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Another week has passed, and the great and powerful of the galaxy continue to vie for power and influence. Who has prospered? Who has struggled? Read on to find out.

Arissa Lavigny-Duval continued to expand at a rapid pace despite the fact that having her forces stretched thin and has lost the systems of Nunus and Varka. With little actual enemy activity, it's this over-expansion that spells trouble for the Senator’s future plans.

Aisling Duval continues to see huge levels of Commander support, and very little hostile action within her space. She continues to expand her influence at a staggering rate. However, in a first such failure to date, her supporters' attempt to expand into Sounti has been countered by Federal pilots.

Zachary Hudson continues to see extremely heavy enemy activity in the systems under his control, although countered by strong fortification. Hudson has attempted to secure four more systems this week, located within his current territory or in uncontested space.

Felicia Winters again had her pledged supporters successfully secure her sphere of influence in the despite massive incursions by hostile fleets. On the expansion front, Winters' results are more mixed, with Lambla and Carnoeck secured, but attempts to expand towards Imperial space firmly countered.

Zemina Torval continues to see a lot of enemy opposition to her expansion, particularly in the areas bordering Federation space. As a result, three of her expansion attempts have failed. However, Zemina Torval's influence has spread to several other systems, and her borders are well-fortified.

Denton Patreus is no longer in as dire straits as he was two cycles ago, having managed to secure and fortify most of his claimed space. His space continues to see significant hostile action, mainly in border systems. As a result, several of his expansion attempts have failed, although the Senator has managed to secure four new systems.

Edmund Mahon continued to shore up and expand his power base this cycle. While Mahon has seen extremely high levels of hostile activity in the strategically placed Bonitou, outside forces have not managed to compromise the security of his systems or stop his ambitious expansion attempts.

Li Yong-Rui of Sirius Gov is building a power-base in an area of inhabited space just as fine or better than Edmund Mahon's. While Akkadia and 39 Tauri, bordering the Federation, have seen high levels of hostile activity, overall this corporation continues to push its borders with little trouble.

Archon Delaine, the leader of the Kumo Crew has been subject to an Imperial counter-offensive this cycle. While the attempts to undermine his systems have been resisted, the pirate conglomerate's growth has been stopped this week. An aggressive expansion attempt into Cuchua, in Patreus space, and another into Matlehi have both been firmly countered.

Pranav Antal and his Utopia continue to have relatively modest political influence, slowly expanding in face of only minor enemy action and steadily shoring up the organisation's current borders. The exception is the Federation system of Ewah, where focused enemy response stopped the Utopian forces.

CMDR Cadoc

Federal President Hudson announces 'The Games'

At today's opening of Congress, President Hudson laid out his plans to motivate our youth and strengthen the navy.

"As I said at the weekend, we are entering dangerous times, with the Empire becoming ever stronger. Today we are beginning a pilot program to encourage our youth into the navy. We will do this by introducing, and funding, gladiatorial contests, and once they are working well, we will roll them out throughout Federal space. These will be called the Close Quarers Championships, and the winners will have excellent piloting skills, and will be well rewarded. They will be treated as celebrities by our youth, and so they will want to take part too. It will give them something to practice for in their precious sims. It will motivate them, but also they will start to hold our navy in high regard as they once did in the past, and the best will sign up for service. Our navy will be great once again."

When we asked for comment, Shadow President Winters described it as a cynical way of dragging our youth into war. Nevertheless many pundits have responded positively, while other are busily buying shares in Core Dynamics - whose share price has continued to rise to an ever increasing all-time high on this news.

For Some, President Halsey's Disappearance Is Not "Case Closed"

While the Federation considers President Halsey’s disappearance an open and shut case, some groups still doubt the official story. The Knights of the Black, whose members have sworn to defend all human systems against alien aggression, is one such group.

According to the group’s founder, “We aren’t entirely convinced Halsey’s disappearance is the work of an alien species, but we also aren’t convinced that it was an accident. Remember that Felicia Winters insisted, even from the beginning, that Starship One was lost due to mechanical failure. Zachary Hudson seemed awfully convinced of sabotage until he became the President. To me, it seems the Federation is covering up something.”

He went on to say, “Such a well-orchestrated strike against any of Humanity’s leaders would be a clear sign of an alien threat, which we take very seriously.”

Though the Knights aren’t actively searching for Starship One, they claim, “We’re keeping our eyes peeled.”

Federal President Hudson Looks to the Future

In a speech to business leaders today at the Banqueting Hall in Quenisset on Mars, President Hudson hinted at a raft of new policies to motivate the Federation’s youth.

“As I said when I was the Shadow President, we are entering dangerous times. The Empire have been expanding recently more than they have for centuries. We have failed our own frontier worlds for decades and it is hardly surprising they are leaving the Federation as they are. We need a stronger military, a military that gets respect from our youth. We need better soldiers, better fighters, better pilots. We need to be more outward-looking.”

“Our youth has become flabby. Lying inanimate, plugged in to their sims hour after hour, day after day, living in dream worlds that never have existed and never will exist. They need to take part in the real world, and so we will be creating programs to allow them to do just that. Programmes that will excite them, engage them, train them. We will fund these programmes in full, the first of which will be announced to Congress on Tuesday 16th.”

