VALHALLAN THRESHOLD

Paz System:

Garvug:

In 354 CE Garvug was considered a “bargain world” given to the krogan to placate them because no one else wanted to live on such a frozen rock. Technically a life-bearing world, Garvug had a small farm belt around its equator and well-insulated marine life in its seas. By the turn of the century the krogan had completely adapted, breeding hundreds of younglings per family in vast underground bunkers. By the turn of the next century Garvug’s narrow strips of coral reef had been destroyed by overfishing and pollutants, and excess krogan took to the stars to find another planet to consume. Garvug was treated as an object lesson by the Citadel Council, the krogan could not be trusted to check their own numbers. Today Garvug is a frozen wasteland home to corporate ecoengineering efforts trying to implement sustainable agri- and aqua-culture practices. Krogan and vorcha packs are a constant threat, and the corporations pay mercenaries well to keep their operations safe.

Day: [27 Hours] Atm. Press: [1.2 Std Atm] Av Temp: [30 C] Gravity: [1.0 G]

Garvug has always been a rough place, as you would expext from a world in the Terminus Systems with a population of 40% Krogan and 30% Vorcha. Recently though corporate armies, many of them from companies based in Citadel space, have crossed the line. They backed a coup of the Krogan clan-based government in exchange for unfettered access to the planet. Eco-engineering firms like Binary Helix and Guanghui Solutions seek license to repair the balance of nature at any cost, while mining firms like Sonax Industries want access to state-protected iridium deposits. The aborted coup turned into protracted fighting in the capital of Dhazil, with the Krogan and Vorcha army slowly gaining the upper hand. As the early stages wore on, both sides called for, and recieved, reinforcements from off-planet.

Comm buoys were quickly taken out by state starships, cutting the system off from all outside communication. The Intergalactic Press got a news ship through the relay, bringing video from the planet’s capital Dhazil. Corporate forces fought for air and space supremacy, shooting down at least two ships but losing five of their own. Artillery pounded power stations and airfields from outside the capital, paving the way for a push into the streets.

In Citadel space there were protests outside the corporate headquarters of Binary Helix, Guanghui Solutions, and Sonax Industries -- the three companies forming the backbone of the corporate army on Garvug. Demanding that the corporations lift their siege of the planetary capital Dhazil, the protestors burned corporate logos in effigy and called for a galactic boycott of all three companies’ products. Meanwhile, Krogan have been reacting to the war with amusement. Urdnot Galem, a clan media director on Tuchanka was reported to say, "The corporations will win the war, no doubt. But are they dumb enough to expect peace ever again?" With many krogan eager to back their clan brothers, an easy corporate victory was in doubt.

Corporate forces however surprised many with a major victory: Sonax infantry units surrounded the Clan Hailot ancestral fortress and pounded it with rocket-propelled grenades, singularity projectors, and mass accelerator fire. In a bloody invasion that yielded twelve casualties, troops stormed the doors and took the fortress, destroying Krogan resistance and replacing the clan flag with the Sonax Industries logo. Elsewhere in the city, troops had to pick their way through booby-trapped power stations, hospitals, and water purification facilities. Clan head, Haliot Wrund was not, it transpired, in the fortress.

In the words of the Volus comedienne Sura Non, words that shave sparked many controversies. The scampy humorist said that conquering a Krogan and Vorcha world "is like buying a Varren Den with a sign reading ‘Pre-Shaken’ and saying, ‘But darling, it’s 20% off!’". CitSpace Daily opinionator Max Power slammed her, saying the Krogan on Garvug have been victims since the planet’s inception, and mocking their pain is tasteless. Non however shot back: "If Power doesn’t understand that I was mocking the corporate monkeys who made the decision to invade, I suggest he start stretching and get a flashlight so he can try to find where his head is lodged". Supporters of Non have taken up the fight, mailing Power over 1,500 flashlights to date.

Within days, the corporate armies retook and repaired the Garvug System’s comm buoys. After a tense two-hour battle, the state’s finest retreated to FTL in order to avoid total destruction. Through the comm buoys, the corporatists can direct communication to other planets that may wish to send reinforcements. Asked if they will censor the media, who have been relying on FTL ships using the mass relay to escape the system, Sonax supreme commander Lira Speight said, "Anything that gives away vital battlespace information or appears to be a coded transmission will be stopped. Aside from that, we believe in working hand-in-hand with the media to publicize what we anticipate to be a swift and relatively painless victory".

After days of intense fighting, the corporate forces switched strategies on the krogan forces, calling in experts in fugitive recovery from notorious places like Omega to hunt down the former head of state. Drones and search aircraft scoured the hills near Dhazil, and Binary Helix As one soldier said, "I don’t think anyone wants to be within crater radius of him right now".

For the next few months the fighting shifted to a more gurellia style of hit and run on both sides, with both sides attempting to block the other from resupplying or reinforcing, this game of cat and mouse culminated in the destruction of Admiral Lira Speights command ship Elsior in geosynchronous orbit over the planet. Comm traffic at the time of destruction suggests the Elsior was destroyed by a warp bomb hidden in a supply ship’s cargo payload. The ship had a crew of several hundred, none of whom made it to escape pods after the blast. However, Sonax’s supreme commander Lira Speight was on another ship doing troop review at the time. A video uploaded from the surface of Garvug minutes later revealed guerilla commander Hailot Wrund. His statement was brief: "Humans have an expression: ‘Tag.’"

