On a Wing and a Booster: The Story of the Kerbals and Machines of KSP

[jigglypuffdaddy]

Hello all. I'm starting what I hope will become a long term writing project. It will combine elements of loosely strung together mission reports with a look into the internals of (my) Kerbal Space Program. I should stress up front that I will take a lot of liberties with the characters/places/history/machines of KSP in order to create what I hope is a compelling narrative. So if any parts of this story disagree with accepted knowledge of the Kerbal universe just remember I'm creating things as I go along in order to work out a narrative, I am not trying to propose that any of what I write is cannon. Ok with that out of the way let me begin. I'd love to hear feedback so feel free to share.

Chapter 1, Part 1: Vertigo

Stuck, the hatch was stuck. Jeb’s mind was racing; “It can’t be stuck†he thought to himself. After a second try with no success Jeb determined that the cockpit hatch was definitely stuck. Jeb gave a quick glance over his shoulder to the reporters waiting for him to board the KX-1. Sure enough they were still there, anxiously waiting for Jeb to climb aboard the craft, cameras eagerly snapping pictures of Jeb poised/stuck upon the hatch of his rocket plane. Jeb couldn’t stand reporters. Jeb didn’t mind that the glorified missile he was about to climb into had a 25 percent chance of killing him instantly, in fact he reveled in it. What Jeb did mind was that if something went wrong it would be captured on film for the entire world to see. He could just read the headlines now; ‘Jebediah Kerman Bumbles Flight Losing Million Dollar Aircraft. . . . and Life’. Jeb realized that his mind was drifting off and snapped himself back into reality. He needed to get the hatch open and get into that plane because there was only one thing on Kerbin he hated more than reporters; ladders.

Ladders, Jebediah Kerman's one true weakness. Not that anyone but Jeb knew this, he had always been careful to hide his anxiety on and around ladders from others. Despite his best efforts though, his nerves were beginning to wear thin. He tried the cockpit hatch again and again nothing. His palms were beginning to sweat and he could sense the vertigo coming on. For a split second he glanced down and the 5 foot drop to the ground might as well have been 5 miles, he began to feel faint. Jeb knew he had to act fast less he faint in front of an assembly of international reporters. Summoning what was left of his composure he grabbed the hatch handle and pulled with all his might. With a metallic clang the hatch finally gave way. Jeb enjoyed a split second of relief before realizing that the exertion had thrown him of balance and he was beginning to fall backward off the ladder. In one panicked instinctual motion Jeb flung himself forward back toward the cockpit and scrambled inside.

Finally inside the cockpit Jeb allowed himself a few brief seconds to recover from the terror on the ladder. He shut his eyes lightly and breathed as smoothly as he could. He allowed his torso to sink into the seat which had been custom molded to fit him perfectly. His hands came to rest on the controls which, despite his eyes being shut, he instantly recognized as he had helped develop them. In fact Jeb had had a hand in the development of the entire KX-1, the ship was almost an extension of his very soul. Jeb relaxed further and allowed himself to become one with the ship, his mind folding into every seam and rivet. Sealed inside the cockpit of his ship, away from the insanity of reporters and ladders, Jeb was truly at home, truly alive. Jeb's quiet moment of meditation was broken by the electrical hiss of the comms line opening up “Ground control to Maj. Jeb do you read?â€Â. “Loud and clear†he responded, allowing some of his trademark cool confidence to seep into his voice. “Would you like to take off today or are you waiting until Duna is in proper alignment?†“Well†Jeb replied, allowing a hint of friendly sarcasm into voice “Duna transfer window won't open up for another 45 days so if you guys wanna take a little holiday till then I won't argue.†After a flustered pause the flight controlled finally sighed “Just start the damn pre-flight checklist, the faster you break the sound barrier the faster we can all go to lunch.â€Â

Edited February 3, 2014 by jigglypuffdaddy

[Captain Sierra]

From one writer to another, I'm following this.

My one suggestion is that since the last line before the picture is also the caption repeated under it, you don't need the captions. If anything, I think it would flow smoother without them.

[jigglypuffdaddy]

Chapter 1, Part 2: Rocketeer

Ignition! Jeb was slammed back into his seat by nearly four times the force of gravity as the 215 kN of thrust of the LV-T30 Engine suddenly and violently roared to life.

