Jukka Heikkinen

Jukka Heikkinen
Personal
Born	3052
Died	3103
Affiliation	Ghost Bear Dominion
Career
Title(s)	Head of the Unity Council
Position(s)	Minister of the Interior

Jukka Heikkinen was the Minister of the Interior for the Ghost Bear Dominion and Head of the Unity Council during the Second Combine-Dominion War.

History

Minister Heikkinen was born on Jezersko during the Clan Invasion Era and thus never experienced the freedoms of the Free Rasalhague Republic firsthand. Although he wished to take part in the nation his family often spoke about, the Ghost Bear Dominion proved to be much different than the vanished Republic. When the Word of Blake's Jihad began, Heikkinen attempted to test into the Dominion's warrior caste as a MechWarrior but his skills proved to be insufficient to the task, earning him placement as a military engineer instead. Stationed on Dominion planets ravaged by war and Blakist terror attacks, Heikkinen's love for Rasalhagian culture and skill at civil engineering earned a reputation in both the Dominion's military and civilian circles. Following the close of the Jihad, the Dominion demobilized the majority of its civilian support units, including Heikkinen's engineering unit.

Still desiring to contribute to the larger Dominion, Heikkinen successfully ran for the position of Head of the Department of the Interior on Jezersko and his actions in the post proved to be both popular and efficient. When saKhan Ragnar Magnusson noticed Heikkinen's efforts, the senior official had him promoted to Minister of the Interior for the entire Ghost Bear Dominion in 3090. As Minister of the Interior, his popularity continued to soar as he launched infrastructure projects that created significant employment opportunities and provided quality of life improvements for countless Dominion citizens. Eventually, Heikkinen became the figurehead for the Dominion's civilian population and even earned the respect of Khan Aletha Kabrinski.

In 3095, Heikkinen was elected to the Unity Council and rose to Head of the Unity Council soon afterwards, following the retirement of the incumbent representative. For the remainder of his political service, Heikkinen was a powerful member of the Dominion and was seen by many as the de facto Prince due to his ability to keep up with Khan Kabrinski.

The destruction of the Third Hussars during a raid by Clan Nova Cat on Soverzene infuriated both Heikkinen and Khan Kabrinski and, on 1 December 3098, he made a speech to the entire Dominion promising that such an event would never occur again. Khan Kabrinski would also consult with Heikkinen regarding the veracity of the intelligence they received on Clan Nova Cat movements from within the Combine which—unbeknownst to the Dominion's leaders—stemmed from the Black Dragon Society. When Khan Kabrinski considered sending the 283rd Battle Cluster to take the world of Meilen, Heikkinen instead petitioned to have the Fourth Kavalleri sent to accomplish the task, which they easily did.

As the war against the Combine and Nova Cats progressed throughout 3099 and 3100, the Dominion's civilian populace became more aware of the atrocities being committed against both civilians and soldiers by the Ghost Bear forces. After seeing BattleROM footage of Omega Galaxy's actions on Irece, Heikkinen traveled to Alshain on 1 December 3100 to demand that Khan Kabrinski halt all operations within the Irece Prefecture and investigate the Dominion's military for war crimes. The following discussion between Heikkinen and the Dominion's military leaders quickly turned heated, although when Kabrinski insisted that the war would continue until the death of every last Nova Cat, Heikkinen retorted by remarking that the Dominion's now-veteran KungsArme troops would not take kindly to being labeled as war criminals. The Unity Council's leader walked out of the command post into the midst of an ongoing peace protest, where he announced a temporary halt to all offensive operations.

After investigators from the Combine, Dominion, and Republic of the Sphere uncovered the mass graves of Nova Cat civilians murdered by the Black Dragon Society under cover of the conflict, tensions between the two nations began to decline. Outside pressure from the Republic encouraged Coordinator Hohiro Kurita to offer an armistice to the Dominion, which Heikkinen agreed to after Khan Kabrinski reluctantly ordered Omega Galaxy back to Alshain for a war crimes investigation. On 10 November 3101, the Second Combine-Dominion War was officially over.

Following the close of the war, Heikkinen worked closely with saKhan Magnusson to institute wide reforms within the Dominion in light of Khan Kabrinski's declining mental faculties. These included efforts to institute increased civilian oversight over the military and government, limiting military control over all but the most important industrial planets, reorganizing the Unity Council to include equal parts civilians and warriors of both Trueborn and Freeborn origin, and placing the nation's elected Prince above the Bears' Khan. Although many of these efforts would not come to fruition until the election of Prince Magnusson in 3103, Heikkinen continued to lobby for more power for the Dominion's civilian government until his premature death in a boating accident that year.

Bibliography

• Historical: Wars of the Republic Era