The Saga of Emiko Station - Complete

[Just Jim]

10 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

Well, given the disastrous themes in the Emiko Saga, we could also go for the Godzilla character!

 

Bingo!!!!  We have a winner!

Emiko Yamane was the fictional name of the leading lady in the original Godzilla. 
Daughter of Dr. Yamane, the old, famed paleontologist.
And on a much more personnel note, my very first actress crush!  
I think I was maybe 5 or 6 at the time... lol. 

[Kerbart]

12 minutes ago, Just Jim said:

And on a much more personnel note, my very first actress crush!  
I think I was maybe 5 or 6 at the time... lol. 

Those are the best!

[Draconiator]

Or maybe he used a space jargon pun.  E-MECO

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

On 2/19/2016 at 11:47 AM, Just Jim said:

On 2/19/2016 at 11:07 AM, Parkaboy said:

I'm still dealing with the fact that @Kuzzter is a cool space pirate and I'm the guy that makes ladders. Well, at least I have an evil laugh...

OK, if it will make you feel better, Parka is currently the 5th richest kerbal on the planet... after all, everyone needs a ladder...

Who are the other 4?

[Just Jim]

Yeaaaaa.... got to play today... finally!!! 

And I got all sorts of things accomplished.  Going to need another day, maybe two at the most, and I'll have the next chapter ready.

No spoilers, except I promise a nice, long chapter, with some new strangeness...

 

..... and yes....

 

..... wait for it....

 

..... more Thompberry!!!   

Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnn

Edited March 6, 2016 by Just Jim

[Draconiator]

Awwww MANNNNN not that guy again...I bet he's a brain in a jar now, having taken over Omega-77

[Just Jim]

1 hour ago, Draconiator said:

Awwww MANNNNN not that guy again...I bet he's a brain in a jar now, having taken over Omega-77

Yup... I just finished another huge step... should be able to do a chapter tomorrow....

And I think it's about time we find out just how dangerous a brain in a jar can actually be... 

 

Edited March 7, 2016 by Just Jim

[Draconiator]

How do you make a Doodlebug?  That thing looks like fun, I wanna try it heehee

[Kerbart]

16 hours ago, Just Jim said:

And I think it's about time we find out just how dangerous a brain in a jar can actually be... 

If it's put in a retrograde orbit on a collision course with a space station, it'll be quite dangerous! Yet somehow I envision you mean another kind of danger. A sinister kind of danger. Could it be. No. Wait. Aaaargh! Stop! Stoooooooo... [Transmission abruptly ends]

[Just Jim]

8 hours ago, Kerbart said:

If it's put in a retrograde orbit on a collision course with a space station, it'll be quite dangerous! Yet somehow I envision you mean another kind of danger. A sinister kind of danger. Could it be. No. Wait. Aaaargh! Stop! Stoooooooo... [Transmission abruptly ends]

 

Hmmmm.... another transmission mysteriously cut off?
Oh well, I'm sure it's just a coincidence...

OK, so I got all the new ships and other stuff built and in place, but I'm having a bit of a time with one particularly tricky docking... and it's getting late.
I need to stop for the night before I crash something into something else... 
Tomorrow morning I'll try again and then I'll have all the screenshots I need for the next chapter, and most for the chapter after that.

G'nite all...

 

 

[Just Jim]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 0:30 PM, Draconiator said:

How do you make a Doodlebug?  That thing looks like fun, I wanna try it heehee

After I post the next chapter I'll get into how it's made, OK?

And speaking of the next chapter... I love when the game hands me a freebie to play with. 
Which is what it did this morning.  Took a little longer getting the last screenshots I wanted, but I just had to follow up on it. 
I have to go out for an hour or so... two at the most.  When I get home I'll post the next chapter.

[RA3236]

1 minute ago, Just Jim said:

After I post the next chapter I'll get into how it's made, OK?

