The Kerbin Escape: The Journey to Space Colonization (Chapter Two: "The Kerbal Space Program is the Past.")

[SaturnianBlue]

THE KERBIN ESCAPE:THE JOURNEY TO SPACE COLONIZATION

Introduction

Over an year since the original idea, and five months since I wrote the first lines, the first chapter is finished.

Escaping Kerbin will follow an organized effort to colonize space in the KSP universe. The story is intended to cover the many factors, trials, tribulations, and outcomes of the space colonization, before a backdrop of a world slowly tumbling into chaos. The story will rely on modern technology at the beginning, with gradual technological advancements becoming available. In the context of this series, space colonization and settlement refers to Kerbals living permanently off Kerbin—this report seeks to go further than small, scattered habitats, and instead hopes to go one step bigger to structures such as rotating space stations, and extensive mining bases by the end of the series.

A few notes:

A motivation that will warrant space settlement is very much lacking in our universe, but I hope that this series will find one that can justify the effort.

While I will be playing a career mode save, The Kerbin Escape will likely rely on... Other sources of income to begin.

The Kerbin Escape will use a slowly increasing amount of mods, of which I will make a list of below.

The Kerbin Escape borrows certain elements of the world from the Asteroid Sentinels but it is intended to be a stand-alone.

Feedback is greatly appreciated. I hope to use it in order to improve your reading experience. 

Enjoy!

INDEX

Chapter One: The Journey to Space Colonization

The Space Settlement Drive (SSD) Act

Chapter Two: "The Kerbal Space Program is the Past."

 

 

---

A thousand kilometers away, the thunderstorms of wasteland and war began their creep across the ochre dust clouds that now smothered the Kertoussa Highlands. Yet at the Kerbal Space Center, the waves of the Sea of Serenity lapped at the peninsula as usual. The harsh light of an equatorial Kerbol shined as it always did, but with a faint reddish glow, on the day when the tree to the stars were planted, and the day when Kerbalkind was one no longer.

Bill and Valentina

A red flash darted across Bill’s news panel, his rounding eyes chasing the bold, highlighted words that flickered by. His shoulders sank as the sound of defeat seemed to escape out of his mouth.

“Never in a thousand years would I have ever expected this to happen.” Bill’s head sank.

Sitting on the chair across from Bill, Valentina was staring into the seventh edition of What Could’ve Been, the same way one would look down into the supposed Mohole. She set the book aside and directed a scowl at Bill. “What?”

“The googly-eyed missile kerbs! They’ve actually done it. The leader of that ironically-named Real Deal Front over in Kertoussa has just gone rogue, and is attacking Kerbal Union bases!”

Valentina’s head cocked forward. “What?!”

“I know, right! This world just seems to get more and more chaotic. First the freaking asteroid blows down the coastline of Kertoussa, Jebediah Kerman disappears into the night with no known quote-on-quote ‘foul play’ involved, every little province out there is hammering at the knees of the KU and on top of all that… the KU being a typical KU, fails to address the kerbanitarian crisis in Terketia—”

Valentina cut him off sharply, saying, “Bill, the world is degenerating into chaos each day, but it won’t change much to complain about it. In the meantime, there’s this ‘super surprise’ at the administration building in 10 minutes, and they brought a lot of aerospace executives, so we should get going.”

“Oh. That’s what the security is about?”

“Bill, how did you not know about it?”

“I don’t read the daily dispatch, Val.”

“Of course you don’t,” Valentina muttered.

“It’s not shocking, I admit. So what’s the super surprise part of this meeting?”

“I haven’t been able to figure out. Any ideas?”

“The security seems more than the typical waiting-to-bash-some-RDF-hitmen tight, more Secgen of the KU is coming tight—” Bill grinned.

“Ah-ha! That might be it. Maybe the Secgen is coming! That’s the apparent surprise!”

---

    The Administration Building in the Kerbal Space Center that now lay before Valentina reminded her of the appearance of an old Spark I rocket—a few pre-constructed components hastily bolted together, and built to the standards of those 60’s era Kertoussa housing complexes, which is to say, usually stable. Gus insisted that it was a phoenix rising from the ashes, but while it sure shared the similarity of having its old form turned to ash, the hatchling that replaced it was hardly impressive.

