Caamas Document Crisis

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Caamas Document Crisis

TheCaamas Document Crisis (19 ABY) was the term given to the short, but dangerous, conflict between various factions of theNew Republic and others over how certain factions of theBothan race should be held accountable for thedestruction of Caamas a generation prior. The intense political infighting that occurred between these groups nearly led to the New Republic completely descending into civil war. By the end of the conflict, one of the most significant events inthe galaxy occurred: the signing of thePellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty betweenAdmiralGilad Pellaeon of theImperial Remnant and acting New RepublicChief of StatePonc Gavrisom, bringing an end to the decades longGalactic Civil War.

History[]

The destruction of Caamas[]

Shortly after the end of theClone Wars, a group of Bothans assisted elements of the fledglingGalactic Empire in sabotagingCaamas'splanetary shields, allowing the Imperials tocompletely devastate the planet.

The crisis[]

Evidence that implicated the Bothans in the incident did not come into light until19 ABY, when adatacard containing a list of those involved was found byLeia Organa Solo nearMount Tantiss on the planetWayland. The discovery of the card ignited a political firestorm throughout theNew Republic, as member worlds openly decried the Bothans for their involvement and demanded that justice be brought to those responsible, and that restitution to the remainingCaamasi be made.

Though some may truly have had the Caamasi's best interests at heart, others were more likely to use the incident to justify attacks against the Bothan race in general, given the Bothans' well-known deviousness and zero-sum ruthlessness in both interstellar politics and trade. What was worse, the new furor over Caamas's destruction became a convenient excuse for re-visiting hundreds of similar atrocities and long-standing grudges simmering among the New Republic's member races - theDiamala and theIshori, theSif'kries and theFrezhlix, and theNhoras and theClatear, just to name a few that flared up during the Crisis. If justice for Caamas was suddenly imperative, the factions in theNew Republic Senate reasoned, why not for all the other crimes perpetrated between the various species?

Lando Calrissian, a former general of the Rebel Alliance, remarked that the Crisis threw into sharp relief the fact that only a small fraction of the Empire's vast military machine underPalpatine had been actually engaged in fighting the Alliance; the majority had been dispersed throughout the galaxy, preventing these inter-species rivalries from erupting into open war, and now the New Republic had inherited the same problem, but with a much smaller military and an inability to use Palpatine's draconian methods of keeping order.

An early attempt at a moderate solution to the Crisis was a petition, signed by numerous Senators, demanding that the Bothans find a new planet for theCaamasi Remnant and terraform it to their specifications. This attempt failed when CouncilorBorsk Fey'lya was forced to admit, in secret to President Gavrisom and Organa Solo, that theCombined Clans ofBothawui were bankrupt, and that it would be at least ten years, possibly never, before their finances were stable enough to undertake such a project.

As Anti-Bothan demonstrations continued, it became clear that the only way to defuse the situation would be to locate an intact copy of theCaamas Document, indicating those who were truly responsible. Urgent calls went out throughout the New Republic requesting that anyone who had a copy bring it forward.

Imperial provocation[]

Ironically, those with the greatest ability to take advantage of the situation—theImperial Remnant—were in no condition to do so, as they were caught up in their own political problems. After nearly two decades of fighting, it became clear toGilad Pellaeon,Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, that the war was over and that the Empire had been defeated. Traveling to the Imperial capital world ofBastion, Pellaeon met with theCouncil of Moffs and made the point emphatically clear to them: in order to survive and retain what they had left, the Empire would need to surrender to the New Republic. Though they disliked the idea, most of the Moffs reluctantly agreed. SendingColonelMeizh Vermel toMorishim to deliver the message of Imperial surrender toGeneralGarm Bel Iblis, Pellaeon took theChimaera toPesitiin to await Bel Iblis' arrival.

However, Bel Ibis would not arrive, as Vermel's ship wascaptured over Morishim by theStar DestroyerRelentless, acting under the orders ofMoffVilim Disra, who did not wish the conflict between the Imperials and the New Republic to come to an end. To that end, he formeda triumvirate consisting of himself,MajorGrodin Tierce, and a con man known only asFlim, who was the most integral part of his plan. By having Flim masquerade asGrand AdmiralThrawn—thought by the majority of the galaxy to have been killed during theBattle of Bilbringi a decade prior—it was the hope of Disra to be able to convince enough worlds to become part of the Empire once again. Many, such asKroctar andRuuria, pledged themselves to the Empire once more, the all but apparent disintegration of the New Republic over the Caamas Document issue all but assuring that the Empire looked like the better option.

