Several reports on resource extraction in the C1 system lay on the admiral’s desk, awaiting his attention.
Resource Extraction and Production Department Report
Status: preliminary assessment. As part of ensuring the expedition’s autonomy, an analysis of available resource sources within the system was conducted. The objective of this assessment was to determine the viability of industrial activity in a Class 1 wormhole under a solo crew setup.
Initial Conditions
Assets: Venture-class frigate with bonuses to ore and stellar gas extraction
Objective: utilize local resources as an additional source of income
Hypothesis: a mobile depot would allow a single ship to adapt to multiple tasks without leaving the system
It was assumed that the Venture could be used for ore and gas extraction and, when necessary, for salvaging, by reconfiguring the ship directly in-system.
Platform Limitations
Analysis showed that the primary limitation was the ship’s standard cargo hold. It can accommodate a mobile depot, but leaves no space for storing spare modules. Specialized ore and gas holds partially offset this limitation, but they are not applicable to salvaging operations.
As a result, a universal configuration proved impractical. The ship must remain focused on a single task at any given time. Based on this, it was recommended to conduct separate trials for each type of resource extraction and evaluate their effectiveness individually.
Excerpt from the Pilot’s Personal Log
The asteroid field was striking in its scale. Dozens upon dozens of asteroids scattered through space, like the frozen remains of an ancient catastrophe. Each one could be mined for hours, and for a moment it felt as though there were more resources here than I could extract during my entire stay in the system.
But the longer the mining lasers ran, the clearer another realization became. The cargo hold filled slowly, and the value of the ore did not justify the time invested.
Gas anomalies left a different impression. The cloud of stellar gas looked almost alive. In twenty minutes of operation, roughly half the hold was filled, with an estimated market value of around ten million ISK. The process was calm, almost meditative, but required constant attention and extended time on site.
End of Pilot’s Log Excerpt
The admiral closed both reports and paused. Ore extraction showed low efficiency despite the abundance of resources. Gas proved more valuable, but its slow pace and elevated risk made it unsuitable as a primary activity in wormhole space. Both options demanded time, a resource that is often in short supply in a C1 system.
At this stage, a decision was made to abandon industrial activity in the C1 system.
As a supplementary source of income requiring minimal time investment, salvaging the remains of combat operations was retained. The expedition was instructed to make a run to a high-sec trade hub and acquire a dedicated ship fully focused on salvaging tasks. The Resource Extraction Department was ordered to consider the experiment concluded.