Minmus Acres: A Skyscraper on Minmus

[Redhaze]

I assume, that he, like I do, has more living space than kerbals to roleplay 'sanity space'. I for example, mandate that on longer trips, stations and bases there has to be at least two seats per kerbal so that they don't go crazy (crazier than they already are, anyway) from being cooped up in too small a space together.

Nice new chapter, btw. Still waiting for Gus to come around, though.

[JAD_Interplanetary]

How exactly will you get kerbals to inhabit the tower completely? Because there is a LOT of habitation areas.

I don't plan on filling the tower. This project is more about the "can I build it" aspect. Once the tower is complete, I'll build some sort of shuttle service between it and the orbital holding station, probably transfer a load or two of new residents just to show it works, then call it a day.

It would be neat to see it filled with hundreds of kerbals, though.

[Kieve]

Sometimes I like to imagine Minmus with the flavor and consistency of toothpaste. Wintergreen fresh.

Looking forward to the next installment, as ever!

[MoridinUK]

I don't plan on filling the tower. This project is more about the "can I build it" aspect. Once the tower is complete, I'll build some sort of shuttle service between it and the orbital holding station, probably transfer a load or two of new residents just to show it works, then call it a day.

It would be neat to see it filled with hundreds of kerbals, though.

Or try an extreme EVA Landing... you know directly on top!

[Rath]

When can I move in?

[JAD_Interplanetary]

Brief update: I haven't abandoned Gus or the project!

I'm almost done with the module landings for the next post. Each landing takes about 1.5 hours now, with the part lag (the tower loads when the module is 2.5km away, so that's 1.5 hours to go 2.5km.) That's in addition to the time for refueling and maneuvering the drones, building and sending up more modules, waiting for transfer and landing windows, etc. It's taking a while. But the good news is, I'm almost done with the current construction phase, and I've begun the design and prototyping of the final upper modules that will finish the tower. And barring any major catastrophes, I'm also pretty sure how the story will end.

In the meantime, here are some shots of the new "Hulk class" tanker I've built. The lifter is rated to bring ~100 tonnes to LKO, and it's inaugural payload is a full Kerbodyne S3-14400 fuel tank, plus a transfer booster to take it from LKO to Minmus. I think this will be the last refueling tanker I will need to send for this project. I'm quite pleased with the way the first stage boosters came out, but I still had to transfer just a bit of fuel from the payload to the transfer stage in order to slow down at Minmus. Annoyingly, it breaks the launchpad on every launch.

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Also, if you're keen on massive structures in KSP, check out the prototypes for Kieve's Modular City.

[Kieve]

Yikes! And here I thought I was the only one demolishing infrastructure on launch...

I'm guessing that's not one you'd ever want to use in full Career mode - repairing the pad after every Hulk launch would bankrupt you pretty quick. Nice-looking rocket though. Props for the KR-2Ls, too, I've found those to be some of my favorite engines recently. Great efficiency.

Looking forward to the conclusion of this marvelous tale!

(And also thanks for the plug, didn't have to but much appreciated )

[1of6Billion]

Awesome project! Don't forget to sweep the leaderboard of my http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/111299-Minmus-Lighthouse challenge when you're done.

[JAD_Interplanetary]

Awesome project! Don't forget to sweep the leaderboard of my http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/111299-Minmus-Lighthouse challenge when you're done.

Oh snap, I didn't realize there was a challenge going on. I probably won't beat it for height (I don't believe I'll pass 130m) but I'm up around 20 launches so far, I think. I'm assuming I shouldn't count all the infrastructure launches I've done, like re-fueling tankers and such. Just launches for modules that actually became part of the tower?

[1of6Billion]

Oh snap, I didn't realize there was a challenge going on. I probably won't beat it for height (I don't believe I'll pass 130m) but I'm up around 20 launches so far, I think. I'm assuming I shouldn't count all the infrastructure launches I've done, like re-fueling tankers and such. Just launches for modules that actually became part of the tower?