After several weeks, Pellaeon, convinced that Bel Iblis would not arrive, prepared to leave Pesitiin to return to Bastion. However, an attack by theCavrilhu Pirates—ironically done in order to force such an action—convinced Pellaeon that elements within the Empire wanted to make sure that his attempts failed, so he made the decision to remain a while longer, in the hopes that Bel Iblis had received his message. Some time later, he was visited by Leia Organa Solo, to whom he told his desire for peace between the Republic and the Empire.

Meanwhile, all attempts at locating an intact copy of the Caamas Document, including an attempt byLando Calrissian andLobot to infiltrate Bastion's libraries, had failed. Left with no other option,AdmiralAckbar and General Bel Iblis crafted a plan to raid the only place that could still contain an intact copy of the Document: the Imperial shipyards atYaga Minor. Utilizing the services ofBooster Terrik and theErrant Venture, it was the hope that the ship, disguised as the Star DestroyerTyrannic, could pass through the defenses unmolested and retrieve a copy of the document without anyone being the wiser.

Unfortunately, and unknown to the New Republic,Tyrannic was one of three Star Destroyers sent by Disra—by way of Flim—toBothawui under the combined cover ofcloaking devices and the trail of a comet to mop up whatever would be left after the inevitable explosion between the various Pro and Anti-Bothan factions. When Imperial saboteurs destroyed the planet's shields,the armed conflict began in earnest. Fortunately, Han Solo inadvertently discovered the Star Destroyers on approach and, seeing a greater threat, the ships united as one and defeated them.

At Yaga Minor,Errant Venture was cut off and trapped by the Imperials and faced destruction when help arrived from an unexpected source—Admiral Pellaeon, who publicly exposed the false Thrawn and Disra's role in the entire affair. He also exposed Tierce as a clone of the original, grown during theThrawn campaign a decade prior, and who had also altered copies of the Caamas Document in order to spread the growing resentment between the Bothans and much of the galaxy at large. Tierce would be killed by theMistryl Shadow GuardShada D'ukal, Disra was arrested by the Imperials, and Flim, acting for the final time as Thrawn, all Imperial forces in the area to stand down, calling upon Bel Iblis to do likewise, effectively bringing an end to the crisis.

Weeks later, with a copy of the Caamas Documentretrieved byLuke Skywalker andMara Jade at Thrawn's secretfortress, theHand of Thrawn, onNirauan, thePellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty was signed onboardChimaera by Pellaeon and Gavrisom, bringing an official end to the Galactic Civil War.

Aftermath[]

In the aftermath of the Caamas Document Crisis and the signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty, the state of armed conflict between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant came to an end, and the Remnant's current borders, eight sectors and over a thousand systems of territory in the upper regions of theOuter Rim, including worlds such as Bastion, Yaga Minor andMuunilinst, were officially recognized by the New Republic.

Several of the interspecies conflicts that flared up during the crisis abated, particularly when their participants saw how they had been manipulated by Disra's provocation. At the time the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty was signed, at least eight sets of combatants had petitioned Coruscant for mediation.

Because of the long natural lifespan of Bothans, most of the original saboteurs identified by the Document were still alive, and were promptly arrested and put on trial.

The galaxy would be at peace for the next six years, barring localized conflicts such as theSecond Imperium Crisis and theDiversity Alliance crisis, until theYuuzhan Vong War in25 ABY, where the seeds sown during this conflict would bear fruit, as the New Republic and Imperial Remnant would work together during the disastrousBattle of Fondor and would eventually form the nucleus, along with theHapes Consortium, of theGalactic Federation of Free Alliances.

Appearances[]

• Specter of the Past(andunabridged audiobook)(First appearance, in book)
• Specter of the Past abridged audiobook
• Vision of the Future(andunabridged audiobook)
• Vision of the Future abridged audiobook
• Survivor's Quest(andunabridged audiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Survivor's Quest abridged audiobook(Mentioned only)
• The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught(Mentioned only)
• The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught abridged audiobook(Mentioned only)

Sources[]

• "The Hand of Zahn" —Star Wars Insider 36
• The Essential Chronology
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 102CAA 1-2: The Caamas Document
• The New Essential Chronology
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I ("Caamas")
• A'Kla, Elegos in theDatabank(original site is defunct)
• Pellaeon, Gilad in theDatabank(original site is defunct)
• The Essential Reader's Companion
• Convenient Daily Departures: The History ofStar Tours onStarWars.com(backup link) (original link is obsolete)(as Caamasi Document Crisis)

Notes and references[]