The walls of the Rift are veined with ore. The C-9 can harvest it: a scanner finds the veins, the pilot stops the carrier beside one, and a drill fitted to a weapon mount cuts it out.
# Scanners
A scanner is a reactor module that draws power right after the first gun. Without one, only common veins already in view can be found. The Mk1 reads ahead for tier-1 ore, the Mk2 reaches the tier-2 ores, and the Mk3 sees every vein and also marks the weak points of the guardians.
# Drills
A drill takes one weapon mount and never fires. Only one fits a carrier. Its tier limits which veins it can cut — Mk1 common ore, Mk2 the tier-2 ores, Mk3 everything including rift crystal — and each tier works faster.
# Stopping to drill
When a revealed vein comes alongside, the drill control lights up. Using it brakes the descent; drilling takes four to twelve seconds, and pressing the control again aborts with a share of the yield. Waves are tied to depth, so the next wave waits while the carrier is stopped.
- The noise can draw an ambush of climbers, Wasps and Spitters.
- Richer ores and deeper sectors draw ambushes more often.
- Ore mined before the carrier is disabled is kept.
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