Operation Deep Helm

Operation Deep Helm
Date	Year 14 Day 250 — Year 14 Day 296
Location	Jandur
Result	Drax Industries regained control of planet, with continued Bothan Media Services presence
Belligerents
The Mindabaal League Avance Coalition The Wraiths	Bothan Media Services Terra Stryker Industries
Commanders and Leaders
Navik Ikron Varro Karr Con Semper Biggles Auroran Belloq Tull Phontino Friovar Jace Kavdar	Lysander D`Sparta Blot Hlidskjalf Andy Fry Areta Drefive
Casualties and Losses
None	300+ Arrested & Released. Zero Casualties

This report was submitted to the Scholar’s Guild by Paul Luz, who was Editor-in-Chief of the Avance News Network during the Jandur Conflict of the fourteenth year of the modern Galactic calendar, and personally oversaw the investigation and coverage of the conflict between the Mindabaal League and her allies and the Bothan Media Services, and their allies. The conflict spanned a time of forty-six days. It was compiled from the carefully researched articles of the ANN staff, interviews given from the front lines by the brave sentient acting on behalf of the Avance Coalition, public articles published by the Galactic News Service on behalf of both sides of the conflict, and recently declassified documents from the Mindabaal League and Avance Coaltion. It is the hope that this might serve as the definitive record of the conflict, and by careful study and much-needed international discourse that future conflicts might be avoided, and lives preserved.Although the conflict did span several systems, this report will focus on the Jandur Theater in order to give a digestible report. A fuller report is currently being compiled.

Origins of the Conflict

Just north of Avance Coalition governed space lies the expansive Bamula sector, a diverse collection of systems united under the flag of the Mindabaal League, a corporatocracy comprised of five organizations at the time of the conflicts beginning: Drax Industries, Nakesh Alliance Extractions, The Agency, and Uukaablis Trans-Systems. At the time of the conflict, their territory spanned six known systems and was comprised of seventeen planets, with the Chairman being Phontino Friovor, and the Vice-Chairman being Ghent Kreldar. Jandur is a single-planet system, orbited by one moon between three suns. This unique astronomy caused the planet to develop a hot, toxic atmosphere, unfit for most life, unassisted. Much of the planet’s surfaces is dominated by large volcanic fields and seas of lava which both pump toxic gases into the atmosphere which further added to the inhospitality of Jandur. The rest of the planet is littered with craters, rocky surfaces and caves. Sandy deserts also claim some strips of land, but there are no signs of life or safe, consumable water.

This planet was brought to life by Uukaablis Trans-Systems (UTS), the League’s only vehicle manufacturer. UTS was founded on the thirty-fourth day of the seventh year of the modern Galactic Calendar and had a storied past, originally perfecting its civil and military technology in strict isolation from extra-planetary powers and influences before eventually gravitating toward Soyak-Rainer Enterprises, which lead them into membership in the Avance Coalition. In the twelfth year of the Galactic calendar, several affiliated but non-naturalized corporations, including UTS formed the Mindabaal League, anchored in Bamula’s Mindabaal System. UTS proudly and prosperously populated the planet, protecting its citizens by building a healthy atmosphere within special shielded domes over cities. Population centers grew until the entire planet was covered by metropoli, urban areas, mining towns, and industrial parks. Massive air purifiers were built, and federal food and water supply lines were established to import these essentials. They also began to develop planets in other surrounding systems, like Walalla. The establishment and maintenance of large local militias was a priority for UTS, which was symbiotic with their development of military vehicles, notably the Platoon Attack Craft, Amphibion, and the CAV PX-10.

Seven years after its founding, and only two years after the establishment of the Mindabaal League, UTS began to show sign of weakness. Their upper-management became neglectful of their duties, or busy elsewhere and their owner soon completely lost interest, but was too proud of his work in the unique military technology developed by his company to consider selling it. This would later be viewed as the point at which the conflict started looming in the horizon. The final straw was the sudden and severe illness of CEO Sharad Waador, who was thrust into the leadership position of UTS after the unexpected disappearance of his old employer and mentor. With no one to guide the company, it ultimately folded, closing its headquarters office on the two-hundred and twenty-third day of the fourteenth year, leaving millions suddenly unemployed.

