Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Forty-One

Kiki’s musing was interrupted by the sharp blast of a whistle as the Oberfeld started yelling instructions at the FSR team. The Noncoms that were working with her were enjoying this a bit too much. However, because this was her show, Kiki stood there and quietly observed as the team was forced to dive under the barbed wire into the icy mud.

Surely not, NCO's are serious professionals.

 
IOTL the 1968 Presidential election was the last time a candidate could win the nomination without going through the primaries so in this time around the various Democratic state party leaders are going to look for someone who can help the most with the down ballot races.
An arch segregationist like George Smathers who's greatest accomplishment IOTL was to move the Federal Holidays to Monday thus creating the Three Day Weekend is not that person.
Nixon could be that candidate because he wants to set up a run in 1972 which would be more favorable to him, Eugene McCarthy was considered to be too much of a flake by everyone including his IOTL campaign staff is why Robert Kennedy jumped in to the race after New Hampshire IOTL.
The ideal candidate is going to be a Southern who is sufficiently Pro Civil Rights enough for African-American voters and centrist enough to not to scare white moderates.
So in other words a Pie-in-the-Sky candidate.
 
The team had spent the last couple hours climbing over and crawling under various obstacles before engaging targets in real world scenarios. That included the risk of weapons malfunctioning and plain bad luck. It was meant to be of sufficient difficulty to be just as hard as real combat. Though Kiki understood that the feeling that came when there were bullets flying back the other way was impossible to replicate. The members of one of the FSR teams based here was too professional to react in an untoward way, but Kiki could tell that they were angry with her for what she had said to the Oberst. She had told him about how she felt that the firearms training for the FSR was inadequate at the Signals School when he had asked her opinion. They were supposed to be the Jäger Corps of the Medical Service. The Oberst had just shrugged and put her in charge of training that she deemed adequate because she was the most knowledgeable having been trained by the Tigress herself. It wasn’t until later that Kiki had realized that she had never told him about that.

Change is always resented by someone. Objectively they know its the right thing to do, they just wish it hadn't happened, especially to them. Kiki's concerns over the training curriculum are valid and the Oberst obviously had concerns of his own, hence his asking a decorated combat vet for her opinion. That the combat vet in question was personally trained by the Tigress, the patron saint of German special forces, just lent her opinion that much more weight. And Kiki shouldn't really be surprised that TPTB know that Kat trained her, after all Kat's positions in the First of Foot, the SKA and the Imperial protection detail is well known to the Heer.

Kiki’s musing was interrupted by the sharp blast of a whistle as the Oberfeld started yelling instructions at the FSR team. The Noncoms that were working with her were enjoying this a bit too much. However, because this was her show, Kiki stood there and quietly observed as the team was forced to dive under the barbed wire into the icy mud.

Of course the NCOs are enjoying this. Training is their religion. 'Hard training makes for easy battles' is an adage that dates from the days of Sparta.

“What do you think of the candidate who came in third in New Hampshire?” The Analyst asked, “Richard Nixon, the pundits are suggesting that he might be a strong dark horse.”
Asia shrugged, “I remember him from California when I was there. To Washington D.C. the West Coast of America might as well be off the edge of the Earth. So, I doubt you’ll hear his name too much in the coming months.”

New York Times: "Convention upset: Shock win gives Nixon the Democratic nomination"
Washington Post: "Dark Horse Nixon crushes rivals to secure Democrat presidential nomination"
 
Kiki needs to show Vicky in a public way that she supports the wedding of Victoria and Franz and the best way to do it is hosting the bridal shower.
From what I have been finding out about Albrecht of Bavaria he is going to want to make this Wedding one for the ages and will pull out all stops to do so.
Look for as many Princesses as possible to be the bridesmaids with one Princess Alberta of Great Britain at the top of that list, this may make King Michael see Alberta as the women she is then the girl that he remembers.

Kiki with that Obstacle Course has just checked off a few boxes for her like "Identify Problems and Provides Solutions" , "Shows Initiative" " Takes Leadership" among other things, this may mark her for future command of the JMS
Kiki may draw inspiration from Ben and may push for a member of the JMS to be a part of the space program to do medical experiments in space.
 
Kiki may draw inspiration from Ben and may push for a member of the JMS to be a part of the space program to do medical experiments in space.

"Wilkommen Raumfahrer Von Preussen..."

