Silver is one of Omega-7’s most valuable exports. While conflict over the metal is nothing new, in recent days production has ground to a near standstill as tempers flare and violence becomes the preferred method for settling disagreements. A number of factors have come together to throttle ore production, causing warehouses to run bare, and prices of refined Silver to soar.

Kruger Minerals has recently brought a new line of industrial Robotics to market, outraging Kishiro who claim they are based on stolen patents. Kruger has attempted to demonstrate their efficacy by automating many of the operations on Elbich Mining Facility. Hundreds of miners were promptly laid off as unnecessary. Kruger has struggled to maintain their output during this process, due to a combination of considerable teething problems, and intentional sabotage by disgruntled workers.

The IMG has seen many of these workers flock to Freistadt, outraged and resentful. The Guild has had a full time job on its hands preventing reprisal attacks on Kruger mining operations. Despite this, all semblance of restraint was lost following a number of fatal mercenary attacks near the Silver fields, with Guild miners blaming Kruger. Already, a number of automated Kruger miners have been destroyed in retaliation.
In Omega-3, Douglas Station faces an increasingly bleak forecast. Following the loss of Dublin, BMM HQ has imposed increasingly draconian quotas on their other operations to make up the shortfall. Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be wrung from the Hydrocarbon fields, and quotas are going to be missed. Hearing of the turmoil in Omega-7, many Bretonian miners have taken to ‘wildcatting’ to steal precious Silver. This is met with tacit approval by Douglas’ administration, who are cooking their books with the windfall from the stolen resources.

Daumann’s mercenaries have done an exemplary job sowing chaos among their rivals, and the Rheinlandic behemoth is not one to sit idly by. Sensing an opportunity to displace its competitors, DHC has intensified its own Silver operations, looking to capitalise on the recent market shock. Local captains are also loathe to allow BMM to gain a foothold in the system, in a mirror of the bitter competition in Omega-3. Consequently, their security forces have been ordered to crush any Bretonians they encounter.