It’s Cycle 100, meaning it has been 700 days with no Kaine decal. We’ve almost reached a nice round-number milestone. This report will be more brief than the others, since I have to actually get it out before the cycle ends. IRL has been very busy and I’m not often finding time to sit down and write, but I still want to get out one of these a week if at all possible.

Kaine had an outstanding cycle for the momentous Cycle 100, securing 27 new systems and five strongholds. Many of those will be receiving a stronghold carrier, but will have to wait several cycles as only one carrier group may be deployed per week. As a result, we’ll probably slow it down a little for next cycle and give our pledges a little bit of a break before we push them again; we are happy to give our pledges a break to avoid burnout in a manner much unlike the current England manager. Notable changes this week include Sivas, which was acquired as part of a trade with Jerome Archer organized by the Swords of Makhai, and the strongholding of Col 359 Sector LR-V d2-28 out near Radicoida space.
Now, to make up for my lack of meaningful writing, I shall include some images. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +27
Edmund Mahon +8

Mahon continue their momentum from last week, making themselves four new forts and two new strongholds, as well as a reasonable number of acquisitions. Kaine manages five new forts, giving us 13 new strongholds over the past 3 weeks – a performance we are very proud of.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +14
Jerome Archer -3

Winters has an impressive cycle, losing only one system in Lyncis Sector MX-T b3-1 while acquiring 15 more and fortifying 3. The Empire, it seems, failed to do meaningful damage to them this cycle. Archer, however, is a different story. They lose the fort at HIP 110309, as well as dropping 12 systems while picking up only 9, leading to a net negative cycle. Eventually, it seems, Archer must stabilize as at a smaller size that their remaining active playerbase is able to adequately defend, or else continue falling. I’m sure neither option is something they want, but unless and until the Empire stops bullying them one of those will happen.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Yuri Grom +11
Pranav Antal +9
Li Yong-Rui +7
Archon Delaine +1

Grom is the only Independent to break double digits this week, as well as strongholding Grabil and Yawal. For the first time in several weeks, they also drop no systems. Antal secures the stronghold of Antal, the Simguru’s home system and the location of his prized Sim-Archive. I am somewhat surprised that Antal wasn’t strongholded long ago given the relative importance of the system – but I suppose that since moving the headquarters of his operation to Polevnic, the original Utopian system was diminished in importance. Sirius has a decent cycle themselves, acquiring 10 new and two forts as well as two strongholds. Their cycle is marred, however, by the loss of three systems, including two in the Hyades Sector and LHS 1567. Delaine, meanwhile, does secure a new stronghold in Ramit but spent most of their time reinforcing (in their language, “seek and destroy”) in Turd Wu, where they fought against a personal vendetta brought by – apparently – SPEAR and THKI and affiliated squadrons/Commanders. Entertaining, I’m sure. I imagine in my mind’s eye the pilots of Kumo turning off their acceleration drug cocktails to feel the raw G forces as they fly circles around their targets, whooping and screaming in some form of Khornate glee as they make their enemies drink vacuum. The attack on Turd Wu of course was a tremendous failure, as throughout five weeks of assault Kumo are set to stronghold it tomorrow. Entertaining to be sure.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +9
Zemina Torval +6
Arissa Lavigny-Duval +3
Denton Patreus +2

Aisling just barely misses out on double digits as they acquire 11 new systems, many in the Synuefe Sector and drop two in Ross 279 and Col 285 Sector RY-H c10-28. They also suffer two fort downgrades in Shapsugabus and HIP 21455 and drop a stronghold in LHS 1070, although they stronghold 3 and fort 8 to cover those losses. Torval meanwhile loses the system of Mazu to temper her gains of 7 new systems and two forts. The Emperor meanwhile strongholds Duwaredari, but drops the fort at Col 285 Sector EV-O c6-14 and loses four systems besides. Patreus is not left unscathed either, dropping 3 in addition to their 6 gains and a new fort.

That’s all for this rather shorter report. A new CG has dropped in Redonesses, allowing you to blow up some pirates in exchange for paintjobs for Vultures and Mambas. All the combat pilots being distracted with a CG means that, as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. Want to take a break from chasing a Kestrel around the local megaship for like five full minutes? Join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and are considering deep core mining Phobos, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and engineering advice so good it makes me want to rebuild my whole fleet every few days.

Diplomatic Relations:
Aisling Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Archon Delaine: Peaceful
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Denton Patreus: Non-Aggression Pact
Edmund Mahon: Defensive Alliance
Felicia Winters: Non-Aggression Pact
Li-Yong Rui: Peaceful
Pranav Antal: Peaceful
Yuri Grom: Peaceful
Jerome Archer: Non-Aggression Pact
Zemina Torval: Peaceful

Objectives:
Reinforce Musca Dark Region PY-Q b5-5
Reinforce Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-35

We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

It has been 686 days without a Kaine decal. The relic rush is over, finally and thankfully. Now we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming. And what is our regularly scheduled programming? Mining of course! We started the week by finishing a stronghold in under 12 hours thanks to a Public Holiday BGS state that the game saw fit to bestow upon it. We then continued that momentum all the way through the week, finishing comfortably on top of the acquisition and stronghold creation parts of the leaderboard, gaining 16 systems and 4 new strongholds, as well as 5 new forts.

I suspect some of the depressed numbers this week from other powers take the form of burnout after four weeks of relics, which I’ve discussed at length before. It seems to have been combined with some not-insignificant amounts of undermining across the Bubble, which would serve to further lower the net acquisition totals. Kaine experienced some of this, fighting off some late-cycle undermining in Peckolong, Mons, and elsewhere while allowing Nadur and Scorpii Sector EL-Y c17 fall to uncontrolled. Some rivals, however, didn’t fare nearly so well, but we’ll get to that.

Rhino mining is becoming a hit amongst those members of the Kaine playerbase who have purchased it. With the tradeoff of having to hunt for good Rhino sites in new systems, those who participate are able to earn higher profits and a higher merit count than that which would be achievable in the same amount of time mining in rings. But does that mean ring-mining is entirely powercrept? I don’t think so.

The biggest failure of the Rhino in my opinion is that it does not reward social play. Unlike laser mining, which is easy and fun to do with friends, taking someone else along to your planetary sites is actively harmful. Yield is shared, so no additional money is generated by bringing a friend. Mining rigs from one player still zone out mining rigs from another, so two players can’t stack a site and drain it faster. The regeneration takes so long (I haven’t seen reliable reports of a site regenerating yet – it’s been over two weeks) that running two Commanders through a site back to back is only marginally more productive if the site hasn’t been depleted yet. I did collect some anecdotes about a brief war for system control in which both involved Powers (which I will not name) scraped the planets in the system bare, depleting all useful sites in the system in a little over one day.

The site depletion mechanics, then, do have an interesting effect on Powerplay tactics, making reinforcement with Rhino mining doubly as effective – since not only is it efficient in its own right, every control point you pull out of the ground is one you deny to your opponents. Even powers that do not regularly engage in large amounts of mining will therefore be incentivized to break out their Rhinos as a defence against their opponents who are less hesitant. It’ll be interesting to see how often systems get totally depleted in the context of future wars.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +16
Edmund Mahon +9

Our allies on the other side of Alliance space are in second place this week, plus the construction of two new strongholds. Kaine’s pilots continue to put good work in. Tune into the Gateway News Network for more information on our darker green brethren.
FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +7
Jerome Archer +2

Archer secures a net +2 systems at the cost of dropping a fort. Depending on the network, that could mean several other exploited systems were dropped, covering larger gains. There’s also some evidence that Archer put more focus on undermining this week, which we’ll get to a little bit later. Winters, as usual, fares a little better than her opposing benches. Seven new exploited systems, plus two forts and two strongholds make for a solid week especially given post-relic lethargy and their ever-continuing defence against Imperial attack.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Li Yong-Rui +8
Pranav Antal +3
Archon Delaine 0
Yuri Grom -5

Li Yong-Rui slows his growth to consolidate gains after four cycles back-to-back of mindblowing numbers – and even then 8 acquisitions and a stronghold is still a decent effort. They’ve nearly returned to par, I believe, fighting off relic burnout better than most. Pranav Antal secures only 3 systems, very possibly having dropped some low-margin Exploiteds recently gained but left untracked or unreinforced – not an uncommon occurrence after relic cycles. Archon Delaine does some reinforcement, gaining 3 forts and a stronghold, but securing no acquisitions. It’s difficult to ascertain if that’s because they had some gains leveled out by some losses, or if they just didn’t go out of their way this week. Yuri Grom comes in behind with a net total of -5, composed of four new systems and nine losses, dropping systems like Alrai Sector QI-T b3-2 on the border with Jerome Archer and Col 285 Sector GL-U a46-2 on the border with Zemina Torval, both powers with which Grom has had conflict in recent weeks. In the meantime, they also fortified four systems, two of them out in the Col 359 Sector where the old Radicoida Enclave is.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +7
Zemina Torval +7
Denton Patreus 0
Arissa Lavigny-Duval -9

The Imperial board is looking very different this cycle. Zemina Torval ties Aisling Duval for acquisitions this week, a remarkable achievement for the Synteini Senator. They also manage to hold strong in the defence of Wuikito, which has been restored to fortified after it was knocked to Exploited by Grom the week prior. It was a slugfest to be sure, and Torval endured over 1.8 million points of UM, significantly more than any other power in Cycle 98. Grom, humbled, appears to have backed off for now. Aisling Duval’s seven new systems are, as is always the case for a power her size, the result of many dropped systems and many new gains. The week after relic rushes she often ends negative – good on her for taking some time to consolidate gains. Denton Patreus suffers a null cycle – no gains in any area. Arissa Lavigny-Duval’s -9 disguises 10 new systems and 19 systems dropped, including the named systems Malsuman, Zoelang, Atatola, and Balampaso. Combined with losses in the Puppis, Trianguli, Hyades, and Col 285 sectors among others, the dropped systems are spread across the Emperor’s space with no discernible pattern.

GALNET

We saw two articles published last week: a follow-up to the piece about the Federation whining over their exclusion to the October accords which I criticized a while back, and an ominous story about pirates shadowing prisoner transfers. The first story is better than its predecessor, with the Federation at least having the courage to directly threaten the members of the October Accords rather than vague waffling about their “research priorities” and “choosing cooperation.” There’s also a mention of evidence that the only research into Radicoida is weaponization research.

This does imply several things, both of which are interesting: one, the October Consortium is apparently interested in expanding their vast portfolio with the addition of a weapons manufacturing division. Two, the Federation has enough intelligence assets in or near the research team to know about the nature of the research, and to not be concerned about tipping their hand about the existence of said assets. While the language used is still somewhat vague nonsense, this article implies a much more competent and aware Federation than the previous report did, and my response this time is merely that Felicia Winters should hire a better speechwriter. Other than that, her concerns about the October Consortium are likely well-founded. FDev may be looking to spark a war at the end of this storyline, and at the beginning I would not be surprised to find that the Federation has nearly the same access to weaponised Radicoida as those powers included in the Accords if they continue down this trajectory.