And speaking of the next chapter... I love when the game hands me a freebie to play with. 
Which is what it did this morning.  Took a little longer getting the last screenshots I wanted, but I just had to follow up on it. 
I have to go out for an hour or so... two at the most.  When I get home I'll post the next chapter.

Great!

@Draconiator look closely at it, then build it yourself! It is always challenging to reverse-engineer a ship made by someone else (*suddenly thinks about Buran shuttle*)

[Cydonian Monk]

On March 4, 2016 at 8:17 AM, Kuzzter said:

However, I once heard about a fanfic on a forum.... had to do with an unexpectedly broad range of monochromatic paint options.

In contrast to stories featuring a select number of ways to not use paint, it was not uncommon for old pen-and-paper RPG publishers back in the yon distant days of the 1990s to publish selections of their better fan fiction into compilations. (I may even own a few.) Obviously the author was consulted and compensated, however marginally, but it was one somewhat non-traditional method for genre authors to get published (and occasionally get hired). The flood of such content on internet forums and the increasingly high costs of print have largely killed that off.

 

And hey - Congrats to @Just Jim on TOTM!

[Mister Dilsby]

11 minutes ago, Cydonian Monk said:

In contrast to stories featuring a select number of ways to not use paint, it was not uncommon for old pen-and-paper RPG publishers back in the yon distant days of the 1990s to publish selections of their better fan fiction into compilations. 

Oh yes, I had a couple of ideas published in "Grimtooth's Traps" when I was a teenager back in the 80s. All I got was a free copy of the paperback, and huuuuge geek cred at the D&D table  

[Just Jim]

It's quiet.... too quiet..... excellent.....

 

Chapter 35
    Chariot Into Darkness   

 

As morning dawned over the Space Center, Gene and Kerenna Kerman stood on the end of the runway and watched the sun rise over the ocean.

Kerenna sighed, "I am so going to miss this."

Gene smiled sadly, but said nothing. It had been nearly 12 years now since KASA had been founded, and almost 7 since Karenna's almost disastrous encounter with Thompberry Kerman. And in those years, Gene had grown very fond of Kerenna, and looked upon her like a daughter. The Space Center just wouldn't be the same without her. He was going to miss her smiling face terribly, but this was for the best, and they both knew it.

The sun continued to rise as they stood there, until the peace was interrupted by the sound of Dr. von Kerman's voice coming from their rovers radio. "Gene... Gene Kerman, are you receiving?"

Walking over to the rover, Gene replied, "Yes, I'm here."

"Gene, you should come over to the tracking station, something fascinating has just happened with one of the new Chariots."

"Let me guess," Gene asked, "The Pol Chariot again?"

"No, not Pol this time," von Kerman's voice sounded excited, "Bop."

"Bop?" Now it was Gene's turn to sound surprised, "We'll be right there."

And with that Gene and Kerenna climbed back aboard the small rover and drove to the tracking station. As they headed over, Gene thought about the new Chariots. The Chariot-V was by far their best heavy rover, similar in design to it's predecessors, but also improving on the past models. They had proven invaluable in exploring Duna and Ike, and the newest two were surveying both Bop and Pol, the two best candidates in the Jool system to set up a mining colony.

This design doubled the number of forward and rear thrusters, and most notably added both standard and junior topside docking ports. The standard docking port was in the slim chance they encountered a saucer like the old Alpha-77 encounter. In the years since Alpha-77 powered down, there had been no sign of any others, but on different occasions Alpha-77 had mentioned earlier models. So in the off chance one of these should be found, the new Chariot-V had a docking port it could utilize.

The junior port was to accommodate a new Doodlebug-B. Similar to the original Doodlebug, this variant came equipped with various science test gear, and acted as a testing platform to explore places the rover itself could not go. Combined with the Chariot, it made a formidable explorer.

