17th of the Third Umbral Wind, Year 1157 of the Twenty-Sixth Age
(June 16th, 2157 Council Era)
...Now, loyal humans, join me in the first recital of the day: yours is the shield that guards us from sin...
...Amen. Thus concludes today's morning rites, and may the Doom Slayer guide us all. With the cessation of this broadcast, your device will now default to your previously-tuned channel...
"Good morning folks, and welcome to the Revelation Network - just before we start, can I say that today's morning rites, read to us by none other than Exalted-High Priestess Meklit Lyon, was really quite something. Her voice always fills me with the energy I need to start the day! For those of you who've switched channels or have somehow forgotten, I'm Emily Wong, and this is the morning news for Holysteele, covering the sanctuary cities of Genesis, Vendetta and Scythe. If you're listening from a smaller settlement, worry not - local editions broadcast after this.
"The daily war report starts with our home sector; light skirmishing continues along the Adamantine Line, with casualties yesterday totalling roughly ninety-six, bringing the weekly sector death toll to just shy of sixty-two thousand. Sector Commander Anderson has stated the current incursion into Sector Ironclad appears to be tapering off, though he does expect that portal-sealing operations along the frontlines could take as long as another two or three months to complete. Sadly, things are not going so well in Sector Foretold; late last night, the sanctuary cities of Saturn-One and Bloodstain on Brutality both fell to sustained demonic incursion. Sector Commander Kahoku was able to evacuate many of the cities' civilians, and estimates that only four million casualties were sustained during the retreat. Experts are unsure if the cities on Brutality will be evacuated for a total regroup. Sector Lithium has also fallen, with the general retreat to Sector Arsenal sounded only three hours ago. This marks the third total sector loss this year, an improvement over last year's time-equivalent figure of sixteen; the Church of the Slayer and the Church of the Predator attribute this success to recent innovations in theurgic combat magic. That's all for the daily war report; for a full breakdown you can visit Revelation Network's war analysis page on the galnet for live updates."
"The weather today looks good so far; Genesis and Vendetta both have a high of fifty-six and a low of twenty-eight with sun all day until ten in the evening. Scythians, grab your coats - it's going to be a high of eighteen and a low of minus two, with up to thirty-two milimetres of rain and scattered hellstorms, yikes. Next we'll have major inter-city traffic, but first thanks to today's sponsors, Chagar-Purgefyre. If you want that authentic imp-plasma sear on your pinkie steak tonight, you're only going to get it one way, and that's with a Chagar-Purgfyre Plasmatic SearTorch. For a limited time only at your local Bastion Depot, get a Plasmatic SearTorch and two plasma fuel cylinders for the low low price of three-thousand six-hundred cartrdiges! While supplies last..."
THIS DOCUMENT IS MARKED: CLASSIFIED, STG-2.
PRE-FIRST CONTACT REPORT / PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS RE: 'EXALTED EXITIUM' & HUMANS
SPECIAL TASKS GROUP
DATE: JUNE 16TH / 2157
FIRST CONTACT DIVISION, SUBDIVISION EE-FC-1
LAST REVISION: N/A
Contact with the self-styled "Exalted Exitium," the unified society of the race known as humans, has raised several questions that many members of the FCD have felt great concern over. Never before has the Special Tasks Group encountered a civilization who claims to wield "magic" and also posses technology that does not appear to follow known rules of physics. Initially, members of the FCD expressed skepticism at analyzing a document in an alien language without the assistance of a translation module with attached software, and many of us scoffed at the so-called "runes of cognizance" given to the division as a means to analyze the attached Volumes of Unity. To our surprise, these runes appear to work as advertised, granting the wearer knowledge of the human language despite there being no evidence that the engraved necklace is anything more than an engraved piece of titanium.
This incident, we feel, illustrates the degree to which your likely assumptions will be challenged during your reading of this report. Of course it would be foolish to accept everything the Exitium claims about itself at face value at this point in time - and yet the idea that this society would go through the trouble of manufacturing thousands of hours of video evidence and thousands of pages of history, all of which we have found to be at the very least internally consistent, simply to sell its claim that magic exists? It would be as ridiculous as the claim itself. We urge readers to keep an open mind while reading these reports and the Volumes themselves; even if these claims of magic and sorcery are entirely manufactured hoaxes, evidence suggests that these things are all very real to the humans who make up the Exitium. Discounting their feelings may be the instinctual response any sane reader would jump to - but it is, as the great tactician Oman Gajik once said, "impossible to know your enemy without knowing how his peoples live."
To the humans who live in the Exitium, magic is a part of daily life, and their eternal "War against Hell" is a literal struggle against an infinitely evil demonic enemy. The deity they worship, the so-called Doom Slayer, is (apparently) a real figure, elevated to mythical status by means of his martial feats. The Exitium claims to suffer losses on what would be a catastrophic scale for any other race on a daily basis; the Exitium gifts their children firearms as a rite of passage; the Exitium's most popular televised event is the slaughter of "demons."
