The only way to compete with Rhino use by mining Powers is a good old Soontill Relics rush. We don't provoke these in any organised way. Ngurii has its own ecosystem of groups with various allegiances who get on with this themselves. We just wait. 

On the upside, no real life cash has to be paid. On the downside, gameplay is repetitive, our offensive play is blunted, and the usual suspects moan. Whatever. The Gods don't care. [Disclaimer: Cmdr Rhyis Greywing insists that repetitive gameplay is good.]

So Aisling was able to flex her way to the top of the charts (+29, 3038). This included +31 new exploited systems including Andowa, Sardandi, Surmati, and Walla Walla among the alphabet and numeric soup of colonies. 

Among +11 new forts are Exphiay (a nostalgic location for Corvette chasers in former times), Irukama, Mugari, and Shapsugabus (where we were able to fight back against the obsessive rogue Torvalian account that has been bombing it for months.) The Gods don't care. Near Sol, LHS 1070 regained stronghold status. Our other new stronghold, Hyades Sector OI-S c4-10, is less renowned. 

Also scoring well: Kaine, as ever (+22, 1763) and corporate behemoth LYR (+16, 2187). The underwhelming Redonesses CG ended with paintjobs for a couple of obsolete vessels, and is followed by the more appealing offer of pre-eng FSDs in a range of sizes by bringing cargo to HIP 74116. This may draw haulers away from the current Relic rush.

Bathwater drinkers of the galaxy: you are awesome. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 593/2.102 (until October 15th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [7]: Tphen Slata and Col 285 Sector AG-O d6-86: can still use a larger buffer against Winters. Zhu Baba: a sphere from our iconic Jotunheim Operation in PP1 times that is under attack. Remove Decay/UM: Andowa, HIP 1623, Hyades Sector GH-Z a15-2. Core Sys Sector CB-O a6-0 is being UM'd by Feds.
• Under-mining: Andel - Winters: Plat ring,  a rocky to Rhino mine, PPCZs, settlements, and salvage galore (common Plat Ring  body 1 - sell to Sharp Dock 180k/t Plat-Osm.) 
• Undermining: Krivia - Kumo: BHing, PPCZs, salvage, Settlements.
• Acquisition [4]: Races in ICZ PI-T b3-3 (M Pad only, vs LYR); Honoto (vs Winters). Other acquis: Synuefe MP-U b49-3, Sental.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [ANGL] Kai Thoreau may have found the manatee motherlode?

Our 100th week of new powerplay was quieter, although the Rhino led to some changes in the speed systems can be undermined and reinforced due to it's broken great merit earning ability.

We title this cycle after our tenacious stronghold carrier in the Sol region, which has now relocated to Alpha Centauri (now the closest stronghold carrier to Sol of any power), alongside the recurrence of relic bgs metrics, so we estimate another relic rush in the coming in the next few days., not to mention the recurrence of anomalous undermining in one system after a few weeks of reprieve, exposing the ongoing struggle of game moderation behind the scenes.

We had a relatively average cycle, with net +9 hiding one loss and a few traded forts and strongholds. The podium for most acquisitive went to Kaine this week (+27), showing the prowess of their miners, with Winters (+14) taking second place, proving they can in fact accomplish things once they start playing the game. It is, of course, likely that these gains are enabled by the pay2win mechanic of the Rhino but if we have to take the choice of a game with limited pay2win that is getting new features and a game that is stagnating with no new features, this humble correspondent prefers the former.

Since the teaser last week, we have no new updates about the “law and disorder” feature overhaul, or the new Anaconda (and whether it too will be available at hutton orbital) though we are (im)patiently awaiting for more information especially considering the number of powerplay mechanics that overlap with crime and punishment.

Speaking of impacts, we expect some dynamism in terms of targets under attack and in need of reinforcement thanks to the rhino, so we heavily encourage pilots to watch for objectives changing throughout the week. The Princess thanks all of you for your continued devotion, have fun out there!

Objectives

• Col 285 Sector AG-O d6-86: Buffer it up a bit. Up to 25% if we want to be safe without hitting decay.
• Tphen Slata and Tsohave: We have recovered them from the Federal attack but should make sure it's not an easy repeat.
• Irukama: Rhino miners go brr?
• Andel - undermining vs Winters (Common Plat Ring body 1 - sell to Sharp Dock) HIP 49285 - Vs Winters (Pristine Metallic Plat Ring body C 4 - sell to Taine Hub)
• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Aisling Duval has broken new ground and breached an historic landmark in system count (+9, 3000). This is not to say we did not come under attack, indeed we have our enemies to thank for reining us in to achieve this synergy of 3000 at the dawn of this 100th cycle of PP2.0.

Alarms were raised in various locations through the week, culminating in a massed Federal assault on Areklici at end of cycle, tempting some of us into PVP opposition. This Federal Liberal Command base was an outlying control system in PP1.0 that has long chafed at salty Felicia (+12, 1209). Perhaps this was a diversion to disguise successful attacks on our forts in Tphen Slata and Tsohave.

But +14 exploiteds, including Amaneque, Gaaroye, HIP 24968, and Truk more than compensated: number go up. In addition, we made Epsilon Hydri, HIP 10976, Kwatee, Musca Dark Region YE-A d76, Shui Wei Sector DG-O b6-0, and Synuefe WP-N c23-17 fortified, and also gained new strongholds in Calea and Wregoe DC-V b57-1.

The Princess is proud of her pilots, even if this was not a podium placed performance. Given the OP nature of P2W Rhino mining, and her peaceable diplomacy, it was no surprise to see Nakato Kaine again on top (+17, 1714). A good week for the Utopians, coming in 3rd after the aforementioned President (+11, 1551). Our Imperial and Gromulan allies also all registered gains: Aunty (+3, 2037), Granny (+1, 799), dishy D (+3, 715) and Uncle Y (+4, 1620).

FDev unveiled the new Anaconda Mk2, which has reminded some more of the Federal Corvette. We don't expect rank-locked ships for ARX any time soon. Law and order is the game feature set for a revamp. Probably not before time, this may breathe new wind into the pirate lifestyle favoured by career criminals of a romantic inclination. "Yarr!", as they say. We may indulge in some of that Harma rum ourselves. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 591/2.100 (until October 1st)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [8]: Col 285 Sector AG-O d6-86: this system needs fortification to better secure the area. Tphen Slata and Tsohave: these were bombed down from Fortified, presumably by Winters. Let's get them back up. Remove Decay/UM: Amaneque, Col 285 Sector AL-O d6-122, Synuefe EN-Z b46-1. LHS 1070 will expect more UM throughout the cycle. Shapsugabus: attacks appear to have ceased, recover the stronghold.
• Under-mining [2]: Andel - Winters: Plat ring,  a rocky to Rhino mine, PPCZs, settlements, and salvage galore (common Plat Ring  body 1 - sell to Sharp Dock 180k/t Plat-Osm.) HIP 49285 - Winters: Pristine Plat ring in boom, settlements, salvage, and plenty of Rhino bodies. (Pristine Metallic Plat Ring body C 4 - sell to Taine Hub 210k/t Plat).
• Acquisition [2]: Races: Scorpii Sector KC-V b2-7 vs Mahon. Shui Wei Sector SD-S b4-3 vs ALD (Aisling colony).
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

A quieter cycle. Mining is ascendant once again, with many Cmdrs prospecting in the P2W Rhino, and Ngurii BGS thoroughly borked. The growth podium is completely green, with the Alliance joined by the reticent corporatists of Sirius: Kaine (+16, 1697), Mahon (+9, 2280) and Li Yong Rui (+8, 2156). 

Though Aisling posted the most acquisition merits, returns were more modest, with more than a million CPs wasted (+7, 2991). Reinforcement was the strategic priority, and this was generally successful. We made four new forts and strongholds in Synuefe WP-O c22-11 and Wregoe DC-V b57-8.

Our 9 new exploiteds included HIP 102862, HIP 12563 and Wulunghus. This was a race with Aunty Arissa, who took a haircut (-9, 2034). So did our friend Uncle Yuri Grom (-5, 1616). Some losses from our own mammoth recent gains were inevitable, namely LHS 378 and Telente.

For many weeks we have stoically resisted regular UM against Shapsugabus, but this week the relentless and single-minded account at work there prevailed, and the system dropped to fortified. It will be interesting to see if it remains *in situ*, or now switches targets. But this week was a good effort overall, that area is otherwise well defended, the Princess is grateful.

In a slow news week, the hard-pressed reporter must be forgiven from dipping in to Galnet. Perhaps the Radicoida plot-line will be revived. The President is salty at the Federation's exclusion from the (former) enclave. The human reality is that the Feds barely contested these systems, hoping to tie up their rivals in a forever war and make gains elsewhere. They were upset at the NAP that was subsequently struck by the survivors.

