Space Rock

[NASAFanboy]

[OFFWORLD WAS A TEST. DO NOT REPLY TO THAT THREAD, I REPEAT, DO NOT REPLY. THIS IS THE REAL THING I'M WRITING]

PROLOGUE [1821 ACE]

Sixty million years ago, two asteroids dueled each other in another solar system. They fought with their weak gravity, each pulling the other toward them, each doing the same to no avail. The two rocks flew outward, never to see each other again, their interstellar escape trajectories only adjusted by a single inch.

But a orbital trajectory adjustment if one inch can make a difference.

It came in steeply, the mass of stone and metal hurling toward the blue planet below at one hundred fifty kilometers a second, or a tenth of a percent of light speed. The asteroid swiftly descended toward the ground, spinning madly as flecks of it broke off, flying away in little red streaks of flame. It fell through the upper atmosphere in a blazing fireball creating a wall of plasma several meters on each side. There was a loud boom as the rock approached the denser part of the atmosphere, tumbling wildly. One kilometer from the surface of Kerbin, it stalled then detonated, releasing the equivalent force of two hundred atom bombs.

The damage was instantaneous - within seconds, most of the great forest below had turned into an raging inferno, and the shockwave creased outward, destroying towns and homes at it expanded. The closest settlement near ground zero, Rayloda was wiped from the face of the world as it was flattened to the ground. The only remains of those who had inhabited the town and the trees nearby was a thin layer of carbon dust, neatly spread on the burnt soil.

Further outward the blast spread, slowly incinerating and frying everything that stood in its path. And afterwards, as the dust rose into the atmosphere and blocked the sun for a whole year, Kerbalkind starved, their farms failing and their civilization on the brink of collapse. Great cities and empires fell, and war broke out amongst the old nations.

But as the dust settled and the crops grew once more, the Kerbals rejoiced, once again forgetting the threat of the heavens above.

But for some, they remembered the tragedy. For some, they told their children the tale of their survival, hoping that one day, when they developed the ability to fly to the stars and to free themselves from the gravity of Kerbin, they would protect their home planet and their race.

Never before.

Never again.

[------------------------------------------]

CHAPTER ONE [2002 ACE]

Three hundred and fifty four kilometers above Kerbin, the space telescope awakened from its long sleep for the first time. Onboard the craft, the reaction gyroscopic wheels began to turn furiously, orienting the main mirror and cameras from the Sun toward it's target position. With a whirr that could be only heard by onboard recorders, the mirrors sprang to life, moving themselves to refract light onto several sensors. Powered by a carpet of solar panels and two radioisotopic generators that had cost millions to produce, the telescope was an piece of state-of-the-art equipment, with an onboard computer and extremely sensitive light sensors. Back at Mission Control, Bill was elated.

"We've done it! We've got the telescope working!"

"Not so fast Bill; we have to see if the transmitters are working.", Wernher said calmly.

He had seen multiple missions were the spacecraft had deployed correctly, but a failure in the transmitters had rendered these mission useless, forever wandering the void, forever unable to return data. Duna Icecap Sample Collector was a good example, having lost contact with Planetary Control sometime during the descent. Images from the Dunaian Reconaissance Orbiter later showed the lander had touched down completely intact and was working on the surface, although what in particular it was doing was an mystery that plagued the National Astronautics Administration. Closer video feeds showed the craft collecting samples as part of its automatic programming, but as the commands ran out, so did its action; some three months after touchdown, the lander stopped moving, although it was still in working order.

"It's working Wernher! The transmitters are deployed and they're working! We're getting telemetry!", came a cry from a Mission Controller.

There was a quick cheer and the clinking of glass as the scientists and engineers celebrated.

"Good! Can we see the camera images?"

"Coming right up sir!"

Several large infrared images showed up on Wernhers computer screen. He inspected the images closely, hunting for clues of other celestial bodies. Clues of asteroids, of stars, of exoplanets, of other undiscovered galaxies.

"Gene!", he called.

"Yes?"

"Come over here - I got a little something for you. I think I found something, though I don't know what is it."

Gene strode over, and picked up the sheet printout. Fingering the warm paper, he looked over the data and back at the picture, over at the data, and back to the picture again. He put the paper down, then paused for a second.

"Do you know what this is?"

"No, I don't."

"It's a Class C Asteriod. Name it what you want.", he said.

Wernher paused, then quickly replied.

"I'll name it FYA-155."

"Wernher, I hate to admit it, but you are a boring Kerbal."

"I know."

Gene chuckled, then put the papers into his briefcase and grabbed his hat. The room was mostly empty now, with most of the Mission Controllers having left to celebrate inside another room.

"I'll check in with the Kerbal Interplanetary Society."

"You should. It's the first asteriod we've discovered this clsoe to Kerbin."

"I understand."

And with a tip of his hat and a polite nod, Gene walked out, leaving Wernher alone in his room. Wernher picked up the data again, and browsed through it. He calulated the trajectory of the object. Oh no, he thought. He quickly calculated the trajectory again, coming up with the same results. A bead of sweat formed on his head, and his hand started to shake.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no."

Werhner fed the program into his computer, only to come up with the same result. Werhner quickly calulated the trajectory again, and confirmed the inevitable. The asteriod was heading toward Kerbin, and they had 36 years to prepare for it.

The clock was set, and time was running out for Kerbalkind.

35:363:23:59:59

Edited April 3, 2014 by NASAFanboy

[KSK]

Nice start - and a very cool telescope model!

[rasheed]

Ahhh and he strikes again! BTW i don't mean to be clicky but you have a tiny typo:

"I'll check in with the Kerbal Interplanetary Society."

"You should. It's the first asteriod we've discovered this clsoe to Kerbin."

"I understand."

Other than that, great start.