Lost Planet 3 introduces Jim Peyton, a Utility Rig pilot who leaves Earth to take on a hazardous but lucrative contract on E.D.N. III. Working for Neo-Venus Construction (NEVEC), Jim is one of a select few pioneers at the Coronis base surveying the uncharted terrain and obtaining samples of the planet's natural energy source - Thermal Energy, which NEVEC believes will save Earth's energy crisis.