Ad Lunam - Final Update 2015-05-31

[Cydonian Monk]

Thanks as always! Almost missed the comments.... Guess the e-mail notifications must be down along with the rest of the website... or turned off in anticipation of the forum apocalypse for when the game launches tomorrow.

The.. the only thing I can say. I hope you appreciate it.

http://i743.photobucket.com/albums/xx80/TheChaos0/mind-blown-2.gif

As if Millions and Billions and Trillions suddenly cried out with blown minds, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. (No no, wait, that's a different quote.)

Well, this is getting interesting!!

May get really weird in a hurry here soon. We'll see.

[ElJugador]

Anyway, any tips for doing an AAR like this myself? I'm planning on doing it Real Soon Now. Like, in a day or two at most.

[Cydonian Monk]

Anyway, any tips for doing an AAR like this myself? I'm planning on doing it Real Soon Now. Like, in a day or two at most.

Sure! Some of this is fairly generic advice, but hopefully helpful:

Notes. Lots of notes. Usually it's best to write out what happened when it happened but then post it a week or so later. That gives you time to collect your thoughts. I take lots of screenshots, many that show the important bits of the UI such as the date.

Flexibility. I had a plan coming into this as to what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. That plan has changed regularly. Sometimes weekly. Sometimes daily. Don't be afraid to walk away from something that isn't working.

Routine. Try to post at least once every couple weeks. I've usually shot for posting at the end of the weekend, though occasionally (often) I miss that or post early because of life-stuff.

Listen to feedback, just don't live by it. Folks will usually tell you, indirectly or not, when you've slipped too far into the abyss. There will also be long stretches of time where you get no feedback at all - that isn't always bad, and it's why keeping it routine is important.

Do it for yourself. I've created this to help remember what I did in KSP. Sharing it and its insanity is just an added bonus. That whole second post? That's there for me.

And always: Play the game because you enjoy it, not because you want to share it. Walk away when it stops being fun. Come back when it's time.

[Cydonian Monk]

First thoughts on KSP v1.0:

Massless parts are an abomination. Massless heatshields doubly so. Can you guess which part configs I'm editing tonight?

Stock fairing masses are wacko. I'm not going back to Procedural Fairings, but I'm seriously considering writing a small plugin to balance out the stock fairings' mass, if possible. You should lose mass when you discard a half-kilometer-long chunk of metal and plywood (or whatever kerbal fairings are made of). I may also explore making my own fairing parts akin to KW. At the very least these stock jobbies are getting a reskin.

[Gollum] Radiators! We needs them! [/Gollum] Thankfully my standard nuclear tug design (such as was used by the Kraken's Harvest) should be fine, as it has a ton of wings at the back near the NERVs to act as radiation shielding. And I've used wings as radiators for a long time now (mainly in RSS using a MM config), so no major changes. Even still, officially-stock liquid radiators are now my most needed part.

I believe I can fly! Seriously, it may not be completely, absolutely realistic, but the new aero is superfun. Minus the heat issue. I'm going to start meddling around in the "physics.cfg" file to see if a better approximation of shock-heating thermodynamics is possible. Or more than likely I'll just live with it as it's a minor gripe.

Stock fuel cells are AWESOME.

---

Given the scope of the changes, I'm still going to go ahead with the plan as-is and import none of my previous saves or crafts into v1.0. A completely fresh start. Which is where this story is going anyway, if you haven't already guessed. The present story line will be wrapped up in two, maybe three posts (the majority of which has already been played in 0.90), and then we'll likely bid farewell to our Ad Lunam crews. At least for a couple months.

Edited April 28, 2015 by Cydonian Monk

[Cydonian Monk]

Osprey Station - Low Duna Orbit

Year 79 day 23

19th Kerbal Space Agency

"Well that's weird. Hey Duds, check this out."

Dudry was moving through the Osprey's command module into the lower bunks when Enlan pulled him aside. "What?"

"The radio. I was scanning the frequencies, listening to the silence of the universe. Except now there's this spike around 440MHz." He pointed at the waveform. "See?"

"Another research satellite?"

Enlan shook his head. "Hmm, no. Just a flat signal, no data. And it's shifting oddly, has to be local. Probably some piece of unshielded electronics that's worked itself free on that tin can the rebels have in a polar orbit."

"Ok, keep me updated." Dudry was about to push on his way when Enlan jumped.

"Hey! Voice! Listen." Enlan unplugged his headphones and let the signal play across the ship's speakers.

"...ediate assistance. We have suffered a catastrophic failure and are stranded, venting atmosphere. Please respond. Message repeats. This is Meldo Kerman, first officer of the Kraken's Harvest requesting immediate assistance. We have suffered a...."

Dudry strapped himself into the seat opposite Enlan and started flipping switches and pressing buttons, one of them for the intercom. his nap would have to wait. He cut off the emergency broadcast and addressed the crew.

"All hands to duty stations. Jack I need you in the cockpit. Herhat and Donnie get into the station and grab everything of value. There's a ship requesting our aid and it might be a long time before we're back here."

---

Ad Lunam - Silence

---

Kraken's Harvest Debris Field - Low Duna Orbit

Year 79 day 24

Milzer was never so happy to see another ship as he was when the Osprey appeared from behind Kerbin. Very little time had passed since the explosion, and now their best hope for survival was fast approaching. Not as fast as whatever had hit them, thankfully.

He was still a bit sore from it all and the pain in his head was somewhere near excruciating, but nothing a few painkillers wouldn't solve. Danlong had done his best to patch him up, but there were far worse cases to deal with than Milzer. Melden, for starters, who was badly burned from putting out the fires in his section of the habitat. And Deruki, who had taken quite a beating when his capsule was ejected from the duster and propelled off into a higher orbit. Milzer still wasn't sure how he survived.

They had isolated most of the damaged portions of the habitat and had moved quickly to patch leaks and transfer reserves into good tanks. Water would be their biggest concern, as much of it had been stored between the hulls of the ship to serve as radiation shielding. When small bits of debris pierced the outer hull, pockets of that precious fluid had rapidly sublimated. Even with their recycling system there was no way they had enough to last until a rescue ship from Kerbin arrived. At least not with all twenty of them aboard.

The arrival of the Osprey would help tremendously.

Milzer's joy turned bitter when the captain of the Osprey sipped through the airlock and into their small station. Dudry Kerman, their old crewmate who had gone missing during the raid on Sky's Reach, only to turn up later as the first astronaut in a new space agency. Meldo and Milzer moved quickly to block his access to the Harvest.

"M! M! Heyas boyos! Long time no see, is it not?"

Meldo groaned. "Dudry? Of all the places to bump into _you_. Crash any of our space stations lately? How can we trust you? How do we know you're not responsible for this mess in the first place?"

