Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
That would be a perfect example of Stupid Luck & Happenstance.
Cam Ranh Bay Launch Facility (circa 19??):
Reporter: "So, Fraulein Professorin von Knipsel, how exactly did your career in cybernetics begin?
Suse: "Well, I was just walking down a corridor at the university, on my way to my basic metallurgy class, when an arm shot out & dragged me into a robotics lab. After the screaming stopped, they explained why they had dragged me in there and the rest is history."
Reporter (looking confused & a little pale): "Err... after the... err... screaming stopped?"
Suse: Well, yes. It was a bit of a misunderstanding, you see. For some reason, they thought that just grabbing a randomly passing woman was the appropriate way to ask for help, instead of politely asking for it. My self-defense training kicked in & I kinda, sorta broke Karl's arm."
Reporter (looking aghast): "I... see... You were trained in self-defense by you father?"
Suse: "Partly, but mostly by my Tante Kat."
Reporter: "Your Tante Kat, as in Furstin von Mischner?"
Suse: "Yes, that's correct."
Reporter: " And Karl recovered?"
Suse: "Oh, he's fine. As I said, it was a total misunderstanding. We're great friends now. In fact, he's the guy trying to hide behind the prototype deep-space grappling arm, that's his baby. Wave hello, Karl. See."
Part 107, Chapter 1752
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-Two
16th September 1966
Rural Serbia, Near Priština
The Dragoons of the 7th Recon Battalion had a mission that was frequently at odds with the rest of the 4th Panzer Division. There was considerable irony in that the Panzer Dragoons had the reputation of being the heaviest of Heavy Infantry while the 7th was at the opposite end of the scale in needing to have the lightest footprint possible. They were tasked with ranging far afield from the main column, mapping out the enemy strong points and relaying that information back to headquarters. When Manfred’s squad had been shoved onto a train for Italy, they had been told that was exactly what they would be doing, sort of. The Officer who had briefed him before they had boarded the helicopter that had taken them to here, wherever here even was, had been BND. Instead of a rifle, Manfred had been told that the weapon of choice on this mission was a camera with a telephoto lens and a radio that he was only to use in the direst of situations. Avoid contact with anyone, gather information, take photographs, return to the landing zone at the prearranged time and most of all, don’t get caught. Those seemed like simple enough orders. However, nothing was ever as simple as orders made it sound as Manfred had learned repeatedly over the course of his brief career.
A few days earlier his squad had been dropped into an area that recon flights had deemed to be abandoned via helicopter. What they found was that the area wasn’t so much abandoned as destroyed and left for the forest to reclaim. Burnt out houses with the bones of the occupants still inside mostly. Whoever these people had been, no one had been left to rebuild or bury the remains. It had been Christian who had pointed out that the fires that had left those houses ruins looked to have occurred at around the time of the last Greco-Turkish War.
What had followed was the pattern of moving by night and hiding within an observation point during the day. A couple things had quickly become apparent. There were very few civilians in the area, most of the vehicles they saw were military in nature and all of them were moving in the same direction. Even Manfred could see from his narrow perspective that an army was massing nearby.
It had been a few hours later that they had heard gunshots.
It was one of those things that Manfred had understood in his bones from the instant they heard those shots. That if they investigated, they were not going to like what they found. It was in the form of fresh corpses dumped like garbage in the ditch alongside the road, they looked to be old men, women, and children. As per his orders Manfred took pictures before moving on. By the time they made it back to the landing zone, Manfred had far more questions than answers about what was going on. He just hoped that someone in Wunsdorf could see the big picture of whatever was happening here.
Tempelhof, Berlin
The back garden was visible out the window of Kat’s office and she found herself watching the birds as they flitted about the trees. Jo had a birdfeeder hanging outside her window and that attracted them. There was work needing to be done, the general plans for the KSK in the event of a new Greco-Turkish War. At issue was if the Serbians and their Greek allies carried out their plan to exterminate the Albanians, something that seemed inevitable at this point. Instead, Kat was thinking to more pleasant, domestic considerations. Things she had the power to effect.
