Editing Core Worlds Campaign (section)

==Background==

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While the Emperor and Hektor confronted the Ork Empire of Ullanor, another potential thorn in the side of the Imperium was making its presence felt.  The mighty Core Worlds Confederation, the largest and most advanced human realm outside of the Imperium, had long pursued a policy of peaceful co-existence.  The Core Lords were perfectly happy to open their borders to Rogue Traders, shared civilian technologies with the Tech Priests of Mars, and occasionally permitted their vassals to participate in the Great Crusade as mercenaries.  But they had refused to entertain the Emperor's demand for human unity across the galaxy.  Worse yet, their independence was beginning to inspire worlds that lay outside the Imperium's grip to stand independent while some of those that had only recently been pacified began to lobby for a looser form of government and more regional authority.  [[Shakya Vardhana]] and [[Gaspard Lumey]], known for their friendship and close understanding, were dispatched to resolve the matter one way or another.

Initially, the Primarchs attempted a negotiation.  However, they ran into two fundamental problems.  Firstly, while the Core Lords appreciated the seriousness of the Emperor sending two of his sons to treat with them, they were still reluctant to give up their autonomy and demanded concessions and guarantees.  Worse yet, the decentralised nature of the Confederation saw each world competing against its fellows to get the best deal from the Imperium.  As negotiations began to see-saw between ever more demanding petitions from Karazak and Chelob Hold, the two strongest Core Worlds, Gaspard Lumey walked out of the negotiations to prepare his campaign.  Shakya Vardhana remained only long enough to conduct the formalities of ending the talks.