Of the four headed to steal Integrity, Wyatt was the only one who had never been to Twinmoon Bay. On the way, he used the data Blin and Merc shared to build a full-scale proportional model in simulation and study it in detail.
In the human era, Twinmoon Bay had been a major Tower Clan port. Two crescent-shaped islands—offset and embracing—formed a natural windbreak and a perfect harbor. The gentler slopes were built into residential and commercial districts. The more rugged terrain was turned into a military bastion. It had also been the largest shipbuilding complex in the North Silent Ocean. The first Tower Clan interstellar ship in their escape plan, Hope, had been built there.
As Julian’s supervisory escorts, Integrity, Loyalty, and Vigilance were ships that required human operators. Without Tower Clan human commands, the three couldn’t even perform basic flight. When the humans died out, the escorts were abandoned with them. Loyalty and Vigilance were dismantled elsewhere. Only Integrity survived.
Time moved on. The seas dried, the seafloor became land, and Twinmoon Bay became the Twinmoon Mountains. The location lost its strategic value and slipped into second-line status. Integrity was left in a corner and forgotten.
But when the oceans returned, most nearby bases and factories ended up underwater—while Twinmoon Bay slowly regained its original shape, becoming the only land for more than a thousand kilometers. Julian had already started repairs and expansion work on the islands, but it was terminated before the project could be completed. Blin’s group had no idea what the place looked like now.
Wyatt and the others were building strategy in simulation when Cole suddenly sent a message.
It contained two key points:
1) Edean had completed a planetary force reorganization. On Lansen, all ninety-one bases—regardless of whether they once belonged to Julian or Phantom Forge—were now under Ogen’s control. The next step was a large-scale move into space. Graham would dispatch a massive fleet to search the Star Ring for hidden bases. The fleet would depart tomorrow, and Cole would be going with it.
2) After the rescue incident, Graham flew into a rage. Security chief Chab was removed, and deputy Teresa took over. The security network was being massively upgraded. Once complete, the entire Aurora Plateau would be dense with outposts, radar, and anti-air towers. For now, there was a sentry every fifty meters and patrols running day and night, with large numbers of warships stationed near the plateau as well.
The message tightened a knot in Wyatt’s mind. Deep Space Bases No. 1 and No. 2 weren’t far from Lansen. If Edean launched a carpet search, one of those two bases would be found first.
Wyatt replied that he understood, then added a follow-up after a brief pause:
“Can you provide troop deployments over the South Silent Ocean?”
A day later, Cole answered—without even asking why—and sent the deployment map for the entire Silent Ocean.
The result was surprising. The vast ocean sky was almost empty. More than thirty bases combined totaled fewer than five hundred warships. Twinmoon Port, in particular, had only three escort ships, a few dozen fighters, and a few hundred robots.
“Cha-cha-cha—looks like those idiots moved most of their strength to defend Edean,” Blin said, satisfied.
“Then we can hit it hard,” Merc said.
“Yes,” Wyatt agreed. “But it has to be fast. The moment we start, Edean support will rush in.”
“I’m not against a direct assault,” Little White said, “but I still think we should verify the intel firsthand.”
Blin nodded. “She’s right. We infiltrate first, find Integrity, and confirm the situation matches what we’ve been told.”
Everyone agreed.
When the fleet approached Lansen’s outer orbit, Limit and the rest of the warships stayed in orbit. Under stealth, they blended into a field of derelict wreckage. Blin, still in his Super Nightmare form, and the other three—riding Free Will—slipped quietly down into the atmosphere.
Below the clouds, the sky was dark and drizzling. Visibility was poor.
As they neared the target, Blin continued forward toward Twinmoon Bay. Free Will began circling the islands, dropping Observers at intervals. By the time the ship completed a full loop, they had a broad view of the region.
Blin had already completed three recon passes over Twinmoon Bay. Wyatt and the others watched his shared feed.
“This is Twinmoon Bay?!” Little White froze after one glance. “Are we sure we didn’t get the coordinates wrong?”
“No mistake,” Merc said immediately. “They connected the two islands.”
The Twinmoon crescents were gone. Most of the twisting bay between them had been filled in.
“Then where’s Doan City on the south island?” Little White demanded.
“They tore it down to make landfill,” Blin said, zooming in and sharing a close-up.