    It had been the opposite, of course—a clean-cut lawn, a superpool, and a helipad fit for a Secgen once adorned a sharp, sleek building with not one, not two, but three press rooms! It was a shame that on the fateful night of the Announcement—the same night the RDF was truly born, it blazed like bombed K-42s.

    Valentina and Bill cut their way through the dense mass of fellow astronauts and KUBS, AR, and INA reporters that had coalesced around the entry door.

    “...I apologize, but we just don’t have the seating in there! You’ll have to ask questions through the KSP Reporter’s virtual site!” shouted Mortimer, grizzly and uptight as usual.

    Valentina and Bill finally broke through the crowd, repeatedly exclaiming “Sorry," and “I apologize for the inconvenience,” along the way.

    “There you are!” Mort called out, singling them out with a jab of his finger. “You two are late! Passes?”

    Valentina flipped through her categorized tabs on the terminal and out popped up her Astronaut ID card, still marked by the picture of a haunted young pilot returning from the bombing runs on her own homeland. “Here you go.”

    With the tenth defeated sigh of the day, Bill sluggishly threw up the ID of a naive engineer with a devious grin. “Have a look, Mort.”

    “Of course. Enjoy your time in the shack,” Mortimer grumbled, waving them off.

    The crowd behind them seemed to get more than a little upset at their entry, but the sound was drowned out as the protester and reporter-proof door slammed shut with a hiss, replaced with the waft of fried safut.

    “Ah...If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed, it’s the food,” Bill said, pulling a strip of safut and popping it into his mouth.

    Valentina’s boots made a consistent clop as they struck the runway-like floor. Consistent, until they stepped into the din of the austere press room and trampled onto a fellow astronaut’s boot.

    “Oops!” Valentina looked up. “Oh! Hi Bob!”

    Bob stretched a forced grin. “Hiya?”

    Valentina spun her head around the room. “The chairs are filled up, so do you want to stand with us?”

“I mean, we can’t exactly sit,” Bob said.

“True.”

    The trio squeezed along the wall to make way for some rather large executives from the C7 Kerbodyne Aerospace Company.

    “Isn’t the speech or whatever supposed to begin in a minute? Kind of strange they haven’t started. I always miss these by a bit, since they always seem to start five minutes early—”

    At precisely noon, the stage bloomed into a light like a sunrise, and only a silhouette—that of Secgen of the Kerbal Union Hudcas himself.

    Well, I guess this building has a second thing going for it—a light show, of all things, thought Bill, as the beaming Secgen stepped out onto the stage, and the lights dimmed…

---

Secgen Hudcas

      The Secgen swept his gaze across the room, packed with Kerbals sitting on haphazardly arranged chairs that looked vaguely like the ones from the school he visited earlier in the morning.  With a grin as far as Kerbally possible, the Secgen bellowed out, as always, “Helloooooooo fellow Kerbals!” Only this time, the sound system was unable to take the sound, and a horrific whine projected across the room.

    “Ah! Sorry, everyone! I suppose I won’t be using this little thing today,” tossing the microphone towards the backstage at some poor intern.

“So where was I?” He shifted his eyes every so slightly at the glossy teleprompter, which shouted in bright yellow text, “GET TO THE POINT! WHY WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT AND ALL!”

“You may wonder what this security and all is about. I know I would.” He cleared his throat. “My fellow kerbals, it is all to reveal a bright hope in what has seemed like our Union’s darkest hour. This bright hope shines like the South Star above us!”

He paused. So far, so good. “This hope is the dream. The dream that will be Kerbalkind’s greatest leap yet. A leap to the stars, and you, all of you! You are here for a reason! To build that trampoline that’ll send Kebralkind sky-high!”

The Secgen breathed a sigh of relief, as he heard a few chuckles from the audience.

Not the most cringe-worthy thing a Secgen has ever said, considering what Halski said last Munth, thought Hudcas.

