hidude398

Man, I bought the game in May 2013. Guess I’ll have to get my wallet out. And not be broke.

You wake up from your dream to cold, harsh reality. We are sitting in a plane, and I actually have the cookie. My inception-cookie.

Please forgive me, , I didn't have time to write a chapter this week. I'll have two transmissions on Tuesday and Thursday, and a chapter on Saturday to make up for it. Thanks. (I've also been working on my python skills. So there's that, too. So many things to do, so little time!)

Ye,

You didn't corrupt my wish. Also, Georgia boy all the way...

Granted, but your english skills never really develop so you never figure out how to talk to girls. I wish that the Falcons win on Sunday.

Much less salt content, I'd imagine. (Insert underhanded joke about the nature of the internet here.)

Don't be ridiculous, surely Shirley would force a poor Enzin to polish the windows until they were perfectly clear everyday. Busy Kerbs are Kerbs not engaging in Shenanigans and Hijinks, as any military officer will likely tell you.

Your 60Kn spring arrives the next day in the mail. It was compressed before shipping, and punches a hole through the roof when you open the box. Whoops! I wish for my own space program.

Happy MLK day. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. I normally would keep to schedule, but I figured you all needed some conclusion to the "Fall of the HNSC" mini-arc and I was feeling generous!

Chapter Thirteen: Last Stand / The Phoenix Jeb looked out the window of the top floor of the VAB. He felt a deep pang of sadness as he saw the white flag of surrender raised over the compound. All around him were tell-tale signs of destruction. The astronaut center was rubble now, alongside the SPH, all three radar dishes, and the main building of the R&D center, which had been destroyed in the preemptive strike. The Crater bay guards walked behind him and escorted him down a floor, where they had converted some of the rooms into the cells by spacing them out with panels. They threw Jeb into one of these cells and slid the door shut. Jeb heard a *BZZT* as the door locked. The two guards turned around and walked outside to take their posts guarding the doors. * * * The fighting had mostly died inside the HNSC, and the Crater Bay leadership were feeling especially happy with a successful campaign with so few losses. The ballistic shield technique had worked perfectly. However, there was one thing bothering the Commandant. The strange man with a stranger pencil mustache was nowhere to be seen, as was the man who was almost always wearing a white vest. Although he didn't think that he could be a threat, he ordered his men out to search for them anyways. "One can never be too careful," he thought, "who knows what those two are up to, whoever they are." Despite his concerns, he was still overjoyed with the ease at which the HNSC had fallen. Of course, it wouldn't always be like this, but as long as it was most of the time, he didn't really care. * * * Gene was putting the final touches on the rover. The interns had put a NERVA inside the quarantine chamber, and were busy unloading the radioactive plutonium and placing it inside a small aluminum sphere. Once they had packed the sphere, they sealed it and placed it inside a hemisphere of explosives. Another hemisphere was placed on top, and the entire assembly was lowered into the front of a lead container. Already inside the container was a large tube, seated in the middle, filled with deuterium. Lastly, the interns robotically sealed the lead casing and placed it into a Tsar Bob-a casing. The casing was lowered into Gene's large rover, and Gene crawled into the cab. Gene armed the weapon behind him, and drove out of the garage. He made a right, and drove past the destroyed research building. He drove right up to the main personnel entrance to the VAB, and put the rover in park. He pulled out a megaphone from the cab, and stepped out. He was shaking all over with fright, but he pressed forward. He aimed the Megaphone at no particular floor, and mustered as much power as he could in his chest. "HEY! IF YOU'RE INSIDE THE VAB, YOU BETTER LISTEN UP, YOU KERMUNIST SCUM." Gene waited a moment. He heard the compound's speaker system (or what was left of it) spring to life. "Why should I listen to you, Comrade? I have your friends' lives in my hands. What could you possibly do that would make me want to NOT kill you now?" "I FIGURED YOU'D SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT. YOU'RE GOING TO LET EVERYONE GO, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS, AND SURRENDER NOW!" "Hmmph. Guards, go kill him now. I'm getting tired of this." "THAT MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA. TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT'S INSIDE MY TRUCK." Gene flicked a switch on the side of the rover, and a panel swung open, revealing the menacing looking nuclear bomb inside. "I HOPE YOU SEE THIS, BECAUSE IF YOU REFUSE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ME, THIS BOMB DETONATES." "Okay comrade, I'm listening. Let's be civil about this. I'm coming downstairs now. Let's talk." "Good. That sounds better." Gene was still shaking as he heard the doors to the outside of the VAB building open. In just a few moments, he was face to face with the rather grim looking Kermunist Commandant. * * * The Infiltrators maneuvered the small assault craft towards the larger invasion boat. About three clicks out, the ship radio sprang to life. "This is the Red Dawn to Bolshevik Four. Why are you returning off schedule?" "We've encountered some engine problems, and we need a more skilled engineer to fix them. We can't go very fast anymore." "Understood, but regs require that we give you a challenge code. A spectre is haunting Kerbin--the spectre of communism." "Roger that. All the powers of old Kerbin have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre." "Challenge code accepted. You have permission to proceed. Maneuver to the back, we'll lower the ramp and send over an engineer." The Infiltrators stood on the deck of the craft, wearing Kermunist uniforms with the Kermunist Naval insignia on the side. "We only have one shot at this," Phantom began speaking, "so let's do it right! For Hexis!" The crew echoed back his sentiments, and they lowered the rear scramble net. The large invasion ship lowered its rear ramp, and a striking Lieutenant-Commander climbed into a small raft and powered his way over to the assault craft. He climbed the scramble net and walked up to Valentina. "Commandant. I assume you have an lieutenant at the Conn?" "Yes, Major. I assume you would like to go to the engine room immediately?" "It would be my pleasure, Commandant." Valentina led the Major down the stairs and into the engine room. Once he was inside, she sealed the room and locked it behind him. The poor engineer took about a minute to realize he had been fooled, but by then, the Infiltrators were swimming from their "disabled" ship to the Red Dawn. Once aboard, they knocked out six unwitting maintenance crew with Phantom's dart gun and changed into their uniforms. They stuffed the maintenance crew into a raft, and pushed them out towards the Bolshevik Four. The gang concealed their weapons and gear inside navy blue duffel bags, and walked up towards the pump room. Once inside, Broadhead took a glance at the charts on the wall. He went down the list until he found the one he was looking for. "Turn off pipe #25, and reverse the rotor inside pipe #47" "What's that do?" "It's the bridge sewage lines. By shutting off pipe #25, there's no backflow prevention, and by reversing the rotor on #47 for, say, I don't know, fifteen seconds, you'll back up the bridge toilets." "Absolutely disgusting. Why would we ever have reason to do this?" "We're dressed as maintenance men. What's the easiest way to get maintenance called on site? Raise a stink." "Fair enough. Pipe 25 disabled, pipe 47 reversed." "Okay. And.... shutdown 47." "Done." Suddenly, the pump room intercom jumped to life. "MAINTENANCE! GET YOUR dumbS TO THE BRIDGE RIGHT THE [REDACTED] NOW, YOU [REDACTED] [REDACTED [REDACTED]. WHAT THE [REDACTED] DID YOU DO?" Phantom was quick to answer. "We're reading a failure in the sewage pump system. We'll get to work on it, but I'm sending up a six-man cleaning team to the bridge." The intercom was silent for a moment, then a feminine voice spoke up. "I'm sorry for my comrade's words, comrades, but the bridge is starting to stink. Your assistance is greatly appreciated, I'm sure you weren't to blame." The crew laughed at the poor commandant's lack of knowledge, then began walking upstairs to the main deck. They only made it as far as the main deck when an angry-looking Lieutenant Commander stopped them. "Just where do you think you're going on the main deck when we're underway during an operation? I believe that Order 126.4c states that NO OFFICERS ARE ALLOWED ON DECK UNLESS THEIR DUTIES REQUIRE IT!" "Well, I'm not sure about you, but I'd absolutely HATE to be the person to tell the Commandant, or even worse, the Commander under her, that the bridge toilets CANNOT be fixed or cleaned out. We're destined for a world of [REDACTED] either way, but we'd much rather have the literal [REDACTED] over having to face the [REDACTED] that we'll get from the senior officers when someone tells them that the bridge is going to smell like bottled Jool for the next three weeks." Throughout Val's speech, she watched the LtC's face change from a look of anger to a look of fear. He looked around, then spoke up again. "Well, I guess you need to be on deck to conduct your duties. Do give the Commandant my best wishes." The infiltrators