AFT History
The Beginning
When the Capellan Periphery was first discovered by the EEM, there was a major rush to colonise and exploit the new worlds and systems. The initial investment required was so great that only the mega-corporations and those companies backed by the Emperor had the assets necessary to start up in this new area of space. In order to compete with the mega-corporations, a group of small Imperial traders banded together to form the Association of Free Traders, pooling their assets in order to fund their initial colony to act as a starting point.
Once they reached the Periphery, the AFT discovered that it was indeed a great opportunity for trade, and that they could easily under-price their main competitors, Galactic Transport and Trade (GTT). The AFT undertook a major colony building and expansion program, and having purchased many of the EEM's Supra Freighters began to perform transport missions for the other affiliations to raise cash. The success of their operations led to the expansion of the AFT as other traders from the Inner Empire tried to take advantage of the new opportunities. A major blow to their plans took place when the Imperial Services declined to use AFT ships for transport rather than those of the GTT. This led to a rivalry between the AFT and GTT.
So far the AFT had remained out of any military conflicts, staying away from the FET/SSL and FET/DTR wars. However, the balance of power was upset by the appearance of the Flagritz. These alien invaders appeared through a wormhole in the Inferno system, and immediately started attacking the ships and colonies of all the Imperial affiliations. The AFT was lucky, having only a few ships targeted. After it became clear that the FGZ were being aided by the rebel Detinus Republic (DTR), and posed a general threat to humanity, the AFT began arming ships for war. AFT warships fought in a number of fleet engagements, where they performed admirably, including capturing a Baseship. In the end the FGZ surrendered to the Imperial forces, and retired to the Inferno system. The AFT warfleet was downsized, but it was decided to retain a small fleet in order to protect the AFT and just in case the FGZ decided to make war again.
Shortly after the end of the war, a new area of space was discovered beyond the Kastorian system of Yank. The Darkfold Periphery, as it became known, was occupied by several new, smaller affiliations. These belonged to the Confederacy, a separatist human group who do not acknowledge the Emperor Jasil as the rightful emperor, but instead acknowledge his half-brother Samuel. Among these affiliations were the DIE, RAT and RIP, who preyed upon all Imperial traffic, including the ships of the AFT. Thankfully the RAT and DIE did not last too long, and the threat of the RIP was small enough for trade to continue relatively unhindered.
Creation of the Free Trader
At this time, a number of affiliation colonies started reaching class 7, and research into new ship classes began. The GTT, being the first to have a suitable shipyard, were the first to launch a new ship class, the Indiaman. This design being rather larger than the EEM's Supra Freighter (which the AFT were using), the GTT began to have the upper hand in negotiating for trade contracts. The GTT's ability to produce these ships for other groups to use exacerbated the problem. Unable to build a larger ship, the AFT began research into a new ship design that would be faster than most, able to carry out rapid transport on the high-profit, long-distance routes.
Based upon the Supra Freighter, but utilising a special jump-friendly configuration, the Free Trader was born. Increases in the size of the command and engine sections created a much faster ship with a greater life-carrying capacity. It was necessary, though, to sacrifice some cargo space in order to obtain the necessary shape for the special speed advantages. Using special technology, alterations to standard jump engines combined with the careful design of the ship to allow much quicker creation of the warp fields required for inter-system travel. All of this resulted in a ship able to make jumps 25% faster than normal.
Towards the end of year 193, the AFT were focussing on colonisation, as it was found that operating markets was more profitable than doing the actual trading. A dispute occurred with the IMP over an ex-AFT colony which had been sold to the FGZ, the AFT demanding that the IMP interfere, but the matter was dismissed as no-one wanted another war. Only one AFT warship fought alongside the Imperial ships at the alien artifact. The increased threat from the RIP led to warships being used to hunt pirates, and at the time the AFT had only a very few warships.
From then on the AFT remained neutral during the various wars. This was partially due to AFT members being reluctant to spend their newly acquired riches in military equipment! The AFT began negotiations with the Confederate bloc, eventually gaining access to the Darkfold Periphery for trade purposes. Their focus on colonisation led to lots of research, and soon they become one of the best sources of restricted production items.
The Carrier Appears
When class 8 ships began to be introduced, the AFT saw the need for a ship which could normally be used as a large trade ship, but which in times of need could also be used as a warship. The AFT needed to be able to field more warships, but could not afford to maintain these ships indefinitely. After some false starts the final blueprint for the Carrier was born. A decent sized trade ship, with a much larger command section than most freighters, the Carrier could also be used as a space fighter carrier when required. These ships also became of great interest to other affiliations, and booming sales led to Carriers becoming the most common trade ships around.
In the year 196 the AFT finally decided to separate from the Imperial bloc, and become completely neutral instead. This was due to the increasing trade opportunities outside Imperial space, plus the AFT's reluctance to take side in military conflicts. Two of the AFT's larger colonies, Ariel and Return, were moved by the EEM to the Solo and London systems respectively. The Imperials were unhappy with the move, fearing that the AFT would choose to join their enemies, but that fear has been shown to be ungrounded, as the AFT remain neutral to this day.
