Jack Roberts

**Jack Roberts** was a Captain and later an Admiral in RWI (Red Wood Industries) Navy. He previously had been the leader of his own team of Colonists through the galaxy. His one of the main characters in the story of the Colony Universe, and is typically seen leading missions and commanding starships in many battles and engagements. During the Green Drone War, he proved himself as a capable leader, commanding several ships like the RWI *Eclipse*, a prototype Eclipse-class Science Corvette, the RWI *Tigris*, a Defender-class Frigate MK.III, and temporarily took command of Daedalus-class Battleships such as the RWI *Valiant* and the RWI *Apollo*.

## History

Jack Roberts was in a high-ranking position in Red Wood Industries, having likely obtained the rank of Captain. However at some point before the events of Space Engineers: Colony Survival, he left RWI for an unknown reason.

### Colony Survival

Jack initially started a small colony with nine other people on an unnamed, earth-like planet. This group included his close friends from RWI's allies, Craz of CNL (Crazy North Logistics) and Venom of RCSP (Royal Coalition of Spatial Protection), and Finchy, Death-Dealer, Argo, T-Man, iValz, FightingFish, and Dark Lord. Over time, they established a large base with an impressive underground hangar and storage facility, as well as a small fleet of vehicles, including their modified RCSP Wyvern-class Gunship.

Several weeks into their survival, strange occurrences involving mysterious objects and machinery popping up in and around the base started happening with increasing frequency. Colony members came and went as the weeks carried on. New arrivals replaced disappearing previous members, and Jack could not figure out what was happening.

One day, a strange pod containing warheads dropped from the sky onto the base, damaging the solar panel grid. Before Jack could do anything, enemy signals appeared on the horizon and surrounded the base. Several drone squads attacked the base from multiple sides, causing damage to Craz’s CNL gunship and the *Wyvern*. Shortly after the attack was repelled, team member iValz’s custom LAAT Gunship by a drone infiltrator. Jack led the team to discover more about the planet and any drones on it, picking up more survivors, Finn and Max, and fighting more drones on the way. He also ordered the crew to begin construction of a rocket for the crew to escape into orbit if necessary and establish a space station.

After a devastating attack by the drones, the Colonists' base was all but destroyed, prompting Jack to authorize the rocket's launch. After they escaped into space, Jack, Craz, and Finn began designing and building a mobile space station, which they soon named the Watchtower. Jack also led the crew to recover a derelict corvette and the laser cannon technology it was carrying, which they outfitted to the station. Eventually, the drones found them in space, sending a few groups of warships to attack the Watchtower. Jack guessed that the only way to stop the drone attacks was to retake their old ground base, which had since been turned into a drone production facility. He led the team to a small bunker nearby, but they lost all their ships in the first attack, and soon became pinned down inside the base. Fortunately, Jack had broadcasted a distress call from the Watchtower before they departed, and it was picked up by a man named Typhun and his modified freighter, the *Dawn*, who flew in to rescue them and destroy the drone production equipment.

Believing it was over, Jack and the team returned to Watchtower aboard the *Dawn*, only to receive a chilling transmission from Arron, the leader of the drones (who were actually known as the Drone Reactionary Force). After another major attack on Watchtower by the drones, the Watchtower and the *Dawn* jumped away, only to find that they had taken refuge next to an asteroid which housed the DRF Hive, which launched an onslaught of drones at them. In a last-ditch effort, Jack ordered Finchy, Max, T-Man, Death-Dealer, Argo and Dark Lord to infiltrate the Hive and destroy it from within, while he, Venom, Craz, Finn, Typhun evacuated the heavily-damaged Watchtower aboard the *Dawn* and retreated to the planet. However, the strike team failed and were all brainwashed by the DRF, becoming drones themselves. The *Dawn* was also shot down, and Jack and the others survived the crash and had to begin again.

