totm aug 2016 Kerny Kerman's Journal (mission reports from a Kerbal's point of view) [Chapter 87: "Among the growing shadows."]

[Angelo Kerman]

Yay! Nice to see Kerny isn't done. Were you able to upgrade to KSP 1.8?

[adsii1970]

7 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Yay! Nice to see Kerny isn't done. Were you able to upgrade to KSP 1.8?

Yes, but Kerny isn't there yet. There are a bunch of mods I'm not going to use in 1.8, so now I'm having to redesign a lot of the craft. I am working on it, though.

[RealKerbal3x]

Yay, it's back!

[adsii1970]

Hey, folks, sorry about the delay in posting the next chapter. But it is coming soon. I have a few more screenshots I need before I can write the next chapter. As I was preparing to write this morning, I realized there is a loose end I really need to tie up... But the question for you becomes which loose end is he going to use?

[KerballingSmasher]

Wait what loose end?

 

...

 

ARE WE GONNA GET SPACE PIRATES OR SOMETHIN?

[adsii1970]

Moho 35, Y003
"What awaits beyond this short mission..." (Part 2)

MISSION DAY +13.75

Chapter 78

This morning I heard from Lieutenant Obion and Ensign Hildi for the first time since they touched down yesterday afternoon. So far, their mission has been successful and has added more pieces to the puzzle I'm still trying to understand. Shortly after they landed, we received a flash message that an anomaly was detected by one of the probes surveying the surface of Eve. The probe, Eve Surveyor IV, detected an energy burst from Kerbol. Within moments after receiving the message, we began to see changes in the Excursion's operations. But for my crew on Minmus, they also noticed what Hildi described as if the light from Kerbol suddenly became brighter.

Within moments of receiving the flash message, the communications console sprang back to life.

"Captain," Gilti began, "we have an incoming transmission from the mission team on Minmus."

"Alright, Lieutanant," I replied. "Put it through."

"This is the Excursion, Ensign Hildi, please go ahead..."

"Captain, we've noticed the visible increase in the light coming from Kerbol is continuing and appears to be stable," Hildi began. "I really don't get this, sir. According to all our readings here, however, the radiation levels have not increased --"

"Yes, ensign," I replied. "Just before your hail, we received a flash message directly from Dr. Zarkov. He said according to his models, the next fifteen days will be an increase in instability. Something about our system --"

"Wait, are we in danger?" This time it was Obion's voice coming over the speakers. "Sir, what do we --"

"I don't know," and it was the truth. But I continued, "Dr. Zarkov said that for the next three hours, we should see no other major incidents. But all the same, hurry and achieve the mission objectives and return to the Excursion as soon as you can. I want to be back inside the Munar orbital zone in case anything else hits."

"Aye, sir!" and with that, Hildi added, "Minmus Party out!"

From that moment, I knew I could count on Hildi and Obion to get the mission done. But we all had a good laugh when Hildi didn't close the channel. It's a common mistake which nearly every Kerbalnaut will do at some time. So, for half of their time spent in EVA, we heard The entire curious exchange between the two.

"Okay, Hildi," Obion said, "I'm exiting the can now. Wow, is it bright outside..."

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I believe Dr. Zarkov's opinion that this doesn't pose a risk -- "

"Hildi," Obion asked, "what are you doing now? Come on, we need to... no! It's a good thing --"

"It's a good thing that you closed the channel before we left the can, Hildi..." Obion added. The captain doesn't mind us having a good time but he draws the line at -- "

"Uh, sure, I closed the channel." Hildi said, softly. "All you do is hit the little button next to the communications panel, right?"

"Not exactly," Obion answered. "That only mutes the audio pickups in the lander can. You have to flip the toggle on the audio panel to close the channel."

"Uh, yeah, uh..." It sounded as if Hildi was out of words. "Uh, do you think he knows what I did?"

"What, Ensign?" Obion responded, rather boldly. "It's an audio channel, Hildi. I'm sure he has no idea you leapt off the lander can, flipped yourself over, and landed about ten meters away from me."

