The Word Of Creation

This is the Holy Word of Baichiyin

We believe in the Lord, who created the Stars.

We believe in the Lord, who created Man, and gave him dominion of the Stars.

We acknowledge the Adversary, empowered to test Man, to make him worthy of Dominion.

We believe that Man is created in the image of the Lord, imperfect, yet without compare.

We believe that Man is superior to all other races.

We believe that to assume Dominion will bring Paradise, in this Life, and the next.

We believe that to fail is to Die, in this Life, and the next.

We believe that Death in the name of Dominion is rewarded.

This is the Holy Word of Baichiyin.

-Creed of the Word of Creation.

After the War with the Scranja, a number of voices arose in the desperate clamor of Humanity's attempt to survive. One of the most important speakers for unity, perhaps, was a man by the name of Baichiyin. Speaking under this assumed name, he exhorted Man to set aside all the things that had divided him, and to establish a strong force by which to command a hostile universe, while hiding his identity as a pharmaceutical magnate.

Brothers, know this! We are humankind, made in the image of the Lord himself, and now is the Day That Was Promised. Now is the time for us to rise up, and to claim all that is as our own! But know too, that the Lord has set tribulations upon us, We have been beset by devils without, and traitors within, as John promised us, but we can survive them, if only we stand strong against them in His name!

Book of New Birth 2:1-2

Setting down his exhortations in a book that he entitled 'Holy Creation', Baichiyin claimed for himself the mantle of prophecy, and through his personal power, wealth, and no small bit of vagueness in his predictions, he was able to cause them to pass, or at least appear to. A prophet of doom, those who would later trace the truth of events were horrified at the lengths to which he went.

Tinker not with the work of the Lord upon Man, it is forbidden. Any peoples who shall alter the base of themselves, or their children, or their followers shall be punished by the Lord; He shall send a wasting sickness upon them, and they will wither in their graves.

Bookof Law 37: 1-3

During the early phases of the Salvorathan project, the nature of the project was leaked to certain circles of business and politics, as a way of boosting confidence in the future of space travel amongst the various colonies. With his ear close to the ground, Baichiyin was one of those who heard the leaks, and decided that now was the time to act. Drawing upon his wealth and connections, he was able to create a modified version of the sleeping sickness, one that could be transferred via spores expelled from the body through a variety of means - while the spread of the disease was not rampant, it had significant effects on the station where the Salvorathan project was being executed, and very nearly derailed the project through the quarantine imposed on the station. This, and a few other successes, cemented his name, and his book among those inclined to believe in the supernatural.

As he preached, he chose loyal followers, and spreading them among the colonies, instructed them to choose of the most faithful and zealous to be sent to be trained in the arts of war and terrorism, creating a diffuse network of cells that he could command at his will, yet exceedingly difficult to trace back to him, the Cells of Dominion.

And then, as a very old man, Baichiyin discovered the life's work of Dr. Orak, the creation of an entirely artificial, sentient lifeform. Enraged, he laid his plans swiftly, gathering together several cells, in order to launch an all out assault upon the satellite where Orak toiled. But, Orak had outwitted them, and there, in a blaze of man made starfire, Baichiyin and Dr. Orak died, along with several hundred of the Word, while the Oraki slipped off into the night, in order to found their Sanctuary.

But this was not the end of the Word of Creation. Swiftly, several dozens of the cell leaders stepped up, in order to assume the mantle of Baichiyin. For years their arguments, and even covert battles reigned, through words on the hypernet, through quiet deaths in the night, and through massive bombs, until another arose with the charisma to unite them. Discarding his old name, he took up the name of Baichiyin, and after some minor successes, gathered up once more to pursue the Oraki.

Fielding almost 9,000 half-trained men warriors, and a fleet of a hundred ships, of varying quality, the Word of Creation struck at Sanctuary, in one of the bloodiest, and merciless wars in recorded history. In the argon-filled tunnels of Sanctuary, filled with traps and desperate men and women, each believing they fought for the very survival of their species, the two clashed, with quarter ungiven. Though the Word succeeded in killing over a third of the Oraki population, they lost seventy five men for every Oraki slain, and as their numbers whittled, they were forced to retreat. During their retreat, the new Baichiyin was murdered by a rival for the title, and the cells once again fell apart to fractous infighting.

Now, many years later, the Word of Creation is still fractured, each cell working on its own according to the writings of the first Baichiyin. Quietly, members are recruited, from the poor, from those disgruntled with the state of things, and they use their methods, not entirely unlike that of a 21st century terrorist, to harass and attack those who practice human bioengineering and those who encourage working with the aliens. Politicians are bought and pressured, assassins are hired, and bombers deployed. However, they hold a particular hatred for all things related to the Oraki, and any Oraki will soon be targeted as soon as a cell becomes aware of their existance.

'Kneel, penitent, and wash your hands, and your soul.

Drink of the wine of the Lord, and know His mercy.'

In their daily life, the Word of Creation is expected to live much as the people around them, though they are expected to eschew the benefits of human-modification technologies, be they biological or cybernetic. Once per day, however, at awakening, they are expected to 'check in' over the net to their cell, to be lead in prayer and recieve directions from their masters there. Furthermore, once per week, at a time and date that rotates according to a relatively complex code, they are expected to gather for a mass, during which they are exhorted to cling to the teachings of Baichiyin at all times, in a sermon derived from the old High Latin Catholic mass. While scripture is read, it is forbidden for it to be read in any language other than Mandarin Chinese, and those who render it into any of the Galactic Trade tongues are punished by death. It is generally through one of these communications that the cell, or its individual members are activated, and given a task by the leadership to perform. Those who perform well, on non-suicide missions, can be promoted towards leadership, though the process is fuzzy.