Project Intrepid (Chapter 59 - Life On Laythe)

[max_creative]

54 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

 

...!

Note to self: Imgur doesn't like it when you try to upload 300 screenshots at once. Yep, the next chapter is going to be a bit lengthy.

Currently uploading the first batch of 100.

EDIT: Seriously? The limit is fifty images at a time? Welp, I'll be doing this for a while.

EDIT EDIT: Wow, Imgur is deleting half of the images I upload.

Wow... My EDIT: longest chapters have about EDIT: 30 pictures, and most have about 15-20 EDIT: pictures. That sounds like a very EDIT: loooooooooooooong chapter with 300 pictures! I have about 65 picture from between the EDIT: Imgur update of doom, and now. Good EDIT: luck with uploading them! It's going to take EDIT: a while... 

(Actual) EDIT: why is the word EDIT randomly appearing? Oh well. MEH. 

Also, I unintentionally EDIT: got a nice new EDIT: page for the chapter! 

Edited September 11, 2016 by max_creative
EDIT: ATTACK OF THE EDIT!!! EVERYBODY RUN AWAY!!!

[Ultimate Steve]

Just so you know, I don't use nearly all of the screenshots I upload. Only some of them. I'm too lazy to delete the ones I don't need.

 

8 separate imgur uploads later:

Part 26, Eve or and bust! Prepare for an incredibly long chapter!

Spoiler

Far, far away, out in the desert, a strange old plane prepared to take off.

Three were aboard. The chief designer, the pilot, and the intern. The chief designer began inspecting the payload.

Satisfied with the nearly fifty years of work he had put into it, the chief designer signaled the pilot to take off and climb to cruising altitude.

Once the plane had leveled out sufficiently, the chief designer prepared the payload for launch. Then, however, the intern entered the cargo bay.

"Sir? Sorry to interrupt you, chief designer, sir, but I was just wondering if you could possibly explain what exactly this missile is, before we fire it."
"First off, mister intern, your orders were to observe this test without interfering. Or asking questions. Although, I admire one who asks questions. It wasn't me who told you not to ask them."
"So, what is it, sir? A nuclear cruise missile? A submarine diver missile?"
"Heh. Neither, Fred. It would be a stretch to even call it a missile."
"How do you know my name?"
"Your nametag literally says "Fred."
"Oh. It's really more of a nickname." Fred glanced at the Chief Designer's own nameplate. It had been removed long ago. His suit looked ancient. "So, it's a jet and not a missile? That engine doesn't look like a Jet's."

"I like you, Fred. You bring a certain idealism to the society."
"Thanks, sir."
"Now, this thing, you could say it is a long range missile."
"Just how much long ranged?"
"About as long ranged as anything can get."
"The payload?"
"That is a tough question."
"Is it involved in Plan Omega?"
"NO. NO. NO. This is something completely separate. If we didn't run out of alphabet, this would have been there. But we ran out of alphabet. Plan Omega better work. I designed it."
"Remember when everybody laughed at us for naming our nuclear biplanes after a comic book?"
"GRAPHIC NOVEL. Not comic book. Those biplanes were an embarrassment to the Flat Kerbin Society."
"Sir? We appear to be at cruising altitude."
"Yes, I see. The bay doors are opening. You should return to the cockpit."

"Sir? Aren't you coming?" The Chief Designer was silent for a while. "Sir?"
"Fred, do you want to come with me on the adventure of a lifetime?"
"Sir, I'm not sure what you mean by that."
"Get in."
"What? Are you crazy? That's a missile!"

"I spent FIFTY YEARS working on this. I can assure you that it's not a missile. Not in the traditional sense."
"Then why was it marked MISSILE in the reports?"
"The only way I could get it past the society."
"What? Are you saying - "
"Yes, Fred. I am a traitor. Now get in." An ominous countdown started.
"Fred, we're launching in ten seconds. Are you in, or out?" Weighing his options, Fred ran to the cockpit door. It was locked.
"Fred, GET IN!" Because Fred did not want to be vaporized upon takeoff, he ran up the makeshift ladder and jumped into the seat. "Hold onto your helmet!"

"AAAAAAAAAAA-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Fred, will you quit screaming?"
"I WANT TO GO HOME!"
"Sorry. That option was basically ruled out a few seconds ago. See? No chute."
"YOU MANIAC!"

"You were the one who came with me."
"When are we coming back down?"
"In either 2 minutes, or not for a long time."
"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Woah."
"You got that right, Fred. Kerbin is most definitely round."
"But that's - "
"No. Kerbin is round. Don't try to deny it. The only reason I became the chief designer of the Flat Kerbin Society is so I could have the resources to build this."

"But why? And where are we going?"

"Because. I wanted to go to the Mun."


=======================================================================================================
"So you were alive during the war?"
"Correct, Fred. Now, please don't distract me. I'm trying to plot a specific landing site."
"Tell me again how we're going to get back home after this?"

"That is a good question. Also, you might want to brace for impact. I weighted the craft incorrectly. I can't throttle over 20% without this thing flipping around."
"What?"

"We should be fine, though."

"Coming in, Aaand,"

"Landed! Now, are you up for a hike?"
"What?"
"The thing I came here to find."
"You came here to find something?"
"It's a few days hike away. Better start walking!"
===========================================================================================
"3! 2! 1! Launch!"

"How's it looking, Gene?"

"WHY DID I AGREE TO PILOTING THIS THING?"
"Hey, the ITV-017 was your idea. And plus, we needed something to go to Eve in."
"And I had to pilot it, because?"
"You volunteered."

"I heard some various explosions!*

*(This is a reference to something.)

"Yeah, apparently forgetting to strut the last 3 orange tanks was a bad idea."

"Yep, Sherlock. Also, the entire loop has fallen off. We didn't strut that either."
"Already making the changes to the 018."
"I'm going to bail out now!"

The ITV-017, one of three Intrepid Model 4's built, was Gene Kerman's idea. Mostly made because it carried 65 Kerbals, and looked cool. It was powered by a lot of Nerva's and was by far the longest of any of the motherships.



"Next ship!" And thus, the 018 was readied for launch.

"3, 2, 1, Engage!"

"Good news. Not as much is exploding. Nobody strutted the orange tanks, and only half of the ring is staying on."

"It's also flipping. A lot."

"I managed to recover it, though!"
"Do you think It'll get to space?"
"Depends. At this point, it's all about separation. Although, with the ring gone, there's nothing to obstruct the boosters at this point."

"Nearing space, and we have booster separation."

"Engaging LV-N's, and we have orbit!"

"Yay, Gene! Now, you get to name it!"
"Hmm. I didn't think I'd ever get to do this. I'm going to name it after Admiral Valentina Kerman."
"Good choice."

"Anything else need launching?"
"Yes. Phase one needs to go to Minmus. It's been sitting in orbit for months."







"Engaging landing. We should only have to use the final stage for literally the last 5m/s of the descent."
"Good."
"What's this for, again, Gene?"
"Oh. I'm afraid it's still top secret at this point, but you've probably already figured out that it's a giant Minmus base."