"How would he?" Hildi asked, "It's not like there's a camera pointing out from the lander can -- "

"Sure, you think we don't know?" This time the voice was Bobak's. "Ensign, you left the communications channel open and Lieutenant Obion just told anyone who's listening what you just did. I'm pretty sure your shipmates know, as well as anyone else monitoring the channel. It's a good thing --"

"Choose your next words carefully, Bobak," this time, it was Gene's unmistakable voice. "If that sentence had anything to do with me, I suggest you change it now."

"Uh, yeah, as I was saying," Bobak was clearly choosing his words carefully. "It's a good thing your mission, this Minmus mission... is an... easy... one..."

"Captain," this time, Gene's voice was calling me. "I am sending you a data packet later this afternoon. You know the routine."

"Aye, sir," I replied, through my laughter. "Excursion out."

"Now, Gilti," I added, "close all channels. Let's not repeat Hildi's mistake."

"Aye, sir!" and with that, we heard the audible beep given as a channel is closed.

"Gilti, call back our team. But this time, use channel four," I said, "hail our team on Minmus, let's check their actual progress."

"So, Lieutenant," we heard Hildi ask, "what exactly are we doing?"

"We are making sure that the high frequency radio blast didn't come from this probe, Ensign." Obion answered. "Right now, its systems are in some sort of 'safety mode' and all the data it has accumulated while in orbit around Minmus and when it landed, is held within it's electronic storage device."

"What exactly does it mean, sir?" She asked. It was obvious by her tone that she felt she should probably know the answer.

"It means this probe could not have been the source of the high-frequency blast. It's never transmitted any data since achieving orbit around Minmus." Obion explained. "And if I am reading this output correctly, the fail-safe landing protocols Dr. Zarkov wanted added to every probe core did exactly what it was designed to do."

"Okay, sir, but -- "

"Captain," Obion called, "are you hearing all this?"

"I thought he ordered the channel closed, sir."

"He did," Obion answered. "See the little green light in your helmet?"

"Yes, what about them?" Hildi asked. "What do they mean?"

It's the fourth possible light in your helmet. If you notice, the other three are red --"

"Uh, yeah, I remember seeing those and I know they mean a channel is closed. But -- "

"These four channels," Obion interrupted, "are channels which are Excursion specific. No other receiver on Kerbin - or orbit - can receive them."

"So, right now," Hildi began, "Captain Kerny and everyone else can hear but the KSC can't?!"

"Yes, that's correct. Now let's get back to doing what we came here to do. Captain, we are accessing the coms panel on the probe now."

"Captain," Obion began. "Coms is now active and transmitting data. The gods... there's over seventy thousand scrolls of data --"

And within a split second from his update, we began receiving data from the probe. Undoubtedly, the KSC would be receiving the same data we were receiving. Commander Karloff monitored the transmission from the engineering station at the back of the command deck.

"Captain," Karloff said, "It's going to take days maybe even decadays for Doctor Zarkov and his staff to sort through all that data --"

"Captain," Ensign Triy began, "During my Kerbalnaut training, part of it was spent learning communications systems. I can help Lieutenant Gilti during my free time, if you want --"

"Well," I began...

"That's a great idea," Gilti chimed in. "There's so much data coming in, sir --"

"Captain, the signal stopped," Karloff said, looking quite puzzled. "I thought Obion said there's seventy thousand scrolls worth of data -- "

"Commander," Obion replied, hearing Karloff's comment. "The system simply shut down and quit transmitting. The probe has gone back into its safety mode. There's still close to forty scrolls of data it hasn't transmitted --"

"Obion," I began, "can the storage device be safely removed?"

"No, captain," he said with a sign of frustration in his voice. "It wasn't until Minmus Explorer Probe III when that was implemented into the design. This is a MEP II model. If I remove the storage device, I run the risk of it losing all the data stored on it."

'Captain, I have another idea," Hildi added. "Permission to try a direct data transfer?"

"Sure, permission granted." After all, what good is the data if it cannot be accessed. And transferring data is something which has been around since the Mun Explorer Probe Ia  series. "Once you've done it, you both return to the Excursion immediately. I still do not like this new period of Kerbol instability."

"Understood, sir,"

"Excursion out," and with that, I motioned to Gilti to close the channel.

"Sir," Gilti called out. "We just received a data packet from Bobak. It's marked for you and Commander Karloff only --"

"Send it to the conference room." I replied, "Karloff, come with me. Gilti, you have the command deck."

"Aye, sir," they both replied and almost in unison.

