[Updated September 27th] A Planet Divided: The Story of the Kold War

[MajorLeaugeRocketScience]

Any rocket action planned next chapter? I want some of these rockets to go up now.

[MajorLeaugeRocketScience]

Update yet?

[Generalstarwars333]

Are you still there? are you writing? did you disappear? Did ONI get you? ONI! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH CALCULUSWARRIOR!?

[CalculusWarrior]

Are you still there? are you writing? did you disappear? Did ONI get you? ONI! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH CALCULUSWARRIOR!?

I'm unsure what ONI is, but I'm fine, I apologize for the delay! The next chapter is 'complete', i.e. it contains all the plot points, etc. and most of the dialogue, but I have yet to actually wrangle it into something readable. Do not worry, it is coming Soonâ„¢

[Monkey29399]

Soonâ„¢

Tomorrow?

[Generalstarwars333]

ONI stands for the Office of Naval Intelligience. It's essentially the UNSC's FBI/KGB/SS/Any agency that can make you, ah, disappear for saying the wrong thing.

[Monkey29399]

The story hasn't been updated for a long time....

[CalculusWarrior]

The next update is here at last! I detest writing dialogue, and unfortunately this chapter required nearly five thousand words of it! That being said, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out, and hope y'all enjoy! Today, the USKK discovers a brand-new method of staging, which may be very familiar with some of you...


[SPOILER=A House Divided]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/vMg8ySGt.png[/img]
[b]USKK:[/b] Space Program Administration Facility, Bob Kerman’s Office
[i]One Week Later[/i]
[HR][/HR]


[img]http://i.imgur.com/e5ZSPbD.png[/img]

For at least the twelfth time that day, Joliana Kerman glanced at Bob and Bill, locked in argument, and let out a snort of annoyance. Ever since she and Bob had returned from Jebediah’s old base, Bob had been arguing non-stop with Bill, and making no progress, from the sounds of it. Bill seemed to have relapsed into the same counter-argument he’d been using ten minutes ago and the two were making no progress. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the mail she was sorting, shifting in her uncomfortable small folding chair. Evidently the ‘Personal Assistant to Bob Kerman’ did not warrant a desk of her own. Fan letter, fan letter, bill, bill, bill [i]for[/i] Bill, spam, another fan letter… This could get a little repetitive. Still, despite it all, she didn’t really mind this job. Sometimes she would catch herself thinking about getting back into the field, but that encounter with those CKFN agents was enough action for her for a good while. For the time being, sorting mail would do just fine for Joliana, though she really could do with a break from that argument.

“I just can’t believe you brought…[i]him[/i]…back here!” Bill was saying.

“You do know you can speak his name; it’s not like he’s some sort of evil spirit who appears when you say it three times. He’s our [i]friend[/i], Bill!”

“He killed those kerbals, Bob, there’s no coming back from that.”

“Oh come on, looking at the grand scheme of things, that’s hardly a drop in the bucket. Why, similar RD programs to ours have a much larger—”

“Don’t even go there. He pushed the button to blow them up [i]personally[/i]. We all heard what went down in that control room; with two minutes of decision-making time, Jeb chose to kill those kerbonauts. Snap decisions like that might work when one’s in the pilot’s seat, but [i]never[/i] when kerbals’ lives are on the line like that!”

“You’re being unreasonable! What would you have had him do? Wait until the rocket crashed into the spectators, killing [i]everyone[/i]? No no no, he should have seen the engines overheating [i]somehow[/i] before [i]IX[/i] lost control, with data that [i]didn’t exist[/i] at the time and made the call to scrub the launch? Is [i]that[/i] what you’re saying?!”

“You know full well that there wasn’t any data available, which was only [i]because[/i] of his lax policies with inspections!”

“Well he’s back and you can’t change that. You know what? Just stay in your office all day, and you won’t even have to see him! There. Problem solved.”

“I’m still the Squad-damned Director of this Space Program, don’t you forget. Maybe I should just fire the both of you and be done with this whole business.”

