Trade Federation invasion scenario

[PainRack]

This vs debate has 2 points of view:
Sitrep:
Timeline: At the setting of Rogue Planet
The Trade Federation has been embroiled in the Republic courts since the fiasco at Naboo. Its military has been downgraded and even stripped away to buff up Republic forces, yet, her trading license exist, with the potential to build thousands of droid armies.

Chancellor Palpatine has thus pushed forward a scheme to weaken the Federation continuing grip on power. A new wormhole has been discovered leading to the Star Trek universe, somewhere near the Cardassian/Dominion territories in the Alpha quadrant. The exploratory mission however ran into Borg cubes, surviving due to sheer luck and skill of the Jedi Master. From what little information they gathered of the new galaxy, the Republic believes it to be an extremely hostile place.

A mission charter has thus been draw up and under duress, the Trade Federation has signed. In return for accepting various penalties and political power in the SWU, they had been authorised to create a Corporate Sector in the STU, under Republic supervision of course. It is the wish of Palpatine that under the guise of virgin markets and huge wealth, the Federation will sink in so much treasure into the STU, suffering huge casualties due to hostilities and other costs that its own political power in the SWU will be drastically reduced. While the Federation stands to gain great wealth and power from such a venture, Palpatine hopes that within the space of a few years, the Republic would be able to launch a more powerful legal standing against the Federation that would shut it down. Any mistakes the Federation makes in the STU would only provide more ammunition in the courts.

Trade Federation goals:
The Federation nevertheless has its own plans for this venture, hoping to gain sufficiently large enough wealth so as to buttress its own political standing in the Senate and overtake any possible rivals. It plans to use any legal measure, and illegal if it isn't caught, to generate wealth from its new holdings, be it from mining, colonisation, trade, technology transfer, taxation and tribute and etc. Mercentile Imperialism, and the new EIC so as to speak.

Seperatist goals:
The budding Seperatist movement has their own plans for this venture. Count Dooku has infiltrated his own agent, you, as the overseer of the expedition. Your goals are simple
1.Manage the expedition such that it generates sufficient wealth to meet the Seperatist goals.
2. Use the ST holdings as a minor industrial complex to build starships and more armies, large enough that it can militarily contribute to the civil war but not large enough that it would be independent of the SW holdings. This will most likely meet with resistance from other Federation commanders.
3. Manage and manipulate the expedition such that it become a source of estranglement between the Republic and the Federation, thus forcing the Federation to support the Seperatist movement. This will involve delicate balancing of factors that will both weaken and strengthen the Federation hand.

Republic goals:
As a republic representive overseeing the project, you are responsible for the several goals
1. Extracting Republic tribute from the Federation.
2. Setting tasks for the Federation so as to meet the Republic goals of diplomacy, trade and exploration. This may involve liason work with other parts of the Republic as diplomats, exploration teams and etc enter.
3. Your secret mission is to entangle the Federation in such a political mess that her militaries will be attrited away, destroying her threat to peaceful planets such as Naboo. Republic tribute in the form of the Charter taxes however should not be threatened.

Geopolitical status:
The wormhole is situated in the boondecks of the Cardassian territories, far away from the Federation/Klingon border. The timeline is during the Dominion war, shortly after the Dominion captured DS9. Voyager is destroyed in the Delta Quadrant and will not return home with future technology or the destruction of the Borg to interfere with your plans. The Borg has been alerted to the Trade Federation presence and will begin an assimilation campaign 5 years down the road, with increasingly large number of cubes dedicated to assimilation.

Assets:
The Trade Federation has a fleet and droid army equivalent to that deployed on Naboo. Her battleships are partially refitted, having only the supplementary armament and shielding installed prior to the Naboo conflict. Your operating capital and industrial technology are equivalent to that of the Corporate Sector.

The Republic mission is much smaller, with a small fleet of Rendilli Dreadnaughts and extensive judicial and other bureaucrats to oversee the Federation.


Debate:
So, choose a faction. Will you debate for the Federation or the Republic. What will you do to enhance your position in the STU? Will you trade technology with the Federation or the Dominion? Act as mercenaries in the impending Dominion war?Set up your own privateer fleet?

As the Republic member, what will you do so that the Republic can profit from this expedition? Similarly, you must attempt to attrit away the Federation military so that she is incapable of launching another Naboo blockade in the SWU. Will you force the Federation to fight a military campaign against the Borg, one that will tie down large number for Federation forces? Will you sell secret intelligence to the Federation enemies and sabotage their operations?

The impending Clone Wars will still roll out as historically and this will involve limited strikes against the Federation holdings in the STU. This will naturally build up on any pacification plans you had made earlier on to subdue a potentially hostile Federation. Similarly, the Federation commander may well suddenly find himself having to fight the Republic as an enemy while engrossed in campaigns and colonisation efforts elsewhere, ditto Rome Total war.

