+1 to that. I live this story.Enigma wrote:MORE!!!!
The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Moderator: LadyTevar
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Well, anyway...
TAB"You're kidding."
TAB"Bill, you've been my favourite prank target since we were building sounding rockets out of scrap metal. Is this my usual MO?"
TABBill sighed. "No. But come on, Jeb, doesn't it strike you as just a tiny bit implausible that they could go from a handful of jury-rigged colony-ships to a full-on interplanetary empire in what, a century and a half?"
TAB"More than a handful from what they're telling me; they basically took their whole space infrastructure with 'em, including two decent-sized habitats. Besides, even if Captain Tarrant is a ridiculously good actor, what do they stand to gain by making up a huge elaborate cover story? They could just as easily tell us 'Earth' was on a weird orbit way off the elliptical."
TAB"I guess," Bill admitted. "Still, I wouldn't trust their version of events all that far. Any progress on getting those I/O specs?"
TAB"Everything useful in their onboard library's coming back with me in hard-copy, but it's not much; they sent a request back to headquarters for something more detailed. Admiral Liu estimated two local days, maybe less."
TAB"Nothing like First Contact to cut through the red tape, huh?"
TAB"That's exactly what he said. Anyway, printout's done now, see you in ten minutes."
TAB"Copy that." Bill cut the connection and returned to the guest blogpost he was working on.
The Core Worlds
March 18th, 2525
Posted by: Bill
Mood: World-weary
So, we know a little more about the system our new neighbours live in now. The subject of their mysterious homeworld of 'Earth', aka 'Earth-that-was' is something Jeb will probably want to tackle himself when he gets back from the conference aboard the Fredricksson (and no, I can't pronounce that either), but our hosts have helpfully given us some navigation data.
I also had the debateably good fortune to speak directly with an Alliance Naval officer who hailed from one of these 'Core' worlds, and... Well, let's just say I discovered another thing our two races have in common: The tendency for wealthy urbanites to lapse into provincialism, condescending snobbery and unpleasant stereotypes involving sexual congress with animals when discussing people from remote rural districts.
Now, I'd be happy to write this off as an isolated case of someone being a jerk if it wasn't for something I heard on one of the local news channels. No, not the Miranda thing, though that was bad enough. Something about a protest against voter "registration requirements" for Rim worlds. (Rim worlds being defined as anyplace whose economy is too small to support any fashionable wine bars, from the sound of it.)
Yeah.
I think the post-First Contact honeymoon period was over before it really began.
Don't misunderstand me. I have absolutely nothing against our neighbours as people; most of the humans I've interacted with so far have been nothing but friendly and courteous. But what little I've learned about their government leaves me with a very bad taste in
TABThe console made an urgent beeping, and Bill set his tablet aside and brought up the radar display. Two fuzzy at long range, on an intercept course. "What the...?" He nudged the attitude controls to bring Starfarer 1's bow to face the contacts and switched over to the optical sensor feed. "Oh, hell."
TAB"You're kidding."
TAB"Bill, you've been my favourite prank target since we were building sounding rockets out of scrap metal. Is this my usual MO?"
TABBill sighed. "No. But come on, Jeb, doesn't it strike you as just a tiny bit implausible that they could go from a handful of jury-rigged colony-ships to a full-on interplanetary empire in what, a century and a half?"
TAB"More than a handful from what they're telling me; they basically took their whole space infrastructure with 'em, including two decent-sized habitats. Besides, even if Captain Tarrant is a ridiculously good actor, what do they stand to gain by making up a huge elaborate cover story? They could just as easily tell us 'Earth' was on a weird orbit way off the elliptical."
TAB"I guess," Bill admitted. "Still, I wouldn't trust their version of events all that far. Any progress on getting those I/O specs?"
TAB"Everything useful in their onboard library's coming back with me in hard-copy, but it's not much; they sent a request back to headquarters for something more detailed. Admiral Liu estimated two local days, maybe less."
TAB"Nothing like First Contact to cut through the red tape, huh?"
TAB"That's exactly what he said. Anyway, printout's done now, see you in ten minutes."
TAB"Copy that." Bill cut the connection and returned to the guest blogpost he was working on.
The Core Worlds
March 18th, 2525
Posted by: Bill
Mood: World-weary
So, we know a little more about the system our new neighbours live in now. The subject of their mysterious homeworld of 'Earth', aka 'Earth-that-was' is something Jeb will probably want to tackle himself when he gets back from the conference aboard the Fredricksson (and no, I can't pronounce that either), but our hosts have helpfully given us some navigation data.
I also had the debateably good fortune to speak directly with an Alliance Naval officer who hailed from one of these 'Core' worlds, and... Well, let's just say I discovered another thing our two races have in common: The tendency for wealthy urbanites to lapse into provincialism, condescending snobbery and unpleasant stereotypes involving sexual congress with animals when discussing people from remote rural districts.
Now, I'd be happy to write this off as an isolated case of someone being a jerk if it wasn't for something I heard on one of the local news channels. No, not the Miranda thing, though that was bad enough. Something about a protest against voter "registration requirements" for Rim worlds. (Rim worlds being defined as anyplace whose economy is too small to support any fashionable wine bars, from the sound of it.)
Yeah.
I think the post-First Contact honeymoon period was over before it really began.
Don't misunderstand me. I have absolutely nothing against our neighbours as people; most of the humans I've interacted with so far have been nothing but friendly and courteous. But what little I've learned about their government leaves me with a very bad taste in
TABThe console made an urgent beeping, and Bill set his tablet aside and brought up the radar display. Two fuzzy at long range, on an intercept course. "What the...?" He nudged the attitude controls to bring Starfarer 1's bow to face the contacts and switched over to the optical sensor feed. "Oh, hell."