Here is a species which is clearly capable of aggression and, unchecked, could pose a threat to the Citadel unlike any other - and yet by all accounts our initial meeting has been friendly. For the sake of continued friendly relations, please do your best to understand these humans as they see themselves, and not as they seem to us.
We hope that this preliminary report will serve as a base from which further intelligence-gathering operations can continue. This entry will continue to be updated as new information and insights are acquired.
- EE-FC-1
VOLUMES OF UNITY
Overview & History (Abridged)
The Exalted Exitium is a unified, semi-democratic theo-magitetechnocracy which spans many upon many systems, all of which host the human race and a number of Redeemed demons. The capital planet Gaia, of the Sanctuary Sector, acts as the central hub of the Exitium; the rest of the Exitium is divided into a dozen loose Sectors, which work in concert to continue the Age-long War on Hell - the sacred duty of all humans and Redeemed to fight, cleanse and purge all reality of Hell and its foul servants.
The Exalted Exitium, both as society and as government, traces its roots directly into human societies before the days of dimensional travel and the holy War on Hell. Records are scarce from the Age of Peace, before even the First Age, when it is said that the forces of Hell were sealed in combat against Heaven, and humanity lived in the Great Ignorance, unaware of the terrors of Hell. Knowledge of the First Age is limited in scope; it is known that the Great Ignorance was shattered, and that humanity was driven from its homeworld, forced to resettle unknown space using experimental faster-than-light travel derived from demonic portal magics. It is during this time, known as the Age of Terror, that humanity was blessed with the presence of the Doom Slayer, a great warrior blessed with divine power by Heaven itself and self-charged with a sacred duty to defeat Hell itself.
Once settled on a number of other planets, the Second Age, the Age of Instruction, began in earnest. It is here that reliable recordings of history truly begin, and it during this time that the Doom Slayer was most seen amongst ordinary men. He set humanity on the road to learning the magics which had up until this point eluded them, and passed down his considerable knowledge on the art of demon-slaying. Here, too, did he charge humanity with their most sacred command, so important that the Doom Slayer - who almost never speaks to mortal men - spoke aloud:
"Rip and tear, until it is done."
So it was, and so it shall be. Humanity has since then turned away from mere survival as a goal, for the Exitium has a clear purpose and a defined goal: to destroy all of Hell and to purge any demon who would serve the servants of Doom. Many Ages have passed since that ancient time; it has been more than fifty thousand of our standard years since the Second Age. In the interim, humanity has spread throughout the stars and been beaten back to Gaia more than once; we have even come across the odd alien race, so primitive as to not even have considered the lands beyond their worlds - worlds which we protect like any other. We have slain the forces of Hell for countless years, fighting side-by-side with the few Redeemed demons who have seen the light of the Slayer, working tirelessly construct greater weapons of war and to seek greater forms of magic with which to wield against the Enemy. Now, we find ourselves in the Twenty-Sixth Age. The War on Hell continues, and so long as there stands before us the hosts of Hell to slay, we shall do our duty with pride and honour. Blessed is the Doom Slayer!
Religion (Abridged)
The Exalted Exitium is a society with one religion - one without name, for its glory and magnificence is beyond the limitation of a single identifier! For we have been touched by the wisdom and hatred of the Doom Slayer, and we shall do our duty to spread his name, his glory and his teachings wherever we go. We shall not do so by force - for it was the stern lesson of the Doom Slayer that the fist and the sword and the gun must be saved for the demon and the heretic; that it is no crime to not have been blessed with His light and His rage.
The Doom Slayer! He is the warrior who has fought against Hell since the time of Heaven! He whose rage is unending! He who rips and tears! Bless his name! Amen!
The Eternal Crusade with which He charged humanity with carrying out has informed the lives of every citizen within the Exitium, and in His name do we sculpt our many Churches. Not every institution is a Church unto itself, but the orders charged with the most sacred of our duties are our greatest religious organizations. Many exist, but the largest and most important are as follows:
The Church of the Lector, which is charged with the instruction of children, the teaching of our religion and the spiritual upkeep of the citizenry,
The Church of the Slayer, which gathers, trains and fields the greatest of our warriors in the image of the Doom Slayer Himself,
The Church of the Predator, which handles matters of crusading and warmaking from the lowliest warriors to the tactics of fleets,
The Church of the Seraphim, which is dedicated to the development of the magics and sorcery of both utility and war, to which we owe so much,
The Church of the Wretch, which is charged with research and development of the latest magitechnology,
The Church of the Saviour, which feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and shelters the homeless.
Magic: Sorcery, Hermetics and Theurgy
It was known even during the time of the Great Ignorance that magics were a powerful force that could be harnessed for the good of all. Of course, the inverse was true, and humanity would learn quickly that the foul servants of Hell wielded power that far dwarfed the simple play-magic of early humanity. Attempts to gain this power were generally unsuccessful, for humanity sought to control magic as though it was a part of the regular universe, to be studied and known through the same patterns that turn water to ice or air to breath. It was the Doom Slayer who showed humanity that magic has its own rules - and that true power would come from the incorporation of magic and technology. Since the Second Age, the Exitium has lavished great focus on the magic arts, and the rewards have been fruitful indeed.
