There's one glitch I'm finding with the TDN = Trader Defense Network/Navy thing (please note, I'm leaning more towards "Navy" than "Network") - now this is just my personal opinion, but just hear me out...
Most ships that have a "insert acronym designation here" beginning these days seem to have the ending of "S" on most ships: British are HMS, USA is USS - for "Ship," in both instances. Granted, during WWII, the ships of the Japanese Navy were designated IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy), but still...
Even though it's called the "Trader Emergency Coalition," most/all of its members are human. I'm thinking it could be along the lines of "Terran Defense Navy," or "Terran..."
*interrupts self*
...Wait..."Terran DIPLOMATIC Navy?"
Oh, Ironclad, you sly dogs, you...
Of course, it could be just as likely the name is like the wedges of cheese in Perfect Dark for N64, which exist for no other reason to drive us insane as to their significance.