[AAR] Vengeance: A Journey To Space -- WARNING: IMAGE HEAVY

[Railgunner2160]

Hmm, Any clicking coming from the HDD when it happens?? Also how old is your HDD???

[Mekan1k]

I found out what the problem is - still no update yet (I have tons of homework tomorrow, and I lost the post that had it, so I am re-constructing it), but I can say the problem is with my internet-pipeline. The person who owns my apartment has only so much of a pipeline out, and people seem to want to go online all at the same time.

It is hell going online for homework.

Anyway, I am nearly done- I will probably upload it later tonight, or at the latest around noon (my time) tomorrow. THE CHAPTER WILL COME!

Oh, and that picture? It is a false-color image of gravioli radar.

[Patupi]

Well, I hope you organize some schedule for upload/downloads or something. I know what it's like to get the net go screwy/slow on you sporadically.

Interesting graphical representation. So 'Gravioli' looks something like neon Ravioli? *grins* Seriously, like the visualisation.

No, no HDD clicking. It just gets the 'spinny blue ring' (new version of hourglass) every now and then when I click something. Oh, and it's Vista. Yeah, sucks I know, but I can't afford to upgrade to latest, and I tried downgrading to XP a while back and there are now too many progs that will no longer work on XP or won't run well on it anyway.

My computer is probably three to four years old (I forget when it was I bought the thing now) and I did a complete DBan/Re-install about a year ago. Hope I don't have to do that again! Haven't changed the HDD, so I guess it's the same age as the comp. I could see if I can afford a new HDD, but if that isn't the problem its wasted money

[Railgunner2160]

Checked for bad sectors on the drive? Also really slow performance can be caused by bad cables, Had a 1TB drive, thought it had gone bad. Turned out to be a bad SATA cable, It too kept hanging when trying to load things.......

[Patupi]

Curiously, things still go on in the background... though slowly, but you can't click on anything. I'll check the cables tonight, didn't think of that. Not sure if I've got any spares around. Unfortunately I recently threw away an old comp that was thoroughly dead. Might have been able to salvage cables from that

[Mekan1k]

Chapter 3: First contact- Not really

Kirlak: Is the Rescue-craft ready for Launch?

Krik: Yes sir, but we were unable to get the tolerances set on the largest stealth-Ion engines.

Kirlak: So? Is there a problem?

Kirk: No.. But we had to use the smaller stealth engines.

Kirlak:...

Kirk: Alot of them.

Mek: The thrust-to-weight ration is just over 2, and our changes give it enough fuel to reach orbit then rendezvous, with a bit left over.

Kirlak: Is it armed?

Mek: Yes. 6 dumb-fire high-effect kinetic missiles- hidden within the trunk of the vehicle.

Kirlak: Very well. Launch in 3. 2. 1. Liftoff.......... Wow. That thing can climb.

Kirlak: Come in, Drake1- can you hear me?

Neilman: This is Rescue craft Drake1, Pilot Neilman. The comm gear seems working fine. You guys should see the view.

Neilman: That is a point- that magnetic accelerator cannon works- It can accelerate objects out of the atmosphere..... So why didn't we use it?

Kirlak: Too expensive- only expendable payloads or devices which are set for interplanetary interception are cleared for that. WE cannot withstand the G-forces.

Neilman: Alright. Breaching atmosphere and decoupling primary solar panels shielding.

Neilman: Circularization burn underway. Solar panels deployed.

Neilman: Beak Deployed, and maneuvering systems online. We will be intercepting with the station Joe's Diner in 2 hours.

Kirlak: Let's hope you make it in time.

***

On the Station Joe's Diner

***

B9K: Commander.

Jeb: Yes? What is it?

B9K: You might want to know the gravioli source is approaching the ship. Acceleration- 20 g.

Jeb: That has to be a SWARM Vessel. Nothing else accelerates that fast.

B9K: The gravoili patterns coming from the detector are... Odd..

Jeb: How so?

B9K: Look for yourself.

Jeb: ... I don't understand what this is. Break it down, B9K.

