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[kisame12794]

((Kerbal Space Program in a nutshell. Grab a pod, strap rockets to it, and hope it doesn't explode.))

[Prosperus]

Encourage Miyamoto

[Parisbre56]

Oh, I thought the rockets were already securely tied together. Okay, let's see, here's what I'm thinking.

(Sorry for the crappy drawings but I hope they help get my point across.)
I'm assuming the rockets look something like that individually:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes. That's supposed to be a rocket.

The rockets should have an inch or two of shielding. If so, I can cut small grooves into them with the monoatomic razor to fit the wires. Either like this for plan A:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes. The black rings are supposed to be grooves with a depth (if all goes well) between one and two times the diameter of the wire or less if the shielding is shallower or the wire is thicker than I imagine it. There should of course be more grooves if the rocket is longer.

Or like this if I go with plan B:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then I would prefer to be tied to the back of the rockets if the wires can handle it (plan A), so that I can better control it. (Although that would mean that if the rocket is seriously off course it would be harder to turn it and once I activate the rockets I wouldn't be able to shut them down since the electronics are probably not fire resistant enough to be taken with me in the back.) Something like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's not to scale. The thing I'm holding (Yes. The stick figure is supposed to be Flint. Jack and the net are tied on to me somewhere.) is supposed to be the fire extinguisher (Jack is supposed to be holding the other one). Hopefully I'll be a bit further away than in the drawing so that I won't get burned (my suit can handle the heat of exhaust fumes right?).

By tying the rockets this way I can be sure that they will not fall apart (as long as the wires hold, so perhaps I should braid them if I find them lacking), since my own inertia will be tightening the ropes. Cross section:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Notice how the red wires get pulled by me (they go down and are tied to me after reaching the center). The red wires are like nooses, tightening the more they are pulled. The green wires act more like rests for levers, tightening the red wire that holds the rockets together. I should be able to tie these things so that they have a lot of tension if I use the strength of my exosuit. (Of course the rockets will be as close to each other as possible. I just did that as an illustration of the idea.)

Else I can be tied at the top of the rockets (plan B). Like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will construct a net as large as possible within a reasonable time. Then I will take all the wire I have left and cut it into five parts. Each part will be tied around a sturdy looking part of my exosuit on one end and on the net in the other end, probably around several pieces of wire and/or hull so that it won't get cut when Miyamoto slams into the net (too bad we don't have any bungee cord). The net will be carried by me undeployed. The net should be something like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The dark rectangular things are pieces of the hull, because I thought it would be easier to do the net this way than simply tie it together. If it's easier to tie it together we can do that instead of taking pieces of the hull.

Finally I will launch the missile on the right direction. In flight I will try to match Miyamoto's speed and trajectory as closely as possible. When Miyamoto is close I will either deactivate the rockets (or failing that simply cut the wires holding me or jump off of it) and throw the net towards Miyamoto's predicted position as strongly as I can. Inertia should help deploy it. (Like casting a fishing net [INSERT FISHING FOR SPACE ROBOTS JOKE HERE]). Miyamoto then will hopefully catch the net and pull us with him. If we have time (and are still conscious) we will go to Miyamoto and hold on to him. Else Miyamoto will have to drag the net with him. Assuming everything went well, we are now rescued.

These of course assume we have plenty of time, so maybe some corners need to be cut.

Edit: And if Miyamoto misses maybe Jim can pull us by seeing us through Miyamoto's cameras. (Or does it not work like that?)

((Edit2: I hope Miyamoto has turned off his kinetic amps, else we're in for a (0.5*mass*(relative velocity)^2)^2 hit if he positions his hands the wrong way.))

((Any thoughts about why this will fail horribly?))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((The "rockets" PW means are RCS thruster blocks, as far as I gathered. They're... sort of rectangular bricks with a cluster of simple monoprop rocket nozzles in them, venting gas in one of 4 or 5 directions. Not the sort of "rocket" you envision. Think this:

Spoiler: Apollo Reaction Control System Block (click to show/hide)

But likely larger, with more thrusters, and fuel stored within.))

[Parisbre56]

I understand what you're saying and I know how RCS works (I've wasted many hours piloting a space shuttle in Orbiter) but:

...
4 multi-directional maneuvering rocket pods, each with their own built-in fuel systems, mostly full. Not very strong individually.
...

...
The ship rumbles, activates it's artificial gravity systems and uses it's maneuvering rockets to orient itself vertically before hurling itself toward the stars.
...

The way I understand that is that they are rockets that can move around to point to different directions. Even if they aren't, they are still strong enough to make the ship hover, so they should be fine. Maybe I need to change the shape and reconsider how I'll tie them if piecewise says they are indeed cube shaped.