Karloff and I made our way to the conference room and as we entered, the communications panel indicated the data packet was ready for viewing. I entered my security code and within a few seconds, the message began to play.

"Kerny, I'm forwarding this data packet to you but I want you and Karloff to review it." I recognized the voice as being Bobak. "The old Kerman wanted me to send it to you with this explanation. Earlier today, around two hours after Kerbolrise, Dr. Zarkov sent Major Froming to the KSC."

"The flight was totally unscheduled and was not listed on the training manifest. Whatever he was carrying, it was important enough to bypass the usual flight protocols and coordination of flight plans with KSC tracking."

"All we knew is when we began monitoring the communications coming from the Island Airfield, the designation for the flight was Z5 - yes, the designation for an emergency flight request filed by Dr. Zarkov. Whatever brought the major over to the KSC was important enough that he used afterburners instead of normal launch protocols."

"KSC Tracking," we could hear Major Froming in the video portion of the message. "This is Dodger on Z5. Request permission to land..."

"Dodger, this is KSC Tracking," we recognized the voice of Bobak. "Permission granted. --"

"KSC Tracking, please alert Drs. Haywood and Werner," and without any hesitation or waiting for landing instructions, or any other response, we heard, "Dodger Out."

"He landed at the KSC and immediately was met by Dr. Wernher and Dr. Haywood on the tarmac once he cut the jets."  Bobak added, "It's strange and even Gene has remarked there's something about this which has even him concerned."

"We aren't too sure why Dr. Zarkov decided to send a courier to bring stuff to the KSC when a data packet could have been sent quicker and more efficently. Kuzzter offered the best suggestion possible - maybe Dr. Zarkov was afraid it could be intercepted by the Prime Consul and he'd rather not risk that."

"And on other news, knowing you must be running low on supplies," Bobak began, "Gene ordered a  resupply of the Excursion. He still doesn't want you to return to Kerbin orbit. His plan is for the vehicle carrying the supplies to rendezvous with you while you are in Münar orbit. We were able to launch it shortly after Major Froming messed up our previous launch window."

*BEEP* CAPCOM GO. At this time, launch zone is clear. Running final onboard computer dynamic *BEEP*  Immediately, we knew Bobak had inserted the actual mission video feed.

*BEEP* FLIGHT is Go. All systems are nominal. *BEEP*

*BEEP* This is CAPCOM, we are go to resume countdown. Launch in T minus 15 seconds *BEEP*

*BEEP* CAPCOM, This is KSC Tracking. The box is clear. We are go for launch. *BEEP*

*Roger, Tracking. Mission clock shows T Minus five... four... three... two... we have main engine start, we are GO for launch *BEEP*

*BEEP* Cargo Seven has cleared the tower. Trajectory is normal, all systems nominal. *BEEP*

We watched the video feed as the cargo craft cleared the atmosphere and completed a series of orbital burns. In less than a standard day, the cargo craft would be on its way to the Mün. Once it would achieve orbit there, it would remain there until our arrival.

The last data file was an update on one of Stormy's latest prototype test. Earlier this evening, about an hour after Kerbolset, an unsheduled but needed test flight took place. With all that's going on here and apparently all over Kerbin, it was easy to lose track on some of Gene's more behind-the-scenes plans. Since the Prime Consul has been consolidating her power, others, such as Gene, have learned to work around her to the extent of stretching the meaning of some of her orders.

One such order is the discontinuation of training, defense air patrols, and test flights in a five kilometer zone around New Kerbin City.

The latest development in high speed passenger transportation, known as the XP-3, took off on its first night time endurance test. Since the normal testing route has been placed off limits, Gene decided to take over the planning of the route the craft would take. It wasn't until the test craft was already in the air when we learned of the flightpath the XP-3 would take.

"Captain," Karloff asked, "that heading takes it to the north-northwest of the KSC. That's in the direction of the --"

"Old KSC. That's a four hour flight by traditional jet aircraft. But this one --"

As the data packet ended and the screen returned to its main navigation menu, Commander Karloff and I sat and smiled at one another. This is how Gene was going to accomplish one of his personal goals without Prime Consul Catrine knowing what was happening.

"Captain," Gilti's voice came over the console speaker. "We've received a message from Hildi, they are returning to the Excursion."

