Jacob Morales
Template:CharacterInfobox Captain Jacob Morales was a member of Aegis and the commanding officer of the Aegis Research megaship Alexandria. He and his crew of four thousand were declared missing and presumed dead by Aegis on June 4, 3307 after the Alexandria disappeared while traveling from HIP 16538 to HIP 30944. It was believed that the Alexandria was hyperdicted by Thargoid forces during its jump due to its large cargo of Guardian artefacts.
In truth, the Alexandria was sabotaged and survived its jump relatively unscathed, but found itself stranded in interstellar space. Morales rallied the crew to try and repair the Alexandria, but the sabotage to the ship's hardware and software was too thorough. After a month, a fleet of freighters arrived at the Alexandria's position claiming to have been sent by "The Witch" to rescue them. When Morales realized the rescuers were spacing Aegis personnel, he and about three hundred remaining crewmembers barricaded themselves on the ship's engineering deck until the attackers finished stealing the Alexandria's cargo and departed. Left with no other choice if they wanted to survive, Morales permitted risky modifications to be made to the Alexandria's Frame Shift Drive in the hope that it could be forced to jump to an inhabited system, but when the jump was initiated sometime in August 3307, the ship was thrown hundreds of light years away from the Core Systems and torn apart. Debris from the Alexandria and some of Captain Morales's logs were found adrift in the rings of Wregoe TC-X b29-0 AB 2 on January 20, 3308 after a chance sighting by an anonymous explorer.
Logs
The Alexandria
| Log No. | Log Text |
|---|---|
| 1/6 | May 28th, 3307 Captain Morales, private log. I guess it's about time for an update, huh? These past few weeks have been rough. After the Thargoid attacks I mentioned last time, the plan was for the Alexandria to leave Delphi and seek refuge in the Sol system. It's about as safe a location as humanity has to offer, right? Well, the Thargoids followed us to our first waypoint in HIP 16538. The only reason the Alexandria is still intact is due to independent pilots jumping in to protect us. God knows how this war would have panned out without them. To really put the spit-shine on things, the Federation banned the Alexandria from entering its space a few days ago. They're convinced that our cargo is attracting the Thargoids. Maybe they're right. I thought the 'Thargoid Curse' was nonsense, but something's drawing them like flies around crap. It's no secret that Guardian tech stirs Thargoids up pretty badly. Maybe Aegis should have thought of that before filling my ship's cargo holds with the stuff. A few of my crew have suggested jettisoning the Guardian artefacts. I understand why. They're nervous. But the cargo is critical to Aegis's work. We have to make sure the cargo is dispersed securely via Aegis craft - not easy to do while there's Thargoids and a civilian population to worry about. Since Sol's off the menu, The Alexandria has been redirected to HIP 30944. It's a practically empty system. We have vessels farming the tritium for the jump but it's dangerous out there with the Thargoids prowling. I estimate a week before we're ready to move. Anyway, that's it for now. I need to contact Admiral Tanner to discuss the cargo exchange schedule. Hopefully I'll have some better news next time. |
| 2/6 | Attention all crew. This is Captain Morales.
The Alexandria has not arrived in HIP 30944, as planned. Our current location is unknown. All navigational systems have been disabled, and our FSD is offline. Long-range sensors are fried. Communication arrays are down. I'll be honest with you: it looks like the ship has been sabotaged by someone who knew exactly what to do. My guess is we're floating between systems. 'Dead space', my grandpa called it. Could be here for a while. What I can tell you is that life support is still running and emergency power looks stable. We're not going to run out of air or heat anytime soon. Our cargo and stores are intact. There's a lot of work ahead of us, ladies and gentlemen. I'm confident that we'll get ourselves home but it's not going to be easy. I need every one of you calm and focused. Officers will be given a full rundown of tasks in the next hour or so. Do everything you're told as efficiently as possible, and the Alexandria will be up and running before you know it. Stay frosty. Morales out. |
| 3/6 | July 3rd, 3307. Captain Morales, private log. It's been a month since the failed hyperspace jump. We're still dead in the water, so to speak. Our technicians are working sixteen hour days but aren't achieving much. Whoever sabotaged us knew everything about the Alexandria's operation. They corrupted our computer and wiped all alternates and backups. Most of our interface panels are useless. I can't even order a hot drink from the god-damned vending machines anymore. The hardware was crippled as well. Even our shuttles and fighters. Grant assessed the damage and can't work out how the hell it happened. But it happened, all right. I'd be impressed if I didn't have four thousand crew looking to me to get them home. Instead I want to strangle whoever did this to us. Morales. Where? Port side? Meet me in docking bay one. Vernier says a bunch of heavy freighters just dropped out of hyperspace nearby. Given that we're not broadcasting a signal, they're either the luckiest search party in the galaxy or they knew exactly where to look. |
| 4/6 | This is Captain Morales.
