Dictator Yuri Grom successfully emerged from turmoil and retained all his systems. The turmoil as a whole has been a mixed experience for him; shedding some unprofitable systems, returning a lot of contested income to other powers and opening up avenues for them to expand into. However, Grom is now eligible for more overhead discounts which have increased his default surplus to a staggering 943 Command Capital (CC). In the EG Union’s current state of political uncertainty, it is unclear if he will be able to use this surplus to re-expand to the lost territories.
Simguru Pranav Antal has also emerged from turmoil. Four of the systems in turmoil were retained, but two were lost – HIP 6943 worth -16 CC and LP 708-253 worth -13 CC (both numbers at maximum overheads). In addition, he has significantly reduced overheads as he’s dropped below the 55 control system threshold. Combined with the systems shed from the last cycle, Antal is now 500 CC better off than before the turmoil, a significant success when other powers seem unable to shed unprofitable systems due to external interference.
Senator Zemina Torval continues to be the tip of the spear in the Empire’s crusade against the Federation. Her expansion to LP 838-16 would have cost her 71 CC and contested 24 CC with Winters, 32 with Hudson, and 8 with Patreus, but despite fairly even expansion triggers was opposed efficiently and failed by almost 100,000 merits. Her new expansion to Tiapalan is almost a copy of this, and is also facing heavy opposition. More interesting for Torval is that she is in turmoil with two systems threatening to revolt. One is Amitae, a loss-maker far out in the bubble that used to be a weaponised attack on a long-lost Winters system. The other is Dechengh which is also a weaponised attack on the system of Simyr (currently held by Princess Aisling Duval). Losing both those systems would be very good for both Torval and Duval’s bottom lines, although it would also mean Torval failing the expansion.
On the Federation side, President Zachary Hudson failed to expand to Caspatsuria — a weaponised expansion mainly contesting Princess Duval, and is currently attempting to expand to Jiuyou, a system that would make him 11 CC per cycle. Expansion triggers are 3:2 in his favour, and he currently leads by a solid 800,000 merits.
Shadow President Felicia Winters expanded to the system of Diegakul last cycle. At current overheads it costs her 46 CC but contests a mighty 112 CC from Princess Duval and 18 CC from Emperor Lavigny-Duval. She also has an expansion underway into LTT 9795 which would make her a profit of 47 CC and contest 39 CC from Denton Patreus. Despite slightly unfavourable triggers, she currently has a healthy lead of 140,000 merits.
A reminder that all expansions can be ‘sniped’ by commanders holding merits until just before the end of the cycle, so keep your eyes on the GalNet boards.
Sagittarius Eye Breaking News team
www.sagittarius-eye.com