The system of GCRV 2743 has been a busy place recently. In cycle 208 it revolted against Simguru Pranav Antal’s influence, and in cycle 209 it became a three-way preparation race between Antal, Zachary Hudson and Li Yong-Rui to see who would step in and try to claim this highly profitable system. With Antal bowing out early and SiriusGov failing to keep pace, Hudson emerged the winner and is now attempting to expand Federation control to that system. With a 2:1 advantage in triggers, they have pulled out a huge lead of 480k merits and currently appear unopposed.
Last cycle both Federation powers successfully expanded. Felicia Winters was dominant in the system of 169 G. Canis Majoris and faced little opposition. Hudson also expanded to LHS 2088, however this system is massively unprofitable for them, losing 63 command capital (CC) per cycle due to bureaucratic overheads, as well as robbing Edmund Mahon of some income.
Although the official position is that all are welcome in the Federation, it is believed that this system was forced upon Hudson by saboteurs and it is so close to their HQ in Nanomam that it may prove impossible to later withdraw.
“We estimate that six to eight pilots in a few short hours at the end of the cycle easily destroyed a week of intense effort of dozens of commanders, while remaining untouchable inside [private space].” said Cmdr Gamgod of the Hudson Tactical Red Team.
Emperor Lavigny-Duval was again thwarted in her efforts to take Simyr, but this cycle she is attempting to expand to the system of Sokojiu. At first this seems like a curious choice, as the system would cost her 9 CC if successful. However, our tactical observers have noted that it is very close to the attempted Winters expansion into the far more profitable HIP 38747. If both expansions went through, a total of 36 CC would be contested and go to neither power — though this would still leave HIP 38747 as a slightly profitable system for Winters. Whether the Emperor is willing to take such a large loss just to reduce Winters’ income remains to be seen. At the current time Lavigny-Duval trails in her expansion by 46k merits, while Winters leads hers by 260k merits – though as always note that it is possible to “snipe” expansions, so there may be many thousands of merits not shown in the current GalNet totals.
Zemina Torval continued to see significant undermining of her systems in cycle 209, though large-scale fortification managed to keep her well clear of any danger of turmoil. Current GalNet status shows more undermining in progress, and projections indicate that another large fortification effort will be required to avoid systems revolting.
Aside from the expansions mentioned above, the big action so far this cycle is the preparation tussle for Simyr. Competing logistics efforts between the Emperor and Shadow President’s forces saw both powers neck and neck Friday morning, but a halt by ALD’s pilots saw Winters build a 100k merit lead. Yet Princess Duval’s forces have managed to turn a 150k merit deficit into a five-digit lead over Winters. There are reports of fierce fighting between Winters haulers, Imperial interceptors, and Federal Combat Air Patrols. After so many cycles allowing Lavigny-Duval to prepare Simyr with little opposition, it is unclear what prompted both Winters and Duval to join the battle, but all three are hauling huge amounts, so keep your eyes on the GalNet boards as this three-way race heats up near the end of the cycle!
Elsewhere the Delaine pirates continue their skirmishes in the Atata system, and most other powers have either consolidated or have made no move to seriously prepare systems, with just the usual mix of random preparations and acts of minor sabotage on the boards.
Sagittarius Eye Breaking News team