A Legend of Space Kerbals (AAR): Episode 3/Interlude 04

[ElJugador]

PROLOGUE: FIRST FLIGHT, SQUARED.

The year is Kerbin Combat Century 0067₍₁₎. It has been over six and a half decades since the disastrous Atomic Conflict. Kerbal society has experienced a strong recovery. Under the aegis of the United Nations of Kerbin's loose world government, economic growth and technological progress are at an all-time high. Global trade is vigorous. Illness, injustice, crime, and all sorts of wrongs and problems are on the decline thanks to these conditions. Travel has been mastered by Kerbalkind, thanks to the combustion engine. With it and the pneumatic wheel, land travel is no longer exhausting and timeconsuming. With it and the propeller, sea travel has become a major fixture of world trade and transport; even the skies have been conquered as air travel is commonplace thanks to the combustion engine. However, there yet remains one final frontier.

Space. The black void that lies beyond Kerbin's atmosphere. It has been subject to the wandering speculations of dreamers and discussion of scholars since time immemorial; but it has been so far inaccessible, and many say impossible, for Kerbals. However, with great expectations, the United Nations of Kerbin, that same government which has spearheaded the effort to rebuild global Kerbal civilization, will embark on a grand effort to reach out to this final frontier. Those brave engineers, scientists, and pilots who it falls to to push the last frontier beyond Kerbin are technically called Kerbonauts, but they are much more popularly known as...

SPACE KERBALS.

_{(1) Kerbin Combat Century, signifying the number of years after the Atomic War.}

(This time, I'm confident I have what it takes to go through with this. Again: Cydonian Monk and Czokletmuss were my primary inspirations here in terms of layout and design, but I'm a horrific procrastinator and am still somewhat inexperienced. Reverting flights and resurrecting crews have been disabled for this playthrough. I start off with 150,000 roots and 1,000 science, so as to avoid that early grind. KCT and Kerbal Alarm are my primary mods, and I will be noting them as I implement them.)

INDEX OF INSTALLMENTS:

1.1.3/KCC 0067

OPENING THEME

Prologue (you just read this. unless you're a filthy skimmer.)

Episode 1: Climbing the Summit/Interlude 01: Dunking the Ball (just after this)

Interlude 02: Whirling Around/Episode 2: Doing the Hula (just after episode 1)

Interlude 03: Around Again/Episode 3: A Slightly Bigger Hoop(e) (just after episode 2)

------

Edited August 3, 2016 by ElJugador
minor formatting fix

[ElJugador]

EPISODE 1: CLIMBING THE SUMMIT

The first Summit flight was meant to be on New Year's Day 0067. But some last-minute research led Gene and Wernher Kerman to convince the UNK's administration to push it back in exchange for making Summit-I more ambitious. "Just a few more modifications," Gene pleaded with the bureaucrats, "and we can take it outside the atmosphere entirely! See, this design, although theoretical, has a Delta-Vee of about two thousand four hundred.." As a result, its launch date was pushed back by 41 days of hectic research and 8 days of rushed manufacture and assembly. Thus, it was in the late afternoon of Day 49 of 0067 that it actually flew. Jebediah, Pilot Zero, the world's first Space Kerbal and darling of media the world over, was selected. Summit-I was a small, unassuming, suborbital rocket, designed simply to defeat gravity enough to reach space for a few fleeting minutes.

"Roger. Summit-I, you're good to go!" Gene's voice boomed, but audibly crackling from the cheap speakers. Under it, other Mission Control personnel, media personalities, and spectators could be heard shouting phrases of encouragement.

Jeb simply smiled, hit the engine ignition key to his right and floored the lever--

The first feeling he had was a roar outside of the rocket and the G-forces, pressing him down. It was like having another entire Kerbal sitting on his chest. However, he retained control of the stick and could still see the navball clearly. >BANG<. The roar mostly died away: he had breached the sound barrier. The air around the rocket burned bright red and he felt as if the entire capsule was warming up. The ascent was rather touch-and-go: alarms whined that the fins around the barrel of the rocket itself were starting to overheat. He let up on the throttle and the feeling of pressure vanished. Soon, the flames did as well. He could hear Gene's voice crackle with a triumphant tone over his helmet speaker. "..passed the atmosphere and Tracking says he's got an apoapsis of 222 kilometers! He did it!" The cheers of everyone on the ground were almost as clear.

