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Etherium: A Kerbal Space Program Story (Chapter 43: The Final Push, part two)


Draconiator

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2 hours ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Oh Mah GAWD. That's like, totes suspense. Scream, Jeb, scream with delight!

*But Nobody Came...

Ahhhhh you know Jeb.  lol, I wanted to flesh his personality out a little more.  And this is possibly happiest he ever gets in the entire story.

1 hour ago, DMSP said:

Daphmy can't go crazy! She just can't! She needs to run! Hide behind Minmus!

She can't, because she fell asleep, hah.  About that time for the mandatory sleep period for them all, actually.  Imagine a ship full of moaning, grunting Kerbals...:D

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MOOOORNING, Another day calls for another chapter.  and THIS one...

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Back on the surface, Jeb, Haydi, and Mactop had made it to Mactop's Fishtail trainer, and they apparently had stopped precisely where the alien weapon landed.  They stayed in the sleek plane, but looked around to see if they could find anything, any clue as to what happenned.  

Haydi spoke first.  "See anything?  I don't.  There's nothing here-wait...look at the trainer.  There's something else there."

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Jeb and Mactop followed her finger, but couldn't make whatever it was out.  Haydi then increased the magnification to maximum, and saw a tiny roverlike probe...with a blue light hooked up to it.  It seemed to be interested in the Fishtail for some reason.

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Jeb cooked up a plan to attract it to them so they could scoop it up.  He had rigged the radio to emit the same interference the alien probes emit.  Hopefully that would make it think the Monster was its mothership, and head towards it.  Jeb fired up the modified radio, and sure enough, the tiny rover began moving toward the Monster!  When it got close enough, he lowered a cargo harness, and hauled it up into the Monster.

Haydi was on the ball after it was secured.  "JEB, HIT IT!"

Jeb threw the throttle forwards, and soon the massive plane was airborne once again.

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Haydi had a sense of relief that this ordeal was over.  "Mission accomplished, Jeb.  You sure are NOT my type...but you are one HECK of a good pilot.  And I admire that."

Jeb had to blush at Haydi's comment.  "Thanks...I think?  I can be a little rough around the edges sure...but NEVER question how I can handle a plane."  Jeb grinned, and Haydi grinned back.  "Lets just get this thing back to KSC."

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Jeb turned to Haydi.  "I gotta hand it to you, having piloted this thing, I can say that this is a WELL-designed plane.  Handles a bit sluggish, but I doubt she was designed for maneuverability.  Props to the designer!  Who designed her anyway?"

Haydi just smiled and said "I did.  I believe I can requisition some time off in a month, you want me to make you a smaller version?"

Jeb just HAD to have one, and his agreement could be heard at KSC through the intercom system.

High over Kerbin, everyone aboard the KSS Munhat had just went to sleep for their 8-hour mandatory rest.   All throughout the ship, snoring could be heard, as well as the occasional "get-your-foot-out-of-my-ear", but for the most part the Munhat was quiet, and peaceful.

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Which was precisely the time a strange new ship appeared next to the huge vessel.

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Everyone aboard the Munhat was sleeping, so they did not notice this newcomer.  But the Munhat's sensor array did.  It still used the old name of the ship, because it hadn't been updated yet.

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The interference caused by the...whatever the forward half of the Jeb was now, then crashed the Munhat's computers, but not before the ship began to maneuver.  It pointed itself towards the aft-section where the engines were located, then accelerated towards the ship, obliterating the engine section!

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Now the Munhat was drifting, helpless.  The jolt woke up everyone aboard the ship, all trying to figure out what that huge explosion was.  Klaxons began blaring throughout the ship as the strange vessel began another run.

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But this time, it just stopped, and waited.  The radio jamming beam ensured that the crew of the Munhat could not call for help.  The strange vessel just waited.  And suddenly, something even stranger hapenned.  A weird...probe-looking thing "liquefied" out of the blue ship.  It looked armed to the teeth as well, as the protrusions out front looked like gun barrels.

The crew of the Munhat saw this and began to panic, with alarms blaring in the background.  The ship had no lifepods, and thus no chance of escape.  They just watched as the weird probe came closer and closer...