The other feature of the Chariot-V was it's ability to act autonomously; having one of KASA's most advanced probe cores. This allowed KASA to explore places like Pol and Bop robotically before a manned expedition was launched. And the more the Pol Chariot explored, the more Gene was thankful it was not manned.

While the readings being sent back were an ore-miners dream, Pol was, in fact, a nightmare. No matter where they looked, the moon seemed to be nothing but steep hills and valleys, all covered in horrific giant jagged spires of rock and crystal. No pilot, not even dare-devil Val, wanted to attempt a landing there.

Bop, on the other hand, seemed mostly devoid of large rocks and boulders, and a most inviting place to land. But the only places that showed significant signs of ore were near the northern polar regions, and so the Chariot was sent to survey these areas first.

When Gene and Kerenna arrived at the tracking station, they found Dr. von Kerman looking up at the central monitor, and read for themselves what the excitement was all about.

"An impact? And only 11 klicks away?" Gene whispered, "Amazing. I assume you've already plotted a course to investigate?"

"Already laid in," von Kerman smiled, "ETA is about 15 minutes."

Slowly rover drove out towards the site of the strange readings, all the while the crew at KASA growing more and more excited at the prospect of what they might discover. But as the mighty rover crested a small hill, and Jool shown brightly overhead, the radios and scanners suddenly gave out an earsplitting screech, and everything went dead.

"What happened?" Gene shouted, while technicians frantically tried to re-establish contact. But it was no use, they had lost contact. Gene looked at von Kerman in bewilderment.

"Perhaps," von Kerman frowned, "Perhaps whatever caused that event also caused the ground to become unstable. I am so sorry, old friend. This is my fault... we shouldn't have rushed into this."

Gene turned to his friend, "Don't blame yourself, my friend, it's OK. There was no-one on board, it's not the end of the world."

 

 

*          *          *

 

Or was it?

On Bop, the Chariot continued on as if nothing had occurred, until a large objest loomed in the distance.

And gibbering in glee, Thompberry Kerman expertly guided the Rover to a stop near his brain-pod.

It was Thompberry who sent out the false seismic readings, and subsequently cut the rover's signal. Thompberry who had been patiently tracking the rover since it's landing, and even provided the false ore readings that would lead it to him. Oh yes.... he had known and planned for this for years.... and bubbled in glee when he inspected the chariot and found the topside docking port.

Oh yes.... von Kerman... you fool..... my saucers have left their mark on you, and now.... now I will make you regret it.......

And with expert precision, Thompberry undocked from the useless Omega-77 capsule, floated over and docked himself to the waiting Chariot!

As the brain-pods electrodes connected to the rover, a staggering and completely unexpected surge of power ripped thru Thompberry, causing him to bubble in excitement. After years of being attached to a dead ship, Thompberry had almost fallen into a sort of dream state. But the Chariot, with it's massive engines and powerful fuel cells, brought Thompberry to a new level of awareness, and soon he was driving off as fast as the mighty wheels could handle.

For countless kilometers Thompberry pushed the rover, trying to understand what he was experiencing. This was totally different than driving in the conventional sense. All he had to do was think, and the rover instantly responded. It was as if he had become one with the rover. And the more he explored this sensation, the more connected he became. It truly felt as if he was running across the open plains, the miles passing beneath him, the sun warming his back......

SCREEEEEECCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.........................................

The realization hit him like a lightning bolt, and he hit the brakes so hard he almost flipped the massive rover.

How could he feel the sun on his back?

As the Chariot rolled to a stop, Thompberry began to seriously examine his situation for the first time. This was so different than the old Omega-77 capsule, and much more advanced. Using the onboard cameras and microphones, he could see and hear in the conventional sense... but now there was more.

He definitely felt warmth, and..... wait.... was that... hunger?

Yes, he was actually hungry.

How very odd...... and there was still more. As he began to concentrate, he became aware of sound.... and feeling of vibrations. It was as if he could hear and feel Bop itself beneath him. And he began to understand... this Chariot came with state of the art scientific testing equipment... and it was this test equipment that was acting as additional senses!