continued to the bridge. Once there, they were ushered inside by two Ensigns on deck. The walked back to the toilet, and opened the door. "Hmm. Looks like we'll be here a while. I think it's best if you allow all non-essential personnel to leave the bridge, Commandant. We're gonna be using some pretty nasty cleaning agents." "Of course, comrade." The commandant picked up the intercom and dialed for the bridge. "All personnel not at the helm are relieved until this mess is cleaned. I have the Conn, and Helmsman, you can feel free to grab a gas mask." Phantom waited until the bridge was clear until speaking. "Ok, Commandant. I only need you to sign this here." When the Commandant reached out to grab Phantom's pen and sign for the cleanup, Phantom slid a needle out the end and jabbed it into the side of the commandant's neck, placing his free hand over her mouth. He quietly lowered her to the floor. The helmsman turned around to ask a question, but was cut off mid-sentence by what he saw. Val quickly pulled a pistol from her belt and darted him. He collapsed, and the infiltrators then flexicuffed him and the Commandant to some metal chairs at the back of the bridge. Val walked over to the Chief Engineering station, and flipped open a cover. "Broadhead, I want you to rig phase Charlie, understood?" "Clear." The crew watched as Broadhead left. He walked downstairs unchallenged with his navy blue duffle. He opened the duffel once he was below decks and removed ten flash grenades. He tucked them into a piece of webbing, and wired up the fuses so they were all controlled by a single remote detonator. Then, he walked down to the armory and placed one of Phantom's gas canisters into the A/C, as per the plan. He then zipped his duffel and walked back to the bridge. Once back inside, the six infiltrators unzipped their duffels and put on all their gear. Val walked back over to the open cover on the Chief Engineering station. "Phase Charlie is a go, I repeat phase Charlie is a go." With that, Broadhead pressed a button on the remote detonator, and everything went to [REDACTED]. First, the radio buzzed to life on the bridge. "THIS IS ENGINE ROOM. WHAT THE [REDACTED] WAS THAT?" "THIS IS FIRE CONTROL! WHAT'S GOING ON?" "THIS IS MAIN DECK! WE HEARD AN EXPLOSION, WHAT HAPPENED!?" "THIS IS THE BOAT HANGAR! WE SAW A FLASH OF LIGHT NEAR THE WATERLINE!" Val pressed the red button that was inside the cover, and the General Alarm began to sound. Phantom picked up the intercom, but waited a moment. The radio buzzed again. "THIS IS FIRE CONTROL! WE ARE AT BATTLE STATIONS! I REPEAT WE ARE AT BATTLE STATIONS!" "THIS IS ENGINE ROOM, BATTLE STATIONS READY!" "MAIN DECK READY!" "HANGAR READY FOR DEPLOYMENT!" "THIS IS FIRE CONTROL. WHERE THE [REDACTED] IS ARMORY? WE DON'T HAVE ANY ORDINANCE IN THE LIFT!" Phantom smirked, picturing the Armory workers passed out inside the magazine control room, oblivious to the storm above them. Then, he smirked even harder and dialed the entire ship on the intercom. "MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. ENGINEERING REPORTS THAT A TORPEDO CARRYING CHEMICAL WEAPONS HAS STRUCK BELOW THE WATERLINE. WE ARE TAKING ON WATER, AND THE ARMORY GAS SENSORS HAVE DETECTED A FATAL AMOUNT OF MUSTARD GAS. THE COMMANDANT IS DOWN, AND THE REMAINING LIEUTENANT COMMANDANT HAS ISSUED AN ABANDON SHIP ORDER. I REPEAT, ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP!" Phantom put the intercom microphone down, and laughed his guts out as he saw the deck crew donning gas masks and lifejackets before vaulting over the railing into the tropic seas below. Many swam for the small assault craft behind the ship, while others swam for the lowering life rafts. Valentina watched with satisfaction as the last of the crew jumped overboard. Valentina shut off the General alarm and raised the ramp at the back of the hull. Motorhead restarted the engines and the six of them steamed towards the waiting Kermunist fleet. Butterfly walked down to Fire Control, while Broadhead opened up the armory and dragged the five armory crew out and stuffed them inside a crew cabin. Val and Phantom discussed their strategy for taking out the fleet with only one boat. "We only have one boat and one shot. We can't waste it, Val." "I know, Phantom. But how do we take down an entire fleet of three missile ships, three invasion craft, and four aircraft carriers?" "We can ignore the carriers. There isn't much that air support can do at this point, seeing as how most of the HNSC is destroyed." "What about the missile ships? Would they nuke HNSC out of spite?" "No, they're VERY reluctant to enter a nuclear exchange. Any nukes that get set off would likely be from our side to seal the SPH hangars permanently." "Fair enough. So focus on the remaining three invasion ships?" "Yes. I say we aim for their bridge so they don't know what hit them. If we get between two, we can bombard one ship on each side with those dual-mounted artillery rockets, and take the third with the cannon on the bow." "We're not going to walk away from this one, are we?" "We can try, but I have a feeling that we won't, no." The crew sailed on in silence, and steeled themselves for what they were about to do. * * * Gene and the Commandant were sitting outside the VAB. Gene had just laid out his plan for the Commandant's retreat, and the Commandant was trying to talk Gene down. "So what you're saying, White-Vest-Man, is that if we don't retreat, you'll blow us all to [REDACTED], so we have no choice, correct?" "Correct." "Then what keeps me from carpet-bombing this place as soon as I leave?" "The fact that you will stay here until your fleet has completely withdrawn before I deactivate the bomb and give you and your men safe passage from Hexis." "All things considered, that's a pretty good deal. Why not take my men and me prisoner?" "Because I'm trying to get your country out of mine, not give them cause to come further in." "Okay. So I have another question." "Yes?" "What is stopping me from retreating to the island and blowing you up from there?" "I have a question to counter your question." "Okay, what is it?" "Why are you stalling a deranged man with a big nuke?" "The same reason you are sitting here holding me and my men hostage. We're both grabbing for time we don't have." * * * Motorhead slowed the ship when he saw the flotilla. The radio buzzed again, repeating the same old challenge code. They answered and began their final maneuvers. Before they went any further, however, Valentina cracked open the commandant's hidden bottle of hydrazine. "Kerbs and Kerbelles, it has been an honor. No matter how this turns out, we know one thing is clear. We have fought and fought well for family, friends, love, freedom, liberty, truth, honesty, and justice. We have fought for Hexis." "FOR HEXIS!" "We may encounter victory. We may encounter loss. We may encounter great joys, or we may encounter great sorrows. But one thing is true. We do it for Hexis." "FOR HEXIS!" "Now, let's go make 'em pay for what they did." "HUZZAH!" With that, the crew made a toast, and slowed the ship as it was 500m from the sterns of the other two invasion ships. The missile cruisers had made a triangle in the very front, with the four carriers at the very outsides of the flotilla in a diamond formation. The Red Dawn maneuvered in between the other two Invasion ships in the center, and trained her gun straight forward, at the superstructure on the forward Invasion ship. The commandant spoke up behind Val. "Can I have a swallow of that bottle?" "Sure. It's yours, anyways." Motorhead matched speed with the other two ships and left the Helm. The infiltrators lined up, ready to evacuate the helm. There were a multitude of life rafts in the boat hangar, optimistically ready to be inflated. Phantom walked to the intercom, and dialed Fire Control to issue that final order, and walk within two steps of Oblivion. "Butterfly, do what you do best." "Roger that." The two artillery launchers rose up and rotated back and to the sides to face the superstructures of the ships flanking the Red Dawn. They ignored the radio as it buzzed to life. "Red Dawn, come in. What's going on?" ... "RED DAWN, COME IN, STATUS REPORT!" ... "RED DAWN IF YOU DO NOT REPLY, WE WILL OPEN FIRE!" With that, Phantom picked up the mic. "This is for the boys and girls at the HNSC, you kermunist son of a [REDACTED]." With that, the Red Dawn opened fire on all three boats at once. Val and Phantom watched with satisfaction as the superstructures went down. Fires erupted on the decks, and Broadhead aimed lower. Explosions rocked the hulls, and the forward ship began to take on water. Butterfly grabbed Slicer by the hand, and the two looked rushed to the window. They looked on as they saw the large aircraft carriers scrambling jets with anti-ship rockets. The deck guns turned to face the Red Dawn, and the missile cruisers turned to face them. Motorhead pushed the throttle to the max, but it was to no avail. The other ships simply sped up as well. The radio crackled to life. "Red Dawn, you just made a big mistake!" The CIWS system on the deck began to pick targets. It shot down eleven planes as they launched before it was hit with a shell from the carrier's deck guns. The infiltrators ran belowdecks, freeing their prisoners as they went. They met Butterfly at Fire Control before running down to the armory to pull Broadhead out. They went to the back of the ship and began inflating a life raft. They worked hurriedly as explosions rocked the ship. When the raft was inflated, Phantom threw a ship to lower the rear ramp. