Holt was a planet located at the border of the Inner Rim and 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 had treated them as if they were united. Under representative governments Holt had typically held one representative, agreed upon by all six nations.
Nearly four fifths of Holt was covered by water, with three moderately large continents and one smaller one making up most of the rest. Most of the land was located in the northern hemisphere.
History[]
Original Colonization[]
Holt was first discovered in 21,630 BBY by an unmanned space probe, but it would be two thousand more years before colonization would become a practical option. However, in 19,081 BBY, Holt was opened for claiming by corporations, and claims were filed by no less than five companies. The case was taken to the courts to see who owned it, but as there was an overload of such cases during this entire century, the case of Holt 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 the considerable hardships remaining on the planet illegally brought on, none of the other four corporations were willing to leave, and Tapos Securities lacked the resources necessary to drive all four of them off. To make matters more difficult, at this time a group of warriors exiled from the planet of Arzend arrived on the planet 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. No other company was ever granted official control of the planet. 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 sovereignty 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 interplanetary 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, with their interplanetary recognition always slightly tenuous, felt the pressure to 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 citizens 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.
The Nation-States[]
Tapos[]
Founded by the descendants of the settlers from Tapos Securities, Tapos was the biggest nation on Holt, having one of the three larger continents to itself. It hosted the city of Siret, in which all international and interplanetary affairs were handled. The majority of the planet's Senators had been Tapon. It was also the nation with the most extra-terrestrial activity, boasting eleven active spaceports. It was a constitutional monarchy, with power held by a parliament.
Birrik[]
Birrik was founded by the descendants of settlers from Birr and Tornik, the last of the five corporations to go out of business. As a result, they had the most extra-terrestrial activity after Tapos, despite being the smallest in both land size and population. The Birr still had a reputation for corporate greed that led to prejudice against them from the other inhabitants of the planet, especially Oloosha. It too was a constitutional monarchy, but there were constant accusations of corruption in its governing body.
Mycani[]
Mycani shared a continent with Birrik, and had the most land size after Tapos, but also had the lowest population of any of the six nations. They also had only one spaceport in their entire state. Much of their landmass was covered by mountains. The Mycan, who were descended from the settlers of Mycani Excersions, tended to be isolationist, but had a very rich culture. They placed a high emphasis also on heritage, and had one of the most complicated systems of surnaming seen in any culture in the galaxy.
Oloosha[]
Oloosha was located on the southern half of its continent, and most of it was located in the planet's tropical zone. Since the folding of its founding company, Trink Hydrogen, Oloosha had 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 had ultimately met with failure, due to the men who ended up in power inevitably turning corrupt with their positions, it boasted a strong socialist democracy, one which in fact strove 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, many of the other inhabitants of Holt admired Oloosha's socialism and shared beliefs not dissimilar to theirs.
Domine[]
Founded by the descendants of the settlers from Domine Supplies, Domine covered the northern half of the continent it shared with Oloosha. Domine and Oloosha were closely allied, and Domine too considered itself a socialist democracy. It dealt more with extra-terrestrial affairs than its neighbor, however, and in fact handled most of Oloosha's interplanetary traffic. Domine had the planet's best farmlands and was sometimes called "Holt's Breadbasket."
New Arzend[]
New Arzend occupied the entire smaller continent, and was inhabited by descendants of the planet Arzend's exiled warrior caste. This nation's culture was not unlike that of Mandalorians, and it was believed that the original warrior caste on Arzend was influenced by this famous race. They were responsible for most of Holt's civil wars, and the Arzendi(who called themselves this to distinguish themselves from the Arns, or inhabitants of the original planet), had often been known to travel offworld and offer their services as mercenaries in other wars. Many of them fought against both Galactic Empires.