The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted a Galnet article entitled “Curious goings on in the Tionisla system”.

For those steeped in the original game this system will need little introduction, but for those newer to the Elite franchise and Elite: Dangerous in particular, perhaps a little lore primer is called for. Borrowing from the sterling work by Dave Hughes, the loremaster himself, here is a little background…

Tionisla was one of the ‘Old Worlds’, a member of the Galactic Co-operative (the original GalCop) way back in the time period of the first game, circa 3125 AD.

Back then it was most famous for a curious mausoleum, a massive graveyard where the rich and famous were interred at the end of their lives in a manner reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. Huge edifices were constructed to mark the passing of notable commanders and worthy dignitaries. To be buried in the Tionisla Orbital Graveyard was a mark of distinction accorded to only a few with the means and the contacts. It signalled you had arrived… and departed, in style.

It was described by the late, great, Robert Holdstock in the original novella that came with the original game, The Dark Wheel. It was here that the narrative of Elite first started, the story that kicked off with a dilapidated Cobra Mk3 being stolen from the graveyard by a young hot-shot named Alex Ryder and his accomplice Elyssia Fields, to begin a quest to upgrade the ship into a proper fighting machine to take on a bounty hunter who had killed his father over the grandest and oldest of Elite mysteries – the location of the legendary planet Raxxla.

Tionisla has always been steeped in mystery… and now it plays host to another.

It’s no accident that another Cobra Mk3 has made an appearance there, with another mysterious commander being interred. As you will have seen, a mysterious code has been transmitted and events are unfolding as a result. In echoes of that original story from long ago, new tales are being told…

Whilst the graveyard itself will be accessible to players in a future update to Elite: Dangerous post v2.2, in the meantime – courtesy of Commander Jaiotu – we have a dramatisation of that event to ponder.

What happens next? That rather depends on what players do…