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The party and launch will happen at the end of this turn to celibate your Elder Brother's return. The RRC currently has a stock of 5 MK2s and 1 MK3. The planned mission profile is to use the MK2 as an upper stage on the Mk3 to enter orbit, something neither vehicle can do independently. The MK2 lacking the range, and MK3 lacking a guidance system.

Mk2 stats
>Type: Probe, Mass 1, Reliability 5/4
Mk3 stats
>Type: First stage, Mass 1, Reliability 14/9

We have 2 luck points to spend on re-rolls and 10 resource points to spend enhancing the two rockets, up to five points may be spent per part on improvements.

However, due to the urgency of the situation, you can work the RRC into overtime, by spending a luck point, you can put all 10 resource points into finishing the MK3.

Also, what will you wear for the party?
>A normal frilly dress befitting a princess?
>A trendy dress which will turn heads and shape fashion trends, at the risk of appearing too vain,
or
>The RRC officer dress uniform which will make you look professional, at the risk of bring too plain.

>>23813413
>>The RRC officer dress uniform which will make you look professional, at the risk of bring too plain.
This, with our personal crest worn as a medallion.
I would further say use the luck point to finish the Mk3, as the stats on it are kinda scary at present.

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>>23813413
>>23813502

Sounds like a plan. We need to get a handle on the media situation and step one is dressing and acting like a consummate professional at all times. We let that genie out of the bottle by promoting the program, we can't just ignore it now. Pour luck into the rocket, it must be ready by the party. I'm not thrilled with this deadline we've set ourselves but it can't be helped now. We just need to use every resource at our disposal and pray to god (we have one of those right?) it doesn't kill anybody.

>>The party and launch will happen at the end of this turn to celibate your Elder Brother's return.

Because nothing says celibacy like partying suspiciously phallic objects.

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Oh dear, I forgot to proofread my post again, typos everywhere, this is embarrassing.

Anyways, How shall you spend the 10 points? Lower both Boom and fail by 5 each, Or some other spread?

If we work the RRC into overtime, shall we spend the points 5/5 on the MK3, to reduce the failure/boom ratio to 9/4?

>>23813673
Spending 1 luck and improving MK3
>Type: First stage, Mass 1, Reliability 9/4
No points remain.

Both components now have a greater than 50% chance of working properly, but you only have one luck point left if you need to re-roll. You're going to have to trust the gods on this one.

>>23813673
Sounds good enough.

We will need to figure out a suitable reward for the folks for their hard work, though.

>>23813614
>and pray to god (we have one of those right?)

Six gods are worshiped in Midland. Each represented by an astronomical body.

Sol, the sun, king of the heavens around which all revolves.

Lilith, the first planet and the fastest star. Patron of alchemists and pioneers.

Torment, second planet and god of the oceans, storms, and chaos.

Gaia, the third planet on which you now stand, mother earth.

Luna, Gaia's moon and shape changing lover. Trickster god/ess and creator of mankind according to some legends.

Ishtar, forth planet, the godess of love and war. Visible as a blood red star.

Wodan, 5th and largest planet. God of knowledge and power.

Orphan, legendary 6th planet, astrological charts have predicted it's existence centuries, even showing it's exact movement. however, it was only recently observed with the invention of the telescope. The lost god of death and loneliness.

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>>23813776

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>>23814294

So I guess we're a big Lilith fan then. At least if we're feeling practical. Might be nice to make a bit of a show of it for the traditionalist's sake.

Any word on the guest list yet? Anybody we should keep our eyes peeled for?

As the RRC works overtime to finish the rocket, the date of the party draws nearer, and more plans must be made. How will you deploy your Entourage.

You currently have,
Professora Minerva, your old governess and inventor of radio reactive theory.
Lord protector Perro, your bodyguard, a foppish duelist from the western isles.
Amelia, childhood friend and daughter of your wet nurse. Another westerner.
Mr Luxon, your irreplaceable butler.
Colonel Smith, previous commander of the RRC, now your second in command.
Cottonball, the royal pet, a chinchilla.

Expected guests include.
Your Father the king
Your Mother the queen and younger brother.
Your older brother, crown prince and current commander of the royal navy. Coming to visit from halfway across the world on the HMS Staberinde.
The entire Royal Astrological society.
Several noblemen and women from the western isles, potential sponsors.
Dignitaries from the southern republics, potential diplomatic contacts.
Sir Harker, the fastest man on earth.

