DMSP-The beginning of a space program. [Final Chapter] Chapter 33-When the clock hits zero.

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

ENCRYPTION/DECRYPTION CODE 775-A39-00030BNM6665

TRANSMISSION FROM : FOLUS COMMAND

TO : BUZZSAW AEROSPACE COMMAND

READY ALL COMBAT AIRCRAFT. FULL PAYLOADS. LOAD FIVE B-5'S WITH NUCLEAR WARHEADS ALERT LEVEL 11
EVACUATE ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL FROM MAIN BASE AT [REDACTED]
SET [REDACTED]'S POINT DEFENCE BATTERIES TO ALERT LEVEL 9

KATAX UNION AIRCRAFT ARE TO BE WATCHED FOR ESPECIALLY

ACTIVATE FOLUS AIR FORCE RESERVE. DEPLOY TO [REDACTED]

PREPARE F/I-15'S FOR DEFENCE OF [REDACTED] ALERT LEVEL 8

ACTIVATE 1ST, 5TH, AND 78TH PARATROOP BATTALIONS ALERT LEVEL 11

ACTIVATE FOLUS MARINES 1ST, 2ND, AND 4TH CORPS ALERT 9

PREPARE CRUISERS HAILSTORM, SANDSTORM, AND ICE STORM TO SAIL. FULL WARTIME ARMS ALERT LEVEL 10

ACTIVATE SCREAMER VII ICBMS. ALERT LEVEL 9

SET TVK SPACE TELESCOPE TO WATCH FOR MOBILIZATION FROM KATAX UNION. THE CODE IS 37-[REDACTED]-769-3308

ACTIVATE THE LOKI OBS SATELLITES. ALERT LEVEL 7

WE WILL STAND WITH KOLONIA

WE WILL PROTECT OUR HOME

WE WILL FIGHT TO THE END

THE TIME HAS COME

THIS IS WAR

 

END TRANSMISSION

Edited July 31, 2016 by OrbitalBuzzsaw

[DaMachinator]

The Minmus Triumph 200-kiloton-dry-weight mega-station is under construction in Bay 9. It will be capable of in-orbit construction of massive craft, and is designed to be supported by mining operations on the moon below. Supports a crew of 36 kerbals. 20 of these will be employed permanently in the construction process, the others serve to crew the ships once built. It is expandable by use of the 2.5m docking ports positioned strategically, and includes many 1.25m and .625m ports for docking of smaller craft.

[OT]The design is based on a MASSIVE extraplanetary launchpads station I made for construction of interplanetary exploration vessels.

Edited July 29, 2016 by DaMachinator

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

On July 28, 2016 at 11:32 AM, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

ENCRYPTION/DECRYPTION CODE 775-A39-00030BNM6665

TRANSMISSION FROM : FOLUS COMMAND

TO : BUZZSAW AEROSPACE COMMAND

READY ALL COMBAT AIRCRAFT. FULL PAYLOADS. LOAD FIVE B-5'S WITH NUCLEAR WARHEADS ALERT LEVEL 11
EVACUATE ALL NON-ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL FROM MAIN BASE AT [REDACTED]
SET [REDACTED]'S POINT DEFENCE BATTERIES TO ALERT LEVEL 9

KATAX UNION AIRCRAFT ARE TO BE WATCHED FOR ESPECIALLY

ACTIVATE FOLUS AIR FORCE RESERVE. DEPLOY TO [REDACTED]

ACTIVATE 1ST, 5TH, AND 78TH PARATROOP BATTALIONS ALERT LEVEL 11

PREPARE CRUISERS HAILSTORM, SANDSTORM, AND ICE STORM TO SAIL. FULL WARTIME ARMS ALERT LEVEL 10

ACTIVATE SCREAMER VII ICBMS. ALERT LEVEL 9

SET TVK SPACE TELESCOPE TO WATCH FOR MOBILIZATION FROM KATAX UNION. THE CODE IS 37-[REDACTED]-769-3308

ACTIVATE THE LOKI OBS SATELLITES. ALERT LEVEL 7

WE WILL FIGHT WITH KOLONIA WHEN THE TIME COMES

THIS IS WAR

 