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
A cliff hanger? Oh Damn you.
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Not anymore it ain't.
TABAboard the Fredricksson, the bridge crew were doing much the same. "Reavers," Captain Tarrant breathed. "Sound general quarters!" he barked, slamming one hand down on the button to set off the alarm while grabbing for his respirator pack with the other.
TABA five-second blast of deafening noise echoed throughout the ship, followed by the voice of the bosun over the PA system. "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Down and aft on the portside, up and for'ard on sytarboard side. This is not a drill."
TABJeb was halfway through the prelaunch checklist when the klaxon went off, and looked out of the Homesteader's tiny window to see a crew chief frantically gesturing to him. He popped the hatch and stuck his head out, gesturing to the laptop and the radio antenna sticking out of one side. The human caught the hint and grabbed the handheld radio off her belt. "Sir, we need you to clear the launch bay and proceed to the safe zone!"
TAB"Where the hell's that?"
TAB"Oh-" the translation program emitted a burst of gibberish followed by an error noise as the human swore in Chinese, "didn't anyone bother telling you? Three decks down and follow the green line on the wall!"
TAB"But what about my ship?"
TAB"Your first officer's going to have to handle things, sir, we need the launch bay clear right now!"
TABJeb swore under his breath but nodded. "Alright. Kurt, grab the spare O2 bottles." He pulled a medical kit from the bracket on the bulkhead. "We can make ourselves useful here, at least."
TAB"Twelve contacts, all running with no core containment. Four Trans-Us, one Packard-class armed merchantman, remainder unidentified at this time. Estimated time to weapons range, nine minutes."
TABTarrant nodded. "Understood. I want a full missile salvo as soon as they're in range. Target four at the Packard, hit the rest with one missile each."
TAB"Aye sir."
TAB"Captain, I want the taskforce in Formation Echo, or as close as we can get with this few hulls," said Admiral Liu. "We'd better try to screen off our visitors, that Packard's got two missile tubes and they might still be working. And keep that Blue Sun ship where we can keep an eye on 'em."
TAB"Aye sir. Starfarer 1, this is the IAV Fredricksson. We are moving to a defensive formation, please maintain current course and speed, over."
TAB"Copy that, Fredricksson. Be advised, I have not yet received cleared-hot but my Rules of Engagement permit returning fire in the event of a missile launch. Please ask your colleagues in the gunships to stay clear of my field of fire, over."
TAB"Roger that, will do. Fredricksson out." Tarrant shared a look with the admiral. "Someone's a little eager over there."
TAB"We're engaging Reavers. Who the hell ain't? Anyhow, signal the Davis boats to give our new neighbours a clear shot, I wanna see what that boat's capable of."
TABFormation Echo was a fairly simplistic one, a roughly circular wall of ships with the larger and less agile vessels concentrated towards the centre and smaller, more manoeverable ones spread out on the edges. The theory was that the larger ships would then have overlapping fields of point-defence fire to make up for their limited handling while the smaller ones would have greater freedom to use the full extent of their speed and acceleration without fear of colliding with one another. In an open-space engagement like this one it was pretty effective on paper, but Captain Tarrant wasn't a particular fan of it as it necessarily had all ships facing the same way; a few enemy warships running full emission-control or using a convenient moon or planetoid to block line-of-sight could find themselves with a window of several seconds to line up a shot before they were noticed.
TABStill, on this occasion it was a non-issue: The nearest orbiting body was a good twelve light-seconds out, and the odds that the Reavers had spotted them early enough to detach a few ships to run cold and quiet towards the flanks were pretty low.
TAB"Any idea if they've seen us?" Tarrant asked the sensors officer.
TAB"Hard to say sir," he replied. "The Packard class's sensor suite is pretty good for a Fleet Auxillary; in fact, theoretically they could've seen us as soon as we saw them. But there's no way to know what kind of condition it's in or how competent the operator is. What I can say for sure is there's no sign of a course change yet."
TABTarrant stared at the tactical display, frowning heavily. The second scariest thing about Reavers, after the whole deranged cannibal thing, was that they were so thrice-damned unpredictable. Most would just charge headlong into battle without a care for the odds, but some groups showed signs of much more intelligent direction, using proper tactics -often right out of the Alliance Navy playbook- and declining battle if the odds were against them. Would that happen this time?
TABNobody really understood the fine details of Reaver neuropathology, but it was certain that at least some of them retained skills and knowledge they'd acquired before the Pax or else they'd never have made it off-planet in the first place. And a number of Alliance military personnel had been on Miranda, either assigned to the tiny picket force or choosing to settle with their families. It wasn't hard to infer the rest.
TABAboard the Fredricksson, the bridge crew were doing much the same. "Reavers," Captain Tarrant breathed. "Sound general quarters!" he barked, slamming one hand down on the button to set off the alarm while grabbing for his respirator pack with the other.
TABA five-second blast of deafening noise echoed throughout the ship, followed by the voice of the bosun over the PA system. "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations. Down and aft on the portside, up and for'ard on sytarboard side. This is not a drill."
TABJeb was halfway through the prelaunch checklist when the klaxon went off, and looked out of the Homesteader's tiny window to see a crew chief frantically gesturing to him. He popped the hatch and stuck his head out, gesturing to the laptop and the radio antenna sticking out of one side. The human caught the hint and grabbed the handheld radio off her belt. "Sir, we need you to clear the launch bay and proceed to the safe zone!"
TAB"Where the hell's that?"
TAB"Oh-" the translation program emitted a burst of gibberish followed by an error noise as the human swore in Chinese, "didn't anyone bother telling you? Three decks down and follow the green line on the wall!"
