Demand for AI hardware, advanced batteries and directed-energy weapons outpaces global supply. EO mineral dominance becomes a chokepoint every faction feels in its manufacturing lines.
Two years after the Thule consolidation the shortage became a crisis with a name. The EO's mineral dominance turned into a chokepoint felt in every faction's manufacturing lines; the Lumicite Industrial Framework of 2050 had already told them what the substitute would be.