[Writing] Some first steps

[greghorst]

Nothing like a small retelling, with only minor embellishment, of my first rocket flight in KSP.

Chapter 1

Bob sealed the door with the last of the Duct Tape. He tossed the empty cardboard tubes down with the others to the back of the capsule. “Main Hatch sealed, Jebâ€

“That’s Commander Jeb, Bob.†Jeb corrected his younger brother while putting on cool shades and closing his helmet’s visor.

“Oh Sorry, Commander Jeb,†Bob sheepishly replied while climbing into his own seat.

Bill looked nervously around the capsule, “I’m not sure we should be doing this Jeb.â€

“That’s Comma…â€

“..der Jeb, right, sure. But my statement still stands. I don’t think this thing is very safe.â€

“But this Rocket was built by the brightest minds that Kerbin has to offer!†Jeb confidently quipped.

“Bob just sealed the door with Duct Tape…†Bill deadpanned.

“So the door was a little too small for the hole,†Jeb dismissed.

“and the control panel is made of cardboard…†Bill glared.

“That’s to save weight!†Bob happily added, remembering what the man in the white lab coat said.

“and our chairs are folding chairs wielded to the floor!†Bill shouted in exasperation.

“Because they are comfy! Look Bill, they need this on this flight. I’m the top test pilot for the Kerb-Royal Air Force, and you are the top Space-y Navigator guy..â€

“Orbital Navigation Specialist.â€

“Right that… in the whole world! They NEED us to be here on this… the first flight into a new frontier.â€

Bob sat confused, “Why am I here then?â€

“There are three seats,†Jeb quickly added, “Look we’re all ready to go, all fueled up and the door is sealed with the last of the tape. If we abort this flight, it will be a mission failure guys. Before we do that lets just calm down, and take a deep breath and think about…†Jeb mashed the large red Ignition button with a gloved fist.

The entire rocket roared into life. Several ground crew personnel, taken unaware by the premature launch, leaped to safety from the plume of the exhaust. The pinnacle of Kerbol science, assembled from four of the largest fuel tanks they could find… as scrap (A cost cutting measure. Jeb wanted me to remind you.) and the most powerful, most advanced, and most untested rocket engine ever designed by Earl’s Hardware and Plumbing Company rose off the pad mounting a terrible tower of smoke and fire. What was slowly ascending quickly accelerated to rapidly flinging as it gained altitude. The entire capsule shook like the interior of a paint mixer, thereby proving that Bob’s suggestion to train at the paint section should not have been dismissed as rapidly as it had.

Out the small, somewhat foggy window just to Jeb’s left, he could see the sky begin to darken from a pristine blue to the darkest black of night. Checking his navigational scribbles written next to the bubbly navigational thingy, Jeb tilted the capsule gently over and toward the horizon. Eventually Bill started yelling something at Jeb, but he couldn’t hear him over the sound from the engine and Bob’s screaming. Jeb throttled back with the red dangly lever until the engine shut down and then shut Bob’s visor to muffle his screams. “Yes Bill?â€

“I was trying to tell you to shut down the engine, we’re in orbit.â€

“Oh, I’ll do that right away then.†Jeb immediately shoved the throttle all the way back up and hit the not quite as red as the Ignition button, but still fairly red, engine shutdown button.

“Why did you do that?†Asked Bill as he began recalculating the orbit… again.

“Because otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to hit the other button!†Jeb said though a toothy grin.

Chapter 2

There was an eerie silence as the Kerbals undid the ropes that served as seat belts. Bolts and nuts and duct tape rolls floated around the capsule in the microgravity of orbit. Jeb floated over to the porthole and looked through. “Look at that, no one has ever been able to see Kerbin like this.†Their magnificent blue and green planet rolled lazily below them. Despite going faster than any Kerbal before, the entire craft felt still. Jeb looked around, “This is boring.â€

Bill looked up from his calculations, “Why don’t you turn on the radio? I need to confirm our telemetry anyway.â€

Bob piped up, “Oh I can do that! But I don’t think it’s going to give you any good shows, it doesn’t have a screen.†Bob flipped a switch on a little grey box, one of the few actually made of metal, and sparks quickly shot out of it and it issued a loud pop. Jeb floated over and gave it a swift thwack with his fist. The box promptly buzzed and voices started to crackle through the speaker.