The KX-1 was slingshot down the runaway, accelerating to 70 m/s in only a few short seconds. Inside the cockpit was chaos, and Jebediah Kerman was born for chaos. The structure of the KX-1 groaned under the twin forces of thrust and aerodynamic lift. Vibrations shook every bit of the craft and made reading the instruments nearly impossible. The roar of the rocket engine was deafening, though not deafening enough to drown out the comms link to flight control. “Damnit Jeb we haven’t finished the pre-flight checks yet!†Flight control sounded fairly angry, Jeb couldn’t understand why. All it was with them was checks, checks and double checks. They’d spend hours pouring over boring lists just to make sure that in the all too likely scenario that this flight happened to be Jeb’s last, blame for the failure could be passed along the work chain; Engineers, contractors, technicians, the damn President, anyone else to foot the blame except flight control. Today however, Jeb wasn’t in the waiting mood and decided to go ahead with the flight after completing his own extensive checklist: ‘Plane on runway? Check. Jeb in plane? Check. All systems go.’ And while this rigorous check was enough for Jeb it didn’t seem to sit well with flight control.

Jeb decided to offer them a few words of comfort , “Relax boys if there’s anything wrong with this bucket of bolts we’ll find out during flight.†Flight control responded instantly with a fury rivaled only by the rocket strapped to Jeb’s back “That’s why we do a pre-flight check you idiot! Your going to get yourself killed!†Jeb reflected on flight control’s words for a moment before remembering that he didn’t care. Also he needed to lift off the runway immediately since the KX-1 was beginning to travel across the tarmac at speeds well beyond those rated for its tiny landing gear. Jeb allowed himself a split second to answer back flight control with a snarky “We’ll see†before returning to the business of getting the KX-1 off the ground. Jeb fought against the crushing acceleration as well as the vibrations to bring the stick back as gently as he could. If he brought the nose up too suddenly he risked striking the nozzle of the rocket engine against the runway and turning both himself and the plane into confetti. With his trademark skill and determination Jeb eased the nose of the KX-1 a few degrees upward until the plane’s stubby wings eventually caught enough lift and were hurtled skyward, mercifully taking the rest of the KX-1 with them. With the KX-1 now off the runway Jeb decided it was time to put the plane through its paces. With an almost euphoric delight Jeb heaved back on the control stick to point the plane’s nose further skyward. However, in his excitement, he failed to take the KX-1’s fully fueled weight distribution into account. Before he could react the nose of the plane slipped away from his control and began to climb. Jeb tried his best to compensate but the plane was out of his control. 45°, 55°, 65° the nose of the KX-1 pointed higher and higher while the planes center of mass continued along a shallower path. Jeb knew he only had a split second before the craft entered a spin. In his headset Jeb could hear the folks at flight control beginning to panic ‘’Your angle of attack is too steep Jeb, you're going to lose control!†Jeb, however, was not fazed. In fact, these moments of near disaster were the moments he lived, and potentially died, for. As he and his plane skidded toward a fiery doom Jeb soothed flight control’s panicked pleas with a cool almost happy response, “Relax I’ve got a plan.†Flight control was not soothed, “What do you mean you have a plan!?†With a devious smile forming at the edge of his lips Jeb responded with the poise and confidence of a Kerbal that had decided long ago that he was invincible, “I’m gonna roll it.â€Â

Edited February 5, 2014 by jigglypuffdaddy

[Tw1]

I like this story, it's good so far.One or two sentences are a bit clumsy, but that happens to everyone.

Reminds me of the time I had Jeb crawl down about 50 meters of ladder during my Cannon experiments. Perhaps my Jeb is over that fear.

[Patupi]

I like the flow of the thread, and so far see no deviation from generally accepted KSP wisdom . I do think it's odd that your Jeb has a morbid fear of ladders and mine was avid about getting them quickly, but that's just me.

One thing, I think you've ended up with slightly too large a block of text. I think most of it is just that you don't use a new paragraph when a new person starts speaking. The rest probably will work out fine. ie:

Sealed inside the cockpit of his ship, away from the insanity of reporters and ladders, Jeb was truly at home, truly alive. Jeb's quiet moment of meditation was broken by the electrical hiss of the comms line opening up

“Ground control to Maj. Jeb do you read?â€Â

“Loud and clear†he responded, allowing some of his trademark cool confidence to seep into his voice.

“Would you like to take off today or are you waiting until Duna is in proper alignment?â€Â

[Starwhip]

GREAT job so far. Like how it's going. Keep up the good work.