The Tarbot Federation is one of the most ancient factions in the known galaxy, a vast empire that stretches far beyond space that humanity has been to. The Tarbotians themselves come from the planet of Tarbot, a gaseous giant. The Tarbotians are called "spirit creatures" that cannot exist in the sort of atmospheres humanoids thrive in. To move beyond their homeworld the Tarbotians developed robot machines to travel in. In these robots they began to explore the galaxy. Exploration soon turned to conquest. Eranian is known to be the first planet conquered by the Tarbotians whose society has developed on military lines with a hard imperial edge.
Several hundred years ago the robot slaves of the Tarbotians, by now possessing artificial intelligence to take the load off their masters rebelled after being forced to take part in a massacre of a race known as the Mentorbi. The robots, known as Starbotians, left their masters behind and fled the empire. The Tarbotians built new robots (this time without AI!) and declared war on their former slaves. The Starbotians were no match for the imperial might of the Tarbotian Federation and fled into uncharted space... unfortunately for the Central Powers this was our area of space!
Eventually the Tarbotians followed their mortal enemies and began a long series of skirmishes with them. Finally the Central Powers were drawn into the conflict as the Tarbotians eyed the Local Group as a rich new area of conquest. The Starbotians, DDS and Dinos fought together in an all-out war against the Tarbotians. The war ended with the destruction of the Tarbotian fleet and the collapse of the Federation with their death of it's dictator Dr Slow and much of the ruling class.
The Federation sank into civil war for a few years as planetary strongmen attempted to seize power in the vacuum however a couple of years ago a living Dr Slow from an alternative dimension was accidentally sent into our own and took over the tottering Federation again. He has sorted out the internal strife (i.e. lots of executions) and begun to rebuild the fleet. Recently the Tarbotians did launch a probing excursion into DDS space. It was repelled but the signs are that the Tarbotians are back and one day will launch a new invasion.