“I have a vision for the Kerbol system, a thousand years from now. In this vision, there is Kerbin, flourishing from unbroken peace and from the resources of distant worlds, where hundreds of millions of Kerbals live. In this brave new Kerbol System, we will not see others as Terketians or Tacakrans, as Dunans or Laythians, but as Kerbals, united in peace and prosperity! And who will have gotten them there? All of you, in this room, sitting or standing right now. We begin the journey to the stars, and the journey to elevate Kerbalkind to a higher state.”

    Cheers rippled forth from the audience.

I never exactly got to why we were here, but the crowd is excited, thought the Secgen.

---

Bill, Bob, and Val

At the back of the room, Bill, Bob, and Val were doing their best to dodge the clapping hands of suit-cladded executives.

“Peculiar. He didn’t exactly tell us why we were here, did he?” Bill asked Bob.

“Seems like the Secgen is talking about some kind of space settlement program!” Bob shouted over the din of the room.

Bill paused for a few seconds before saying, “Well, now that I think about it, that sounds about right. This new Secgen has promise.” Bill beamed at Bob. “A real forward-thinker, the Kerbal Union could use a lot more of them. A real shame he came at the worst time to be forward thinking.”

They turned back to the stage as the applause died down. “As the new Secgen of the Kerbal Union, it has been in the interest of the whole KU for me to review the issues and changes of our deeply interconnected world—”

Bill shifted back towards Bob. “When I said forward-thinker, I didn’t also request a guy who underplays the urgency of the current situation. If he’s no idiot, he has to see the KU as peeling open at the kerpato bag!”

“Well, I’m sure he’s no idiot, Bill. He’s probably just trying to keep the upbeat mood around here.”

The Secgen continued, “In my review, I recognized one part of the Kerbal Union we were overlooking. The space industry. Here, for 60 years, the freshest and bravest minds on Kerbin have been hammering away at a way to sail the stars, but they’ve only gotten kerbs as far as Minmus! And of course, there was the asteroid that—”

This was quite the sore spot for the audience, whose groans rippled through the room.

“Anyway, Kerbals have the unique capability to get back up and fight harder than they did before. Today, I announce the Kerbal Union’s pledge to make sure that never again will asteroids threaten Kerbalkind, for sentinels will stand guard. Today, I announce the true beginning of the quest to send Kerbalkind into the Final Frontier. Today, I announce to you all the groundbreaking of the road to space!”

The crowd thundered with applause, and the Secgen basked in the light of camera flashes.

“In order to kickstart this journey, we will provide a one time grant of 20 million funds to develop space in a profitable manner that’ll encourage space colonization! Not just that, we plan on further awards, provided select milestones are achieved. In order to lead this endeavor, the Kerbal Union will be creating a new organization that’ll provide long-term leadership for the best results!”

“Hang on a sec—a new organization?” Bob thought out loud, “What happens to the KSP and everyone already there?”

“Can’t say I know, Bob,” Valentina conceded. “At the very worst, this might be the end of the KSP as we know it.”

"And at best?" Bob asked.

"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see till we know more."

Until next time...

End of Chapter One

Edited August 20, 2018 by SaturnianBlue

[RealKerbal3x]

Hey @SaturnianBlue you’ve been doing great on your IKAF thread and I can tell this is going to be brilliant too!

[SaturnianBlue]

@RealKerbal3x Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the next chapters as well! 

[MatterBeam]

20 million funds? There's a lot you can do with that!

This will definitely be exciting. 

Are you planning on using life support mods and something like SimpleConstruction?

[SaturnianBlue]

@MatterBeam Considering that the colonization plan is meant to become mostly self-sufficient monetarily once that's spent, I'd imagine it'll drain quicker than the Kerbals were hoping. Additionally, I might adjust it a little later on, if it proves to be too much.

I'll probably install some sort of life support mod—that'll make the series particularly interesting. A construction mod will be useful, especially once industry starts to get well-established.

Edited July 24, 2018 by SaturnianBlue

[MatterBeam]

On 7/24/2018 at 4:29 AM, SaturnianBlue said:

@MatterBeam Considering that the colonization plan is meant to become mostly self-sufficient monetarily once that's spent, I'd imagine it'll drain quicker than the Kerbals were hoping. Additionally, I might adjust it a little later on, if it proves to be too much.

