KSK

I know, right. Cherry - they’re enough to drive you bananas.

I see what you did there.

Because it is. It’s a wonderful concept, a fantastic way to learn more about spaceflight and a great sandbox, especially if you do mods. But it’s not a particularly good game. In many ways I think Career mode is the worst of all worlds - it has a steep learning curve whilst you figure out how to build a rocket, get it to space and get it where you want it to go once you’re in space. Then, once you’ve climbed that learning curve you’re left with a rather simplistic, repetitive and dull game. Personally, I enjoyed the learning curve but once I was reasonably competent at KSP (docking, orbiting Moho, putting probes on Duna and Eve level of competent), I lost interest.

Hey - not all fanfiction is that bad. It’s a genre that attracts a lot of first time writers (yours truly included), so there’s a lot of... less than stellar stuff out there, but there’s some really good pieces too. Depends on the fandom I guess. Back to KSP the animated movie! A defined antagonist would be conventional but I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. This is space travel we’re talking about after all, at present day technology levels. Carelessness, lack of planning, those everpresent unknown unknowns, or just plain bad luck will kill you just as surely as the Kraken or an arch-villain. Besides - personal opinion - saddling the Kerbals with evil corps or arch-villains is a bit depressing.

Only Slightly Bent?

Sale = permanent transfer of property. License = property is held by one party who then grants permission for one or more other parties to use that property - usually subject to some terms and conditions. Coming up with a premise for an animated film shouldn’t be too hard. Doing that premise justice would be tougher, I think. Even going for a lighthearted approach, 90 minutes of Kerbal komedy could get tedious unless it’s done well.

Maybe it’s just seeing it from a distance but it looks like the build quality of these things is going up.

So it’s a community tribute - but limited to those parts of the community who make videos, and are on Reddit? Got it. Very inclusive, I must say. Good luck to all the participants but I’ll be sitting this one out.

Give me one... million dollars and I’ll get back to you.

Dagnabbit - ninjaed by 16 minutes. I prefer Moony McMoonbase though.

Cool! Thanks for the informative and interesting post. I thought I’d better open with a serious note of thanks before registering a fond hope that Teegardens b and c will be named Coffee and Cocoa. Or failing that, Lapsang and Souchong.

Argh - want to give you a proper answer but... spoilers. Only for the next chapter though, two sections of which are already drafted.

That habitat looks totally KSP too. Like somebody designed it to stand on three legs, then landed it upside down by mistake.

Almost all of those models look weirdly familiar. I mean, I get that KSP parts are inspired by real life spacecraft but seriously? That lander cabin (left most vehicle) looks like it could have been made by Sean's Cannery.