Joliana noted that the threat directed towards his position at the Program rattled Bob a considerable amount, as the kerbal stepped forward aggressively. “Oh yeah? You’re just going to start laying off everyone who disagrees with you? Yeah, that’s going to make a lot of kerbals [i]real[/i] happy. What’re your buddies in Parliament going to say when the Space Program splits in two? Huh?”

Something flashed within Bill’s eyes, and the kerbal glanced sideways for a moment before replying. “Maybe—maybe it doesn’t matter what they think.”

Bob laughed nastily. “What, you’ve done such a bad job managing the Program, the government’s decided to shut it down?”

This certainly caught Bill by surprise. After a moment, his jaw set, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “Maybe.”

“Yeah, well—wait, wait…[i]what[/i]?!” Bob was uncharacteristically caught entirely by surprise.

“Let’s—ah, let’s consider this discussion elsewhere. Somewhere a little more…private.” His eyes flickered briefly over Joliana, who rolled her own. She probably had a higher security clearance than the both of them [i]combined[/i], but if Bill felt he needed to keep whichever Big Secret he was hiding under his hat confined to as few ears as possible, so be it.

She waited until the two had left the room, then took her things over to Bob’s desk, and sat in his big chair. [i]Much more comfortable.[/i]


[HR][/HR]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/vMg8ySGt.png[/img]
[b]USKK:[/b] Administration Facility, Broom Closet
[i]Ten Minutes Later[/i]
[HR][/HR]


Bill moved quickly down the hall, glancing in every doorway he passed, Bob begrudgingly following. This was taking lonoger than anticipated, all the rooms they’d passed so far were full of kerbals. Fortunately, a couple minutes more of searching yielded a small room used for storing cleaning supplies. Bill ushered Bob inside, and he closed the door behind the two of them. As a meeting room, this was decidedly non-ideal, as there was barely any space to maneuver, the only lighting came from a single overhead lightbulb, and a couple of spiders appeared to be listening in, but it would do for now.

Bill composed himself. He’d been butting heads with Bob over this for the past week now, bringing the former Director back was absolutely [i]inexcusable[/i]. Why couldn’t Bob see that Jeb was the reason the Space Program was in as much hot water as it was right now?

Looking around at their cramped surroundings, Bob spoke. “Now that we’re alone, what’s this about the Program being shut down?”

Bill swallowed. “About a week ago—while you were off site with your assistant—I met with the Prime Minister regarding the results of the governmental investigators. Apparently, they were displeased with our conduct and work practices and, ah, recommended we shift the Program’s focus immediately.”

Bob appeared to be taken aback by this, but contrary to his usual response, did not make some sort of nasty remark about Bill’s character, nor did he scoff and dismiss Bill’s concerns. Instead, he asked an insightful question. “Shift our focus to what, exactly?” Unaccustomed to this, Bill took a moment to respond.

“Well, rather than the current big, expensive kerballed boosters, they want us to return to what we started with two years ago—small atmospheric probes.”

Bob’s face took on a pensive expression as he mulled over these words, once again surprising Bill. “That’s…not ideal. When does it come into effect?”

Relieved that Bob was actually [i]listening[/i] to him for once, Bill continued. “Well, I suppose there's one piece of good news; the necessary bill to enact these restrictions isn’t due to be voted on for another two months.” Bill knew what Bob would say, and cut him off before he could speak. “However, the Prime Minister has been [i]very[/i] clear that he expects a majority to pass it when it comes to a vote.”

Brow furrowing, Bob responded. “Regardless of what the President thinks, that vote is no sure thing. We just need to convince them that we’ve learned from our past mistakes and the Program’s under competent management.”

“Which is why bringing [i]him[/i] back was such a bad idea! That majority [i]will[/i] be a sure thing when Parliament hears the kerbal who blew up our last rocket is back,” Bill couldn’t believe Bob wasn’t [i]getting[/i] this.