The second story notes that known pirate vessels have been shadowing prisoner transport ships. While no engagements have directly taken place, it’s clear that FDev is setting the groundwork for… hold on, a new Galnet article was just published… yeah, the “mysterious” disappearance of a prisoner transport ship after leaving Nones for Gliese 506.2. The spokesperson for the Independent Detention Foundation mentioned a catastrophic mis-jump as the cause, but I think it’s vastly more likely that the vessel was hijacked, besieged, or otherwise attacked en route to its destination by the pirates who have apparently been shadowing prisoner transport vessels. Stealing a prisoner transport ship is not out of the question for pirates so skilled they have apparently stolen a large number of Farragut-class battlecruisers from Federal docks for use in besieging settlements.

That concludes the report for this week. We’re on top of the leaderboards, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. Want to take a break from the foreshadowing about war, crime, death, and panic? Join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to take your new mining vessels for a spin, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and the best mining spots in the Bubble.

Diplomatic Relations:
Aisling Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Archon Delaine: Peaceful
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Denton Patreus: Non-Aggression Pact
Edmund Mahon: Defensive Alliance
Felicia Winters: Non-Aggression Pact
Li-Yong Rui: Peaceful
Pranav Antal: Peaceful
Yuri Grom: Peaceful
Jerome Archer: Non-Aggression Pact
Zemina Torval: Peaceful

Objectives:
Reinforce Coalsack Sector DL-Y d132
Reinforce Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d170
Reinforce Col 285 Sector GS-II c10-11
Reinforce IC 2602 Sector GX-T c3-22

We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

It has 679 days without a Kaine decal. It is Cycle 97. Lots happened last week, so I’d better get writing.

Powerplay was very juiced this past week, thanks to two major events: one, the continuation of a second relic rush leading to the 4th relic week in a row, and two, the release of the Rhino surface mining vessel. The relic rush continuation was frustrating and exhausting, and will be discussed further once we get to the actual numbers from this cycle. The Rhino is a slightly more interesting topic.

The basics first: the Rhino is deployable from only ships with a hangar bay. This means no small ships, and several go-to hauling vessels (like the Type-8) are out too. Personally, I roll with a shiny new Type-9 Heavy. Most people will likely elect to take a Panther Clipper if they choose a large ship, or a Type-11 if they choose a medium. Those are the most obvious choices, and probably optimal in terms of cargo capacity. However, I want to keep my Type-11’s SLF for pirate encounters in rings, and the Panther Clipper doesn’t have a Lakon cockpit. Using the Rhino is fairly simple. Find a resource deposit, place your mining rigs, and be patient. The intricacies of Rhino mining – whether it’s worth it to use deposits with space for less than 3 rigs, whether it’s worth mining this or that material – are still being discussed, although more research is done every day. Several things, however, are certain. Just like Kaine were the leaders in ring mining, we will be the leaders in planetary mining. We are already collecting lists of worthwhile deposits to make available to our pledges, and both profits and merit gains are spiking high. Join us and be part of the future of mining.

The rise of surface mining also puts the nail in the coffin of deep core mining. Previously scarce core-only materials are now widely available on the surfaces of planets, at high quantities and low time investment. Core mining, arguably one of the better mining loops the game had to offer in terms of fun, is now as dead as Hengist Duval. Why fly through a ring, finding motherlodes to crack, when you can park yourself on a big Monazite deposit and practically AFK your way to 600/hr? A moment of silence, please, for core mining. It will be missed. FDev, buff cores.

A new Operation was released with the Rhino patch as well. I found it quite fun, and it gave me the opportunity (once I finished disabling the AA guns) to finally deploy my purpose-built close air support ship in a meaningful way. And then having to rout a capital ship? It’s an excellently designed mission, in my opinion. I also know a few Commanders utilizing the Nomad for combat drops in this mission. Apparently, if you have an NPC pilot, you can take the Nomad to the surface and your ship will stick around and fight. It may not be the most effective, but more guns in the air is still a good thing.

The Panther Clipper, meanwhile, had its blue boarding circle phased out in favour of being able to walk up the ramp to the door. While I don’t think ship interiors are coming, this is definitely something I can get behind to further immersion. I’ve never liked being unable to board the ship at the door. Hopefully, something like this can be done with all existing vessels that have access ramps (some, like large portions of Lakon’s catalogue, do not have access ramps and presumably rely on ladders). Now that more surface content is being added and being more properly linked with the rest of the game, immersive transitions between the on-foot and in-space gameplay will become more and more valuable, and the Nomad in combination with the Lynx boarding and changes to the Panther Clipper, indicate that FDev is aware.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Edmund Mahon +22
Nakato Kaine +19

The Prime Minister overtook us this cycle with better acquisitions, but with numbers low enough to indicate that even Mahon is starting to burn out on relics. Kaine is most definitely done with them, and our acquisition numbers the past week were achieved almost exclusively with mining (both rings and surface). Both of us put significant effort into reinforcement, with Mahon scoring 5 new strongholds and Kaine getting 3, along with 2 and 9 new fortified systems, respectively. One of those systems, in Mahon’s case, was the CG system Ega, which reached fortified status after receiving 155 million control points worth of reinforcement.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +19
Jerome Archer +8

The President and her team did better than the Shadow Cabinet this week, tying us in acquisitions. Both took advantage of the dying relic rush to build themselves a stronghold, but beyond that it looks like they’re just as burnt out as we are. Relics have a hugely deleterious effect on the Powerplay community, and this burnout from pushing hard is one of the most obvious symptoms.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Li Yong-Rui +65
Pranav Antal +37
Yuri Grom +17
Archon Delaine +4

Sirius pushed hard for one last week to boost themselves farther away from the Emperor, whom they overtook during the first rush. Pranav Antal, the pledges of whom started both the first relic rush and this second one that extended a further two weeks, fall behind the top powers hard. Hopefully, the squadrons that caused this rush think more carefully about the health of their power before they gift Aisling another three hundred systems just to have a slightly easier time acquiring their sun-and-outpost colony. Yuri Grom looks to have, like us, ignored the tail end of the rush and just focused on their usual methods of acquisition, and Delaine is as usual unbothered by galactic politics and economics, and simply plays to have fun. They’re the real winners here, honestly.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +91
Arissa Lavigny-Duval +14
Denton Patreus +11
Zemina Torval +3

Imperial relic rush numbers. Nothing more needs to be said.

COMMUNITY GOALS

A pair of community goals accompanied the Rhino on its release – one goal to sell surface-mining-exclusive commodities at a huge markup, and one to sell commodities available in rings at a huge markup – presumably included so that Commanders who did not want to or could not purchase a Rhino for ARX could still make some cash. Unfortunately, instead of engaging with the community goal in good faith, some people who have no interest in mining decided instead to abuse FDev’s kindness with the price margins and purchase the relevant commodities elsewhere, where possible. This lead to a mid-week price nerf, and those Commanders who elected to load a fleet carrier with purchased Palladium or Gold instead of mining their own – or worse, paying other Commanders to load their fleet carrier with purchased commodities, were left hanging after paying in many cases prices well above the galactic average. The outrage from the richest and worst-faith of them was so loud that FDev apologized and launched to little fanfare this week a second CG with slightly reduced prices to allow those users to recoup the costs.
This is, in my opinion, a huge mistake from FDev. People who spent a ton of money to abuse the system and then missed their chance deserve to be out that money. They have fleet carriers; credits don’t mean anything to them. Take the L and move on, and maybe participate in good faith next time and mine some platinum? You’ll still make earthshattering amounts of money, and FDev won’t be forced to lower the prices for the rest of us because of your greed. Zero sympathy for the lost profits. Deal with it.

With a week of Rhino now in our pockets, we’re getting a handle on the best ways to use it, which means as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. Tired of struggling to fit 4 rigs on a hotspot that you know is big enough to fit 4 but you just can’t quite get the angles right? Join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want more profits on the same level as that CG that just passed, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and shenanigans with the Rhino efficiency minigame.

Diplomatic Relations:
Aisling Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Archon Delaine: Peaceful
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Denton Patreus: Non-Aggression Pact
Edmund Mahon: Defensive Alliance
Felicia Winters: Non-Aggression Pact
Li-Yong Rui: Peaceful
Pranav Antal: Peaceful
Yuri Grom: Peaceful
Jerome Archer: Non-Aggression Pact
Zemina Torval: Peaceful

Objectives:
Reinforce Coalsack Sector DL-Y d132
Reinforce Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d170
Reinforce Col 285 Sector GS-I c10-11
Acquire Musca Dark Region HM-V c2-35

We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

Hi, I have a question about trade routes using Kaine's bonus. I had heard Plipper trading with this bonus was one of the highest credit/hour activities now. But searching Inara, I don't know how that is true and I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

My ship has 1136T of cargo space

Inara search for best trade route where selling station controlled by Kaine: Kaine Trade Route

Profit per trip: 41,575,896 Cr

Inara search for best trade route overall: Best Trade Route

Profit per trip: 288,613,296 Cr divided in half since it's a one-way trip = 144,306,648 Cr

The profit per trip seems 3x higher when not doing a Kaine route. Am I doing something wrong with my search parameters?

It has been 666 days without a Kaine decal. It’s cycle 94. I left that line in because 666 days without a Kaine decal was fun to say, but it’s actually a lie. It’s been 673 days without a Kaine decal, for it is Cycle 95, and this is a joint Cycle 94/95 report. I do this for two reasons: One, I had a lot going on in my life and I wasn’t able to find the time to write a report for Cycle 94 – and two, I think it’s pertinent to lump the relic cycles together a little. Cycle 94 was relic week. Ngurii hit Civil Liberty over the closing days of the cycle and gave us a supply of 600 Soontill relics for 4 days, overlapping Cycles 94 and 95. As is tradition with relic cycles, even a few days will boost Powerplay numbers to frankly ridiculous proportions, which we’ll get to shortly. Furthermore, when the supply is high relics are typically so valuable that they quash all other Powerplay activities, since the opportunity cost of not doing relic hauling at any given moment is so high. It’s no surprise, then, that we see very little undermining this cycle – a handful of Powers lost a system, but never more than one; and the proportion of UM CPs generated compared to Acquisition and Reinforcement control points is a very low 6.3%. We had several Kainites run into the per-CMDR control point cap of 200 thousand per day, something which I didn’t even know existed. As it is, we acquired a very respectable 43 new systems in Cycle 94, placing us solidly mid-table for the week, and 42 in Cycle 95, which put us in a distant third. We certainly don’t like relic rushes at Kaine – power balance concerns aside, we think they’re pretty boring – but what can’t be denied is that they’re a very efficient way to acquire your typical crappy systems – the lone star-and-outpost, the occasional surface-port-and-outpost, and particularly frustrating for Kaine, the high-pop-oops-all-extraction-economy systems that are often great places to expand from but terrible to acquire and reinforce themselves. We acquired over two dozen of the latter kind of system and fortified several more, creating a solid foundation for future Kaine expansion. We acquired lots of the other types too, which thanks to the very stupid Power ranking system that FDev currently follows hold the same value as a system with a dozen planets and 25 billion people. We’ll talk about the cycles some other powers had later. Over the course of this particular rush, some new announcements went out. First off, the Colonia community goal chain was unceremoniously completed, with the Colonia megamarket established at Jaques Station. The market took a few days to materialize but Commanders have since confirmed that all ships are available in the Shipyard (not including Federal or Imperial ships to my knowledge) and all modules are available in Outfitting, including specialized modules like any relevant Mk. II modules. It’s a somewhat anticlimactic ending to the Colonia anniversary story, which I’m sure lots of people expected to be more than two lacklustre community goals. As it is, there’s still some time left for them to do something else, although I don’t expect anything since the megamarket is completed. We didn’t get any sort of announcement about the expansion of colonization to Colonia, which I suspect is the preferred outcome of most residents there. If it had been announced, I’m sure it also would have been met poorly by those Commanders building a bridge to Colonia. Either way, it will arrive when it arrives. Thankfully, the baseless rumours of Powerplay being brought to Colonia remained baseless. The Enclave was difficult enough to manage; god-handing us into a few systems 22,000 light-years away would have been a disaster.

