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The Commission for the Defeat of the Empire (COMDEM) was a military think tank in the Galactic Republic Armed Forces founded during the Third Galactic War. Headquartered on the Republic capital world Coruscant, the group was established in response to growing dissatisfaction in hardline Republic military circles with perceived limited progress made in the wars against the re-emerged Sith Empire of the last half century. The group sought to inspire aggressive military action against the Empire to achieve a speedy end to the decades-long conflicts. Mired in controversy and plagued by allegations of corruption and warmongering by its critics, COMDEM extended its reach into such areas as weapons research, economic warfare, and propaganda while aggressively lobbying Republic military and political leaders to adopt offensive military strategies against the Empire.
History[]
COMDEM was officially stood up as a military advisory body subordinate to Republic Strategic Command in c. 3623 BBY, approximately thirty years after the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant. The concept for the group was envisioned by then Republic Army Major Nilson Heerik.
Heerik had twenty-three years experience in the Republic Army, mostly as a counterintelligence officer attached to the Counterintelligence Branch of the Republic Strategic Information Service (SIS). In his last SIS assignment, he was appointed commander of Operation: Starblind, primarily a Republic military initiative to proactively and aggressively identify and neutralize Imperial intelligence assets using SIS resources. After a political debacle flared up following a series of attacks against Imperial diplomats, Heerik’s superior was forced into an early retirement and Heerik returned to the Army, awaiting presumed disciplinary action.
During this brief, uncertain period, Heerik submitted a formal proposal to the Republic Army chief of intelligence, suggesting the creation of a new military think tank to replace the so called “War Trust” whose leaders were killed by the Sith during the Cold War. Heerik’s proposal was met with much enthusiasm by military leaders and he was promptly promoted to colonel and appointed director of the new group.
Ideology[]
The reemergence of the Sith Empire in 3,681 BBY initiated the twenty-eight year long Great Galactic War, followed by the approximately thirteen year long Cold War, then the three year long Galactic War, interrupted by the invasion of the galaxy by the Eternal Empire of Zakuul, and then followed by the Third Galactic War, totaling over half a century of conflict between the Republic and the Empire. This prolonged military conflict, which saw the fortunes of the Republic periodically rise and fall, gave rise to a camp of military, government, and corporate hardliners dissatisfied with Republic war strategy and policy.
COMDEM’s support was rooted in the faction of Republic military, government, and business officials who advocated for more aggressive offensive military action against the heart of Imperial space. The outlook of these supporters was unwaveringly pro-Republic, anti-Imperial, anti-Sith, and flavored with skepticism of the role of the Jedi Order in the Republic’s defense. COMDEM officials and supporters envisioned a stronger role for the military in Republic policy and decision making for the duration of the wars with the Sith, and the mobilization of Republic society directed at achieving a swift defeat of the Empire. Many of COMDEM’s most senior supporters had been staunch advocates for the policies of former Supreme Chancellor Leontyne Saresh.
Membership[]
As a military think tank, most of the Commission’s members were upper-mid-level officers of the Army and Navy. Senatorial officials who sympathized with COMDEM’s mission were encouraged to dispatch discreet and trustworthy liaisons to the Commission. COMDEM leaders also brought in advisors from several key Republic private businesses and media consulting firms.
Two organizations notably disassociated with the Commission were the SIS and Jedi Order. This was on account of the tenuous relationship between the director, Col. Heerik, and the two organizations based on Heerik’s time as commander of Operation: Starblind.
Structure[]
Upon its founding, COMDEM was directly subordinated to Republic Strategic Command. Its position papers and reports were regularly submitted to the Office of the Supreme Commander of the Republic Armed Forces.
Principals Committee[]
The activities and focus of the Commission were led and coordinated by the Principals Committee. The committee’s voting members included:
- Director, COMDEM (Republic Armed Forces)
- Deputy Director, COMDEM (Republic Armed Forces)
- Representative, Republic Army
- Representative, Republic Navy
- Liaison, Senate Military Ops Committee
The committee was directly advised by a counselor from the Republic Armed Forces Barrister Advocate’s Office.