“Come on, Bill. We need Jeb to actually get things done around here! We’ve sat around doing nothing for the past five months and I bet it’s half the reason that bill made it this far!”

“You know, Jeb isn’t the only kerbal with ideas on what the future of the Space Program should be.” Bill hesitated, then decided to share an idea he’d been toying with for the past couple of days. “Why don’t we assemble a team of mission specialists and plan out a long-term strategy for the next year or so? That surely will inspire some confidence in Parliament!”

“Are you kidding? You’re trying to fix this with a [i]committee[/i]?” Bob exclaimed, immediately shooting the idea down. “They’ll use up those two months just deciding on a basic framework! It’s way too little, far too late.” Bill missed the brief window of time where Bob listened to what he had to say and responded rationally.

“So [i]he[/i]’s our only option?” he asked incredulously. “I refuse to believe that.”

“Bill, if you’d actually [i]talked[/i] to the kerbal since he got back, you’d know that he’s immensely sorry about the entire incident, as well as the handling of it. In addition, he’s also got a plan for how we could get to the Mun.”

Bill couldn’t believe his ears. “And so you think following any plan [i]he[/i] comes up with is a lower risk strategy?”

“Anything we do is risky, Bill—this is rocket science after all! But we’ve got precious little time to do things and are low on options. I’m not saying his plan is perfect—it will need some tweaks for sure—but it’s our best chance at saving the Program.”

“I can’t believe you. How can’t you see this is exactly what we did to get us into this whole scenario? We’ll follow this damn plan over my dead body!” Bill was positively shouting now.

Bob’s face darkened, but before he could respond, the sound of a hesitant knock broke the tense atmosphere between the two. Bill scowled at Bob, then opened the closet door. A small kerbal stood there, clad in a white lab coat and glasses, clutching a clipboard as if if was a shield.

“Uh…um, is Bob there?” he asked, timidly.

“What, you can’t talk to the [i]Director of the Space Program[/i]?” snapped Bill. Upon seeing the poor kerbal’s terrified look, he immediately regretted it. “Sorry, sorry. Bob’s right here.” Bill stepped out of the closet to give the two some room.

“What is it, Derrigh?” Bob questioned. Evidently he was familiar with this kerbal.

“Well…I…er, the simulations we were running ha—have completed. I was coming to tell you about it, but your assistant said you’d stepped out, I…I heard raised voices coming from here, and…ah, well, you’ll want to see these results.”

“Are they [i]good[/i] results?” Bob asked, quizzically. “We’re kind of in the middle of something here.”

“Sir,” At this, Derrigh cracked a smile. “They were beyond our wildest expectations.”

Thoroughly confused, Bill stepped closer. “What is this? Results? Simulations? What’s going on? [i]Bob[/i], what haven’t you been telling me?”

Bob sighed, annoyed. “Remember that ‘Advanced Projects Division’ you green-lit a few months ago? They’ve been working on alternative rocket designs to the standard ‘serial’ staging method.”

“Indeed,” the technician confirmed, nodding his head. “Bob has been taking a great deal of interest in our work, and requested updates on our progress. I’m happy to be able to report that we actually have something!”

Bob nodded. “If these results are as good as Derrigh here says, we can build better-performing lifters with the same 1 meter stack sizes we’ve been using so far, rather than resorting to a 2 meter design. I don’t think I need to tell you why that would be ideal.”

“That—that…actually makes sense. I—ah, well done then!” Bill said, surprised. He was surprised all this had taken place right under his nose these past weeks. Then again, he [i]had[/i] been busy running back and forth to the capital. Eager to escape the argument which his discussion with Bob was devolving into, he spoke to the tech. “So what are we waiting for, let’s see these results!”


[HR][/HR]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/vMg8ySGt.png[/img]
[b]USKK:[/b] Advanced Projects Division
[i]Ten Minutes Later[/i]
[HR][/HR]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/Yaw7qya.jpg[/img]

As the trio entered the laboratory, the general air was one of excitement and great cheer. As Derrigh led them towards the chief scientist of the lab, it almost seemed like a full-scale party was taking place.

