Planet UE-2231-H
After sniffing the air a few more times, the Doll lost interest, unable to find the source of the smell, and went back to entering the facility. Once the all clear was established, each unit entered the doorway, lead by the War Maiden, an energy field around her, crackling and arcing with raw power. She would personally lead them into the facility, determined to find The Body and appease her God.
As they descended further, the faint purple lighting dimmed the hall, making the etchings of ancient history on the walls near undecipherable. Such culture once flourished around the galaxy, but was all but lost in the Collapse, when the Yss'Tkuld decimated everything and conquered these stars. To the Ethereals, it was all meaningless, whispers of a time long forgotten, them being the only example left of great powers far beyond anything today.
Without warning, the forward Doll exploded violently, a long spear of light tearing it to pieces, splattering the walls with gore before anyone could react. The Matrons and Sisters howled and hissed, locking eyes with the assailant: A male Warden, with sage in tow. He hung his hands low, swirling with magic, and he growled at them, angered:
"Was it not enough to burn this galaxy to the ground? All your kind want is power, by any means, and it has corrupted you beyond redemption. You will not have the secrets that lie in here! I will destroy you, and bring peace to this holy place!!"
With that, he leapt high into the air, throwing his hand over his shoulder and hurling towards the group a pulsating orb of light at the group. They dodged and rolled in all directions, but some were to slow, vaporized and shredded in the blast wave. A single Matron ran up, and plunged it's blade down into the metal, piercing the floor and narrowly avoiding it's target. Instinct took over, and the Warden plunged his hand deep into it's chest, blowing out it's torso with a shard of crystal. It hung there, dead, black liquid seeping out the wound as he cast it aside like trash.
Sisters took point, and fired weapons, beams burning the walls as he twisted and cartwheeled out of harms way, more shards pierced the flying Constructs, and they exploded violently as another Matron swung it's blade across the man. He grabbed it's weapon and tored it off, metallic screams filling the air as he lifted it off the ground with the force he stabbed it, and let it fly into the ground, twitching and dying.
It was then that the Maiden made her move, and thrust her glaive through the Warden's chest from the back. He choked and spluttered, blood seeping from his lips, as he looked down and saw the instrument of his doing, ruptured through his torso. He was pulled closer, grunting in pain, as his killer whispered: "You are mistaken. Your legacy now belongs to us. We will take what we want. Because with you dead, no one alive can stop us now." Falling to his knees, she withdrew the blade, pushing him off with a foot into his pooling bodily fluids, and zapped the stunned sage with a bolt of energy, annihilating it.
With the fight over, she looked upwards into the massive chasm, and smiled as she looked over her easily-won prize. Her lady would most certainly be pleased.
Uncharted Space: The Valkians
Without reproduction, a significant portion of the Home Fleet was dedicated to creating more Husk Constructs for Ethereals to possess, as each soldier was valuable in a way. These two Cruisers (Now referred to as Temples) were mining for the ores and minerals needed for said constructions, blasting rock with mild lasers and Sisters gathering the debris that attempted to float away.
Such vessels had to be modified to store the extra cargo, and so weren't as formidable as their military cousins. It was believed, however, that their Void Warheads and Entropy Cannon were more than sufficient to deal with threats, other than a well prepared Iscandarian patrol. However, two signatures warped in a fair distance from the asteroid belt of the Binary star, both of which were quite large. One temple ceased mining, gathered it;s Sisters, and began to slowly approach the signature, preparing weapons.