The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[RocketSquid]

Ah, @Just Jim, I see you are also a fan of the "spaceplane sandwich" strategy that I use for my Arrowheads.

[Just Jim]

7 minutes ago, Draconiator said:

Mmmmm....I wanna eat a raptor now...

Oh no!!!  I totally missed that!   Normally I don't like having my goofs pointed out, but I have to admit, that was really funny!  I'll go fix it now!

7 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

I suppose there must be an easier way to do that... but who cares? That was epic!  

I call it my velvet glove over the iron fist approach... lol....

9 minutes ago, RocketSquid said:

Ah, @Just Jim, I see you are also a fan of the "spaceplane sandwich" strategy that I use for my Arrowheads.

I don't know if I've seen yours or not.... old brain and failing memory... lol...

But mine was a variation of the skycrane idea I used to launch the big chariot rovers.

[RocketSquid]

6 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

I don't know if I've seen yours or not.... old brain and failing memory... lol...

But mine was a variation of the skycrane idea I used to launch the big chariot rovers.

Oh, well, I've been chronicling my exploits in [self-promotion] this thread [/self-promotion].

[Just Jim]

17 minutes ago, RocketSquid said:

Oh, well, I've been chronicling my exploits in [self-promotion] this thread [/self-promotion].

I know, and I apologize for not keeping up.  I need to catch up on a few stories. 
But I just went and read it and your right, it is a very similar design.  Much easier to pull something like that into orbit than push it! 

[Crystal_Mace]

So THAT'S what a spaceship lauch is supposedd to look like...:)   Wow.....

 

I'm not having any major problems with release 1.1.....just the occasional weird little glitchy thing that usually only happens once, and doesn't really hurt anything.

 

[TopHeavy11]

I think that the interior overlay feature will greatly improve your story via enhanced visibility.

[max_creative]

Question: do you use an rovers besides the chariot? The chariot has big wheels that won't skid much or break very easily, but the other ones break super easy now. 

[Just Jim]

OK, big news here at home! 

Some of you may have noticed the last few weeks I've been sort of procrastinating writing new chapters, and.... well.... I have been, and I apologize. 
Before now I've been afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing it.  True, part of the reason was the 1.1 upgrade and dealing with the asteroid bug, but there's been a lot going on here behind the scenes as well.  And today, with a lot of help from a really good friend, I finally was able to order myself a new computer! 

Goodbye old slow AMD640... hello Intel i7-4790!!! 
With a good NVidia graphics card, and 8 gigs of RAM, expandable to 32 gigs!!!!   

It should be here Monday, and I can't wait!  It's not just going to make playing better, I'll finally be able to turn up the graphic settings and make my screenshots much nicer quality as well!   Plus I'll finally be able to think about adding some visual enhancement mods without burning up my processor!

So I won't be doing much this weekend, but once it gets here and I get everything set up, I'll be going back at the story full bore!  
And like the 1.1 update, if everything goes according to plan, Emiko Station is about to become turbo charged!!! 

[max_creative]

Emiko Station! Now with less lag!

[Just Jim]

6 hours ago, max_creative said:

Question: do you use an rovers besides the chariot? The chariot has big wheels that won't skid much or break very easily, but the other ones break super easy now. 

I do have a couple smaller ones still from early on in the story, but nothing off Kerbin at the moment.  
I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but now I'm curious how well they'll do off planet. 

[max_creative]

3 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

I do have a couple smaller ones still from early on in the story, but nothing off Kerbin at the moment.  
I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but now I'm curious how well they'll do off planet. 

Mun rovers already skidded a lot, even the chariot might have trouble there. The old alpha, beta, and delta-77 rovers are gone, and the pol chariot would practically be going suborbital without the Vernors. The Duna chariot might work though.

[Jeb!]

2 hours ago, Just Jim said:

I finally was able to order myself a new computer! 

Goodbye old slow AMD640... hello Intel i7-4790!!! 
With a good NVidia graphics card, and 8 gigs of RAM, expandable to 32 gigs!!!!   

It should be here Monday, and I can't wait!  It's not just going to make playing better, I'll finally be able to turn up the graphic settings and make my screenshots much nicer quality as well!   Plus I'll finally be able to think about adding some visual enhancement mods without burning up my processor!

That's great! I'm happy for (*jealous of*) you!

Intel i7 is an excellent processor, just about top of the line. I'm going to be buying a few laptops with i7s for the museum where I work, and you might be surprised how much a difference just having i7s can make over older computers.

[RA3236]

2 hours ago, Just Jim said:

OK, big news here at home! 

