History of the Emperor's Hammer,
From a Strike Fleet to an Imperial Power...
Compiled and written by Jarak Maldon (jarak@stny.rr.com)

Formation and Ascension,
1 year pre - .5 year Post Endor...

It was a turbulent time for the Empire. The Rebellion had managed to spread its influence nearly galaxy-wide. Each day, dozens of planets harbored Rebel activity, and many worlds fully adapted to their control. With the destruction of the space battlestation, the Death Star, Emperor Palpatine ordered the largest, most impressive military campaign ever created. He wanted the Rebellion crushed.

In three years, from the Battle of Yavin to the Battle of Hoth, the Galactic Empire increased its military manpower by nearly two-hundred percent. Thousands of Imperial Star Destroyers, Imperator-Class, were constructed to bring the fleet total to just below twenty-five thousand. Never before had there been a fleet of such incredible size and power. The Imperial Armed Ground Force tripled its able soldier rosters and the number of Imperial Stormtroopers increased sixty percent.

While it was the largest military upscale in history one area stood out that was below average, skill. While the Imperial Juggernaught was more than large enough it needed skilled war veterans to serve as its officers and commanders. All too frequently newly promoted Admirals and Commodores would find themselves under fire for lack of experience. Nearly a million ships needed nearly a million commanders, and skill didn't always go along.

The Council of Grand Admirals then decided to create several "Elite Fleets" that would serve as command fleets. In the Empire itself there were over twenty separate fleets, half of which were home guard in the Core Regions. Most Mid and Outer Rim fleets were offensive forces. The best of these fleets received Executor-Class Super Star Destroyers as command ships. A plan was created to create four fleets that would serve the elite purpose of overall command.

In the end, however, it became lopsided. There were four fields: Superiority, Defence, Heavy Strike, and Escort Guard. Superiority, the overall most important, became known as the "Emperor's Sword." This was Death Squadron, Lord Vader's personal force commanded by the Super Star Destroyer Executor. The Defence fleet was decided to be the 4th Core Fleet, its commander being Admiral Zisinj. This fleet became known as the "Emperor's Shield" and was flagged by the Super Star Destroyer Brawl (later re-named Iron Fist). The last fleet was really the Emperor's personal force all together, the Emperor's Hands. It never became an actual naval force since it was adapted by the Emperor himself.

The final class was Heavy Strike, but it never came to life. Grand Admiral Zaarin shot down the proposal since it fell before him for approval. He decided that he would consolidate the entire fleet idea into one wing of starfighters assigned under Lord Vader's command. The host ship was the Star Destroyer Avenger, the wing aboard became known as the "Emperor's Hammer."

It wasn't until after the Battle of Hoth had concluded that the force came alive. Zaarin was already planning his own rise to power at the time and decided on a Wing Commander that he hoped he could convert over to his force, taking with him a nest of valuable officers. Starfighter Colonel Stephan Ronin, a Sif native and nobility-raised officer, was chosen for the job. What Zaarin didn't count on, however, was Ronin's steadfast loyality to Emperor Palpatine.

Grand Admiral Zaarin's defection worked according to plan, save the Emperor's Hammer didn't cooperate. Now-General Ronin, a member of the Delta Team that saved the Emperor from Zaarin's grasp, didn't have the faintest thought of assisting the traitor in his idiotic scheme to thwart the Empire. Admiral Thrawn was quickly promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral to fill the void left by Zaarin's unfortunate departure. General Ronin, in honor of his accomplishment, served in the campaign to thwart Zaarin alongside Thrawn.

The Emperor's Hammer first materialized as a true part of the Imperial Juggernaught when the defecting Zaarin was "captured" by Imperial agents. In reality this was a ruse, a way to detract attention away from an Imperial research facility where the defecting Grand Admiral ultimately met his demise. Still the Emperor's Hammer force was recognized as a true elite unit and was given that distinction by all Imperial forces.