So, what will you do?

[NecronLord]

Seperatists...

I spread out, sending emissaries to all the normal major powers, including the Dominion (blood tests mandatory) Federation, Romulans, Klingons. Oh, and the Ferengi. Mostly so I can snicker quietly as they try to con the Neiomodians.

I take half a dozen battleships and destroy the borg heartland, flattening its worlds with Providence class Trade Federation cruisers, like the IH, if I have them, otherwise using the larger battleships¹, which will ideally be used to attack and destroy Borg cubes and interdict other powers.

I make a point of relaying recordings of this to them, while ordering my minions to discuss alliances with these local warlords in order to establish the best and most profitable trade infrastructure available in the galaxy, for the benefit of all (especially my own pockets).

I procure replicators, retro-fit them as appropriate, and market them heavily in the SW galaxy as a consumer product. I generally do my best (I'm sure I have a staff of advisors to ensure I have the economics down) maximise productivity and wealth generation galaxy wide in order to take a cut for the Trade Federation.

In the interests of ensuring that the more agressive and rogue elements of this galaxy do not threaten Loyal Republic Citizens, I fortify the wormhole.

Once the war starts, this will become a massive advantage for the Seperatists. At least some Seperatist facilties and factories are self-replicating. This means they can literally be dumped on worlds in the ST galaxy and allowed to churn out endless quadrillions of droids. They're basically low-rent World Devastators.

Palpatine could still engineer a Republic victory, but if the war were being fought for keeps, then the wormhole would give the Seperatists a major advantage in being able to safely defend as much as

Star Trek conventional powers are utterly irrelevant militarily, they can either sign on or become second rate powers when their rivals develop with Trade Federation assistance. I'll treat them a lot like the British did Indian Princes. They can maintain dominion over their own territories, and administer them as they see fit². I'll make sure to take at least one Transwarp hub intact if I can, to see if it can be used as a set of galactic highways that I can charge a nominal fee for the use of.

¹ Why? Because the Providence 'Trade Federation Cruiser' (Invisible Hand's class) has turbolasers, and is proven capable of preforming BDZs and flattening city planets. The early-mod Freighter-battleship only has 'quadlaser emplacements.'
² Until the Confederacy wins the war. At which point the arrangement may need to be... re-examined. Quite what the Confederacy wants me to do there may vary, but I will certainly be... interested in some of the more repressive powers getting a taste of battle droid diplomacy.

[(name here)]

Republic

I will follow around the nemodians, and keep a careful watch on their factory production. In order to preserve the tax revenues, i'll see that they are well protected by what droids they have

In order to ravage the droid armies, I'll try to incite a war with the borg (will be pretty easy) and get the droid armies to briefly shut down when the borg drop out of transwarp, hopefully forcing the nemodians to destroy the ships the Borg manage to board. Nicely leaving no evidence, and likely causing no causalities other than droids and borg. If the weaken the army plan A fails, I've run out of options other than blowing them up myself.

in order to improve the evidence for the court case, I'll get some of the star trek powers irate at the trade federation, in the hope that they will engage in a war without seeking diplomatic resolutions first.

[PainRack]

I take half a dozen battleships and destroy the borg heartland, flattening its worlds with Providence class Trade Federation cruisers, like the IH, if I have them, otherwise using the larger battleships¹, which will ideally be used to attack and destroy Borg cubes and interdict other powers.

As stated, you have a fleet and army similar to that fielded at Naboo. These aren't the warships of the Clone Wars either, but rather, the battleship conversion in the Naboo blockade.

I make a point of relaying recordings of this to them, while ordering my minions to discuss alliances with these local warlords in order to establish the best and most profitable trade infrastructure available in the galaxy, for the benefit of all (especially my own pockets).

Keep in mind that as the Seperatist agent, you can't make the Trade Federation too strong either. An independent TF with local alliances may prove too strong to join the Seperatist movement at home, or demand too much power and control, something that Count Dooku and Sidious would not want.

I procure replicators, retro-fit them as appropriate, and market them heavily in the SW galaxy as a consumer product. I generally do my best (I'm sure I have a staff of advisors to ensure I have the economics down) maximise productivity and wealth generation galaxy wide in order to take a cut for the Trade Federation.

A bit off topic, but when Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, the end product has dedicated machinery installed in it. This suggests some form of industrial methods that's comparable to replicators.

Republic
in order to improve the evidence for the court case, I'll get some of the star trek powers irate at the trade federation, in the hope that they will engage in a war without seeking diplomatic resolutions first.

Won't hostile action against the Trade Federation actually strengthen their hand? It would justify why they need such a large military after all.

Also, keep in mind that YOU have the power to set missions that the Federation must accomplish if it wishes to maintain its charter. They can't be overtly silly though, due to the Senate oversight.