Magic may be used as a catch-all term for all of these mystic arts, but the Exitium practices three primary classes of magic. Sorcery refers to the manipulation of reality via the imposition of the aether - the space between the planes of Hell and the Real - through the metaphysical reconstruction of spiritual pattern and fueled by sheer force of will; here lies the battlemage, who wields purge-fire and holy lightning. Hermetics is a broad field which deals with the preparation of magic by ritual means, often fueled by the sacrificing of souls and the construction of magi-geometry - encompassing everything from rune magic to faster-than-light travel via astral warping and even instant-construction. Theurgy is the last and most powerful class of magic, which seeks to unite the user with the Source; the very essence of power which surges through the aether made one with the caster. Alas, theurgy - the power to make miracles - is a skill that can be as much danger as boon, and so its mechanics will not be found here. Theurgy's applications can be achieved by even the common folk, though, and blood-wards of healing and protection are known by all in the Exitium.
Economy
The economy of the Exitium finds its roots in the early Ages of humanity, where continued survival was not a goal to be fought for, but rather a hope kept alive only by daily sacrifice. During these dark times, no formal, unified currency existed, and yet a common unit of barter was still in demand amongst the many bastions of humanity - and one was found in the form of ammunition. After all, even today we are eternally besieged by the demonic hordes of Hell, and in those early days there was always a need for the bullet and the energy-cell. Nowadays the Exitium has the luxury of an electronic currency that spans the many systems of humanity: the cart, short for cartridge. In its physical form, it is shaped like miniature, flattened bullet, with a hole through which one may thread a ring or string. There are six carts in a cylinder (a seven-spoked disc), thirty carts in a magazine (a curved rectangle), sixty carts in a box (a cube) and one-hundred carts in a belt (two linked and open rings.) Most transactions are counted in carts and belts, simply for ease of use, though travellers to the Exitium who wish to carry some change may adopt the custom of carrying a few loose carts and perhaps a cylinder or two.
"...and that was 'Infinity of Slaughter' by the Serrated Blade! The SB is going on tour next month and the Revelation Network has, that's right, VIP tickets to their concerts in all three major sanctuary cities on Holysteele. For listeners offworld, worry not - the SB is also touring throughout Sector Ironclad and they're also making a quick stop in Sector Trailblazer - you can check any of the SB's social media pages or the Revelation Network's frontpage on the galnet for the full list of touring stops. If you're not from Ironclad or Trailblazer, fret not - you'll get the chance to speak with the band's members via astral projection, plus a recording of the concerts and all the VIP swag you'd normally get will be shipped to you, free of charge! Now, to enter you'll need to be our ninth caller after the mid-day prayer broadcast - so get your phones and comms ready!
It's 12:50 which means it's traffic time! It's looking pretty good on all of the major inter-city transitways, no major congestion or blockages anywhere. There's major construction in downtown Vendetta due to ongoing building-summoning which is scheduled to be finished later today, affecting stops from ICT-17 through ICT-19. We are getting reports that there is an accident which has caused some delays for those of you transiting into the main transit-port in Scythe from the downtown core as well..."
It is one in the afternoon. Loyal warriors, scholars and children of humanity, I hope you have had a productive and wonderful day so far. If you can, please join me in your daily second round of prayer.
Yours is the shield that guards us from sin...
This document has been specially prepared for individuals possessing clearance of OUTER CIRCLE or higher.
Persons without authorization caught reading, distributing or possessing this document will face the full extent of the law.
HIGH CIRCLE OF THE ASARI REPUBLICS (OUTER CIRCLE AND ABOVE)
EMERGENCY WORKING SESSION SUMMARY RE: FC W/ THE 'EXALTED EXITIUM'
2157 - JUNE THE SIXTEENTH
Moderator Presiding: Rilayana Makani
Individuals in attendance:
Sanaze Irissa, Senior Aide to Councilor Tevos
Leora, Justicar
Aelik, Justicar
Nyxunne, Justicar
Benezia, Matriarch
Seyina, Matriarch
Maarata, Matriarch
Vienti, Matriarch
Liunir T'nalas, Diplomat
Nassana Dantius, Diplomat
Nyxunne M'taqua, Diplomat
Sha'ira Diris, Consort
BLACK DAGGER [Redacted]
BLACK SHOTGUN [Redacted]
CRIMSON PISTOL [Redacted]
GOLD FANG [Redacted]
WHITE YAKSHAL [Redacted]
EMPRESS [Redacted]
First Contact is always a time of tumult and chaos, and yet it is this working group's belief that the situation - as it stands - has the potential to quickly outpace both the Rachni Invasion and the Krogan Rebellions in the scale of catastrophe that could follow in its wake. The Exalted Exitium, the society which we now face, is one which claims to have been at war without pause for fifty thousand years - from a species which, without the assistance of their so-called "magictechnology," has a lifespan of around one-hundred-fifty years. Their society, by their own gleeful admission, is one which venerates compassion just as much as it does carnage; they list a religious order of charity on the same level as they do their churches-militant.
