Report: Exploration of the Asterii Cathedral

-Preparations were made to travel to the Asterii Cathedral via Warp Travel; to act expediently without alerting unwelcome authorities, we contracted an independent vessel anchored on Port Lysander: the Absence of Decorum, captained by Mallie Krallendi. Though we had initially intended to maintain full secrecy regarding our own identities, Krallendi proved difficult to deceive—however, we were able to establish a positive relationship via the charismatic abilities of the Ambassador and Preacher Enoch, and she agreed to entering into an ongoing contract with the company. That said, she also stipulated that she be able to record our endeavors on the Cathedral, to use as defensive blackmail. I remain concerned about this element of the agreement.

-King Quinque encouraged our mission to the Cathedral, adding an intriguing and concerning element to our exploration. He has specifically requested that we retrieve, for him, a Communior and a Voiddelver, the two Asterii Devices that he currently lacks.

-Warp transit to the Cathedral took 3 subjective days; we disembarked from the Absence of Decorum by shuttle. Ambassador Lethe signaled the station via her Communior device, and was given permission to dock via an apparently automated system. See primary documentation of the Cathedral for detailed blueprint and descriptions of assorted structures.

-Through the course of our investigation, the "voice" of the station became increasingly conversational, purportedly due to accumulating understanding of our language. Initial communications indicated that the Heart chamber could not be accessed until the other chambers had been activated; lacking a Voiddelver champion at the time, we were able to activate three of the four chambers, which proved sufficient for the Heart's Iris to be partially opened and allow entrance.

-The Station's voice implied that it was a cybernetic organism of Asterii origin, and an ally that viewed us (humanity) as a successor race to the Asterii. For it to properly aid us, it required that the central controls be brought online.

-Doing so proved to be a mistake; the reactor shielding had prevent the demonic nature of the entity from being recognized until, upon the activate of main systems, it began to break containment and attempt to seize control of the Cathedral. Techsorcist protocols slowed its advance somewhat, as did the aid of VIIR, but it sent out a warp signal that summoned a chaos ship to its aid.

-By taking manual control of the Cathedral's systems, we were able to evade destruction, protect the Absence of Decorum, and ultimately destroy the demon. This latter task was almost entirely due to the efforts of Preacher Mantra, who—despite his adamant refusal to engage with xenotechnology prior to that point—bonded with a Voiddelver and seized control of the Exclusion Field and Portal systems, allowing him to contain the demon's presence and, with the aid of the Guardian units activated by Ambassador Lethe, cast it into the heart of a star. Major St. Ardentia also managed to use the Cathedral's weapons to destroy the chaos vessel; however, the incurred weapons damage combined with this shrapnel and debris necessitated immediate evacuation.

-Several Asterii Devices and a great deal of knowledge were acquired during this operation.