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Shadows of the Kraken: Remastered & The Lost Chapters

CatastrophicFailure

By CatastrophicFailure
in KSP Fan Works

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VelocityPolaris

VelocityPolaris

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Holy Dooley. This... is awesome. I just have no right words. I love this story so much I'm going to be repeating "and then Edgas punched him IN THE FACE!" To all of my friends until they stop being my friends. This is just so... Kerbal. Congrats to you, I love this story.

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Wow, still here, got caught up in stuff for a few days (who's bright idea was it to release GTAV AND KSP1 within a couple weeks of each other anyway??). Still working on this last little bit, not much but should be worth a chuckle (someone once asked about Chadvey's name).

Great job, CatastrophicFailure! I think it's time to reread the whole thing!

This sounds like a great idea, think I'll join you.

*bows down before CatastrophicFailure*

Fantastic story, great writing *and* you managed to reference an entire Metallica track! What's not to like. :) Seriously though, you did the most important thing - you managed to finish the story and finish it in style. Looking forward to that last postscript once you've managed to get some sleep!

Oh yeah - and I loved being completely and utterly wrong about the Goo. Guess that post gave you a laugh. :)

Apparently it mirrors a lot of the themes in HP Lovecraft's work... which is weird because I've never read Lovecraft, everything I know of him comes from Metallica songs. :cool:

I am really completely floored I actually DID finish the thing. Usually anytime I start anything creative it quickly bloats into something very cool but ridiculously overambitious, then founders and dies.

Im glad I was able to keep people guessing till the end. Some theories were getting distressingly close.

That was... no... wait... there's no word that would not feel like understating it. So I'll just say that was neat.

You hid in how you yourself feel now, didn't you? :)

Perhaps a bit :D. I suppose I shouldn't explain every little thing, but I do hope i managed to tie up any remaining loose ends.

you made danny proud. hes always been trying to destroy jool

That fellow is either in league with the Kraken himself... Or it's master. :sealed:

Congratulations on finishing! Though I am still sad it ended. :(

*Waits Patiently for sequel*

lol well thank you all for the kind words. As to anything else, time vill tell, time vill tell. This story mostly wrote its self, I'm merely the conduit, and I was just as surprised at some of the developments as anyone else (I had no idea back in February that the Goo would have such a pivotal role... Or that Chadvey would be Scottish :D). I'm pretty sure Edgas's story is over, besides the guy could use a break. But to rip off borrow another bit from RJ, the Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills. :wink:

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  • 4 weeks later...
CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Hi, sorry for the long delay, still here. Too many distractions lately.

A few questions:

1) Can you put all your 6.4x mission reports in the same place? They sound really interesting.

2) What the heck happened when Edgas confronted Edmund?

3) Why did Edmund and Billy forget about what thay saw when they first came back?

I'm working on closing down my old .25 save, bringing everyone home, and deorbiting the station. Once I do, I'll put together a repository of all the mission reports and whatever else interesting I can dig out of the screenshot folder. Looks like it's gonna be a while till 6.4x is working in 1.0. Once it is, i may have a few more stories to tell. Valentina keeps talking to me...

The thing on the nearside of the Mün is a Shadowwell. Anyone who gets too close gets infected/possessed by the Kraken's Shadow. Whether it's amnesia from the brain scrambling or the Kraken's influence is up to the reader to infer:wink:.

What Edgas saw was something akin to Edmund's deformed skeleton tearing out of his flesh and coming for Edgas. What actually happened is, of course, far far worse.

can i make a youtube video based on this? or something similar?

i would be delighted!:cool:

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Shania_L

Shania_L

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Wow, just wow.

Its past 1am here and I have work tomorrow ... but I just. had. to. finish. it!!!

Also, I will just double up on the Lovecraft comment earlier, the descriptions of the Kraken and the other horrors are very much in his style, you even mentioned The Great Old Ones and Soggoth :) Being compared to his work is true praise indeed.

Also I think I am in love with Derpy ..... If ever I get to go into space I fully intend to sing all the way in his honour :)

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Is this like the indoctrination thingies from mass effect, or worse?

Not real familiar with Mass Effect, but according to its wiki, this would be quite worse, as it transcends reality into the metaphysical. Probably closer to the Exorcist, but with less pea soup. Except for poor Edgas.

Wow, just wow.

Its past 1am here and I have work tomorrow ... but I just. had. to. finish. it!!!

Also, I will just double up on the Lovecraft comment earlier, the descriptions of the Kraken and the other horrors are very much in his style, you even mentioned The Great Old Ones and Soggoth :) Being compared to his work is true praise indeed.

Also I think I am in love with Derpy ..... If ever I get to go into space I fully intend to sing all the way in his honour :)

Thankee. One of these days I probably should actually read Lovecraft, beyond Wikipedia and Metallica lyrics.

***

So, the final postscript I was working on has morphed into something else completely. Ten Key, haven't forgotten about you and your contribution. Also, waiting around for a 6.4x mod that works with 1.0 to explore a couple ideas. In the mean time, teasers here and below.

- - - Updated - - -

Clouds hung thickly, gray and featureless, obscuring the mountain peaks higher up and making the valley feel even more isolated. Where the clouds met the mountains, their edges churned and roiled, driven by the fierce, frigid, hurricane-force winds cascading into the valley below. As the wind descended and spread out across the valley floor it slowed and warmed, until by the time it reached Boris Kermanskiovitch, it was merely a chilling breeze. He stood, looking out over the valley, his bare hands folded behind him, oblivious to the cold. He wore a heavy coat trimmed with fur, massive thick boots that added to his already imposing height, and a tall ushanka on his head, the ear-flaps always pinned up, emblazoned with the Red Star of the Ussari Union, and the insignia marking him as a Kommissar. He stood, impassively, a half-smoked rattail dangling from his lips, and observed the flurry of activity in the distant pit in the valley floor as snow slowly drifted down around him. Cranes and scaffolds reached into the sky, earth movers left trails of greasy black smoke behind them, and people bundled in coats darted this way and that, all to a cacophony of shouts, bangs, and rumbles.