"And with that, the largest mass ever landed on Minmus in one go! 1500 tons of supplies!"
"Time to celebrate?"
"Yeah. Tell the phase two engineers that they have the day off!"
==============================================================================

(OOOOOOOFFF, that south pole is VERY hard to look at, and it blends with the forum background. Oof.)
Jebediah Kerman had landed on the Southern Ice Cap of Duna a week ago. He had hiked far and wide, searching for the anomaly he suspected had been located nearby. He spotted something in the distance.

He concluded that it was some sort of sled. Solid evidence that Kerbals had been here, when yet no mission to the southern ice cap had been in the history logs. He spotted another dot on the horizon and walked over.

It was an ancient base. It appeared ramshackle, and it had evidently been here for some time. It was buried in the ice. He entered, to find it empty.
"But... there has to be something I'm missing." He started moving things around. "Aha!" he had located a tunnel that led downwards, beneath the central table.

The area below was tiny. The low power lights were flashing on and off. Gravioli detectors lined the walls. But all that, Jebediah didn't notice. Laying down on a table, frozen, unconscious, connected to a strange machine, and clutching a note, laid none other than the one person Jebediah Kerman had been aiming to find, at incredible odds.

Jebediah held his breath, for he didn't know whether she was still alive. He carefully pulled the note out of her left hand and read it aloud:

"To whoever may find this note: I am Admiral Valentina Kerman. If you were purposely looking for me, you probably know that already. If you weren't, look me up later. For now, you may wonder why I am frozen, connected to a strange machine. Well, interestingly enough, after ten years alone on Duna, you get pretty bored (duh) and start thinking up ways to make time go faster. So I came up with a hibernation machine. Yeah, I'm in hibernation right now. At least, I should be. I'm hopefully not dead. I set up a timer to wake me up every five years or so, or if the power gets below 1%. On the back of this sheet, you should find tally marks which will symbolize how many times I've woken up." Jebediah flipped the page over to, unsettlingly, a blank sheet of white. He turned it back over and kept reading. "Of course, it may have broke. There should be a big red button on the far wall that will revive me in an emergency. Unless the power's out and the timer has failed. Then, I'm dead. Next to the experiment array, you should find a packet marked "If I'm dead." Don't read it if I'm not dead, please."

Jebediah Kerman stopped reading immediately when he heard the warning voice: "Warning. Power at 0.03%. Life support systems failing." He immediately pressed the big red button on the far wall. "Warning. Insufficient Oxygen for revival. If a source of oxygen is nearby, please remove subject from hibernation chamber and connect the source to the port on the suit."

Jebediah Kerman began dragging Valentina Kerman up the ladder, and across the Dunian surface in attempt to get her to the plane, which had emergency oxygen for this sort of occasion.

The plane was kilometers away. There was no way he could make it in time. So he did the only thing he could think of. He held his breath, undid his oxygen hose, and plugged it into the port on Valentina's suit.

"You're not dying that easily, Val. Not at all."
==========================================================================================
"I hate Eve ascent vehicles."

That was the general mantra among the engineers, and it had been for weeks. Endless iterations of the same design lead to a very high frustration level. Eventually, though, it was completed. The pilot, Leah Kerman, began the startup procedures.

"Let's hope this launch goes better than the last one."
"Yeah, Leah. That was the worst thing."
"The entire rocket blew up except for the actual EAV and I limped to orbit, getting to within 300m of the 018, before realizing the docking port had blown up as well.


"Anyway. 3! 2! 1!" Liftoff!"

"Oh, we're launching at night?"
"Yeah. Soonest transfer."
"Okay."

"Booster sep, going on direct rendezvous. Approaching 018!"


"Gene Kerman, requesting permission to dock!"
"Permission granted, Leah!"



"We are docked! The longest thing ever in orbit, am I right Gene?"
"Mostly. Once, a rich millionaire paid us to make a five kilometer long truss in orbit, for just the purpose of seeing if it could be done."
"Did it work?"
"Almost. It got to 2.2Km, and then something happened to it. It started shaking, and then vanished."
"Like a Kraken attack?"
"The Kraken is a myth, Leah."

"If we docked anything to the other docking ports, we'd be obstructing the engines. We'd have to launch another ship to take anything else to Eve, Gene."
"Well, guess what? We have a third model 4 in the hangar. Send six Kerbals up, and add more struts to the ring."
"Got it!"
============================================================================================
"LIFTOFF!"


The crew of the 019 consisted of Anberta, the captain, Vernie and Elkin, scientists, Macfry and Pomeroy, engineers, and Nataemma, senior engineer.
It quickly rose skyward.

Soon, it was in space.

Twenty minutes later, Gene Kerman's vision of an insanely awesome looking ringship in orbit was fulfilled:

"Tell me that doesn't look awesome. I DARE you! Oh, and Anberta, you get to name it."
"I hereby Christen this ship the ITV-019 Homecoming!"
========================================================================================
"All the engineers were on break. We had Carol the scientist design the Gilly lander."
"You mean, that lifter wasn't designed by Jeb?"
"No. I can't believe it earlier."
"Also, Carol appears to be aboard."
"What?"

"But that's... ALL Srb's."
"Except for the lander."

"Please tell me that'll make orbit."
"Actually, it has too much DV. Carol'll have to burn retrograde for a quarter of the final burn."
"Are you sure she's not a clone of Jeb?"

"Hey, it's actually working!"


"And, she's docked!"

"Yes, she apparently is!"
"So, now we launch the rest of the Eve ships?"
"Yep. Then, Phase two!"
"Uh, sir? We've got an incoming on the radar."
"What is it?"
"Some plane called "Project Omega.""
"Never heard of it."
"Uh, now we're tracking four incomings."
"Uh oh. Everyone get to the bunkers!"
=================================================================================
"Alright Stachel. Remember what we taught you."
"I remember commander. Targeting now."

"Today shall be the day the Flat Kerbin Society shall RISE!"

"Direct hit on the SPH! And the Astronaut Complex!"
"Good. Cycle back around. Give mission control a missile or two!"
"Roger that."

"Mission control has been destroyed."
"Now give research and development - "
"A cluster bomb. I remember my training, commander."

"3... 2... 1..."

"Direct hit. Research and Development has been severely damaged. Also, I accidentally ditched my other cluster bomb."
"Shame, shame. You wouldn't have needed it. Remember, do not damage the launch pad, or destroy the VAB."
"Roger."
"Targeting the tracking station now."




"Hit. Dish one down."
"Destroy the administration building."
"Roger."


"Perfect. You may fire your remaining missiles at the VAB. Try to only cause minor damage."
"Yes, sir."
"Then you may land."

"Commencing landing sequence."
"Wait. Destroy another Tracking station dish, and send the final rocket at the flag pole."
"The flag pole, sir? It probably costs less than the missile!"
"Do as I say."
"Roger."

"This will be a piece of cake."

"Uh, commander?"
"Yes?"
"I think I missed."
"No matter. Land and shoot it yourself."
"Roger."

"And thus ends the reign of the Kerbal Space Center!"


"I'm moving in with my ground force. Prepare the stage."
"Roger that. Sir, should I destroy this?"

