a follow-up to the strike she recognised also; it was designed to shred internal organs and arteries ensuring an instant death.

The Star Templar fell lifeless, and the one-armed Eiko faced the remaining knight.

"HE MUST NOT DIE!" Came a command from the box. "God alone can punish a crime against the Church such as this!" The display stream panned to the Cardinal who appeared red with fury. The frame then quickly doubled back to the severely wounded Dean. Blood spat from Eiko's shoulder, pooling at his feet.