We're on the engineering deck of the Alexandria. About... three hundred of us, roughly. We're all that's left. The unidentified ships hailed us. Claimed a problem with our FSD was detected just before the failed hyperspace jump. Someone called 'The Witch' had arranged the rescue operation and spent a month tracking us down. I reviewed their orders and everything seemed legit. Not that I had much choice. The Alexandria is stranded. We agreed to take the shuttles, and my crew was separated into groups of a hundred per shuttle. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, though. I noticed our rescuers were still carrying their weapons. Amel saw him first. Dammit, I can't remember the man's name. He hit the viewport from the outside. Just floated out of the black and bounced off the screen. They must have ejected him out of a shuttle. He won't have been the only one. I gave the order to resist. Not many of us had weapons but my crew trust me. We fought hard but they were better equipped and well trained. I managed to secure a rearguard as we funnelled everyone we could to the rear of the ship, towards the engineering deck. The main entrance is defensible and the hatches have been barricaded. Vernier managed to grab a captive, too. I'll get some answers out of them soon. It must be the Guardian artefacts they're after. They're the only items on board valuable enough to kill for. No, slaughter for. So many of my crew... We need a plan, and fast. |
| 5/6 | July 15, 3307. Captain Morales, private log. We're still alive for now. The invaders are long gone, along with the Guardian artefacts and almost all our supplies. The Alexandria's remaining food has been salvaged from vending machines and personal items. The crew are rationing pretty hard, but we'll be lucky to make it over a month. They've left us here to starve. The captive didn't give us much. Just a name, age, rank... nothing about the organisation that hired him. We roughed him up a bit but he still wouldn't spill. The only interesting thing he said was after I warned him that the amount of Guardian tech his friends were stealing would probably attract Thargoids. The guy smiled and said 'That was the point all along.' Anyway, we've left him tied up. It's obvious we need to get the Alexandria moving again. One of the engineering team, a rookie named Landis, has proposed a method of getting a single jump out of the frame shift drive. I'll admit, it sounds more dangerous than I'm comfortable with but we're out of options. The odds are stacked against us but we have one more roll of the dice. Maybe. |
| 6/6 | This is Morales. We've just activated the FSD fix. In a minute or so we'll know if it works.
