Technically I started my second base. That is to say I built a core module on planet XG-326a. I don't have any habitations or production buildings yet, but the foundation for the base is there. As you can see from the lack of name, this planet doesn't have many people on it. It has very high atmospheric pressure, so every building needs additional materials (hardened structural elements at 10k each) to build. But on the positive side, XG-326 is rich in minerals: Limestone, silicon ore, and titanium ore. I don't have a complete plan what industry I will build up on that second base, but ore extractors, possibly smelters, basic material plants, and prefab plants are definitively in the cards. It will just take some time to get this going.

On my "alternative start" account, I am testing out the option to radically change your career. I demolished all the smelter and prefab plants, leaving just the ore extractors as a side-business. And I built up a whopping 4 refineries. I have to say, that worked quite well: When you demolish a production building that isn't all that old, you get most of the prefabs and building materials back, and can use them directly for something else. If the mix of prefabs isn't what you need, it is easy enough to sell the extras and buy what you need. So the lesson here is to not be afraid to change course.

Making fuel on Montem is interesting for a different reason: The Moria space isn't rich in the resources needed to make fuel, so fuel is comparatively expensive. But so is buying the raw materials to make that fuel. However, because I *have* a lot of fuel "at cost" available to me, I can easily afford to fly to other commodity exchanges, and buy cheaper raw materials there. The main complication with that is the different currencies. So instead of bringing money, I fly goods to those other commodity exchanges, sell them there, and buy raw materials for fuel production. Remember those limestone ore extractors I still have running on Montem? I can basically fly that limestone to Benten and exchange it for galerite, which is at half the price that I pay in Moria.