The field was ripe for a humanitarian and political disaster. Sudden and massive unemployment contributed to low morale, high depression and anger among the working class. Insecurity about the continued availability of food, water, and clean air only intensified the situation. The factories, warehouses, armories and offices once bustling with UTS personnel lay abandoned and proved valuable and vulnerable targets for looters and disgruntled populations. The instability proved to be irreplaceable ammunition to radical politicians ready to rally the citizens to their causes and reform their planet into any number of idealistic societies, and for former militia commanders eager to restore order, keep peace, and in a few cases, make a vie for power. Peacekeeping forces from the Mindabaal League were quick to land on the troubled systems, with Jandur being the epicenter of the chaos.

The forces soon found that the reality on the ground was even more complicated that they originally expected. With local governments going bankrupt or otherwise dissolving, a large amount of property all over the planet was soon listed on the Galactic Market by local officials. Eager investors both private, corporate, and governments began to purchase entire cities. It was made public that Mindabaal was dedicated to bringing stability to the planet and wished for other investors to not further complicate the efforts by purchasing the cities and facilities. All parties were asked to allow Mindabaal to deal with this internally. In a report published on the GNS from The Agency, Mindabaal’s security force, on day 250, the Galactic Alliance member Bothan Media Services (BMS) began to finalize their purchases on Day 222, and soon came to claim twelve cities on Jandur. With a possible larger conflict on the horizon, diplomatic channels were opened and though promising at first they failed to halt BMS from expanding and solidifying their claims.

On day 250 Chairman Friovor declared Jandur a militarized zone.

“Calls to The Galactic Alliance to intervene in the intrusion have been met with insufficient action. We cannot sit idly any longer. As of this moment, Jandur is to be considered a militarized zone. Citizens will be asked to adhere to a curfew for their own safety until this situation is resolved. It will reassure the people of Jandur to know that joint operations between our own security forces and those of our friends and allies The Avance Coalition and The Wraiths are already underway. I have great hope that the combined efforts of our security forces will see order restored in the near future.” -Chairman Friovor, Year 14 Day 25 from the Quasar-Fire class Bulk Freighter "Chaos Theory" above Jandur.

First-hand reports from a prominent trader Biggles Auroran make it clear that this was not a new tactic for the Bothans. Years back they attempted a similiar move with Avance’s mining partner Czerka Corporation, quickly coming into land lost during unppredicted instability on the planets Vasha I and II. While at Vasha the plan seemed to be an attempt to buy cheap and sell back at an extremely high markup, what many saw as criminal act, there was no mention of selling the twelve cities on Jandur to anyone, hinting at the aggression to come.

Nature and Events of the Conflict

The Mindabaal League soon enlisted the help of its allies The Avance Coalition (TAC) and The Octagon League. The Wraiths, the legendary mercenary army with historic ties to the Avance Coalition also deployed its famed Valkyrie Battlegroup with over four hundred elite soldiers. Terms of engagement were written up to keep their policing actions from snowballing into a war, or provoking further war-like movements by the BMS. This was deemed Operation Deep Helm. This operation included that TAC personnel, the Jenesaari (the Force-sensitive swift-operations force then separate from the Avance Security Forces), and the Wraiths were given permission only to arrest any Bothan citizens or employees found on Jandur. These prisoners were to be safely turned over to The Agency, who would be in contact with the Galactic Alliance regarding terms of withdrawal and return of prisoners. Notable commanders of Minabaal-allied forces include TAC First-Seat Navik Ikron, Wraith CO Varro Karr, Xrati Lee, famed privateer and former Sith Lord Con Semper, Biggles Auroran, Rianne, Callisto Xaltir, Asar Anchti, Icaria, jedi Master Belloq Tull, Ool Krank, Anikin Starcrusher, Quintas Santori, and Talyn Xam. Commanders of Mindabaal forces included Phontino Friovar, Jace Kavdar of The Agency, Inalya Harcrowe and Quetzalcoatl Meridio.