TAB"But what about my ship?"
TAB"Your first officer's going to have to handle things, sir, we need the launch bay clear right now!"
TABJeb swore under his breath but nodded. "Alright. Kurt, grab the spare O2 bottles." He pulled a medical kit from the bracket on the bulkhead. "We can make ourselves useful here, at least."
TAB"Twelve contacts, all running with no core containment. Four Trans-Us, one Packard-class armed merchantman, remainder unidentified at this time. Estimated time to weapons range, nine minutes."
TABTarrant nodded. "Understood. I want a full missile salvo as soon as they're in range. Target four at the Packard, hit the rest with one missile each."
TAB"Aye sir."
TAB"Captain, I want the taskforce in Formation Echo, or as close as we can get with this few hulls," said Admiral Liu. "We'd better try to screen off our visitors, that Packard's got two missile tubes and they might still be working. And keep that Blue Sun ship where we can keep an eye on 'em."
TAB"Aye sir. Starfarer 1, this is the IAV Fredricksson. We are moving to a defensive formation, please maintain current course and speed, over."
TAB"Copy that, Fredricksson. Be advised, I have not yet received cleared-hot but my Rules of Engagement permit returning fire in the event of a missile launch. Please ask your colleagues in the gunships to stay clear of my field of fire, over."
TAB"Roger that, will do. Fredricksson out." Tarrant shared a look with the admiral. "Someone's a little eager over there."
TAB"We're engaging Reavers. Who the hell ain't? Anyhow, signal the Davis boats to give our new neighbours a clear shot, I wanna see what that boat's capable of."
TABFormation Echo was a fairly simplistic one, a roughly circular wall of ships with the larger and less agile vessels concentrated towards the centre and smaller, more manoeverable ones spread out on the edges. The theory was that the larger ships would then have overlapping fields of point-defence fire to make up for their limited handling while the smaller ones would have greater freedom to use the full extent of their speed and acceleration without fear of colliding with one another. In an open-space engagement like this one it was pretty effective on paper, but Captain Tarrant wasn't a particular fan of it as it necessarily had all ships facing the same way; a few enemy warships running full emission-control or using a convenient moon or planetoid to block line-of-sight could find themselves with a window of several seconds to line up a shot before they were noticed.
TABStill, on this occasion it was a non-issue: The nearest orbiting body was a good twelve light-seconds out, and the odds that the Reavers had spotted them early enough to detach a few ships to run cold and quiet towards the flanks were pretty low.
TAB"Any idea if they've seen us?" Tarrant asked the sensors officer.
TAB"Hard to say sir," he replied. "The Packard class's sensor suite is pretty good for a Fleet Auxillary; in fact, theoretically they could've seen us as soon as we saw them. But there's no way to know what kind of condition it's in or how competent the operator is. What I can say for sure is there's no sign of a course change yet."
TABTarrant stared at the tactical display, frowning heavily. The second scariest thing about Reavers, after the whole deranged cannibal thing, was that they were so thrice-damned unpredictable. Most would just charge headlong into battle without a care for the odds, but some groups showed signs of much more intelligent direction, using proper tactics -often right out of the Alliance Navy playbook- and declining battle if the odds were against them. Would that happen this time?
TABNobody really understood the fine details of Reaver neuropathology, but it was certain that at least some of them retained skills and knowledge they'd acquired before the Pax or else they'd never have made it off-planet in the first place. And a number of Alliance military personnel had been on Miranda, either assigned to the tiny picket force or choosing to settle with their families. It wasn't hard to infer the rest.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-
Broomstick
- Emperor's Hand
- Posts: 28822
- Joined: 2004-01-02 07:04pm
- Location: Industrial armpit of the US Midwest
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
::: perches on edge of seat :::
More!
More!
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Agreed. MOAR!!Broomstick wrote:::: perches on edge of seat :::
More!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
I'm not sure if this is flattering or terrifying.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Quit thinking, more writing!Zaune wrote:I'm not sure if this is flattering or terrifying.
*cracks whip*
Get moving, story-monkey!
You will be assimilated...bunghole!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
I believe the answer is, both.Borgholio wrote:Quit thinking, more writing!Zaune wrote:I'm not sure if this is flattering or terrifying.
*cracks whip*
Get moving, story-monkey!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
You're the one who brought in the Reavers, now we wanna see how the gunfight goes. (as well as see how the Alliance reacts to the Kerbal's lasers)
And WTF has BlueSun been doing?
And WTF has BlueSun been doing?
Me: Nope, that's why I have you around to tell me.
Nitram: You -are- beautiful. Anyone tries to tell you otherwise kill them.
"A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP" -- Leonard Nimoy, last Tweet
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
And another damn cliffhanger!
Are Jeb et al going to be hanging back from this one, or are they going to take the opportunity to show the Alliance forces (some of) what they have up their sleeves besides their arms?
Are Jeb et al going to be hanging back from this one, or are they going to take the opportunity to show the Alliance forces (some of) what they have up their sleeves besides their arms?
A mad person thinks there's a gateway to hell in his basement. A mad genius builds one and turns it on. - CaptainChewbacca
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
You'll find out by the weekend when I get the actual battle scene polished up a bit.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-
Marko Dash
- Jedi Knight
- Posts: 719
- Joined: 2006-01-29 03:42am
- Location: south carolina, USA
- Contact:
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
tease
If a black-hawk flies over a light show and is not harmed, does that make it immune to lasers?
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Hurry up dammit!
I can't be the only one jonesing for the battle scene.
I can't be the only one jonesing for the battle scene.
