A newly promoted, green-as-grass, lowest rung NCO who doesn't try to micromanage everything, nor wring every last drop of minimal authority inherited in the rank to puff out his own self-importance in a severe case of overcompensation? That's a motherfucking genius in comparison to other, similar, cases.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
When will we see the bricks Secret Service sh*ts when it realises that it has given Germany and maybe all nations reason to demand they disarm before meeting the nations President / King or Queen...
Because whatever her role otherwise, at least Imo, Kat was an official security for the Kaiser and that happened to her...
Because whatever her role otherwise, at least Imo, Kat was an official security for the Kaiser and that happened to her...
I suspect Parker Sr will need to receive a very quiet word from someone pretty high up, (not Presidential high up though), that Parker Jr is involved in something very important for the "right people" and that no further questions should be asked.
It does make me wonder if Parker will become TTL's equivalent of George H Bush, (CIA to Presidency), seeing as TTL's GHB has taken a somewhat different route?
It does make me wonder if Parker will become TTL's equivalent of George H Bush, (CIA to Presidency), seeing as TTL's GHB has taken a somewhat different route?
Part 74, Chapter 1107
Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Seven
25th October 1954
Jena
“It seemed like a good idea at the time and once again it showed how the Amis were underestimating me” Kat said, “What was I supposed to do? Raise a big stink and cause a diplomatic incident? Go to war with the American Secret Service?”
Kat was talking about the recent shuttle diplomacy that the Emperor had been involving himself with. She had refused to allow herself to become a point of contention, but in doing so had created an opening for her legions of detractors to pounce. In the weeks since she had been subjected to withering criticism about how as a woman, she might be too gentle to command any Regiment, particularly the First Foot. It was ironic because in the past they had criticized her for her tendency to engage in overkill.
“You’ve always known that you can never win with these people Katherine” Peter said, “You can only do your best.”
“You don’t get it” Kat replied, “They, the U.S. Government was reacting to something that I did.”
“It was on the orders of Kira, wasn’t it?” Peter asked, “And to donate money through back channels for a charity?”
“Yes, for polio research” Kat replied, “And it wasn’t just on Kira’s orders. I was the one who pushed the issue because I was scared for my own children.”
“In my opinion that is possibly one of the most understandable things you’ve ever done” Peter replied. He had been listening to Kat’s doubts about herself as a mother for years. Yet here she was talking about having brought the resources of an entire nation to bear because she was worried about a disease that threatened not only her own children but millions of others.
“It was completely selfish” Kat said, “I was only thinking about me and those closest to me.”
“Probably helping countless others in the process” Peter said.
Kat glared at him, they were clearly of different opinions here.
Rural Germany, Near Posen.
Going down rutted dirt roads at almost fifty kilometers per hour was certainly a rough ride, on paved roads the Luftpanzer could go even faster. The other three Luftpanzers of the Platoon were rolling down the road going just as fast as the one Olli was riding in. The men of the Platoon had looked at him as if he were nuts because he had said that they needed to make the most of the Skunks, even going so far as painting a cartoon version of the animal on the side of the frying pan turret.
Inside the turret was a cramped space with the commander’s cupola on one side and gunner on the other. Just in front of Olli was the rotary chamber for the 84mm recoilless rifle, part of his job was to feed the shells into each chamber then press the button to advance the feed. The gunner got to share his space with the coax MG42/48. Already there had been an incident with the Udo, the gunner, getting a hot spent cartridge case down the back of his coveralls. When the main gun was fired the back blast was deflected somewhat skyward behind the turret but that resulted in a puff of smoke that revealed their position. He had learned recently that the Brass had considered a 30mm autocannon but had gone with the Bofors 84mm instead because it could fire a certain kind of anti-armor shell they liked. Everyone else had grumbled about that for a while until they had been ordered out into the field.
This was open country with rolling hills, so Olli was able to spot the column from a great distance away on the main road and get the Skunks under cover in a tree line a few hundred meters from the road before they were spotted. Looking through his binoculars he saw that it was infantry and a few Skorpion Jagdpanzers, the open turret conversions of older Lynx I Panzers that mounted a 12.8cm main gun. Still rare, but not something that Olli wanted tangle with more than he had to. After radioing in the location of the Jagdpanzers, Olli ordered the Skunks to fall back once the column had passed.
