270929

They still have to locate people's assets, which is intel, and enact the quarantine which is diplomatic, odds don't favor them being a military behemoth. Attempting a quarantine on a core world - most likely of all the worlds to have someone with a high diplomacy score on it in the early game - is tricky at best. They have no way of knowing if the world is otherwise vacant or has someone with a D of 1 who just happens to be there or someone with a D of 3+ who has significant assets scattered in the core.

Now currently the thing is listed as divided, meaning our quarantine seeker has a DD bonus of 2 over the opposition. What that really means is that it is either unopposed and we've got someone with a D of 1, or it is opposed and they've got a 1 point edge over the opposer. Problem being, it can't be a D1 house doing this because they can't initiate a quarantine period, they only have 3 DAP and quarantine costs 4. So we're sitting on a quarantine action taken by someone with at least a 2 regardless. Making this an opposed action. Odds strongly favor core assets being in the hands of people with higher diplomacies, so I'd bet on this being someone with a D of 3 or higher, meaning they are either so-so on both mil and intel or weak as hell on one or both. I've difficulty seeing somebody pulling a military adventure off on the quarantined planets in the Core while trying to pay off Omega Squadron and find an asset to attack. There isn't any on the Auction Block for Brontes, they need to gather intel, which they wouldn't have yet, but that's another DI action like buying off Omega and

I have a heck of a time seeing anyone having a passable military score while doing all that. Nobody with the kind of diplomacy score and intel score necessary to quarantine and find assets on the core in a single round could realistically be a potent military power. So while I can see someone seizing anyway as those places are probably undefended, no militia, they can't protect the place with a crappy mil score and they can't get revenue as long as they keep the quarantine up, as soon as it drops their target is probably going to curb stomp them.

So I am inclined to think someone is either just trying the ability out, and didn't think it through, or that this is NPC doing.