This is a society which is, to this group, a walking contradiction, forged out of what must seem to the humans like a truly eternal conflict. Understanding an alien species is always difficult during First Contact, but this group cannot begin to grasp the mindset of humanity as a whole. Here is a society which truly, fervently believes with every fibre of its being that they wage war on demonic servants of Hell; that magic and sorcery are an everyday part of life; that the highest and most noble of callings is that of the "Slayer," who lives only for bloodshed. Here is a society for whom the science of cloning exists alongside the literal "science" of miracle-making.
Our point is that any and all negotiations with the Exitium must take into account their unusual and warlike nature - and so too must we admit that while the exact nature of this "Hell" and its "demons" may not be divine, several pieces of evidence from both the Exitium and our own experiences (see Special Emergency Report RE: Citadel Fleet Research Vessel Silverthread) lead us to conclude that this "Hell" of the Exitium's is an all-too-real-threat. Our primary concern must, as always, be the safekeeping of the Asari Republics and of Citadel space, and this means that until the precise nature of the threat that "Hell" poses to us is ascertained the exchange of knowledge between the Exitium and the Citadel are of paramount importance. Specifically, the potential for hostiles to use what the Exitium refers to as "dimensional portal-based warping" to invade Citadel space without the need for logistical support across distances means that, theoretically speaking we could be under immediate threat and not even realize it. (Instructions provided by Spectre Saren Arterius immediately following initial First Contact would appear to support that claim; the construction of one of the so-called "gore nests" is well within the reach of a determined civilian, let a lone a turian marine who has apparently suffered some sort of Hell-induced psychotic break.)
The Justicars present have also raised a concerning point - that if we are to, for the purposes of argument, take the Exitium's claims of Hell and its demonic denizens at face value, then we should also consider the very real possibility that the races of Citadel space may have come into contact with this dimension in the past without realizing it. In particular, Justicars Nyxunne and Aelik - both of whom are particularly well-versed in ancient Justicar history - noted that of the few written records which can be traced back to the ancient orders of warriors which gave rise to the Justicars of today, several make reference to fighting "demons" and "hellspawn." Previously, these references were dismissed as the affectations of primitive asari society or explained away as being contact with new forms of wildlife; while it is the opinion of this group that such is probably the case, preparations have been made to re-examine these records.
Several agents also raised the point that it is entirely possible that the Exitium is exaggerating the scale and nature of the conflict; while, of course, it is impossible to determine the truth without firsthand knowledge, we are ill-inclined to believe that the Exitium has not exaggerated the scale of the war they are in. Furthermore, given the zealotry and religious language used, it is the opinion of this working group that there is a non-zero chance that these so-called "demons" are not, in fact, the uniformly evil society that the humans make them out to be; rather, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that these "demons" may just as much be the victims of a religious crusade fueled by an expansionist Exitium. Priority efforts must dedicated to ascertaining the truth, lest the Asari Republics be placed at a grave disadvantage during further negotiations.
Lastly, we must recommend that any offers of a consulate or diplomatic mission aboard the Citadel be postponed until the points raised in the previous section can be, at minimum, cleared up. if it does turn out that the Exitium is the aggressor in a religious war then in doing so we avoid losing face as having supported the "wrong" side, even if we can claim ignorance; if our fears turn out to be unfounded then we simply explain that matters of security are important to us (or that preparations must be made, etc, etc.)
The full, unedited transcript of the meeting can be found attached to this message...
Demons (Types, Abridged, Part One)
There are a great number of creatures which can be said to be hellspawn, and since the First Age countless variations of the many species of demon which call Hell home have been counted. A larger compendium can be found in the unabridged digital copy of the Volumes of Unity, but the following creatures are amongst the most common.
Possessed and Gore Nests
The ranks of the possessed are composed of those unlucky enough to be exposed to Lazarus waves, Hell energy or corrupting runes without the benefits of inoculation or protection; the result is a transformation from the base species into a mindless servant of Hell, responding only to the infernal commands of some unknown higher power. Supporting the "higher-power" theory is the fact that records from the early Ages indicate some would simply perish when overwhelmed with any of the listed carriers of possession. Since the Tenth Age, all afflicted individuals have been forced into the ranks of the possessed. Possessed individuals will immediately begin to transform into ghastly abominations; over the course of several hours, individuals will be afflicted with necrosis of the skin and all organs save for the brain, a process only made worse by a tendency towards self-mutilation. As the twenty-hour mark approaches, facial features begin to rot and the skull begins to twist and deform; any clothes or equipment not removed by this point will begin to fuse into the body of the possessed. At the twenty-four-hour mark, the process is completed, and the once living individual will be a faceless demon - a true servant of Hell. Some possessed who have fused with their weaponry can continue to utilize their tools of war, but do not mistake this for sentience; once turned the only mercy one can grant is a swift, clean, death.