Rules aren't clear on that. But, yeah

[JAD_Interplanetary]

Chapter VII: Morning Meeting

Gus looked over the duty roster for the day and the work order backlog, absent-mindedly munching on his breakfast snacks. Johnski sat across from him at the table in the pod they had set up as the team's common space, eating his own breakfast in silence. Gus appreciated that Johnski knew the value of being quiet. In a few moments, the other three would be joining them for the daily team meeting, and there would be talking and discussion. But for a these precious minutes, Gus could essentially be alone with his thoughts. He chuckled in his head at his own fickleness, remembering his weeks of solitude and the anxiety of being all by himself in the enormous structure.

It was Johnski who had explained the phenomenon of "isolation paradox" to him, during their private debrief, when Johnski handed over command of the mission after the team arrived at the tower.

"It's a pretty common condition among kerbonauts," he had explained, "even on small teams, but especially during a mission on your own. You crave contact with other kerbals, talking, laughing, joking, just being in the same space together, whatever. It can drive you bonkers." Gus nodded enthusiastically.

"But," Johnski continued, "at a certain point, you get a little comfortable being alone, with your own thoughts, and doing things on your own time, in your own way. Then suddenly being thrown back in with a bunch of other kerbals, having to learn how to interact again, how to take and give orders, how to deal with them doing things their way and not yours, well, you kinda start to miss the loneliness. Just a bit."

So Gus relished the few minutes of quiet at breakfast. And by the time the rest of the team arrived at breakfast, he was glad of their company. Cal and Enwise were already ragging on each other, exchanging friendly insults and inside jokes that stretched back years to the beginnings of their careers at KSC. The two of them worked well together, and had already gotten much further into the construction backlog than Gus had anticipated in the few weeks they had been at the tower.

Bart followed Cal and Enwise through the hatch. He had worked directly with Gus and Johnski for the first couple of weeks, but by now had learned enough that he was pulling work orders off the construction backlog on his own, and only calling the engineers down to double check and sign off on his work. He was a fast learner, but he was a bit absent-minded. Gus couldn't fault him for that; he had been the same way when he had started as a technician. Once Bart learned to be a bit more detail-oriented, he would be an excellent engineer.

Gus was pleased with his team. They all had strong technical backgrounds and didn't require much hand-holding. Cal and Enwise had been involved in the design of the tower from the start, and knew as well as he did how it was all supposed to fit together. Johnski had real interplanetary experience, including having a hand in the building of KSC's small space station around Duna. Gus was finding himself in better spirits than he had in months.

When they had all assembled around the table, and Cal and Enwise had stopped talking long enough to stuff their mouths full of breakfast, Gus began the morning meeting.

"Alright, status reports," he started. The team went around the table, giving their updates.

"Power plants 3 through 5 still have some output fluctuation," said Enwise, through a mouthful of breakfast snacks. "We have it pegged down, but need some more time to get everything locked up tight."

"EVA?"

"Yeah," responded Cal. "Just to double check the exterior connections and patch up a minor thermal vent leak."

"Buddy system, then, like always," Gus reminded them. "And keep the comms clear. No idle chit-chat."

"Sure thing, boss," Cal said. The corner of Johnski's mouth quirked in an almost-smile. Bart giggled, but stopped abruptly when Gus turned to him.

"Report?"

"Uh, right," Bart began. "CO2 scrubbers are operational in all pods in the north west modules, water recycling as well. Everything reads normal, except a minor power fluctuation in north-east lower," he said, nodding towards Cal and Enwise.

"Right. That's expected," confirmed Enwise.

"Other than that, I'm just pulling priority work orders off the backlog," Bart finished.

"Good," said Gus, "call Johnski for any work signoffs you need today. I'll be prepping for module E and F delivery this afternoon."

"Geez, they're sending two down today?" asked Johnski, shaking his head. "That's pretty bold of them."

"The windows open when they open," shrugged Gus. "We told them the system could handle it, and that we'd be ready, and they believed us. We've been keeping up. We did two in two days last week."

