The Barracuda slipped into FTL in a blink.
Having left the Leemar System, Ves felt as if he left the paradise for the wasteland. He became enchanted by Leemar's high level of development. The products that second-rate states like the Friday Coalition took for granted could hardly be found in the poorer states.
It wasn't as if the Bright Republic had no means of getting access to high technology. However, the higher tiers incorporated a lot of exotics or exclusive research that made them too expensive for the poorer states to adopt at a wide scale. Only the upper echelon enjoyed a couple of gadgets at a ruinous cost.
The distribution of wealth in the galaxy came down to resource endowment. Even if the poorer states acquired a couple of pieces of high technology, they'd be bankrupting themselves in the long run if they went overboard.
