Only 4p, sadly, because one guy dropped out to go on a date (valid, but incorrect). Rather short game, ending on turn 5, after ~6 hours (with meal break). Disregard the flipped over objective cards, we just wanted to see what they were post-game.
HS1 is Sol, HS2 is Xxcha, HS3 is Hacan, HS4 is Ghosts of Creuss:
Winner was the Federation of Sol, played by yours truly, because the others more or less forced me onto Mecatol Rex and once in position my ability to drop in infantry squads made me impossible to shift. Also got very lucky with my secret objectives lining up with the publics (2 unit upgrades + 2 faction upgrades, which are the same for Sol, and own 4 planets of any color + own 4 Blue). They let me score Imperial twice which is way too many. Nobody made an attempt to dislodge me until Turn 5, too worried they'd be backstabbed, which, in fairness, was probably accurate for every player but the Xxcha. EDIT: Sol has a rep as being overpowered, so we nerfed it by reducing its starting fleet by 1 carrier. This did not seem to be enough, and it is now on the ban list, along with Jol-Nar.
Ghosts in second with 7 points because both other players gave him Support points in exchange for him suiciding into my invincible army on Mec Rex (not knowing that the game was already over unless they took my home system). This player is generally the weakest in the group, and failed to secure their slice until way too late, leaving them with little to do.
Hacan and Xxcha in third with 4 apiece. Hacan didn't really do much interesting, just spent infinite money to build up a giant fleet but that was no help with invasions, and was too late anyway. Xxcha built a fucking wall of PDS (6 total in a ring around Mec Rex, plus the flagship for 8), which prevented me from reinforcing with ships, but I think made taking it too dangerous for anyone else to consider. He also really fucked over Hacan early, blocking his movement with a cruiser move T1 onto tile 27.
Personhood for LLMs, coming to a county near you in 2028.