Johnski shook his head again, but didn't complain. Instead, he gave his report. "I guess I'll be in the upper tower, locking down the holds and running the conduits. Do we have an ETA on mod E?"

"Oh-three-thirty," Gus said, checking his laptop.

"I'll be quick, then," said Johnski, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his eyes.

Gus nodded in sympathy. The accelerated module delivery schedule had kept them all on high alert. After the first of the upper habitation and luxury residential modules had been delivered and field tested, project planners at KSC and Rockomax had decided to send the remaining residential modules up in a single fleet. Seven modules had arrived in orbit within days of each other. The team in the tower had been racing around like mad, preparing for each new arrival. It had all gone off without a hitch, but it left Gus, Johnski, and Cal with little time to go over the designs for the final tower modules.

Still, it did mean that the project would be completed sooner than expected, which meant Gus would be back home in only a few months. And their supply drops were coming in more often, to accommodate the fast-paced schedule.

Gus looked forward to the supply drops. They had started including homemade snacks again, which Maryenny claimed were for the whole team, and not for Gus specifically. Even so, the packages always contained one or two fudgeberry tarts, which she knew nobody on the team liked, except for him.

"Alright, I guess that's it," Gus concluded. "We'll meet back at oh-two-hundred for module delivery prep. You all know the drill. Let's get to work." There was a brief commotion as everyone pushed away from the table. Cal and Enwise scarfed down the rest of their breakfast, then left through the lower hatch, heading down to the power plant level.

Gus and Johnski headed upwards towards the middle of the tower, to ready the upper sections for the next module landing, leaving Bart alone to finish his breakfast. As he munched, he pulled up the work order backlog on a nearby screen, and idly scanned down the list.

"More air scrubbers, electrical," he mumbled to himself. "Water filtration, bulkhead inspections." He scrolled down, then stopped midway through.

He tapped the screen, opening a work order and reading the description. That sounds more interesting than another day of installing and checking CO2 scrubbers, he thought. He shoved the last spoonful of breakfast snacks into his mouth, then climbed up towards the pod where they stored spare parts.

The list on the screen blinked, highlighting the item he had tapped: "Southwest connector tower mag seal sensor; faulty, need replace."

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JAD's Notes

Wow, this one took a long time to get done, mainly because each module landing is now up to 3 hours or more (most of it spent doing other stuff and occasionally checking the screen to see how many frames have passed in the last 5 minutes), and unbroken chunks of time that long are hard to come by. The next tower will definitely be made with some techniques to reduce part count. With the length of time per module, a few scary Kraken moments, and a terrifying brush with what I thought was a corrupted save file, the project was just barely starting to scrape the edge of "not fun anymore". But the end is in sight, and I want to see it through! Just 3 modules left, new ones, not the same old hab and luxury hab modules.

[Kieve]

Yay, update! */glee*

...is it weird I care less about the tower than the story updates though?

[JAD_Interplanetary]

Yay, update! */glee*

...is it weird I care less about the tower than the story updates though?

I will take that as a high compliment. Thank you.

[Redhaze]

Yay, update! */glee*

...is it weird I care less about the tower than the story updates though?

Nope. Same here.

[JAD_Interplanetary]

The last 2-3 chapters of the story diverge significantly from the mission pictures. So my plan is to post the final story updates and picture updates as separate posts. Anyone think that is a bad idea?

[Kieve]

Well now I'm really curious...

[JAD_Interplanetary]

This story chapter is about completely fabricated events, so there are no pictures. Pictures of the actual tower construction will be posted separately.

Chapter VIII: Off Balance

The observation platform loomed over the tower, blocking out the sky through the small windows in the upper hatch. It was the largest module so far, by dimension. By mass, it was actually one of the lightest. Yet it still required two drones to lower it into position.

Johnski and Enwise peered through the windows, visually checking the alignment, and watching for any irregularities. The delivery gantry was a new system, custom built for the module delivery. It was designed to hold the drones well out from the platform, sending the engine exhaust away from the deck to avoid canceling out the thrust.