Anybody else you would like to invite?

>>23814470
We believe that we should extend an invitation to the commander of the Royal Air Force and, for courtesy's sake, the commander of the Royal Army and the Royal Artillery Corps.

>>23814294

Okay, pretty soon we are going to need an Atlas equivalent. By this I mean a fully function rocket which can carry a decent payload to space (manned capsule or complex probe). I'd suggest designing it next turn, since you guys already spent this turn's budget before I got here. It's going to take three to four turns (at least) to get a rocket safe enough to launch, so we are going to need to get into a habit of designing the next one while using the current one once we get a decent budget.

>>23814470
Possibly some press? Or maybe a few nobles who very much enjoy these sorts of gatherings and might be pissed at not being invited? Whoever is in charge of our budget? (Or even their whole committee.)

Also I'm leaning towards the western isles right not

>>23814545
>Also I'm leaning towards the western isles right not
However the rail line to the southern continent is soon to be completed, and they provide a much better, and safer, location to launch our rockets.
I still believe that the Southern City-States is where we should place our new launch facility.

>>23814507
General Adler does not have to be invited, he owns the fort and will be here whether we want him or not. Invitations will however be extended to the Army and Artillery corps.

>>23814545
Our budget is determined by Parliament, but the biggest monetary advantage the other branches have over us is not the budget dolled out by Parliament, but funds received by noble patrons.
Both shall be invited.

As for the press, do you want to just invite the papers and royal press corps, or shall you invite Mister Radio, the voice of Hafenstad.

>>23814593
To me the biggest difference between the launch sites is wether we can potentially get our new landlords to help supplement our budget, and inside the nation would seem, to me, to be a better place to play that sort of politics. Also they seem more alchemist friendly

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>>23814507
>The entire Royal Astrological society.

No good can come of this. Let's be unfailingly courteous to them, but make sure the redoubtable Mr. Perro is on hand to bounce anybody who causes trouble.

Amelia and Cottonball can charm western noblemen. Perro can help if he thinks the situation is under control.

Colonel Smith can chat up Harker maybe?

Professora can work the southerners, trying to impress the value of scientific cooperation on them. Absolutely no confrontations with the fundies under any circumstances.

We'll deal with our family and and work the room as we can. Luxon will attend us and help with any matters that arise.

>>23814545
The west seemed to be a bad launch site and riddled with corruption to boot, but financially and politically the easiest. I'm still partial to the south, but let's explore all our options.

Alright team, break!

>>23814652
The West is also rife with corruption, however. We'd probably end up losing a lot of those fund to corruption.

>>23814731
If we determine that's the case, then yeah, I don't support the west. On the other hand, at this point rocket launches are probably considered corruption (pork barrel spending) by many.

Also I'd lean towards inviting the radio man.

>>23814652
Alchemy is more popular in the west than in midland.

There are four intellectual traditions in this world.

In Midland the Astrologers study the stars and interpret their movements.
In the West, alchemists study the properties of physical matter and there potential use.
In the South philosophers study the abstract nature of reality, this makes them really annoying rhetoricians.
In the North, Tyrants rule by a will to power and define reality through force.

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>>23814810
Inviting Mr Radio,

Current guest list.

>The Royal Family
>The crown Prince
>Commanders of the armed forces.
>Members of Parliament
>Noble families of Midland and the western isles (Amelia assigned)
>Diplomats from the south. (Professora Minerva assigned)
>The Royal Astrological Society (Sir Perro assigned)
>Sir Harker (Colonel smith assigned)
>Mister Radio.

You are wearing a freshly pressed RRC Dress uniform. Proceed with the celebrations?

>>23815042
Sorry for dropping we, and yes!

>>23815042
We shall. It would be unbecoming if we let our guests wait.

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I have to leave you now anons but I have faith in you! Some things to keep in mind.

*The launch must succeed or we're taking it on the chin no two ways about it. If we get a first stage failure we might just want to consider letting it go rather than re-rolling and risking twp booms. A failure would really make us take it on the chin, but an explosion would be catastrophic for our image.

*Astrologers are bringing bad juju to our party. Don't let them get a rise out of you and if the rocket launch fails prepare to take some abuse. There will be no talking our way out of it. Accept responsibility and vow to move on.

