Mamore Crisis

The Mamore Crisis was an interstellar political crisis centered around the Free State of Mamore. Following the nationalisation of several United Earth Government corporations operating on Mamore by the newly elected socialist government, the UEG successfully petitioned the aligned nations of the Glasslands Defence Initiative to intervene and represent UEG, and by extension GDI interests on the planet. Whilst originally involving sanctions and a resolution passed by the Organisation of Human Nations ruling in favour of the UEG and GDI, the situation would escalate when the Ectanus Command instituted a military blockade around Mamore and prepared for a large-scale ground campaign against Mamore's militia and the Kropotkin Revolutionary Brigades on the planet. 
A stalemate emerged as the Ectanus blockade was reinforced by assets from the Commonwealth of New South Wales and Dakar Union, and anti-socialist military forces within the Free State itself launched an unsuccessful coup d'etat, driven back by the combined strength of the Free State's socialist government and FSP forces on the planet. Eventually, envoys sent by the Free Systems Pact and led by the Theban Commonwealth and Gao Republic would successfully de-escalate the situation, aided by the GDI's rapid reallocation of resources to combat growing Covenant incursions in the Frontier Brush War. Mamore would successfully nationalise the companies, however with compensation paid to the UEG and the removal of foreign forces from the planet itself.
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==Background ==
 was a UEG colony in the Mamore System, located in the former Outer Colonies. A hub of dissent and anti-UEG sentiment since its foundation in the 25th Century, throughout its history it has staged several violent uprisings against the United Nations Space Command, all brutally put down with atrocities committed by both sides. By the end of the Human-Covenant War, Mamore was an unwilling participant in the UEG's expansive hold on what remained of her colonies and considered a strategic asset for its strategic location, as well as its wealth of resources needed to fuel the war effort.
By 2558, Mamore had become a UNSC supply hub, facilitating operations against Insurrectionists and Covenant remnant factions. However, with the onset of the Created Crisis and subsequent destruction of the UNSC's military structure in the Outer Colonies, the garrison on Mamore was isolated and surrounded by an unfriendly populace. As such, they fled the planet in December 2559, taking with them many UEG-aligned refugees. They would arrive at the planet Gateway, capital of the newly-formed Ectanus Command. Mamore itself declared independence, establishing the Free State of Mamore and celebrating their newfound freedom. They would establish relations with several friendly nations, such as the Theban Commonwealth and Gao Republic, and worked to expand their fledgling planetary defences with the aid of Theban military advisors. By 2562, Mamore was a fiercely-independent nation with close ties to other Insurrectionist planets, whilst they viewed the UNSC-aligned nations such as the Commonwealth of New South Wales and the Ectanus Command as little more than UEG lackeys. 
They were especially disdainful towards the Ectanus Command, as they had accepted the UNSC refugees from Mamore. These migrants would be integrated into the nation, with the UNSC forces from Mamore utilised as a key component of the growing Ectanus Military Forces. One significant Mamore exile was the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for the Ectanus Naval Command, one Vice Admiral Edgar Wilson, the former commander of UNSC forces in the Eridanus Sector. He viewed the withdrawal from Mamore as an embarrassment and held the hope that he could rectify the perceived mistake if given the opportunity. As the de facto head of the ENC due to the Chief of Naval operations, George Hyde, engaged in other fields as both head of the EMF and the military junta, Wilson would successfully popularise the view that Mamore was a threat to the Ectanus Command, and as such should be isolated and annexed. 
He would be halted in his efforts to bring Ectanus into conflict with Mamore when the Glasslands Defence Initiative was formed in August 2563, bringing Ectanus not only into the New Zanzibar Front, but also tempering their aggressive foreign policy with the more measured and diplomatic government of New South Wales. With both New South Wales and their third major partner in the GDI, the Federation of Lanua, maintaining cordial relations with Mamore and Thebes, Ectanus would be halted from making any further advances towards the nation, even after Mamore signed the Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance with Thebes in September 2563, confirming Thebes' commitment to the defence of Mamore. This would be followed by Hyde's resignation of commander of the ENC, to focus on his efforts as Chief of the EMF and the guidance of Ectanus towards a democratic administration. He would, unsurprisingly, be replaced by Wilson, who used his newfound power to his advantage. 