Actually, her eyesight would disqualify her, but I could see her making the suggestion via a paper she doesn't expect anyone to read that blows up and ends up on the desk of Doctors Berg & Holz as well as Albrecht Von Richthofen, who then decide to volunteer Kiki as the one to find the JMS Raumfahrer candidate. It's the most Kiki thing that could possibly happen.
 
Nah, send Rea to space.

Everyone will love that campaign. The issue will be finding support for her coming back :winkytongue:

The question is: send her up for Vicky's wedding, or after? On the one hand, her being in space would cut the chances of her acting out on the day...but on the other hand, even for a lavender marriage no bride would want to be upstaged by her sister :p
 
Part 112, Chapter 1842
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Forty-Two



7th April 1968

la Drang Valley, Vietnam

When Tilo decided to revisit the journey, he had taken twenty-five years earlier across Vietnam, Nancy had told him that taking Sabastian would be a good idea. Today, he was watching as the boy was peering into fox holes and poking at the rusted bits of metal that were around. Once again Tilo had to tell him not to do that unless he wanted to leave one of his hands out here. The Vietnamese Army had said that they had cleared the site several years earlier, but the old habit of not trusting the official line until further information was available was hard to break.

Tilo was walking along the crest of Tsingtao Ridge, the jungle and climate had done a great deal to reclaim the area but here and there signs of the titanic battle remained. The pockmarks made by mortars, the larger craters left by larger artillery, hundreds of foxholes that had been dug by the 3rd MID as they had fortified this ridge to stand off against an entire Japanese army, and finally the rusted remains of a burnt out Luftpanzer guarded the 3rd MID’s right flank forever. The battle fought here had been where the Division’s real baptism of fire had occurred.

A few years earlier, a film depicting this battle had been made and the writers had focused on Tilo and Reier. That had been entirely because Tilo’s book had been a key piece of material that the film had been based on. Tilo had made it rather explicit when he had written about this battle that he had only been a bit player. The film however had made it seem like he had played a larger role than he had. On the other hand, Reier had reveled in his newfound celebrity by milking it for all it was worth. This had come at an opportune time for Reier, he had reached the highest rank possible for a Noncommissioned Officer and was unlikely to advance into the Warrant Officer Ranks due to his time as the Platoon yoyo and rather checkered past when he had been younger. The Division had been leaning on him to get out. Like everyone who actually knew Reier, Tilo understood that he would be dead in a year if he retired so Tilo had him appointed to the Mürwik Naval School as the Academy Drill Master. Reier wasn’t exactly a perfect fit and apparently Reier had discovered that he could have a lot of fun teaching the Cadets how to play the system. On the other side of the ledger the prior year had seen the largest percentage of the Class volunteer for the Marine Infantry. The insane stories that Reier told the Cadets about his adventures all around the world may have had a larger influence than anyone imagined was possible.

At the base of the ridge, Tilo and Sabastian came to the cemetery where the dead had been buried after the battle. Part of the ethos of the Marine Infantry was that Germany was whatever ground happened to be under their boots. That come to mean that they had tended to bury their dead in the places that they fallen. Tilo had heard about how years after the war the official bureaucracy had followed up at this location so that at the family’s request the remains of their loved ones could be repatriated. They had found that the local villagers had maintained the site and had even built a small Buddhist shrine. Sabastian looked curiously at it as the smell in incense filled the air. The Marine Infantry had been transformed by their experiences in this land and Tilo couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute to those who would remain here forever.

“Tomorrow we’re going to Hanoi and staying at Duc Phan’s house” Tilo said to Sabastian, “His family is excited to finally meet you.”

Sabastian just shrugged indifferently. He had caused a great deal of trouble over the last year, much to the aggravation of his parents. Tilo had managed to avoid legal entanglements, but that had not been without a substantial cost and the promise that Sabastian would be dealt with. The suggestion had been strongly made that he be sent to a school that suited his temperament and social standing. Tilo knew Nancy had been hoping that Sabastian would find his place in the world without the frequently painful process that his father, uncles, and cousins had endured. Unfortunately, those hopes had been dashed by a bit of vandalism. Tilo remembered his own mother warning him and his siblings that consequences tended to pile up over time and the older they got the bigger the pile grew. Ava’s disastrous marriage. Hanna getting pregnant while still in secondary school. Tilo landing in the Marine Infantry because he shot his mouth off too much. Inga being… well, Inga, and deciding that she preferred her life in Berlin. Jost and Lenz constantly getting into fights, with each other or against anyone who dared to interfere with whatever the latest beef was. All of those were examples of that.

