floating resources?

[Wolfram65]

I haven't been playing for very long, and there isn't a whole lot of wiki-style info about the game out yet, so I'll ask here. I was flying around and I came upon a pirates vs. trade guild battle. I killed the pirates and turned around to find a bunch of resources floating around in a clump all minecraft-like (as if they had been mined but not picked up.) I flew through them, and they went into my inventory. My question is is this a common thing? what is the cause? do traders drop them? I just have no idea and I love this game so much.

 

[Krazykat]

yes, the ai occasionally have items in the core, so when it overheats it drops all of those blocks into space as a drop

 

[bonerdagon]

You got them for killing the pirate. Killing pirates is a great way to make money

 

[Wolfram65]

Thanks for the quick responses; I\'ve gone and killed a couple more. So much stuffs. :D