"Do you have a choice?" Dudry looked around the small room, growing slightly uncomfortable. "Look, I had nothing to do with the spot you're in just now, just like I had nothing to do with Bernoulli. I'm looking for answers the same as you. Seems our lander went missing before we could use it."

"Think we found it." The standoff continued for a few moments, and finally Meldo turned and opened the passage back into the ship, returning to the lab module, followed silently by Milzer. Dudry drifted in behind them. The air inside was slightly acrid, as though something somewhere was still burning. Milzer wondered if there wasn't something still smoldering here in the lab.

"Nice place you've got here."

"It was." Meldo glared at Dudry harshly. "I'd ask how you made it out of Sky's Reach, but I already know you were a spy in the first place. So instead I'll ask where Podoly and Lengee went. And the other three. Jorble, Genekin and Bobbo. Did you brainwash them like you did Gene?"

"Such hostility. Tsk. You always attack your guests and rescuers like this?"

Milzer was hungry still, the painkillers having amped up his metabolism. He fished around in the lab's cabinets for a snack bar and set about munching on it in a somewhat agressive manner. He stared down Dudry, who was obviously being evasive, then spoke up. "Answer. It's a simple question. What happened to our friends?"

"No idea." The glares from M&M seemed to be enough to startle Dudry and he was becoming visibly nervous. "Look, I'm here to help your crews, not argue over mistakes we made in the past. Yes, I was working for the Council while flying with you. Had been since my time in the military. Yes I was feeding them information while we were on the run. That changed after the raid on Sky's Reach."

"And the others?"

"Barting was the only other one I know of. He disappeared a couple years ago, right after that fiasco with Bernoulli Station. I haven't seen him since."

"AND THE OTHERS?"

"Disappeared. At least the four rescuees did. I never figured out what happened to Bobbo. I wanted to recruit them for the new space agency, but the one time I asked I was told never to mention them again. You learn one thing it's to not question the Council. But they seemed to be as in the dark as I was."

Milzer and Meldo continued to stare down Dudry for several minutes, Dudry's eyes darting between the two of them. Finally Meldo blinked.

"Look, you're right. We don't have a choice here. In some hundred days time a transfer window will open for Kerbin and we need to have as many kerbals as possible aboard your ship. Can you help?"

"Of course. What are old friends for?"

---

Munlit Silence Jool Flyby

Year 79 day 270

Meanwhile, out near Jool the Munlit Silence was fast approaching its target. This mission, if you recall, was to drop three small landers into the Joolian System while the crew aboard the Silence flew past in a higher orbit. Originally they were to have returned to Kerbin, but thanks to a convincing argument from Haloly they would instead fly-by Duna before returning home.

To save fuel in the lander bus the Silence itself was projected on an intercept with Laythe. First order of business was to cut off the lander bus to allow it and its three landers to continue on their way. Afterwards they set up for their course correction burn, testing the engines one more time before committing themselves to the longer trip. That was all done some 120 days before the flyby.

One hundred plus days later and the Silence was well inside Jool's sphere of influence. The twelve kerbals were all plastered to the ship's windows as they made their closest approach. Shepgee was happy to finally see something other then an endless starfield outside.

"Get your fill now, boys, because it'll be 3 years before we see another sight like it."

Meanwhile the lander bus was fast approaching its date with Laythe. Originally the three landers were to have gone to Laythe, Vall and Pol, but changes in KSP 0.90 made that impossible. None of the probe cores on the landers have any torque, and the landers were stripped-bare so they lacked RCS. The new plan was for all three landings to be on Laythe itself, using the thick atmosphere of the Kerbin-like moon to properly orient for landing.

And the kerbal pilots aboard the Munlit Silence would have three attempts to get it right. Podzon, Loald and Shepgee would each take a turn remotely piloting a lander, with Haloly granted the honor of crashing the satellite bus into the surface once all the scientific data had been relayed back.

First the package had to be captured by the moon's atmosphere.

The aerocapture was plotted such that the lander bus and its three landers would crash into a landmass following it first orbit. At apoapsis the first of the three would be released and the bus would RCS-burn itself into a safe orbit. Podzon took the first lander and fumbled with the controls helplessly as it tumbled away.

Contact with the atmosphere spun it around to face retrograde, as expected.

Podzon scratched at the back of his head as he looked over the lander controls. "So what do we get to do exactly?"

Shepgee was right behind him, watching attentively. "Well, you have to manage the thrusters so it can make a soft landing. And if you're good, you can back off the throttle on one of the four and use that for attitude control."

"Uh... ok, sure."

The angle of attack for the first lander was good, but not perfect. Unfortunately Podzon waited just a bit too long for gravity to turn the craft downwards before firing the main thrusters, and the first of the three landers attempted to lithobrake.

"Hey! I'm still getting data!"

"Yeah, but look at the camera. As soon as those batteries are dead its done. It might get some more sun tomorrow, but those panels are facing downwards." Shepgee patted Podzon on the back and motioned for Loald. "Better luck next time kid. Loald, you're up."

Loald's landing was targeted on the same island as the first lander. At apoapsis the bus burned down with RCS, released the lander, then returned to a safe orbit again. The second lander entered into an uncontrolled tumble, just like the first. Until it reached Laythe's atmosphere at least.

And then everything went wrong. For no obvious reason the lander flipped over to face down. Despite his attempts to save it by turning off a thruster, as Shepgee had suggested, Loald's lander instead impacted the surface face-down. A new crater was formed that day.

"All right boys, my turn." Shepgee strapped down into the remote pilot's seat and brought the interface up. "Time to show you how this is done. Take notes."

"If you're gonna show us how it's done, maybe you should've done it first instead?"

"Where do you think I got my notes from?"

First order of business was to change the inclination of the lander bus. No reason to land on the same, boring-old equatorial island. Following that Shepgee released the third and final lander. A few minutes later and it was well on its way through Laythe's atmosphere.

The landing approach was textbook, and the lander was pointing almost directly upwards. Unfortunately the ground wasn't. The lander clipped the uneven surface and started to tumble across the dunes.

"Woah!" Shepgee was fighting the controls, trying to find a combination that resulted in the right engine burning to get it back upright. And then, just as the momentum was almost bled from the tumble, he retracted the landing legs.

"And that, gentlekerbs, is how you land an uncontrollable lander on an alien world mostly intact."

Haloly was grinning. "You broke your leg, dude. Bet I can do better, even without those fancy thrusters."

Shepgee unstrapped and moved out of the command seat. "Be my guest."

As before, the lander bus burned with RCS at apoapsis to set up a landing on one of the islands. "The thing Shepgee forgot to tell you kiddos," Haloly continued, "is that Laythe is mostly sand and volcanic ash. Sand and ash are fluidic under the right circumstances, and more forgiving than your usual rock. So I figure I can drive this big pole on the end of this gizmo down into those sands and stop without so much as a scratch."

