Disaster on Duna (Part 1) (Book 1 of the "Stranded" Series)

[DarkOwl57]

"So.... We're stranded." I said in disappointment as the radio crackled to life.

"Yeah, looks like it." Bill said from the control tower back on Kerbin.

"What do we do?" I asked, looking inside the crew compartment, seeing the 9 other crew members conversing with each other, wondering what was wrong with the plane.

"We are going to try to land the lab near to you guys I guess," Bill said after a few minutes.

We are soo dead. I thought.

"Ok."

But where are my manners? I apologize. Let's start back at the very beginning, With our little SSTO all in one piece back on runway 09.

[Snark]

Moving to Fan Works.

[DarkOwl57]

10 minutes ago, Snark said:

Moving to Fan Works.

K

 

[DarkOwl57]

Part 2

 

I hit the button on the wall to turn on the lights.

Good, I thought, sneaking around the staff room No one here.

I turned off the lights, going for the plan of stealth. I opened up the door to the refrigerator and found what I was looking for. Just as I grabbed at it though, the lights flipped on and a voice shouted out "Gotchya!" I turned around to face the person who found me.

"What are you doing at the fridge at this hour?" Maxxy asked, facing me.

"Nothing," I replied, "Just getting a snack."
I showed her the yogurt package in my hand.

"Ok, 'Night" she said as she walked out.

After I felt it was quiet enough, I pulled the package out of the fridge, and started eating it. Maxxy's pasta is the best around, and she guarded it like a diamond.

 

(The next day)

 

"WHERE'S MY PASTA?!?!?" I heard a screech as I jolted out of bed.

"PHIL!!!"

I decided to get out of the building for obvious reasons.

As I was walking around the KSC, I saw a notice on the side of the SPH.

WANTED:Pilots who are willing to go on an exploration mission to Duna. All other crew members decided, Just need a pilot. Apply now!

This doesn't sound so bad, I thought, freezing to the spot.

In fact, I was just about to go to Duna.

Edited August 30, 2016 by DarkOwl57
I forgot to add something

[vsully]

haha, i like the pasta. ...

....

...........

DARKOWL! YOU MADE  ME HUNGRY DANGIT!

[DarkOwl57]

9 minutes ago, vsully said:

haha, i like the pasta. ...

....

...........

DARKOWL! YOU MADE  ME HUNGRY DANGIT!

hahahahahaha

 

(My plan has gone into effect)

[Omegagoldfish]

On 8/30/2016 at 4:49 PM, DarkOwl57 said:

hahahahahaha

 

(My plan has gone into effect)

Yes... Just as planned. His plan went as planned so that the plans that the others will make will play into MY plan... 

 

Also, these chapters seem a bit brief, but, the only thing I write are short stories, so who am I to judge? Obviously I am the Omegagoldfish and should be treated as such...

[DarkOwl57]

16 hours ago, Omegagoldfish said:

Yes... Just as planned. His plan went as planned so that the plans that the others will make will play into MY plan... 

 

Also, these chapters seem a bit brief, but, the only thing I write are short stories, so who am I to judge? Obviously I am the Omegagoldfish and should be treated as such...

Yeah, I am definantly not the best writer, and also school is terrible (I do these mainly during free time) and yes, the Omegagoldfish should obviously be treated as the judge.

[DarkOwl57]

So my plan is this, so that you guys kind of know what is going to happen.

 

Part 3: Press conference for Phil (Main character).

Part 4: Jeb tests SSTO and crashes into the ocean.

Part 5: Rescue mission for Jeb (See above).

Part 6: Launch.

Part 7: Multiple maneuvers and life in the SSTO.

Part 8: Duna Encounter.

Part 9: Re-entry.

Part 10: Finding a good spot to land.

Part 11: Crash.

Part 12: Continuation on the intro (Part 1)

Part 13: Mission control meeting (End to Book 1/3)

[Omegagoldfish]

Spoiler

All according to plan...

Edited September 1, 2016 by Omegagoldfish

[DarkOwl57]

7 minutes ago, Omegagoldfish said:

  Reveal hidden contents

All according to plan...

What is this great plan?

Mine is to make everyone in the world hungry for pasta so that then everyone will eat pasta. After I make a pasta factory, then everyone will buy my pasta and I will be RICH!

Pastapastapastapasta

[Omegagoldfish]

5 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

What is this great plan?

Mine is to make everyone in the world hungry for pasta so that then everyone will eat pasta. After I make a pasta factory, then everyone will buy my pasta and I will be RICH!

Pastapastapastapasta

Ah. I need to wait to tell you, because I need to plan my plan around your plan. When I am done with my planning, I will tell you my plan, and you will plan around my plan, and thus, I will plan around the plan that you planned around my plan!

 

"BRILLIANT!"

 

Shoo, intern.

[DarkOwl57]

2 minutes ago, Omegagoldfish said:

Ah. I need to wait to tell you, because I need to plan my plan around your plan. When I am done with my planning, I will tell you my plan, and you will plan around my plan, and thus, I will plan around the plan that you planned around my plan!

