Official Champion Incident Report

United Human Coalition
Department of the Admiralty
Naveah, Platon

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified
AUTHENTICATION CODE: Uniform-Papa-6292


Official Champion Incident Report

The F-16 Champion, an Archer Class frigate, was lost to ground fire over the planet Eden Prime in the Hodierno system. The Champion was escorting the Research & Science Vessel Hubble (RSV-167) on the semi-annual communiqué mission to the Leper’s on said planet. Both vessels were berthed at Junction Naval Station in the Alpha Centauri System. According to naval doctrine the Champion was the first to make the FTL jump to ensure destination is clear of hostile’s, and the Hubble followed suit thirty minutes later.
         The Champion exited jump 100,000 kilometers from Eden Prime, and began making initial scans for potential threats. The Champion relayed the all clear, and the Hubble began its jump procedures. While the Hubble was making the FTL jump, the Champion entered Eden Prime’s exosphere and began collecting intelligence on the Lepers via digital photographs and surface scans. The RSV Hubble exited the FTL jump only 50,000 kilometers from Eden Prime. Hubble radioed Champion and began transmitting the communiqué. Champion transmitted on the naval emergency frequency with the following message:

         “Hubble Actual this is Champion Actual, we have experienced a massive explosion in our number four engine. Have not identified cause of explosion, believe to be under attack. Our power is draining rapidly and we have begun to enter the lower atmosphere. Starting emergency landing procedures”

         The Hubble was able to locate the Champion on radar and bring up the ship on the HUD. The following is an official after action report from the commander of the Hubble, CMDR Neena.

We were able to bring up the Champion on our HUD, and the vessel was clearly in distress. The number four engine was destroyed, and the number two engine right above it was disabled as well. The vessel was listing to port, and entering Eden Prime’s atmosphere in a flat spin decent. The commander of Champion relayed a message to me via the Commanders Frequency, and informed me that he believed they had been attacked by the Leper’s. He ordered me to return to Junction and report the attack. We lost communication with the Champion, and we watched as she slipped beneath the stratospheric clouds. With the possibility of hostile action from the Leper’s, and my vessel not being armed, I immediately ordered us to jump back to Junction.”

         Junction Naval Station had received all transmissions between the Champion and Hubble, and immediately notified the UHC executive branch before the Hubble even jumped back. The Champion’s log had been downloaded at Junction prior to its destruction, and was analyzed to determine the cause of the incident. While the Chief of Staff of the Army and Navy both agreed that the Champion had been brought down by force, and immediately called for a unilateral declaration of war. The Senior Legislative Quorum held an emergency session within hours of the incident, and irrefutable evidence was presented by the Admiralty that the vessel was indeed brought down by hostile action.  The evidence presented to the Legislative Quorum during this closed door emergency session has since been lost, and therefore unable to be regarded as valid evidence. The Legislative Quorum unanimously voted for a declaration of war, and by the next day, the UHC was at war with an unsuspecting foe.


Conclusion
The Archer class of frigates were built with a prototype engine which proved to be unreliable at best. When the Champion entered the exosphere of Eden Prime she experienced a coolant pump malfunction in the number four engine, and failed to register on the engine control room computer. The engine readout on the bridge was notified, but went un-noticed by the crew. The engine overheated and exploded taking out the number two engine above it.
According to the Ships Log, and all available evidence, the frigate Champion suffered from a mechanical malfunction and that is what ensured her demise. Although the Champion reported being attacked, there are no indications as to the validity of that claim. 


Vice Admiral Alexia Yordovich
Head of Investigative Committee

Committee Members:

Marcus Young
Senior Quorum Representative

Commodore Isabelle Reise
Chief of Naval Intelligence

Dr. Elise Jorgenson
Senior Scientific Expert for UHC Legislature