While BMS claimed ownership of twelve cities and many private investors such as Hans Miller and Lysander D’Sparta, Mindabaal still possessed control over the shield grid on Jandur. Once activated it only left six potential entry-points for non-Mindabaal personnel. These included the cities of Rockivory Tower, New Hell, Fireside, Downtown, Tumbles Hill, and A-Cocotela. At this point, only Fireside was among the disputed territory claimed by BMS. Navik Ikron soon headed there personally with a small fleet to meet with BMS and GA representatives in hopes of brokering a peaceful resolution.

Meanwhile, Mindabaal-allied forces began to land in those cities unshielded by the ML in an effort to curb the flooding of the planet by both BMS soldiers, contractors, and private investors as well. They also began establishing satellite grids and regular patrols in the space around Jandur and its moon in order to deter those who would try and escalate the conflict. Two BFF-1 Bulk Frieghters registered to the Terra Stryker Industries, a shipwright underwritten by Blot Hlidskjalf, the Second in-Command of BMS were confronted early in the patrols and left. Kavdar found Fireside to be well under control of BMS and noted the landing of two BFF-1 vessels the “Starhauler 001” and “002” registered to BMS itself. Preliminary scans detected a crew strength of around sixty and a large stockpile of raw materials. It appeared as if the Bothans were attempting to further fortify their locations.

Wraith officer Tribunus Major Quintas Santori reported the first arrest of the operation. Areta Drefive was a construction worker employed by the Bothan Media service and was arrested by Santori at her work site in Chartier, a city located around coordinates (6,9) on a standard map. Four more of her coworkers were discovered and apprehended soon after in the proximity. Following the arrest, however, it was discovered that as part of the diplomatic efforts, BMS had been allowed to build two facilities on the planet: a command center and a starport. Drefive and her coworkers had been working on the command center and Tribunus Santori had reached them before word of the negotiations had spread. They were soon released.

Kavdar authorized the Wraith units to search and secure all cities and areas, not only the ones disputed by BMS. Preator Tull agreed to the task, and ordered his commanders to start with the disputed cities and fan out to the surrounding areas. Ool Krank was put in charge of security of the Bothan-claimed city of Malvdem, and Preator Belloq Tull personally oversaw operation in Desolace, another disputed city. Anakin Starcrusher was tasked with securing the city of Solva, which was at the time on the market and thus experiencing larger amounts of rioting and unrest. Valcanoconiosis was a small city on the outskirts of Bothan-controlled Hastings to which Talyn Xam was deployed along with those under his command. By this time Kavdar had negotiated a shaky true with the Galactic Alliance which promised that pending any further treaties BMS and other allies would cease from any new construction on the surface. The discovery and subsequent arrest of works on active job sites proved a clear violation of the treaty and only deepened the suspicions and the popular distrust of the GA and BMS to honestly engage in effective diplomacy, only foreshadowing the developments of the crisis.

Up this point ML-allied forces controlled sixteen out of the seventy-two cities on Jandur. While BMS claimed control of twelve, the remaining forty three cities were either in private hands, or currently on the market by local officials. Navik Ikron had managed to negotiate another peace where further diplomatic talks would be had, provided BMS did not land on Jandur and display any more aggressive behaviors. During these talks, additional build crews had been seen landing on the planet’s surface, and Bothan officials were given thirty-six hours to withdraw them. A deadline was set at Year 14, Day 254. While both parties continued the their tense games of cat and mouse around the cities, Mindabaal-allied forces also had success in the market, successfully securing control of Durgin from real-estate mongols in a strategy coined by Tull as “Checkbook Conquest.” Further “conquest”ing saw twelve more cities returned to Mindabaal protection and control. Similiar tactics added four areas to be claimed by the Bothans, though such claims were disputed. Scans and searches of outlying areas and cities continued to show a mix of Bothan-owned, for sale, and Mindaball property, often with no clear majority. While no major construction efforts were detected, Wraith commanders did arrest thirty workers found in the area, currently without orders.It was theorized that they were continuing to funnel in building crews through their one hole in the shield grid located at New Hell (6,1).It is here worth noting that sixteen of the twenty-eight cities under the protection of private, foreign merchants were controlled by Lysander D’Sparta, a Nautolan employed by Centerpoint Mining. While Lysander had been neutral so far in the conflict, the large amount of cities under his flag gave him an incredible amount of power and protection, as no party wanted to risk offending him and turning his interests over to their respective foe.