“I’m telling you they’re dead! Pay up!â€

Bill looked over at the box, “Uh Mission Control? This is Kerbal 1, can you read? Over.â€

The radio quickly issued a cheer in the background as an annoyed CAPCOM responded, “What? Oh Darn, you guys cost be 100 bucks!â€

“But why would anyone want that much deer?†voiced Bob. The two stares from his fellow capsule-mates told him he should probably stay silent.

“Anyway,†Bill said while rolling his eyes, “I want to confirm these numbers I’m getting from internal guidance.â€

“Uh…â€

“Mission control?†Bill asked with a concerned look on his face.

“Well… nobody but Gregvey thought that you’d actually get off the pad… so… we don’t have any telemetry up yet.â€

“But what about the tracking station?†Bill shouted to the radio.

“Yeah… we were using that for storage. Sorry…â€

“Why did you even let us up here anyway!â€

“It was supposed to be an unkerbaled flight, but Jeb insisted that you guys go up and we figured what the hay.â€

Bill glared at Jeb so hard, the visor separating them began to melt. Jeb nonchalantly said, “Whelp… I’ll just turn off the radio for you,' and he gently pressed a small unmarked red button.

Immediately the sound of a claxon filled the small confines of the cabin and the whole craft began to spin.

“What going on?†Bob cried out.

“What did you do now?†Bill gripped his brother and shook him violently and the craft continued to spin faster.

“I don’t know! I hit the little red button!â€

“ALL THE BUTTONS ARE RED!†Bill screamed.

“That makes them… cooler?†Jeb tried to rationalize.

Just as Bill was about to see how far a fist can be rammed up Jeb’s face, the claxon silenced. The whole space capsule was spinning around its axis, the three of them pinned up against the wall by the light forces at work. “Well that’s better†Bob smiled.

Bill quickly scanned the cardboard console and found one gage flashing red. It’s needle pointing at a comically drawn E. “You vented the fuel… you vented all the fuel.â€

Jeb sat silently for a moment still held in Bills grip, “… Oops?â€

Chapter 3

Bob began screaming again. Bill let go of Jeb to close Bobs visor once more, but rather than returning to pummeling Jeb, he floated dejectedly in the capsule, “You’ve killed us all. How did you convince me to get into this death machine?â€

Jeb patted Bill on the shoulder, “Oh come now its not that bad.â€

“We’re trapped in a bathtub floating thousands of meters above the kerbin and the best we could hope for is that we’ll die the slow death of suffocation in this coffin.â€

“It won’t be that long at the rate Bob’s going,†Jeb said cheerfully, “And besides this is by far the most expensive coffin any of us could ever hope for!â€

Bill curled up further into a ball, “Mom was right, we should have institutionalized you ages ago.â€

There was silence for a long while in the capsule, once Bob got tired of screaming. The radio had once more fizzled out of a working condition and Bill had insisted that Jeb go nowhere near the switch panel anymore. Jeb was bored out of his skull.

“Ugh! How much longer! I’m so bored!†as he bonked his head off the wall of the capsule.

“What?†Bill turned to him, “How much longer till we die in this balloon, thanks to you and this whole darn space agency? Is that what you what to know?â€

“Yeah its…†His eyes suddenly went wide, “Say that again!â€

“What that you doomed us all?â€

“No no no! That thing about the balloon! It gave me an idea!†Jeb’s eyes flared wider to emphasize his insanity.

“What are you…†Bob was cut off as Jeb shoved his visor shut and pushed him to his chair.

“Both of you, strap in! This is going to get crazy!†Jeb cried out gleefully.

“Why should I, you’ve already doomed us to death!†yelled back Bill.

“What do you have left to lose?â€

That caught Bill off guard. He floated for a moment silently before maneuvering into his seat, “Fine, but if you make me die an even more painful death I’m going to dedicate my afterlife to ensuring you go to hell and suffer.â€

“And after I save us you owe me an ice cream, which way is the retreat direction?â€

“What?â€

“You know… the way I would have had to point the rocket to go home.â€

“Retro…†Bill glanced at the navball, “Uh that way.†He pointed.