END TRANSMISSION

Don't forget to prepare air defense fighters! Prepare a full mobilization of ground troops, and all warships!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Emperor of the Titan Squid
Punctuation error

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

ENCRYPT-DECRYPT CODE 8884K0993-JJJS88873

TO : FOLUS COMMAND

FROM : BUZZSAW AEROSPACE COMMAND

HAILSTORM AND SANDSTORM HAVE SAILED. ICE STORM IS HAVING ENGINE TROUBLE

ALL FORCES ARE ON STANDBY

WE ARE ACTIVATING THE OBLITERATOR MECHAS ALERT LEVEL 11

THE TVKST SHOWS NINE KATAX NAVY CRUISERS AND FOURTEEN DESTROYERS PREPARING TO SAIL

IT IS TIME

END TRANSMISSION

 

[DMSP]

It's been a great run guys. It's been a joy writing this story, and I have loved every comment. Thank you for reading when the writing was bad, thank you for sticking through gaps between chapters, and thank you for all the support you have given me.

On that note, I shall conclude this story with this slightly longer chapter. Thanks again guys.

Chapter 33-When the clock hits zero.

The space program was now struggling. The SPH staff had been mostly relieved of duty. Time was running out. The space program prepared, now running on the lowest amount of funds in 260 days, dedicated the last of them to the construction of two Resurgence lifters, one Butane lifter, and one Artemis-A.

The first up was a Resurgence. It was destined for Minmus, and carried two spacecraft, a Minmus Lander, along with a Minmus crew orbiter. It would make the lives of the crew headed to Minmus a lot easier.

Almost everybody watched this launch, as it was the only night launch of a Resurgence yet. They stared in awe at the brilliant Blue and Purple flamed coming out of the vectors.

It was sad to see it go.

Within an hour of liftoff, the spacecraft was rearranged into its Minmus transfer arrangement. The idea was that if there was any difficulty on the main transfer engine, a secondary one could ignite and still save the craft. There could be no mistakes.

And they got lucky. The Minmus Transfer Stack was on its way.

Two days later, at the destination of the most recent launch, Minmus Home had reached periapsis. It slipped silently towards the ice, warming up its Engine, which then ignited in a brilliant flame. There was no one to see it, but it was still quite a sight.

Minmus Home pulled safely into a parking orbit, inclined, but not eccentric any more.

Only a couple minutes later, the craft made another burn, stabilizing the base's orbit and making it equatorial.

Then the descent began.

It was silent above the Moon, the two metal objects falling towards the surface. One slowly tumbled, the other, it corrected itself, and slowly, made light burns, to slow the fall to the surface.

The fall itself was as slow as anything. Minutes ticked by as the surface only got meters closer.

But eventually, the surface caught up with the spacecraft. The transfer stage hit the ground.

Minmus Home ignited its engines.

And, only a kilometer away from Mina-2, touched down on the frozen lake, its skycrane detaching and slowly floating upwards.

Mission control broke out in joy. There were tears, hugs, laughing. The first base on another world. It was funny that there was such a base before even a lander got there.

After 120 days of waiting on the surface, Mina-2 had a friend.

And so the three spacecraft waited for their people.

 

Gene tapped his leg furiously as the elevator went up the last few stories to the top of the mission control tower. He stepped inside to see that half the people were looking out the west windows, trying to fixate on something. The other half were clustered around a select few screens. Only one was at the radio station, furiously tapping away at her keyboard and saying something into her headset.

Nobody noticed Gene walk in, so he made his was towards the lone Kerbal.

He heard her say; "-Rman, please respond. You are entering uncleared into KSC airspace. Return to Black Krags immediately. Gerfred Kerman, Gerfred Kerman, please respond, over.

He tapped her. "What is going on? What is Gerfred doing?"

"He's headed straight for our ai-. Hold on. Radio message."

"This is Gerfred Kerman. Fut Es Huten Kij."

"There he is!" someone yelled. Immediately everybody was fixated on a point in the sky.

"Oh my god..." The radio controlled whispered.

