Trade Federation Landing Ship

An idyllic world close to the border of the Outer Rim Territories, Naboo is inhabited by peaceful humans known as the Naboo, and an indigenous species of intelligent amphibians called the Gungans. Naboo's surface consists of swampy lakes, rolling plains and green hills. Its population centers are beautiful -- Naboo's river cities are filled with classical architecture and greenery, while the underwater Gungan settlements are a beautiful display of exotic hydrostatic bubble technology.

One of the wealthiest corporate organizations in the galaxy, the Trade Federation controlled most of the interstellar shipping passing through the Rim territories. The Trade Federation was headed by Viceroy Nute Gunray, and even had its own representative in the Republic Senate to lobby for even greater power. On the orders of Darth Sidious, the Trade Federation sent its battle droids to invade Naboo to create a government crisis. During the Clone Wars, the Trade Federation secretly signed on as a member of Count Dooku's Separatist organization, though representatives in the Senate tried to deny this.

The Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatist Alliance, was a collection of star systems and corporate titans that left the Republic and fought for independence against the Republic’s clone armies and Jedi Knights. The charismatic former Jedi Count Dooku was the Alliance’s political leader, while its military power came from credits and assets donated by powerful galactic trade groups. No one suspected that the Alliance was actually a tool of Darth Sidious, who had engineered the Clone Wars as part of a Sith plot to rule the galaxy.

Rather than use flesh-and-blood warriors, the Separatists prefer mindlessly loyal soldiers that are easily controlled. The soulless ranks of their armies are dominated by tall, thin B1 battle droids built as mechanical imitations of their Geonosian designers. Battle droids can be controlled by centralized command centers such as the Trade Federation’s enormous Droid Control Ships, or programmed for independent action. They often suffer programming glitches that manifest as personality quirks. Battle droids are dim-witted and no match for clone troopers or Jedi, but they weren’t designed to be smart – they were designed to overwhelm Republic civilians through sheer numbers, something they do very effectively.

The droid armies of the Separatists relied on a well-protected supply chain made of converted corporate transport vessels. Huge ships, like the barbell-shaped transport craft or the heavily-armed Trade Federation battleships, ferried in reinforcements, power supplies, weaponry and other essential materiel to the front. As more and more worlds took up the banner of the Separatist Alliance to do battle with the Republic, the Confederacy military was bolstered by flesh-and-blood warriors, like the natives of Umbara or Mon Cala.

A terrifying display of Trade Federation efficiency, the mammoth MTT (Multi Troop Transport) is an armored giant capable of disgorging over a hundred battle droid soldiers into the thick of combat. The vehicle's bulbous armored front end opens to reveal an articulated deployment rack, upon which rest dozens of compressed battle droids. The rack extends forward and deposits the droids into neatly organized rows. Upon activation from an orbiting Droid Control Ship, the droids unfold into their humanoid configuration. During the Clone Wars, the Separatist Army used MTTs in Confederacy livery to transport their infantry troops to many battlefields.