“Okay, decouple the capsule and keep pointing.†Jeb said as he undid the rope that was his seatbelts and began to lash it about his waist.

Bill looked to the console and tapped a small rectangular button marked in bold red lettering ‘SPACE’. He had often wondered why this was but none of the engineers could give him a straight answer. The capsule thudded and the decoupler let go, letting the empty fuel tanks float away. The capsule slowly tumbled in the vacuum of space. Jeb signaled to him for close his visor and keep pointing.

Bill closed his visor letting the sound of his own breath take over. Halfheartedly, he continued pointing in the general direction of retro. Jeb watched as his finger pan all over the spinning cabin, but once it pointed at the door, Jeb gave the ill fitting sheet of metal a ferocious kick.

The entire capsule was suddenly emptied as the door, only held closed by the layer of duct tape, suddenly flew open and the entire atmosphere vented out into space. Cardboard rolls and all the loose debris pelted Jeb as he dangled from his improvised tether. Although Bill could not hear him, he could clearly see Jeb shouting excitedly as a child would on a rollercoaster. Soon, the capsule was once again still as it too was as void as space. Jeb pulled himself back to them and began talking but Bill could not hear him.

By his pointing at the console, Bill relized he wanted to know if his mad scheme had worked. Bill looked and checked his calculations. As he completed his sums, his eyes went wide. Jeb had done it! Periapsis of 50 km! They were going to reenter! Bill cheered ecstatically as he gave Jeb a pair of Thumbs up. That was until he noticed the door floating away from the craft, tumbling through the vacuum.

“Well Crap.â€

[greghorst]

Chapter 2

There was an eerie silence as the Kerbals undid the ropes that served as seat belts. Bolts and nuts and duct tape rolls floated around the capsule in the microgravity of orbit. Jeb floated over to the porthole and looked through. “Look at that, no one has ever been able to see Kerbin like this.†Their magnificent blue and green planet rolled lazily below them. Despite going faster than any Kerbal before, the entire craft felt still. Jeb looked around, “This is boring.â€

Bill looked up from his calculations, “Why don’t you turn on the radio? I need to confirm our telemetry anyway.â€

Bob piped up, “Oh I can do that! But I don’t think it’s going to give you any good shows, it doesn’t have a screen.†Bob flipped a switch on a little grey box, one of the few actually made of metal, and sparks quickly shot out of it and it issued a loud pop. Jeb floated over and gave it a swift thwack with his fist. The box promptly buzzed and voices started to crackle through the speaker.

“I’m telling you they’re dead! Pay up!â€

Bill looked over at the box, “Uh Mission Control? This is Kerbal 1, can you read? Over.â€

The radio quickly issued a cheer in the background as an annoyed CAPCOM responded, “What? Oh Darn, you guys cost be 100 bucks!â€

“But why would anyone want that much deer?†voiced Bob. The two stares from his fellow capsule-mates told him he should probably stay silent.

“Anyway,†Bill said while rolling his eyes, “I want to confirm these numbers I’m getting from internal guidance.â€

“Uh…â€

“Mission control?†Bill asked with a concerned look on his face.

“Well… nobody but Gregvey thought that you’d actually get off the pad… so… we don’t have any telemetry up yet.â€

“But what about the tracking station?†Bill shouted to the radio.

“Yeah… we were using that for storage. Sorry…â€

“Why did you even let us up here anyway!â€

“It was supposed to be an unkerbaled flight, but Jeb insisted that you guys go up and we figured what the hay.â€

Bill glared at Jeb so hard, the visor separating them began to melt. Jeb nonchalantly said, “Whelp… I’ll just turn off the radio for you,' and he gently pressed a small unmarked red button.

Immediately the sound of a claxon filled the small confines of the cabin and the whole craft began to spin.

“What going on?†Bob cried out.

“What did you do now?†Bill gripped his brother and shook him violently and the craft continued to spin faster.

“I don’t know! I hit the little red button!â€

“ALL THE BUTTONS ARE RED!†Bill screamed.

“That makes them… cooler?†Jeb tried to rationalize.