[Radio Controlled]

((Say PW, did that push that Jim gave me actually do anything? And If Paris' plan works, how do you factor those 2 things into our chance for survival? Just wondering how one would translate such events into in-game effects.))

"Thanks for the help Jimbo. You might want to consider investing in a better decompensator though, that shove was a little too good. I managed to work with it though."

[piecewise]

Oh, I thought the rockets were already securely tied together. Okay, let's see, here's what I'm thinking.

(Sorry for the crappy drawings but I hope they help get my point across.)
I'm assuming the rockets look something like that individually:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes. That's supposed to be a rocket.

The rockets should have an inch or two of shielding. If so, I can cut small grooves into them with the monoatomic razor to fit the wires. Either like this for plan A:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes. The black rings are supposed to be grooves with a depth (if all goes well) between one and two times the diameter of the wire or less if the shielding is shallower or the wire is thicker than I imagine it. There should of course be more grooves if the rocket is longer.

Or like this if I go with plan B:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Then I would prefer to be tied to the back of the rockets if the wires can handle it (plan A), so that I can better control it. (Although that would mean that if the rocket is seriously off course it would be harder to turn it and once I activate the rockets I wouldn't be able to shut them down since the electronics are probably not fire resistant enough to be taken with me in the back.) Something like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's not to scale. The thing I'm holding (Yes. The stick figure is supposed to be Flint. Jack and the net are tied on to me somewhere.) is supposed to be the fire extinguisher (Jack is supposed to be holding the other one). Hopefully I'll be a bit further away than in the drawing so that I won't get burned (my suit can handle the heat of exhaust fumes right?).

By tying the rockets this way I can be sure that they will not fall apart (as long as the wires hold, so perhaps I should braid them if I find them lacking), since my own inertia will be tightening the ropes. Cross section:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Notice how the red wires get pulled by me (they go down and are tied to me after reaching the center). The red wires are like nooses, tightening the more they are pulled. The green wires act more like rests for levers, tightening the red wire that holds the rockets together. I should be able to tie these things so that they have a lot of tension if I use the strength of my exosuit. (Of course the rockets will be as close to each other as possible. I just did that as an illustration of the idea.)

Else I can be tied at the top of the rockets (plan B). Like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I will construct a net as large as possible within a reasonable time. Then I will take all the wire I have left and cut it into five parts. Each part will be tied around a sturdy looking part of my exosuit on one end and on the net in the other end, probably around several pieces of wire and/or hull so that it won't get cut when Miyamoto slams into the net (too bad we don't have any bungee cord). The net will be carried by me undeployed. The net should be something like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The dark rectangular things are pieces of the hull, because I thought it would be easier to do the net this way than simply tie it together. If it's easier to tie it together we can do that instead of taking pieces of the hull.

Finally I will launch the missile on the right direction. In flight I will try to match Miyamoto's speed and trajectory as closely as possible. When Miyamoto is close I will either deactivate the rockets (or failing that simply cut the wires holding me or jump off of it) and throw the net towards Miyamoto's predicted position as strongly as I can. Inertia should help deploy it. (Like casting a fishing net [INSERT FISHING FOR SPACE ROBOTS JOKE HERE]). Miyamoto then will hopefully catch the net and pull us with him. If we have time (and are still conscious) we will go to Miyamoto and hold on to him. Else Miyamoto will have to drag the net with him. Assuming everything went well, we are now rescued.

These of course assume we have plenty of time, so maybe some corners need to be cut.

Edit: And if Miyamoto misses maybe Jim can pull us by seeing us through Miyamoto's cameras. (Or does it not work like that?)

((Edit2: I hope Miyamoto has turned off his kinetic amps, else we're in for a (0.5*mass*(relative velocity)^2)^2 hit if he positions his hands the wrong way.))

((Any thoughts about why this will fail horribly?))

The rockets are closer to the thing Sean posted then what you've got there. They're basically more powerful versions of the reaction block, designed to actually give a some what significant amount of thrust. Also each one is bigger then you are, so there you go. They're somewhat powerful but they don't have much fuel to them. So you may have to redesign a bit.

((Say PW, did that push that Jim gave me actually do anything? And If Paris' plan works, how do you factor those 2 things into our chance for survival? Just wondering how one would translate such events into in-game effects.))

"Thanks for the help Jimbo. You might want to consider investing in a better decompensator though, that shove was a little too good. I managed to work with it though."

It gave you a boost towards them, let you save a little fuel and time. And if his plan of using a net works it will give some wiggle room for non-perfect rolls. Without it you'd need to get perfect 5's for this to work.

[Radio Controlled]

((Straight 5's? damn, that is a long shot. Now, if their rocket plan works, will they die without Miyamoto's help? Because if those 3 rockets provide enough thrust to get them into a stable orbit so that Steve's shuttle can get to them, it would be useless to keep going towards them and potentially, through rolling a 1, doom them even more (due to, for example, crashing into them).))