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. Broadhead looked around and saw that the locking mechanism had fused from the heat of one of the shells from the deck guns of the carriers. "This is it, huh, Phantom?" "Yeah. I guess so. Let's go back to the top deck and watch the other invasion boats sink. I only wish we could've destroyed ALL the boats." "Me too." Suddenly, the pinging sound of bullets bouncing off the hull ceased, and the sound of explosions became quiet, no longer focused on the Red Dawn. The crew was at first shocked, then joyous, then finally confused. The infiltrators and their prisoners made their way back to the main deck, desperate to find answers, and found the greatest (or most horrible, depending on your perspective) sight that they'd ever seen. Val looked up, and saw fifteen planes flying in formation. Her eyes lit up until a sonic boom knocked the breath out of her. When she had her breath back, she simply whispered. "It's Naval Aviation squads one through three. Help has arrived!" The planes broke the V formation and strafed the decks of the carrier, attacking the catapults and the lifts. Once they were guaranteed that there would be no aerial resistance, they shifted focus to the CIWS guns. Without planes in the air, the Red Navy stood no chance of winning. Four attack planes went into a steep dive, dropping bombs on the decks of the missile cruisers, while others still aimed torpedoes for the screws at the back of the carriers and the invasion craft. The crew watched as the mighty aircraft carriers buckled and slid to a stop. The radar on the Red Dawn began to sound an alert as the HSS ELITE began to show over the Horizon. A large aircraft flew overhead. Val watched as the ramp rolled down and a red package fell out the back. A parachute opened, and the package drifted to the deck. Valentina opened it to find a working Hexis encoded radio. She powered it on, and dialed the emergency frequency. She found herself doing that way too much these days. "This is Commander Valentina Kerman. Please come in." ... "Please acknowledge." ... "[REDACTED]" Valentina re-tuned the radio to the air-to-air coordination channel. "This is Commander Valentina Kerman. Please acknowledge." "Commander! The Cavalry has arrived!" "Who is this?" "I'm Lieutenant James! Nice to meet you! The Elite will be sending you a blimp soon, so just hold tight, okay?" "Understood. Thanks for the save, we thought we were done for." "Well, someone's gotta save the heroes every once in a while." * * * At the HNSC, the Commandant in front of Gene got a phone call to his Satphone. "What? The [REDACTED]? Are you serious? How? How the [REDACTED] does this happen? You've got to be [REDACTED] kidding me. What can you do to help me out of here? What do you mean, NOTHING? NOTHING! I'M TRAPPED IN THE SAME PLACE I DESTROYED WITH A BUILDING FULL OF HEXIS NATIONALS WHO DON'T HOLD ME IN VERY HIGH REGARD, STUCK IN FRONT OF A DERANGED GENERAL WITH AN ARMED NUKE! YES, I SAID ARMED NUKE! HOW DOES AN INVASION LIKE THIS FAIL! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN! HOW! HOW! HOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" Gene spoke up. "If you're quite done, here are my terms of surrender. You take your men, and you group them up in the VAB. You take all your weapons, shields, and armor, and pile it up in those containers over in that pile of rocket piles. You then march right into the hands of the army waiting out in the plains to the west of here, and become prisoners of war until this is all over. That's awful generous. A lot more generous than your men would be if our roles were reversed. Do we have a deal?" The commandant looked down at his hand, then pulled a pen out of his pocket. "Deal," he said. "You have a deal." * * * The Elite steamed into the formation. Once all the planes had landed, they launched a BL1 from the foredeck of the carrier. It drifted lazily over, landing on the helicopter pad in the center of the ship. As the ship settled, Valentina walked to the door and unfolded the steps. An admiral stepped out. "Miss Valentina?" "Yes sir?" "I'm Admiral Kentworth. Our next stop is the HNSC. MILCOM has given orders for you to come with us. We need all the help we can get with this one." "Yes sir. Who will take command of this ship?" "I'll leave it in the capable hands of your infiltration crew to bring it back to port to be scrapped for our war effort. I believe that you have done us all a great service today, all of you." "Thank you sir. I'm ready to go now." "Okay." With that, the two climbed into the BL1. As they lifted off into the sky, Val saw Phantom looking up and waving. Then, the pilot turned, and he disappeared behind her. They floated back to the Elite, and Val could clearly see kerbs lining up on the decks of the four aircraft carriers. What was left of the Coast Guard seemed to be arriving to deal with the surrender. The BL1 landed, and crew rushed to secure it to the deck. The Elite turned away from the scene and steamed back for the HNSC. When they arrived fifteen minutes later, Val saw the rampant destruction caused by the Crater Bay soldiers. "Oh my god. What happened?" "The preemptive strike took that Research Building, while the Astronaut Center was brought down by the invaders." "What about Jeb? Is he... Is he alive?" "I'm not sure who is and isn't. You'll need to go ashore to find out, the comms in this sector are out." "Okay. Get me ashore as soon as possible." Val found herself aboard another BL1. The trip was short, and she landed on the VAB helipad. Gene was waiting. Val stepped out of the BL1, expecting the worst, but was overjoyed at what she heard. "He's downstairs. He's a little traumatized after the events at the Astronaut Center, but he'll live. I think you should go talk to him." "Thanks. Anything I should know?" "Yeah. Agalotte hid inside the R&D Wind Tunnel, so she's fine, but your Flight Engineer..." "What about Moina?" Valentina snapped. "We don't know what happened to her. She's not among the dead, and she didn't crawl out of a building when the fighting stopped." "What happened?" "I think she was taken by one of the commandants." "Where?" "I don't know, but if I had to guess, she'd be in the Crater by now, seeing as how I think I saw her being loaded into a supersonic jet." "Thanks, Gene. I'll take Jeb off your hands if you don't mind." "Sure thing. He'd love to go with you on the Elite, I'm sure. "Good luck with the cleanup effort." "I'm gonna need it. Now go stick it to the Crater for me." Valentina walked downstairs to find Jeb. He was asleep on a cot set up inside the VAB, which had been turned into a temporary shelter. She walked over and sat down in another cot next to him. She poked him in the side. "Hey, Hey, HEY!" "Jeb, it's me." "Huhwaahhh? Oh, hey there, Val!" "Rough day?" "Only as bad as yours." "Admiral Kentworth wants me to offer you a commission with the Navy. You've landed on an aircraft carrier before, right?" "First time for everything. Tell him I'll take him up on his offer." "We leave port tomorrow. We're striking back at the Crater." "Count me in. After what they did here... never mind." "Jeb, what did you see?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Okay. I'm going to go talk to Agalotte now." "Love you, Val. Stay safe." "Me too, Jeb. Keep the tower buzzing to a minimum." Val walked over to Agalotte's bunk. She sat down across from her, and Agalotte revealed two cups of coffee, one for her, and one for Val. Val spoke up. "So, what're you going to do now? They're evacuating civilians from here in case there's a retribution." "Well, Kent's going to meet me at some port. Something about being shuttled around." "How much do you know about him?" "Most of his work's classified, but I like him. Who knows where he was today." Val smiled knowingly. "Probably closer than you think." "Oh, no way. You met him today, didn't you?" "Maybe, maybe not. If I told you, I'd have to kill you." "Oh, ha ha. Gene owes me a favor for the space incident, I'll ask him." "Fine. I met him today. Before you ask, no, I'm not telling you his codename." "Whatever. So where are you going, now that the HNSC really isn't much of a "Space Center" anymore?" "MILCOM has reassigned me to the Elite. We're going to go end this war once and for all, and then we'll see." "Good luck, Val. You're the best pilot I know, but you're gonna need it." "Thanks. I'll see you around, Agalotte." "You too, Val." Val finished her coffee and stood up. She had one more item on her itinerary before she left for the Crater Bay. She walked out of the VAB and down the road towards the destroyed SPH. She walked under a fallen support beam to the back, and moved a piece of sheet metal aside. Under it was a manhole cover. Val grabbed a piece of bent rebar, and used it to move the manhole cover aside. She turned on her suit lights, and descended the ladder inside to the bottom. She walked down the maintenance tunnel until she arrived at a metal door cut into the end of the long concrete tube she was in. She pulled a multitool out of her pocket, and removed the lock pick set hidden inside the handle. In about five minutes or so, she was through the door and inside a large underground cavern, wide enough to fit a lift the size of the SPH floor, and tall enough to fit any plane that would fit inside the SPH. Val walked down the tunnel until the luminescent paint on the walls told her she was in Sector Delta. She found a large blast door marked "Hangar Thirty Seven." She walked to the door next to it, and entered the Hangar. Inside sat a small, long forgotten business jet. She opened the door to the fuselage and lowered the steps. Once aboard, she walked back to Row 4, and removed the seat cushion from Seat B. Underneath it was a black waterproof package. She replaced the seat cushion and walked back the way she came.

