Report to Lh’owon Command

<Transmission to Pfhor High Command>

<From Tfear — Lh’owon High Command>

The battle on Lh’owon had gone according to projections: that to trap Durandal and end the Threat of Tau Ceti, we would, as we did with the Drinniol rebellion, be forced to use the “trih xeem.” Forcing a star into early nova has proved most satisfactory at destroying what we could not control.

To a commander, the presence of things beyond one’s control leads directly to the conclusion that they must be destroyed. In the countless encounters of the Pfhor Naval Arm, there has never been an ultimate defeat. We have, through our supreme power and tactics, always prevailed.

All of this explains why as our Great Admiral, and with my own destruction now completely assured, I give you, High Council of Pfhor, warning that we have met our demise. Yet it comes not from Threat of Tau Ceti as we feared, but from a being of such destructive power that to control it would be to control the universe.

What follows is my briefing of the events here on Lh’owon leading up to the current situation:

The trap we set for Durandal went off as planned. We tricked him into believing that we were weeks away from Lh’owon while, in fact, we were hiding in the outer Lh’owon System. We waited quietly while Durandal dispatched the garrison fleet’s picket ships, and we used the data from this battle to discover some of the modifications that Durandal had made to our captured scoutship.

When we sprung our trap, it appeared at first that our quarry had expected it, but we adapted our positions, surrounded, and disabled his ship with acceptable losses. We caused his retreat to a heretofore undetected station located in an asteroid field on the fringe of the Lh’owon system. (Of course, according to protocol, the appropriate officers were notified and executed).

Although he evaded destruction, he was nonetheless trapped. This contingency was taken into account in the overall battle strategy. The battle plan was proceeding according to acceptable parameters.

I ordered the deployment of the “trih xeem.”

Almost immediately, our enemy then began transmitting ridiculous warnings concerning some sort of ancient chaotic being trapped deep in the Lh’owon sun. Of course, at this point mercy was unacceptable. The time to end the collective dream of the S’pht had come.

I ordered the fleet to retreat to a safe distance, and waited for my moment of glory. What happened next is the reason for my warning at the beginning of this report and the destruction of the Western Arm of Pfhor Battle Group Seven.

The nova went off on time and for a moment our simple victory was assured. But then, in a pathetic failure of discipline, the fleet’s ranks broke in an all-out retreat. All quarters reported the same thing: half of the sun had gone nova, but the readings from the other half were impossible. It was as if the universe had forgotten its own rules.

I can’t tell you what’s going on now, I can only hope that this message reaches you through whatever is surrounding us. I gave the fleet general order “Attack at will” but none of our weapons seem to affect whatever we’re firing at. This battleship has only seconds of integrity left, and I have no more information except for Durandal’s warning:

“On the Marathon, I saw your stupidity through the lens of victory. And now I see it in defeat. Maybe it is fate that your ignorant pride would unleash this horror and destroy the galaxy.”

<end transmission>

<transmission accepted>