Haloly brought the orbiter-turned-lander into the atmosphere just as he said he would - pointed directly at the ground. The air tried to flip it around, but the strength of the reaction wheels was enough to overcome. Barely even a trace of reentry flames, perhaps due to the air not compressing in front of the craft but instead flowing through its open structure. In the end it wasn't enough.

"Pow!" Shouted Haloly as the camera feed erupted into a cloud of flames and static.

"Nice try, dude." Shepgee rubbed his hand on Haloly's head to mess up his hair.

"It's not over yet. Just watch the feed." A few seconds later and the picture cleared, snow and flames fading to a clear view of Laythe. The telemetry from the orbiter showed only a single RCS thruster was offline. "Ok, so it's a bit scratched up. Tied game?"

"Sure. Any landing you can walk away from, right?" Shepgee turned to the rest of the assembled crew. "Ok folks, update your notes to include Haloly's landing here." He grinned. "Though he did cheat a bit by using reaction wheels. Anyway, that concludes our little tour through the Jool System. Back to your regularly scheduled boring road trip. Next stop: Duna."

---

Osprey Departure

Year 80 day 146

Some time later and the decisions had been made. Milzer and Meldo would stay aboard the Kraken's Harvest, along with Jebediah, Bill, Bob, Gusbrett, Derbald and Gilvin. All of the international crews were returning with the Osprey, leaving only six of the "Rebel" astronauts. M&M had tried to convince Jeb to leave as well as the Bs, but he wouldn't have any part of it.

"I'll not have it be said that Jebediah Kerman ran from trouble and left others in danger. No way." He motioned towards Bill and Bob. "And I'll not let these two squirrel their way out of it, either."

The crews bid their final farewells and had one last meal together before going their separate ways. Shortly afterwards the Osprey backed away from the Harvest with the two landers in tow. The lab, itself an autonomous craft, then pulled away and clear of the Osprey, which then moved back to the Kraken's Harvest to reinstall the landers.

"They won't get you far," Dudry said to M&M as he was leaving, "the landers that is, and they'll only take 4. But if something serious happens these little landers might be your last safe option. If they weren't so heavy I'd use them to take four more of your crew back, but we're cutting the delta-v budget close as is."

"Just take care of our crews, ok Dudry?"

"Hey, what are old friends for?"

The Osprey and the lab docked back up and then turned so the crew could get a last look at the Kraken's Harvest. Shortly after Dudry burned them into a slightly lower orbit. They burned for home once on the other side of Duna, pumping both monopropellent and the irradiated gasses from the NTRs into the void around Duna.

Jack gave Dudry a thumbs up as they were nearing the end of their burn, indicating they had reached ejection velocity. He glanced out of the window towards Duna, watching as the speck that was once the Kraken's Harvest sped away from them, falling forever towards Duna.

"You think those eight will be ok, Duds?"

"No clue Jack. That station is pretty beat up, and it might be another four years before a rescue will make it here." Dudry stared out into the stars as the engines finished their burn, sweet microgravity returning to the Osprey. "I'm not even sure how we're going to land when we're back at Kerbin. It's been years since our last radio contact."

"Well, I'm sure the Falconaerie is still there."

Dudry watched as a speck of dust flashed away into nothingness against the reinforced windows of his cabin. He thought of how Barting used the inspection run Gene had given him to deorbit their old station, Bernoulli. He wondered what ever became of the poor, confused kerbal that was Barting Kerman. Dudry may have seen the light regarding the Cuncil and its dark motives, but Barting was still playing along. Maybe it was in his character.

He shook the thoughts away and returned to the issue at hand. "I'm not really sure it is. And even if the Falconaerie is there and intact, it won't have enough down-well capacity for our entire crew. Guess we'll just have to wait and see." He was pretty sure he wouldn't need to worry about it, though. The Council always looks after its own.

---

Low Duna Orbit

Year 80 day 160

Barting was roused from a nightmare by something tugging gently on his leg. His eyes opened to the endless black of night, stars twinkling softly as his gaze darted to and fro. He tried to look down at his leg, but found he couldn't move. And there was a helmet in the way. That was when he realized he was still in space and it wasn't just a nightmare.

At first he didn't see it. Giant and black, moving against the void. Then he realized the stars weren't twinkling, they were being blotted out entirely by something dark. It wriggled and moved, barely visible.

And then something brushed against his back.

Edited June 21, 2015 by Cydonian Monk

[meve12]

Oh, hey, looks like they're going to be all-

And then something brushed against his back.

Well, balls.

[Commander Zoom]

Well, balls.

Indeed.

[Cydonian Monk]

Well, balls.

Indeed.

That gave me quite the chuckle yesterday. (And then the forums crashed and I couldn't respond.)

[DMSP]

Wow, I love this story so much!

[Railgunner2160]

Almost feel sorry for that poor kerbal who's just become a snack for the Kraken....

[Lohan2008]

Almost feel sorry for that poor kerbal who's just become a snack for the Kraken....

or a new [blank] toy.

[Cydonian Monk]

Wow, I love this story so much!

Thank You!

Almost feel sorry for that poor kerbal who's just become a snack for the Kraken....

Barting's been a bad kerbal. Should've listened to his mother, who told him repeatedly what happens to bad kerbals.

or a new [blank] toy.

Heh. Or even a non-[blank] toy. Kerbals look a bit like a baby rattle - and if you shake them well enough they may even start to rattle around inside their helmet.

[Cydonian Monk]

Academy Station

Present Day

Gene was sitting on the edge of his Simulation Chamber, half-listening to Lem and the technicians that were prepping him to go back in. They had been going over the details of what he might expect as he reentered. The small chamber was already partially filled with the seemingly magical suspension fluid, which Gene was wistfully running his fingers through. It was cold and slimy to the touch, yet the fluid rolled off his fingers without leaving a trace. The technicians had tried to explain how it fed and breathed for those in the chamber, but he wasn't sure they completely understood either. Especially after they told him they use their own IVs for feeding anyway.

"... And just so we're clear," Lem continued on, "when you, Anny, and the others are back inside the Simulation, what's the first thing you're to do?"

"Meet up at KSC."

"Yes, yes, of course. After that?"

Gene scooped a handful of fluid out of the chamber and looked at it closely. Completely colorless. He poked at it with his other hand while half answering. "Land on Ike." The fluid slid through his fingers and silently rejoined its flock. "And that should release everyone still trapped in the Simulation, including myself."

"Correct. We checked and the Ike Contingency is still in effect. I can't promise the system won't try to stop you, though." One of the technicians motioned for Gene to move into the chamber as Lem droned on. "Now there's a chance you'll end up in Kerbin orbit instead of in your office. Happens with most of the crews we've sent in, so it might take us a few attempts to get you in the right spot." Gene slid his legs down into the fluid and relaxed. The 'chair' back would shortly lean him down into the chamber once more.

