The Bactranate was one of the Sith fiefdoms which emerged following the collapse of the Chagras Hegemony in 1040 BBY. With the death of its titular ruler Chagras, his former domain descended into anarchy as several rival Sith warlords fought for power. The conflict was abbetted by the Calimondra family matriarch Vilia Calimondra who promoted the Second Charge Matrica under the pretext of bequeathing her substantial empire and assets to the grandchild that conquered the most territory. While most other Sith warlords in the Grumani sector nationalized corporations and seized their assets and work forces, Bactra saw them as assets and preferred to work with them as partners. This enabled the Bactranate to project its influence into the other parts of Sith Space that he could not dominate. One of these companies was Industrial Heuristics, which specialized in the development of mobile war universities known as arxeums.
The Bactranate, within the larger Grumani sector
In 1032 BBY, the Sith Lord Odion learnt that his estranged younger brother Daiman had commissioned the development of a new prototype warship known as the Convergence and sent the Bothan spy Narsk Ka'hane, an independent operative, to obtain intelligence on the vessel and to destroy the Black Fang research installation. Unknown to Odion, Narsk was actually a deep cover agent working for the Calimondra family matriarch Vilia Calimondra but posed as a mercenary spy who sold his services to the highest bidder. However, the Jedi Knight Kerra Holt intercepted Narsk and destroyed the datapad containing the data before destroying the building with baradium thermal charges. Like Narsk, she intended to destroy the Black Fang facility as a means of sabotaging Daiman's war effort. She then stole Narsk's Cryricept Mark IV stealth suit and left him behind to be captured by Daiman's Correctors. Despite Narsk's denials, Daiman suspected that Odion had a role in the bombing and constructed a concocted scheme to lure Odion into another trap on Gazzari.
Daiman then approached Lord Bactra with an offer to buy an arxeum—a mobile university dedicated to war research—from Industrial Heuristics. Daiman also offered to provide the students for the university. The transaction would occur on Gazzari and he promised Bactra's forces safe passage to the Gazzari system. However, he arranged for Narsk to listen to the proceedings and then to escape back to the Odionate. Daiman also contracted the services of several mercenaries including the Brigadier Jarrow Rusher and convinced to set a trap on Gazzari. They assembled their forces including artillery cannons on the edge of a massive caldera. As planned, Odion saw the Gazzari deal as an opportunity to wreck further bloodshed and destruction and dispatched a fleet to invade the planet. Odion's forces invaded the planet only to be trapped in the caldera by enemy fire. During the fighting, Odion quickly regained his advantage by deploying the Death Spiral— a massive mobile siege platform. However, Kerra destroyed the Death Spiral and managed to save the children. She then convinced the mercenary Brigadier Jarrow Rusher—who had lost five-sixths of his forces—to evacuate the refugees offworld aboard his troopship Diligence.
Unknown to Kerra, the Calimondra family matriarch Vilia was able to monitor her movements since the stealth suit impigned onto an information network used by the Sith despot to monitor her underlings. In the middle of the Battle of Gazzari, Vilia sent a coded transmission to Narsk ordering him to transmit a message to her grandsons Odion and Daiman. The matriarch had felt that Lord Bactra had outlived his usefulness to the family and ordered them to turn on the Bactranate. Odion's and Daiman's forces ceased fighting each other and turned on the Bactranate fleet in the system. They then launched an invasion of the Bactranate with Odion's forces capturing the capital Jutrand. Meanwhile, Lord Bactra fled into hiding at a Quermian retirement colony. Within days, the Bactranate had collapsed and Vilia convened a Bequest. The Bactranate's territories were divided up between the Sith Lords Odion, Daiman, Malakite, and Lioko while his vast corporate assets were divided up among the family. While Odion acquired Jutrand through military conquest, Daiman acquired Industrial Heuristics. However, Odion challenged Daiman's claim to the company on the basis that it had been based on Jutrand and was thus booty.