The House of the Autumn Breeze - Exceeding her Ability

Carmilla sat on the edge of the cliff and looked out over the vista below. Great crashing waves slammed with force into the reefs, the howling winds pelting an acidic mixture of chemical snow. Another vicious planet, no life, deadly on the day side, lethal on the night side. A planet more akin to the cold depths of the True Ones hell than a place to find treasure. She fought the wind and got to her feet, wiping the slush from her helmet and heading into the protective shell of the outpost. Years of neglect and being forgotten had taken their toll, and what was left was taken by those scavengers with enough savvy to steal without being detected. And yet, there was treasure.

One of her crew handed over the printouts that a whining computer was churning out. She matched them with the records she had. They matched, mostly. Nine years had brought on some changes, and yet, there were still secrets out there.
"Captain, we have to go, if we stay here another night I can't guarentee the seals will hold."
"That's okay. We have what we came for."
She crumpled the paper and threw it onto the floor.
"We've been on a wild goose chase."
Removing her helmet she breathed in deeply and coughed. The smell of corroding metal and a faintly cinnamon acidic scent wafting from the other room made her rub her eyes and sweep her hair back.
"The mineral that is here is exotic, but it's the wrong one. Maybe they changed the recepie from what Father was told..."
"Or maybe he didn't know what he was after?"
"Oh he knew alright.... his searches for this.... dominated part of his life, and earned him an excomunication... but he kept looking."
"Captain. If it's the wrong place, can we go?"
"Yes. But log it. This is still worth money to someone, and if we have enough thorlium we can come back, and begin drilling again."

As the crew started to take down the shelter they had built around the abandoned outpost she sighed. Chasing nine year old rumours and legends.... how was this supposed to help carve out an empire? Replacing her helmet she walked out into the snow that was now almost a blizzard. She kicked over the sample crates of Moxa. Treasure, but not economical. A waste of time and effort.
"There must be an easier way than this."