Comes the Messenger

War Captan Tor'han sat at the bridge of Incorruptable, breathing a sigh of relief. The humans were ending their attack and retreating to hyperspace. His plan of splitting the enemy forces on either side of the planet had paid off. Tactical was reporting the descrutction two hyperion cruisers and half the enemy scout ships. More important was the destruction of the nova dreadnought Posiedon. This was one of only three such ships in the human fleet and it had worried him almost as much as those damnable Orestes battleships.

As if to echo his thoughts, Incorruptable began to shudder as power was restored to the engines. The masive dreadnought had been struk twice and set adrift by the powerful laser of the Orestes, Winfield Scott. A shame he hadn't been able to reach optimal fighting range with him. Tor'han wondered who would prevail in such a battle. Incorruptable was a tough ship, but the Scott could match it blow-for-blow. Intelligence informed him that the commander of all human forces in the system was on that ship. Commendable; and telling. Nearly every other race the Dilgar had fought were commanded from remote locations. The humans seemed to understand that a commander leads from within the battle.

Reports continued to arrive. Their primary assault ship, Terror, along with the other assault craft had been savaged. It seems the humans had singled out his virus bombardment ships intentionally. Why, he wondered? Their contribution to the battle was a token one. Their virus bombs and mass drivers were of little use outside a planetary assault. Perhaps they meant to blunt the Dilgar ability to capture more planets? Since the humans held no other habitable planets this implied close cooperation with the Centauri - a troubling thought.

A full pentacon of torpedo frigates was lost. Again. Duty on these ships had become a kind of punishment, or proving ground depending on the outlook of the crew. The replacement ships were even begining to show this in their names: Hazard, Peril, Penance. The War Captain chuckled at this. At least gallows humor was still humor. And they would need all the elan that they could muster.

Things were much more desperate back at Omelos. The homeworld was now under constant attack. Raids for now, but the final assault was expected at any moment. Everything rested on his success here. The torrent of refugee ships had now ceased entirely. What they had was all there would ever be.

Sieze the system then destroy the jump gate. It was a slim hope, but all that remained for his people.

Still, they were well established here. Their scientific and industrial base was growing as the facilities around the base expanded. A testament to this was the series of new and experimental vessels leaving the local shipyards now. There was a command destroyer with a Jump Engine installed - the smallest jump capable ship in the history of his people. Several craft were upgraded with improved sensors, able to pinpoint and target enemy scout ships despite their stealth technology. If they could simply buy breathing space, a few decades at most, then their people could once again be a vital empire.

The ELINT officer suddenly broke his reverie, "Sir! We have a ship arriving in high orbit. Jump point opening now. IFF codes identify her as... Sir?"

High above the glittering orb of Demeter a tear in space opened and a ship made the transition from the hellish landscape of hyperspace to the relative calm of realspace. The ship was massive, larger even than Incorruptable. Its configuration was one Tor'han had never seen before. But the huge imperial seal emblazoned on the hull left little question as to what it represented. This was the Throne of Judgement, flagship of the Dilgar empire and arguably the most powerful ship in space outside the Minbari Federation.

"Throne of Judgement requesting to speak with you, War Captain!" the comms officer relayed in barely suppressed excitement.

"Acknowledge their transmission," Tor'han pushed off from the console and floated to his command chair. Once he was strapped in he nodded to the young officer, "Patch them through."
The screen came to life, showing a suprisingly young woman in the commander's chair. Even more suprising was her low rank, not the sort of officer you would expect at the conn of the Imperium's flagship. The young officer addressed Tor'han with a salute, "Battle leader Fen'sta reporting for duty."

The War Captain regarded her with a mix of curiosity and dread, "Battle leader, perhaps you should explain yourself."

"Greetings, War Captain. I bring you a gift from Omelos," her eyes dropped to the floor as she finished the message, "The last that you will ever receive."

"Explain yourself, Battle leader," Tor'han calmly requested, though he feared he already knew the answer.

"Omelos has fallen. The fleet destroyed. It is now at the mercy of our enemies."

Silence filled the bridge of Incorruptable as each crewman processed this last statement.

Tor'han considered this news for a long moment. "We have a strong base of operations. From here we could wage a long and bloody vengence. It may take years but we can still liberate our people!" He was already begining to work out the logistics of an extended guerilla campaign against the League and Earthforce.

Fen'sta slowly and sadly shook her head. "Sir, I hold your final orders from the Emperor himself." She held up a sheet of paper and began to formally recite, "Tor'han, you have served the Imperium with honor and glory. I hereby appoint you Supreme Warmaster of the Dilgar Imperium. This ship...the flagship of the Imperium...is now your flagship." It was an effort for her to keep her voice steady, but to her credit she barely managed it. "You are to never return to Omelos. Consider it lost forever. You will understand in due time." A moment's pause, and the young officer looked up at Tor'han. "That is the end of the message."

Gal'fen, the XO and Tor'han's aid de camp through decades of campaigning, stood to attention and shouted, "Hail the Supreme Warmaster!" Such was the confidence and power of his voice that the rest of the bridge crew immediately responded.

"Hail the Supreme Warmaster!"

Tor'han looked out the viewport amidst the cheers of his crew. The planet hanging there in the sky was no longer Demeter. For better or worse it was Homeworld.