Tetradite alloy rods
Bundle of ultralight, durable metals for space construction
Tetradite, colloquially known as alloy, is a lightweight metal that revolutionized the space-faring world. By blending alloy with common materials such as steel, titanium, and graphene, any man-made construction could be made light and strong enough to withstand the hazards and forces of the Solar System, while making the construct cheap and efficient to transport from between worlds. It is the primary construction material for anything used off-world.
Tetradite ore was discovered within naturally-occuring deposits on the surface of Titan. It would then be extracted using an army of robots, before being launched into space using a Coalition cargo railgun called the Monolith. Finally, it would then be transported into Saturnian orbit and refined into the alloy rods you see above.
They were incorrect, it was NOT naturally occuring. ALLOY are the final remains of some artifical construction, millions of years old.
Liquid nyxium lantern
Portable container for a gravity-defying metamaterial
Liquid nyxium, also sometimes referred to as meta, is a reality-bending metamaterial used in the construction of the yoku coil, a Pact device used to reduce the effect of gravity. Yoku coils and nyxium can be found in advanced technologies ranging from levitating spaceplanes and robots, to mega-tall structures, to personal medical devices.
They even tried to use NYXIUM to bend LIGHT and RADIATION, by creating ultra-contained gravity fields. This was a huge issue back when this unit’s PRIMARY FUNCTION was to monitor enemy spacecraft.
Nyxium was procured from the bones of mega-serpents in the Martian Red Sands. Martian wildlife acts as a bioaccumulator for the substance, the source of which is deep beneath the desert, and has never been discovered. Nyxium was carefully extracted and transported in lanterns such as the one depicted above, which reduce the volatility of the substance by dampening the effect of gravity on the interior of the device.
Tychon particle plunger
Trapped byproduct of the fusion process, used in simulation technology
As an unexpected byproduct of the stable fusion process of the Gil reactor, tychon particles were only a scientific curiosity until they were discovered to have unique properties making them invaluable for simulation modeling.
Tychons were captured at power plants using plungers, electromagnetic traps connected directly to the core of the reactor. They were then used in the manufacturing of simulation clusters, computers designed to model simulated realities with uncanny accuracy.
Simulation clusters based on the tychon particle permitted the creation of neuromorphs with predictive properties far more powerful than those of quantum computers. These seemingly-omnipotent masterminds supervised the enormous projects of the 21st century that would otherwise be prone to incredible failure.
Would it surprise you to learn that TYCHON PARTICLES were what made the ALTARS of the SUNSET RESEARCH INITIATIVE possible?
Biological samples
Various collections from the natural world, used in medical and genetic research
Unlike the other resources in this list, samples are incredibly varied in nature. These are genetic and live specimens of alien life from across the Solar System, catalogued and carefully packaged by genetic harvesters before being shipped to research laboratories. These would then be used for their pharmaceutical properties, or as base material for advanced genetic splicing.
Samples such as these served as the starting point for numerous advancements including the Brainsaver injection, acclimation drugs, and the infamous Venusian super-corn.
Samples can be found in a variety of containment vessels. Most commonly, they are sealed in a bio-inert plastic package. Live Titan sample containers are refrigerated and support a continuous electrical charge, live Venusian samples are stores in caustic terrariums such as the one above, and coveted Europan samples must be kept submerged in an artificially-pressurized tank of diluted antifreeze.
Ikarite crystalline platter
Refined volcanic geode processed into an endless data storage device
Formed by a unique combination of extreme pressure, magma flow, and Jupiter’s radioactive effect on Io, ikarite lattice is a crystalline material with a nanostructure conducive to computer technology.
Ikarite was extracted in massive boulder-like chunks called geodes in the vicinity of the numerous active volcanoes on Io. Obviously, this was a massively dangerous endeavor, mostly performed by specialized robots - but it was worth it, as it would eventually be carved up, polished, and shaped into platters.
Crystalline platters, pictured above connected to a diagnostic platform, are solid state storage crystals with low degradation, near-bottomless storage capacity, and instant read speeds. There was nothing comparable to it, and many robots would eventually find themselves upgraded with a crystalline-based neuromorphic circuit.