....and then started to attack!   Laser targeting reticules were projected onto the Munhat for the probe, but it just fired blindly at the Munhat. The Kerbonauts aboard didn't know what to do and frantically called for help via radio, but that fell on deaf ears as the radio was out.  They had no idea how they were going to survive this...

...and as quickly as the attack came, the wierd probe melded back into the Jeb, and the Jeb flew off.

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As Kerbol came around the eastern limb of Kerbin, the destruction was glimpsed for the first time by the surviving Kerbals.  Why had this happenned?  What did they do?

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They were alone...around a planet in a broken ship with no working comms equipment.  Surely someone at KSC would notice the radio silence and investigate.  But how long would they have to wait?  Would the strange ship be back?  would this be the end...of KSC?

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Goooooooood morning Kerbonauts!!  ...should we be called Kerbonauts too?  Anyway, another day means another chapter!

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Jeb felt like he had just been given one of the worst jobs in the world.  He was ordered to keep a close watch on the odd rover, and report if anything strange happened.  He also was given a hand-held radar, and told to "keep an eye on it.  It's locked onto it."  He decided to corner it in an alcove that was also the entrance to a VAB press meeting room, so that it couldn't escape.

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The staring contest was getting on Jeb's nerves.  What was this thing?  He examined the rover, and the technology was unlike anything he had seen before.  Futuristic, perhaps.  And besides the battery, every small light on it was blue.  Blue light...huh.  Why is it ALWAYS blue light?  He wished Valentina was here...but she was away; the head of a base on Minmus and wouldn't be due back for some months.  He knew what he was getting into when he married her - they were so alike in so many ways...

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Long into dusk, Jeb kept a vigil on the strange robot, which did not move nearly at all, but DID make strange noises, like one of those robots on TV.  At this point Jeb was getting pretty thirsty.  He thought a jaunt inside the meeting room to the water cooler would not hurt any,  so off he went.

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In the meeting room, he ran across Haydi, who was also getting a drink of water.

"Hello Jeb!  How goes the babysitting?"

Jeb looked disgusted.  "It hasn't moved an inch in HOURS.  I'm bored...and what could that thing do anyway?  Ram the building?"

Haydi had to laugh.  "Maybe?  We'd have to spend 200 Funds to repair it, and you KNOW we don't have that kind of money."

Sarcasm.  Done right it was a wonderful stress reliever, and Jeb knew it.  Still, even he was worried...

"I gotta get back out there.  See ya Haydi!"  And Jeb ran back out of the meeting room, down the path...but the robot was gone.

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He began to think where it would have gone off to, but then he figured....blue light.  He could follow the blue light to it.  He gave chase in the transport, all the while thinking he could have been a Kerbal World Championship racecar driver as well as a pilot.

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He had found it hanging around at the entrance to the R&D section of KSP, but when he approached, the little rover took off again!  What had gotten into this crazy thing?!

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All night long it was a cat and mouse game.  Jeb tired of it, but at least he found out that he could drive just about as well as he could fly.  Soon, he lost sight of the little bot, but still searched exhaustively for it.  The bot and its advanced AI however, was onto Jeb and it shut it's blue light off, and engaged radar stealth mode.  Its vision impaired, it continued in the direction of the tracking station, and hid itself under a satellite dish, tipping over in the process.

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Jeb continued the search well into the next day, long before the KSC opened for the day.  He felt so tired and defeated...and driving to a spot beside the runway, he yawned and fell asleep.

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But unbeknownst to Jeb, the little rover was right where it tipped over. and as Kerbol rose, it began emitting a carrier wave directed skyward.  And the recipient of this carrier wave was something far more deadly than a little box on wheels...and if the carrier became instructions...

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I haven't really worked on my story lately on my hard drive, but that's okay, we have quite a buffer to go.  RL issues, mostly.  Anyway, here's the next exciting installment!

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Morning.  Even though Gene's mind was heavy with recent happenings, it always found a way to cheer him up.  Staring out the window at Kerbol coming up with a hot cup of koffee...the perfect way to begin work at Administration.  He sighed happily as he watched some birds chasing each other, and saw some animals on the launch pad via remote cam that would need to be moved; they had a satellite launch that day.  Stretching, he started humming to himself as he strolled to the control room, and sat in his "Command Chair" as he called it.  From here, he ran all of KSC.  from here...he could see the radar...and he got the shock of his life.  Where the KSS Munhat was supposed to be, was a string of debris.  He couldn't make heads or tails of it...he blinked a few times, even reset the ENTIRE radar system at KSC, but when it rebooted and the system came back green, it still showed the same string of debris.