With the successful progress of the talks mediated by Ikron, the deadline for Bothan personnel to leave Jandur was extended indefinitely, while no new forces were to be permitted to land. Kavdar noted two additional Bulk Freighters that had originally left when negotiations dictated had been spotted attempting to return. This aside, the talks continued. On day 255 Kavdar announced that Pheonix Daywalker, Secretary-General of the Galactic Alliance, had left the talks disgruntled after a GNS article had announced his mediating participation four days earlier. Hlidskjalf, second in command of the Bothan forces, stayed to continue the negotiations.

Day 256 saw greater security come to the area when Photino Friovor was able to get control of those power grids and generators controlled by forces still loyal to former UTS leader Sharad Waador. Their commanders were assured that Mindabaal and her allies were recapturing the planet and restoring peace and order to the floods of chaos and fear. Earlier that morning Preator Tull reported the removal of forty-eight builders from Junian (6,0), a Mindaball controlled city adjacent to the suspected entry-point for BMS build crews and combatants.

A small fleet from the Krath Dynasty was spotted landing near Desolace (9,4) a city still claimed by Bothan Media. At this point it was unclear if the Galactic Alliance was taking a more combative role in the operation, as was hinted by Daywalker’s abandoning of the peace talks.Many believe Daywalker left on day 256 as talks turned tense and Ghent Kreldar gave the GA forces an ultimatum: twenty four hours to return control of all cities and buildings, or the Mindabaal league would take direct action to affect the infrastructure, crime, and morale of their cities through undisclosed means. While many have criticized as bombastic and a threat to the quality of life of many loyal and former citizens, it was highly believed that BMS was repopulating its cities with their own citizens. Jace Kavdar stepped in for Kreldar in an effort to salvage any diplomatic headway. Adding to this tension was the disappearing of eight Mindaball construction workers supervising repairs in over three cities. Fortunately, this was not able to be carried out. On day 257, Navik Ikron announced: All Avance forces have been ordered to halt all arresting and other military functions, and are to prepare to return any arrested personnel to city 6.9 (Chartier), but only after an official statement regarding the cessation of hostilities has been announced. With a peace on the horizon, Wraith commanders prepared transport of over one hundred and fifty prisoners to Chartier.

The announcement came at a tense time when chaos was continuing to envelop the planet, despite the best efforts of many. With the insecurity and mystery about the planet’s future many were untrusting of the already tanking economy and were suspicious of anyone offering aid or a solution. Many without work were looking not only to Mindaball, Bothan, or privately owned city governments for help, but also to local militias and crime syndicates for any semblance of security and hope. The suspicions of the peace deal seemed to be well-placed when no official cessation had been announced and increased activity was seen at the disputed city of Malven. Many Wraith and Avance commanders immediately flew over to the city to monitor the developments, although still under instruction not to arrest any workers their abilities were limited. Adding to an imbalance of power, Mindabaal forces were not constricted by the agreement and proceeded to Malven as well to protect what they believed was theirs. Later on 259, Ikron regretfully announced that a official deal was unlikely at this point, and that Avance and Wraith commanders were to hold their prisoners indefinitely and resume arrests of all enemy personnel, military or civilian. As ML-allied forces poured into Malven, BMS crews were seen escaping north over the lava fields, suspected to be heading to Fireside.

An A-Wing fighter registered to Trade Federation Duceroy Nohv Schiller was spotted surveying activity from the air on day 260. To many, this was sufficient evidence to speculate that the Galactic Concordiate (GC), the major neutral alliance, was getting personally involved. While Mindabaal was not a member of the Concordiate, their diplomatic relations to the GC itself, neutral outlook, and close ties to Avance seemed to warrant such interest. Scanning of cities continued by allied forces with few arrests outside of Malven. On day 263 Terra Stryker Industries’, an associate of Bothan Media Services, leader Andy Fry’s Eddicus-class shuttle was discovered in Drummond (1,5), though unprotected. it was suspected that Fry was personally overseeing the shutting down of power grids that fed The Agency controlled areas. Fry himself was not found, and no aggressive action was reported. Arrests continued in Chartier. On day 265, Fry was spotted in Volcanoconiosis (0,3), and it was suspected that a YT-510 and a BFF freighter under the flag of BMS were headed to the city to assist him as the city was still listed on the market by local officials. Unable to catch Fry there, his shuttle was detected again on day 266 over New Hell (6,1) and heading west, finally arriving at A-Rio (1,1) a city controlled by Lysander D’Sparta.