Some Kerbals had gotten out in time, the ones near the doors. The collision rocked the whole building almost immediately, causing the internal support struts to snap like matchsticks. The fall was almost instant.

Many Kerbals were still inside when the building fell.

They watched it burn in horror. Screams filled the air, as flaming fuel caught fire and burnt the place down.

The fires lasted through the night.

When they finally were put out the next morning, the crisp husk of the building still stood. 497 had lost their lives. It was the worst disaster in not only the program's history, but in the pursuit of Science itself.

The space center was silent the next day, the Butane launch was called off. Staff went home.

The next day, operations were mostly back to normal, except for the fact 61 Kerbals didn't show up.

Out at Minmus, the double spacecraft stack captured, hundreds of kilometers above the cosmic snowball.

It sunk down over the course of two days, and finally, reaching down to just 35 kilometers above, ignited its engine and burnt into a circular inclined orbit.

The lander then separated from the orbiter, and began its descent on the way down. One Kerbal, who had entered the naming competition for the craft two days before, won with the names "The Mule" and "Orbital Overseer". He had been the only Kerbal who had had time to enter his entry before the disaster.

The Mule worked its way down from orbit, loaded with parts for the construction of a scientific station, along with parts for two satellites.

It landed for a few seconds, slightly off target, causing controllers to ignite its engine again and send it flying towards Minmus Home.

Soon, The Mule was landed at the base, becoming the newest edition in a growing series of spacecraft on the icy flats. Few were happy though. It was getting hard, and people were realizing it.

That night, with no other option, Jeb, Val, Bill and Bob, aboard the Command Station in LKO, sent a request to mission control to head out to Minmus.

They got a response three hours later. They were free to go.

The first Kerbals off to another world, inside a station about as big as a small apartment, with nothing but a small reentry vehicle meant for atmospheric landings.

And yet they went off. The four onboard were leaving behind a planet in tatters, struggling between the grasps of powers, with civilization all based underground. Maybe it was time to find a new home. A home.

The day afterwards, a Butane carrying the Emergency Hard drive lifted off. It was almost an exact copy of Mina-2, except made to learn from the mistakes of the former.

The rover would hopefully become the scout for the Minmus Base, sighting new places to collect data and explore. It would also be a time to test out the rover ramp, to see if it actually would have worked. Some Kerbals had staked bets, but most hadn't.

They didn't want to risk money in the situation they were now in.

Within an orbit, the Emergency Harddrive was off.

It contained all of the data, science, and plans that the program had ever come up with. In many cases, the only copies were stored on the spacecraft. It would be safer in the stars.

 

The second to last prepared rocket was a exact copy of the Artemis-A flown dozens of days ago, so it was unoriginally named Artemis-B. The spacecraft, carrying three Kerbals, Megra, Marmy, and Sammin, would take off, and head into LKO, to await a final launch of a transfer spacecraft which would take them onwards to Minmus.

Only seconds after liftoff, the rocket began to pitch east far more rapidly then wanted. The ground crew watched as it made it to 45 degrees East, and only at 2,600 meters. Eventually, skimming the lower atmosphere, the first stage motors burnt out, and the second stage ignited, being manually controlled to get the spacecraft away.

Soon, a second stage failure occurred, and propellant was visibly leaking from the tank. The only chance was to abort.

They were heading straight for the Lenorst Union of Workers.

Sammin, upon hearing this, decided, against the wishes of his two crewmates, to bail to orbit with his EVA suit.

Leaving the capsule behind, he made orbit, only using 1/6 of his fuel. Now he had to wait.

Artemis-B hit the atmosphere of the Lenorst Union, and soon after, landed under parachute in the meadows.

With nothing they could do for their friends, who were now certainly in the hands of the Katax Union, the space program had one thing to do. Save Sammin, and bring more modules to Minmus orbit.

This launch, now seemed like it would be the last. Not a single fund was left for the KSC, and time had simply caught up on them. That was it.

Every television station still active was broadcasting the launch of this spacecraft. There were no smiles. Only tears.

The rocket soon made orbit. Marking the final Kerbin activity of the KSC over.

That day, at 4:00:00 exactly, the space program officially shut down. The staff were sent home, apart from a select few, who had to finish one last task.