"And what happens if I never show up at KSC?" The fluid was starting to fill the chamber now, and the technicians were lowering the lid of Gene's coffin. He looked over at Lem one last time as he started to sink.

"You'll be fine. Good luck, Gene Kerman. It was a pleasure to have met you."

He now fully recessed into the Simulation Chamber, its strange fluid encompassing the body of Carl Kerman. Two windows in the lid of the chamber were like bright lines in the darkness of the fluid. Gene breathed in an uncomfortable lungful, the oxygenated superfluid rapidly displacing the air from his body. Carl's body. The two bright lines faded to two dots and receded off into the distant night. Then everything went dark.

---

Ad Lunam - Requiem

---

Duna

Year 80 day 226

Milzer and Meldo were both busy reviewing the video logs from before the explosion when Jeb floated in. Meldo was fixated on a specific couple of frames that he kept playing backwards and forwards again, pointing out a single pixel as it split from the pixels that would eventually hit the Kraken's Harvest. Whirr, forwards, whirrrrr, backwards. Whirrrrr forwards, whirrrrrrrrr backwards.

"I'm telling you, that's a kerbal."

"Barting?"

"If we can believe Dudry, yes."

"Hey!" Jeb tossed a snack at Milzer and offered another to Meldo. "Why is it you two are stuck in here when there's a whole universe for you to explore?"

"What?" Milzer was mid-munch, and small flecks of his snack escaped from his mouth and raced towards freedom before he remembered why it was he shouldn't talk with his mouth full.

"We think there's still another kerbal out there?"

"Yeah? And?" Jeb passed the second snack over to Meldo and held onto a nearby seat. "Look, we've got two of these landers left, both nearly full of fuel. Why don't the two of you take one and slip on over to Ike?"

Meldo shook his head. "Are you nuts? No, wait, don't answer that. Look, we may need that fuel and those landers in the next three years. And if worst comes to worst we may need them to carry half of us back home. A trip to Ike is out of the question."

"I think Jeb's got a good point."

"See! Milzer gets it." Jeb motioned towards Meldo's unopened snack and continued. "Eat something and think it over. You'll never get a second chance at this. I promise that by the time you finish eating that cookie you'll know I'm right." Jeb started his way out of the room. "Besides, Me, Bill and Bob can hold down the fort while the two of you are gone. And there's always the second lander if you need rescued. Again."

A few minutes later and they had made up their minds. And as usual, Jeb was right.

---

Gene's Office, Cape Kerbal

Year 80 day 226

The light was suddenly blinding. Gene blinked it away and found a familiar sight before him. Kerbal Space Center, looking west from the back window of his office, the majestic K2 looming over the grasslands.

A familiar voice startled him. "Welcome back." He turned to find eight kerbals sitting in his office, all looking to him with dead stares. A ninth was standing in the shadows at the far end of the room. Carl. The kerbal nearest spoke again, his familiar yet unplaceable tone scratching at Gene's memory. "We weren't sure we'd caught you in time. The system almost..."

Another kerbal spoke, picking up mid-sentence. "... erased you. You must be careful with devices you don't..."

"... understand." Each had the same voice, and each spoke with the same mind. Gene knew at once who they were.

"You're the Council."

"And you're Gene Kerman. Or his ghost. We..."

They switched off to another of the assembled. "... apologize for the last decade. We never expected someone to..."

Another still. "... use Gene Kerman as a template base. Jebediah, yes. Very common. You? Carl was the First."

And then all began to speak as one voice. "The First."

"Gene was the First."

All again. "The First."

"It caused an unresolvable situation, where the Crypt was trying to overwrite him with you..."

"... and we were trying to eject him to prevent damage. Something went wrong."

Gene looked up at Carl, who was still watching, motionless and silent. "What will happen to Carl?"

The Council looked amongst each other, a silent moment passing. The member closest to Gene stood, taking over as their mouthpiece. "He will remain. The Wanderers built protections into their device that we can not understand. When next he exits the Crypt he will be as he was. Carl, not Gene."

"And me?"

"You will remain. Your memories have been forever committed to his mind. Yet you will remain in the Crypt, as conscious and alive as we are now. In time we will introduce you to the Wanderers."

Gene glanced about as every kerbal spoke the name "Wanderers" at once. "Who?"

"Those who built this device. This existence you call the Simulation. Their minds are here..." the kerbal waved his arms to indicate everything "... locked forever in this Crypt. Vast and alien. More than a simple kerbal mind can handle. They created us." The last bit was repeated in unison, a strange shiver running down Gene's spine.

"Us? You mean kerbals?"

The Council laughed simultaneously. "No. Us. The Council. Built from the records of the many minds who have tried to enter. To act as intermediaries. To keep them sane."

The door opened and an all too familiar kerbal entered. The Senator. The Council continued. "Yet even software constructs such as we can break under continued contact with Them, as evidenced by this former member of our Council." He waved and the Senator disappeared. "Corruption is universal."

Gene turned to look out of the window at the artificial and simplistic beauty of the world beyond. "So what now?"

"Now" all the Council said in unison, "a promise must be made."

"Very well. What?"

"Gene Kerman, it is not yours to promise." The mouthpiece standing next to him nodded at Carl.

"Oh." The visage of Carl Kerman at the far end of Gene's office smiled and nodded.

"The promise is made. Thank you." The other seven kerbals rose from their seats, smiled, and then disappeared. The last remaining of the Council put his hand on Gene's shoulder. "In time you will get to come with us on our adventure." He turned to Carl. "And you will get to go home to your life and those who miss you. I have already sent the message. Please understand the gravity of this promise." Carl nodded. "Very well. I will see both of you again shortly." And at that he disappeared.

Carl walked over to stand next to Gene, both silently watching the crews scurry to and from the Spaceplane Hanger. After a few moments Gene looked at him and asked.

"So, what's this promise you made?"

Carl smiled, beaming and warm. "Something beautiful."

---

Ike

Year 80, day 227

The trip to Ike had passed mostly without conversation. Both Ms were mesmerized by the stars. Stars that seemed somehow different, as though they had more twinkle and less uncertainty to them. Crisper, more precise. Neither could put a finger on exactly what it was, but the feeling had yet to pass. There had been a moment shortly following the Ike burn that both had seen a shape moving against the twinkling stars, but nothing more had come of it. Nothing, that is, until Ike itself had done the same.

"Ok, coming up on Ike Capture Burn." Meldo was busy at work in the lander can, dialing in the numbers for both the capture and the landing.

"I don't see anything."

"Sorry, M. I'll spin the lander around once I've finished the burn. Trust me when I say you're not missing much. Just a big grey mess."

"Not missing much? It's just a close-up look at another planet, that's all."

"Ike's not a planet Milzer, it's a star."

"C'mon, I'm not that out of it. Fine, it's a moon." The engine fired and gave the small ship a kick. "Or a natural satellite, if you want to be a stickler."

"You're the scientist, chief, I just fly the planes."