Kat’s life had fallen into a routine of the sort that she had once not thought possible. The vacation to Italy had been a wonderful diversion. Tatiana had been in a huff during the last week. Eventually she had complained to Malcolm about how Cosimo de’ Medici had told her that she sounded the same as Kat and he had told Douglas. Kat had told Douglas that he shouldn’t find that funny, though it was. When she got the chance Kat would need to thank Cosimo for saying that. These days it seemed like Tat was being a complete bitch most of the time and Aunt Marcella had told Kat that it was about time that the shoe was on the other foot. That was why Kat was dreading what was coming with Marie, at the age of ten she was showing signs of rapidly approaching maturity.
Those were things that Kat had to keep in mind when Suse returned from Prague. It seemed that over the summer holiday Gerta had been her usual impulsive self and had gleefully needled Suse over her apparent prudishness. That was typical of Gerta. It was hard to tell what she really thought about Suse, but it seemed like if she expected her daughter to be like her. While Kat was aware of a lot of things that Suse did that reminded her of Gerta, the situation that Suse had described sounded like Gerta’s behavior had been particularly mortifying this time. It had been a bit of a surprise that Suse had asked Kat if she could continue to stay at her house even though she was going to University. When Kat had told her that she was welcome to stay if she needed to so long as she was going to school or had a job, Suse had asked why her mother couldn’t be like Kat. It was strange how Tatiana chaffed under Kat’s rules while Suse seemed to prefer the structure to her mother’s chaotic household.
16th September 1966
Rural Serbia, Near Priština
The Dragoons of the 7th Recon Battalion had a mission that was frequently at odds with the rest of the 4th Panzer Division. There was considerable irony in that the Panzer Dragoons had the reputation of being the heaviest of Heavy Infantry while the 7th was at the opposite end of the scale in needing to have the lightest footprint possible. They were tasked with ranging far afield from the main column, mapping out the enemy strong points and relaying that information back to headquarters. When Manfred’s squad had been shoved onto a train for Italy, they had been told that was exactly what they would be doing, sort of. The Officer who had briefed him before they had boarded the helicopter that had taken them to here, wherever here even was, had been BND. Instead of a rifle, Manfred had been told that the weapon of choice on this mission was a camera with a telephoto lens and a radio that he was only to use in the direst of situations. Avoid contact with anyone, gather information, take photographs, return to the landing zone at the prearranged time and most of all, don’t get caught. Those seemed like simple enough orders. However, nothing was ever as simple as orders made it sound as Manfred had learned repeatedly over the course of his brief career.
A few days earlier his squad had been dropped into an area that recon flights had deemed to be abandoned via helicopter. What they found was that the area wasn’t so much abandoned as destroyed and left for the forest to reclaim. Burnt out houses with the bones of the occupants still inside mostly. Whoever these people had been, no one had been left to rebuild or bury the remains. It had been Christian who had pointed out that the fires that had left those houses ruins looked to have occurred at around the time of the last Greco-Turkish War.
What had followed was the pattern of moving by night and hiding within an observation point during the day. A couple things had quickly become apparent. There were very few civilians in the area, most of the vehicles they saw were military in nature and all of them were moving in the same direction. Even Manfred could see from his narrow perspective that an army was massing nearby.
It had been a few hours later that they had heard gunshots.
It was one of those things that Manfred had understood in his bones from the instant they heard those shots. That if they investigated, they were not going to like what they found. It was in the form of fresh corpses dumped like garbage in the ditch alongside the road, they looked to be old men, women, and children. As per his orders Manfred took pictures before moving on. By the time they made it back to the landing zone, Manfred had far more questions than answers about what was going on. He just hoped that someone in Wunsdorf could see the big picture of whatever was happening here.
Tempelhof, Berlin
The back garden was visible out the window of Kat’s office and she found herself watching the birds as they flitted about the trees. Jo had a birdfeeder hanging outside her window and that attracted them. There was work needing to be done, the general plans for the KSK in the event of a new Greco-Turkish War. At issue was if the Serbians and their Greek allies carried out their plan to exterminate the Albanians, something that seemed inevitable at this point. Instead, Kat was thinking to more pleasant, domestic considerations. Things she had the power to effect.