Some of you may have noticed the last few weeks I've been sort of procrastinating writing new chapters, and.... well.... I have been, and I apologize. 
Before now I've been afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing it.  True, part of the reason was the 1.1 upgrade and dealing with the asteroid bug, but there's been a lot going on here behind the scenes as well.  And today, with a lot of help from a really good friend, I finally was able to order myself a new computer! 

Goodbye old slow AMD640... hello Intel i7-4790!!! 
With a good NVidia graphics card, and 8 gigs of RAM, expandable to 32 gigs!!!!   

It should be here Monday, and I can't wait!  It's not just going to make playing better, I'll finally be able to turn up the graphic settings and make my screenshots much nicer quality as well!   Plus I'll finally be able to think about adding some visual enhancement mods without burning up my processor!

So I won't be doing much this weekend, but once it gets here and I get everything set up, I'll be going back at the story full bore!  
And like the 1.1 update, if everything goes according to plan, Emiko Station is about to become turbo charged!!! 

Oh you are lucky... My 1.1 isnt that much better than 1.0.5 due to my graphics  

[Just Jim]

24 minutes ago, Jeb! said:

That's great! I'm happy for (*jealous of*) you!

Intel i7 is an excellent processor, just about top of the line. I'm going to be buying a few laptops with i7s for the museum where I work, and you might be surprised how much a difference just having i7s can make over older computers.

I read thru the "building a KSP computer" threads on here, and most everyone agreed the i7 is about the best right now, baring some sort of wicked super computer... lol.
But I'm getting a tower, not a laptop, which I much prefer.

23 minutes ago, RA3236 said:

Oh you are lucky... My 1.1 isnt that much better than 1.0.5 due to my graphics  

My problem exactly!  I bought my current computer right before I went on disability, which was like 8 years ago.  It's still a good machine, but not the best for something like KSP.  And while 1.1 did make a considerable difference in performance, I'm also limited by this one's older graphics and 4 gig RAM max.

And I have to admit, it was luck in a lot of ways...
I wouldn't have been able to make this happen for a lot longer without help, and I'm really grateful for friends. 

Edited April 23, 2016 by Just Jim

[Geschosskopf]

On 4/22/2016 at 7:28 PM, Just Jim said:

I call it my velvet glove over the iron fist approach... lol....

Still, I think we went to the same school to learn how to design lifters for unruly payloads   There are few problems that can't be solved by sufficient application of dV, TWR, and control authoity

 

[max_creative]

Question @Just Jim, is it possible to have the Dresperado's craft file? I want to test something... (Which is totally not testing getting hit by an SRB at 400 m/s)

[insert_name]

12 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Still, I think we went to the same school to learn how to design lifters for unruly payloads   There are few problems that can't be solved by sufficient application of dV, TWR, and control authoity

 

And struts, lots of struts

[Crystal_Mace]

On 4/22/2016 at 5:38 AM, TopHeavy11 said:

I think that the interior overlay feature will greatly improve your story via enhanced visibility.

I know I'm loving it myself!  I Did the "From Mun" Tutorial last night loved the momentary "ACK!" reaction when Valentina hit's he water....Or maybe that was just the camera shaking.  That's what SHE says it was....

On 4/22/2016 at 9:02 AM, max_creative said:

Question: do you use an rovers besides the chariot? The chariot has big wheels that won't skid much or break very easily, but the other ones break super easy now. 

Gritting your teeth and buying the steel belted radials is ALWAYS the best thing to so.  They're not just trying to soak you for more money.   Well,. yes they are, but it's still always  the best thing to do......

20 hours ago, Just Jim said:

OK, big news here at home! 

Some of you may have noticed the last few weeks I've been sort of procrastinating writing new chapters, and.... well.... I have been, and I apologize. 
Before now I've been afraid to say anything for fear of jinxing it.  True, part of the reason was the 1.1 upgrade and dealing with the asteroid bug, but there's been a lot going on here behind the scenes as well.  And today, with a lot of help from a really good friend, I finally was able to order myself a new computer! 

Goodbye old slow AMD640... hello Intel i7-4790!!! 
With a good NVidia graphics card, and 8 gigs of RAM, expandable to 32 gigs!!!!   

It should be here Monday, and I can't wait!  It's not just going to make playing better, I'll finally be able to turn up the graphic settings and make my screenshots much nicer quality as well!   Plus I'll finally be able to think about adding some visual enhancement mods without burning up my processor!

So I won't be doing much this weekend, but once it gets here and I get everything set up, I'll be going back at the story full bore!  
And like the 1.1 update, if everything goes according to plan, Emiko Station is about to become turbo charged!!! 