*Hear out the major bidders for base sites before choosing one. Maybe there's some extra concessions we might wheedle out of them. Southerners probably feel isolated right now so offer them friendship. Westerners can be tempted with the many commercially viable products that are created as a byproduct of rocket research. Eastern strategy will hinge on the royal family and a strong internal security policy.

* Watch and listen. This is a good opportunity to see where we stand politically, an area we haven't explored much yet.

>>23815042
Godpseed and good luck anons. Commence festivities!

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>>23815118
Re-rolling always picks the highest result. It is not possible to re-roll a fail into a boom.

As the day of the party dawns, the Staberinde sails into the bay, greeted by a gun salute from Fort Adler. As the flagship returns the saluite, another booming noise fills the sky, as a bright red jet aircraft pierces the sound barrier overhead, Sir Harker has also arrived. The guests begin pouring in by land sea and air, coming from all corners of the globe to see you launch a rocket, Some are hoping you fail.

How do you greet the guests

(Sorry for the wait, had to feed the dog)

>>23815438
We shall meet our guests as they arrive. We do not have the position to have them present themselves to us, as only the King and Queen have that right.
Be polite, be charming, but above all, be professional.

>>23815489
Sounds like a plan. How familiar do we typically act around family?

>>23815438

We presumably have much more training in hosting a social function than in rocketry, so we're not worried about it. We should treat this like any other reception up until the countdown. Because that will definitely speak for itself one way or the other.

>>23815438

We should also make very sure a lot of pictures are taken! They will sell well if everything works, and wehther everything works or not, they'll help R&D.

The guests poor in at an alarming rate, exchanging pleasantries as they enter.

The Military brass are here first, and introduced to you by General Adler. They seem to be very intrested in the range of the MK3 over it's predecessors. Particularly reguarding it's ability to strike the northern continent.

They however stand aside as the members of Parliament begin to enter. Considering themselves as much hosts of this event as you are.
Parliament scrutinizes everything as if slightly disgusted, however as you know, they always look like this. It's hard to tell if they approve or not.

>>23815663
You! you know the rocket rules. We're going to need a better rocket soonish. I'm thinking something Atlas like, as I mentioned here:
>>23814545
Could you design it for us?

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The royal Astronomical society arrives next. They aren't as hostile as you would have imagined, rather they seem to observe everything the way a father would observe the babbling of a child. Either they are under estimating you, or don't want to be seen as disrespectful to the throne.

Then your brother arrives, flanked by his honor guard of royal Marines. He comments on how big you have grown and gives you a rather embarrassing hug in front of your subordinates.

While the sonic Boom from Sir Harker's jet frightens most of the guests, the prince just laughs and comments on how this is just like the crimson count. Once he is landed he marches down to the observation area before bowing and kissing your hand. He wears a mask to hide the disfiguring burn scars he got during his first attempt to break the sound barrier, and has earned quite a reputation as a daredevil. Sir Perro doesn't seem to like him being this close to you, but Amelia can't stop gazing at him longingly.

>>23815889
We shall introduce Sir Harker to Amelia.

A lower stage with a mass of 5 would open up a lot of options.

It can send a man into space and carry some equipment, such as cameras for making very accurate maps or an EVA suit; it can be doubled up to save on production cost; it is small enough to be affordable at this stage.

Finally, it is reasonably cheap to make at least partially reusable be means of parachutes.

If the idea is to build a large spacecraft to go to the Moon, we can do so in orbit! A mass 5 lower stage is enough to slowly get a permanent outpost in place.

>>23815968

Yes. This.

If the launch goes well, let us NOT offer a seat on the crazy chair to Sir Harker, but give him plenty of opportunities to do so; is likely to ask himself, and that'll be us doing him a favour rather than the other way round. Do let's point out that orbital velocity is faster than anything that flies through the air, just to tickle his vanity.

>>23815889
Appealing to the Crimson Count could be valuable. Making manned spaceflight a goal would get him and his notoriety on board.

Speak briefly with the brass about the rocket. Talk to them about the necessity of getting a rocket with higher payload potential. If we could get a heavier lifter under our current stack, we might have a shot at manned space flight.