A mad person thinks there's a gateway to hell in his basement. A mad genius builds one and turns it on. - CaptainChewbacca
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
You aren't. I'm just practising my patience. 
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Alright, all right, sheesh! It's not quite done yet but here's what I've got of the battle scene thus far.
TAB"They're changing course sir! The Packard's taking the lead, the smaller ships are pulling back and... Jesus! Positive ID on another vessel, type confirmed as Longbow-class!"
TAB"A what?" Tarrant couldn't quite hold back a heartfelt groan. "Please for the love of all that's holy let it be a civvy model..."
TAB"Sorry, sir. Got a definite visual on the dorsal turret. I think she might be the Lafayette; she's missing her whole portside radiator array, that tallies with the bulletin from Intelligence."
TAB"Shiny, just damn shiny. Time to missile range?"
TAB"Four minutes, sir."
TABTarrant exchanged looks with Admiral Liu. "Orders, sir?"
TAB"Concentrate fire on that Packard and the little ships, ignore the frigate for now. I've read the bulletin on the Lafayette," he added, seeing Tarrant's expression. "She was pounded to hell and gone before her crew abandoned ship, probably a write-off even if we could've got her back to drydock. Only thing she could be good for is a decoy."
TAB"Course changes! The smaller vessels are breaking formation, sir!"
TAB"Called it," Liu declared with grim satisfaction. "The big fat important-looking target comes in dumb while the small fry move around to bite us in the ass when we're not looking."
TAB"Missile range in sixty seconds!" the weapons officer called out.
TAB"Fire when ready. Tubes one through four engage the small craft, five and six take out that frigate." Couldn't hurt to hedge their bets, Tarrant reflected, even if the admiral was probably right-
TAB"Missile launches from the frigate!" Yep, definitely a good idea to err on the side of caution there.
TAB"Mission Control, I don't want to rush you or anything..."
TAB"Sorry, Bill. Our intel guys are reviewing the downlink feed now, we have to be sure on this one. Weapons remain tight unless fired upon-"
TABThe console made a loud and urgent noise. "Never mind! Missile launches detected. Enemy craft confirmed hostile, engaging!" Bill called out. He flipped the MASTER ARM switch to the on position and let the fire-control computer crunch the numbers while the first shell was loaded. A long moment later, the system chimed happily as the word 'SHOOT' flashed on the screen. He jabbed his thumb down on the fire button. "On the way!"
TAB"Railgun fire detected from Starfarer 1," the sensors officer observed.
TAB"Calibre looks about even with one of our main guns, sir," the weapons officer added. "Velocity's approximately one-third our... Huh, now would you look at that." The single slow-moving radar contact suddenly winked out, replaced by a fuzzy cloud.
TAB"Canister shot," Tarrant realised.
TAB"Looks that way sir. Useless against anything better-armoured than a revenue cutter, but it'll really do a number on those missiles. Second shot fired, same trajectory."
TAB"Buck and ball," Liu added. "Same tactic the Independents used to use. We ditched canister shot because point-defence lasers kill missiles just as fast and don't take up magazine space, but they never had the industrial base for good solid-state laser systems."
TAB"Maybe these guys are as far behind the curve as they look, at least when it comes to weapons tech," Tarrant replied, with a touch of bitterness. What did that say about humanity as a species?
TABA moment later the inbound missiles met the expanding cloud of canister shot. A handful of brief, strobing flashes punctuated the Black as most -but not all- of them took hits and detonated. "Four leakers still inbound," the weapons officer reported. "Thirty seconds to effective laser range- Reaver ships deploying decoys!"
TAB"Did this pack hit a fleet logistics ship or something?" Tarrant growled. "Damn it, not only are they getting smarter, they're getting better equipped. Reload all tubes with heatseeking missiles."
TAB"Aye sir."
TABSeconds later, the Alliance taskforce's own missiles reached their targets. Perhaps half locked onto radar ghosts from chaff clouds or active decoy emitters, but those that found their mark had a gratifying effect. Fully half the Reaver ships were blown apart completely, and the looted frigate was left spinning uncontrollably in space with a gaping hole in her side. A few seconds later, Starfarer 1's railgun round impacted midships and blew her clean in half.
TAB"Hell of a bang for that velocity," Liu remarked. "Guess that shell was packing a warhead." The Alliance had gone over to hypervelocity pure-kinetic rounds some time ago, but Tarrant was vaguely aware that slower rounds with explosive payloads had some advantages; reduced wear and tear on the rails, less electrical power needed or heat generated and not as much recoil to compensate for with engines. That last one would be a big deal for the Kerbals; those big nuclear motors didn't have very fast or precise throttle control, even with computer assistance.
TAB"They're changing course sir! The Packard's taking the lead, the smaller ships are pulling back and... Jesus! Positive ID on another vessel, type confirmed as Longbow-class!"
TAB"A what?" Tarrant couldn't quite hold back a heartfelt groan. "Please for the love of all that's holy let it be a civvy model..."
TAB"Sorry, sir. Got a definite visual on the dorsal turret. I think she might be the Lafayette; she's missing her whole portside radiator array, that tallies with the bulletin from Intelligence."
TAB"Shiny, just damn shiny. Time to missile range?"
TAB"Four minutes, sir."
TABTarrant exchanged looks with Admiral Liu. "Orders, sir?"
TAB"Concentrate fire on that Packard and the little ships, ignore the frigate for now. I've read the bulletin on the Lafayette," he added, seeing Tarrant's expression. "She was pounded to hell and gone before her crew abandoned ship, probably a write-off even if we could've got her back to drydock. Only thing she could be good for is a decoy."
TAB"Course changes! The smaller vessels are breaking formation, sir!"
