The Vallis Defense: Cold Human Companion Guide
Copyright© 2026 by Cold Creek Tribute Writer
Character, Location & Lore Summaries
Island Mine — Waylon Eckermann’s World
Characters
Waylon Eckermann — Sovereign of Free Vallis, Mars. Honorably Discharged US Navy Master-at-Arms.
Marylee Walker — Australian nursing student Waylon first meets at NTSU and again while she’s crewing charter yachts in French Polynesia. Joins the island and helps establish its infirmary. Tier 1NB, Gen 2.
Demitri Sokol — Russian oligarch. Waylon’s Earth-side adversary, a warning of what happens when private ambition collides with Free Vallis.
Margaret “Maggie” Arnold — Admiral Arnold’s wife. Traveled with him to Mars.
Rusty Lightner — Waylon’s attorney. Based in Texas.
Ruth Ben-Artsi — Zvi’s wife.
Zvi Ben-Artsi — Waylon’s first Israeli government contact on Earth.
The AIs
Barry (Ex3) — Pán lead AI. Bonded to Waylon. Tier E, Gen 0.
Bob — Pilot AI. Tier 3, Gen 1.
Cass — Defense AI. Replaces Von. Tier 1M, Gen 0.
Chief — Security and intelligence AI. Originally bonded to Waylon; bond transferred to Arman after Freehold. Tier 1, Gen 0.
Gunny — Security AI. Commands the Praetorian. Tier 1M, Gen 2P-Ex.
Norm — Engineer and builder. Tier 1, Gen 0.
Penelope — Communications and Diplomatic initiatives. Tier 1, Gen 0.
Von — Former Defense AI at Freehold. Destroyed. Tier 1, Gen 1.
The Praetorians — Purpose-built Security AIs. Twenty-four units organized in two squads of three Fire Teams each. Commanded by Gunny.
The Truong Family
Arman Truong — Waylon’s closest friend. Pilot. Married to Rava.
Deni Truong Dalgliesh — Truong family matriarch and Arman’s mother. Runs the community kitchen and the daily breakfasts and staff meetings. Married to Rowen Dalgliesh. Tier 1NB, Gen 2.
Linh Maeva Truong — Daughter of Arman and Rava.
Rava Truong — Arman’s wife.
Arnold Working Group
Admiral Edward “Ed” Arnold — US Navy Admiral (active duty). Heads the Free Vallis working group. Operates on direct Presidential authority.
Claire Chellos — National Security Council.
Colonel Brett Haskell — USAF. Orbital tracking analysis lead.
Commander Daniel Hargrove — Arnold’s flag aide and capable deputy
Dana Marsh — FBI behavioral analyst.
Gerald Staines — Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Arnold’s superior
James Harwick — Office of the Secretary of Defense. Civilian deputy representing DoD policy.
Katherine Engel — State Department. Senior career diplomat assigned after Woollcott’s removal.
Major Craig Solberg — USAF. Space industry specialist.
Philip Corwin — CIA officer. Arnold’s trusted back-channel friend.
Locations
Audacious — Interplanetary vessel.
Free Vallis — Sovereign human settlement in Melas Chasma, Mars. Under construction.
Free Vallis Greenhouse and Livestock Complex — Multi-dome agricultural campus adjacent to the main hab.
Freehold — Waylon’s first sovereign community, built on a Pacific island. Destroyed.
Janus Station — Space station in the asteroid belt.
Jerusalem — Free Vallis embassy on Earth.
Mars Apartments — Six-floor residential dome for permanent Mars residents.
Mars Guest Quarters — Isolated dome housing visiting Earth diplomats and personal guests.
Mars Park — Open-air parkland under atmospheric containment.
Operations Center — Mar’s Settlement command facility.
Pacifica Space Station — Cloaked Earth-orbit observation platform. Damaged in the Chinese attack, rebuilt, now invisible to Earth detection.
Site B — Undersea intelligence platform on a remote South Pacific seamount. Earth-based signals intelligence operation.
Tahiti — Arman and Rava’s residence after the Freehold attack.
The AI Creation Lab — Where new sentient AIs and android bodies are built.
The Fitness Complex — Combined community fitness facility and combat training range.
The Hangar — Pressurized flight operations and arrival facility carved into the canyon wall at Free Vallis.
The Memorial Placard — Silver placard bearing eight names. Beside the Freehold mourning flag.
The Off-Road Tracks — Multi-surface track network for ATVs, anti-gravity sleds, and Martian motos in and around the Melas Chasma canyon.
The Rover — a Praetorian-class AI housed in a luxury-SUV body that serves as its own driver and protective platform.
The Sphere — Zero-gravity hockey environment on Mars.
Wayout Ventures Property — Land west of Levall, Texas.
Lore
Mars Constitution — Free Vallis’s founding charter, breaking from every Earth model of governance.
The Pán — The Aapán’s created AI beings; won the war against their creators, then chose self-annihilation as tribute. The Pán AI collective survives from this lineage.
The Probe — an unidentified object holding station at bearing 047, far out at the edge of the system.
The Link — The bidirectional communication channel between the AIs, and augmented humans.
Human Phoenix / Man — Scott MacIntyre’s World
Characters
Scott MacIntyre — Honorably discharged Marine sergeant. Bar owner. Born Scott Van Pelt.
Red — Scott’s dog.
The Mendoza Family
Connie Mendoza — Janie’s mother.
Eddie “Ed” Mendoza — Scott’s best friend. Janie’s brother. Based in El Paso.
Eve Mendoza — Tom’s wife.
Hector Mendoza — Janie’s father. Machinist.
Janie Mendoza — Scott’s fiancée. Student at SMU.
Lilly Mendoza — Janie’s sister. Based in San Antonio.
Robert Mendoza — Janie’s brother. Based in Arizona.
Tom Mendoza — Janie’s brother. Teacher in Oregon.
The Delgado Family
Luisa Delgado — Cook at Broken Creek Boys Ranch. Scott’s surrogate mother.
Jorge Delgado — Luisa’s husband.
The Black Family
Catherine “Cathy” Black — daughter, approximately five years old
Clover — The Black family dog.
Honour Black — Attorney. Secured Scott’s legal settlement.
Joseph “Joey” Black Jr. (also called “Junior”) — son, the younger child
Joseph Black — Honour’s husband. Attorney.
Scott’s Circle
Andi Farrell — Receptionist at Rita Nogawa’s architecture firm. Becomes Taylor’s roommate and part of Scott’s inner Levall circle.
Adele Monroe — Landlady and cook of the rooming house Scott inherited. A maternal, watchful presence in his Fort Stockton life.
Alex “Mr.” Piotrowski — Scott’s most important mentor during his Fort Stockton teenage years. Deceased before the novel opens, but formative in the craftsman Scott became.
Art Mast — Former Marine, Scott’s closest brother from the Corps. Lives in Denver. Walks with a cane after losing a leg in Afghanistan.
Beatrice “Bea” Upcott — Judge Upcott’s wife. Warmly fond of Scott and a steady presence in his return to the Fort Stockton community.
Bill Mason — Bo’s father, a contractor trusted by Alex Piotrowski.
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