Trellen Conflict

Trellen Conflict
Second Galactic Civil War
Date	Year 16 Day 66
Location	Trellen system
Result	Decisive Imperial victory
Belligerents
New Republic Holowan	Galactic Empire
Commanders and Leaders
High Marshal Wedge Achilles High General Orion Chran Lord Regent Crueya Vandron	Moff Azhrarn Amaratha Director Marshall Ridgeway Bureau Chief Elvira Falston
Strength
Majority of New Republic and Holowan military	Romance Task Force
Casualties and Losses
Ten officers arrested Grimuuk sun Fo† (New Republic) Tun Sol† (New Republic) Sylfaen Celeste† (New Republic) Trikk Starr† (New Republic)	None

The Trellen Conflict includes the New Republic's Operation Heartbreak and the Imperial counterpart Operation Romance. A joint operation between the New Republic and Holowan sought to wrest control of the planet Trellen III from the Galactic Empire. Although the preparations took several months, the actual conflict was limited to a single day in Year 16. An Imperial undercover agent sabotaged the operation, resulting in the loss of several officers for the New Republic.

Conflict Origins

Holowan consisted of several former Imperial officers, its two leaders Crueya Vandron and Gabriel Kaine in particular. The organisation had been at odds with the Empire before due to allegations of Vandron stealing Imperial property during his tenure in the Imperial Ministry of Industry. Although this led to several diplomatic incidents between the two, relations remained largely neutral, even though Holowan retained control over several stolen holdings on Imperial planets. Looking to profit from these assets and seeking rapprochement with the Galactic Alliance, Holowan requested military and strategic aid from the New Republic to secure these planets.

Prelude

The New Republic's military high command in unison with Holowan leadership began planning an invasion of Trellen III and use the attack as a distraction to target two other Imperial planets, Soronia and Lafra. High Marshal Wedge Achilles took charge of the preparations and although the plans were already close to completion, the operation dubbed Heartbreak was delayed several times to enable more troops to be deployed for the attack. Most of the New Republic's military prepared ships and materials and was asked to stand by, unaware of what they would be participating in.

The magnitude of the operation and the length of the planning phase allowed the Galactic Empire to place several undercover agents in strategic positions. Key amongst these infiltrators was General Jaqen Taral of the New Republic Army and Special Forces. Using the Deep Space coordinates provided to different groups of the invasion force, the most likely target was determined to be the Trellen system and Imperial forces were quietly moved into position to respond to an attack. As one of the highest-ranking officers in the New Republic military, Taral was eventually granted access to the entire battle plan and coordinated an Imperial response with the leadership of Imperial Intelligence, Director Marshall Ridgeway and Bureau Chief Elvira Falston.

The Conflict

Falston assembled a task force consisting mainly of Imperial Intelligence and Imperial Security Bureau agents. Stationed aboard the Indefatigable, a Carrack/S-Class Light Cruiser, the task force waited in a nearby system for the New Republic and Holowan to gather all their forces in one location. Utilising information passed on by General Jaqen Taral, Imperial Intelligence determined which officers would be on board which ships and the primary targets for Operation Romance were carefully selected. When the bulk of the Republic's forces were in position and the invasion drew closer, the task force jumped into hyperspace and appeared at the enemy rendezvous point in the early morning, when most of the Republic's pilots were still asleep. Boarding parties consisting of Stormtroopers prepared as the Indefatigable approached the invasion fleet, remaining undetected until the very last moment when a low-ranking Republic officer scanned the Imperial ship. For reasons still unknown, no alarm was raised however.

Without warning, the targetted ships were breached and most Republic officers were caught by surprise by the boarding parties. A few of the targets managed to hide, escape or were lucky enough to not be present on the ship they were thought to be stationed on at the time of the attack. Ten officers were placed under arrest and taken on board the Imperial cruiser. By the time the Republic was fully aware of what had transpired, the Indefatigable had jumped into hyperspace and vanished. An emergency meeting was held by the New Republic Military Command and Operation Heartbreak was called off. A secret meeting took place between Emperor Guinar Ndengin, Executor Seele, Director Ridgeway of Imperial Intelligence and the Chief of State of the Republic, Ro Ru Wok. The details of the meeting were never made public, but shortly after several of the Republic officers were released and four remaining officers were executed by the Galactic Empire.

Aftermath

The failure of the operation and the arrest of several prominent Republicans left many citizens of the New Republic in horror and disbelief. The revelation that one of their highest-ranking military officers was an Imperial agent shocked many and led to the reevaluation of several security protocols. The operation was declared a major success by the Galactic Empire and its participants were awarded medals for their efforts. It is believed that the failure of what was supposed to be one of his greatest accomplishments helped lead to the retirement of High Marshal Wedge Achilles later that year. Despite the conflict, Holowan would go on to continue their working relationship with the New Republic and sign the Galactic Alliance Treaty later on.

Chronology

• Year 13 Day 172: Imperial undercover agent Jaqen Taral enlists in the New Republic's Army.
• Year 13 Day 211: Holowan Mechanicals is founded.
• Year 14 Day 110: Crueya Vandron and Gabriel Kaine are declared enemies of the Galactic Empire.
• Year 16 Day 66: Imperial Taskforce arrives at the Republic rendezvous point.