During a few years of the Watchful Peace, the Empire has noticeably changed. The Raid War didn’t affect the life interests of the greater majority of the Empire inhabitants – this war was waged on “the invisible front”, all the war costs were strictly secret, battle casualties and achievements didn’t receive publicity either. The military-industrial establishment underwent a significant reconstruction – factories switched in mass on civil production necessary for rebuilding of the areas suffered from the war. Releasing funds for social projects, the state let the private capital have many strategic plants. This process gave name to the whole period – Conversion.

Little by little the planets of the Frontier, which belonged to the Trade Protectorate before the Intrusion, entered the Empire sphere of influence. The establishment of the Lord-Governorship of returned worlds made for this process – the presence on a planet the plenipotentiary spokesman of the Emperor’s will assisted to maintain the loyalty of citizens. Empire corporations also played considerable role in the fusion process of these annexed worlds and the core of the Empire.

Moreover, the oligarchs, who ran those corporations, believed that they could cope with the development of Frontier much better than the Lords-Governors. Manufacturers and financiers followed the Protectorate’s example – everybody knew that in the majority of the worlds of Golden Hundred, power instruments were in the hands of business magnates. During the epoch of the Raid War, the corporations extended their activity into Frontier as the conditions for business were very attractive here – it was possible to squeeze from the center some investments for the reconstruction of the worlds, to trample down remained after the Protectorate infrastructures, to gain good profit from illicit trade and to hide new factories from the tax load. Only Lords-Governors hindered oligarchs. Trying to agree with a Governor, oligarchs often lost huge money, property and, sometimes, even life, but didn’t get desired – the Governors didn’t wish share the power.