Kat’s life had fallen into a routine of the sort that she had once not thought possible. The vacation to Italy had been a wonderful diversion. Tatiana had been in a huff during the last week. Eventually she had complained to Malcolm about how Cosimo de’ Medici had told her that she sounded the same as Kat and he had told Douglas. Kat had told Douglas that he shouldn’t find that funny, though it was. When she got the chance Kat would need to thank Cosimo for saying that. These days it seemed like Tat was being a complete bitch most of the time and Aunt Marcella had told Kat that it was about time that the shoe was on the other foot. That was why Kat was dreading what was coming with Marie, at the age of ten she was showing signs of rapidly approaching maturity.
Those were things that Kat had to keep in mind when Suse returned from Prague. It seemed that over the summer holiday Gerta had been her usual impulsive self and had gleefully needled Suse over her apparent prudishness. That was typical of Gerta. It was hard to tell what she really thought about Suse, but it seemed like if she expected her daughter to be like her. While Kat was aware of a lot of things that Suse did that reminded her of Gerta, the situation that Suse had described sounded like Gerta’s behavior had been particularly mortifying this time. It had been a bit of a surprise that Suse had asked Kat if she could continue to stay at her house even though she was going to University. When Kat had told her that she was welcome to stay if she needed to so long as she was going to school or had a job, Suse had asked why her mother couldn’t be like Kat. It was strange how Tatiana chaffed under Kat’s rules while Suse seemed to prefer the structure to her mother’s chaotic household.
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In no way am I advocating genocide, just regretfully that seems to be the direction that things are headed in at this point in TTL.
my two pen'neth on this:
The activities so far have not been presented as to in anyway glorify, excuse or whitewash something we have examples of, in living memory, from that region.
You could retcon the post to remove it, but I think there are two points to bear in mind:
- As a writer, you are able to present this appropriately without doing a disservice to the gravity of the event
- As an audience, we should be mature enough to deal with the subject matter without breaching board rules
Keep it.
Reality is shit, and there is no reason fictional reality is any different.
I mean this world has had no repercussions for genocide up till now, so the Greeks and Serbs being monsters to Albanians isn't shocking.
Shit.
It looks as if the Balkans are going to explode again. And it looks as if two of the regional players have decided on a final solution to a mutual border problem. This revelation has me wondering if Senor Arbusto is playing both sides off against the other, plying each with 'intelligence' which just so happens to support and enhance their hatred of the other side. With, of course, the rest of Europe at risk of being dragged into the conflict.
I think Albania's best chance to survive this is to tell the Turks that they're on their own, and request that LoN peacekeepers be dispatched immediately to Albania to preserve the peace & ensure public safety.
The old parental curse: "When you grow up & have kids, I hope they are just like you."
My sisters have both since apologised to our mother since having kids of their own.
A case of the grass being greener.
Like all such conflicts, the roots are deep and complex, which are then twisted by hate-filled, greedy & power-hungry people into the evils of war & genocide.
This is a very bad situation that is going on in the Balkans.
From my interpretations of seems that Greece and Serbia are in an alliance with Russia and Russia has given them the green light to start another war with Turkey firing the first shots, to do so the Greeks and Serbs are committing genocide against Moslems hoping that will provoke Turkey.
IOTL Cyprus gained it's independence from Great Britain in 1960 after an agreement was reached between Great Britian, Greece, and Turkey that guaranteed the rights of the Turkish and other ethnic minorities, it also gave Great Britain permanent basing rights at two locations in Cyprus.
Greece has always considered Cyprus as part of Greece and they may be trying to force a solution that will make Cyprus a part of the Greek Empire which Great Britain will not want and will make Turkey fearful for the Turkish minority on Cyprus as I have no doubt that if the Greek government gets what it wants then the expulsion of the Turkish minority from Cyprus will be the least extreme measure that will be taken.
Turkey may not be be part of the League of Nations and has no allies in Europe so that has made the United States the default ally as probably the United States Navy has shore facilities in Turkey to service USN ships in the Mediterranean and the United States is the only one to sell weapons and provide training to the Turks.
