Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

Part 108, Chapter 1765
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Five



31st October 1966

Mitte, Berlin

Ben finally caught up to Kiki in Berlin, just the situation was a bit complicated because of things out of their control. That was why this was just a visit. When Ben met Kiki in the hallway outside her father’s apartment having just stepped off the elevator, she had let him know that.

“Please tell me you didn’t agree to any of that” Kiki said, as she sat in the chair opposite of Ben in the parlor. Presently, Kiki was under increased security because of the war in Greece and they were not going to be given any privacy, which was a bit disappointing. Ben had just finished telling her about Albrecht of Bavaria’s offer. He might have thought that she would be thrilled. It was a chance for them to have a life together on a fairly equal footing. Her reaction was quite different though.

“I told him that I needed a few days to think about it” Ben replied, “Still, he offered to make me the Freiherr of Frankendorf. That counts for something, right?”

“You need to drive a harder bargain with that Machiavellian vulture” Kiki said, “Frankendorf is a hamlet outside Bamberg with more cows than people.”

“Just how do you know that?” Ben asked.

“I looked it up when you told me” Kiki replied, “I’m sure that the hundred or so residents of Frankendorf will greet you warmly for the first five minutes and then ignore you for the rest of your life.”

That was quite possibly the thing most keeping with Kiki’s character for her to have done. Of course, Ben had not even thought to do that.

“Aren’t you being just a little bit harsh?”

“Hardly” Kiki said, “Leave the major cities and you’ll find yourself in the Fifteenth Century, even in Brandenburg. In Bavaria, which is much more backward in places, the people see the Reformation as a passing fad. I don’t think they still burn witches, but I would not be surprised.”

“What should I do then?” Ben asked.

“One thing that you need to understand” Kiki said, “Albrecht was offering you something with the understanding that you are a bit naïve about certain matters.”

Ben looked at Kiki unsure about what she was getting at.

“You already have the Knights Cross, House Order of Hohenzollern” Kiki said, “You won that in Korea, and the Pour Le Mérite you got for circling to Moon is another Chivalrous Order. That fraud was offering you something that he knew you already have. You just lack a formal title, but you are considered a Ritter until a higher title is conferred to you. Albrecht is offering you some version of the Military Order of Max Joseph, honorary Bavarian citizenship and a meaningless title.”

“What about this deal that Albrecht said he wanted with your father?” Ben asked.

“That much is obvious” Kiki replied, “Albrecht only cares about two things, hunting deer and furthering his family line. He sees that my father has two unattached daughters of marriageable age and neither of them have serious suitors.”

“Is that a joke” Ben said, “I cannot imagine that either of them would go for that. Rea is sort of nuts, and Vicky is, well, you know.”

“As entertaining as seeing Rea as the Queen of Bavaria would be” Kiki said, “She would never agree to such a thing in a thousand years. Vicky just might though, she always saw herself leading a rather different life than the one she ended up with. Home, family, whatnot. This might be a chance for her to have that.”

Ben leaned towards Kiki and whispered. “Wouldn’t they figure out that she is gay?”

“I doubt they would care” Kiki replied, “Let’s just say that Prince Franz of Bavaria is not one to let a Broadway revival pass him by. While his younger brother doesn’t seem to share that inclination, Max doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to settle down.”

Ben was a bit surprised by that. “Just how do you know that?” He asked.

“Franz proposed to me a few years ago” Kiki said, “The knowledge of the role that I would actually play was a part of that. No thank you.”

“You could have been the Queen of Bavaria?”

“I also could have been the Empress of Ethiopia” Kiki replied, “The Emperor offered my father a rather large herd of cattle for my hand in marriage.”

“What would your mother have thought of that?”

“She wanted me to marry Vittorio, the Prince of Naples” Kiki made a face that suggested what she thought of that idea. “Yuck.”