Keep going, but stop and turn around if their plan with the 3 RCS's is proves to be enough to save them.

[Sean Mirrsen]

((If they've ten minutes to apoapsis, there's pretty much no chance that whatever rockets they have will bring them to anything resembling stable orbit. Lack of atmosphere helps of course, but for a planet with near-Earthlike gravity, they need to shove themselves along at a very speedy clip, about 7 km/second. I suppose they can just try and raise their apoapsis high enough so that a shuttle can manage to pick them up in time, but they won't be able to do that if they try to match their trajectory to Gilgamesh's. If they just burn prograde, with the power those thrusters have and the negligible mass they'd try to push, they should extend their suborbital jump by enough to get a pickup from a proper transport. Keyword - should.

So in short, trying to go straight up to fall for longer is a somewhat better shot at survival, raw chance-wise.

However, should it be successful, a rocket pickup by a battlesuit is way cooler. ))

[Radio Controlled]

((Yeah, should it work, it would be cooler. But coolness kinda went out of the window when permadeath for those 2 came into play. Right now, I'm just going for the option that maximizes their-and my-survival chance. But to know what works best PW needs to tell us what would work best when taking all factors into account. So, if you're right, it might be best for me to leave them and hope those rockets do the trick.))

[Sean Mirrsen]

((If I'm right. Thing is, I've no idea how PW will rule the rockets' capacity. From my point of view, and what little experience I can claim to have with orbital maneuvers (in KSP), the RCS boost idea should work well enough, considering these aren't just any pithy attitude control jets, but full-on maneuvering thruster pods. If it can maneuver several dozen tons of starship, it should be able to propel a few hundred pounds of human into a high orbit.

On the other hand, if they manage to get their net out and get the RCS working, they give you a wider margin of success than they would have if they just had the RCS pods and themselves.

It's really a gamble either way.

But like I said, the rocket battlesuit pickup is way cooler. ))

[SeriousConcentrate]

(I do want a better decomp. :\ There's a lot of things I want/need to be more effective - I need a synthflesh body to cover my weak points (stats) and I need a Doctor-level decompensator to keep from accidentally harming my team... I'd like another Amp to expand my flexibility... *sigh*)

[Parisbre56]

Hmmm... The tools I have must have either some kind of welder, some kind of adhesive insulating foam or both in order to repair hull damage from micrometeorite collisions. I can use that, combined with the groove and wire method to hold the units parallel to each other to form a line, right? Like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Where black are the rockets, green is adhesive and/or welding and red are wires inserted into small "canyons" etched onto the missile and tightened with my exosuit's strength. Note that more wires will be put than those displayed since the rockets are so big.

Then I'll leave the exosuit (I'm taking the exosuit with me despite the extra weight so that I can tie the net onto it instead of my body, which is more likely to end up in pieces after the collision) and the net tied to the center rocket, and me and Jack we'll each take one side with a fire extinguisher. By selectively deactivating the two outer rockets and using the fire extinguishers we should be able to maneuver that thing.

How does that look?

((Also, if I was aiming to stabilize my orbit now would be the time since we're nearly at apoapsis. However I think it would be better if Miyamoto took us with him. It has (slightly) higher chances of success.))

[piecewise]

Hmmm... The tools I have must have either some kind of welder, some kind of adhesive insulating foam or both in order to repair hull damage from micrometeorite collisions. I can use that, combined with the groove and wire method to hold the units parallel to each other to form a line, right? Like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Where black are the rockets, green is adhesive and/or welding and red are wires inserted into small "canyons" etched onto the missile and tightened with my exosuit's strength. Note that more wires will be put than those displayed since the rockets are so big.

Then I'll leave the exosuit (I'm taking the exosuit with me despite the extra weight so that I can tie the net onto it instead of my body, which is more likely to end up in pieces after the collision) and the net tied to the center rocket, and me and Jack we'll each take one side with a fire extinguisher. By selectively deactivating the two outer rockets and using the fire extinguishers we should be able to maneuver that thing.

How does that look?

((Also, if I was aiming to stabilize my orbit now would be the time since we're nearly at apoapsis. However I think it would be better if Miyamoto took us with him. It has (slightly) higher chances of success.))

GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME

[Jack Aux:4+1]
Jack wires up a simple control for the rocket pods using the wires and his wristpad.

"It's not exactly what you could call "perfect handling" But it will work for what we need it for."

[Flint Handi:1-1]
You attempt to make the net and instead manage to do nothing but hopelessly tangle yourself up in the cables.

"Oh boy. Flint's in trouble."


Time till Rendezvous: 9 minutes and counting.

[Parisbre56]

We're running out of time so just get the rocket ready, take as much wire as I can with me and launch!