The micro-elephants don't hurt you. The macro-tigers do. I wish for an internet connection of 400 Gbps.

Granted. Jeb hits the tower, causing it collapse on the runway. Nobody is seriously injured, but flights can't take off for the next few weeks while the cleanup crew tries to get the tower off the runway. I wish for a private army.

I notice you're using Apple's HotSauce. I steal the mcf file, and decrypt my cookie out of it. My cyber cookie.

True dedication to the fandom. Applause. But seriously, Kerbfleet is awesome.

Hold on folks, some of the screenshots didn't make it into this chapter (Wrote it at 1:30am). Will rectify by tonight. EDIT: Fixed. That last one didn't have too many screenshots, but you all at least deserve the ones I give you XD.

Hey @Kuzzter, Kerbfeleet is leaking into the mods section of the game. I downloaded a mod today for aircraft carriers and Wild Blue's pathfinder... I got a TV which references the Intrepid in the part description and a K-pad air somehow in there, with references to "editing the persistence" in the part desc, and the blatant Kuzzter space industries tag also in the part desc. I guess the tl;dr is you're famous outside of mission reports? Sorry for 1:30 am me who feels this is necessary to point out.

Chapter Twelve: Survival Floating Gene had gathered his officers in the war room. "Does everyone have damage reports for our facilities?" "Yes sir. Would you like them read off, sir?' "Yes, let's hear it. Spaceplane hangar first." "Fueling systems nominal, underground hangar access is busted, half the flight crew is injured or worse, and we don't have any form of ATC." "Alright, how about VAB?" "Fueling systems nominal, nothing was hit. It appears we weren't a target this time." "R&D, how are you guys doing?" "R&D is good, as are the main fuel pumps to the access pipeline beneath us." "What about Astronaut housing and the Administration building?" "Engineers have been pouring concrete and erupting temporary supports to ease the stress on the internal structures of the leaning buildings. We'll be re-erecting those buildings last, so for now, everyone's gonna be sleeping on an incline." "Okay. Tracking station?" "We're online, but have suffered critical damage. The Southern antenna has been taken offline, so our comms network is being rerouted through our other ground stations." "Anything else we need to worry about, facility wise?" "No sir, everything is accounted for." "Alright. Now we need to focus on our battle plans. Has everyone here been briefed on Jeb's plan? Good. We all need to work together to make this work and survive." At the launchpad, a very special rover had just been launched. Aboard it was a prototype runway to build and launch planes from. Bill was sitting in Ketri at the FOB with Millie, and the two of them were drawing out plans for a rover which could be used as an amphibious assault vehicle. Valentina, Jeb, and Neilfred were lining up the remaining air-crew, and coordinating lines of defense with the Marine squadron at the base. A second anti-air gun was placed at the end of the runway, and an anti-ship battery was being erected by rovers. Despite having very little air power, the Hexis forces had managed to scrape together an enviable line of defense by using the VAB to recycle the salvaged parts from the crates that had been inside the SPH. The tracking station engineers were hard at work utilizing the remaining two radar dishes as early-warning systems. Despite the horror which occurred a few hours ago, the Kerbs and Kerbelles of the HNSC had managed to scrape together something from nothing, and Gene's chest filled with pride as he watched the crews ready themselves, bracing for what may very well become a last stand. He sat back and opened his last bottle of high-octane hydrazine, pouring it into a crystal glass on his desk. A live-feed of the compound's security report was playing on his television screen. He picked up the phone, and tried dialing the Island Air Station. Nothing, as he had expected. It appeared as if the Crater Bay had overrun everything the HNSC and Hexis stood for, treading on the back of democracy as if it were nothing. He hung up the phone, and opened his computer. Thankfully, he still had internet, and he loaded up the Kerbin Times on his computer. The headline, of course, was "BRAZEN ATTACK ON THE HNSC LEADS TO CHAOS." He put his feet up on the desk and scrolled down, anxious for some news that he wasn't a major part of. He thought he could hear a strange beeping noise in the back of his head, but shrugged it off as a symptom of sleep deprivation and the hydrazine. Yet, the beeping grew more intense, picking up its pace. He stood up, looking about the office for the source of the offending noise. He walked over to the window, and glanced down. There, just below the window, was a somewhat large, irregularly colored brick. Suddenly, Gene's mind clicked, and he sprinted for the door, throwing it wide. He dove for cover just as the bomb detonated. Gene grabbed the sniper rifle hanging above the entrance to the administration building, once used long ago for blowing up rockets which misfired during launch. He loaded up a round, and stepped outside. He saw rovers begin to rush towards his location, and the sirens were blaring. The whole base had stopped what they were doing, and time seemed to stand still. Out in the distance, Gene saw a small rover speeding off towards the mountains. He shouldered the rifle, exhaled, and squeezed the trigger. He lowered the rifle, watching as the rover's back wheel popped. The driver overcorrected to the left, and the vehicle flipped once, twice, three times and came to a rest upside down, the driver suspended in the air by his seat belt. The saboteur crawled out of the cab, somewhat bewildered, and began to walk away, but another shot from Gene, just to the kerb's left, quickly convinced him to stay where he was. The security team saw the rover flip, and diverted four cars to the bomber's location. Gene walked up to the security consultant. "Put him in the cell alongside the prisoner we pulled down from the asteroid." The officer radioed the orders to the team, then left the scene. The fire officers were busy extinguishing Gene's desk and the small flaming puddles of hydrazine scattered about the room. Gene waited until the officers were finished, then walked over to his desk and opened a fireproof safe inside the bottom right drawer. He pushed aside letters and photographs to reveal a single manilla folder. He pulled it out and placed it in a briefcase. He climbed into the rover, and drove towards the propulsion laboratory. * * * "Another attack? The Crater is getting brazen." "They have us surrounded, there's not much to do. This facility HAS to stand, and reinforcements are still days away. They know if they capture this base, any spies they activate now can be freed as soon as possible." "Val, come on. You don't think we'll collapse yet, do you?" "Jeb, it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is what the enemy thinks, and they think this is the weakest we've ever been." "So what do we do?" "We do what we have to in order to keep this facility out of the hands of our enemies. We can take a land war with the bay, but only if they don't have both their aircraft AND our aircraft. So, worst case scenario, we lose, and Gene gives the order to destroy the place. Best case scenario, your plan works and we push them FAR back." "I hope my plan works then." "I do too." * * * The Screaming Commandos and the Marine squadron was readying in the armory when an alarm rang out: "SKZZZZT....... ALERT! ALERT! HNSC LASER FENCE REPORTS BEACH INCURSION! ALERT! ALERT! ALL MEN TO BATTLE STATIONS!" The televisions all switched to security camera feeds, and three landing craft were clearly visible on the beach. The Marines loaded into a APC and drove out of the VAB, ready for battle. The commandos loaded a jeep and began driving to their rendezvous point. Val was sitting inside the astronaut lounge with Jeb when she heard the alarm. She grabbed a sniper rifle from the emergency armory and ran as quickly as she could to the top floor of the astronaut center, throwing open the window, while Jeb grabbed an assault riffle and two duffel bags before leaving to set up the defenses inside the Astronaut Center. The hallway doors entered lockdown mode and were pneumatically sealed, and all was quiet throughout the base. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire broke out. A plane, seemingly appearing from nowhere, dove towards the remaining radio towers, and the dawn sky lit up with tracers fired from the CIWS-Praxis anti-air turrets to the north of the space center. Val heard an explosion, and turned to the right just in time to see the remnants an armory building at the R&D department fall back down to kerbin from the sky. Two more planes dove from the North, strafing the anti-air turrets. The one near the airstrip managed to take down a fighter, but the one further back was blown to smithereens. Oily smoke began to plume into the air, and the dawn sky was beginning to darken. The sirens were still blaring, but paused for an announcement: "SM units, abort Defensive Operations and proceed with operation Epsilon." Val picked up her rifle, training it on a diving aircraft heading for the only operational AA gun system. She powered the scope's targeting computer, and lead the craft by about 500 feet. She pulled the trigger, and smiled in satisfaction as the plane suddenly rolled left. The pilot barely pulled up in time, avoiding being smashed into oblivion, but his plane was irreparably damaged by the effect of the rifle's specialized EMP rounds. The plane skipped along the ground, spinning all the while, until the plane stopped moving and burrowed into the ground engine-first. Val slung the sniper rifle over her shoulder, grabbing an assault rifle laying against the windowsill. She pulled a telescopic bar out of an emergency descent kit kept on the upper floors in case of fire, and extended the bar so it sat in the hall outside the room and could not pass through the door. She clipped the descent cable into the bar, before throwing the other end out of the open window. Lastly, she hooked a descender onto her suit and stepped outside into the open air. She rappelled down the wall as quickly as possible, clambering into a rover left unlocked in the back parking lot. She started it up and tore towards the shoreline, heading southeast. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw a fighter bearing down on her. She heard a whizzing sound steadily approaching her. She redlined the little rover, and the pilot pulled up. Val saw him pass overhead and begin to circle around. She booted up her suit's life support systems and sealed her helmet. The plane had made it back to her tail again, and he wasn't playing this time. She heard a loud *click* and an unmistakeable whistle. She slammed on the brakes, and the bomb glided over her and slammed into the dirt maybe 50 meters in front of her. Val accelerated again, and the fighter circled back towards the HNSC. Obviously he had bigger fish to fry. Val arrived at the rendezvous site and walked to the waiting commander. They stood and watched for a moment at the destruction going on behind them. "Commander Val, do you have anyone in there right now?" "Yeah. Jeb's holding the line inside the astronaut center. All part of the plan." "I've got a girl inside, too. Smart, brave, courageous, kind. All I see is heroes in there." "What should I call you, commander?" "My codename will do for now. I am Phantom, and these other four men are the top infiltration members of the Screaming Commandos." "Nice to meet you sir." "Likewise. Are you ready to do this?" "Not really, but we don't have a choice. Let's get this done. For Hexis?" "No. For our brothers in arms, the ragtag gang pinned up inside those buildings we are watching collapse. For those who won't didn't make it out. For those who gave up everything for us to have a chance. For Hexis, but not just Hexis. For Hexis and her ideals, what she represents. The hope of democracy, and the hope of victory." "Cut it out, commander Phantom. I know you like to make epic monologues with deep, meaningful insights, but they can wait until we finish the mission." "Shut up, Slicer, you just don't get it, do you?" "I get it all too well, Phantom." "Sorry for the interruption, Commander Valentina. This is Slicer, my go-to hacker and cyber-intelligence agent. To your left is Broadhead, and he's in charge of blowing things up. To your right, next to Slicer, is Butterfly. She's our squad sniper, and legend at the academy is that she once ricocheted a round into the barrel of a tank from a mile away, and I've personally seen her take down planes without a bulky targeting computer. And lastly, likely one of the most important men on the team, is Motorhead. He's down by the water-strider right now. He can fly, drive, or sail anything with an engine. I've never seen anybody quite like him, and it's something else to see him go to work." "Thanks for the introduction. I'm assuming you know our objectives?" "Yes ma'am. Deep infiltration, stealing a ship from the island, sabotage, stopping an invasion. Then, extraction via escape rafts back to the shores of Hexis. The island group will likely have to surrender, and that'll be that." "Good. If your men are ready, load into the water-strider. I'm ready to go as soon as you are." "Roger that." Val and the Commandos loaded into the waiting vehicle. The jet engine started, and soon they were skimming towards the backside of the island that the astronaut training center was on. True to Phantom's word, Motorhead was at ease piloting the ship through the contested waters and towards the island. They saw an invasion craft sitting off the coast of the island, ready to deploy more landing boats if need be. Thankfully, the water-strider was small enough that it didn't create much of a radar signature, and that combined with the presence of a large landmass nearby made it nigh impossible to detect the crew. They slipped behind the island, and the carrier fell out of view. They turned, and landed on the back of the island behind the mountain. They unloaded the craft, and began the hike to the vantage point. Along the way, they began to converse over radio. "So, Phantom, your girl at the HNSC. Who is she?" "You probably wouldn't know her. Her name is Agalotte. She doesn't look like much of a fighter at first glance, but she's done some impressive stuff behind the scenes" Valentina smiled inside her suit. "I'll bet." "Y'know, you never told us much about yourself, commander. Obviously, we can't offer much, but if you're open to random officers walking up to you in a restaurant someday and sitting down for a chat, we can speak on better terms then." "Deal. So what do you want to know?" "What drove you to become a pilot?" "Believe it or not, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a nurse for the longest of times. When I was a senior in high school, I met Jeb. He was four years in as a test pilot for the Navy, before the test pilots got moved over to the space program when it kicked up. I went to an airshow with him on a date, and that led me to do a quick 180 on what I wanted to do. I enrolled in the Academy, and became a pilot after graduation. That's all there really is to tell." "Commander, you never cease to amaze. There are a lot of people who think you'll replace Gene one day." "I just strive to go beyond the call of duty every day. Consider it my personal mantra." "Well, it's a good one to have." The crew climbed on in silence towards the top of the mountain, slowly closing in on the target. By the time it was 2:00, they were near the summit. * * * At the HNSC, the world was falling apart. The assault craft had unloaded their crews after air support took out the remnants of the HNSC's warfighting capability. The final radio dishes had fallen, and the tank of Marines had been disabled. The Marines, valiant as always, split into small groups and lead the enemies as far away from the space center as they could, buying the inhabitants more time. One by one, the lines of defenses fell. Slowly, the invaders pushed inland, and by 0900, had taken the VAB in its entirety. When the attack had begun, a small group of kerbs had scrambled through the wreckage of the SPH and down into the tunnels below, full of armaments, planes, boats, and tanks that had yet to be used. They took as many explosives as they could, and ran back to the astronaut center. The engineers had placed concrete slabs in front of the doors, and most kerbs were dispersed throughout the top floors, waiting with the salvaged explosives in hand for a signal on their comms. The HNSC may fall completely, but if it did, it wouldn't keel over and die quietly. The kermunists, satisfied with their progress, had reinforced the VAB and prepared for a standoff. A programmer had managed to hack his way into the kermunist comms, and the ragtag group of resistance listened in on the channels. "We have taken their VAB. Fortify this position, and proceed with caution. The Hexis nationals are likely very frustrated, angry, and will likely act like a cornered animal. They have nowhere to run, and we have nowhere to go, so take your time." "Roger that. We have taken the comms building. Of course, it's not of much use, since their dishes are destroyed, but I can confirm that there is no resistance." "Is that as far as we've gone so far?" "Yes, they seem to have holed up inside the astronaut center. I'd be careful about R&D, though, there are so many choke points and vulnerable areas. Go ahead and clear administration while you're out and about, then report back to the VAB so we can start a siege on the Astronaut Center. We'll save the R&D for last." "Roger that." Jeb stood on the top floor of the Astronaut center. He had noticed the cable missing from Valentina's room, and hoped that she was okay. "Get control of yourself, Jeb. You have a job to do." He sat down on the floor and meditated for a few minutes. "She will be okay. She can take care of herself. Why am I scared? Because I lover her. She will be okay. She can take care of herself. I don't need to be scared. I'm still scared." After a few minutes, his radio blared up again. "Alright, Jeb, you've got a job to do. We see a squadron leaving the VAB. Watch and wait for my signal." Jeb stood and opened his binoculars. He could see a low-ranking officer leading a group of men into position. He pulled two duffel bags over to the window. He opened the first one, and pulled out a tripod. He popped open the legs and adjusted the height to about chest level. Next, he opened the second duffel and pulled out an M2 Browning. He hefted the gun to the tripod and locked it in place before removing the top cover. He slid a belt of ammunition into the feed, and closed the cover. Along the top roof of the Astronaut center, many other kerbs were repeating this action. Jeb pulled the charging handle back and let it go with a loud *CLANG*. With a swift flick, he opened the rear sight, dialed it in, and waited. * * * The infiltration party reached the summit by 3:00. Butterfly pulled her sniper rifle off of her back and laid down in the grass. She was ready for what came next. Slicer sat next to her and opened a laptop. He pulled out a laptop from his gear bag and booted it up. Next, he took a small satellite dish and aimed it skyward. "Internet connection. Through it, I can do a lot. Here are some USBs and NanoGrenades. If you need a computer hacked into, plug the USB into it and press the green button on the back. That will let me remotely patch into it from here. If you see something on the ship that looks like a server..." "Slicer, speak english." "Sorry, Broadhead. If you see something that looks like a kerb-sized box but has a USB port, plug the USB in and I might be able to control a lot more than 1 computer. If you need a