⌊A/N: This chapter has been edited.⌋
⌊12/08/2015⌋
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mission Control
"Guess we're gonna do it now huh, Dr William?" a scientist named Julian asked Dr. William.
Doctor Julian Hallow is one of NASA's top scientists. He was assigned as head of the 'UFO OBSERVER' Program 8 years ago. He has caramel hair color and blue eyes. He was considered a prodigy by the people working at NASA. Ever since joining NASA almost 11 years ago at a very young age of 17, he baffled many of his colleagues whenever they read his reports. Most of what he wrote was actually calculations of possible ways to enter faster than light speeds or FTL. He told them that the reason behind why he has been working hard to prove that FTL is possible is because that he wanted to fulfill his dream of travelling around the galaxy like how the people at Star Wars were able to do so.
He was working so hard at finding a possible way to achieve FTL travel to where even his work ethic is strict, too strict in fact. Late-night guards would usually see him working at his desk, with a large coffee mug by his side filled with black coffee in order to give him the extra energy he needs. Which is why he had noticeable bags under his eyes. Yet even then, the work he does at NASA was extremely helpful.
At the time when he received the news that he would be assigned elsewhere, he was a bit sad. He got to know and work with his colleagues. He considers them all as his friends. Though, when he had been briefed on what he will do on the mission he was about to participate in, his sadness turned into excitement and anticipation. To be given the opportunity to observe an alien spaceship first-hand was an opportunity of a lifetime. Though he did have to comply at the gag order so as to not have the general public freak out at this discovery.
Right now, it has been a few weeks since the probe completed its 7 year long journey to Mercury and began its observation of the unidentified flying object. Being launched in 2008 along with the MESSENGER probe, The UFO OBSERVER probe or UO-1 has scientific instruments with the sole purpose of both observing and studying what the field around the spacecraft is actually made of. Since they currently don't have a way to enter and exit the field all by themselves, they decided to not bring any equipment that would identify the metallic material/s that the spacecraft itself is made of. The probe also has a detachable impact probe with sensors and a built-in antenna in order to measure how much force the 'special magnetic field' (name given by scientists to the unknown field surrounding the craft) could block.
On the other hand, the MESSENGER probe was actually supposed to be launched in 2004, though due to some technical problems and bad circumstances, they were forced to push back the launch date for no less than 3 years. Unfortunately, they had to postpone for another year under orders from the White House.
As of this moment, they are about to detach the impact probe and have it set to a course where it would crash straight into the forcefield.
"That's right, Julian. To think that creating a 'magnetic field' this powerful would be even possible."
"I don't even think that magnetic field is even the right term. I think either 'forcefield' or 'energy field' is more accurate."
"What makes you say that?"
"I mean the initial analysis that you guys made before I was assigned here only had you guys reporting at the fact that the ship had the ability to block all the particles coming from the solar wind. Yet, the results that we have found in the past 2 weeks suggest something more."
"And that is?"
"That somehow your theory from about 9 years ago was true."
"The one where the....um.....'forcefield' would survive a nuke?"
"Yes that one."
"Oh don't remind me of that report. Some agent from the CIA told me that the president at that time was startled internally when he read that report. If we tell the current president that the field can really block kinetic projectiles, it might give him an aneurysm."
"Even though it's only been a few weeks, the discoveries we made here were astounding."
What Julian is talking about was the amount of data they were able to collect and analyze on both the UFO and Mercury. For starters, the UFO's periapsis (nearest point of orbit) is somewhere around 15,000 km while its apoapsis (farthest point of orbit) is only 4000 km higher. The MESSENGER probe was positioned at a much lower orbit than the UFO. It continued its initial mission of observing Mercury's surface and gathering data. What scientists didn't expect is the presence of lights on the surface. Looking closer, it is revealed to be structures, possibly created only a few years ago. They deduced that it was some sort of factory, supporting evidence being the tiny conveyor belts carrying raw minerals which is coming from a large, nearby mining drill. They speculated that it was a mining drill from the large amounts of dust launched into the air.
