Chapter Five
Corinth, the Merchant Empire
The City World of Corinth was the capital of one of the few systems under alien rule that was still part of the Imperium. The Imperium’s first encounter with the Coalition of Corinth was surprisingly peaceful. The Coalition was made of hundreds of species joined in loose trade agreements. These species welcomed the Imperium with open arms, and quickly both sides found profit to be made from the other. And so the Coalition joined happily with the Imperium.
While the Imperium boasted this as the only reason for the peaceful union with the Coalition, a darker side was known to those who originally swore allegiance to Corinth. The Coalition had been under threat of raiders for hundreds of years. These raiders had soon become bolder and many of the Coalition's outer systems fell, with many worlds ravaged and laid to waste.
This soon threatened the inner systems of the Coalition and Corinth itself. When the Imperium arrived, they were welcomed as saviors. In exchange for a peaceful surrender, the Imperium wiped the Coalition's enemies from the galaxy in a brutal conflict that ended in genocide.
In the following years the Coalition proved a loyal vassal, and were allowed to govern themselves. While the Imperium would never admit it, this was due in part to the over extension of their borders and the lack of resources left to spend on providing Lessers to govern the sector after the extermination of the Coalition’s enemy.
The Coalition began to build war fleets in the guise of mercenaries to help protect the Imperium’s trade routes. Before these fleets could be turned on the Imperium however, the Great Collapse freed the Coalition.
With their new found freedom, the Coalition began a new campaign with the goal of controlling what's left of the Imperium by providing weapons and mercenary war fleets to fight against enemies of planets too weak to pose a threat. Much like the Coalition once saw the Imperium, these systems now see the Coalition as saviors. And much like the Imperium, the Coalition is using them to expand their empire.