Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
The last group of such were somewhat publicly arrested for terrorism, embezzlement, lèse-majesté, sedition and what-have-you not so long ago. Even the most stubborn would understand to be a bit more circumspect about airing such opinions where the wrong people might hear it, and spouting it directly to a Hohenzollern, even Kristine, would definitely be constituted as such, unless they want, at the very minimum, to be very thoroughly investigated by various services (because I don't think they want anymore egg on their faces), which is something most people would rather do without.
Part 105, Chapter 1702
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Two
23rd December 1965
Jena
Making the drive all the way from Berlin only to turn right around and go back to retrieve Vicky and Rauchbier made Kiki wonder if it had been worth it. While she was here, she also felt obligated to attend this week’s group session with Doctor Holz. Unfortunately for Kiki, Vicky had heard from one of her Professors that a great way for a sibling to show support was by attending some of these meetings and Kiki had asked her not to probably a bit too emphatically. That would have added a layer of complication to the whole thing, especially because Vicky knew Kiki at a level that few others did, and she had wanted to talk about what had happened so far with the minefield that was the Holiday Season.
“Nella had sworn up and down that she wouldn’t make herself sick this year” Kiki said, “That promise lasted right up until she smelled the fresh spice cakes. Once again, I found myself with a very sick little girl to care for in a public place.”
There was snickering around the group at that.
“Kristina is describing the impulsive actions of a child” Doctor Holz said, “There are many here who have engaged in behavior that was just as impulsive, except with drugs or alcohol.”
That caused the snickering to end in a hurry.
Killjoy, Kiki thought to herself.
“My relationship with my youngest sister is special” Kiki said, “Charlotte rarely indulges her, and I think she should have everything that the holidays have to offer. I told her that she needs to learn some moderation or else Charlotte will put her foot down next year.”
“And you get to be the fun mutti in the meantime” One of the others in the group said.
“I am hardly Nella’s mother” Kiki replied.
“You said it yourself when you described who Nella was” The Man said, “That you were seventeen when she was born, that’s more than old enough.”
“That is a matter of biology of course” Doctor Holz said, “There is also the question of socialization to consider. I personally consider the relationship between Kristina and her half-sister more like that which is between an aunt and niece because of their age difference. I know that people generally tend to be far less permissive with their own children. Particularly if they actually have to live with them.”
“What does any of this have to do with anything?” A different man in the group asked and he had Kiki’s most sincere gratitude.
“Human relationships” Doctor Holz said, “Something that everyone in this room has struggled with maintaining as opposed to sabotaging them. Possibly the most difficult thing for people to relearn after the kind experiences that all of you have had.”
Everyone was silent after Doctor Holz finished speaking, the only sound was that of awkward shuffling in their chairs for several minutes.
Heuberg, Württemberg
Over December, Manfred, along with the other who had volunteered to stay in Heuberg had been subjected to rigorous academic testing. Something that had come as a complete surprise. They had been told that the tests were simply pass/fail and built around determining their ability to learn. However, they had been told that if they failed, they would be sent back to their old units. While Manfred had passed the tests easily enough, it was Christian not failing that had been an astonishment. There had been plenty of other guys who had failed for whatever reason. Then an Oberst who Manfred recognized turned up and Manfred figured out long before the others just how much trouble they were in.
With the arrival of Oberst Obenhaus, Manfred knew the relatively easy time that they had been enjoying was ending abruptly. He knew that for two reasons, the first was because the Oberst’s reputation as a real hardass preceded him. It was well known that Obenhaus had come up through the ranks and had been among the last class of Shock Troops trained by Willy Rohr in the twenties before Rohr’s death in 1930. It was shortly after that when the Shock Troops had been mostly replaced by the Panzer Dragoons. Manfred had also seen Jost Schultz with Obenhaus, which meant that as soon as the Christmas festivities were behind them the outfit that had been forming in Heuberg was going to get its collective butt kicked. That likely meant that the outfit was going to become a whole lot smaller in the coming weeks as well. They were still being kept in the dark regarding what the ultimate purpose of the them was going to be. Someone had to have a vision of that and from some of things that Suse had put in her letter, Manfred had a sinking feeling that he knew who it was.