>>23815976
Thanks

We should do both of these:
>>23816006
>>23816061

>>23816061
Considering how interested the military commanders are of the range of the MK3, we might be able to get them on board with the military applications of a more powerful rocket; the ability to target Northern shipyards and naval docks with conventional warheads to sink Northern troop transports and battleships before they launch.

Next come the delegates from the western isles. Amelia was supposed to help introduce you to them, but she has been sidetracked by Sir Harker, oh dear.
They seem intrigued by the rocket, but not sure if it's worth there time or money.

The delegates from the south also arrive. Led by Jacksan Kenaway, daughter of the president of the Washigo city state. She's only a few years older than you. The Professora explains the basics of rocketry to her, and they both hit it off well, Ms Kenaway is another intellectual.

Mister radio arrives with a small army of technicians and showbiz types. He is recording the entire event live on air, and taking lots of photos. It took him this long to get everyone past the military without having there equipment confiscated.

The last to arrive is the royal family. While your mother is always the socialite, and your baby brother is easily impressed by all the shiny uniforms. But your father, you can never tell what he's thinking.

>>23816158
>with conventional warheads

I don't see the guidance systems becoming accurate enough for that for a few decades to come.

>>23816222

This is probably the first important event that we are officially hosting, so we should flit about and make sure everyone is at ease.

>>23816006
>>23816158

You have to avert your years As Amelia explains to Sir Harker the POWER of the MK3 in the most scandalously suggestive terms. He seems to love the idea, even if he considers Amelia too young for his taste.

The Colonel was going to talk to Harker, but he can't seem to get Amelia away from him, so he goes back to the generals with you and helps elaborate on the specifications of the MK3. If it works, it should be able to deliver a warhead to any point on the globe.

Oh my goodness, it's back! We're so happy we came in time for the party and launch.

This is tense. I had initially believed that we were only launching the MK2, since it was safer, and biding our time to launch the MK3 at a later date. Well, there's no turning back now.

>>23816310
We should use his redirection toward the generals as an opportunity to get Amelia to introduce us to the visitors from the west.

We mustn't appear to be favoring any one group.

We should be cordial and informative to each of the primary delegations, but not let ourselves be seen as focusing on one at the expense of another.

Currently designing a new starter image for these threads in photoshop, hope you like it.

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>>23816408

And talk to Harker ourselves hopefully.

>>23816408
Er, The colonel was talking to the generals, not Sir Harker. But you manage to pull Amelia away and have her introduce you to Lord Amedeo, composer and philanthropist. You've heard his symphony honoring each of the planets, and among the westerners he seems to be the most interested in the idea of actually sending things into space.

When the launch comes, we should say a silent prayer to Wodan, thanking him for all of our good fortune, and letting him know that we will always use this technology for the betterment of society and to push the limits of knowledge, not to wage war or to inflate our own importance.

>>23816488
And let him know everything he'd like to about the rockets and outer space

Be coy, don't let him catch on to the fact that we want him as a test pilot. Hopefully he'll put the idea forward himself

>>23816522
Oops.

We should talk to him about our intent to make this an orbital launch and give him a short narrative of our work so far. We could do worse than getting an idealist interested.

>>23816522

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bcRCCg01I I'll leave this here.

According to my calculations having a lower stage with a mass of 20 is all that is required for a variety of mission profiles, including geomapping and a moonshot. Multiple launches will be required however.

As you are staring off across the bay making a silent prayer to Wodan, you hear Sir Pero telling Sir Harker not to disturb you. He clearly dosn't like the daredevil's attitude, but you wanted to talk to him anyways and tell the lord protector to stand down.

Predictably enough, Sir harker has questions about how big a rocket would be required to send a man into orbit. He tells you he had asked Amelia, but gotten the impression she was talking about something else entirely. This is followed by a short laugh.

>>23816522
Then we shall ask Lord Amedeo what he finds interesting about the planets and the heavens.
We shall inform him of the possibility of high-altitude photographs that we hope to make a reality if the funding to develop it becomes available, and what could be seen of the world from above.

>>23816625
If we are so captivated with this guy, then this needs a good answer, but I don't think we currently have one.

>>23816625
Ah, we are talking with Sir Harker?
We shall inform him of the preliminary estimates of thrust requirements, and that much of the life support systems must be developed first.

Two questions to anyone in particular:

- To be fully successful, both components need to exceed the fail score, right? And

- Remind me, does the rocket have any thing on it at all? Instruments, cameras, etc? Or is this just a test to see if we can get anything into orbit?

