Editing Rogue Trader (Warhammer 40,000) (section)

== Rogue Traders and Xenos ==
[[Image:Change.jpg|200px|thumb|right|I guess he demands some firstborns...]]
As the Imperium's primary means of making first contact with unexplored or forgotten parts of the Galaxy, Rogue Traders are often put in the strange position of being Imperial emissaries to species they are, doctrinally speaking, supposed to exterminate. Ironically, this means xenos that are not a threat or potential threat to the Imperium end up being spared thanks to making deals with Rogue Traders who were sent into space by people hoping they would get themselves killed by said xenos. I’m sure the hilarity is lost on the High Lords of Assholery. The semi-independence afforded by the Warrant of Trade often means, however, that Traders are much more willing to cooperate or at the very least grudgingly tolerate xenos, whether for the sake of profit or because having a crew of, say, Ork mercenaries at your side at all times makes killing you all the more difficult. This also makes them the center of what is known as the Cold Trade in smuggled xenos artefacts and technology.

While trading in xenotech is, of course, incredibly illegal in the Imperium, the industry persists firstly because xenotechnology tends to be an insanely valuable commodity amongst those with the money to afford it, and second because the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] is always looking for new xenotech and archeotech to study. The Cold Trade thus supplies rich hive spirers with fun alien guns to use on poor people, as well as allowing the Mechanicus to discover new ways to horribly murder dangerous xenos species. Everybody wins!