It has now reached the 14th hour since the departure to the junk planet.
It was 11:41pm when a large mothership reached upon scrapper moons orbital trajectory.
The TCDGC carrier finally reached Scrapper Moon in silence. It's massive hull gliding into the orbit of the industrial satellite station.
Ahead, the station lights burned like scattered stars, marking the gateway entrance to the Neo-Seoul City sector.
First came the docking.
The mothership locked into the space station with a deep metallic shudder as magnetic clamps engaged.
Pressure equalized. Transit gates lit up one by one.
Inside the command deck, Lieutenant Santiago stood with Officers Jaxon and Yi Chen as the final clearance was issued.
They are geared up, placing high-tech skin mask on their face that filtered out the dense radiation of scrapper moon. Clipping on a small circular, clean air filter behind both of their ears it extended out antennas connecting to the skin mask on their face.
Hiss!
The mask made a release sound as all three skin mask began changing , and camouflaging showing their mouth like they weren't wearing masks.
Now they were ready. The exit the ship and head off to the check-in point to wait for Clarence of entry.
Their plans were already decided.
Once clearance was granted, the three were moved into a briefing chamber where holo-screens immediately lit up with layered maps of Scrapper Moon five cities and the scrapyard zones, and traffic logs.
"This isn't a simple sweep," Santiago said, arms crossed. "We're pulling every record tied to that day."
Jaxon tapped the air, expanding the data feed. "Everyone who entered or exited the scrapyard. Time stamps. Area zones. Group size."
Yi Chen nodded, already scanning the feeds. "How long they stayed. What sector they were in. Who they were with."
The information began stacking rapidly.
Movement paths. Heat signatures. Entry logs. Personnel scans.
They weren't looking for one suspect.
They were building a full-scale hunt.
"Nothing leaves this net," Santiago said flatly. "If they were there that day, we find them."
Once the operational parameters were locked in, the three exited the mothership and stepped onto the docking platform of the space station.
Cold station light washed over the steel deck.
Yi Chen moved first.
He walked to his private carrier bay and pulled open the garage hatch with a manual override. The doors slid apart, revealing a sleek, high-grade red Zepe glider pulse ship resting inside.
Jaxon stared.
"Show-off," he muttered.
Yi Chen only gave him a bright, smug smile. He knew exactly what kind of reaction his personal vehicle caused.
All three boarded.
Yi Chen took the control seat and strapped himself in. Once Jaxon and Santiago were secured behind him, he closed his eyes and synchronized his mental sense with the ship's control system.
Power surged through the cockpit.
The ship purred to life.
"Hey, my Red Rubie love," Yi Chen said softly, resting his hand on the black orb embedded in the control board. "I've missed you too."
"Ssswl."
The Red Rubie orb flashed with a deep violet glow as the ship lifted, its inner wings expanding smoothly.
Jaxon, seated behind him to the left, went quiet.
He had seen Yi Chen talk to his ship more times than he could count.
It never stopped being unsettling.
Lieutenant Santiago watched in silence. There was something strange in his eyes, but his expression remained controlled.
He had heard the rumors about Officer Yi Chen.
Seeing it in person was… interesting.
"Haha, don't worry, my dear," Yi Chen said, patting the glowing orb. "No boring old alloy mothership could ever replace you. Alright, enough now. Let's go."
Guiding Red Rubie toward the fixed coordinates, Yi Chen pushed the throttle forward.
The pulse ship launched from the dock, streaking away from Scrapper Moon and heading straight toward the government headquarters in Neo-Seoul.
The hunt had begun.
Understood. Continuing cleanly from your setup and staying aligned with your terms and intent.
⸻
The red Zepe glider pulse ship cut through the upper traffic lanes of Neo-Seoul, descending toward the government office headquarters that towered above the city sector. Streams of transit craft peeled away as Yi Chen guided Red Rubie into a secured TCDGC arrival corridor.
The ship docked smoothly.
Security gates opened the moment their clearance codes transmitted.
Inside the headquarters, polished alloy floors reflected white light as Lieutenant Santiago, Jaxon, and Yi Chen were escorted through multiple layers of checkpoints. Armed guards, analysts, and city officials moved in tight formation through the halls, tension thick in the air.