Now he sailed easily over Kerbin, only stopping to write his thoughts on the view and talk to ground for a moment. He simply embraced the feelings of weightlesness around him. However, another, tense, harsh, accented voice sounded over the speakers. "Du.. Your apoepsess is too high for ze kraft, Jeb! Push eet down!" Wernher. He's probably right, too, Jeb recalled. There's a limit to how fast the Summit's capsule can slow down. Remember your training. He used the Summit's reaction wheels to orient the vessel down and burned with what little fuel he had left. After he had spent it all, he decoupled the booster. I've done everything I can. I just have to sight tight and hope it's enough.

After that, the coast to his new, lowered apoapsis of 175 kilometers was brief, and his descent even briefer. He started thinking of what would happen if he had died, but brushed it off. The actual reentry was incredibly intense: it took him almost the entire atmosphere to slow down enough to use his chutes. It took another tense moment for them to reef open.

After another seemingly endless minute, Summit-I's capsule splashed down softly in the Meridian Sea. Cheers, then static from the speakers. The recovery ship's horn blared in the distance. Catastrophe had been averted. Jebediah had become the first true Space Kerbal.

Note: (+Kerbal Engineer added!)

Edited August 2, 2016 by ElJugador

[ElJugador]

INTERLUDE 01: Dunking the Ball

"Nein. >crunching< Nein. Aaaaargh, why must it be zo diffikult to reach orbit with this teknology?" Wernher sat frustratedly at his desk, throwing away design after design. The 3500 m/s limit was seemingly impossible to reach with what little talent the UNK had mustered for the space program. In addition, it would be twelve days before the launchpad could be expanded to accomodate larger and heavier vehicles. Adding that to the construction time, it would likely be two weeks, at a minimum, until the Hoop program could begin. Jeb was in recovery. Although he was almost completely cool and unfazed, Walt had his hands full trying to play down the narrowly-averted catastrophe and putting the spotlight on the expert flying of Pilot Number Zero. Limitations whapped him at every frustrating turn. The UNK's bureaucracy, despite all their talk, simply didn't want to commit so many resources to them. The program had been undermanned and underfunded from the start, and Wernher felt as though it would only keep getting worse as more demand was placed on the program. If only the R&D folks could get work done faster. If only they had enough cash to expand the VAB's cranes and equipment. If only they could get approval from the government, they could secure more contracts and more cash. If only. If only. If only. For now, everything crushed him and nothing went right...

Edited August 2, 2016 by ElJugador

[ElJugador]

(Mods added: +EVE +Scatterer +TextureReplacer +PlanetShine, although it's not working)

Interlude 02: Whirling Around

It had been 32 days, almost to the minute, since Jeb made his historic flight aboard the Summit-I. Only one flight, and the Summit program had already ended. The Hoop program was the next big thing, and the media were all over it once again thanks to the tidbits of information Walt parceled out to them during the break. The R&D department had designed a slew of new equipment and was preparing for another round of work. One of the new engines, the LV-909 'Terrier', was incorporated into the Hoop's design. All Hoop rockets would use a standard configuration with minimal change, and thanks to this LV-909 and the BACC solid booster, Wernher and his team had been able to draft a new design which had plenty of Dv to get to Kerbin orbit, perform operations there, and return. Its price was also low: about 6,000 Roots. Better still, with the new refurbishing of the VAB/Launch Pad and upgrades performed to its rafters, cranes and boosts to its staff complement, much larger vessels could be constructed, faster. Things were finally looking up again for the initially-beleaguered UNK program, it seemed.

****

"What do you mean I don't get it?" Valentina, Pilot Number One, barely restrained herself from shouting in frustration at the Astronaut Center's manager, Derek Kerman. "He's already been there! He's already a spacekerb! Surely it wouldn't hurt to let me have the mission just this once?" Derek curtly replied, wearing a frown. "Look, I don't give a mulch about those lines Walt gave the media about you. Gene decided Jeb needs more flight time, Jeb will get his extra flight time. You'll get to go on the second Hoop flight and then you'll get to be the biggest girl on all of Kerbin and eat up all the attention. That's what Gene decided." "Bu--!"

Before Valentina or Derek could speak again, Linus barged into the conversation and addressed Val. "Actually, it's because of that new ranking system they came up with." "The new... ranking system?" she asked, now confused instead of angry. Derek was visibly frowning, but he didn't interrupt. "A systemic way of-- nevermind. See, Gene and some of my neuroscientist colleagues were in a brainstorming session about a Munth ago and they realized something: it's possible to quantify a Kerbal's exact experience with five discrete rankings. Each successive ranking means that the Kerbal's acquired new skills in their field. And we also found that different types of missions will give the pilots different amounts of experience." "That doesn't make much sense," Val was almost calm now, quiet and nearly muttering. "I mean, acquiring new skills hasn't really been observed to be a clear-cut process.."