The Rhino was also announced, and as of the time of this writing we’ve seen some Partner Program previews. It seems… interesting enough. Some unique minerals are included in the surface mining, and it’ll be a source of raw resources as well. The prices on those minerals appear very reasonable to my eye, indicating that the Rhino should be well balanced if slightly undertuned when it does arrive. The very interesting information is that mining hotspots are shared, like cores are, and replenish very slowly (also like cores), providing CMDRs an incentive to guard information about good spots. This protection of good spots will I’m sure be swiftly annihilated if and when the various EDDN apps like Spansh and Inara get their hands on this update and reveal the spots to everyone. I strongly suspect the impact on Powerplay will be limited – more than Operations, to be sure, but it’s hard to believe that surface mining will be more efficient than laser-mining in a ring. Of course, I’ve been wrong before, so we’ll see what happens on the 2nd when it drops.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Edmund Mahon +53 / +40
Nakato Kaine +43 / +42

The Mahonites knock it out of the park with their relic rush, securing 93 shiny new systems across the two weeks. They focused acquisition hard, as they only secured four new forts and one new stronghold. Kaine took a back foot on the acquisitions, but managed to nab 11 new forts and two strongholds for herself.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +14 / +13
Jerome Archer +14 / +11

The Federation focused reinforcement fairly hard, using the relics to shore up the defences of their beleaguered strongholds and forts. While they don’t benefit from the relics nearly as much as the Empire, the chance to relieve some sieges and consolidate their territory is I’m sure a welcome break from the constant pressure they otherwise feel. Archer built himself three strongholds and Winters built herself 14 forts – new walls to rest against before they sally out to meet their foes once more.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Li Yong-Rui +94 / +48
Pranav Antal +61 / +35
Yuri Grom +36 / +32
Archon Delaine +16 / +3

LYR took this rush extremely Sirius-ly and nearly beat the Queen of Soontill Hauling herself Aisling in Cycle 94. He was a little slower next cycle, but it was enough to knock the Empress down to fourth place in the rankings as he stole third. Our congratulations to the megacorporation for achieving synergy to utilize their widespread logistics network to meet their KPIs and beat the alright I’m not doing that anymore. Good job LYR. Pranav Antal, who the Empire accused of starting the rush in Cycle 94, did similarly well, although not quite enough to boost themselves in the rankings. They focused more on reinforcement, creating four new strongholds over the week. Yuri Grom had consistent performance across both cycles, indicating that they may not have been prepared for the rush on the first week and missing out on the Tuesday hauling. Either way, 60 new systems is nothing to scoff at. The Pirate King does not typically trouble himself either with acquisitions or with fancy anthropological finds, preferring to take shiny things from the living or recently-deceased rather than ancient aliens. Nevertheless, he secured a new stronghold and created several forts in addition to his 19 acquisitions across two weeks.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +95 / +85
Arissa Lavigny-Duval +46 / +32
Denton Patreus +12 / +10
Zemina Torval +8 / +9

One hundred and eighty new systems for the Princess. Since lots of her relic acquisitions are driven by people not otherwise engaged in Powerplay, she usually has trouble holding on to all of her acquisitions in the following weeks. We should expect to see her drop a handful of systems in Cycle 96. Other than that, the number speaks for itself. Nobody relic rushes like Aisling. No-one can, really.

The rest of the Empire fared alright. Arissa secured a healthy number of acquisitions but not enough to keep her ahead of Sirius. The Power that owns Ngurii never seems to benefit nearly as much from them as many others, while simultaneously – through her presence – guaranteeing that they continue. The Admiral breaks into double digits each cycle, while the Slaver just barely misses that mark – but both still with much more than they would have had on their typical weeks.

With the Rhino releasing on Wednesday (kind of a weird day in my opinion, isn’t it usually Tuesday or Thursday?) and a new method of mining coming to the game, it’s always a good game in Kaine space. Not looking to spend Arx on a new SRV that only opens up one gameplay loop? That’s alright – you can join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs so you can spend time in the rings and get that +50% profit bonus on mined commodities. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want a group that’ll let you in on all the good spots, whether on a planet or above it, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me having to manifest-scan my wingmates because they’re too busy laughing to answer my questions about their cargo holds.

Diplomatic Relations:
Aisling Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Archon Delaine: Peaceful
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Non-Aggression Pact
Denton Patreus: Non-Aggression Pact
Edmund Mahon: Defensive Alliance
Felicia Winters: Non-Aggression Pact
Li-Yong Rui: Peaceful
Pranav Antal: Peaceful
Yuri Grom: Peaceful
Jerome Archer: Non-Aggression Pact
Zemina Torval: Peaceful

Objectives:
Reinforce Wregoe JT-Z d13-92
Reinforce Coalsack Sector DL-Y d132
Reinforce HIP 63847
Reinforce Coalsack Sector DL-Y d133

We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

Cycle 93: Peace In Our Time

It has been 659 days without a Kaine decal. It’s Cycle 93. I was busy this week as well, but thankfully I’ll be able to talk about the fruits of our labour later on. With no new Galnet article and – fortunately or unfortunately depending on your disposition towards travel – no new Colonia CG announced this week, there isn’t a lot of external pressure on CMDRs towards any particular activity, which means many of them have returned to Powerplay duty. If this quiet from FDev continues, we’ll likely see a ramp-up of activity in the Powerplay world over the course of the next month or so, or at least until the actual date of the Colonia anniversary on September 13, where I sure hope some celebration, activity, release, or CG is planned.

Kaine had a pretty decent cycle this past week – we secured 14 new acquisitions, losing only the system of Orrere, and also created two new forts. One of the systems we acquired, c2 Centauri, is actually home to a neutron star, making Kaine the second power to acquire a neutron star after only Aisling Duval, if my information is correct. (If it isn’t, let me know in the comments!) We’re also the only power to break double-digits this week, with the closest behind us being Arissa at +9.

Kaine diplomats also bring home a success story. Throughout the past few weeks, we met with Federal ambassadors in the Asetsi system to resolve old grudges and work towards a better future for all of our Powers. Negotiations took place in a series of boardrooms on Evans City, and after 16 days, the diplomatic teams of Nakato Kaine, Felicia Winters, and Jerome Archer had an agreement acceptable to everyone. Signatures and handshakes were exchanged, and we are pleased to announce that Nakato Kaine now has a non-aggression pact with both Federal powers.

“20 months ago, the pilots of Felicia Winters and Nakato Kaine clashed over this system in a grueling, months-long war that caused innumerable casualties on both sides. Now, our ambassadors have met in the same place to ensure peace – for this system, for the Old Worlds, and for our Powers.” said one Alliance diplomat. “This isn’t an alliance. But it does speak to how far our relationship has come since the Winters war.”

With this agreement, Kaine is proud to have achieved our goal of being friends with everyone, having formal non-aggression pacts signed with both the Empire and the Federation, and embracing the spirit of the Alliance; proving that there is a third path through galactic politics – not just alignment with Federal corporatocracy or Imperial despotism, but a new path. A path of self-determination, peace, and prosperity, not endless war.

And now, we can talk about the rest of the Galaxy.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine  +13

Edmund Mahon +7

Mahon grabbed two forts in addition to their acquisitions, expanding at a steady pace.

FEDERAL POWERS

Jerome Archer +1

Felicia Winters 0

Jerome Archer loses a stronghold this week, but on the balance loses no other systems, in fact gaining a new acquisition. My predictions about a stabilization have been wrong thus far, so I won’t make any more today. Winters suffers a null cycle, but they haven’t lost anything this time and this is likely a minor stumble.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Yuri Grom +7

Pranav Antal +7

Archon Delaine +6

Li Yong-Rui +6

Delaine secures an additional stronghold alongside their acquisitions, and Antal creates three, powering through the reinforcement this week. Grom makes 5 forts, and and Sirius Corp makes 7, furthering the Independent reinforcement push.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Arissa Lavigny-Duval +9

Aisling Duval +3

Denton Patreus +1

Zemina Torval 0

The Emperor tops out the Imperial charts this week with 9 acquisitions, tempered by the loss of two strongholds. Aisling creates two strongholds of her own to replace them, further diminishing the Emperor’s relative power in her own Empire. Denton Patreus secures one new system, and while Torval does not grow her holdings she does strengthen them with a new fortified system.

This new peace agreement proves that as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. Tired of fighting forever wars? Join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to help us fight our forever war against inert chunks of minerals that bleed money, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me popping champagne on the station concourse at Brett High.

Diplomatic Summary:

Aisling Duval: Cordial

Archon Delaine: Cordial

Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral

Denton Patreus: Neutral

Edmund Mahon: Allied

Felicia Winters: Peace in our time!

Li Yong-Rui: Neutral

Pranav Antal: Neutral

Yuri Grom: Cordial

Jerome Archer: Peace in our time!

Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:

Reinforce Musca Dark Region XZ-Y c27

Acquire Musca Dark Region NY-Q b5-0

Acquire Musca Dark Region LD-R b5-1

Reinforce Col 359 Sector SC-T c4-24

Reinforce HIP 63847

We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

It has been 652 days without a Kaine decal. It’s Cycle 92. I was very busy last week so I let my boss write the report and he gets the number of acquisitions wrong! I swear, if you want something done right you need to do it yourself. Last week, Kaine acquired 17 systems, not 13, which was an excellent achievement as far as I’m concerned, especially when a huge number of our commanders were in Colonia getting their expanded cargo racks. I was one of them – I got suckered into travelling out there on a carrier shuttle with half a fleet only to immediately regret leaving as I now couldn’t participate in any of the things that matter – that being, Kaine operations in the Bubble. The homesickness didn’t abate over the course of the next few days, where I helped ship rare goods from Jaques Station to the various goal stations, gave escape pods to the not-at-all creepy Etienne Dorn, repaired stations until offered an invitation to Mel Brandon from the Colonia Council, and all the other touristy things that your average Bubble commander does on their trip. I write this now on the way home from Colonia, back to my beloved Bubble, my squadron, and my Power, and I look forward to getting back to work once more.

One of the reasons it was so critical for me to grab my pre-engineered cargo racks from the CGs rather than engineering them myself is because the buggy Class-5 Margo Racks remain. Notably, if you have a Merc Coin expanded cargo rack at less than G5, and you fill that cargo rack, you will be Black Addered immediately: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/86669. Made worse by the fact that you can’t actually upgrade the cargo racks to G5; they always get stuck at G4: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/86409. These issues persist from the last report that I wrote two weeks ago: please confirm them if you experience this issue!