It is in the best interests of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany not to let this spiral out of control so that is why they are working together on this.
From my interpretations of seems that Greece and Serbia are in an alliance with Russia and Russia has given them the green light to start another war with Turkey firing the first shots, to do so the Greeks and Serbs are committing genocide against Moslems hoping that will provoke Turkey.
IOTL Cyprus gained it's independence from Great Britain in 1960 after an agreement was reached between Great Britian, Greece, and Turkey that guaranteed the rights of the Turkish and other ethnic minorities, it also gave Great Britain permanent basing rights at two locations in Cyprus.
Greece has always considered Cyprus as part of Greece and they may be trying to force a solution that will make Cyprus a part of the Greek Empire which Great Britain will not want and will make Turkey fearful for the Turkish minority on Cyprus as I have no doubt that if the Greek government gets what it wants then the expulsion of the Turkish minority from Cyprus will be the least extreme measure that will be taken.
Turkey may not be be part of the League of Nations and has no allies in Europe so that has made the United States the default ally as probably the United States Navy has shore facilities in Turkey to service USN ships in the Mediterranean and the United States is the only one to sell weapons and provide training to the Turks.
It is in the best interests of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany not to let this spiral out of control so that is why they are working together on this.
Part 107, Chapter 1753
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-Three
18th September 1966
Laupheim, Württemberg
After spending a few days getting accustomed to the differences between how they did things differently here. They were regarded as professionals and expected to police themselves. There were the obvious details like the option of beer with every meal, far better food than he was used to and oddly, dinner for lunch. The thing that most surprised Ritchie though was the presence of the women who made up almost a quarter of those assigned to Laupheim, not the least of whom was their Liaison, Stabsarzt/Hauptmann Prinzessin Kristina von Preussen herself.
None of that gave a stated reason as to why Ritchie was here though.
Disturbingly, the Germans seemed to know as much about their equipment as they did. Ritchie had eventually asked and had been told that the Kommando Spezialkräfte had been trained to fight the US Army in general and the 1st SFG specifically without further explanation. Kristina had also mentioned several other outfits who Ritchie had never heard of. Spetsnaz? Gesundheit. What that amounted to was being told that much of their gear was inadequate if they were going to play a cooperative role in the coming weeks. In Ritchie’s opinion they did not have to look so smug as they had explained how each new piece of equipment worked. Then Sunday came.
Apparently, it was a tradition of the German Special Forces going back to when the SKA, the precursor of the KSK, had been a single independent Airborne Regiment in Judenbach. Every Sunday they had a formal meal that went beyond the usual “Evening Bread” where they would have a toast in memory of their fallen and to the health of the Kaiser. As a courtesy to the 1st Special Forces Group being present, they drank to the heath of President Rockefeller as well. During the Second World War, the SKA had enjoyed stunning successes against the Russians and Japanese, but that suffered staggering numbers of casualties as well. It was tradition that went with a history that the Green Beret who had been sent to Laupheim learned in the hurry because they were expected to honor it while they were here.
For them that involved Class A uniforms and Ritchie certainly felt out of place as he entered the Mess Hall, though the lack of reaction to his presence shouldn’t have been a surprise. Every German Service branch had a unique dress uniform and colors denoting specialties were a part of that uniform. The first day after their arrival, they had gotten a lot of strange looks and there was something about their appearance that many of the Germans found amusing. Kristina eventually explained that the green berets that gave the 1st SFG its name was similar in color to one worn as part of the uniform of regular German Infantry. The only real difference was the pin that was typically worn on it that Division or Specialty. Looking around after that, Ritchie had realized that he was surrounded by Mountain Troops, Paratroopers and Dragoon Infantry. All of whom marked themselves as being different, the elite with the colors of the beret they wore. Kristina wore a blue beret with a Medical Services pin on it and an FSR patch on her tunic, two things that seemed to be a big deal here. The Dragoons wore black, the Paratroopers wore burgundy and the Mountain Troops wore an odd visored cap. A few of the men Ritchie had seen wore a blue beret with a white band, he had asked Kristina who they were, and she said Seelöwen as if that meant anything to him. Marine Infantry, she had said a minute later, and he understood what that meant. When he had told Huck about that, Huck said that he thought that the Germans were smarter than to keep that sort of trash around.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Because Kiki had volunteered to join the FSR and be posted to an Army Helicopter Wing, she was required to wear the dark blue tunic of the Heer to formal events and probably would for the remainder of her career. Doctor Holz had joked that it was because the stink of that would never come off her. Not that Kiki minded though, she thought that it looked better than the light blue worn by the Medical Service. The Pour le Mérite that she was wearing tonight had raised a lot of questions among the Americans, as had the gold and white sash from the Order of St. Henry. They had instantly recognized the US Army Commendation Medal though and the question became how she had gotten it.
