Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-86.173.23.234-20130113202023/@comment-98.92.78.81-20130114201155

You need three things: First, you need some of the plasma missiles, second you need a plasma collector turret, and third you need a spectrum add-on for your scanner. Once you have those, go to one of the systems mentioned in the story. You will see clouds (either red, blue, purple, or green). Go to them and stop near them. Fire one of the plasma missiles at it and it will explode into tiny colored dots. Immediately jump in the collector turret and vacuum them up. Once you install those three things, the first collection mission will run you through these basics.