I am the Chariot.... how delightful!!!

He had a thermometer, but didn't need to look at it.... instead he felt it like the warmth or cold against his former skin. He was hearing and feeling Bop's minute vibrations from his seismic sensors, and somehow he knew there was no atmosphere because he couldn't breath... Ahhhh... that must be the barometer. Then with a bubbling laugh, he realized the feelings of hunger were his fuel tanks slowly diminishing.

Oh.... this is grand.... just grand!!! 

And then he sensed one more thing.... a taste??? This one was truly odd, and he couldn't identify it, but it was definitely there; faint, subtle, almost drowned out by the others. But now that he had started to reason it out, it was a simple matter to turn down the other sensors and concentrate on this newer, more mysterious one.

It was definitely a taste... and a smell????? Not unpleasant.... and not far away. Homing onto where he felt it was coming from, Thompberry slowly guided the Chariot forward, and soon found a small rocky area nestled in the side of a mountain. This was the first area he had encountered with any sizable rocks, but he didn't think much of it, until he passed close to one.... and tasted it!

It wasn't the same taste he had been following, but it was similar, only much fainter. And only when he was a couple meters from it could he taste anything at all, and it was much too faint to tell what it was. But now he was intrigued, and moved on forward towards some more rocks..... and tasted those as well!

Then, as he crested a small raise, he located his target, a magic boulder floating nearly a meter from the surface, and absolutely the source of the strange taste.

As he drew close, the taste began almost overwhelming, and realization hit him..... the rock was emitting massive amounts of gravioli particles!

Gravioli..... I can taste gravioli..... ooh.... this is rich...... this is brilliant!!!!!!

Pulling to a stop a few meters from the floating boulder, ideas began to form in his demented brain... twisted, horrible ideas... dark and full of revenge...

I can taste gravioli.... feel it.... <gurgle> If I can learn it's secrets... harness the gravioli particle itself.... ohhhhhh....... yessssssss......

Hours passed and the sun began to set slowly..... and Thompberry studied the rock. Slowly the gloom gathered, and Thompberry studied the rock.....

Night fell, and Thompberry studied the rock....

Yes, my little gravioli rock friend... yesss... I will learn your secrets... rip them from you if I must... I will possess the power of the gravioli particle.... bend gravity itself to my will..... bwaahahahahaha  <gurgle> And when I do, my little floating friend... when I do.... <gurgle> I will rip Emiko itself from her orbit, and hurl her down onto the helpless fools in KASA.... and that arrogant wench Piper... Oh, Piper.... you who thwarted and laid low my plans... You, my dear, I have a special punishment in store for you... As Emiko burns into the Kerbin atmosphere, your helpless body will be lashed to your precious station... and you will burn... do you hear me???  BURN!!!!

And then.... then... hahahahaha <gurgle> hahahaha.... Then all of Kerbin will bow to me!!!!!!

 

 

*          *          *

 

Back at Mun Colony Alpha, in her cabin on the end by the huge boulder, the Rocklady woke for a horrible nightmare... and realized it wasn't a dream.... and she began to weep...

Then she began to scream... and scream.... and scream.....

 

 

The Saga of Emiko Station is far, far from over....

Go to Chapter 36
Return to Index

Edited December 7, 2019 by Just Jim

[Just Jim]

Oh.... and stay tuned.... the next chapter we'll discover what's up with Kerenna..... 

Same Kerb time...
Same Kerb channel....

[Geschosskopf]

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

And gibbering in glee, Thompberry Kerman expertly guided the Rover to a stop near his brain-pod.

Heheheheh, you said "gibbering", heheheh

1 hour ago, Just Jim said:

Back at Mun Colony Alpha, in her cabin on the end by the huge boulder, the Rock-lady woke for a horrible nightmare... and realized it wasn't a dream.... and she began to weep...