Even before the transformation process begins, afflicted individuals will carry out behaviours on instinct - or command. Primary of the possessed's functions is to construct gore nests - piles of corpses ritually enhanced to form small portals into Hell, allowing demons to enter our plane unhindered. If multiple possessed individuals are present during the construction of a gore nest, some will begin inscribing runes of corruption around the nest, allowing Hellish corruption to leak into normal space and accelerating the gore nest's growth. While an incomplete gore nest can be destroyed with simple munitions, the only way to destroy a mature nest is to either tear its heart out and face an onslaught of demons who will attempt to defend the nest as the portal fades, or use a holy weapon or spell to seal the portal and overload the gore nest with the power of the Light.
Imps
Imps are by far the most common demon encountered on the battlefields of Hell; it is not uncommon for an unchecked incursion into our plane to begin with hordes of imps thrown at defensive positions, in waves of fifty thousand or more. Despite their status as cannon fodder in the view of the Lords of Hell, one should not assume that the common imp is an easy kill. With razor-sharp claws, plasma-fire generation capabilities and the ability to traverse nearly any surface, imps have been able to slay even the most seasoned of warriors due to a simple underestimation of their lethality. Their true danger, however, comes from their cunning - imps have been known to camouflage themselves, hide in nooks and crannies, set up ambushes, play dead amongst their fellows and even lay plasma-mines beneath slain Exitium warriors.
Though the imps of today may look nearly identical to those encountered as far back as the First Age, they are exponentially more dangerous. The average imp's claws are supernaturally sharp, easily capable of slashing deep into all but the most magically-reinforced armour, and the plasmatic-hellfire has been noted to instantly reduce unarmoured flesh to cinders. The greatest "improvement" to the imp, however, has been reinforcements to its sturdiness; during the Fourth Age the forces of Hell adopted the Exitium's practice of runic inscription within the bodies of their warriors, and recent autopsies have shown skillful use of structural reinforcement, hellfire-boosters and even mild theurgic regeneration. The modern imp is fully capable of sustaining damage well beyond what its simple flesh would indicate, and imps have been known to continue fighting despite losing limbs, or even their heads. While a well-aimed salvo of two three-shot bursts from a standard-issue Penance T.26.1 shotgun is capable of downing an imp, do not mistake a downed imp for a dead imp - many a warrior has been lost to a "dead" imp returning to life for one last furious barrage of claw, tooth and fire.
As the most numerous demon of Hell, so too does the imp have the most variants - ranging from the invisibility-capable prowlers and winged azazels to the "medically" inclined sacrificials, which can use their own souls to restore and resurrect greater demons upon their deaths. Imps are also somewhat unique amongst the denizens of Hell - for they possess the ability to perform the Rites of Ascension upon absorbing enough power, be that through accumulation of Hell energy over time or the gathering of souls. Once they perform the Rites, imps can transcend their forms and emerge from the Hellfire as greater beings - summoners, harvesters or archviles.
Redeemed
The Redeemed are demons who have renounced their former allegiances to Hell, and now serve the Exitium like any other human in service of the War Eternal, fighting in His name against their previous allies. Demons of higher intelligence from all of the major species have turned on Hell after seeing the Light of the Slayer, though it is true that generally speaking the Exitium has seen more defections from the more intelligent and from those who would have been placed in the higher echelons of Hell's abhorrent society. All Redeemed, once they are thoroughly questioned and examined by the Church of the Redeemed's finest agents, are placed on probation and inscribed with the Mark of the Redeemed, a yellow sigil worn in plain sight which will turn red if the demon in question attacks humans. After they have been observed for a period of time, and are deemed to be genuine in their intention to serve the Light, the demon is free to join the ranks of the Redeemed and make their way through the Exitium's society as they please.
While there are not many Redeemed, plenty have eschewed the simple life available to them and have rise to prominence in a variety of fields ranging from celebrity chef (Chagar, an imp), diplomat (Faenmoch egi Xakhal, a summoner), warrior (Balam-Assilan, a cyberdemon) and even a healer (Ceihar egi Veridan, a mixed-race harvester-archvile). Even those who choose a simple life of labour or service, however, are deeply revered and respected - for what greater proof is there of the Doom Slayer's guiding fist than to see a former enemy stand with the Exitium against the hosts of Hell? Exalted is the Doom Slayer, blessings upon His name. Amen!
Furthermore, there are examples of quasi-Redeemed amongst the less intelligence denizens of Hell, though given their limited intelligence these creatures cannot be said to truly be Redeemed. For example, it is possible to capture Lost Souls if they are contained just after spawning, and imprinted upon with holy magic before their infernal flames appear. Such creatures, known as Saved Souls, fetch a high price and are both a status symbol and a well-beloved pet by their owners. Some breeds of Pinky have also been domesticated, and while certainly not as popular as bloodsport the practice of betting on Pinky racing remains common.