General Ronin was considered not only the commander of the Emperor's Hammer wing, but as the Commodore of the Star Destroyer Avenger. One of the earliest assignments that was bestowed upon him was the assault and hopeful destruction of an annex facility of the Mon Calamari shipyards. The operation was a success, and though losses mounted, the new Emperor's Hammer force was successful.

In the short months between the Empire's greatest moment, the Battle of Hoth, and the beginning of its own demise the Emperor's Hammer partook in several military operations under contract from the Emperor or his advisors. In the wake of Zaarin's demise the Hammer was successful in recapturing key technological plans for starship designs that Zaarin was unable to implement and would later become valuable in future efforts of the splintered Empire. The Avenger alone destroyed a small Rebel force believed spying on Imperial operations, and they were more than successful in thwarting the plans of a small pirate gang.

During these months Lord Vader and the Emperor himself, by recommendation of Grand Admiral Thrawn, promoted Stephen Ronin to the rank of Admiral and awarded him full, legitimate command of a small grouping of ships in addition to the Avenger herself. It was also hinted that the Emperor's Hammer was to receive fleet status and her own flagship, a Super Star Destroyer under construction.

The wheels of the galaxy were turning, however. Several high-level Imperial officials, having plans for the Death Star II Battlestation, made a run to the Rebel Alliance whom were running a similar operation to capture rumored plans from Bothan agents. Ronin and the Emperor's Hammer found themselves embroiled in the conflict and dealt with the defecting party with swiftness. Shortly after Ronin was called into audience of the Emperor himself.

With the Death Star II reaching operational status the Emperor laid the groundwork for a massive campaign to thwart the Alliance for good, and only he knew it along with Darth Vader. Grand Admiral Thrawn, however, was less than willing to play along and voiced his discontent. As a result Thrawn found prompt reassignment to the Unknown Regions, a place from where which he came.

With another Grand Admiral gone the Emperor needed yet another void-filler. Ronin was the ideal candidate- An Admiral and the commander of an elite force, he filled the description of Grand Admiral exactly. To boot, Stephan Ronin was also a near clone of Thrawn in overall appearance. The plan was to have Ronin truly replace Thrawn, right down to identity. In return he was to be given a larger force, complete with a new Super Star Destroyer.

The plan was never carried out. The Emperor's promotion orders were only official in the Emperor's Hammer force, now the 1st Elite Imperial Strike Fleet. Before the planned deception could be carried out there was an attack at Endor that resulted in total victory for the Alliance over Palpatine's reign. The Death Star II was destroyed, as was Lord Vader's elite fleet. In the battle over half of the Grand Admirals were killed, as well as dozens more advisors and moffs.

Grand Admiral Ronin, who assumed his new rank and authority, arrived at the secret deep-core shipyards and claimed his prize, the Executor-Class Super Star Destroyer Avenger, the original ISD having been destroyed at Endor. He knew chaos was afoot. The Empire was in total disarray, and without the Emperor all upper command failed. Dozens of fleets, thousands of ships, were without orders. In a matter of months over a fourth of all Imperial forces were captured or destroyed by the newly proclaimed New Republic, which was spreading like wildfire. The reign of the Emperor's Hammer as a force within itself had begun.

------------------------------
Expansion and Alliance,
.5 - 2 Years Post Endor...

The Deep Core was a chaotic mess. Without stable command, and with several claiming the right to Imperial Sovereignty, the Empire was on the brink of total collapse. It would be a matter of only months, as the Republic could calculate, before the entire system collapsed. Sate Pestage, Imperil Grand Vizzner, claimed power that was almost automatically contested by the director of Imperial Intelligence, Ysanne Isard.

Grand Admiral Ronin was a warrior, not a man of politics. He realized that the Empire would only destroy itself in the present state of conditions in the Core. Already the commander of the Emperor's Shield, now-Warlord Zisinj, had broken away and formed his own commandership with his own SSD, the renamed Iron Fist. With the Republic approaching Ronin only knew one way to go: Rimward.

