One way or the other, she will find her way there.
I figure that Zella will as well. Like mother like daughter.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
One way or the other, she will find her way there.
I figure that Zella will as well. Like mother like daughter.
The Kaiser is going to have to show that his family is apart of the solution to this problem and as we all know just as Kiki got to Kiki and is going because quite frankly she is the most expendable Hozenhollern available right now.
Say goodbye to the Kingdom of Poland and the longer this goes on Poland will go from Kingdom to Grand Duchy to Principality to protectorate as Poland can not survive on it own economically in a rump state.
Rutharians are an Eastern Rite Catholic minority in Eastern Poland, Western Ukraine, and Slovakia that were persecuted by the Polish Catholic Church for generations.
I don't see if this goes longer that Kaiser Louis Ferdinand will be stepping down in favor of Friedrich as he wants to leave a clean slate as much as possible.
Say goodbye to the Kingdom of Poland and the longer this goes on Poland will go from Kingdom to Grand Duchy to Principality to protectorate as Poland can not survive on it own economically in a rump state.
Rutharians are an Eastern Rite Catholic minority in Eastern Poland, Western Ukraine, and Slovakia that were persecuted by the Polish Catholic Church for generations.
I don't see if this goes longer that Kaiser Louis Ferdinand will be stepping down in favor of Friedrich as he wants to leave a clean slate as much as possible.
A recurring problem with revolutionaries; they get to focused on how they are going to govern after the war that they forget that they have to survive the war first.
Oli: "Please let the politicians have an outbreak of sanity; failing that, please let someone else pull the trigger first."
Nationalism, one of humanities greatest failings.
Its called asymmetrical warfare and Bogdan just met a new generation scare-cat. Oli remembers the lessons of WW2 well.
Edit: With the KSK being ordered to take the lead, I'd say that Kat gets to open up HER contingency files. The ones where the leadership on BOTH sides wake up in prison cell in Berlin wondering how the hell they got there, while the fighting in Poland ceases due to a complete lack of orders from high command.
As for Kiki, she's a surgeon or close to it. There is no reason for her to go to a field hospital in Poland or Galicia. She can do her job just as well in a German or Bohemian hospital, due to the proximity to the fighting there will be a steady flow wounded & refugees into both nations.
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I'm sure she can manage... with minimal bloodshed, such as only 9% of the population instead of decimation
That ambush scene reminded me very much of what we practiced in the Finnish Defence Forces, very realistic. If you wanted to be a tad more evil, you could add detcord to the ditches so that everyone is not only blind and deaf but also coughing out their burnt lungs...
Ideally, the Polish government and the provisionnal government need an attack of common sense, failing that, I suspect that the provisional government may be taken out by a "sneak Polish attack", while the Peace faction of the Polish government may find their stars rising after a few months of this.
Kat arranges for the political leadership of both sides to be grabbed and locked up together until they work out a political solution to the problem.
Olli and his Warsaw equivalent work out an acceptable compromise while the politicians are still screaming and flinging poo at each other.
Olli and his Warsaw equivalent work out an acceptable compromise while the politicians are still screaming and flinging poo at each other.
With the stated goals of expulsion of non-Polish people and the confiscation of their properties in Lower Poland the Polish government is going to find that they are considered to be the "Bad Guys" in this situation by the rest of the Empire.
Normally the Poles could have counted on Bavaria and other Catholic parts of the Empire as allies but many of the new farmers and caft people who moved in to the area are from there and that will shift their relationship.
Another group of people who will be opposed to the Polish government action is the Polish workers who are employed in Germany in places like the shipyards of Danzig, Kiel, and Hamburg and working presumably in construction in other parts of Germany, they have been seeing a lot of their pay back home and if Poland leaves the Empire that means that they would have to get work visas when they didn't need it before and there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to continue to work in Germany.
Normally the Poles could have counted on Bavaria and other Catholic parts of the Empire as allies but many of the new farmers and caft people who moved in to the area are from there and that will shift their relationship.