Moscow, Russia
The Czar had been busy putting things to rights since they had returned from their fruitless mission to Potsdam. Only today did he finally have the time to call Fyodor into his office for drinks and chess. “I swear if I spent another hour listening to excuses, I’d probably go completely mad” Georgy said as Fyodor set up the board.
“A good thing that the constitution covers that then” Fyodor said half joking. Having a great deal of experience with national leaders who were insane, ruthless, paranoid and/or stupid had clearly left an indelible impression on those who had drafted the Russian Constitution almost a decade earlier. The mechanisms for removing anyone from Georgy himself all the way down to the local rat catcher from public office was explicitly spelled out. Georgy just shrugged in response. The Czar had no intention of pressing his luck. He had once confided to Feodor that his hope was that by the time he was gone the institutions in Russia would be powerful enough to enforce those provisions in the constitution.
“I never had a chance to ask your opinions on what happened in Potsdam” Georgy said as he made his opening move.
“Are you asking me now?” Fyodor asked in reply as he made a move of his own.
“Yes” Georgy replied.
“The Greeks and Turks are a bunch of idiots fighting for moronic reasons” Fyodor said, “In the Balkans, things are even worse.”
“I see” Georgy said, “But we are on the side of the Greeks, sharing as much as we do with them.”
“I share a great deal with my brother” Fyodor replied, “That doesn’t mean that I don’t prefer Arkadiy to remain in Chelyabinsk as opposed to Moscow.”
“And the others we encountered?” The Czar asked.
“Kira is suspicious of you and that is reflected in rest of the German Royal Court” Fyodor replied, “The rest of Germany still considers us the enemy.”
“Hardly a surprise there” Georgy said, “And Alexandra?”
“In this game I can see several moves ahead” Fyodor replied, “With that woman, I can see no moves ahead. She’s a closed book and largely unpredictable.”
“Haven’t you said that most people are easy to predict?”
“Yes” Fyodor replied, “But your cousin being a sort of living saint is not the kind of person whose actions are easy to predict, the thing with the little girl with the cat for example.”
Georgy nodded. Alexandra deciding to open her home to an orphan was in keeping with who she was, but not something that anyone had seen coming.
25th October 1954
Jena
“It seemed like a good idea at the time and once again it showed how the Amis were underestimating me” Kat said, “What was I supposed to do? Raise a big stink and cause a diplomatic incident? Go to war with the American Secret Service?”
Kat was talking about the recent shuttle diplomacy that the Emperor had been involving himself with. She had refused to allow herself to become a point of contention, but in doing so had created an opening for her legions of detractors to pounce. In the weeks since she had been subjected to withering criticism about how as a woman, she might be too gentle to command any Regiment, particularly the First Foot. It was ironic because in the past they had criticized her for her tendency to engage in overkill.
“You’ve always known that you can never win with these people Katherine” Peter said, “You can only do your best.”
“You don’t get it” Kat replied, “They, the U.S. Government was reacting to something that I did.”
“It was on the orders of Kira, wasn’t it?” Peter asked, “And to donate money through back channels for a charity?”
“Yes, for polio research” Kat replied, “And it wasn’t just on Kira’s orders. I was the one who pushed the issue because I was scared for my own children.”
“In my opinion that is possibly one of the most understandable things you’ve ever done” Peter replied. He had been listening to Kat’s doubts about herself as a mother for years. Yet here she was talking about having brought the resources of an entire nation to bear because she was worried about a disease that threatened not only her own children but millions of others.
“It was completely selfish” Kat said, “I was only thinking about me and those closest to me.”
“Probably helping countless others in the process” Peter said.
Kat glared at him, they were clearly of different opinions here.
Rural Germany, Near Posen.
Going down rutted dirt roads at almost fifty kilometers per hour was certainly a rough ride, on paved roads the Luftpanzer could go even faster. The other three Luftpanzers of the Platoon were rolling down the road going just as fast as the one Olli was riding in. The men of the Platoon had looked at him as if he were nuts because he had said that they needed to make the most of the Skunks, even going so far as painting a cartoon version of the animal on the side of the frying pan turret.