So, as Manfred stalked through the forest with the Winchester 1895 rifle chambered in 30-06 Springfield that he’d had sent from Berlin. The Cooks had asked him to procure something special for the Mess Hall on Christmas. He had also seen how they were putting in their best efforts as opposed to their usual indifference. Manfred had even gotten the Commandant of Heuberg to give him permission to do this.
For a few seconds he felt like he was back on his grandfather’s estate as he took aim before he squeezed off the first shot. It was here when the old Winchester came into its own as Manfred emptied the magazine in seconds, taking aimed shots as fast as he could work the lever. He dropped three of the boars with as the rest of the sounder bolted for the underbrush. Manfred looked with a bit of disgust as he saw that two of his shots had missed. He knew how difficult it was to have gotten a hit once the sounder had bolted, still he thought he could have done better.
As Manfred walked towards the three downed boars, he considered the effort that would be required to dress them before he could hand them over to the Cooks. It would be a whole lot of work and if the Cooks performed one of their typical atrocities, he figured that he would need to shoot them too.
“I’ve never seen anything like that” Christian said as he followed Manfred.
“You need to get out of the city more” Manfred replied.
23rd December 1965
Jena
Making the drive all the way from Berlin only to turn right around and go back to retrieve Vicky and Rauchbier made Kiki wonder if it had been worth it. While she was here, she also felt obligated to attend this week’s group session with Doctor Holz. Unfortunately for Kiki, Vicky had heard from one of her Professors that a great way for a sibling to show support was by attending some of these meetings and Kiki had asked her not to probably a bit too emphatically. That would have added a layer of complication to the whole thing, especially because Vicky knew Kiki at a level that few others did, and she had wanted to talk about what had happened so far with the minefield that was the Holiday Season.
“Nella had sworn up and down that she wouldn’t make herself sick this year” Kiki said, “That promise lasted right up until she smelled the fresh spice cakes. Once again, I found myself with a very sick little girl to care for in a public place.”
There was snickering around the group at that.
“Kristina is describing the impulsive actions of a child” Doctor Holz said, “There are many here who have engaged in behavior that was just as impulsive, except with drugs or alcohol.”
That caused the snickering to end in a hurry.
Killjoy, Kiki thought to herself.
“My relationship with my youngest sister is special” Kiki said, “Charlotte rarely indulges her, and I think she should have everything that the holidays have to offer. I told her that she needs to learn some moderation or else Charlotte will put her foot down next year.”
“And you get to be the fun mutti in the meantime” One of the others in the group said.
“I am hardly Nella’s mother” Kiki replied.
“You said it yourself when you described who Nella was” The Man said, “That you were seventeen when she was born, that’s more than old enough.”
“That is a matter of biology of course” Doctor Holz said, “There is also the question of socialization to consider. I personally consider the relationship between Kristina and her half-sister more like that which is between an aunt and niece because of their age difference. I know that people generally tend to be far less permissive with their own children. Particularly if they actually have to live with them.”
“What does any of this have to do with anything?” A different man in the group asked and he had Kiki’s most sincere gratitude.
“Human relationships” Doctor Holz said, “Something that everyone in this room has struggled with maintaining as opposed to sabotaging them. Possibly the most difficult thing for people to relearn after the kind experiences that all of you have had.”
Everyone was silent after Doctor Holz finished speaking, the only sound was that of awkward shuffling in their chairs for several minutes.
Heuberg, Württemberg
Over December, Manfred, along with the other who had volunteered to stay in Heuberg had been subjected to rigorous academic testing. Something that had come as a complete surprise. They had been told that the tests were simply pass/fail and built around determining their ability to learn. However, they had been told that if they failed, they would be sent back to their old units. While Manfred had passed the tests easily enough, it was Christian not failing that had been an astonishment. There had been plenty of other guys who had failed for whatever reason. Then an Oberst who Manfred recognized turned up and Manfred figured out long before the others just how much trouble they were in.