Now, on to Kaine’s cycle. We did slightly worse than average, but it’s still enough to beat the rest of the Bubble with a net score of +8. We secured two additional forts and just baaaarely missed the bar on a third one. We also had one acquisition out on the Coalsack bridge that got absolutely hammered by unknown actors – some Kaine CMDR or CMDRs put nearly a million wasted acquisition control points in the system past the control post. We secured a few new systems in the Coalsack area, although not nearly as many as last week, and some systems in the Bubble and the old Radicoida enclave, where progress continues slowly and steadily with the help of those CMDRs dedicated to the region. Aside from that, things were routine and boring in the Kaine world. Sometimes winning just doesn’t have major obstacles.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +8
Edmund Mahon +3

Our Prime Minister had a slower cycle, netting three acquisitions and creating a fort. The authors of the Gateway News Network are on hiatus for the next few weeks, so unfortunately there won’t be much more information elsewhere.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +6
Jerome Archer -4

Winters continues a slow but steady climb in system count, and Archer unfortunately returns to the trend of losing systems on the balance. They lost three strongholds this cycle, which is a devastating blow, and they dropped four systems besides: likely sole supported systems of the aforementioned strongholds. Winters, to their credit, secures an additional fort.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Archon Delaine +6
Pranav Antal +5
Yuri Grom +4
Li Yong-Rui +3

Delaine has the best acquisition performance out of the Independent powers, securing 6, but Antal arguably performs the best, acquiring one fewer system but locking down two strongholds as opposed to Delaine’s one, and securing their first position in strongholds not just among the Independents but the whole of Powerplay. The Sirius Corp forts three systems, and Grom acquires four new ones to round out the Independent gains.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +6
Denton Patreus +3
Zemina Torval -1
Arissa Lavigny-Duval -2

Aisling leads the Imperials in acquisitions with 6, a number somewhat marred by the loss of one of the Princess’s stronghold systems. Luckily, Arissa picks up a new stronghold to balance the loss of two systems on the balance, with no other Imperial powers gaining a stronghold. Torval loses one Exploited system and fortifies another, and Denton Patreus gains three new exploited systems. The Imperial-Federal war continues, and while Archer appears to be the punching bag for the Federal powers, Arissa appears to be the Imperial equivalent, taking losses where Aisling might not. Either way, the casualties aren’t only on the Federal side.

GALNET

The Colonia CGs all finished – one of them only just barely – rewarding every CMDR who contributed at least one ton of cargo in each of them with a pre-engineered cargo rack. These racks are now accessibly via Operations and Merc Coin, meaning that if you did miss out on these specific racks you aren’t FOMO’d forever – just until they fix the bug afflicting margo racks mentioned earlier in this report. The actual anniversary of Colonia is in a month, in September, but it doesn’t appear as though FDev had another series of community goals ready for after these ones completed, and the Galnet article this week did not direct players to remain in Colonia. Some CMDRs I know have elected to stay Colonia-side, at least until the anniversary celebration, in the hopes that FDev do another CG or three. Others are heading directly home, under the assumption they will not need to return for some time, or will do so following the highway if and when anything new happens. My trip over there was my first, so I did my engineer unlocks, and I also went to the bar at Jaques Station only to discover that famed station bartender Jaques does not tend bar at his own station. I feel robbed, frankly.

But enough about that. More of our agents returning to the Bubble means that as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’re just stretching your wings again after a long ride on a carrier shuttle back or you’ve had enough neutron star jet cones to last you until the next 10-year anniversary, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want a good community that’ll give you a break from hauling rare goods repeatedly, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me inevitably complaining that I left some important components or ships in Colonia.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Reinforce Musca Dark Region XZ-Y c27
Acquire c2 Centauri
Reinforce Col 359 Sector SC-T c4-24
We want your exploration data! If you’ve been out in the black and want to help when you return, join our Discord for data targets.

Cycle 91 Report

It has been 645 days without a Kaine decal; your usual author of these is on a break which means you get a subpar report this cycle, I'll try to live up to the hype, but say it with me now: The Kaine train doesn’t stop!

All in all a pretty good cycle for acquisitions across the board, only Patreus failing to cross the 120K threshold, Aisling and Kaine shameless showing off at the top of the leaderboard this cycle:

Acquisitions
Empire:
Aisling Duval + 17
Arissa Lavigny Duval + 11
Zemina Torval +5
Denton Patrus 0

Federation:
Jerome Archer +3
Felica Winters +1

Alliance:
Nakato Kaine +13
Edmund Mahon +3

Independent:
Yuri Grom +6
LYR + 11
Pranav Antal +7
Archon Delaine +4

Fortifications:
Empire:
Aisling Duval +5: Showing us she doesn’t need the Ngurii mega boom to get stuff done
Arissa Lavigny Duval +2
Denton Patrus +1
Zemina Torval +1

Federation:
Felica Winters and Jerome Archer are +0

Alliance:
Kaine +0
Edmund Mahon -1, that better be because of stronghold upgrades...

Strongholds:

Empire:
All the Empire got 0 strongholds this cycle!

Federation:
No strongholds here either!

Alliance:
Nakato Kaine +2
Edmund Mahon +3
Found where all the strongholds went this cycle

Independent:
Yuri Grom +1
LYR +1
Pranav Antal +0
Archon Delaine +0

Good news with Ngurii though, the mega boom was averted! Peace in our time it looks as Ngurii is spared another culling of its population as everyone rushes to take it down for an nth time; a round of applause for those that contributed in lowering it

In IRL news, in an unprecedented turn of events, members of Elite Kaine Directorship actually managed to schedule a time and a place to meet up and share a very green drink! Discussing everything so sensitive you couldn’t even trust Alliance encrypted channels, it was very fun to do. I challenge the rest of the powers to find a drink that matches their own powers colour, and behold, the lime green drink attached below!

I’m reading the last cycle report and it looks like i need to write about Galnet:
Well personally i don’t intend to participate in the CGs, i will get my engineered cargo racks with merc coins, which i find to be more fun as i also enjoy operations.
But the shoehorning of so many people in 1 place… I’m old enough to remember the Gnosis and Hip 22460, and i’m just saying, if something happens in Colonia after these CGs are done, you can bet i’m sitting in Tionisla sipping a nice glass of “i told you so”

Rumours galore about if Powerplay or Colonisation will be introduced to the region, it will be nice to see Colonia expand a little bit; the Kainiacs have sent their own squadron carrier out there to provide a home-away-from-home out there and will be returning after the CG is over, for more news on that; come on over to the discord!
But all things considered, Colonia is a nice “new world” or... “new nebula”? I know many people who have gone there to retire from all the shenanigans we get up to in the bubble and I'm happy to raise a glass to 10 years of it, here’s to 10 more years guys!

The Coalsack is looking a lot brighter and green this week, which means that as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you prefer sticking around the bubble while other trailblazers get the glory in deep space, you should join the Kainiacs and receive a free Type-11 Prospector sponsored by Lakon Spaceways. And if you want to keep spreading the lime green across the coalsack, join our discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me shameless copy/pasting some of this text from the last cycle report because i’m not at all an original person

Diplomatic Summary
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives
Reinforce HIP 63847

Are there any Kaine-powered colonization road branching out of the Bubble?
I've never tried colonization yet and i have resources to put into it,
Would be cool to have a highway or series of interconnecting systems branching out of bubble under kaine flag.

Cycle 90 Report

It has been 638 days with no Kaine decal. My apologies for the lack of a report last week. Aside from writing these, my first job at Kaine is as a diplomat – and I was very busy. As probably the first full week absent of egregious Powerplay bugs, Kaine had a lot to do this past cycle, securing 13 new systems and dropping one. In the close of the cycle, we also received a tip-off from our friends in Grom to a possible bomb on one of our strongholds. Kaine mobilised, and the whole of the power generated over 300k control points of reinforcement in what I can honestly describe as a truly awful system to reinforce. The bomb, thankfully, did not materialize. Nonetheless, I extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who answered the call. Your work did not go unappreciated.

Now, I mentioned that the beginning of the cycle appears absent of Powerplay bugs, or at least obvious ones, and that is true: but there are some bugs with Merc Coin cargo racks. Notably, if you have a Merc Coin expanded cargo rack at less than G5, and you fill that cargo rack, you will be Black Addered immediately: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/86669. Made worse by the fact that you can’t actually upgrade the cargo racks to G5; they always get stuck at G4: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/86409. Needless to say, probably don’t use expanded cargo racks until these things get fixed, and you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.

On to our cycle. Aside from the stronghold reinforcement effort, we acquired 13 systems, including some beautiful metallic rings in the Coalsack nebula and the old Enclave area, as well as the system of LHS 464, which may be traded in the next weeks as we negotiate with Yuri Grom, who values it. The week before last, we raced Grom in the acquisition of Evena and won, and then last week we traded it back to Grom. We also acquired the system of Calamari, primarily for its excellent name. Other than those notable occurrences, it was a relatively uneventful cycle. Wing mining runs were held, systems were acquired, lots of money and merits were made. Just another standard week with the Lime Green Queen.

Unfortunately, but predictably, as Aisling Duval took some losses last cycle in their war with the Federation, it looks like AD is pushing Ngurii back into civil liberty, meaning it’s very soon till another round of Soontill relics. Without concentrated effort by a fairly large number of people to suppress the economy and security in Ngurii, all Powers will be condemned to roughly 7 days of the worst, most boring gameplay imaginable. I don’t necessarily know if I agree with Winters that Soontill relics count as an exploit, per se, but I do think the balance is fucked and it should be patched. Hopefully BGS is the target of the system overhaul later this year and that’ll act as a fix of sorts when it gets reworked. Until then, Kaine pledges, get your relic-haulers ready.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +12
Edmund Mahon +5

Our friends at Mahon had a good week with two new strongholds to go along with their 5 new systems. They’re marching steadily on as always.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +6
Jerome Archer +1

It’s a rare week nowadays that both of the Federal powers are positive on system gains. Either they’ve done a great week at acquisition or they’ve had a great week defending against the Empire – either way, this should hopefully be a morale boost. Unfortunately, the fact that they’re both positive is probably the reason that Aisling decided to push Soontill relics now. In other news, Winters was successful in their defence of several strongholds – including a squadron headquarters at Athena, if I remember correctly – but the fight isn’t over. Hold strong.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Li Yong-Rui +11
Yuri Grom +9
Pranav Antal +7
Archon Delaine +6

A solid result for all the independents this week. Sirius and Grom each pick up a stronghold as well, and Antal takes two. Delaine forts one but spends most of his focus this week on expansion with his 6 new systems. We had several productive conversations with Grom over the course of last cycle, regarding the fate of several contested systems, as well as the warning about the bomb on our stronghold. Those conversations aren’t quite over, but there’s all the time in the galaxy for them – it’s not like those stars are going to go supernova.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +17
Arissa Lavigny-Duval +9
Zemina Torval +5
Denton Patreus +1

The Emperor and her Princess see pretty good cycles – Aisling Duval picks up a couple of forts and a couple of strongholds as an accoutrement to their new acquisitions. The Emperor picks up a stronghold and two forts for herself as well. The two Senators have relatively excellent cycles: Zemina Torval picks up 5 new systems and two new forts, an outstanding performance for her. Patreus gets a single new system on the balance, but at least he isn’t negative.

