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Project Intrepid (Chapter 56 - The Final Countdown)


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While the word count may point towards a novel, I am not sure it would be interesting without the pictures. I'd say it's more like a (series of) comic book(s).

Thanks again for the story! I am starting to enjoy the plot a lot :)

[edit] Also, welcome to page 5 of this epic story. :)

Edited by Magzimum
Welcoming everyone to page 5.
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9 hours ago, Magzimum said:

While the word count may point towards a novel, I am not sure it would be interesting without the pictures. I'd say it's more like a (series of) comic book(s).

I totally agree with you there. I just got curious because I was browsing "Forgotten Space Program" and a conversation came up where it talked about the number of words in a novel - and that FSP and Emiko Station are both technically novel length.

9 hours ago, Magzimum said:

Thanks again for the story! I am starting to enjoy the plot a lot :)

You're welcome! Thank you for reading it! :)

9 hours ago, Magzimum said:

[edit] Also, welcome to page 5 of this epic story. :)

Over 100 posts now!

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Hey, I have an hour of free time! And A lot of screenshots already uploaded and ready to go!

(Wow. The screenshots I uploaded for part 28 ended up being enough for 4 parts!)

 

 

Part 31: Defining History!

Spoiler

"Bongo!"
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"Gidrien, how many times do I have to tell you? It's Bingo!"
"I'm only one vowel off, Bob. New game?"
"Wait a second, Is that the rover?"
"Yes, it is! Jeb's back! And somebody is with him!"
"Wait, you don't actually mean..?"
"Val... is alive?!?"
"No way!"
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"Oh, yes way!"
"Val! You're back!"
"Bill and Bob! Great to see you again!"
"And likewise!"
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"So this is the base I've heard so much about!"
"Yes, it is! The main base is over there, and that's the main lander!"
"We need to throw a party! This is amazing!"
"Aww, I'm flattered, Bob!"
"How did you survive for this long?"
"Well, Bill, I sort of invented a sort of hibernation machine..."
"Hibernation? And it actually worked?!?!?"
"Yes, it uh, sort of did."
"Val, don't you see? That is the missing piece!"
"Of what?"
"Deep space travel! Now we won't have to send Kerbals on multi-generation trips to the next habitable planet!"
"Well, when you put it like that..."
"So, let's party, Val! Oh, by the way, this is Shercott, and this is Gidrien!"
"Hello!"
"Hi."
"Hello to both of you!"
"Uh, all of the party stuff is back on the Intrepid. I didn't think we'd need it so soon!"
"Well, if it was completely up to me, I've been stuck on Duna for fifty some years, although I only felt ten of them. I'm about ready to leave!"
"Good! We're about half way through our mission anyway, which means it's time to go to Ike!"
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
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"The rover is docked, and the lander is ready for ascent!"
"Are we go for ascent?"
"Propulsion is go!"
"A Go for the rover!"
"Chutes have been repacked!"
"Crew is go!"
"Snacks are also go!"
"3! 2! 1! GO!"
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"We are now in orbit of Duna. Approaching the Intrepid!"
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"Oh my. That is absolutely huge!"
"Yes, it is Val."
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"I - I just need to draw this!" Val unzipped her utility backpack and pulled out an ancient box of colored pencils, and a tattered green notebook - the cover proclaiming it to be "The Fifty-Second Green Notebook of Destiny!"

"You're an artist?"
"Well... I guess you could say that I am."
"Can I see?"
"Sorry, I don't show anyone anything until I'm done."
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"We're docked!"
"Time for a party! Ever wonder what a helium balloon will do in space?"
"Well, now that you mention it, Bob...

=================================================================================
One week later, the crew of the "Intrepid" prepared to leave for Ike.
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A few days after that, the Ike base landed on Ike.

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...And promptly tipped over, just like the base on Duna.

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A few minutes later, the lander began its braking burn and set down softly on Ike.

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"So, this is Ike!"
"Yep! Now, only 300 days until we can go back to Kerbin!"
"Although, you mustn't forget, we could also go to a different planet!"
"We may not have the fuel to do that."
"Well, good point. When we get back to Kerbin, they could convert the Intrepid into an ISRU ship!"
"I think it would just be easier to attach an ISRU lander."
"Probably. To the science labs!"

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"Staring at the stars again, Shercott?"
"Yes, Gidrien. Also, Jeb's assigned us to a rover mission to the bottom of this ridge, here."
"That's a long way down. Easily several kilometers!"
"Well, then. Do you think there's any land speed records for Ike, yet?"
"Oh, yeah! I'm ready for this!"

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==========================================================
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
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"THIS IS AWESOME!"
"THIS IS TERRIFYING!"
"The back wheels exploded!"
"I think I noticed!"
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"I'm glad this reaction wheel is so powerful!"
"AAAAAA"
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"We're flying!"
"Yes, Gidrien! We've been jumping over ridges for the past five minutes if you haven't been watching!"
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"Woah!"
"That's high!"
"How fast were we going there?"
"Fifty meters per second!"
"AAAAAAAA"
"Brace for impact, Gidrien!"
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*BANG*
"AAAAAAA-SHERCOTT"
"I'm okay!"
*SCREEEEEEEEEEECH*
"Phew! I've stopped skidding!"
"Wow, that was... AWESOME!"
"Well, I guess you're right, Shercott!"

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"So what now?"
"It's Ike. We can jetpack!"
"I suppose you're right!"
"Won't Jeb be mad that we broke the rover?"
"Nah, he's Jeb. He's probably broken more rovers on more planets than we'll ever visit!"
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======================================================

The crew of the EAV DRAGON burned for their rendezvous to the ITV-018 "Valentina."
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A few hours later, the boarded.

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The trio of space pirates left Gene, Leah, Allin, and Ribwig aboard the 018. They then left in the Gilly Hoppah for the ITV-019.

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The trio pondered their goals and ambitions - would it be better to simply take the "GILLY HOPPAH" to Gilly then steal a mothership? Or would it be more impressive to their reputation to steal a mothership - then land that on Gilly?

Or something else?

 

 

At any given moment - multiple history defining scenes are taking place. Not all of them start out huge - like the giant motherships built to hopefully save Kerbin. At the same time as the pondering around Eve, another history defining moment was taking place - a small river near a bunch of mountains on the planet of Kerbin.

 

And nobody knew it yet - but this moment was even more important that the first ascent from Eve.

 

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The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...


 

 

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On ‎10‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 3:00 PM, max_creative said:

Of course the Ike base HAD to tip over when it landed! :) 

Why did they steal a mothership? Who owns the big sailboat? Are the Dres crew there yet? Find out SOONTM!

1) Because.

2) Read part 32!

3) Should arrive in-game in less than one year. Just before the Jool ship.

Also, special thanks to @pandoras kitten and @Cupcake... for their house and dropship craft, respectively!

Part 32: The Update!

Spoiler

"Ferpont?"
"Yes, Dunrie?"
"Are we go for launch?"
"As "go" as we will ever be. Jogee, are we go on your end?"
"Yes. We are go."
"Moment of truth. Time to prove that the Flat Kerbin Society is wrong!"
"Or right."
"And I hope, for Kerbin's sake, that they aren't."
"Initiating countdown."
"Would this qualify as the final countdown?"
"No, Ferpont. We're saving that song for when the last starship leaves Kerbin."
"If any more launch."
"Initiating turbo pumps! Priming hydraulic separation unit! All hands, prepare for liftoff!"
"3! 2! 1!"
*CA-CHANK!*
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"There she goes!"
"Almost a whole years worth of work!"
"Quickly, bring up the camera feed!"
"Which one? We've put on 42 different lenses to make sure that we test the Flat Kerbin Theory as thoroughly as possible!"
"All of them!"
"They all read the same!"
"And?"
iFZ6VfR.png
"That is curvature!"
"Yes! Kerbin is round!" And on the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, there was an audible sigh of relief.
"USS Intrepid, now there's an interesting coincidence."
"Yeah, maybe it was prophetic, or something! That the name of the most important operation in history coincided with the name of our jet powered sailboat!"
"So, we know Kerbin is round now. What do we do now?"
"Send out the radio message. Tell everyone to mount an assault in two days. KSC will be liberated! The world will be liberated!"
"Uh, we've got a slight problem. The antenna melted off."
"Seriously? I never thought we'd have to go back to that house we spent ages readying for years of inoccupation."
"Well, I don't feel like sleeping on this boat. We'll have plenty of time to do that later, and since we need to go back anyway..."
"So it is!"
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"Ah, the old Kolonial model."
"And who manufactured it again?"
"Absolutely awesome company led by @pandoras kitten. Would buy again."
"Alright, everyone. I'll quickly send the message. Then, we move onward to help re-capture the KSC. First, we shall sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow!"

=======================================================================================

Meanwhile on the Mun, another history defining moment was taking place.

 

"Alright, I really hope that this works!"
"Agreed, Hudson. If this fails, the universe might delete itself."
"Hey, it wasn't my idea to reach into another random universe and combine its contents with ours!"
"To be fair, we're only taking about twenty Kerbals out of this other universe, along with one insignificant space station and splicing them into ours."
"Robo-Bob, why are we doing this again?"
"To hopefully better understand time travel. You see, each timestream normally travels in a straight line. like a piece of string. In order to have sustained time travel, there needs to be a loop in the string that travels along the line at a continuous rate. All previous time travel, besides Bill and my extended trip to the thirteenth era, has been places where the string has crossed, but not looped. That leads to a momentary collision in time, lasting less than a second."
"How will this let us better understand time travel?"
"Each timestream is its own piece of string. If we can take two timestreams, and take one thread out of that string at a certain point in time, and then intertwine it with our own piece of string, that will lead to part of that universe being part of ours for a certain amount of time."
"That sounds complicated. Are we ready?"
"Yes. Initiating universe combination in 3... 2... 1..."
*BISDBVLIBSDHVBDIVBDLBDVBSDYVDSIFGYIWEGRIEG@RIGDVBKZJNKBVKJBKJSDBVKJBDSVKJBKJSDBV"
*KSSSSSHHHHH-PKOW!"
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"Did it work?"
"I - I think so. We aren't dead, so at least our string hasn't been burnt at the end."
"Hmm. That is an interesting analogy."
"The String Analogy."
"So? Did it work?"
"We indicate a new blip on the radar. I can't make out a name - but I am 90% sure it worked."