>>23816671
I believe the answers to your questions are yes and something which goes beep on the radio.
>>23816667
yep

>>23816671
Yes, both components, and the satellite contains an Atmospheric sensors and a radio transmitter. It will broadcast it's findings encoded in a series of beeps until it's batteries die.

>>23816625
As you converse with Sir Harker, he coments that the current facilities are a tad limiting, and that the military is probably limiting the RRC's scope. He explains why he left the Air Corps to found his own aviation company after the war ended. Only then was he able to break the sound barrier.
He dreams of one day making flight something everyone can afford, and how the experince of flight might transform humanity. For some reason however he plays coy about the idea of becoming an astronaut himself. Perhaps he sees through your rouse? You can't imagine him not being interested.

>>23816771

We should not push it; let us be ladylike and let him make an avance.

>>23816771
Oh Wodan, he's going to become our competition

>>23816809
Agreed.

>>23816817

That would be fantastic!

Is there anybody else you wish to talk to, or is it time to launch?

>>23816771
Before we move onto talking with someone else, let's redirect the conversation so that we talk about Sir Harker. Let him know how intrigued we are with the prospect of expanding aviation into an everyday occurrence. And we would love to talk more about this in the future with him.

You see, that is our way of letting him know that we are on the same page and see the purpose of science as benefiting all of mankind, and also a way of giving us an excuse to remain in contact with him in the future.

>>23816771
Well, he is probably a bit too savvy to bit at the first bit of bait. We will talk to him about our estimates for at least what a first stage is likely to need to lift, compared to what the Mk. 3 is capable of.

>>23816871
THAT is a good point. Perhaps arrange a luncheon to discuss this, as it sounds like an interesting topic.

>>23816851
We are extremely eager to launch, but one last thing:

We propose that we should talk with some members of parliament and any other potential financiers in the area. Pay attention to see who is most interested in the space program.

If anyone is interested, we shall make a note to stay in contact with them, inform them of updates, and possibly end up with them as patrons.

>>23816851
Once we have finished conversing with Sir Harker, we had probably call for a toast, than offer our father the honor of the count-down.

>>23816851

Let's discreetly check with mission contorl if everything is ready.

We should defer to our father or mother if he or sh wishes to run the countdown.

>>23816941
On second though, maybe we can do this after the launch?

The party should still continue afterwards as long as the launch isn't a catastrophic disaster. Which probably won't happen. Probably.

>>23816985

Well, no. Let's do it before launching - see who is interested BEFORE it's obvious that something went badly or well. Those who are are more likely to have at least some idealism about it.

>>23816941
Most of the people who are already interested have already been introduced, the rest are still waiting apprehensively.

For safety the party shall evacuate the Fort and observe the launch from a mile upwind. The RRC staff tell you everything is ready, and the RAF has there fire crews standing by.

Your father accepts the honor of the countdown and gives a short speech.

"Ahem, Our Daughter has requested that we give the countdown on this day. We pray that the stars find our offering favorable and shall initiate the launch as we count down from ten, as is custom among rocketeers."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-ufDYIazWg

The king them clears his throat and observes the clock. "Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, and One..."

Rolled 8

Oh dear the wrong field, this does not look good.

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>>23817071
Low is good, right?

...right?

>>23817109
No it's not good at all. This is a Boom by one. Spend a luck point to re-roll?

>>23817071
EVERYONE BE COOL

Whew, okay. We can reroll, and do we have any other options Can we spend a luck point to raise the score by one?

>>23817118
Yep, gonna have to. It would not do having our first public launch blow up on the pad.

>>23817071
Also, are two dice rolled? One for each section? Or is it only a single roll for both?

>>23817118
No wait, it was a fail by one, not a boom. And we can re-roll.

Players roll the dice, first one counts.

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>>23817142
>>23817149

Rolled 3

>>23817153

>>23817118

We pray fervently to whatever God is listening as the rocket vibrates into life that a noble endeavor not be nipped in the bud.

Alternate:

"Lilith, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you will remember if we were good men or bad, why we strove, or when we died. No, all that matters is that we pushed against our limits, that's what's important. Darig pleases you, Lilith, so grant me one request, grant me a shot at this! And if you do not listen, then the hell with you!"

