Matt Marmaduke only has hours to scale Missouri’s capacity for one hundred twenty thousand V’ren refugees. In a tense holotank briefing, he and General Leonard Wood trade requests, concessions, and political jabs—balancing construction gear, medical personnel, and the delicate power game that comes with being a legally neutral Freeholder.
As first contact unfolds at the Freehold, Matt fires off a series of terse dispatches—balancing family safety, corporate authority, and legal contingencies. From keeping his daughters out of harm’s way to activating formal protocols, these messages reveal the immediate, calculated moves behind Missouri’s first encounter with the V’ren.
Matt pushes for a limited media tour of the V’ren ship to build public trust, navigating cultural protocol, security concerns, and a moment of unexpected personal rapport with T’mari. Cameras roll as Missouri’s first steps toward the stars take shape—measured, cautious, and just irreverent enough to stay human.
With wounded V’ren in need of urgent care, Matt Marmaduke turns diplomacy into action. Clinics are opened, quarantine zones established, and medical teams coordinated between species. Trust is built in real time as Missouri’s infrastructure shifts into high gear—fast enough to impress even the alien doctors.
In the shadow of the landed V’ren ship, Matt Marmaduke meets the alien delegation on scorched Missouri ground. What begins as formal posturing shifts to mutual trust, ending in a decisive agreement—refuge for the V’ren under his charter, and a direct line of truth between him and their chosen ambassador.
When the V’ren ship settles across Matt Marmaduke’s northern fields, it flattens nearly two hundred acres of prime crop. The ramp lowers, and Missouri’s first alien visitor walks into the sunlight. In measured words, Matt greets her—balancing local pride, corporate authority, and a farmer’s blunt pragmatism.
From the observation alcove of the VMS Kalnareth, senior V’ren officers watch Missouri fields and a dusty human truck come into focus. Ten thousand lives ride in stasis below decks. Translator units are prepped, landing plans are set, and the question remains: will they be welcomed—or merely tolerated?
An alien ship settles into Matt Marmaduke’s front field, cradled down by mysterious Beacon beams. With a bet paid and a motley crew ready to work, Matt keeps his calm—and his claim—while General Leonard Wood watches through drone feeds from hundreds of miles away. Missouri’s First Contact is in local hands.
As the alien refugee ship enters Earth’s atmosphere, Beacon technology takes control—slowing and cradling it toward an unknown landing site. Drones scatter, mapping the planet in real time. The search narrows to Missouri, where one stubborn former Amazon officer is about to become the most important man on the ground.
Summoned to Amazon’s highest chamber, General Leonard Octavius Wood briefs the corporate elite on eight alien ships and the sudden awakening of the Beacon Network. Rival megacorps circle like sharks, narrative control becomes paramount, and the first hours of humanity’s contact with another species are already slipping from containment.
When eight alien ships drop into the solar system, the long-silent Beacon Network roars to life. General Leonard Octavius Wood takes the first call—and learns a crippled colonial transport the size of a city is falling toward Earth. No one knows who built the Beacons, or why they’re answering now.