Sammin, meanwhile, was running low on water. Not oxygen, water.

Spaceflight was thirsty.

Eventually though, his target was a visible speck. He was going to make it.

Taking one last look out at the stars, and then his planet below him, he cycled the airlock, and climbed inside.

It was soon on its way.

The space program was over.

Sammin days later, looked down at the planet that was once a home. A safe place.

Kolonia was once the greatest nation in the world.

Now it didn't exist.

 

Kolonia had collapsed. With no other choice, Gene made the decision. If there was no saving this program, no other nation could use their work.

Explosives detonated across the KSC.

The empty buildings fell, along with the data stored in them.

Nobody would take their work.

Soon, the final ones detonated. The SPH fell.

And it was over.

Two old friends stood on the taxiway near the runway, where once, planes had flown before, taking to the skies to explore.

"So that's it?" Wernher asked. "we're done, no more program? What about the five on Minmus?"

Gene pondered for a minute. "On paper, we're finished. Nothing more. I'd like to say sorry, now, that we never got to Duna. I know... I know it was your dream."

Wernher nodded looking out at the burnt remains of buildings, now just waste, now just rubble.

"There's always a chance we can start again." Gene Continued, "we still have Cratery Coast and Scay Ospad with us. Air launched rockets, what do you think?" Gene looked upwards, trying to find Minmus. He couldn't find it, but kept searching.

Wernher looked around again. "They're probably arriving at Minmus now, eh?"

Gene nodded. It had been the correct amount of days since the transfer.

"They're probably slipping into orbit now."

"Arriving silently, alone, in the darkness."

"They're probably setting up the Command Station. They're probably docking the multitude of craft in orbit."

"They've probably met up by now, all of them, safely together."

"They've landed the Emergency Harddrive by now, taken the rover out."

"And now, now they're probably falling towards Minmus."

"They'll land. It will be a huge accomplishment. They'll be in awe."

"But they'll get to work. They'll set up their base, get it working."

"They'll launch their satellites."

"Scout the area."

"But most importantly, they'll survive. They will make it out on that icy blue rock, under the raw light of Kerbol, until they know. They will know."

"And they will come home."

Gene finally found Minmus in the sky. Wernher, seeing this, smiled. He tapped Gene, who turned around, towards the waiting Supersonic X-15. Its engines had just finished spooling up.

Wernher looked at his friend. "Let's go."

And, leaving the disaster and mess behind, they took off towards the east, where rockets had once marked the sky.

Now, it was only marked with the trail of the lone aircraft, and the ghosts of the rockets before.

Edited July 31, 2016 by DMSP

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

ENCRYPT/DECRYPT CODE GR9993-IIIKD33349-JD4

FROM  : FOLUS COMMAND

TO : BUZZSAW COMMAND

STRIKE THE KATAX CAPITAL. NUCLEAR WARHEADS FROM THE LOKI ORBITAL BOMBARDMENT SYSTEM

ALL MILITARY ELEMENTS ARE ON ALERT 14

PREPARE TO LAUNCH 2 MK1 SUPERHEAVY LIFTER WITH BASE MODULES TO MINMUS TO SUPPORT THE BASE AND A BIGGER STATION FOR PERMANENT HABITATION

WE WILL AVENGE KOLONIA

IT MAY BE THE FINAL FIGHT

BUT WE WILL PREVAIL

DEMOCRACY MUST BE UPHELD

THE WAR IS HERE

END TRANSMISSION

Edited July 31, 2016 by OrbitalBuzzsaw

[Angelo Kerman]

So sad to see your story end, but it was a great read. Thanks for sharing!

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

10 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

So sad to see your story end, but it was a great read. Thanks for sharing!

@DMSP is it the end? It's "The Beginning Of A Space Program" and I remember you saying that there would be a second part or something.

Edited August 1, 2016 by OrbitalBuzzsaw

[Just Jim]

1 hour ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

@DMSP is it the end? It's "The Beginning Of A Space Program" and I remember you saying that there would be a second part or something.

 

It was a really, really good ending, albeit a little dark... which is fine by me!!!  
But yeah, it's also begging for a sequel... 

