April 24th 2084, 2.15AM The partially intact UFO has been delivered to the secure storage yard. Our scientist and engineers are itching to get their hands on it. I have ordered a full analysis of its systems and structure before they dismantle it to determine its capabilities. The engineers have quickly identified it as an unarmed craft (which explains the lack of return fire) and given it the “Scout” designation.
With 3 troops in the med bay, Rifleman “Cognitive Dissonance” Schultze has been called from the reserve.
Rifleman Schultze is an Austrian “Combat Engineer”, which we all know is simply the name given for a nutter who likes to blow things up.
April 30th 2084, 12.15PM The initial report on the UFO structure is complete. The main findings are deeply worrying, and outlined below. Remember that this is a small unarmed craft!
1) The craft is fuelled by milligrams of antimatter. This one craft contained more antimatter than humanity has produced, ever. We simply do not yet have the capability to safely store volumes of antimatter to this scale so it was released in a controlled annihilation reaction. The aliens utilise a novel magnetic storage system armoured and buried deep in the craft – it is probable that in combat our interceptors have ruptured this tank leading to the destruction of the craft. Dr Branth has a proposal worth following up on regarding how we can store antimatter material for our own use based on the damaged alien storage unit, but as of yet I do not see the need to store it – what can we use it for?
2) The craft is powered by two hybrid engine/generators. These engines inject antimatter into a proton chamber, directing the explosive force produced out the rear of the engine to produce thrust – more thrust than any human engine can produce. It needs no air to operate, working just as well in our atmosphere as it does in the hard vacuum of space. The heat produced by the engine is off the scale – a liquid nitrogen cooling system is used by the craft to cool the engine and to generate electrical energy to run the crafts systems. The engines will no doubt require closer inspection in the future.
3) The material the craft is constructed of is remarkably good at absorbing all wavelengths of the EM spectrum. The engines do emit significant amounts of both infra red and gamma radiation, which provides us with the best chance for detecting and tracking these craft.
4) The craft is of a slim un-aerodynamic shape and would probably be difficult to handle in air. This is partially down to no need to generate lift due to the powerful engines, and the sheer weight of the hull material. The material itself seems to be some kind of plastic and metal composite, with a “memory” – when super cooled it contracted into a dense configuration, expanding into a more aerodynamic shape once heated up. In terms of strength it is only bested by Carbon nanotubes. Dr Branth has put forward a proposal for a full metallurgical analysis of the material.
This basic analysis done, the engineers and scientists have been given the go ahead to analyse the craft in more detail prior to its dismantling.
All three wounded soldiers have been released from hospital. The medical staff have worked wonders in grafting cloned skin and tissue to heal the burns inflicted by the aliens plasma weaponry – neat scars are all that is left as evidence of some nasty wounds. All 3 are lucky to be alive – they probably won’t be so lucky next time.
1st May 2084, Midnight. Another funding grant has cleared – A drop in funding from last month from 600,000 Cr to 400,000. Apparently a lack of activity over some more distant territories has led certain nations (I am looking at you Oceania and South America) to underestimate the threat they face, though we do now sit on a healthy sum of just over 1,000,000 credits which should serve us well for a while.
5th May 2084, 8.20AM. The scientists have finished their detailed analysis of the capabilities of the scout UFO, and it has been handed over to the engineers for dismantling. The scientists are now busy working on the exotic hull material. Their findings regarding the scout UFO are outlined below:
1) The craft has a small antimatter tank, small crew capacity (1 pilot, and space for 2 or 3 Taman in a small hold) and no indication of a means of supporting a crew for an extended time. It appears that this craft is not designed for extended missions – simply to drop down from orbit, carry out whatever mission it is assigned, and to head straight back into space.
2) The craft is unarmed and has no ability to mount any kind of modular weapon systems. 4 cells mounted around the nose of the craft seem to house some kind of advanced EM warfare apparatus – these will be worthy of further investigation once removed by the engineers.
3) There is no identifiable communications gear of any kind. This seems to contradict the point of having a scout craft.
Analysis: This craft does appear to be a scout craft used for some kind of intelligence gathering. The lack of comms gear is a curiosity. The craft itself presents no military threat to our forces, but they should still be shot down on sight to limit the enemies intelligence gathering efforts.
6th May 2084, 12.30AM.We have picked up a new radar contact – this craft is larger and faster than those already shot down. We first pick it up heading NE over Saudi Arabia. I am taking no chances with this one – both Interceptors are scrambled to blow it out of the skies. Our fighters will make contact above the UAE – or perhaps not. As they close, the UFO turns to a direct course straight at our fighters.
This simply serves to hasten the new ships demise – the hail of missiles from both fighters send it into the depths of the Red Sea, which is a shame as I would have liked to send this ship to our labs for analysis. Missile camera footage suggests that Haspen landed the fatal shot.
10th May 2084, 4.20AM. Dr Branth’s assistant has submitted the lab analysis of the alien materials obtained from the scout craft. The material is indeed a type of memory alloy, which can have 3 shaped “programmed” into it, and it will take a shape dependant on its temperature, of if a current is flowing through it. It appears that the aliens use this material to alter the configuration of their craft, either at will or through automated systems, depending on situation.
Whilst we now have the ability to work with the alien materials to try some novel projects, we are unable to produce them in large quantities – this would require elements only present on Earth in trace amounts. If we can dismantle a steady stream of craft, we should have enough materials to meet our needs.
Dr Branth has suggested the use of these materials to armour our aircraft – I have approved this project. The materials are far too heavy to use as infantry armour, unfortunately.
15th May 2084, 1230AM. Technical schematics of an aircraft armour made from the alien alloy have been finished and uploaded to the workshop systems. The labs had some difficulty in getting the material “programmed” to match the shape of our aircraft hulls and to change shape as required, and it is so heavy it will reduce the speed and range of our aircraft by about 10%, but it will provide significantly more protection than our current polymer armours. The armour is expensive to produce, but still more cost effective than a new aircraft and trained pilot. We currently do not have enough material in stock to produce a single full set of armour plates, and production will have to wait until we dismantle several scout craft.
With nothing better for him to do I have allowed Dr Branth to work on the folly project of Antimatter storage.
Pilots:
Pilot Jesse “Spaghetti-7” James – 3 mission, 2 kills.
Pilot Rehyaaz “Haspen” de jesus – 3 mission, 3 kill
Pilot “Tiruin” Kloot – 3 missions, 2 kills
Soldiers:
Rifleman “SSG” Bradford – 3 mission, 1 kill
Rifleman Bruce “Dsarker” Bonzer – 3 mission
Lance-Corporal “Shadenight” Schwartz – 3 mission, 4 kills
Rifleman “Krevsin” Timofeev – 2 missions
Rifleman “MaxClone Alpha” – 2 missions, 1 kill
Rifleman “Luke” Mubarack – 0 missions
,Rifleman “Cognitive Dissonance” Schultze – 0 missions
Rifleman “Honker Bonker” Assar (Kicior) - 3 missions
Rifleman “Euchre Jack” Cardoso – 1 missions, 1 kill
Rifleman “Scriver” Bouzid – 3 mission, 2 kill
Rifleman “Lukeinator” Herring – Gunned down from point blank by a dual plasma pistol wielding Taman at a docks in Egypt. 1 mission, no kills.