“The Empire needs to know the Federation is strong. We were strong, and now we will be strong again!”

Commentators have already been speculating about the introduction of conscription, but this was denied by Hudson himself “I believe in carrot, not stick”. Congress has already agreed to a substantial rise in military spending, and naval shipyards throughout the Federation are at maximum capacity. Cynics have also noted that the Core Dynamics share price is at an all-time high - Core Dynamics has been a backer of Hudson for a long time, and many say this is his payback.

Controlling the Credit Crops

A little over six months ago, the newly discovered naturally occurring plant known as Onionhead was made illegal throughout all of Federal space. Not long after, in an attempt to stop the spread of Onionhead, the Federation launched a violent campaign against the innocent farmers of Kappa Fornacis, led by the vocal Georgio Algeria. Federal marines invaded the farmers’ fields, and Federal battle cruisers rained fire from the skies.

The now wealthy farmers managed to create a new strain of Onionhead, and so the spread started, working alone and with others, including the East India Company – an Imperial trade organisation in which Senator Zemina Torval is a major shareholder.

In an attempt to warn the Imperial Senator away from Kappa Fornacis, President Hudson responded by directing a number of prominent Republican Party supporters to begin permanently establishing themselves in Autahenetsi, to change public opinion as a deterrent to farmers, smugglers and Imperials alike. Although at time of press, neither the East India Company nor Senator Zemina Torval appear to be particularly intimidated by the Federation’s efforts.

Federation Goes All In

In late 3300, the small Federal system of Dahan found itself being used as a staging area for a prolonged military campaign against the independent nation of Eranin. Eventually, Eranin managed to force back the Federal invasion. Although not before heavy losses were incurred by both sides.

This week that region once again became a hotbed, though this time of political activity, as both Federal and Alliance campaigners turned out in force in an attempt to exert their influence over the sector.

Mahon supporters flooded the hallways of Dahan Gateway and Whitson Hub, choosing to focus their efforts on systems whose affections for the Federation could be called into question following the events of late last year. President Hudson’s supporters went head to head with the Alliance campaigners to support the Federation’s position aboard Dahan Gateway. With many an impassioned debate taking place between the two groups along the station’s promenade.

Mahon supporters were successful in convincing many of the system’s residents that life within the Alliance did indeed sound better than having to send a large slice of their income off to Sol for little apparent return. Although in the end, typical Alliance bureaucracy (in the form of a lack of resources) means that Mahon’s supporters will be unable to capitalise on what appeared to be a sure-fire success.

Therefore the real winner of the week’s campaigning currently looks set to be Shadow President Winters.

Liberal and Republican Party members have been working around the clock to recruit new supporters in the Federal system of Aulin, with the liberals managing to just about take a lead in what has historically been a republican led state. Contracts are currently being drawn up to allow Shadow President Winters to set up a new command centre aboard Aulin Enterprise, and unless the republican party does something extraordinary to stop it, Friday will see the rise of a new liberal command centre in Aulin.

Hudson Set to Target Traffickers

In the face of President Hudson’s recent rise to power, the value of illicit goods has skyrocketed throughout the galaxy in anticipation of a crackdown on illegal commodities that are traditionally transported via the Federation. Dealers of all stripes have seen their profits soar over the last week, with hundreds of new millionaires being minted off the back of President Hudson’s perceived stance against criminal commodities.

With the President’s appointment of his new administration now complete, sources close to Hudson have revealed to GalNet that an increase in security spending is very high on his agenda.

“Things are about to get very difficult for traffickers,” one anonymous aide told the Mars Tribune.

“The President’s ordered a bunch of those new Diamondback Scouts to act as short range interceptors for local security services. They don’t pack much of a punch on their own, but you try and outrun a swarm of angry Diamondbacks followed up by a couple of Viper wings and see how well you do.”

“’Course if you do outrun them, say hello to the Navy. A month from now, two months top, the war against drugs will be done and dusted. You mark my words.”

Prices of illegal narcotics had just started to stabilise after a week of frantic black market trading, and this latest news could well send prices spiking up again as dealers across the galaxy try to unload their stash before the expected galaxy-wide lockdown begins.

The Federation Unites in the Face of Tragedy

Despite some fear that the recent change in leadership would lead to further destabilisation of the Federation, it seems that on the whole, the majority of Federal worlds are content to wait and see what kind of President Zachary Hudson turns out to be.

Political pundits and sociologists alike had expressed concerns that since the disappearance of former President Jasmina Halsey, the Federation would almost certainly go through a period of internal strife while the landscape of Federal power adjusted to the new reality.

To everyone’s surprise, the situation on the ground has actually stabilised since President Hudson assumed office. It would seem that in the face of tragic loss, personal politics have been put aside, and the overwhelming majority of Federal organisations have chosen to stand united for the good of the Federation.

How long this new coalition will last remains to be seen, but for now at least, Federal residents can rest easy knowing that for this brief moment in time, the Federation stands united for the good of all mankind.