Affiliation: Confederacy of Independent Systems Associations: battle droid Dod, Lott Dofine, Daultay droid starfighter droideka (destroyer droid) Gunray, Nute Haako, Rune Neimoidian PK droid STAP (Single Trooper Aerial Platform) Trade Federation AAT (Armored Assault Tank) Trade Federation Battleship Trade Federation Droid Control Ship Trade Federation landing ship Trade Federation MTT (Multi Troop Transport)

The Republic had enjoyed centuries of growth and prosperity; it was inevitable that its wealth would foster those with greed to match. The varied instruments of trade and commerce banded together into galaxy-spanning organizations meant to aggrandize their profits. Coalitions such as the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, Techno Union, and the Intergalactic Banking Clan consolidated their individual markets under governing bodies of such size that they exhibited pull on the actions of the Galactic Senate.

The Trade Federation was a consortium of merchants and transportation providers that effectively controlled shipping throughout the galaxy. Under the rule of the scheming Neimoidians, it had attained enough clout to have full representation in the Galactic Senate, as if it were a member world. In order to rein in the Trade Federation, as well as raise funds for an overburdened government, the Republic approved the taxation of outlying trade routes.

Outraged, the Trade Federation brazenly blockaded the peaceful planet of Naboo in protest. Its fleet of massive battleships surrounded the pastoral world, cutting off direly needed supplies to the planet. The bold action caused great uproar in the Senate, marking yet another scandal in Chancellor Valorum's checkered career. Eager to resolve the dispute, he secretly dispatched a pair of Jedi ambassadors to Naboo to parley with the Neimoidians.

What no one in the galaxy knew was that the Trade Federation was but a pawn in a much larger game. The promise of a profitable outcome lured the Trade Federation's leaders -- Nute Gunray and Rune Haako -- into a partnership with a mysterious Sith benefactor. This shadowy Darth Sidious carefully manipulated the Senate, bogging the institute down in procedures while the Trade Federation tried to pressure Naboo's monarch into signing a treaty to legitimize the occupation.

Queen Amidala, Naboo's ruler, remained steadfast in her opposition. The normally cowardly Neimoidians then did the unexpected. Egged on by their Sith overlord, the Trade Federation began a full-scale invasion of Naboo.

While the budget-minded Trade Federation's reliance on droid labor was well known, the scope of their invasion army was shocking. Legions of automated infantry -- battle droids -- aboard modern war-craft charged down the vine-laced avenues of Naboo's cities. The subjugation was quick; Naboo's populace was ill prepared.

Gunray, Haako and even Sidious failed to foresee Amidala's bravery and fortitude. She escaped their clutches and called upon the native Gungans of Naboo to join with a growing resistance force. Together, the people of Naboo were able to overthrow their oppressors. Haako and Gunray were arrested. The Neimoidians, however, kept Darth Sidious' existence a secret.

Even after the Senate's reprimands for the Naboo incident, the Trade Federation nonetheless continued to operate, becoming all the more influential in the political chaos that would follow. Gunray avoided hard time for his transgressions, and even after four trials in the Supreme Court, still managed to hold onto his Viceroy title.

Betrayed by his Sith benefactor, Gunray allied himself to Count Dooku, a renegade Jedi leading a growing Separatist movement in the galaxy. Dooku courted a number of major commercial interests to back his rebellion, and his promises of absolute commitment to capitalism resonated deeply among the greedy.

Gunray was willing to pledge the forces of the Trade Federation to the Confederacy of Independent System on one condition: the death of Padmé Amidala. The young Naboo politician became the target of several assassination attempts, but she escaped time and again. Nonetheless, Gunray committed the Trade Federation to the Separatist cause, and in the first battle of the Clone Wars, the Trade Federation droid army fought against the clone army of the Republic.