TURIAN HIERARCHY EXECUTIVE SUMMIT PRIORITY ONE
EMERGENCY SESSION: FIRST CONTACT WITH EE [JUNE 16 - 2157]
DOCUMENT TYPE: SUMMARY, FOR IMMEDIATE DISSEMINATION TO DIVISION ONE PERSONNEL
MAXIMUM SECURITY / SUB-CLEARANCE DIVISION TWO FC-TYPE / EYES ONLY
First Contact establishment with the Exalted Exitium represents the largest potential upheaval in the security balance of the Citadel since the Krogan Rebellions, and even with the limited intelligence available to the Hierarchy at this time there is no question that the citizens of the Exitium, whether they realize it or not, pose a grave threat to galactic stability as we know it. Putting aside the matters of the supernatural and magical, the mere fact that a civilization that numbers in (at minimum) the trillions appears to be entirely composed of religious zealots is supremely concerning. Thankfully, ties have remained cordial with Spectre Saren Arterius, who was happy to give his impressions so far - and though his overall time with the representatives of the Exitium has been limited, his preliminary reports indicate that the Exitium's ambassadors (at this time) have been friendly. The problem remains however that the members of Citadel space are ill-equipped to handle an influx of citizens who are violently zealous about their "War Eternal" against the literal demonic forces of Hell, not even counting the ramifications of a society whose industrial output supposedly dwarfs the combined economic power of the Turian Hierarchy, the Asari Republics and the Salarian Union combined. We can express our hopes that the situation remains optimal - that the Exitium's citizens will take no offense at the Citadel's lack of religion - but we must face the very real threat that the optimal situation is not the one we will be met with.
Even assuming that the Exitium has grossly exaggerated the size and scope of their civilization (which, in the opinion of this session, it most likely has not) the Citadel's members are not in any way, shape or form prepared for an extended conflict against a numerically-superior foe operating from an alternate base of technology. Defensive posture orders have already been issued, but this session remains worried about the possibility that if friendly negotiations are not rapidly achieved with the Exitium, that it may attempt to exert pressure - hard or soft - on the Citadel's members to assist it in its religious crusade. While the Citadel's members thankfully have resolved the vast majority of its geopolitical tensions, on a socioeconomic level defenses are not in place to handle matters on this scale. The Department of Finance is currently working in their own session to discuss possible ramifications of contact with the Exitium as well as estimations of their industrial output; future meetings with include involved members once their preliminary reports are finished.
Regarding the Exitium's claims of magic and supernatural power, while it is our immediate reaction to doubt said claims the testimony and footage obtained from Spectre Saren Arterius are hard to discount; regardless of the degree to which the Exitium's claims of "magitechnology" are true, one cannot dispute the fact that they possess technology that is derived from a base wildly different to anything we are familiar with. Spectre Arterius has noted that the Exitium is, at least according to its representatives, fully willing to share this information without hesitation because (as stated by Lord Admiral Jon Grissom of the Exitium) "Hell does not discriminate against what species it corrupts and kills, only that its victims can be corrupted and their souls harvested to fuel their demonic affronts to the Slayer's will." Whether that statement is an implicit understanding that the gifting of this technology comes with an assurance that the Citadel's members and by extension the Hierarchy will join the Exitium's "War on Hell" has yet to be determined; the possibility that the Hierarchy may very well not be in any position to refuse an offer of such value also remains to be determined.
Spectre Arterius has also expressed concern with the "demonic runes" found aboard the Silverthread prior to its destruction, as well as the apparent ability of anyone corrupted by this "demonic" power to open portals to Hell. (Orders are already being carried out to isolate the afflicted marines in question, as well as the execution of the one soldier who the Exitium has stated to be beyond saving.) The fact that any civilian with enough drive could construct one of these so-called "gore nests" and easily get away with it thanks to the vastness of Citadel Space is not a threat to be taken lightly, and while we are fully capable of keeping this information under lockdown for the immediate future once relations are solidified with the Exitium (who apparently have been dealing with gore nests for long enough that information regarding their construction is public knowledge) keeping that information under wraps will be nigh-impossible without obvious media blackouts.
Also of note is the fact that, in a less formal conversation between Spectre Arterius and Abbess Hannah Shepard of the Exitium's Church of the Slayer (an elite religious military order), Abbess Shepard stated that "it is entirely possible that your peoples did indeed encounter the forces of Hell in its infancy; many of the primitive pre-industrial races the Exitium has come across faced limited incursions from Hell. As a matter of course...many of the ancient records that we have from our own times pre-First Age speak of demons and Hell, and...while it is just as likely that those records are the simple fears of primitive turian society you should not discount the very real chance that in those texts you will find a sliver of truth." While none of the individuals at this session are well-versed enough in ancient turian history to speak officially on the matter, Agent [REDACTED] did note during their university studies in anceint history that some experts believe the origins of the Spiritus Legatos can be found in religious warrior organizations which, based on the Agent's (admittedly far from perfect) recollection, at least superficially resemble those of the Exitium's. The matter has been deemed a matter of national interest and the Department of Defense has contacted several individuals in order to look into the matter, if only to get a better understanding of how the Exitium sees itself.