The Grand Admiral added ships, and often assimilated them under his command, as they went. Soon Star Destroyers such as the Immortal and the Relentless fell under Emperor's Hammer command. It had taken nearly a full year, but the trek outward was complete when the Emperor's Hammer arrived in the outlying Aurora Sector, a tract of space boarding the Minos Cluster and rimward of the Elroond Sector.

There Ronin assumed total control of the already-posted Imperial garrison, including the Star Destroyer's Intrepid and Grey Wolf, formerly of Thrawn's exploration fleet. A before-unknown world, Aurora Prime, was selected as the new seat of power. The Emperor's Hammer now became one of the many Imperial Factions, and nearly the largest spare the force of Warlord Zisinj. They had left the troublesome core behind and found rule in the ripe Outer Rim.

Aurora Prime was changed into the ideal image of an Imperial command world. Several high ranking officials were taken with the Emperor's Hammer to the rim, including many Coruscantian architects. To serve as a new command center the fleet command, mainly Vice Admiral Shawnshank, first executive officer of the Emperor's Hammer, suggested that Aurora be adapted into a "New Coruscant."

The plan included transforming the island continent of New Laconica into a sized-down replica of the Imperial City. The construction project took nearly two years and surpassed Coruscant's capture by the New Republic. Currently the cityscape has grown to cover nearly the entire continent, save the mountain regions on the western coastlines where Grand Admiral Ronin chose to build his private palace.

The Core Regions were by no means settled. Sate Pestage met death, most likely orchestrated by Isard herself and conducted by the hands of later-rogue Admiral Krannel. Hundreds of core planets were falling to the grasp of the expanding New Republic. Imperial admirals and grand admirals that sought peace, such as the ill-fated Admiral Oxtroe, but were stricken down. Even small warlorships created in self defence fell.

The Empire proper found command of Ysanne Isard, who was intent on becoming the next ruler, an Empress. She didn't expect the young Republic to assault Coruscant, an event which would come much later. The Emperor's Hammer now was more concerned with its own situation.

The Empire was alive, though barely, in the Outer Rim. The Aurora Sector was located Galactic South, a quadrant where Imperial Rule was very common. With the onset of the New Republic this jurisdiction of Imperial Rule fell separated from the core regions. Most territory that could be considered property of the Empire was between the Minos Cluster, rimward to the Kathol sector, and out to the Ison Corridor.

The space was not totally allied. Only a few parsecs away another Admiral-come-Warlord set up rule in the Oneve Sector, a tract of space between Minos and Elroond. Supreme Moff Lardo Babune instituted what became known later as the Imperial Orthodoxy, a troublesome hardly-loyal Imperial Faction. In the Kathol Sector anyone with a powerful fleet ruled. The Sector Moff changed overnight. Ronin considered many times to invade the sector, but frequent Republic attacks and advice from his executive and advisors changed his opinion.

The Republic was still a threat. They had secured space in the Mid and Outer Rims from Bothan Space, out to the edge of Wild Space, and up into the Mid Rim regions over nearly to the Unknown Regions. They had secured the Elroond Sector under a member-state clause and extended their territory past Minos nearly to the fringes of the Kathol Sector, giving the Emperor's Hammer a rowdy neighbor.

Frequently the Republic, in small force, attacked. Border skirmishes along the new-found territorial boundary was frequent. Often the two warring parties conducted major tactical plans against each-other. Grand Admiral Ronin knew he needed a more secure territory and a powerful fleet. A new avenue of opportunity opened when it was realized that another powerful force was nearby.

Emperor Palpatine had long since destroyed the majority of the Jedi Order, but he had future plans for a resurgence. He trained powerful Dark Side Adepts, power dark Force wielders under his supreme guidance. His goal was to enact a new Jedi Order on the foundations of the old, only under his jurisdiction and power. With his death this plan failed. Most of the Dark Adepts, mainly those on Byss, retracted into seclusion.