Next chapter is up. And as always, many thanks to my good editor for helping to get this one out of the door. The Needs of the Many The meeting room phone rang. “Hey boss – we’re not supposed to be getting a delivery today, are we?” Hading swallowed his mouthful of iced coffee and wiped the corner of his mouth on the back of his hand. “No. Why?” “Because we’ve got a truck at the gates. Big one – water bowser hitched on the back and everything. Hang on – there’s another one driving up behind it...” From across the meeting room table, Wernher saw his friend’s shoulders stiffen. “…armoured, with a gun on the top. Guys at the gate are heading over to check them out..” Hading shoved his chair back, phone still held to his ear. “Are they carrying any markings? Can you see a flag on their sides?” “Uhhh, I don’t think so. Camera’s at the wrong angle.” “Give me two minutes - I’ll be right up.” Hading gestured at Wernher to follow him but before he could put the phone down there was a scream from the reception desk. Hading surged to his feet. “What happened! What is it?” “They s-shot him! Oh Kerm, there’s more of them – the guards are running for cover. I think one of them’s firing… no, please no!” A whimper sounded down the line. “They killed him too, boss. He’s just lying there, not moving!" Hading’s voice was unnaturally calm. “Listen to me, Rod. I need you to check the signing-in book and tell me who’s missing. He was answered by silence. “Talk to me, Rod. It’s going to be okay, but I need you to check the book. Can you do that for me?” “Ye..yes. I can do it. Need two hands.” Hading heard the clunk of a phone being dropped on a desk, followed by a mumbled stream of names. “Are you there, boss?” “I’m right here, Rod.” “O-okay. Calgun’s not in yet, nor is Herfel, Jorgun – it’s not even nine yet, of course he’s not, Derdo…” “Rod - I don’t need all the names – can you just give me a number.” Hading’s fingers twitched on the edge of the table.” “Eleven… no Elbin isn’t in… Twelve. Definitely twelve.” “Good work, Rod. Now I want you to come down to the dining area. Wernher and I will be waiting for you there.” “Okay!” There was a click and the line went dead. Hading flung open the meeting room door. “Wernher – listen to me. We don’t have much time. I need you to pick three steady types and send them over to the blockhouses to bring everyone down to the bunker. If they’re stopped by soldiers, they’re to do exactly as they’re told. Gather everyone in the dining area, then get them to the back door and wait for my signal. You’ll know it when you hear it. Then get them out of here.” Wernher stared at him. “What…?” “The spent fuel. I don’t know who they are but that’s what they’re after.” His grim expression brought Wernher up short. “It’s the only answer that makes sense. And you know what they’ll do with it.” Hading turned and raced for his office. Wernher paled. “What are you going to…” He ran after the engineer, skidding into his office just behind him. “What are you going to do?” He was answered by a soft metallic snick, as Hading straightened up from his desk, a snub-nosed pistol in one hand, muzzle pointed at the floor. “Are you out of your mind?!” “Unfortunately not.” Hading couldn’t keep the resignation out of his voice. “First KNSA officer in history to be killed in the line of duty for Kerm knows how long is not how I thought I’d go.” He racked the slide on his pistol. “Never thought that service oath would come back to bite me but that’s the thing about oaths – once you swear them, they’re not optional.” Wernher opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Our lawyers do a real nasty cease-and-desist.” Hading attempted a sardonic grin. “But when it comes right down to it, all the legalese is backed up by…” He lifted his pistol fractionally. The grin collapsed. “Go. Get them out of here. Oh – and Wernher?” Wernher found his voice. “Yes?” “Make it all worthwhile. Make that bloody engine fly.” Tears prickling the corners of his eyes, Wernher nodded, then ran for the door. Hading slid open a slim compartment set into the top of his desk and extracted a sheet of paper which he dropped into feeder tray of his telecopier. Mechanically, he brought up a preset number and pressed the transmit key, before turning to the alarm box on the wall, hand fumbling at the lanyard around his neck. The telecopier beeped its confirmation. Hading retrieved a key from under his shirt, slotted it home and turned. Then he turned and sprinted for the stairs, as a red light began to flash behind him. ----------------------- Wernher drew several startled looks as he rushed into the main laboratory area, chest heaving for breath. He gestured at three of the scientists, before jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the stairs. “Des, Mac, Will – get over to the dorms. Haul everyone out of bed and get them down here, right now!” Mac looked at him quizzically. “Depriving Jorgun of his beauty sleep, boss?” “Saving his life! We’re under attack!” Wernher bent over to catch his breath as the room erupted. Mac took one look at the chief engineer’s face and turned pale. “Quieten down you all! Will, Des – let’s do as the kerb