"It's a WORTHLESS piece of stone that, when it was a real thing, was a piece of junk. Don't waste the effort. The chief designer, before he disappeared, specifically said that that piece of stone is to remain intact."
"Understood."
======================================================================================

"Attention all citizens of Kerbin. We are the Flat Kerbin Society, and by intervening tonight, we have liberated the world from the false belief that the world will end in 200 years. We have also established a more fair form of government. Together, the FKS and the world will create a powerful empire spanning the whole world!"

Just then, Wernher von Kerman stepped out of the crowd in protest. "But you can't! This is our base of operations! We are a peaceful organization!"

Then, the leader of the Flat Kerbin Society put on the evilest of grins, and said to Wernher's face,

"All of your base are belong to us."
=======================================================================================
Fred and the Chief designer had been hiking the Mun for several days. They had yet found nothing.

"My legs hurt."
"Quiet, Fred. We're almost there."
"That's what you've been saying for days!"
"I'm serious. It's only another 200 meters."
"Oh! I see it!"

"What is it?"
"It was a base. But the previous occupants must have triggered the self destruct."
"So, we're stuck here?"
"No. The underground portion of the base should still be intact. Follow me."

"This is a long ladder."
"No, it isn't. You haven't seen anything yet."


"So, this was the base that Bill and Bob built to cover up an even bigger secret."
"Sorry, what? And why is there a pile of circuits on the floor?"
"To cover up the departure. They are merely decoys, chips from old gravioli detectors."
"Sorry. Not following any of this."
"You'll see soon. In about 3 seconds. 3... 2... 1..."
Just then there was a sudden reversal in gravity, and then an explosion, and then a bright blue flash. When the two regained their vision, two figures stood before them, in front of the bank of Gravioli detectors.

"Greetings, you must be Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob," said the Chief Designer.
"Who?" Asked Fred.
"How do you know about us?" Asked Robo-Bob.  "Where are we? What year is it?"
"Well," replied the Chief Designer, "it is currently year two, day 200, in cycle 8. In other words, you've resynchronized. After a year of fun, way back in, what was it? The thirteenth era?"
"Correct," replied Robo-Bob. "How do you know about us? And when to land here?"
"The logs you stuffed inside the memorial to the old Mark One Command Pod Memorial."
"Ah, someone found those. And how did you know what time?"
"The log entries stopped one year 100 days after you arrived. It was logical to assume that you would resynchronize one year and 100 days after you departed."
"But surely you wouldn't just come here just to greet our return. Spit it out, you want something."
"Two things, Mr. Bob. I would like the - secret feature, lets call it - of this base, and I want you to continue your research into time travel. To see if it can be replicated."
"We were already going to do the second," replied Robo-Bill, "And we have no use for the first any more. You may go ahead, new ally. You already know our names. What should we call you?"

The Chief Designer put on something of a sly grin.

"You may call me Hudson Kerman." At this point, Fred interjected.

"Hudson Kerman? THE Hudson Kerman? Time Travel? The Thirteenth era? Robots? What?"

"Hush now, Fred. Now, I shall prove what I have been trying to prove for over fifty years, since before the war started."

"But - How did you survive?"

"Hush. Open this door for me, will you?"

 "I don't know what you're talking abou - oh."

"I was right."

"About what, Hudson Sir?"

"The KSC is not as innocent as they would have us believe."
"You mean, sir?"

"They really did build a nuclear missile silo on the Mun."

 

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

 

 

The story of Project Intrepid will Continue...

 

Also, some bloopers:

 

 

 

[max_creative]

That is a big ship!!!

Loooooooong chapter... 

Warning: Eve = EVEIL!!! So the KSC did build a giant nuclear missile silo on Mun. Who care? I have lots and lots of silos (plural) on Dres! And I want to blow them off the face of the planet with my nukes!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR DESTROYING THE KSC!!! ALL SHIPS OPEN FIRE!!! 

YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!!! 

10 minutes of rage later... How's the ship going to Dres doing? Please tell me! (Even you're probably just going to say it's on it's way and it will be a long time until it arrives.)

[Ultimate Steve]

20 minutes ago, max_creative said:

10 minutes of rage later... How's the ship going to Dres doing? Please tell me! (Even you're probably just going to say it's on it's way and it will be a long time until it arrives.)

It's on its way and it will be a long time until it arrives.

I'm not sure when. I might have forgotten to set the KAC alarm, but it's still probably en route. The Jool ship, though, is still a year away, and I really want to play with the ships I have in space right now for a while before I launch anything else. I've got something going to (or at) each planet right now, so I'll be covered for awhile. I just needed a storyline reason not to launch anything. (Blowing up KSC was WAAAAY more fun than it should have been.)

[spacebrick3]

How many Kerbals do you have active right now? 50? 100? 200?

[Ultimate Steve]

6 minutes ago, spacebrick3 said:

How many Kerbals do you have active right now? 50? 100? 200?

That is an interesting question. I'm not at my KSP computer right now, so this is purely from memory (And I don't want to go and check every chapter right now).

6 on the Duna Mission, counting Val.

Between five and eight (?) on the Jool mission.

Four around Moho.

Four en route to Dres.

Five (ish) en route to Eeloo.

Four on the Mun (Including Robo-Bill and Robo-Bob, although they aren't there in-game).

Nine in the two Eve ships.

Between 38 and 45+ Kerbals. (Also, the game managed to eat my Wernher Von Kerman I coded in).

Quite a lot, although you haven't seen anything yet!

[Ultimate Steve]

Allright. It's been a week (School and stuff) but I've managed to get something done. Half of the most epic thing I've ever done (And half of which is still to come) in KSP.

I present part 27, The Descent:

Spoiler

Section A, Transit

Three forces would soon converge on Eve. No, scratch that. Four. Although the fourth one would not reach Eve for quite some time. The "Explorer" is not one of those forces. The "Explorer" performed its course correction burn for Dres.

Around Moho, the former crew of the "Magician" transferred to the IRV-002. The crew plotted a transfer to Eve.

Thus formed the first of the four converging forces. The second was the "Valentina," the ship carrying the Eve Ascent Vehicle.

The Third force to depart was the "Homecoming," the 6 Kerbal sister ship of the Valentina. However, it still had its ring. It also carried the "Gilly Hoppah," the Gilly lander of the mission.



The "Homecoming" was the first ship to arrive at Eve, and placed itself into an elliptical medium orbit.





The second force to arrive at Eve was the "Valentina." It entered a slightly lower orbit than the "Homecoming."





The final force to arrive was the crew from Moho, consisting of two rescue crew, and two space pirates, who had taken over the rescue ship.

A noteworthy thing to mention is that none of the crews in space had heard a peep from Kerbin in over 200 days. The last thing they had heard was a word from Houston, the mission controller. "Oh, Moho! We're under attack!"

The crew of the IRV-002 had barely been able to make orbit. They made a plane change to rendezvous with the "Homecoming" because it had a lander that could rescue them. And here, our story continues...