A small faction of the Emperor's Dark Jedi instated themselves in the Aurora Sector long before Grand Admiral Ronin and the Emperor's Hammer arrived. Their leader was a powerful Sith Lord named Kane Vader, a likeness of the late Lord Darth Vader. Kane's forces had hidden deep inside the Minos Cluster for years since the Emperor first dispatched them shortly after his reign began.

Darth Kane recognized the power of the Emperor's Hammer and pledged his service after a long string of negotiation for alliance. It was concluded that the Dark Brotherhood, which the order was called, and the Emperor's Hammer Strike Fleet could form a powerful alliance. Kane Vader and Grand Admiral Ronin, who was gifted by the Dark Master with powers of Force, sealed a pact to unite the two powers.

Kane Vader's reign was short. Unfit for the leadership of a now-known movement he rescinded his power and disappeared into the outer rim. The Dark Brotherhood was then taken control of by Lord Jedgar Octavian Paladin, one of the most distinguished members of the Emperor's Hammer to date.

It would be staid after that that the Emperor's Hammer was no longer a simple fleet under naval control, but a powerful Imperial Faction. Instantly her leaders called for expansion. New ships, such as the star destroyers Challenge and Colossus, were added to the fleet. The strength of the Emperor's Hammer force grew immensely, and the commander's agreed that additional territory was needed.

The Grand Admiral and Command Staff called for the conquest of the eight-planet Phare star system. This once-imperial system was on the edge of the system and many feared it would fall into Rebel hands or even under the jurisdiction of another Imperial Faction such as the Imperial Orthodoxy which was gaining support in neighboring sectors. The Emperor's Hammer set their eyes on the system, as well the local Grenfels and Seraii.

The Avenger and a sizable war fleet entered the system under the direct command of Grand Admiral Ronin and was able to easily win it over from a rogue band of Imperial breakaways. The Phare system and all her planets were added to the territorial listings of the Emperor's Hammer and became a large manufacturing center in the coming months.

Phare's addition called for the creation of a Corporate Sector within the EH's sphere of influence. The Corporate Sector Authority (CSA) left a sizable amount of industry behind on the Phare planets before it pulled out, and the Emperor's Hammer was more than willing to add it to their own infrastructure. Soon thereafter the Emperor's Hammer Corporate Division was born, and it became one of the chief corporate endeavors in the Aurora Sector.

The EH continued expansion by annexing the remote systems of Setii and Carrida. The world of Carrida had already contained a Stormtrooper training facility that was a tributary program of Deep Core Expansion before the Emperor's Death. Grand Admiral Ronin called for the immediate annexation of this system, and the training facility as well. Soon thereafter the EH Command authorized that a new, elite division of Stromtroopers be created especially for the use of the Emperor's Hammer.

In response to the call the Emperor's Hammer commissioned the Hammer's Fist Unit, meant to be one of the greatest Stormtrooper cells ever created. The Hammer's Fist Stormtroopers were always the first into a battle, and the last out. They proved invaluable in later military expansions by the Emperor's Hammer Forces.

Grand Master of the Brotherhood at this time, Lord Havok, called on an expansion deeper rimward to the Pirath System, once roumered to harbor Dark Jedi exiles in the Age of Sith thousands of years past. When the Brotherhood's exploration force arrived, however, they found instead a native race, the Hirani, and a wealth of Tibanna Gas. Both the main fleet and the corporate sector found this valuable and called for annexation.

The thought of additional Dark Jedi called many dissensions in the Dark Brotherhood. Havok left his position as Grand Master and was replaced by Lord Crona. This Grand Master wasn't about to let secrets die and called his followers to go apparently where the Jedi that inhabited Pirath went. He was quelled, however, and Jac Cotlien took over as the brotherhood's Grand Master. It is still unknown what ever happened of the Pirath Jedi. The system was soon annexed by the Emperor's Hammer.

