The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[DualDesertEagle]

25 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Oh, cool!  most of the names are game generated, and I was wondering if this would happen eventually.

And I was wondering if u were using game generated names too and if u also stumbled upon Cerenna and replaced the C with a K just to keep up the "everything starts with a K" meme.

 

Is she also a pilot in ur game? In mine she is and I had her fly a service rover with a KAS container on its back to my Minmus Ground Station (MGS, what a coincidence!) where she now operates said service rover to help Bill set up the KAS connections.

 

I can add a picture of the station if u want but for now I'm not gonna push my post even more off topic than it already is.

[Just Jim]

20 minutes ago, DualDesertEagle said:

And I was wondering if u were using game generated names too and if u also stumbled upon Cerenna and replaced the C with a K just to keep up the "everything starts with a K" meme.

Is she also a pilot in ur game? In mine she is and I had her fly a service rover with a KAS container on its back to my Minmus Ground Station (MGS, what a coincidence!) where she now operates said service rover to help Bill set up the KAS connections.

No, mine originally started with a K, but still it's a cool coincidence. And yes, she's one of my best pilots.

I'm waiting for someone to get Thompberry in their game. It could happen...  

Oh, and I finally thought of my missing story arc... I think it's an arc??? Whatever, I knew if I goofed off thought about it long enough something would pop into my head, and it finally did.  And it's going to tie everything together nicely I think... and as an added bonus, I can now explain the origins of the sinister Zaltonic Electronic underground space program... and who actually started it!

I have to get some more screenshots, but nothing too complicated, so ETA for the next chapter is now Friday.

 

 

[Just Jim]

On 8/15/2016 at 8:28 AM, TopHeavy11 said:

Just try to replace Kerman with real last names.

I didn't see the movie, so I didn't get the joke earlier, but my daughter just explained...  

 

[adsii1970]

Thompberry was hired today...kid you not.

[TopHeavy11]

10 hours ago, Just Jim said:

I didn't see the movie, so I didn't get the joke earlier, but my daughter just explained...  

 

Uh...it wasn't a reference. It was an actual suggestion. Now you'll have to explain to me!

10 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

Thompberry was hired today...kid you not.

Are you serious!?

[adsii1970]

19 minutes ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Uh...it wasn't a reference. It was an actual suggestion. Now you'll have to explain to me!

Are you serious!?

Yep, sure was. In the game I am playing that's the basis for Kerny Kerman's Journal, he was hired yesterday along with four others. When I saw he was available for "hire", I couldn't stop laughing. Oh, the fun I am going to have with him...

[TopHeavy11]

Just now, adsii1970 said:

Oh, the fun I am going to have with him...

My abuse sense is tingling...

[Just Jim]

29 minutes ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Uh...it wasn't a reference. It was an actual suggestion. Now you'll have to explain to me!

Apparently 50 Shades of Grey started off as a Twilight fan-fiction spin-off, and then the author changed the names so it could be published. I looked it up, and there is stuff online that seems to confirm this.

So I'm thinking maybe Emiko Station: 50 Shades of Green?  

11 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

Yep, sure was. In the game I am playing that's the basis for Kerny Kerman's Journal, he was hired yesterday along with four others. When I saw he was available for "hire", I couldn't stop laughing. Oh, the fun I am going to have with him...

Oh my... what's going to happen when your Thompberry see's what I did to him in Emiko, the claymation series?? This could be really fun!

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Oh my... what's going to happen when your Thompberry see's what I did to him in Emiko, the claymation series?? This could be really fun!

[edited by adsii1970 for content]

Oh, yeah... my intentions totally!

1 hour ago, TopHeavy11 said:

My abuse sense is tingling...

Oh, yeah... but mental abuse. As we know, mental abuse is...

[TopHeavy11]

Hey, @adsii1970, are you a moderator?

[adsii1970]

19 minutes ago, TopHeavy11 said:

Hey, @adsii1970, are you a moderator?

Hahahhahahaha.... best joke I have heard in a while. At one point, I was hoping to become one, if ever asked.

No. I doubt I will ever become a moderator. I think the other moderators are afraid that it would be like having gypsies in the palace...