Inside the turret was a cramped space with the commander’s cupola on one side and gunner on the other. Just in front of Olli was the rotary chamber for the 84mm recoilless rifle, part of his job was to feed the shells into each chamber then press the button to advance the feed. The gunner got to share his space with the coax MG42/48. Already there had been an incident with the Udo, the gunner, getting a hot spent cartridge case down the back of his coveralls. When the main gun was fired the back blast was deflected somewhat skyward behind the turret but that resulted in a puff of smoke that revealed their position. He had learned recently that the Brass had considered a 30mm autocannon but had gone with the Bofors 84mm instead because it could fire a certain kind of anti-armor shell they liked. Everyone else had grumbled about that for a while until they had been ordered out into the field.
This was open country with rolling hills, so Olli was able to spot the column from a great distance away on the main road and get the Skunks under cover in a tree line a few hundred meters from the road before they were spotted. Looking through his binoculars he saw that it was infantry and a few Skorpion Jagdpanzers, the open turret conversions of older Lynx I Panzers that mounted a 12.8cm main gun. Still rare, but not something that Olli wanted tangle with more than he had to. After radioing in the location of the Jagdpanzers, Olli ordered the Skunks to fall back once the column had passed.
Moscow, Russia
The Czar had been busy putting things to rights since they had returned from their fruitless mission to Potsdam. Only today did he finally have the time to call Fyodor into his office for drinks and chess. “I swear if I spent another hour listening to excuses, I’d probably go completely mad” Georgy said as Fyodor set up the board.
“A good thing that the constitution covers that then” Fyodor said half joking. Having a great deal of experience with national leaders who were insane, ruthless, paranoid and/or stupid had clearly left an indelible impression on those who had drafted the Russian Constitution almost a decade earlier. The mechanisms for removing anyone from Georgy himself all the way down to the local rat catcher from public office was explicitly spelled out. Georgy just shrugged in response. The Czar had no intention of pressing his luck. He had once confided to Feodor that his hope was that by the time he was gone the institutions in Russia would be powerful enough to enforce those provisions in the constitution.
“I never had a chance to ask your opinions on what happened in Potsdam” Georgy said as he made his opening move.
“Are you asking me now?” Fyodor asked in reply as he made a move of his own.
“Yes” Georgy replied.
“The Greeks and Turks are a bunch of idiots fighting for moronic reasons” Fyodor said, “In the Balkans, things are even worse.”
“I see” Georgy said, “But we are on the side of the Greeks, sharing as much as we do with them.”
“I share a great deal with my brother” Fyodor replied, “That doesn’t mean that I don’t prefer Arkadiy to remain in Chelyabinsk as opposed to Moscow.”
“And the others we encountered?” The Czar asked.
“Kira is suspicious of you and that is reflected in rest of the German Royal Court” Fyodor replied, “The rest of Germany still considers us the enemy.”
“Hardly a surprise there” Georgy said, “And Alexandra?”
“In this game I can see several moves ahead” Fyodor replied, “With that woman, I can see no moves ahead. She’s a closed book and largely unpredictable.”
“Haven’t you said that most people are easy to predict?”
“Yes” Fyodor replied, “But your cousin being a sort of living saint is not the kind of person whose actions are easy to predict, the thing with the little girl with the cat for example.”
Georgy nodded. Alexandra deciding to open her home to an orphan was in keeping with who she was, but not something that anyone had seen coming.
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I can see Parker getting some unwanted attention by his superiors for his actions in the Motor Pool.
First he is getting the paperwork done on time with everything being documented, from his time spent with Jonny he has learned the importance of keeping the workspace allotted to him clean and tidy and keeping the tools all nice and shiny, in good working order, and accounted for.
Second after what happened with the discussion about the lug nuts, Parker is going to get all the Technical Manuals updated and fully stocked and is going to give a formal lecture to his men on how to use the TMs as they have all the answers necessary for any tasks at hand, if the OIC or even worse for Parker the unit XO sees him giving this lecture, Parker is going to have to give this lecture to the whole motor pool.
This will impress his superiors and they will press him to take a commission that he can not take.
First he is getting the paperwork done on time with everything being documented, from his time spent with Jonny he has learned the importance of keeping the workspace allotted to him clean and tidy and keeping the tools all nice and shiny, in good working order, and accounted for.