TAB"Called it," Liu declared with grim satisfaction. "The big fat important-looking target comes in dumb while the small fry move around to bite us in the ass when we're not looking."
TAB"Missile range in sixty seconds!" the weapons officer called out.
TAB"Fire when ready. Tubes one through four engage the small craft, five and six take out that frigate." Couldn't hurt to hedge their bets, Tarrant reflected, even if the admiral was probably right-
TAB"Missile launches from the frigate!" Yep, definitely a good idea to err on the side of caution there.
TAB"Mission Control, I don't want to rush you or anything..."
TAB"Sorry, Bill. Our intel guys are reviewing the downlink feed now, we have to be sure on this one. Weapons remain tight unless fired upon-"
TABThe console made a loud and urgent noise. "Never mind! Missile launches detected. Enemy craft confirmed hostile, engaging!" Bill called out. He flipped the MASTER ARM switch to the on position and let the fire-control computer crunch the numbers while the first shell was loaded. A long moment later, the system chimed happily as the word 'SHOOT' flashed on the screen. He jabbed his thumb down on the fire button. "On the way!"
TAB"Railgun fire detected from Starfarer 1," the sensors officer observed.
TAB"Calibre looks about even with one of our main guns, sir," the weapons officer added. "Velocity's approximately one-third our... Huh, now would you look at that." The single slow-moving radar contact suddenly winked out, replaced by a fuzzy cloud.
TAB"Canister shot," Tarrant realised.
TAB"Looks that way sir. Useless against anything better-armoured than a revenue cutter, but it'll really do a number on those missiles. Second shot fired, same trajectory."
TAB"Buck and ball," Liu added. "Same tactic the Independents used to use. We ditched canister shot because point-defence lasers kill missiles just as fast and don't take up magazine space, but they never had the industrial base for good solid-state laser systems."
TAB"Maybe these guys are as far behind the curve as they look, at least when it comes to weapons tech," Tarrant replied, with a touch of bitterness. What did that say about humanity as a species?
TABA moment later the inbound missiles met the expanding cloud of canister shot. A handful of brief, strobing flashes punctuated the Black as most -but not all- of them took hits and detonated. "Four leakers still inbound," the weapons officer reported. "Thirty seconds to effective laser range- Reaver ships deploying decoys!"
TAB"Did this pack hit a fleet logistics ship or something?" Tarrant growled. "Damn it, not only are they getting smarter, they're getting better equipped. Reload all tubes with heatseeking missiles."
TAB"Aye sir."
TABSeconds later, the Alliance taskforce's own missiles reached their targets. Perhaps half locked onto radar ghosts from chaff clouds or active decoy emitters, but those that found their mark had a gratifying effect. Fully half the Reaver ships were blown apart completely, and the looted frigate was left spinning uncontrollably in space with a gaping hole in her side. A few seconds later, Starfarer 1's railgun round impacted midships and blew her clean in half.
TAB"Hell of a bang for that velocity," Liu remarked. "Guess that shell was packing a warhead." The Alliance had gone over to hypervelocity pure-kinetic rounds some time ago, but Tarrant was vaguely aware that slower rounds with explosive payloads had some advantages; reduced wear and tear on the rails, less electrical power needed or heat generated and not as much recoil to compensate for with engines. That last one would be a big deal for the Kerbals; those big nuclear motors didn't have very fast or precise throttle control, even with computer assistance.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Finally! WOOT!
What else do the Kerbals have up their sleeves? I suspect Tarrant and Liu wouldn't mind finding out.
What else do the Kerbals have up their sleeves? I suspect Tarrant and Liu wouldn't mind finding out.
A mad person thinks there's a gateway to hell in his basement. A mad genius builds one and turns it on. - CaptainChewbacca
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
I'm going to go slightly off-topic for a moment and post a short snippet that's going to become either a sidestory or the B-plot to the sequel. It was inspired mostly by the latest update to First Flight, which is a kind of distant prequel to this series and well worth reading.
Anyway...
TABJoenie Kermol took a long swig of her sapwood juice, set the glass down and adjusted her wire-rimmed glasses with a businesslike air. "The word 'ambitious' comes to mind," she said in carefully measured tones.
TABThe neatly besuited young kerman male smiled faintly. "People said that about the Grove on Duna."
TAB"Duna's surface was totally sterile; my team couldn't have had a better controlled growing medium if we'd bought it in bulk from a hydroponics company. Laythe is a very different problem. Not only are we introducing a Kerm to a foreign ecosystem, which for literally any other form of plantlife on Kerbin would be a massive no-no, we know even less about Laythe's ecosystem than our ancestors knew about Wakira's back in the Age of Sail."
TAB"We have a huge array of soil samples."
TAB"Soil samples taken from one fairly small island. Even here on Kerbin you can find ten thousand new species of bacteria or fungus in a soil sample taken from any randomly-chosen square kilometre of land, and then find ten thousand more species if you move a single kilometre in any direction, or come back to the exact same spot in a year. The variations will be pretty small, mind you, but any one of them could turn out be another Red Blight or something even worse someday. And again, that's just on Kerbin. What it might be like on a moon where life evolved totally separately in radically different conditions is difficult to even imagine."
TAB"True. But that native life will have no inherited protection against our antibiotics."
TAB"For the time being. And come to think of it, that's another worry. What happens if Kerm pollen or one of our artificial fertilisers proves to be toxic to native life?"
TAB"This is why we came to you," the young kerman replied simply. "We're not a large or well-funded organisation, Dr Joenie. We've got plenty of good farmers and a couple of biology graduates, but none of us have any practical experience of establishing Groves even on Kerbin. But without a Grove, we won't have much of a colony to speak of."