"Fifteen meters," Cal read off the descent monitors, from the command pod in the lower section of the tower. Bart hunched over the engineering console, double checking sensors throughout the structure. Gus stood between them, periodically moving from one console to the other, looking for any anomalies in the flight data.. "How's it looking, docking crew?"

"Steady and on target," Johnski replied over the comm, from the uppermost tower section. "Pylons are vertical, and we can see right up the middle to the delivery bolts." Once the module docked and the drones' engines shutdown, explosive bolts would sever the gantry from the the tower. In an emergency, the bolts kept the gantry attached to the module, allowing the drones to pull it away safely before it could crash into the tower.

But as the module approached the abort limit, it looked like the mission was going to end uneventfully.

"KSC standing by for module touchdown confirmation," Maryenny said over the comm from the tracking station.

"Five meters," said Cal.

"Wow, you can really feel the sway," said Enwise. "It's like a boat on a choppy lake." One of the issues as the tower grew taller was that the magnetic fields of the docking ports were having greater effects. As the fields neared each other, they pushed and pulled at the tower and module, causing the port alignment to shift. It had barely been noticeable when the tower was too short to flex very much, but as the tower grew, it was becoming more of a problem. They almost had to emergency abort a few of residential module deliveries.

Gus and Cal, along with the team back at KSC, had worked for weeks on a solution. In the end, they devised a system that would read through the positioning and docking field strength sensors throughout the tower, figure out how much the tower was swaying, and send the data to the drones' onboard computers to make corrections during landing.

"Sensors are feeding data to the corrections system," Bart announced.

"Offset corrections look good," said Johnski. "One and a half meters...one meter...half meter..." The tower shivered as the module touched down, then was still as the drone engines cut off. "Docked! We have soft seal...", then a quiet "chunk" sound, followed by, "We have hard seal."

"Awaiting docking inspection report," Maryenny replied.

The crew breathed sighs of relief. Over the comm, Gus could hear the ground team at KSC cheering.

A few moments later, Enwise and Johnski checked in. "We confirm all docking ports sealed. Hatches are secure, drones ready for gantry bolt separation."

"Initializing bolt separation program," Cal said, tapping commands into the console.

"Minmus Acres, go for bolt separation," Gus said.

"KSC, go for bolt separation," echoed Maryenny.

"Gantry bolts...fire," stated Cal flatly, pressing a key. Gus strained to listen for the almost inaudible click that signified the bolts had separated. Except for the constant background hum of the life support systems, the tower was silent.

"Well that was anti-clima..." Enwise's words were cut short by a sudden moaning sound throughout the tower. The moaning grew louder, and the walls around Gus began to vibrate, then visibly shake.

A loud alarm buzzed over the comm, and the overhead lights shut off, then blazed on in red "emergency" mode.

"What the heck!" shouted Cal as he, Gus and Bart were thrown from their feet.

"Minmus Acres, status!" demanded Maryenny. Cal grabbed a handhold and pulled himself back to the console. His fingers flew over the keys; system data scrolled across the screen.

"What's going on up there, Johnski?" yelled Gus.

There was a moment of panicked silence, then Enwise's voice in Gus's headset. "...engines fired...thrusters...going crazy...in all directions! They're..." his voice cut off.

"Enwise, say again?"

"...Johnski out cold, hit his head...tower shaking bad...emergency abort, now!"

"Cal?" Gus's attention snapped back to the console. "Can we fire the emergency abort?"

Cal's face was pale. He shook his head. "The drones are already in emergency abort mode. The system thinks the bolts attempted to separate before the module was docked. They're trying to pull the module away from the tower."

"Figure out how to shut them down. Enwise? You and Johnski need to evacuate the upper tower."

"Roger!"

"Minmus Acres, do you copy?"

"Copy, KSC. Drones are non-responsive to emergency shutdown commands."