Second after what happened with the discussion about the lug nuts, Parker is going to get all the Technical Manuals updated and fully stocked and is going to give a formal lecture to his men on how to use the TMs as they have all the answers necessary for any tasks at hand, if the OIC or even worse for Parker the unit XO sees him giving this lecture, Parker is going to have to give this lecture to the whole motor pool.
This will impress his superiors and they will press him to take a commission that he can not take.
FBKampfer
Banned
Kat thinks rather highly of herself. She of all people ought to be aware how outmatched she is in unarmed combat by multiple stronger opponents.
She can be as fit as she likes, but she's always been described as small-framed and petite. There's a non-zero chance she could have won that fight with the secret service, but it is certainly not likely barring plot armor (we know she has protagonist-grade plot armor, but she herself does not).
She can be as fit as she likes, but she's always been described as small-framed and petite. There's a non-zero chance she could have won that fight with the secret service, but it is certainly not likely barring plot armor (we know she has protagonist-grade plot armor, but she herself does not).
That's not the point, IMO. The Secret Service wanted her disarmed because they see a potential threat to the president. After she was disarmed she was let in regardless and was rather close to Truman. So she could've killed him (or at least severely injured him) before anyone could've stopped her (reaction time, distance, etc). It basically makes no difference if she had a gun as far as being a danger to president is concerned. Kat's view here is that after they took all her toy's the SS no longer considered her a threat. Which is also why this disarming show has nothing to do with security and everything with it being a pissing contest. Presidents or heads of state do not demand that the bodyguards and security details of the other guy disarm only because they get close. Otherwise no meeting would ever take place.
Is she internationally recognized as being official bodyguard? After all, popping up with a known assassin (As she is considered) and claiming that said assassin is your bodyguard is likely to make some people nervous.
She is the commander of the First Foot, a Colonel and accompanies the Emperor to a meeting with another head of state. I don't think she's enrolled in the international bodyguard list (I don't know if such a thing exists but that would make for a brilliant movie, I think) but I highly doubt that anyone can be more of a bodyguard then she is in that moment.
FBKampfer
Banned
PM even said the SS was still treating her like a grenade that might go off. They're well aware she's never completely "disarmed", but they're just stacking the deck in their favor.
The Americans may be portrayed as arrogant and bungling ITTL, but there are still competent individuals.
If Kat had tried anything, Truman would have been seriously hurt certainly (but then after surviving a magnum rifle round to the chest, I doubt it would even keep him in bed the next day), but Kat's little heart would forever stop beating.
Also, try making sure all the lug nuts go on the same direction. Whoever let manufacturers make lug nuts going both ways was an idiot. Lefty loosy righty tighty.
The original fear was that on one side, the general motion of the wheel would walk the nuts loose. So they would be reversed on that side. I think it was the driver's side.
Opposite thread wheel nuts are more commonly used on double wheels. The inner nut threads one way, while the outer nut threads the other. The idea is to aid in locking the two wheels together, preventing the differing stresses between inner and outer wheels from loosening said nuts.
Thats not how physics works
Which is why reversed threads aren't used on standard cars anymore.
Thats not how physics works
AFAIK it was one of those "it seemed like a good idea at the time."
That's my understanding of it. I've certainly heard from old-timers more than once, recalling a car they couldn't get the lugs off of, only to find later that it was reverse-threaded.
This part is correct but...
A) He's going to tear into the TM's not to ensure they're updated but to ensure they are relatively intact because you now KNOW this has been an ongoing thing whenever these lug-nuts (and I use that term with endearment because I've worked with these guys before) have had the opportunity to do so they've done this to other TM's. Obviously eventually SOMEONE important may actually break one of these open and if he doesn't get there first he's going to be blamed for the problem. B) If he's smart he won't lecture them and if he's even smarter he'll be aware (hell his dad may point this out) the higher ups won't be impressed with him giving his men an opportunity to sleep on the government dime but he's got about zero chance of 'impressing upon' them the sanctity of the TM and how to look things up. They aren't trained to do this which is why they come to him as it is HIS job to do this stuff and keep them out of trouble. Trust me this is one of those situations where being 'smart' consists of just keeping on keeping on with the damage control
That's not how physics works
Unfortunately that's how 'mechanics' works so...