B9K: The blue shape in the middle is our station. The blue/green waves are our active gravioli pulses- think active-scanning radar.

Jeb: What's that orange shape?

B9K: That appears to be the ship. It's shape is insinuating a much more sophisticated type of gravioli drive- possibly a more energy-efficient version.

Jeb: Is it getting closer?

B9K: Yes. And decelerating at a rate of-

*BOOM*

Jeb: SONOFA-

*THWAM*

Jeb: B9K- What just hit us?

B9K: A gravioli wave. It looks like the ship tried to decelerate too close to us, and we got caught in it's shunted gravioli wake.

Jeb: Are we going to die?

B9K: No.

Jeb: Are weapons still online?

B9K: Checking... No. Our one lazor is down commander.

Jeb: Can we get it fixed?

B9K: Yes, but it would require an EVA mission with- WARNING! Non-terrestrial transmission detected!

Jeb: Launch a micro-probe- we need to asses the damage.

Jeb: I don't think the rescue ship will be able to use the lower docking bays....

B9K: What about the transmission?

Jeb: Put it through....

SWARM: 010001110111001001100101011001010111010001101001011011100110011101110011001000000100110001101001011001100110010100100001001000000100011101110010011001010110010101110100011010010110111001100111011100110010000001001100011010010110011001100101001000010100011101110010011001010110010101110100011010010110111001100111011100110010000001001100011010010110011001100101001000010010000001000111011100100110010101100101011101000110100101101110011001110111001100100000010011000110100101100110011001010010000101000111011100100110010101100101011101000110100101101110011001110111001100100000010011000110100101100110011001010010000100100000010001110111001001100101011001010111010001101001011011100110011101110011001000000100110001101001011001100110010100100001-

Jeb: TURN THAT OFF!

B9K: Sorry Jeb. I am de-scrambling it now.... It seems to be simple ASCII sequences....

Jeb: Please translate it B9K.

B9K: Doing... More of the message seems to be parsing in now.... Huh. Here it is:

**************************

TRANSLATION COMPLETE.

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

I am the SWARM Vessel Nostalgia For Infinity.

We apologize for the accidental damage caused to your habitat, and we wish to begin diplomatic relations with your people.

As we only detect minor transmissions from your smaller excursionary *Word unknown. Possibly 'hands' or 'manipulators'*, we have parsed this into a level of transmission we think you should be able to understand.

We will wait outside your habitat for 1/60th of this *Word unknown- possibly referring to kerbin*'s rotation, and then we will land on the minor satellite of this planetary body.

We can learn quickly, and will be able to understand you if you are willing to communicate with us.

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

Greetings Life!

I am the SWARM Vessel Nostalgia for Infinity.

We apologize for the accidental damage caused to your habitat, and we wish to begin diplomatic relations with your people.

As we only detect minor transmissions from your smaller excursionary *Word unknown. Possibly 'hands' or 'manipulators'*, we have parsed this into a level of transmission we think you should be able to understand.

We will wait outside your habitat for 1/60th of this *Word unknown- possibly referring to kerbin*'s rotation, and then we will land on the minor satellite of this planetary body.

We can learn quickly, and will be able to understand you if you are willing to communicate with us.

*Message repeats**

**************************

Jeb: Well then- I guess we need to say hello.

B9K: SWARM vessel detected bearing 150 meters planetside. RCS detected- pattern indicates stationkeeping.

Jeb: B9K- can we get re-connected to comms?

B9K: Quantum communications were scrambled by the gravioli flux... I am de-scrambling now.

B9K: We have active comms.

MC: Jeb! Jab- If you can hear this, respond! We detected a massive gravioli surge near you! We think it might be another swarm vessel!

Jeb: I read you MC. It is a swarm vessel, and it is stationkeeping with us.

MC: Please clarify.

Jeb: It has not fired, and it seems not to be threatening us.

MC: How certain are you of this?

Jeb: B9K- please transmit a copy of everything that happened since we went offline.

B9K: Complying.

MC:....

Jeb: As your AI's are probably telling you, that message says rather clearly that-

MC: It is your ass on the line Jeb. Do not take undue risks.

Jeb: I won't take undue risks. Over and Out.

B9K: Stationkeeping at 50 meters.

Jeb: I think it's time I talk a little with this... Nostalgia For Infinity.

B9K: I cannot advise this.

Jeb: Do we have any larger probes than the cameras? Do we have any better options?

B9K: We do not have any better options. The Concealed Razor is More than an hour away, and the rescue craft Drake1 is 40 minutes away.

****

Meanwhile (between B9K not advising that and Jeb asking for any better options)

Mind1: I wonder if there is a consciousness in there....

Mind3: Don't start this again!

Mind2: I still have a point- we may have killed whatever was in there. The gravioli shock when we decelerated was too much for the structure of that habitat...

Mind3: Don't help!

Mind4: There has to be another entity here- we detected staggered and oscillating gravioli pulses coming from this structure- indicating an observance system utilizing reflection of graviolis.

Mind1: Maybe it's insane...

Mind2: Just because most other vessels we run into are other SWARM entities does not mean that this one is... See- chlorophyll!

Mind2: Why would an entity like us contain chlorophyll-producing-life into energy-collection arrays like that? It's inefficient compared to decay-reactors that we use.

Mind1: It's inefficient compared to the heat-transference panels that the Sun-Riders use.

Mind3: We are just going on and on. WE should be using long-range sensors to find a landing spot.

Mind1: So.... We are not leaving yet?

Mind3: NO! We will stay here until our time has elapsed.

****

Jeb: Ready for EVA. B9K, Please depressurize the airlock and let me out.

B9K: Depressurizing....

HSSSSSSSSSSSSS

B9K: Ready for EVA. Opening door now.

Jeb: MC- can you hear me?

MC: Loud and clear Jeb.

Jeb: Lets hope this vessel is more willing to communicate than the last set of SWARM was.

MC: Let's hope so.

Jeb: Heading outside now...

Jeb: It looks... More streamlined than the other ships we have seen.

*RCS Fires on the ship*

Jeb: It's rotating... What is that?

MC: Please transmit the first-contact signal.

Jeb: Alright....

NFI: GREETINGS.

Jeb: Hello. Are you Nostaligia For Infinity?

NFI: YES. WE ARE. WHAT SPECIES ARE YOU?

Jeb: My species? Kerbal.

NFI: WE HAVE NO MEMORY OF YOUR KIND. WE WELCOME YOU TO THE DEPTHS OF SPACE, LITTLE ONES.

B9K: This is most intriguing- every other SWARM vessel we have encountered has been openly hostile.

Jeb: We are glad to find friendly people out here.

NFI: WE WISH TO HAVE YOUR PERMISSION TO HUNT FOR AN ENTITY SIMILAR TO MYSELF- ONE OF OUR SLEEVES WAS STOLEN BY ANOTHER FACTION, AND WE NEED TO RETRIEVE IT.

Jeb: Sleeve?

NFI: THE CURRENT BODY. WE SWITCH BETWEEN THEM. ONE OF OURS WAS STOLEN, AND WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT. HAVE YOU SEEN IT AND THE FUGITIVE?

Jeb:....B9K, Please transmit the relevant data to him.

NFI: WELL... THIS EXPLAINS ALOT. WE WILL AWAIT YOUR DIPLOMATIC PERSONNEL, AS STATED, ON THE SMALLEST SATELLITE FOR THE NEXT 4 MONTHS.

Jeb: Thanks. That is very considerate.

NFI: YOU MIGHT WANT TO TAKE SHELTER WITHIN YOUR HABITAT. WE WILL ACCELERATE AT LOW SPEEDS TO PREVENT DAMAGE.

Jeb: Thanks.

B9K: Gravioli surge!

B9K: No damage. Was that wise, Commander?

Jeb: I cannot think of why it would not be.

B9K: We have finished rotating back to face perpendicular to orbital direction, although reactor containment has been breached.

Jeb: How long do we have?

B9K: 20 minutes.

Neilman: Joe's Diner, Come in! This is Drako1. I am inbound on your position and burning to rendezvous.

Jeb: Man, Am I glad to see you!

Neilman: I am coming out of the planetary shadow in a few minutes.

***

A few minutes later...

***

Neilman: On-route to you. Flipping around and decelerating....

Jeb: That was fast. We see you- come in fast as possible- I need to get out of here.

Neilman: Received- I am coming in hot.

*THUNK*

Neilman: Sorry about that- the docking ring cannot dock too quickly. Let me try that again....

Jeb: Take it easier this time.

Neilman: DOCKED!

*Sound of airlock opening*

Jeb: Man, I am glad to see you Neilman. We need to get out of here!

Neilman: Why?

B9K: DESTRUCTION Due to reactor explosion in 2 minutes.

Jeb: That's why.

Neilman: Alright- buckle in. B9K- Seal the airlock and prepare for ejection.

B9K: Done.

Jeb: Will this be rough?

Neilman: Jettesson... NOW.

*THUMP*

Jeb: I guess that answers that. Are we past shock-wave distance yet?

Neilman: Not yet....

***

Neilman: We are probably safe out here.

Jeb: Really? That reactor was pretty big....

Neilman: Yup. We are far enough.

***

On the Concealed Razor...

***

Bob: HE DID WHAT?

MC: Jeb Negotiated to meet with an apparently friendly SWARM vessel to meet on Minnimus. We will need you here to help plan the mission.

Bob: NO.

MC: This is an order.

Bob: THEY! KILLED! BILL! And they are going to kill the rest of us unless we kill them first!

MC: Only One of them killed Bill, and we have proof that this one is not in league with those ones.

Bob: STILL!

MC: Calm down or we will take you off the Minnimus Negotiation Mission.

Bob: Fine. But we need some people who are actually able to negotiate.

MC: True. We will be sending important people with you. Now- we are transmitting coordinates to Rendezvousing with the Drake1.

Bob: Can't I stay up here?

MC: No. We need you on the ground- we will be sending up an automated defense platform to help your craft defend itself.

Bob: I am alright with that.

B9K: Coordinates ready- course plotted.

Bob: Burn when ready.

B9K: Burning.

MC: We will also equip the drone with extra fuel.

B9K: Dropping...... Turnaround reached.....

Bob: At your timing B9K.

B9K: Circularization burn underway.

Neilman: Razor, this is Drake1- I am heading towards you. Rotate so that I can dock.

Bob: Doing now.

Bob: So... Jeb- how do you feel being the first person who had a sane conversation with a SWARM vessel?

Jeb: Nostalgia for Infinity seemed... Rational. Not like the other SWARM entities we have encountered.

Neilman: We are experiencing RCS trouble- it seems like the internal gravioli wave cancelers are slipping out of alignment....

Jeb: That does not sound good.

Neilman: It's not. They will explode and shatter this vessel if we keep supplying power to them... Without them active, this ship becomes a beacon in graviolis.

Jeb: Is there a way to re-align them?

Neilman: No, but I can dump the ascent stage and activate the remote detonation.

Jeb: Do it. This pod has enough power to land on it's own after de-orbiting.

Neilman: Dumping the stage.

********************

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DUMP THE:

Ion Ascent Stage

YES/NO?

********************

Neilman: Yes.

********************

WARNING:

IF YOU DUMP THIS STAGE:

YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO ACCELERATE BEYOND 1.9G.

YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO TAKE OFF AND REACH ORBIT AFTER LANDING.

DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?

YES/NO?

********************

Neilman: Yes!

B9K: Engines Dumped. Self destruction set for 20 KM.

Jeb: Thanks. Bob- we are on approach.

Bob: Copy.

Jeb: Docking in 3. 2. 1.

*THUNK*

Bob: And... You guys are Docked!

Neilman: Could you go EVA- to see if the warheads were damaged?

Bob: You want me to go outside the shielded spacecraft, to inspect nuclear warheads?

Neilman: They are not nuclear. They are kinetic-kill warheads.

Bob: And that's better? IN SPACE?

Jeb: Yeah- remember, Newton is the deadliest son of a-

Neilman: They will not fire unless something specific happens.

Bob:... Fine....

Bob: I still think this is a bad idea....

Bob: Neilman, your warheads look good. I am coming in now.

Neilman: What? They look dangerous?

Bob: They look like 6 dark-green spikes. YES.

Neilman: Right... Buckle in, and lets get going. Disconnecting... NOW.

Neilman: RCS propel off-angle so that drop burn will not have us hit the Razor.

B9K: Complying.... RCS burn complete. Land at KSP?

Neilman: Sure. We cannot land at the new airport?

B9K: Traffic control is not allowing it yet.

Neilman: Then KSP it is.

B9K: Burn in 45 minutes.

Jeb: I am going to sleep.

Bob: Aren't you going to plan for the Minnimus mission?

Jeb: I will sleep on it.

Neilman: Can't argue with that logic!

***

45 minutes later.

***

B9K: Burning!

Neilman: We cannot land with the extra payload. B9K- jettison the KK warheads.

B9K: WARNING- WE WILL BE UNARMED.

Neilman: It doesn't matter. We are landing soon.

B9K: You have a point. Firing and detaching KK missiles.

Neilman: A beautiful ring of kinetic death....

Bob: It would look better pointed at some SWARM.

MC: We cannot.... Although that is now a contingency plan.

Bob: Good.

Neilman: Uncouple Umbilical....

Neilman: Disconnect, and compensate for jettisoning force.

B9K: Done... Burning.

B9K: Heatsheild oriented.

Neilman: Jeb! JEB!

Jeb: zzzzz... Huh?

Neilman: Kerbin city is visible! As is the new AirPort!

Jeb: Cool!

B9K: Current speed is 1.5 km/s

Bob: That's pretty fast. Altitude?

B9K: Low enough for plasma shock to develop.

B9K: We are coming up into Railgun Airspace.

MC: Drake1, you are cleared for landing.

Neilman: Acknowledged MC. B9K- begin landing sequence.

B9K: Unlocking and deploying landing legs.

B9K: Burning for landing.

B9K: We have landed.

Jeb: FINALLY! SOLID GROUND!

MC: Jeb- we need you in the command center, to plan the next mission.

Jeb: Will do MC.

****

Meanwhile, The Nostalgia For Infinity closes on Minimmus.

****

Mind1: Are we there yet?

Mind3: WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING? YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE SAME TELEMETRY THAT THE REST OF US DO!!!

Mind2: 1 is just trying to antagonize you, 3.

Mind3: ITS WORKING.....

****

Yeah...

****

Sorry for the Late update- I had homework and stuff to get done, and Fluid Mechanics Homework is a **** to finish.

Anyway-

I am looking for a few brave Kerbals.

One from the New World Homes Company, One from the Verolan Aerospace, and several other dignitaries which might find this useful.

Your suggestions are always welcome, and since I am running a mission to Minnimus Next, I will consider all designs that are submitted, and take the best traits and designs I like for use.

It's Always nice to read your comments, and the next update should be later Friday-Saturday.

TÑ̽ÌÂÃ’̃̽ÈHÌšÃÂ̊à̜̤EÃŒÂÃŒÃÑÑ̺̭̎ ̶SÛèìÌÂíã̙̜̾Õ̮ÓÎW̑ÊèÌÂ̯̼̫ÌÂAë̅ã̧Ç̦̤È̘RÌŸÌ­MèêÚÚÖ̲̜̣ Ầ̇ÃŒ×ÃÂ̙̦̖ÈÓIÃÂ¥ÃÅ’ÃÆ’ÃÂÌ̘̘S̃̽Ú̼̘̰ Ì¡ÃẬ̰̭Ãâ€Ãâ€Ĉ̋íï̆ÃÂ̬OÃŒÂ̾ÃŒÊ̂í̖̪̟MäÌâ€ÃŒâ€™ÃŒâ€žIæÑÒ̉̋é̳̤̜̠NĘ̻̂ÕÎ̪̭̘̠Gî̑Ìâ€Ã­Ì†Ì¾Ã§Ì²Ì™Ì¥ÌªÌ¹

[Patupi]

Very nice piece of first contact and orbital and surface interplay. Jeb the diplomat... the mind boggles!

[Mr. Pseudonym]

Sneaky, sneaky

Opened it up in notepad, reads something like "THE SWARM IS COMING" In that weird symbol language.

[Playful1510]

Just read through the whole saga in one go. I AM STICKING AROUND DAMMIT!

[The Error]

I feel this war suffers a minor case of Beam Spam....

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeamSpam for those who don't know what that is.

[Mekan1k]

To The Error: YES. In response: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill

But hey- in space, there is no-one to hear you scream.

But the flash of light and debris field you leave is a testament to the epicness that happened.

To Everyone- any recommendations for the names of kerbal dignitaries?

Edited September 8, 2013 by Mekan1k

[Railgunner2160]

Well besides the sunbeam the only other "Viable" weapons are the lazor missiles...

[Patupi]

There are machine guns of varying types as well I believe. Never tried them myself. I think they've been updated for 0.21.1

For dignitaries I'd go with parodies myself. I guess who you chose depends on what you plan the end result of this diplomacy to be. Let's not start with a version of Chamberlain (Kamberlain?). No waving of pieces of paper allowed!

[OrbitusII]

I think using Kerbalized science fiction author names for dignitaries would be cool and somewhat ironic.

Obert Keinlein, anyone?

[Mekan1k]

Sorry guys- no update tonight- I thought my homework would be over faster than it was, and now I need to sleep. I already have some of the stage set up, and all I need to do now is get the players and launch them.

Have a picture of the Station OVERWATCH ZERO.

(By the way, Jeb's at the Gun)

Edited September 8, 2013 by Mekan1k

[Itsdavyjones]

As the president of New World Homes, we will be sending Maccus, our VP. Good chapter BTW.

[[ Jeremy ]]

Pili_Industries will be sending up their chief weapons tester, the president's son, Jeremiah_Kerman. Great work there man!

[The Error]

Kallon Industries will send Markus Kerman, our chief test pilot.

[Fox62]

Vasquez Kerman: Chief Engineer Jonah "Fox62" Kerman has volunteered to be sent.

[Mr. Pseudonym]

And I, some random shady guy off the street will volunteer myself, Pseudo Kerman. And Nicholas Cage.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Mr. Pseudonym

[[ Jeremy ]]

After many iterations, Pili industries releases it's first fighter, the Arrow.

Fast and sleek, the Arrow features style and functionality. Equipped with four Sunbeam Lasers, the Arrow delivers a punch while being fast and agile.

The Arrow comes in two varieties; one equipped with lasers, the other equipped with DYJ's Gattling Guns.

[More to come, school impeding development.]

Download:

Laser Arrow

Gattling Arrow

Edited September 8, 2013 by [ Jeremy ]
Added Download

[Mekan1k]

ARG! SO MUCH HOMEWORK!

(I am taking 4 physics classes and a business class, all advanced, so I have very little free time as all my homework is due tomorrow. Well, I will write the chapter when I can.... It will happen before Wednesday.)

Current Roster for the Minimus Diplomatic Mission:

Jedediah- Commander

Bob- Lieutenant

Diplomats:

Kirlak - Head of the Kerbal Space Association AND Interplanetary defense initiative.

Maccus- VP of New World Homes

Jeremiah- Pili Industries Representative

Markus- Chief Test Pilot of Kallon Industries

Jonah- Chief Engineer of Verolan Space & Aeronautics Ltd

Pseudo- Random Guy off the Street with mob connections

A person named "Nicholas Cage" attempted to board, but was stopped due to his lack of a security clearance.

Oh, and Jeremy_Pili, do you have any idea how to make the gattling guns deal damage?

[Mekan1k]

Oh- and since I only have 1/4 of my homework left, here is a picture for your amusement.

[The Error]

I think The gatling gun uses bullets with insanely high impact tolerance to just impact and blow up stuff. Given that everything kerbal is Made of Explodium, I guess it's not hard to achieve.

[[ Jeremy ]]

I've fixed it, should work fine now. Just redownload the craft.