Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Tsar George/Georgy, who is a cousin of Gia.
IIRC, Gia is the Grandaughter of Nicholas II, where as Tsar George/Georgy is the nephew of Nicholas II via Nichols' younger brother Michael.
I think thats right in this TL.
They exist here already, only that they were used for the SKA Initially... Namely the "Kat Protocols"....Perhaps the S&R teams will institute "Kiki protocols" listing all the reasons you do not keep going if you are in risk of becoming a patient yourself
Dear God. I can imagine that it took everything in Louis to NOT either facepalm, cringe, laugh his arse off or do all together..
Because Kiki may be His late wife's daughter by blood, but to see Kiki say those words, he can't but remember the same attitude more than 25 years ago, when a spitfire of a girl went against four NKVD agents and walked alive from it.. Up to the same near pathological hate of medals and awards......
Odds are that Louis will speak with Kat rather amusedly about Kiki's latest stunt, sarcastically wondering from where Kiki may have learned that.......
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Kiki needs to understand that her first job is to be an Imperial Princess and any medals that she receives is more about the giver of the medal then the recepient.
She needs to have someone who she knows, trust, has the history and credibility to tell her that it is more about her team, her unit, her branch of the service, it is really making the giver feel worthy of help that was given and to show their respect and appreciation then it is about her.
By now her role and Lou's has been found out and has been publicized not just domestically but also it has been a major international story and it has brought enormous amount of goodwill and prestige not just to the House of Hohenzorollern but also to Germany itself around the world.
Kiki has now become the face of the FSR whether she likes it or not and they are going to use it for all its worth in getting larger budgets, more and better equipment, more recruits, and more based to operate out of.
The brass is going to tell Kiki to suck it up and if she is awarded medals then her job is to smile and accept them, the shinier and more gaudy the better for the FSR.
She needs to have someone who she knows, trust, has the history and credibility to tell her that it is more about her team, her unit, her branch of the service, it is really making the giver feel worthy of help that was given and to show their respect and appreciation then it is about her.
By now her role and Lou's has been found out and has been publicized not just domestically but also it has been a major international story and it has brought enormous amount of goodwill and prestige not just to the House of Hohenzorollern but also to Germany itself around the world.
Kiki has now become the face of the FSR whether she likes it or not and they are going to use it for all its worth in getting larger budgets, more and better equipment, more recruits, and more based to operate out of.
The brass is going to tell Kiki to suck it up and if she is awarded medals then her job is to smile and accept them, the shinier and more gaudy the better for the FSR.
I'm pretty sure both Kira and Louis have already had that conversation with Kat... and been told something along the lines of "What did you expect? You did ask me to train/mentor/be-a-role-model-for her, remember?"
Part 94, Chapter 1470
Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred Seventy
1st March 1962
Wilhelm Canal, near Hochdonn
Watching the countryside roll by from the deck of a battleship was an odd experience as Kiki was sitting on a chair just in front of Anton Turret of the SMS Brandenburg with Louis and Mitzi. Looking up Kiki saw the structure of a bridge as it passed overhead. Mitzi had ruthlessly enforced the orders of Kiki’s father with their Hauptmann’s backing and had kept her confined to her bunk until she had started to recover from her illness. Then once Kiki had been deemed well enough to leave the cabin, she had found herself having to answer to her superiors. They had firmly rebuked her as being reckless with her health. If she had collapsed in the field, her team would have been forced to care for her as opposed to doing their jobs. She had been lucky and there was not going to be a be a next time because she had learned her lesson. Correct? Then they told Kiki that she would graciously accept on behalf of the FSR and her team whatever reward she was due for in front of the press for her conduct because as a relatively new service it needed its heroes, or heroines in this case. That still wasn’t as bad as the phone call that Kiki had received from Doctor Berg who had coldly informed her that there was only so many times that her body could bounce back from a serious illness, if she destroyed it by neglecting her own needs then she wouldn’t be getting a new one.
A few hours earlier before the Brandenburg left Hamburg, Kiki had been forced to endure the awards ceremony with her team and in front of a large audience that included the Press and many notables from Hamburg. Despite her request to her father, Kiki had still been put up for a few medals. The first of the them had been presented to her there on the deck of the Brandenburg to much applause. Looking at it she saw the castle on the front of the red enameled medal on the red and white ribbon, words For Merit in War and Peace on the back. The Hanseatic Cross had been altered decades earlier to acknowledge that it wasn’t just going to be issued in time of war. And they had decided to give one to Kiki, which she felt was a bit of a farce. She would need to do the same thing again in Berlin in a couple days. It wasn’t something Kiki was looking forward to. The good thing was that part of the citation that showed exactly how many people she and her team has rendered aid to before bringing them to one of the pickup points to be transported to safety via boat or helicopter.