Santorini Island, Greece

George Bush had come to this island because it was close enough in proximity to keep an eye on the unfolding operation. The fact that in many respects this was the ultimate score for a man in his profession, multiple sworn enemies eager to buy what he was selling. Money was pouring in and he was having to make careful plans for his retirement because everyone in this current conflict would turn their guns on him in a heartbeat. There were also rumors the alphabet soup based back in the States was actively hunting him. He had to make himself scarce before they got too close.

Now he was finding that he had two problems. The first was water. The walled compound he was leasing was as bone dry as the rest of this island, so he had been having to have fresh water shipped in and that had turned out to be rather expensive. His men had been complaining about the heat as well. The second problem was Pauline Robinson Pierce, or Robin as she preferred to be called, it was also noticeable that her mother had changed her last name. She had somehow tracked him down and had written a tersely written letter that had arrived at the compound. The contents had been those typical of the angst filled life of a sixteen-year-old girl, it seemed that she was not getting along with her mother, hardly a surprise. She had hinted about him inviting her to Santorini, which was out of the question. Still, the arrival of the letter was proof that the CIA and whatever goon squad they brought couldn’t be far behind.
 
Last edited:
I love how Kiki knows the score and Ben doesn't and Kiki has to school him.
Vicky and Franz may want to try to find out for themselves if they are compatible and comfortable enough together to go through a marriage for appearances same as this may be their only chance to have children of their own without this becoming an embarrassing scandal for their families.
Still like the way Kiki recoiled in disgust whenever she thinks of Prince Vittorio.

George Bush may be paying off key members of the Greek government and military for his "Island Paradise" but most likely they are going to sell him off as he is no longer useful to them, the only question is to which country as there are many players in this game.I
Part of me for the sake of this timeline hopes he is able to escape by the skin of his teeth and continues to sow chaos wherever he goes.
Great use of introducing someone who is living on Peabody-Martini Time: Pauline Robinson Pierce.
 
Ben & Kiki sitting down like this & discussing the ancient mysteries of dynastic politics could be extremely beneficial for their relationship. Ben begins to understand just why Kiki is so terrified of their relationship and the extent of his potential competition (seriously, Empress of Ethiopia). At the same time, Kiki might just begin to understand that her father has not, and will not, force any of his children into a marriage of any sort, although he may be close to changing his mind re: her relationship with Ben. She might even realise that Albrecht of Bavaria's (rather insulting) low-ball offer means that most of the Establishment sees absolutely nothing wrong with her relationship with Ben & that they are wondering what the hold up is. Which could, of course, scare her more, as it would mean that her relationship could actually progress. ATM, she is happy-ish with pretending that it isn't a serious relationship; just a fling with a friend-with-benefits. Either way, Ben & Kiki could have a great deal of fun devising ways to extort a better deal of of the King of Bavaria.

As for Georgie Boy, his security sucks big time if his eldest daughter can pin-point his location so closely. While this may, in part, be because his associates think he should be in closer contact with his family, he is right that the hunters are close behind and while Santorini is well suited to keeping tabs on his operations, it's suitability as a secure base ends the instant your enemies know you're there. Small islands are easy to blockade, after all; small islands with limited water resources are even easier. Oh, and that sound lurking in the background?

Tick.

Tock.
 
Ben & Kiki sitting down like this & discussing the ancient mysteries of dynastic politics could be extremely beneficial for their relationship. Ben begins to understand just why Kiki is so terrified of their relationship and the extent of his potential competition (seriously, Empress of Ethiopia). At the same time, Kiki might just begin to understand that her father has not, and will not, force any of his children into a marriage of any sort, although he may be close to changing his mind re: her relationship with Ben. She might even realise that Albrecht of Bavaria's (rather insulting) low-ball offer means that most of the Establishment sees absolutely nothing wrong with her relationship with Ben & that they are wondering what the hold up is. Which could, of course, scare her more, as it would mean that her relationship could actually progress. ATM, she is happy-ish with pretending that it isn't a serious relationship; just a fling with a friend-with-benefits. Either way, Ben & Kiki could have a great deal of fun devising ways to extort a better deal of of the King of Bavaria.