computer, or any electronic device, for that matter, to go offline, just throw one of these into the room with it. The nanobots inside that ball HATE silicon. They'll eat straight through it and ask for more." "Thanks, Slicer. Anything else I should know?" "Nope, you're good, ma'am." Val put the grenades on the side of her EVA backpack, and the USBs in the pocket of her suit up front. Phantom, Broadhead, and Val loaded up their assault rifles, while Motorhead carried a PDW and another laptop. They began to march down and in on the Camp. Suddenly, Phantom held up a closed fist, then motioned for them to get down. He took a laser designator out of his pocket, and aimed it at a man who had just walked out of the hangar. Butterfly watched him, but waited for something to happen. The man turned around, and walked inside. "Okay, Val. Now we know where they are. I'm also guessing that they're in the control tower as well. I was told that you and Jeb used to skydive from it, so I'm going to put you and Motorhead in charge of taking the top. Broadhead and I are going to do some ground pounding inside this hangar. Kapeesh?" "Roger that. Let's go, Motorhead." Val and Motorhead crawled along the ridgeline. They watched as Phantom and Broadhead made their way down to the entrance of the Hangar. Suddenly, Phantom opened the door, and Broadhead threw a cylinder into the building. Val saw them put their gas-masks on, then charge in behind it. The two heard a muffled thud, but no alarms were raised. "That's the Phantom-Broadhead special. Phantom cooked up a nasty sleeping gas, and Broadhead put it in a canister before surrounding it with flash powder. The initial shock is caused by the light and sound of the flashbang, but the effects last longer than a few minutes of blindness because Phantom's gas hits you and knocks you out for a while. It takes about a minute to take you out normally, but the flashbang also makes your heart beat faster, so it's something like 30 seconds. Those two are a dynamic duo in the field." Motorhead and Val pressed on to the base of the tower. "Alright," Val commented, "ready to do this?" "I'm always ready." "Let's go then." The two began working their way up the stairs. About halfway up, they looked over their shoulders and saw Phantom and Broadhead. The two were sneaking their way towards the beach, but couldn't move without being spotted from the top of the tower. "You up there yet?" "Halfway. Hold position." As the two climbed, they talked about their lives and careers. At first it was just small talk to fill the dead space, but slowly it became more complex. "Motorhead, do you have anyone fighting at the HNSC?" "Not anymore. I used to be married to an engineer who worked at the SPH. She was one of the flight crew members who didn't make it out." "I'm sorry." "Don't be. You don't have anything to be sorry for. You got in a plane and made sure that there wouldn't be more tragedy than there was that day. The guys at the top of this building are the ones who ought to be sorry. And they will be. Jeb's plan has worked so far, and that's what I'm holding on to." "Then let's go get'em." The two reached the top of the tower, and there was only a flight of stairs between the open air control center and the two warriors. Val spoke up. "Do you want to do the honors?" "Sure." "On my signal." "Okay." "Breach in 3.." "2..." "1..." "FLASHOUT!" Valentina threw a flash grenade into the control center. She heard a thud and a few screams. "GO! GO! GO! FULL BREACH! FULL BREACH!" Motorhead rushed the last flight of stairs, flicking his weapon off safety. As he came around the corner, a man stumbled in front of him holding a pistol and covering his eyes. Motorhead shot him twice in the neck, then proceeded to the room. Val was right on his heels. The two rushed into the center, throwing technicians from the consoles into the center of the room. It was over as quickly as it started. "Valentina to Phantom, proceed with the plan." "Roger that. Thanks, glad to know you've got our backs." "Always. Get Butterfly and Slicer down here." Val plugged in a USB to the console, and Slicer went to town. "Not much here, this is mostly stuff we already know or stuff we created, but there's a passcode here. I'm going to save it for future reference." "Roger that." After flexi-cuffing the technicians to the growing daisy-chain of passed out mooks and officers inside the Hangar, the infiltrators met up at their enemy's invasion craft. They had lunch inside it, and familiarized themselves with the functions while waiting for the cover of nightfall to continue with their mission. * * * At the HNSC, the kermunists had cleared the administration building and mission control. Reluctant to press the final two buildings, they regrouped inside the VAB. The officers were gathered around a RT5 FLEA engine that had been turned on its side to be used as a table, and the rest of the crewmen were cleaning their weapons or raiding the VAB's ample snack supply. The officer's table was producing nothing but the sound of silent agreement. "I suggest that we push the Astronaut Center before nightfall. The only way that this can end well is if they are seized before they can organize a stronger resistance." "Yes, but there are dangerous things hidden inside the R&D department. Shouldn't we neutralize those threats first?" "I hardly see how it could be an issue. It's not as if the R&D department is a real threat." "I wouldn't underestimate those scientist types, but I think that the Astronaut Center is still our most viable target." "Okay, then let's have a vote. I am the highest ranking officer, and I vote Astronaut Center, so we're going to the Astronaut Center." "Okay, comrade. To the Center it is." * * * Jeb heard the radio buzz to life: "NOW! THEY'RE MOVING NOW! EVERYONE WAKE UP!" He had been daydreaming of Val and what they had before this terrible war, but snapped back to reality when his radio chatter rose to a fever pitch. He stood ready at his machine gun. On the floors below, kerbs had set up miniature trebuchets for lobbing explosives, and on the ground floor, rigged booby traps in the hallways. In the basement, a group of kerbelles had commandeered the airshaft to the underground medical center and set up a field hospital. Jeb looked out the window, and saw the troops marching towards the building, armed with menacing looking rifles, ballistic shields in the turtle formation, and electric batons. The enemy's sole purpose today was to cause as much pain as possible for the HNSC, and Jeb was determined to make them hurt back. He re-checked the firing mechanism on his machine gun, and his fingers curled around the trigger. His radio chattered on, before the acting commander's voice rang out sharply over the din. "Wait....... Wait until you can see the whites of their eyes. Conserve ammunition, one shot per target only. Bomb-lobber crew, have the secondary man on standby for bomb-lobbing. Hammers back to the windows now. Machine gun nests... wait..... wait.......... waaaiiiitttttt......" "LIGHT 'EM UP!!!" Jeb squeezed the butterfly trigger under his thumbs. The weapon sang out its song of fire and death. The window in front of him shattered into a thousands shards and rained down to the street below. All along the building, machine gunners were picking targets, taking their shot, and moving on. On the floor below Jeb, the secondary bomb-lobber crews broke the windows with hammers and wrenches. The primary crew loaded a round and pulled the lobber arms back. The counterweights swung free, and the arms swung forward, flinging blocks of C4 explosives out the windows into the group below. The bombs dented the shields, but the enemy was largely unaffected. The explosions and gunfire continued, both parties now fully active in the battle. Jeb focused on important-looking people, trying to eliminate demolitions experts, engineers, and heavy gunners. The turtle formation continued its surge to the center, where they were too close for the C4 lobbers and the machine guns to fire. Molotov cocktails fell from the sky, but were largely unaffected. Suddenly, the phalanx swarmed backwards away from the building. Jeb stopped firing and listened. The other gunners did as well, and suddenly, there was silence. It only took a moment for Jeb's mind to process what had just happened, but time slowed down and that moment felt like an eternity. Jeb ran back towards the opposite side of the building and screamed into his radio. "IT'S A TRAP! GET OUT! GET OUT! THEY PLANTED A...." Suddenly, with a bright flash and an earth-shattering boom, the supports of the astronaut center gave way and the entire front of the building collapsed inwards towards the army. The back, now unstable, began to lean away from the explosion. The continued fire from the Army rocked the unstable structure, and a few rocket launcher strikes were all it took to completely level the complex. Jeb was buried in the rubble. He began to work his way out, calling for his brothers-in-arms, but head nothing but the sound of shredding steel and collapsing concrete. He moved a panel of wood over and emerged into daylight once again, and immediately found himself staring down the business end of a Kermunist made machine gun. * * * Gene heard the destruction of the buildings behind him, and knew he didn't have much time. He did his best to motivate the lab techs, but they were positively stumped. "Sir, this design. You know what it's for, correct?" "Yes, I do." "This is a terrible idea, sir. You'll kill us all." "Not if my idea works, I won't. Otherwise, we're either all dead or laborers in a Kermunist gulag for the rest of our lives anyways." "Fair enough. The only thing we're missing is fuel, but we can't find any left in storage." "Don't we have a few NERVA engines laying around in the back?" "Ah! You're brilliant, sir. I hope you know what you're doing." "I do too, kiddo. I do too." * * * END CHAPTER 12 * * * TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 13

