Further extracts from the reports by Lt Algernon Carmichael-Jefferies of the 22nd West Kent Lancers.
The Syrtians maintain a powerful aerial fleet of flying warships. Unlike the small hovering silver craft of the Olympians, those of this Southern empire are closer in design to our own ships, although their arrow-head like profiles are somewhat removed from human configurations. Unlike Earth built vessels, they appear not to use steam power, having no recognizable funnels or chimneys. Instead, their energy requirements appear to be fed by some sort of rechargeable translucent crystal with colors running from a deep ice blue through to a bright emerald green. We chanced upon a downed and abandoned small civilian vessel deep in the deserts and were able to recover a sample of this crystalline power store for inspection by Her Majesty's scientists. Each has a pair of 'sails' which we surmise are for steering and altitude change, almost like ailerons and fins.
Their armament is carried in rotating hemispherical turrets similar to Earth vessels, although we saw ships with large turrets bearing three gun barrels that appeared to spin around a central axis. The most unusual weapon we saw was a large indirect fire cannon akin to a mortar or bombard fitted to a battleship sized craft – we can think of no equivalent device in any navy on our home planet. Another we observed had a battery of rockets on a large trainable mounting. We have yet to see a Syrtian weapon discharge (fortunately, one might say!) so we know little of their detailed design – whether they use explosives, solid shots, canister or some other infernal technology, we were unable to establish.
They also use smaller winged craft which are remarkably fast and agile. Triangular in plan, they resemble nothing so much as a child's kite, which is how we refer to them. They seem to be an equivalent of our own fixed-wing fighters and bombers – indeed, we saw larger examples with what much have been high-explosive bombs suspended from their wings.
All of the vessels were a sandy color in appearance, but with an abundance of colored stripes, panels and other markings which can only be for identification purposes.
VANFP-6001 – Syrtian Fleet Pack – £28.00 GBP
VANFP-6011 – Syrtian Kite Squadron – £7.50 GBP
VAN-6001 – Ul Shuttr class Battleship – £10.00 GBP
VAN-6002 – Ul Hanir class Bombard – £10.00 GBP
VAN-6003 – Nisan ul Mayib class Cruiser – £3.25 GBP
VAN-6004 – Misrak class Destroyer – £2.00 GBP
VAN-6005 – Symahn class Frigate – £1.25 GBP
VAN-6006 – Zeqam class Fighter (x6) – £1.25 GBP
VAN-6007 – Nusair class Bomber (x3) – £1.25 GBP