June 14th 2084, 8.15PMA Harvester has been spotted heading SE over central Europe towards the alps. Both interceptors are scrambled to shadow it.
Alas, it pulls away out of radar range. Any moment now I am expecting some kind of message informing me that one of our cities is under attack and that we have to go and save the day...
June 15th 2084, 1.00PMDisassembly of the first fighter is complete. Along with enough alien alloy to make 3 complete sets of aircraft armour, 4 very interesting components have been salvaged:
1) Some kind of astronavigation system. Whilst it lacks a star chart, it will allow us to decipher the alien astronomical notation system and our first real insights into their interstellar navigation.
2) An advanced detection suite consisting of radar, lidar, passive and active sonar, UV and IR sensors, microwave detection and magnetic sensors, along with some kind of mystery sensing device.
3) The already mentioned beam weapon, which fires some kind of particle stream at light speed. This item will be a research priority.
4) An advanced ECM/ECCM device which makes ours look frankly embarrassing. This will be evaluated as soon as practical.
EuchreJack has had her Swiss cheese torso mended once again and is back on duty.
June 16th 2084, 1.00AMThe spider autopsy is complete. The lab boys have taken to calling it the Bloodspider, based on some disgusting findings. They are rushing straight back to the labs to being work on the particle beam weapon following debriefing me on their findings:
1) This device is a true robot with no organic parts. The large body houses the processing units and power cells. The 8 legs are powered by advanced servomotors allowing it easy movement over rough terrain.
2) It has no ranged weapons, but is equipped with exceptionally tough blades formed from the now familiar alien alloy as “mandibles”. Statements from the witnesses of the Nigeria attack claim that they use these blades to cut up human victims. This is supported by the gruesome discovery of neat chunks of human flesh stored in a compartment inside the head of one of the wrecked spiders.
3) The body of the spider is some kind of carbon weave reinforced with a thin layer of alien alloy. It is resistant to electricity and heat, but brittle and vulnerable to armour piercing rounds. The blades and legs are very vulnerable to explosive ordinance.
Analysis: A low risk combat unit as we should be able to easily neutralize them before they get into melee range. They will present a risk to civilians in populated areas.
Pilots:
Pilot Rehyaaz “Haspen” de jesus – 6 mission, 3 kill
Pilot “Tiruin” Kloot – 5 missions, 2 kills
Pilot “Birdy-51” Danielsen – 0 missions
Soldiers:
Rifleman Bruce “Dsarker” Bonzer – 5 mission, 1 kill
Lance-Corporal “Shadenight” Schwartz – 5 mission, 7 kills
Lance-Corporal “Krevsin” Timofeev – 4 missions, 4 kill
Rifleman “Cognitive Dissonance” Schultze – 2 missions, 2 kills
Rifleman “SSG” Bradford – 5 mission, 3 kills
Lance-Corporal “MaxClone Alpha” – 3 missions, 3 kills
Rifleman “Luke” Mubarack – 2 mission, 1 kill
Lance-Corporal “Scriver” Bouzid – 4 mission, 3 kills
Rifleman “Honker Bonker” Assar (Kicior) - 5 missions, 2 kills
Rifleman “Euchre Jack” Cardoso – 2 missions, 2 kills
Rifleman “Lukeinator” Herring – Gunned down from point blank by a dual plasma pistol wielding Taman at a docks in Egypt. 1 mission, no kills.
Pilot Jesse “Spaghetti-7” James – 6 mission, 3 kills. Shot down by an alien fighter craft over the Ukraine.