Economic community. After developing
wormhole technology and building
starships, the Trojans contacted
local colonies and offered them access to their technology, in return for preferential trading rights. Shortly after the
end of the First Interstellar War, the
Trojans and their trading partners formalised their community, calling it the
9 Star Combine because of the original number of members (a name it has kept despite having expanded beyond the original
membership). The Combine is unlike most of the other
power blocs, as it has no territorial goals and has a policy of
remaining strictly neutral. It maintains a small but well trained and equipped military force intended to deter attacks
on its members. Several of the most powerful corporations are based in the
Combine and carry out a lot of trade with the
independent worlds.
[Source: A Short History of Mankind]