With the arrival of Oberst Obenhaus, Manfred knew the relatively easy time that they had been enjoying was ending abruptly. He knew that for two reasons, the first was because the Oberst’s reputation as a real hardass preceded him. It was well known that Obenhaus had come up through the ranks and had been among the last class of Shock Troops trained by Willy Rohr in the twenties before Rohr’s death in 1930. It was shortly after that when the Shock Troops had been mostly replaced by the Panzer Dragoons. Manfred had also seen Jost Schultz with Obenhaus, which meant that as soon as the Christmas festivities were behind them the outfit that had been forming in Heuberg was going to get its collective butt kicked. That likely meant that the outfit was going to become a whole lot smaller in the coming weeks as well. They were still being kept in the dark regarding what the ultimate purpose of the them was going to be. Someone had to have a vision of that and from some of things that Suse had put in her letter, Manfred had a sinking feeling that he knew who it was.
So, as Manfred stalked through the forest with the Winchester 1895 rifle chambered in 30-06 Springfield that he’d had sent from Berlin. The Cooks had asked him to procure something special for the Mess Hall on Christmas. He had also seen how they were putting in their best efforts as opposed to their usual indifference. Manfred had even gotten the Commandant of Heuberg to give him permission to do this.
For a few seconds he felt like he was back on his grandfather’s estate as he took aim before he squeezed off the first shot. It was here when the old Winchester came into its own as Manfred emptied the magazine in seconds, taking aimed shots as fast as he could work the lever. He dropped three of the boars with as the rest of the sounder bolted for the underbrush. Manfred looked with a bit of disgust as he saw that two of his shots had missed. He knew how difficult it was to have gotten a hit once the sounder had bolted, still he thought he could have done better.
As Manfred walked towards the three downed boars, he considered the effort that would be required to dress them before he could hand them over to the Cooks. It would be a whole lot of work and if the Cooks performed one of their typical atrocities, he figured that he would need to shoot them too.
“I’ve never seen anything like that” Christian said as he followed Manfred.
“You need to get out of the city more” Manfred replied.
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Kat and Jost on the same side? Oh... They are so freaking screwed.
Could we be seeing a German version of the British Long Range Desert Group type recon troop? Something that combines a group like Long range Reconnaissance Patrol with some vehicles.
So how far will three boars to in feeding everyone for the Christmas dinner?
Kiki has to very careful that she doesn't drive Ben away in her misguided belief that their relationship won't work out in the long run.
Ben doesn't know it but he is going to be considered a highly desirable catch by other women.
He is a genuine war hero who is joining the space program and he apparently has a thing for smart women with personal ambitions, and there are going to be plenty of them where he is going...
There should be an overwhelming desire on the part of the United States and Germany for arms control agreements as it is in both of their best interests to stop what may become an unsustainable arms race that suck up money from their respective economies that could be put to better use elsewhere.
I also think by this time there should be a Naval Treaty that finally allows nations to get rid of their remaining battleships as the newest ones are at least twenty years old and one of the lessons learned in the recent Sino-Korean Conflict is that surface-ship missile technology is rapidly approaching the point where the missiles are highly accurate at an increasing range and are powerful enough to disable the battleships before the ships can get in range themselves.
Kiki has to very careful that she doesn't drive Ben away in her misguided belief that their relationship won't work out in the long run.
Ben doesn't know it but he is going to be considered a highly desirable catch by other women.
He is a genuine war hero who is joining the space program and he apparently has a thing for smart women with personal ambitions, and there are going to be plenty of them where he is going...
There should be an overwhelming desire on the part of the United States and Germany for arms control agreements as it is in both of their best interests to stop what may become an unsustainable arms race that suck up money from their respective economies that could be put to better use elsewhere.