==================================================================================
Section B, Rescue



"Hello? You're the rescue team, right? Well, actually half of my crew was our rescue team, but are you the rescue team for the rescue team?"
"Yes, I am. Carol Kerman, reporting in. Feel free to start sending over your crew. Four, right? I've got five spare seats. What's your name, again?"
"Tomfurt. Yes, we have a crew of four. We'll send over the rescue team first. Allin and Ribwig."
"Roger. Over and out." Carol leaned away from the radio monitor. Space was boring, she had concluded after the 30th day of the mission. Since day 2, there had not been a peep from KSC. On day 38, there was a solar storm that wiped the computer banks. Not the important ones. Just the ones outside of the faraday cages. I.E, everyone's copies of Human Space Program. Since then, nothing exciting had happened. Except approaching Eve. It was now day 208 of the mission, and she had been chosen to pilot the Gilly Hoppah to rescue the crew of the IRV-002. Funny, they were supposed to return to Kerbin, not go to Eve.

*Clang.* The airlock began opening, and a figure stepped in.

"Oh, you must be Allin Kerman. Nice to meet you!" Finally, a new person after 200 days of the same 6 crew members.
"Whatever he says, don't listen to him. He's a madman."
"Sorry, what?"
"Tomfurt is a madman. He stole our ship and brought it to Eve. He speaks of artificial intelligence, other universes, and a strange quest to sample every single body in the solar system. Including Jool and the Sun."
"Wait, he stole your ship?"
"YES! Now once we get Ribwig on board, we burn away. Straight towards which mothership is closer."
"I want to hear more. For all I know, you're the madman." Just then, the airlock clanged again and Ribwig entered.
"Quick, before Milvy gets here! Lock the doors! Start the engines!"
"He's right. We need to get out of here before he takes over the entire Eve system!"
"Hold on, guys. Strange quest? Crazy people? Space pirates?"
"YES, that's what we've been trying to tell you! I've given you several reasons to go now!"
"No." Carol broke into a grin. "Space is boring. All you've done is given me several reasons to stay. I want to hear what this "madman" has to say." Just then, the airlock made that clang sound again. Milvy Kerman and Tomfurt Kerman simultaneously entered.
"Alright, surrender the vessel, Carol, or face the consequences!"
"Relax, Milvy. Wasn't really planning on resisting."
"Really? Oh. Wait... why give up so easily?"
"Space is boring. Go ahead, take the ship. I just have one condition."
"And what would that be?"
"Take me with you. I want some adventure, and I'm guessing you'll be going places soon. I'm stationed to be around Eve for the next few years. Really, it only goes upwards from here."
"I just have one question for you, Carol."
"Yes, Tomfurt?"
"Are you a scientist?"
"Well, yes. I suppose I am. Where to next?"
"Eve."
========================================================================================================
Section C, Piracy

Allin and Ribwig were tied up in the back. Carol, Shercott, and Milvy were all piloting the ship.

"So, let me get this straight. The world's ending, and this monolith who watches over the universe told you to get a surface sample from every single body in the system, including Jool, the Sun, and a boulder that doesn't exist, and that combining these samples would create a new element that would allow travel through multiple dimensions? And Gravioli particles are a force that can change the laws of physics that works like magic, and the universe is running out of it? And the Kraken is real?"
"Yes, Carol. Way to sum up the plot! Also, we have a bit of a problem."
"What would that be?"
"Our relative velocity to the "Valentina" is 1200 meters per second. We have 1100 meters per second in the tanks."
"That is very bad news."




"Send out a distress signal. They don't know we've taken the ship over yet."
"Good idea. Attention, Gene and Leah of the ITV-018 "Valentina," we are going to run out of fuel before our velocities equalize. Please acknowledge."
"This is Gene. We read you loud and clear. We'll try to burn, but it's going to take us a full 30 seconds to turn."

"Okay, gang. Now all we can do is wait."
"I've shut off the engines with 29m/s remaining so we can dock."
"But isn't the port taken by the Eve Ascent Vehicle?"
"Exactly."






"Wow, that was close. Crew, begin EVAing over into the Eve Ascent Vehicle."
"Roger. What should we do with Allin and Ribwig?"
"I'll leave last and untie them. They can dock once we depart."



"Allright, Gene and Leah. My name is Milvy Kerman. Long story short, we are stealing your Eve Ascent Vehicle."
"What?"
"Yes. Now please get into it."
"Sorry?"
"Gene. Get. In. The. Eve. Ascent. Vehicle." the airlock clanged, and Tomfurt and Carol entered.
"Why do you need us, though?" Gene had his hands up. "I wasn't on the Eve list!"
"Simple. Leah is the only one who knows how to fly this thing, and the moment we leave, Allin and Ribwig are going to dock to the "Valentina." When they do, they'd run and abandon us. You, Gene, Senior mission controller of KSC, are our hostage. They wouldn't abandon you, the most important person in space."
"As Senior mission controller, I order you to not steal a KSC vehicle!"
"Uh, sorry. We've already stolen two. I don't see how a third will make any difference."
"This is an EVE ASCENT VEHICLE. There has never been a successful one in history. Why?"
"Long story. Tomfurt, for the universe's sake, needs to obtain a surface sample from Eve."
"Well, you could have just asked for one!"
"Yes. But this is more fun."
====================================================================================
Section D, Entry



"Now this is interesting."



"EAV 3 is a boring name. What should we call it?"
"How about Dragon?"
"Sure. That sounds good. Although "Phoenix" would be more appropriate, as we are ascending from Eve..."
"Dragon is a bit of lore from Human Space Program, though."
"Dragon it is!"
===========================================================================================

Allin and Ribwig were having a tough time getting docked to the "Valentina." It slowly had begun to oscillate, back and forth, in a way that reminded them of that 2.2 Kilometer long truss that had done exactly the same and then disappeared, a term coined "Kraken attack." But surely, the Kraken was a myth. They docked eventually.

The ship began to oscillate again. Surely, the madman couldn't be right. The Kraken couldn't possibly be real.

And then, an ominous, yet invisible voice rippled through the universe, and the oscillating stopped. For a while, at least.
============================================================================================
'Leah, you can land this thing, right?"
"I don't know! We departed from an orbit ten times higher than in the simulations!"

"Well, there's no going back now."
"You said that right! We're going to die because of you!"
*KABOOMKABOOMKABOOMKABOOM*
"What was that?"
"The orbital power package! It never exploded in the tests!"
"The what?"

"The battery and solar panel and reaction wheels!"
"Oh."

"Are the temperature gauges for the landing gear supposed to read "99%?"
"AAGGHH! Start spinning the craft!"
"How will that help?"
"It breaks the laws of physics but it works!"

"3 things."
"Shoot."
"We're below 63 Kilometers."
"Yes?"
"That's the lowest altitude a Kerbal has ever flown on Eve!"
"In what?"
"There was this thing - called the "Atmosferikdipperkraft" or something."
"What was it?"
"Oh, someone wrote a graphic novel about a trip to Eve and someone took it seriously and actually built the thing even when it totally failed in the novel! No offense to the novel, though."
"Eve: Order Zero?" I loved that! It's antique now, and I just loved the conclusion to that Jool novel and the other ones after that."
"Stay on topic! The thing somehow worked out. We're below 3 kilometers per second, but we might land in the ocean!"
"That's bad, right?"
"Very bad."

"Okay. Never mind. We're landing on land."