He sensed the other's approach, and leaned heavily on the ancient wooden railing before him. It creaked and groaned in protest, as did the worn floor boards as the other Kerbal joined him. Boris did not look away from the valley, but produced a half-empty pack of rattails from his coat, which he offered wordlessly to the newcomer, who took one as he, too, leaned on the long-suffering railing. The newcomer dug out a match, struck it into flame on the railing, and lit the rattail, taking a long, deep drag. He took it from his mouth and regarded it for a moment, blowing the smoke out to mix with the harsh breeze, then took another slow drag.

"ìäïSCHT," said Igor finally.

Only the slightest flick from Boris's eyes, "ìäïSCHT?"

"DÃâ€."

"DÃâ€?"

"DÃâ€."

"Øã×T."

"DÃâ€."

"Øã×T!"

"DÃâ€!"

"DÃâ€?"

"DÃâ€."

"DÃâ€," Boris sighed heavily. Igor nodded, rose, and saluted smartly. He did not wait for the senior Kerbal to return his salute, but pivoted on his heel and withdrew, silent but for the creaking floorboards. Boris listened to him depart, staring off towards the valley. At length he stood, and took a long, final drag on his rattail, now down to a nub. He plucked it from his mouth and held it before him, turning it back and forth in his stubby, callused fingers, holding in the acrid smoke. Finally he flicked it away, watched it arc through the air and land in the snow, which retreated out of revulsion.

He blew the smoke out in an ominous cloud, "DÃâ€." For a time he stood motionless, hands clasped behind his back again, staring at nothing.

ìäïSCHT, he thought, DÃâ€.

"DÃâ€..." he said to the wind.

Slowly, a trembling sneer grew on his lip, the trembling then spreading over his entire body.

"PæTIÃâ„¢!" he swore roughly, spat, then stormed off toward his office.

Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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Patupi

Patupi

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OK, first, to paraphrase a friend.

 

THAT THERE WAS AN AWESOME THREAD!

 

Magnificent tale, well thought through (even if partly on the fly), well fleshed out characters, flowing plot with no dead spots to drag, and a very entertaining narrative. Plus mixing Hard scifi, Terrors from beyond time, and laughter... that takes serious skill, or just mind bending luck (and if you have the latter darned well use it!) All I can say is thank you for giving us this gem.

 

Unfortunately a week or so ago when I noticed this I (with my chronologically aimed thinking) thought to start it with Whispers, then go on to Shadow. Yeah, kind of spoiled the big ending there for me, knowing who was who in the finale. Might want to add in that starting with Whispers gives serious spoilers for Shadows.

 

I stopped at Act II of Whispers as it was obvious it was going beyond Shadows, so I still have some yet to read :) YAY! Ahem, anyway, thanks again for a very engrossing read. Keep it up. And seriously, if you can just get involved enough again to do an original tale like this... SELL IT!

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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@Patupi thanks for the kind words. :D But... is it still hard scifi if it's literally about little green men? 

I never at all expected things to go as they did, been at it well over a year now and yet the story keeps talking to me. You've got a point about a spoiler warning too, I really should organize the whole mess a bit better. My apologies for having to slog through the derped mess of text here, too. 

1 hour ago, Patupi said:

And seriously, if you can just get involved enough again to do an original tale like this... SELL IT!

I have tried here and there, my problem is I never finish anything. I think it's the forum format and the constant feedback that keeps me going. 

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Patupi

Patupi

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10 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

@Patupi thanks for the kind words. :D But... is it still hard scifi if it's literally about little green men? 

I never at all expected things to go as they did, been at it well over a year now and yet the story keeps talking to me. You've got a point about a spoiler warning too, I really should organize the whole mess a bit better. My apologies for having to slog through the derped mess of text here, too. 

I have tried here and there, my problem is I never finish anything. I think it's the forum format and the constant feedback that keeps me going. 

I know precisely what you mean. I've written a lot, but have only completed one short story and one Timeline/story. I have tons of ideas and half made stories (one a grand epic that was to be a trilogy... and the first book is still half written a decade later). The timeline story I finished was only done because of the feedback (spacebattles and althistory.com in that case) so I know how that matters. What ever gets you to do it take it. Go with it! If this is the result, or even something close to it you deserve some rewards.

 

And as for this not being hard scifi? Piffle! I've seen far weirder aliens than Kerbals in hard scifi epics, and less believable ones, at least how you represented them. You even implicated that there might be a reason for the Kerbol system's weirdness (whether you have an actual reason or just attribute it to 'Krakenesc happenings') so yeah, I treat it as hard Scifi.

 

Keep up the good work!

Edited by Patupi
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Ten Key

Ten Key

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On 7/26/2016 at 9:18 AM, CatastrophicFailure said:

I have tried here and there, my problem is I never finish anything. I think it's the forum format and the constant feedback that keeps me going. 

I don't think this is all that uncommon. Most acknowledgement sections have a blurb thanking the people who prodded the author along during the writing process. 

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  • 9 months later...
CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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So, if anyone's still following this old thing, I've finally started fixing it after the Great Forum Derp a couple years ago. So many umlauts. :confused:

And typos. So, so many typos! :mad: How did I not see them all before?!?

And absolutely nothing being retconned! No sir-ee! No retcons, here! :blush:

Tho I may throw in a couple surprises. Or not. But maybe. I hate editing.

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