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Jeb meanwhile was snoozing in the transport vehicle by the side of the runway, when panicked screaming from Gene startled him awake.  "JEEEEEEB! JEB DO YOU COPY? THE MUNHAT IS GONE! THE MUNHAT IS DESTROYED!"

Jeb immediately grabbed the radio. "You SURE?!"

"I am!  It should show on your personal radar!"

Jeb looked at his radar, and sure enough, he saw the same debris that Gene saw.

Jeb was absolutely gobsmacked. "Holy Son of a Kerbal...HOW?!?!"

Gene sounded sad.  "I...don't know.  And looking at the manifest, 10 of our own were lost as well..."

Jeb sat down in a seat in the transport.  This would be a blow to the entire KSC workforce.  Many months were spent building what was then the KSS Grand Kerb...and she was the KSC's flagship...now in countless pieces orbiting over Kerbin.  What was even worse, HE HIMSELF had rechristened her the KSS Munhat, and even had friends working aboard that ship, but now...

"Call an emergency meeting Gene, immediately.  I won't be there.  I need to think..."

Gene sounded increasingly somber.  "Take all the time you need, Jeb.  If you leave KSC over this...hell I think I would consider it too."

"No, Gene.  We have been knocked down but I want revenge.  It's just still too raw...I'll probably need a few weeks to get back on my feet.  When I do, I will let you know.  I need to rescue...or recover...my fellow Kerbals..."

Gene smiled and shed a few tears at the loyalty of Jeb.  "I think of you as my own son Jeb...you were here when we had the old barn, remember that?"

But Jeb was gone from the transport, walking toward the hangar.  At the moment he could think of nothing else but to take the Fishtail to the old island strip again.  There he could have peace, at least for a little while.  But still, the thought of terrified Kerbals still alive made him cringe.  The island strip...right now, that was all that was on his mind...

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He decided to take the Argent there instead of the Fishtail this time.  there was something relaxing about flying a slow plane, and the trusty old glider had near-perfect performance scores.  The island strip...was all he was thinking at the moment...

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Haydi watched from the hangar as Jeb flew out of sight.  She was in tears ever since the emergency meeting, and she didn't know what to do.  The poor people aboard the Munhat...what had happened up there?  Still, she knew she must do something.  Anything.  Then she thought back to the promise she made Jeb, to make him a smaller version of the Monster.  Having a burst of sudden inspiration, she rushed off to her office.

She would have to half-break her promise by not creating what Jeb requested, but in return he would recieve a plane to exact revenge on...whoever destroyed the Munhat.  It would just take a few hours...and she would have something to present to KSC fabricators.

After a few hours of hard work, she thought she had a blueprint worthy to show to the head of fabrication.

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It was a huge SSTO, by SSTO standards, but was armed with 6 50-cal guns.  Whoever did this WOULD pay.  She even added a second cockpit into the design, because she wanted to come as well when the time was right.  Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, they say.  Oh yes, whoever did this WOULD pay...

To ensure proper...payment, she also would start on a project of her own, for she too loved the Fishtail.  Maybe it could be used against the enemy somehow.....

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GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!  I was looking forward to posting this chapter, because in it the resourcefulness of Kerbals REALLY shine.  I hope you enjoy it!

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At the emergency meeting, contingency plans were put into effect.  Once remote camera control was re-established, the full scope of the Munhat's destruction came into view.  Crews at the VAB were ordered to build new station modules, if anything was found that could be converted into a station.  Control examined each piece of the string of debris from front to back.

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The first piece of debris seemed to be the front of what was the Munhat.  It was decided to leave this piece alone until the others were examined.  The next piece they examined gave the controllers so much hope...there were Kerbals in there!!!

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6 of them to be exact...Including Bob's wife!  A rescue mission would HAVE to be attempted.  It was determined to be a part of the ship that had food and water as well, and a few of the ships heaters.  However, this piece could not be transformed into a station, as it had no docking ports.