"Okay, let's jettison the heat shields and deploy the first set of drogue chutes."
*BANGBANG*
"What was that?"
"The shield decoupler hit the engines. I'm throttling up a bit to blow up the shield, as it's sticking to the bottom of the craft."
*BANG*
"Hey, that actually worked!"
"What do you mean?"
"It only worked half the time in the tests."

"Chutes out! Wow, we're going way faster than in the tests. Deploying more."

"Still too fast for the mains!"
"Relax. The drogues haven't fully deployed yet!"

"I'm deploying them anyway!"

"Gear deployed! Oh - the surface is 1KM ASL."
"Is that bad?"
"We've used more fuel than we should have. In the sims, the lowest altitude we reached orbit from was 1500m!"
"The mains have deployed!"

"Five hundred meters!"
"Permission to panic?"
"Granted, to all four of you."
"AAAAAAAAAA-"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"
"BBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAWHAAAAAAAA"
"GGGEEEERRRRROOOONNNNNIIIIMMMMOOOOOO!!!!!"
"Three hundred meters!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
"Two hundred meters!"
"Brace for impact!"
"Fifty meters! Starting engines!"

"WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"We bounced! The engines are stuck on!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"WE'RE GOING TO TIP!"

"Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon -"


"Good morning, kerbonauts, space pirates and management personnel. This is your pilot speaking."




"Welcome to Planet Eve!"

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

"We're leaving together - "

"But still it's farewell - "

"And maybe we'll come back - "

"To Kerbin, who can tell?"

"I guess there is no one to blame - "

"We're leaving ground!"

"Will things ever be the same again?"

"It's the final countdown!"

"Three down - fifteen to go."







The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...




 

 

[max_creative]

Nice references! This is 50 years later, so I suppose that your Kerbals would already know the ending. We don't though... Only @Kuzzter does...

[Ultimate Steve]

22 hours ago, max_creative said:

Nice references! This is 50 years later, so I suppose that your Kerbals would already know the ending. We don't though... Only @Kuzzter does...

Haha! I wish I knew the ending.

Also, was I the only one who was inspired by Eve: Order Zero to go and build my own dipperkraft? Because I did. And my Gilly Lander looked suspiciously similar to Kuzzter's... I'll see if I can dig out the screenshots.

[Ultimate Steve]

Hello, just an update. You may not see a new part for a while, just a heads up. The screenshots for the next few parts are ready, but the issue is having a long enough stretch of time to write. Weekends are usually a good time to do this (I've got school during the week) but I spent this weekend working on something else.

That being said, I might have a day where I'm doing nothing and part 28 might come tomorrow.

 

[Ultimate Steve]

On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 5:28 PM, Ultimate Steve said:

That being said, I might have a day where I'm doing nothing and part 28 might come tomorrow.

Oh, look at me! Predicting the future!

Although, this isn't really the full part 28. I only used 1.5 out of the 5 albums I uploaded so far. I was a bit short on time. So, here is a somewhat shorter part! Enjoy!

 

Part 28: Sunset on Eve!

Spoiler

Project report: Operation SB-99

Flat Kerbin Society

Report by Jonfrey Kerman

 

I'm sort of new to the report business, but I'll do the best that I can. The previous person who did this job was an intern who disappeared around the same time as the chief designer. So, Operation SB-99 was another attempt by the society to prove that Kerbin was flat. It consisted of four separate launches.

Experiment A, shown here, was a simple rocket designed to fly as high as possible to photograph the anomaly in all camera lenses which causes the horizon to warp at high altitudes.





At this point in the flight, our theory of glass-warping was further supported by the camera attached to the third stage. We waited for it to fall back to Kerbin at this point.

However, it didn't fall. It just kept going.



At this point, communication was lost. Experiment B was designed to send a Kerbal up into the high atmosphere with a non-glass visor to attempt to view the true flat Kerbin.

Contrary to popular belief, our engineers did not stick three planes together, even though it looks like that.

However, shortly into the flight the vehicle suffered loss of thrust in several engines and an aerodynamic anomaly.

The pilot maintains that the non-glass window and visor did not have any effect on Kerbin's false appearance. It was determined that Experiment C should test whether the unaided Kerbal eye sees Kerbin as it truly is. Experiment B landed safely.



Experiment C was composed of a large capsule designed to hold the council members of the Flat Kerbin Society and allow them a one second glimpse of Kerbin's horizon unhindered by visors or windows - however, such a maneuver is dangerous. The lifter was made up of seven cores from old missiles. It was determined that is was not aerodynamically stable, and the mission was aborted.

Experiment C2 was a more advanced Experiment C, with larger fins as well as more fuel.

It flew to great heights in the upper atmosphere, and the council members performed their experiment.



They landed without problem.

However, soon after landing the councilmembers disembarked the vessel with concerned expressions and immediately declared that the secret bunker be made available for a priority one meeting.
========================================================================
"Get a load of this nonsense."
"I know, Gidrien. The Flat Kerbin Society is absolutely ridiculous."

Gidrien and Shercott were out on a routine science mission to the side of the Duna canyon in the Duna rover. It had been 200 days since they last saw Jeb. Everyone was worried. Bob maintained that he'd show up eventually; he was Jeb. By now it was well known that he went off in search of his sister.
"I mean, seriously! can't that report writer realize that the council saw a round Kerbin? That would perfectly explain their concerned looks and the secret meeting!"
"Gidrien, some people just can't be reasoned with."
"I know."
"How did we even get these reports?"
"They haven't figured how to turn off the automatic uploading."
"Ah."
============================================================================
Meanwhile at Eve, there was a bit of a crisis.

"Leah, status report."
"Well, Tomfurt, there are quite a few issues. First off, you had to steal this thing."
"For a good reason. You just don't understand yet."
"You denied four others the chance to walk on Eve!"
"Sorry. But I only denied three."
"Gene wasn't slated to land."
"Oh. My bad. What else is wrong?"
"We had to replant the flag. The first one got knocked over by the lander - it's slowly sliding downhill."
"Great."
"Third thing - we might not have enough fuel to get back into orbit. We're really close to sea level, and we've used up more fuel then planned in the landing."
"Don't worry about that, I can fix it if we need to."
"How?"
"None of your business."
"Fourth - we have detected a leak in the port side stage Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel."
"The what?"
"The COPV, it's a helium tank that fills up the space that is made when the fuel is burnt."
"Okay?"
"It's a major problem. Helium is leaking out of the tank, as well as the actual fuel tanks because there was already some fuel burned."
"Yeah?"
"If we spend more than three days on Eve, the fuel tanks will implode and render the vehicle useless."
"Ouch. So we spend less than three days here. I don't really see the problem."
"The problem? We have to cram sixty days of science mission into three days."
"Okay!"
"With my trained crew of professionals it would have been no problem, but I'm the only one here qualified for this. You and your buddy were trained for Moho, Carol was only supposed to go to Gilly, and Gene here was just supposed to oversee everything."
"On the plus side, we get to be the first Kerbals to witness the Evian sunset."

Tomfurt was right. The sunset on Eve turned out to be spectacular.