Another group of people who will be opposed to the Polish government action is the Polish workers who are employed in Germany in places like the shipyards of Danzig, Kiel, and Hamburg and working presumably in construction in other parts of Germany, they have been seeing a lot of their pay back home and if Poland leaves the Empire that means that they would have to get work visas when they didn't need it before and there is no guarantee that they will be allowed to continue to work in Germany.
Part 112, Chapter 1856
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Six
8th July 1968
Tegel, Berlin
Getting the call from the Luftwaffe telling him that SKG 18 had been put on high alert and that everyone needed to report in was unexpected. It was essentially telling him that they were at war. It was incredibly odd because there had been no build up, no international tensions or even very much in the news.
“JG 1 and JG 7 are to provide top cover as you approach your targets” The Oberst who commanded the 18th Fast Attack Wing said. That was good news, no one flying a fighter/bomber wanted to get bounced as they were climbing out of an attack run and the two Wings mentioned had recently upgraded to the latest fighters produced by Focke-Wulf, the FW 431, would prevent that from happening.
The rub was exactly where the target was.
“With all due respect Sir, is this some kind of joke?”
Ben had no idea who said it, but it was what everyone was thinking.
“I wish it were” The Oberst replied. The board he was standing in front of had an elaborate map showing the details the upcoming mission. Airstrikes in heavily defended airspace that was in their own back garden, heavily defended as in it would be systems designed by their own side.
Ben heard Wim take a sharp intake of breath. He had been working with the cynical Systems Officer for years and this really was the worst of all worlds for them. It was precisely the sort of situation that Wim had had been complaining about for ages. Fortunately, Wim had learned when to keep his mouth shut over that time.
With that, the briefing ended, and everyone started to walk towards the flight line, only to have the Oberst pull Ben aside.
“You’ve been grounded Hauptmann Hirsch” The Oberst said.
“What?” Ben asked, “Why?”
“It seems that your girlfriend’s father doesn’t want to give her an excuse to go into another active theater” The Oberst said, “That is what happens when you are in a relationship with a girl who has a death drive and happens to be the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world. There will be plenty for you to be doing here in the meantime.”
Ben was annoyed, to say the least. He knew that this wasn’t Kiki’s fault and it was just like her to want to go where she felt she would be most needed. The fact that it was affecting him this time made it different though and Wim didn’t need to look so relieved by this turn of events.
Hohenzollern Castle
Kiki was in the castle’s bailey watching Rauchbier run around. That was abruptly interrupted by a group of girls coming out of one of the doors. Rauchbier was instantly among them, always eager to be the center of attention and perhaps find some tasty tidbit to mooch. She heard the girls start giggling as the one who they frequently joked was the real prince of the castle was among them. Kiki had heard from some of the servants that having the children around brought life to the castle during the summertime. It was easy to believe that. There had been times in the past when Kiki had been here during the winter months and the largely empty castle had fed into her depression like few other things. The Neo-Gothic stylings of the place under grey skies could easily create an absolutely oppressive environment when someone was in the wrong frame of mind.
Rauchbier came running back, happily wagging his tail and resuming his place at Kiki’s side as she walked towards the kitchen garden. The girls just stared at her as she walked past. It was a reminder that she needed to not be so distant with them. They still looked at her in awe, the Lady of the Castle and all of that. They needed to learn that she was just as fallible as anyone else, the only difference being that her mistakes tended to have greater consequences.
When Kiki had learned about the unfolding crisis in Southern Poland and humanitarian disaster that experts were saying was inevitable, she had started packing her things and had ordered someone to go into Stuttgart to buy as much in the way of medical supplies as they could find. Unknown to Kiki was that Officer commanding her security detail had called her father and he had among, other things, been given permission to do whatever it took to keep her here.