And just then, a completely unrelated wave of energy swept through the universe. Although its effects were felt to all, only four could feel it. Jeb, Tomfurt, the Monolith, and the Kraken.

And sticking with the string analogy, some of the threads of the timestream abruptly ended. Some appeared and began intertwining themselves into the universe. And some changed color. The whole string changed color. It was now slightly... greener, overall.

The second era of the second release had begun.

================================================================
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"Alright, Jogee. You ready?"
"Yes! Onwards to the KSC!"
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And two days later, the trio of sailors were approaching the KSC, now around the island that contained the ancient airbase.

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*BAAAAAANG*

"Did you hear that?"
"Yes, I did!"
"What was that?"
"Look! Over there!" Jorgee gestured to a speck of white light rising up, accelerating from the base on the island.
"It's another rocket! We aren't the only ones!"
"Quick, try to intercept the radio signal! I want to see those cameras confirm what we saw!"
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"It's a curve!"
"Yes!"
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"Okay, it's night now! The scheduled time for the assault! Where is everyone?"
"We appear to be the only ones here."
"Well, what do we do?"
"I suppose we try the stealth approach."
"We can't go in on foot!" And just then, Dunrie pressed a red button in the wall of the cabin of the USS Intrepid. A hidden cargo bay began to open.

"Oh, my, Dunrie! How?"
"It was my grandfather's. An original, I believe."
"It still works? It must be worth thousands!"
"Correct."
"Hold on, people! What are you two talking about? All I see is something that looks like a pile of old tubing!"
...
"Ferpont, this is an ORIGINAL Tui Light Athmo Trainer from @Cupcake...'s Dropship Dealership, back when it was in business, over fifty years ago!"
"Wow!"
"And this is our "stealth mode," so to speak."
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"Okay, team. I suggest we land on the VAB for now."
"I don't have a better idea. Whatever."
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"Okay, she's down! What now? I still don't see anybody!"
"Jogee, there appears to be a rocket sitting on the Launch pad."
"You want to sabotage it?"
"Exactly."
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"It appears to be empty. No sense in sabotaging it. Why don't we just steal it?"
"Jorgee, that's madness! We are sailors, not astronauts!"
"We are all avid Human Space Program players! How hard can it be?"
"Everything I build explodes!"
"And I've landed Alexi Leonov on Venus. How hard can it really be?"
"Well, if you insist..."
"Guys? We're not actually doing this, are we?"
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*sigh*

"Geronimo, then!"

"Everyone in?"
"Yes."
"Wait, what does T-5s mean?"
"Oh, no."
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
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"Woah!"
"Woah is right."
"Who flew this thing?"
"I did. Overrode the main computer. The Flat Kerbin Society thinks this rocket has just vanished!"
"Way to go, Jorgee!"
"Where to now?"
"Step one. Wait until we get to the day side."
"Also, we don't appear to have parachutes."
"Wait, I just realized why nobody was there at the attack!"
"Why?"
"We were going against Kerbin's rotation! We got there a day early!"
"Oh!"
============================================================
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"So this is what it feels like to be a kerbonaut!"
"Uh, sorry to interrupt the festivities, but we have a problem."
"Aww, you! Stop quoting all of the fanfiction written about Human Space Program!"
"What? I quoted something?"
"Never mind. What's the problem?"
"We appear to be on a collision course for an unknown space station!"
"Unknown space station? Collision course? Impossible! There aren't any space stations left! The odds of hitting anything are a million to one!"
"I've got a reading here, look!"
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"Oh no."
"Wait! What if we docked there? Uncovered a piece of history? We'd be remembered for eternity!"
"You're right. Let's check this thing out!"
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"Oh my, it's massive!"
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"There's no record of it anywhere!"
"Wait... since when did the MK1-2 have this sophisticated of a lighting system?"
"I don't know!"
"Guys! Focus on the station!"
"Right! Engaging docking maneuvers!"
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"And, we're docked!"
"Jorgee?"
"Yes?"
"You go in first see what you find."
"Sure."
========================================================
"Jorgee's log. I'm currently in the docking module. There appears to be nobody in site. I am now progressing along the "stem" as someone might call it... There appears to be six rooms attached to this "stem," almost like bedrooms. Okay, I'm through the stem and I appear to be in some sort of six way node. Below me appears to be a utility room, to my left a science lab, to my right, a hab module, in front a comms tower, and above me a large hab module. I am now going up through the hatch to the hab module, and... Holy Moho! What the Bop are you three doing here? Where even am I?"

"Where are you? You are onboard Space Station Epic IV. What the Bop are we doing here? I have no idea."
"Bu-what?"
"Now, if you could perhaps tell us where we are, that would be very appreciated."
"ButButBut-"
"Tell me right now. Where in the universe are we?"
"But I don't understand!"
"Well, we don't either. One moment we were orbiting Kerbin, supervising the construction of Space Station Epic V, and the next - everything just changed! Every vessel vanished, replaced with others we've never heard of! Not a single radio peep from KSC for hours! Now, where are we?"

.....

"Well? Do you know anything?"



"All I know? I don't know how this happened at all! The only thing I know - is that you are supposed to be on Ike!"

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The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...

 

Edited by Ultimate Steve
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Okay. 3 things.

1) Part 33 won't come for a while. I've been a bit busy lately (Although my schedule might free up in five minutes and I'll have time for it).

2) It will be positively epic.

3) I swear I didn't plan this.

Spoiler

I was landing the Homecoming on Gilly and, well, this happened. Complete coiencidence, I did not plan to land here, I swear!

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17 hours ago, pandoras kitten said:

Omg I was on haitus for a year helping to develop the community of another build/engineering game and came back to this notification. 

Hope you enjoyed the house @Ultimate Steve :)

Aww, thanks. :D Nice job in the house!

Typical of the internet. I finally have all day to do something, and then I start uploading to imgur and then imgur gets hit by a ddos attack... :rolleyes:

EDIT: AARRGH! Long story short, I had to shuffle over my save to another install because it got corrupted. Except I forgot to change the screenshot key to "p" which is what I'm used to using. The result? Me thinking I'm taking 200 screenshots and my screenshot folder remaining empty. GRR! 5 hours of gameplay, and nothing to show. Oh, well. I guess I'll just hyperedit everything back to get screenshots. I hope you guys don't mind!

Edited by Ultimate Steve
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Part 33: The Meaning of Awesomeness!

Spoiler

It was an epic battle.

 

 

What, not enough for you? Want pictures? Okay, let's put this in perspective: In the most recent census, there were about 5 million Kerbals on Kerbin. Out of those five million, there are about 500 professional photographers. When the crew of the USS Intrepid sent out a broadcast signaling the need for an assault to liberate the Kerbal Space Center from the evil clutches of the Flat Kerbin Society, approximately 5,000 Kerbals showed up wielding their homemade weapons devices, including giant mechs, rocket powered locomotives, flying submarines, and one ray gun. That ray gun was owned by Raygun Kerman, the only professional photographer to show up to the battle. And he had converted his camera into a ray gun. So it couldn't really take any pictures.

 

So just trust me when I say it was an epic battle. And now, the 20,000 employees of the Kerbal Space Program could get back to doing what they signed up to do: building spaceships.

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As for the crew of the USS Intrepid and the Jeb, Bill, and Bob from another universe? They got things sorted out pretty quickly. Nobody had any idea why, but Space Station Epic IV had been copied from one universe into another, along with its eleven inhabitants. After everyone panicked for a few hours, Jeb was given the opportunity to contact the other Jeb. Here is a transcript of the e-mails that ensured:

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> Jeb you won't believe this!

<JebIsOnIke> Who are you? You hacker! I haven't used that account in nearly a century! And you have the audacity to hack it?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> No srsly u wont believe this!

<JebIsOnIke> Try me. I've seen some pretty strange things in my career, including Krakens and exploding moons.

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> Dude I am Jeb!

<JebIsOnIke> HAHAHAHAHA. Stop trolling, you're wasting bandwidth.

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> No for real. I can prove it!

<JebIsOnIke> Really? And where would another me come from?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> Your deepest secret is something about that spaghetti you had back in third grade.

<JebIsOnIke> STOP RIGHT THERE. You needn't elaborate. That isn't even my fault!

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> So u believe me? I am also Jeb, but from another universe and about seventy years younger.

<JebIsOnIke> Really? What's it like and why are you here?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> y am I here? IDK, man. One minute building a huge space station and the next WHOOOOOSH!

<JebIsOnIke> You realize what this means, right?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> We can be in two places at once now!

<JebIsOnIke> Yep. How big was that station?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> Like, sixteen hitchhikers long!

<JebIsOnIke> Tiny compared to what we've been working on!

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> So I've heard!

<JebIsOnIke> Tell you what. Do you want to manage the construction of a huge Minmus base?

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> Sure, dude! That would be totally awesome!

<JebIsOnIke> This is gonna be so cool!

<MAStEr_Of_SpACE> U said it! SOOOOOOo Kewl!

