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Kerbfleet: A Jool Odyssey-END OF CHAPTER 21! (and hopefully not so many talking heads in 22!)


Mister Dilsby

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18 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

Yes, and at the rate this story is going, you might be almost ready to burn for Kerbin then. :D

Well, then. There's nothing preventing me from burning for home right now, other than that I feel the readers deserve a proper ending to the Kerbulan story that I've spent so much time and effort building towards. If that's taking too long for you, you could always go back and review the earlier pages. Then you might be able to figure out which Kerbulan is the one making the plans, and if you're really clever you might find a page where Kurt and Melgee Kermulan are playing a game that looks a lot like cheks. :D 

But, are the Bad Guys playing the same game as Good Guy Kenlie? As you said, don't touch that dial! We don't actually know what it does! Most of the staging isn't even locked!

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

But that's such a controversial move.... hmmm..... 

Not quite sure what you mean there Jim. For those who don't know Chess, the term "Queen's Gambit" may be a bit misleading. It is not the same as a queen sacrifice. White is just offering the queen's bishop's pawn, the one on c4 on the "real" board as shown in the comic. Black accepts the gambit by taking the c4 pawn with their pawn on d5. Like Nimzo explains, it's a very common opening. There are whole books on QGA (queen's gambit accepted) and there are whole books on QGD (declined)

Myself, I don't actually ever play either. If I have White I always open e4 (king's pawn), and if I have Black I always respond to d4 with the Nimzo-Indian defense (1. ...Nf6)

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1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Thanks.... and you have my vote for 2017!

Hahaha 2016 isn't even done yet! Let's see how it goes :wink:

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Truth is, you are, by far, the biggest reason why I started writing Emiko, and do it as something more than just a mission report.  :)

And you have done the same for me. Thank you.

43 minutes ago, Dman979 said:

 Don't touch that dial!

*Power shuts off*

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18 minutes ago, Kuzzter said:

Not quite sure what you mean there Jim. For those who don't know Chess, the term "Queen's Gambit" may be a bit misleading. It is not the same as a queen sacrifice. White is just offering the queen's bishop's pawn, the one on c4 on the "real" board as shown in the comic. Black accepts the gambit by taking the c4 pawn with their pawn on d5. Like Nimzo explains, it's a very common opening. There are whole books on QGA (queen's gambit accepted) and there are whole books on QGD (declined)

Myself, I don't actually ever play either. If I have White I always open e4 (king's pawn), and if I have Black I always respond to d4 with the Nimzo-Indian defense (1. ...Nf6)

You're right, I was thinking sacrifice, and I was a little worried that's what Kenlie was thinking about.....

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Oh, wow--interview out today with former Earth chess champion Garry Kasparov which is very apropos to the discussion right now. As it references current politics I won't quote it here, but will paraphrase:

"We often say that a dictator is playing chess against a democracy that can only play checkers. But that's not what chess is about. In chess everything is transparent: I can see all the pieces on the board. Sure, I don't know what my opponent is thinking, but I can see all the resources he has that can hurt me. 

Dictators hate transparency, and they hate a fair match. What they do is more like poker--it might not matter whether your cards are any good, if you have more chips than the opponent, you can bet high and bully them into giving up."

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Well, if you look at the sign on the pod it doesn't say "Rockomax", instead something ... similar. Also there's the report of what happened to Kenlie Kermulan (chapter 16, page 4 if my archive is correctly numbered).

Also, when @Kuzzter mentioned Kurt & Melgee's "Checks" game (or whatever the Kerbulan equivalent is) it made me wonder: maybe those two aren't as stupid as they seem, serving Valentina as strategists but hiding behind a veneer of lunacy to protect themselves. (just a random idea, not sure if it has anything to it)

On a side note, I don't consider myself a Star Trek fan by any stretch of the term but I couldn't help notice that "Neelik" is only one letter off the name of a character in the series "Voyager". A shout out or not I don't know but I think the others commenting were right about its real meaning when they noticed that "Neelik" is probably an anagram.

Excited to see what happens next.

Aku

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quick! duct tape the hatch shut and push the cockpit to the kerbulans ship, then puncture the monoprop tanks to use the cockpit as a missile!