[NecronLord]

As stated, you have a fleet and army similar to that fielded at Naboo. These aren't the warships of the Clone Wars either, but rather, the battleship conversion in the Naboo blockade.

Various sources have established that there were other vessels involved supporting the blockade, as well as the doughnut ships. While the Providence in particular may be a later addition, given its Quarren ancestry, I'm unaware of when it entered service with the Trade Federation, but the Hand itself was originally the personal flagship of Nute Gunray, presumably sometime after the Blockade, given that he was on a regular doughnut during it, so I included it in planning on the off chance I'd get it. Not that it matters anyway. The locals are still helpless to hurt a Lancrehulk... Core ship. Let alone the 'doughnut' section.

Keep in mind that as the Seperatist agent, you can't make the Trade Federation too strong either. An independent TF with local alliances may prove too strong to join the Seperatist movement at home, or demand too much power and control, something that Count Dooku and Sidious would not want.

Why? I'm in operational control here. If Gunray gets stroppy, Sidious will simply threaten him with personal harm, as usual.

A bit off topic, but when Han Solo is frozen in carbonite, the end product has dedicated machinery installed in it. This suggests some form of industrial methods that's comparable to replicators.

While there's evidence that such technologies exist (World Devastators anyone?) I don't think that qualifies. I would assume there was just machinery for putting the frame on in the pit. There's certainly a market for a portable, easily powered version.

[NecronLord]

In order to ravage the droid armies, I'll try to incite a war with the borg (will be pretty easy) and get the droid armies to briefly shut down

How? You're not Darth Vader. You can't just walk in, kill their leadership, and steal their command equipment.

Even then, we see in TPM that the Neiomodians themselves control their ships, at least to some degree.

[harbringer]

Seperatist,

My primary objective is to control defacto the most secure TF assets for use later, as such I would to the republic say resistance has been extreme with cloaking technology used. This allows me to a) parcel all rebulic assets in a disadvantageous position and fortify BOTH sides of the wormhole (in order to find and destroy ST galaxy suicide bombers effectively ) simultaneously trying to get as many sepretist sympathisers into positions of power ... I am pretty sure relays will be needed for communications I will be sure to control these ......The republic and the trade federation must not know what is going on.

Droid factories will be built under heavy guard as will shipyards. Taskforces will be assigned to various goals one of 10 battleships will be assigned to destroying the resistance of hostile non borg powers the rest will be divided into a "home" fleet and a borg destruction fleet....as ships come online they will be assinged to replace losses I will if at all possible assign the rebublic ships to the borg offensive (all non republic ships will be ordered not to let any vessal fall into the hands of the borg). This will result in some accrimony but thats good if the TF task force attacks the republic they are halfway into my camp ...... I will have to make sure I watch for bounty hunters after my scalp. Should the republic leave a ships at the wormhole one day it will have a accident attributed to a borg attack on the wormhole or perhaps romulan spies.

No matter what a flat amount of tax will be sent to the republic as will a slightly variable profit to the TF not enough to do what they want but enough to bolster them slightly.

All the time military and trade resources to build a military are growing to put off anxieties among the TF reps I will tell them we intend to conquer and rule the ST galaxy as we will ..... up until someone either needs to be assasinated (republic spies!!!! of course ) or the clone wars start.

[PainRack]

Various sources have established that there were other vessels involved supporting the blockade, as well as the doughnut ships.

I was under the impression that the TF battleships are the strongest vessels presented in that blockade.

Why? I'm in operational control here. If Gunray gets stroppy, Sidious will simply threaten him with personal harm, as usual.

That's not certain. The Trade Federation for example didn't join the Seperatist movement until Count Dooku convinced them with the assasination of Padme.
Furthermore, Sidious and Dooku never used outright threats against the Neimodians until the Clone Wars had begun. Even here, it was mixed in with manipulation of their own hopes and fears.

While there's evidence that such technologies exist (World Devastators anyone?) I don't think that qualifies. I would assume there was just machinery for putting the frame on in the pit. There's certainly a market for a portable, easily powered version.

Machinery that "almost" equivalent to the replicators in their ability to manufacture stuff. With duplicators and other EU data, its almost certain that the only advantage replicators have in the SWU is in food preparation.

[PainRack]

lol. So far, no one has truly outlined what they intend to do to rape, pillage and loot the ST galaxy. That's a surprise.

[harbringer]

Sorry painrack.

I intend to strip mine anything I can recycle what I can enslave who I can - Annihilate anything borg on the basis they cannot become loyal servants and possibly the cardassians and romulans too while im at it .... Hell I might have access to a world devastator to go "terrafoming" cardassia and so on. I intend to use any method to achieve my goal and no problem eliminating the republic overseer if required. As long as I can keep secrets I can do what I want and maybe get a nice little bonus from dooku like padme maybe