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As did the next piece, which appeared to be one of the Munhat's science labs.

But the last piece looked every bit like it could be converted into a station.  Cheers went up around the control room as they knew what this meant.  Munhat hadn't been ENTIRELY destroyed!  Her legacy would live on!

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Administration agreed that the new station would NOT be called Munhat Station, but after a mythical fire bird that lived for eons, and burned itself up when it died only to be reborn from the ashes; "Phoenix Memorial Station".  Still, that did not sound right, so they amended the name to "Phoenix-Munhat Memorial Station".  VAB crews were notified of the discovery and they immediately sprang into action.  And in a series of launches, the new station slowly rose from the ashes, just like the mythical bird of legend...

(Cue Rocky training montage music!  Fun Fact: I actually listened to this for 3 hours while I was working on this part.  Yeah, I'm weird. lol)

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ROFL, if anyone sees this post, I know I'm late today...but I'm going to post the next chapter after this blurb goes on the forums.  This next one is a doozy as well...

 

1 hour ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Why a new station before rescuing the other Kerbonauts?

Bob goes to rescue them while our hero Jeb does something later in the story, no spoilin' :P

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I'M LAAAATE I'M LATE LATE LATE LAAAATE!  My fault, RL stuff...heh, well here you go!

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It was another morning at the island airstrip.  Jeb had been here for weeks, just enjoying the serenity of it all.  He needed this, given the circumstances as of late.  Still, he wondered what was happening at KSC without him...and why there were three unscheduled launches there?   Perhaps Gene had figured something out and ordered more?

He was practically living in his Argent glider, but his food was running low.  While cramped, somehow the cockpit of the plane felt just like home.  Some would say Jeb was even married to things that fly.  His days were all the same; wake up, hop out of the Argent, stand on a wing and watch the activity at KSC until dark.  He didn't mind the monotony of it all, he thought it was kind of peaceful.  Which was exactly what he needed right now, considering recent events.

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There were times that the thought crossed his mind to hang up the helmet, and give it all up...but then again he couldn't.  Far too many people were counting on him.  and then there was Valentina, who he had met at KSC...his wife.  How he remembered when he met her...she was testing the Aeris trainer out...he offered help and the rest is history.  Jeb then let out a deep sigh.

He also figured out a way to keep his mind busy, because silence for a long period of time basically living like a hermit could make anyone go mad.  He could occasionally hear aircraft from KSC flying overhead, and he would try to guess what engines they had based on what it looked like, and sounds like.  Low and fast small dart-thing?  One or two Juno engines, unmanned.  High-flying fast arrow-shape with loud engines?  Those would be Rapiers, probably 4, and possibly on a spaceplane.

It was midday, and he was currently relaxing in his Argent with the cockpit open, playing this guessing game with himself.  "There goes a Juno...that one's a Twin Juno...definately Goliath...Twin Goliath...FAST SINGLE Goliath!  that guy's crazy...and that guy's even CRAZIER, a Vector on a plane?!?...Quad Juno?  I like that actually...Twin Juno...Another Twin Juno...eight...what the...hell are those??"

Jeb's guessing game had him half-asleep by now, and he thought he was hearing things, but the strange droning got steadily louder and louder.  He did not sit upright until he heard something HUGE land within meters of his position.  He jumped off the plane, and whirled around to see...

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....oh no.  No no no NO NOOOOO!   This was his nightmares all over again, Jeb DESPARATELY wished he wasn't seeing what he was seeing...and he rubbed his eyes in vain.  But wait...this one looked a bit different than the one that destroyed the KSS Jeb...it had more landing legs, and the lights were different...  Jeb's conscience told him to RUN.  Hop in the Argent and take off as fast as that Juno engine would let him.  But the other half of Jeb wanted REVENGE.  Just as he began to rush the alien craft, something strange happened...Two...things "melted" out of the ship, and appeared right in front of him!

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They looked ...alien, and were made of a metal Jeb could not identify.  They were close to 2 meters tall, and had what looked like antennas all over them.  Jeb was probably the most afraid he had ever been, and his legs wouldn't work.  NOW he wanted to run, take the Argent and get the hell out of there.  But still he couldn't shake the notion that THESE things somehow were involved in the happenings lately.

