Subterfuge, Espionage, Sabotage

Unfortunately, I haven't played the previous Endless games, so I don't know how it worked there, but I think it would be better if a subterfuge system was implemented in ES2 nonetheless, because the more in-depth the system management and player interactions are, the better.

Honestly, first I was thinking of other ways than heroes to implement this, but I like the idea. Heroes assigned to systems and fleets could passively and/or actively root out spies and saboteurs, and as per "offensive" actions, they could have a function to mobilise themselves or their spy network -- based on their level -- to carry out said actions. Perhaps if you control the Academy, it could also work as a passive source of information, and/or just provide you with some passive benefits enhancing your spying abilities by +x%.

The basics of the EL spying system is that you would sent a hero to a city you currently see (including your own for protective purposes) and then you would wait a certain amount of turns to achieve a infiltration level where you be able to perform different actions which are more powerful the higher your level (example: 6 turns= 75% health on governer, 8 turns= attempt to capture governer). The catch is that the cities have a security level that depending on how high said level is, it would either wound, disable, capture or leave your spy undetected when you perform the action. While cities can use round up to flush out spies, it also reduces industry for the duration. The passive bonuses are that you can see treaties made by spied empire, marketplace purchases, surrounding city tiles and the "control view" of the city (current production, population placement, etc.)

The idea of the Academy being a passive source is interesting. I wonder if they were to implement this subterfuge system that it would also bring more unique planets that have spying bonuses and lore info. Possibly a competitive quest were you can get a unique spy or rewarding ship modules enhancing spying capibilities could be interesting as well. I currently cannnot think of anything else to add to this system that has not been in EL except for a few action unique to Endless Space 2, but i would love greater ideas with more of the community to make it unique to this game.