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Before They Were Orange [UPDATE: CHAPTER FOUR: Starting Uphill]

Endersmens

By Endersmens
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Endersmens

Endersmens

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Chapter One: First Step    

It was a rather normal day. Hot, sunny, light breeze, the perfect Kerbin summer day. The only noise was the occasional bird, or rustling from the breeze. But all in one moment, the silence was shattered. The ground started shaking, animals running wildly. Everything was in panic, except for one little boy who had been wandering around the meadow outside of town. Instead of running, curiosity overtook him. The sound seemed to be coming from the other side of a soft hill in front of him, and compelled with curiosity, and quite a bit of adrenaline, he started up. Before he could see over the hill, it came into view. Shooting straight up, like an arrow shot at the sky, it rose quickly towards the clouds, leaving a thick, dark grey trail of smoke. All of the sudden, the very top shot off from the rest, just before the bulk of the thing catastrophically exploded, sending large metal pieces and a large fireball into the air. As the pieces started to fall, a parachute appeared above the very top of the object, and it fell slowly and softly back down and behind the hill. After his heart rate slowed down, and his adrenaline came to a reasonable level, only one thought overtook his mind. “That looked like a LOT of fun.”

    Little Jebediah had just witnessed the first manned rocket launch of Kerbal history, the first craft propelled from Kerbin’s surface using exploding liquid fuel with a living kerbal on board. Although, he didn’t remember anything being on the other side of that hill, so he quickly trekked up to the top to see where the rocket had come from. As he crested the hill, a newborn space center greeted him. There was a large main building, maybe 10 stories high, and a few other buildings scattered around. And there was a launch pad, with a little support tower on it, which at the moment was in flames from the wreckage raining down on top of it. Little Jebediah raced back into the village, finding his house as quickly as he could, and as he ran up the steps and in through the front door, he exclaimed “Mom! You’ll never guess what I just saw!”

“I’m guessing it had something to do with all the shaking we just had? I thought it was a small Kerbquake!” His mother, Sally Kerman, replied. 

“It wasn’t a Kerbquake! It was a rocket!” He exclaimed with glee.

“A rocket? Are you sure? The last rocket I ever heard anything about was only the size of a few trashcans, and didn’t even make it 100 feet into the air.”

“Oh yes mother, a rocket! It was really big, and it went really high into the air! Well, before it exploded. But the top part survived and parachuted down!”

“What? You mean there was actually a kerbal on that thing? I can’t believe they are letting people endanger themselves so much!”

“It looked like a lot of fun. Can I do that when I grow up?”

“Goodness no, Jeb. You’re way too smart to be in such danger.”

“Wait, Jeb got to see a real rocket launch? No fair!” little Val said, entering the room.

“It probably would've scared you silly Val, just be glad you weren’t there.” Jeb sneered.

“Jebediah Kerman! You be nice to your sister!” Sally said. At this point Jeb and Val were having a contest to see who could stick their tongues out the most. It was quite funny to watch as each one tilted their head more forward to make it seem like their tongue was farther out. Suddenly, Jeb slurped his tongue back up into his mouth and smiled really big, before saying, “We’ve got to go tell Bill and Bob!”

    Jeb and Val raced out the door and down the street to Bob’s house. just outside, Jeb yelled “Bob! Meet at the clubhouse ASAP!” and they continued down the street. Making a left turn, they rushed down the street to the very end, where Bill lived. Jeb shouted the same announcement as before, clubhouse ASAP. Then they turned right and went between two houses and into the woods. Ducking and dodging branches, they made their way to their clubhouse, which was three trees that had fallen together, forming a small triangle, with boards between them to form walls, which Bill’s dad put together for them. Once inside, they panted until a crazy eyed Bill and Bob stumbled in.

“What’s….going on? …...What happened?” Bill said between breaths. Bob continued to gasp, unable to say anything at all.

“I just saw a huge rocket launch! And there was a kerbal on it!” Jeb shouted.

“You mean…...a bunch of buckets….with exploding liquid in them…..just launched a kerbal?” Bob wheezed.
    
“Yes! And it exploded!” Bill and Bob both shared a look of horror. 

