Ok so the Cannon thing may not be related to my paranoia....
We've got Genships turning up all over, and many think are connecting the first one that Rebecca pointed us to as part of that, but it isn't, not by any stretch. The other Genships could have/ probably have legitimately fallen to "natural" causes (the attrition rate of such an undertaking would be high).
We've the Feds/Imps/Alliance all trying for a foothold in that general direction of out from the bubble.
We've now got cannon starting out there, Fdev must have given the go-ahead for that.
The rift is still permit locked meaning Salome's little escapade was not all there was to that arc. (just her part in it over).
And oddly a lot of my taxi jobs are for that direction too. (at least 4 if I'd done them).
The latest alien cut-scene is in maia (?)
The Gear for war CG is on the path out from the center of the bubble to that area.
None of these directly say "we want attention out here", but my tinfoil is getting warm. Hopefully I'm wrong yet again, or the next season is going to involve a lot of rebuys.