=======================================================================================

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Tomfurt, Carol, and Milvy Kerman had taken over the ITV-019 "Homecoming" and were taking it to Gilly. They ended up stuffing the other six crew members into the "GILLY HOPPAH" with a full load of fuel to presumably head back to the "Valentina." However, the crew of the HOPPAH had different ideas.

"Macfry Kerman, what are you doing?"
"Giving them a few minutes of head start, then following them, Anberta!"
"Mac, they are dangerous! And you want to chase them?"
"Yes, Ann. We need to go to Gilly anyway, and we've got a full load of fuel and we're in a higher orbit than we would have been in!"
"Well, Mac, when you put it that way..."
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=================================================================

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"Okay, commencing landing procedure!"
"Roger that, Shercott. Carol, how are the engines doing?"
"They should be ready, Milvy."
"3... 2... 1..."
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"Shercott, did you plan on landing here?"
"No, I just put her down in a random spot. Why?"
"Because there's a black dot over there that looks suspiciously like a monolith."
"What?"
"Yes, Shercott. I suppose the sheer randomness of this situation has brought us together again."
"Monolith, what happened to your voice?"
"Honestly, Shercott, all I know is that the laws of the universe have changed yet again! We have entered a new era - Actually, the second era of the second release!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"I have no idea. I just made it up and it sounds cool. Also, I appear to have grown again, not in size, but in number!"
"I see that. You told me that you only existed on Kerbin, the Mun, and Minmus before!"
"And here I am. On Gilly!"
"And just a complete coincidence that we happened to land here!"
"Yes. As far as parallel universes go, there are billions of other landing sites here where you would not have seen me. Also, you haven't landed yet. This is Gilly, for Pete's sake!"
"Yeah, we're honestly just floating here! Milvy, want to go jetpack over and investigate?"
"Sure!"
 

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"Huge, and slightly greener than the previous ones!"
"We've landed just now!"
"Wait, so I landed on Gilly before my spaceship did?"
"Yes, it would appear so! Just like the first ever landing on Gilly! The Kerbal touched down on Gilly before her ship even did!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: During my first ever Gilly landing, this actually happened. For real!

"Okay, it is getting a bit late, though. Want to rest a bit before we do the science?"
"Sure!"
"Actually, now that you mention it, Gilly's day is actually quite close to Kerbin's!"

=======================================================

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"But Ann, do we really have to land in the dark?"
"Nataemma, I've told you this already. We're a bit low on fuel and we're going to land next to the "Homecoming" to hopefully recapture it - and refuel this ship if we can't."
"Okay, then. Did you know that there isn't a ship in operation with lights?"
"Stop it for a minute. I need to concentrate on landing."
"Yes, captain Anberta!"
"Emma, I'm not the captain. Mac is."
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"Okay, adjusting landing site... Just need to get it a little closer..."
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"That might be a bit too close!"
"Any problems, Ann?"
"A few, Mac. The ship appears to be protected by a practically unbreakable code. We can't hack it remotely, and barging in there would be pointless. They wouldn't give the password for almost anything, according to those two who tried to rescue them from Moho! Also, their ship happened to land on the docking port. So we can't get to it to refuel our ship!"
"No big deal. Did you know I used to work as a lumberjack?"
"Really?
"Yeah. They called me "Mac the Jac."
"You can't possibly be suggesting - "
"Oh yeah. TIIIIIMBEEEEEER!"
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"AAH!"
"Don't worry, that was just the SAS wheel! Didn't need it anyway!"
"Okay, then."
"It's slowly falling. Falling, falling, aaaaaand..."
"This is Gilly. It will easily be five minutes. If we didn't knock it to escape velocity."
===========5 minutes later===========
"Hey, Emma!"
"Yeah, Mac?"
"You're the docking expert here!"
"What's the situation?"
"Uh, the space pirates left their SAS off. The "Homecoming" is slowly bouncing down the hill."
"Rolling down the hill?"
"No, bouncing down the hill."
"Oh, Joy."
==========30 minutes later===========
"Finally!"
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"Okay, I've stolen the fuel! Let's get out of here!"
"Engines on! According to our current trajectory, it will be a few hours before we touch down at our intended scientific landing site."
"Well, then! Another game of zero-gee chess?"
"Don't you remember? You broke the compressed air RCS on my queen last time. Plus, the gyroscopes on half the pawns are off center."
"Not to mention that the cube we play it in is out of battery for the laser grid."
"And your controller broke."
"What a shame!"
"Well, we can bet on stuff."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. I bet you one thousand funds that when the "Homecoming" stops tumbling, it will..."

==========================================================

DN9N7Ap.png

"Shercott, I swear that the ship is closer to the Monolith than it was yesterday!"
"Nonsense, Milvy. If it tipped over in the middle of the night and tumbled the odds of it landing back upright would be so abysmal, I would never bet even a single fund on it happening!"
"Hey, I swear it wasn't me! I was going to deal with some business on Minmus!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, it turns out that another Jeb came from another universe. He and the others went to Minmus on a ship that was docked on their space station. They landed close to the 1500 tons of supplies that were landed there."
"Are you going to do anything about it?"
"Couldn't do anything about it if I wanted to. I can only change things if it logically makes sense. And I don't want to change things. I am not evil. I just have a low level of faith in the Kerbal Space Program's plan - or lack of one - to evacuate all five million Kerbals on Kerbin. In 2 years, they've succeeded in getting less than fifty off planet. The only reason I recruited you was so that we have a backup plan."
"Makes sense."
8bL5dH4.png
"And about that plan? Now - Gilly. That makes, let's see - Minmus, Moho, Eve, and now Gilly. Out of 18."

00S2jH8.png


"Four down, fourteen to go."

 

=========================================================

"WHAT IS THAAAAAT?"
VMqzBgd.png

"I have no idea, Mac. What I do know is that is that it provides an interesting target for a science mission!"
"But aren't we already going to the Temple hill?"
"Screw Temple Hill, I want to know what the Moho that thing is!"
"All right!"
0PkW4su.png
"It's like a rift in the surface of Gilly!"
"You're right!"
"What should we call it?"
"How about "Rift of Ages?"
"Now that is a name!"
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kEZCXPw.png

"And, landed! Time for some real science!"
============================================
"Okay, results time!"

"Don't walk into it."
"Yes, Macfry. We all know how you nearly lost your hand. Any other results?"
"Flags teleport! Like, if you try to plant a flag at the base of the rift, it appears on the upper edge!"
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"It also works the other way around."
"Great work, team! What about the shape?"
"Okay, Ann. I jetpacked to the other end and I discovered that the "rift" is 5.9 Kilometers long."
RfNnxkV.png
"Excellent work, Emma!"
"I also found that it is perfectly straight except for the very end, which branches off at a 120 degree angle for about ten meters until the terrain properly matches up again. The rift runs perfectly north/south and is similar to the reports of a similar phenomenon recorded on Minmus six decades ago."
"Anything else?"
"You can see the top of the terrain through it, but not the bottom of the terrain."
"Okay, then. We have a few more days here before we have to return. I want everyone working on this! Remember, Gilly will be gone in 197.4 years. We need to get all the data we can while we can still get it! And nobody, I mean nobody, gets within half a meter of the edge. We don't want a repeat of Mac's hand!"
"Roger that!"
=======================================

"Well, look at you, miss I'm-not-following-my-own-rules."
PrrsUWv.png
"Oh - hey, Mac. It's just - these are our last few hours on Gilly. And it's just so, so beautiful!"
"Mind is I join you?"
"Go ahead. You probably won't ever get another chance."
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"Just - well, to quote a bit of fanfiction from the Human Space Program extended universe -"
"I think I know what you are going to say."
"It's full of stars!"
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"Mac, in a way, it sort of feels like we're cheating the universe."
"How so, Ann?"
"Sunrises are supposed to be an important moment, just a beautiful burst of radiant light over the horizon. And here we are, watching it before it even happens."
"The first two kerbals in history to witness a sunrise before it happens?"
"You said it."
"It just seems so impossible, Mac, that mere centimeters away from where we are standing is deadly void, but where we stand is just perfectly safe - well, as safe as space can get, anyways."
"And for right now, I can safely say that we have the best view out of the five million Kerbals alive right now."
"You said it, Mac."
GZrr1mE.png
"And in a few short minutes, the sun will be up, the mission picture taken, and then we will go back to the "Valentina" and in a year, leave for Kerbin."
"We don't have to, you know. We could do what the space pirates did and steal a spaceship and run away."
"Yes, Mac. I suppose there is."

n4lak31.png


=========================================================================

"Carol, get up here right this second!"
"Why?"
"Because we needed to leave six seconds ago!"
"What?"
"I was plotting nodes all night last night and every minute that we waste means using another dozen m/s of delta V!"
"Where are we going?"
"3! 2! 1!"
Evlvm0j.png
"TOMFURT! WHERE ARE WE GOING?!?"
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"The only place in the system with ISRU capability - or at least it will, if everything goes well!"
"I don't understand what you are talking about!"
"And, done. We need to burn in another day, and then a few days after that for a plane change."
"Where are we going, Shercott?"
PbjBP8d.png

csnoc2S.png
 

tFrSQvY.png

"Now that's a high energy transfer!"
"Shercott? What have you done?"
"What do you mean?"
"How much delta v will it take to circularize?"
"4km/s."
"And how much do we have?"
"One."