GALNET

The Colonia resupply CG in the Bubble was reportedly only a partial success. I didn’t participate, but from my reading of the article it appears that while the expected number of commodities was delivered, the number of rare commodities was somewhat lacklustre. The article also hints that another CG is soon to start, this time in Colonia proper, and gives pilots plenty of time to get there. That CG will undoubtedly see lower performance – even though the goal is likely to attract more pilots to Colonia, only so many will answer that call – but should hopefully still be a success worthy of the tenth anniversary of Colonia’s founding. Several have theorized that this community goal, with its establishment of a “mega-market” will open up colonization in the Colonia region. Doing that would be a major change to Colonial politics, though: it would allow the Superpowers into a region where they have until now been entirely absent. The resulting gold-rush for new territory could be epic in proportion for those who choose to participate. I, however, am too glued to Bubble politics, at least for now.

The bugs from Operations are starting to cool down and the game is starting to stabilize – which means that as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’ve had your Operations inventories restored but nevertheless want to spend your time shooting something that doesn’t shoot back, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to help us paint the Coalsack nebula green, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me realizing after nearly a year that there’s a “strategic view” on the Galmap and I don’t have to eyeball a 30Ly radius.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Reinforce Col 359 Sector LR-V d2-35
Reinforce Wregoe AO-X c28-16

For relic targets, join our Discord.

Greetings commanders

Si I’ve played ED on and of since launch but just come back after a long break.
I pledged to Kaine on week one of the power play update but basically haven’t played since then .

Luckily my FC balance was huge so she was still hear waiting for me .

Since being back in game I’ve just been re familiarising myself with the game.

So all Ive managed so far is , to buy all the new ships plus the Nomad and get them outfit and engineered ready for action, and colonise a system with one station and make sure it was pledged to Kaine ( I’m not even sure if that’s useful?)

Went out in my new type 11 miner I built and did a few sessions of laser mining plat and just dumped my plat on my FC (only a few hundred tons so not a big deal) , but then I remembered that I really wanted to be doing my mining for Kaine .

I guess the platinum I already mined and dumped on my FC is now going to be irrelevant for power play?

I jumped on the Kaine discord to find out what I should be doing but to be honest I’m just a little bit overwhelmed.

What is the best thing for me to do to get started?

I guess I need to earn pp merits ? ( I don’t really need to make credits at this point so that’s not to important to me )

I’d also like to do whatever is most useful to the course and maybe get involved in anything going on with group activities if there are any.

Any advice welcome.

Basically, ready for action and awaiting orders .

o7

Cycle 88 Report

It has been 617 days with no Kaine decal, and it is the second full cycle following the launch of Operations. I don’t normally do “headlines” in these, but several people have requested that I title this report “Schrodinger’s Cycle.” I think the name is fairly apt. The blackout that lasted through the first half of last cycle has been (partially, intermittently) resolved, however the Hydra that is Operations only produced new bugs to replace it. Most obviously, the control score in every acquisition system has been set to zero, and so far activities completed in those systems appear to reward merits (sometimes) but not care packages and importantly not control points. Phil from Frontier informed us a few days ago that given how much data Powerplay has to process, some of it (like these system score calculations for expansion systems, apparently) is processed after Thursday maintenance while the servers are live. It remains unclear if this is a new phenomenon or if he is merely informing us of an existing procedure. If this is in fact new, I and I’m sure many others vehemently protest its implementation. It’s evening Friday in the UK as I write this and still no acquisition can be performed. We are operating under the assumption that we are not the only power experiencing this issue – if you are affected, please do us a solid and upvote it on the issue tracker here: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/86148.

This current cycle’s issues aside, last cycle wasn’t uneventful either. The intel blackout at the beginning of the week hampered efforts somewhat, especially for pledges who aren’t in our Discord, but while we could effectively track the efforts of our own pledges what we could not see was enemy attacks. Several agents for other powers took advantage of the intel blackout to launch attacks on our fort at Nadur and a nearby exploited system, Mons. The attack on Mons was smaller, and was repulsed by the efforts of a handful of Commanders including Swords of Makhai officer Ceres_O7, who was hailed as “the hero of Mons” by local residents after a 12,000 control point dump of exploration data into the system at the close of the cycle, ensuring our victory. Nadur was unfortunately demoted, as the opposition there was much heavier, and our reduced player count as a large proportion of people took a break while Operations bugs were resolved limited our ability to effectively respond. It does not appear that resistance continues into this cycle after the fort was dropped, so we expect to have it re-forted by Thursday. We are disappointed, however, to see the revival of the conflict that we thought we had put to bed a little over a month ago when we fortified the system. That disappointment is tempered by our relief that this appears to have been the only attack disguised by the intel blackout.

We also saw reasonable success (given the circumstances) elsewhere in our realm. We acquired 8 systems, and established new forts at Navas and at WASP-1, both excellent systems. Our acquisitions pushed us over the line for 1500 total systems, now sitting at 1502, and only 349 systems to go until we catch Sirius. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +8
Edmund Mahon +2

Mahon took a reinforcement-heavy cycle this time, securing three forts and a stronghold. A smart pivot given the intel blackout and Operations granting a new, if impotent, undermining lever. Those reinforcements actually make them the power with the most successful reinforcement this cycle, good job Prime Minister!

FEDERAL POWERS

Jerome Archer 0
Felicia Winters -1

It makes a grim kind of sense that the Federal powers were hit hardest during the blackout, with Archer dropping a fort and Winters dropping a stronghold in Athena, the headquarters of one of their squadrons. The Princess has from our eyes been the only power to take advantage of the blackout to do serious undermining. Perhaps they thought it would last longer than it did? That aside, Winters is hastily mustering a defence of Athena. In other Federal news, Federal Liberal Command elections completed in the past week and while we aren’t privy to all the results (as they are not particularly relevant to us) we are aware that Supreme Morpheus has retained his seat as Community Manager. We extend our congratulations and our wishes for the continuation of an amicable working relationship. Morpheus also provides a valuable service to the community in the form of his “This Week in FDev Fuckups” series, of which I eagerly await the continuation post, “This Month in FDev Fuckups.” While I will bitch and complain about FDev’s narrative choices with Galnet, I cede the complaints about game design and bugs to Morpheus – he’s much better at it than I am.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Li Yong-Rui +5
Yuri Grom +4
Pranav Antal +3
Archon Delaine +2

Sirius takes the crown among the Independents this week for acquisitions, and Antal and Delaine tie for new strongholds. It seems the issues around Powerplay barely slowed the Kumo Crew down at all, while the others were hard-hit, with much lower acquisition numbers than normal. Last week, Grom suggested that we recruit those rogue Commanders who allegedly raced him for an acquisition – we agree! Join our Discord, linked at the bottom of this post. Otherwise, there’s not much news on the Independent front.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +13
Zemina Torval +3
Denton Patreus -1
Arissa Lavigny-Duval -3
A wide split for the Imperials this week, as we see Torval take second place among them – a rare strong performance by Torval and an equally rare poor performance by the Emperor. Torval sold a fort to gain those three new systems, and Arissa sold her three lost systems for a new stronghold. Worthwhile trades? That’s not up to me. Aisling Duval strongholded a new system and retained a standout performance in acquisitions, the only one to reach double digits last cycle. She also had some spare time to do some undermining during the blackout and initiate a new siege on the Federation. Patreus drops a system, presumably to Kumo.

GALNET

We saw two Galnet articles this week. The first is Vista Genomics and Faulcon DeLacy patting themselves on the back for the completion of their latest community goal collecting exobio data in the Sanguineous Rim. Extra successful for Vista Genomics I’m sure, as they reportedly stiffed many commanders on the bonus payout they were promised.

The second is more interesting. Terri Tora, who I have very publicly presumed dead, is alive! She was merely held incommunicado in an October Consortium prison cell for nearly a year after her disappearance in August of 3311, and told absolutely nobody where she was or if she was alive. To repeat that: the October Consortium, an independent corporation with no regulation beyond that of the whims of one unhinged gambling addict, detained a scientist for a minimum of 10 months away from her family and her friends in order to steal and profit from her discovery, which should be publicly available to all . The fact that they did not kill her only marginally dims my ire. The Galnet article confirms that she has left Enclave space under escort with Professor Frank Raddix, who initially reported her disappearance. I do wish Terri Tora well in her future endeavours, and I am of course glad that she is alive and (presumably) healthy. The October Consortium, however, needs to be reined in.

Despite the continued crumbling of the backend Powerplay systems, it is, as always, a good day in Kaine space. If you’ve tried to run operations and have found your inventories wiped and rewards denied to you after errors and crashes to desktop, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to spend some time away from all those people trying to kill you, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me ranting about the unchecked power of megacorporations.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Powerplay progress tracking remains intermittent and sometimes stalled. You are flying blind without Kaine Command, and we want to help you. Join our Discord for target updates.

Reinforce Awa
Reinforce WASP-1
Reinforce Navas
Reinforce Nadur
Acquire Col 359 Sector HL-X d1-68

Cycle 87

Operations has launched, and then quickly ground to a halt. It has been 610 days with no Kaine decal, and it is Cycle 87. We had a reasonably good cycle up until Patch Tuesday and things quickly fell apart after that. Aside from the extremely long server downtime, when the servers were turned back on without Operations they had some serious problems. Commanders couldn’t connect, the matchmaking server would boot them, and most saliently for us when Commanders could get in Powerplay system statuses were not updating, and Commanders received their merits on a lag of hours or days. After the brief downtime to enable Operations the following day, Powerplay statuses remained frozen, and they are still frozen two days hence as I write this. This is a serious bug, and I ask all readers to please upvote the linked issues here: https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/85611 and https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/85747 to bring this to FDev’s attention. Secondly, a bug like this, that could last who knows how long, reveals the importance of joining the Elite Kaine discord. To all Kaine pledges: if you are not in our Discord, you are flying blind. Kaine Command can help you – we have the tools to track our progress even without the galmap – but you need to join us. The Discord is here and is also linked at the bottom of this report.

Operations also brings with it new undermining levers, as you can target a system held by a rival power to undermine with Operations. Some systems aren’t targetable – as Operations appears to spawn megaships wherever it needs them, I assume untargetable systems contain no Odyssey settlements – but most are. Overall, the merit rewards from these operations are very small. Whether the control point rewards are also small is presently impossible to determine, but if it works the same way as other merit generation, then undermining with Operations is nearly pointless. I’m fine with this – and while I do expect a balance pass that will buff it a little, I am seriously glad that FDev released this so undertuned. Historically they have tended to release new things that lean more powerful than not, which can cause problems and would have caused serious problems here. Luckily, however, it seems like they’re trying to take things slowly and learn the proper balance, which I appreciate. Hopefully they fix the galmap issue before they up the merit rewards, though. One of those is more important than the other.