Subcommittees[]
COMDEM’s various subcommittees were the real drivers of strategic planning and innovative development in the Commission. All Principals Committee members were free to participate in subcommittee discussions and projects.
Military Planning[]
This subcommittee directly supported COMDEM’s principal mission, to develop and promote winning offensive military strategies to achieve a speedy end to the wars with the Sith Empire. The subcommittee aggressively advocated for offensive military campaigns directed at the heart of Imperial space and generally neglected occupied worlds such as Bothawui, Rodia, and Sullust. The subcommittee’s plans emphasized military action along the Perlemian Trade Route and Hydian Way with the Esstran sector as its desired focus for military operations.
To augment Republic military forces pressing into the heart of Imperial space, the subcommittee advised the passage of legislation in the Galactic Senate granting Republic military sector and campaign commanders the authority to assert total operational control over planetary defense forces. The subcommittee was also charged with drafting plans for the post-war occupation of former enemy and contested territories.
Because the SIS was deliberately excluded from Commission activities, this subcommittee also coordinated the Commission’s intelligence and clandestine operations. This included the assassination of Imperial and Sith leaders, the destabilization of Imperial occupied and home worlds, the provocation of Sith infighting, sabotage of key Imperial military and logistical facilities, and fomenting slave uprisings.
Staffed primarily by Army and Navy strategists, subcommittee members regularly worked closely with the Senate Military Ops Committee and Republic Privateer Service Corps.
Critical Weapons Development[]
Among the most secretive and controversial of COMDEM’s subcommittees, this group was intended to consolidate all military superweapons conceptual planning, research and development, and operational control of advanced military technologies.
This subcommittee was led by a senior officer of the Army Research Division and coordinated closely with Advanced Development Laboratories and the Senate Research Committee.
Legislative Affairs[]
COMDEM recommendations regularly required adjustments to existing Republic laws to expand military powers or allow for high priority projects. This subcommittee, working in close cooperation with sympathizers in the Republic News Network, was responsible for propaganda and securing votes for recommended bills in the Galactic Senate.
COMDEM leaders leveraged the government contacts of subcommittee members to promote key diplomatic initiatives targeted at the Tion Hegemony, Hapes Consortium, and even the Hutt Cartel.
Among the bills COMDEM aggressively sought votes in the Senate for were the:
- Military Augmentation Authority Act. To allow the Republic Armed Forces to assume operational of planetary defense forces.
- Extraordinary Governance Act. To institute military administration of previously contested or enemy sectors until secured. Ensure military governors’ authority to supersede elected senators or planetary leaders.
- Galactic Safety Assurance Act. To ensure the execution of all Sith.
- Galactic Security Preservation Act. To provide for a strong military following the Empire’s defeat. Prevent a military drawdown at the conclusion of hostilities. Preserve the military budget and incremental increases. Impose a five year restriction before appeal of law can be voted on.
- Jedi De-Militarization Act. To remove Jedi from Republic Armed Forces command positions and restrict Jedi access to classified military and intelligence information.
Resource Allocation[]
The wars against the empires of the Sith and Zakuul placed a crippling strain on galactic resources. This subcommittee, which comprised members of such organizations as the Senate Resource Management Council, Senate Military Expenditure Committee, and the InterGalactic Banking Clan (IGBC), was charged with providing logistical recommendations to support offensive operations and lobby senatorial figures for support.
Esoteric Suppression[]
COMDEM’s most hardline members regularly maintained that a final and total victory over the Sith Empire could not be achieved without the complete annihilation of the Sith Order. This subcommittee was assigned the task of developing and implementing strategies to seek out and destroy all darkside Force-sensitives.
Some of COMDEM’s critics speculated the subcommittee was coordinating with the GenoHaradan to assassinate Sith Lords, and even suggested that the subcommittee had developed plans aimed at the containment and disarmament of the Jedi Order.