 

"BRILLIANT!"

 

Shoo, intern.

Intern: But sir....

Omegagoldfish: NO BUTS!

[Omegagoldfish]

14 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

Intern: But sir....

Omegagoldfish: NO BUTS!

SOMEONE DARES IMPERSONATE ME!? INTERN!

[DarkOwl57]

1 hour ago, Omegagoldfish said:

SOMEONE DARES IMPERSONATE ME!? INTERN!

hahahahaha

1 hour ago, Omegagoldfish said:

SOMEONE DARES IMPERSONATE ME!? INTERN!

(So what is this great plan that you will plan around my plan that I planned around your plan?)

[Omegagoldfish]

8 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

hahahahaha

(So what is this great plan that you will plan around my plan that I planned around your plan?)

I can't tell you, until I have planned a contingency for the release of my plan. But the derailment is going as planned...

[DarkOwl57]

1 hour ago, Omegagoldfish said:

I can't tell you, until I have planned a contingency for the release of my plan. But the derailment is going as planned...

All this planning is making me tired lolol

Planning around a plan that was planned around a plan planned around a plan is confusing.

[DarkOwl57]

Part 3

The lights of the cameras was almost blinding. All of the reporters in the conference room were packed into a kind of large room, but it seemed like 100 people from each news station was here in full force.

Also, there was a lot of questions that I couldn't answer, because each time I pointed to someone, 10 people would start shouting out questions.

"HOW DO YOU FEEL?"

"WHAT DO YOU PLAN TO DO?"

"ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP?"

"Huh?"

Each question was asked and answered (I think) and finally, I was able to leave. The mission was not one to take lightly, and all of the pressure was on me. I finally, after taking a minor rest, got cornered by a few more reporters.

This was going to be a Loooooooonnnnnnggggg day.

[DarkOwl57]

Part 4

Jeb flipped all of the switches in the cockpit, preparing for the test launch of the new Duna SSTO, which he would be on. As the engine warmed up, he flipped on the radio and heard a load of static.

"This is Jeb for the DB1 Test plane, all systems are good and I'm ready for takeoff."

He waited for a few minutes as the people in mission control looked over the data, obviously wanting to make sure everything worked.

"Ok, Jeb you are cleared for takeoff, make sure to check your instruments before takeoff, and you may go when ready."

After a few minutes in flight, Jeb noticed a strange sound coming from the engines. He throttled down the engines, and MC noticed right away.

"Jeb? What's wrong?"

"The engines are making a weird sound so I throttled down."

After that minor problem, Jeb continued flying, until he saw a bright orange light go over the cockpit of the plane.

"JEB! Are you okay?" The voice of the mission commander came over the radio.

"Yeah," He said. As soon as he said that though, the alarm went off in the cockpit.

"Engine 2 & 4 are on fire," Jeb said as he checked his cockpit's display. "The Fire seems to have shorted out the radar too, so I can't see where I am."

Suddenly, the cockpit shook as an explosion occurred at the rear of the ship.

"Jeb! Eject!"
"I can't! The lever is stuck. I'm going to need to land this thing in the ocean."

…………………………………………………………………

"Scramble the Search and Rescue jets.," Gene Kerman said to the intern next to him. "Get the boats ready and contact the KCG (Kerbin Coast Guard) and tell them to send some helicopters."

This had better work, He thought as he keyed the mic again.

…………………………………………………………………

The jet was slowly gliding down to the surface of the ocean, and Jeb deployed the brakes.

Please please please pleeeeaaaasssseeee work Jeb thought as the jet hit 25m elevation.

The jet hit 10m and Jeb pulled up and tried to slow down even more.

Then, as soon as the plane pitched up and hit the water, the force of the crashed made Jeb hit his head on the control panel, knocking him out.

At least I landed, Jeb thought before slipping into unconsciousness.

[DarkOwl57]

On September 2, 2016 at 8:19 AM, Omegagoldfish said:

I can't tell you, until I have planned a contingency for the release of my plan. But the derailment is going as planned...

I have given you a three-day weekend to plan the plan planned around my plan; WHAT IS THIS PLAN?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Omegagoldfish]

5 hours ago, DarkOwl57 said:

I have given you a three-day weekend to plan the plan planned around my plan; WHAT IS THIS PLAN?!?!?!?!?!?!

Ah, but that is not part of the plan. Telling you isn't as planned.

[DarkOwl57]

8 minutes ago, Omegagoldfish said:

Ah, but that is not part of the plan. Telling you isn't as planned.

But it was in my plan for you to tell me the plan so that I could plan around your plan....

 

Wait....... YOU DON'T HAVE A PLAN!

[DarkOwl57]

Part 5

 

"This is Ocean 1, preparing to launch the Scout Planes."

The engines on the 6 small fighters warmed up as the crews did their last-minute checks on their craft.