The corporatist forces on Garvug struck back, conducting over 150 house-to-house raids and bombarding 33 targets in the mountainous regions outside of Dhazil. Insiders say most of the gunships flying attack sorties were Guanghui Solutions forces. All but one flight of Sonax ships remained grounded, and Binary Helix only fields logistical support staff. Sonax supreme commander Lira Speight denied rumours of a rift between her corporation and the eco-engineering subsidiaries. At the same time, A controversial vid is made its way across the extranet, causing PR trouble for the corporatist forces on Garvug. The vid shows Sonax Industries soldiers executing nearly a dozen Krogan, alleged guerilla sympathizers who defy their captors to literally their last breaths before they are pushed into a mass grave.

After six months of war on the planet Garvug, Sonax Industries’ board of directors voted 6-5 to withdraw troops from the combat theatre. To date, war casualties include 2,586 Sonax troops and 438 contract soldiers. Fielding troops and conducting the war has cost an estimated 21 billion credits, not including revenue lost from destructive acts. Within minutes of the announcement, Guanghui Solutions, the war’s other major investor, fired off a press release saying they, too, would withdraw their troops from the planet. In a televised speech from the former Sonax headquarters a few days later, clan chieftain and guerrilla leader Hailot Wrund announced martial law until the government takeover was complete. Even as his words were fading, an attack of unbelievable scale took place on the planet Garvug’s capital of Dhazil. According to one independent journalist trapped in the city, mass cannons destroyed the seat of government recently retaken by Hailot Wrund, as well as most buildings within the city. Reports of assassinations and precision bombardments flooded the extranet. Sonax-controlled imagery showed a large fleet moving from behind one of Garvug’s moons to orbit over the planet’s capital, a force including Binary Helix ships, which supposedly left Sonax’s coalition months ago. No representatives from either company were available for comment.

Two days later, Sonax supreme commander Lira Speight held her first press conference in weeks, displaying satellite images of Sonax and Guanghui Solutions divisions landing in Dhazil -- or what remains of it. Speight showed little concern for the cost of life from the brutal bombardments, but pointed out that the roads, spaceport, and mining infrastructure remain intact. Sonax, Guanghui, and Binary Helix stocks closed high in response. Sonax’s nearly 1000% boost was the talk of the trade floor. Sonax Industries also presented a list of confirmed dead or captured enemy commanders on Garvug today: 90 of the 112 names are presumed out of action. Among the dead was notable guerilla leader Hailot Wrund, who apparently survived a poisoning attempt before being shot down by Guanghui Solutions gunships. only DNA was recoverable from the wreckage.

A team of reporters from Second Star Broadcasting made a discovery that put the war on Garvug in an entirely new light. Working undercover for several months at Guanghui Solutions, the journalists uncovered evidence that the company, along with Sonax Industries, was concealing several caches of Prothean technology on Garvug for their own private financial gain. The reporters’ painstaking documentation garnered the attention of the Citadel Council’s Committee on Paleotechnology, which demanded that the corporations allow their inspection team full access to the Garvug site in question or face reprisals to their offices in Citadel space. Within days Citadel Council investigators announced formal charges against 14 of 24 board members of Sonax Industries and Guanghui Solutions. The move followed the investigation that confirmed those companies withheld Prothean technology from the galactic community for personal gain and instigated an interplanetary war to that end. The investigation credited unnamed Spectres who secured what they say was "irrefutable evidence" of the corporations’ complicity. Included in those indicted is Sonax supreme commander Lira Speight. High Commissioner of Galactic Rights Yrania Asula said, "The acts of these corporations went beyond mere illegality and into crimes against the galactic populace. We invoke the right of the Council to admit evidence garnered by Council representatives to prosecute the parties involved for their misdeeds." Lira Speight’s office reportedly responded with the following statement: "Try."

Sources close to Sonax commander Lira Speight allege that Spectre Lonar Maerun made an attempt on Speight’s life and was wounded by her security. Following several other attempts on her life the Admiral was declared dead folowing the destruction of her frigate as it attempted to jump to FTL and suffered a catastrophic core overload.

Current Situation

A Citadel Investigation and Response force has arrived at Garvug, its stated goal is to reduce tensions and restore order. Once completed they will evaluate the prothean ruins for any archeological finds. Garvug however is firmly within Terminus space, and Haliot Wrund has declared that there will be no peace or investigations until Sonax [now Keos Corporation] and its allies have been driven fron the system. Corporate forces stll hold several key locations, and bouts of localised combat have broken out as the situation becomes less open warfare and more a guerrilla style combat. Citadel forces have yet to engage either side, attempting diplomatic talks with both sides, while attempting to reduce the incoming support for both parties. Civilian officials have begun emergency operations again to protect civilians.