I'll probably install some sort of life support mod—that'll make the series particularly interesting. A construction mod will be useful, especially once industry starts to get well-established.

If you start off with the construction and life support mods, then you can start building your own rocketships and setting up supply chains for 'free'. They can as simple as a mining station 20km away from the launchpad and a truck to carry fuel to and fro (20km for render distance).

[SaturnianBlue]

I would like some input on how to proceed from the first chapter to the next. The main choice I have to make is whether to proceed to the first launch of this program, or work through the process of the colonization initiative being set up. The first option means that the rocket-launching action begins more quickly in the story. On the other hand, I will still have to work on figuring out the colonization initiative, so the other option will let me post more quickly.

[MatterBeam]

16 hours ago, SaturnianBlue said:

I would like some input on how to proceed from the first chapter to the next. The main choice I have to make is whether to proceed to the first launch of this program, or work through the process of the colonization initiative being set up. The first option means that the rocket-launching action begins more quickly in the story. On the other hand, I will still have to work on figuring out the colonization initiative, so the other option will let me post more quickly.

How about scientific 'prospection' missions to determine the ore locations and concentrations around the different bodies?

 

[SaturnianBlue]

@MatterBeam That does seem like a good choice for the colonization initiative, but for the most part the "choice" between skipping to the first launch or setting up the colonization initiative (as in the process of the KSP being split, and awarding the private companies to help build the first missions).

[SaturnianBlue]

The next chapter(s) will take a while, so in the mean time, I have written up a "paraphrased and cut" version (because writing full-length would be worth less than the time spent) of the act that forms the organization that the Secgen announces at the end of the last chapter, that will be the basis for the missions carried out by the kerbals in the story.

Space Settlement Drive (SSD) Act—Paraphrased and Cut

       1. OUTLINE CONSIDERING the situation that has arisen from “The Fall”, there has been a growing cognizance by members of the 46th Kerbal Union General Council that regardless of the certain perceptions that may cause separation among colleagues, a plan to further the development of space is generally agreed upon bilaterally, as an important key step towards a persisting stability of life on Kerbin. The SSD aims to further the fulfillment of these primary objectives:

1. Ensure the relative safety of Kerbin from Near Kerbin Objects that have the potential to cause significant levels of structural damage and collateral harm.

2. Providing significant opportunity and reduction of risk to private enterprises in the various growing and emerging space industries, and encouraging significant innovations to forward technological and economic progress.

3. Laying the groundwork for long-term inhabitation and infrastructure beyond the immediate vicinity of Kerbin, be it on planetary bodies or in free space, by reductions in current barriers, in a way that will encourage sustained space development, even with a change in the general situation.

4. Encourage public perception and participation in regards to space initiatives.

5. Especially given the current situation, the creation and expansion of strategic space-borne facilities to aid in the overall security situation of the Kerbal Union.

       2. LEADERSHIP In order to achieve the following goals, a new organization will be established to lead the colonization effort. Of course, the role of the currently-existing Kerbal Space Program must also be realigned in order to prevent overlap. The role of the Kerbal Space program will primarily be relegated to the following:

1. The operation of facilities at the primary Kerbal Space Center site, including refurbishment, expansion, inspection, safety, and security oversight.

2. The operation, planning, and assembly of unkerballed spacecraft primarily focused on the collection of scientific data for applications in research, including those involved in planetary, Kerbin, astronomical, and Kerbolar studies.

3. The continued support of innovative developments for aeronautical applications.

4. Efforts in development of kerballed deep-space excursions, which will work together with the resulting infrastructure of the Space Settlement Drive.

    SECTORS

The organization that will lead the colonization effort will be known as The InterKerbin Association for Space Development (TIKASD). The organization shall consist of the Primary Council, an Administrator of Operations, and various sectors of operation.

The Primary Council will be involved in decision-making and vote on the budget that has been allocated to TIKASD. Decisions will be approved by a simple majority.