says. It’ll do Jorgun good to see the morning sun!” Mac made to slap Wernher on the back then thought better of it. “We’ve got this, boss. We’ll be back.” Wernher straightened up, coughing. “If you see any soldiers out there, do exactly as they say. Exactly. Now go!” --------------------- The officer scanned the battlefield, a distant part of him marking the fallen guards, faces fixed in expressions of shock, blood seeping into the thirsty sands. At a barked order from Lieutenant Lenger, two detachments of soldiers ran off around the perimeter fence in opposite directions, weapons at the ready. The lieutenant himself jogged over to his commander, the rest of his troops already fanning out around them. “Building in the centre, sir? By the crane?” The officer nodded. “The test sites and waste storage facility are both underground.” He pointed at the blocky, white painted outbuildings behind the crane. “Dormitory blocks I expect. We’ll take those first.” He raised his voice. “Squads of three – sweep the blockhouses and rendezvous at the crane. Capture or neutralise any guards, round up any civilians for hostages!” “We’ll take that barn in the middle. Equipment storage most likely – it’ll be too hot to work in.” The officer bared his teeth. “But let’s not leave anyone hiding inside, hmm?” “No, sir.” Lenger checked his weapon and took a hasty swig of water from his canteen before setting off across the baking sand at a jog. ------------------ “Wha’ time is it? Go ‘way.” Jorgun rolled over on his cot, then jerked awake, clawing at the cold, wet bathrobe which had just wrapped itself around his head. “Hey, not funny!” “It’ll be even less funny if you don’t move it!” A pair of sandals landed on his chest. “We’ve got soldiers at the gates! Boss didn’t say what they wanted but from the look on his face, it’s nothing good. The bathrobe slithered off Jorgun’s bare chest. “Soldiers. Right – and I’m Chief Ambassador Burvis.” “For Kerm’s sake, Jorgun! Get your shoes on and move it! You can please yourself about the bathrobe!” There was a loud crash from outside, followed by the rapid thudding of heavy boots. The sleep room door flew open and two uniformed figures burst in; rifles aimed unerringly at Jorgun’s astonished face. Mac dropped to his knees, arms out in surrender. “On your feet. Now.” The soldier’s voice was flat. Jorgun stared at him in disbelief, then yelped as a third figure appeared in the doorway. Trembling, he reached for his sodden bathrobe. “I said, now!” Jorgun’s sandals slid off the bed and hit the ground with a sudden slap that made him yelp again. He pushed back his bedsheet and swung his legs over the side of his cot. The soldier gestured at the door with his rifle. “Out. Hands on your heads and don’t try anything clever.” Mac laced his hands behind his head and walked towards the door, the sudden sour reek of cold sweat following him. The two engineers stumbled out into the pitiless desert sun where they were brought up short by a jab in the ribs. “Over there with your colleagues. Quickly.” Mac looked up to find Will and Des staring at him in resignation. Another door banged open and three more soldiers prodded their captives over to join them. “Is that all of them?” “Yessir.” A short, stocky-looking soldier, wearing three chrome bars on his collar, nodded in satisfaction. “Good work. Take them over to the crane.” The ragged group of scientists and engineers needed no further prompting. Eyes downcast, they formed up into a line and marched off, hands clasped behind their heads. Their assailants walked alongside them, keeping a wary eye on their surroundings as they went. Mac glanced up and his heart sank still further at the sight of another, much shorter line of captives being marched in from the opposite side of the Site D compound. They assembled at the crane in front of an older, care-worn kerbal, wearing much more elaborate insignia on his collar. The officer watched them gather, engineers, scientists, and sullen and bleeding guards. Lieutenant Lenger stepped forward and saluted. “Site is secure, sir.” “Very good, Mr Lenger.” The officer whirled and pointed at Mac. “You! Where is the entrance to your underground facilities?” Feeling every eye on his back as he did so, Mac lifted his head. “The bunker behind you,” he said. “Sir.” “Excellent, Mr…?” “Macbus, sir.” “Mr Macbus.” The officer’s lip quirked upwards. “We assumed as much from a simple process of elimination but it’s pleasing to see that you don’t intend to tell any tedious lies. May I presume that the interior of that bunker is merely a changing room and storage area?” "Yes.” The officer made a beckoning gesture with one hand. “Yes, sir.” A sigh. “Come, Mr Macbus. A little more information if you please. What can we expect to find downstairs? More guards?” “No, sir. Just the rest of the science team.” Do exactly as they say, Mac. Exactly. “Level one is the reception, lounge and catering area. Level two below it is for offices, labs and meeting rooms, level three is the for the main test area and waste storage.” “Very good, Mr Macbus!” The officer rubbed his hands together. “You will escort myself and my troops down to level three. Your