TABJoenie nodded. "Don't get me wrong, Billick, I support your aims all the way. But it's difficult to uunderstate what a huge undertaking this is. If any of your organisation were hoping we'd be planting a sapling as soon as we unloaded the orbiter then they're going to be sadly disappointed."
TAB"That's pretty much what we figured." Billick sipped his coffee. "We're not planning on shipping colonists out for another two years, but we want to send an advance party at the next window in three months. Their job will be to acquire more soil and water samples, expand the existing weather station network and run extensive controlled trials of Kerbin crops in Laythe soil, as well as bolting together some prefabs for the colonists when they get there and other preliminary work."
TABJoenie fished a spiral notepad and pen out of her desk drawer. "That sounds pretty workable, but it's going to involve a certain amount of equipment. What kind of budget are we talking about?"
TAB"Seventeen and a half thousand keros, plus whatever you can coax out of the university. The good news is we already have some of the equipment you'll need. The KSA had a few spare inflatable agridomes left over from the first wave of Duna colonies, and sold them to us for next to nothing 'cause they were just taking up space in storage. They're not exactly this year's model but they're in as-new condition. We also have the use of the old outpost buildings; everything portable was removed when it was mothballed but the lab facilities should still be useable."
TAB"That still leaves most of the lab equipment itself... Hmmm. Give me a day or two to get a list of gear and tally up the price tags, then we'll have something worth presenting to the grants committee. Am I going to be the only biochemist on the team?"
TABBilick smiled. "I take it that's a yes, then? And I'm not sure yet, but after this meeting I have an appointment with your colleague Dr Wickley from the Duna Grove project. I can guarantee you the services of two good biologists and an experienced hydroponics technician for your staff, though."
TAB"Wickley van Grun?" Joenie raised an eyebrow. "Why the two of us? We were the junior members of the team by quite a margin."
TAB"Everyone else either has dependents on Kerbin or jumped straight into a prestigious teaching or research post," Billick replied. "Besides, breaking ground on a new settlement is a young kerbal's game; there's going to be a good deal of physical labour involved in the early days and the climate isn't exactly balmy. But for someone young and fit who doesn't mind getting their hands dirty?"
TAB"It's like Geofley Kerman said. You could have the adventure holiday of a lifetime down there." Joenie finally cracked a smile. "Count me in!"
Anyway...
TABJoenie Kermol took a long swig of her sapwood juice, set the glass down and adjusted her wire-rimmed glasses with a businesslike air. "The word 'ambitious' comes to mind," she said in carefully measured tones.
TABThe neatly besuited young kerman male smiled faintly. "People said that about the Grove on Duna."
TAB"Duna's surface was totally sterile; my team couldn't have had a better controlled growing medium if we'd bought it in bulk from a hydroponics company. Laythe is a very different problem. Not only are we introducing a Kerm to a foreign ecosystem, which for literally any other form of plantlife on Kerbin would be a massive no-no, we know even less about Laythe's ecosystem than our ancestors knew about Wakira's back in the Age of Sail."
TAB"We have a huge array of soil samples."
TAB"Soil samples taken from one fairly small island. Even here on Kerbin you can find ten thousand new species of bacteria or fungus in a soil sample taken from any randomly-chosen square kilometre of land, and then find ten thousand more species if you move a single kilometre in any direction, or come back to the exact same spot in a year. The variations will be pretty small, mind you, but any one of them could turn out be another Red Blight or something even worse someday. And again, that's just on Kerbin. What it might be like on a moon where life evolved totally separately in radically different conditions is difficult to even imagine."
TAB"True. But that native life will have no inherited protection against our antibiotics."
TAB"For the time being. And come to think of it, that's another worry. What happens if Kerm pollen or one of our artificial fertilisers proves to be toxic to native life?"
TAB"This is why we came to you," the young kerman replied simply. "We're not a large or well-funded organisation, Dr Joenie. We've got plenty of good farmers and a couple of biology graduates, but none of us have any practical experience of establishing Groves even on Kerbin. But without a Grove, we won't have much of a colony to speak of."
TABJoenie nodded. "Don't get me wrong, Billick, I support your aims all the way. But it's difficult to uunderstate what a huge undertaking this is. If any of your organisation were hoping we'd be planting a sapling as soon as we unloaded the orbiter then they're going to be sadly disappointed."
TAB"That's pretty much what we figured." Billick sipped his coffee. "We're not planning on shipping colonists out for another two years, but we want to send an advance party at the next window in three months. Their job will be to acquire more soil and water samples, expand the existing weather station network and run extensive controlled trials of Kerbin crops in Laythe soil, as well as bolting together some prefabs for the colonists when they get there and other preliminary work."
TABJoenie fished a spiral notepad and pen out of her desk drawer. "That sounds pretty workable, but it's going to involve a certain amount of equipment. What kind of budget are we talking about?"
TAB"Seventeen and a half thousand keros, plus whatever you can coax out of the university. The good news is we already have some of the equipment you'll need. The KSA had a few spare inflatable agridomes left over from the first wave of Duna colonies, and sold them to us for next to nothing 'cause they were just taking up space in storage. They're not exactly this year's model but they're in as-new condition. We also have the use of the old outpost buildings; everything portable was removed when it was mothballed but the lab facilities should still be useable."
TAB"That still leaves most of the lab equipment itself... Hmmm. Give me a day or two to get a list of gear and tally up the price tags, then we'll have something worth presenting to the grants committee. Am I going to be the only biochemist on the team?"
TABBilick smiled. "I take it that's a yes, then? And I'm not sure yet, but after this meeting I have an appointment with your colleague Dr Wickley from the Duna Grove project. I can guarantee you the services of two good biologists and an experienced hydroponics technician for your staff, though."