It was a thankfully short burn and Meldo checked the map to find the best landing site. "I think we'll drop down just at the other side of the night."

Milzer spent the better part of their time in the shadow of Ike looking at the stars. The many, many stars. At one point he was certain he could see Jool and its moons, a great green dot surrounded by several smaller dots. Yet the stars. The stars called to him. "They're so bright out here. I don't think they're different, just cleaner. Newer. Simpler. If that makes any sense."

"M, sometimes nothing you say makes any sense. You're starting to sound like Haloly."

"Heh. Cheesehead. Probably driving ol' Shepgee nuts by now. Wonder how they're doing?"

"I'm sure Laning is keeping them all perfectly insane. Anyway, coming up on sunrise. Duna is already cresting the horizon."

Milzer looked up through his small window at the Dunarise. "Oh, wow. Hey, spin the ship around so you can get a look at this." Meldo gave a short tap to spin the ship around so he could see the sunrise.

"You're right, that's quite a view. Setting up the descent burn now."

"No, M, look at it."

"Yes, it's the Sun. Seen it a few thousand times."

"Look at where it is. And which way Duna is moving."

And then Meldo understood. "That.... That might be a problem. I'm bringing us down now. We'll land at the crest of the ridge that's coming up."

"Wait, are you sure we'll make it down in time?"

"Have to. We'll run out of power if we stay in orbit for the several hours it'll take a Duna eclipse to pass. Hold on to something."

"Ok, lining up."

"If we don't make it down before..."

"Yes! I know! It'll be dark! Milzer, dude, relax! We're coming down on target, starting the final descent burn now. Wow, this rock is pretty rugged."

"Look at the Sun!"

"No!" The ship spun about its axis as Meldo lined up for the landing.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Milzer! This isn't some rookie rush job of a lander, ok? We've got lights on this thing for a reason. It doesn't matter if it's dark when we land, only that we land before we run out of power. Which we happen to be a bit short on having just come out of Ike's shadow. So relax, ok?" It was getting noticeably dimmer out on the surface of the already dark moon. Meldo didn't want to admit it, but it was more than a bit unsettling.

"How close are we?"

"You've got the same radar altimeter I do. 20 meters."

"Are we coming down on a slope?"

"We'll be fine. 10 meters."

"It's awfully dark."

"I said we're fine! 5 meters."

The last rays of the Sun disappeared behind Duna as the lander scrapped the edge of the cliff. The universe descended into total darkness. They seemed to have landed, but Meldo was expecting to settle and shift. He was certain they'd come down on a fairly steep incline, but so far, nothing. Not even a thud or the sounds of rocks and sand scraping agains the lander. Just darkness and silence.

"Where did the stars go?"

And suddenly the world outside was blindingly bright. Meldo blinked back the brightness and moved quietly into the post-landing checklist. Engines off. Check. Lights off. Check. Radar shows zero. Check. Milzer sounded particularly frantic on the radio as Meldo was shutting down the lander's systems. Landing computer off. Check. "Milzer, I think we've landed." Ladder extended. Check.

"I can see that, but where? This doesn't look like Ike."

"I'm going out to take a look around." It was bright beyond the glass, but his eyes were quickly adjusting. He waited as the ladder noisily extended and clanked at the bottom of its reach. Noise. The hatch squeaked as it worked its way open. Noise. "And I think there's an atmosphere." Meldo pushed it the rest of the way and climbed out on the ladder. "We seem to be in some sort of box. Either the light's are dimming down or my eyes are adjusting."

"Is it safe?"

"Well, it could be a hallucination." He dropped down to the base of the ladder and backed out onto the 'surface.' "Ok Milzer, this is officially weird. Safe, I think, but still weird. Get out here and take a look."

"It's like a big white box."

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Do you see any doors?" Meldo was scanning the room for an exit when Milzer glanced at his helmet glass. "I, uh, dude! You visor! Clouds! Blue!"

"Ok, now that's trippy weird. I think I need a nap."

"You and me both."

Just then the lights flared up, and the box blindingly bright.

---

"No, I will not go outside." Sigsey was losing his cool, that much was plain. All Shepgee had asked him to do was suit up and step out to see if maybe Haloly hadn't pasted a painting outside the window as a prank. "Have you seen what's out there?"

"Yes. It's a giant box."

"Right. A giant box. And gravity, not some weak centripetal force, but real honest to Kraken's Egg gravity when just a few minutes ago we were in deep space. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

It wasn't the weirdest thing Shepgee had ever seen, but it was up there. "Fine, I'll go." The Munlit Silence was still creaking and groaning from its rapid boxing, but he never expected to see a giant white wall when he looked out the window. Ok, so maybe this was the weirdest thing he'd seen. He glanced over at Haloly, who was had broken the emergency cheese out of the food locker and was busy munching away. Haloly shrugged and kept snacking, replying with a half full mouth.

"Hey, if it's the end of the world at least I'll die holding all the cheese."

And then the universe flashed.

---

"Kerbin?"

"No, not yet. We can't be back at Kerbin already." Dudry scratched at the floor with his boot, trying to find purchase in the slick white material. "Strange." Neither Dudry or Herhat had bothered with the EVA suits. The ship's sensors had reported the space outside as being at a full atmosphere, roughly equivalent to sea level on Kerbin. And since they were in a giant white box Dudry figured it only made sense to just skip the heavy EVA suit and roll with it.

"Gravity."

"Yes, I can see that Herhat. Thanks."

"Oh, so you ing-gah-neers can see gravity now, can you?"

"We're magic, remember? Anyway I think this is a dream. Doesn't make any sense."

In the distance the drive section of the Osprey was creaking and popping as the stress on its one linkage bent and snapped. The bulk of the Osprey came to a loud rest and groaned briefly under the stress.

"Sh... should we be this close to those four NERVAs?"

"You really nukes can hurt you if you're dreaming?" He regretted the words just as soon as they left his lips. The ship, the room, and everything in it suddenly flashed a bright white.

---

The auditorium was large, quiet, and filled with fifty-three very confused kerbals. Just a few moments before they had all been sitting in their ships, or walking around outside their ships, or sitting in their offices, patiently awaiting whatever it was that was coming. None of them were quite sure how they got here, or even where "here" was. In front of them were eleven not even slightly confused kerbals. The three older ones in orange suits were known by all: Bill, Bob and Jebediah. The eight behind them dressed all in black were familiar, yet strangely unknown. Two kerbals stood in the aisle: Gene Kerman, also known by all, and Barting Kerman. One was smiling, then other shaking. Jebediah walked forward and addressed the assembly.

"We don't have much time, so I'll be brief. For the last ten years you have all been a party to a most unfortunate series of events. Those of you who have not yet remembered will soon understand, as you will shortly be cast back into a world long forgotten. So I won't dwell on that. Understand that I, and the Council behind me, have learned much from your time here."