The chief scientist turned around and introduced himself. "Hello, Bob, Director, I'm Gus Kerman, only recently promoted to the chief scientist of this lab."

Shaking the kerbal's hand, Bill asked him about the levity surrounding the group. “Oh, excuse my colleagues, they’re just relieved that we finally obtained good results!” the kerbal responded excitedly.

“Judging by the atmosphere around here, you’d better have found a way to create fuel of of thin air,” Bob remarked. “Hang on, are those guys drinking [i]ethanol[/i]?”

“Ahh—you do have to understand, we’ve had a very stressful few weeks here at the APD, running fruitless simulation after simulation, trying desperately to find a better rocket setup than our current one. With the lack of activity around here recently, there’s been talk of maybe you guys are planning to shut the Space Program down! I can assure you, everyone at the APD is wholeheartedly committed towards space exploration!”

Bill’s eyes widened, and he hoped that the kerbal didn’t realize just how close those idle rumours were to reality. “Well, I—ah, can assure you that the leadership is just as committed as you are towards our goals. You needn’t worry.”

“That’s certainly good to hear! Now, I know what you're here for, let me show you the results! Please bear in mind that this simulation is hardly exhaustive—you do have to remember that it’s only recently that computers have become powerful enough to enable simulations of this type. We’re really breaking new ground here!”

“Mhmm,” was Bob’s only comment, as he watched a kerbal with a lampshade on their head run around.

“That being said, while this may not be as ground-breaking as violating Conservation of Mass, it should offer at least a 25% increase in delta-v when compared to a standard serial-staged vessel, and comparable performance to a 2.5 metre rocket, like the, ah, theoretical performance [i]Uranus IX[/i] could have given us.”

“Impressive,” Bill commented. “So you’re saying that these rockets could reach the Mun? And why haven’t we been using this method before now?”

“Multiple reasons, really. One is the engineering complexity. Serial staging is remarkably simple you know, as it simply places one stage on top of the other, and decoupling the two is trivial. This new method takes a great deal of knowledge in how stages attached to the side of other stages behave when detached, something we’ve only been able to analyze recently due to the [i]Uranus[/i]’ SRBs. Also, we integrated fuel lines into our simulation, a relatively new technology which allows us to actually pump fuel from tank to tank. We didn’t have those when the engineers were starting out building the [i]Aether[/i] rockets!”

This all seemed to make sense to Bill. He was about to ask what the engineers decided to call this staging method, when Bob cut in, evidently less sure about the design side. “And all of that allows you to achieve this efficiency? What in the world would that rocket look like?”

“Well, naturally further refinements will have to be done by the engineers once we have a working model, but the rough shape should be a central core surrounded by parallel-staged boosters, each with their own engine. Fuel tanks drain the outer tanks first, then they’re detached, and the process continues, keeping the central core full of fuel. Think of it as connecting a large amount of drop tanks to the rocket, but they all have engines on the bottom.” Gus explained proudly.

“That’s going to be an awfully wide rocket, won’t it?” Bill pointed out.

“It certainly could be; some of the techs have been drawing likeness to a pancake! But I believe that for normal-sized payloads and sufficiently-powerful rocket engines, the stacks can be made taller, and not wider.”

“Well, if you say so,” Bill responded, unconvinced.

The tech’s face brightened as they approached a small room of whirring fans and blinking lights, within which a single green-lit screen sat. It displayed a large, flickering line of text: ‘Δv = 3345 m/s’.

“Is—is that the delta-v of the rocket? What sort of payload would it be carrying?” Bob asked, clearly impressed.

Gus grinned, pushing his glasses up his nose. “In fact, this simulation was based upon the [i]Uranus IX[/i] mission, we got the capsules’ and transfer stage’s mass from Engineering, and applied it to the simulation.”

