Director Khalid Al-Ashgar

Background
Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Project Exodus, was born in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He is a tech mogul.

Master of Physics and Philosophy, Oxford University, 2008; Lead investor, Al Zaabi Satellite Communications; Deputy Director of Administration, Emirates Mars Mission; 2017-2019. Noted financial supporter of several space enthusiast organizations and publications.

Personality
Director Khalid Al-Ashgar has strong work ethic and is laser-focused on his engineering projects. He is fully dedicated to turning humanity into interstellar species, whether he himself gets to leave Solar system or not.

He seems to be versed in Islamic studies, but is well more grounded than a certain prophet wannabee.

Khalid displays a degree of academical elitism towards the people who call aliens hydras instead of using a proper scientific terminology.

Director Khalid Al-Ashgar is fatalist, ready to accept either outcome in humanity-hydra war. He only joins the fight to get the valuable exotics required to build the Bifrost, although he is happy to get more involved in the war if that means building even more colony ships. He isn't particularly disturbed by losses of non-crucial personnel, unlike Li, Fiona or Kiran; but isn't overtly xenophobic enough to torture the captured hydra, unlike Hanse.

Some people compare Khalid to Elon Musk. The comparison is superficial; the former is way more educated, has Tweeted only once rather than sunk Twitter in only one week and does projects that actually work instead of running cryptocurrency scams and harrasing flight attendants.

Quotes

 * 'It has always been true that we must leave the cradle if our species is to survive. If these aliens are indeed hostile, the time to go is now.' - faction blurb

Research

 * "Since humanity's earliest days, we have marveled at the mystery above our heads. With childlike wonder, we strove to understand it, yet still its truths elude us. So now we must go forth, into the mystery." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, In an undated letter to his father
 * "Every conflict throughout history stemmed from man's anger, fear, greed or jealousy. Yes, it is the fount of love and faith and art, but perhaps, just perhaps, we are wrong to place the human heart upon such a pedestal." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Op-ed in the Gulf News
 * "We squat upon a dying world, sucking it dry long past the point when it can still sustain us. And yet an entire galaxy of possibility beckons. Why are we so short-sighted? When will we see that there is nothing left for us here? #projectexodus" — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, His first and only Tweet
 * "Lightning was once feared as the anger of gods, until we learned how to harness its might for ourselves. Some say fear is conquered by courage, but I say it is conquered by knowledge." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From his recorded lecture series The Philosophy of Science
 * "The differences in our languages are irrelevant, for we all grow closer to those near us in times of distress, creating community where once there was none. Today, I ask you to do just that, for humanity's future depends upon us all sharing one, unifying vision." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Ribbon-cutting ceremony at the first Project Exodus facility
 * "It is tempting to think of our expansion into the stars as simply the continued evolution of human knowledge. Yet the truth is that it will spawn new fields of science, entirely new schools of thought. It is not a mere step forward - it is to pull the rug from under everything we thought we knew." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From his Master's thesis at Oxford
 * "The word 'atom' stems from the ancient Greek atomon, which means 'uncuttable.' And yet, here we are, creating energy by splitting the atom - cutting the uncuttable." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Keynote Speech at the annual The Space Society conference
 * "They'll all be so busy fighting down here that they won't even realize we've already built ourselves an empire up there." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Comments made to investors ahead of the launch of the Emirates Mars Mission
 * "The light that fills our skies connects the past of distant worlds to our present. It is a time machine, and an eternal reminder that Earth is neither the beginning nor the end of existence." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Keynote speech at Oxford University to celebrate the International Day of Light
 * "One would not send a swordsman to fight a tank. Neither should we voyage into the unknown armed with only the primitive tools of self-defense we cling to here on Earth." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From the investment pitch deck for FutureSpace LLC.
 * "It is only a matter of time before this rush for gold turns red. To staunch the flow of blood, other nations will send their own armed envoys. It is in our best interests to be gone before that happens." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Overheard from a conversation with his sister
 * "The online shopping guy and the electric car guy can squabble over Mars all they like, but that's just selling humanity short. Trust me, we can do so much better." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, During an appearance on The Late Show
 * "The Surah al-Baqarah teaches that in the creation of heaven and Earth, a wise people may find the signs of Allah. Let us heed those words and join together, as we take our search into the stars." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From his Khutbah at the First Conclave of Muslim Astrophysicists
 * "We've all gaped in awe at those images of the Earth as seen from space. Beautiful. Divine. But if you saw that same sight every time you looked out the window, wouldn't you grow to hate it?" — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Guest appearance on the podcast "Thinking Bigger."
 * "There are two types of people in this world: those who only think of home, and those who think only of leaving home." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From a long-defunct online dating profile
 * "It was Bertrand Russell who defined the distinction between knowledge by description and knowledge by acquaintance. Soon, so very soon, our understanding of distant worlds will not stem from mere readings and photographs, but instead from walking upon alien soil." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From press briefing materials for Project Bifrost
 * "Truly, I would love to believe that we will comport ourselves better on other worlds than we do here, but I am not naive. There will, I am afraid, be blood." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, During the first Project Exodus security briefing
 * "What we're doing is dangerous - people are going to get sick or hurt. It would be madness to pretend otherwise. The best thing we can do is ensure our failsafes are simple enough that even the least skilled among us can implement them under the worst of circumstances." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, Briefing the senior medical team of Project Exodus
 * "We cannot just send up a bunch of diggers and hope for the best - even dirt doesn't behave the same way up there. One might as well build a house upon a pile of rice." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From his irregular newsletter, "Preparing For Tomorrow."
 * "I don't want to die on some miserable poison world. I want to die countless light years from Earth, with a smile on my face as I bask next to a perfect ocean, under a perfect sky." — Director Khalid Al-Ashgar, From his irregular online newsletter, "Preparing For Tomorrow."

Science

 * That planet in Pegasus changed everything. The first exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star. Its discovery in 1995 revolutionized the field of astronomy. And, of course, opened the pathway to leaving Earth behind and traveling to new worlds.
 * The habitable zone - the narrow band around a star in which water flows - might be slim for each star. But it is not vacant everywhere. At our destination we will be able to swim in clear oceans and feel new rain on our skin.
 * We have plowed, plundered, and poisoned our planet in the hunt for precious metals, oil, and rare elements. By mastering the science of materials, this kind of destruction will not be necessary. We can treat our new home with more dignity.
 * Physics teaches us that energy is neither created nor destroyed, it is just transformed. And just like energy, we are able to transform our plans into actions so that we reach our goal.
 * Millenia of philosophy, studying our origin, nature, and purpose, and yet we still lose sight of the most important thing: that it is what we don't know that drives us towards new frontiers.
 * I firmly and wholeheartedly believe in the tenets of a just war established in the Mahabharata: just authority, just cause, right intention, and last resort. But while we must not seek violence, we would be fools to not prepare for it.
 * The laws of society, like those of nature, govern the ebb and flow of the lives they impact. Inherently unpredictable, they nonetheless have apparent, somewhat predictable patterns. Defining them is, ironically, more art than science.