Pirath, however, came with an addition. A local band of rogues, one of the last remaining independent forces in the Aurora Sector, approached the Emperor's Hammer with a deal. This league was what remained, a faction so-to-speak, of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. The EH Chapter of the Imperial Survey Corps (ISC) identified two systems under their control, Lyarna and Heir. Immediately some called for annexation.

Heir, as a minor system, was immediately claimed by the Hammer and garrisoned appropriately. The Bounty Hunters Guild played their own card by offering their services and planets to the Emperor's Hammer in turn for funding and support. Grand Admiral Ronin agreed, stating that such measures were necessary in a stage of political dissension.

Then there must come balance. The Imperial Intelligence Division was intent on controlling the rif-raf that entered the Emperor's Hammer Hierarchy. Ysanne Isard appointed a division to Emperor's Hammer territory under Ronin's direct command, even though she doubted his authority. Secretly Isard wanted to gain control of the Aurora Sector, but the Intelligence Officers assigned were soon rapidly replaced by Ronin. Thus the Emperor's Hammer now had its own eyes and ears outside of Isard's treachery. The Emperor's Hammer Intelligence Division fell first under the command of Director Raemes Sarkis.

With seven star systems under Hammer control it was evident that a new government was required beyond the standard military garrison. Ronin called for the construction of several systems, many of which failed. Sector Admiral Renegade employed a new Directorate System, similar to a standard Moff Government, in the new EH Territories. The system worked remarkably, though it would be another year until the final Directorate system was finally accepted as official.

A final bold show of Emperor's Hammer might was made when Ronin departed for the Core Regions on a mission. He returned a week later with a massive support fleet and a hear-completed starship in tow: The Sovereign-Class Super Star Destroyer Sovereign. The prototype of the new class was seized by Ronin thorough a system of executive orders and old command transfers given to Ronin by the Emperor before his death.

The Sovereign was raced to completion in the Triad platforms above Aurora Prime. With the new flagship, two battlegroups, a home-guard fleet, a legion of Dark Jedi, a corporate holding, a stable government, a core of INTEL operatives, and a band of rogues the Emperor's Hammer was well on its way to greater power.

-----------------------------------
Power and Quarrel,
2 - 4.5 Years Post Endor...

The Emperor's Hammer had grown to become more than a strike fleet, she was not a stable Imperial Faction and the post powerful force in the Galactic South Quadrant. Still she wasn't without opposition from the local authorities. With the Sovereign now and a powerful fleet Grand Admiral Ronin was well on his way to forming a expansionist system. He didn't, however, making a bold statement to the Republic and Provisional Imperial governments that he would hold what he had.

Coruscant fell to the New Republic only days after Ronin's statement, prompting a massive military campaign on the part of the Republic across the galaxy. The Ison Corridor fell, as well did most of the Hydian Way route and the Expansion Region. Sullust, Sutlis Van, and many other major worlds near the Ovene and Aurora Sectors fell to the Republic. The final blow came when the Andres Cluster and hundreds of other words rebelled against the Empire and formed the independent Andran Federation.

The formation of the Andran Federation, the loss of the Ison Corridor, and the rebellion in the Kathol Sector totally destroyed any solid Imperial rule in the Galactic South Quadrant. The New Republic now controlled over half of the galaxy, and the Empire was pushed farther back. Now the floundering Galactic Empire was fragmented into warlordism, under such men as Zisinj, and only contained zones of rule in the Deep Core or the Galactic North Quadrant out towards Yaga Minor and the Galactic Rim.

Save for a few holdings in the Kathol sector the Empire was almost vanquished from the Galactic South Quadrant. The Emperor's Hammer and the Imperial Orthodoxy were the only two sizable Imperial Factions remaining in the region. Thanks to Grand Admiral Ronin's statements the EH was committed only to holding ground until the Empire could regroup, providing a shield against Republic aggression.

