As his data access continued deeper, Iax naturally noticed the STC data module aboard the Eternal Soul.
The data annotations specified its module type: Pioneer V1.33 (integrated development module).
This was a very old STC Template, containing more than sixteen standard expedition structures, four models of basic vehicles (an all-terrain off-road vehicle, a light armed anti-gravity hovercraft, a heavy cargo transporter, and a light armed hoverbike), and twelve civilian pioneering machines (a basic civilian mech frame and its corresponding variant attachments). It also included a simple ground-based shipyard and designs for building small freighters and small mineral-mining ships produced by the Federation's Miltak Corporation.
Since the Eternal Soul had provided the captain's identity information, Iax found nothing strange about the presence of this package.
To the Federation, copies of the Standard Template Construct were practically worthless.
Any registered explorer who could afford an exploration ship could apply for this kind of STC Template package through an official Federation organization.
The sheer size of the Milky Way was beyond question.
Although this free pioneering aid was far more outdated than the versions available for purchase, it was enough for the many Federation Citizens hoping to find an unfamiliar planet and become mine or farm owners.
If an explorer was lucky enough to find a sufficiently valuable planet, he could use this STC module to establish his own small base, or even a small city.
He could then register the base on the Federation Quantum Network and declare his rights as the planet's discoverer.
Since the Federation did not permit private ownership of planets, explorers could register companies themselves, use the planet as collateral to secure loans, and begin trying to develop it.
Of course, they could also sell the planet directly to those giant corporations or the Federation government.
Under standard