=========================================================================

"Mortimer, for the last time! Get out of our business! We have an unlimited budget, we don't need your help!" Linus and Mortimer were walking through the crowded vehicle assembly building. A large crane mounted on the roof carrying two mk3 crew cabins moved past.
"How many vectors did you order?"
"120."
"One hundred and twenty?!?" A forklift drove by, narrowly missing Linus, carrying a full pallet of Vector engines past.
"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"
"I thought we were going to gradually evacuate all Kerbals to the Minmus base! With a fleet of spaceplanes! That was the whole idea of phase two!"
"And this isn't phase two." A team of Kerbals lifting a mining drill passed, followed by a truck holding solar panels. "This is phase one-and-a-half. We're simply sending some of our engineering staff to Minmus to build the giant base so it will be ready for everyone when it gets there! 1500 tons actually doesn't get you very far..."
"And I don't see any reason you can't do it with reliable, reusable spaceplanes!" A fuel truck passed. Mort and Linus stepped into one of the many freight elevators that were present in the VAB.
"And we can. And we will. This is just the beginning - 20,000 employees get to work on something after a yearlong hiatus - and you expect them to settle for a fleet of spaceplanes?"
"Linus, according to the blueprints - "
"Yes. Seven million funds."
"I thought it was six!"
"As I was saying, we've put less than fifty Kerbals into space. Doing this will restore public confidence and increase our experience with stuff this huge."
"Do we really need to do it this big?"
"No. In fact, it is insanely impractical to do it like this."
"See, Linus?"
"But it is awesome. Tonight will go down in history as the most awesome night in history! Until we launch something bigger, of course."
"Linus, this is madness! What are you doing?" The duo had reached the top of the elevator. A crane could be seen hoisting a huge stack of mk3 passenger units to the top of the VAB. Linus's hand hovered over a big red button marked "EXPAND."
"Expanding the VAB! This thing's well over 120 meters tall, you know!"
"THIS IS MADNESS!" Linus pressed the button and the VAB roof began expanding upwards.
"The results of the raffle should be in in about thirty seconds."
"Raffle?"
"Yes. The raffle. In addition to the spots reserved for the necessary construction staff, there should be several dozen spots left for anyone to take. So we held a raffle! Good idea, right?" At that moment, everyone's phones went off, and everything went silent for a few seconds. Then, 98% of the Kerbals working at KSC let out a groan and 2% started screaming and jumping for joy. Mort looked at his phone.
"What do you mean, I was selected?"
"Congratulations. You get to go to Minmus!"
"What? I don't want to!"
"You have to!"
"What?" And then, a roof crane carrying another Mk3 passenger module passed by, hitting Mortimer causing him to fall through the entrance. The door shut behind him. The module was filled with fifteen excited Kerbals - besides Mortimer."
"I heard it was 916!"
"No, I heard 929!"
"Nonsense, I saw the blueprints for 128!"
"But there's eight of those!"
"Oh, right!"
"SOMEONE, TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON! I AM MORTIMER, FEAR MY WRATH!"
"Chill, dude! We're going to Minmus!" The VAB doors opened faster than they ever had and the crawler transporter started crawling, assembly crews still building the rocket even as it rolled out to the pad.
"I heard it has, like, 24 NERVAS!"
"Won't the TWR be incredibly low?"
"Ehh, it'll be fine."
"I'm GOING TO SPACE!"
"Five minutes!"
"I heard ten!"
"I heard three!"
"I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE!"
"Relax, Mortimer! Why would you not want to?" At that moment their MK3 Passenger module was attached to a stack of more MK3 passenger modules and the hatch was opened.
"WHAT THE MOHO?"
"Oh, hey Jeff!"
"Hey, Ron!"
"HOW FAR DOWN DOES THIS GO?!?!?"
"I think it was six!"
"I heard eight!" Mort looked out the window. The rocket was now on the launch pad. There was a bright red timer located across the field. It read 0:29. 0:28. 0:27. 0:26. Several Kerbals wore nerdy grins. 0:23. 0:22. 0:21. those who could control themselves enough to not squee in anticipation were joining in a shipwide performance of "The Final Countdown!" 0:17. 0:16. 0:15. And in the middle of it sat Mortimer, wondering how it could have ever happened. How a seven million fund spaceship could have been built in just a single day - how he couldn't have stopped it. 0:10. 0:09. 0:08.

Unless Mortimer Kerman - and the other 915 Kerbals on board - had discovered the true meaning of awesomeness.

0:03. 0:02. 0:01.

1i4x9Gz.png





The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...

 

Edited by Ultimate Steve
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<JebIsOnIke> hi me!

<CreativityAerospaceJeb> Hey! You're me! 

<JebIsOnIke> Yeah! 

How will they manage to circlularize? Even if they can time it perfectly with the Explorer, they won't be able to slow down! The Explorer is going to be the only ship there, right? Mort was hilarious! 

Mort: No I wasn't! 

*Gene plays clip from MeTube* 

Clip: SOMEONE, TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON! I AM MORTIMER, FEAR MY WRATH!

Mort: I wasn't like that! 

Clip: I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE! 

Mort: That isn't me! 

Clip: HOW FAR DOWN DOES THIS GO?!?!? 

Mort: WHO EVEN FILMED THIS VIDEO?!?!? 

Gus: It was your idea to install those security cameras. 

Mort: WHAT?!?!? NO IT WASN'T!!!!!

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57 minutes ago, max_creative said:

*snip*

Oh, my. I laughed out loud so hard. :D Thanks for the laugh! That could be like, a comedy short or something. Actually... AAGH! Now I have to spend the next month working on a comedy short! Too many ideas!

If I ever get around to actually doing that, and if I ever finish it, then that will be absolutely awesome. Thanks for the idea. :D

 

 

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Anyone else remember this? 

<Kerbfleet Jeb>: You're me! 

<Kappaverse Jeb>: You're me! 

<Emiko Jeb>: You're me! 

<CreativityAerospace Jeb>: You're me! 

<Geschosskopf Jeb>: You're me! 

<KAL Jeb>: You're me! 

<DMSP Jeb>: You're me!

#Crossoverlude

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Initiating new part mode!

Part 34: 916 Kerbals to Minmus!

Spoiler

"I AM MORTIMER! I DEMAND YOU RETURN ME TO KERBIN AT ONCE!"
"Mort, SHUT UP! I'M GOING TO SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"
UQFHE1Y.pngUQFHE1Y.png
"Geez, why'd we waste a window seat on him?"
"I WISH TO RETURN TO KERBIN AT ONCE!"
"Hey, Mort? Can I have your window seat?"
"NO-Mrrf!"
"Too late!"
9L6xud3.png
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
And so the ITV-020 soared towards the stars. The first major step towards the eventual evacuation of the five million Kerbals on planet Kerbin. Of the 916 Kerbals on board, 526 were incredibly hyped up, 224 were too scared to do anything but scream, 154 still hummed "The Final Countdown," nine had fallen asleep due to G-force, two were taking selfies, and, well, the last one was Mort.

6eKRObv.png
"IF I AM GOING TO MINMUS I WANT A WINDOW!"
"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of 120 Vectors!"
"Actually, 132 Vectors!"
"We are at forty Kilometers!"
luPibcJ.png
*POP*
"THE ENGINES ARE OFF! WE MUST BE TURNING AROUND!"
"Mort, you remember it was partially your idea to turn off the engines during stage separation, right?"
"STAGE SEPARATION?"
6JcFrkF.png
*BANGBANGBANG*
"I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE AND I DO NOT WANT TO EXPLODE!"
Dh4KiVk.png
"Relax! Nothing on the actual ship exploded!"
"RELAX? I AM GOING TO SPACE! NOBODY SHOULD BE RELAXED!"
"Oh, right! WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!"
"AAAAAA-"
50ULZWI.png
*POP*
"ARE WE TURNING AROUND? THERE ARE NO MORE STAGES TO SEPARATE!"
"No, we're just mostly out of Oxidizer."
"MOSTLY?"
"Saving some for the landing, mister Mortimer."
"I DO NOT WANT TO DIE ON MINMUS!"
"Hey, it could have gone worse! Wanna see a picture from the simulations?"
"I DO NOT WANT TO DIE!"
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"Really glad they got the problems fixed."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
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And then, the slow but steady flow of superheated hydrogen was cut off. The ship was in freefall. And remained so.

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"Ladies and Gentlekerbs, this is one of your four captains speaking. We have now reached space!"
911 Kerbals cheered. The four captains let out a sigh of relief. Mortimer, on the other hand...
"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
"And we captains have decided on a name for this excellent spaceship. We have decided to call it -"
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"The Philosopher of Time!"

================================================

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Well, Mort got quiet shortly after the other 900 passengers complained and the captains threatened to expel him to "solitary confinement" - being strapped to the outside of the ship while on EVA. Mort did want to go back to Kerbin, but did not want to get duct taped to the outside of the largest spaceship in Kerbal history.

Unfortunately for Mort, he kept whining and there was a petition with 800 signatures on it. So he was put in an EVA suit and duct taped to the exterior.

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"Hey, dude! Ever wonder how we get these pictures?"
"Actually, I worked on optimizing that very system!"
"So how do we get these pictures?"
"Well, you ever wonder why each part was so heavy? Way heavier than in Human Space Program?"
"Sort of."
"Well, the extra mass is electromagnetic shield generators. They were originally developed to protect the spacecraft from radiation."
"So that's why we don't fry alive!"
"But one day somebody noticed that it produces a magnetic suspension field around the entire craft!"
"I see where you're going with this!"
"Well, that someone found out that you could suspend a few hundred Nano cameras in this magnetic field so they surround the spaceship."
"Wow, I never knew about that! A lot of these pictures would make very good desktop backgrounds!"
"You're right!"
l2z9Ato.png
"This is your captain speaking. Everyone, brace for landing! Now, I shall brief you on your mission. Since you are now involved this mission on a deeper level, some of the classified stuff is no longer classified. So I figured I'd tell you."
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"Also, landing gear has deployed. So, our planetary escape plan! Four or five phases, depending on how you count. Phase zero: exploring the Kerbol system to study it in depth so that when it is destroyed, we will know as much about it as possible. You already know about phase one. Getting 1500 tons to Minmus."
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"But what you don't know - but have probably expected - is that we are the first part of Phase two. Evacuating Kerbin to Minmus first, so we can launch giant spaceships from here. Yes. We are here to build a colony on Minmus."
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"So your mission - set up a colony on Minmus. The 1500 tons is located a few kilometers away. We wish you the best of luck with this - Kerbalkind is resting on your shoulders."
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"The majority of phase two will be done with a fleet of spaceplanes. This was just practice with the huge spaceships we will use in phases three and four."
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"Unfortunately, those are still classified at this moment. However, I assure you, you will know very soon. Except for Mort. Oh, shoot! Did we forget to bring him in from the outside? Oh well. Nobody tell Mort, cause he's going back to Kerbin on the first SSTO that gets here! But first and foremost - everyone look out the windows."
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And in one single instant - one spaceship doubled the amount of Kerbals that had been landed on Minmus in the entire course of history.