During this time the Hammer enjoyed a grand expansion. Worlds were colonized and became fruitful. Additional ships were added to the fleet which contained over a dozen Imperial Star Destroyers. Even independent systems in the Aurora, Greeop, and Oneve Sectors desired relations or membership inside the Emperor's Hammer. The pull was so strong, in fact, that even the Republic envied the Emperor's Hammer.

Unlike in the falling Core Regions the influence of the New Republic wasn't as powerful in the far rim. Several elements of the Republic Fleet desired more independence and even went as far as to break away. One such group, under a commander known only as 'Terran,' went so far as to defect totally to the Emperor's Hammer. He brought with him three MC-90 Mon Calamari Cruisers and dozens of smaller vessels plus plans for a prototype Mon Cal super-cruiser.

Grand Admiral Ronin quickly accepted the offer given to him and assimilated the Republic force into his own. It became known as the Infiltrator Wing, a group that would carry out secretive missions against the Republic in a time of imposed cease-fire. Admiral Renegade, Executive Officer, took the reigns of this new group and abstained his old position to Fleet Admiral Adams.

The addition of the Infiltrator Wing gained new call for expansion. One of the only systems outside Hammer influence in the Aurora Sector was Karana. The native Karanians were in the midst of brutal war, a situation that called for intervention. Also the Brotherhood, under the guidance of Darth Khyron, called for the exploitation of Kaiburr, which contained the valuable crystals of the same name.

The conquest of the Karana system was short. Under the command of Fleet Admiral Compton, who would soon become Executive Officer, the system was taken into the possession of the Emperor's Hammer and the war was forcefully ended. The Infiltrator Wing was given reign of the system a full year after their creation. The Brotherhood took advantage of the Kaiburr Crystals supplied there.

The capture of Karana sent ripples through the Republic Fleet Command hierarchy. The 5th Rim Fleet, commonly named the "Rebel Squadrons Fleet," reacted by imposing its power over several systems in the Minos Cluster. This area of space was controlled mostly by the Republic, but some was still free. The most valuable worlds to the Republic were the four systems closest to Emperor's Hammer Territory.

Lyccos, Yridia, Lantare, and Dar'Telis were the four systems in question. They all bordered Emperor's Hammer Territory and they were all of interest to the New Republic. They knew that pressure on the systems would cause the Emperor's Hammer to buckle under strain, which was what they wanted. The 5th Fleet moved forces into the systems as soon as they could.

EH INTEL was immediately alerted of this change. They informed the Grand Admiral, Sector Admiral Compton, and the Tactical Office. The Grand Admiral immediately issued a state of war to the 5th Fleet and sent his own force of attack into the challenged systems. The Command Staff issued the creation of the Aggressor Strike Force, which would be the primary attack force of the Emperor's Hammer.

The open combat was incredibly successful on the Emperor's Hammer side since the combat was nearly always two-to-one. It wasn't until Republic reinforcements arrived that the situation became hot. The combat over the four systems would last nearly a year. The systems themselves changed hands many times before a final battle handed victory to the Emperor's Hammer.

As the long-scale Minos Conflict came to an end the Flight Officer, Admiral Kawolski, re-designed the EH Fleet's TIE Corps into a new force containing the Sovereign Force, the Aggressor Strike Force, the Avenger Group, and the combined TIE Corps Battlegroups. This re-design, combined with excellent management, would earn Kawolski a Medal of Honor.

During the conflict the Emperor's Hammer proposed a bold new grouping- an Imperial Senate. Ciarus Arconae, a renowned Calibop officer, was given the command of this new institution that was a plot for Grand Admiral Ronin to re-establish a form of Imperial unity. Dozens of worlds became represented, even those under total Republic control. The Senate would prove a vital tool of Imperial unity in advance of a later resurgence.