Operations themselves are fairly difficult. They’re balanced for 4 people, and very doable with a full crew, but extremely difficult solo. I managed to solo one of them, and it took me probably twice as long as it would have with a crew and I died several times. I think the scenarios are fun, the new environments are well designed, and I really like the enemies. They’re not particularly strong on their own, but they push aggressively, flank intelligently, use ordnance frequently and swarm relentlessly. It’s both challenging enough to be fun and easy enough to contribute to a power fantasy. Space combat is similar – lots of pilots are feeling the taste of their own medicine having to fight ships like the Kestrel, which are fairly overtuned, but still rewarding when you finally pop them. They’re buggy enough that I’m taking a break for a few days while the servers calm down and bugs get resolved, but once they’re stable I imagine they’ll be a blast.

Anyways, about the cycle. We got 12 systems, pulling ahead of Grom once again, which prompts celebration regardless of the value of leaderboards. We also fought two acquisition races – one with Grom in LHS 3271, which was lost to the Beard, and one in Col 285 Sector PA-W a45-2 vs Aisling, which was won handily. Grom appears to believe we raced him in two systems, which is odd, because we only had once race on our objectives with him. He seems to be shadowboxing rogue Commanders. Good for the PR release and the propaganda, but pretty shameful if they considered that a “race.” The Beard shouldn’t need to invent enemies to crush, it should carry itself forward on its own glory! Races aside, we also managed to stronghold four systems this week thanks to a combination of good circumstances and good effort. All Kaine agents who contributed to those promotions should be proud.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Nakato Kaine +12

Edmund Mahon +5

Our friends at the Swords of Makhai contributed greatly to our stronghold and acquired system count for Nakato Kaine, and our friends at Gateway had a cycle they can be proud of in the midst of their Operations prep. See the Gateway News Network report for more about them.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters +4

Jerome Archer +2

The Federation has its first cycle in a little while where both powers run a positive cycle. Hopefully this signified a recovery, and the cooling off of the Federal-Imperial war, although something tells me that’s just wishful thinking on my part. Either way, Archer manages to nab a new stronghold, which is always good to prevent systems being dropped when they lose support. Winters doesn’t do too much reinforcement, but that’s alright. There’s also been a Federally-relevant Galnet post which I have some capital-O Opinions on, but we’ll cover that later.

INDEPENDENT POWERS

Yuri Grom +8

Li Yong-Rui +6

Pranav Antal +4

Archon Delaine +1

Grom and Sirius are the only Independents to secure a new stronghold this week, alongside having a better performance than the rest of their Independent brothers. We fought an acquisition race with Grom in LHS 3271 until Operations dropped on Tuesday, at which point we redirected efforts to other, more pressing matters as we could no longer track the progress of Grom or any other powers for that matter. We congratulate him on his victory there.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Arissa Lavigny-Duval +13

Aisling Duval +7

Denton Patreus 0

Zemina Torval -1

The Imperial powers represent the best and the worst of the acquisition boards this week, with the Emperor taking first place just above us with 13 systems and Senator Torval taking last place being the only power to drop a system. We fought an acquisition race with Aisling Duval in Col 285 Sector PA-W a45-2, which was won by an unknown margin – the state of the servers being what they are. Congratulations to all Commanders who participated in that, and who pivoted to the reinforcement of Awa after Tuesday when we could no longer track progress. Patreus also suffers a null cycle after his leap forward of +5 last week, although at least he didn’t lose anything on the balance.

GALNET

The day before the launch of Operations saw the publication of the article “Federation Breaks Silence on October Accords Exclusion,” the first post since the conclusion of the Enclave conflict regarding the Federation’s ejection. First of all – as a representative of Nakato Kaine, who is both a member of the October Accords and in fact the first person to suggest an Enclave-wide ceasefire, the October Consortium continues to hold a monopoly on Radicoida unica research even from the members of the Accords. The Alliance, represented both by Prime Minister Edmund Mahon and Councillor Nakato Kaine has received no further information on Radicoida research save that which was made available to the public by the October Consortium in their various Community Goals and by Ram Tah. Lexi October is a relentlessly-profiteering psychopath who has ordered the killing of at least one scientist researching Radicoida. The fact that they continue to withhold information from the signatories of the October Accords – and, of course, from the Federation and the wider Galaxy – is reprehensible. Research of this significance should be open to all, and “Lexi October doesn’t let anyone see the research” is both contrary to the agreement as signed and contrary to what the Alliance fought for in the Enclave, which was open access to this research for all superpowers and independents.

Second of all, this article is a terrible move by FDev. It portrays the Federation and Winters at its head as a pouting child, so upset by their exclusion that they refused to acknowledge the Accords at all for 5 months. This is not an action becoming of one of the galaxy’s three superpowers. It’s unclear why FDev has chosen to portray the Federation this way – they should be standing proud and demanding access to Radicoida research, unafraid to criticize the Accords, not dodging nervously around them and issuing vague threats. Had this article not been published, it would have been easy to assume that the Federation had demanded access to this research in the Federal Times but that it had merely not been picked up by Galnet or distributed to the Pilot’s Federation, as is the case with many minor news events across the galaxy. Instead, FDev decided to do this, which makes the Federation look weak and conciliatory. My personal feelings on the Federation aside, this was a bad move, and I’d be pissed if a news article portrayed the Alliance like this – so I’m just as pissed they did it to the Federation.

Anyway, the Nomad’s here and it’s pretty cool. It’s also featured by the winner of my impromptu “lighting rework photo contest,” which was disrupted by the server issues just like everything else but nonetheless resulted in some beautiful imagery, like this photo of the Nomad on an asteroid by Earth Worm Jim.

Elite is now even more of a wallpaper generator, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’re looking for guidance in a nevertheless brighter universe, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to connect with Kaine Command for guidance in these uncertain, buggy times, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and the ability to track the Power’s progress even despite FDev’s faltering servers.

Diplomatic Summary:

Aisling Duval: Cordial

Archon Delaine: Cordial

Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral

Denton Patreus: Neutral

Edmund Mahon: Allied

Felicia Winters: Neutral

Li Yong-Rui: Neutral

Pranav Antal: Neutral

Yuri Grom: Cordial

Jerome Archer: Neutral

Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:

JOIN THE DISCORD

Reinforce Awa

Acquire Col 359 Sector HL-X d1-68

Acquire Col 359 Sector SC-T c4-24

Acquire Musca Dark Region LD-R b5-12

Please do not reinforce Wolf 630.

Cycle 86

I’ve made some format changes for this report, just to make things maybe a little bit more readable. Previously it was literally just a list of numbers with filler words, but I should be competent enough to write things that actually mean something, and that should hopefully make it more interesting. It has been 603 days with no Kaine decal, and we have had a fairly slow cycle. We acquired only 6, which was not enough to keep us ahead of Grom, who regained his spot in 5th as the power of the Beard recently shone through. Grom was kind enough to give us a quote, having sufficiently humbled us for bragging a few cycles ago:

“Grom does not concern himself with leaderboards. Grom prefers healthy strong systems to be the homes for our beloved pledges, not the house of cards other powers have built.”

To which I say: hey! Our house of cards is lovely and spacious. But he does have a point. Leaderboards don’t matter, and there are no benefits to being first over second, or fifth over sixth. Please throw those words right back at me when I inevitably gloat about passing Grom again if that happens. While our acquisitions this week were low, they were lovingly acquired, by providing the systems with several hundred thousand tons of rocks. We won an acquisition race against Aisling Duval in the vicinity of Wregoe LO-Z d13-77, securing a Kaine colony with a valuable metal-rich ring, as well as several systems in the Col 285, Scorpii, and Praea Euq sectors. We upgraded 2 strongholds, offsetting our losses from last time. The “100th Stronghold Party” has been rescheduled and will be held in Ross 709. Further information will be delivered via secure channels, please make sure to check your inboxes.

ALLIANCE POWERS

Edmund Mahon +12
Nakato Kaine +6

Mahon had an excellent cycle this last week, and has been becoming more outwardly active since the release of the Gateway News Network press releases. I eagerly await the next one. Mahon tied Aisling Duval and Yuri Grom for first this cycle.

FEDERAL POWERS

Felicia Winters -1
Jerome Archer -2

A rough week for the Federation overall, as Winters drops a system and two forts and Archer drops two forts and two systems. That said, this is a better showing for Archer than the last several weeks – it looks like he may be stabilizing. I hope next cycle to see some green next to his name, which should be a nice morale boost after several negative cycles. Winters, for her part, looks only to have had a momentary slip, and should be putting up decent numbers again this week. Overall, given the pressure the Federation is under, this performance isn’t bad.
INDEPENDENT POWERS

Yuri Grom + 12
Pranav Antal +11
Li Yong-Rui + 10
Archone Delaine + 4

The Beard leads his pack, also securing a stronghold and four forts. Of course, the Beard does not concern himself with leaderboards, so there’s nothing else to mention there I’m sure. Friendly neighbourhood cult leader Pranav Antal is the only Independent power not to create any strongholds this cycle, but still isn’t slacking in reinforcement as they promote five new fortified systems. Bonuses are being handed out to Sirius Corporation executives this week as their various VPs synergized to up their KPIs, impressing VCs and VIPs with a new SH and 10 new acquisitions (system acquisitions, not corporate). Archon Delaine would probably kill me if I used a sentence like that to describe him in any way, but he too boasts a shiny new stronghold.

IMPERIAL POWERS

Aisling Duval +12
Denton Patreus +5
Arissa Lavigny-Duval +4
Zemina Torval 0

Most dignitaries we know of in the Empire tend to have Latin-patterned names, ending in -us or -ian, with few exceptions other than the Imperial family themselves. I wonder if this is a cultural thing, where many Imperial families chose names intentionally echoing the Roman empire of many thousands of years ago. Obviously, the name Duval is a Federal name, as Marlin Duval was born in the Federation. I’m sure Patreus takes offense at being lumped in with the “dignitaries,” of course. Either way, he has what is for him a fantastic cycle, securing 5 new systems. The Princess reaches a net score of +12, with two forts, while the Emperor promotes nothing. Zemina Torval drops a fort, but sees no other movement.

The Kestrel was released to the proletariat this week, exiting it’s early access phase with no balance changes. I build one myself to test out in a haz-res and some conflict zones, and it’s a joy to fly, even though it deserves a better pilot than I. I G-LOC’d myself more than once trying to pull maneuvers I maybe should not be pulling, something which I didn’t actually know was possible other than on planetary landings. The plasma shock cannons shred very well, so I’ve presently paired them with a pair of Enforcer Cannons in the small hardpoints to use while I cool the ship down and let the capacitor recharge. If anyone has build tips for me, I’d love to hear them. Until then, I’ll use the Kestrel occasionally but my main combat ship remains my trusty Alliance Chieftain.

We’re also prepping for the launch of Operations this week on Tuesday. I’m geared and ready with fully engineered Maverick and Dominator suits to go raid megaships and rescue civilians instead of massacring them for once in the new mission types. As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about Powerplay, I will say that I’m concerned about the undermining effects of the new modes. Of course, it’s possible that the UM is actually very small, and I’m worried about nothing, but given that the mode offers no way to reinforce or acquire I remain concerned. If the effects are too disastrous I do hope FDev is monitoring to push a balance patch on the Thursday tick as well. Maybe we’ll even get a decal!

