Personal log of commander <EXPUNGED> "TrashMan".
PHALANX HQ, april 1st, 2084
They have to be fukken kidding me!
Is this supposed ot be our budget???? Not even half a million???? And then the representatives form the Revolutionary countries and Asian Republic have the gall to come complain we aren't doign a proper job of protecting them!!!
What the hell do they expect me to do? Fight aliens with paper planes? With our current funding we can't afford to re-activate another base - not without severly compromising our efforts. Mantaining the one base is expensive enough - we didn't even have enough money in the first month to properly expand this one. Only now have we begun building more living quarters for more scientists (which we're gonan sorely need as we got far more things to research then we have resources).
I am faced with hard choices. I could build radar stations - that will detect alien incursions, but without long-range craft to intercept them, it seems like a wste now. I could build SAM sites, but their limited range wouldnt' make htem effective at defending entire nations. No, we need a new base.
and it will take at least 14 days to get even the basic operational. By the time we add a landing pad the month will be over.
We do have two Stilletos here, so one could be transfered, thus reducing some of hte costs, but that is only a stop-gap measure at best. Leaving our HQ with only 1 fighter is risky.
Fund allocations...never a simple issue, isn't it?
On the upside the rail rifle research is complte and we have begun production. I expect a working field prototype within a few days.
Also, in a few days our new science labs and living quarters should be complete, allowing us to tripple our research staff. but for now, we have to make due with just 10 researchers.
With that in mind, I begun looking into what to research next. Possibly splitting the research mihgt be usefull.
One one hand, researching more about where the aliens come from (Alien Origins) might be handy on a strategic scale.
Yet, capturing a live alien could also be a big intelligence boon - but they seem to die in our containment units. We simply don't know what kind of atmosphere they breathe...hence an autopsy might be usefull.
From a tactical standpoint, researching how to use the alien plasma pistol sound promising. Yet our current weapons seem to pack enough puch so far, and the plasam pistol seemed very innacurate in alien hands. A futher problem would be manufactuing it. Can it even be done? It's one thing to use it, another to produce it compeltely...and that means we'd be dependant on scavaging for ammo.
One of our scientists urges me to go for lasers. It would make accurate, if not powerfull weapons - and possible larger scale appilaction, as fighter weapons nad even base defenses. I have to admit, this intruiges me, as the current SAM's have trouble getting trough the alien ECM's.
Not an easy decision and one I'll have to sleep over. I have to remind myself to send the representatives of our dear complainign nations a letter. Best I leave it for tomorrow, lest I create an incident.