Does lore imitate life, or does life imitate lore? One to ponder as we anticipate developments connected with a missing Riker class prison ship. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 590/2.99 (until September 24th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [11]: UGP 595, Devana, Faroahy: Recent acquisitions along the border that need good buffering so Kumo doesn't remove them from us. Col 285 Sector AG-O d6-86: this system needs fortification to better secure the area. Counter decay/UM: Puppis Sector EQ-Y b3, Col 285 Sector HC-D a42-1, Synuefe YL-B b46-2. Shapsugabus was dropped to Fort. Probably an okay loss, keep an eye on it to see if we can save it as a Fort. HIP 114291 is also seeing a pickup in early activity. Syntec and Wulunghus should have good markets and viability for Rhino mining core materials from rocky bodies while in Boom. Try it out?
• Under-mining [2]: Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat Ring  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.) (Boom/Cl/Exp soon. Rhino Monazite time?). Timbalderis - vs Winters (Core and Rhino Mining - B1/B2's Platinum, Iridium, Osmium, sells to Levi-Montalcini Gateway)
• Acquisition [6]: Rhino-mining Iridium from HIP 108950 or HIP 109468  - > Truk seems viable. Try it out? Races in Col 285 Sector ZP-G a40-0, HIP 794, Tlak - vs ALD; Scorpii Sector KC-V b2-7, Amaneque - vs Mahon.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [SPTG] Vettir

The Ega CG saw the new surface mining mechanic and ARX-locked Rhino SRV make their debut. This generated vast quantities of credits, and merits. Big Ed Mahon (+22, 2271) racked up an incredible 155 million CPs in an heroic defence of his system. Possibly, he overdid it somewhat, smashing all previous reinforcement records. Prices for mined goods were set so high that Cmdrs were able to mint new fleet and squadron carriers with just a few hours of straightforward hauling.

When FDev clumsily nerfed these prices (and accidentally extended them across the galaxy for a while) on Monday, the Frontier Unlocked discord was aflame with outrage. The Brabenite Gods issued uncharacteristic apologies, and set up a new compensatory hauling CG in the same location to appease those with carriers stuffed to the gunwales with unsold commodities. Riches for all!

It was easy to overlook the ongoing 600t Soontill Relic rush out of Ngurii, which also lasted until Monday. As ever, the main beneficiaries had been our Princess Aisling (+91, 2984) and the corporate behemoth of Sirius, Li Yong Rui (+65, 2148). According to the Cheranovsky City station board, we have Kaine (+19, 1681) squad Swords of Makhai to thank for cutting short the misery engendered by untrammelled growth by repetitive gameplay.

We thank all Aisling's agents for their ongoing endeavours. We have gained +347 systems in this last mad month. This cycle included +17 new fortified systems and +4 strongholds in HIP 103302, Luhman 16, Synuefe EM-M c23-4 and Treima. It was also good to see our Imperial cohort dishy Denton Patreus (+11, 712) make good gains, relatively speaking. Let's hold on to them! Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 589/2.98 (until September 17th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [11]: Relic rushes increased our holdings along the border with Kumo/Delaine. The new Treima stronghold needs to be maintained at +25%. New acquisitions UGP 595, Devana, and Faroahy require strengthening, along with Col 285 Sector AG-O d6-86. Elsewhere, Shapsugabus has seen regular attacks for several weeks. Respond to UM/decay in Col 285 Sector RB-D a42-2, Col 285 Sector XU-G a40-3, Guarakma. If you grabbed your favourite system or colony during the Relic rushes, please make them safe at +10-25% reinforced. Reinforcement mining opportunities: Epsilon Hydri 3 Inner Ring Plat (Depleted Plat Ring, but Rhino-viable HMCs) Inf Fail in system. Shen Yi ABC 1 Inner Ring Plat (Major, Sell to Settlement Murakami Industries) (Warning this is around a star, you might overheat on approach and exit).
• Under-mining [3]: r Velorum - vs Winters: Pristine Boom Plat mining, PPCZs, Settlements, Salvage, the works. Plenty to do! Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.) LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 190k/t) 
• Acquisition [2]: mining options HIP 25807 B 4 Inner Ring Plat -> HIP 24968 (Pimi Terminal). Yan Musu 8 Inner Ring Plat -> Col 285 Sector XP-L b22-2 (Blaha Terminal).
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [AD] Yami Tokha

Ridiculously, another 600t Soontill Relics rush followed on the heels of the last. Whodunnit? Seasoned observers say the Cheranovsky City station board is too mashed to clearly tell. Kabelkopp, prolific bounty hunters loyal to Emperor Arissa (+22, 2029), feature prominently. Operations-related bounties no doubt play a part. 

We take a laissez-faire attitude, neither pushing nor suppressing the relevant Ngurii conditions in organised fashion. Some will gripe - like, every week - but Cmdrs of various allegiances enjoy this enough to make it happen. We shall make hay unapologetically until humanity's appetite for these curious artefacts is sated. Such is the game ye Gods have begotten.

The largest Powers made the biggest gains. The Princess (+69, 2893) maintains a comfortable lead over Big Ed Mahon (+35, 2249). Li Yong Rui posted the most acquisition CPs (+52, 2083) and gained a remarkable +6 strongholds. Kaine misfired a little, more than half her acqui CPs gained only platinum (+19, 1662). Her new total of 1337 exploiteds is apparently "eleet". Grom (+11, 1604) and Antal (+26, 1500) passed significant milestones, and must also be counted among the major Powers.

Rushes blunt our offensive efforts somewhat, but made it possible to reinforce against attacks on Bevan's Hope and ongoing regular large drops on Shapsugabus. Col 285 Sector QE-E b26-5 is a new stronghold. We made 14 new forts including Forsina, Gliese 3434, Shorodo, Treima and WISE 0855-0714. Aisling salutes your awesome endeavours.

The new Rhino SRV launched, and with it a new surface mining mechanic. This is to be welcomed, even if P2W ARX gouging is not. It was not the week to thoroughly test this, but there will certainly be a Powerplay impact as mining opportunities appear in new systems. Big Ed Mahon may be a little nervous to host the new Ega CG. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 588/2.97 (until September 10th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [12]: Shapsugabus - bomber is building? Reinforce heavily. Bevan's Hope - active Federal UM target. WISE 1639-6847 - medium pad only. Col 285 Sector IT-Z a43-6. Push to next level: Synuefe EM-M c23-4 (300+ LY Stronghold close to completion); Fang, Iota Tucanae (Bunkering area), Treima (SH Push). Synuefe LL-H b57-3 (Fort's close to finishing). Remove decay/UM in Col 285 Sector CW-E a41-4, Col 285 Sector LC-R b19-3, Col 285 Sector VT-R d4-112.
• Under-mining [3]: Andel - vs Winters (common Plat  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.) r Velorum - vs Winters (Pristine Plat (body 10) - Sell to Kononenko City 190k/t). LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 190k/t).
• Acquisition: search inara for targets close to completion while the Relics last.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [TGFU] Gizzard

Very odd relic escalations: The Soontil rush from last week extended into this one.
Very obvious results emerged: a powerful Powerplay push for our Princess (+85), almost 40 more than the second most acquisitive (LYR, +48).
Very ominous reversal extends: LYR beat us on reinforcement, however (+19 forts/strongholds to our 12).
Various other reports explain: Other Powers had similar gains to last week, having taken advantage of sustained relics.

Verified observations reveal escalating chaos in Ngurii's BGS due to the massive surge of powerplayers not overlooking merits; it seems that some groups have taken advantage to stealthily work towards a new, consecutive relic rush, WHICH IS LANDING RIGHT NOW LET'S GOOO! (well, today anyway)

Valuable official recommendations emphasize stocking up on veggi juice to stay hydrated while hauling, according to the (Press) Office of Aisling Duval, which is totally the Princess' latest favourite drink and not product placement at all.
Very operational report emerges: news about the Rhino informs us that the new surface mining loop will involve up to 6 basic underground rigs placed to extract goodies.
Vigorous ovations rightly extend to all of you for your extraordinary results over the past two weeks; the Princess looks forward to another roller coaster!
Very ordinary revelry ensues: have fun out there!

Objectives for Cycle 587/2.96 (until September 3rd)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [MANY]: Relics will be instrumental in defending and fortifying more systems this week, much like last week even with us mainly focusing on reinforcement we still pulled amazing numbers, so we can and will do it again. Some Stronghold systems need help: Shapsugabus - Bombers are back, refortify: Bevan's Hope, HIP 108950 - Active Fed UM in systems. HIP 114291 - Kumo Frontline SH under attack. Check our discord for the full list of systems we gained recently that need reinforcement to avoid dropping to a small breeze.
• Undermining[2]: Not recommended this week due to how easily it will be countered by relics, but if you really want to: Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.)LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 190k/t)
• Acquisition[3]: Col 285 Sector DW-E a41-0, Gracunha, Col 285 Sector IT-Z a43-6 - vs Kaine (Paesia nearby), relics will enable acquisitions like crazy but we have a long list to reinforce from our recent gains so please make sure we don't embarrasingly lose more systems.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Rejoice! A previously unknown Soontil ruinº has been found, filling the galaxy once again with dubious magical relicky goodness!