Sounds terrific!    I can relate....I was worried my computer was self destructing......but it was just broken code in the directory......that impacted EVERYTHING..... my load times five to twenty minutes to never for everything, Windows responses log jammed five deep when it was responding at all, and auto upgrades were a fricking nightmare.   Dani sat down with my computer, did three keypresses, waited for them to be accepted, and after thirty minutes of mulling things over time, HEY, PRESTO! ....everything's copacetic in Windows land again.  Well....as copacetic as Windows land ever gets, but at least I'm not having to WAIT forever for their next kerfuffle...   Dani's so awesome.... I was just going to hit it with a rock a few more times and see if that helped, or if it was time to switch to a bigger rock.

Anyway I can't wait to see what happens next, especially after not having to buy a new computer first.  Did you see what I meant about Gem and Theo showing up as teenagers from the future in an alternate reality? 

 

Edited April 23, 2016 by Crystal_Mace
Minor spelling grammar fixes.

[Just Jim]

19 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Still, I think we went to the same school to learn how to design lifters for unruly payloads   There are few problems that can't be solved by sufficient application of dV, TWR, and control authoity

 

Yup... I remember somewhere in here you saying something to the effect of never too big to be dragged into orbit...  That's it exactly.  When I couldn't come up with a way to push a raptor into orbit, I decided to pull it instead, and eventually it worked. 

 

3 hours ago, Crystal_Mace said:

Sounds terrific!    I can relate....I was worried my computer was self destructing......but it was just broken code in the directory......that impacted EVERYTHING..... my load times five to twenty minutes to never for everything, Windows responses log jammed five deep when it was responding at all, and auto upgrades were a fricking nightmare.   Dani sat down with my computer, did three keypresses, waited for them to be accepted, and after thirty minutes of mulling things over time, HEY, PRESTO! ....everything's copacetic in Windows land again.  Well....as copacetic as Windows land ever gets, but at least I'm not having to WAIT forever for their next kerfuffle...   Dani's so awesome.... I was just going to hit it with a rock a few more times and see if that helped, or if it was time to switch to a bigger rock.

Anyway I can't wait to see what happens next, especially after not having to buy a new computer first.  Did you see what I meant about Gem and Theo showing up as teenagers from the future in an alternate reality? 

 

In my case it's the cooling fans... I think. I'm not 100% sure.  
Yeah, it may seem like I'm buying a new computer just for KSP.... but I'm not.  KSP is just the last straw breaking an already old camels back.  The biggest reason is one (or more???) of the fans is starting to make really nasty grinding noises.  At least I think it's a fan.  A couple times it just cut out completely, and not just playing KSP.  I called about getting it looked at, but that's not so cheap either.  So I decided it was time to retire this one and look into a new one.  

However... while I'm not doing it just to play KSP, I will admit I planned on which new one to get with KSP in mind. 

[Just Jim]

1.1 seems to be working fine, let's do one more...

Chapter 43
Where the Heart Is

 

Several hours after the new explorer Raptor had achieved orbit over Kerbin, Piper Kerman, along with her pilot cadet named Maryin, rendezvoused and docked to the new ship. With their huge wings, docking Raptors could be tricky, but Maryin handled it with ease, much to Piper's approval.

After she gave Maryin one last pep talk, Piper climbed aboard her new Raptor, undocked, and headed to the Mun while Maryin set course back to Emiko Station to assume her new position as permanent tourist pilot.

 

*          *          *

 

Meanwhile, high over Duna, Captain Kuzz was making the last minute preparations before their maneuver burns back to Kerbin. He had delayed as long as possible, running the numbers over and over thru the computer, double and triple checking the simulations to verify they weren't plotting a suicide course. And much to his concern, the best the computer could give him was a 66% chance of success.

But what could he do? Give themselves up now??? From what they had heard of this Thompberry creature, that very well might be suicide as well. 

Better to go out in a blaze of glory, he thought to himself.

Next to him, Geschosskopf explained to the twins their roles in the upcoming event. "You two are to monitor these temperature gauges closely thru the maneuver. This is vital, these burns are longer than this ship has ever attempted, and Nerv's have a bad habit of overheating. We need you to watch those gauges closely, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!"  both twins answered in unison, a little scared, but also excited to be part of the operation.

Minutes later the Captain began counting down, "Three, two, one... throttle up to 2/3's.... now!"

And the Dresperado began the first of her two maneuver burns, each nearly 10 minutes long. Minute by minute ticked by, while the crew sat nervously watching their instruments. Would the stacked radiator system be able to maintain without overheating? No-one knew. But as the minutes crawled by, it appeared they were holding fast, and keeping the Nerv's temperatures in check.

"And three, two, one.... throttle down... People, we are good!" Captain Kuzz happily announced several minutes later.

Five hours after the first maneuver, having left Duna's sphere of influence, the captain laid in the second maneuver. This burn was slightly shorter than the first, so they were confident they would be OK. 