Ben was threatening to come up here sometime in the coming weeks and Kiki looked at that with a mixture of amusement and terror. Amusement because Kiki didn’t think he was aware of the sort of reception that he would get in Laupheim and terror because she still hadn’t figured out how she was going to respond to his naming a part of the Moon after her. She still wondered what he had been thinking. In the weeks since the Press had learned of it and it had prompted a new round of speculation about their relationship, which was all too predictable.
Then there was the latest insult to Kiki’s dignity, her security detail was to be expanded and she was expressly forbidden from abandoning them by her father. There was trouble in the Balkans again and everyone remembered what had happened the last time there had been a war when Kiki’s mother had been shot and Kiki’s nose had been badly broken in the resulting chaos.
As the toasts were concluded everyone began their meal. Kiki just took sips of wine and delighted in being ignored. Specialist 2nd Class Valenzuela was talking with Major Parker and Kiki couldn’t help but hear Parker’s next words. “They seem nice but do not forget for an instant that these are the same people who killed Sergeant Casey.” That was entirely unexpected.
18th September 1966
Laupheim, Württemberg
After spending a few days getting accustomed to the differences between how they did things differently here. They were regarded as professionals and expected to police themselves. There were the obvious details like the option of beer with every meal, far better food than he was used to and oddly, dinner for lunch. The thing that most surprised Ritchie though was the presence of the women who made up almost a quarter of those assigned to Laupheim, not the least of whom was their Liaison, Stabsarzt/Hauptmann Prinzessin Kristina von Preussen herself.
None of that gave a stated reason as to why Ritchie was here though.
Disturbingly, the Germans seemed to know as much about their equipment as they did. Ritchie had eventually asked and had been told that the Kommando Spezialkräfte had been trained to fight the US Army in general and the 1st SFG specifically without further explanation. Kristina had also mentioned several other outfits who Ritchie had never heard of. Spetsnaz? Gesundheit. What that amounted to was being told that much of their gear was inadequate if they were going to play a cooperative role in the coming weeks. In Ritchie’s opinion they did not have to look so smug as they had explained how each new piece of equipment worked. Then Sunday came.
Apparently, it was a tradition of the German Special Forces going back to when the SKA, the precursor of the KSK, had been a single independent Airborne Regiment in Judenbach. Every Sunday they had a formal meal that went beyond the usual “Evening Bread” where they would have a toast in memory of their fallen and to the health of the Kaiser. As a courtesy to the 1st Special Forces Group being present, they drank to the heath of President Rockefeller as well. During the Second World War, the SKA had enjoyed stunning successes against the Russians and Japanese, but that suffered staggering numbers of casualties as well. It was tradition that went with a history that the Green Beret who had been sent to Laupheim learned in the hurry because they were expected to honor it while they were here.