Meanwhile, UO-1 is placed 10,000km higher than the UFO, though it is still orbiting around Mercury. They did make it sure that the spacecraft was able to follow the alien spacecraft while both are orbiting the planet.
Observations and data collected by UO-1 proved to be extremely valuable. Scientists working at NASA first found out that the composition of the forcefield is something akin to a fluid. They theorize that whenever 2 forcefields with the same characteristics interacts with each other, then they would only merge. If one of them is smaller, then the bigger one will just absorb it. They also theorize that if an object hits the energy field, then the object would either bounce off (if it crashes into it at relatively slow speeds) or disintegrate (if it crashes into it at ludicrous speeds). Both of those would create ripples throughout the energy field due to its fluid-like structure.
Though those are just theories.
What scientists are truly excited for is the existence of a new element that makes up the forcefield itself. For now they just called it 'Element 119'.
"I'm kind of hoping that this experiment would prove our theory from 9 years ago. If we could somehow learn on how to create one of those 'forcefields' like they can do themselves, then we could soon have the ability to defend ourselves from any threat outside our planet."
"Me too, Dr. William. Though for now, we would have to see what would happen in this test."
As both of them look up at the horizontally large screen, they could see what UO-1 is currently seeing. Soon enough, the impact probe detached from UO-1. An announcement came shortly after.
"Impact probe has been detached."
Everyone working inside mission control looked at the screen with anticipation. They watched as the impact probe barreled down towards the UFO at incredibly high-speeds.
"Impact in 10......"
People's hearts began to race as they began thinking about the possibilities if their theory was indeed correct.
"9.....8.....7"
Their minds began to look forward into the future.
"6.....5.....4"
A future where all of humanity could benefit from the discoveries that they made today.
"3.....2.....1"
Yet, as if fate itself was a cruel mistress, the future that they would receive would be full of chaos.
"IMPACT!"
The impact probe was shattered when it came into contact 'forcefield'. The energy from the impact rippled throughout the field before calming down. Another announcement came afterwards.
"Probe was destroyed upon contact with SMF (Special Magnetic Field)."
There were mixed emotions inside mission control.
A few of them laughed and cheered, including both Dr. William and Dr. Julian, celebrating that their initial theory 9 years ago was indeed correct.
A few of them expressed sadness as they began to think about how powerless they would be when those extraterrestrials decide to invade Earth.
Most were silent for the majority were in awe at the result of the experiment.
"Guys look!" a man exclaimed, pointing at the screen
Moments later, a flash could be seen before growing into bright light which quickly engulfed the entire screen and turning into static. The announcer spoke soon after.
"UO-1's signal.....has been lost."
Everyone continued to look at the static screen before Dr. William spoke up.
"All right everyone. Back to work."
The scientists immediately went back to their usual routine while the large screen's display was changed back to showing mission statuses. The memory of what had happened on this day would be engraved on their minds for their entire lives.
"Guess we better start working on that report huh, Dr. William."
"Guess so."
Both William and Julian soon left the room to compile their report.
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After compiling the report and presenting it to the White House, they decided that its best to continue observing the alien spacecraft in full detail. Although they did have to send the current president to the hospital after suffering from an aneurysm. They made sure to have a cover-up story on why that happened.
Yet as they continue to observe the visitors from the stars, the environment around them continues to deteriorate due to the mistakes that humanity has made. The environmental situation was so bad that by the 2030s, almost all the coastal areas and tiny islands have sunk to the bottom of the ocean due to global warming. The US government was forced divert funding from NASA and other non-essential projects in order to deal with this crisis.
That did not stop technology from progressing however. By that point in time, robots are now an uncommon occurrence in society, replacing some menial jobs. Fusion technology was also achieved thanks to NASA's 'very original and not-at-all copied' technological and research breakthroughs. A new method of power generation has been found with nuclear waste as fuel. And finally, the first ever moon base has been built by the United States as a way to make interplanetary travel in the near future cheaper.
Yet even if these good things have happened, things only took a turn for the worse though. In the year 2038, they attacked.