Steamcore

After mankind colonized the solar system, it turned its gaze outward, to the galaxy. Stymied by our current technology, there was no way to go beyond the light of the Sun. Hundreds of years later, a shower of rogue exoplanets tore through the solar system, leaving behind a trails of a new substance unknown to humanity. This vaporous element came to be called Fyridium by its discoverers,later to be nicknamed simply “Steam” by those who seek it. Storing almost limitless amounts of slow burning energy, Steam seemed to be the timely answer to humanity’s call to explore beyond our star. Desperate to control the supply, the mega-corporations of Earth sent armies of mining robots towards the source of the rogue planets (nearby stars with irregular orbits). It was discovered that Steam was trapped in the cores of millions of micro-planets orbiting these stars. Though tiny in size, they all had similar gravity to Earth and entire ecosystems accelerated by the presence of Steam, and affected by the gravity it creates. What was unknown to the corporations was that although harmless to living creatures, Steam is highly corrosive and corruptive of machines. The robot mining operations immediately went dark after landing on these micro-planets. Years later, it is the job of mercenary-prospectors like yourself to jump from planet to planet, clearing out the robots and claiming the Steam emanating from the core, returning it back to your home base where it will be shipped back to Earth. But since this is the most valuable substance in the Universe, you are never alone, and the deadly race to dominate the standings in resources bears huge reward to those who dare try.