As for Georgie Boy, his security sucks big time if his eldest daughter can pin-point his location so closely. While this may, in part, be because his associates think he should be in closer contact with his family, he is right that the hunters are close behind and while Santorini is well suited to keeping tabs on his operations, it's suitability as a secure base ends the instant your enemies know you're there. Small islands are easy to blockade, after all; small islands with limited water resources are even easier. Oh, and that sound lurking in the background?

Tick.

Tock.

Not much to say except agreed on both counts :D Fine analysis.
 
Bush’s “ultimate score” is like the set-up for a heist movie with the ‘one more heist and then I’m out’ premise which may or may not be made ITTL. Unless he’s TTL’s equivalent of Super Fly, it probably won’t end well.
 
Despite everything, and for no logical reason whatsoever, I would actually like to see Bush get away with this.
Better still, see him get away with it and buy a small estate in Argentina or Chile and achieve anonymity.
(Bonus points if he ends up drinking buddies with Juan Pajol, try convincing the Americans that there wasn't a conspiracy after that).
 
I love how Kiki knows the score and Ben doesn't and Kiki has to school him.

Yeah, it actually good seeing Kiki literally talking to Ben about the problems with royalty without being bitter and vile about her own life for once. .

Despite everything, and for no logical reason whatsoever, I would actually like to see Bush get away with this.
Better still, see him get away with it and buy a small estate in Argentina or Chile and achieve anonymity.
(Bonus points if he ends up drinking buddies with Juan Pajol, try convincing the Americans that there wasn't a conspiracy after that).

Surprisingly, yeah, I would like that as well, for some reason.

Not as a German asset, or a US one. but someone who just disappears.
 
So they have Lobola in this timeline in Ethiopia then. The Zimbabwean Government has just last week passed a law making Lobola (gift of cattle / money for a wife) illegal to prevent exploitation. Don't know how they're going to enforce it though, unless there's a complaint. It happens in the diaspora in countries where it has never been the thing.
 
The G44 is an FN FAL analog that wasn't stretched out to accommodate 7.62 NATO.
Back in the day they always used to tell us to keep the gas return dialled up as high as you could handle for recoil on the FN. Keeping it lower would be easier on you but lead to more jamming. Using a .22 sleeve for indoor ranges meant dialling it at 10 but we would still get jams because the thing was made for the larger NATO round. Does this one have that lovely ‘feature’?

Edit: This is the Canadian C1 version so maybe the standard one didn’t have that problem.
 
Part 108, Chapter 1766
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty-Six



4th November 1966

Mitte, Berlin

Louis had turned the swivel chair around so that it faced the window, turning his back on the desk with the piles of paperwork that were demanding his attention. It was far easier to sit here, look out over the city and muse about everything that was going on. He could see other office and residential towers that were in the process of going up, meaning that his entirely unobstructed view would be going away. That wasn’t a bad thing, it just meant that it was going to get more interesting with time. It was probably going to be a good thing that a site for the new Primary/Winter Residence had been selected. Louis knew that he certainly would get more done without the distraction.

It was all a bit amusing, Louis thought to himself as he considered what he had been told about what his children were up to today. He had been told that Benjamin was playing Albrecht of Bavaria off against Friedrich Christian of Saxony. It was a canny move and there was no doubt that Kristina was the one directing him to have taken that action. While no one thought that Benjamin was stupid, the world of the Imperial Court and those of the constituent Kingdoms were well outside his normal experience. That he didn’t seem to have a head for politics didn’t help matters. When Louis had spoken with Oberst who commanded the 18th SKG he had said that Benjamin was well regarded and would probably one day command a Luftwaffe Reserve Air Wing like the 18th but would probably not rise any higher. In the Oberst’s opinion, he lacked the ruthlessness to engage in the sort of politicking needed to get promoted to Generalmajor, even in the Landwehr.