“Wait a minute,” Bill just recalled something. “Wasn’t [i]XI[/i]’s estimated delta-v at least 3.8 kilometres per second?”

Gus' brow furrowed, then he read the number again. “Oh dear, this is a newer simulation, it was estimating how much delta-v would remain once the ship was in orbit, to check if it could perform a successful Munar mission. We basically did analysis from past rocket launches, estimating how much fuel was expended and—“

“Gus,” Bob interrupted. “How much delta-v did the ship have when fully-fuelled?”

“Oh, of course!” The scientist looked around. “Er, I appear to have misplaced the data tape, but it was approximately five kilometres per second, on the pad.”

“Five? As in five thousand metres per second?” Bill asked, incredulous.

“Yes, as far as I can recall. Naturally, the simulation would give more detailed results to its performance, but even then we’re still dealing with some degree of error; these machines are limited in how much they can model, after all.”

“That’s more than enough to make a Munar flyby—why, we could do an orbital mission, and maybe even a landing with this tech!” Bob exclaimed excitedly.

Before Bob could continue, Bill pulled him aside. “Bob, can I talk to you for a second?” The two went over to a corner which was undisturbed by the ongoing party.

“What is is Bill? I thought you’d be happy about this new design! The Program is saved!”

“Bob, don’t start getting any Munar ideas, we haven’t even tested this design yet!” Bill hissed. “It doesn’t matter how good those numbers look, they don’t have anything concrete! Without actual hardware, the Program’s still doomed.”

“Oh come on, Bill. We can surely show off the design, perhaps to the military? I’m sure they’d be very interested with a rocket which can carry large payloads.”

“After what happened with [i]Uranus IX[/i], how can you even [i]consider[/i] allowing this technology to kill more kerbals?”

“Lighten up Bill, the military will get their hands on the tech eventually, it’s just a matter of getting what we want when they do. I’m certain they would be willing to speak up in Parliament on our—”

“[i]Hem-hem.[/i]” From behind them came the sound of a kerbal gently clearing her throat. Bill and Bob quickly turned to face this new sound.

“Joli? What are you doing here?” Bob asked, puzzled by the appearance of his assistant.

“Forget her, what is [i]he[/i] doing here?” Bill asked, turning his gaze to the kerbal behind her.

For Jebediah Kerman, former Director of the USKK Space Program, stood beside Joliana. “Hey Bob, I—ah, popped by your office, and, well, Joliana brought me up to speed on what’s been going on. She mentioned a new design the technicians had worked up so we popped over here to see it. Really great stuff, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Joliana confirmed. “He was interested in the new rocket design, so I offered to show it off to him while you two were having your little, ah, ‘discussion’. Speaking of which, what’s this about the Program being ‘doomed’? Bill, you looked particularly concerned about that.”

Caught completely off-guard, Bill struggled to explain this away but only managed to get out a few ‘ums’ and ‘ahhhs’. [i]By Harv[/i] she was a sharp one. “Ah, merely a figure of speech?” he tried again, though the lie fell short even to his ears. Eyes narrowing, Joliana turned her head. “Bob?” she asked sharply.

“Oh it’s really nothing,” Bob said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Just a [i]minor[/i] piece of legislation passing in Parliament to, oh, you know, [i]shut down the Space Program as we know it[/i]. Nothing of any major concern whatsoever, I can [i]really[/i] see why you kept that to yourself, Bill.”

“Mu’s eye, Bob, give me a break. You’ve kept your secrets too, like this fancy rocket design you’ve got the lab working on!”

“As you said, Bill, it’s not [i]vital[/i] to the future of the Space Program! Why in Harv’s name would you keep this decision secret, especially if you keep on shooting down any ideas on how to fix it?” Bob retorted, voice rising once more. By Max, why couldn’t he just understand the scope of this problem?

Before he could let loose, though, Jeb cut in. “Well, actually…this design might be vital to the Program.”

