Project Seraph was a secret Thargoid technology research program that was last known to be active in 3303. It was known to operate primarily in the HIP 26176 and HIP 22460 systems. The project was apparently overseen by Azimuth Biochemicals. The covert military unit Black Flight provided security for Project Seraph, and in order to keep it a secret and suppress knowledge of the existence of the Thargoids, it actively hunted down anyone who discovered Thargoid sites or became aware of the project's activities. The existence of Project Seraph remained concealed until August 3307, when its facilities were found using a decrypted message obtained from Hyford's Cache.

History

Project Seraph was preceded years of preparatory research into Thargoid technology in pursuit of the means to master it for human use. Its first phase, based at Oaken Point in HIP 26176, focused on developing a method for humans to safely interface with and pilot Thargoid craft. This produced breakthrough neural implants that met with limited success in a series of live trials. In the second phase, Project Seraph attempted to procure intact Thargoid ships for it to experiment with, as the only one it had in its possession at Oaken Point, likely a Thargoid Scout, had been rendered inert after the experiments. For this phase, HIP 22460 was permit-locked for the project's exclusive use after the system was found to contain two ancient Thargoid Surface Sites, designated Research Site Amber and Research Site Bronze, and the research facility Fort Asch was built there. The Fort Asch team attempted to provoke the Thargoid Surface Sites to attract Thargoids, but failed to capture a ship.

When the first encounters with living Thargoids were publicised in 3303, and Thargoid activity in HIP 22460 intensified to a dangerous level, it became impossible to continue cover-up operations or avoid hostilities with the Thargoids themselves. Project Seraph then evacuated its main facilities and shut down on the orders of an individual referred to as "the Witch".

The project might never have been exposed if not for the actions of Commander Hyford, a pilot hired to transport test subjects to Oaken Point. When Hyford witnessed Project Seraph's experiments on humans at Oaken Point, he fled to Colonia to escape Black Flight and left behind Hyford's Cache, a timed message that decrypted on August 26, 3307 and revealed Oaken Point's location. From there, independent pilots followed a series of Listening Posts to HIP 22460 and found both Fort Asch and Overlook.

Facilities

Personnel

  • Leadership
    • "The Witch"
    • Unidentified recipient of Project Seraph's logs

Timeline

31 AUG 3307

  • *Pilots Federation ALERT*
    A data bank left by a crashed vessel on the moon Colonia 5 e a has reactivated, revealing clues as to its origin. The crash site was first discovered over four years ago via listening posts in the Colonia, Neche and Wasat systems. These posts held transmissions from the ship's owner, Commander Hyford, discussing his attempts to avoid members of a private military outfit he had previously worked for. This latest development was discussed by Erik Gunnarson of the Wallglass Investigations Agency: "Commander Hyford spoke of making deliveries to a nameless organisation in the Pleiades, and left a data cache in the Colonia system that provided further details. Hyford's Cache, as some investigators referred to it, had remained locked until a manually-set timer system finally expired last week. The information within has apparently directed pilots to investigate the HIP 26176 system. It's possible that Kit Fowler's recent theories regarding Black Flight – another old mystery – might prove relevant after all. But there are bigger questions that need answering. Who was Hyford working for? Were they responsible for causing his ship to crash? And if so, what secrets were they trying to keep?"[1]

20 AUG 3307

  • Independent journalist Flint 'Firemaker' Lafosse has announced that the Rewired network will broadcast Kit Fowler's conspiracy-laden show End Times. Lafosse, notorious for his own sensationalist claims, announced: "Finally, someone else who sees things as they really are! Kit Fowler's perceptive views match his technical genius. By retransmitting his End Times broadcasts, I'll be helping people resist the narrative conditioning being pumped into our minds by the faceless elite." Kit Fowler provides specialised engineering services from his workshop in the Capoya system. He has used his show to make many outlandish claims over the years. These include labelling the shadowy figure 'Salvation' an AI construct, accusing Utopia of secretly creating a new species of human, and arguing that the universe's true shape is being concealed by superpower-sponsored holograms. Lafosse advertised Fowler's content with an excerpt from the most recent End Times episode: "Years ago, a sinister group called Black Flight committed multiple crimes, including murder, to suppress evidence of Thargoid activity after the First War. The mainstream newsfeeds buried the story, of course. But the fearless truth-seekers among us have repeatedly named the Colonia, Neche and Wasat systems as locations where the Black Flight operated. There's a real buzz in that region right now… something's going on that they don't want you to know about. Never give up our search for the right facts, people!"[2]