On day 265 local power-playing politicians and their following got involved as Wraith forces under the command of Preator Tull were accosted by Mayoral candidate Jurdo Novastar and fourteen armed supporters in Sonoran (0,0) a city still trying to slow its downward spiral into oblivion. While up to this point the local populace had only been loosely optimistic about Mindabaal’s ability to restore order, it seemed that the tenor of the operations where causing some to loose even that faith. A speedy resolution was needed to keep the hearts and minds of the citizenry.Further complicating the relations with the citizens of Jandur, Bothan Media increased their deployment of construction and settlement crews, often in areas under the care of private investors such as a the Duracrete settlement at (4,8) patronized by Xplofer Tomas, and Andy Fry’s excursion into D’Sparta’s claimed territory.

Over in A-Rio, Fry’s shuttle was scanned and found to be holding nine unidentified passengers, though it is believed that Fry himself was aboard. For reasons unknown, probably due to negotiating permissions with D’Sparta or his officials, he remained high in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, Tull and Icaria gained the favor of the local populace and began to familiarize themselves with the city layout in case Fry did descend. The two were in position for apprehend him upon touch down. Around the afternoon of day 268 there was no sign of Andy Fry at all, in the atmosphere or in the city. Not having authorization to inspect for fully for fear of violating D’Sparta’s neutrality, Tull and Icaria moved on. Fry’s trail was picked up again on day 271 by Mindabaal officials in Lustrum (7,2) as he headed south over the lava fields. He was pursued by a Wraith patrol under Tull’s watchful eye until he came to rest for the night at The Cauldron (7,5) a Bothan-friendly city. Analysts suggested he might have been trying to get to Mosblech (7,9) in order to seek transport from the surface either their or through the shields at Chartier (6,9).

John Calay, head of Bothan Media, continued to send in contractors and settlers in his own BFF’s to Sonoran, presumably to capitalize on the chaos that Tull had encountered, and it seemed these were not isolated events but evidence of increased smuggling operations, as Bothan settlers and contractors were picked up in cities which had previously been searched and brought under the care of the Mindabaal League, such as Cow King at plot (2,2). Prospecting equipment and personnel from Centerpoint Mining was detected in A-Cocotela on day 272, a city controlled by the Centerpoint member D’Sparta. They soon began prospecting, indicating that D’Sparta was set on settling down and establishing himself as a permanent fixture on Jandur.

Resolution of the Conflict

A meeting of officials from each city that could be reached was held on day 273 at the city Jandur II at coordinate (4,7).The conference was protected by Mindabaal allied forces, but the agents were not allowed into the proceedings themselves. Later that day the leaders emerged from the deliberations to announce that with their majority vote, official control of Jandur was to be given to Drax Industries, a member of the Mindabaal League. Drax, it was said, proved their responsibility to the public by helping to slow and in some cases stop the economic crisis and spiral in the cities it could secure, a show of trust that the citizens could put stock in. Bothan Media and partnered personnel were seen evacuating the surface, but some were noted to stay near by the planet in the system. Day 275 saw some additional Terra Stryker BFF’s attempt to land in the Mindabaal-allied mining town Rock Ivory Tower (1,1) until they were ran off by Tull. They were again spotted by ML officials in Jason Aran (0,3), safely flying under the BMS-maintained shielf grid in the north east section of the planet, despite it being officially turned over to Drax Industries. They, along with additional contractors working with Andy Fry, whose evacuation proved to be a false report, to further re-enforce the shield grid along the 0 and 1 X-coordinates of the planet on a standard map. In addition, private investor Webster Tompkins turned over control of his three cities to Bothan Media. The circumstances of said transaction were not clear, but as any attempt to avoid legal disputed would have seen him turn control over to Drax, it is assumed BMS employed less-than-professional negotiation tactics.