 

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==========================================================================

 

Kazu Kerman stood in the back of the president's personal limousine, parading through the streets of New Kerlington as ticket tape streamed down from above. She waved to the crowd triumphantly, and then stepped off of the car and onto a glorious stage where the president himself awarded her a medal, she smiled and began to give a speech about -

And then she woke up. It took her a few seconds to clear her head of the illusion she was falling - and then remembered. Kazu Kerman was the commander of the ITV-016 "Explorer." She tried to remember the dream she had last night. Although nights don't really happen in space. Something about a parade - and then a speech. Heh. Likely story. Her giving a speech was about as likely as getting hit by an abandoned space probe.

Kazu opened her eyes and saw Kathlenna Kerman hanging over her, an urgent looking expression on her face. Behind her floated the other two members of the crew - Doodard and Gerdock, having an argument. Kazu sat up and briefly began to open her mouth to speak. But then she remembered how silly that was.

You see, Kazu Kerman was deaf and mute. She had not heard a single word for nearly three decades. The only reason she had been selected for captain was because of her experience in mission control five decades ago. She was easily the best at her job.

She signed at Kathlenna, her interpreter. On the official mission transcript this would be recorded as is someone were speaking, even though nobody was.

"Hey, Kate. What's up?"
"We have a bit of a problem, captain."
"Call me Kazu."
W6DCmzK.png
"Well, you know hose darned space pirates?"
"The ones who went to Eve?"
"Yep."
"Don't tell me."
"They decided to go to Dres next."
"Well, no big deal! Unless they decide to take over our ship."
"You see, Kazu, that's not the problem. The problem is they did an incredibly high energy transfer and don't have enough fuel left to circularize."
"So? We get there, and rescue them."
"Two problems with that. One: They are scheduled to get to Dres about ten days before us."
"So? We burn a bit of fuel, and rescue them."
"Problem two: Even if they burn all of their fuel, they will still be travelling at three kilometers per second when they get there."
"Shoot."
"So we have a few options here."
"Go ahead, Kate."
"Well, Gerdock says we should just leave them. They're space pirates after all."
"No. I refuse to leave anyone to die in the depths of space!"
"Exactly. So Doodard stayed up all night trying to make up plans."
"What is his most promising one?"
RvAJegH.png
"Doodard's plan is that we burn inward to get to Dres before them. We then enter a low Dres orbit to search for the mythical ring of asteroids orbiting Dres."
"They aren't mythical. They are real, Dres mission six proved it!"
"And they got space madness."
"Everyone who goes to Dres gets space madness!"
"Yes, Kazu. I read the report the Duna team sent us. The "Teddy Monster." That's why we decided to be cautious about landing on Dres."
"Never mind. We're getting off topic. Continue."
"So, once we've discovered one, we go and mine it as quickly as possible. If we manage to fill the tank before the Homecoming gets here, we burn after them, transfer some fuel to them, and then fly into Dres orbit."
"And hope they don't attack us."
"Yeah, abut that... They haven't actually left anyone without a ship yet."
"So is it settled. We go with Doodard's idea."
"Yep. Gerdock will be pretty mad when I tell him, though... neither of them can read sign language. For all they know, we're talking about the next Kpad."
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Kazu Kerman stood fearlessly at the helm of the Explorer, commanding perhaps the most daring rescue in this history of Kerbalkind. A few days later, they arrived at Dres 40 days ahead of schedule.
CXEw400.png
"Prepare for three kilometer per second circularization burn in Three! Two! One!"
XlrIvIf.png
"Woah."
"Yep, that's Dres!"
"It does exist!"
"Sheesh, Gerdock! You didn't actually believe those conspiracy theories about Dres being fake, did you?"
"Uh... no." Through it all Kazu sat in the pilot's seat with a determined look upon her face. She could neither hear the engines, nor the crew. But she somehow began to hear a strange voice inside her head. For a second, she grew worried. But then it stopped. She hoped for the crew's sake that the so-called "Teddy Monster" was not real.
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An hour later, the ship stopped decelerating and Kazu floated free from her chair and stared in amazement at the large, grey, cratered world in front of her eyes. And she burst into tears at the beauty of what she was seeing. The amazement, that she, the second deaf Kerbal to fly into space, could have possibly reached Dres!

Hxe7Lx3.png

And then, all four Kerbals manned the telescopes and began searching for asteroids to refuel at.

But nobody expected the complication.

=========================================================================================

"Yes! Finally! I found one!"
"HOLD IT! HOLD IT STEADY!"
"I am! I recorded the velocity and apparent distance!"
"Finally, I was worried we wouldn't even find an asteroid before the Homecoming got here!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? Intercept it!"
"But, Kate? That's a class D. It won't even fill half of our tanks!"
"Gerdock, the important thing is that we do everything in our power to try and save them. I'll tell Kazu."
...

"Hey, Kazu."
'Hey, Kate."
"Well, Doodard found one."
"Finally? Yes!"
"Unfortunately, there's a problem."
jwfDHBv.png
"Yes?"
"The asteroid is too small to refuel the entire ship."
"Drat."
"We've already started for it, though. Too late now. At least we tried."
"Kate, do you think the universe has a conscience?"
"Well, maybe. Never really stopped to think about that much."
"If you were the universe, would you care?"
"Yes, of course I would care."
"Not so fast, Kate. Remember, we're talking about an infinite amount of time here. Watching societies live and die, nonstop, for eternity."
"But is the universe is sentient, I would rather hope that it cares."
"And we will soon find out."

=================================================

Two days later, the Explorer neared the asteroid. Kazu seemed to be having an anxiety attack. The voice inside her head had returned. The made the connection: They had passed this point in space when they were first coming to Dres. They were nearing it again. It seemed to be coming directly from the asteroid.

sqja7UI.png

As the ship got closer and closer to the asteroid, the voice got loader and louder, until it became a sea of static. Kate reached over and asked - in sign language - what was wrong.

"I don't know, Kate. Some voice in my head. It's filling my head with static!"
"Kazu, we need to get out of here! This could be a Teddy Monster attack!"
"Those only happen on the surface of Dres! And this isn't a whisper! It's a roar!"
FAYfObH.png
"Wait - that's funny."
"What?"
"Hmm."
"Kazu, tell me now! I don't want you getting space madness!"
"Well - it stopped."
"Great!"
"No. Not great at all. I want to know more... it told me one sentence, clear as crystal, before it went away."
"Kazu, does that rock look... weird to you?"
"I need to know more!"
"Kazu! You look like you're about to die! What did "it" say to you?"
"One sentence."
YOWFy84.png



"Thou shalt not taunt."

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...
 

 

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"I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE AND I DO NOT WANT TO EXPLODE!" 

-Mortimer Kerman 2016 

MAGIC BOULDER!!! Awesome! You still are going to have trouble slowing down those space pirates. Your going to need a bigger spaceship... 

And now I have to go break your record for most Kerbals to Minmus... Is 1.2 completely safe? I don't want to get krakened in the middle of a mission...

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7 minutes ago, max_creative said:

"I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE AND I DO NOT WANT TO EXPLODE!" 

-Mortimer Kerman 2016 

MAGIC BOULDER!!! Awesome! You still are going to have trouble slowing down those space pirates. Your going to need a bigger spaceship... 

And now I have to go break your record for most Kerbals to Minmus... Is 1.2 completely safe? I don't want to get krakened in the middle of a mission...

Hehehehe...

Another perfect coincidence. :) First asteroid I find happens to be a magic boulder.

As far as I know, 1.2 is safe. I haven't had very many problems with it at all (except it taking 10 seconds to open up the load save menu - although that is just an issue with the 3-version save file and doesn't happen on any other save file. Actually, I'd really like to know who's save has gone through the most versions. It's probably Brotoro.) but I'd recommend you back up your saves.

Most Kerbals to Minmus, Eh? Good luck. That beast was over 500 parts. Would have been 10,000 had autostruts and joint rigidity not been implemented!

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  • 1 month later...

It's been a long time. But don't get excited. Part 35 is very short - and  It will be a long time until Part 36, for a reason you will find out in Part 35.

So here's part 35: The Confession.

Spoiler

Jebediah Kerman floated through the hatchway of the Intrepid's central habitation module. His crewmates were assembled before him: Valentina, Shercott, Gidrien, Bob, and Bill. They all were silent and expecting. He hadn't ever called an announcement of this magnitude before.

7NCytRT.png "Well, I suppose you're all wondering what I called you in for." Silence. "And I have to say, it's not a dramatic announcement about discovering something that will help us escape the solar system. Not an update on any of the other missions. Nothing of that importance. No, I have a confession."

"Uh, Jeb?" Asked Val.

"Yes, go ahead."

"Are you sure you want to relive that story again?"

"Yes. I am completely sure. You're the only Kerbal I've told the story to since it happened. Before the war. Years ago."

