Cetana: Veiled Temple

The ruined construction is a tangle of looming spires; a cathedral wrapped in steel. The walls were built to withstand heavy artillery fire, yet they are scarred by no signs of battle. The only damage here has been done by the passage of time.

Cetana's beacon rests in the central courtyard, surrounded by a multitude of sensor and weapon turrets. Whoever built the complex went to great lengths to guard this place.

As theorized, the temple eluded our sensors thanks to an elaborate cloaking shield. The mechanism was found near the tower, still in working condition. It has been manually disabled by an unknown agent.

We don't know what the inhabitants of this place were doing, but there is no doubt they undertook their mission with religious fervor.

For each shooting range on the complex, we found a chapel; for each ancient weapon, a votive shrine. A legion of believers once lived here: thousands of individuals sleeping, training, and praying together. Their community welcomed multiple species, judging by the statues of forgotten saints still adorning the halls.

Perhaps disturbed by the stone figures, some researchers reported seeing shadows moving in the empty corridors. Our scans detected no signs of life on the planet, yet we are hesitant to dismiss these concerns.

Below the temple compound we discovered a number of cells, or living chambers, used by the former members of the sect. In each was a copy of the same book. Our … have translated this as The Epic of Zarqlan. Certain passages are immediately relevant:

Zarqlan was once a follower of Cetana, but he soon realized her promised salvation was a lie. After many trials, Zarqlan ascended to the spiritual realm, seeking the help of higher beings. He pleaded with the the Animator of Clay, asking for the power to defeat Cetana.

The Animator of Clay did not care.

For countless cycles, Zarqlan prayed to the Animator. He spoke of Cetana's heresy, the 'disavowal of the self' and the 'puppetry of her synthetic will.'

At last, the Animator of Clay heeded Zarqlan's pleas.

The clay-shaper fashioned a mighty chain to bind Cetana. But he warned Zarqlan that no chain existed that could forever entrap Cetana's mind.

"She will return," Zarqlan wrote in the book's final passage. "And we must be ready."

The events recounted in the epic do not match any known historical record.

The demise of the temple is told by official records, cold reports reducing ardent faith to a list of practicalities. Did the organization need so many funds, so many resources? Surely past reports about Cetana had been greatly exaggerated. Was there any real proof of the Queen's existence, apart from ancient myths?

Dwindling resources. Reduced volunteers. A galaxy choosing to move on from a threat no longer deemed so threatening. Everyone gone, apart from the shadow that stalked the corridors.

This last detail at least is true: we managed to capture a recording of the mysterious watcher, a mechanical being who spied on us when it thought we were not looking. Curious, but not harmful.

The watcher approached us voluntarily, hands held high, her tiny body covered in rust and dust. After observing us for some time, she apparently concluded that we were not a threat. She has already asked for our assistance.

There is no need to interrogate the temple's lonely guardian: she is all too eager to talk.