Project Covenant
Project Covenant was founded shortly after World War II when an alien vessel landed in New Mexico, followed shortly thereafter by a landing outside of Kapustin Yar ("Russia's Roswell") in the USSR. People had seen what horrors man had ushered into existence just a few years before with the introduction of nuclear weapons; the possibility that one superpower or the other might gain the upper hand through researching alien tech was unthinkable. Nuclear weapons were already out of the bag, and there was nothing they could do to stop proliferation and an eventual arms race. But what if one of these technologies made even nuclear weapons useless? Sometimes the most threatening weapon is an impenetrable shield...
A small group of spies, scientists, military leaders and politicians broke their oaths of loyalty and founded a new Covenant for the sake of humanity, vowing that the weapons and technologies they discovered would never be used by men to conquer men, and also to build a secret military infrastructure--an extraterrestrial combat force--to repel a full-blown alien invasion should that threat someday come to Earth.
Since 1947, Project Covenant has been responsible for investigating possible alien activity, covering up XT influences and hoarding and protecting XT technology. If there ever were any Men in Black, these guys most closely fit the bill.
Project Covenant's response protocol was drawn up from information teased from the data banks of multiple alien computers from several ships that landed and were captured. The alien strategy became known as the SAIC doctine: surveillance, assimilation, infiltration, corruption. This method of invasion took years to complete, so the founders planned to take advantage of that window. They focused much of their efforts on counterintelligence and intelligence-gathering, hoping that if they could at least spot the first two steps in the XTs plan, they might stop the last two. During this window between detecting an invasion attempt and alien boots on the ground, the founders figured they would have years to come out of the shadows, fill their ranks and get a fully staffed force ready to fight the enemy.
These plans, however, did not account for the fact that the aliens (the Collective, from whom all the captured ships had been stolen) were in the process of changing their tactics, and the data in their ships' computers did not convey this updated information.
As they say, "You're always ready to fight the last war again."
Known Personnel
General MacArthur Nils
Lillian Kjelstad
Project Founding
The following history of Project Covenant is recounted by Agent Lillian Kjelstad, custodian of Bunker November
The inspiration for the project began before the alien ships began to land on earth, though those events really gave the founders motivation to turn their concerns into a reality. With the Manhattan Project bringing nuclear weapon technology into reality, many in the scientific community had grave concerns about how the control of such destructive would change the world.
Some scientists such as Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer were approached by this concerned group, but Oppenheimer plunged forward with his research regardless, driven by the perceived need to end World War II. The weapons were not developed until after VE day, and were too late to be used against Germany, which Oppenheimer was reportedly disappointed by. He and many of his colleagues were grateful to be able to contribute to the war effort, but were "very upset" when a second weapon was deployed to bomb Nagasaki, feeling it was unnecessary. They naively realized then that control over the technology they had discovered had slipped out of their hands, if they ever had any control of it at all. Oppenheimer slowly crept back to those concerned scientist with a much-humbled view of his own importance.
With his new-found political importance, Oppenheimer used his clout to lobby for international control of nuclear power and to avert nuclear proliferation. He met with many other scientists and foreign interests to further these aims. With the start of the Cold War, the first alien spacecraft began landing on Earth, complicating matters immensely. Oppenheimer, along with many noted scientists were called to examine wreckage. Seeing what they had on their hands--honest-to-God extraterrestrial technology--they saw a second chance to maintain control where they had failed so miserably before. With notable scheming, treachery, misdirection and co-opting key officials, the scientists barely managed to conceal the original landing, passing it off as something mundane. To this day, conspiracies abound, and the truth is caked in so many layers of deceit that it may never be truly known.
This event gave Oppenheimer and his new colleagues even greater drive; the same mentality that wrested control of the bomb from them was still holding that weapon at the throat of humanity. The last thing they wanted was something new and more powerful to come onto the scene and make matters even worse. They were able to draw in key personnel in the military and intelligence communities on both sides of the Iron Curtain, operatives who had been involved in some of the opening battles of the Cold War. They understood the motivations of the political figures and parties all too well, and came to believe that alien technology in the hands of these groups could easily spell the end of humanity.
Because of his work on the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer and several of his staff were closely watched by the FBI to make sure he wasn't selling secrets to the Soviets. Many of the persons he met with were Soviet scientists and NKVD agents, and because of this, Oppenheimer eventually lost his security clearances and was largely stripped of any political clout and authority. Dropping out of the limelight only freed him to pursue the goals of the group he had joined. With knowledge of extraterrestrial life, and their apparent hostility, the group not only sought to safeguard humanity from having other-worldly weapons used against them, but sought to build an invasion preparedness network that could respond to an alien attack.
With the original test of the first atomic weapon named "Trinity," Oppenheimer joked that they should give their new group the name "Covenant," as they were making a promise to mankind that they would safeguard them from this brand of destruction. The name stuck, and the group became known as Project Covenant.
Staffing
Initial project members were mostly scientists, but they were able to lure in some political figures, as well. Co-opting military men was risky, but when nuclear proliferation became a reality and the conflicts of the Cold War began playing out, it became easier draw in defectors. Also, with espionage between the Western and Eastern superpowers raging, it was sometimes surprisingly easy to stage kidnappings and disappearances and have intelligence agencies on both sides immediately assume the other was to blame without looking for a third party that claimed no national allegiance.
Membership to the Project was not restricted to Americans; some of the earliest supporters were Soviets and German scientists liberated from Nazi Europe during Operation Paperclip. The Soviets started out behind in the arms race (though they would soon catch up), and the Europeans saw that their homeland would likely once again be a battleground if hostilities broke out between NATO forces and the Eastern Bloc. Many Japanese researchers were drawn into the project out of respect, among other things; their nation was the first to feel the wrath of nuclear weapons. Though not a major contributor at first, in later years, Japanese interests would provide much-needed financial aid to the project and research assistance.