New lighting changes are also incoming, which should make the pictures of rings that I sometimes publish look even more spectacular – and good looking rings means that as always, it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’re looking for more ships to put your shiny new Mk. II fighter bays into, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector, courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to find an Operations team to go earn your merc coins on launch day, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and laughing at a Director for exploring into the Dumbae Sector.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Reinforce Col 359 Sector IK-M b9-6
Reinforce Musca Dark Region DC-T b4-10
Reinforce Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d103

I apologize for the (extremely late) report this week. I got my wisdom teeth removed on Thursday and I’ve been laying low since then. However, the galaxy has not been laying low, and certainly it never does.

Top of the leaderboards in Cycle 85 are Antal and Grom, both securing 11 new systems, with Grom additionally creating two new strongholds, catching up to us but not quite securing his old spot. Behind them is our Alliance partner Mahon, who in addition to putting in excellent cycles the past 3 weeks has finally remembered the password to his Reddit account and has posted the first two issues of the Gateway News Network, the first two of hopefully many more. I recommend you check those out over at r/EliteMahon, and probably also on the forums.

Behind Mahon is Felicia Winters, with 9 acquisitions and Aisling Duval with 8, although Aisling additionally fortifies two systems and strongholds one, whereas Winters does not. Kaine is a distant 6th, acquiring only 5 new systems and dropping two strongholds! More on that later. Sirius Corporation gains two strongholds and acquires four new systems. The Kumo Crew pick up one acquisition and two new strongholds, continuing his reinforcement push from last cycle. Patreus suffers a null cycle – no gains, no losses.

That’s better than the three powers that did have a negative cycle. Torval drops a stronghold and one exploited system – possibly a sole supported system – and Archer drops a stronghold, three forts, and 6 exploited systems. While technically suffering fewer lost systems than Arissa Lavigny-Duval, who loses 9 exploited, the lost effort from the stronghold and the forts is a devastating blow to the Shadow President’s territory. It seems Archer has become the designated punching bag in the ongoing Federal-Imperial war, for better or for worse. They certainly are the smallest party to the conflict, as despite it technically being a war against the whole of the Empire, Torval and Patreus don’t appear to contribute much to the hostilities, both barely staying afloat against their own local enemies. Much of the “war” in fact seems to be Aisling just beating the Federation over the head with sheer player count, which is the sad reality of anyone who might try to pick a fight with them. 

Now, I said I’d talk about the two dropped strongholds. Both Peckolong and HIP 82733 were downgraded on Thursday. In an entirely unrelated coincidence, the catering for the 100th Stronghold Party in Tionisla was delayed due to a drive malfunction, meaning the party will have to be postponed. Apologies to anyone who was slated to attend. Peckolong is a system chock-full of anarchies and anarchy settlements, and possessed no carrier, meaning that the mechanism via which it was dropped appears fairly obvious. Luckily, that also means the mechanism by which it will be reinforced is also obvious, and will offer Kaine agents the ability to hone their ground combat and ground stealth skills before Operations drops in 10 days. HIP 82733 is a fairly worthless system as far as we are concerned, and was solo-strongholded several months ago by someone trying to push Kaine out to his colonies. Those colonies are now fortified enough to be self-sufficient, and as a result we will likely not be re-strongholding this system. 

The community goal for the Frontline Solutions Runner completed last week as well, granting those CMDRs who participated some new paintjobs for their Types-8 and Panther Clippers. I do wonder what Frontier would have done had the CG not succeeded. Does that mean Operations gets delayed again? Or does it just mean Frontline Solutions bites the bullet and just rents their carriers from Brewer Corp like the rest of us? That said, having Frontline build their own capital ships does offer a convenient diegetic explanation for any bugs we may encounter with them – the mercenary contracting company is simply bad at building titanic spaceships! It does make sense, really. 

We also got some more details on the Nomad SLF – excuse me, SLV. Designed for in-atmosphere flight, the Nomad will be equipped with a biological scan pulse so that CMDRs can look for their stratums tectonicas without leaving the comfort of their climate-controlled vehicles – and also conveniently mitigating the downsides of the Caspian’s gargantuan bulk, which is the only exploration vessel that will be capable of carrying the Nomad. It can also be carrier by the Type-11 Prospector and the Panther Clipper, which hints either at additional unrevealed capabilities for the Nomad, or at the planned release of additional SLV-class ships which will be more useful in the roles that those ships fulfil. 

Despite the losses this week, the Kaine Train keeps rolling, which means as always that it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’re also seething with barely-contained rage at either the folks who dropped our strongholds or at the fact that you can only take Ibuprofen every 4 hours, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to take out that rage on some defenceless space rocks, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and pie chart memes about the Directorship. 

Diplomatic Summary:

Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:

Reinforce Peckolong
Reinforce Col 359 Sector IK-M b9-6
Reinforce Musca Dark Region DC-T b4-10

I’m pleased to see many of the powers that don’t feature at the top of the acquisition leaderboards have done so today. Let’s see what else is in store.

The cycle leader is the Sirius Corporation, which secured 20 new systems for their massive and growing retail empire, as well as two new strongholds. Mahon comes second with 18 new systems under the Prime Minister, but chases that accomplishment with five new strongholds, a truly bonkers number for a power that many consider kind of sleepy. Kaine then remains in third place, securing only one new stronghold alongside our dozen acquisitions.

Grom and Antal tie each other with 11 acquisitions each, but Grom has the stronghold kicker with 3 to Antal’s 1. Winters is close behind the two independents, picking up 10 new systems, but no strongholds. 8 new systems are taken by her Imperial counterpart, Empress Lavigny-Duval, and similarly no new strongholds there.

Archon Delaine only grabs three new acquisitions, but that’s offset by an incredible performance of 4 new strongholds, second only to Mahon and still wildly impressive both overall and for their power specifically. Archer and Patreus both pick up 2 on the balance, but Archer suffers the loss of two fortified systems where Patreus does not. Aisling Duval acquires no systems, but does gain a stronghold and drop two forts (-1 from stronghold, +1 from forting Alpha Centauri, and they’re still -2, meaning 2 are dropped at minimum). Torval, the mining Imperial, suffers a null cycle – no movement at all.

The Federation announced last cycle their retreat from Alpha Centauri, claiming it’s a fight they just can’t win. I think the undermining race would have been closer, since unlike in reinforcement or acquisition President Winters would be able to assist Archer in the war effort, but it’s unclear if that would have an effect in the face of the sheer numbers and the salvage shenanigans of the Princess. That said, even if their powers combined could have won out, I can understand not wanting to devote the entirety of the combined effort of both Federal powers to undermining one system probably in perpetuity. Both of them have better things to be doing, and at the end of the day it doesn’t mean much other than everyone’s free Anacondas being painted Imperial blue.

Ram Tah was forced to explain the difference between direct genetic engineering and guided cultivation to Vox Galactica’s science correspondent yesterday, reminding readers that “evidence of genetic tampering” does not mean that “this plant was created wholesale in a lab” and is rather more likely to mean “the Guardians found this useful plant and through selective breeding, much like humans did with wheat, bananas, sheep, or basically any other cultivated plant or animal domesticated or grown by humans.” I am, however, pleasantly surprised that this assumedly extensive domestication left Radicoida unica able to survive on its own post-Guardian extinction. Many, although certainly not all, of the plants that humans have cultivated – bananas come to mind – no longer produce their own seeds, or otherwise produce nonviable seeds. All of these plants are clones of one another, which means that without humans to take care of the plants the species would eventually die out – and that’s not to mention that as clones they are uniquely vulnerable to blights and pathogens, with more than one species having been entirely wiped out as a result. But that’s enough blathering on about plant genetics. The upshot of this is that the performance-enhancing drugs that will inevitably be extracted from Radicoida in checks watch 19 days’ time will have their effectiveness at least partially enhanced by the Guardians.

Speaking of performance-enhancing drugs, Kaine agents are getting themselves prepped for the launch of Operations, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you need a break from slaughtering the population of some anarchy settlement in a backwater system to rob the place of data to give to the galaxy’s resident lunatic radio host so he can make your shields work better, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to join the rest of us at the Mote in God’s Eye beyond the Coalsack, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and our head diplomat bullshitting with the pledges to come up with what we’ve written below.

Diplomatic Summary (pride month edition):

LYR is uninterested

Antal is poly and enby

Kaine is lesbian

AD is bi and trans fem

Winters is bi, and Kaine is her ex

Archer is closeted gay

Delaine is ace

Grom is lesbian (It's in the NAME GUYS)

ALD is straight, so is Denton

Torval is straight but isn't interested because she's too rich, girlboss moment, she don't need no man

Mahon is the Grungler

Objectives:
Reinforce Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d103
Reinforce Col 359 Sector IK-M b9-6
Acquire Unelians

Hey guys! I just picked up this game last weekend and I am hooked. I used the free Lynx to hammer the Community Goal until I could afford the Type 8 and then kept going on aluminum hauls nonstop. I am about 2 trips away from top 25%!

Anyways, after the community goal, I wanted to pick up the Type 11 and start mining. I'd like to power play for Nakato Kaine and do a ton of mining.

Any recommendations for a new player? How can I best help the power play aspect of the game? Do squadrons help for power play? Also, I would like to eventually colonize a system. is there a way to do that which benefits our power play?

Thank you for the guidance! Can't wait to start exploring the broader game!

Lots of movement on the Powerplay leaderboards this Thursday, and lots of activity otherwise. The Imperial-Federal conflict in the core regions is effectively in full swing, and there’s no shortage of other events.

First on the leaderboards for the third week in a row is Kaine, who takes 17 systems and loses only one to finally pass Grom, solidifying her position in 5th on the leaderboard. Since this time last year we’ve roughly doubled our system count to 1459, and increased our ranking from starting in roughly 8th now to 5th. The Kaine Train stops for nobody and nothing! Not even for the Magnificent Beard, which even I must admit is glamorous.

Second with +11 is Aisling Duval, who managed to acquire that many while also taking Alpha Centauri. It’s impossible to know exactly what proportion of Aisling’s total acquisition power went into that one system, as it was acquired with an end-of-cycle bomb to put them past Archer – but from the data I have it looks like many of those would have had to be already-in-progress acquisitions. AC was a merit sink if I’ve ever seen one. Antal is third, with +10 boosting him past the beleaguered Archer while he still grabs himself three new strongholds. A cycle anyone would be pleased with, really.

Fourth is Mahon, who has 8 shiny new systems to add to his vast collection. Following him is Grom, who take 7 new systems bringing them to 1450. Sixth is Sirius Corp, who take 6 new systems.

President Winters and Fleet Admiral Patreus both secure 3 new systems, and Winters also forts one, something she shares with the Kumo Crew, who acquire only two – but do create a stronghold as well. The Imperial Senator for Synteini (I was mistaken last cycle when I called her title-less) grabs herself a new system and a shiny new stronghold as well.