Resources would be slowly distributed to the EMF forces closest to Mamore, that being the 17th Fleet (under the command of Vice Admiral Nathaniel Davison) and the attached Ectanus Marine Corps' 10th Field Assault Corps (under Lieutenant General Mary Houldsworth). The 17th Fleet, already the ENC's strongest naval force, was reinforced until it reached a size of 43 warships, commanded by Davison from the bridge of the UNSC Settsu, a Vanguard-class battleship and the ENC's flagship. The 10th Field Assault Corps too would receive reinforcements to a point where it would contain five light and two heavy marine divisions, an attached regiment of Alpha Unit operators, six wings of atmospheric support craft, and an independent light brigade of Ectanus Army Rangers, dispatched from the EGC. 
This buildup was quite noticeable, especially since that the martialing point for Ectanus' forces was only several star systems away from Mamore. As such, Mamore slowly began to build up their planetary defences in a series of programs aimed to be completed by 2568. However, in the short-term they requested aid from Thebes in the form of equipment shipments, to which the Thebans would happily acquiesce to. They would also dispatch 500 military advisors from the Naval Infantry Brigade to assist in the training of Mamore's small but capable army cadre. 
In this time, Mamore's politics were drifting further towards that of Thebes and the Free Systems Pact. As a democratic society the socialist parties on the planet began to gain more traction with the people as they received funding and support from the Commune of Kropotkin, which was on the cusp of dispatching a Revolutionary Brigade to the planet if the socialist government did not win the elections of September 2563. However, they would do so, inviting Kropotkin to send the volunteers as an extra garrison for the planet as Ectanus grew to become more aggressive against the planet, and reports of the expansion of the 17th Fleet in the nearby Wallonia System. 
However, Mamore's military buildup and election of a socialist government was not done out of aggressive policies, nor was it an attempt to ready themselves to fight the Ectanus Command in a full-blown conflict, let alone the Glasslands Defence Initiative. Mamore had suffered two bloody rebellions throughout its history, and for many within the country, two was enough. As such, any potentially deadly conflict involving Mamore would be met with severe opposition from the populace, hence the election of the nominally pro-neutrality socialist administration. However, in an attempt to fulfil their declared policy of neutrality (to avoid any potential conflicts of interest between the FSP and pro-UEG GDI), they would present to the Mamore Assembly the Industrial Nationalisation Bill in January 2564. 
==History==
=== Diplomatic Efforts, February - March 2564 ===
The Industrial Nationalisation Bill was an all-encompassing policy consisting of a series of measures regarding UEG corporations and business interests on Mamore. Whilst the subtext involved regulations, tariffs and import quotas for many smaller businesses, the UEG subsidiaries on the planet itself would be required to undergo nationalisation and be folded into Mamore's larger National Manufacturing Department, focused around production and heavy industry. Widely supported by the majority of the electorate, the bill would pass the United Assembly on the 15th of January after heavy debate. News would reach the UEG's Representative Council on the 17th, and would be met with a huge uproar by not only the UEGRC, but also the general populace of the UEG and the military high command of the UNSC. 
The diplomatic response from the UEG was immediate. The closure of the consulate on Mamore would begin immediately, along with the standing orders for the UEG corporations to discontinue all production for the foreseeable future. The bill had given the UEG companies forty days to comply, giving the UEG until the 24th of February to formulate an effective response. Several corporations didn't wait for the UEG to give orders on what to do, as smaller firms began to move operations off-world at a rapid pace. They would find refuge in Ectanus, with the public there also outraged by Mamore's actions. The disdain felt for the ex-colony, spurned on by Wilson's subtle involvement and agitation, had infiltrated Ectanus' domestic administration, with several leading members of the Territorial Parliament (namely Minister of the Exchequer Gavin Dennis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Erica Powell) actively advocating for direct intervention, with proposals coming from the more well-known parliamentary firebrands even demanding war with Mamore, the Free Systems Pact and the beginning of another Sphere Expansion operation.