TAB"Wickley van Grun?" Joenie raised an eyebrow. "Why the two of us? We were the junior members of the team by quite a margin."
TAB"Everyone else either has dependents on Kerbin or jumped straight into a prestigious teaching or research post," Billick replied. "Besides, breaking ground on a new settlement is a young kerbal's game; there's going to be a good deal of physical labour involved in the early days and the climate isn't exactly balmy. But for someone young and fit who doesn't mind getting their hands dirty?"
TAB"It's like Geofley Kerman said. You could have the adventure holiday of a lifetime down there." Joenie finally cracked a smile. "Count me in!"
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
And back on topic:
TAB"We got one good hit in, but that big ship was already shot to hell, so I wouldn't extrapolate too heavily about our guns versus their armour. Their point-defence lasers chewed up those inbound missiles pretty fast, too; I haven't been able to get any hard information on their missile designs as yet, but assuming roughly similar capabilities to one of our heavy ship-killers, I estimate they can deliver maybe one third more energy per second.
TAB"As far as the personnel go, from what I could observe they seemed pretty on the ball; I'm not sure one of our own frigate crews could better them in response time, but then I guess they've had more practice. One of the enlisted men told me it was their fourth engagement in the last year. I'm uncertain whether that applies fleetwide or just to ships stationed out here in the less civilised regions; from what I can gather, the bulk of their capital ships are stationed in the Core Worlds to protect the seat of government and the major industries... and the wealthier and more influential citizens, by the sound of it."
TAB"Thank you, Lieutenant McKerjel. Keep up the good work. That'll be all." The voice connection terminated.
TAB"You ready to head back?" said Jeb, poking his head around the door. "Because you're not going to believe what just came in from Barkton..."
TABKurt and the Fredricksson's communications officer had managed to jury-rig a method of transmitting video from a kerbal laptop to an Alliance video-conference screen. Admiral Liu, Captain Tarrant and the two Blue Sun employees watched as a large group of kerbals gathered in front of a large and impressive civic building, watched over by a handful of police. Tarrant couldn't read the placards, but the expressions and the handful of Independent flags were pretty instructive by themselves.
TAB"That's the Meeting Hall of the Council of Twelve Pillars," Jeb elaborated, somehow pronouncing the capital letters. "The nearest equivalent in your culture would be the old United Nations, though they have somewhat more legislative power." Behind him on the screen, a kerbal stepped forward with a flag bearing the Blue Sun Corporation logo on a long pole, followed by another who was ostentatiously holding up a burning taper. "You will notice, I hope, that we are making a clear distinction between the actions of Blue Sun Corporation and the actions of the human race as a whole," Jeb continued, in studiously neutral tones. "However, the citizens of Kerbin you see here also came to deliver a petition to the Council of Twelve requesting that the transfer of FTL technology be contingent on the outcome of the public inquiry into Blue Sun's actions. They needn't have bothered, as a motion to that effect was being voted on the same day. It passed all but unanimously."
TAB"You do realise that this inquiry is a matter of internal security-" one of the Men In Grey began.
TABJeb rounded on him with a deep scowl. "We made this decision based solely on information that was in the public domain. Your company's misconduct is a matter of public record, and you will be judged accordingly. And when the consequences of that misconduct enter the public domain, so will the Alliance. Admiral, Captain, I would appreciate it if you would pass this information on to your political leadership."
TAB"With pleasure," Admiral Liu replied, then turned to the men from Blue Sun. "Would you gentlemen care to send a copy forward to your superiors?" he asked, not bothering to hide his amusement.
TAB"I think that would be highly advisable, actually," Jeb added, with some relish. "We intend to include the footage in the briefing materials for the press conference as soon as we make planetfall. I can't imagine your CEO would be very pleased if the first he knew of it was when it appeared on prime-time news."
TABThat, at long last, got the two of them to display an overt emotional response. "You can't seriously think we'll allow you to talk to the press!" one of them blustered with terrified bravado.
TAB"You two don't get to decide what I'm not allowed to do!" Jeb snapped. "The Alliance government may have the authority to deny myself or my crew entry visas, but they can't forbid us from taking any action that doesn't explicitly contravene local law. And correct me if I'm wrong, but freedom of speech and freedom of association are guaranteed under the Alliance constitution, are they not? And unless it specifically excludes non-citizens-"
TAB"Certain articles do, as it happens."
TAB"Why am I not surprised."
TAB"Gentlemen," Admiral Liu said firmly. "The unresolved constitutional issues notwithstanding, there's no way in hell we're gonna keep this out of the media forever, not with over a thousand eyewitnesses in this taskforce. However," he continued, before Jeb could respond, "I don't think a public appearance at this early stage is necessarily a good idea."
TAB"We got one good hit in, but that big ship was already shot to hell, so I wouldn't extrapolate too heavily about our guns versus their armour. Their point-defence lasers chewed up those inbound missiles pretty fast, too; I haven't been able to get any hard information on their missile designs as yet, but assuming roughly similar capabilities to one of our heavy ship-killers, I estimate they can deliver maybe one third more energy per second.
TAB"As far as the personnel go, from what I could observe they seemed pretty on the ball; I'm not sure one of our own frigate crews could better them in response time, but then I guess they've had more practice. One of the enlisted men told me it was their fourth engagement in the last year. I'm uncertain whether that applies fleetwide or just to ships stationed out here in the less civilised regions; from what I can gather, the bulk of their capital ships are stationed in the Core Worlds to protect the seat of government and the major industries... and the wealthier and more influential citizens, by the sound of it."