Rolled 8

>>23817153
Reroll

>>23817151
We roll them in order. Two rolls are made here, We can afford to re-roll one but not both.

>>23817167
Nothing happens. Things are awkwardly quiet for a while. What do we do?

>>23817167
OH GODS

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Rolled 1

>>23817167

>>23817175
Demand an update from Mission Control.

I knew we shouldn't have bet everything on this launch working!

>>23817186
INDEED

>>23817175
Okay.

Okay...

I'm comfortable with a fail. But not a boom. So I suggest we keep the original roll (for the MK2?), and move on to the second roll (for the MK3?)

Ignore the previous dice rolls, they were from players, not GodMother.

>>23817189

Second this.

>>23816839
Why?
>>23817175
Oh god I thought this would happen when I went to eat

>>23817189
third

>>23817189
You sneak off to the control bunker to ask what's up. They point to one of the safety systems that have been installed. A light is flashing red and over-riding the launch. It could be an error, or it could be something worse.

It they call off the launch it should be possible to check it by hand, but that would mean not launching on the party. You could also over-ride it and try again. But that would risk an explosion if this is a real failure.

Do you accept the failed launch of ignore the warning light and go ahead?

Welp. Guess it's time to have Father show his disapproval of us for embarrassing the Royal Family like this.

>>23817205
The MK3, as the booster stage, has failed to launch.
This is a fiasco and a very public failure. Whatever political capital we might have acquired is now all gone to be replaced with ridicule and dismissal.
I want to throttle the people that thought that we were ready for a public demonstration in front of the head of state with an untested rocket.

>>23817216

Because competition is good, and because whoever wins, our country reaps the benefits.

>>23817255
We shall accept the failure.
A catastrophic explosion would damage our reputation even further than just a failure to launch due to safety concerns.

>>23817255
In the event you try to force a re-roll, any result under a 9 will be treated as a boom instead of a fail. Is it worth the risk?

>>23817255
What safety system?

>>23817255

The right thing to do is to check it by hand. We cannot risk an explosion, but being cautious is a virtue and it can probably be spun that way. We're here to prove our ability at governing, at th end of the day.

>>23817255
Do we have a luck point left?

If so, then I say we proceed (ie. re-roll), and take the consequences, whatever they are.

You are all cowards!

Victory favors the bold

RELAUNCH AND PROCEED.

>>23817282
The secondary gauge valve in the liquid oxygen tank is faulty. Either it's a bad fuse or it's leaking and could explode at any moment. We won't know unless the rocket starts, if the fuel is flowing the primary pressure gauges will take over, if not, it will blow up.

>>23817302
Both of your normal luck points are used, this is an opportunity to make your own luck.

>>23817321
we saw our luck above, it's terrible tonight.

vote: no go

>>23817259
>This is a fiasco and a very public failure. Whatever political capital we might have acquired is now all gone to be replaced with ridicule and dismissal.
We will not accept that. We have a 50% chance of doing what no humans have ever done before.

If you had a 50% chance of doing the impossible, and the only thing that would happen if you failed was being seen as a laughingstock, then you would be a fool and a coward to not proceed.

Vote: launch.

The crowd is starting to murmur. And a sergeant from the fire control squad asks you for orders.

>>23817321

If this was my job (funny enough, I make guidance systems) I would advise caution.

>>23817319

But it isn't. Even so, we're the Princess of Space, not Jebediah Kerman. How long to check the system? Days? weeks?

>>23817360
Long enough to spoil the party. Remember if it IS leaking liquid oxygen, then it won't be safe to inspect until it's fully dispersed.

>>23817346
As a possible replacement for this, how bad would it look on us if we layed out the risks to our father, and left the decision in his hands?

>>23817383
Very. The entire point is for us to learn to rule.

>>23817354
If we hadn't called together this party, we would have had the time to work on the MK3 and reduce the chance of failure to 25% in 3 turns.

Rushing ahead was just foolhardy and stupid.

>>23817321
Yeah, we are going to need to scrub the launch. We may be able to salvage some gains off of this by offering to demonstrate the current workings of the faulty Mk. 3 as we disassemble it for testing.

This is getting kind of tense.

On the one hand, it's true that we'll never have this opportunity again. This is our one and only chance to impress these people. But it is a risk.

I'm undecided, I'll leave it to you guys.

>>23817398
Nope, since we can't get near it if it's leaking.

