Invasion of Utapau

The Invasion of Utapau was a conflict between the Trade Federation and Utapau. The conflict traced it's origins to when Senator Malus Palpatine and Queen Sabé Arcadia strongly supported legislation to end slavery in outlying territories, thereby crippling a major part of commerce and the workforce for the Trade Federation.

Origins
During the Stark Hyperspace War, Trade Federation Senator Nute Gunray supported a Republica offensive against the Stark Commercial Combine after it began attacking Federation Bacta transports. Gunray ultimately demanded that the Federation be granted the right to expand its droid army and met with Senator Ranulph Tarkin in an attempt to bring a swift end to the enemy. However, despite the successful outcome of the brief war, the Federation’s request for additional battle droids was rejected, much to their dismay and anger.

Because of his role in the conflict, Gunray was appointed Viceroy of the Trade Federation a few years later. However, he did not have complete control over the organization due to the powers of the Trade Federation Directorate, though complete control was exactly what he wanted. To deal with this issue, Gunray was contacted by a man called Darth Maul who claimed to be a member of the ancient starwars:Order of the Sith Lords. Maul offered to make him the sole leader of the Trade Federation and promised that they would be able to create a much larger droid army.

One year later, during a summit on starwars:Eriadu, the battle droid guards unexpectedly opened fire on the members of the Directorate, all of whom were not Neimoidians. All were killed save for Gunray and Senator Lott Dodd, as they were both conveniently absent from the meeting. Under Maul’s guidance, Gunray fkilled the seats with Neimoidian puppets such as his head adviser Rune Haako and other associates, thereby establishing Cato Neimoidia’s monopoly over the corporation. With complete control, Gunray began the process of creating additional battle droids in order to have a large, fearsome military at his disposal.

Sometime later, Senator Malus Palpatine of Utapau proposed that the slave trade be abolished in the outlying territories, as those territories were not originally protected by the Galactic Character. The newly elected Queen Sabé Arcadia of Utapau backed Palpatine’s proposal. After months of debate, Palpatine’s bill was signed into law by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum and all of the outlying territories, including those that the Trade Federation had some jurisdiction over, were forced to free all of their slaves.

The Trade Federation was outraged at the bill’s passage, as they relied on slave labor in their outlying territories. In an attempt to overturn the law, Gunray requested Maul’s assistance in forcing the Republic to do so. They began to plot a blockade and an invasion of Utapau to force the Republic’s hand, as well as to have vengeance on Palpatine and Arcadia. A man known only as Fett who served in the Mandalorian Clans also proved to be of valuable assistance, though not many knew for sure why a Mandalorian had agreed to help them. After months of planning, they were ready to blockade Utapau as the first part of their plan.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One