Only a fraction of the old buildings remained. Several massive robots were dismantling the last handful of high-rises, loading the rubble into amphibious dump trucks. The trucks then drove straight into the sea and dumped the debris into the bay through hatches in their undercarriages.
Across the leveled city site and reclaimed bay, steel frameworks stood like a forest. Construction machines shuttled constantly. Several large buildings were already taking shape.
“They’re building factories,” Wyatt said.
“A logistics base,” Blin agreed. “With so many nearby facilities flooded, it makes sense they’d build here. Cole didn’t lie—there aren’t many military units. The problem is… the hangar where Integrity used to be has been torn down.”
“Then where is Integrity?” Little White asked, voice tight.
“I’ve searched in circles. I haven’t seen it,” Blin said. “It shouldn’t be… but I can’t be sure.”
Little White’s face shifted. “They didn’t use it as landfill… did they?”
“Probably not,” Blin said, not sounding fully convinced.
“So what now?” Wyatt asked. “We attack?”
“Not yet,” Blin said. “On the west end of the north island, I spotted a cluster of temporary hangars made of tarp. They’re big enough to hold more than a dozen escort ships. But there’s anti-air radar nearby—I can’t get close. You and Merc go check it out.”
“Understood. We’re moving.”
Wyatt and Merc did a fast weapons check, then left Free Will and flew side by side, skimming the ocean toward the north island.
Free Will was less than thirty kilometers out. They were there in minutes.
The north island was mountainous. The base hugged the coast in separate blocks at both ends, connected by a tunnel and several roads. Cutting through the central ridgeline, Wyatt and Merc saw only a handful of anti-air turrets and radar stations—no patrol fighters, no roving robots.
They didn’t rush the marked location. Instead, they stopped at a concealed point near a mountaintop.
From there, the flat ground below was fully visible. A dozen large temporary hangars sat in neat rows. Beside them was an even larger half-open structure with intermittent sparks inside. Vehicles and construction bots moved between hangars and the structure in steady loops.
Because of the viewing angle, the hangar interiors were still hidden.
As for combat assets, a single gun turret stood on coastal rock. Beyond that, only a dozen Avengers patrolled the area.
The rain made stealth risky, so Merc stayed in position to provide overwatch and warnings, while Wyatt descended alone.
Guided by Merc, Wyatt slipped past the patrols without trouble and reached the nearest hangar. Both ends were open—easy to see inside from ground level.
The first hangar was packed with metal wreckage: scrapped robots, fighters, and fragments of larger units piled into a dense heap.
“They’re dismantling salvage, just like we thought,” Blin said over the channel.
“Integrity has to be somewhere in this yard,” Merc said.
“Agreed,” Wyatt said.
“Oh no… what if they’ve already cut it up?” Little White said. “Wyatt, check the next one—now!”
Wyatt moved down the line. Every hangar was full of scrap, from small construction bots up to escort-class hulls. Loading trucks came and went, hauling pieces toward the half-open building for cutting and smelting. Most of the wreckage was coated in mud, likely recovered from nearby flooded bases.
Wyatt found several escort ships among the piles—but not Integrity.
“Next. Next. Hurry—this is making me more nervous than if I were there myself,” Little White pressed.
Then Blin’s voice snapped across the channel. “Careful, Wyatt. A ship is coming your way. Fast.”
“Copy.”
Less than twenty seconds later, Merc called it.
“Ship in sight. Small transport. Four Phantom fighters escorting. The transport is landing—left rear, fifty-six meters. Hide first.”
“Understood.”
“Two humans disembarking,” Merc continued. “Sixteen—no, seventeen Avengers. Two Infiltrators. They’re running to a hangar in the second row. Shared view is live.”
“Wyatt—go look,” Little White urged.
The humans ran into one of the hangars while the robots held outside. Wyatt had to detour around them. By the time he slipped through a gap along the side wall, seven or eight minutes had passed.
Inside was a single wrecked ship—escort-sized, but clearly different from the others.
Wyatt only needed one glance. On the common channel, Blin, Merc, and Little White spoke almost at once.
“That’s it—cha-cha-cha!”
“Finally found it.”
“Integrity. Thank god. At least it wasn’t dismantled.”
Wyatt’s eyes then tracked the two humans who’d entered before him. They were speaking with a third human—someone who had clearly been waiting there.
Wyatt stayed hidden and listened for only a moment before speaking into the channel:
“We’re too late. This is going to get messy.”