>>23817409

It's also making for a cool story! Thank you GodMother.

>>23817398

I will have to second scrubbing the launch. The nontechnical guests may be disappointed, but our parents will understand that we would rather face humiliation that put lives and resources at risk. Furthermore, we should stress that this is an experiment in natural philosophy, not a stunt.

Wait wait wait.

Make up some sort of excuse to keep the quests at bay. Also give them more champagne or something.

We need time to think about this.

As you stare at the daemonic blinking red light, the sergeant suddenly calls the room to attention. Seeing as you are already in the room, there is only one person high ranking enough to warrant that.

"Lydia, is something the matter." You hear your father's voice asking.

>>23817392
I still say that it was worth the risk. If it had worked, it would have been glorious. This is merely a set back.

We will need to make the announcement about the faulty valve and the scrubbed launch. We will need to apologize for the anticlimax, but offer interested parties a chance to see the inner workings of the current state of the art booster as we trouble-shoot it after the O2 has dissipated.

We don't need to succeed. All we need to do is not blow up. If we fail, all that happens is that it doesn't make it's target altitude, and that doesn't matter in the long run. What matters is having all these people here see a successful launch.

My vote remains unchanged.

I vote to launch.

>>23817456

"We would like to apologize to the guests about the fact that there will not be a launch today. We've found a fault at the last minute and would prefer to admit we've wasted their time than to put anyone in danger."

>>23817487

No, if the first stage fails, it'll just sit there.

>>23817487
It no longer fails, it succeeds or explodes, that's it.

Don't you do this to me, we're so close. We can still do this guys!

>>23817503
>>23817498
Oh right. But still, better than a 50/50 chance

>>23817498
>>23817456
Alternately:
"No. Everything's fine. We were just making the final preparations. Prepare to launch."

>>23817508
No, I stand by my vote. We will admit the fault code, offer more drink, and invite interested parties to the disassembly of the faulty booster. I am not fond of taking a chance of blowing up our family.

>>23817456
It is our unfortunate duty to inform all gathered that a faulty gauge on the rocket shall prevent the launch this evening. Either that, or risk a catastrophic explosion and waste of funds. As we have pushed for and possibly rushed the launch to celebrate out dear brothers return, we accept full and singular responsibility for the failure.

You press the launch cancel button and drain the liquid hydrogen tanks through the still connected fuel lines before turning around to see you father watching you from the doorway. Almost maybe possibly concerned.

I for one want to see what happens if it launches.

Rolled 81

>>23817557
This is a dark day for space princesses everywhere.

Luck just wasn't on our side.

Rolled 36

We put on a stern, serious face. No sadness or apologetic looks, just matter-of-fact.

Explain the situation to the guests, and wrap up the party.

Then later, when we're alone in our room, only then do we get to stick our head in a pillow and cry and think about how we've failed as a leader and that we're a disappointment to our whole family.

The success of the RRC is more important than our ego.

>>23817665
I disagree.

>>23817616

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have found a potential failure in the Up Goer that might have wasted the money spent on it so far. There is not and there never was any danger to our honored guests or to the mission crew. We apologize for raising an expectation that we were not able to fulfill; this is still experimental science and we would prefer facing a public setback than waste the labor and genius of the RRC staff. Please accept our humblest apologies."

The crowd reacts with varying degrees of acceptance, spite, and bewilderment. You are standing too far back to see who's saying what, but you can imagine.

>>23817707

Holding back a tear, we tell ourselves that it was the right thing to do.

(I'm out for the night, this hit a bit too close to home. Thank you for the awesome quest so far!!!!)

Rolled 32

We should have just launched an MK2, not an untested two-stage rocket.

But then again, we'll have a lot of time for thinking about what we should have done.

Really sorry, that dice thing keeps popping back into my email even though I change it.

Eventually the party disperses. You'll have to just start over tomorrow you guess.

Anyways, it's late for me too. Space Princess quest isn't over though. We'll continue tomorrow at around 8PST like normal.

>>23817818

We'll have to ask someone to start collecting article clippings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MxDETKZLPR0

Guys. If the Crimson Count ends up as our competition, we should focus on making Cottonball the first living being in space, just to spite him.

Great quest, thanks OP!

The only thing i dislike is a tripfag posting pictures of that ugly gay bald dude.