Edited August 18, 2016 by adsii1970

[Jarin]

2 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

No. I doubt I will ever become a moderator. I think the other moderators are afraid that it would be like having gypsies in the palace...

Wow, that's... something. Like, painfully offensively racist something. o.O

[adsii1970]

"Gypsies in the palace" is a reference to a Jimmy Buffet song, hence the hyperlink. And in the strictest since of the term, Gypsy, it isn't a race but a lifestyle or culture.

[Red Iron Crown]

2 hours ago, Jarin said:

Wow, that's... something. Like, painfully offensively racist something. o.O

 

1 hour ago, adsii1970 said:

"Gypsies in the palace" is a reference to a Jimmy Buffet song, hence the hyperlink. And in the strictest since of the term, Gypsy, it isn't a race but a lifestyle or culture.

No racism here, or even culturalism or whatever. "Gypsies in the palace" is not derogatory of gypsies, but instead is a metaphor for being out of place. The songwriter cast himself as one of the gypsies in the song.

[Just Jim]

1 hour ago, Red Iron Crown said:

No racism here, or even culturalism or whatever. "Gypsies in the palace" is not derogatory of gypsies, but instead is a metaphor for being out of place. The songwriter cast himself as one of the gypsies in the song.

Agreed. It's about two of the worst house-sitters imaginable watching their boss's place, which they call the palace, and reminds me in a way of that movie "Weekend at Bernie's."  

[Just Jim]

[snip]

OK, this stops, now!  If you were offended, then on behalf of this thread, please accept my apology.

But having said that, he was quoting the title of a song, and we are NOT going down that road, or we'll be arguing the offensiveness of half the songs ever written!  And I will NOT have my thread shut down because of that!  This is NOT the thread to be arguing about this!

If it doesn't stop now, I will ask one of the moderators to lock down this thread until the next chapter is finished.  

Or I will just stop writing!  

 

[Jarin]

I apologize for the disruption, Jim. I was just legitimately caught off guard by the song. I'll leave well enough alone.

[Just Jim]

15 minutes ago, Jarin said:

I apologize for the disruption, Jim. I was just legitimately caught off guard by the song. I'll leave well enough alone.

It's OK. I'll be the first to admit I go off on stuff sometimes as well.  But I have to be careful, it's been too long since the last chapter and I have to keep things at least close to on topic.

And getting back on topic, I starting writing the next chapter up, but I'm thinking this one is going to be a little more text and less screenshots than usual. Not positive yet, but some stuff I just don't know what to take a picture of... 

I'm a little behind because of a mandatory afternoon T-storm, so ETA is late tomorrow or Saturday.

[Vanamonde]

Some posts have been removed from this thread or edited. Please do not drag racial slurs into an argument against racial slurs. It defeats the purpose. 

Please resume discussing the actual topic of this thread. 

[michal.don]

On 18. 8. 2016 at 2:56 AM, adsii1970 said:

Thompberry was hired today...kid you not.

Well, I consider it close enough

The first Kerbal hired to my starting RSS/SMURFF/Historical contracts career playthrough. He sure as hell isn't going anywhere unsupervised 

Michal.don

[Just Jim]

18 hours ago, michal.don said:

Well, I consider it close enough

The first Kerbal hired to my starting RSS/SMURFF/Historical contracts career playthrough. He sure as hell isn't going anywhere unsupervised 

Michal.don

Oh, it's definitely close enough! And my Thompberry started off as a scientist as well! Keep a close eye on that one!  

As for Emiko, I thought of a way to throw some screenshots into this and not hit y'all with a massive wall o' text, and I think I got them all yesterday. I'm going to go make some coffee and get a little more awake, then start sorting and uploading, and try to get this chapter done today. I know it's taken me forever, but after this one things should return back to normal.

Edited August 20, 2016 by Just Jim

[DualDesertEagle]

19 hours ago, michal.don said:

Well, I consider it close enough

The first Kerbal hired to my starting RSS/SMURFF/Historical contracts career playthrough. He sure as hell isn't going anywhere unsupervised 

Michal.don

I'd totally stick him on a plane as a test pilot and sabotage the controls!

 

EDIT: Or even better, I'd perforate the fuel lines and loosen a battery wire so that it would fall off during a tight maneuver and cause a shortage and thus a spark to ignite the fuel dripping from the leak!