I also think by this time there should be a Naval Treaty that finally allows nations to get rid of their remaining battleships as the newest ones are at least twenty years old and one of the lessons learned in the recent Sino-Korean Conflict is that surface-ship missile technology is rapidly approaching the point where the missiles are highly accurate at an increasing range and are powerful enough to disable the battleships before the ships can get in range themselves.
ferdi254
Banned
Even if its small boars and the dressing is bad one should have 150-200 kg of meat. Even with a generous portion of 500g per person (which would be way over the top, 200-300 g for the meat in the main course of a multi courses menu is for hungry soldiers) you can easily stuff 300 people with 500 being also very well fed.
Manfred is probably the only one in his unit who realises just how badly screwed they are. After all, he knows how tough Jost is... and that his Aunt has a certain reputation when it comes to non-standard methods of warfare.
Army cooks; getting blamed for bad food since before cooking was invented. That said, wild pork is so damned delicious.
This is a reminder to all at the meeting, including Kiki, that they are in the habit of screwing up the good things in their lives and that he is there to help teach them how not to do that.
So, a
Exactly. At least they all will have a full belly due to his hunt...Though depending on what those boar have been eating, it might not taste that great.
Not sure about Germany, but in the UK, Land owned by the MOD tends to be the most pristine, (aside from squaddiestrucks and tanks trundling over it occasionally).
Chances are the boar has fed well in the forrest and will be rather tasty.
New Zealand's are all either feral domestic pigs or descended from them. They do taste fantastic as they have virtually no competition in our native bush; the feral deer & possums occupy very different niches after all. Sadly, they are also partly responsible for causing many endangered species, fauna & flora, to become endangered. TTL's Manfred von Richtofen would sympathise with our efforts to eradicate them.
Part 105, Chapter 1703
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Three
29th December 1965
Tempelhof, Berlin
Kat could hear the children decorating the house for New Year’s Eve from her office. That came mostly in the form of arguing about just how they ought to decorate. Marie’s voice was an addition this year because Kat had told her that she could stay up until midnight. Kat figured that she would join her older siblings on the couch in the parlor, falling asleep well before midnight in front of the television. Kat and Doug would wake them up a few minutes before the hour to ring in the New Year and send them off to bed. Everything seemed to be going well domestically, Kat just wished that one of her closest friends wasn’t so sore with her.
There had only been a few times in the past when Kat had seen Helene angry for this long. Oddly, it had been when she had attempted to join the Luftwaffe back at the start of the Second World War that came first to mind. It had hardly been the intention of Kat or Hans to have things play out this way with Manfred getting caught up in their project, not that it made Helene any less upset. Having her child in the Heer was only slightly better than prison in her thinking.
Kat understood how Helene felt, she had made it clear what would happen to any recruiter from the Military or Intelligence Agencies who stupidly spoke to her children, it would involve a great deal of screaming and a missing person report. However, Kat knew that eventually they would be old enough to make their own choices. Not only that, but with Tatiana constantly going out of her way to spite Kat these days, the best way to get Tatiana to do anything would be for Kat to forbid her from doing it. Marie was not old enough to be that way yet, but Kat knew that was probably coming and wasn’t looking forward to it. Malcolm still struggled in some subjects at school but had found that he had a talent for mathematics. He had become interested it the numeral languages that had been developed by Abwehr in the twenties and thirties originally as cyphers but had become the basis of computing in the areas of the economy where it had been applied. Among Kat’s current wards, Josefine had started University and Suse Rosa was in her final year at the Gymnasia. While the two of them had always been dear friends, living under the same roof had drawn them closer together. It was a welcome development for both because Kat knew that Jo and Suse complemented each other when they teamed up. Suse was also more like Gerta than she was willing to believe, that meant that Kat would need to keep a close eye on her. So, none of Kat’s children were headed down that sort of road, for now anyway.
