// TRADE COMPANIES

Stratum Extraction Services

"The frontier yields. We make sure of it."

Faction: Stratum Corp (subsidiary)

Home station: The Forge; field presence at Cinderhold, The Shattered Expanse, and The Crucible

OL range served: Mid through late game (OL 15–70)

Contract tiers: Tier 2–4

Character

Stratum Corp's logistics subsidiary is the company that moves what Stratum extracts. Where NFD ships consumer goods and Ironway ships military hardware, Stratum Extraction Services ships raw materials from frontier mining and extraction operations - ore loads, recovered salvage, processed materials from active dig sites, and equipment going the other direction to keep the sites running.

The work is unglamorous. The routes go to places that are active extraction zones, which means mob-contested space, trigger zone risk, and destinations that are prefab station modules rather than proper stations. Stratum's payout rates reflect this - they are consistently higher per minute than comparable NFD or Ironway contracts because the routes are harder, the destinations are worse, and the cargo is heavier.

Stratum Extraction Services has a particular interest in contractors who can work the frontier without requiring too much hand-holding. Their higher-tier contracts involve transporting materials from sites that aren't on the public nav charts. Stratum doesn't explain where these sites are. The route data is sufficient.

At Tier 4, some of the cargo is labeled "archaeological materials." Stratum is the Varath faction most actively excavating Ancient sites. The Meridian have a standing diplomatic objection to this. Stratum files these objections in an extremely thorough filing system.

Voice

Industrial. Functional. Less impersonal than NFD - Stratum's supervisors have usually worked the frontier themselves and speak with the directness of people who have done hard physical work. No philosophical framing. Everything is about the job.

"Cargo: 8 units refined ore, 2 units processed silicate, 1 unit sealed survey equipment. Cinderhold Site 7 to The Forge Processing Bay 3. Window: 32 minutes. The outer belt is active - Void Drifters on the approach, nothing heavy. You'll want to run through, not slow down."

"Good run. We've got three more going out to Site 9 this week. Interested?"

"Lost cargo. No credit. We dock the replacement cost on your next contract. These are the terms. We don't argue about frontier losses - it happens. But it costs something."

What They're Actually Moving

Raw extraction output: ores, processed materials, salvage from cleared sites. Equipment going out to maintain the operations. Survey data packages (sealed) moving back to The Forge research division.

At Tier 4: "archaeological materials." Stratum doesn't elaborate. The manifest says what it says. The weight is consistent with what's described. The containers sometimes have Concordat cultural heritage seals that have been voided with a Stratum legal stamp. Whether those stamps are legally valid is a question Stratum's lawyers are actively defending in three separate jurisdictions.

Reputation Tiers

Routes

Primarily Varath industrial and frontier space, with some neutral approaches. Stratum doesn't run routes into Keth or Meridian space - they don't have the political relationships and don't want them. Their frontier routes are among the highest-risk in the game for their tier.

Sample route names:

• Standard extraction: "Cinderhold Site 4 to Ashfall Processing - Ore Batch 7741"
• Equipment: "The Forge Supply Depot to Site 9 - Drill Equipment Delivery"
• Archaeological: "Site 12 Archaeological Recovery - Sealed Manifest, Stratum Internal"