MISSION CONTROL

Swarm extraction is nominal. Drones prospect on an ore-scent field that propagates through rock, bore toward what they can smell, and reinforce the haul route home on the return leg, so a paying seam turns itself into a highway. The surface plant has been cleared for six build tiers and steps up a module each time cumulative delivered tonnage crosses a threshold; once the pad is commissioned it flies surplus ore to Earth orbit on a cargo stack.

The onboard agent has flown the full contract unaided on all three difficulty settings. Rival operator HELIOS EXTRACTION remains active on the far side of the mare and continues to raid.

• SWARM NAVIGATIONNOMINAL
• SCENT / TRAIL FIELDSNOMINAL
• PLANT BUILD-OUTTIER 5 REACHED
• CARGO LAUNCHCOMMISSIONED
• AUTONOMOUS PILOT3 / 3 CONTRACTS

Vertical construction is certified in both directions: 26 levels up for sunlight, comms and observation, 24 levels down where the rock itself is the radiation shielding. Excavation is charged per cell and gets dearer with depth, so the buried levels have to earn their place.

Crew routing is solved from the surface airlocks each tick — long commutes wreck morale and a disconnected module simply does not run. The site carries a full 28-day power cycle: a fortnight of solar surplus, then a fortnight on batteries, RTGs and eventually buried fission.

• STRUCTURE / EXCAVATIONNOMINAL
• TRANSIT SOLVERNOMINAL
• POWER — LUNAR NIGHTCARRIED
• RADIATION SHIELDINGDEPTH + CAPS
• CHARTER PROGRESSION6 TIERS

Relocated to the Marius Hills skylight and built out under a separate charter. Pressurised grow halls on the rim of the lava tube, trading light hours against power, water against recycling losses, and crop choice against a colony that has to be fed through a night that lasts a fortnight.

Regolith is not soil until you make it soil — fresh beds run at two-thirds yield until roots and stubble have been worked back through them.

• SITE SURVEYCOMPLETE
• GROW HALLSDRAGGED TO SIZE
• WATER LOOP80% RECOVERY
• CARBON LOOPCLOSED
• SURFACE RAILTRAINS RUNNING