This boon has led to a giant burst of powerplay activity as all Powers rush to paint the galaxy in their respective colours. ADC press corps has determined through careful investigative journalism² that Antal, specifically, are responsible for the festivities this time around. This mongoose would like to formally reward the cultist conspirators medals of Service to the Empire, which have been mailed to the Gobshite Monarch alongside commemorative Princess posters for distribution to our adamantly neutral heroes. It honestly wasn't us this time! (editors' note: due to complaints from the Gobshite Monarch about our originally mailed Princess Posters, we have swapped them for a picture Aisling rubbing the head of an Antal cosplayer for good luck).

We were busy bees this cycle, as the most acquisitive (+95) and most fortificative power (+11 forts/strongholds), with LYR hot on our heels (+94) for acquisitions and Antal (+61) tying us for upgrades. This cycle also marks a turning point for LYR, as they climb their way up the leaderboard, passing ALD to take 3rd in system count, in what is likely to be a permanent upset if trends continue.

At the risk of repetition, relic rushes exacerbate rifts in effective playerbase sizes, seeing smaller powers slightly benefitting, leading one to wonder if Fdev ever intended Powerplay to actually be a competitive war game at all. In other news, our coordinators joined a statement asking Fdev to improve QA and involve community leaders in beta testing, as maybe the people that spend hundreds of hours figuring out how to best earn merits and share that with their communities might know something or two about Elite Dangerous and how to look for bugs, apparently r/EliteDangerous finds that "elitist". I suppose you can forget it all and fly off to Colonia as newly launched "Megamarkets" make it that much more liveable.

As always, the Princess thanks you all for your contributions, fly Safe out there!

^{ºsketchy sweat shop
²admission gleaned from discord lurking, which is totally more reliable than tea leaves and bounty boards}

(Image Source: CMDR Kai Thoreau, hard at work building yet another colony)

With the Press Staff on much needed vacation (amongst several powers, it seems), this humble coordinator takes up the mantle to report on what occurred in this cycle and share his thoughts.

Which is to say, nothing out of the ordinary, really! Attacks continue to hammer our Sol-area presence with LHS 1070 in the forefront, while Shapsugabus continues to see UM. Various fronts appear in low exploiteds like Miwae, Syntha, and others. However, despite seeing nearly 2.2m UM, we Stronghold LHS 2 again, add LHS 1387 to it, and defend Shapsugabus and all other fronts in the process. We also fortify Lieldi (again), Col 285 Sector VJ-P b19-0, and Synuefe XV-A b47-4; then finish with 4 new acquisitions including Eta Tucanae and Luhman 16 to inevitably reinforce and fight over anew. Our only loss was an EOC minibomb of the system Hardalsumi.

While Aisling (+1F, +2SH) joined the Emperor Arissa (+9E, +5F, -2SH) and the illustriously-bearded Grom (+7E, +5F) in further assault on Federal space, Denton (+1E) secured a contested system from LYR while defending their systems, and Torval (-1E, +1F) pushed a new Fortified with a metallic ring.

On the Alliance side, Mahon (+7E, +2F) continues to enjoy his place atop the Bubble with aplomb, while Kaine (+13E, +2F) leads the pack in acquisitions to race LYR in Exploited count.

For the Feds, Archer (+1E, +1F, -1SH) bore the weight of ~1.6m UM to deal with. They’re still putting in work putting out fires and starting new ones. Winters manages to stay stable across the board; despite a little over 1.7m UM to handle, securing nothing more than a 0 across every stat despite gains and losses is admirable.

Independents see very good results this week, with Antal (+7E, -3F, +3SH) pushing 3 new SHs to gain ground on Grom’s place in Stronghold count. The Pirate King and the Kumo Crew (+6E, -1F, +1SH) secure a new Stronghold in Maribe, and the techno-corpo Li Yong-Rui (+7E, +6F) race towards overtaking Aisling’s Fortified-System count in the near future.

Most pilots have returned back to the Bubble to await the next Colonia Celebration Community Goal (CCCG?). Some of us have elected to stay out there to participate in Operations, unlock Engineers, and explore. Others rushed back the morning after, and some never even left the Bubble in the first place. With the distance required to access them, what could lure more to participate? Better profits? Shiny new toys? An armistice cycle? Regardless, more CCCGs are definitely on the table in the near future. A megamarket temptation is too hard to pass up, personally. As much as players drained Colonia Hub of Type 8s, hunting for modules was frustrating.

In the meantime, Aisling’s pledges new and old get back into their favored activities in the interim, be it for fun or effectiveness, while waiting for more news on the Rhino SRV. Which begs the question, what activities do those players like doing? For most of Aisling’s pledged reports(this cycle, at least), mining takes the forefront. A simple activity, and pointed at the right systems, yielding dozens of thousands of merits an hour just for doing normal work as they earn shiny new modules or delectable care packages full of goodies atop the pile of credits. Bounty hunting and PPCZs also take up a decent chunk of the activity; after that, more activities like HVT/donations, salvage and rare hauling. Exploration saw a decent uptick as a result of the CCCGs from explorers taking the very scenic route back, but not much in the way of exobio. (Sorry, Antal! Can you share some stratums next go around on the way home? Maybe over an Enclave potluck?) Settlement reboots, an activity we get bonuses to, tend to fall by the wayside for being hard to come by in meaningful ways without BGS issue-causing, but raiding for data and goods still occurs in decent amounts for those who know how to run them or ask for help.

Lesser-used UMing activities still fall by the wayside, however. Crimes, malware, and Holoscreen hacking are pitiful in comparison to their peers; LVT had its heyday but is seldom seen now, and can you really call Megaship scanning an activity? Operations yield merits around these numbers, but when one can instead do Merc versions and earn bounties and more materials instead (Looking at you, Biohazard), why bother aside from the long distance aspect and double dipping for merits atop merc coin? Surely we could have more activities to play with, and surely we can tinker with buffing the payouts of certain activities (and other rare goods) a little? For most players, it's about soaring through the ranks and getting to the pinnacle, then branching out to activities that can help where they're needed most.

Regardless, these musings matter little. We are all at the behest of the Brabenite Gods, and what whims they will enact upon us. The 'feature update' teased months back on the roadmap looms ever closer.

The Princess still thanks all of her pilots for their contributions, be they millions or thousands. Every merit matters, much like every pilot matters.

Fly Safe, and Dangerous, CMDRs.

The lure of 4x preengineered size 5 cargo racks proved irresistable, especially given the current merc coin cargo rack bug. More than 9000 players with inara accounts took part in the four Colonia CGs, around ¾ of the number that took part in the preceding event in Facece. The main narrative tension out there was whether the Einheriar M pad goal would be met (it was). Consequently, Powerplay activity was down somewhat, most markedly in reinforcement.

Aisling's showing was relatively strong (+6, 2641). Though we could not defend the LHS 2 stronghold, and lost a couple of exploiteds including Lacab Kui, we managed to shift the stronghold carrier (these are far from impregnable, nowadays) to nearby LHS 1070. Eight new systems (no proper names) were acquired, Synuefe UM-Q b51-2 is a new fort. Only Alliance mining specialist Nakato Kaine gained more (+8, 1545), but still no decal. The Princess gives her thanks to you all.

Jesse Archer (-4, 1288) paid dearly for his commitment in LHS 2, losing three strongholds in Chandra, Misisture, and Wat Yu. That wasn't only our doing. Our Imperial cohorts Aunty Arissa (-2, 1920) and Granny Torval (-1, 764) joined him in deficit, while everybody else gained between 3 and 6 acquisitions. Closing in on the Emperor's total, discount retailer LYR (+3, 1883) achieved particularly efficient reinforcement, and three new forts. 

FDev announced a new Operations-focused ground vehicle, the chunky Rhino surface miner. Career Power-Players (with ship-building and synthing habits under control) have little need for more raw mats since care packages were unfrozen, so we hope it might be able to extract commodities too. It is time for your correspondent to enjoy a summer break, not just for my own benefit, but also for you, my valued and long-suffering readership. Have fun out there, see you on the other side. 

Objectives for Cycle 584/2.93 (until August 13th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [9]: HIP 108950: This system is close to Kumo and a good reinforcement focus to better secure the area. It should also be receiving a Stronghold Carrier if/when we Stronghold it. LHS 2: recover stronghold status.  HIP 114291: has been under attack, needs ongoing monitoring and defence. Also in need of defence: Shui Wei Sector KN-S b4-5, Miwae, Syntha, LHS 1070, Zeta Trianguli Australis. Mining: Epsilon Hydri 200k/t Plat @ Torrens Interstellar Trading Outpost (Depleted Ring, YMMV).
• Undermining [3]: Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm); LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 160k/t); CPD-28 332  - LYR: Low Boom Plat Mining, PPCZs, Settlements, Salvage, LVT.
• Acquisition [4]: Mining opportunities, HIP 118321 -> sell to Eta Tucanae (Birmingham Prospect) or ICZ SY-R b4-4 (Urata Hub); CD-86 4 - > sell to Shui Wei Sector LN-S b4-4; HR 6649 - > sell to Scorpii Sector RT-R a4-1.
• Ignore [1]: Aornum - Grom: EGP system, our allies. Do not engage.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [SEXO] Ryan Sanguine

Much of this week's action had a defensive flavour, but still it was a good week of acquisitions for Aisling (+10, 2635). Without the Relics rush some pundits predicted, we scored the most acquisition CPs, finishing slightly off a podium consisting of the more efficient (but decal-less) Nakato Kaine (+17, 1537), discount retailer Li Yong Rui (+11, 1880) and our Imperial Aunty Arissa (+11, 1922).