### Colony Wars

Jack awoke with the remaining crewmen aboard the crashed wreckage of the *Dawn*, where they found iValz and four other unknown men, Drakken, Faz Fazzington, Death King, and Lewis, inside a DRF-built cage. Jack ordered them to be rescued and had the team begin setting up a base using materials scavenged from the *Dawn*. They soon built a few vehicles and Jack discovered a mysterious signal. Jack authorized a mission to locate the signal, which turned out to be the Old Colony Base, which was no longer controlled by the DRF after the *Dawn* destroyed the facilities. They battled with the DRF outside the base, and inside, Jack found his and Venom’s old Wyvern-class Gunship, which he flew the team back to New Dawn Base in. Jack and Venom soon started construction on a new destroyer, which they soon named the *Dawnbreaker* in memory of the *Dawn*.

Over time, the Colonists' forces grew stronger. iValz and Finn built a helicarrier called the CSS *Ironhand*, and Craz modified a CNL Gunboat to be mass-produced for their needs. The Colonists also rescued Horza and Ler from a nearby outpost and welcomed in Eike Sky after his fighter crashed on the ice lake nearby. Jack soon launched an operation to retake the Old Colony Base, which eventually led to the loss of the Ironhand but the acquisition of the base and of a Spinal Laser Cannon, which was researched and mounted to the bows of each CNL Gunboat. Eventually, Jack led the charge and the CSS crew met the DRF head-on, resulting in their mutual destruction and departure from the planet into space, with Jack insisting that Watchtower Station should be found and repaired.

However, when Jack and Craz attempted to fix the station's jump drive, it resulted in the station crashing into an asteroid above the planet P3-X2. Instead of digging the station out, Jack ordered the crew to expand the station's facilities into the asteroid, and also welcomed Castle into the crew after the Watchtower had destroyed his ship during its exit from hyperspace. Unbeknownst to Jack and the crew, the DRF had set up a base on P3-X2's surface, and when Jack built a planetary landing ship, the CSS Pioneer, to establish a base on the surface, they soon discovered their presence. Jack also led the entire crew to investigate a mysterious underground facility which belonged to the Green Drone Armada (GDA). Upon seeing the danger presented by fighting two enemies at once, Jack order the crew to return to space and being building up a fleet of warships, which included Jack's flagship, the CSS *Vengeance*, a heavy dreadnaught armed to the teeth.

After a few minor skirmishes, including an encounter with two derelict RWI ships (from which Chris and Jerrai were rescued), Jack and the crew finalized their war preparations. Unfortunately, Watchtower Station was attacked and overtaken by GDA forces, but the Colonist fleet was able to escape unharmed. They met up at a rendezvous point, where Jack made a final captain's log and sent each team member to man a starship for their coming battle with the DRF. Jack commanded the *Vengeance* with Finn and Castle as his crew. As the Battle of the Colonies came to a close, it was only the *Vengeance* and the *Avalon*, piloted by Venom, remaining in the Colonist fleet, facing off against the DRF flagship, the hybrid ship *Exturtle*. However, five GDA Destroyers arrived and attacked them, soon leaving Jack, Castle, Finn, Craz, Horza, and Bashful as the sole survivors aboard the *Vengeance*. Craz managed to activate the *Vengeance*'s FTL drives at the last minute, jumping the ship into the unknown just as Jack believed they were doomed.

### Colony Lost

Following the crash of the *Vengeance*, Captain Jack led the surviving crew, Finn, Castle, Horza, and Bash, to safety through a graveyard of starships destroyed by the GDA on Monus III. Along the way, they rescued three RWI marines, Owen, Ler, and Morslupus, and discovered Finchy and his comrade Papple in part of the wreckage of the *Exturtle* that crashed on the planet. The five stranded troops put their allegiances aside and followed Jack to safety, eventually stealing a GDA Keep-class Mobile Base and setting up their permanent base in an abandoned outpost called the Bastion. Jack planned to locate where Craz was being held and rescue him, but the Colonists didn’t have the firepower to stage a rescue at that moment. Fortunately, Jack was able to send a distress signal to RWI forces led by Commander Sam Reed and the RWI *Intrepid*, who reinforced their efforts to rescue Craz. Although the *Keep* and the *Intrepid* were destroyed, Jack and the CSS crew were successful in rescuing Craz from the GDA's base, but failed in their secondary objective of seizing the Artifact, a strange monolith device worshipped by the GDA.

