The Empire and the Rebellion are in constant conflict and actively trying to defeat one another. Individual Independents can choose to be involved in the conflict or not.
To represent this conflict in a manner that directly affects Corox Station and the Characters residing there, Influence makes changes to the Town Laws to benefit the current winning Faction.
The Empire and Rebellion Factions each have a set of Objectives to complete during an event. Empire Objectives and Rebellion Objectives are pitted against each other - only one Faction can complete all their Objectives. When a Faction completes all their Objectives in a single event, this is a win.
The PC Leadership for the winning Faction chooses which Laws take effect in Corox Station until the next opposing Faction win. Enforcement of these Laws is up to the PC Leadership and the Corox Station Sheriff, noting potential consequences for opposition / cooperation. This may come up in role-play.
A Faction is considered defeated if there are no Player Characters, of that Faction, in play during an event. Nothing changes in the game when this happens, activity for that Faction simply remains dormant until PCs of that Faction are in play again.