Just as Bill was about to see how far a fist can be rammed up Jeb’s face, the claxon silenced. The whole space capsule was spinning around its axis, the three of them pinned up against the wall by the light forces at work. “Well that’s better†Bob smiled.

Bill quickly scanned the cardboard console and found one gage flashing red. It’s needle pointing at a comically drawn E. “You vented the fuel… you vented all the fuel.â€

Jeb sat silently for a moment still held in Bills grip, “… Oops?â€

[Pluto100]

Awesome ! Good job!

[SiliconPyro]

Nice!

[greghorst]

Chapter 3

Bob began screaming again. Bill let go of Jeb to close Bobs visor once more, but rather than returning to pummeling Jeb, he floated dejectedly in the capsule, “You’ve killed us all. How did you convince me to get into this death machine?â€

Jeb patted Bill on the shoulder, “Oh come now its not that bad.â€

“We’re trapped in a bathtub floating thousands of meters above the kerbin and the best we could hope for is that we’ll die the slow death of suffocation in this coffin.â€

“It won’t be that long at the rate Bob’s going,†Jeb said cheerfully, “And besides this is by far the most expensive coffin any of us could ever hope for!â€

Bill curled up further into a ball, “Mom was right, we should have institutionalized you ages ago.â€

There was silence for a long while in the capsule, once Bob got tired of screaming. The radio had once more fizzled out of a working condition and Bill had insisted that Jeb go nowhere near the switch panel anymore. Jeb was bored out of his skull.

“Ugh! How much longer! I’m so bored!†as he bonked his head off the wall of the capsule.

“What?†Bill turned to him, “How much longer till we die in this balloon, thanks to you and this whole darn space agency? Is that what you what to know?â€

“Yeah its…†His eyes suddenly went wide, “Say that again!â€

“What that you doomed us all?â€

“No no no! That thing about the balloon! It gave me an idea!†Jeb’s eyes flared wider to emphasize his insanity.

“What are you…†Bob was cut off as Jeb shoved his visor shut and pushed him to his chair.

“Both of you, strap in! This is going to get crazy!†Jeb cried out gleefully.

“Why should I, you’ve already doomed us to death!†yelled back Bill.

“What do you have left to lose?â€

That caught Bill off guard. He floated for a moment silently before maneuvering into his seat, “Fine, but if you make me die an even more painful death I’m going to dedicate my afterlife to ensuring you go to hell and suffer.â€

“And after I save us you owe me an ice cream, which way is the retreat direction?â€

“What?â€

“You know… the way I would have had to point the rocket to go home.â€

“Retro…†Bill glanced at the navball, “Uh that way.†He pointed.

“Okay, decouple the capsule and keep pointing.†Jeb said as he undid the rope that was his seatbelts and began to lash it about his waist.

Bill looked to the console and tapped a small rectangular button marked in bold red lettering ‘SPACE’. He had often wondered why this was but none of the engineers could give him a straight answer. The capsule thudded and the decoupler let go, letting the empty fuel tanks float away. The capsule slowly tumbled in the vacuum of space. Jeb signaled to him for close his visor and keep pointing.

Bill closed his visor letting the sound of his own breath take over. Halfheartedly, he continued pointing in the general direction of retro. Jeb watched as his finger pan all over the spinning cabin, but once it pointed at the door, Jeb gave the ill fitting sheet of metal a ferocious kick.

The entire capsule was suddenly emptied as the door, only held closed by the layer of duct tape, suddenly flew open and the entire atmosphere vented out into space. Cardboard rolls and all the loose debris pelted Jeb as he dangled from his improvised tether. Although Bill could not hear him, he could clearly see Jeb shouting excitedly as a child would on a rollercoaster. Soon, the capsule was once again still as it too was as void as space. Jeb pulled himself back to them and began talking but Bill could not hear him.

By his pointing at the console, Bill relized he wanted to know if his mad scheme had worked. Bill looked and checked his calculations. As he completed his sums, his eyes went wide. Jeb had done it! Periapsis of 50 km! They were going to reenter! Bill cheered ecstatically as he gave Jeb a pair of Thumbs up. That was until he noticed the door floating away from the craft, tumbling through the vacuum.

“Well Crap.â€