"But Bill knows." Bill nodded.

"Well, he doesn't know everything. Especially what happened on Bop."

"Only you and I know what happened on Bop."

"Correct. I didn't even tell Angela. I wish I had. It's a shame she died in the war."

"Jeb, I still don't think it is the best idea to tell them."

"I need to. I've had this story bottled up inside me since it happened."

"Um, sorry to interrupt," interjected Shercott, "But might this by any chance have anything to do with the exploding planets?"

"Hold on, I'm getting to that. Val, I need them to know. If the Kraken has truly awakened - "

"The Kraken? I thought he was a myth!"

"Gidrien, he is not a myth. I should know. I killed him. At least, I think I did."

"So are you going to tell us already?"

"Get comfy. This will take a while. Days, perhaps."

"Days?"

"It took me many years to live. I'm sure you can listen for a few days. Especially since we're on our way home now, and there's nothing to do." Jeb paused for a few seconds, and everyone remained silent, staring at him.

"A long, long time ago, long before the war, back before the planets exploded, and back before the first base on Duna. A long time ago. Back then, the Kerbal Space Program was dying. We had no funding. No reputation remaining, after the catastrophe of Space Station Epic V." At the mention of the ill-fated space station, a gasp went around the room. "And we were doomed. Nothing launched into space for a year. But then - a thin sliver of hope was offered to us. A chance, a hundred-to-one chance, to regain our funding and reputation. And you all probably know the mission that I'm talking about -"

Am1cTOe.png

"Octavius."

 

 

 

 

The Story of Project Intrepid is Now on Hold...

 

 

...Nightmares: A Jool-Sarnus 10 Story will Now Begin!

 

 

Spoiler

Just to offer some explanation, Project Intrepid will continue. I just can't say when. It will definitely be after Nightmares is finished. So, what is Nightmares, you ask?

The long story: I was doing an entry for the Jool-Sarnus 10 challenge, and after a while I realized that the events were happening just perfectly to tie it into Project Intrepid. Knowing me, that was too good of an opportunity to pass by. I have already finished the Octavius/Nightmares mission, and I can say with moderate certainty that Nightmares will be about thirteen parts. It will have its own thread, since it is technically it's own story, and I want to write it as if it was present day rather than as Jeb telling his crew everything.

The short story: I'm doing a different mission report that takes place in the Project Intrepid universe but decades earlier.

Enjoy! Link to Nightmares: Here!

 

Edited by Ultimate Steve
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  • 1 month later...

Okay, this is mostly for my benefit, but you can look at it too. Here is a reference post (mostly because it's been several months since I've touched this).

Spoiler

Project Intrepid Reference Page

Timeline: (Note: 3.5 Kerbal years ~ 1 Earth year, Kerbals like long lives)

  • PI (Project Intrepid, when the black hole was discovered) -100y - Jebediah Kerman enters space.
  • PI-99 ish - Kerbals land on the Mun.
  • PI-90 - Space Station Epic V falls onto a supervolcano, ruining a continent and grounding the space program
  • PI-89 - OCTAVIUS launches
  • PI-69 - OCTAVIUS returns, ushering in a new era of space exploration
  • PI-50 - The war begins, destroying all life above ground. Giant solar flares destroy most bases on other planets.
  • Y1 - Black hole discovered. Project Intrepid begins.
  • Y3 - We are here now.
  • Y200 - the Kerbol system will fall into a black hole.

Misc. Canon -

  • Kerbals sort of can't die, if they "die" in relatively non-violent ways. Then, they can be "regrown." However, they can only undergo this process so many times.
  • Ketchup stops telepathy.
  • Dres is haunted with a strange being known only as the "Teddy Monster." All of the Kerbonauts on the eight missions to Dres contracted space madness.
  • Gravioli particles are emitted by a mostly invisible "source material" only visible in magic boulders. This invisible material, known by most as "magic," has the power to manipulate the universe. Unfortunately, there is a limited amount of it and it is running out fast - approximately 99.99 percent of the magic in the Kerbol system has been used up at this point in the story.
  • Vabolarchium is an indestructible material known to have been manipulated by the USKN to make their space center, known to occur naturally in the form of Mun arches, and known to have been made by at least one ancient alien species, who made Vallhenge.
  • There is a subsurface ocean on Eeloo that might contain aliens.
  • Laythe's atmosphere will kill you if you breathe it for more than fifteen minutes.
  • Laythe's oceans are made from water and ammonia, which is somehow liquid. (Hey, if we're allowed to have super dense planets, we can have liquids outside their temperature ranges)
  • Kerbals can dig underground, however this is a very difficult process which requires heavy machinery and is only practical small scale on other planets, as well as large scale on Kerbin after the war (because everyone would have died otherwise).
  • All parts contain electromagnetic generators, designed to protect the ship from radiation. This is why parts are so heavy. In that magnetic field, there are suspended cameras which is how the Kerbals get those images.

Notable ships with crews:

ITV-009 Intrepid - first Intrepid Test Vehicle to reach Kerbin orbit. Went on a voyage around the Mun, and a second one to Duna. Currently returning from Duna. Cargo: Duna plane, Duna and Ike bases, Duna lander, Duna Scansat.

  • Jebediah Kerman - commander and pilot of Intrepid. Was the first Kerbal in space, was on board Space Station Epic V when it de-orbited, and was commander of OCTAVIUS which saved the space program. He survived the war, and was found living in an underground base in the swamp around the time ITV-009 launched. He is the only person to have walked on Slate and Tetko, and one of three to walk on Ovok and Hale before those four moons, plus Sarnus and the rest of the outer planets, were destroyed by the Kraken. Jebediah Kerman is the Kraken's "apprentice," meaning he absorbed his power to control the universe. He almost killed the Kraken. He invented the word "Unpossible." He is somehow telepathic with his sister, Valentina Kerman.
  • Shercott Kerman - one of the first Kerbonauts to enter space after the great war. Second in command of the ITV-009 "Intrepid." Due to a freak gravioli accident on the Mun, Shercott is telepathic with Gidrien Kerman. He glitched out on Duna after a rover accident, and crashed that same rover on Ike with the help of Gidrien.
  • Gidrien Kerman - got her name misspelled a lot early on. She (IIRC, too lazy to check) piloted the ITV-001. She stowed away on board the ISC-001, which provided the Mun lander for the Intrepid. Jebediah Kerman welcomed her into the crew. She is telepathic with Shercott and is a scientist in everything.
  • Valentina Kerman - Jebediah's sister. Telepathic with Jeb due to an unknown accident. She was the best space fighter pilot the KSC had, although she was an advocate of peace. Her spacefighter, Farlander, was heavily damaged by The USKN Peril, piloted by Hudson Kerman, who was her boyfriend in high school (not mentioned in story). The USKN peril ended up being de-orbited onto Kerbin, being mistaken for an ICBM and starting the war that forced all Kerbals underground for 50 years. She piloted the wreckage of the Farlander to Duna, and invented a hibernation system that failed to wake her up. She was revived by Jeb fifty years later.
  • Bill Kerman - Close friend of Jebediah's. Went to the same school as Jeb, Val, and Bob. Was an artist, had a troubled high school life. He was on the OCTAVIUS mission with Jebediah and Angela. One of two living Kerbals to have walked on Ovok and Hale, one of three ever. He and Angela Kerman invented the word "kasjunsalaloe" (IIRC, to lazy to check spelling) which has two definitions, one being the utmost degree of sorry, one being the utmost degree of thank you. In high school he had a crush on Marie Kerman. After the OCTAVIUS mission, he proposed to Angela Kerman. They were married. Later on, when KSC started exploring again after the OCTAVIUS mission, he was sent to an outpost on the Mun. When the war started, Bill and Bob managed to escape the destruction and the solar flares by building an underground base where they experimented with artificial intelligence and gravioli particles. They ended up creating two robots (Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob) who imprisoned them until Jeb returned to the Mun to free them. Bill and Val came up with the "Notebook of Destiny" trend (something I have IRL - The Green Notebook of Destiny, the Orange Notebook of Continued Summer Destiny, and the Second Green Notebook of Destiny).
  • Bob Kerman - Scientist. Was with Bill Kerman at the Mun outpost and helped develop artificial intelligence.

ITV-011 Creativity - the second Intrepid to reach orbit. En route to Jool as of Year 3. Carries a huge payload, including the TYLO ARMY, a collection of six Tylo landers. Most crew members are minor characters at this point, you don't need to worry about them until they reach Jool.

  • Angie Kerman - Commander.
  • Mojorie Kerman - Chief Scientist. From a foreign country akin to IRL France. Expert on Gravioli particles, but her work has not been translated out of her language.
  • Mitney - Scientist.
  • Stabel - veteran of the original 8 Intrepids that did not make orbit. Chief engineer.
  • Podpont - Another pilot.
  • Patfrey - Veteran of original 8. Pilot.
  • Gemma - Scientist. May or may not have come from a parallel universe.
  • Bobwig - Engineer.

ITV-013 Magician - The first Intrepid to have refueling capability. Went to orbit with one crew member, was joined by another. Went to Minmus, then Moho. It was barely able to make it back into orbit of Moho. The crew was rescued and the ship abandoned in Moho orbit.

ITV-015 Independence - Identical to Magician, save for a scanner and fuel cells. En route to Eeloo.

  • Linise
  • Eltop
  • Ermore
  • Meomma
  • Billy-Bobwell
  • Leegrid

ITV-016 Explorer - first even numbered Intrepid to reach orbit. Designed for asteroid mining around Dres. Currently in Dres orbit having discovered a strange anomaly. Payload: Dres runner, Dres bike, Dres Scansat, Dres lander.