Seriously this is one of those 'common knowledge' that is neither but makes its way into "how things work" due to bull headed inertia and it was FAR from just a US automakers thing. It was quite common when the majority of nuts were only able to be hand tightened but less so once leverage tools allowed a tighter fit.Randy
Part 75, Chapter 1108
Chapter One Thousand One Hundred Eight
29th October 1954
Kleinburg
Ilse had said to Helene that she was having a difficult time. Helene felt sorry for Ilse’s Doctor who was working with the seething mass of contradictions that was Ilse Mischner. She was also felt that her parent’s reticence at being direct in situations like this was working against everyone this time. Ilse assumed that they didn’t approve of her relationship with Albrecht, when it was really Albrecht who they disapproved of. They feared that Albrecht was leading Ilse on and that was not an altogether unfounded worry.
“Ilse has suffered enough for a lifetime and I don’t want your brother adding to that” Was what Helene’s mother had said when Helene had asked. It was a reminder that the occasionally bleak perspective that Kat and Ilse shared had come because the two of them had seen the absolute worst in human nature.
As Ilse had tried to sort out her life, her and Albrecht had been in the separate cities but now they were back under the same roof. To Helene the whole situation was complicated by Albrecht being such an oblivious oaf. All the leading families of Silesia were still practically throwing their daughters at him and Albrecht was cheerfully chatting with a couple of them at that minute. Ilse was giving him a death stare from across the room after she had been relegated to watching over her nieces and nephews as everyone was trying get things in order as the guests arrived. Helene knew that both Kat and Ilse were as prone to jealousy as any other women, the difference was that they were more capable than most when it came to making their feelings very well understood. Doug joked about how if he was ever stupid enough to step out then he would probably vanish never to be seen again. Ilse wasn’t nearly as violent as Kat was said to be, she would probably settle for breaking every bone in Albrecht’s body.
“You are making an ass of yourself” Helene whispered into Albrecht’s ear after she walked up behind him, annoyed by the fact that he was tall enough that she had to stand on her toes to do it. Why did nearly everyone that Helene knew have to be taller than she was?
“What?” Albrecht asked turning to Helene.
As Helene struggled not to chew out Albrecht then and there, she realized that it was going to be a long weekend.
Near the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Russia
Stalin had been dead for years. The Soviet Union that he had led was a distant memory as well. However, in this place nothing had changed. Everyone knew that the prisoners in this camp were those who were here for a reason. Not just the strange crimes of the Soviet Union or being denounced by the wrong person but actual crimes against persons. These were the people who through influence, bribery or just dumb luck managed to avoid immediate execution and had been sent here to this icy Hell hundreds of kilometers from the nearest outpost of civilization in distant Siberia where the world had simply forgot about them. It was debatable if that made them the lucky ones or not.
As she made her way from the barracks to the mess hall, Alisa was overcome by a coughing fit and the resulting dizziness. Trying to regain her breath and equilibrium Alisa was aware of the coppery taste in her mouth and the blood from her lungs that she had coughed up standing out starkly on the new fallen snow. She realized in that moment that she would not survive the coming winter that was just setting in. Forcing herself back onto her feet before one of the guards spotted her, one of those sadists might be tempted to finish the job if they thought a prisoner was dying. As Alisa staggered in the direction of the mess hall, it was noticeable that the guards never looked at her twice anymore. When she had been young and pretty, they had, but that was ages ago before Siberian winters had taken their toll. These days she was viewed with condescension by them when they weren’t actively avoiding her because they knew she had the white death. For her that was both a blessing and a curse.
When Alisa had arrived in the camp years earlier it had been clear that the guards had despised her because of her parent’s religion and because she been accused of poisoning a dozen men. Something that the authorities in Leningrad had never quite been able to prove. Alisa knew the truth though, those were just the ones that the authorities knew about. The real number was three times higher than that. None of that had stopped the guards from wanting to fuck her though. The situation would have been entirely intolerable except she had always been good at playing fools off against each other, something that was absurdly easy to do with the sort of brutes that made up the guards and had never given away anything for free.
That was years ago now. Alisa had nothing but her life left, and that was fleeting. Then she would be gone and the world with it. After waiting in line for entirely too long, she finally got a bowl of watery soup and bread. Unlike the others who complained constantly about the food, Alisa saw no reason to. In a few years, when their teeth had rotted or fallen out as hers had, then they would be singing a different tune.