Linus replied, "It is. That's what we've found. It's a little hard to believe, but it's true. It's a pretty revolutionary finding, too. Behavioral scientists, educators, and other neurologists are gonna be eating this up for years and figuring out everything it implies. Bottom line: Gene wants to get Jeb and you to one-star ratings, that's why he's holding you both out for orbital missions. We think orbital missions will get you up to about equal par." Valentina and Derek had been completely sidetracked by this talk and had almost forgotten about their spat when Derek said, trying to reinsert himself into the discussion. "Yeah. Bottom line, Val: You're not getting on Hoop-I. Just live with it for awhile, you'll get your fame almost immediately afterward." She was still annoyed, but was now more focused on Linus' explanation than her previous conversation.

Derek was struggling to get a single word in sideways, but Linus continued, "Oh, and Derek? Gene wants you to round up a couple more Kerbonauts for us. And he wants to expand the skillsets of Bill and Bo- I mean, Robert and William, too. We'll come up with something so they can accompany pilots on flights."
He lowered his voice to a whisper and addressed Valentina. "And one more thing, Val: don't tell anyone I told you, but you're on the special shortlist for any Mun or Minmus missions."

****

"AH!" The young engineer lost his balance for a moment and hobbled in pain. Somehow, he'd wandered too close to the rocket again, and his side had painfully grazed the metal skirt above the BACC's nozzle, again. He glanced up at the half-finished guideframe over the first decoupler in frustration. "Crud. They don't pay me enough for this..." He sulked quietly over to the other side of the building as one of the R&D staff stood in front of the rocket, ticking off boxes on a clipboard. Far above ground level, other engineers were starting work on the second stage. Unbeknownst to most of the engineers working on the Hoop-I, some time (actually, all told, only about three hours) had been saved by hurriedly refurbishing the capsule and parachute from Summit-I. Even laboring double-time, and with the engineering improvements made to the VAB facilities, it would take the engineering crews almost six full days to build the craft. Then there were the outstanding orders to build the second craft as soon as they were done. No one on the VAB team even wanted to think that far ahead with this level of strain placed on them.

****

Edited August 7, 2016 by ElJugador
Quality improvements.

[MarkWatney]

Going great so far dude looking forward for more

[ElJugador]

(EPISODE THEMESONG)

Episode 02: Hula Hooping

They had done it. They had finally done it. At first, it looked as though Hoop-I was going to take six arduous days to finish, but the administration had managed to pull in extra equipment and manpower, enough to pull the ETA down to four days. Then Jeb's speedy recovery finished. (they're durable, those kerbals!) Three more days of work after that, plus Command's decision to finish Hoop-II before launching added up. It was Day 99, late in the afternoon once again. The spectator's seats a decent distance from the launchpad were completely filled to the brim once again. The space program's tradition of not using countdowns wore a little on the audience. It was completely unexpected when Gene's voice abruptly crackled over the speakers. "Hoop-I, you're good to go!" Everyone immediately dropped whatever they were doing and turned all their attention to the pad. A moment later, Jebediah hit the IGNITION button- and he was greeted by the roar and acceleration instantly.

However, it was noticeably less than previously. As previously, however, he managed to retain control of the stick and start his pitch-and-roll program. After less than two minutes, the first stage abruptly died, and he immediately ejected it and began with the second stage, which had much less thrust. However, the Apoapsis counter still rose fairly fast, and he eventually established a 76km one, at which point he cut off the engines and coasted briefly.

However, he was still dangerously approaching that apoapsis, and so his insertion burn was about 30 seconds early and aimed slightly upward. The LV-909's push was much gentler than the other two he'd experienced. Carefully shepherding his thrust upward, he climbed steadily up, steadily up, steadily up... until the periapsis counter registered 79.8km, to loud cheers from Mission Control. Some tiny recess of his brain breathed a sigh of relief. The hardest part of the mission was over.
He simply let go and floated lazily above Kerbin, becoming a shining beacon of hope and opportunity to Kerbals all over the world. (At least, those who were close enough to the equator or had powerful telescopes.) He would go on to make three and a half revolutions around Kerbin, feeding the Mission Control types some words on occasion.

