Oddly, not the first time staff have denied a request where Core gives small ship(s) to an allied or friendly group with sufficient roleplay (rip RM). Both cases are really surprising. I think even last time RM was just told "insufficient RP" (one difference to note is that the staff composition has changed since then).
At the same time there are people using Core tech who have done considerably less roleplay (ie none) that shouldn't have it at all 8).
Checking Mactan I'm surprised LPI doesn't have a Core cell.