Following a quick reaction by Wraith forces, shield grids were shut down and reclaimed by Mindabaal officials, leaving only two cities by which BMS personnel could enter: The Cauldron and Fireside (7,5) and (8,5). Shields were also down over the nearby lava fields. Bothan insurgents continued to attempt construction of shield generators, all which were halted by Mindabaal forces in another cat and mouse game. This time with the support of local populations wrecking crews could be called upon to tear down whatever construction was halted, also boosting local morale and employment. This support was also invaluable in locating the sites early in their early phases. This continued for the next several days until intelligence suggested that the ease in which Andy Fry was able to evade authorities could mean that Lysander D’Sparta, long a neutral party in the conflict, had reached a deal with Fry and was harboring him in his cities. This, however had yet to be confirmed. This hypothesis was supported by the much higher skill level of the construction that were being encountered. Whereas previously in the conflict most of those confronted by Mindabaal-allied forces would willingly surrender themselves or take off running, many of these now were resiting arrest regularly and hiding from authorities with greater skill. This lead the analysts to believe these were trained insurgents, possibly soldiers posing as builders, something not yet known to be used by Bothan Media. By day 285, is was widely held that D’Sparta was selling property and property rights to Andy Fry and Bothan Media, though it could not be confirmed until three days later. The partnership became more public leading up to day 293 when workers with Centerpoint Mining were caught building a mine in A-Atchison under a project name “Mine for BMS”. These were swiftly apprehended, and D’Sparta officially categorized as an enemy of Mindabaal, leading many to speculate exactly how long the D’Sparta and BMS had been covertly cooperating. To most observers, this was and is grounds enough to call Centerpoint's neutrality into question. Navik Ikron reported calling in Centerpoint leader Trogan Jano to ensure no Centerpoint facility was being used to hide or otherwise aid any BMS personnel. While to the galaxy Jano has long since been the golden standard of trading and commerce and we are in no way calling him out, it is not clear how high up the deception and cooperation went.

With allied forces covering much of the planet and crackdown leading to many arrests, the tide was turning quickly for the League, which was boosted by a massive and much-appreciated shipment of probe droids. These were used to great effect in closer surveillance of problematic areas where personnel could not always patrol. This served to give operatives a clear, global perspective and better coordinate their movements, which in turn resulted in a much higher number of arrests and earlier advances on construction projects. On day 296 Jace Kadvar officially called for an end to Operation Deep Helm, as the objective of reclaiming all three planets lost to chaos following UTS’s dissolution was completed. Navik Ikron also took the occasion to comment on the diplomatic side, sadly admitting that while they did all they could, the fault for the failure was square on the Bothan Media Services and by default the Galactic Alliance. He announced that BMS violated two of their own treaties, and it was uncovered that they paid Lysander D’Sparta six hundred million credits for his shield grid and remaining cities, though they themselves only paid two hundred and fifty million, leaving the remaining balance for an anonymous benefactor. The Avance Coalition lead the Galactic Concordiate to blacklist Bothan Media Service and all employees and citizens as criminals, just as they had done for the Eidola Pirates and the Black Sun Syndicate.

With the conflict officially at a close, Praetor Tull and Phonito Friovor announced that they had long been in private negotiations with Blot, leader of the Bothans, who had consistently refused any peace and public announcement of resolution. Their refusal to cease operations even when the League offered to publicly apologize and falsely admit to the charges of over-reacting can only mean that their intention from the start was conquest and control of the planet. This is contrary to even what they had told the Galactic Alliance, and is similar to what many believe happened on Vasha, as BMS still maintains a command center there, though inaccessible to their personnel. To this, top Avance officials commented:

"Although there is 'peace' (and I say this extremely loosely), I will re-visit Vasha. Jandur... any place that these Bothans have taken from us and our allies and I will arrest every single one of these interlopers and eradicate their very existence from our territory. I do not take kindly to thieves and less than kindly to those pretending to be something else entirely. Bothan Media Services are thugs through and through and they can only hide under the Galactic Alliance's skirts for so long. The fact that the Galactic Alliance harbors these criminals proves that they do not have the best at heart for the galaxy and that if you do not believe as they do, they will not assist you. We will stand for those who wish to be let be, we stand for justice. And we will bring it swiftly on the Bothans' head in due time."