“But the top of the rocket survived, which is where I think the kerbal was. It parachuted down safely!” They breathed a large sigh of relief, followed by coughing caused by them holding their breath.

“It sounds really dangerous and scary.” Bob said, finally regaining his breath.

“I wonder how it works...how does it stay together? How does it go up?” Bill questioned.

“I have no idea, but I sure do wanna try it!” Jeb said while grinning.

“Me too!” Val chimed in.


    After this, they furiously discussed how they thought it worked, and how much fun it would be. A while later, they decided they should head home, as Kerbol was getting low in the sky, and they didn’t want to be out past dark. That night, each of their heads was filled with dreams of rockets. Jeb and Val both dreamt of one day flying the rocket, being in control, feeling all the crazy forces. Bill’s dreams were of figuring out how the rocket worked, and how to build one. And poor Bob had a nightmare of being on a rocket piloted by Jeb and somehow disassembling.
 

Read Chapter Two Here!

Read Chapter Three Here!

Read Chapter Four Here!

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  • 3 weeks later...
Endersmens

Endersmens

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Chapter Two: Finally Walking

“Hey dad, can I hang out with my friends today?” asked Bill, with classic puppy dog eyes.

“What will you be doing?” Bill’s father, Chadmy Kerman replied.

“We’re just gonna go do a little research, that’s all.” 

“Well, as long as you aren’t out too late, that will be alright.”

    Bill ran into his room, grabbed his little backpack, stuffed it with snacks and a few science books, and ran out the door. Hanging a right, he stopped in front of Bob’s house. Right on cue, Bob came out the door and down the steps. 

    “Why are you in such a rush? This isn’t a good idea anyways” said Bob, with a concerned look on his face.

    “Just come on, let's go!” Bill replied.

    Bob scrambled to keep up with Bill, and as they neared Jeb’s house, Jeb and Val ran out the door and joined them in step. They continued out of the village and into the fateful meadow. Climbing the hill, they came to a stop at the top, and all but Jeb gasped at what lay before them. 

    Yet after a moment, even Jeb gasped, as not just the space center was in front of them, but a new rocket! It looked like the one he had already seen, but he wasn’t positive, as it was moving very quickly. 

    “When do you think it will launch?” Val asked, practically youmping with anticipation.

    “I’m not sure, but I’m gonna find out!” Jeb replied.

    Jeb started down the hill towards the space center. Bob seemed worried about going that far away, but didn’t want to be left behind either, so he followed. Jeb was so excited to get there that he wasn’t thinking about the hill, and started going faster and faster, until his legs couldn’t keep up, and he took a tumble. Bob gasped, Val laughed, and Bill said “Are you alright?” But before he got an answer, the dust settled and they saw Jeb there with a huge grin.

    “That was awesome!” He exclaimed.

    “It looked painful, are you hurt?” Bob asked, quite concerned.

    “I’m fine. C’mon slowpoke!”

    They continued now, at a much safer speed, to the bottom of the hill. It seemed like the space center was really far away from the top, but now at the bottom it loomed over them. 

    “Do you think they’ll let us in?” asked Bill, as they approached a fence and gate.

    “I doubt it, grownups are always no fun.” Val said with a frown.

    “Hey, look over here!” came Jeb’s voice from a little ways away.

    He was standing next to a pile of presumably old test helmets. All but Bob shared a devious smile. 

    “Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked.

    “Sure it is! Now come on, put it on so we can sneak in!” Jeb replied, muffled by the helmet.

    Reluctantly, Bob slipped on the helmet. They walked up to the gate, and after a few seconds it opened. They scrambled in, and found a building to walk behind. The workers were so busy frantically preparing for another launch that they paid no attention to the half sized kerbanauts running around. As they rounded a corner, there it was. The biggest building they had ever seen. It was very tall, taller than they could’ve imagined from far away. Once they had gotten around it, they saw tracks leading out to the launch pad. As their eyes followed the tracks, it led up a small ramp, and then all of them gasped. There is sat, almost as tall as the building behind them. 

    “It’s...so much bigger than I thought it was!” Jeb said, nearly stammering.

