
[2663-2710  Foundations of Anarchy]

With the close of the Terran market in '63, competition between
off-world corporations intensified, eventually forcing the
interstellar conglomeration of what was to be known as the big
three: Mitsubishi, Aster, and Femm. By the turn of the century,
the tensions of trade competition threatened to spill over into
open conflict. Fleets of war vessels were built, and each
conglomerate controlled its offworld business as though it were a
separate nation-state, creating its own laws and effectively
ignoring the edicts of colonial governments. The ice finally
broke with the Martian ultimatum of 2710, when the Aster
Corporation charged Femm with contract violations in the joint
terraformation project. Due to political interests, both parties
refused U.N. arbitration, but instead set-up a private
arbitration council consisting only of non-Terran interests.