"All craft, you are cleared for launch, good luck," The captain said to the pilots of the planes as their VTOL jets powered up. Seeing the launch was wonderful, but just as Scout 5 went up, he had to land immediately. The engine had lost power, a major defect for the CR-7 Whiplash engines.

One down, and an even less chance to find Jeb.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ow...... My head. Jeb woke up feeling like his head had been used as a bowling ball.

(Do Kerbals have bowling? Let me know.)

The sound of waves hitting the nose of the plane alerted Jeb to the fact that he was in the water. But there was another sound.... Almost like a plane. Well, time to investigate.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The pilot of Scout 3, Mark Kerman, looked out at the endless blue sea, wondering how there could be so much water on the planet. He was so distracted, that he almost missed the small white dot below his plane. He checked his altimeter and his location and sent the data back to MC thanks to the new dashboard from Owl Aircraft. He keyed the mic.

"This is Scout 3, I might see something down there. I'll let you know if I find something." He said as he began to dip the nose down and begin the check.

As Mark began his descent, he saw an orange suit pop out of the cockpit door. The figure looked up and Mark fired two flare blasts as he went overhead.

(I'm using BD Armory)

The figure went back into the cockpit as Mark flew overhead and turned to meet this stranded plane. He looked at the plane, and he saw the two flares from the stranded plane come up, signifying that he understood. Mark tried to contact the vessel on the radio, and it was a success. 

"Vessel, this is Scout 1, do you copy, Over." Mark said into the mic, hoping this wasn't a trap.

"Hey 'Scout 1,' this is Jeb. Are you guys rescuing me? 'Cause I'm getting pretty cold here."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"So we have the stranded plane here, according to the reports from Mark," The commander said to the pilots of the 'Dropper' and the recovery raft.

"Dropper, you will deploy your cargo here," he said as he pointed to an area about 0.5 km from the marker. "And the raft will come in and get Jeb off the dropped cargo and back home. Any questions?" The commander looked around the room. "Good; You leave now. Good luck."

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

[DarkOwl57]

Part 5.5 (I got busy, ok?)

 

The drone of the engines was not very loud, which was a good thing with this kind of mission. The massive K-130 Cargo plane had been outfitted with about 25 fuel tanks with parachutes, which would be dropped out of the rear bay when needed. As they began to fly over the target zone, Bill keyed the radio as Bob took over the controls.

"Jeb, this is Bill, we are on our way to rescue you, deploy flares to show us where you are." He said, ready to hit the switch to drop the tanks. The flares went up, and as soon as Bill saw it, the tanks were decoupled and dropped down onto the water. Bon Voyage, Bill thought as he began the turn to land him back at the KSP.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jeb shielded his eyes against the sun as he looked at the tanks gracefully floating down to the surface. The first one landed near to the plane, but it began to drift away. However, the next few almost hit him, making him have to duck and dodge. Finally, when the bombardment stopped, he hopped on the nearest tank and sat down to wait for the boat.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"BLEH!" Phil shouted as a fresh wave of seawater hit him straight in the face, knocking him down to the deck. He quickly got up, shaking the water out of his face before throttling down the engines. He scanned the waters before he continued on to find the fuel tanks floating in the water. He looked around, and saw Jeb sitting out on one of the fuel tanks farther away from the boat. He slowly turned up the engines and got closer to Jeb.

"Hey pal, I'm here to rescue you." Phil said as Jeb began to get up.

"Hey," Jeb groaned as he got onto the boat. "You going back to the KSC?"

"Yeah, we're going straight home."

The engines were fired up and off they went.

[DarkOwl57]

Part 6

As I walked out to the new Red Bird SSTO that was situated on the runway, I paused to look down at the green grass and brown dirt. Won't be seeing these for a while, I thought as I picked up a handful of both. The crew looked out of the windows of the extra compartments, anxiously waiting to get underway. I climbed up onto the ladder and into the cockpit, sealing myself shut into the vessel. Turning to my co-pilot, Jenxy, I said "Let's get going."

The engines all fired up okay. No issues yet, I thought to myself as I ramped up the 4 engines for takeoff. I pulled in all of the comms devices and solar panels implanted into the wings, making the craft go from looking very un-areodynamic to a sleek, deadly fast fighting machine. The pitch of the engines was getting to be almost at the halfway point of their thrust limiter, sounding like they were begging me to slam off the brakes and launch forward into the air. I gladly obliged. The sudden kickback of 4 engines snapped my head back into the seat, and my first ever flight was underway.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The entire mission control crew cheered as the vessel's nose lifted off of the ground and into the great blue sky. Everyone was overjoyed at the seeming ease of the takeoff, and kept their noses pressed to their screens which were set to the cameras on the craft. Suddenly remembering the fate that had claimed the last SSTO, the crew clicked back to the data screens, monitoring things like fuel pressure, engine heat, aerodynamic forces on the wings, available snack rations, and a lot more. The mathematicians looked over their notes, the scientists monitored all of the readings, and the engineers made predictions about the stability of the craft on reentry to Duna. The mission to Duna had truly begun.