State membership will rely on a contribution to the TIKASD, which will grant each member state one voting representative.* Aside from the states initially promoted, the method in which a member state can be promoted to the status of a major contributor and thereby being granted a second voting representative will be through a two-thirds majority by the members of the Primary Council. The conditions for losing a seat (and membership, if there is only a single representative) is if a vote of no confidence against the member state as approved by a two-thirds majority results in a two-thirds majority vote against the member state, at which point the more senior (or only) member will not be eligible for re-election by the member state. Each representative serves a term of 15-year** term, with one-third of the Primary Council up for election every 5 years.

The Administrator of Operations will be selected once every fifteen years by the Primary Council, with confirmation (and dismissal) through a two-thirds majority vote. The AoO will be responsible for regular operations of the TIKASD, along with their staff and advisors.

       3. REVENUE The TIKASD will receive twenty million funds, as a part of the Kerbal Union budget. After a five-year period, the member states of the TIKASD will contribute a lower level of relatively consistent funding, barring emergency circumstances, defined by a two-thirds majority vote in the Primary Council. If deemed necessary, the TIKASD is authorized to borrow to secure funds. In the due course of time, it is in the best of interests that the TIKASD will become monetarily self-sufficient, through duties and fees on services and operations in space.

       4. ROLE AND DUTIES Roles that are to be relegated from the KSP to the TIKASD are the following:

1.The operation of spacecraft in the vicinity of Kerbin.

2. Research and development into innovations and technologies tied to overall space development.

3. Oversight of public-private partnerships.

In addition, the TIKASD will:

1. Help syndicate the space industry in an effort to accomplish the goal of space settlement.

2. The duty of settling disputes, enforcing regulations

3. Awarding contracts and prizes for private enterprises to encourage private participation in the endeavor***

4. Fund components of the SSD if they cannot be fulfilled by the private space industry

The TIKASD will pursue these goals:

1. Inexpensive access to space

2. Sustained development of infrastructure and permanent habitats in space

3. Rapid development towards achieving overall resource and monetary self-sufficiency of space-based operations

4. Emergence and expansion of profitable in-space commerce

5. Reliable detection and interception of dangerous asteroids

*Either a state of the Kerbal Union, or possibly an independent one if the circumstance arises in the future

**For reference, the term of a Secgen is 10 years

***It is seen that this will considerably boost the progress of the SSD, given the significant overlap of the goals for the TIKASD and the vision of the leadership in aerospace manufacturing and space transportation service companies.

 

5. AMENDMENTS

 

 

Edited August 6, 2018 by SaturnianBlue

[The Minmus Derp]

I like it!

[SaturnianBlue]

I have finished writing and drafting the second chapter of The Kerbin Escape, so I have begun taking the screenshots for the chapter. Enjoy this sneak peek of a work-in-progress version of a set that will debut this chapter...

Edited August 17, 2018 by SaturnianBlue

[SaturnianBlue]

THE KERBIN ESCAPE

CHAPTER TWO: "The Kerbal Space Program is the Past."

Astronaut Complex, North Wing

Linus Kerman awoke at his dorm with a slap to the face. While it left Linus clutching his cheek, it was a mild one, paling in comparison to the one he got for buying the wrong rocket pump in the university rocketry club. Linus rolled to the side and caught sight of the alarm clock, projecting the time in an ominous red, the seconds marching towards midnight. 25 minutes past noon! Even for him, this was late! He vaulted his body forward, before an unexpected, rapid deceleration—to put it another way, he smashed into a big green blob.

The mass of green yelped and scurried back, and Linus fell right back into his bed. Struggling back up, he retrieved his contacts, snapped them on, and saw the reeling figure of Dr. Wernher von Kerman.

“Is this how you wake up?” he asked, his accent slipping.

“Wernher! How did you get here? Are you ok?”

“Linus, you had the door unlocked. I imagine it was rude to step in here without asking, but you did not reply—”

“I left the door open again?!”

“Yes. Second, I do not think being head butted would make me ok, no?”

“Good point. Now don’t tell me I missed the test of those KS-25 engines this morning.”

