EPISODE 4: THE MISSION ## PART ONE: MOBILIZATION ### CHAPTER 1: THE PLAN The war council assembled in Colony Six's command center. General Mitchell presided, surrounded by the ranking officers from Earth and the colony's scientific leadership. Holographic displays showed the solar system in detail—the inner planets, the asteroid belt, the gas giants and their moons, and beyond them the vast emptiness where the Hunger was approaching. "Operation Rampart," Mitchell announced. "Humanity's first true deep-space defense initiative. Our goal: establish dimensional barriers in the outer solar system before the Hunger arrives." Sarah stood in the corner, her enhanced perception tracking every reaction in the room. Fear, determination, doubt, hope—all present in varying degrees. The humans around her were processing the impossible: a mission to the edge of their solar system to fight a cosmic horror. "The technology Dr. Chen has provided suggests barriers can be constructed at key gravitational points," Mitchell continued. "Saturn's orbit. The Kuiper Belt. Perhaps as far as the heliosheath." "With what resources?" asked Admiral Chen Wei's superior, a woman named Director Park. "We don't have ships capable of reaching those distances. We don't have the manufacturing capacity to build what Dr. Chen describes." "We will. Starting today." Mitchell pulled up a timeline. "Phase One: immediate expansion of Martian industry. We have the designs for First-derived...