    They all shared the awe, until it was shattered by a sound. A sound none of them had heard before, but they all knew what it meant. It was an alarm siren. All of the workers scrambled into buildings frantically. 

    “Um. Guys? Shouldn’t we be getting out of here?” Bob asked, seeming desperate to get away from there.

    “I’m not sure. Maybe we should-” Jeb said, before getting cut off.

A loud static filled voice cut him off. “Ten, nine, eight….”

    “Guys! Let’s get out of here now!” Bob screamed.

As they turned around they heard “three, engine ignition, two, one, liftoff!” And were deafened by the roar of the engines. The ground was shaking, and they all fell to the ground. Jeb tried to stand up, but as soon as he did, the blast from the engines got there, hot, smoky air blasted them and knocked him over again. Even he was scared at this point. Luckily, the rocket had gotten high enough that the ground stopped shaking, and the air settled down. The sound of the rocket soon faded, and it disappeared slowly into the sky, arching over the ocean. No explosions this time, to Jeb’s slight disappointment. 

    “We almost died!” Bob exclaimed, with a hint of anger.

    “No we didn’t. We were fine. just don’t tell your dad about this.” Jeb said.

    “Um. Who’s that guy?” Val said, pointing at one of the workers running towards them.

    “Hey! What are you doing out here - wait, you aren’t pilots!”

    “Um…” Jeb stammered. 

    “Wait, you guys are just kids! What are you doing here? How did you get in here? You guys are coming with me.”

    “Great.” Bob murmured.

    
He led them to a small building behind the massive one. Inside were some offices and desks. They walked down a long hallway to the last door. The badge on the door read “Von Kerman”
As they walked in, there was a kerbal sitting in a chair, facing the other way. 

    “Sir, I found these kids outside. They were out by the VAB during the launch.”

    The kerbal turned around in his chair swiftly. “Vhat did you say?” He said.

    “They were out by the VAB during the launch.”

    Wernher turned towards the four, with a concerned look on his face. “Are you ok?”
    
    “Well, actually- OOF! Hey!” Bob said, before getting a hit in the gut from Jeb.

    “Yes, we are fine.” Val said calmly.

    “I thought ze whole reason ve vuilt the vunkers was that nobody could survive a launch from ze outside.” 

    “I guess we were wrong.” The worker said.

    “You may leave now, Dunly. Now, how did you kids get in here?”

    “We found some old helmets and put them on.” Jeb said, getting a look from Val like he shouldn’t have said that.

    “Hmmmmm….Interesting.” he said, scribbling “Improve security” On his notepad. “Vhy did you sneak in?”

    “Because I saw the launch yesterday, and I needed to learn more.” Jeb said.

    “And I needed to find out how they work.” Bill said.

    “And I wanted to see a launch, because it wasn’t fair that Jeb got to.” Val said.

    “And they wouldn’t let me stay home.” Bob said under his breath.

    “Interesting. Such curiosity. I haven’t seen such enthusiasm yet in this business. Well. I supposed I should call your parents.”

    “Only call mine.” Jeb said. “My dad won’t be mad.”
 

Edited by Endersmens
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Mister Dilsby

Mister Dilsby

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Nice! This is your best bit right here:

“Because I saw the launch yesterday, and I needed to learn more.†Jeb said.

“And I needed to find out how they work.†Bill said.

“And I wanted to see a launch, because it wasn’t fair that Jeb got to.†Val said.

“And they wouldn’t let me stay home.†Bob said under his breath.

Fast and natural characterization, especially Bob who delivers a good and surprising closer. :) These four lines tell us more about your characters than a paragraph each of description would have done.

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Endersmens

Endersmens

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Nice! This is your best bit right here:

Fast and natural characterization, especially Bob who delivers a good and surprising closer. :) These four lines tell us more about your characters than a paragraph each of description would have done.

Thanks! I'm loving developing Bob. It's so easy and funny at the same time. :D

Also, about the wernher part, it's less confusing than your's in DOB and EOZ. :sticktongue:

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Endersmens

Endersmens

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Lovely work, Endersmens!