In the end, the medical supplies had been delivered to the International Red Cross and they had made a big show upgrading her Red Cross medal and awarding her an East Asia Service clasp. All she could do was smile and accept the award as she was seething inside. Her father had ordered her personal accounts in the Imperial Bank frozen and every expense had to be approved before the money would be released with the express instructions that no money be spent to facilitate her travel to a combat zone. Her father had told her that if she were so intent upon personal destruction, she would need to do it by her own means. She had the option of walking to Poland if she still wanted to.
That left Kiki stuck in Hohenzollern Castle. The part that really bothered her though was that Kat had warned her dozens of times about how she needed to create a life for herself independent of her family or else they would always be able to control her this way. It was a bit late to realize exactly what Kat had been talking about.
8th July 1968
Tegel, Berlin
Getting the call from the Luftwaffe telling him that SKG 18 had been put on high alert and that everyone needed to report in was unexpected. It was essentially telling him that they were at war. It was incredibly odd because there had been no build up, no international tensions or even very much in the news.
“JG 1 and JG 7 are to provide top cover as you approach your targets” The Oberst who commanded the 18th Fast Attack Wing said. That was good news, no one flying a fighter/bomber wanted to get bounced as they were climbing out of an attack run and the two Wings mentioned had recently upgraded to the latest fighters produced by Focke-Wulf, the FW 431, would prevent that from happening.
The rub was exactly where the target was.
“With all due respect Sir, is this some kind of joke?”
Ben had no idea who said it, but it was what everyone was thinking.
“I wish it were” The Oberst replied. The board he was standing in front of had an elaborate map showing the details the upcoming mission. Airstrikes in heavily defended airspace that was in their own back garden, heavily defended as in it would be systems designed by their own side.
Ben heard Wim take a sharp intake of breath. He had been working with the cynical Systems Officer for years and this really was the worst of all worlds for them. It was precisely the sort of situation that Wim had had been complaining about for ages. Fortunately, Wim had learned when to keep his mouth shut over that time.
With that, the briefing ended, and everyone started to walk towards the flight line, only to have the Oberst pull Ben aside.
“You’ve been grounded Hauptmann Hirsch” The Oberst said.
“What?” Ben asked, “Why?”
“It seems that your girlfriend’s father doesn’t want to give her an excuse to go into another active theater” The Oberst said, “That is what happens when you are in a relationship with a girl who has a death drive and happens to be the daughter of one of the most powerful men in the world. There will be plenty for you to be doing here in the meantime.”
Ben was annoyed, to say the least. He knew that this wasn’t Kiki’s fault and it was just like her to want to go where she felt she would be most needed. The fact that it was affecting him this time made it different though and Wim didn’t need to look so relieved by this turn of events.
Hohenzollern Castle
Kiki was in the castle’s bailey watching Rauchbier run around. That was abruptly interrupted by a group of girls coming out of one of the doors. Rauchbier was instantly among them, always eager to be the center of attention and perhaps find some tasty tidbit to mooch. She heard the girls start giggling as the one who they frequently joked was the real prince of the castle was among them. Kiki had heard from some of the servants that having the children around brought life to the castle during the summertime. It was easy to believe that. There had been times in the past when Kiki had been here during the winter months and the largely empty castle had fed into her depression like few other things. The Neo-Gothic stylings of the place under grey skies could easily create an absolutely oppressive environment when someone was in the wrong frame of mind.
Rauchbier came running back, happily wagging his tail and resuming his place at Kiki’s side as she walked towards the kitchen garden. The girls just stared at her as she walked past. It was a reminder that she needed to not be so distant with them. They still looked at her in awe, the Lady of the Castle and all of that. They needed to learn that she was just as fallible as anyone else, the only difference being that her mistakes tended to have greater consequences.
When Kiki had learned about the unfolding crisis in Southern Poland and humanitarian disaster that experts were saying was inevitable, she had started packing her things and had ordered someone to go into Stuttgart to buy as much in the way of medical supplies as they could find. Unknown to Kiki was that Officer commanding her security detail had called her father and he had among, other things, been given permission to do whatever it took to keep her here.
