Thaereian military

The Navy of Thaere, also referred to as the Thaereian Navy or the Thaereian military, was the military force of the Mid Rim Thaereian system during the final years of the Galactic Republic. In addition to protecting its own system, the Navy was asked to support the neighboring Cularin system by its senator Lavina Wren. Later, during the Clone Wars, the Navy of Thaere was officially appointed by the Galactic Senate as protector of the Cularin system. The protection offered during both these periods was controversial within the Cularin system itself, with many residents resenting their perceived interference or suspecting the military of pursuing its own agenda.

History

In the last years of the Galactic Republic, the Thaereians agreed to protect the Cularin system, which had recently joined the Republic. The Trade Federation had been forced out of the Cularin system in the Trade Wars, so there was no longer a unified force counteracting the system's pirate groups. Cularin's Senator, Lavina Wren, was concerned about the pirates, and one of her first acts was to officially ask for a military presence in Cularin. Thaere responded, but the response failed to impress except for a few gullible idealists, the native Tarasin species and Senator Wren herself.^[1]

Thaere assigned an unpopular officer, recently-promoted Colonel Jir Tramsig, to the task, and he brought a much smaller force than his commanders had authorized (although he also contacted bounty hunter Tira Wils to offer her a job). He initially set up a small base on Dorumaa, and attacked a few pirates from there while surveying the situation. He eventually brought in more ships, and established a larger base on Cularin—Soboll. A year after the Trade Wars, his forces in the Cularin system included two divisions, four capital ships, and eighteen patrol craft.^[1]

The Thaereian forces were unpopular in the Cularin system. They frequently interfered with shipping on the pretense of preventative measures against piracy, but they failed to make any real strides in preventing anything but piracy on the largest scale. In fact, the pirates always seemed to strike when there were no patrol craft around.^[1]

Many suspected the Thaereians of having their own agenda, and in truth, Colonel Tramsig was partaking in secret actions, with even his subordinates unaware of his strategy. He was requisitioning excess materials, had a relationship with Nirama to resupply supplies he had supposedly lost to pirates as well as questionable technology, had hired pirates to do some jobs for him, and had secret bases built on Tilnes and Ulbasca, along with a deep sea landing platform on Dorumaa that was not part of the original base. The Thaereian military, with financier Qar Jalunn as in-betweener, also worked along with independent genetic researcher Yush Baskalar in the asteroid belt, even though Baskalar specially disliked the Thaereians.^[1] In addition, the Thaerians had some sort of alliance with the Metatheran Cartel.

It was rumored that he, or the military, could be behind Identification #43641's investments in Dorumaa, creating a floating pad that was only operated at night.^[1]

The Thaereian military sent Major Kurth San as a representative to the SoroSuub Anniversary celebration, 31 BBY of Genarius. There, Major San measured the interest of the locals in the Thaereian Navy, with a view to possible recruitment. Satisfied with the enthusiasm of many, talented individuals, Major San left the party.^[2]

After the disappearance of the Cularin system, the Thaerians used the ensuing crisis as a pretense to increase their military forces by more than four times, and had placed a massive amount of ships where the system once was. Upon the return of the system, Cularin's inhabitants were shocked by this development. With the breakout of the Clone Wars, the Galactic Senate extended Cularin's status as a Thaerian protectorate and the Thaerian mandate to virtually place Cularin under the complete control of the Thaerians. The Thaerians, already having economic interests in the Cularin system, used this new resolution to tighten their grip on these interests.

In the middle of the Clone Wars, the Thaereians joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems. By this time, volunteers in the Cularin system had formed the Cularin Militia.

Notable members

Colonel Jir Tramsig^[1]
Major Kurth San, in charge of Soboll military base^[1]
Joq Landhauler^[3]
Teck Randon^[3]
Major Vayla Sevren,^[4] commander of Dorumaa Base
Colonel Rast'tul^[5]
Kirla Shorg^[3]
Tira Wils, Colonel Tramsig's personal bodyguard and unofficial security officer^[1]

Behind the scenes

The Living Force Campaign Guide was written before Attack of the Clones established that the Republic did not have a standing military, so it had Colonel Tramsig leading Republic military forces. When AotC came out, it was established that the military units in the Cularin system were instead from a nearby system, Thaere. In the original version, it was clear that the Jir Tramsig was up to something, but it was probably not the apparent expansionist agenda it became under the Thaereian version.