He got even more scared when they both scanned him with a particle beam...then began to speak in perfect Kerbali.

"JEBEDIAH KERMAN. NAME STORED IN DATABANK.  WHERE IS SUBUNIT 0349?"

Jebediah said nothing.  They sounded cold...and monotonous, with no inflection at all, just...flat, and electronic, and...just freezing cold.  They asked again.

"WHERE IS SUBUNIT 0349?"

After what seemed like hours, but was more like a few minutes, Jeb spoke.  "What...what is...is 'Subunit 0349?'"

What seemed like the leader projected an image on the ground.  It was the little box with wheels and the blue light!  These things WERE linked to everything that was going on!  At the same time, Jeb wanted to both run, and stay and fight.  but he really had no chance against two machines MUCH bigger than he is.  But he had to try.  He had to A V E N G E  K S S  M U N H A T.   He RAN at one and started wailing away on it, knocking it over!

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Then he got on top and began stomping what looked like the main control center for these things, as hard as he could!

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Jeb let his anger SEEEETHE through him.  "THIS IS For MY FRIENDS, AND THIS...AND THAT....AND THIS....and now YOU."

Jeb turned to the other one, but the other one had vanished.  He continued hitting this one as hard as he could until he was sore.  He knew he had beat it when it gave off a puff of smoke and powered down.  He just leaned against it, panting.  He felt he had to stay here to...babysit once again.  Where the other "thing" went, he did not know...but he looked down at the one he defeated, and...

"Welcome to Kerbin."

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Gooooooooooooood...afternoon now I guess.  :)  At least here, it's 12:15PM here lol.  Anywho...what are these things?  Why is this story called what it is?  You will see.......SOON.  :)

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Jeb was satisfied with what he had done here today, and stood on the wing of the Argent surveying his handiwork.

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"One thing you need to learn about us Kerbals...we ALWAYS win!  Um....well okay not always...but nearly all of the time...shuddapgene..."

Gene had told him once that even Kerbals fail sometimes, and Jeb had personally seen some failures not just a few weeks ago...KSS Jeb...Munhat...the 10 poor souls on the ship KSS Munhat...and these things caused those failures.  Just then, Jeb's radio crackled to life.  It was Haydi!

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"Jeb, you got a copy?"

"This is Jeb!  How are you Haydi?"

"I'm pretty darn fine!  Especially after what we just found out!  We finally got into that rolling box."

Jeb was now intrigued. "What did you find?"

"A bunch of wires."

Jeb slapped his hand to his face...Not nowwwww Haydi...

"Just kidding Jeb...We think they are machine intelligence! We found the bot toppled over next to a satellite dish.  We think it was in communication with something, as it just was emitting a plain carrier wave with no instructions."

Jeb knew this already first hand and ughed.  But then again, he had a HELL of a surprise for Haydi.  He just needed to make a few modifications to the Argent, so he rolled it into the hangar, being careful around the robot and landed ship.

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He then pushed the whatever it was, into the hangar as well.

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Finally, he radioed Haydi.

"Haydi?  Can you do me a HUUUUUUGE favor?  Airdrop me a Juno engine, a separator, welding helmet and a welding torch would ya?  And when you fly over, look what I caught on the runway!"

Haydi had been wanting to take her new project for a spin ever since she finished it.  This was the perfect excuse to.  But not tonight, as the sun was down and would be too dark to see anything.  So she radioed Jeb to wait until morning.  He agreed, and she also radioed to get a good nights sleep.  They had work to do in the morning.

Haydi arrived bright and early the next day to the hangar.  She was anxious to fly her newest creation, created with protection in mind.  She had modified a Fishtail trainer, gave it a small crew cabin, and probably overdid it with guns, but considering recent events?  No amount of firepower was too much.  She had also renamed it the "Sharktail".

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She offered the hangar crew a "Good Morning!", hopped into the pilots seat, and took her to the start of the runway.

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Running the engines up, she braced for acceleration.  "Okay baby, show me what you can do."  And with that she took off down the runway and soon was airborne.