EDIT 2: Even better yet, I'd mount 1 of the wings to a remotely fired decoupler!

Edited August 20, 2016 by DualDesertEagle

[TheEpicSquared]

Ummm...

I'm legitimately a little creeped out now...

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

Oh my.....

Edited August 20, 2016 by Emperor of the Titan Squid

[Just Jim]

Chapter 61
Sins of the Father

 

Once Werhner von Kerman finished his tale of Emiko's disappearance there was dead silence inside the old hanger. For several minutes no-one spoke or moved, and Gene could barely breath. He had always suspected von Kerman was hiding something about his trip to the north pole, but never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined the truth... Well, until recently. Now, in light of recent events, it was quite believable, and perhaps it was for the best that Werhner had kept quiet all these years.

Meanwhile Emiko looked at Werhner in absolute wonder and amazement.

"All these years... Werhner kept Emiko's secret. All these years... " she whispered in awe. "Emiko... Emiko knows not... Words to say..."

"It's OK, Emiko," Werhner smiled back warmly, "I understand you... I always have."

But then Kerenna Kerman's distraught voice broke over the intercom. "Thompberry..... Oh, Thompberry.... How... how horrible! I.... we... had no idea!"

Aboard the Diamondback-A SSTO, Kerenna was in tears again. Abandoned? Thompberry had been abandoned as a child??? And left there alone while his own parents fled into the night, never to be seen again? In spite of all Thompberry had done to her, Kerenna couldn't help but weep in pity, and now begin to truly understand how he had become so filled with hate and rage.

But Thompberry surprised Kerenna when he gurgled softly, "Kerenna Kerman <bubble> do not cry for me."

"But your parents... they... they..."

"They were <gurgle> possessed. Possessed... How... how could I <gurgle boil> We <bubble> have been so blind? Weep for them, Kerenna, not for me...<gurgle> for them!" Thompberry paused, then continued in an even softer voice. "I hated them. <gurgle> hated them so very much <gurgle boil> for what they did. But we <gurgle> we never knew the truth.... <gurgle gurgle> Possessed??? If this is true <gurgle bubble> then it was never <gurgle> never really their fault."

Again there was a long moment of silence, until Kerenna's curiosity got the best of her. "You said we... we who? Do you mean the Kerbins that took you in?"

"Yes, Kerenna. <gurgle> But I need a moment, please. <gurgle> Gene Kerman <gurgle> tell Kerenna and your company what occurred next. <Bubble> How your KRASH club became KASA. <gurgle> And of the Zaltonic-1 probe. It is relevant."

Back at the old hanger, Gene didn't quite understand where this was going, but kept his doubts to himself as he began describing the events in the months and years following the great KRASH club fire.

"Well, the first thing we did was to rebuild the R&D wreckage into the most modern facility funds could buy. Progress was agonizingly slow, contracts got bogged down in seemingly endless red tape, and the project took years longer than expected. But in the end we had, and still have, the most advanced and modern facility on the planet."

"Once the labs were finished, we focused on rebuilding the rest of the space center, but again were plagued with an endless stream of contract disputes and red tape. There were many times I felt someone just had it in for us, but we persisted, and after nearly 2 decades, the center was complete, and renamed the Kerbin Aeronautics and Space Administration."

"Although we were refused permission to launch any rockets during the construction phase, we were still receiving a steady stream of contract offers to do research around the planet, and these kept additional funds rolling in. Young Jeb, Bob, and Bill had stayed on and become a fairly close knit team, and under Werhner and my supervision, were given the task of handling these research contracts, much to their pride and delight, and were soon providing an impressive amount of data."

Gene paused and looked at Emiko in pride.

"A few years before construction was complete, your granddaughter Valentina applied. And her credentials were amazing! I have to be honest, I would have hired her on the spot for just for being your granddaughter. But Emiko... Emiko, I can't wait for you to see her now!"

From across the hanger Piper smiled in pride, "Emiko, ma'am, it's true. Valentina taught me everything I know, and it was her training that kept us alive on the Mun. I don't doubt that for a second." Next to her the Rocklady and Frannie Kerman nodded in complete agreement.