Very fun and developing beautifully.

Happy landings!

Thanks! :D

So, my english teacher is making us write all the time. She said we would spend 10 minutes of class every day writing. So I asked her if I could just continue this fan fiction as my writing project every day, and when she required something to be turned it, I could just turn in a chapter, and she said yes!

What does this mean? Well first of all I'm getting class credit for this. It also means I will be writing every day, which means more frequent updates, and more routine updates. :D

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KSK

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I'm grinning like a loon right now, picturing those four pint-sized kerbonauts staring up at the VAB! And I'm liking the way there's already a bit more to Jeb's character than a crazy thrillseeker.

Lovely work - looking forward to the next chapter.

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Endersmens

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It's really annoying that in four lines, you managed more character development than in the whole of my little series!

I can't tell if you're genuinely annoyed or not. :confused:

I'm grinning like a loon right now, picturing those four pint-sized kerbonauts staring up at the VAB! And I'm liking the way there's already a bit more to Jeb's character than a crazy thrillseeker.

Lovely work - looking forward to the next chapter.

Thank you!! It really means a lot coming from you. :D

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Endersmens

Endersmens

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Chapter Three: Rocky Path

    “I told you guys this was a bad idea.” Bob said, looking down at the ground.

    “C’mon Bob. Admit it, the rocket launch was cool.” Jeb said, giving Bob a smile. Bob was trying hard to keep himself from smiling back, and eventually gave up.

    “Yeah. It was pretty cool. Scary, dangerous, and possibly insane. But it was cool.” Bob said, as the others chuckled. A knock was heard at the door.

    “You may come in” Wernher said. Dunly appeared again.

    “I have a mister Edlie Kerman here.” Dunly said, looking behind him.

    “Ah yes, mister Edlie Kerman. you are zis one’s father, correct?” He said, motioning towards Jeb.

    “Yes, that one’s mine. What did he do this time?”

    “He snuck into ze space center, vith his friends.”  Giving a concerned look, Edlie turned towards Jeb with the you’re in trouble look. “But do not worry, I am not upset at them. If anything I am glad they came, they seem to have a real interest in vhat ve are vorking on here.”

    “Oh?”

    “That’s why we came down here. I saw a rocket launch yesterday and-” Jeb said, before getting cut off by a nudge from Edlie.

    “Please, let zhem speak.” Wernher said, trying to hide his embarrassment at the rocket launch on the previous day. Edlie nodded at Jeb.

    “I saw a rocket launch yesterday. Well. Almost launch. It was really cool, and I found this place. And I told my friends and we all decided...well, all of us except for Bob, that we needed to come find out what’s going on here.”

    “So, you saw something cool and couldn’t help your curiosity. I see. Are they in any sort of trouble?” Edlie questioned.

    “Well, zhey snuck into our space center, impersonated staff, and stayed outside during launch. Zhey should be going to jail. However, I’ve found a fondness of them, I zhink with some teaching, zhey will learn a lot about what we’re doing here, and maybe someday, zhey can be ze reason zhis program works.”


    “I don’t know about that, I’m only Jeb and Val’s father, I can’t speak for Bill and Bob’s parents. I’ll talk it over with them and my wife.”

    “Zhank you, zhank you very much. I hope to see you guys again.”

    “Thank you mister...um…”

    “Vernher, Vernher Von Kerman.”

    “Thank you mister Vernher!” the kids said smiling, unaware of the W in Wernher’s name. Edlie loaded the four up into his car and started for town.

    “I hope your parents don’t get too upset this time, Bob.” Edlie said.

    “Tell me about it…” Bob said under his breath. Then Jeb gave him a pat on the shoulder.

    “I’m glad you came Bob. That’s the coolest thing I’ve seen you do in a long time. You didn’t even freak out very much!” Jeb said smiling.

    “Yeah, I guess. Hey, you’re right! I didn’t freak out.” Bob said, smiling back.

    “Well, either way, we’re here. See you around, Bob.” Edlie said.
 

 

 

Sorry for the long delay between chapters, and sorry for the short chapter, had to do a bunch of dialogue to build up for the future. :)

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