Marjorie Graves

Admiral Marjorie Graves commanded the Sovereign Colonies fleet sent to the ice world of Tau Volantis to trace the source of the Marker signal. Like so many who came near the artifacts, she did not survive the journey with her mind intact, but the message she left behind in her madness would, two hundred years later, guide Isaac Clarke toward the Alien Machine.

The Tau Volantis expedition#

Admiral Marjorie Graves was the commanding officer of the fleet that the Sovereign Colonies dispatched in 2311 to aid in the triangulation of the Marker signal, the source of which was believed to originate from Tau Volantis. She led the expedition from her flagship, the CMS Roanoke, alongside Major General Spencer Mahad and Dr. Earl Serrano. The purpose of the mission was to follow the signals the Markers were receiving and locate a source of energy that could save the human race from extinction and win the Secession War then raging between Earth and the colonies.

Graves and Mahad were often at odds. In one meeting Mahad pressed her to abort the mission and return home so that his military force could join the Secession War, and when told that the mission involved the Markers he was unconvinced of its importance, so Graves had Dr. Serrano brief him on the purpose of the journey to the ice planet. She was also angered at having to double-bunk half her officers so that Mahad could house his 163rd Reaper Unit, complaining that they were rude and did nothing useful aboard her ship. Mahad answered that she would not have to worry about bunk space much longer, as he intended to take half the Reaper Unit down to the planet once the expedition had dug in, calling them his insurance that nothing would go wrong.

Madness and death#

During the expedition, Graves was exposed to the Red Markers brought up from the planet and stored aboard the ships. Her mind gradually succumbed to the Marker signal, and she was eventually confined to her quarters under quarantine while Mahad took command of the expedition. In her deteriorating state she heard voices she believed were meant just for her, and she developed an obsession with turning off the Alien Machine on Tau Volantis. The cause of her eventual death is unknown; she may have taken her own life, starved while quarantined, or been killed during the Scenario Five operation ordered by Mahad.

Legacy#

Two hundred years after her death, Ellie Langford discovered a secret in the admiral's quarters. With the help of Isaac Clarke, she deciphered Graves' mural of Marker symbols and graffiti, which held information about a key to turn off the Machine on the planet. Isaac took her message about the key to mean that it could shut down the Machine and, with it, all the Markers, believing the Machine to be what controlled them and unaware of the Brethren Moon that orbited Tau Volantis.