The working goals produced by this session are threefold. One, facilitate and maintain friendly relations with the Exitium for as long as possible while intelligence-gathering operations to verify the Exitium's claims are carried out. Two, accelerate defensive posture shifts both in the fields of military materiel and on an economic front (brainstorming sessions are ongoing amongst the Department of Finance.) Three, continue development of wargaming scenarios emulating worst-possible outcomes.
Demons (Types, Abridged, Part Two)
Hell Knights
If imps and their variants can be said to be the common foot-soldiers of Hell, Hell Knights are the first steps into Hell's elite warriors. They, like the rest of the more numerous of the demonic hosts of Hell, pre-date the First Age; today, they form what is believed to be the lowest rung of Hell's nobility. To the demonic overlords which rule the armies of Hell, an imp is little more than a number to be thrown at humanity - and though the Hell Knights are nearly as numerous as imps, they are not left to organize into hordes on their own. As their name implies, they are guardians of Hell, charged with the safekeeping of its relics and its fortresses, with defending their superiors and protecting their sacred icons.
The modern Hell Knight is a towering beast, averaging roughly fourteen feet in height; they are rust-skinned, possess a thick protective shell which covers their torso, arms and lower legs, and have powerful legs which allow the Hell Knight to leap long distances without effort. A Hell Knight without weapons should not be mistaken for an unarmed foe; they have been known to crush armoured foes with a mighty stomp, and their fists, enchanted with incredible Hell-magic, have been known to occasionally punch through even reinforced tank armour. Their eyeless faces mask their keen, magically-imbued senses; Hell Knights have excellent visual acuity, able to pick out foes not masked by both psychic and physical camouflage systems in total darkness. All this alone makes them a formidable foe - and though our ancestors were blessed that the Hell Knights refused the luxury of armament, since the Third Age the Hell Knights have accepted that survival and martial power comes before honour. Today the average Hell Knight is equipped with heavily enchanted and heavily layered full-body armour, and while most continue to refuse the dishonour of carrying a dedicated long-range weapon the most commonly seen combination of melee weapon, shield and magic means that at all but the longest ranges a Hell Knight can be extraordinarily lethal.
Hell Knights appear to prefer sorcerous magics in combat, the most common application of which is a medium-range ball of concentrated Hellfire. These Hellfire orbs are a step above the plasma-fire of the common imp; while the average armoured warrior can shrug off maybe a dozen imp projectiles before their runic shielding begins to fail, Hell Knights can achieve the same effect with two or three blasts of well-aimed Hellfire. Up close, Hell Knights can spray gouts of Hellfire, enchant their weapons to burn with unholy flames and even project their abhorrent fire in an aura around them. Their unarmoured bodies take six to seven three-shot bursts from a standard-issue Penance T.26.1 shotgun; depending on its quality, an armoured Hell Knight might take anywhere between twelve to twenty. Of course, variants of Hell Knights might pose any number of alternative threats - be sure to consult the unabridged version of this guide for more information.
Thus, when faced with a horde of imps and a handful of Hell Knights, one must take care to eliminate the Hell Knights first - imps may be fast, but they are easy to slay, while a Hell Knight is a formidable foe. Given their propensity to survive attacks from standard-issue firearms, doctrine states that the best way to eliminate the threat they pose is to charge into battle with blades drawn and magic at the ready! Remember the most holy of commands passed down by the Slayer: rip and tear, until it is done! Where bullet and plasma-charge and holy-shot fail you, your fists and your blades cannot! Even the most heavily-armoured of Hell Knights is no match for the whirling hatred of a rune-enhanced and properly-blessed chainsword or chainaxe - and all but the mightiest Hell Knights will scream in terror at the destructive force of a well-aimed gout of blessed purge-fire or blast of holy lightning. And if you are without blade, simply activate a Berserk charge and finish the job with your fists.