When the signal reached the Duna Raptor, Jeb, Bob and Bill started clapping while Val did everything she could to maintain her composure... and failed miserably. But Jeb, who was currently seated in the back row of the passenger section with her, knew how proud Val was, and came to her rescue before she broke down completely.

"I remember that first satellite launch like it was yesterday," Jeb interrupted, "It went so perfectly. Do you remember, Boss?"

In the several seconds it took for Gene to receive the message, Val looked over at Jeb with tears in her eyes, waited until neither Bob or Bill could see her face, and silently whispered over to Jeb, "I love you... thank you..."

Jeb waited until it was safe and silently whispered back, "You're welcome... I love y...."

But just then Gene, having received Jeb's last message, came over the intercom. "Yes, it was a beautiful launch."

"All those years of research and planning and designing had paid off," Gene continued with pride, "Werhner's rocket worked brilliantly, and within minutes we were deploying our very first orbital satellite!"

But then Gene scowled and looked down at Werhner, who pick up the story from there. "Yes, the KASA-1 satellite was a huge success. But once it had been brought online, we made a rather... startling discovery."

"Startling is an understatement," Gene frowned. "Once KASA-1 came online we began to receive a strange signal. It took a while to pin down, but once we did, we realized it was coming from another satellite, one that was already in orbit!"

"Only later did we learn a newly formed company named Zaltonic Electronics had secretly started it's own space program, and much to KASA's embarrassment, successfully put it's own satellite into orbit days before us!"

"And it didn't stop there. KASA was founded as a public entity, not as a business or company, and what profits we make go right back into research KASA, not some CEO's pocket. But for years Zaltonic was right there, doing it's best to compete with KASA like it was some rival business. And with a highly suspicious success rate, I might add. More than once I've wondered if they had planted a mole among us, but I've never found a trace of one. Still, their technology is almost identical to our own, and to this day still raises concerns..." 

Gene drifted off, not sure of what to say next. This is what Thompberry had asked to tell of, so he waited patiently to see if they would receive a reply. But when the reply came it was nothing like what Gene expected, and he couldn't believe his ears.

"Yesss... Gene <gurgle gurgle> Zaltonic had a mole... the perfect mole... <gurgle bubble> A mole so secret <gurgle> even he didn't know <gurgle gurgle> One whom you trusted <gurgle> implicitly <gurgle> at least at first." Thompberry paused for a second as an odd feeling of guilt filled him, then continued. "That mole <bubble bubble> Gene Kerman <gurgle> was my foster-brother <gurgle bubble> Parka B. Kerman!"

It took a few seconds to really register, and when it did, Gene whispered in shock, "Your... what???" Then he waited in disbelief for a reply.

"Yes, Gene <gurgle> It was the Rokea family that took me in <gurgle> Not out of kindness, mind you. <bubble bubble> Rokea Kerman Jr, my foster father <boil seethe> had his own interests in mind <bubble gurgle> And Gene, he hated you... Oh, how father hated you!" 

Gene didn't know what to say, or think, and stood there numb while Thompberry continued.

"Understand, Gene <bubble gurgle> the fire at the KRASH club <gurgle> occurred only days after the passing of Rokea Sr. <bubble gurgle> And just scant days after that <bubble> your Grand Kerbal stepped in <gurgle gurgle> and my foster father was shut out. After that he founded Zaltonic Electronics <gurgle> but kept his ownership a secret. <gurgle> You spoke of all the <gurgle> red tape you encountered. <bubble gurgle> That was Rokea's doing. <bubble> All to discredit you, Gene"

"But Gene <gurgle> you must not be upset <gurgle> at Parka. <bubble> I mean it when I say <bubble> he was an innocent mole <gurgle> and has a good heart. <bubble gurgle> It was his father<bubble> Rokea <seethe> who deserves your anger. <gurgle> Rokea whom I believe <gurgle> encouraged you to take young Parka <gurgle> as your personnel intern. <bubble> and later pumped him for every ounce <boil blurp> of information he could <gurgle boil> all the while playing the role <seethe> of the interested doting father."

Thompberry paused, then continued in a slightly more subdued tone.