For them that involved Class A uniforms and Ritchie certainly felt out of place as he entered the Mess Hall, though the lack of reaction to his presence shouldn’t have been a surprise. Every German Service branch had a unique dress uniform and colors denoting specialties were a part of that uniform. The first day after their arrival, they had gotten a lot of strange looks and there was something about their appearance that many of the Germans found amusing. Kristina eventually explained that the green berets that gave the 1st SFG its name was similar in color to one worn as part of the uniform of regular German Infantry. The only real difference was the pin that was typically worn on it that Division or Specialty. Looking around after that, Ritchie had realized that he was surrounded by Mountain Troops, Paratroopers and Dragoon Infantry. All of whom marked themselves as being different, the elite with the colors of the beret they wore. Kristina wore a blue beret with a Medical Services pin on it and an FSR patch on her tunic, two things that seemed to be a big deal here. The Dragoons wore black, the Paratroopers wore burgundy and the Mountain Troops wore an odd visored cap. A few of the men Ritchie had seen wore a blue beret with a white band, he had asked Kristina who they were, and she said Seelöwen as if that meant anything to him. Marine Infantry, she had said a minute later, and he understood what that meant. When he had told Huck about that, Huck said that he thought that the Germans were smarter than to keep that sort of trash around.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Because Kiki had volunteered to join the FSR and be posted to an Army Helicopter Wing, she was required to wear the dark blue tunic of the Heer to formal events and probably would for the remainder of her career. Doctor Holz had joked that it was because the stink of that would never come off her. Not that Kiki minded though, she thought that it looked better than the light blue worn by the Medical Service. The Pour le Mérite that she was wearing tonight had raised a lot of questions among the Americans, as had the gold and white sash from the Order of St. Henry. They had instantly recognized the US Army Commendation Medal though and the question became how she had gotten it.
Ben was threatening to come up here sometime in the coming weeks and Kiki looked at that with a mixture of amusement and terror. Amusement because Kiki didn’t think he was aware of the sort of reception that he would get in Laupheim and terror because she still hadn’t figured out how she was going to respond to his naming a part of the Moon after her. She still wondered what he had been thinking. In the weeks since the Press had learned of it and it had prompted a new round of speculation about their relationship, which was all too predictable.
Then there was the latest insult to Kiki’s dignity, her security detail was to be expanded and she was expressly forbidden from abandoning them by her father. There was trouble in the Balkans again and everyone remembered what had happened the last time there had been a war when Kiki’s mother had been shot and Kiki’s nose had been badly broken in the resulting chaos.
As the toasts were concluded everyone began their meal. Kiki just took sips of wine and delighted in being ignored. Specialist 2nd Class Valenzuela was talking with Major Parker and Kiki couldn’t help but hear Parker’s next words. “They seem nice but do not forget for an instant that these are the same people who killed Sergeant Casey.” That was entirely unexpected.
He got caught up in it when several Chinese Divisions were shelled by KM Battleships in Korea.I kinda forgot how Casey died... can anyone point me to the post where he dies, or just give me a small summary?
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread II
Sadly, given the hypocrisy of the speech given how the US itself was formed, and given how one eyed and nationalistic many people from the US seem to be OTL, I can the US population swallowing this hook line and sinker. So how long until the US decides to invade Canada to save them from the...
www.alternatehistory.com
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ferdi254
Banned
And was sent to his government to back up the Chinese in an aggressive war that was backed up and sort of started by it to be able to sell guns to China. And he died on the soil of Korea so Germany had all the rights in the world to shell the Chinese troops he was imbedded in.
And that he did not receive warning of the German battleships coming to attack the coast can not exactly be blamed on Germany either.
And that he did not receive warning of the German battleships coming to attack the coast can not exactly be blamed on Germany either.
And all of that is pretty much irrelevant to the troops on the ground. They were there legitimately and their buddy was killed by the Germans, period.
Add in some rather embarssing moments the Germans did to them, and for some odd reason, the US military might be a tad bit vindictive.
When Kiki finds out that the Army Commendation Medal is the second lowest medal of merit that can be awarded by the United States military and it was the correct and the appropriate award for the situation she is going to be insulted and bemused at the same time.
By this time Princess Kristina von Prussian is awarded a very shiny and gaudy medal whenever she goes in her official duties and she feels that she doesn't deserves them and that just feeds in to her internal feedback loop of depression.
By this time Princess Kristina von Prussian is awarded a very shiny and gaudy medal whenever she goes in her official duties and she feels that she doesn't deserves them and that just feeds in to her internal feedback loop of depression.
Kiki can see the order that the medals go in on the ribbon bar. The US Army Commendation Medal is at the very end with the Far East Service Medal and Jerusalem Cross, two other medals she got just for showing up. So, she knows the score.