Then she began to scream... and scream.... and scream.....

Uh oh, Thompberry made a big mistake there

[GDJ]

Well, this story has gotten dark.

Black hole dark.

Keep up the good work. Have you been reading Ludlum or King for inspiration?

[Just Jim]

17 minutes ago, GDJ said:

Well, this story has gotten dark.

Black hole dark.

Keep up the good work. Have you been reading Ludlum or King for inspiration?

Lovecraft....

And hey, every good adventure needs a really dark super-villain threatening to take over the universe... don't they???  

I just invented mine!  bwaahahahaha   

Edited March 9, 2016 by Just Jim

[Crystal_Mace]

On 3/5/2016 at 5:53 AM, Kuzzter said:

From Wiki: Personally, I think it's the retired badminton player.

People[edit]

• Emiko Kado (門 恵美子, 1976-1999), Japanese professional wrestler
• Emiko Miyamoto (宮本 恵美子, born 1937), Japanese volleyball player who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics
• Emiko Odaka (小高 笑子, born 1962), former Japanese volleyball player competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics where she won a bronze medal
• Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, American anthropologist
• Emiko Raika (来家 恵美子, born 1975), Japanese professional boxer
• Emiko Shinohara (篠原 恵美子, born 1963), a Japanese voice actress who has voiced many well known anime characters including Sailor Jupiter in Sailor Moon R: The Movie, and Sailor Moon S: The Movie, and Kaho Mizuki in Cardcaptor Sakura
• Emiko Shiratori (白鳥 英美子, born 1950), Japanese singer and songwriter
• Emiko Suzuki (鈴木 絵美子, born 1981), a synchronized swimmer from Saitama, Japan who competed in both the 2004, and the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Emiko Uematsu (植松 恵美子, born 1967), Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan and a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet
• Emiko Ueno (植野恵美子, born 1957), retired Japanese female badminton player

Fictional characters[edit]

• Emiko Niwa (丹羽 笑子), a fictional character from the Japanese manga series D.N.Angel
• Emiko Yamane (山根 恵美子), a character in the 1954 film Godzilla
• Emiko, a main character in the science fiction novel The Windup Girl

Knowing you.....has to be the character from Godzilla '54! 

Edited March 9, 2016 by Crystal_Mace
Sloppy sentance structure.

[KSK]

OK, if we didn't know it before we do now. This guy is definitely a couple of cans short of a six-pack. And he's lost the plastic thingy that holds them all together...

[Crystal_Mace]

AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

(Sorry...I panicked.....)

Thompberry is reminding me of Donovan....from the movie "Donovan's Brain", not the guy who wrote "When You Go to San Francisco", though HE's kind of weird in his OWN right....this guy is actually downright menacing! 

I'm getting scared for Piper.  It was one thing when he was obsessed with abducting Jandolin Kerman, but now his motivation is cold, inhuman vengeance....:O

Cold?  No longer having a living body with all it's personality driving hormones, he's become a heartless thing, less likely to be driven into errors by feelings.

And he has access to the cutting edge in exploratory tech.....

I may panic again.....

Edited March 10, 2016 by Crystal_Mace
Left out the name Jandolin by accident

[kookoo_gr]

Wow, i am really scared of Thompberry right now, keep up the great work.

[Mister Dilsby]

[Stefan Kerman voice]: This episode has everything--conveniently located dorsal docking ports--updated doodlebugs--disemkerbaled brains--evil sentient rovers with a taste for gravioli--and menace, menace, MENACE!

[GDJ]

10 hours ago, KSK said:

OK, if we didn't know it before we do now. This guy is definitely a couple of cans short of a six-pack. And he's lost the plastic thingy that holds them all together...

Dude, his head is in the toilet and he's blowing bubbles, and licking rocks.

Stark Raving Insane.

Oh, and on a side note, the kids are probably old enough now to start flight training.......

Edited March 9, 2016 by GDJ