"When you awaken there will be many questions, some of which do not have answers. We are seeding those of you we feel capable of bearing the burden of our knowledge with memories that are not your own. It is our hope you will use this knowledge for the betterment of kerbalkind." Jeb looked over his shoulder at Bob, who nodded a silent response. Jeb continued.

"Your memories will remain with us long after you have returned to your lives, and will dwell in this Crypt forever. In time others will study and learn from you, just as you have learned and studied from us. Future beings will look into this glass and know the past. They will know you. And they too will learn." Jeb smiled and looked at Gene.

"Gene Kerman. Through no fault of your own you were the catalyst that fed this situation and kept these others in the trap. While we have at last separated you from the mind of Carl, we can not separate Carl's mind from you. And you had a choice. You could have remained in the other world, living the life of Carl, but you chose to return and do the right thing. Through all the mess of the Simulation you have struggled to survive, to find the truth, and to do what is right. You are most welcome in our company."

"Barting Kerman." Barting was still standing in the aisle behind Gene, shaking and spinning slowly. He looked up when Jeb spoke his name, then looked bashfully back at his feet. "At every turn you were presented with a choice, and you took the darker of two paths. While the corruption which led you from the life of a helpful kerbal to one of destruction has been purged, the consequences of your decisions still remain. You alone know true terror. You alone have met the mind of a truly alien being. The burden of having communed with one of the Wanderers will in time break you and drive you mad. Only fitting, for one so quick to toss away the lives and safety of his fellow kerbals." Jeb looked at his feet, kicked absently at something, then looked back to the scared kerbal standing in the aisle.

"Yet we feel a great pity for you, and have blocked the writeback. At the end you saw the error of your ways, though it was too late to change your course. So, when you awake it will be as though no time has passed. Ten years will have simply vanished. It is our hope your decisions will be better in your other life than they were in this."

"As for the rest of you," Jeb grinned that classic grin from all the old photos, a half-smile that could light up the world. "And as for the rest of you, it's been fun." The room emptied in the blink of an eye, only the eleven kerbals of the Council and Gene remaining.

Bob walked up and elbowed Jeb. "It's been fun? That's the best you could come up with?"

"Hey! What'd'you expect here, I'm a pilot not a speechwriter! Besides dude, I was out of time. Like you had something better to say? Something profound?"

Bob shrugged. "It beats 'You are go for TLI,' but not by much."

"Whatever."

The room faded away to nothing, and the twelve found themselves in a green field with an endless blue sky overhead. Gene walked forward to join the others in their sudden picnic.

"So what now?"

"What, you haven't figure it out yet?"

"No, Jeb, I haven't. What the hell am I now? Some simulation in a machine somewhere?"

Bill glared at Jeb as the eight black-clad members of the Council moved to surround them. "Wait, you didn't tell him?"

"How could I? If those trainees had learned...."

"Learned what?"

"Gene, haven't you figured it out yet? This isn't some Crypt, or some Simulation, or some weird hallucination." Jeb slumped down into the grass and started pulling off his boots. "This" he waved his hands around frantically "isn't just some random, thing, y'know?"

"Yeah? And?"

Bill waved for Jeb to be quiet. "What Jeb is trying to say, and failing at, is that we're not simulations, we're samples."

"Samples?"

"That craft they found on the Mün? You really think some species that could build a ship capable of traveling all the way across the nothingness between us and them would just crash on our little old Mün? Get real. This isn't some vessel for their minds. This is a sample container for ours. That wasn't a crash. And it wasn't a trap. Only a species capable of reaching the Mün and opening a closed door would ever have reached this point. This was a test, and we're were the scoresheet."

The Council started speaking in their creepy round-robin way, trading sentences with each other.

"And now it has samples."

"Many samples."

"You. Us. Them."

"And an agent."

"An agent in the real world."

"And a promise."

Gene blinked and quickly looked around at the others. They kept droning on in their peculiar way for a few moments, uttering strange phrases Gene had never heard and could never understand. After awhile he raised his hands and motioned for silence. "Ok! Ok!" He turned back to Jeb. "So what's this promise?"

Edited June 21, 2015 by Cydonian Monk

[Railgunner2160]

Ahh, you just had to leave one more cliff hanger before the end. Oh well, Excellent chapter & I look forward to seeing what the "Promise" yields back in reality!!

[MatterBeam]

Has anyone told you.... the screenshots are damn beautiful? I'm using some as wallpapers on my computer, if you don't mind.

[Cydonian Monk]

Ahh, you just had to leave one more cliff hanger before the end. Oh well, Excellent chapter & I look forward to seeing what the "Promise" yields back in reality!!

Of course we needed just one more cliffhanger. Thank you!

Has anyone told you.... the screenshots are damn beautiful? I'm using some as wallpapers on my computer, if you don't mind.

Feel free to use them however you like - that's why I share them. Thank you!

[Commander Zoom]

Fantastic.

(still.)

[Cydonian Monk]

Fantastic.

(still.)

Thanks.

An update: So I was planning to have the last bit of Ad Lunam up over the weekend. Problem is, every time I've sat down to work on this the power has blinked, the sky has fallen, the waters have risen, or some other distraction has pulled me away. (It's been a "Fun " couple of weeks in Houston, even up here on the dry side.) I expect I'll finish this off sometime this week, and then will promptly move on to my next project. (Lord willin' and the creeks don't rise, as my old grandma would say. Which was pretty much the only saying of her's that's PG-rated.)

Stay dry folks.

[Cydonian Monk]

Ad Lunam - Epilogue

Jool

Present Day

Carl was relaxed. Yes, relaxed. A feeling Gene had never known, the Gene still living in his memories, and a feeling that still felt a bit alien to him. The real him. His gaze was on the stars, eyes focused on the nothing beyond the window. Quiet, distant, empty... and yet alive. How many others were out there, beyond the reach of their star? How many others were looking back at him now, unaware he was here. His thoughtful trance was interrupted by the ship's robotic voice.

"Ladies and Gentlekerb this is your captain speaking. We are fast approaching our destination. Vall is our first stop in the Joolian System. Observant guests will notice..." The voice droned on about how they would use Tylo and Vall for partial gravity captures and course corrections including a short burn at Joolian periapsis. They would also witness a close approach to Laythe. In all a fairly typical approach to Jool. The chart appeared on the screen at the front of the cabin, their orbital paths outlined in various shades.

The artificial voice of the ship's "captain" was still a bit disturbing. Cold and alien, it was not at all what Carl had expected. He supposed it was necessary when your ship is 100% automated. So much of life in the real world was alien, to him and all the others that had been trapped in the Simulation. In just a short decade the field of automation had progressed by leaps and bounds, and the changes such knowledge brought to the world were unmistakable.