“You are in luck today. Have you heard the roar of those? Surely that would wake you up!”

“Nah. So we didn’t test them?”

“We had more notable events at the KSC today.”

“The speagle surprise? I slept through that?”

“The super surprise, Linus.”

“It wasn’t a speagle surprise?”

“No, Linus. Now we will be late to the meeting if you do not get ready now!”

“What meeting?”

————————————————————————————

The Administration Building: The Meeting Room

Wernher told Linus that the basement meeting room of the administration building remained intact after the blaze. “Intact” was subjective. It looked better than most of the building, but cardboard plastered over the exposed piping stirred little confidence in Linus. The only lighting was haphazardly clamped onto the walls. So much for KSP precision—if the news had a field day with the makeshift press room, they would have a field week looking at the meeting room.

Wernher and Linus sat at the table, away from the entrance. They were the first ones. Astronauts had their day in space planned to the minute, but it was as though the KSP leadership planned to the hour.

“Wernher, why did you bring me here?”

“I do it with every intern who wants to stay here. To succeed at the KSP, you have to see the greater picture.”

A kerbal emerged from the door, gingerly holding a cup of coffee in one hand, and a stack of ragged folders in the other. Mortimer Kerman, the KSP Head of Finance. ‘Ol Mort. Linus had never met him, but he had heard enough. The oldest of old guards. Calculation and manipulation. The guy who looked vaguely like a kerpato in a suit worth more than Linus’ pay his whole time at the Safut House—5 Munths. Most of all—

“Wernher! I see you have brought us another young intern today. I hope he is not another of the kind that has the tendency to spill my coffee on my suits!”

“Don’t worry! He is applying for a permanent position, so he will make sure not to do that.”

Wernher turned towards Linus, who was doodling the nozzle of the KS-25, “Isn’t that right?”

Linus blurted out, “What? Sure, I guess.”

“An improvement, then.”

“I will not lie, I find it somewhat amusing that you are the one who is late, Mortimer.”

Mortimer claimed a chair three seats away. “I would point out that since every other meeting member has yet to enter the room, and since your intern is still in his…” Mortimer let out a chuckle, “Krakin’ Kraken pajama pants, I would say I’m the one deserved to be first.”

With that, the rest of the members shuffled into the meeting room—one in a vest, another in a flight suit, one in a hazmat suit, and the last one in the attire of a technician, though he wore it like a typical business suit. Linus couldn’t think of a sensible reason for the outfit. He was Gus Kerman, the administrator himself. Gus sipped his mint and began the meeting.

“Hello, fellow Kerbals. I’m sure we’ve had the time to read the Space Settlement Drive Act, no?”

Wernher interjected. “Would anyone be interested in handing Linus a copy? I am quite sure he has not read it.”

Gus showed a hint of annoyance, “All right then.”

He retrieved a sheet of paper from his folder, folded it into a paper airplane, and shot it towards Linus as if he had years of practice. Linus was the second worst goalie in handball in his zone, but he still intercepted it. He folded it open and consumed the text—not literally—Linus didn’t like the taste of paper.

“As the administrator, I think I would like everyone to share their opinions on the matter, before we make any action.”

Mortimer declared, “As Head of Finance of this fine organization, I think we should agree that we should be totally opposed to this rather extreme proposal by our... Fresh Secgen—it would impact the level of funding the KSP will receive by its mere existence. After all, the funding for the TIKASD would almost certainly come at the expense of our program. In order to secure the continuation of the KSP as we know it, we must first delay the creation of the TIKASD for as long as possible, submit an alternative proposal for combining the TIKASD with the KSP, or try to stall and postpone the implementation of the SSD Act indefinitely.”

While everyone else parsed through the murk of Mortimer’s words, Linus finished his skim-through of the SSD Act summary.

“Err, thank you for your observation, Mortimer. Would anyone like to go next?” Gus asked.

Linus pricked up. For him, it was total insanity for just another intern to simply express his opinion to the most powerful members of the KSP, but some bizzare urge gripped him. He had to prove to Wernher that he had a vision for the big picture.