“This is a lot different than the trip west” Louis said with a smile as they were looking at the people who lined the bank of the canal. Kiki and Mitzi knew that they would need to take his word for it.
“It is always nice to be seen as the hero” Kiki replied.
“Sure, but you’re FSR and no one argues that you are not heroic” Louis said, “Before this, the people in Kiel saw us as a sort of necessary evil, this will change that for a bit.”
Kiki turned back to look at the village they were passing. She had no desire to correct her brother’s misapprehensions. Mitzi had told Kiki that she got the impression that Kiki viewed her brothers as competitors when they were around, it was something that had spurred her forward in Hamburg. She didn’t think that was true, but Kiki understood that Mitzi was an extremely astute observer. What if it was true?
With the mission over, the SMS Brandenburg was returning to port in Kiel and an uncertain future though the crew was certainly in a celebratory mood today. The three battleships and the Battlecruiser had been invaluable logistics ships for the rescue effort having also taken onboard thousands of evacuees. Photographs of sailors helping dazed people as they came aboard the battleships that had run around the world. It was rare for a battlegroup to receive the sort of attention that they were getting in peacetime. That had been made clear when the ships were mentioned in dispatches to the Reichstag. Captain Hase had been mentioned by name and the Fleet had promoted him to Kapitan zur See as a reward with the promise of further advancement if he wanted it.
Louis had actually been surprised when he had been mentioned by name as well. Kiki thought that was absurd, people tended to get weird whenever their family name was mentioned, reports and photographs of him tooling around in a boat from the Brandenburg had been circulated widely. Unlike Kiki he had no idea how many people he had helped because no one had been in radio contact with him. He was showing off a medal identical to the one that Kiki had gotten to anyone who listened to him for more than a few seconds. Kiki had noticed that her brother definitely had a crowd he ran with on the ships of the Fleet. Most of them were other Midshipmen like he was. There was also a Marine Fähnrich he had introduced as Udi who had already had a few adventures with Louis back in Kiel.
“What?” Kiki asked as she realized that she had not been following the conversation and Louis had been talking to her. “Could you repeat that last part?”
“I’m going to Antarctica next year” Louis said.
“Does Poppa know?” Kiki asked and that got her a dirty look from Louis. Obviously not, and Louis intended for their father not to find out until it was too late to stop him.
1st March 1962
Wilhelm Canal, near Hochdonn
Watching the countryside roll by from the deck of a battleship was an odd experience as Kiki was sitting on a chair just in front of Anton Turret of the SMS Brandenburg with Louis and Mitzi. Looking up Kiki saw the structure of a bridge as it passed overhead. Mitzi had ruthlessly enforced the orders of Kiki’s father with their Hauptmann’s backing and had kept her confined to her bunk until she had started to recover from her illness. Then once Kiki had been deemed well enough to leave the cabin, she had found herself having to answer to her superiors. They had firmly rebuked her as being reckless with her health. If she had collapsed in the field, her team would have been forced to care for her as opposed to doing their jobs. She had been lucky and there was not going to be a be a next time because she had learned her lesson. Correct? Then they told Kiki that she would graciously accept on behalf of the FSR and her team whatever reward she was due for in front of the press for her conduct because as a relatively new service it needed its heroes, or heroines in this case. That still wasn’t as bad as the phone call that Kiki had received from Doctor Berg who had coldly informed her that there was only so many times that her body could bounce back from a serious illness, if she destroyed it by neglecting her own needs then she wouldn’t be getting a new one.
A few hours earlier before the Brandenburg left Hamburg, Kiki had been forced to endure the awards ceremony with her team and in front of a large audience that included the Press and many notables from Hamburg. Despite her request to her father, Kiki had still been put up for a few medals. The first of the them had been presented to her there on the deck of the Brandenburg to much applause. Looking at it she saw the castle on the front of the red enameled medal on the red and white ribbon, words For Merit in War and Peace on the back. The Hanseatic Cross had been altered decades earlier to acknowledge that it wasn’t just going to be issued in time of war. And they had decided to give one to Kiki, which she felt was a bit of a farce. She would need to do the same thing again in Berlin in a couple days. It wasn’t something Kiki was looking forward to. The good thing was that part of the citation that showed exactly how many people she and her team has rendered aid to before bringing them to one of the pickup points to be transported to safety via boat or helicopter.
“This is a lot different than the trip west” Louis said with a smile as they were looking at the people who lined the bank of the canal. Kiki and Mitzi knew that they would need to take his word for it.
