The plot follows the crew of the Minmatar Tempest class battleship Clear Skies as they try to make a living in New Eden.
Rourke finds a contract to transport Mr Smith—"an idiot in a shiny suit"—a short distance through the fringes of normally safe Empire space, with an unusually high payout.
The crew grudgingly accepts the 'death trap' contract as the only applicable option in an unfruitful search.
For the production of the third film Chisholm used Sony Vegas Pro 9, Adobe After Effects, Paintshop Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Cooledit 96, Fraps, IPISoft Markerless Motion capture, Softimage XSI, CCP's in-house "Melissa engine", used for their game trailers, and the Source SDK.
In January 2020, Ian Chisholm stated Clear Skies 4 will be moving away from the Half Life Engine.