The Rustgate Protocol

On the generation ship's lowest farming deck, the Bridge is a myth, the rations are short, and the blast doors are locked. Only Toralt, a veteran gatekeeper, knows the bypasses and hidden vents that weave through Sector Four's rusting hydroponic towers. When the deck's life-support cycle begins to drift toward terminal failure, an emissary from a higher, supposed allied tier arrives offering a vital filtration manifold. But their technical salvation masks a calculated quiet coup. As the stranger's private agenda threatens to paralyze the only habitable section left, Toralt must trade the safety of the shadows for a brutal mechanical insurgency, navigating broken pressure locks and cutthroat rationing factions before the air turns toxic for good.