Wired for Kraken

[VelocityPolaris]

Need moar story...

[Angelo Kerman]

Need moar story...

Definitely working on it. After major writer's block and RL job hunting and working on my Nuclear Engines mod, I've finally gotten through the block. Now I'm trying to get my 23.5 game to stop crashing so I can get more screenshots. Job hunting related activities must take priority though, so chapters will be published slower than I'd like. But I haven't abandoned this story, and am already think about the next one too.

[Fox62]

I really want to see more of this.

[Angelo Kerman]

“Raptor Squadron, you’re clear to undock. Good hunting.â€Â

“Roger that, Colonel Tom, thanks for the ride. See you in a few days,†Bill responded. “Dilkin, form up with Jeb.â€Â

“Raptor 2,†Dilkin acknowledged.

“Kenny, you’re on my wing. Give us a nav point to the antimatter harvester.â€Â

“Raptor 3,†Kenny responded.

During their quest for interstellar technology, the Kerbal Space Program discovered that planets and moons in the Kerbol solar system trapped antimatter within their magnetic fields. Eventually, KSC engineers used that same trick to build antimatter storage tanks, and then built a prototype collection satellite that orbited 900km above Kerbin’s surface. The demonstration vetted antimatter technology, though it took additional research before antimatter reactors became available.

While Scilab produced antimatter in Kerbin orbit using a lot of microwave energy and Prometheus Station harvested the lion’s share of KSC’s antimatter from Jool orbit, the prototype satellite sat unused in orbit, obsolete until Jebediah Kerman’s Junkyard and Spaceship Parts Company bought the satellite and outfitted it with additional collectors and a warp-powered propulsion section. With its new lease on life, it became the world’s first commercial antimatter harvester. It was supposed to operate autonomously, returning to Kerbin when its tanks were full. But with its probe core’s transponder and data link deliberately shut off to prevent virus attacks, it had to be retrieved manually.

Jeb wasn’t just flying to the harvester to protect a strategic asset, he was defending his corporate property from vultures.

“There she is,†Jeb noted. “Jeb’s Antimatter-harvesting, Warp-powered Spacecraft. JAWS. I call it Bruce.â€Â

“Bruce,†Kenny repeated over the squadron’s laser link. “Why’s that?â€Â

“That was the name of the mechanical shark in Jaws.â€Â

“Jaws? Is that a video game?â€Â

“No, Dilkin, it’s a movie. Sheesh. Kids these days… Nobody’s home, that’s a good sign,†Jeb noted. “I’ll do a flyby before docking. Cover me, guys.â€Â

“Roger that, Jeb. Dilkin, line up.â€Â

“Raptor 2.â€Â

Jeb separated himself from the rest of the squadron and approached the collector. His quick scans showed no apparent damage, and each of the docking ports chirped their readiness to accept visitors. He found a port he liked and hit the RCS thrusters. Like his quantum vacuum plasma thruster main engines, the RCS thrusters also used quantum vacuum plasma. Exactly how Wild Blue Industries miniaturized the engines remains a trade secret. Nonetheless, Jeb appreciated not having to worry about monopropellant like he did in the old days.

"Uh, Jeb," Bill called out over the laser link. "You're getting real close to the warp ring, are you sure you're able to-"

"And uh... ok... So, uh, I guess the answer is yes, the Hornets will fit."

"Told ya Bill," Jeb lasered back. "Bolts secured, solid dock. Doing some quick diagnostics... Probe core is on standby as expected. AM reactor also in standby. Solar panels are a little worn since the last we checked, but still operational. Fuel stores are solid. Warp ring is go but needs to build up some exotic matter. Antimatter tanks are... Oh, nice! They are completely full! That's gonna give our strategic antimatter reserves a huge boost." Not to mention a healthy boost to my company's bottom line, Jeb thought to himself.

"Hey Jeb, how long until you can fire up Bruce and send her home," Bill asked.

"Not long, an hour, two tops. I'll have to do some EVAs and trip some relays though. I'll get moving on that."

"Sounds good, we'll keep an eye out for..."

Orbits are ballistic elliptical paths that limit what a spacecraft can do. Ships exchange a bit of delta-v to raise or lower their orbit, or a lot of delta-v to change their inclination. Ships in close proximity expend propellant to slightly alter their ballistic trajectories in order to rendezvous with their targets. Such movements tend to be as graceful as ballet instead of chaotic like football.

As impressive as it is to use a satellite’s retrograde orbit’s kinetic energy to smash a target into pieces, the reality is that it takes precision targeting and an unmoving target to pull off. If the target alters its orbit enough, the kinetic kill vehicle would have to compensate until one or both spacecraft ran out of fuel, time, or both. In an age of quantum vacuum plasma thrusters limited only by their reactors, and an age where lasers and guided missiles were ineffective beyond 2.5 kilometers, combat spacecraft would have to get up close and personal, co-orbiting to exchange fire.

