KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM

The Talians

by Michael P. Orchekowski

Author's note: 'KERBAL SPACE PROGRAM The Talians' (a.k.a. 'KSP The Talians') is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement is intended by the author. 'KSP The Talians' is based upon the computer program 'Kerbal Space Program' created by Squad, and utilizes the 'Suthe System' planetary mod by Tynton, the 'Beyond Home' planetary mod by Gameslinx, and the 'Whirligig World' planet pack by GregroxMun.

KSPTT

From the journal of Gadwin Kerman:

"Sometimes history doesn't let us pick and choose our destinies; history picks them for us. When that happens, we must answer the call, irregardless of the consequences. What I did, I did for all Kerbalkind, wherever they may be. I also collected the data, and followed it to where it had to lead. If the forces that be choose to call me evil, that is up to them."

"I stand by what I have done."

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Prologue: The Beginning

"The Litany teaches us that Kerbalkind began on Talia, and no other explanation can be tolerated. We have always known Talia, and always will. Any kerbal to tell anything else is to be shunned, even the "Kerbinites", who claim that we arrived here on a great ark from a faraway place called "Kerbin", are simply wrong in their claims."

"There can be no other way."

- The Official Orthodoxy of The Litany

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She lay back in the bed provided to her by the psychiatric staff, and watched as they "treated" the various patients who were "afflicted" with the "Kerbin psychosis", as the staff called it. Only recently did the "psychosis" take on a more frightening twist. A new place claimed by the patients, called "Rhode", began to emerge, and no one knew how it began.

She watched with sympathy, as the staff injected each patient with an unknown substance. Both "Kerbinite" and "Rhodian", as they were known, were dumped into the same dank, smelly ward, more better termed as a "warehouse", and medicated beyond the point of a simple stupor.

Some disappeared, never to be seen again. Rumor had it that they were subjected to cruel and unkerbal treatment by the higher research echelons, some say they were "cured" from their "affliction" by recanting their claims.

She would go neither way, she knew. She remembered the place called "Rhode", with its reddish-green soil, and the large moon in the sky named Lua that was in the process of being re-formed from a grey, rocky, lifeless orb to a green one. That she knew no matter what they put in her.

As they got to her, she simply turned away. A few moments later, she felt the pinprick of the needle, and the cold rush of the "medicine" they put in her. As the last vestiges of conciousness faded, she held on to the truth.

Talia was changing, for the better.

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Many kilometers away, a man stepped out of his home onto his backyard patio. A researcher in his early days, he became intrigued by the "Kerbin psychosis", and dedicated his life to finding a cure. Using what money he obtained, he eventually financed a new research center to try and find a cure.

That man, Gadwin Kerman, had learned several things about the illness. First off, most patients told the same story. Secondly, they spoke about the home star system with the same names. They also spoke about the home star "evolving" into something more dangerous, even life-threatening.

Eventually, the stories from each patient became so prevalent and redundant, that he had no choice but to conclude that they were real. That the mythical legendary place of "Kerbin" really did exist, at least at one time.

And that the Kerbals of Talia had originated from there.

So, Gadwin Kerman expanded his burgeoning financial empire into space research. An open field, it offered opportunities for growth. His first space venture, an orbital satellite, had gone well, and Gadwin had invested in other space research ventures. A series of solar satellites monitored and measured the output from Suthe, their sole sun. A small probe had even penetrated the corona of the red star, and had confirmed the worst.

Suthe was dying, with no more than a thousand years of life to it.

On top of it, further data revealed a "rift" in time and space. Gadwin concluded that that is where the "Kerbinite" and "Rhodian" tales came from. Kerbals were known to regenerate after supposedly dying, being re-born into a new body entirely. Kerbal consciousness was being sent between the two places through the rift.

The religiously-based government clamped down on the news immediately, claiming the repercussions from the riots that would follow. Gadwin knew it was just a ploy to retain power, but went along. It suited his purpose perfectly.

You see, Gadwin knew where the so-called mythical place of "Kerbin" might be. His interviews with the various patients "afflicted" with the "Kerbin psychosis" gave him enough information on where to look. The "Rhodians" provided some extra clues as well. Their descriptions of the mother star of Kerbin, called Kerbol, indicated that a massive stellar outburst had decimated the entire system, leaving it orbiting a binary star system, called "Tempus".

Gadwin had utilized several telescopes on Talia to conduct a search for two systems such as those, but didn't tell the organizations who ran the telescopes what he was exactly looking for. And, within a year, he had the answer. After sifting through the data, the possible location of "Kerbin" was found.

And Gadwin intended to send a probe there to find out.

The main problem was, if anyone knew about his efforts, he may be committed to an institution as well. So, he devised a plan to "piggyback" the probe on another.

Gadwin looked up into the skies of Talia at the very answer he needed. The planet's moon, called "Eaglio", had an atmosphere, and the government wanted to know if Eaglio could be settled. So, Gadwin had devised a clever plan to send an interstellar probe, using the Eaglio orbiter as a carrier, to the stars.

All he needed now, was the pilot who would make the daring journey.