The UEG, unable to undertake offensive operations so far away from their own territory, turned to the GDI for assistance. Envoys were dispatched to Doggerbank, New South Wales and Gateway to seek out potential aid from all three. Whilst the Lanuans outright refused to engage in open conflict, let alone military blockades or sanctions, New South Wales and Ectanus were more open to direct engagement, especially the latter. Whilst engaging with the UEG envoys, a delegation from Thebes had arrived several weeks before to negotiate a potential bilateral trade agreement, which the New South Walers used to bring the two factions to debate. Whilst Thebes agreed that the actions were regrettable, and that they weren't consulted on it, they refused to force Mamore to back down, given that it was an independent nation. Any compensation wanted from Mamore would have to be agreed to by Mamore, which had made it clear that whilst they were open to compensating businesses, they would not meet any calls for the complete repayment of any revenue lost.
The conference would end on the 23rd, with no agreement set in stone, however both delegations were hopeful that a standoff could be avoided. The UEG envoys to Ectanus, however, were much more successful in engaging public and military support for their agenda. On the 21st, a resolution would pass the Gateway Territorial Parliament condemning Mamore's actions, and offering all remaining UEG enterprises on the planet the opportunity to move operations to Ectanus' territory. The envoys also met with Wilson and Hyde, with the latter having been construed by Wilson and Foreign Minister Powell into believing that Mamore would follow this up with the expulsion of all UEG citizens and begin to harbour Insurrectionist groups operating against the UEG and Ectanus. This was not true in the slightest, as Mamore's socialist government upon election had expelled any Insurrectionist groups from the planet in an attempt to distance themselves from future conflicts.
On the 24th, the Prime Minister of the Territorial Parliament, Ingrid Giraud, would deliver a speech to the Parliament regarding Mamore. Whilst brief, it entailed the implementation of sanctions upon the planet, and the dispatch of a combined naval-ground task force to Mamore to enact a "trade and economic supervision cordon", to supposedly protect all UEG businesses evacuating Mamore. Delivered on the same day as the transition into nationalised industries on Mamore, orders would be dispatched to the 17th Fleet and Rear Admiral Davison to prepare for the operation. Gathering all of the 17th Fleet's assets, and loading the 10th Field Assault Corps onto transports and other support vessels, the 17th Fleet would jump to slipspace on the 29th. 
This declaration would push the rest of the members of the Glasslands Defence Initiative into a tough position. Whilst they would eventually put out declarations of support for the UEG and Ectanus, behind the scenes they were furious that such drastic action had been undertaken. The Theban Embassies in both Lanua and New South Wales were outraged, with other embassies of members of the Free Systems Pact expressing their disappointment and anger. Kropotkin too were furious, having recently established an embassy on Mamore. However, the forces they had dispatched to Mamore that had arrived on the planet in November 2563 would quickly be put to work augmenting Mamore's defences.
As the 17th Fleet arrived in-system on the 8th of March, the light forces of Mamore's small planetary defence squadron would withdraw to low orbit, giving way for the numerically superior Ectanus force to take control of the space around the planet. After allowing all freighters in-system a chance to either jump to slipspace or land on Mamore, Admiral Davison would open the cordon on the 9th, in what all sides were now calling the 'Mamore Blockade'. 
=== Theban Response, March - May 2564 ===
=== Opposition To The Blockade, May - September 2564 ===
=== GDI Support, September 2564 - January 2565 ===
=== De-Escalation, January - March 2565 ===
==Aftermath==