"Good, Kerny out." and with that, Karloff and I sat there in silence.

"Captain," he said, "when should we leave Minmus orbit?"

"Karloff, let's secure the lander. We'll take it with us. But once they've docked, I want to be underway."

"Understood, Captain," and with that, Karloff left the conference room. I sat there for another ten minutes, realizing how tired I am.

"Gilti," I sad after pressing the yellow button on communications panel, "you still have the command deck. I will be in my quarters for a while. If you need me --"

"Yes, Captain, I understand. Gilti out."

And with that, I was off meet with Maxbas for a few mintues. Something tells me she needs to know about the emergency courier flight by Major Froming. Maybe after that I will be able to catch up on some sleep.

[adsii1970]

Hey, folks, next week there WILL be another chapter up. Maybe even a second chapter by Friday. But until then, here are a couple of shots to tease you...

[KerballingSmasher]

NEW CHAPTERS WHOOOOOOOOOOOO (no, I'm not going to be mean)

[adsii1970]

4 hours ago, KerballingSmasher said:

NEW CHAPTERS WHOOOOOOOOOOOO (no, I'm not going to be mean)

It's up... the posts are a little out of order, but the new chapter is up...

[Angelo Kerman]

5 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

It's up... the posts are a little out of order, but the new chapter is up...

Woot! Love the F-18-like craft. I wonder what Gene is up to, and what that object in Minmus orbit was all about...?

[jimmymcgoochie]

Just finished reading through this excellent story after stumbling across it accidentally late last week. Keep it coming!

 

I did notice that in one of the earlier chapters they were told to keep their speed below 200 kilometres per second- yikes! 

Edited August 5, 2020 by jimmymcgoochie

[adsii1970]

On 8/5/2020 at 8:12 AM, jimmymcgoochie said:

I did notice that in one of the earlier chapters they were told to keep their speed below 200 kilometres per second- yikes! 

Um... Um... yeah, about that...

I've been telling myself for the past three years I need to go back into the older chapters and correct the errors and inconsistencies such as that. If you find them, or you find some other thing that I need to look at, send me a PM with where it is at in the chapter, and I'll fix it. @Thedrelle was/is/hopefully still is one of the proofreaders who often does that for me.

Eventually, when I clean up the older chapters, there will be "previous chapter/next chapter" links on the bottom of each chapter.

On 8/3/2020 at 9:49 PM, Angel-125 said:

Woot! Love the F-18-like craft. I wonder what Gene is up to, and what that object in Minmus orbit was all about...?

That craft has been in the story for a while now. It's pretty nimble and handles pretty well in 1.3. I'm planning to make the jump to 1.8.1 since that's the last Kopernicus version that works with the system I am building. I've not played around with the newer fork and am not sure if the person handling it is going to keep the backport functionality.

The object in Minmus orbit... you'll be seeing it soon^TM. But that's all I am planning to say about it for now.

Gene's playing a good game of poker and is holding his cards close to his chest. With Dr. Edmund gone...

@Angel-125, I've been catching up on your fan-fic. Good stuff.

[adsii1970]

I have a question for those of you who read this fan-fic. I am still working on moving Kerny to 1.8.1 since I have almost all the mods converted to that version. But earlier today, I found out that @SpannerMonkey(smce)'s mode aren't compatible with 1.8.1. A quick search of the forum and some of the modding sites for KSP pretty much has left me disappointed in the lack of shipbuilding mods.

The question becomes should Kerny stay in 1.3 and I continue to write using that version of Kerbal Space Program or do you think losing the ships is not really a big deal and I should move beyond it?

Personally, I am torn down the middle. A lot of time and energy went into designing the surface fleet in 1.3. So, please let me know what you think...

[Lisias]

14 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

The question becomes should Kerny stay in 1.3 and I continue to write using that version of Kerbal Space Program or do you think losing the ships is not really a big deal and I should move beyond it?

How about 1.7.3? It's still the version for my "serious" gaming. It performs pretty well on my "new old rig" (better than 1.10, believe it or not). And it should handle SpannerMonkey's add'ons pretty well (most of the time). Virtually all the current Add'Ons fixes can be backported to it too (it's what I do).