“What do you mean?” asked Bill with disdain, turning to the former Director. “You can’t possibly expect a new [i]staging design[/i] will convince the bureaucrats, particularly one that’s still just wild speculation and a number on a screen.” After he’d pointed this out, he realized that this was the first time he’d spoken to Jebediah in over four months, and felt a little bad about his sharp tone. Not too bad though, he still wasn’t exactly pleased the former Director was back.

“But don’t you see? It’s not the staging design itself, it’s the payloads we could put into orbit! You saw those results, we could reach the Mun, with ships the size of [i]Uranus IX[/i], and much safer too! Heck, we could even put huge payloads into Low Kerbin Orbit! That would certainly make some in Parliament stop and think, wouldn’t it?” Jeb was looking more excited now, some hints of his old energy leaking back into his mannerisms.

“Exactly, Jeb,” Bob agreed, looking thoughtful. “All we need to do is likely just launch a payload or two, whether to Mun Orbit or just to LKO, and the government has no choice but to keep us in action. It’s not as if they have any other space launch options just lying around!”

Bill responded, still unconvinced. “At the moment, we’re hopelessly behind the CKFN for launching capabilities, and from what the Prime Minister said, Parliament knows it. That’s half the reason they’re shutting us down; they think any achievements we gain are just not worth the risk of rockets blowing up. The CKFN put kerbals around the [i]Mun[/i], for Harv’s sake! Even if we do manage to launch a payload into orbit, how are we supposed to show Parliament that we’re not out of the game?”

“Analysis of the most recent [i]Caelus[/i] mission showed that they only barely made it to the Mun, requiring refuelling en route,” Joliana cut in. “The CKFN’s rockets are incredibly anemic, especially compared to this new design. They may be reliable and extensively tested, but they trade that for raw performance. We now have the capability with this new method to overtake them by showing our rockets are far more powerful then theirs.” Bill’s brow furrowed. How on Kerbin did Bob’s assistant know this much about the CKFN’s rockets?

Unaware of Bill’s musings, she continued. “This nets us a number of advantages. One, the CKFN sees our technology has outclassed theirs and spends time rushing to catch up. This diverts time from their inevitable Mun mission. Two, this makes the USKK look strong, and the CKFN weak, something which Parliament absolutely adores. Thus, even the most die-hard factions in government will be inclined to allow us to continue, so long as we continue to show off how much better USKK rocketry is than the competition. And three, this puts us farther along the way for developing for a Munar mission, as we have the launcher design completed, and by demonstrating the size of payloads it can carry to orbit, we simply have to design a crew carrier and lander which will fit this design.”

“Well said, Joli!” Bob said as she finished her speech, clapping her on the shoulder. “This design will be the saviour of the Space Program yet!”

“It [i]might[/i] be the saviour,” corrected Bill. “We neither have a working design nor a payload to show it off.”

Bob glanced at Jeb. “Well, we may have an answer to that. Remember that plan I told you Jeb was thinking about for how the Program should move forward?”

Jeb stepped forward. “Hey, hey, Bob, those were just my thoughts about some of the Program's future options, not really a cohesive [i]plan[/i],”

Bob continued anyway. “Nonsense, it was an excellent plan, and much better than how the Program has been handled so far.” This elicited a scowl from Bill. Bob was being very unfair, it wasn’t easy being Director! Bob kept speaking. “As I recall, you proposed using the older-model boosters which launched the early [i]Kaether[/i] spacecraft to lift probes to Kerbin orbit and beyond. Since a probe is much lighter than a kerbal, we could most likely make it to the Mun using just those basic one-metre stages.”

“You’re forgetting that those earlier boosters suffered failures too. What if the same happens again?” Bill pointed out.

“Now that the engineers have been reorganized, I’m certain they can pull of manufacturing those simple rockets easily enough!” Bob said, confidently.

“Hang on a minute, while we’re tossing out ideas, I—ah, may have one more,” Jebediah offered cautiously, with a look at Bill.

“What is it, Jeb?” Bob asked.