The crew, along with Craz and Reed, escaped Monus III thanks to reinforcements from the RWI *Valiant*, where Jack met with Captain Jonathan Hunter and was officially inducted back into RWI's ranks. He and his crew were given a prototype Eclipse-class Science Corvette, the RWI *Eclipse*, as their personal vessel for future missions. Jack led the crew on multiple missions throughout the war, including leading the charge in the Battle of Ravcor, where RWI stole the Artifact from the GDA, and the Battle of Demus, where Jack crash-landed the damaged Valiant on the snowy planet's surface and later led a stealth mission to steal a GDA Destroyer from an orbital shipyard. Soon, Jack was reunited with his old friend Grand Admiral Adam Williams at Icarus, and the two launched an attack to destroy the GDA's shipyard above Demus. However, the GDA also struck Icarus at the same time, and despite Jack's efforts to stop The Commander from stealing the Artifact from the Black Vault, he was unsuccessful.

Jack was then sent to investigate a deactivated DRF Hive Base, where the crew rescued Papple (who was presumed dead during the Battle of Ravcor), and also helped CNL rescue a missing admiral, Sven Ellis, shortly after. Once RWI's fleet had amassed, Jack and the Eclipse crew returned to P3-X2 to invade the planet and take back the Artifact. Jack led the preemptive strike by knocking out the GDA's presence in Watchtower Station, and also discovered a graveyard of destroyed CSS and DRF ships leftover from the Battle of the Colonies. However, Jack's team was unable to stop the Artifact from escaping the planet with the GDA's leaders, The Commander and The Controller. In a last-ditch effort, the RWI and CNL fleet joined with the remaining RCSP fleet (led by Venom) and were able to successfully defeat the GDA once and for all at the Battle of the Black Hole. Jack himself delivered the final blows to both The Controller and The Commander, and order explosives to be planted in The Controller's Super-Dreadnought which would cause it to drift into the black hole, destroyed the Artifact for good.

After the war, Jack was promoted to Admiral due to his leadership and heroics during the war. He and Reed, who was promoted to Captain, were tasked with overseeing the construction and development of Project "Odyssey", a newer, massive dreadnought that would be not only the new flagship of RWI once completed, but Jack's own personal command.

### Survivors

#### Operation: Condor

On October 5, 2733, about one month after the war's end, Jack was assigned to lead Operation: Condor, a diplomatic mission in which RWI reached out to the IMBER Corporation to speak about reconstruction efforts following the war's damages on the galaxy. He journeyed to the Sobovis System aboard the RWI Serenity. Upon the ship's arrival, Jack spoke about his uneasy feelings towards the mission in a personal log, before making his way to the bridge to speak with Captain Tobias Wells, the Serenity's captain. However, their hails to IMBER representatives were unanswered and the Serenity was attacked by an unknown enemy warship. At this, Jack, along with several members of the Serenity's crew, fled to Sobovis V aboard a dropship, but were shot down by enemy fighters. Only Jack and two other crewmen survived - Lieutenant Hamish Lovegrove, the Serenity's helm officer, and Lieutenant Nathan, another officer. As they were unable to contact the Serenity, the three set up a camp in an abandoned outpost on a nearby mountain. They fended off attacks from the warring Parallax and IMBER factions that were spread around the planet, building several vehicles to help them survive.