Linus made a nervous laugh and gradually lifted his hand.

“Um, sure, I guess.” was what spilled out of his mouth.

“Really? The last one to finish reading is the second to speak. Interesting.” Mortimer observed.

“Well, I’m just an intern, so my opinion probably doesn’t matter, but here’s it is; the TIKASD, if we change it up a bit, might actually help us! The TIKASD gives us a chance to focus on exploration. We landed on Minmus like, 3 decades ago! If we let the TIKASD handle everything near Kerbin, we can focus on the Duna program.”

Wernher straightened his glasses—that could only mean one thing; he was about to speak up!

“Linus brings up an important point. The KSP was intended to explore space. While any mission is certainly a delight to work on, it has always been the bold, ambitious spacecraft that my engineers love the most. With its establishment, the TIKASD might finally let us work on such designs!”

Mortimer shook his finger at Wernher, “If you happen to be very fortunate. It doesn’t please me to say it, Wernher, but I think it’s more likely you and your team will be shuffled about to whichever organization manages to win possession for the week.”

Wernher sighed, “It does not have be that way. There is space for amendments in the act. Therefore, we can make changes.”

“Perhaps it does not, but what exists now is always difficult to change. It won’t be a breeze passing an amendment, since the General Council knows you’d prefer the KSP, and the General Council wants you to spend time at the TIKASD, since they are the ones who established it!”

Wernher concluded, “Surely there are other options.”

Gene cut in, “Guys, we’ll talk this over later. May I be allowed to speak?”

Mortimer shrugged, “Go ahead.”

“I disapprove of the SSD Act. The structure of our mission control team will be more complicated when we’re forced to deal with missions from another organization. Mission Control will need a lot more staff.”

Mortimer muttered, “More jobs is always a good thing, as they say.”

Gene momentarily flashed a faint smile, “I want everyone to look at the fifth point of the first section. It reads ‘Especially given the current situation, the creation and expansion of strategic space-borne facilities to aid in the overall security situation of the Kerbal Union.’ Seems a little suspicious—”

Valentina paled, “It is.”

“Val?”

There was a hint of hesitation in her voice, “I would rather forget it, but the last time I encountered the words ‘security situation’ buried in a document like that, it was a military matter. Not only that, the phrase ‘strategic space-borne facilities’ raises even more suspicion.”

Gus lifted an eye, “Val, are you trying to say that they want to put weapons in space?”

Valentina puckered her lips, “Yes. Absolutely.”

Walt, who was busy typing on his terminal, swung his head up, “Seriously? If the public finds out about this, it will be an absolute disaster for my public relations office! The KSP has suffered enough, we don’t need this!”

Mortimer muttered, “Mm? Worry not, Walt. There’s a reason that’s the only line about these weapons in the whole act, and it’s deliberately written to obscure what it suggests.”

“How about this,” Valentina began, “We ask General Council or Secgen himself on the matter. We won’t get a direct answer, but it is better than having nothing. Next, we state our overall feedback on the SSD Act.”

“Sounds good, I suppose. What kind of suggestions do we want to give him?” Gus asked.

“I think we all agree that we shouldn’t put weapons in space, yes?” Wernher said.

Mortimer replied, “For the time being. Why don’t we ask the Secgen what his opinion regarding the possibility of joining the TIKASD and KSP together is a viable option? I would give it slim odds he thinks so, but we shall see.”

Wernher joined in, “Not only that, why not ask for my team to have a choice in who they are working with? Probably the same result, but it is best to try.”

Gus concluded, “Sounds good for now. Walt, can you send a communication to the Secgen’s office with those ideas?”

Walt replied, “Sure can, boss. I’ll get right to it.”

“Excellent. Valentina, do you have any opinion on the SSD Act?”

“I do.”

“Can you share it with us?”

“Sure. As the representative of the Kerbonauts at the KSP, I have reason to believe that TIKASD will be a major disruption. Placing Kerbonauts of both organizations in the same building is a recipe for rivalry. If Kerbonauts can choose which organization to go, the kind of fighting that might result will grind our effectiveness to a halt. That said, the opposite of having no choice will leave us with an entire group of Kerbonauts angry at the Secgen.”

Mortimer asked, “Would making the TIKASD a department of the KSP help, in any possibility?”

“I see what you mean. It would help, for sure.”

Walt exclaimed, “A quick reply!”

“A reply from the Secgen?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“All right.” Gus decided, “Play it on the big screen, please.”

The screen showed a man in a fine suit with a lapel crested with the emblem of none other than the Secgen. Hudcas. Gus tapped his fingers on the table. The Secgen stared into the camera, with the look of firm concentration, as if he was contemplating his next words.

    “Hello, members of the KSP board. I greatly appreciate your kind suggestions and hope to collaborate with you soon. The fact is, I have loved what the Kerbal Space Program has done. Indeed, it is one of the Kerbal Union’s finest achievements. However, we must follow one of the core foundations of the Kerbal Union, to move forwards from the past, and aim for a bright future. It is what raised us from the ashes of war. Today, changes in the paradigm of Kerbin’s power have forced us to take new measures to defend the ideal of Kerbal unity and progress. The SSD Act is the first step of my administration to reach that. The Kerbal Space Program is the past, and the TIKASD is the future. It is time we shift our focus towards the future, towards the TIKASD. The KSP can do more with less. If this agency cannot stop a single asteroid, what else can it not stop?”

Until next time!

End of Chapter Two

 

[MatterBeam]

Let's see what rockets and spacecraft the TIKASD will design...

[SaturnianBlue]

4 minutes ago, MatterBeam said:

Let's see what rockets and spacecraft the TIKASD will design...

You'll find out in the next chapter!

[SaturnianBlue]

In the next chapter, I will be introducing the first spacecraft. This means that I will have to decide what part mods to start out with. The major mods I'm thinking of for now are Near Future Technology, KSP-IE, WBI, SimpleConstruction, B9, MKS or Kerbalism, KAS/KIS, and Kerbal Construction Time. What mods would you recommend for this series? Keep in mind that I'm looking for part and gameplay mods that would primarily focus on making the game more realistic/difficult, and focus on space colonization.

[IncongruousGoat]

Well, for more realism I recommend going up to 6.4x scale, although it might put a bit of a crimp in your interplanetary colonization plans given how much harder it'll make everything. 3.2x might be a bit better. Just don't stick with the default scale; it makes everything way too easy. Oh, and Persistent Rotation. You'd be surprised how much of a difference it can make. For parts, I'd recommend SSTU. Lots of good engines and spacecraft, especially for the early work of colonization while you're still in chemical engine territory.

[kurgut]

1 hour ago, SaturnianBlue said:

In the next chapter, I will be introducing the first spacecraft. This means that I will have to decide what part mods to start out with. The major mods I'm thinking of for now are Near Future Technology, KSP-IE, WBI, SimpleConstruction, B9, MKS or Kerbalism, KAS/KIS, and Kerbal Construction Time. What mods would you recommend for this series? Keep in mind that I'm looking for part and gameplay mods that would primarily focus on making the game more realistic/difficult, and focus on space colonization.

Nice!

I highly recommend: reaction wheel rebalance, persistent rotation, remote tech, FAR (aerodynamics), real heat, real chutes, deadly reentry, principia (but hard at beginning, nbody physics mod), and of course TAC life support mod. maybe others, but that's good already

And ye, as Incongruous says, scale mod is first "big" realism thing you can change, but if you didn't do that yet, It could be hard at beginning.

One mod I can't live without is procedural tank: as it says, tanks configurable in all shapes, all sizes, meaning you can adjust TWR as precise as you wan't.

Okay I stop, because I will just speak about all my gamedata folder if not

@SaturnianBlue

Edited August 21, 2018 by kurgut

[The Minmus Derp]

great!

[SaturnianBlue]

@IncongruousGoat @kurgut Thank you for the suggestions! I'll probably use them all! Regarding a rescale mod: since I haven't actually set up the save for the missions, I should be able to do the rescale mode, and it would certainly make for an interesting challenge, but I'll have to consider it further.

[SaturnianBlue]

Next Time...