About 58 minutes later, dawn broke for the third time. A strange place, Kerbin orbit was. However, it was time for him to return. He had done everything he possibly could and had set an endurance record of an hour at this point. The boredom was about to erupt. He flipped the tiny rocket some, ejected the spent stage once it was out of fuel, and simply waited. Eventually, he hit the atmosphere hard and fast enough that air compression created a tiny lightshow. If any of the inhabitants of a minor Forseti town had been looking up, they had seen him reenter, a shooting star far above the clouds.

Eventually, his shallow trajectory slowed him down to the point he could activate his parachute safely, roughly five thousand meters above the ground. Around airplane altitude, now that it occurred to him. Eventually, it reefed open. He slowed. No noise, not even the recovery boat's, just those of the sea and what might have been the second stage's remnant slamming into it. He drifted lazily, lazily, lazily down until he splashed calmly into the Westernmost Ocean. He smirked to himself. He'd done it yet again. A Kerbal had reached orbit and returned safely. It was the true beginning of the Space Program.

 

 

[ElJugador]

(Sorry if my pace is a bit fast. It's like I've been struck by a bolt of enthusiasm.)

Interlude 03: Around Again.

The young engineer sighed again. Just when it looked like they were going to finish Hoop-II on time, the management had concluded the BACC wasn't powerful enough to loft all the extra scientific equipment and drogue chutes the capsule was carrying and ordered the installation of a new, liquid fuel-based booster. Engineering Test Article 01 looked really bizarre even on paper and no one wanted to even think about building the thing yet. Some inexplicable requests had come in, and the engineer just couldn't understand why part manufacturers had suddenly become so obsessed with testing their equipment in weird and inapplicable situations. What use did one have for an SRB in orbit? Either they were simply being diligent and trying to be ready for any situation, or they were just stupid, insane, or stupidly insane, or all of them at once. Whatever the reason, the rigors of their demands made for very strange-looking Engineering Test Articles.

****

[ElJugador]

Episode 03: A Slightly Bigger Hoop(e)

Hoop-II had been pushed back to the late morning of Day 107, 0067 by, well, everything, it seemed. Delay after delay after delay had resulted in that. But Valentina was finally ready. The attention placed on her nearly exceeded Jeb's. Truth be told, the media was mostly interested because she was the program's only female Space Kerbal, and how this reflected on the UNK's social policy, but she still soaked it up while she could. Eventually, it was Launch Day. The bleachers at KSC were full once again, only this time the audience was majority female.

Her ascent was fairly unremarkable, if a little marginal. It turned out that the Hoop Block A/B, as they were now known, were quite ponderous launch vehicles. Takeoff was slow and she, once again, had to depend on the second stage to complete her ascent. She managed to establish a 92x92 km orbit almost perfectly on injection, setting a record that placed her, at least for a time, above even Jeb.

Now came the true purpose of Hoop-II: the science. R&D still had a huge slew of new parts due to come in in several Munths, but they had already warned they were about to hit a wall as to what they could do without actual rocketry experience and better facilities. While an upgrade, in terms of funding, was still very far out of the program's reach, there were a few easy Science! experiments in reach inside Kerbin Orbit. She activated them, and after a potentially catastrophic reentry:

she made it safely home.

Upon her celebrated return, it turned out that she had brought in just enough into the bank to make one more Science advancement. Solar panels were the most promising technology available, and those were selected. However, there were still many Engineering Test Flights to perform and more than 100 days before the 'third' tier of parts, as it was known, would become available.

 

[ElJugador]

Sorry for the triple post, but more mods have been added to this playthrough! Tac-LS, KAS/KIS, RemoteTech, Kerbal Konstructs, DeepFreeze, RasterPropMonitor, Pathfinder... the list pretty much ends there. But this is a huge and exciting expansion to this particular Kerbalverse which I hope will add to my (and your!) enjoyment of it.

[ElJugador]

Alright, so here's the deal. This series is really lacking a bit of the flair that, well, pretty much everyone else seems to manage to add to their storylines. This is, I think, because I've been rushing through putting episodes and interludes out and not really giving this series any substantial content. I'm going to try and tackle this with a different approach: Episode 4 and possibly Interlude 05, if I decide to do it separately, will be written in a more in-depth fashion, covering several missions and hopefully giving a decent (plus more humorous and atmospheric!) setup to the actual plot I have in mind. Probably sometime today or tomorrow, depending. This semester will start (and end) early. (Stupid election grumblegrumble) Thanks to everyone who's been able to tolerate my clunky writing so far, though!

Edited August 7, 2016 by ElJugador