colleagues will come with us, naturally, as a precautionary measure in case any of your… science team decide to get creative.” He winked. “I fear they may not be as trustworthy as you, Mr Macbus.” He glanced at Jorgun standing in his underclothes. “Besides – I can hardly leave them all standing in the midday sun. I am not a monster after all.” The officer pointed at three of his soldiers. “Secure the bunker and the top of the stairwell.” He waited for their answering salutes before turning back to the hostages. “Mr Macbus, you will lead the way down to level one. Don’t worry – I’ll be right behind you.” -------------------- Hading crouched behind the curved reception desk, pistol drawn, eyes fixed on the bank of monitor screens suspended before the receptionist’s seat. He watched three black-and-white figures burst into view, rifles sweeping back and forth. One of them darted forward and kicked open the storage room door before leaping to one side, his two companions covering him with their weapons. Hading watched them inspecting the doorway to the stairwell at length, before turning the handle. They stepped to one side, holding the door ajar with the butts of their rifles, before heaving it open. Hading’s eyes flicked across to another monitor just in time to see the first soldier charge through, search the top of the stairwell and retreat. Gritting his teeth as the bunker filled up with soldiers and terrified scientists, he saw Mac being pushed onto the stairs at gunpoint, watched as a uniformed kerbal followed him, the details of his collar insignia blurred by the camera. The heavy security door blocked out any sound from above. Dry-mouthed, Hading watched the queue of figures shuffling into and then out of camera shot, ears pricked for the sound of a turning door handle. There was a click and a faint creak of hinges. The ringing of boots on steel steps filtered around the edge of the door, then grew abruptly louder. He heard footsteps passing by on his left and risked a glance around the side of his hiding place, heart hammering against his ribs as he saw a pair of sandaled feet go past. “That will do Mr Macbus.” Hading’s head swivelled, tracking the heavier footfalls of the unknown officer across the room. He flicked a last look at the monitor showing the, now empty, top of the stairwell, gathering himself as one set of footsteps after another filtered into the room. Glancing one last time at the black button set into the underside of the reception desk, he surged to his feet, snub-nosed pistol whipping up and round before settling unerringly on the officer’s forehead. The blur of movement from the corners of his eyes told him that every other gun in the room, apart from one, was pointed back at himself. A chuckle broke the sudden silence. “Ahhh, very good, Mr Macbus. Either your acting talent is quite wasted out here in the desert, or that slack-jawed look is entirely genuine.” The officer cocked an eyebrow. “To whom do I owe this unfortunate situation?” “Hading Kerman. Kerbin Nuclear Standards Agency.” The officer raised both eyebrows. “Really? You handle that pistol well for a bureaucrat.” He gestured at the soldiers by his side. “But I fear you are rather outmatched. Why don’t you put the gun down before somebody gets hurt?” “After you shot our guards in cold blood?” Hading’s voice hardened. “I don’t think so.” The officer flinched. “We ordered them to stand down!” he snapped. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Hading Kerman, we are at war and those guards were impeding access to vital war materiel. As are you! “War materiel? High grade nuclear waste is not, and never will be, war materiel.” Hading saw the look of surprise on the other’s face. “Oh, come on. Why else would you be here? It’s hardly rocket science – and believe me, I know rocket scientists.” “To end the war and bring peace for the Regionality I swore to defend.” The officer’s cheek twitched. “To salt the earth and keep us soldiers apart until wiser heads have time to prevail.” Oh, dear Ker… Hading’s expression mingled horror and pity in equal amounts. “It won’t work,” he said quietly. “Do you think we haven’t been thinking about this ever since the war began? I won’t insult your intelligence by insisting that you wouldn’t get away with it, but the cold truth is that we simply don’t have enough nuclear material here to make a difference. I can show you the calculations if you like?” “Nevertheless.” A shadow passed behind the officer’s eyes. “This war has taken too much – from me, from everyone. I cannot forego a chance to end it, no matter how small.” “And I cannot stand by and allow you to take that chance.” Hading’s voice was curiously gentle. “I swore an oath too, you see.” “With respect, Mr Hading, I don’t believe you have a lot of choice in the matter.” The officer’s cheek twitched again. “Come now – under the circumstances, standing down can hardly be regarded as oath-breaking. In fact, I shall advise… whomever you swore that oath too, that you upheld it to the end. You have my word on this as an officer.” Hading shook his head. “My choice was made when I stood to face you.” He jerked his chin at his hand clutching