The sky turned green. Then faded to stars. However, there was no sleep for the five lone inhabitants of Eve - they frantically scurried around setting up experiments and collecting samples. Days on Eve were long. So shortly after the sun rose, it was already two and a half days into the mission. Nearly time to go.

"I'm headed up the ladder."
"Okay, Leah. Start her up."
"Liftoff in thirty minutes."
"Roger."
"Gene, are you okay?"
"I, uh, yes. I just need to go get one more sample."
"Okay then."

And then Gene ran. Far away enough before he collapsed from exhaustion.

Slowly becoming sane again, he sat up, panting. He couldn't go on with this. He wasn't built for it. He realized he had to return to the lifter and face his greatest fear.

And the truth was, Gene Kerman was deathly afraid of heights.

He clung to the ladder, deathly afraid of falling. Even falling from a few meters up on Eve could be deadly. Fortunately, he reached the top. He shut his reflective visor so the others would not see his terrified expression.

"Hey, Gene! What took you so long?"
"I, uh, nothing. Just had to go a bit farther than I expected."
"You cut it awfully close. Liftoff is in four minutes. I was just about to retract the ladders when you got here!"
"You're scaring me. Stop."
"Okay, Gene. Hey, you always seem to have the right kind of music for situations like this. I could use some right now to make this moment a bit more epic, you know."
"Thanks, I could use a distraction right now. Hey, we're in a ship called "Dragon," right? I've got this cool piece of music called "Dragon Rider" if you want to play it. Start it 24 seconds before liftoff."
"If you insist! Liftoff in one minute. Retracting ladders."

"Ladders have been retracted. T-40 seconds."
"Run me through the procedure really quickly again, Leah."
"Within a second of each other, I need to close the gear, detach everything, and slam the engines on."
"Okay. T-29 seconds. Music ready?"
"Music... on!"
"Whoever is listening in on this transmission, this is Leah Kerman, pilot of EAV DRAGON. We are ready for takeoff!"

Far across the system, many souls heard her voice. The Jool crew, the Dres crew. The Eeloo crew, and the Duna crew. Even the four on the Mun. They all stared in hope at the screens they were watching, knowing full well, because of the light speed delay, everything shown had already happened.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

"GERONIMO!"


"Attention all listeners - "

"The Dragon has taken flight."






The story of Project Intrepid will Continue...


 

 

[max_creative]

The world isn't a sphere! It's an ellipsoid!  I'm actually still waiting for some of the photos to load though... THE DRAGON!!! Nice name! My current EAV is called the OMGWHYDOESTHISKEEPEXPLODING?!? Yes, I actually named it that... Nice chapter (even though half the photos still aren't loaded)!

[Magzimum]

This is an awesome thread. Love the story. Thanks for all the time you put into it.

[Ultimate Steve]

10 hours ago, Magzimum said:

This is an awesome thread. Love the story. Thanks for all the time you put into it.

Thank you very much, this comment made my day.

[rlin]

On 9/11/2016 at 3:41 PM, Ultimate Steve said:

"NO. NO. NO. This is something completely separate. If we didn't run out of alphabet, this would have been there. But we ran out of alphabet. Plan Omega better work. I designed it."
"Remember when everybody laughed at us for naming our nuclear biplanes after a comic book?"
"GRAPHIC NOVEL. Not comic book. Those biplanes were an embarrassment to the Flat Kerbin Society."

Let me guess. Plan Kappa?

Also, the FKS needs . (and needs to stop disbelieving what their eyes see)

[max_creative]

37 minutes ago, rlin said:

Let me guess. Plan Kappa?

Also, the FKS needs . (and needs to stop disbelieving what their eyes see)

Where are they even getting all the  to build a rocket and just burn  to escape velocity? 

@Ultimate Steve, can you please post a picture of its orbit? I'm guessing it's never returning to Kerbin.

[Ultimate Steve]

17 hours ago, rlin said:

Let me guess. Plan Kappa?

Yes. Now I feel a need to actually go and build nuclear biplanes now... If only I didn't have lots of homework.

17 hours ago, max_creative said:

Where are they even getting all the  to build a rocket and just burn  to escape velocity? 

I haven't officially mentioned it yet, but in my head they are piecing rockets together out of whatever was laying in the VAB.

17 hours ago, max_creative said:

@Ultimate Steve, can you please post a picture of its orbit? I'm guessing it's never returning to Kerbin.

I assume you're talking about Experiment A. Luckily, I thought to take a screenshot of that. Just goes to show how I'll take 150 screenshots and only 50 of them make it in.

Yeah, that won't be coming back for a while.

Now, just need to find time for Part 29!

Edited September 29, 2016 by Ultimate Steve

[Ultimate Steve]

Okay, Part 29: Return from Eve!

Spoiler

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"Oh my, the ship's vibrating!"
"Do you think I didn't notice, Carol?"
"Oh, I think I'm going to barf!"
"Grab a barf bag, then!"
"I'm wearing a helmet, Tomfurt!"

"Would you all just SHUT UP!"
"Well, if you hadn't noticed, Leah, we're sort of riding in a - "
"Well, I'm sort of FLYING an untested Eve Ascent Vehicle, so can you please let me focus for a second? Okay, good. 3 kilometers and rising. We're going supersonic. I suggest you brace yourself against your seat. It's going to get a whole lot shakier, then a whole lot faster, then a whole lot hotter."
"Roger that."
"Don'tbarfDon'tbarfDon'tbarf."
"Outer boosters at 25 percent fuel."

"All crew, report in!"
"Tomfurt, optimistic but nervous!"
"Gene, sick to my stomach and scared to death!"
"Carol, this is AWESOME!"
"Milvy, totally - "
*PH-THHH!!!"

"We've successfully detached!"
"Go team!"
"Shercott, you're a space pirate. Not a team member. But a crew member, nonetheless. All crew members, this is the most risky part of the mission. We have to gravity turn, and it will be very shaky. I wouldn't be surprised if all of you barfed. Then we need to accelerate, and there's a chance my command pod might explode. Here goes nothing."
"BLEUAGGGH!"

"We lost a fin on separation!"
"I want to go home!"
"That's my goal, Gene!"

"What's that creaking sound?"
"Probably the burst hydraulic lines to the fin getting clogged by debris and potentially about to explode."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"3 g's!"
"BLEAGUAHHH!"
"That's two, Gene and Milvy."

"4 G's!"
"This is the explodey bit you mentioned, right?"
"Capsule heating at 75 percent. OwOwOw! Note to self, don't touch the overhead beam. It's getting really hot. Ow! Or the hatch handle! Ow! Or the throttle lever! Oh no. THE THROTTLE LEVER?"