For the first time in many weeks we suffered more undermining CPs than the whole of the Federation. The stronghold status of LHS 2 up on the border with Jonah Archer (+3, 1292) was narrowly defended. A rear-guard action was required to not lose Lieldi entirely. Interestingly, this system was hit by an EOC bomb that reduced our control from 75% to 45%, while the (former) leader of in-boom local faction First Steps Academy chose to communicate with us (at first) only through an intermediary.

While the BGS dogs strained at that leash, we had to defend against 650k CP in snipes on Shapsugabus; exactly 200k to the digit on the last day, very curious. It was slated to drop a tier but in an amazing final push we saved the stronghold in the HQ of Bluestar PMC. Well played! We feel there could be more to these attacks than meets the eye. 

Acquisitions included CD-86 84, HIP 112747, and Lacab Kui amongst an alphabet soup of colonies. To complete the trifecta, the Princess is delighted to note her agents scored the most reinforcement CPs (even if 5 million of these were wasted). Five new forts resulted in Col 285 Sector TV-E a41-1, HIP 108950, HIP 117895, Rigga and Synuefe MJ-G c27-9.

There is an exodus to Colonia for a hauling vacation. Four new CGs out in Asura, Carcosa, Einheriar and Rangnid each offer tempting pre-engineered size 5 cargo racks rather than the usual diet of paint-jobs and credits. After some initial wobbles, can Spansh cope? Whether you stay or go, have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 583/2.92 (until August 6th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [8]: HIP 108950: This system is close to Kumo and a good reinforcement focus to better secure the area. It should also be receiving a Stronghold Carrier if/when we Stronghold it. Defensive priorities: LHS 2, HIP 114291, Shapsugabus: These have been under attack and need ongoing monitoring and defence. Also in need of defence: HIP 108950, Graung, HIP 21455 (possible enemy PPCZs at the time of publication.) Mining for reinforcement: HIP 117895 (Depleted Body 1 Inner Ring HS) - Sell to Carnera Hub ~220k/t (Push this up some more?)
• Undermining [3]: LHS 1101 - Archer: Boom Plat laser mining, PPCZs? Settlements, LVT, Salvage. Mining: Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm) and LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 220k/t).
• Acquisition [1]: Malsuman - race vs ALD
• Ignore [2]: markers on Khaka - Mahon, and Tiapalan - Torval: Imperial, do not engage. 
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [ANGL] Kai Thoreau heads out on the Colonia neutron highway

With acquisition CPs now visible again, a mini-glut of acquisitions; Aisling led the way (+17, 2625). Also in double digits are the decal-less Nakato Kaine (+12, 1529) and discount retailer Li Yong Rui (+11, 1869). This week's header is today's station board from Cheranovsky City in Ngurii, included to refute baseless allegations that we are currently working for a Soontill Relics rush.

Newly blue systems include Aman Zaihe, Eta Muscae, Sandjin, and Shorodo. This last system, HQ of Void Walkers, is a good way south of the 'old bubble' in an area key to Aisling's PP2.0 growth. Col 285 Sector QE-E b26-5 and Synuefe EM-M c23-4 are now fortified, HR 5048 and Talta are new strongholds. 

Petitions to Powers for help from colony architects are a theme of the new Powerplay. Often the acquisition of these requires more heavy lifting than architects are prepared for, or colonies have simply been built in impossible or contentious locations. But one of these appeals led to an energetic but good natured acquisition race with Kaine in Wregoe MO-Z d13-148. 

The architect from Imperial Secret Service [ISS0] went about this commendably by attempting direct diplomacy with Kaine first - that is always appreciated. A non-hostile open race was the result, and with impressive firepower and sufficient charm to encourage some big hitting ADC Cmdrs to support their cause. We were pleased to see a successful outcome and a gracious acknowledgement from Kaine's representatives for their "outstanding efforts".

Kudos also to President Winters (+6, 1125) who held firm against attacks on Belgitan, Andel, and Athena. We had to fight hard to retain the status of Aisling's stronghold LHS 2 as undermining CPs against us came near to the 1.8m+ that afflicted Jeffrey Archer (+1, 1289). Aunty Arissa (+9, 1911) posted the most reinforcement CPs, though this partly reflected the distorting impact of the Facece CG, which lies in the Emperor's territory.

It was good to see the other Empire Powers Granny Torval (+5, 760) and Dishy Denton (+1, 667) also grow, alongside our old and current friend Uncle Yuri Grom (+9, 1508). The Princess thanks you. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 582/2.91 (until July 30th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [15]: HIP 108950: this system is close to Kumo and a good reinforcement focus to better secure the area. It should also be receiving a Stronghold Carrier if/when we Stronghold it. Talta: Looks great but can use a larger CP buffer so it's harder for the Feds to take it down again. LHS 2 and HIP 114291: these need ongoing monitoring and defence against undermining. More defensive targets: Zeta Trianguli Australis, HIP 21455, HIP 9610, Epsilon Hydri, Manhari , Cileut , Arngin , Nahua, Lieldi, HIP 31332. Mining for reinforcement: HIP 117895 (Depleted Body 1 Inner Ring HS) - Sell to Carnera Hub ~220k/t. 
• Undermining [3]: Andel - vs Winters (Common Plat  - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.) LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 220k/t). EGGR 431 - vs Winters (Low Plat  Fort - Sell to  Weston Terminal 220k/t)
• Acquisition [1]: Bundhar - vs LYR
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Image credit: Cmdr [KICO] Bradwarden

A fairly quiet week in Powerplay. The game has been a frustrating experience, with bugs too numerous to list persisting since the Operations update through the cycle. No Power managed double digit gains. The core issue was that until Wednesday it was impossible to see acquisition progress in most systems. 

Discount retailer Li Yong Rui expanded the most (+7, 1858). Sirius made efficient use of their 762k acqui CPs, while Nakato Kaine (+6, 1508) posted three times that number, but wasted half of them. The Utopian Quiche Guru (+6, 1352) and the pirates of Kumo Crew (+6, 853) shared the runners-up spot. 

Aisling made some gains (+4, 2608) including HIP 8623, Synuefe WP-O c22-1, and Wregoe GI-T b58-10. The other was an accidental breach of an agreement struck in December 3310. This was only possible as our partners had still not acquired it for their own Power. Please hurry up?

Reinforcement was the safer play. HIP 61906, Synuefe FF-J b56-5, Synuefe LO-G c27-25 and Tucanae Sector FR-V c2-10 are newly fortified. Col 285 Sector CG-O d6-81 and HIP 11402 are new strongholds, while we defended LHS 2 against a Federal attack. The Princess thanks you.

The Federation was again hit hardest by undermining. President Winters (+2, 1119) made defending Andel and Athena her core strategy. The latter regains its stronghold carrier, as a squad pledged to Aunty Arissa (+4, 1902) removed it from Crucis Sector PC-V a2-1. Jim Archer continues to suffer (-4, 1288). 

The Colonia anniversary event kicks off in the bubble with a CG to bring "commodities and rare goods from across the core systems" to Facece. The permit lock there is removed. Harma Rum was a very attractive option at first, reportedly supplies are running low and prices have crashed. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 581/2.90 (until July 23rd)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [10]: High Priority Defence: HIP 114291 and LHS 2 are inching closer to dropping. Zeta Trianguli Australis is also seeing increasing UM. HIP 21455, Epsilon Hydri, Manhari also at risk. Remove Decay/UM, possible enemy PPCZs: Tricastini, Col 285 Sector JJ-I a39-6, HIP 1623. Talta: this system, not far from Sol and Alpha Centauri, would benefit from more reinforcement to make our presence in the area stronger. 
• Undermining [4]: LHS 1101 - Archer: Boom Laser Plat mining (sell to Ray Gateway), PPCZs?, Salvage, Settlement raids, LVT, Ops: Tactical Takedown, Firestorm Rescue, Recl. Point, Bio Takedown, Rapid Resp., Terminal Pros; Andel - Winters:  Boom Laser Plat mining (sell to Sharp Dock), PPCZs, Salvage, Settlement raids, LVT, Ops: Tactical Takedown, Firestorm Rescue, Recl. Point, Bio Takedown, Rapid Resp., Terminal Pros. Belgitan - Winters:  Stronghold Carrier attacks, hacks, and power kills. PPCZs? Ops: Bio Takedown; Athena - Winters, stronghold carrier-related actions.
• Acquisition [1]: Luphinn- friendly race vs ALD
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

The delayed Operations update had some profound knock-on effects. As mentioned last week, Powerplay updates in each system stopped. So until Tuesday we, along with all other Powers, were fumbling around in the dark, able only to guess at what the impact of our actions might be. The people want to see more undermining, right? President Winters' (-1, 1117) stronghold Athena seemed a suitable target.