TAB"Thank you, Lieutenant McKerjel. Keep up the good work. That'll be all." The voice connection terminated.
TAB"You ready to head back?" said Jeb, poking his head around the door. "Because you're not going to believe what just came in from Barkton..."
TABKurt and the Fredricksson's communications officer had managed to jury-rig a method of transmitting video from a kerbal laptop to an Alliance video-conference screen. Admiral Liu, Captain Tarrant and the two Blue Sun employees watched as a large group of kerbals gathered in front of a large and impressive civic building, watched over by a handful of police. Tarrant couldn't read the placards, but the expressions and the handful of Independent flags were pretty instructive by themselves.
TAB"That's the Meeting Hall of the Council of Twelve Pillars," Jeb elaborated, somehow pronouncing the capital letters. "The nearest equivalent in your culture would be the old United Nations, though they have somewhat more legislative power." Behind him on the screen, a kerbal stepped forward with a flag bearing the Blue Sun Corporation logo on a long pole, followed by another who was ostentatiously holding up a burning taper. "You will notice, I hope, that we are making a clear distinction between the actions of Blue Sun Corporation and the actions of the human race as a whole," Jeb continued, in studiously neutral tones. "However, the citizens of Kerbin you see here also came to deliver a petition to the Council of Twelve requesting that the transfer of FTL technology be contingent on the outcome of the public inquiry into Blue Sun's actions. They needn't have bothered, as a motion to that effect was being voted on the same day. It passed all but unanimously."
TAB"You do realise that this inquiry is a matter of internal security-" one of the Men In Grey began.
TABJeb rounded on him with a deep scowl. "We made this decision based solely on information that was in the public domain. Your company's misconduct is a matter of public record, and you will be judged accordingly. And when the consequences of that misconduct enter the public domain, so will the Alliance. Admiral, Captain, I would appreciate it if you would pass this information on to your political leadership."
TAB"With pleasure," Admiral Liu replied, then turned to the men from Blue Sun. "Would you gentlemen care to send a copy forward to your superiors?" he asked, not bothering to hide his amusement.
TAB"I think that would be highly advisable, actually," Jeb added, with some relish. "We intend to include the footage in the briefing materials for the press conference as soon as we make planetfall. I can't imagine your CEO would be very pleased if the first he knew of it was when it appeared on prime-time news."
TABThat, at long last, got the two of them to display an overt emotional response. "You can't seriously think we'll allow you to talk to the press!" one of them blustered with terrified bravado.
TAB"You two don't get to decide what I'm not allowed to do!" Jeb snapped. "The Alliance government may have the authority to deny myself or my crew entry visas, but they can't forbid us from taking any action that doesn't explicitly contravene local law. And correct me if I'm wrong, but freedom of speech and freedom of association are guaranteed under the Alliance constitution, are they not? And unless it specifically excludes non-citizens-"
TAB"Certain articles do, as it happens."
TAB"Why am I not surprised."
TAB"Gentlemen," Admiral Liu said firmly. "The unresolved constitutional issues notwithstanding, there's no way in hell we're gonna keep this out of the media forever, not with over a thousand eyewitnesses in this taskforce. However," he continued, before Jeb could respond, "I don't think a public appearance at this early stage is necessarily a good idea."
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
That last part has me a bit confused. Let me see if I understand it correctly.
1. Kerbals reporting back home on the military capacity of the human fleet. It appears to be superior to their own.
2. Kerbals back home saw records of how evil Blue Sun corp is and are unhappy.
3. A crowd is burning Blue Sun flags and the Kerbal version of the UN is refusing to transfer FTL tech to the humans until Blue Sun is reigned in.
Is that about right?
1. Kerbals reporting back home on the military capacity of the human fleet. It appears to be superior to their own.
2. Kerbals back home saw records of how evil Blue Sun corp is and are unhappy.
3. A crowd is burning Blue Sun flags and the Kerbal version of the UN is refusing to transfer FTL tech to the humans until Blue Sun is reigned in.
Is that about right?
You will be assimilated...bunghole!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Pretty much, yeah. That scene's kind of rough, to be honest; I just needed to post something because the thread on our arch rivals was threatening to go off on a ludicrous tangent.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
I've reread everything but confused as to what Blue Sun did. What did they do? Attracted the Reavers?
ASVS('97)/SDN('03)
"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons
ASSCRAVATS!
"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons
ASSCRAVATS!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
I've only watched a few episodes of Firefly, *ducks* but from what I understand, Blue Sun is basically the Weyland Yutani of that universe. I don't think I need to explain more than that.Enigma wrote:I've reread everything but confused as to what Blue Sun did. What did they do? Attracted the Reavers?
You will be assimilated...bunghole!
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Blue Sun basically considered themselves above the law and some Alliance officials were protecting them and doing their bidding to an extent. The end of Serenity sees one of the contracts/experiments they were doing (some was sanctioned by the Alliance, some wasn't) come to light and released to the public. The aftermath is covered in comics, as is a lot of what Blue Sun did wrong. I haven't read most of them yet so I don't know the extent. I do know it was Blue Sun that messed with River and was tracking them (the guys with blue gloves in the series).
Edit: spelling and grammar.
Edit: spelling and grammar.
Re: The Next Frontier (Kerbal Space Program/Something)
Not only did they kidnap a bunch of teenage kids and carry out horrible medical experiments on them as part of a super-soldier program, we learn the following at the climax of in Serenity:
Spoiler
This isn't the only thing our valiant heroes have been up to that's annoyed the Alliance, but those events will eventually be covered in a prequel to this story that I haven't written yet.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
Like my writing? Tip me on Patreon
I Have A Blog