At first he suspected the Wanderer's technology had been unlocked; that these new intelligences were based on the personality matrices used in the Simulation. It only took a few interactions with these "intelligent" systems to disprove that theory. They may be smarter than your average car, but they were nowhere neat kerbal-level intelligence.

He hardly noticed Tylo as the ship slipped silently past.

Several of the others had joined him on the trip. Shepgee, Milzer, Haloly, Dudry, and a couple more. Kerbonauts from a space program that wasn't. Most of them had found other pursuits after leaving the Simulation, almost all of them working in space. Doing the job they had thought they were training for.

Dudry grabbed Carl's attention and motioned towards the charts.

"So what's the plan again?"

"The plan? We'll transfer to a local shuttle at Vall. That will transfer us to the target orbit. One of the Tylo landers is already waiting there for our arrival. Meldo, Anny and the others will already be at the site before we arrive."

"And the package?"

"Haloly is handling that. Should be right behind us. Right?" He turned around in his seat to face the stargazer. The muse in their midst. "Haloly?" As usual, Haloly was lost in thought, looking out at Tylo and its craters as it receded into the spinning distance. "Anyway, the package will land once we're all on site."

"And after that?"

He shrugged. "No idea. They just said to bring it here."

Vall was approaching fast, the Jool capture just around the corner. He checked that everything in the cabin was strapped in and bolted down. The ship wouldn't spin down for the capture burn (one of the many benefits of having an AI control your ship), but there was always room for caution.

Days later and the Joolian capture was complete. Vall was up next, again, the encounter set, another day or two of the regular nothingness of space travel. Jool and its moons may be a smaller system than the entirety of the Kerbol System, but days were still days and orbits still spread out. Now the jolly green giant was ever-present and visible just beyond the windows of their rotating Void Liner.

Jool. The greenest of the Great Powers.

Four days later and the engines woke Carl from his nap. It was a longer burn, this capture at Vall, but at a lower thrust than they had used to capture at Jool. The ship's rotation had not slowed at all during any of their maneuvers, a very pleasant experience for the less than regular spacekerbs in their ranks.

The engines cut off and the "captain" once more took to the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlekerb, we have arrived in Vall orbit. Those of you transferring to the chartered lander will be pleased to know your connecting shuttle is our first target, three minutes and 18 seconds out. Passengers otherwise bound for Vall will please wait for the second shuttle. Once boarding and transfers have completed, this vessel will transfer to Laythe where..."

"This is our stop." Carl pulled his bags out of the overhead compartment and looked around to the others in his group. "Make sure you've got everything you need."

Shepgee smiled. "Travel light, right?"

The Void Liner's rotation continued during the docking with their shuttle, another benefit brought by the advent of automation. There were rumors of ancient kerbal pilots docking with rotating stations, none alive had seen it happen. Shepgee bragged he could've done it. Dock to a rotating target. Everyone else smiled and slapped him on the shoulder. "Sure Shep, sure. Whatever you say."

Their shuttle wasted no time once everyone was aboard, undocking and moving into its higher and more inclined orbit. The inside of the cabin was disorienting when they first boarded, the angle of rotation meaning their seats were always on the ceiling. That settled after leaving the Void Liner, as the shuttle canceled its rotation. Sweet bliss of microgravity.

Their rendezvous with the lander occurred above Vall's North Pole. Their arrival was timed perfectly, allowing them to start their landing descent just as soon as they were transfered and strapped in. The shuttle remained in its orbit, its "captain" going dormant until they returned from their trek to the surface.

Haloly checked to make sure the package was on its way. Thumbs up. "Right behind us. I'd be happier riding it down, but the pilot's union won't let us fly anymore. Something about too many Jebs."

"Probably why they automated everything."

"Figures."

The descent was short and direct. The lander brought them to a hover as it approached the site, making a few final corrections to being them down where the charter dictated. There were several warnings about landing in restricted zones and the penalties attached, warnings Carl bypassed with a few button presses.

The friends and their lander were already visible as they made the final descent to the icy surface.

They entered the lander in microgravity, but had to gather their things in real Gs. The chair backs were suddenly the chair seats, the addition of gravity turning their world back on its head. After years in transit where "down" meant "out", suddenly having "down" be "backwards" was rather unusual. They each suited up and climbed through the hatch, eager to see their old friends again.

Most of their party was already present on Vall, those who had been working out here at the edge of civilization for some time. Several of the "Simulation Seventy," as they had come to be known despite only numbering sixty-two, had pulled assignments in the Jool System fresh from the academy. Many others had been sent to Duna and Eve to support the now burgeoning off-world colonies.

Meldo in particular was awarded a job leading the newly formed "Joolian Flight Training School." JFTS was tasked with teaching crews the trades of prospecting and ore hauling, with an emphasis on controlling and managing their robotic mining fleet. Neilny, Jervan and a few of the others had joined him and were in-system milking the lucrative mining and settlement contracts.

A select few of their group had made their way to Moho and Dres. Moho, where Anny was challenging the pilot's union and hoping to hit the prospecting motherlode. Dres, which had drawn Laning and Barting. Laning so he could research the less-than-sane kerbals who had been banished to the dismal rock, Barting so that he might have time to heal. Poor Barting, who had no memories of his time in the Simulation.

No others were present, only those who had been in the Simulation. Carl had determined some time ago that only members of the 70 could be trusted with this last mission. A few had been personally selected by him, asked to stay behind and prepare this final task while the others went on about their lives. Now, with those that were available and willing present, Carl was ready to move forward over the last hurdle.

"What's the word on the package?"

Haloly punched at his suit's wrist computer and waited. "Inbound. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes. Anywhere in particular you want it?"

"Yes." Carl looked over the formation for a moment. Vallhenge. One of the great mysteries of Kerbol. "There. In that gap on the far side of the 'henge. Land there first, then move it to this side. To the transmitter site at the base of the row of obelisks. That should trigger the startup and set things in motion. Got it?"

"Yep. Dialing it in now."

Shortly thereafter the lander soared overhead with its priceless and ancient cargo. Jervan pointed up as it drifted silently by.

"Is that it?"

"That's it."

"Funny, I wouldn't have such a complex alien device to look exactly like a shipping container."

Carl wasn't sure if he was joking or not. Jervan had always seemed a bit dense, but was more often than not simply being sarcastic. He answered him anyway. "It's inside the container. Wouldn't want to ship it all the way out here unprotected, now would we?"

The ground rumbled as the lander delivering their package made its first stop. Was it rumbling, or was it a very low-frequency hum? Carl wasn't sure. Haloly looked at him nervously as the rumbling continued.

"Is it supposed to do that?"

"How should I know? Just don't stop now, ok?"

Following its script, the automated lander lifted off again, hovered to get its bearings, and then moved towards them. As it approached the delivery point it slowed, dropped to the ice, and detached from its cargo. Once the container was safely on the ice the lander took off and moved clear of the site. The rumbling, which had subsided temporarily, grew in strength before stopping suddenly. The stillness of the void returned to Vall.