It had been because Hans had approached Kat after the Sino-Korean War had ended with a report detailing the deficiencies of the Divisions of the 2nd Army during that campaign. One of the key findings was how real-world intelligence had been difficult to come by as the 2nd Army had advanced because the prior commander of the Army had placed too much emphasis on aerial and satellite reconnaissance after being wowed by what the Luftwaffe was offering. He had allowed the reconnaissance assets immediately under his command to atrophy. Hans wanted to reconstruct those assets starting with the reconstituted 7th Reconnaissance Battalion of the 5th Panzer Brigade, a key Portion of 4th Panzer Division. Except in Hans thinking, it would need to be along the lines of the KSK. That meant that 7th Recon would become a Jager Unit that would fill an important Intelligence function. It was something that Kat had found intriguing. Building it would take time however and not be an easy process.
Heuberg, Württemberg
The day after Christmas, the hammer came down exactly as Manfred had figured that it would. Getting woken well before dawn to crawl though icy muck wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. That was their introduction to Oberstaber Jost Schultz. He had said that he was disgusted by the soft lifestyle that they had enjoyed over the previous months and that he would make real soldiers of them. Jost made it clear that in his thinking, he was doing them a favor. Word had also gotten around about Manfred being one of the hunters who had helped provide Christmas dinner along with how he had dropped three boars with five shots in seconds. He should have realized that was the sort of thing that drew the wrath of Instructors, worse of all he had seen it coming. Everyone else had not knowing as an excuse.
“Mischner!” One of Jost’s lackeys called out, “The Oberst wants to see you in his office, NOW!”
It was out of the ordinary for someone like Oberst Obenhaus to give someone like Manfred the time of day. The only exception to that was when something had gone horribly wrong, so he could hardly be blamed for not being in a hurry to get there. That he was also wearing a dirty uniform that reeked of sweat and burnt nitrocellulose did not help matters.
“Fahnenjunker von Mischner reporting as ordered Sir” Manfred said upon entering the office, with the hope that formality might spare him from the worst to come.
“At ease” Obenhaus said, “Oberstaber Schultz said you were something of a marionette but everything we’ve seen suggests that you can think for yourself.”
Manfred relaxed a bit, though he remained on guard.
“What can you tell me about your grandfather?” Obenhaus asked.
“I know that he is ambitious and is trying to angle himself as a kingmaker” Manfred said knowing that wasn’t the whole truth, the Graf was also doing his level best to make himself King. “What has he done this time?”
Obenhaus seemed amused by that.
“Not that Grandfather” Obenhaus said.
Manfred gulped. Ever since his father had sat him down and told Manfred the full truth about Otto Mischner, he had feared that this exact question would be asked.
29th December 1965
Tempelhof, Berlin
Kat could hear the children decorating the house for New Year’s Eve from her office. That came mostly in the form of arguing about just how they ought to decorate. Marie’s voice was an addition this year because Kat had told her that she could stay up until midnight. Kat figured that she would join her older siblings on the couch in the parlor, falling asleep well before midnight in front of the television. Kat and Doug would wake them up a few minutes before the hour to ring in the New Year and send them off to bed. Everything seemed to be going well domestically, Kat just wished that one of her closest friends wasn’t so sore with her.
There had only been a few times in the past when Kat had seen Helene angry for this long. Oddly, it had been when she had attempted to join the Luftwaffe back at the start of the Second World War that came first to mind. It had hardly been the intention of Kat or Hans to have things play out this way with Manfred getting caught up in their project, not that it made Helene any less upset. Having her child in the Heer was only slightly better than prison in her thinking.
Kat understood how Helene felt, she had made it clear what would happen to any recruiter from the Military or Intelligence Agencies who stupidly spoke to her children, it would involve a great deal of screaming and a missing person report. However, Kat knew that eventually they would be old enough to make their own choices. Not only that, but with Tatiana constantly going out of her way to spite Kat these days, the best way to get Tatiana to do anything would be for Kat to forbid her from doing it. Marie was not old enough to be that way yet, but Kat knew that was probably coming and wasn’t looking forward to it. Malcolm still struggled in some subjects at school but had found that he had a talent for mathematics. He had become interested it the numeral languages that had been developed by Abwehr in the twenties and thirties originally as cyphers but had become the basis of computing in the areas of the economy where it had been applied. Among Kat’s current wards, Josefine had started University and Suse Rosa was in her final year at the Gymnasia. While the two of them had always been dear friends, living under the same roof had drawn them closer together. It was a welcome development for both because Kat knew that Jo and Suse complemented each other when they teamed up. Suse was also more like Gerta than she was willing to believe, that meant that Kat would need to keep a close eye on her. So, none of Kat’s children were headed down that sort of road, for now anyway.