Barons of Hell
A Hell Knight who has survived many battles, slain many thousands of enemies and consumed their souls may find themselves lucky enough to be brought before their demonic overlords and given the right to become a Baron of Hell; such a demon undergoes a number of horrific rites and tests. Once they pass, the Hell Knight undergoes a disgusting transformation and emerges many days later from their flesh-cocoon as a Baron of Hell. (Alternatively, a demon might have the "fortune" of simply being born as a Baron of Hell.) Averaging roughly twenty-five feet in height, a Baron is a much rarer sight on the battlefield than the Hell Knight (though still a common presence in any large battle); while they do not possess any inherent abilities that the Hell Knight does not have, the Baron's larger size and massive horns pose an equivalently larger threat. Similarily, the weapons they carry and the magic they weild is generally more powerwful than that of the Hell Knights, and it is from the Barons of Hell that the demonic hosts draw upon to create some of their mightiest warriors - Cyber-barons, Cardinals, Afrits, and more. Barons, as their name implies, also occupy a higher standing within Hell's hierarchy of demons; for more information you may consult the unabridged Volumes of Unity on demonic society. Faster-Than-Light Travel
The Exitium possesses three methods of faster-than-light travel. The most popular - and safest - form of FTL is via an Aether Rending Drive (ARD), which utilizes various sorceries, complex hermetic rituals and a small amount of rare conventional fuels to slice open a ship-sized portal into the aether (the term for the plane from which sorcery and theurgy are drawn, which occupies the gap between normal space and Hell.) From there, the ship aims itself towards the exit destination and sets the ARD to discharge at the exit point, allowing the user to travel at an approximate maximum speed of ten thousand light-years per hour; it should be noted that the maximum speed requires an incredibly large ARD charged with a wide variety of rare magic fuels, and that the average ARD travel speed is closer to roughly two thousand light-years per hour with diminishing returns as one gets closer to the maximum. Any failures with the ARD will simply result in the ship being spit back into normal space - which, while inconvenient, is a relatively safe proposition.
The Theurgic Hellcutter Drive (THD), on the other hand, occupies the other end of the spectrum in terms of speed and safety, for with a fully-charged THD, one can travel upwards of a hundred thousand lightyears in less than a microsecond. However, the fuel costs here are calculated by distance, and where the ARD uses both magic and common fuels the THD requires souls to function. Activation of the THD utilizes these souls to power an incredibly complex and arcane set of theurgic magics which require both perfect operation of the mechanics of a THD as well as intense focus by several dozen theurgy-trained mages. When operating properly, the THD uses Hell as a shortcut, forming a theurgic barrier between the ship and Hell-space while riding the astral energy planes of Hell - the source, experts believe, of Hell's ever-expanding and spatially anomalous behaviour. While speaking generally there is no shortage of demonic souls available for general fuel use within the Exitium, distances over a thousand light-years begin to experience exponential increases in both the number of souls required and the spiritual force required of each soul. Travel costs from one Sector to another might require thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of souls on par with that of a Spider Mastermind or Cyberdemon to perform properly - let alone travelling across the entire Exitium. Furthermore, a single error within the drive or a momentary lapse in focus by one of the mages powering the drive can result in catastrophe, as any interruption of the theurgic magic powering the THD will result in the ship being deposited deep in the heart of Hell. Records kept since the THD's introduction in the Twelfth Age show that only five ships which have suffered a THD failure have ever made it back into real space, and of those five only one did so without losing a majority of its crew.
The Spatial Tunnelers were discovered in year 62 of the Twenty-Sixth Age, remnants of a civilization which utilized a far different technological base than the Exitium's. (N.B: For readers originating from the Citadel who are examining this Volume as part of First Contact protocols, Spatial Tunnelers are referring to what you have called "mass relays.") Spatial Tunnelers work, as their name implies, by forming a zero-mass "tunnel" between it and a linked spatial tunneler; while the Exitium has only found eight tunnelers experts believe that an entire network of these may exist. However, given the dangers of establishing colonies due to the threat of demonic incursion wherever the Exitium establishes long-term settlements, all but two of the tunnelers have been locked down and are only opened in case of emergency or for scientific research. The Church of the Wretch has expressed interest in the construction of its own STs, and some have even floated the idea of mounting STs to our own ships and stations to create our own travel network. The future is bright, and in the name of the Slayer we shall march forward, ever-innovating to spread His word! Amen!
Demoncraft
While demons (thankfully) tend to remain within Hell to plot their foul incursions into normal space, it is not beyond the reach of the hosts of Hell to construct their own machinery. While the forces of Hell tend to shun the use of tanks and other vehicles in favour of either corrupting the Exitium's or utilizing one of their many enormous demons as equivalents, Hell lacks demons capable of spaceflight - and so it is that, on rare occasions, Hell will assemble its own demoncraft to take the fight to the forces of good in space itself. Slayer's blessings upon us, the servants of Doom tend to ignore this ability as it tends to be less practical than simply marshalling resources for incursions, but on rare occasions - usually only for the most serious of invasions - Hell will devote some of its incalculable resources to the construction of these unholy machines. Demoncraft are too rare to have any sort of rigorous standardization applied to them, but they all share common characteristics: they are generally aesthetically modelled like large, floating shrines, unenclosed and maintaining atmosphere by some manner of disgusting Hell-magic. Historically, each one has been capable of carrying a crew numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and demoncraft are covered in all manner of weaponry. They are, Slayer protect, not equipped with FTL devices; rather, they are simply spat into space via portal near a conflict zone where they are free to fire upon the Exitium's vessels and disgorge their foul contents onto a battlefield via short-range warp teleportation.
Any visitor to the Exitium who spots a demoncraft is advised to record the location of the sighting and flee the area immediately, for where a demoncraft goes a full-scale invasion is not far behind. Your report will be immediately escalated to the Church of the Predator and a hunter-killer team will be dispatched in short order to cleanse the threat.