Edited August 1, 2016 by Just Jim

[Andem]

It all started so... innocently. A few kerbs, a friendly competition between colleagues... to end with... a nuclear war and an abandoned colony on minmus...

 

Thank you, @DMSP, for writing this incredible work.

 

 

[DMSP]

@OrbitalBuzzsaw, let's not totally destroy civilization, alright?  

@Angel-125, Thank you. It has been an honor writhing this story.

@OrbitalBuzzsaw, (again ) for now, TBOASP is over. We'll see on what comes next.

@Just Jim, It's a pleasure to hear that coming from you. Thank you for reading, and maybe, maybe there will be one.

@Andem, Yeah. The Nuclear War hasn't happened (yet) but it did end awfully. That's what happens when you live in a country that loves war...

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

So if there is a sequel, will be "the middle of a space program?"

[DMSP]

26 minutes ago, Emperor of the Titan Squid said:

So if there is a sequel, will be "the middle of a space program?"

Who knows? That seems a bit to bland for my taste, though.  

[SpaceplaneAddict]

Just as I finished an airstriker jet. Hehehehehehehe...

Hey, I wonder where that lifter I have you went?

Edited August 1, 2016 by SpaceplaneAddict

[DMSP]

26 minutes ago, SpaceplaneAddict said:

Just as I finished an airstriker jet. Hehehehehehehe...

Hey, I wonder where that lifter I have you went?

Wel, unfortunately the program collapsed before I could use it. Sorry!

[SpaceplaneAddict]

8 hours ago, DMSP said:

Wel, unfortunately the program collapsed before I could use it. Sorry!

I can always sell it to neighboring countries.... *devilish look* my ahahaha haha!

*Insanity.

[Raptor9]

It's always sad for a story to end, no matter what medium it comes in.

[Plecy75]

i wish that we had gotten around to using that space station or that ore scanner that i sent over, that would have been nice

[DMSP]

5 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

It's always sad for a story to end, no matter what medium it comes in.

Let's hope that more is just around the corner!

5 hours ago, Plecy75 said:

i wish that we had gotten around to using that space station or that ore scanner that i sent over, that would have been nice

Yeah, sorry about that. It's that darn Kolonia Financial Collapsing!

[UnusualAttitude]

The end of this story does certainly set you up for an interesting sequel...

But whatever you choose to do, I will be looking forward to it.

[Plecy75]

11 hours ago, DMSP said:

Yeah, sorry about that. It's that darn Kolonia Financial Collapsing!

well, maybe it could be used in the next series!

[DMSP]

9 hours ago, UnusualAttitude said:

The end of this story does certainly set you up for an interesting sequel...

But whatever you choose to do, I will be looking forward to it.

Well, we'll see what's next. And thank you. It makes me very happy to know that!

2 hours ago, Plecy75 said:

well, maybe it could be used in the next series!

Maybe! Who knows...

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

So what makes the reusable booster fly back?

 

[Geschosskopf]

On 8/2/2016 at 2:38 AM, DMSP said:

Let's hope that more is just around the corner!

Well, you could always do a remake of Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress featuring Minmus, the progeny of those who initially went there,  whoever else got there independently, and the maybe-not-malevalent AI and its access to the Backup HD of Power.. ..  Just an idea

 

 

[OrbitalBuzzsaw]

ENCRYPT-DECRYPT CODE 887474JD-JDJD3939393KJDIU

TO : FOLUS COMMAND

FROM : BUZZSAW COMMAND

THE KATAX CAPITAL IS A RADIOACTIVE CRATER.

THEIR WARSHIPS ARE TRAPPED

OPERATIVES ARE EN ROUTE TO NEGOTIATE THEIR SURRENDER.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE KSC IS SAFE. OUR KIND WILL CONTINUE AMONG THE STARS

THE SUPPLIES FOR THE BASE WILL LAND AT 04.33 PKZ TOMORROW

THE STATION EXPANSION. UNFORTUNATELY, HAD A REACTOR MELTDOWN AND WAS DESTROYED

BUT THE STATION IS STILL BIG

THEY WILL SURVIVE

IT IS WON