Post-War Planning[]
Extensive attention was given by COMDEM and its various subcommittees to envisioning a post-Empire galaxy. In addition to plans for prolonged military occupation of sectors in the Outer Rim Territories formerly controlled by the Empire, COMDEM engaged the counsel of the IGBC and other Republic agencies to prepare for the post-war management of formerly Imperial territories.
Extraordinary Territorial Administration[]
This subcommittee, whose members came from such organizations as the Senate System Governance Oversight Committee and the Agriculture Administration, assisted military planners in arranging for structures to assist in the planned post-war military governance of former Imperial territories. The group also advised on loyalty assurance methods for current Republic member worlds.
Economic and Industrial Warfare[]
This remarkable advisory group was comprised almost entirely of corporate consultants from various Republic businesses with some government representation. Members included officials from the IGBC, Corellian Engineering Corporation, Mining Guild, Adascorp, Czerka Interstellar, Resource Reclamation Initiative, and Galactic Agricultural Co-operative.
Military planners turned to this group to advise on methods to inflate and destabilize the Imperial economy, devalue the Imperial credit, maximize crop destruction efforts, and plan for the eventual assimilation of the Imperial economy into the galactic economy.
Planetary Policy Positions[]
As part of its research and advisory activities, COMDEM regularly issued recommendations to senior military officials outlining policies specific to certain planets that aligned with COMDEM’s strategies.
Alderaan[]
Following the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant in 3,653 BBY, Alderaan ceded from the Republic. Alderaan was also where Nilson Heerik’s first military assignment took place. Consequently, Col. Heerik was familiar with the tumultuous situation on the Republic founder world, but was very harsh in his recommendations for Republic action on the planet.
For Alderaan, COMDEM advocated for Republic military occupation of the planet until the civil war concluded and stability could be assured. The Commission recommended the appointment of a provisional military governor for the planet, who would simultaneously hold the new position of Archduke-Regent to conform to Alderaan’s monarchal system of government. House Ulgo was favored by COMDEM as a candidate to supply the planet’s new permanent monarch, on account of its close historical ties to the Republic military. The Commission planned for war crimes trials and executions of senior and mid-level nobles of House Thul and its vassal houses. COMDEM proposals advocated for the disarmament of noble houses’ militaries in favor of a unified planetary defense force under House Ulgo leadership. The seizure of House Thul properties and accounts was also recommended along with an aggressive extermination campaign against the native Killik population.
Alsakan[]
Coruscant and Alsakan had engaged in several conflicts for thousands of years contesting which planet should serve as the capital world of the Republic. In an effort to better ensure domestic stability during its conflict with the Empire, COMDEM leaders vigorously advocated for the imposition of martial law in the planet until victory over the Empire was achieved.
Balmorra[]
Although the planet joined the Republic in c. 3,641 BBY, COMDEM officials were dissatisfied with the production output of the planet’s multiple weapons factories, and thus advocated for the appointment of trusted Republic partners such as the IGBC and CEC to direct local corporations.
Belsavis[]
In line with its unwavering belief that galactic peace could never be achieved as long as the presence of the Sith lingered in the galaxy, COMDEM suggested the issuance of execution warrants for all Sith inmates in the Republic prison on Belsavis.
Hoth[]
COMDEM issued a recommendation that the Republic should declare salvage rights on Hoth and penalize independent scavengers not operating under contract on the planet.
Quesh[]
The Commission recommended Quesh be declared a member world of the Republic and a governor be appointed. They also suggested all Hutt influences be expelled from the planet and the distribution of locally manufactured products be prioritized for military use.
Tython[]
To maximize the efficiency of military deployments, the Commission recommended the evacuation of all military personnel on the Jedi stronghold world for redistribution to battlefield assignments.
Zakuul[]
Wary of a potential reemergence of the threat of the Eternal Empire, COMDEM advocated for the military occupation and administration of Zakuul, its establishment as a Republic colony world, and the acquisition and exploitation of Zakuulan tech.
Behind the scenes[]
COMDEM is a fanon organization conceived of in 2023 for a roleplay character in Star Wars: The Old Republic.