Maryenny's voice was smooth and composed, but Gus could hear rising panic around the edges into it. "They're not responding to flight commands either. Remote manual override is locked out until emergency mode is de-activated."

"Gus!" Bart shouted, "Structural stress sensors indicate we're about to..."

"HULL BREACH" flashed on an overhead monitor, and a louder alarm sounded. "BULKHEAD LOCKDOWN."

A series of low "ca-chunks" sounded throughout the tower as hatches between the modules locked shut.

"Where is it?" cried Gus.

Bart pulled up the tower schematics. "Uppers E and D."

"Great Kerb, no," swore Gus. Enwise and Johnski would be trapped between the depressurized modules and the wildly writhing observation deck. He keyed open his mic. "Enwise, you two need to stay put. We're leaking atmosphere right below you."

"Figured that out when the hatch wouldn't open," Enwise replied. "I'm getting a little motion sick up here. Where are we on shutting the drones down?"

A loud grinding sound reverberated through the tower.

"Minmus Acres, we just picked up a massive shift in the upper module. What's going on?" It was Gene on the comm.

Enwise broke in. "The observation deck pylons are starting to buckle."

"Boss, here," said Cal, stabbing a finger at his screen. "The sway correction software. We're getting bad data from some of the sensors, and it's cascading through the system."

"What?"

"North- and south-west connector tower mag-seals. The sensors say they're not connected. The drones don't think they're docked."

"Let me see," shouted Gus, leaning over Cal. "That's impossible, the system was designed to skip inactive sensors."

"They aren't inactive," said Bart from his console. Gus turned slowly to look at the technician. Bart gulped, then explained, "I replaced the bad sensors a few weeks ago."

Gus grabbed Bart by the collar and shook him. "You did what!? And you didn't see that the indicators were red?"

Bart was trembling. "They were green. Johnski signed off on them," he whined.

"There's no way they could have been green, those ports aren't mag-sealed!" Gus shouted.

"We've been building on top of that module for weeks. How can they not be sealed?" asked Cal.

"That's...they're..." Gus scrambled for words. He was saved by another loud grinding sound reverberating through the tower.

"Hey guys, maybe discuss this over tea and snacks after GETTING US THE HECK OUT OF HERE," screamed Enwise.

"Gene, we need to do an emergency EVA," said Gus. "Permission to override the bulkhead seals in the lower tower?"

"Roger, Gus. You have full authority. Do whatever you have to do."

Gus grabbed Bart, then jumped through the upper hatch, pulling the technician behind him. In the equipment pod, he tore open a locker and began pulling on his EVA suit. Bart started to pull on his own suit, but Gus stopped him.

"No, you keep going up. Override the hatch locks up to the tower connector. Disable those two sensors. Maybe Cal will be able to reboot the system back to normal." Bart nodded silently, and leapt up the ladder towards the middle of the tower.

Gus finished getting into his EVA suit, then climbed into a nearby airlock. "Cycling through," he reported.

Outside, the silence was a relief from the constant buzzing of alarms. The floor beneath his boots was unsteady, and he could see the blasts of monopropellant from the drones high above him. The upper half of the tower was swaying silently and irregularly back and forth. The sight, combined with his unsteady footing made him nauseous. He focused his eyes on the horizon to the side of the tower, clicked on his RCS pack, and began to rise.

Edited April 10, 2015 by JAD_Interplanetary

[Damien_The_Unbeliever]

Nice.

[Rath]

Is it just me or were there no pictures in the latest chapter? If so did this actually happen or was it for dramatic effect?

[Damien_The_Unbeliever]

Is it just me or were there no pictures in the latest chapter? If so did this actually happen or was it for dramatic effect?

See a few posts above:

The last 2-3 chapters of the story diverge significantly from the mission pictures. So my plan is to post the final story updates and picture updates as separate posts.

[JAD_Interplanetary]

Is it just me or were there no pictures in the latest chapter? If so did this actually happen or was it for dramatic effect?

Sorry about the confusion. The pictures for the next few parts of the tower don't match with the story (story is just for dramatic effect for this and the next chapter.) I'll try to be more upfront about that in the next post.

