I just spent today and yesterday engaging in a long drawn out war between the Hegemony and Independents. I loved it! Of course I seemed to have a different experience to you all, the Independents summoned several beastly fleets and steamrolled the Hegemony, to the point where we were only able to fight in smaller battles, joining forces to gradually beat back larger fleets guerrilla warfare style. Myself with my initial huge fleet of fighters had to gun and run several times to eventually wear down one fleet with the aid of my allies watching my retreat, the cost in repairs and supplies was enormous and ruined my bank balance but we eventually won, which was hugely satisfying. This was about the time I worked out an Eagle build that allowed me to more or less solo the fleets with more then a pinch of grit.. Pity.
What I found weirder was going back for 'anuvver go' and finding the little line at the bottom of the screen, Hegemony at war with Sindria whatsits, and suddenly the Independents were cool with me.. All water under the bridge. I had just totaled one of their fleets and now its all cool. I found that odd but likable.
In all, I love the mechanic. It made the universe feel alive, I also cared about the outcome of this spontaneous war I got involved with. Props.