  • Kazu Kerman - Commander. Deaf. Communicates by sign language.
  • Kathlenna Kerman - Kazu's interpreter. Engineer.
  • Dooddard Kerman - Engineer.
  • Gerdock Kerman - Scientist.

Unnamed Rescue Ship - Rescued the crew of the Magician from Moho. The crew hijacked it and took it to Eve.

Messed up order here, 018 is supposed to be before 019.

ITV-019 Homecoming - Ringship. Took Eve lander to Eve (I think. I might have the payload mixed up). The Eve lander was a complete success, despite being taken over by space pirates. The said space pirates burned for an extremely high velocity intercept to Dres that left them without fuel to capture.

  • Tomfurt Kerman - originally named Tedfry, which was misspelled as Thedney. Don't ask. (I didn't have any plans for him and messed up his name, but then he became one of the most important characters) Tomfurt was a Flat Kerbin Society pilot who then realized the truth and tried to crash his plane into their headquarters. He was saved by the Monolith, who set him on a path that would make a portal, but one that requires surface samples from every body, including Jool, the Sun, and a magic boulder. He first launched into space aboard the ITV-013 Magician, not knowing what he was doing. He was joined by Milvy Kerman. They went to Minmus, then Moho. During this time, Tomfurt managed to absorb the Monolith's power, becoming the Monolith's apprentice. He used some of his power to bring the Magicain safely down on Moho. They were rescued from Moho orbit by the unnamed rescue ship, which they hijacked and took to Eve, where he convinced Carol Kerman to join his band of pirates. The trio stole the Eve lander and took Gene Kerman as a hostage down to Eve. They ascended flawlessly, then stole the ITV-017 Homecoming, took it to Gilly, and then to Dres. Fun fact, Tomfurt is both my first Kerbal on Moho and Eve. Depending on how things go, maybe even my first on Dres.
  • Milvy Kerman - The Desert Space Program's only Kerbonaut. She launched onboard the "Spider Space Ship II" also known as a "Kerb-on-a-stick" launcher to meet the ITV-013 Magician on very little notice. Although she is an engineer, she is also a really good pilot. From there, Milvy and Shercott's stories match up.
  • Carol Kerman - the third space pirate. She was originally a crewmember of the Eve expedition (Don't remember which ship) who joined Carol and Tomfurt to hijack the Eve lander. She is also very much like the stereotypical Jebediah, having taken the Gilly lander to Kerbin orbit on a fully solid powered booster.

ITV-018 Valentina - Identical to the Homecoming except with an intact ring. Went to Eve carrying the Gilly lander. The crew of the Homecoming were forced onto the Valentina when the space pirates stole it. It was named after Valentina Kerman, before she was found alive on Duna. The crew of the Gilly lander, on its trip to Gilly discovered the Rift of Ages, a 5 kilometer long rift in the surface of Gilly.

  • Leah - IIRC was the fourth crew member of the Eve lander. Commander of the ITV-018.
  • Ribwig - minor character.
  • Allin - minor character.
  • Gene Kerman - former head mission controller, current CEO of the Kerbal Space Center. Went into space, walked on Eve. Is afraid of heights.
  • Vernie - Minor Character.
  • Elkin - minor character.
  • Pomeroy - minor character. I think he went to Gilly.
  • Nataemma - pilot of Gilly lander.
  • Anberta - on Gilly mission. In love with Macfry (not mentioned, but semi-obvious.)
  • Macfry - on Gilly mission. In love with Anberta (again, not mentioned.)

ITV-020 Philosopher of Time - Gigantic spaceship. Carried 916 Kerbals to Minmus. (Not really, I didn't need all that persistant file lag. It already takes a whole minute to open up the quickload menu. But it has 916 seats. I'll spawn in Kerbals as needed.) Met up with Phase One, a mission to send 1500 tond of supplies to Minmus for an as-of-yet undisclosed but fairly obvious reason.

  • Diselle - Commander of 020. Unmentioned.
  • Archell, Leelie, Lobas - unmentioned, but the other three Kerbals I have ingame on Minmus.
  • Mortimer Kerman - selected to go to Minmus, is the CFO of the KSC but "DOES NOT WANT TO GO TO SPACE!"

Other important characters not on any of the main ships:

  • Jeb, Bill, and Bob number two - Space Station Epic IV was teleported in from another universe along with clones of Jeb, Bill, Bob, and nine others. They have agreed to help build the {TOP SECRET} on Minmus.
  • Angela Kerman - the third crewmember of the OCTAVIUS mission. Died in the war. Was Bill's wife.
  • David Kerman - The Spy. (I think that's his name at least.) Died saving the members of the Octavius mission.
  • Marie Kerman - Went to the same high school as the big four. Bill liked her a lot. She was hired by Cloneus Kerman to find the spy. She ended up finding him and partially falling in love with him. They both died saving the lives of the crew of the OCTAVIUS.
  • The Deep Space Kraken - one of four main entities that control the universe. Talks in Italics. Was nearly killed by Jeb on the OCTAVIUS mission. Can change the universe for the illogical. He was nearly killed by the Monolith. Generally regarded as evil, although he is not completely evil. He blew up the outer planets minus Eeloo to reload the universe to try and Kill Jeb.
  • The Monolith - talks in bold text. Another one of the four main entities. Can change the universe for the logical. He is not the good guy by a long shot, but he is better than the Kraken. He recruited Tomfurt Kerman to build him a portal so he could escape the demise of the Kerbol system. Nearly killed the Kraken.
  • The Developer - the third of the four entities. My way of explaining updates. It's obviously SQUAD, but none of my characters realize that.
  • The Player - The other entity.
  • Cloneus Kerman - Billionaire, was a rude, disrespectful person before the OCTAVIUS mission. He funded OCTAVIUS on a 100 to 1 bet so he could take the KSC's land in order to build a casino. He tried starting a space program once he realized he had been wrong, but it failed catastrophically. When the OCTAVIUS mission arrived back at Kerbin, he gave the KSC 50 billion funds to build a casino on the Mun. Not much more is known about it at this point, as that is were the Nightmares flashback ended. Nobody knows whether he survived the war.
  • Linus Kerman - science officer.
  • Wernher Von Kerman - I spell his first name wrong a lot. Rocket scientist, chief designer of the KSC.
  • Houston Kerman - mission controller. Only referenced in the first few chapters of Project Intrepid.
  • Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob: Sentient robots created by Bill and Bob while they were on the Mun. They have experimented with negative gravioli particles and have successfully transported a space station from one universe to another, and have travelled through time.
  • Hudson Kerman: Was Valentina's Boyfriend in high school. Later joined the USKN and attacked Valentia, believing she was transporting nuclear weapons to a secret base on the Mun. He fell onto Kerbin and was mistaken for a nuclear missile, and as a result the War started. He somehow survived falling from space and became the chief designer of the Flat Kerbin Society. He found the messages that Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob sent from the past, which told him when and where they would reappear: The Mun. He secretly built an air launched rocket under the guise of a missile and launched it to the Mun along with Fred Kerman to see Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob reappear at their base, which was actually the aforementioned nuclear missile base that was actually built by the KSC.
  • Fred Kerman - a Flat Kerbin Society apprentice who was taken to the Mun by Hudson.
  • Statchel - militaristic Flat Kerbin Society pilot who destroyed and took over the KSC.
  • Doodbro Kerman - works on the four phase planetary escape plan. Leaked information about Phase One. NOT a Kold war reference, just a coincidence.
  • Those three Kerbals on the sailboat that I forget the names of - own a jet engine powered sailboat called the USS Intrepid. They launched a rocket to find that Kerbin was not flat and started the revolution that returned the KSC to its rightful hands. They possessed a Kolonial model house, manufactured by Pandora Corp, as well as an antique light atmospheric dropship. They stole a Flat Kerbin Society rocket and made it to Space Station Epic IV, which had been teleported from another universe.

 

I think that's all of them. If you find any more you want me to write up, just tell me.

 

Organisations:

  • The Kerbal Space Center/The Kerbal Space Program - The leader in space exploration. Launched the first mission into space, and 95% of the other ones. Launched Space Station Epic V, OCTAVIUS, and Project Intrepid.
  • The USKN - an acronym that means nothing, but sounds menacing. A paranoid, military organization that went to war with the KSC.
  • The CAKE - The Cloneus Aerospace Kerbal Enterprise (may not be exact acronym). Launched several rockets, most of which exploded.
  • RavenCorp - where the CAKE got most of its rockets from. Launched several different rockets, the most notable being the Raven 5, a cubesat launch vehicle, the Raven 13, a failed satellite launcher, and the Raven L-1, a 3 cored, reusable rocket capable of launching large payloads.
  • The Flat Kerbin Society - Basically a militaristic version of the IRL Flat Earth Society. They believe that Kerbin is flat and that the end of the world is fake. They have conducted several rocket launches to prove their point. However, the leader of the FKS has seen the curvature of Kerbin for himself and ran away, afraid of how mighty his organization has gotten. They acquired several nuclear missiles from the remains of the USKN. They openly attacked KSC, leading to a period when no rockets were launched.
  • Kerlington Community College - Before the war destroyed everything, this was one of the best universities on all of Kerbin. During the 20 years of the OCTAVIUS mission, they successfully landed one Kerbal on the Mun. The campus was destroyed during the war.

 

 

 

Phew, that's a lot! I may not have the best mission report out there, but it's certainly one of the most complex ones!

 

Again, if anything is missing from here, please let me know!

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Okay, I'm back.

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 10:00 PM, Ultimate Steve said:

I am planning, like, six humongous things for part 36,

Sorry. I'm just going to do the first one for now to get back into a groove.

But, a short new part is better than no new part!

 

Part 36: What Doesn't Kill You

Spoiler

=================================== Part I: Is that it?