So I guess at this point there's a lot of dissent among kerbs, huh?

My $$$ are on shenanigans involving the theft of a spaceplane, Bartdon testifying in court against the Trans-Pacific, and a continuation of the frenzy to get to deep space.

Transmission Log #3 BRIEFING FOR THE PRESIDENT OF HEXIS: Six hours ago, the HNSC was attacked by long-range missiles, which severely limited our warfighting and defensive capacity. A squadron of three pilots managed to destroy the immediate threat to the HNSC, however, the HNSC is still in clear and present danger. As we stand, the HNSC is now under Naval Siege, and an invasion threat still stands. An armada of 4 carriers, alongside 4 invasion craft, and 3 missile destroyers (formerly 4), have blockaded the seas immediately surrounding the HNSC and invaded the Island Air Station, which also contains the Astronaut Training Center. The crews who survived the missile attack are now carrying out emergency provisions to ensure the survival of the military base. Our crews in Ketri have yet to be attacked, but without the support of the HNSC, they are mostly limited to the air support already in the area. In addition, a superweapon has been developed by the Crater Bay with the power to destroy small cities. If we are to have any hope of survival, the crew at the HNSC MUST successfully defend against the coming invasion. They've already erected a second air defense weapon, and are busy constructing an in-situ runway for the construction of fighters. It is the Defense Committee's opinion that the Special Forces Unit #008-47A and #008-47B both be deployed to the space center as reinforcements. In addition, we recommend drawing all forces in Ketri to defensive strongholds until the HNSC can provide support to their operations. Finally, the committee suggests that you move the DEFCON level for the Air Force to DEFCON 2, and for the rest of the armed forces to DEFCON 3. Should the resolution of the HNSC situation be resolved in our favor, the Air Force needs to be ready to make an immediate attack on the superweapon on the Eastern Rim of the Crater Bay in order to prevent retaliation. Once the weapon is down, we can retaliate full force, but as long as it stands, no ship is safe in those waters.

Pretty sure that's the whole point of KSP...

Kerbfleet's spotted a large weapon down below in the sky?