"And it shames me to admit <gurgle> but back then <gurgle> I used him as well. <gurgle> Doctor von Kerman, you spoke of Emiko leaving one last notebook. <bubble> I assume it's still locked in the false bottom <gurgle> of the second drawer on the right side<bubble> of your desk?"

When he heard this, von Kerman was so stunned he could only whisper, "How... I told no-one!!!"

"No, von Kerman, you didn't <gurgle> It was your... <gurgle> affection??? <bubble> for Emiko that betrayed you. <gurgle> Not once, but several times <gurgle> Parka spied you with the notebook. <gurgle> he said you never wrote in it <gurgle> or even opened it <bubble> but still we were convinced it was <bubble boil> some very top secret project. <gurgle> And it was I who <bubble gurgle> convinced Parka to sneak into your office late at night <boil steam> with a screwdriver and a camera...."

Again Thompberry paused, then continued slowly, this time his weird voice filled with remorse.

"But understand, all of you <gurgle> what we did... it was a mistake <gurgle> a mistake beyond measure. <gurgle> Parka... he, he was the lucky one <gurgle blurp> he never saw <gurgle> the photos, or read what horrors they contained. <gurgle gurgle. But madam Emiko, do you understand <gurgle seethe> when I say <bubble> may all the gods forgive me... I did read them!!!"

Back at the hanger, Emiko responded softly, "Emiko remembers little... but enough. Emiko is so very, very sorry"

"Do not be, Emiko <gurgle> if you have forgotten <gurgle> then you are fortunate. <bubble> Those notes <gurgle> are filled with hate <bubble> and when I realized this was <gurgle> supposedly said by my parents <bubble gurgle> I became obsessed <gurgle> and I believe my <bubble> sanity itself began to <bubble> slip. I became obsessed with the idea <gurgle> that my parents had run off <bubble> and joined those <bubble gurgle > that had made the saucers. <gurgle boil> And sometime not long after <gurgle> I convinced myself <Bubble> that I was destined to be their <gurgle> their leader!"

On board the Diamondback, Kerenna softly chimed in, "Now it's all beginning to make sense. I mean about you, and your obsession with the saucers."

"Yes, Kerenna <gurgle> and my foster father.... <gurgle> His hatred for KASA <bubble gurgle> was easy to manipulate <gurgle bubble> and he soon gave me free access <bubble boil> to all of the <gurgle> Zaltonic resources. And I used them <gurgle> Oh, how I used them! <bubble gurgle> And not one of them knowing <gurgle> what they were actually building!"

"Alpha-77," Kerenna whispered.

"Correct, Kerenna, and so many other probes <gurgle> before it. But it was Alpha-77 that located <gurgle> the old saucer at the north pole <bubble boil> lost after so many years. <gurgle> And when I visited the site myself <gurgle, and saw the old flag that was left there <bubble> I knew this was the same saucer <gurgle> hinted at in Emiko's last writings. <gurgle> And that this had to be the place where my parents had vanished."

"And so you left it there. But wait... didn't Doctor von Kerman just say that saucer wasn't a ship at all, but a portal like the floating and Magic Boulders? Does that mean..." Kerenna drifted off into stunned silence at the revelation, and waited for Thompberry to answer.

"Yes, Kerenna <Gurgle> I believe it does. <bubble gurgle> Alpha-77 didn't become sentient on it own <gurgle bubble> someone, or something, on the other side of that saucer portal <gurgle> programmed it!"

Back at the old hanger, Gene and the rest of the crew had been listening with amazement, but didn't interrupt.

"But why?" Kerenna implored, "Why would these... saucer beings... whatever they are... why would they do that to it?"

"I don't know <gurgle> Kerenna Kerman <gurgle gurgle> But I have no doubt it is somehow <gurgle> tied to these other <bubble> recent events. <bubble> And while I admit I may not be entirely <bubble gurgle> shall we say... lucid? <gurgle> You must believe me <gurgle> when I say <gurgle bubble> we need to find answers... <gurgle> and very, very soon... or else..."

But as cold and cruel as part of him still was, Thompberry couldn't bear to finish.

 

 

The Saga of Emiko Station, and the Tale of Emiko Kerman are far, far from over...

Go to Chapter 62
Return to Index

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by Just Jim