Project Seraph was a secret Thargoid technology research program that was overseen by Azimuth Biochemicals. It operated primarily in the HIP 26176 and HIP 22460 systems, and was last known to be active in 3303. 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
- Oaken Point staff
- Professor Thomas Dorne
- Dr. Edmund Pierce (executed)
- Dr. Hamlin
- Dr. Tao
- Subject D-2 (escaped)
- Fort Asch staff
- Professor Kaley Orenn
- Dr. Granmore
- Black Flight
- Captain Stenson
- Clayton
- Logistics contractors
- Commander Hyford (missing)
Timeline[]
31 JAN 3308
- Information recovered from the Alexandria has prompted Aegis to insist that it was not responsible for the loss of the megaship's crew and cargo. The wreckage of the Alexandria was recently located in the Wregoe TC-X B29-0 system. There were no survivors, but fragments of the commanding officer's log were found. Chief Administrator Carter Armstrong published this statement on behalf of Aegis: "The logs made by Captain Jacob Morales tell a bleak tale. The Alexandria was deliberately sabotaged to leave it stranded and powerless. They were met by an unidentified group posing as a rescue team, who slaughtered most of the crew and hijacked the Guardian artefacts. The survivors later made a desperate attempt to initiate the hyperdrive, which sadly led to their destruction. We can now prove that the Alexandria's loss was not caused by negligence, as claimed by the Baumann Report. In reality, the megaship was snared in a trap laid by an organised quasi-military force. Furthermore, Captain Morales discovered that the raiders worked for someone they referred to as 'the Witch'. That name was mentioned in logs discovered at HIP 22460 regarding Project Seraph – vile experiments perpetrated by Azimuth researchers to install human test pilots into Thargoid vessels. This evidence suggests that Azimuth Biochemicals has survived in some form over the last two hundred years, and remains focused on aggressive xenological research. Aegis must be reinstated immediately to counter this dangerous organisation before more lives are lost."[1]
02 JAN 3308
- Sima Kalhana reviews the most newsworthy events of the past year in this series of articles.
"July began badly for the Federation, with more factions seceding in response to the Proactive Detection Bureau's establishment. The newly independent nations severed all links with these new surveillance efforts, inspiring many other systems to do likewise. This secession crisis would rumble on for the rest of the year. The Blue Viper Club, one of the rarely seen dredger clans, joined forces with the Kumo Crew to manufacture a medicinal drug that turned out to be a new strain of onionhead. The drug would ultimately end up being legally distributed by Neomedical Industries, causing Archon Delaine to seek revenge against the corporation. Tensions soared in the Marlinist Colonies during an election for the head of their diplomatic consulate. Aaron Whyte's candidate had the support of an Imperial senator, which would have given the Neo-Marlinists a powerful voice within the Empire. When a more moderate candidate was elected, the NMLA reacted by bombing both Marlinist starports, murdering tens of thousands including First Minister Jenna Fairfax. It seemed Theta Seven's extremist views allowed anyone to be targeted as an enemy, even his fellow Marlinists. The civil war concluded in August, with Whyte killed in battle as his supporters were overcome in direct combat. Following accusations of incompetence regarding the vanished Alexandria megaship, Aegis was officially suspended and subjected to a board of inquiry. This would have ramifications for the ongoing conflict with the Thargoids, and encourage Salvation to position himself as an alternative. In the corporate sphere, Zemina Torval created a new subsidiary of Mastopolos Mining that would eventually become an autonomous company. There were rumours that the Torval and Mastopolos families were now at loggerheads after decades of working in unison. In September, the mystery of Hyford's Cache was finally unlocked. The trail led to revelations of dark experiments which are believed to have involved human test subjects and Thargoid technology. When the Thargoids themselves appeared en masse in the Cornsar system, Salvation was ready for them. An anti-xeno superweapon of undisclosed nature was deployed, wiping out some of the aliens and driving away the rest. It seemed that the self-titled 'man of science' had developed something revolutionary, inspiring many to place their faith in him to end the Thargoid menace once and for all."[2]
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?"[3]
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!"[4]
Gallery[]