On the other hand, Kristina knew the personalities involved and how things worked. As much as she complained about it, she was extremely good at that sort of game and in something of a contradiction of her introverted nature, Kristina could extremely ruthless if she had to be. Anyone who had ever gotten between her and something she wanted could attest to that. Going to Friedrich Christian for a better offer in order to get Albrecht to sweeten the deal considerably was probably her idea. Knowing Kristina, ultimately taking both offers was a part of the plan.

All of that led directly to the question as to why Louis didn’t take issue with his eldest daughter taking up with a commoner, even if it looked like Benjamin Hirsch wouldn’t remain a commoner for much longer. The truth was that Louis remembered his Grandfather’s comments about horses, thoroughbreds, and mongrels in relation to Louis’ older brother Wilhelm marrying Dorothea, a woman he met at University. Louis knew that his nieces, Felicitas, and Christa were both lovely women, but they always reminded him of how things might have been different. If Wilhelm hadn’t been unlucky on the battlefield, catching a rifle bullet that probably had not even been aimed at him, then Louis Ferdinand would have led a considerably different life. He would probably be the Executive Officer of an Automotive or Aerospace corporation by now. Dorothea had remained in Potsdam after the untimely death of Wilhelm in Spain, instead of being Empress she had been an advisor to Kira and Charlotte. She hadn’t harbored any resentment towards the two women whose role she might have played had circumstances panned out differently. Time had revealed that in that issue, like so many others, Wilhelm the II had been full of shit.

Beyond all of that, it as Charlotte had pointed out, Benjamin and Kristina worked well with each other and oddly had a lot of similarities . Both came from families that had unreasonable expectations at times. Benjamin’s father was a Professor of Organic Chemistry and finding himself with a son who quite literally had his head in the stars had not been to his liking. Though that seemed to have worked out well in the end as Benjamin was on his way towards getting a Doctorate in Astronomy. Kristina had her mother to contend with. Hardly a day went by where Louis didn’t think about Kira, still, there were times when he had to admit that her tendency to view things through her own personal prism caused trouble.

Kira’s views on marriage were like something from an earlier era. She had this idea that her children being in strategically advantageous marriages was both desirable and as possible as it had been a hundred years earlier. Friedrich marrying Suga probably would have passed muster, though Kira’s opinion had been that a Dutch Princess would have been a better choice. The idea of Kristina marrying the Italian Crown Prince would have been a disaster, she didn’t even try to hide her revulsion whenever Vittorio’s name was mentioned. Louis had seen how Kira had reacted to Kristina when she had finally stood up to her. It had ended badly for everyone when Kira had ended up with a black eye and Kristina had been exiled to Japan. They had never been on speaking terms again after that. Louis didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if Kira had lived long enough to find out the truth about Victoria. Rea didn’t seem to believe in marriage, period.

The only match that Kira had tried to arrange that still stood a chance of working out was between Michael and Princess Alberta Charlotte of England. Alberta had apparently decided that Michael was the best choice for her, oddly because he had given that choice to her.
 
Last edited:
Back in the day they always used to tell us to keep the gas return dialled up as high as you could handle for recoil on the FN. Keeping it lower would be easier on you but lead to more jamming. Using a .22 sleeve for indoor ranges meant dialling it at 10 but we would still get jams because the thing was made for the larger NATO round. Does this one have that lovely ‘feature’?

Edit: This is the Canadian C1 version so maybe the standard one didn’t have that problem.

Your memory has it turned around.
We were taught that the default setting was 4, but if you had your own rifle, you would learn how it shot. I had one that shot fine on 7 (very little recoil) for about 2 mags worth of ammo. Then down to 6 ( a bit more recoil) for two more mags, and so on. If we felt mean, we would turn somebody else's gas regulator down to 1, and have a good laugh as it bruised his shoulder. It would never work reliably on anything higher than gas setting 7, just not enough gas being let through.
 