"5 g's!" OwOwOwOwOw!"
"Are you okay, Leah?"
"Gene, if I die, take the extra canister of EVA propellant and get to orbit!"
"Leah?"
"The G force meter has melted! OWOWOWOWOW!"
"AAAAAAAaaaaaaasmsplbbh....."
"Tomfurt has fainted! There goes our insurance policy!"
"IIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDOOOOOOOON'TKNOWWHATYOUARETALKINGABOUT!"
"IT'S SORT OF COMPLICATED!"
"THE THROTTLE IS MELTED STUCK ON FULL! PROBABLY 7 G'S! THE CAPSULE THERMOMETER HAS MELTED! AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGG-"

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRRRRRRRRRRFFFFFFFFFF!"
"TEN... GEES! WINDOW... MELTIIIIIII-"
"WWWWWWWEEEE"REGOING...To... plbbbbbfrhhhhh......................................fhhng............................................."
============================================================================
Leah Kerman awoke, dazed and confused, wondering where she was. She could see her terribly cracked space helmet. Through her broken visor, she could see several pieces of metal glowing molten orange. And then there was an altimeter. It was going... up? Maybe? Then, it all came back to her. Eve. The Dragon. The throttle stuck on full. The melting capsule. The fact that she should have been dead. She tried to move her left arm. It appeared to have been broken. Several levers were either missing, or melted in place.

"Leah?"
"Gene?"
"You're alive?"
"Yes. I am. How long was I out?"
"About a minute."
"Why didn't you bail out? I passed out. I may have not woken back up!"
"The EVA fuel tank valve sort of melted. I wouldn't have made it to orbit, anyway. You might want to fire up the second stage now."
"Oh. Right!"

*click* *click*

"The second stage engine isn't working."
"..."
"It appears that the second stage COPV valves have actually melted shut. There isn't enough pressure to feed it."
"We've got backup solid rocket ullage motors, though, right?"
"The igniters melted and set off them and they burned through a bunch of first stage wiring."
"So we need something else to act as an ullage motor. How long until apoapsis?"
"29 seconds. What else could possible work as an ullage - oh. Gene, I know what you're thinking. Don't do it!"
"Leah, this is the only way. I EVA, get out and push the spacecraft, and you start the engines and get everyone else to safety."
"As pilot of this ship, I order you not to - "
"As acting chief officer of the space program, I hereby overrule you're order!"
"But, Gene! You'll die!" Gene Kerman got out of his seat and floated over to the airlock.
"Sorry, Leah. This is the only way I can get you to safety!"
"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzwhwWhat?"
"Tomfurt? You're awake?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Stop Gene!"
"What's going on?"
"He's going to jump start the broken engine and is going to get himself killed!"
"Broken engine?"
"Stop Gene!" Gene had his gloved hand on the airlock hatch and began to twist the handle.

"By the power of the monolith, I wish and proclaim that the engine be fixed!


*pshhh...Ctof!"

"What just happened? The engine is functioning normally now!"
"That was insurance."
"Gene, get back in your seat now! What did you just do, Shercott?"
"Some might call it magic. It's really just really complicated science."
"Bu - wha?"
"I promise you I'm not crazy, Leah. I'm just a bit of a... magician."
"Shercott, if you can do that, then why not just go anywhere in the blink of an eye?"
"There are rules. With great power comes great responsibility. That, and there is actually a limit to how much I can do before the universe runs out of this "magic.""
"I don't understand!"
"And you don't have to. I just saved everyone on this ship. Now, concentrate on getting this thing to orbit."










And that day, although the millions on Kerbin would not hear of it for quite some time, there was great rejoicing among the ones who could: The handful of Kerbals in space. They rejoiced at different intervals, the Eve orbit crew after three seconds, Kerbin after a minute, Duna in five, Dres in twelve, Jool in thirteen, and Eeloo in eighteen. Although no rejoice could compare to that of the six: The five in the rocket, and the one that nobody could see.

 

 

 

 

 

The Story of Project Intrepid will Continue...

 

 

[max_creative]

Awesome! They're ship is damaged, so it's a good thing they didn't need to make a rendezvous with the mothership on an escape trajectory using the suit air to fly like aluminum man! That would be bad...

Note: remember tell Gus to add a heat shield in a fairing on top of the IHateEveAscentVehicles v6. Also bring 2 ascent vehicles just in case.

[Ultimate Steve]

6 minutes ago, max_creative said:

Awesome! They're ship is damaged, so it's a good thing they didn't need to make a rendezvous with the mothership on an escape trajectory using the suit air to fly like aluminum man! That would be bad...

Not shown: Mark Kerman, the ship's artificial intelligence system!

7 minutes ago, max_creative said:

Note: remember tell Gus to add a heat shield in a fairing on top of the IHateEveAscentVehicles v6

Originally the top of mine was a mini nose cone, but I needed somewhere to mount the giant inflatable heat shield. If I had started this report a few weeks later than I had, then I would have been able to use 1.2's cool new 0.625m heat shield!

9 minutes ago, max_creative said:

Also bring 2 ascent vehicles just in case.

Well, the KSC would have launched more stuff, but they were sort of busy being attacked by the Flat Kerbin Society.

11 minutes ago, max_creative said:

2 ascent vehicles

Oh, just wait until I can unleash the TYLO ARMY! (6 Tylo Landers!)

[max_creative]

4 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Originally the top of mine was a mini nose cone, but I needed somewhere to mount the giant inflatable heat shield. If I had started this report a few weeks later than I had, then I would have been able to use 1.2's cool new 0.625m heat shield!

Yeah... I'm launching Project ReallyCloseToTheBigRoundShinyThing Project Solar, which is supposed to be a tour of the inner solar system soon. Waiting for 1.2... Basically, if I ever get anything done and don't just blow up stuff, then I'm going to land and return on every inner solar system body twice... Except I never seem to get anything compl- 

10 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Well, the KSC would have launched more stuff, but they were sort of busy being attacked by the Flat Kerbin Society.

I don't have a Flat Kerbin Society. I do have a Minmus is Not Ice Cream Society, (MiNICS) but that's only 12 Kerbals who were part of the old FKS but I decided to leave on Minmus. 

13 minutes ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Oh, just wait until I can unleash the TYLO ARMY! (6 Tylo Landers!)

Oh yes... The Tylo army... MUWAHAHAHA!!!

[Ultimate Steve]

Okay, I've got part 30 here! Not a very long part, but a semi-important plot part.

 

Part 30: The Kraken's Apprentice:

Spoiler

"Oof... where am I? Hello?"
"Val?"
"Jeb? I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
"No, Val. It's me."
"Jeb?"
"Yes."
"How long has it been?"
"Fifty-two years." Valentina Kerman sat up with a start.
"Fifty-two years? Impossible. I'd be dead by then! And I should have been woken up several times by now!"
"That sort of broke. And I spent two hundred days here trying to get you awake again. If I had gotten here a day later, you would have been dead."
"You just look so... so..."
"Old? Yeah, fifty years does that."
"Thanks. For coming and finding me."
"No, Val. Thank you for being alive."

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

"So. Fifty years. What's new?"
"Quite a lot. The biggest thing: The Kerbol system is on a collision course with a black hole and will reach it in 200 years time."
"That's not good. What are we planning on doing about it?"
"We have a four phase plan, along with an exploration initiative."
"Tell me about this."
"Well, I don't know the whole plan. It's top secret as of right now. Phase one was getting 1500 tons of supplies to Minmus, supposedly to make a base."
"What about the other three phases?"
"The Flat Kerbin Society took over KSC before the other phases could launch."
"The what Kerbin Society?"
"Long story. We've also been launching giant motherships to re-explore all the planets."
"Tell me about these missions, please!"
"Well, I've got some pictures here."