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Aiming toward the old island strip, she suddenly felt like she had succeeded in her project.  It flew well, was maneuverable, and did what she wanted it to do flawlessly.  She had a suprise for Jeb as well...she called it "Jeb's Revenge", and could not wait to formally give the huge craft to him.  She also wanted to come with him for the ride up to Phoenix-Munhat.  Oh yes, Gene gave the order that they were to head back into space, and soon.

After a few minutes she was over the airstrip, and getting ready for the drop, when what she saw made her panic.

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She began screaming into the radio.  "JEEEEEEEEEB, GET THE HELL OUTTA THERE!!!!"

Jeb was jolted awake by the commotion and tried to reason with Haydi, but there is just no reasoning with a woman who is seeing red, he just watched her plane pass by once....and then it began...it looked like...a strafing run.

"HAYDI, NO!!!!"

"JEB!  WE MUST DESTROY THESE THINGS, DARN IT!!"

She was only allowed one airdrop, so this would not go on record.  Unfortunately she missed, however she successfully completed the airdrop and headed back to KSC.  But within the span of hours, she had constructed a tiny drone with the express purpose of destroying the thing and saving Jeb.  She programmed the on-board guidance computer with the appropriate co-ordinates before she flicked on the automatic guidance.

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Jeb jumped around 5 meters when he heard the explosion.  Haydi...He wanted to save the thing for examination by KSC personnel.  How could she do this?  How could SHE, of all people, deny them the right to find out once and for all what these things are, exactly?  Jeb was FURIOUS at Haydi, but he could vent his anger later.  Right now he HAD to modify the Argent and get this thing back to KSC.  So converting his anger to determination, he started working on the Argent.

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Yep I'm late again, caught up in finishing my "era" in 1.0.5, and I WILL as soon as...something happens we won't get into that...BUT...I ALSO HAVE NEWS!!!

When I finish this story, I'm in the very beginnings of pasting together another story, about the Kerbal versions of Wilbur and Orville Wright, inspired by my plane and video on KerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/Draconiator/The-Kerman-Flyer

That's all I can say right know, still ironing out the style - I respect comic makers here, I don't think those would be that easy, but perhaps a newspaper-like one....Anyway, I'm rambling, ONTO THE CHAPTER!!

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It was well past mid-day when Jeb finished modifying the Argent and putting the...thing onto the back.  He wasn't sure how it'd handle with TWIN engines and a huge robot hanging off the back of his plane, but he was suprised when he took off, it actually FLEW, although not too well.  Yep!  Time to head back to KSC and show everyone the spoils of war.  Or spoils of...something.

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He also couldn't wait to give Haydi a piece of his mind.  How DARE she destroy something that possibly could be of use?  It was abandoned anyway; it hadn't moved for days.  Oh yes, Jeb could have a MIGHTY temper if you crossed him the wrong way.  In fact, you might be better off living in the woods than facing off with an angry Jeb, and Haydi would see this first hand, as soon as he got back.

Unfortunately, the bot didn't seem to be doing too great on the back of the glider, and his only hope was that the computer core survived.  That would be EVERYTHING to them, since it held all the info they would ever need.  Most likely the problem was caused by the extra engine - the Argent was not designed to go so fast, so he slowed down to half throttle, and soon KSC came into view.

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It was the first time he had seen his home in weeks, and he silently rejoiced at the sight.  Gene was there, Gus...even Wernher, the sciency-guy with the wierd accent.  They would see what he got, and they would FINALLY figure something out to put this matter at rest.  And if the thing somehow could be revived...they could get some answers directly!

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As he set up for landing, he knew that even HE could make errors, and prayed to Kerblord that he would land on the runway AND keep the...thing on the back more or less intact.  He carefully set the autopilot and hoped for the best.  In the meantime he radioed Haydi.

"Haydi!  Jeb here.  Come in!"

"Jeb?  I thought you were angry at me!  What's up?"

"Eh I changed my mind.  You do not deserve that anyway.  Hey listen, I'm on short final; come and meet me near the end of the runway.  I've got something for you..."

"Will be there in a jif!  Haydi Out!"

Jeb wondered how Haydi would take the news...that he had found a REAL alien, instead of an alien probe.  He just hoped it would be received well...

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When Jeb landed, the first thing he did was examine the...thing.  It lost both landing cylinders and one antenna, but the good news was that the computer core had survived the ordeal.  and more importantly, Haydi had something to work with!

