Christophsis Civil Unrest

Spurred on by the Corporate Alliance, the Retail Clan also began to act. They were the driving force behind this civil unrest on Christophsis.

The Retail Clan had originally been a Trusts conglomerate made up of hundreds of companies, primarily engaged in retailing small commodities. After forming the group, they began monopolizing every stage of these goods, from raw materials to processing and production to sales, thereby amassing enormous funds.

When the Separatist Movement began to rise, they were also among its most active members. Since their primary markets were all in the Outer Rim Territories, their interests would be maximized if the Outer Rim Territories could become independent.

Therefore, with war approaching, the Retail Clan invested nearly all its funds into major warship and droid manufacturers, in exchange for a share of those manufacturers' production capacity.

Even Fourth Group received a huge investment from the Retail Clan. Gross Shelby handed over 10 percent of the output from several of his corvette and destroyer production lines to them, helping them initially establish a barely presentable fleet.

As a result, the Retail Clan's power soared within just a few years, turning it into a massive military group. After the civil war broke out, the Retail Clan immediately deployed this enormous military force and launched attacks on several planets where it had already possessed considerable influence.

However, no matter how much the Retail Clan jumped about, it was still dozens of levels below a titan like the Corporate Alliance. So when Corporate Alliance Chairman Passel Argente came calling, the Retail Clan was truly flattered beyond measure.

Especially when Passel Argente proposed jointly attacking Christophsis and then splitting the proceeds eighty-twenty, they did not mind receiving only twenty percent. This was Christophsis! A crystal planet with a population of 35 billion! Forget twenty