Jess Morley

Jess is a UNSC Marine and a SPARTAN-I who took part in PROJECT ORION. She is the spouse of Felix Martel, and the mother of Amber and Victor Martel. She is the great-aunt of Peec-D1074, known to a few as Jeffrey Morley.

Early Life (2487—2490)
Jess was born in 2469, daughter to Anna Bauer and Robert Morley, and younger sister to Anton Morley. She grew up on Reach, and joined the UNSC Marine Corps in 2587 at the age of 18. Her first mission was to rescue a captured Lt. Col. Watts from Insurrectionists on Eridanus II. Unbeknown to her and her fellow soldiers, however, Watts had defected to the rebels, and the Marines were led into a trap. Her CO, Sergeant Roberg, along with her entire squad, were executed ruthlessly by the Insurrectionists' leader, Commander Gerald Barrie. Felix, who was a resident under Barrie at the time, had intervened and incapacitated the Commander and helped Jess escape back to the UNSC base. After this incident, she always held a soft spot for him and helped look out for him as he studied to join the UNSC Navy, and later Project ORION.

After returning to Earth, Jess immediately began a case against Watts, who had made it back to the planet before the Marines, and could not be proven to be guilty. For over three years, she worked to find evidence against the Colonel, with the help of Felix and her brother, Anton. Despite threats of incarceration and court-martials, she continued to prove the treason had occurred. However, Watts was cleared, and it was not until 2513 that Anton managed to find the evidence against him.

Project ORION and Disappearance (2491—2497)
Jess was accepted into Project ORION upon its launch in 2491, and was known as one of the most outstanding soldiers amongst the other subjects. By 2493, she achieved the rank of Corporal, and Staff Sergeant by 2497. She married Felix in 2496.

Jess became very distressed after discovering the report stating that Felix had been killed in an Insurrectionist attack later that year, and found out three months later that she was pregnant. Being stationed at a UNSC Antarctica outpost at the time, Jess had taken shore leave when the Pelican she was being taken on had its engines cut out due to a malfunction. After ensuring Amber was safe, Jess waited for assistance from the base she left. A series of Sentinels arrived on the scene before the evac ship arrived, however, and forced her underground and into a Forerunner Slipspace pod; she was kept alive for the Sentinels' purposes of studying human pregnancy.

Offspring and Family Ties (2556—2572)
After Felix found her in the pod almost sixty years later, having recently returned to active service after being found by the Sangheili, managed to bring the weakened Jess with the help of a Forerunner female and had her brought to a medical facility. She gave birth to their first child, Amber, a year later. In 2564, she had a second child, Victor. Both of them would be recruited into the SPARTAN-III program in 2572.

In the same year, Peec-D1074 had located her at Falaknuma and discovered that he was the grandson of her brother, Anton. He and Jess later met his siblings, Calvin and Marina Morley, who were both serving in the UNSC Marine Corps. She has since searched for other links to her family, with the help of Calvin and Marina.

Return to Active Service (2558—present)
Jess arranged for her service record to be modified by ONI so the secret of her identity as a SPARTAN-I would remain classified, along with her discoveries at Antarctica. The full details were never known by anyone afterward, with the exception of Felix and Wings-D339, who had a knack of finding things out with or without the authorization of ONI. Incidentally, Amber and Victor were located and drafted into the SPARTAN-III Program shortly after Wings became aware of Jess' past, unbeknown to her.

Jess made a full recovery following the six decades she spent in a Slipspace pod and giving birth to Amber, and returned to active service in 2558. Her efforts in the conflicts in the post Human-Covenant war era earned her many distinctions, medals, and became a Master Sergeant in 2576.