"This is the Intrepid Test Vehicle 009 "Intrepid." This is what I and my four crewmembers came here in."
"Now that is a giant spaceship. Remember back when the Farlander was considered huge?"
"Yes. We're on Duna now, and have set up a small base. We're also going to Ike, but we'll get to the details in a minute."
"Sorry, there's just so much to take in!"
"Nobody can blame you. For you, forty years have passed in a matter of minutes. Now, next ship."

"This is the Intrepid Test Vehicle 13, or ITV-011 "Creativity." Same general build as the Intrepid, just with a lot more stuff attached. It is currently en route to Jool."
"What are those clusters of landers? They look to big to be a single Tylo lander."
"Ah. That is the TYLO ARMY. Six Tylo landers."
"SIX?"
"Yes. I designed it myself."
"Let me guess. You stole Bill's blueprints." Jeb smiled.
"Next ship!"

"This is the ITV-013 "Magician" on its test run to Minmus. It was a complete redesign of the previous ships and can mine and land on most bodies. It was sent to Moho where it attempted a landing. It landed safely, but due to low TWR it could barely reach Moho orbit before it ran out of fuel."

"So the KSC sent the IRV-002 to rescue the crew. However, the crew took over the rescue ship and went on a flight to Eve, but I'll get to that soon."

"This is already so confusing."
"Yet, there is more. The ITV-015 "Independence" was an Eeloo ship, still in transit to Eeloo, looks exactly the same as the 013. I'll skip that one. The ITV-016 "Explorer" is a giant Dres ship."

"It's like two of the smaller ones stuck together!"
"Yes, I could say that it is!"
"Next up, we actually named a ship after you. The ITV-018 "Valentina!"
"I'm flattered!"
"Gene's idea."
"As you can see, it went to Eve. With an Eve Ascent vehicle."
"Wait. An actual Eve Ascent Vehicle?"
"Yes."
"Did it work?"
"Hold on, I'm getting to that. The most recent ship in the fleet is the ITV 019 "Homecoming." It is the sister ship of the 018. It carried the Gilly lander."

"Now that is a good looking mothership."
"So? What happened with the Eve Ascent Vehicle?"
"It worked."
"YES!"
"Unfortunately, the crew of the "Magician" stole it and took it down to the surface of Eve with Gene and the pilot as hostages."
"Gene? No way! He's afraid of heights!"
"What?"
"Err, never mind."
"So it worked. And here we are now. We need to get back to the base, our supplies are running low. And we're scheduled to leave Duna in one day."

"Any questions?"
"Thousands. But I've got three big ones."
"Shoot."
"How did you get here?"
"The KSC designed a simple plane."
"A plane? On Duna?"
"Yeah. In retrospect, I should have just nixed the wings and made it a suborbital hopper."
"Question two. The one I regret to ask - can your lander hold six Kerbals?"
"Fortunately, yes. Remember Wernher's pentaphobia?"
"Oh. Yes! Haha! Remember when I sent him that proposal for the five engine shuttle? Remember how he freaked?"
"Yeah, that was pretty funny!"
"Last big question. Who won the war?"
"Nobody did. We were all underground for fifty years because of the radiation."
"War hurts."
"Yes. And I hope that will serve as a reminder enough never to go to war again."
=========================================================================
"Are you sure this will work?"
"Nope, and I never have been."

"Isn't there a better way to do this?"
"There's one seat, but there's a service bay."
"So we both cram into it so there's nobody at the controls."
"And we only have 35% of our fuel left."
"Oh, yay. This'll be fun."
"Sarcasm? Nah, this will actually be fun! 3! 2! 1!"



"MRRRRRRPHHHH!"

"Well, Val. Good news and bad news. We're in space again. However, we set our course wrong. We'll be landing to the East of the base."
"Great! So, we get to Jetpack?"
"Nah, the base will probably send the rover."

"Val, I've got a question for you myself."
"Yes?"
"You didn't seem so surprised that I was alive."
"You either, Jeb."
"So I've got one question - are you allergic to ketchup?"

"Oh. Yeah, I am. And I know that you are as well."
"So the telepathy still works?"
"Yes, Jeb. It still hasn't gone away."
"Funny, Two of the crew on this mission have the same type of telepathy that we do. Just a bit more harsh."
"So now there's a second case so we can do more research on this?"
"Correct! Maybe some Ketchup substitutes will work?"
"Uh, slight problem."
"Yeah?"
"The ground is really hilly and we'regoingREALLYREALLYFA-"

"Val? Are you okay?"
"That was AWESOME!"
"Val, I missed you."
"I missed you more!"
"Nah. About that Jetpacking. Want to try it?"
"321GO!"

Valentina rose above the red hills of Duna. The base marker could be seen, twenty kilometers in the distance.

However, half her fuel gone, she would only make it half way. The reversed thrust, trying to land, but she was going too fast. Way too fast. The red ground approached her. She gripped the controls harder. And then -
==========================================================
"And then you died!"

"Jeb! I told you not to ever do that again!"
"But you were dead, Val! I spent fifty years dreaming of seeing you again, and then you just died jetpacking across the surface of Duna! What was I supposed to do?"
"So after fifty two years. You're still doing it."
"I've only had to do it three times in the last fifty two years, thank you very much! Would you rather be dead?"
"Well, in case you've forgotten, I could have lived. Kerbals can't really die, remember?"
"Yes, but this is Duna. You'd have a 10% chance of being able to come back!"
"It's bad for the universe! You have a limit of doing that, you know? You used most of it up sixty years ago!"
"I used it to defeat the Kraken. Then I used the rest of it to save you."
"How much do you have left, then?"
"Not much. I can do a "quickload" as the Kraken called it four more times before I'm completely out."
"I have one more question."
"Yes."
"Do you regret it?"
"That's a tough question. Doing what I did - was both a blessing and a curse."
"Well, we might as well wait for the rover now."
"Might as well. Jetpacking won't really work, Val."
"If you had a choice, if you could go back, would you have done it?"
"I defeated him. That should serve as evidence enough."
"I need you to admit it."
"Well,"

"If I had known what would happen afterward, I would have never become - "





"The Kraken's Apprentice."

 

 

 

 

The story of Project Intrepid will Continue...





 

 

[max_creative]

DUN DUN DUN!!! Jeb's allergic to ketchup? 

Something tells we messing around with magic and telepathy have something to do with each other... 

VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rlin]

Wow. Just amazing.

[Ultimate Steve]

9 hours ago, max_creative said:

DUN DUN DUN!!! Jeb's allergic to ketchup? 

Something tells we messing around with magic and telepathy have something to do with each other... 

VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, Val's back! And a lot of Kerbals happen to be allergic to Ketchup! 75% of telepathic ones, anyway...

56 minutes ago, rlin said:

Wow. Just amazing.

I decided to do some calculations. Apparently, anything over 40,000 words counts as a novel (!) and after an hour of copypasting PI into a word counter, I discovered that Project Intrepid is over 26,000 words so far! Over half way to being a novel!

Also, part 18 was the shortest (350 words) and part 26 the longest (3,000 words) with the average at around 900 words per part!