“It is always nice to be seen as the hero” Kiki replied.
“Sure, but you’re FSR and no one argues that you are not heroic” Louis said, “Before this, the people in Kiel saw us as a sort of necessary evil, this will change that for a bit.”
Kiki turned back to look at the village they were passing. She had no desire to correct her brother’s misapprehensions. Mitzi had told Kiki that she got the impression that Kiki viewed her brothers as competitors when they were around, it was something that had spurred her forward in Hamburg. She didn’t think that was true, but Kiki understood that Mitzi was an extremely astute observer. What if it was true?
With the mission over, the SMS Brandenburg was returning to port in Kiel and an uncertain future though the crew was certainly in a celebratory mood today. The three battleships and the Battlecruiser had been invaluable logistics ships for the rescue effort having also taken onboard thousands of evacuees. Photographs of sailors helping dazed people as they came aboard the battleships that had run around the world. It was rare for a battlegroup to receive the sort of attention that they were getting in peacetime. That had been made clear when the ships were mentioned in dispatches to the Reichstag. Captain Hase had been mentioned by name and the Fleet had promoted him to Kapitan zur See as a reward with the promise of further advancement if he wanted it.
Louis had actually been surprised when he had been mentioned by name as well. Kiki thought that was absurd, people tended to get weird whenever their family name was mentioned, reports and photographs of him tooling around in a boat from the Brandenburg had been circulated widely. Unlike Kiki he had no idea how many people he had helped because no one had been in radio contact with him. He was showing off a medal identical to the one that Kiki had gotten to anyone who listened to him for more than a few seconds. Kiki had noticed that her brother definitely had a crowd he ran with on the ships of the Fleet. Most of them were other Midshipmen like he was. There was also a Marine Fähnrich he had introduced as Udi who had already had a few adventures with Louis back in Kiel.
“What?” Kiki asked as she realized that she had not been following the conversation and Louis had been talking to her. “Could you repeat that last part?”
“I’m going to Antarctica next year” Louis said.
“Does Poppa know?” Kiki asked and that got her a dirty look from Louis. Obviously not, and Louis intended for their father not to find out until it was too late to stop him.
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Kiki needs to be punished for pushing herself so hard that she became ill, but since she is now the flavor of the month it can not be official.
What are some of the things that the FSR can do is to temporarily take away her team from her until she is at 100% and put her on desk duty and have do things like write the protocols and SOP on how to conduct operations and not put yourself and others in unnecessary dangers from over exhaustion.
There is also escorting VIPs and media relations as interests in the FSR grows and also maybe be used as a technical advisor for movies and television shows.
Kiki can also be used to brief the various committees and subcommittees of the Reichstag that controls the budget for the FSR as the members will be very reluctant to press her too hard on the FSR wishlist.
I think that Kiki is going to find that her father is going to be very enthusiastic about her brother going to Antarctica and that is going to cheese her off as Kiki will think with some justification that just because her brother is male, he gets to go on adventures with no objects being raised.
What are some of the things that the FSR can do is to temporarily take away her team from her until she is at 100% and put her on desk duty and have do things like write the protocols and SOP on how to conduct operations and not put yourself and others in unnecessary dangers from over exhaustion.
There is also escorting VIPs and media relations as interests in the FSR grows and also maybe be used as a technical advisor for movies and television shows.
Kiki can also be used to brief the various committees and subcommittees of the Reichstag that controls the budget for the FSR as the members will be very reluctant to press her too hard on the FSR wishlist.
I think that Kiki is going to find that her father is going to be very enthusiastic about her brother going to Antarctica and that is going to cheese her off as Kiki will think with some justification that just because her brother is male, he gets to go on adventures with no objects being raised.
I would think that being "the flavor of the month" is punishment enough. Fräulein v. Preußen hates being "the most noble princess" - even worse, she'll be held up as a shining example of nobility, bravery and how to be a proper german.
With both Louis and Kiki having participated in the rescue efforts, I'd bet on Freddy being involved in the follow-up efforts with the Pioneers.
ferdi254
Banned
There should be at least a citation if not promotion for those people who navigated those ships through the channel. Even with only strong winds it is not easy to keep slow going ships in the relatively narrow channel. With a full storm raging it had surely been a hell of a job.
Perhaps a strange question, but in this timeline, is Finland a republic or a monarchy? I know that there were plans IOTL to have a king imported from Germany when they won their independence from Russia, but that was obviously hindered by the German loss in WWI. With the different outcome of the war, did things play out differently?
