Born:November 18, 795 A.S
Spire District, Planet Manhattan
New York System Aliases:Cobra / Kingsnake Birth name:Robert Eugene Hughes Education:
St. Michaels Academy for Young Men
Manhattan Institute of Technology Parents:
Gerald Hughes, Francine Hughes
Damien Morreti
Damien Morreti is the current Commander of an organization known as the Xeno Alliance, which in turn cites allegiances to an unrecognized state in the form of the Liberty Free Republic (LFR). As a militant leader within the LFR, he commands wide networks of supporters and often takes forceful action. A controversial figure, Morreti is celebrated as a populist champion of the poor or, conversely, denounced as a fascistic demagogue.
Born as Robert E. Hughes on 18 November 795 to a decidedly wealthy and accomplished family, his parents were equal partners in the rapidly expanding Hughes Foundation, which dealt primarily in Intellectual Property acquisitions at the time. Robert spent his childhood in the lavish apartment owned by his family, he later attended a prestigious Academy in the same district and proved to be a young intellectual, more than earning his place as a student. By all accounts, both from teachers and classmates, he was considered to be quite closed off but not shy. Robert was quick to make friends but rarely spent all that much time with them, usually preferring to keep to himself and focus on his primary hobby at the time, reading.
Towards the end of his time at the academy, Robert had served two consecutive terms as student president and even secured himself a scholarship. He had the respect of his teachers and the admiration of his fellow students, credited as being the most likely to succeed. He had even expressed a brief interest in taking up singing as a hobby, but later changed his mind and expressed that he would prefer to focus on building an actual career first. His friends of the time claim that this was actually a decision made by his parents and not something Robert was keen on doing, surrendering under the pressure and doing as his family wished.
Formative years
By the time Robert was 20 years old, he was already a self made millionaire, having achieved the milestone a few times over. He had successfully sold a proof of concept startup to Ageira, along with the patented technology behind the next generation of navmaps. His name had made the rounds so far as up and coming technological minds were concerned, and both he and his associates had more plans they were eager to act on in the future.
This cooperative venture with Ageira was short lived however, as his relations with the company executives continued to be subject to strain. Negotiations and funding continued to fall through, with the executives denouncing him as eccentric and naive, while Robert's own associates defended him as simply having committed the sin of being too bold for the market to handle. Ageira ultimately denies that the startup acquisition had anything to do with navmap technology, but rather that his company was acquired for the fact that it had been too expensive to maintain for the purpose of iterative software updates.
Robert's name did not feature in any further headlines or publications after the acquisition, and after a year of silence his associates confirmed that the group venture was essentially dissolved and all the members had gone their separate ways, they remained confident that Robert would pursue an alternative business venture sooner or later.
Departure from society
Roughly five years after the acquisition controversy, Robert's silence boiled over into the family being forced to file a missing persons report, his sudden disappearance was a high profile case for the LPI to solve and it attracted a generous amount of media coverage due to the potential for controversy. It was ultimately a case that would grow cold, with one of the lead officers murdered after reporting she'd stumbled onto a breakthrough in the case. The timing was simply all too convenient, and many people claimed there was foul play involved from either Robert's former associates or perhaps estranged executives who had fallen out over the years.
It was not until nearly a decade later that Robert's case would be finally closed, the LSF had finally confirmed that his disappearance was entirely voluntary and that his entrepreneurial misadventures had turned into criminal pursuits. Furthermore, he had been operating under the Alias of Damien Morreti for several years, working his way up through the terrorist group known as the Xenos and establishing himself as the Commander of one of the many movements within the network of dissidents.
Literary career
Having brandished a new name, Morreti got to work in acquiring accomplishments for his new identity, wanting to rebuild his image free of any influencing factors such as his family or what he cited as the horribly decrepit and misguided Government. His seditious manifesto titled "A snake in the grass" became a popular piece of literature among anarchists residing in frontier systems that bordered the Houses, often blamed as being the catalyst for growing disapproval regarding the enforcement of law and order in those regions. His work soon became a hallmark of what people considered part of the core Xeno ideology, alongside the works of Adam Greerson.
Political stance
Morreti has frequently claimed himself to be an anarchist. Though there are many things that stand in contradiction to other anarchist groups in the sector, namely his lack of a desire to destroy social structure in its entirety. Instead, he espouses a system of collective cooperation based around voluntary association and mutual respect. He is also not opposed to the ideas of self determination and has frequently encouraged colonies within the independent worlds to exercise this right, and to formulate their own political systems without reliance on the Houses.
The notion that the Great Houses must be firmly opposed is the lynchpin of his beliefs, citing that the only way to defeat the unjust systems that rules in every part of the sector is to cut away all the cobweb binding it together. The less substance to support the current status quo of wealth and power, the more likely it is to fail and make way for a blank slate scenario. Whereby all the formerly subjugated individuals may reclaim the actual meaning behind their namesakes as individuals.
His insistence on deterring House influence across the independent worlds has brought the Xeno Alliance into a position of waging a self proclaimed war of liberation, intended to keep Freeports and all other independent entities free of any perceived threat that military action may pose. With the recent trend of Freeports either being assaulted, seized or outright destroyed and the wave of unrest caused by Bretonia's annexations as well as the Crayter Republic's attempted annexation, has catapulted this view into a place of relative popularity.
Alliance Commander
Acting as a figurehead and rallying standard, the image of a Kingsnake set to the backdrop of crimson has become a commonplace symbol of defiance. Morreti's rise to power in the Xeno Alliance was swift and assured by a landslide victory in the first election he contested in. He has subsequently been reelected by another popular vote, securing a comfortable majority on account of his decisive agendas and reliable policies. This ease of relatability and lack of tolerance has lent him a parental image within the organization, though the specificity of his goals and ambitions has also made him a divisive figure. A common view of Morreti is that he enjoys the prestige of being somebody that is never treated with ambivalence.
Accomplishments
Having served through a tumultuous few years as Alliance Commander, Morreti is accredited as having secured a wide range of deals to feed the cash flow requirements of the cause. He was one of the most persistent critics of the Hellfire Legion and its alleged Government, alleged as having swayed the vote in order to pit the Xeno movement against both, ultimately resulting in the Battle of Hesperia. A reputation as being a frontline leader has also been cemented by his presence at numerous significant battles, such as the Battle of Sierra, Battle of Coronado and the Battle of West Point Lane. Whether supported or denounced due to political disagreement, his ability to think strategically has never been openly criticized.
Role in the LFR
Despite publicly stating that he has no intention to run for any kind of office in the LFR, Morreti has developed the image of being akin to a "founding father" of an as-of-yet still forming nation. As such, several petitions do exist asking that he reconsider his decision to remain entirely uninvolved when it comes to handling internal affairs and assuming the role of a national leader in the future. His response to this has so far been dismissal, followed by an assertion of the fact that he merely means to defend the LFR's right to organize and wants no part in the actual organization effort, detesting the notion that he might acquire too much power.
Controversies
Morreti's popularity has not been without criticism or incident, his tenure in office has seen an unprecedented series of reforms and restructuring, most of which concentrates decision making and matters which would be perceived as executive in his hands. There are claims that his continued support for the Alliance wing known as the Phantoms is tantamount to betrayal, as many believe the people operating within the cell have irreparably hurt the movement, hence the secrecy. There are also those who claim he takes too much enjoyment in his work, and is likely some form of sadist or adrenaline junkie, rather than an individual genuinely committed to the cause.