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Soon after, Haydi showed up in the transport, and she thought what Jeb was standing next to was the strangest thing she'd ever seen in her life.  She got out, and walked over to him.

"Jeb, what in the WORLD is that?!"

"I know you won't believe me Haydi," he began, "but it came out of the ship that you blew to smithereens.  You know that machine intelligence you said you found?  I think this is one of them!"

Haydi was overjoyed at hearing this.  FINALLY they had a barganing chip.  Jeb might have just saved them all!  She immediately hugged Jeb and kissed him on the cheek.

Jeb felt embarassed.  "Uhhhhh Haydi?  I'm married."

"Eh, I don't want you anyway.  You're not my type, and if we WERE together I'd probably end up stuffing you in a matress.  We're co-workers ONLY.  I still respect you.  Oh, Jeb, I have something for you too!"

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They were silent on the ride over to the hangar, but somehow Jeb knew that he was in for something wonderful.  When they were inside, Haydi broke the silence.

"Three things, Jeb.  First, Gene has given us the all clear to head to Phoenix-Munhat station."

Jeb was puzzled...they didn't have a Phoenix-Munhat station, at least to his knowledge anyway.  He didn't think they had ANY station in Kerbin orbit.  Minmus sure, but...

"Two, we're taking that thing you found to the science lab there.  And three..."

Haydi led Jeb into the hangar proper.  Sitting there was the most beautiful bird he had ever seen!

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"Three...WE are going in Jeb's Revenge.  I designed this thing for you during your self-exile on the island,  and with this thing, we can FINALLY hit back at those...things."

Jeb was on the verge of tears.  He thanked Haydi profusely.

"When can we leave?"

"Right now, Jeb."

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  • 2 months later...

Concerning the long hiatus - I thought people were getting bored of it, so I stopped updating for a while.  And also, there's been a bit of "ship-rot" in my save file, but if I don't have any ships I have had before, I will rebuild them. 

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I'm thinking people are all caught up now, and this time I will go slow and only update ONCE a week.  on Wednesday.  Weird.  Anyway....A chapter that is LOOOOOOONG overdue:

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(I lost the "LCD" font I used before, but I found a replacement.)

 

As soon as Jeb and Haydi were on board, the hangar crew started pushing them with a tug out to the runway.  Jeb marveled at the plane.  A carriage....with boosters?  this thing must not be able to get to orbit on its own.

"Hey Haydi, how many engines again?"

"They're all RAPIERS.  5 main engines, 4 for the boosters, and 6 on the carriage.  We're headed to an orbit of 80km first.  You all strapped in?"

Jeb checked his straps, and sure enough, he was in tightly, helmet on...he was ready.

Haydi came on the radio.  "Jeb!  Start 'er up!"

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Jeb hit the ignition, and the mighty craft roared to life.  Jeb sighed happily at the sound 15 RAPIER engines made....it was like heaven on earth, he thought.  Then the order came.

"JEB, HIT IT!"

Jeb threw the throttle forward, and the huge beast began picking up speed.

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Jeb marveled at how they were nearly going vertical, yet still picking up speed.

"Hey Jeb, ever fly something like this?" Haydi questioned.

"Never!  This is a beautiful machine, and I'm still in tears that you built this for me!  Thank you!"

Haydi felt accomplished.  "Awwww, well after the destruction of the Munhat, I HAD to do something to get you back in the game, and now with this thing we can take the fight to these...things!  Oh yeah, I took the liberty of putting that thing in the cargo hold."

Jeb nodded, and continued looking at his readouts, as they gained altitude.  He knew the RAPIERs could not be used in thin air as a regular jet...and by his reckoning they had too much weight...until Haydi yelled, "SEPERATION ACHIEVED!"

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Jeb was awed by the engineering hurdles Haydi had to jump over to make it work as well as it did.  And soon they were roaring to an orbit high over Kerbin.

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Jeb got on the radio to Mission Control.  "GENE, we're in orbit but we need fuel!"

"Roger that Jeb, and go easy on her - she's yours after this mission!"

Jeb just had to sit back and smile.

 

 

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Helllllooooooo Kerbonauts!  Okay I know it's not Wednesday,but decided to update every Monday instead, so you have something to read during the least favorite day of the week.  hehe.  Here is Chapter 19!