Expansion continued, with the establishment of colonies in the newly discovered Cluster Periphery. During 197 there were a number of changes of leadership in the AFT, resulting in the loss of a fair amount of information. At the end of the year, a dispute within the leadership led to the departure of the then Master Coloniser to the Clans, taking one of the AFT's Cluster colonies with him. However, with perseverance the AFT continued to build good relations with all other affiliations, becoming one of the most trusted affiliations in the known universe, with access to more systems than any other affiliation.
The Super Carrier
The beginning of 198 saw a major technological breakthrough for the AFT. After lengthy licensing negotiations with the EEM, two AFT Carriers were, with new technology, upgraded to Super Carriers. These huge ships were based upon the Carrier design, but specialised alterations enabled each hull to carry three times as much equipment or cargo as normal.
Initially, only two ships were licensed for the upgrade. The Happy Hamster was run by the Haplo family, operating for a year and a half until it was downgraded upon the Haplo family's move to the SMS. The other of the first Super Carriers was the True Sky, captained by the famous Honest Ted. Ted was an outspoken captain who rose to become the AFT's Master of Defence. He and his ship were lost in mid-199, after Ted had thought he could outwit the pirate king. Having just agreed a deal with the pirate king (without the knowledge of the rest of the AFT, it must be said, who remained staunchly anti-RIP), Ted relaxed his guard. The unfortunate result was that the pirates were able to launch an assault on the True Sky, blowing the ship to smithereens, and killing Ted in the process.
Meanwhile, further negotiations had been continuing with the EEM, resulting in permission for the construction of further Super Carriers. True Sky and Happy Hamster were both soon replaced by new Super Carriers, with several more of the huge vessels appearing over the next few years, although numbers remained limited for some time to come.
Birth of the AFT Council
Mid-199 also saw a change in the leadership structure of the AFT. The sudden death of a new Master Trader only three weeks after taking office, combined with inept incumbents earlier in the AFT's history and the general reluctance of any AFT member to take on such sole responsibility, led to the decision to leave the post vacant. Instead, the AFT was henceforth to be ruled by a Council, on which all members had the opportunity to sit and have a say in the running of the association.
The latter part of 199 saw the AFT's only major combat role in recent years. The AFT's defence department, headed by the Defender of Justice, Ivan the Gambler, undertook an assault on IND Freedom City. This colony was a known haven for pirates, and home of Dodgy Dave, a wanted multiple lawbreaker. After the failure of negotiations to either secure an agreement from Dodgy Dave to cease trading with pirates or to succeed in assassinating Dave, the AFT, with support from a number of other affiliations, launched a ground assault on the colony. While Dodgy Dave himself fled partway through the combat, both sides took heavy losses until eventually the stand-in governor surrendered. In return for significant compensation, and a promise to cease trading with pirates, the colony was allowed to remain independent.
Otherwise true to their principle of neutrality, the AFT remained out of the Second Flagritz War, the later assault on the Clans by the 3D Alliance (DTR, DEN and DOM), and the Imperial push to drive the Falconians out of the Capellan Periphery, but took advantage of the increased trade opportunities in each. At the end of 199, Ivan the Gambler attended the memorial service to Emperor Paul, hosted by the Confederacy, where certain discoveries were made public that later led to the downfall of the Inner Empire and the Inner Confederacy.
A New Century
In mid-200, the Brotherhood launched an assault on a Dominion colony in Solo, a system controlled by the AFT, and home of their main colony, Ariel (4444). This started a major conflict between the BHD and the 3D Alliance, a fair proportion of it in Solo. Despite protests by the AFT Information Master, Mme Audrey Firesong, about the hostilities, no further action was taken by the Association. The incident has raised concerns about access to AFT Ariel, and about how neutral the Solo system really is. As yet the official situation in Solo remains as it did when the AFT took control, although the Brotherhood have been driven out of the system by the actions of the Dominion, supported by the DEN and the DTR.
The beginning of 201 saw two incidents involving the AFT's small band of warships. In the first weeks of the year, two warships were tragically destroyed in a RIP ambush when they attempted to move to the aid of a freighter captured a couple of weeks earlier. A few weeks later, several ships were scrambled in Solo in an attempt to enforce AFT rule of the system. A Flagritz freighter was threatened by a rogue Dominion warship, and this could have been a nasty incident as neither side could be contacted by the AFT. Thankfully the crisis was averted when the FGZ vessel moved off at the last minute. The remainder of 201 passed fairly quietly for the AFT, although the emergence of the Felini race into the Peripheries in early to mid 201 prompted some quick uptake of the new trade opportunities.
