Fleetlord was the title given to head of the Race's space-fleets. The Race's approach to expanding its empire was to first send a conquest fleet to subdue a planet in its entirety. A generation later, after the conquered planet was largely pacified, the colonization fleet would arrive. The fleetlord of a conquest fleet was the supreme military commander during the conquest process, overseeing all military theaters of operations. The fleetlord also governed the captive world for the Emperor and was the Emperor's representative on the ground until the colonization fleet arrived.