the edge of the reception desk, other hand still aiming his pistol squarely between the officer’s eyes. “Under this desk, I’m holding a button. If I let it go, it will trigger the emergency lockdown system.” A very level pair of eyes stared at the officer. “That system was designed to permanently seal this facility, as a last line of defence in the event of a catastrophic nuclear accident.” A bead of sweat trickled down Hading’s cheek and dripped onto the desk. Silently, the officer watched it fall. “Take your troops and go. I’ll shut down this facility in good order and we’ll all walk away alive. Please – just go.” “I wonder if it’s something in the air, or just the desert sun?” Hading watched in disbelief as the other began to applaud. “Your acting is very nearly as impressive as Mr Macbus’s. But I fear I must call your bluff.” An edge of steel cut through the whimsy. “Take him down.” Instinctively, Hading’s finger tightened around his pistol trigger but the officer was already in motion, diving under his shot. The tight knot of scientists and engineers by the door, clapped their hands over their ears against the deafening report. Hading threw himself to one side, one hand still clamped around the edge of the reception desk, yelling at his stunned colleagues as he fought to bring his weapon to bear. “Get to the back door! Go – for Kerm’s sake – GO!” Another shot rang out. Hading’s face contorted, nails scrabbling on the edge of the desk as he fought to keep his grip. A third shot crashed against his eardrums, punching a white-hot needle through his shoulder. Suddenly his arm no longer seemed to work. Crying out in desperation, Hading collapsed to the floor, dragging his nerveless arm behind him. His fingers skated over the black button under the desk, twitched once and let go. ----------------- Steel shutters slammed down behind the crowd of researchers milling around the Site D emergency exit, making them jump. Wernher rushed over and zipped his security card through the lock. A baleful red light glowed back at him, accompanied by a harsh, metallic buzzing. Oh Kerm… The walls shook to a series of heavy, echoing booms. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling, raining sand and fragments of concrete down on the wide-eyed kerbals below. Wait for my signal. You’ll know it when you hear it. Wernher’s shaking voice broke the stunned silence. “Everybody to the exit. Jorely first – that exit hatch is heavy. Quickly now.” He was answered by tremulant nods. Jorely made his way through the huddle and disappeared up the spiral steel staircase in the corner of the room. One by one, the others followed him, leaving Wernher standing alone by the shutters. He zipped his card through the lock again, and again the buzzer sounded harshly in his ears. With shaking fingers, he fumbled his security card back into his pocket and followed his colleagues up the stairs. The climb seemed interminable, a never-ending spiral into stifling darkness, broken by the panting of his colleagues and the slap-slap-slap of sandals on steel. Trickles of sand fell into his hair and the occasional pebble skittered off the steps and struck him, dislodged by a climber from further up. Wernher glanced down at the circle of dim light far below his feet, clenched his jaw and kept going. The screech of un-oiled bolts being drawn echoed down the stairs, making him wince. Hot white light spilled in, throwing jagged, moving shadows across the stairwell walls. The last of his colleagues vanished into the sunlight and Wernher followed, heaving himself up a short ladder and over the rim of the emergency exit shaft. Blinking, he climbed to his feet, brushing his hands against his poncho. The entrance block to the main bunker stood on an island, surrounded by vast subsidence pits. The raw concrete and steel foundations of the crane and surrounding blockhouses stood exposed, revealed by the collapsing sands. Here and there, irregular patches of concrete could be seen at the bottom of the craters, vestiges of the much larger structures beneath. Wernher sank to his knees amidst the devastation, tears scoured away by the pitiless desert sun. ------------------ On the top floor of an unremarkable office building on the outskirts of the Capital, a kerbal sat at his desk, telephone in hand, staring out at the evening sky. He nodded in response to a particularly emphatic comment from the other end of the line and then froze at the sudden buzzing against his leg. Quietly, he stood up and removed the pager from his suit pocket, already turning to the small, and very private, telecopier in the corner of his office. With a soft purr, a sheet of paper emerged from a slot and dropped into the in-tray. “Would you excuse me please. Madam President. I have an advisory message on line one.” The Director of the Kerbin Nuclear Standards Agency set his phone down on his desk, crossed the room and, steeling himself, picked up his message. It took no more than a handful of seconds to read. Agent ID: DN38416 Transmitter Location: KSA Site D Message begins: Emergency lockdown protocol initiated. Undertaking final duties. Message ends. << Chapter 97 Chapter 99>>