“Well, rather than just rehashing the early [i]Kaether[/i] rockets with probes instead, why don’t we use this new method of staging? Apparently it can easily be done with simple one metre stages.”

“That’s brilliant!” Bob shouted excitedly. “Then we can launch heavy payloads to Munar orbit, all without the risk to kerbals you’re so worried about, Bill!”

“We could even perhaps try to pull off a remote landing, if we could get a properly-sized payload to the Mun. That would certainly put us ahead of the CKFN!” Jeb said, cracking a smile.

Bill sighed. While he couldn't deny that a Munar landing would almost certainly reverse Parliament’s decision on the Program, this staging design still needed extensive testing before it could be deployed on an actual mission, and he said as much.

“That’s true, Bill,” Bob responded, “But we can easily test it with a simple test flight. Heck, that test flight could show just how much payload we can put into orbit, and would certainly wow Parliament!”

Once again, Bill sighed. He would have protested, but he was sick of rehashing the same argument over and over. Bob had finally worn him down. “You know what, fine. We’ll do this.”

At his words, Bob and Jeb shared a quick high-four. Bob quickly continued. “But it needs to be properly managed! I want you two to write down Jeb’s ‘plan’ in a detailed report and give it to me by tomorrow. We’re going to go over this piece by piece, making sure everything makes sense. We can’t afford [i]any[/i] more mistakes.”

Jebediah smiled. “Thanks Bill, we’ll get on that right away! I understand if you’re still wary about trusting me with leadership, and I promise that I’ll just help with the basic framework of this plan; I’ll leave you guys to debate the finer details like safety without me.”

“I—ah, thanks Jeb,” Bill said, hastily turning away. Despite Jeb’s ideas on how to save the Program, he still wasn’t a fan that the kerbal was back. “I think I’ll head back to my office, I need a nap.”

He walked away from Bob and Jeb (Joliana appeared to have wandered away at some point while Bob was shouting, perhaps joining the crowd) and pushed his way through the ongoing party. As he approached the exit, he noticed Gus, the chief scientist among the crowd. He was suddenly reminded of his question from earlier, and pulled that kerbal aside.

“Yep, ah, how can I help you, Bill?” Gus asked, looking a little put off by the fact he had been dragged away from his party.

“I'll just be a moment. I had a question about the staging design. What are you guys calling it? I seem to recall you saying something about pancakes?”

“Oh dear me, no! That’s just what the interns are describing the rocket as, though as I said, with the proper engine design it won’t be much wider than a conventional [i]Uranus[/i] lifter. No, we’re naming it after the team who discovered it, which was in fact myself and another kerbal, Perry Kerman.” He pointed his colleague out of the crowd, who turned out to be the one running around with the lamp shade on his head. “We’re calling it Perry-Gus staging.”

“So that's the official name the department is calling this method?”

“Actually, it seems that the interns are trying to call it ‘asparagus staging’ as a bit of play on words, and they say that the rocket would actually look a bit like a bundle of asparagus. They're putting it on all the official documents too, so it's a major pain to get them to stop repeating it. Eventually though, I’m sure that this parody name will just fade away into obscurity!”

“That’s good to hear! Thanks, Gus,” Bill said with a smile, and walked away. Even though Jeb was back, and Bill was under pressure from Parliament with this bill shutting down the Space Program, it was good to hear that some kerbals were still having fun.

[/SPOILER]


[SPOILER=Ship Design]

The asparagus design delta-v numbers are real, except I used the simulation software known as 'Kerbal Space Program' to do the calculations. :P Below on the left, you can see the original [I]Uranus IX[/I] ship, and the right ship is the same payload, yet asparagused and with 25% more delta-v.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/oTDDh6w.jpg[/IMG]

If you're new to the game/never heard of asparagus staging, it really is a great tool to making more powerful lifters!

[/SPOILER]

[KSK]

Game on! Good kerbals - we got ourselves a race again.

And for somebody who 'detests writing dialogue' you do a great a job of it!

[Generalstarwars333]

Yeah, you really do.

[COLOR="silver"][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR]

I have now come up with an official acronym for this! Here it is: APDTSOTKW. Or, more simply, APDTSKW! It stands for [B]A[/B] [B]P[/B]lanet [B]D[/B]ivided [B]T[/B]he [B]S[/B]tory [B]O[/B]f [B]T[/B]he [B]K[/B]old [B]W[/B]ar, and the second one is the same, just without the of the.

[Daelkyr]

This is a fantastic read. I started it as a bit of a curiosity, but the more I read, more impressed I became. As someone who freaks out every time my kerbal loses sight of her pod on IVA, the entire 6 hour ordeal of Uranus VII was like a hammer to the face. And I actually swore out load when Uranus IX went kerbal. Keep up the fantastic work.

- Josh

[CalculusWarrior]

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Game on! Good kerbals - we got ourselves a race again.

And for somebody who 'detests writing dialogue' you do a great a job of it!

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Yeah, you really do.

My thanks to the both of you! Though you should have seen the first draft of the chapter; Bill and Bob immediately agreed on everything and Bill was completely fine with Jeb's return after a paragraph or two. I decided to add a bit more drama and stubbornness to the kerbals to make it feel more real.

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This is a fantastic read. I started it as a bit of a curiosity, but the more I read, more impressed I became. As someone who freaks out every time my kerbal loses sight of her pod on IVA, the entire 6 hour ordeal of Uranus VII was like a hammer to the face. And I actually swore out load when Uranus IX went kerbal. Keep up the fantastic work.

Thank you as well! I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and my writing style and plot details have certainly improved over time.

It doesn't look like I'll be able to get the next chapter out until late in December, so to tide you over until then, I've updated the ebook and PDF versions of the story, with better formatting, spelling corrections (the General's name has finally been standardized to Geoffnard, with two 'f's), and fixed pictures. If you're new to the story, wanting to reread the thing, or need over three hundred pages of kindling, go check it out!

Lastly, I always enjoy the feedback I get here, so if you have a question, a strong opinion about how the story should proceed, or just want to say hi, feel free to leave a comment below.

Edited November 30, 2015 by CalculusWarrior
Updated reply to the new forum format; still getting the hang of things!

[Generalstarwars333]

*goes to site where story is on game/home computer for first time* So thaaaaaat's what the flags look like! *Me after having read everything up until the latest installment on school computer, seeing all the pictures purely as little squares with a tiny mountain and a river in them since Imgur is blocked.*

[Choctofliatrio]

This is seriously an awesome story. At first, I rooted for the USKK, cause, you know, Jeb, but now I kinda like the other guys (forget the acronym) more. Interesting choice not having Jeb fly any rockets, but I like it. Bravo!

[CalculusWarrior]

Oh dear me...

It appears that the forums migration has been less than forgiving to this thread, and posts are horribly mangled, and I think the original post is gone. (either that or I just haven't figured out the new forums interface yet) 

After the sever problems get ironed out (it's frustrating to navigate the site when Bad Gateway errors keep happening), I'll see what I can do to fix things up again.

[CalculusWarrior]

Oh dear me...

It appears that the forums migration has been less than forgiving to this thread, and posts are horribly mangled, and I think the original post is gone. (either that or I just haven't figured out the new forums interface yet) 

After the sever problems get ironed out (it's frustrating to navigate the site when Bad Gateway errors keep happening), I'll see what I can do to fix things up again

[CalculusWarrior]

Hi all, just another update. As this thread is unfortunately damaged beyond repair with the removal of the OP, I've created a new one, which all future chapters of the story will be posted upon. The link is as follows: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/126811-newly-revived-a-planet-divided-the-story-of-the-kold-war/

Hope to see everyone there!

Edited December 1, 2015 by CalculusWarrior

[HeyItsKaden]

This is great! Who made this??? I want to make a video series based off this awesome story.