They were led into a private operations wing.
That was where Bishop waited.
He was one of the senior heads of Neo-Seoul's government authority—sharp-eyed, exhausted, and clearly stretched thin.
"Lieutenant Santiago," Bishop said, forcing a polite smile. "Officers Jaxon. Yi Chen."
His tone was respectful, but there was no hiding the strain behind it.
"I'll be direct," Bishop continued. "Your arrival was… unexpected. I already have three major gang conflicts active in the last fourteen hours. The city is barely holding as it is."
Santiago didn't flinch.
"We don't interfere with local authority unless necessary," he said calmly. "But this situation falls under TCDGC jurisdiction."
Bishop's jaw tightened.
He knew what that meant.
Scrapper Moon was not a simple planet. Its power structure was layered, fractured, and backed by organizations that didn't fear many things.
But the TCDGC?
That was different.
Even the strongest forces on Scrapper Moon avoided crossing them unless they had no choice.
Bishop felt it the moment Santiago stepped into the room—the pressure, the presence, the weight of authority behind him.
He pretended not to be affected.
Still, Bishop had heard the rumors.
Lieutenant Santiago was an upper-action agent of the TCDGC, known for an unsettling number of cases that no one else could solve—and a disturbing number of unsolved ones that had somehow ended under his name anyway.
Now he was here.
Bishop folded his hands behind his back. "I read the scrapyard report before it was flagged. Radiation-free impact zone. Mutant gifter possibility. A rogue mech."
He frowned slightly.
"At first, I thought it was a spatial anomaly. A new rift maybe. We've had an increase in disturbances lately—mutant creatures, warped zones, unstable energy fields. No confirmed rifts, but enough to make people uneasy."
His gaze flicked to Santiago.
"I didn't think it was serious enough to bring the TCDGC down on us."
Santiago gave no reaction.
"Show us to our offices," he said.
Bishop nodded, swallowing whatever frustration he had. He motioned to a nearby officer.
"Take them to the temporary command wing. Assign them rest cabins and access lounges."
The escort moved immediately.
Within the hour, the three TCDGC officers were settled into their designated quarters. A secure dining delivery arrived shortly after, along with encrypted data packages.
Files. Lists. Entry and exit Scrapyard records.
Every person who had entered or exited the yard the previous day.
Time stamps. Zones. Group sizes. Movement logs.
The data was pushed directly to all of their comm units.
They ate in silence, scanning through the information.
"We pull people tomorrow," Jaxon said. "Start matching gift signatures and aura traces to the suspect."
"But first," Yi Chen added, eyes narrowed at the data, "we go to the scene."
Santiago nodded. "We need to see what actually happened. Then we build the trap."
Bishop, from his own office, believed it was just a standard operation.
Find the rogue.
Find the mutated gifter.
Contain the fallout.
What he didn't know…
The TCDGC was not truly here for that.
Not officially yet.
This investigation was part of a sealed operation known only to a handful of high-ranking members inside the organization.
For two years, the TCDGC had been tracking a hidden group.
An organization that kidnapped mutated gifters.
They didn't kill them.
They repurposed them.
Brainwashed them.
Sent them on missions to scrapyards across different planets and moons.
Each mission was accompanied by a rogue mech—created by that same organization.
If the gifter succeeded, the rogue either extracted them or erased any trace.
If they failed, the rogue would eliminate the gifter or force an escape.
Every time the TCDGC closed in, the rogues self-destructed.
No parts.No evidence.Nothing but camera blurs and energy ghosts.
Not a single captured victim. Not a single intact rogue.
That was why all anomalies matching were now being flagged.
Mutated gifts. Strange mutant beast stampedes . Scrapyard Disturbance events.
This case fit the pattern too well to ignore.
And for Lieutenant Santiago…
This wasn't just another operation.
He had agreed to come here only because of this file. Because of this organization. Because of what it had taken from him.
Tomorrow, they will definitely investigate the scrapyard.
And Scrapper Moon would learn just how dangerous a real threat could be.