But as they neared the end of the 2nd burn, over the roar of the engines, Carlenna yelled out from the cargo hold, "Sir, I'm getting a fluctuation in the main gas tank... I think we may have a leak."

Captain Kuzz yelled back, "We only need a few more seconds... can you isolate it?"

"Attempting to now......  No, no good, there must be a leak in one of the lines."

Kuzz looked down at his panel and to his relief there were only a couple seconds left. "Three... two... one.... Powering down now! Carlenna, NOW!!! Close all fuel valves!"

From the co-pilot seat Geschosskopf looked down at his instruments and scowled. "Valves closing... and sealed... whatever was leaking is stopped for now, but sir... our fuel reserves are down to... oh kraken's beard... We're down to less than 20%."

Great," Kuzzter grinned sourly, "Isn't that always our luck? Well, at least we're on course."

"Kids, one way or the other, in 200 days we'll be home, and I will make sure you're safely delivered to your parents. But, in the meantime, how would you two like to learn a new game?"

Next to him, Geschosskopf groaned, "Oh, by the gods... no..."

Kuzzter ignored him, "I'm going to teach you to play a game I invented myself a while back... it's called Cheks."

 

*          *          *

 

A couple days later back at KASA, a new rocket was rolled out to the launch pad.  The official record showed it to be an "Eve lander", but Gene Kerman knew in his heart it was much more... it was a prison, a prison for one of his dear friends.

Secretly he prayed for something to go horribly wrong and the rocket to explode on the pad, but their delivery system was well tested, and performed flawlessly as expected.

In minutes the rocket was in orbit and it's terrible cargo unveiled. Beneath the fairings was a small base, almost a shack compared to the bases on the Mun and Minmus. This tiny shanty was to be Harfield Kerman's new home as he was exiled to Eve.

On Emiko Station, Harfield and Jandolin stoically boarded the Emiko Raptor and found a cabin to spend their last hours together as it headed to the Eve rocket.

They knew they were trapped; they had no choice. Thompberry had taken great pleasure in tormenting Jandolin about the fate of her children, as well as her best friends aboard Duna Station, until Harfield finally relented to his demands. He couldn't bear to see her tortured like this, and would have given anything to save her.

"I will be OK, my love," Harfield tried to smile, "This is actually a great scientific opportunity."

"Yes, dear," Jandolin tried to smile back, but choked, "I know you will be... and we will be together again. All of us as a fami... fam.... family."

But all too soon the Emiko refueler was done topping off the Eve rocket, and Maryin moved in to dock. 

As she watched Harfield strapping in from the her own cockpit, Maryin thought to herself, That is the bravest Kerbal alive! She did not know about Thompberry, or the horrible sacrifice Harfield was making to try and save his family. All she was told was Harfield had volunteered for science, and she couldn't help but admire him at this moment, and even feel a twinge of jealousy at poor Jandolin, which she quickly quashed to her embarrassment.

But once he was in the command canopy, and the Raptor had moved a safe distance away, the Eve rocket took total control, and Thompberry's voice rang out in Harfield's helmet.

"Welcome, my old friend... <gurgle gurgle> to purgatory flight 13. <gurgle> I will be your.... <bubble> hehehe <bubble> captain... Are we all strapped in nice and comfy??? I want you to <gurgle> enjoy your flight..."   

And helpless to do anything but sit and watch, Harfield saw the ship's computer lay in it's own course to Eve, and a few minutes later begin it's maneuver burn.

"Goodbye, my love," he whispered.

But to his dismay, it was Thompberry who answered with glee... "Yess... my love...... <bubble seeth>  My LOVE!!!! Remember her face well..... and know she will be mine...<bubble boil> MINE!!!!!!"

Squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block out the monstrous voice, Harfield did his best to focus on Jandolin's image. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he felt the ship throttle back down, and for a second he opened his eyes. On the screen before him he saw his fate: in 114 days he would begin his imprisonment on Eve.

 

The Saga of Emiko Station is far, far from over...

Go to Chapter 44
Return to Index

Edited December 7, 2019 by Just Jim

[KerbalCorgi]

Quick question- how do you do the chapter links?

[Just Jim]

1 minute ago, KerbalCorgi said:

Quick question- how do you do the chapter links?

use the button that looks like a paperclip

[KerbalCorgi]

Just now, Just Jim said:

use the button that looks like a paperclip

ok, thanks.

[superstrijder15]

27 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

Kuzzter ignored him, "I'm going to teach you to play a game I invented myself a while back... it's called Checks."

Wooo! I only see the reference now! Great chapter once again, if only these fan-fics came out faster... my life would be perfect

[SpaceplaneAddict]

I CALLED IT! VERY MUCH KNEW Harfield would be the one. That's the power of romance predictabiliy and...
*Determination.