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The Trader Worlds enjoyed a golden era of
lucrative trade and relative peace under the strict guidelines
of the interplanetary Trade Order. They had forgotten their
ancient history of war and replaced it with a future of endless
prosperity. The arrival of the Vasari caught the Traders completely
unprepared.
Advance exploratory waves from the Vasari
Exodus Fleet, hastily crushed and colonized over a dozen worlds.
Political infighting amongst the Trade Order representatives
and the independent Opulentsia, delayed the first military
response by months. Finally, they sent everything they had
to repel the invaders; a cobbled band of ships designed to
combat piracy. The untrained, undisciplined, and poorly equipped
crews met a swift demise.
Disasters continued for years but, the resilient
Traders slowly learned to apply their perfection of the economic
engine into an ever more powerful war machine. Factories,
trade routes, and savvy businessmen were now one with star
bases, supply lines, and master tacticians.
Unfortunately, the disastrously poor cohesion
of the independently operated planetary fleets often negated
this progress. As the Vasari approached the central worlds,
it became clear that their advancement could not be stopped
without higher levels of coordination. The Trade Order could
not fulfill this role because its mandate forbade interference
in the sovereign rights of the member planets. Thus, the Trader
Emergency Coalition (TEC) formed despite strong opposition
to the loss of planetary autonomy.
United under one authority, the TEC finally
stalled the Vasari advancement but the reprieve was brief.
Their deviant brethren, exiled one-thousand years ago, have
returned with a colossal fleet of sophisticated war ships
and now wreak havoc across the undefended sectors. With their
entire force dedicated to maintaining the Vasari line, the
TEC faces a near hopeless dilemma.
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