Pictures are being uploaded now, and will be posted soon.

Edited April 10, 2015 by JAD_Interplanetary

[JAD_Interplanetary]

These are the pictures for the current state of the tower. Despite the latest story chapter's version of events, the landing went off without a hitch, other than some design flaws that got worked out in the prototyping and testing phase.

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[Rath]

So I was 100% correct! Now to figure out how to do that on the math test I'm supposed to be studying for...

[JAD_Interplanetary]

This story chapter is about completely fabricated events, so there are no pictures. Pictures of the actual tower construction will be posted separately.

Chapter IX: Take One for the Team

Gus's head cleared as he surveyed the scene, rising towards the top of the tower.

The damage seemed confined to the upper modules. As he passed by the residential pods, noting the small vents of pressurized air streaming from tiny stress cracks in the hull. The fact that the modules still had air left to vent gave him hope.

The jets of monoprop above ceased. The swaying of the tower slowed.

"Boss, we got the drones shut down," Cal said. "How's it look?"

Gus glanced up at the observation deck hanging off to the side on its bent pylons. "Not great." He kept rising.

He reached the upper module and waved at Enwise through a window. "How are you doing in there?"

"Oh you know," replied Enwise, "thinking about the next chapter of my book, contemplating mortality, the usual."

"Johnski?"

The unconscious kerbal was stretched out on the floor in the middle of the pod. "Still out, but stable. What about out there? How screwed are we?"

Gus described the sagging hull of their module, supporting all the weight of the tilted observation platform above. If it buckled any more, they might be facing a hull breach.

"Yeah, I figured," sighed Enwise, slumping against a wall. "Do me a favor, tell Jeb he still owes me 100 roots from bowling that one time. He can pay it into my son's college fund."

"Collect it from me, yourself," came a familiar voice over the comm. "But I still say you cheat at bowling."

"Jeb!" exclaimed Gus. "What are you doing back? When..."

"Just yesterday. But I thought I'd drop by the tracking station and see how the in progress missions were going. Gene and Maryenny filled me in. Sounds like y'all got yourselves into mess of trouble just fine without me."

"Yeah, we're coming for your record in 'scrap metal generated in a single mission'," Cal quipped.

"Things could be better," Gus said. "Any ideas?".

"Don't ask me, egghead, you're the brains of this outfit, remember?"

Gus grumbled a reply, but he was glad to have Jeb back. Things always seemed to go wrong when Jeb was involved, but he had never lost a crew member on a mission. Gus continued up to the observation platform.

He maneuvered carefully around the mangled pylons, finally emerging above the deck. His eyes went wide he looked over the damage.

The platform was tilted almost forty-five degrees. The deck was twisted and buckled. One arm of the gantry was below him, the other above. The drones hung limply from their docking ports, still swaying gently. He could feel the moaning and grinding of metal through the vibrations in his feet.

"I...uh...oh wow," he stammered.

"That good, huh?" Cal commented.

"The platform is a total loss," Gus replied. "It's not even scrap at this point."

"What are our options?" asked Gene.

Gus ran through scenarios in his head, but none of them were promising. He was about to reply, when the deck jerked under his feet, almost flinging him from the tower.

"What was that?" yelled Enwise.

"Imminent hull breach in your module," responded Cal. "The bent pylons can't hold all that mass much longer."

"Look at it this way," chuckled Jeb. "In Kerbin gravity, you'd already be crushed."

"Small miracles," Enwise muttered.

"Cal, how soon can we get the drones back online?" Gus demanded.

"I don't know," Cal responded. "Hardwire links are borked. Maybe five minutes...each?"

The platform shifted violently again.

"We don't have that long," breathed Gus.

He looked up at the drone above him, a bright yellow "A" painted on its side, then at the one below, sporting a bright yellow "B". Down, he decided, and began slowly climbing clear of the gantry. "Listen, Cal. Get Alpha online. Let me know as soon as you're done. When I give the word, pop the docking ports on the bottom of the platform module and full throttle on Alpha, got it?"