### Colony Salvage

Three months after the Green Drone War, Jack had been promoted to Admiral due to his heroics and leadership during the war. After Finn and Castle, who had departed RWI to start their salvage company, Dawnstar Salvage Corporation, sent a distress signal after encountering GDA remnant forces on Monus III, the site of the *Vengeance*'s crash, Jack led Captain Hunter and a strike team to the system in order to help DSC secure the region. However, upon hearing of their plan to salvage the *Vengeance*, Jack and the RWI crew offered to help DSC repair the ship instead and get it flightworthy again. Eventually, after battling GDA remnant forces for several weeks, the joint RWI-DSC crew was able to almost fully repair the Vengeance and take off into orbit, but they were pursued by GDA destroyers and unable to jump to hyperspace due to their lack of an intact FTL core on the Vengeance. Fortunately, RWI had dispatched reinforcements in the form of Battlegroup "Omega", led by Admiral Jones, and the crew was saved at the last minute. As a thanks to DSC for their assistance, Jack entrusted the Vengeance with Finn and Castle. In return, Jack asked for them to assist RWI whenever Jack called upon their help. With that, Jack returned to Icarus with the RWI crew and continued to oversee Project "Odyssey".

### Starship Lost

In early 2734, Jack and a small strike team were dispatched aboard the RWI *Tigris* to investigate the whereabouts of the RWI *Pegasus*, a Daedalus-class Battleship outfitted for black-ops missions that went missing early in the Green Drone War. They ventured to the Agaris System, where they ventured across Agaris to meet up with Bashful, who had been reassigned to liaison duties to the United Colonies of Agaris (UCA), who directed them to the *Pegasus*'s crash site. Jack and the crew were able to find and repair the crashed starship and take off in it, bringing it back to Icarus for investigation and repairs.

### Colony Alliances

One year after the Green Drone War, Jack was put in command of the newly-formed Joint Expedition Task Force which was comprised of forces from RWI, CNL, and RCSP. Their mission was to uncover the secrets of a mysterious signal in deep space. The new flagship of the expedition, the RWI *Prometheus*, journeyed to the Chrome System where they were ambushed by a secretive faction called the Remnant. Jack left Captain Steven Dawson to command the *Prometheus* in orbit while he landed on the planet with Commander Craz, Captain Reed, Lieutenant Commander Castle (who returned to RWI after the events on Monus III), and the rest of the JETF forces, where they soon discovered an ancient city built by the same race who created the Artifact.

However, as Jack gathered the JETF's remaining forces in the city, the *Prometheus* was brought down by reprogrammed GDA drones, which were part of Project X-12 and were carried aboard the *Prometheus* for emergencies. Captain Dawson activated the drones against Jack's orders, and the drones went rogue, causing the ship to crash-land on Chrome II. Jack led a strike team to investigate, only to find out that the drones were engaging Remnant forces at the wreckage. He and the crew fought their way to the bridge and downloaded the *Prometheus*'s information before retreating to the city. Later, Jack led a mission to hijack a Remnant base and send a distress call to Icarus, which led to the arrival of reinforcements led by Admiral Kieron Hask soon afterwards. Jack was also informed that Captain Reed had made a shocking discovery in the catacombs of the ancient city - another Artifact had been found, and Jack ordered the RWI crew to retain complete secrecy about it.

At the same time, Jack constantly argued about the CNL forces' leader, Colonel Jorgen Larson, about multiple issues, including RWI's usage of drones (which was banned by the Kyron Accords after the Green Drone War) and the secrecy regarding the city's lower levels. This, along with Hask's "RWI first" mindset, led to the eventual mutiny of CNL forces, who split off from the overall JETF and deserted the city, despite Jack's attempts at negotiating with Larson.

## RWI Commands

The following list is a list of the ships that Jack Roberts had command over.

* CSS:
	+ CSS *Dawnbreaker*
	+ CSS *Vengeance*
* RWI:
	+ RWI *Eclipse*
	+ RWI *Tigris*
	+ RWI *Valiant* (Temporarily)
	+ RWI *Apollo* (Temporarily)

## Trivia

* Jack is the creator, writer, director, and main point of view for the Colony Universe, with the majority of gameplay scenes and cinematic story elements seen from his perspective.
* Jack's character's last name, "Roberts," was not revealed until the end of 'Space Engineers: Colony Lost.' The character's name first appeared in the Redwood Universe series 'Space Engineers: Planet Wars.' Although their names are the same and they are played by the same person, the Jack Roberts of the Redwood Universe is not the same person as the Jack Roberts of the Colony Universe.