It had been because Hans had approached Kat after the Sino-Korean War had ended with a report detailing the deficiencies of the Divisions of the 2nd Army during that campaign. One of the key findings was how real-world intelligence had been difficult to come by as the 2nd Army had advanced because the prior commander of the Army had placed too much emphasis on aerial and satellite reconnaissance after being wowed by what the Luftwaffe was offering. He had allowed the reconnaissance assets immediately under his command to atrophy. Hans wanted to reconstruct those assets starting with the reconstituted 7th Reconnaissance Battalion of the 5th Panzer Brigade, a key Portion of 4th Panzer Division. Except in Hans thinking, it would need to be along the lines of the KSK. That meant that 7th Recon would become a Jager Unit that would fill an important Intelligence function. It was something that Kat had found intriguing. Building it would take time however and not be an easy process.
Heuberg, Württemberg
The day after Christmas, the hammer came down exactly as Manfred had figured that it would. Getting woken well before dawn to crawl though icy muck wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. That was their introduction to Oberstaber Jost Schultz. He had said that he was disgusted by the soft lifestyle that they had enjoyed over the previous months and that he would make real soldiers of them. Jost made it clear that in his thinking, he was doing them a favor. Word had also gotten around about Manfred being one of the hunters who had helped provide Christmas dinner along with how he had dropped three boars with five shots in seconds. He should have realized that was the sort of thing that drew the wrath of Instructors, worse of all he had seen it coming. Everyone else had not knowing as an excuse.
“Mischner!” One of Jost’s lackeys called out, “The Oberst wants to see you in his office, NOW!”
It was out of the ordinary for someone like Oberst Obenhaus to give someone like Manfred the time of day. The only exception to that was when something had gone horribly wrong, so he could hardly be blamed for not being in a hurry to get there. That he was also wearing a dirty uniform that reeked of sweat and burnt nitrocellulose did not help matters.
“Fahnenjunker von Mischner reporting as ordered Sir” Manfred said upon entering the office, with the hope that formality might spare him from the worst to come.
“At ease” Obenhaus said, “Oberstaber Schultz said you were something of a marionette but everything we’ve seen suggests that you can think for yourself.”
Manfred relaxed a bit, though he remained on guard.
“What can you tell me about your grandfather?” Obenhaus asked.
“I know that he is ambitious and is trying to angle himself as a kingmaker” Manfred said knowing that wasn’t the whole truth, the Graf was also doing his level best to make himself King. “What has he done this time?”
Obenhaus seemed amused by that.
“Not that Grandfather” Obenhaus said.
Manfred gulped. Ever since his father had sat him down and told Manfred the full truth about Otto Mischner, he had feared that this exact question would be asked.
Is someone fishing for information? Seriously? this shit still ongoing?
Manfred needs to play the "What does he know?" vs What does he ACTUALLY know? card.
More like; Did you honestly think this wasn't going to come up? And what are the security implications?
Young Manfred is getting it from all sides now as he explains to his fellow trainees that their training NCO is his “Uncle” Jost who has fought alongside his father in every war that Germany has been in since Spain up to Korea and was personally trained by the “Mad Dog” himself.
And now Jost is going to payback to Manfred and his fellow fellow soldiers in spades all the times Hans had him cross iced up rivers in Russia all with the approval of Hans himself.
And now Jost is going to payback to Manfred and his fellow fellow soldiers in spades all the times Hans had him cross iced up rivers in Russia all with the approval of Hans himself.