Nancy was adamant that history should not repeat itself with her children and she already felt that she was failing her son. This had caused her to redouble her efforts with Anna and Gretchen, getting them involved in activities that would hopefully keep them out of trouble.
 
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This is the color to keep in mind during the next update. Puce_full.png
 
Part 112, Chapter 1843
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Forty-Three



14th April 1968

Munich

The whole thing was farcical.

There was simply no way to get around that. A couple days before, Vicky had met with Franz and they had completed the paperwork and had dropped it off at the courthouse, so they were already legally married. That had seemed very straight-forward as opposed to what was being staged while Vicky fretted in the foyer of the Frauenkirche.

It was all a far larger production with family, friends, and an extensive guest list that included everyone from Heads of State on down. There were thousands of people crowded into the Cathedral of Our Dear Lady and even more outside the brick church that dominated the center of Munich. Standing by the Devil’s step, she was waiting for her father and the ceremony to begin. Vicky knew that once she entered then she would need to see it through.

Her attendants were off to the side chattering among themselves, leaving Vicky to stew over what was happening. The thought raced through her mind; What if Kiki was right about this whole thing? What if all these people saw right through this charade? And the cameras, this was being broadcast around the world. She couldn’t possibly fool everyone. Finally, the last intrusive thought involved Rea. Her well meaning but ultimately bumbling twin sister. She had been totally absent during everything that had happened prior to this. Vicky had sent her several invitations but there had only been silence in return. Kiki said that Rea would come around, but so far that had not happened. More than anything, Vicky wanted…

“Aren’t you supposed to be happy?” An unexpected voice asked.

Startled, Vicky saw Rea step into the foyer from outside. She had cut her hair short and it really did look boyish, worst of all Rea being Rea, she was wearing the sort of dark blue suit that some women found fashionable as opposed to the bridesmaid’s dress that she should have been wearing. It was a small wonder that people thought what they did about her. They would eventually be in for quite a surprise.

“What are you doing here?” Vicky demanded.

“Sham weddings, nearly every notable from across several continents being played for saps, and free drinks at the reception afterwards” Rea replied in the private language that only the other would understand. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“And why are you wearing that?” Vicky demanded, realizing what a spectacle Rea was making of herself.

“I saw the puce dresses that you have Kiki, Anna and the rest of the women in your party wearing. Just seeing them made me feel like I was picking at a scab” Rea replied, “You’ve never had great taste. For a long time, I wondered if you were color blind.”

Then Rea gave Vicky’s dress an appraising look. “I always wondered what had become of our mother’s wedding dress” She said, “It does work for you though.”

“She didn’t think that either you or Kiki would ever need it” Vicky replied, “So, she gave it to me.”

Rea found that funny.

“If only she had known” Rea said, and Vicky felt a bit of heat on her cheeks. Vicky had realized that if her mother had ever figured out the truth, it was likely that she would have been sent to the same convent in Pskov that Gia had been exiled to after she had run off to Canada and she would have been a prisoner there for at least the remainder of her mother’s life.

Vicky decided that she needed to look past her sister’s antics and just take it at face value.

“I am glad you came” Vicky said.

“You know me” Ria replied, “I’m never one to miss a caper.”

“This is my wedding” Vicky said, “That is hardly a caper.”

“If you saw what I got Poppa to agree to in order to keep me from disrupting this whole thing, you wouldn’t think so” Rea said with an impish smile.

“You would have disrupted my wedding?” Vicky asked slightly appalled.

“Of course, not” Rea replied, “But Poppa assumed that I might and was offering to pay me off before I had a chance to tell him that.”

“You are saying that you extorted Poppa?” Vicky asked.

“By accident” Rea replied, “But a lot of great causes were advanced, so it is sort of hard for me to feel bad about it.”

For a moment it felt like when they had been girls and it had been the two of them against the entire world and they had won far more than they had ever lost. Then Poppa stepped in and everything was serious again. He saw Vicky standing there and he smiled, despite what he knew about what was really going on, Poppa still tried to put a positive spin on things.

“It is almost time” Louis said before turning to Rea, “And do I need to remind you of our deal?”

“No, Poppa” Rea said, she was rather convincing which meant that Poppa wouldn’t buy it for a second. It was a reminder to Vicky just how great a team she and her sister had been. With that the sounds of the pipe organ changed, and Louis held out his arm for Vicky.

“We’ll give your sister a moment to find her seat, then we will get on with this” Louis said. Rea blew a raspberry at Vicky as she rushed into the church and the actual wedding party entered the foyer. Vicky laughed at that and it was her fondest hope that Rea would never change.
 
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