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The Vasari Empire ruled over countless worlds and sub-lesser species at the height of their power. Relentless and unstoppable, their Dark Fleet sought to eclipse ever more civilizations into their growing empire. Those that would not serve would be enslaved and their development curtailed. Technological advances during this time were rampant and often of a martial nature.
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From the ashes of the now forgotten conflict, the Trade Order is formed by a group of economically driven settlers. Each planet in the Trade Order would operate as its own sovereign entity, but with free trade across the member worlds. Over the next several centuries, the Trade Order would grow to encompass hundreds of members. However, despite the amount of autonomy allowed in forms of government and culture, a strict set of laws were enforced across members against un-natural augmentation and other taboos.
1,000 Years Ago - The Exiled
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The Trade Order’s age of prosperity would come to a quick end with the arrival of the Vasari Exodus Fleet. Stories of their ancestor’s wars had long since passed into the depths of history; the methods of and machines by which they were fought long since buried. Consequently, when the Vasari fleet arrived, the outlying Trader Worlds paid dearly.
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The sins of the Trade Order’s past returned to haunt them with the return of the exiled, now calling themselves “The Advent.” Arriving with a vast fleet of advanced warships and mysterious weapons, the Advent quickly brought a number of worlds under their control. Now caught in a two-front war, the already struggling Trader Emergency Coalition finds appears to find itself in an utterly a hopeless situation.
20 Years Ago - Stalemate (War Year 15)
After nearly 15 years the war nears neared a stand-still. Thanks to the industrial and manufacturing power of the Trader worlds, the TEC has managed to fend off both the Advent and the Vasari invaders. With the fronts temporarily stabilized, each race began to regroup and entrench in their respective territories. Great defensive battlestations were deployed and critical choke points fortified in preparation for the next great offensive action.
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In the 30th year of the war, the hope placed on diplomacy shattered as internal divisions within each race led to civil war - a split between loyalist and rebel factions.
With the The TEC the loyalist members adopted a policy of isolation, with the intent to focus on enhanced defenses to ride out the rest of the war behind their walls. Those of the rebel faction adopted a purely militant view. Unable to reconcile the brutality of the past 30 years, the TEC rebels decided that peace would only come after crushing all who opposed them - especially the Vasari.
For the first time in their history, the Advent Unity found themselves split in their courses of action. The loyalist faction wanted wants to continue their policy of revenge against the Traders and assimilate all others into the Unity’s influence. However, those of the rebel faction began to suspect that some form of corruption was diverting the Unity from its proper destiny.
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