In the end, the medical supplies had been delivered to the International Red Cross and they had made a big show upgrading her Red Cross medal and awarding her an East Asia Service clasp. All she could do was smile and accept the award as she was seething inside. Her father had ordered her personal accounts in the Imperial Bank frozen and every expense had to be approved before the money would be released with the express instructions that no money be spent to facilitate her travel to a combat zone. Her father had told her that if she were so intent upon personal destruction, she would need to do it by her own means. She had the option of walking to Poland if she still wanted to.
That left Kiki stuck in Hohenzollern Castle. The part that really bothered her though was that Kat had warned her dozens of times about how she needed to create a life for herself independent of her family or else they would always be able to control her this way. It was a bit late to realize exactly what Kat had been talking about.
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Bolded: Were there words missing from here? I'm not understanding this completely.
Oh, if Kiki called that bluff, that would be awesome.
ferdi254
Banned
And all the while the USA has seemingly stopped having racial tensions.
Hopefully nobody in Russia has the idea to“help“ the poor Poles against the evil Germans.
Oh and I always thought that it was St Peter who does the explaining to those guys which appear with extremely surprised faces at the pearly gates.
Hopefully nobody in Russia has the idea to“help“ the poor Poles against the evil Germans.
Oh and I always thought that it was St Peter who does the explaining to those guys which appear with extremely surprised faces at the pearly gates.
Not stopped, just on the back burner for now. If I write too much about that, I get the chorus of those whose religion is manifest destiny. Seriously, who wants to listen to that?
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If Georgy starts having thoughts like that, then Gia will find herself Tsarina.
That's of course assuming the Poles won't just go "yeah never mind this secessionist business LET'S FUCK SOME RUSKIS UP". Because, you know, Poland and Russia.
Marc A
You mean all that history that has the Poles looking at both the Germans & the Russians and thinking "Frying pan or fire. Frying pan. Or. Fire."?
Part 112, Chapter 1857
Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Fifty-Seven
9th July 1968
Warsaw, Poland
The broken glass under his feet from the decanter said more about their situation than Mieczysławm Moczar was prepared to admit. The night before, Moczar had been in his office when Warsaw had been buffeted by sonic booms and the lights had gone out. Out of the window he had seen anti-aircraft artillery shooting blindly into the night, the yellow-green tracers filling the sky. Later he would learn that the radar installations that were meant to guide their fire had been the first thing that had been hit, followed by powerplants and the Warsaw railyards. In mere minutes, a modern city had been knocked back to the Fifteenth Century. Then reports had then started coming in of rail junctions being carpet bombed while bridges had been hit with almost supernatural precision.
No one had noticed that Stanisław Mikołajczyk, the Prime Minister of Poland, had suffered some sort of event in his home office for several hours after it had happened. By the time the housemaid had found him his body had already grown cold. When Moczar entered the office, he had seen the Premier on the floor face-down in a pool of what smelled like gin and shards of glass from where the decanter had hit the floor and shattered. On the Premier’s desk were several telegrams from Louis Ferdinand giving him an ultimatum, cease the provocative actions or else. Moczar had thought that the events of the night before had been a surprise attack. The truth was that Mikołajczyk must have thought that the German Emperor was bluffing and had apparently fallen over dead when the bluff was called.
The problem facing Moczar was that in a few hours everyone would know about this because it was simply too big to be contained. The normal process was to have the King appoint a new Prime Minister until elections could be arranged. The telegrams on the desk showed exactly what the issue with that was. Coupled with the recent reverses that the Polish Army had suffered. When the people inevitably learned of this, the present Government would be lucky if they weren’t torn to pieces by angry mobs.
Potsdam
It was a pleasant afternoon with fluffy clouds filling the sky. The summers in Germany had taken a bit of getting used to for Suga, they were different from the hot, humid summers she had experienced in Japan. She remembered Kiki’s reaction when she had first arrived as a teenager in Kyoto and hadn’t understood it at the time. It wasn’t in Kiki’s nature to complain, outwardly anyway, but she had clearly been suffering due to the climate. