Homesteading the Stars

[NASAFanboy]

The National Astronautics Administration is the leading government space agency on Kerbin. Staffed by hundreds of devoted Kerbal's who work all day and all night to ensure the safety and quality and ingenuity, it represents the best of the best that Kerbalkind has to offer....curiosity, ingenuity, and an grit determination that has never before been seen, even in the fields of battle and war. These brave kerbal's are spearheading Kerbalkind's venture into space, into the void, toward the stars that shine in the heavens. This is their story.

Chapter Portal

★★★★★

Prologue

Rocketry Research Facility, circa 1945

"Hurry up! Destroy the files, now! The coalition forces-the enemy, they are coming this way!"

Wehner shouted at the kerbal's rushing in front of him, and quickly rushed to burn his files, papers after papers of research. His life purpose. His work, his child. The flames where licking at the edge of the paper on what? Was it physics? The atom? He choked back tears as he stared into the furnace below, and he slowly let the paper drop into the inferno below.

"Go, go go! They're coming! Burn it all!"

"Sir, what about the new Q-4 prototype?"

"Bury it!"

"Yes sir!"

Several workers with shovels immediately ran out the door and quickly dug a ditch. Chaos was everywhere. Coalition forces approached in the horizon, and a shell smashed into the clearing near the research center. Smoke rose out of the forest in the distance, and machine-gun fire and explosions where heard.

"Sir, should I burn this?"

"What?"

"The blueprints for the Q-4, and all the instructions for it's construction, sir."

Wehner looked at these papers, reading over them one last time. Memorizing them, for a purpose he did not know.

"Burn them. All of them."

"Yes sir!"

His assistant grabbed the papers, and took them out into the pile of burning documents outside. That was the last he ever saw of them. A shell whistled and closed in, and smashed into the research center, shattering the windows with a massive blast. More shells approached, and a fighter plane flew overhead toward the horizon, only to erupt in flames and dive toward the ground. By kod, their much closer than I expected! Realizing this, Wehner grabbed the last of his papers, and stuffed them into his coat. The ditch was dug, and the Q-4 was being lowered into it, as workers prepared to fill it up and bury the prototype forever. Another shell hurled toward the center, scoring a direct hit on the crane lowering the prototype. Swaying for a second, it collapsed, just as more shells plummeted the blockhouse to pieces.

"Sir! Enemy soldiers are now within three kilometers!"

A soldier ran up to him, and saluted.

"Sir! We cannot hold the line for much longer. The Great Leader requests that you evacuate immediately!"

"I'll consider it."

Wehner turned around, and started to go toward the research center. Just then, a incidenary round hit the enterance, setting the facility ablaze. "Was that intentional?", he thought. Another aircraft flew above him, it's engine buzzing as it made a beeline for the distance behind him.

"Wha? Was that an coalition aircraft?"

The scientists and soldiers looked up toward the sky, in time to see another four aircraft flew past them, heading for the horizon behind the facility, as the anti-aircraft batteries in the nearby trees roared to life. The end was near. As the scientists watched in awe as an entire squadron of enemy bombers lumbered past at tree-tops level, unfazed by the AA batteries erupting around them, Wehner slipped into the forest.

Sergeant Jefferry led a small patrol of soldiers around the forest. The enemy research facility was on top of the hill, he could see it now. Suddenly, he picked up a sound.

"Hold. I found think I found someth'in"

-crack, snap, crack-

"Halt! You! Show yourself!"

A middle-aged kerbal in a lab coat stepped out of the foilage. He stared at the rifles pointed at him, and backed off a little. Jeffery noticed several patches on his lab coat, and he realized this wasn't any Kerbal researcher.

"You! Come closer!"

"What do you want?"

"A promotion for me for securing a high-profile prisoner. What else? A bonus, maybe? Name yourself."

"Dr. Wehner von Kerman. Lieutenant Colonel of the KK. Is there anything else?"

"Wehner? Ho-ho! Aren't you the director of the Q-4 Program? Come with us, we're gonna get our raise for sure!"

The other soldiers gave a enthusastic cheer, and escorted Wehner toward the coalition base. The research facility exploded in a fireball behind him, as hundreds of gallons of rocket fuel ignited. Wehner noticed, and refused to respond, fingering the papers he had in his pocket.

★★★★★

[NASAFanboy]

Chapter One: Project Minimus