"Ok Haloly, blow the pod."

"You got it." Haloly swiped at his wrist and the sides of the container blew away, exposing the strange alien device. An insidious machine which had trapped them inside their minds for so very long.

Meldo scratched at the back of his helmet. "It's like an egg."

"It _is_ an egg. Were you not there when we boxed it up, M?"

"Well, no. I've been out here living my life. Doing the work. Being productive. Y'know, the usual. Sitting back and relaxing while my students do all the work. Anyway, what happens now?"

Carl grinned. "Now M? Now we wait." Meldo never changed. None of them did, really. All he coudl do was shake his head and grin. For some time the device sat there, nothing happening. Growing anxious he walked towards it, wondering if there was something else he needed to do. Something Gene had been programmed to know that would just pop out of his memory. He knew the Sun had to be in the sky. He knew the device had to be aligned. Beyond that he had not so much as a hint.

He was halfway to the device when the light show started. Small orbs formed at the top of each of the obelisks, orbs that gave off a strange, unkerbally blue glow.

Similar orbs formed atop the other stones. As they grew in size a ring formed, each orb arcing out to connect to its neighbors. The electrical noise crackled on each of their suit radios, hinting at the intense electromagnetic events taking place on the ice in front of them. The noise grew to a hum, the hum grew to a roar, the vibration rising ever more powerful as time passed.

And then their device activated.

A beam fired forth from the alien egg, feeding the ring with its own energy. Moments later another pillar of energy appeared, aimed directly towards Kerbol. The Sun. The energy ripped and roiled around the ring, splitting off into shafts of lightning reaching for the ground. Grounding through stones, obelisks, rocks. The crackling and the glow was interminable and bright.

Carl was awestruck. Many minutes he stood, watching the scene, bathed in the soft, blue, pulsating light. A strange euphoria passed over him, a feeling as though he was independent of time and space.

Transmission. This was some sort of transmission, that much was obvious. None of them were recording it, each as obsessed with the light show as the others. Minutes later the glow started to dim, the light show ended. One final burst punctuated the night, and then the Vallhenge was cast back into the darkness of the distant Sun.

Carl walked towards the device, curious as to what had happened to it. He was no more than a few steps on his journey when the egg exploded, a cloud of smoke and sparks spreading across the Vallian ice. It smoldered in the vacuum, this alien machine that had nourished them for so long. Now glowing hot and red, the ice underneath it turned to steam. Another explosion, more steam, and the device disappeared into the ice.

He chuckled softly, shrugged, and then walked back to his friends. So much for that. Best to leave it at that.

Milzer walked out to meet him, followed closely by the others. He waved towards the Vallhenge, towards the rapidly dissipating cloud. "Didn't the Academy want that thing back? They going to be more than a bit irked when you bring them a burnt-out husk."

Carl shrugged again. "Don't know. Don't really care. Sometimes you just have to do the right thing."

"Do you think it worked?"

He smiled. Yes, it definitely worked. Gene was as sure of it as he was. "I think we're well on our way across the universe. Off to wherever we're going, to whoever these Wanderers are. It'll take many years to reach our destination. This was the next step. The next step for all Kerbalkind. The next step in a long journey, a journey we can never abandon. We're bound for some beautiful and wondrous place where all our questions will find answers.

"Yes, I think it worked."

Haloly looked sullen. He punched at his wrist once more, then looked up at the Sun. "I'm kinda disappointed."

"Why?"

"They never answered the question. I was kinda hoping they'd explain."

The others flashed Haloly a confused look, Carl included. Haloly was always the one asking the strange questions, the big questions. Questions that had no answers. Surely he could see this was one they themselves would never have answer to?

Only Shepgee probed further. "Ok, I'll bite. Explain what? We were in that thing", he turned to point at the steam cloud and hole in the ice, "for more than a decade. It copied us. Copied our minds. Our memories. Our dreams. And now it's shot them off into space, turning us upside down and inside out along the way. And it exploded. We're alive. We're free. We're here. What's left to be answered?"

"The big question, man. The one we were asking years ago when this all started."

"Yes?"

"How do kerbals get to space?"

Edited October 20, 2016 by Cydonian Monk
Edits to correct typographical and structural mistakes from my older writing style.

[Railgunner2160]

Awesome ending, so what's next??

[Cydonian Monk]

Awesome ending, so what's next??

Thank you.

A short break is next, which was basically the last two weeks. I'm already about 4 years into my KSP v1.0 game, which I intend to be a "permanent until Squad breaks saves" save, so that's what's next. I'll probably start posting about that in the next week or so. Won't be as story-focused as Ad Lunam has been, aside from the underlying story of kerbals conquering the universe, but I'll continue to drop in the occasional focus character. Probably almost entirely science-focused characters. That'll be more of an open-ended on-going mission report... kinda what this section of the forum is supposed to be.

Soon.

[DMSP]

That was a pretty incredible ending.

I actually thought they were colonizing Laythe.

[Cydonian Monk]

That was a pretty incredible ending.

I actually thought they were colonizing Laythe.

Thank you! I must have missed this a few weeks ago.

A quick note to anyone using links to images from Ad Lunam (there are a few of you, at least a few of which aren't site-scrapers) - I've reorganized the folder structure on my server to place all of the Ad Lunam images under the main KSP folder, so your old links will no longer work. This was more to get them in the right place (finally) so I can move forward with building my (simple) website. You're free to continue using them as you see fit of course, just be sure to update any links if you notice they're broken. I've fixed everything of mine in this thread (I think). Old links would be of the style .../images/adlunam/... or .../images/adlunam2/... where as the new links are all .../images/ksp/adlunam/...

I'm back in the swing of things KSP-wise, all the flood waters and downed trees and roving gangs of water moccasins seem to be gone now. First post of my KSP v1.0 career should hit tonight or tomorrow. Cheers.

[grayal]

Great Story!!!! Looking forward to the updates. Can I ask? Where did you get the parts for the "Luzhin" spacecraft? Specifically the Solar Arrays and the "Lattice Stype" Decoupler. Also are you using a texture switching MOD to change the color of your LVs or are you modding them in like photoshop?

[Cydonian Monk]

Great Story!!!! Looking forward to the updates. Can I ask? Where did you get the parts for the "Luzhin" spacecraft? Specifically the Solar Arrays and the "Lattice Stype" Decoupler. Also are you using a texture switching MOD to change the color of your LVs or are you modding them in like photoshop?

Thanks! The Luzhin and most of the bits on them (including the latticework decoupler and the solar arrays) were the old Tantares Soyuz craft. I'm not sure how much of that is left after Beale's latest rework, but the basic look should still be there. As for the launch vehicle colors - I was doing that by editing the texture files. The SoyJuice/HGR parts in particular were just a thin olive-green mask (at 20% or 30% opacity) placed over the normal textures.