29th October 1954
Kleinburg
Ilse had said to Helene that she was having a difficult time. Helene felt sorry for Ilse’s Doctor who was working with the seething mass of contradictions that was Ilse Mischner. She was also felt that her parent’s reticence at being direct in situations like this was working against everyone this time. Ilse assumed that they didn’t approve of her relationship with Albrecht, when it was really Albrecht who they disapproved of. They feared that Albrecht was leading Ilse on and that was not an altogether unfounded worry.
“Ilse has suffered enough for a lifetime and I don’t want your brother adding to that” Was what Helene’s mother had said when Helene had asked. It was a reminder that the occasionally bleak perspective that Kat and Ilse shared had come because the two of them had seen the absolute worst in human nature.
As Ilse had tried to sort out her life, her and Albrecht had been in the separate cities but now they were back under the same roof. To Helene the whole situation was complicated by Albrecht being such an oblivious oaf. All the leading families of Silesia were still practically throwing their daughters at him and Albrecht was cheerfully chatting with a couple of them at that minute. Ilse was giving him a death stare from across the room after she had been relegated to watching over her nieces and nephews as everyone was trying get things in order as the guests arrived. Helene knew that both Kat and Ilse were as prone to jealousy as any other women, the difference was that they were more capable than most when it came to making their feelings very well understood. Doug joked about how if he was ever stupid enough to step out then he would probably vanish never to be seen again. Ilse wasn’t nearly as violent as Kat was said to be, she would probably settle for breaking every bone in Albrecht’s body.
“You are making an ass of yourself” Helene whispered into Albrecht’s ear after she walked up behind him, annoyed by the fact that he was tall enough that she had to stand on her toes to do it. Why did nearly everyone that Helene knew have to be taller than she was?
“What?” Albrecht asked turning to Helene.
As Helene struggled not to chew out Albrecht then and there, she realized that it was going to be a long weekend.
Near the Arctic Circle, Siberia, Russia
Stalin had been dead for years. The Soviet Union that he had led was a distant memory as well. However, in this place nothing had changed. Everyone knew that the prisoners in this camp were those who were here for a reason. Not just the strange crimes of the Soviet Union or being denounced by the wrong person but actual crimes against persons. These were the people who through influence, bribery or just dumb luck managed to avoid immediate execution and had been sent here to this icy Hell hundreds of kilometers from the nearest outpost of civilization in distant Siberia where the world had simply forgot about them. It was debatable if that made them the lucky ones or not.
As she made her way from the barracks to the mess hall, Alisa was overcome by a coughing fit and the resulting dizziness. Trying to regain her breath and equilibrium Alisa was aware of the coppery taste in her mouth and the blood from her lungs that she had coughed up standing out starkly on the new fallen snow. She realized in that moment that she would not survive the coming winter that was just setting in. Forcing herself back onto her feet before one of the guards spotted her, one of those sadists might be tempted to finish the job if they thought a prisoner was dying. As Alisa staggered in the direction of the mess hall, it was noticeable that the guards never looked at her twice anymore. When she had been young and pretty, they had, but that was ages ago before Siberian winters had taken their toll. These days she was viewed with condescension by them when they weren’t actively avoiding her because they knew she had the white death. For her that was both a blessing and a curse.
When Alisa had arrived in the camp years earlier it had been clear that the guards had despised her because of her parent’s religion and because she been accused of poisoning a dozen men. Something that the authorities in Leningrad had never quite been able to prove. Alisa knew the truth though, those were just the ones that the authorities knew about. The real number was three times higher than that. None of that had stopped the guards from wanting to fuck her though. The situation would have been entirely intolerable except she had always been good at playing fools off against each other, something that was absurdly easy to do with the sort of brutes that made up the guards and had never given away anything for free.
That was years ago now. Alisa had nothing but her life left, and that was fleeting. Then she would be gone and the world with it. After waiting in line for entirely too long, she finally got a bowl of watery soup and bread. Unlike the others who complained constantly about the food, Alisa saw no reason to. In a few years, when their teeth had rotted or fallen out as hers had, then they would be singing a different tune.