I'd rather let this hang than post an update I'm unsatisfied with, and I don't want to call it a hiatus when this is still the only NES I'm working on. I also have no intent of killing this Pre-NES and scrapping what we've made so far.
The situation in the coming update is extremely complex. This is what makes it difficult to chip away at it with a spare hour every once in awhile. Every major event that happens on one front impacts the political situation elsewhere in colonized space. The only times when I can make good progress are when I have a free day to sit down, review all the players' orders, and take the time to think about what would realistically happen. I'm not a very fast mod in the first place, so that's a major factor in why this is taking so long. It's unreasonable to expect players to put up with this sort of thing regularly, I know, but this is just how it's turning out. I hope that the result will be interesting enough to keep most of you onboard.