The conflict lasted forty-six days, and while no casualties were recorded, countless civilian personnel were arrested. Estimations easily surpass three hundred, but an exact number is unlikely to be found. Fortunately, no direct military combat occurred on any of the three planetary theaters. Native population on Jandur suffered greatly during the conflict as controls of their facilities and infrastructure constantly switched hands and were sued as bargaining chips in negotiations. It is unknown but very probable that many died, unable to maintain access to medical care, sanitary living space, or clean air or water. The trust and the economy will take years to recover, some experts suggest, and the scars may never heal.

Implications and Lessons from the Conflict

There is much to be learned from the events of Operation Deep Helm. As of the time of writing this report, well into the 15th year, Bothan Media Services still has effective control of thirty-nine cities, with sixty-one loyally flying the Drax Industries banner. It is a shaky peace, but one that is carried out day by day by the citizens there. At the root of the conflict we see a delicate balance when a corporation plays the double role as a governing body of a planet or planets in what I have called a “Corpratocracy” or “rule by a corporation.” Naturally businesses and business people are concerned with profits and efficiency, things which may need to be sacrificed in favor of freedom and quality of life for the citizenry. Additionally, the structure of a corporation is often more geared toward product and not well-equipped to handle emergencies like that which lead to the collapse of UTS. An additional temptation in any conflict involving a corpratocracy is to label those matters rightly deemed political as "business" and plea free enterprise to cover grave violations of sovereignty and rights. This can clearly be seen in the Galactic Alliance's, or more correctly Phoenix Daywalker's, claim that the only thing Bothan Media was guilty of was legally purchasing good through a legal means, no different than any other purchase. Thus, Mindabaal's responsibility to the people of Jandur was painted as a bullying effort to keep Bothan from what was theirs. While purchasing assets sold off to cover a company's debt is fair and legal, in Jandur we see an example of when those "assets" are entire cities teeming with people loyal to another government and deeply needing order and assistance. Their intrusion into the affairs of Jandur only slowed this, and cannot be hid behind a plea of "business as usual."

The phenomena of the corporatocracy is nothing new to the galaxy, and has been maintained with mixed success with the stability of entire systems relying on the sales and production of a single line of products. It is most prominent in the northern sectors of our galaxy, currently. Naturally, the careful observer would be suspicious of Drax Industry’s governing of Jandur, but given the events of the Operation it is unlikely that the Mindabaal League and her allies will let it go too unmonitored.

Politically, moods remain tense between the governments involved and attitudes on both ends remain sour to this day. As previously stated, BMS was soon blacklisted by the GC, and in a GNS broadcast on day 278, Phoenix Daywalker announced a Galactic Alliance-wide trade ban with the Mindabaal League, claiming it was Bothan’s right to purchase properties legally and they had every right to any means to attend to those purchased properties. At the time of writing, Mindabaal has been taken off the Galactic Alliance trade-ban lists. It is currently unclear how supportive the GA was to the actions of the BMS, though it is clear that they were ignorant of the Bothan's plans for conquest, a clear violation of Mindabaal's neutrality. What is clear is the cohesion between the Concordiate, namely Avance and Mindabaal. What makes this more interesting is that the majority of the Galactic Concordiate members are former Imperial Union members, which originally lead many to believe their split would imply a leaning against the Empire and towards the GA. This conflict, I believe I can assert with confidence, has silenced all those speculations as popular attitudes remain strained between these two parties, although official declarations of neutrality still hold. What is also notable is the precise and quick response from The Wraiths, who though, again, are not nationalized into the Avance Coalition, are on friendly and cooperative terms. This may indicate a closer tie of allegiance of the Wraiths to the Coalition and the Concordiate as well.

In conclusion, the events of Operation Deep Helm and its immediate causes are a classic illustration of the risks of any corporatocracy, and despite all optimism may occur on any planet where a single-party rule is managed instead of governed. While it is fully likely that as corporations continue to expand influence and operations and as planetary governing bodies give control and preference to these corporations, that the executives will hire those showing some political and diplomatic prowess. such a balance is unstable at best and may be leaning towards chaos in thee absence of a strong, centered government.