Holt

Holt is a planet located at the border of the Expansion Region, unusual in that it was never united under one government, but is instead split into six independent nation-states: Tapos, Birrik, Mycani, Oloosha, Domine, and New Arzend. The six nations, however, under longstanding agreement cooperate in handling all interplanetary affairs, and most galactic governments have treated them as if they were united. Under representative governments Holt has typically held one representative, agreed upon by all six nations. Nearly four fifths of Holt is covered by water, with three moderately large continents and one smaller one making up most of the rest. Most of the land is located in the northern hemisphere.

Original Colonization
When Holt was originally discovered in 19,081 BBY, it was claimed by no less than five corporations, and the case was taken to the courts to see who owned it. However, due to an overload of cases, the case ended up on the back of the docket, and years passed without it being heard. Meanwhile, noting the planet's rich water supplies, Domine Supplies decided against waiting for the courts to make their decision, but settled colonists and built factories on the planet in 19,072 BBY. The other corporations hurried to do the same.

In 19,069 BBY, the courts finally awarded control of Holt to Tapos Securities. However, despite considerable hardships, including lack of immediate legal space access, none of the other four corporations were willing to leave the planet, and Tapos Securities lacked the resources necessary to drive all four of them off. To make matters worse, at this time a group of warriors exiled from the planet of Arzend arrived on the planet and settled on its smallest unoccupied continent, and would not leave either.

War and Independence
Between 19,069 BBY and 18,791 BBY war raged on Holt, with the corporations choosing to order the settlers to march against each other instead of expending further forces. More than once Tapos Securities demanded the aid of Republic forces, but the Senate was slow to expend their own forces to lend them aid, especially after 19,065 BBY, when the brutal murder of three Jedi by agents of the corporation resulted in the Jedi Council of the time declaring their refusal to lend any more aid.

The Jedi's public snubbing of Tapos Securities had further-reaching consequences than they had anticipated, it was the beginning of a long decline, and the corporation declared bankruptcy in 19,011 BBY, leaving Holt without any planetary authority. Then one by one, as evidence started turning up that the other four companies also may or may not have been involved in the murder of the three Jedi, one by one they too folded. With each collapse, the fighting only grew fiercer. The inhabitants of Holt had by now developed their own cultures and identity, and with the loss of outside authorities each of their leaders hoped to gain control of the entire planet and rule it themselves.

Finally in 18,805 BBY the leader of the Tapos nation, Ward Dranmir, sent an ambassador to Coruscant to again petition to courts to determine who was the ruler of Holt. In 18,792 BBY the Holt Decision drew borders between the six groups of people and recognized each nation's soveriegnity within their area, and provided steps for which, by ending their conflict, the inhabitants of Holt would be allowed participation in interplanetary affairs. It took another year to put a stop to the fighting and nine more of hard negotiations, but the six nations of Holt finally ratified the Articles of Alliance in 18,782 BBY, and in 18,781 BBY Holt was officially admitted to the Republic.

Post-Old Republic
Over the next millenia, Holt would not always be at peace, but they would manage to keep their somewhat awkward interplanetary status. Their most recent conflict was a brief civil war between Birrik and New Arzend in 38 BBY, which ended due to the efforts of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi.

At the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Holt was officially neutral, but felt the pressure to in fact adopt a position, and a conference was called together in Tapos to decide whether to side with the Republic or the Confederacy. The conference was disrupted by the murder of the Mycan leader Boinit Ten, but ultimately resulted in Holt declaring for the Republic, partly due to the efforts of Jedi padawan Ardré Kartik, who had been sent undercover, posing as a member of the staff of the Tapos Queen Hansmena. Even after entering the war, most the planet went unaffected; most of the fighting that did take place on Holt did so in Tapos, though there were also some battles fought in Birrik.

Holt did not protest the takeover of the Empire, though many of the members of the nations besides Tapos were given cause for resentment from the behavior of Imperial Moffs and Stormtroopers, and many nations of New Arzend ultimately ended up involved in the Rebel Alliance. The New Republic was welcomed in when it came, and the Galactic Alliance likewise, though the inhabitants of Holt were far more wary when the new Empire rose, and were one of the last planets to reluctantly surrender to it.

Tapos
Founded by the descendents of the settlers from Tapos Securities, Tapos is the biggest nation on Holt, having one of the three larger continents to itself. It hosts the city of Siret, in which all international and interplanetary affairs are handled. It is also the nation with the most extra-terrestrial activity, boasting eleven active spaceports. It is a constitutional monarchy, with power held by a parliament.

Birrik
Birrik was founded by the descendents of settlers from Birr and Tornik, the last of the five corporations to go out of business. As a result, they have the most extra-terrestrial activity after Tapos, despite being the smallest in both land size and population. The Birr still have a reputation for corporate greed that leads to prejudice against them from the other inhabitants of the planet, especially Oloosha.

Mycani
Mycani shares a continent with Birrik, and has the most landsize after Tapos, but also has the lowest population of any of the six nations. They also have only one spaceport in their entire state. Much of their landmass is covered by mountains. The Mycan, who are descended from the settlers of Mycani Excersions, tend to be isolationist, but have a very rich culture. They place a high emphasis also on heirtage, and have one of the most complicated systems of surnaming seen in any culture in the galaxy.

Oloosha
Oloosha in located on the southern half of its continent, and most of it is located in the planet's tropical zone. Since the folding of its founding company, Trink Hydrogen, Oloosha has adopted a strong anti-capitalist philosophy, mostly due to the efforts of its charismatic leader Rertiosinatu. Though multiple attempts to implement a completely communist government have ultimately met with failure to the men who ended up in power inevitably turning corrupt with their positions, it boasts a strong socialist democracy, one which in fact strives to be as close to pure democracy as is practical for such a large state.

At the beginning of the Clone Wars, representatives from Oloosha dismissed both the Republic and the Confederacy as being owned by big businesses and urged their fellow nations to reject all extra-planetary authority whatsoever. Though they did not succeed, the many of the other inhabitants of Holt admire Oloosha's socialism and share beliefs not dissimilar to theirs.

Domine
Founded by the descendents of the settlers from Domine Supplies, Domine covers the northern half of the continent it shares with Oloosha. Domine and Oloosha are closely allied, and Domine too considers itself a socialist democracy. It deals more with extra-terrestrial affairs than its neighbor, however, and in fact handles most of Oloosha's interplanetary traffic. Domine has the planet's best farmlands and is sometimes called "Holt's Breadbasket."

New Arzend
New Arzend occupies the entire smaller continent, and is inhabited by descendents of the planet Arzend's exiled warrior caste. This nation's culture is not unlike that of Mandalorians, and it is believed that the original warrior caste on Arzend was influenced by this famous race. They are responsible for most of Holt's civil wars, and the Arzendi(who call themselves this to distinguish themselves from the Arns, or inhabitants of the original planet), have often been known to travel offworld and offer their services as mercenaries in other wars.