 

or you could use my patented "giant cryovolcanic hailstorm that kills absolutely everything you point it at" attack (under licence of corse)

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15 hours ago, rlin said:

Why do I still think that this "Neelik" is a Kerbulan?

Nonsense! This is a totally legit rescue mission! Nothing to be concerned, alarmed or terrified about at all!

15 hours ago, AkuAerospace said:

On a side note, I don't consider myself a Star Trek fan by any stretch of the term but I couldn't help notice that "Neelik" is only one letter off the name of a character in the series "Voyager". A shout out or not I don't know but I think the others commenting were right about its real meaning when they noticed that "Neelik" is probably an anagram.

You're not the first to note a similarity to the name 'Neelix'. But really, when I do a shoutout or tribute it's s bit more obvious than that :) 

Think about this: knowing what Dilsby explained about how contracts get populated in the Mission Control computer, and recalling a song sung aboard Despair (tragically cut off by a BZZZZZT!) and maybe even further recalling what Evil Bob heard, but did not understand, when he plugged into the commsat...can anyone put the puzzle pieces together and explain how 'Neelik Kerman' came to be?

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(checks comic again)

Well, I thought it was Kenlie after someone mentioned the name is an anagram of that. Also I remember Kenlie Kermulan was stuffed in an empty cockpit and knocked out so I'm pretty sure its him (trust a Kerbulan to double cross an asset of theirs at the first possible opportunity), also I found the last time the sound effect for the contract was used.

My theory as to how "Neelik Kerman" appeared was the following:
- Bob Kermulan locked Kenlie in the retrieved cockpit (the one broken off in the Kraken attack ... wait a sec ... hmm*) and knocked him out
- The cockpit was rebranded with a "Rockomaximus" logo and transponder (that the Kerbin tracking network read as a Rockomax transponder)
- The fleet set up a phasing orbit with the Intrepid and released the pod
- The pod was "Unbloaked" and left as bait, the KSP tracking network picked it up and processed it as a Rockomax rescue mission

* Krakened pod ... kraken egg on Intrepid, maybe that little reddish object has something to do with the solution.

I kept my reply vague last time so as to avoid accidentally saying too much (I got rather close once back when I followed Emiko Station).

Aku

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1...Nf6 I like that move. Very much actually. Played it quite often. Have to admit that I am not that deeply involved witg the Queen's Gambit. Never really liked the results - probably 'cause I never really got into theory concerning QG which might indeed explain the weird results. Seems I should catch up on QG to correctly predict the next couple of slides...

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5 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Well I didn't bring a PC on my holiday travels but I did do a little layout work anyway. Merry Christmas!

Is that a Kerbulan unbloaking? Micaroni Station is in trouble! The One Who Shall Not Be Named (because even if you wanted to, you'd be unable to remember his name) makes his move.

I must confess, this time I really forgot that he was in orbit around Kerbin...

Happy holidays!

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If I understand correctly, the Ghost just launched one of three very large missiles into the atmosphere, but the missile itself isn't bloaked. Seems the Micarooni Station crew were too distracted in conversation to notice that!

Oh noes!

EDIT: And they can fire while bloaked... OH NOES!!!

Edited by Deddly
Oh noes!!!!
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2 hours ago, Deddly said:

If I understand correctly, the Ghost just launched one of three very large missiles into the atmosphere, but the missile itself isn't bloaked. 

Yeah, I thought a six ton, hypersonic, invisible cruise missile might be a little OP. :/ 

ETA: And oh yeah--well if anyone can "fire when bloaked", it'd be the Ghost! 

Edited by Kuzzter
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please excuse my overhypedness:

NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUK!!!!!!

and:

I ASKED WHAT HAPPENED WITH THAT GUY IN KERBIN ORBIT 10-15 PAGES AGO!!! WHY DIDNT ANYONE ANSWER!! :) 

Lastly:

3 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

 

4 hours ago, TaintedLion said:

What's the plan after Jool Odyssey is finished? Dres? Eeloo? Moho? Maybe add the Outer Planets pack and do a Sarnus tour?

We'll see. I might not do a comic at all. But let's let me finish this one first OK? :) 

 

OH NOES!!!!

bolded, underlined, and itialicisized for people who don't understand

Edited by StupidAndy
I TOLD U SO!!!
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