re: the mission script is readable — phase 1 never advanced because we killed the wrong things

The localised string tables are decoded. language\*_local_string.tbl uses a
third archive prefix, language\, and is not IDXD: the magic is IXUD and the
strings are UTF-16 big-endian, which is why earlier ASCII-oriented dumps of
these files produced garbage.

That makes Stage 02's nine sub-objectives readable in words -- rescue the ally
destroyer, destroy all enemy fighters, sink all enemy warships, rescue the
Amalthea, keep the Caliban undamaged, sink the destroyer targeting the
Acropolis, destroy all enemy cruise missiles. Ninety-one objectives are defined
across the game.

The guide script then confirms the phase structure twice over. It reads as three
acts -- marked attackers and protecting the Acropolis, then a warship whose
engine, weapons and shield projector must be destroyed, then cruise missiles
taken down one by one -- and each act matches the per-phase roster composition
found independently. Phase 3 fields exactly nine UN_e201_ADAN_ISCMissile against
SUBOBJ_013's "You destroyed all enemy cruise missiles", an exact match between
two files decoded on different days by different routes.

And it gives a mundane explanation for every null result in the arrival work.
The phase-1 objective is stated outright in the script: the attackers with the
orange markers are the targets, meaning UN_e010_ADAN_Attacker_S, of which phase
1 fields four squadrons. Every loss line in every run log reads
UN_e007_ADAN_Turret, with e010 appearing twice in total, because SYLPH_HUNT was
built to make turrets targets and SYLPH_KEEPOUT was tuned for them. The 42 kills
were overwhelmingly the wrong 42.

Kept at 🟡 because the objective text is certain but the inference that this
particular objective gates the phase advance comes from the script's structure
rather than from measurement. The test is a pilot that prioritises e010 over
e007, which is a target-preference knob rather than new decoding, with the
existing probe watching deployed jump from 41 toward the phase-2 roster.

docs/re/BACKLOG.md

@@ -531,6 +531,21 @@ search cannot find a *schedule*.
   a consequence of the phase, never its cause. ⇒ the logic is in **code**, and
   `default.xex` is encrypted on disc, so the decrypted image exists only in guest
   RAM. That is the honest end of the static search.
+* ✅🟡 **(2026-08-24) The mission script is READABLE — and phase 1 never advanced
+  because the pilot killed the wrong things.**
+  [`mission-objectives-text.md`](mission-objectives-text.md).
+  ✅ `language\*_local_string.tbl` is **`IXUD`, UTF-16-BE** (prefix `language\`,
+  a third convention) — that encoding is why earlier dumps looked like garbage.
+  ✅ Stage 02's nine sub-objectives in words (*"You destroyed all enemy
+  fighters!"*, *"You sunk all enemy warships!"*, *"You destroyed all enemy cruise
+  missiles!"*). ✅ **Phases confirmed twice over**: the guide script is three acts
+  — marked attackers → warship engine/weapons/shield → missiles — matching the
+  per-phase rosters, with phase 3's **`UN_e201_ADAN_ISCMissile` ×9** exactly
+  matching `SUBOBJ_013`. 🟡 **Phase-1 objective is stated outright: destroy the
+  MARKED ATTACKERS** (`UN_e010_ADAN_Attacker_S`, 4 squadrons) — but every loss
+  line in every run reads `UN_e007_ADAN_Turret`, because `SYLPH_HUNT`/`KEEPOUT`
+  were built for turrets. **42 kills were the wrong 42.** **Test: a pilot that
+  prioritises `e010` over `e007`**, watching `deployed` jump from 41.
   🔴 `SYLPH_HZ=3` refuted as a lever: it gave the LOWEST frame rate (8/s) with the
   most kills, so pilot polling is not the throttle.
 * ~~🚧 BLOCKER: t=210/240 unreachable in one turn~~ — **superseded, see above**;