Your memory has it turned around.
We were taught that the default setting was 4, but if you had your own rifle, you would learn how it shot. I had one that shot fine on 7 (very little recoil) for about 2 mags worth of ammo. Then down to 6 ( a bit more recoil) for two more mags, and so on. If we felt mean, we would turn somebody else's gas regulator down to 1, and have a good laugh as it bruised his shoulder. It would never work reliably on anything higher than gas setting 7, just not enough gas being let through.
The G44 and K44 of TTL use a 6.5 x 38 Kurz cartridge. In OTL the FAL was originally built around 7.92 x 33 Kurz and had to be heavily modified to work with 7.62 x 51 NATO. Figuring out how that would effect how it works will require a bit of research.
 
The G44 and K44 of TTL use a 6.5 x 38 Kurz cartridge. In OTL the FAL was originally built around 7.92 x 33 Kurz and had to be heavily modified to work with 7.62 x 51 NATO. Figuring out how that would effect how it works will require a bit of research.
There was one chambered in .280 British that is in 7x48, how it was dropped because of the America’s. Also there is the Grendal 6.5x39 so you could use that as a bases for other firearms.
 
Really enjoyed the musings of the Kaiser as he is getting closer to turning over the reigns to Freddy, it looks like The New Winter Palace is going to be the last thing that he puts his personal stamp on.
I would say that he is underestimating Ben but it is pretty spot on as Ben saw that being a pilot in the Luftwaffe as a means to get in the space among not as a career path.
As for Vicky I can see her getting plenty of "unsolicited" advice from well meaning family and friends, Asia and Dr. Berg will cynically tell her to go for it , Kiki will be adamant that Vicky has nothing to do with it and Freddy will just go in to protective Big Brother mode.
Charlotte will have Vicky to through and figure out for herself what the pluses and minuses are and force her to see what she really wants for her life.
 
It was all a bit amusing, Louis thought to himself as he considered what he had been told about what his children were up to today. He had been told that Benjamin was playing Albrecht of Bavaria off against Friedrich Christian of Saxony. It was a canny move and there was no doubt that Kristina was the one directing him to have taken that action. While no one thought that Benjamin was stupid, the world of the Imperial Court and those of the constituent Kingdoms were well outside his normal experience. That he didn’t seem to have a head for politics didn’t help matters. When Louis had spoken with Oberst who commanded the 18th SKG he had said that Benjamin was well regarded and would probably one day command a Luftwaffe Reserve Air Wing like the 18th but would probably not rise any higher. In the Oberst’s opinion, he lacked the ruthlessness to engage in the sort of politicking needed to get promoted to Generalmajor, even in the Landwehr.

On the other hand, Kristina knew the personalities involved and how things worked. As much as she complained about it, she was extremely good at that sort of game and in something of a contradiction of her introverted nature, Kristina could extremely ruthless if she had to be. Anyone who had ever gotten between her and something she wanted could attest to that. Going to Friedrich Christian for a better offer in order to get Albrecht to sweeten the deal considerably was probably her idea. Knowing Kristina, ultimately taking both offers was a part of the plan.

I love the idea of a bidding war between Albrecht of Bavaria & Friedrich Christian of Saxony over the opportunity to "solve" the "problem" of Ben being a "mere" commoner for Louis. I can just see both of them looking at each other after Ben accepts both offers and simultaneously saying: "Did we just get played?"

The only match that Kira had tried to arrange that still stood a chance of working out was between Michael and Princess Alberta Charlotte of England. Alberta had apparently decided that Michael was the best choice for her, oddly because he had given that choice to her.

Michael is doomed, I tell you. DOOMED!!

And his entire court seems to be amused by that fact that he hasn't quite figured that out yet.
 
Michael is doomed, I tell you. DOOMED!!

And his entire court seems to be amused by that fact that he hasn't quite figured that out yet.
And then both Mike and Not!Liz basically live forever to the point when Not!Charles is ready to ascend as King of Bohemia he'd be 80 years old.

Marc A
 
Queen Liz is on the throne of the UK ITTL, remember? Not!Charles is Alberta Charlotte, aka Birdie.
I have indeed forgotten. So Not!Charles will actually become queen instead of Princess Eternal. Good for her, I guess.

Also, you know what this means? Family trees. :p

Marc A
 
Top