As a result, unlike what science fiction movies portray, space combat is not like aerial dogfights where planes maneuver wildly to get the best firing position. Instead it’s more like the linear tactics of old, where lines of soldiers on opposing sides met up on the battlefield to exchange volleys.

And just like the days of old, battle lines were susceptible to cavalry charges.

“Incoming, four of them!â€Â

“I see them Dilkin,†Bill responded. “They look like fighters. Oh, that’s not good… Uh Jeb? They’ve got warp drives.â€Â

“Warp drives, on fighters, Bill? How,†Jeb asked. “It takes forever to build a warp drive, not to mention the cost…â€Â

“I guess Aggie economics are different than ours. Get ready, Raptor Squadron, the schtako is about to hit the fan.â€Â

[Angelo Kerman]

So, getting the screenshots for this battle and future fights is going to get tricky. I spent the evening figuring out how to get two groups of ships in close formation. Ergo, you won't be seeing epic battles with dozens of ships in camera at the same time, unless I get crafty. I do have some ideas on that...

[Apature rocket science]

Please tell me the list of mods you use and once your done can you release you game file so we can play through the story like world war k

[Space_Kraken]

I recommend BahamutoD's Burn together. It is just what you are looking for for a good squadron flying solution: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/75170-WIP-Plugin-(0-23-5)-Burn-Together!-Alpha-v5-1-(5-14-14)

[Angelo Kerman]

Please tell me the list of mods you use and once your done can you release you game file so we can play through the story like world war k

Hm, hadn't thought of that. My mods are all 23.5 so you'd need to update to 24.2 compatible mods, but here's the list:

ActiveTextureManagement

Asteroid Cities

B9 aerospace (just using the adapters like the 1.25 -> 2.5 etc.)

BigOrangeTank (Klockheed Martin's Space Shuttle Engines pack would be a great substitute)

BurnTogether

Chatterer

CrewManifest

CrossFeedEnabler

DMagic's Orbital Science Mod

Kerbal Engineer

Environmental Visual Enhancements

Firespitter

Habitat Pack (Porkjet)

Procedural Fairings

HyperEdit

KAS

Kethane

Infernal Robotics

MechJeb

DockingPortAlignment

Near Future Construction

Quantum Struts Continued

Romfarer's lazor system, guided missile system, sunbeam laser

Spaceplane Plus (Porkjet)

SCANSat

TAC Life support, fuel balancer, self-destruct (for some cinematics)

Kerbal Alarm Clock

MKS (for Vulcantown, but my version is now outdated)

Kerbal Interstellar

MK2Extensions (my custom mod, has a generator I made, works with kerbal interstellar)

Quantum Vacuum RCS (my custom mod, works with kerbal interstellar, will be stand-alone some day)

I think that's all of them...

Again, the problem you'll run into is that my story is based on mods built for 23.5. MKS, for instance, no longer uses the colony hub, so you'd need to build a different command module for the Vigilance, for instance.

Also, I have to do some trickery to get squadrons to play nice. My first attempt had a squadron rig (basically a station hub with tubes and docking ports to dock spacecraft with) that I then HyperEdited to the place I wanted. That's been causing me troubles, so I have to Photoshop some upcoming screenshots. Burn Together helps, but it only does so much.

I honestly hadn't considered a game file for each chapter. I've just been using my game file to set up the scenarios, getting the screenshots I need, and then terminating flights as needed. I can certainly release my craft files and subassemblies, and I can create a baseline file that would represent the start of the story before all the mayhem. That way you'd have access to the microwave relay network, "DaMissile" and Proteus launch vehicles, and so on.

The problem becomes how to have enemy forces hanging around the JAWS, for instance, because by the time you rendezvous a squadron to it, the enemy forces will have drifted away.

Anyway, it's an intriguing idea. You'll need my MK2Extensions pack, which you can find here. It includes all the parts I made including the QV Plasma RCS thrusters.

Here is the baseline gamefile, as the universe existed before Wired For Kraken starts. I don't believe Vulcantown is included, however, and sadly I deleted some of my older ship files.

If you just want the ships I made, I've zipped up the craft files used in the story, and you can find them here. These files go in your savegame directory. I make no guarantees that you'll be able to use the spacecraft though.

@space_kraken: Thanks for the recommendation, I've actually been using that.

Edited August 24, 2014 by Angel-125

[Apature rocket science]

Thankes for that I will try to get it to work but the probblem is some mods like you say have not been updated so I will have to remove some thing

[VelocityPolaris]

Nothing's been posted here in a while, so I figured I'd fill up some space. Soyuz launch was today, and Commander Maxim waved at the camera.

[TonyC]

Very impatient for the next chapter, although it seems the project is dying away. Rest in Peace.

[VelocityPolaris]

Never give up hope...

Unless, of course, it fits the situation...

[VelocityPolaris]

To anybody who follows this thread which appears to be dead: Shout out to the Rosetta Comet Landing!