Mummer

 The Acolyte
"Now I am whole..."

A bizarre disciple of the nanotech messiah, SANTO SANTE, the Mummer fanatically serve one of the most feared cults in all of the Solar System.

The Armada first encountered the Scourge in 2053 – it seems to have emerged from the disastrous attempt to terraform Venus using nanotechnology. The nanites went out of control and the Armada and Vanguard were forced to destroy all settlements and labs on the surface and quarantine the entire planet. Some infected commandos and Artifex must have escaped the cleanup attempt because soon after that, the Mummers came howling out of the void bringing word of the coming of their new god with them: Santo Sante. Mummers are humans who have been taken over, every atom of their being converted to the Scourge nanite. Thus, they are a swarm of microscopic entities that retain a semblance of the form they had before infection. A Mummer retains some individuality, and continues to have a personality, though twisted and fractured by the chaotic nature of the infectious Scourge. They are immortal, after a fashion, and can re-arrange or re-assemble their bodies down to a molecular level. Whatever consciousness is left seems mostly occupied by keeping their body from dissipating or merging with that of other Mummers, and only rare individuals of strong will have absolute command of their new form. Most have no memory of their past, but a few do and invariably use what they know to farther their shared goal – spread the Scourge to as many humans as possible. Groups of Mummers or cells raid settlements and capture fresh humans for conversion throughout the Grange. These terrors travel on Scourge infected Komets, trade ships, or even on Mummers who have transformed themselves into vehicles. It is not easy to be infected by the Scourge – despite claims of the EGS to the contrary. In what resembles a gestation and birth, the new Mummer emerges from a complex conversion process initiated by an entire Mummer cell that takes around 24 hours. After that, it takes anywhere from a day to six weeks for the nanites to fully convert the victim’s body. The Scourge can convert Artifex, technological items, animals and organic matter, but they merely become formless masses of nanites that Mummers can command or incorporate into themselves. Even more strangely, Mummers sometimes block out their traumatic capture and infection, and experience no change to their external form at all, totally unaware of their changed state until some stress or accident forces them to realize what has happened. All Mummers claim to worship a prophet/god they call Santo Sante, the progenitor of their new existence. Whether this is a figment of their twisted Scourge-addled imagination, the first human to be infected by the Scourge, or something else entirely is unknown. Broadcasts of odd poetry and rants about evolution, conversion of humanity to the Scourge, and even stranger content are attributed to this person, and seem to be broadcast on the electromagnetic spectrum by nanite organs within the Mummers themselves.

Mummer Champion
KAOS, DISCIPLE OF SANTO SANTE: A rare example of a Mummer who seems fully conscious and in control of his state, KAOS has given in completely to the Scourge and seeks to prove the superiority of his new form through combat. The Shadow League and ZGXL have provided the greatest challenge, and though he is feared wherever he goes, he seems to enjoy playing within the limitations of the rules – in the arena at least. Especially tough opponents of KAOS have been known to disappear and be seen as Mummers years later in the depths of the Grange. . .

Mummer Strongpoints: Mummer Cells are itinerant and have no central structure, needing no
fuel, food, or other sustenance but sunlight.

Mummer Headquarters: Santo Sante is rumored to reside somewhere in the Oort Cloud

Sphere of Operations
Mummers are rarely encountered in EGS space, but ransack their way through the Grange with impunity. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to their activities, and as such a cell or individual sometimes slips onto Terminus or Luna and causes havoc before being destroyed. The message of Santo Sante is constantly broadcast on a spool channel by pirate stations and mummer bodies nearly everywhere.

Relations Analysis
Hostile: Armada, Cestus, Consortium, Monzon Ezut, Omniclone, Orbital, Savant, Solon, Terran, Vanguard
Rival: Androgyne, Avatar, Cartel, Exarch, Lunar, Mavryk, Paragon, Protostar, Sleeper, Thesper, Virago
Friendly: Exotic, Freaker, Null Foundation, Skrag, Trancer
Ally: None

Power Levels (1-10)
EGS Influence: 1
Firepower: 5
Respect: 2
Renown: 8

Psych Profile
Syndic Drives: Force, Pride, Verve
Syndic Flaws: Crazy, Obsession, Reckless
Syndic Skills: Engineer, Martial-Z, Trance