That is a question with several more moving parts than might meet the eye. The OTL project for monarchy in Finland took place in very specific circumstances to do with the Finnish civil war and its aftermath, and importing a German monarch was only ever supported by a royalist minority that was at that moment in power due to said civil war, in conditions where the Finnish capital region was de facto occupied by German troops. By changing the conditions where Finland becomes independent and the events immediately following that, ITTL Finland could as plausibly be either a monarchy or a republic. If it is a monarchy, strictly constitutional monarchy is most likely. That was, after all, the condition of the OTL candidate, Friedrich Karl of Hesse, that it would be a constitutional monarchy he would be the king of.
Let's wait for the Author to weigh in.
Send her on a wilderness survival week. Learn to eat bugs, roots and berries. Don't pick the wrong ones
It ist not the djungle camp though, the goal is not to gross out your candidate before the camera, but to teach survival skills. Allthough in middle europe that usually should be follow the nearest watercourse downriver untill the next Village in 5 km tops.
Part 94, Chapter 1471
Chapter One Thousand Four Hundred Seventy-One
14th March 1962
Silesia
The big dog didn’t make noise during circumstances like this as he stared intently ahead across the clearing. It was something that Manfred felt was one of Rust’s best features. “You will find that this cat is far more than even you can handle” Manfred said as he kept Rust on a tight leash. He had been conducting his annual census of the deer on his property and looking for signs of the feral swine that had bedeviled him over much of the prior two decades. Instead, Manfred had found evidence of something else. His goal for decades had been to restore the land to its natural state and the large paw prints in the snow were what success looked like.
Rust gave a low growl, which caused Manfred to pull the leash a touch to let Rust know who was in charge here when the choke chain rattled. “To ground, hold” Manfred said softly and with obedience that had been drilled into him since he was a few months old. Rust went low to the ground, still he was ready to spring forward if given the command to.
Rust had been a gift from the Crown Prince and had arrived as a puppy to the Richthofen estate much to the delight of Manfred the Younger and Ina who had been visiting. Manny had discovered girls and much to his terror found that they had discovered him first, quite a bit earlier. Few creatures in nature were as territorial or as vicious to each other as adolescent female Homo Sapiens, which Manny had also learned the hard way. Ina had carried around Rust until he had gotten too big for that. Even at twelve, Ina came across as a girl who would one day be a wonderful wife and mother. It was something that Manfred didn’t dare mention in the presence of Helene. She wanted her daughter to aim for far greater things, but it was truth though. Then there was Rust himself. Manfred had heard the Akitas were excellent hunters and fiercely loyal to their own, both admirable qualities. Watching his eldest grandchildren playing with Rust when he was little had made the latter obvious. Manfred had his doubts about the former until the prior summer he had seen what Rust was capable of in the field once Rust had grown. It was also why he preferred to keep Rust on a lead until he knew exactly what he was dealing with.
Keeping his double-barreled rifle level and aimed at the far tree line in case there were any surprises. There were none. After a few minutes though, he saw movement. A lynx, a big one made its way cautiously along the edge of the clearing edging away from Manfred and Rust. For the land to support a predator like this was a sign of its health and for Manfred himself it was an example of a successful decade’s long effort.
Mitte, Berlin
Returning from her lunch, Kiki saw a floral bouquet of red and white roses. It was really quite lovely, looking at the card attached she saw it was from Prince Heikki of Finland. Kiki was sorely tempted to pitch the entire thing into the bin beside her desk but didn't. The woman who cleaned the office at night liked to take them home and Kiki had let her know that she was welcome to them.
When Kiki had called Mitzi the night before she had learned that the team had been put back into the field with Ingo in charge. That was particularly annoying for Kiki because she was stuck in the Ministry of War reading after-action reports of the efforts by the FSR in Hamburg. The process of examining the operation, finding out what went right and where mistakes were made so that the lessons learned could be put into practice in future operations. While she knew that Ingo was a capable leader, Kiki wanted to be out there in the field with her team, which was where she belonged. As opposed to sitting at a desk.
Again, and again, she got to read about how team leaders on the FSR were out in the field for upwards eighteen to twenty hours at a time while getting hardly any rest in the meantime. It turned out that Kiki wasn’t the only team leader who had gotten sick during the rescue effort. It was obvious that someone had to have known that she would be reading these reports. She was supposed to be presenting a report of her conclusions to the Inspector General of the Joint Medical Service in a few days provided that she didn’t shove a pencil through her eye in the meantime.