Events through the latter part of 201 and early 202 showed the importance of the Cluster Periphery in galactic politics, with numerous conflicts in the vacuum left by the 3D's defeat of the Clans. The AFT were thankfully able to continue their construction of a new Cluster HQ colony unhindered, despite the fireworks in the surrounding systems, which even extended to the colony next door. Most of these were fairly minor, until early 202 saw the 3D Alliance successfully assault the main Hive and Flagritz base on Parrot in the Hazzard system, largely destroying the FGZ and HVE presence in the Cluster.
Despite the huge potential effects, the Peripheries remained largely quiet throughout 202. Reports filtered through of warfare in the Inner Confederacy, but the Peripheries stayed generally peaceful. News gradually spread of Operation Phoenix, a massive and revolutionary set of technological and social advances being prepared in secret by the EEM and all major affiliations and races. It became clear that this interlude was merely the calm before the storm, as the affiliations of the Peripheries settled in to prepare for the coming upheaval...
Dawn of a New Age
At the end of 202, the awaited massive change finally struck. No area of life in the Peripheries was left untouched. Major new inventions included the ISR Drive for in-system movement; landing and combat engines to improve on the basic thrust engine; AI Navigators; an advanced GPI system built-in to the systems of every starship; and shuttle ports for starbases. There was also social upheaval, as the affiliations agreed a standard wage for all workers, and control of the day-to-day lives of colonists passed into civilian control, with the affiliations only retaining control over starbases. Breakthroughs particularly relevant to the AFT included the discovery of a way to extend and improve on the Free Trader's jump capability to make a drive capable of being fitted to any starship of similar size, the further development of AI Navigators, and an end to the EEM regulation of Super Carrier construction.
The early part of the new era was a time of consolidation for the AFT, as existing facilities were adapted to the new technologies. A number of new space stations were built, to provide maintenance facilities for the AFT fleet with no need to orbit and land, a development especially necessary for effective operation of Super Carriers. Towards the end of 203, the first of a range of new small ships began coming off the production line, to support the large freighters already in operation.
The year 204 saw the re-emergence of conflicts across the Peripheries. In public areas of space, the main example of this was the renewed fighting between the Confederacy (with their allies from the Detinus Republic) and the Imperial factions. From the far reaches of the Peripheries, rumours also began to emerge that the Felini, with their Consortium allies, had launched an assault on their ancient enemy, the Flagritz Empire. While the AFT naturally stayed out of the main conflicts, they were caught up in instability in Twinkle in the Cluster Periphery. The IRS, operating out of the starbase High Star launched a campaign of persecution against a number of affiliations, including false allegations against the AFT. Thankfully the dispute never quite reached the stage of armed conflict, and following further investigation the IRS eventually issued a public apology in early 205, admitting that their allegations against the AFT were entirely unfounded.
204 also saw the emergence of the pirate Large, who commenced a successful campaign striking at freighters across the Peripheries. Most affiliations have had freighters captured by this menace, and while the anti-piracy efforts of the AFT and others have been massively stepped up (including the creation of an information-sharing organisation, the Anti-Piracy Task Force), Large and his associates have continued to evade capture.
Solo Troubles
In mid-205, a major offensive was launched by the Imperial factions against the Detinus Republic, including two assaults by Dominion ground forces against DTR starbases in Solo. This was the start of major political headaches for the AFT, since Solo had been claimed by the Association since 199 in an attempt to keep the system neutral and free from conflict. No military reaction was made to this breach of the peace, due to a lack of political will for support of the AFT in this matter. While one of the Dominion assaults was beaten off, the other was successful. The repulsed attack on DTR Onyx was relaunched later in the year, although with no greater success.
In the late summer of 205, Mme Audrey Firesong stood down as Master Trader of the Association after more than five years. While no longer Master Trader, Mme Firesong remains a highly influential figure on the AFT Council. Her successor was Gorgen Lausnaff, who himself stood down in favour of the current Master Trader, Archangel, after little more than six months in the post.
The Detinus reponse to the Dominion aggression did not come until summer 206, when a major offensive led to the destruction of the ex-DTR starbase Acheron and capture of the Dominion starbase Retreat, leaving the DOM with no remaining significant presence in Solo.
Shortly after this, the AFT Council announced that as a result of months of deliberation, the AFT would seek to relinquish the Solo system claim, organising an auction of the claim to find a successor claimant. This led to massive outcry from the affiliations of the Peripheries, and rapid formation of multi-affiliation talks to secure a mechanism to retain Solo's neutrality, following which the system claim auction was suspended.
This was by no means the end of the AFT's external troubles, as some extremely aggressive statements by the leadership of the Dewiek Elder Nation led the AFT to feel it necessary to withdraw from their base in Dewiek space, despite a complete lack of explanation for the significant shift in the DEN attitude towards the AFT.
Despite these external political troubles, 206 also saw a welcome growth in the membership of the Association, including the creation of the first new executive positions on the AFT Council for quite a number of years.