"Pop the ports? Full throttle? With one drone? Boss, the platform will flip and crash right into the tower."

"Not with one drone," hissed Gus, freeing himself from the tangled wreckage and firing his RCS pack. "They'll both be online."

"What?" demanded Gene. "What are you talking about?"

"He's going to manually fire Beta," whispered Maryenny.

"What?" yelled several voices simultaneously.

"Boss, you'll be on that thing when it takes off," Cal yelled.

"I'll jump clear when it takes off, and RCS down."

"Not if you're under the drone when the engines fire, that's...that's suicide," Cal pleaded. Gus didn't respond; the platform shifted again, swinging a beam close by his head.

"Gus, there's no reason three of us have to die today," said Enwise.

"The plan is for no one to die," replied Gus through clenched teeth. He was almost to the drone. "Cal, how's Alpha coming?"

"How's Alpha...geez, three minutes..." Cal replied, cutting off his comm.

"Egghead," Jeb said calmly, "There's gotta be another way."

"If you can come up with a faster plan, let's hear it," Gus said. He grinned dopily and chuckled. "Worthless automated safety systems, right? Stuff busting and breaking, stranded a million million kilometers from home..."

"Aw heck, Gus, don't throw that back at me. This isn't what I meant."

"It's all about the mission." Gus said, finally reaching Beta, and settling on the gantry next to it. He popped off its access panel, trying his best not to notice he was well over the edge of the platform, with almost 100 meters of empty space below him. "And the mission is all about the team."

He toggled a few switches, then pried off a smaller panel, exposing circuitry. He quickly rerouted a few wires. The mittens of his EVA suit made the operation painfully slow.

"Gus?" Maryenny's normally strong voice wavered heartbreakingly. Gus froze, his chest cramping. "Gus, don't do it. If you die up there, I'm never speaking to you again."

"I have to," he smiled sadly, resuming his work. "It's my fault, and now two of my crew are in danger. They need me."

"What if...what if I need you, too?"

Gus kept rewiring, bypassing the safety circuits. "Remember that night on top of the VAB? Before I left?"

"Of course."

"I should have told you then."

"Tell me when you come home safe."

He twisted the final wire into place. "No, I need to tell you now. Maryenny, I..." His words were cut off as the platform gave another violent jerk. Gus screamed, thrown from the gantry. His slow fall gave him just enough time to grab hold of a jutting strut, dangling by one arm. He thrashed wildly, reaching for his RCS controls, but his movements threatened to tear his grip from the beam.

"I don't think we can take another one of those!" shouted Enwise. "The ceiling is starting to cave."

"Alpha back online," Cal yelled.

"Pop the ports and fire engines, now!" screamed Gus, flinging himself upwards, slapping wildly at the switch that would throttle up the engines on Beta. He missed, and slumped back down, pulling his shoulder painfully.

"Gus, just wait..." said Cal.

"Fire the engines!" Gus screamed again, once more flailing at the switch.

"Fire the Kerb-damned engines!" howled Jeb.

Gus's hand connected with the switch.

The engine bells above him glowed white-yellow hot. He felt like he was being punched all over his body. His head rattled against the inside of his helmet. His hand lost its grip on the gantry.

The platform fell upwards in slow motion. Hot exhaust washed over him, but it felt icy cold. The outer coating on his helmet visor began to crackle and blacken, obscuring his view. He heard voices crying out, but they were indistinct and far away. A wide shadow rose above him, pulling up and away from the tower.

A tiny crack appeared in front of him. It was too close for him to focus on it, but his eyes followed the fuzzy line as it spidered its way across his vision. He smiled. Everything went black, and the sound of his breathing was lost in the whistle of air through the crack in his visor.

[JAD_Interplanetary]

I'm currently fighting a fever, so not many picture updates this time. The final chapter will include the pictures of finishing the tower, but for now, here are some teasers of the final modules.

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