Then there was that other problem. Her getting a Federal Merit Cross in gold, a Lifesaving Medal and the Red Cross was talking about promoting her to a second-class medal. All of this had been done in a very public setting which had gotten Kiki a great deal of attention. The roses, letters and other gifts from men who were very interested in making the acquaintance of Princess Kristina. Only the Emperor of Ethiopia had been so bold as to offer her father a thousand head of cattle if Kiki would consent to be his bride. There was not a chance in Hell, but if only the others were so direct. The more subtle ones were the most obnoxious. An Industrialist had donated a considerable amount of money to the University Hospital and then had made his introductions with an inquiry if Kiki would consider meeting him for drinks when it could be arranged. Manipulative bastard.
“Men” Kiki muttered to herself as she reached for the next report.
14th March 1962
Silesia
The big dog didn’t make noise during circumstances like this as he stared intently ahead across the clearing. It was something that Manfred felt was one of Rust’s best features. “You will find that this cat is far more than even you can handle” Manfred said as he kept Rust on a tight leash. He had been conducting his annual census of the deer on his property and looking for signs of the feral swine that had bedeviled him over much of the prior two decades. Instead, Manfred had found evidence of something else. His goal for decades had been to restore the land to its natural state and the large paw prints in the snow were what success looked like.
Rust gave a low growl, which caused Manfred to pull the leash a touch to let Rust know who was in charge here when the choke chain rattled. “To ground, hold” Manfred said softly and with obedience that had been drilled into him since he was a few months old. Rust went low to the ground, still he was ready to spring forward if given the command to.
Rust had been a gift from the Crown Prince and had arrived as a puppy to the Richthofen estate much to the delight of Manfred the Younger and Ina who had been visiting. Manny had discovered girls and much to his terror found that they had discovered him first, quite a bit earlier. Few creatures in nature were as territorial or as vicious to each other as adolescent female Homo Sapiens, which Manny had also learned the hard way. Ina had carried around Rust until he had gotten too big for that. Even at twelve, Ina came across as a girl who would one day be a wonderful wife and mother. It was something that Manfred didn’t dare mention in the presence of Helene. She wanted her daughter to aim for far greater things, but it was truth though. Then there was Rust himself. Manfred had heard the Akitas were excellent hunters and fiercely loyal to their own, both admirable qualities. Watching his eldest grandchildren playing with Rust when he was little had made the latter obvious. Manfred had his doubts about the former until the prior summer he had seen what Rust was capable of in the field once Rust had grown. It was also why he preferred to keep Rust on a lead until he knew exactly what he was dealing with.
Keeping his double-barreled rifle level and aimed at the far tree line in case there were any surprises. There were none. After a few minutes though, he saw movement. A lynx, a big one made its way cautiously along the edge of the clearing edging away from Manfred and Rust. For the land to support a predator like this was a sign of its health and for Manfred himself it was an example of a successful decade’s long effort.
Mitte, Berlin
Returning from her lunch, Kiki saw a floral bouquet of red and white roses. It was really quite lovely, looking at the card attached she saw it was from Prince Heikki of Finland. Kiki was sorely tempted to pitch the entire thing into the bin beside her desk but didn't. The woman who cleaned the office at night liked to take them home and Kiki had let her know that she was welcome to them.
When Kiki had called Mitzi the night before she had learned that the team had been put back into the field with Ingo in charge. That was particularly annoying for Kiki because she was stuck in the Ministry of War reading after-action reports of the efforts by the FSR in Hamburg. The process of examining the operation, finding out what went right and where mistakes were made so that the lessons learned could be put into practice in future operations. While she knew that Ingo was a capable leader, Kiki wanted to be out there in the field with her team, which was where she belonged. As opposed to sitting at a desk.
Again, and again, she got to read about how team leaders on the FSR were out in the field for upwards eighteen to twenty hours at a time while getting hardly any rest in the meantime. It turned out that Kiki wasn’t the only team leader who had gotten sick during the rescue effort. It was obvious that someone had to have known that she would be reading these reports. She was supposed to be presenting a report of her conclusions to the Inspector General of the Joint Medical Service in a few days provided that she didn’t shove a pencil through her eye in the meantime.
Then there was that other problem. Her getting a Federal Merit Cross in gold, a Lifesaving Medal and the Red Cross was talking about promoting her to a second-class medal. All of this had been done in a very public setting which had gotten Kiki a great deal of attention. The roses, letters and other gifts from men who were very interested in making the acquaintance of Princess Kristina. Only the Emperor of Ethiopia had been so bold as to offer her father a thousand head of cattle if Kiki would consent to be his bride. There was not a chance in Hell, but if only the others were so direct. The more subtle ones were the most obnoxious. An Industrialist had donated a considerable amount of money to the University Hospital and then had made his introductions with an inquiry if Kiki would consider meeting him for drinks when it could be arranged. Manipulative bastard.
“Men” Kiki muttered to herself as she reached for the next report.
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