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While waiting for the automated tanker, Jeb and Haydi could sit back and relax.  They were quiet; Haydi anxious to get started di-secting the thing Jeb brought back, and Jeb just excited to get to space again.  Soon the automated tanker came into view, and a few minutes later, docked itself to the craft.

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It wasn't the biggest tanker he had seen, but he guessed Gene ordered the VAB crew to tailor-make it for the situation at hand.  And Jeb's Revenge didn't need that much fuel anyway.

While the refueling process was going on, Haydi and Jeb talked to each other about various things, how they both ended up at KSC, their interests, basically everything.  Haydi even talked about her ex, who had cheated on her with some female bodybuilder from North Kerbin somewhere.  This was why she only focused on her job nowadays, and didn't want anyone.  Jeb talked about his wife Valentina, and how they met.  She seemed perfectly suited to him, and they eventually wanted to settle down and have a family.  Someday, he thought...also, he did not want "Jeb Jr." to be in this line of work either; it was too dangerous.  He relished the thought of his son/daughter following in his footsteps though.

After a few hours, the tanker finished refueling and automatically undocked.  It gave a little gas to the huge Rhino engine and slowly pulled away.  Gene would try a highly experimental landing with it back at KSC to keep costs down for the mission, and Jeb hoped that it would succeed.

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Refueling completed, the first order of business was to get to Phoenix-Munhat, and Jeb had to get into a higher orbit to do so.  That completed,  he initiated the maneuver to intercept the station.  He was still puzzled - where did this station come from?  Why is it called "Phoenix" Station?  He appreciated the nod to poor Munhat, but the KSS Munhat was gone, wasn't it?

He had time to think on the transfer to the station.  Would this really be when they take the fight to these things?  He would REALLY like nothing better than to punch the leader of these...things in the...core, ahd he guessed he would be able to soon.

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As they finally neared the station, Jeb made out another, smaller ship there.   Someone was at the station already, and it looked like a sleek space fighter.  He also noticed something else, and he inqueried to Haydi about it.

"Haydi....did Gene do what I think he did?"

"Yep!  You know us Kerbals, always resourceful.  And mindful of the past.  Gene thought this would be a nice gesture."

It was for SURE a nice gesture.  The station itself looked very ugly, but it's the thought that counts, ALWAYS.  He also noticed small...whatever they were on the ends of the docking ports.  He asked Haydi what they were, and she told him those were Automated Docking Extenders made by Gene himself, to aid docking of ships.  Jeb was eager to see just how they work, and he watched as an extender undocked itself from the station and docked to the plane.

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Then it signaled to a free docking port, and took over the ships systems.

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Soon, Jeb's revenge was docked, and they saw a familliar face inside - Bob!!

Jeb was overjoyed!  "Bob!!!!  What are you doing here?"

Bob had a smug look on his face.  "Can't do science without a scientist, eh?  And I was tasked to go retrieve some stranded Kerbals.  I will do that when you leave for your mission.  You no doubt saw the other ship here?"

Jeb nodded.  "That, dear Jeb, is yours.  Gene found out what that carrier signal from the wheelie box was being sent to.  It looks like something huge beyond Mun's orbit.  From the data he'd gathered, it seemed like it was waiting for some directions, and then was going to bomb the KSC.  It's a good thing we caught the box before it was able to send them out...or KSC would have been ground into dust."

Jeb listened intently.  Of course he would love to blow up any...machines linked to these bots. And now that they had a bargaining chip of sorts, and if they were able to reboot that strange bot...

Haydi had already moved the thing into the science lab, and was getting ready to work on it when Jeb came in.

"Haydi?  We don't know what we're up against here...that bomber thing may be armed.  if I don't make it back...it's been good to know ya."  Jeb saluted.

"Jebediah Kerman...you'll be fine.  You've been through the wringer, and I'm sure you want to see this through to the end.  When you get back...I'll have answers, I hope."

Jeb wasn't very convinced by her tone of voice.  She hopes?  They knew next to nothing about these things, besides the fact the little rover thing was called "Subunit 0349".  They didn't even know it's purpose...he just shrugged and headed to the small ship.

 

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