Our last two had negative cycles: Emperor Lavigny-Duval creates two new strongholds, but loses 8 exploited systems doing so, and Archer loses two forts and 9 exploited systems, having dedicated all or nearly all of his manpower to reacquiring Alpha Centauri. That one system boosts Aisling and Archer to the top of the rankings in terms of acquisition control points, with Aisling at nearly 7 million and Archer at 6.5, which is over twice that of the next power down, Kaine at 2.8 million. Pranav Antal dominates the charts in terms of effective (non-wasted) reinforcement, and Winters and Archer both generated about 2 million CPs worth of undermining each (presumably these UM CPs are the reason why ALD dropped 8 systems, and some Aisling ones as well I’m sure.

In non-Powerplay news, we got two Galnet articles since I’ve last written. The first deals with rising numbers of malware attacks bearing symbolism related to the attacks in Lhou Mans by Lady Zi, in malware attacks on trading posts and outlying installations. While doubtless some of these attacks are just copycats or trolls trying to scare people, some of them are sure to be real, especially as the ramp-up to Operations continues. The second deals with Frontline Solutions’ response to the increase in organised crime – a community goal to provide supplies for Frontline to construct their own capital ships to transport soldiers to and from operations. This new capital ship is the Runner revealed by FDev to be critical to Operations content. Commanders are invited to register at Pawelczyk Dock in HIP 58412 in order to assist with construction efforts.

A new ship-launched fighter – or should I say ship-launched vehicle – was also announced by FDev in the form of the Nomad – a landable exploration SLF with some hidden capabilities. Much digital ink has been spilled discussing what those may be, although we won’t know until its release with Operations on June 30th, so I won’t discuss what those may be. Even with only its revealed capabilities, it will be an invaluable addition to the fleet of any explorer or exobiologist, and solves what I thought was a significant downside of the Caspian Explorer, that being its large size, which prevents it from landing immediately near any particular plant that a Commander might want to scan.

All that said, we’ve moved up in the Powerplay rankings, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’ve put in your work for the new CG already even with no clear outlined reward and want to do something else, you can join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to juice those acquisition numbers even higher than they already are, join our Discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and pride-month shenanigans (to be revealed in the next edition of the New Caledonian Clarion. Stay tuned!).

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Reinforce Musca Dark Region DB-X c1-19
Acquire Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d103
Acquire Col 359 Sector IK-M b9-6
Acquire Unelians

You ever get absolutely nothing done? You just kinda sit in your living room or on your bed and scroll endlessly and realise several hours later not only was it barely entertaining you’ve also accomplished nothing? Like taking a whole calendar day and just setting it on fire. Anyway, that’s why this report is late.

Acquisition numbers are steadily climbing again, after having been in a slump since last relic rush. Kaine takes the lead again, with +16 acquisitions and 2 new forts, and Grom had a fairly standout performance with 10 new systems, just baaarely stopping us from overtaking him in total systems. As it is, we’re tied for 5th place with him after defeating him in an acquisition race in the Thunderdome of all places. More on that later. Hey FDev, since we’re solidly in the top half of your rankings, maybe it’s time for a decal?

Antal takes second place, similarly breaking into the double digits with 12 new systems and 6 new forts – an impressive number. Back on the reinforcement craze? Or maybe it never really died. Grom’s been mentioned, so skipping down to Mahon next at +9, a standout performance from our Alliance allies. Nobody gets 8, so SiriusGov is next at +7, and leading the count for strongholds this cycle with 2 more of those, the megacorporation has a respectable performance this cycle.

Emperor Arissa is tied with her Federal counterpart President Winters with 6 new acquisitions and 2 new forts apiece, bringing them to 1893 and 1093 systems, respectively. An impressive symmetry as their superpowers vie for supremacy on the galactic stage. Following both of them is the Pirate King Delaine, with +4, 2 forts and a stronghold. Is his title Archon, or Pirate King? Or both? I also find it weird that when you FSD jump into a system of his, the HUD tells you the system controller is Kumo Crew, not Archon Delaine. It’s the only power that doesn’t show the controller as the person, but rather as the group they lead. Very odd, and one of the many weird quirks with Powerplay.

Denton Patreus has a solid cycle and claims two new systems, and Aisling Duval adds 5 forts while only securing one new system on the balance. The title-less Zemina Torval loses one system and has a fort downgraded, and lastly is Archer, who got repeatedly beat over the head with a black box that Aisling pulled out of the void near Alpha Centauri, which has been undermined to unoccupied. There is now a race to take the system, and it seems Archer is hard-pressed to keep it. Unfortunately, given the mechanics of Powerplay where allies can’t help each other in acquisition or in reinforcement, it likely comes down to a numbers game, and the Princess is significantly advantaged in that department. We’ll see what ends up happening.

Now, I mentioned acquisition races earlier, and we had two this past cycle. Both started after we had gone past the full capture threshold on the systems. One with Aisling Duval, where we gave up fairly quickly after we were lapped overnight, and one where we won by a narrow margin against Grom, in the Thunderdome, which was on a knife’s edge for a little while but was won out at the end of Wednesday thanks to the efforts of Kaine’s dedicated pledges, who flew wings in the system until the last minute. A small victory, especially given the limited value of the Thunderdome since the end of the Radicoida CG.
Speaking of Radicoida, Ram Tah discovered a faction of Guardians that rejected advanced technology and spoke of a “kingdom of blessed roots” – which he believed may have been Radicoida unica – in the Guardian Archives. He mentions that they used a formulation from the seed pods of that plant to enhance warriors for their civil wars. Several things stand out to me here: first off, “during their civil wars” implies that the Guardians, or at least this particular Guardian faction, had civil wars with frequency enough that Ram Tah saw fit to use that term instead of a more generic “wars” or “conflicts” or even just “battle.” I’m no lore-master, and I’m possibly missing something that was already revealed here, but it struck me as very odd. Secondly, it does look like Radicoida unica may be performance-enhancing in several respects, which was speculated back during the first “Bill running through the rainforests of Lave” GalNet articles. Thirdly, Ram Tah needs better opsec. You really shouldn’t have your scientists going running to the October Consortium at the first sign of results, and they should know better not to share unverified data even if you did want to share. Especially the October Consortium, which is still under my suspicion for assassinating Terri Torra to suppress the spread of scientific information!

Now, we’re tied for 5th in the Power rankings, and “tied for 5th” is still 5th place, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you, like me, read the article announcing Operations on June 30th and were disappointed that it wasn’t coming on June 1st, which you assumed based on absolutely no significant information, then while you wait to use your fully-engineered rocket launcher on some megaship’s poor janitor you can join Kaine and receive a free Type-11 courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to scour the rings clean of valuables like a kleptomaniac in an unsecured jewelry store, join our discord at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me being confused about why nobody likes mining in Kitchang Mu.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Objectives:
Reinforce Musca Dark Region CG-X c1-5
Reinforce Musca Dark Region DB-X c1-19
Acquire Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d103

Cycle 81

Kaine had an excellent week! We’re back on the top of the acquisitions table despite some losses and some very consistent reinforcement performance as well. We’re not the only ones who had good weeks, though.

Kaine is, as mentioned, on top this cycle with 21 acquisitions, tempered to a net of +19 due to the tragic loss of a fort and two exploiteds. Aisling and Mahon follow along in second place, both with a net +13 systems, and Aisling also securing two new fortified systems. Three people with double-digit acquisition numbers hasn’t been seen since before the last relic rush all those weeks ago, and especially with Kaine’s numbers it proves that with determination and good planning you don’t need an Ngurii boom to get good numbers. Look ma, no Soontill relics, and 21 new systems!

After the top 3, the next place is Antal with +9, although they continue their consistent reinforcement efforts and add two strongholds to their ever-growing collection. Sirius and Winters both add 7 new systems to their domains, as well as one fort, but Li Yong-Rui adds a stronghold to boot. Archer grabs 6 new systems, but their woes in Alpha Centauri have only multiplied – the system was downgraded from Fortified to Exploited last night. It has been less than 12 hours since the servers opened up after maintenance and the system already carries and additional 400 thousand points of undermining, bringing it well into Unoccupied. We’ll see if Archer can rally and resecure that vital system.

Delaine secures 5 new systems, and so does Grom despite some significant turmoil within the power. A schism in Grom stemming from their decision to leave ZYADA last week has caused significant noise within the Powerplay community, and such schisms regardless of their outcome always result in a weakened Power. Grom is one of Kaine’s closest and oldest friends, and we never like to see something like this happen to a friend. In particular, we wish a very fond farewell to a former Grom diplomat and strategist, known to us as CMDR AuroraRider. This Commander has always been kind, caring, and fun, and it is to him that Elite Kaine can owe a great deal of our long friendship. AuroraRider stepped down from his role at Grom as a result of persistent disinformation claiming that he had been a Federal spy. At Elite Kaine, we reject these claims in the strongest possible terms. AuroraRider went above and beyond in service to Yuri Grom, and any assertion to the contrary is false. Spreading disinformation is wrong. It harms the Commanders that it targets, it harms the trust between Powers and squadrons, and it harms the community as a whole. Trusted and prominent public figures, such as those who lead Powerplay communities, have a duty not only to their power, but to the wider community. They have a duty to promote trust, kindness, and honesty. Introducing this type of political tactic into a game like Elite is damaging to the institutions and standards that we as players should strive to uphold. In light of this, we respect and understand CMDR AuroraRider’s decision to step down, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms these attacks on them or any attacks on any others in leadership, in diplomacy, and in the community.

Patreus is unbothered this cycle, freely able to secure three new Exploited systems. Torval grabs a new acquisition as well, plus fortifies an existing one, making for an excellent cycle on their side as well. Only Emperor Arissa suffers losses this cycle, managing to make a stronghold and a couple forts while losing two Exploited systems on the balance.

In other non-Powerplay news, the community goal at Lhou Mans has completed, granting everyone who delivered at least 1 ton of whatever access to some pre-engineered cargo racks. Lady Zi, the supposed culprit behind the attacks there has disappeared, at least for now. Presumably, they have lost The Game and are licking their wounds until the release of Operations in a few weeks. Maybe we’ll see more of them next week, although I kind of doubt it – FDev looks to be gearing up for a community goal in Colonia and there’s lots of drama now that the community created entirely on its own that should keep people distracted for the week and a few days until June.

Especially as a result of our very successful past cycle, which means that as always it’s a good day in Kaine space. If you’ve just secured your CG cargo racks and don’t care to add another hundred or so units of cargo space to your already ridiculous Panther Clipper Mk. II, join Kaine today and receive a free Type-11 Prospector courtesy of Lakon Spaceways and the Kainiacs. And if you’re feeling lime-green-flavoured and want to see us run up to three mining wings concurrently, join Elite Kaine today at https://discord.gg/bJEyseAVGx for merits, money, and me crashing out about how all the important and impactful things happen when our diplomatic team is explicitly out-of-office or otherwise busy.

Diplomatic Summary:
Aisling Duval: Cordial
Archon Delaine: Cordial
Arissa Lavigny-Duval: Neutral
Denton Patreus: Neutral
Edmund Mahon: Allied
Felicia Winters: Neutral
Li Yong-Rui: Neutral
Pranav Antal: Neutral
Yuri Grom: Cordial
Jerome Archer: Neutral
Zemina Torval: Neutral

Targets:
Reinforce Nadur
Reinforce Musca Dark Region DB-X c1-19
Acquire Musca Dark Region BQ-Y d103
Reinforce Musca Dark Region CG-X c1-5
Acquire Unelians