Chapter Eleven: A Change In Initiative. SITUATION REPORT: FOR THE EYES OF THE DIRECTOR ONLY 12 HOURS AGO, MILCOM held a briefing without your consent or presence. The intelligence your pilots had proved invaluable in determining our next move, however, MILCOM needed more information as of the nature of this "Electromagnetic Disruptor Beam." Despite knowing the general nature of the device, without some sort of edge, we decided it best not to attack and allow the lines of attack pushing towards the Crater Bay to come to a temporary standstill. In order to attempt to gather surveillance, MILCOM discreetly deployed one of our Ghost troopers on site. The plan was for our trooper to infiltrate the site, incapacitate, and assume the role of a guard, and find information pertinent to the weapon. However, our plans last went awry. This was one of the last radio logs our trooper, codenamed "Phantom," transmitted before he disappeared: "Phantom, you are go for landing. Are you ready for ballistic entry?" "Roger that, this is phantom, ready for reentry and low opening." "Understood. I don't need to remind you, but this is an intelligence mission. Try not to blow it." "Don't worry, no Screaming Commandos aboard this vessel." "You're approaching the orbital landing zone. Ready yourself reentry." "Alright. See you when I'm through the silk. I'll start transmitting pictures once I'm close enough." "Good luck, Phantom." Upon atmospheric entry, Phantom opened the re-entry pod's revolving frequency radio, and began scanning for enemy transmissions. His antenna locked on to a radio signal which, before today, was scarcely used by Crater Bay forces. For the past few hours, our top crypto-analysts have been working to decrypt the signal. We had a breakthrough fifteen minutes prior to the writing of this report. Phantom's pod continued recording on this channel until it suffered a sudden power failure 6 hours ago. Among radio snippets captured were: Discussions of troop movements on the front Potential of the weapon to defend the waterfront of the Crater Bay Data Storage/Transportation/Security A data transmission for something called "Project Timeguard" The most concerning of transmissions is the data file we intercepted for "Project Timeguard." It simply contained analysis of previous attempts to get a vague, cylindrical object to perform to task. However, the unwanted results are absolutely terrifying: Trial: Pilot Name: Result: Desired? 1 Tarkin Spontaneous explosion upon activation. Pilot lost. No. 2 Katrina Ship disappeared. Radar registered odd-shaped object ascending near light speed. No. 3 Ivan Ship hovered mid-air. Pilot phased through the floor of cockpit and was incinerated. No. 4 Irina Shield formed, expanded to 4km, then imploded. Test facility A destroyed, no survivors, further tests moved to facility B in Ketri. No. 5 Alex Shield expanded to desired size, then imploded. No. 6 Alexei Shield expanded and stabilized. Pilot began to age rapidly, as if time inside the shield had sped up. No. (Promising, however!) 7 Galina Shield expanded, stabilized, and began to function properly. Bullet fired at shield passed through and killed pilot. Almost. 8 Trent Shield expanded, stabilized, and began to function properly. Bullet fired at shield passed through and killed pilot. Mathematics reviewed (shield isn't helpful for high-speed objects). Very Close! 9 Fiona Shield formed properly. Missile fired at side of shield bounced off and killed ground crew members. Test considered first true success. Yes. 10 [REDACTED] Now on duty at the [REDACTED]weapon facility. Shield online and functioning. Yes. As you can see, the results of Project Timeguard appear to be catastrophic, however, the device is obviously unstable, given its tendency to destroy the pilots on vessels which tested the device. Despite not knowing where the device is, we predict with a high degree of accuracy that the device is currently guarding the large Electromagnetic Disruptor Beam on the coast of Crater Bay. Data gathered from radio snippets regarding the transmission and storage of scientific data repeatedly highlights a certain list of coordinate pairs. Because of this, MILCOM has maneuvered a spy satellite to gather information, and was shocked to find a small tank driving about in the deserts of Ketri from one set of coordinates to another. We believe that by capturing the truck, we may be able to steal the plans, or a backup of those plans, from the Kermunists, and use those plans to determine a way to destabilize the weapon. If Timeguard's shield is working properly (and we have no reason to believe otherwise), without those plans, there is no way to safely break the stalemate on the front lines or destroy the superweapon the Kermunists have created. Gene was absolutely bewildered. He was a soldier, true, but until a few weeks ago, he had never had to direct an all-out war, nobody attempted to kill him, and he was never concerned by the Crater Bay. Now, his world was flipped upside down, and he wasn't quite sure what to do anymore. He called the CO for the Marine battalion stationed about 160 km east of the front lines. "Lieutenant Colonel Gusford. We have a situation." "What is it, sir? The boys are dying for some action." "Let me explain. This is important." About fifteen minutes later, Gene had spelled out the importance of the mission to follow to the Lieutenant Colonel. "Well, [REDACTED], sir. That is awfully important. We can brief your pilots once you arrive." "Roger that. I want this done as soon as possible. The longer this takes, the longer we stay out of the Crater Bay, and the stronger our enemies get. I hear they have new recruits rolling out to stations on the coast all over these days." "Understood sir. We won't fail." Inside the Astronaut Center, the entire Red squadron was standing in formation. Valentina had just finished explaining the situation to the Naval Aviation Brigade 3 commander, and he had ordered her to take the Red squadron out. Valentina picked the most battle-hardened platoon, and sent the rest back to bed. Then, she picked up the phone and called Gene. "Do we have the prisoner yet, sir?" "Not yet, but she's on her way in a drop pod. Her landing prediction looks good, so she'll definitely land at the HNSC." "Okay. Come get me when we make it back, I want to talk to her about something." "What's going on in your mind?" "I was thinking about creating a squadron of POWs and putting them to work in a place they can't do any damage as a trial run. It's not like they really do much when we stuff them into a tin can at 500,000km and leave them there." "Would you be able to vouch for such a program? It's insane enough it might just work." "Maybe not now, but post-war, we might be able to give them pardons in exchange for their services when we start exploring the rest of the solar system." "We can talk about this one later. If it's well thought out, we can pitch it to the top brass." "Deal. See you later." Valentina hung up the phone, thinking of anything she may have forgotten to take care of before she , Valentina walked upstairs and knocked on Jeb's door. "Val! What're you doing here? Don't you have somewhere to be?" "I have a few minutes. This campaign is going to get rough before this is over, I'm afraid." "Stay safe out there Val. I'd do anything to be out there flying in a wing with you." "You may wind up there before this ends. I overheard Gene and Wernher were thinking of giving me control of an Ace squadron." "Well, I'd have to become an ace." "Jeb, I'm pretty sure you already are. You need like, 5 aerial takedowns, and somehow, a TEST PILOT manages to get himself tangled up so far in a war-zone that he has ample opportunity to shoot down as many airplanes as he needs in one night." "Okay, fair point. But seriously, stay safe and don't pull a me out there, ok?" "Okay. Love you, Jeb." "Love y-" Suddenly, a large explosion rocked the base. Jeb and Val were thrown together, and dust rained down from the ceiling. The two picked themselves up and quickly left the room. In the main hallway, pilots rushed down the stairs and towards the doors closest to the airstrip. The entire Astronaut Center now had a definite lean away from the Admin Building, and looking out the window, Val saw that the Admin building now had a definite lean away from the Astronaut Center. The flagpole was replaced with a large, charred crater, which was still smoking and igniting fires around it. Val and Jeb turned their suit comms on, and were suddenly overwhelmed with the sound of angry, worried, stressed, and scared mission controllers. "This is the tracking station to anybody who will listen! We have a missile cruiser coming in from the east! Where did they come from?!?!" "This is Gene Kerman. It doesn't matter where they came from! Scramble as many fighters as you can!" "Roger that! This is the SPH, we're fueling some anti-ship planes now! How did we miss them!?!?!" "That's not important either! Focus on the task at hand! Give me a damage report!" "One missile struck a tracking radar, but we still have 2 left! Another has barely missed the Administration building!" "We need to hit that boat before they prep for launch!" Jeb and Val raced towards the SPH. They both beat their 400m sprint times, and soon found themselves running towards the emergency defense craft. Over the intercom, an announcement was playing on a loop: "PILOTS: THE HNSC IS UNDER NAVAL ATTACK. PROCEED TO DESIGNATED ATTACK CRAFT IMMEDIATELY. PREPARE FOR BOMBING RUN. ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL MUST NOW PROCEED TO THE BUNKERS." "Crap," Jebediah remarked, "it seems as if we might wind up flying in the same squadron anyways." The crew already had 3 Aeris-3B short-range attack planes, and were ready to launch within two minutes. CDR Val, TP Jeb, and CPT Neilfred taxied onto the runway. Behind them, there was the sound of another explosion, and the three turned around to see the SPH begin to cave in. "This one's for the lost, gentlemen." "Roger that, commander. This is Test Pilot Jebediah, ready for takeoff." "Roger that, commander. This is Captain Neilfred, ready for takeoff." "Let's go make'em pay, then." With that, the three engaged their afterburners and lifted off into the afternoon sky. They entered a formation and began their attack. The ship was brazenly close to the HNSC, and the three of them wondered why any sane captain would come so close for a missile strike. They dropped down to 2000 meters and selected afterburners to gain speed. 7 km from the ship, Val broke radio silence: "Jeb, loop around his left flank. I'm going to fall back and line up a shot. Neilfred, I need you to draw his fire off the right flank." "Roger that. This is Neilfred, beginning flanking maneuver for flyby on right flank." "This is Jeb, breaking off to left flank for bombardment." Valentina approached the boat from the back. Not only was the captain stupidly brave by bringing the ship so close, he was also plain stupid for parking the ship with the rear facing the HNSC. It wasn't exactly a secret that the Hexis naval planes were commonly equipped with heat-seeking missiles, and Val could see eight juno jets surrounding a wheesley. She laughed, flipping the fire selector over to heat-seeking. She heard the familiar buzz of the targeting system, and lined up her shot as she approached the boat. She saw Captain Neilfred come across the right flank at maybe a 5° angle to her, and the missile's buzz grew to a low roar. She pressed the trigger, but nothing happened. She looked at the targeting computer, and swore. Not only had she forgot to flick the safety off, but she had also targeted Captain Neilfred's engines. The boat's engines were off, and wouldn't attract any heat-seeking missiles, so the missile had locked on to the only other heat signature in the scanning radius: the intense heat of Neilfred's recently used afterburner shroud. Suddenly, the radio sprang to life yet again as she passed over the boat fast enough to knock over some loose barrels on the deck. "This is Jebediah, commencing attack run. Switching to unguided rockets, can't find a heat signature from this angle." "You won't find any. He's got his engines off." "This is Neilfred, circling around. I went over so fast, I'm pretty far from the action. You'll need to deal with not having me for about 2 minutes." "Roger that. Jeb, continue attack run. I'll circle back around." Valentina circled the plane for her attack run, and began lining up for a final attack. She saw Jeb cruising from the right of the boat. Suddenly, the CIWS gun on the port side of the boat sprang to life. BZZZZZZZZZT. "Val, I'm hit! He got my left wing rudder! I'm returning to base, you're on your own. Don't attack until Neilfred arrives!" Val saw Jeb pull up and bank right back towards the runway. She flanked off to the starboard side of the boat, and the starboard CIWS lit up behind her. She spiraled the plane to prevent the radar from locking on a creating a decent firing solution, before turning the plane perpendicular with the boat. Out her left window, she saw Jeb's plane limping to escape the combat zone. Down below, the movement of both CIWS guns caught her eye. They had both lined up to face directly towards the aft of the ship, lining up on Jeb. Val didn't hesitate. She pulled 5g dive-turning the plane to face the ship, before deftly flipping the "ripple" switch on the joystick to ON. She squeezed the trigger, and sent 46 SKOM rockets towards the central hull of the cruiser. She pulled out of the dive at 50m and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard an explosion rip through the dull drone of her engines. She held her breath, hoping that the explosion was the boat and not Jeb. "This is Neilfred, just now arrived again. Sorry for overshooting the target on the first run like that. I saw what you did. I think every one of those rockets found their target. Nice shot, Val! Target destroyed!" She let out a sigh of relief. She banked around to see her handiwork, and was rather pleased to see a cloud of dust and fire where the missile cruiser once stood. Neilfred and Val banked back towards the runway. Jeb was making his final approach, and Val could see him nudging the plane right ever so slightly every few seconds. She didn't realize she had started holding her breath again until she saw Jeb touch down safely on ground without a hitch. Val followed him in, with Neilfred bringing up the rear. When they landed, the grounded pilots and crew-teams surrounded the three of them. Jeb, Val, and Neilfred were lifted into the air and carried to the waiting Jeep. The three of them were hustled inside the Administration building and straight to Gene's office. "Nice work, all three of you. I want you three to get settled, we have a long road ahead of us. First off, forget about the massive super-weapon death-ray thingy on the east bank of the crater. It's not important anymore, since we can't do anything about it. The remaining two tracking radars have picked up a small armada behind the island where the astronaut training center stands. The island itself is now under Crater Bay control, and I have reason to believe that they're beginning to erect an anti-air embankment there. About half of our air-force is out of commission, either injured or killed, and the remaining crews now have no way of reaching their ships in the underground hangars, as the lift from the hangars to the spaceplane hangar is now buried under a few thousand metric tons of concrete and steel. We have the three Aeris-3Bs, a CIWS AA gun, and lots of assault rifles to fend off the coming invasion. Not at all ideal. Any ideas?" Jeb quickly raised his hand. "I have one that MIGHT just give us a fighting chance. Val, remember when you wanted to take a water-strider out to the island back when I was on the Katya? I think you're gonna get your wish, but you better expect Marine Recon and some Screaming Commandos to be tagging along." TO BE CONTINUED

Hey, you said you were taking requests, right? Could you possibly make the seismic charge that BahumotoD was going to include with the mod, but didn't? That would be awesome to see revived.