It took longer than expected and we ran out of food six days ago. Anything drinkable from the recycling system was finished yesterday morning. The crew is exhausted; some can barely function. If this is gonna work, it's gotta work now. Whatever happens, I want to state for the record that the crew of the Alexandria have carried out their duties beyond any reasonable expectation of... the service they should need to give. Despite the sabotage, they betrayal by our supposed rescuers, the stress of tight rations... the gamble that we're taking now. The crew has done everything asked of them and more. I'm proud of the never-say-die attitude, and the dedication shown to the Aegis project. Okay. Landis. Start her up. You have to be kidding me. Come on! Just give us a break for once, you no-good stupid piece of sh- |
Timeline
Template:Scrollbox-begin 04 JUN 3307
- The Alexandria has failed to arrive in the HIP 30944 system as scheduled, and may have been hyperdicted by the Thargoids. The Aegis-owned megaship triggered an attack by Thargoid vessels when it travelled from the Delphi system to HIP 16538 on the 20th of May. Aegis believes this was caused by the large quantity of Guardian artefacts in its cargo holds. To reduce the risk of further casualties, the Alexandria plotted a route to a low-population prison colony in the HIP 30944 system. All independent ships were undocked before it made the hyperspace jump on the 3rd of June. However, the megaship never reached its arrival point and all communication with it has ceased. Search teams in local systems have not detected its presence. Admiral Aden Tanner, chief military liaison with Aegis, informed the media: "We regret to announce a complete loss of contact with the Alexandria. Although there is no evidence of damage or destruction, its disappearance while travelling through hyperspace raises the possibility that it was intercepted en route by Thargoid forces. Captain Jacob Morales and over four thousand crewmembers will be listed as missing presumed dead. In addition to this great tragedy, Aegis's research programme into Guardian technology has been severely impacted by the loss of many precious artefacts."[1]
01 JUN 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
All independent ships aboard the Alexandria in the HIP 16538 system will be undocked on Thursday the 3rd of June. The megaship triggered an invasion of Thargoid vessels when it arrived from the Delphi system. Aegis believes this was a reaction to the large quantities of Guardian artefacts being stored in its cargo holds. Captain Jacob Morales, commanding officer of the Alexandria, outlined the next steps: "On Thursday we will make a hyperspace jump to the HIP 30944 system. Since this has a small population, the risk of casualties will be low if the Thargoids continue to pursue us. Once there, we will arrange to offload our cargo and distribute it to multiple locations." “As a precaution, shortly before the jump we will uncouple all independent ships and leave them in the HIP 16538 system. We advise all pilots currently docked with the Alexandria to depart as soon as possible." The Alexandria was ordered not to enter any Federal systems, causing many newsfeeds to refer to it as a 'plague ship'. There are widespread concerns that it will attract Thargoids to any system it travels to.[2]
24 MAY 3307
- The Alexandria megaship has been warned that it faces destruction if it attempts to travel to any Federal system. The Aegis-owned vessel triggered a full-scale Thargoid incursion when it arrived in the HIP 16538 system. This seemed to be a reaction to the huge quantities of Guardian artefacts currently stored within its cargo holds. Captain Jacob Morales, the Alexandria's commander, broadcast this message: "The Federal Navy has instructed us not to resume our scheduled journey to Sol or enter any system within the Federation. They're treating us like a plague ship! I understand their concern that more Thargoids will follow us, but we have several thousand crewmembers who need to reach safe harbour." A strategy was outlined by Admiral Aden Tanner, chief military liaison for Aegis: "We are attempting to clear the HIP 16538 system of Thargoid vessels, greatly aided by independent pilots and anti-xeno squadrons. The megaship will then jump to a system with a minimal population, where we will offload its cargo." Aegis has reiterated that the option to jettison the Alexandria's cargo is a last resort, since the Guardian artefacts are vital to its research programme and cost billions of credits to acquire.[3]
21 MAY 3307
- *Pilots Federation ALERT*
The Alexandria megaship has jumped from Delphi to the HIP 16538 system, triggering a Thargoid attack. The megaship is carrying large quantities of Guardian artefacts, which were delivered as part of a research programme by Aegis. Captain Jacob Morales, commanding officer of the Alexandria, has broadcast an SOS: "This is an emergency! We scheduled a stopover in HIP 16538 for tritium refuelling en route to the Sol system, but Thargoid interceptors came swarming in within minutes. We require immediate assistance!" Admiral Aden Tanner, chief military liaison for Aegis, announced: "We believe that the Thargoids are reacting to the concentrated presence of Guardian technology stored within the Alexandria's cargo holds. Not only has the attack placed its crew and the population of this system in danger, but we risk losing these extremely valuable research materials. Aegis is asking anti-xeno squadrons and independent pilots to help destroy all Thargoid vessels within HIP 16538 and protect the Alexandria."[4]