WXjElhW.png

"So now you know," said a vacant-eyed Jebediah Kerman as the ITV-009 Intrepid completed its course correction burn.

"Wait," said Shercott, "That's it?"

"If by "It" you mean twenty years in space, alien entities, ten moons, three planets, almost dying several dozen times, and Bill Kerman getting married, then, yes. That's it," said Jeb. There was silence (except for the steady roar of the engines) for a few seconds.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Gidrien.

"Well, Gidrien," replied Jeb, "I suppose for now we should return to Kerbin. I am probably just paranoid, but I've got a strange feeling. A feeling that the Kraken is not truly dead. So, for now, we keep this secret. Mostly. I'll notify the commander of the "Creativity" before they land on Bop. But that won't be for a few more months. But what we truly need to be worried about for now is, you know, planetary escape. Jool, I think, should be our next stop after this. Maybe, if we're lucky, we can pull a "Homecoming" and get there before the Creativity. But first we'd need more fuel. Or even a new ship."

"A new ship?"

"Yeah. The KSC is trying, but their tests aren't going so well."

P5IKQma.png

"That was supposed to be two ships that would split apart in orbit, a Jool ship and a Duna ship. Autostruts and joint rigidity worked well for the 021, but not for this."

"So, what about the space pirates?"

"Well, it's the same as it was a few days ago. They're hurtling towards Dres relying on the Explorer to come help. But the Explorer can't mine the asteroid fast enough. And, honestly, with the graviolis coming off of that thing? I don't think they should bother. It might be... dangerous."

=============================== Part II: Everyone gets a Miracle

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"Doodard, I'm telling you! It's useless!"

"Shut it, Gerdock. We're doing the best we can."

"Just let those freaking space pirates die! They deserve it!"

"Gerdock, nobody deserves to die."

"Oh, I beg to differ."

"If you have a point, calmly state it and get back to your post."

"Why can't I be on EVA all the time? I'm stuck in the science lab!"

"Because you're a scientist. You should be thrilled, we have a sample of an unknown substance!"

"But I have no time to analyze it! All of your attempts at speed mining mean everyone except Kazu has to be on duty the whole time!"

"My attempts at speed mining are to save lives!"

"And even if you could mine three times as fast, we'd still miss them. Sorry, but this is pointless! Just let them die!"

"Gerdock, go take a nap."

"Nuh-uh. You said I have to fix the routing pipes."

"You're being annoying. I'll fix them."

"Fine, then."

"Fine." Doodard Kerman was micromanaging Drill 2 on the Explorer. And it was difficult. He was doing his best to route the drill into the areas of normal rock. Once, a few days ago, he had let the bit slip into a purple area. It did not end well. Needless to say, that was why he was manning Drill 2 instead of Drill 1...

Doodard was depressed with hopelessness. He was one of the only four Kerbals in the universe who could save the Homecoming and its crew, but he was no magician. He could not bring himself to admit defeat, but it was pretty evident: They would only have mined less than half of the asteroid by the time the Homecoming sped past. Say they could mine the asteroid by the time the Homecoming arrived. The asteroid could only fill the tanks up to 33%.

Of the four Kerbals who could save them, one did not want to, one could only communicate by sign language, one spent her time keeping the captain company, and then there was Doodard himself. And he was truly doing all he could. But it wasn't enough.

Doodard felt himself drifting off to sleep. He awoke a few kilometers away from the Explorer, moving pretty fast.

"Uh, Explorer, this is Doodard! I appear to be moving very quickly away from you. Please respond." There was a pause.

"Doodard, thank goodness!"

"Kate?"

"Yeah, uh, you sort of missed a lot. First thing's first, get back to the ship. Wow, you drifted pretty far after the blast - "

"Blast? Kate, what the Moho happened while I was asleep!?!"

"Long story."

"Well, fill me in now!"

"Okay, so you fell asleep. Shortly after that, the bit of drill 2 slipped into the mysterious purple stuff."

"Great. We don't have any drills left."

"No, the drill is actually fine, somehow! Nobody really knows a ton at this point, but there was a huge explosion of gravioli particles, billions of times more than the lethal limit, but we all lived! And, a small chunk of the purple stuff turned grey."

"Okay, then. Uh..."

"That's not even the weirdest part!"

"How can you get weirder than that?"

"Doodard, all of the fuel tanks are completely full!"

 

======================================== Part III: The Rescue

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"Okay, Tomfurt. We have radio contact."

"That's great! So, what's this I hear about the fuel tanks suddenly being full?"

"Err..." The strange asteroid was currently being kept a secret from the general public, including the space pirates. "We hit a vein of super dense ore."

"So, we have a plan then?"

"Yes, but first, you and your crew must solemnly swear not to steal the Explorer."

"Oh, we swear."

"Tell me an embarrassing secret. If you steal the Explorer I'll tell the general public." There was a quick pause.

"If I don't tell you, will you still rescue us?"

"Nope."

"Fine, then. I was a pilot for the Flat Kerbin Society."

"Woah, there. That's heavy."

"Don't tell anyone."

"Sorry, I just signed to the captain."

"AGGH! So, Kate. The  plan?"

"Only my friends can call me Kate. Call me Kate one more time and the whole world will know about your secret."

"Fine, Kathlenna. So, do we or do we not have a plan?"

ibJm5JY.png

"We just started a burn. A risky, overheat prone, potential for explosions burn. We have around eleven kilometers per second of Delta V. We will burn one to get our trajectories to cross, and then we will burn three to match velocities. We will Klaw you and transfer fuel over, and we will both re-enter orbit."

"Great."

"And you, Pirate, will burn your remaining fuel right now to slow your intercept velocity."

"Got it. Actually, we already did that."

"Great, our numbers are off now. Whatever. Prepare to be rescued."

bKfvDa4.png

 

"Okay, the first burn is over. We burnt a bit more than we thought we would. Intercept velocity is now 1.7 kilometers per second."

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"So, now we wait."

"Yep, pretty much."

 

About ten minutes later, the twenty four nuclear engines of the Explorer spooled up once more.

"Engines running at full capacity, Kate," stated Doodard. Kate signed the message to Kazu. Kazu signed back.

"She says we all did well. Now we just need to keep the ship in one piece for the next quarter hour."

"Good. So, what about the crazy asteroid? "Sparkly" isn't really the catchiest title."

"Huh. Well, Doodard, remember that legend from a few hundred years ago, in that ancient Kerbiptian text?"

"We can't all be historians."

"Paraphrasing it, there was a legend that there was a strange moon of Ike a long time ago."

"How long ago?"

"The eighteenth era."

"Woah, that's a long time!"

"Yes. One day, however, the moon, called the "Magic Boulder," vanished from its place around Ike. Around the same time, there was a bright flash of light in the sky, around Jool. Geologic dating of the crater on Bop shows it to be from around this same time period."

"Huh. Magic Boulder. I like it."

"Just be sure not to taunt it any more."

"Yeah, do not taunt the Magic Boulder." At this point, Kazu flipped a switch, the one marked "Dramatic Music" and began signing to Kathlenna, who translated for the rest of the crew.

"She says that we are getting close to the Homecoming. Doodard, prepare the Klaw, I will provide readouts to Kazu while she flies, and Gerdock?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't kill the pirates."

"They deserve to -"

"Gerdock. To your quarters."

"Every freaking time!"

"We have visual contact!"

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"Tomfurt, this is Kathlenna. You are within visual distance. We are preparing to Klaw. We don't have much time. Prepare to receive fuel fast."

"Got it. Two hundred meters."

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"Switching to RCS. One fifty." A few seconds later, she announced "One hundred." the seconds passed agonizingly slowly. Never in the history of space travel had two ships of this size attempted to dock via Klaw. "Forty meters. Klaw armed."

"Good. Down a bit, you're going to miss us!"

"Got it, I'm telling Kazu."

"What's her deal? Why is she deaf?"

"Long story, this is not the time! Ten meters!"

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"Three. Two. One."

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"Yes! We did it!"

"Good. Send the fuel over!"

"Got it. Don't steal the spaceship."

"I am not planning on stealing it."

"Good." A few tense minutes later, the fuel had been transferred.

"Okay, un-klawing. Point retrograde and burn as fast as you can!"

And so, the Explorer and the Homecoming began inserting themselves into an orbit around Dres. And then, Doodard noticed that the ships were roughly keeping pace with each other.

"Homecoming, this is Doodard."

"Hey, dude!"

"Don't call me dude."

"It's literally your name."

"Okay, then, Tommy."

"Okay, I get your point. What is it?"

"Adjust your throttle ever so slightly. I'm going to try to keep pace with you."

 

 

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And thus, that picture became one of the most dramatic, iconic photographs in history, and it would be remembered for centuries.

 

==================================== Part IV: It is real

5fJt0na.png

"Well, that happened."

"Yes, it most certainly did. But I have a question for you, Kathlenna."

"Yes, Tomfurt?"

"Carol and I would like to know what this thing is."

"I suppose it's pointless to keep it a secret from you any longer. This is a weird asteroid known as "Sparkly" to the KSC staff. It is known as "The Magic Boulder" to us."

"Magic Boulder?" Tomfurt jumped out of his seat, a bad idea in zero gravity.

"Yeah. It's just a name, no reason to freak out."

"I have a question. Is it emitting gravioli particles?"

"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Has it done anything weird?"

"It sort of filled our tanks all the way up and -"

But Tomfurt no longer listened. He was now certain that this was the same "Magic Boulder" that the Monolith had told him about. If indeed he was right, then the universe was no longer out of "magic." He could do anything he wanted. He was... powerful.

 

AOQvIJN.png?1

 

"Five down, thirteen to go."




 

 

Blooper:

EDvImnp.png

 

 

 

*DRAMATIC*

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