I know, right. Primitives.

Depends how much handwaving you want to use. Your gravity neutraliser makes things much easier since you can ignore gravity and orbital velocities entirely. Your take off speed can be 1mm/s and you’ll still get to space - eventually. You won’t be in a stable orbit when you get there of course but that’s okay because you’re not going to fall down again under gravity. So to answer your question. First level approximation - figure out how fast you want your ship to go, calculate it’s kinetic energy at that speed, and divide the that kinetic energy by two multiplied by c-squared. That will tell you what mass of antimatter you need to annihilate to accelerate the ship to that speed. That assumes that all the energy from antimatter annihilation is converted to kinetic energy of your ship - which won’t be anywhere near the case in practice. However it’ll give you a lower limit on the amount of antimatter required (or, conversely, an upper limit on how many times you can accelerate your ship to that chosen speed and back, using that 3 tons of antimatter). Then you can scale that based on assumed engine efficiency. Figuring out how much propellant you need is a lot harder. At a bare minimum you’ll need to know the exhaust velocity of your antimatter rocket and I have no idea how to even approximate that. One problem (if I recall rightly) is that most of the energy from antimatter annihilation is released as gamma radiation - which won’t be terribly efficient at heating your propellant. Edit. Google is probably your friend here. I can almost guarantee that there will be detailed numbers on antimatter rocket designs somewhere on the internet. Atomic Rockets site is probably a good start.

Not pink enough to be Dibella’s kar. Clearly a cheap knockoff. Why, I bet the emergency crash jello tastes revolting - if the Mercedes Benz engineers even bothered to install it. Tsk.

Way too hard to pick a single favourite but I have a definite thing for 80s sci-fi comedies. Ghostbusters and Innerspace are two that leap immediately to mind. Another raise of the hand for Terminator 2 as well - great story, solid acting (aside from a couple of duff lines from Edward Furlong) and special effects that told the story, rather than the story being a vehicle for the special effects. Edit. I should probably admit to enjoying slightly higher-brow stuff as well, although I'm not exactly a film critic's dream.

Looks like Jeb has found some firm friends there.

Oh, Jeb - leave the nice astronaut’s camera alone please. And before anyone asks - who else but Jeb would be hurtling around on a Space Segway? Or set it upright by headbutting it?

And so the circle is nearly complete?

Pick my nose with it and try not to sneeze. Because I’d probably accidentally wipe out 37.24% of life in the Universe. More importantly, I’d likely rip off my nose.

Yep - not to mention maintains thousands of linked up satellites in orbit - a sky net if you will...

Looks like an early model Terminator endoskeleton seen from behind.