Gulf of Panama Conflict

Halon's most famous operation to date was the Gulf of Panama Conflict in 2023. Following the economic collapse of the United States government, the Chinese government saw an opportunity to lay claim to the Panama Canal. As the Chinese had been contracted to reengineer the canal in the early 21st century, they had established substantial relations with the leadership of Panama. Through generous offers to high-level personnel and a prolonged commitment to the canal's maintenance and defense, and a contract for 100 years of residual income from the canal's operation, Panama was prepared to allow China total control and ownership of the canal. What remained of the United States government and the many growing corporate entities in North America balked, and saw this as an act of hostility. Halon, along with several smaller firms, was called in to negotiate a withdrawal of Chinese forces in the Gulf of Panama. China had placed substantial naval power in the Eastern Pacific and the Gulf of Panama. What ensued were not negotiations, but a crushing military defeat of the Chinese naval forces, who were unprepared for the instantaneous and well-orchestrated first-strike that Halon launched. It was in this battle that Halon demonstrated its technological and organizational superiority to the government-backed style of military of previous centuries, and where it gained its reputation as the industry leader in international peacekeeping and civil defense. The Chinese naval forces made a hasty retreat and, China, struggling with its own prodigious economic problems at home, elected not to expend further resources or launch a counterstrike.

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