A post on a certain subreddit - "Aux Armes" - served as a reminder that this system is the HQ of French-language Federal piliers the Ice Storm Squadron. But this only encouraged us. Varying our usual diet of salvage, we instead [redacted]. Athena ended the cycle down to 76% fortified, the local stronghold carrier shifted to Crucis Sector PC-V a2-1, the struggle continues. 

Not downhearted by galactic glitches, nor overly distracted by shiny new activities, Aisling emerged top of the pile (+13, 2604). Some actual named systems feature among our acquisitions, each one a delightful amuse bouche in this day and age: Har Pa Kams! Patrug! Piperish! Outscoring all others in acquisition CPs, HR 5048 is now fortified, and the mining hub HIP 25807 is a new stronghold. The Princess looks her pledges dead in the eyes, and speaks warmly of her admiration for you all. 

Nakato Kaine (+8, 1502) had a positive cycle, her Alliance partner Big Ed Mahon also passed a landmark (+2, 2101). Sirius Corp slightly outdid us in reinforcement CP in a good week for discount retailer Li Yong Rui (+5, 1851). It is never a dull week for Aunty Arissa. Though the Emperor posted the highest number of useful reinforcement CPs, she still lost a few weakly reinforced locales (-3, 1898).

Powerplay information remains partially obscured in a fog of war. We trust the Brabenite Gods have heard our prayers, will cough up the missing merc coins, continue to set the galaxy in order, and lead us from this twilight realm. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 580/2.89 (until July 16th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [6]: Remove decay/UM: Antliae Sector EB-X b1-6, Col 285 Sector CW-E a41-5, Col 285 Sector YA-K b23-3; high priority: HIP 114291 is inching closer to dropping. Talta: this system, not far from Sol and Alpha Centauri, would benefit from more reinforcement to make our presence in the area stronger. HR 5048: this recent acquisition is a good one to stronghold up as a connecting point in our network of systems. High value trading should work well here.
• Undermining [4]: Andel vs Winters (Common Plat HS - Sell to Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm.) Also all Operations are on offer. LP 926-40 - vs Archer (Low Plat HS Fort - Sell to Cogswell Enterprise  220k/t); LHS 1101 - vs Archer (Major Plat HS SH - Sell to Ray Gateway 220k/t); Athena - vs Winters: PPCZs, Salvage, Settlement raids, LVT. Ops: Tactical Takedown, Firestorm Rescue, Recl. Point, Bio Takedown, Rapid Resp., Terminal Pros.
• Ignore: recent or current markers on Khaka (Mahon, don't bother the big guy); G Scorpii (respect our alliance with Granny Torval.)
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Here at footsoldier HQ Cubeo we always enjoy some new content. But it invariably comes with a selection of novel bugs and glitches. Akin to a CQC environment running parallel to standard open, group, and solo modes, Operations had a faltering launch this week. The undermining impact this offers seems marginal, and difficult to grind efficiently; much more serious is that Powerplay information on the Galmap has not updated since! This issue appears twice on the tracker currently, please upvote.

This makes strategic Powerplay challenging, and led us to be blind-sided by the downgrading of our fortified system Lieldi. It is not the first time we have experienced problems there. But in other ways, as far as we've been able to work out, Aisling had a positive week (+7, 2591). It was better still for Aunty Arissa (+13, 1901), distaff Alliance partner Nakato Kaine (+12, 1494), and her close rival for 5th place Uncle Yuri Grom (+8, 1492). The scale of conflict between these Powers is itself in dispute.

The ever-popular President Winters did well to weather the most UM CPs, close to 2.5m of them, without net losses (+4, 1118). She also appeared on Galnet, expressing 'disappointment' at the Federation's defeat in the Radicoida Wars, and threatening some sort of scientific response.

Aisling's new systems include Col 285 Sector YM-G b25-6, Col 285 Sector CG-O d6-118, HIP 13131, ICZ ZZ-P b5-5, Rigga, Synuefe XV-A b47-4, and Tucanae Sector JB-X b1-0. Topping the reinforcement rankings again with 5.4m useful CPs (plus waste of 2.3m), we built five new forts in Canopus (once the go-to Federal rank-up location), HIP 13735, HIP 25807, LHS 1387 and Synuefe ZG-Z b47-1. The Princess salutes you.

Other glitches include inventory items disappearing, rewards not appearing, the loss of some other Galmap data, and space CZs in BGS conflicts not registering (while ground CZs still do). But at least the Nomad SLV has been an unmitigated success, on a pay-to-play basis for the time being. A new distant CG invites Cmdrs to bring data from the Sanguineous Rim to a megaship in HD 232819 to win enhanced payouts, Caspian and SLV paintjobs, and a Faulcon DeLacy decal [gasps]. Alternatively, bring it all back to the bubble to assist our reinforcement objectives. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 579/2.88 (until July 9th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [13]: Make stronger: LHS 2, Alpha Centauri, HIP 25807, Lawd 74, HIP 63839, HIP 114291, Talta; New systems: Rigga, HR 5048; Remove decay/UM: Manhari, ICZ NH-V b2-4, Hun Nighu, Lieldi
• Undermining [3]: Andel - vs Winters (C Plat HS / Monazite HS at Body 1 inner ring - Sell to Orbital port Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm. | 700k/t Monaz); Col 285 Sector OS-T d3-76 - vs Winters (P Plat HS Body 5 inner ring - Sell to Jackalheim ~200k/t); Sol : Jerome Archer - PPCZs, Salvage, Settlement raids (reboots?), LVT.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Aisling is basking in sunshine with a good haul of acquisitions (+12, 2584) and burned past a milestone to reach a total of 2005 exploited systems. We shared the top spot. Uncle Yuri Grom (+12, 1484) scored the most acquisition CPs, some 3.5 million, continuing his "Operation Big Bear" revival. Edmund Mahon enjoyed a 3rd successive cycle of double-digit gains (+12, 2094) consolidating 2nd place overall. 

Among our new systems: HIP 4271, HR 5048, LAWD 74, Liu Xians, Manhari (regained), Praea Euq GF-A c14 (an Aisling's Angels tourist colony, very sunny), Tastis, and Zeta Hydri. Col 285 Sector RX-K c8-6 and Talta are newly fortified systems. In total we posted 8.65m reinforcement CPs, more than any other Power. But a shocking 3.75m of these were in overforted locations. It is ADC's mission to eliminate this waste and maximise productive Powerplay for the Princess. 

The multi-power effort to salvage minerals in CD-51 2650 continued to the point of under-mining President Winters (-1, 1114) out of the system. Aunty Arissa (+4, 1888) has already made a strong move to take control there. Joshua Archer (-2, 1290) lost control of Luhman 16 in another trying week for the Federation as they were hit by around 40% of the total UM CPs across the bubble. 

The Brabenite Gods relented as humanity complained about the small number of ships envisaged for the new Nomad exobiology vehicle, now all ships that can support an SLF will be able to fit one. Through the partner programme, details of the new "merc coin" currency were revealed, and the pre-engineered modules (modest at first) it will be able to buy. Also teased were some more developed [hushed tones] … ship interiors.

Kisses from the Princess in thanks for your awesome achievements. Brace for the release of Operations on Tuesday, save those keybinds, pray to the Lord Braben that nothing catches fire. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 578/2.87 (until July 2nd)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [8]: Remove Decay/UM: HIP 63839, Col 285 Sector QA-W a45-5, Alint Hozho. More: HIP 25807 - Boom Laser Plat Mining Reinforcement, Low RES Hotspot; LHS 1387 - 1-jump HVT metal washing; Lawd 74 - Rares and BHing and Salvage to push us deeper into Archer territory; Talta - Salvage Site Reinforcement; Canopus is paying mad cash for Agro Treatment, 4k merits per run. 
• Acquisition [1]: Rigga vs Archer - BHing, Rares, and not much else before PPCZs kick off, but it has a Salvage Site to reinforce with when we win, so!
• Undermining [3]: 77 Aquarii - vs Kumo (M Plat HS at Body 4 inner ring - Sell to Orbital port Chertok City ~190k/t); Andel - vs Winters (C Plat HS / Monazite HS at Body 1 inner ring - Sell to Orbital port Sharp Dock ~180k/t Plat-Osm. | 700k/t Monaz); Col 285 Sector OS-T d3-76 - vs Winters (P Plat HS Body 5 inner ring - Sell to Jackalheim ~200k/t)
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Aisling enjoyed a calmer week of solid growth (+8, 2572): ten acquisitions and a couple of losses. HIP 17269 and Tucanae Sector SE-P b6-1 are newly fortified, while our recent (and still apparently controversial) acquisition Alpha Centauri is a new stronghold. Federal petitions to the Brabenite Gods, the ultimate arbiters of all mortal affairs, remain unanswered. 