And at least some patches for SMCE are being worked out to fix them on "more or less modern" KSP. (shameless self-promotion: TweakScale Companion for SMCE)

But if that is not feasible, I don't mind keeping Kerny on 1.3.1 - I prefer good content to bells and whistles on visuals (and ships allow you to explore also the oceans for histories, not only dry land).

Edited August 14, 2020 by Lisias
Hit "Save" too soon.

[jimmymcgoochie]

I say stick to what you've got rather than going through the hassle of trying to upgrade. Unless the version you're on is causing you problems, better the devil (or in this case, version of KSP) you know than the one you don't.

[RealKerbal3x]

@adsii1970 The surface fleet plays an important role in the story, so I'd say that if you can't get them working in 1.8.1 then you should just stick to 1.3. 

Having this story be in 1.3 is kind of a blast from the past, anyway, as that was the first version I played KSP in. Of course in the end it's your choice, but I really don't mind if you stay in 1.3.

[Angelo Kerman]

47 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

I have a question for those of you who read this fan-fic. I am still working on moving Kerny to 1.8.1 since I have almost all the mods converted to that version. But earlier today, I found out that @SpannerMonkey(smce)'s mode aren't compatible with 1.8.1. A quick search of the forum and some of the modding sites for KSP pretty much has left me disappointed in the lack of shipbuilding mods.

The question becomes should Kerny stay in 1.3 and I continue to write using that version of Kerbal Space Program or do you think losing the ships is not really a big deal and I should move beyond it?

Personally, I am torn down the middle. A lot of time and energy went into designing the surface fleet in 1.3. So, please let me know what you think...

Which mod is it?

? Asking for a friend...

Edited August 14, 2020 by Angel-125

[adsii1970]

2 hours ago, RealKerbal3x said:

@adsii1970 The surface fleet plays an important role in the story, so I'd say that if you can't get them working in 1.8.1 then you should just stick to 1.3. 

Having this story be in 1.3 is kind of a blast from the past, anyway, as that was the first version I played KSP in. Of course in the end it's your choice, but I really don't mind if you stay in 1.3.

I kinda like this idea... It's appealing for the nostalgia effect - you're right.

@Angel-125 I am also having a booger of a time on getting my custom Kerbal heads to work in the new Texture Replacer. I've thought about explaining going back to the default faces as a side effect of the anomalies.

 

[Angelo Kerman]

17 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

I kinda like this idea... It's appealing for the nostalgia effect - you're right.

@Angel-125 I am also having a booger of a time on getting my custom Kerbal heads to work in the new Texture Replacer. I've thought about explaining going back to the default faces as a side effect of the anomalies.

 

Re: kerbal heads: They go in the Skins folder and use kerbalHead as the name of the file. Each head has a separate folder. For suits: they go in the Suits folder, each as a sub-folder. whiteSuit_diffuse and kerbalMainGrey are the texture names.

I also looked, SM Marine is no longer available for download. Making boat parts is something I can do if needed...

[Kerminator K-100]

Just read this whole thing! This is amazing!

At the beginning I thought it would just be a standard mission report thread but then it turned into way more! I'm also reading Emiko Station and thought the references were funny!

Edited August 17, 2020 by Kerminator1000

[adsii1970]

@Kerminator1000 thank you for the complement. It's encouraging to hear folks still enjoy reading this.

I have 3/4 of the next chapter's images. Maybe by Friday the next chapter will be finished.

[Kerminator K-100]

11 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

I have 3/4 of the next chapter's images. Maybe by Friday the next chapter will be finished

Cool, look forward to reading it!

Hmm, I seem to be out of likes

[RealKerbal3x]

12 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

I have 3/4 of the next chapter's images. Maybe by Friday the next chapter will be finished.

Great, can't wait to read it

Did you migrate to a more recent KSP version or have you decided to stick to 1.3?

[obney kerman]

1 hour ago, Kerminator1000 said:

Hmm, I seem to be out of likes

Yeah, that happens. Still, it's nice to see someone new reading these kinds of things.

Anyway, looking forward to the new chapter!

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, RealKerbal3x said:

Great, can't wait to read it

Did you migrate to a more recent KSP version or have you decided to stick to 1.3?

For the next few chapters, and maybe for the rest of the year, I'm going to stick to 1.3. some of the mods used in the aircraft, ships, and ground vehicles are now defunct. 

I have thought about going a completely different storyline in 1.10.