When the Aggressor Strike Force and the Battlegroups finally secured the four Minos Systems, the Republic offered a full concession of the systems. Still border skirmishes happened frequently, as they always have had. Some in the Emperor's Hammer doubt that the fighting will ever stop which is an accredited to why the Emperor's Hammer has the most battle listings of any Imperial fleet, even though most are small-scale battles.

One such skirmish was the small border colony of Agrmillar II. The colony word was an Imperial possession, one of dozens of systems under the watch, but not total control, of the Emperor's Hammer. The Republic paid-back defeat at Minos by launching and invasion of the planet that proved to be a surprise. Three frigates were destroyed and the Star Destroyer Challenge was damaged.

It was later proven that the Imperial Orthodoxy, the nearby faction, provided data to the Republic that was essential to the capture. This fact was never learned until later, but there was still massive dissension among the population of the Emperor's Hammer. The massive loss of Imperial troops caused a hard taste for the TIE Corps, some even going as far as pushing for its abolishment.

It was the actions of Kyle Kessler that freed Agrmillar II. He lead a daring freelance mission into the world, gained information about the garrison there, then sent it to nearby TIE Corps Destroyers. The two ships were able to get the drop on the Republic and routed them from the planet, therefore insuring support of the Emperor's Hammer TIE Corps. Kessler would later become the TC Battlegroup Commander.

Former TC Officer, Valtane Ricaud, was responsible for bringing into the light the Imperial Orthodoxy's part in the event. Soon thereafter the Emperor's Hammer severed diplomatic contacts with the Imperial Faction. Events would occur later, however, that would again through the IO and the EH into fray. Kyle Kessler became Flight Officer and TC Commander four months after the ordeal. Ricaud became Corporate Division President.

Conflict with the Republic was now considered to be at a stalemate. No significant advances were made, and Grand Admiral Ronin even considered a peace. The Imperial Orthodoxy was now considered a threat to the Emperor's Hammer, and it was even more evident after a plot in the Training Division nearly delivered dozens of TIE Corps Pilots to the Orthodoxy. More even expected a ploy by the Orthodoxy during an instance when Vice Admiral Jarak Maldon and the Relentless chased down and destroyed a Ssi-Ruuk vessel near Orthodoxy space.

Ronin's plan for peace called for negotiation. He did so during an event that brought an end to the aggressive tendency of the Orthodoxy once and for all. Corporate President Ricaud found a design for a new class of warship that the Orthodoxy had planned and led an operation to destroy the production facility himself. With the assistance of Jarak Maldon and the Relentless his mission was a success.

The temporary peace between the Republic and the Emperor's Hammer convinced Supreme Moff Babune of the IO to sign a declaration of armistice stating that his own fleet would surrender to Emperor's Hammer inspection. Still the Orthodoxy remained a threat to Hammer security. INTEL continued to run frequent investigations into IO dealings.

Possible conflict prompted Fleet Admiral Kessler to launch a giant war game code-named "Imperial Storm." This operation pitted the Sovereign and the Avenger against the TC Battlegroups and the Aggressor Strike Force. The event lasted weeks and ended with the BG and ASF forces on top, having taken down the Sovereign in mock combat and "captured" a majority of EH planets.

Kessler's TC-COM/FO reign ended, and he was succeeded by Admiral Sarriss and later Admiral Theodore. Jarak Maldon became Battlegroups Commander and Admiral Priyum remained as the commander of the Aggressor Strike Force. The Emperor's Hammer entered a new era of prosperity. The Imperial Senate was bringing Imperial unity, the Emperor's Hammer force was strong, and expansion as again being called for.

The temporary peace, however, didn't last. Violations on both sides broke the fragile Republic-Hammer treaty and pitted the forces again at war. The Emperor's Hammer mobilized forces to act on the fronts. Then came reports from outlying sectors that new Imperial leadership was rumored. The Emperor's Hammer was at a pivotal situation, locked between combat and authority with enemies at all sides. Fortunately, the greatest breath of life was about to be added to the lungs of the Empire.