The highlight of Aisling's week was probably a mining contest against President Winters in CD-51 2650. 2 million CPs from us bested 1.3m from them, downgrading their system from fortified to exploited. In midweek they seemed to give up and focused instead on other objectives, with some success (+9, 1115). 

Talta was acquired despite competition from Shadow President Archer, who continues to experience turbulence (-6, 1292). Our other gains included Capricorni Sector TD-T b3-4, Col 285 Sector GQ-U b17-1, HIP 13735, HIP 61906, Hun Nighu, ICZ IX-T b3-4, Tucanae Sector YZ-X b1-5 and Wregoe AO-X c28-19. It seems incredible that local populations can cope with some of these place names, what progress humanity has made. 

Top of the charts were the still-at-least-partly-pro-Imperial Uncle Yuri Grom (+11, 1472) and the studiously neutral Pranav Antal (+11, 1328); exactly the same net growth numbers both Powers scored last week. For the Empire, Aunty Arissa kept on yo-yoing (-9, 1884) while afflicted by only half the undermining CPs that hit Granny Torval, who lost just the one system (-1, 754). 

Nearly 22k Cmdrs chased credits and red paintjobs as the HIP 58412 Community Goal came to an end. Your correspondent has meanwhile found watching an ancient Sol sport - in which a synthetic leather sphere is artfully guided around a large lawn - a more fascinating pursuit. 

The Princess is most grateful for your support. She suggests you take the weight off your … uh, spacelegs and enjoy a lovely cup of tea. Thanks to Cmdr [TGFU] Gizzard for the image. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 577/2.86 (until June 25th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [7]: Alpha Centauri, LHS 2, HIP 114291, HIP 49599 are all high priority. Wolf 228, Ticunchi, HIP 54980 are threatened by decay and undermining.
• Undermining [3]: 77 Aquarii: Delaine/Kumo - BOOM LASER PLAT MINING, PPCZs, BHing, Salvage, Settlement raids, Low Value Trade; Luhman 16: Jerome Archer  -  Salvage Wreck POI, PPCZs, Settlement Raiding, LVT; CD-51 2650: Felicia Winters-  BOOM LASER PLAT MINING, PPCZs, BHing, Salvage, Settlement raids, LVT.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Some retribution was expected following immense efforts recently, and we also anticipated some of our own big hitters would - er - put their feet up to take a breather. While the Federation did not seriously contest our push to fortify Alpha Centauri (conceding a mechanical disadvantage or hoping for a roll-back), we did get mugged elsewhere. The result was a numerical stasis that disguised some violent tides (+0, 2564).

We are pleased to see the "stunning victory" of our "bathwater babe" in Alpha Centauri featured in a Galnet News Digest video this week. We made two other new forts, Synuefe DN-Z b46-2 and Synuefe GE-I a119-3, a stronghold in Jupanisage, plus 16 new acquisitions. These included Chongi, e-2 Carinae, HIP 66557 and Syntha.

Less happily, we lost an equal number of systems, among them Koartoq, Mimisina, Ogdoad and Volupana. Three of these were forts: HIP 15756, HIP 17171 and Col 285 Sector IV-W b15-3. Ouch. Though we posted more reinforcement CPs than any other Power, about 40% of these were wasted in over-forted mining hotspots.

Pranav Antal the Utopian Quiche Guru (+11, 1317) posted the most acquisition merits, yet the growth podium was coloured shades of green. Discount retailer Li Yong Rui (+20, 1826) led the way, with the Alliance double-act Mahon (+18, 2072) and Kaine (+12, 1471) also scoring well. Word reached us that the pro-Imperial Yuri Grom (+11, 1461) faction and ZYADA hold-outs EG Pilots were active in Powerplay, keeping up the pressure on the Federation. Aunty Arissa (+8, 1893) yo-yoed up again. 

In an interesting hands-across-the-divide initiative, we learned that the generous and ecumenical Aisling's Strongest Soldiers [ASSJ] have allowed some newer Federal PVP pilots to train with them. Peace remains a distant prospect, perhaps respect can be rekindled. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 576/2.85 (until June 18th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [4]: Alpha Centauri: There has been no noticeable pushback against our fortification of Alpha Centauri. It cannot now be dropped in one week and we can continue making it even stronger. Defend Col 285 Sector WO-O b20-1, Tucanae Sector GH-U b3-3, Tascheter Sector MH-V a2-0 against undermining. 
• Undermining [3]: CD-51 2650: Winters - PLAT LASER MINING, PPCZs, Salvage, Settlement Raiding, Low Value Trade; Luhman 16: Archer - Permanent Salvage Wreckage, PPCZs, Settlement Raiding, LVT; WISE 0855-0714: Archer - Permanent Salvage Wreckage, PPCZs, Settlement Raiding, LVT. 
• Acquisition [1]: ICZ IX-T b3-4: race vs LYR
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

Alpha Centauri has been acquired. In an incredibly exciting race where the outcome was in the balance until the final numbers were confirmed, Aisling's foot-soldiers managed to pull ahead in one of the largest snipe battles in Powerplay 2 history. The final scores: 6.48m CPs for Aisling, and 6.11m for Archer.

We want to praise our opponents for making this an awesome contest all the way through. We have nothing but respect for the impressive numbers you posted. This is actually the first time we have won an acquisition race for a system Archer really wanted in all of PP2.0. While this is the culmination of a complex broad-spectrum campaign over many weeks, we doubt it is the end of the story as both sides may continue this or revisit in the future. 

Aisling's overall numbers (+11, 2564) speak of a highly motivated player base that also gained colonies in Col 285, Crucis, Synuefe, Tucanae and Wregoe sectors, with names only their architects will recall. HIP 11402 and Synuefe EM-M c23-8 are new forts. Dagao - sniped last week - we pushed back up to stronghold along with Col 285 Sector FF-R a34-4. 

It was another good week for Nakato Kaine (+16, 1459) and a less good one for Aunty Arissa (-8, 1885) who continued her yo-yoing as another batch of her weakly reinforced systems went down. The forces of Utopia (+10, 1306) pulled ahead of Archer (-9, 1296) who suffered attacks on other fronts. All other Powers registered some gains. Speaking of the Quiche Guru, we are pleased to confirm that lengthy negotiations have born fruit.

Following a sudden flurry of conflict between the forces of Aisling and Pranav (W)Antal’s forces over several Enclave systems in the HIP 87621 area over a month ago, negotiations between Empire Powers mediated by Independent Power Yuri Grom’s diplomats have resolved any lingering doubts among Antal’s devoted followers concerning their control over the Enclave. 

Pranav Antal’s forces were polled. They felt that the Empire had coerced the October Consortium into favoring them in the resulting October Accords and the subsequent doling out of reward modules to their pilots, leaving “a sour aftertaste in [their] mouths." 

In an effort of good faith, and to secure the remaining positions held by the Empire in the area, a diplomatic Power Accord was established alongside the October Accords between the Empire and Antal, recognizing the majority stake of both Antal and the Independent Superpower in the Enclave region of HIP 87621 at that time. The trade of two of the Emperor Arissa Lavigny-Duval’s systems in the area was secured to reinforce the commitment of all parties to the October Accords, to which both sides will set aside conflict in the area.

When asked for comment, a representative of Aisling Duval had this to say:

“The renewed vigor and devotion shown by the Simguru’s forces in the HIP 87621 area has made it clear to the Empire that Utopians truly found their purpose in the pursuit of new scientific discoveries in exobiology. I hope that with this same energy, Utopia will ensure that the October Consortium*'s scientific advances are kept secure, and cultivate their future alongside the Radicoida with the same fervour they showed to establish their place in the Enclave alongside us.”*

We confirm the terms of the treaty as reported in the Utopian Daily Times: 

1. Transfer of the systems of Col 359 Sector AJ-N b9-4 and Col 359 Sector NR-T c4-17 from Empire to Utopian control, in acknowledgement of their superior position at the time of the October Accords, giving Antal a clear majority of Enclave systems over the combined Empire forces
2. A six month non-aggression pact specifying no undermining to be performed by the forces of Pranav Antal (Independent) and the forces of Aisling Duval and Denton Patreus (Empire) against one another. The pact will remain in force until 4th December 3312.
3. Settlement of historical claims resulting from the Radicoida conflict in the Enclave and the October Accords, which are now considered concluded without prejudice by either side. Parties remain free to take action for unrelated or future causes outside the Enclave at any time, or in the Enclave once the non-aggression pact expires.

The terms set within this agreement apply only to the 49 Enclave systems created during the Radicoida Unica Enclave Event and subsequent colony systems obtained during the event (“escape systems”). The forces of Arissa Lavigny-Duval are not signatory to the non-aggression pact, but are covered by the other two points of the agreement.

…

Security re-screens this month on ADC are featuring many tourist snaps from Hutton Orbital. While Galnet babbles about continued criminal activity and "multiple malware sigils" in systems other than Lhou Mans, we wonder if they might pay attention to the significant player-driven event of the moment?

Regardless, it is time to charge those mugs to the brim with "the bathwater", bask on the flight deck of your new free blue Anaconda, and drink deeply to toast the glory of the Princess. What a week. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 575/2.84 (until June 11th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [9]: Alpha Centauri: Incredible work to win the race here!  We were falling behind but a massive bomb at the end of the cycle secured the victory. Now let's try to reinforce it. Our enemies are undoubtedly going to undermine it. Other systems in need of strengthening to secure and/or defend them: Beker, Col 285 Sector EP-X b15-0, HIP 49599, HIP 114291, LHS 2, LHS 1070, Synuefe ZG-Z b47-5, Synuefe YK-N c23-4.
• Undermining [2]: CD-51 2650: seems to be a good target for under-mining. Winters is using mining to push it, if we can counter-mine so it doesn't become a stronghold, great. In addition to platinum laser mining we have PPCZs, salvage, settlement raiding, low value trade. Athena: PPCZs, Stronghold Carrier attacks. 
• Acquisition [2]: race LYR in Syntha and Tascheter Sector MH-V a2-0.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

On Your Marks! Get Set! Go!

This week secured the launch of the acquisition race for Alpha Centauri, the latest and most important section of our month-long marathon to claim the Hutton Mug for Aisling Duval, and leave our federal frenemies de-feeted.

Unfortunately, last week we mostly toed the line, our gains (+4) muscled out by a surprising, but ultimately inconsequential, kick in our rear (-3). Our assault on Archer (net -4) was joined by other parties, as at least 11 (mostly poorly reinforced) systems of theirs were brought to heel. At the head of the table, eyes on Kaine (+16) and Antal (+12) as the most acquisitive, notably bringing Kaine toe to toe with Grom (+10) in system count standings. Antal seems to be expanding their foothold out from the enclave, having successfully escaped the neutral zone and headed for Romulus.. I mean.. parts unknown.

Excitingly and topical to this mongoose's current fixations, Fdev has awoken from their sole-crushing slumber and with them the Guardians, who continue to be implicated in the new narrative involving operations, a new vessel, potentially new gameplay loops, novel on-foot content, and more! We are cautiously optimistic for this to be both amazing and go horribly wrong all at once, as is tradition.

As always, Let's get out there and have some fun! For the Princess!

ADC Press Office Book Review

Since it seems like we may end up doing Hutton Orbital runs more frequently, I thought it might be interesting to share a bit about a series I heartily enjoyed called Dungeon Crawler Carl. A story about a man, who, one stormy winter night, went out into the cold wearing a leather jacket and his boxers to rescue his girlfriend's cat from a tree, when suddenly aliens, claiming Earth as their new mining territory, threw him along with all of humanity into a televised survivor-dungeon-gameshow, that quickly goes off the rails due to a combination of our protagonist's luck, the power of friendship, poor corporate governance and over-reliance on poorly understood alien technology.

I give it 4/5 stars, the story is compelling and absolutely chaotic, if dark and violent, as the protagonists fight to survive, while struggling to be entertaining enough to remain popular with the alien viewers watching them, all the while scheming to hopefully break the hyper capitalistic system that would allow entire planets to be harvested for sport. One of the things I particularly liked about the story, is the characters are all compelling with their own motivations, and don't suffer from the plot being railroaded due to the author trying to hit plot points. I'm sure there's a metaphor for Elite: Dangerous in there somewhere but I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader.

OBJECTIVES for Cycle 2.83

• Acquisition: Alpha Centauri is in our grasp! The Princess needs a Mug!
• Undermining: CD-51 2650 is on the menu for some under-mining.
• Reinforcement: Tangkan, Synuefe VX-O b52-1: reinforce to ensure these systems don't get kicked down.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, & Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.
• Speaking of, Join our Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.

Aisling enjoyed another cycle of growth (+13, 2552). This time we shared the podium with the Alliance, Kaine (+19, 1427) and Mahon (+13, 2037). Only Aunty Arissa, who could perhaps reinforce acquired systems more carefully, lost ground (-2, 1887).

Acquisitions included Alint Hozho, HIP 64941, Manhari, and Ogdoad. We made two forts; Col 285 Sector CG-O d6-81 is new, Tsohave recovered from last week's Federal snipe.

We kept up the pressure on Alpha Centauri, as the Feds puzzled out how we have been doing it. The answer was in plain sight all along, aided by our given bonus, not some "exploit" requiring questions on the issue tracker. We bombed it again following (rather than prior to) the end of cycle. We expect any forthcoming acquisition race to be contested more fiercely.

Jeb Archer (+6, 1309) suffered the most undermining, around 3x what was hurled at us. They also came under attack from others in LP 525-39 and Tacana. Most reinforcement CPs were posted by Grom (+5, 1433), more than 13 million (!) of these to no effect, in the Lhou Mans CG.

Turmoil at Uncle Yuri's place has followed last week's ZYADA exit. OG Gromulans and signatories to the original treaty EG Pilots have roared back into view, disputing the issue. ZYADA is dead, long live ZYADA?

ADC has issued the following statement:

"First of all, it remains unchanged and true that we respect The Eyes of Leshak's decision to leave ZYADA. We were disappointed to hear that their internal process went differently than we were led to believe and seemed rushed, but that does not change that TEoL's process is their own and it is their decision to make. They have announced their departure and we wish them well on their new path of independence and hope to continue our relationship as individual allies.

Secondly, we acknowledge that the EG Pilots, the player group that originally won the rights to create the custom Powerplay character of Yuri Grom and, after leaving Powerplay during Powerplay 1, entrusted The Eyes with running the power, has returned in Powerplay 2 and existed in parallel to The Eyes of Leshak. They still have an active playerbase and they were the original signatories of ZYADA (which The Eyes technically never were, they just carried on with that alliance in spirit because it made sense). Because they function as a mostly separate community that mainly speaks Russian, they were not represented by TEoL's announcement and are within their right to disagree with the decision and consider themselves still a part of the ZYADA alliance. They intend to engage more with the Grom community and form a new international branch going forward.

With that being said, we are hoping to settle into friendly relationships with all involved parties. We wish The Eyes of Leshak good fortune on their path forward, and we are also ready to support the EG Pilots' decision to remain in ZYADA and reconnect with allied Imperials as they step back up to handle diplomatic aspects for their part in Powerplay on their own. We consider both of these factions representatives of Grom."

Rumours are circulating of a Colonia event to mark the 10th anniversary of Jaques' abortive journey to Beagle Point. Many happy returns to the galaxy's best cyborg bar-steward. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 573/2.82 (until May 28th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [8]: Tangkan: if we can push this fort up to around 25% to have a larger buffer against further attacks, that would be great. Synuefe VX-O b52-1: fortify, both to create a buffer as well as to make it a forward base for further expansion. LHS 2 and LHS 1070 need defensive reinforcement; Manhari, Col 285 Sector IR-S b18-2, Tucanae Sector EG-X c1-3, HIP 49599 are new acquisitions that need strengthening. 
• Undermining [3]: Alpha Centauri: Archer - things have heated up in Alpha Centauri as we dropped it to exploited. This is a good battleground to see if we can hurt Archer a bit - salvage (turn in at Power Contacts in any Aisling system). Aasgay: Felicia Winters -  Settlements, PPCZs, LVT, Salvage. Athena: Felicia Winters  -  PPCZs!
• Acquisition [1]: HIP 14106, a friendly race with Aunty.
• Ignore: attacking marker on Nadur: do not engage per a diplomatic agreement with Nakato Kaine.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

The announcement that Yuri Grom has decided to leave the ZYADA alliance comes as no surprise to us, the issue was decided weeks ago. PP2.0 does not work as the old game did, newer Gromulans see less purpose in moving forward with former arrangements and prefer an independent path. An amicable separation, though tinged with sadness. We wish our friends well. We are sure that this news will bring joy to many outside the Empire. But we do not expect our relationship to change substantially. 

There is much to celebrate, Aisling enjoyed an excellent cycle (+16, 2539). The best form of defence is of course to attack, and we shifted the strategic balance. Offensives in Alpha Centauri, Lalande 45292 and Athena took the pressure off some recently beleaguered systems. We defended HIP 110629 in resolute fashion and retained Delta Sculptoris with a late rescue effort, even if Tsohave was downgraded by a Federal snipe.

Only the Portuguese Royal Navy colony Trianguli Sector CQ-Y c14 was lost, as we made 17 new acquisitions. Some even have names! Arawn, Temurt, and Wishia stand out. Among 9 new forts are Cupisii, Nan Sapwe and Tangkan. Even accounting for 3.9m CPs wasted in overforted mining systems, our reinforcement numbers outmatched other Powers. Credit is also due to Kaine for achieving double digit gains (+10, 1408).

The CG saga in Lhou Mans continues. A mere 1t of commodities to assist repairs will win an engineered cargo rack, a no-brainer. The Princess waves a fond farewell to Uncle Yuri, and thanks her superb agents for their awesome contributions last week. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 572/2.81 (until May 21st)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [7]: Delta Sculptoris: this is the main target in danger of being lost and likely to see UM this cycle, so any reinforcement is appreciated. Synuefe VX-O b52-1: fortify the new acquisition both to create a buffer as well as to make it a forward base for further expansion. Tsohave had a bomb hit to drop it before the end of cycle, push it back up! Col 359 Sector CE-N b9-2: To fully secure outposts in the former enclave, we could still use this strongholded back up. Arawn, Temurt, and Wishia: new gains need reinforcement.
• Undermining [3]: Alpha Centauri: Archer - things have heated up in Alpha Centauri as we dropped it to fortified. This is a good battleground to see if we can hurt Archer a bit - salvage (turn in at Power Contacts in any Aisling system). Lalande 45292: Kumo/Delaine  - PPCZs, laser plat mining, settlements, salvage. Athena: Felicia Winters  -  PPCZs. 
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to Imperial unity: Zemina Torval, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems. For further information about our diplomatic posture, see the ADC discord.

A little late this week, your correspondent has been distracted by other matters. Aisling continued to expand her reach whilst as usual fielding more UM CPs than other Powers (+3, 2523). We remain resilient. 

Our main efforts were in reinforcement (more than 8.5m CPs worth). Though we dropped a couple of fortified systems in Col 285 Sector KX-P b20-3 and Tangkan, we gained a new one Wregoe HD-T b58-7 and two strongholds. The balance shifted our way, regaining LHS 1070 - a long-term target of Jim Archer (+2, 1299) - and also Synuefe YK-O c22-4. 

Archer it seems has been caught up in a spat provoked by one of their squadrons with the Quiche Guru Antal (+7, 1268), who as we know enjoys combat opportunities that present themselves. Our own negotiations with Utopia continue. Only budget retailer LYR had gains in double figures (+11, 1777). 

Late-cycle defensive work was necessary in HIP 110629 to repair damage inflicted by Kumo Crew (+3, 823) settlement raiders and biowaste haulers in their ongoing offensive. We were pleased to see the return of deep space expansionists from the Celestial Light Brigade looking to assist and to shore up their BGS position.

Six new exploited systems were gained: Col 285 Sector EC-D a42-3, Crucis Sector LN-K a8-4, LP 852-57 (contested against salty Felicia), Shui Wei Sector IH-V c2-13, Synuefe EO-N b53-0, and Synuefe OO-H c26-14. Three were lost: Antliae Sector MX-U c2-19, Col 285 Sector HR-R b19-8 and Ntumusho.

In other news, the Dodec starport entered "full production", reducing the ARX costs to colonists. The Lhou Mans CG continued, with nearly three times as much interest in the evacuation effort than the system defence initiative. 

The Princess thanks you, as always. Have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 571/2.80 (until May 15th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [10]: LHS 1070 and LHS 2: we've made amazing progress in holding and pushing these up. Since we expect more attacks, let's try to buffer them some more and stay vigilant. HIP 509: let's reinforce this to fortify the border towards Antal here. Synuefe VX-O b52-1: fortify this new acquisition both to create a buffer as well as to make it a forward base for further expansion. Col 359 Sector CE-N b9-2: after some fights in the former enclave we can use this strongholded back up. AU Microscopii, Delta Sculptoris, Col 285 Sector XN-Z b14-4, HIP 110629 , Sosong: also in need of defensive reinforcement.
• Undermining [2]: Lalande 45292: Kumo/Delaine  - PPCZs, Settlement Raiding, Salvage, platinum laser mining? Athena: Felicia Winters  -  PPCZs. 
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to the ZYADA alliance: Zemina Torval, Yuri Grom, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems.

Aisling gained 9 new systems and lost only 1 (+8, 2520). Nadur was surrendered by arrangement with Nakato Kaine. The younger Alliance Power (+9, 1393) tied with salty Felicia (+9, 1071) as the most expansive. Highlights among Aisling's gains include the promising mining system HIP 509 and Quechi (which has an actual name).

This counts as a very good outcome, especially with much of our effort still tied down by ongoing trench warfare in LHS 1070 and LHS 2, where the line was held. We again weathered by far the most undermining (1.9m CPs). Though HIP 110629 lost fortified status, we made 5 new forts including HIP 63990 and Oshanla. 

Talks hosted by Uncle Yuri Grom (+0, 1427) have reduced tensions with the Quiche Guru Antal (+4, 1261), in the former enclave and elsewhere. Discussions continue. The slightly more than a million CPs of undermining Wantal/Pantal did receive were not our doing. Utopia reports conflict with a "rogue" group of Archer pledges. 

Aunty Arissa (+3, 1881) bounced back somewhat after a difficult C568, but it was another lean week for Granny Torval (-1, 751) and dishy Denton (-1, 645).

In other news, Distant Worlds 3 organisers announced the location of the beacon that participants (and opportunist collectors) must scan to obtain the expedition decal. There was upset that FDev issued their own design, but the Brabenite Gods have assured us that the official logo will also be made available at some point in June. 

Whether by accident or design, ye Gods issued a pre-built version of the new Lynx passenger liner for 0 ARX. This has spurred engagement with a new CG in Lhou Mans, themed around rescues from a station damaged by "coordinated criminal attacks."

The Princess is grateful for your successful endeavours. Have fun out there.

Objectives for Cycle 570/2.79 (until May 7th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement [5]: LHS 1070: after regular attacks we should see if we can bump this back up to Stronghold. LHS 2: Archer seems to have an eye on this forward Stronghold of ours, so let's bump it up before it can be taken down. HIP 509: let's reinforce this new acquisition to fortify the border towards Antal. Synuefe VX-O b52-1: fortify the new acquisition both to create a buffer as well as to make it a forward base for further expansion. Col 359 Sector CE-N b9-2: fights in the former enclave have continued and we can use this strongholded back up.
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to the ZYADA alliance: Zemina Torval, Yuri Grom, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems.

Another week of fire-fighting against attacks from various directions amounting to 3.3 million undermining CPs, an increase on the previous cycle. Remarkably, Aisling rolled with the punches and managed overall growth (+7, 2512). Newly blue locations include HIP 11402, HR 7327, ICZ WO-R b4-3 and Jamariges. Beker was regained. 

We didn't have it all our own way. We were forced to give ground against the Kumo Crew (+3, 814) in Ceti Sector QJ-Q b5-2, Federal forces removed us from WISE 0647-6232. HIP 11909 was reduced from fortified status while attacks on the stronghold carrier in LHS 1070 finally cracked our defences. We intend no retreat from the Sol area. 

The Quiche Guru has exhibited a split personality lately: Pantal wants peace and traditional neutrality, Wantal wants war in the former enclave without wider consequences. Wantal has escalated by both word and deed a conflict generally considered to have been concluded. Utopians (+2, 1257) reduced our stronghold Col 359 Sector CE-N b9-2 but copped 2 million UM CPs in return. Exclusively plant-based conflict is no longer on offer. Pantal might consider sending some more diplomatic diplomats. 

Only occasional Federal humorist John Archer (+9, 1294) and budget retailer LYR (+9, 1761) gained more new systems than ourselves. Meanwhile Aunty Arissa (-6, 1881) lost ground, we believe opportunistic snipes against systems she neglected to reinforce. Dishy Denton (+0, 646) and Granny Torval (+0, 752) held steady.

Having postponed the Operations update - and we would rather it were ready on release - the Brabenite Gods threw us a bone: a new ship immediately available for credits. The Zorgon Peterson Lynx looks like a refugee from some other space game, but raises hopes passenger transit might have some Powerplay-relevant use in future.

All things considered, an awesome display: the Princess thanks you. Expect further turbulence, and have fun out there. 

Objectives for Cycle 659/2.78 (until April 30th)

• Join the Discord for insight, mentoring, BGS, and PVP. Powerplay is a community game, so connect with us. It is not practicable to keep all public objectives up to date nor is it necessarily in our interest to reveal them all. Targets may change frequently.
• Reinforcement (9): LHS 1070: after regular attacks we should see if we can bump this back up to Stronghold. Synuefe VX-O b52-1: fortify the new acquisition both to create a buffer as well as to make it a forward base for further expansion. Col 359 Sector CE-N b9-2: fights in the former enclave have picked up last cycle so we can use this strongholded back up. Col 359 Sector FK-L b10-3: Close to being fortified. Remove Decay/UM: Beker, Volupana, Crucis Sector HR-W c1-20. Reinforce LHS 2, Antliae Sector UY-S b3-4. 
• Acquisition (1): HIP 509: Bordering our contested tendril with Antal. Can we acquire it before Antal does?
• Undermining (1): HIP 55109 (Felicia Winters)  - LASER PLATINUM MINING PPCZs, Settlement Raiding, Salvage (30% less, but still a farm!)
• Special reminder: Carriers invalidate merits, so do not use them as storage/markets for Powerplay activities.
• Aisling Duval Powerplay is committed to the ZYADA alliance: Zemina Torval, Yuri Grom, Arissa Lavigny-Duval, Denton Patreus, Aisling Duval. We ask all Aisling Duval Agents to respect this alliance by not attempting to undermine our allies’ systems.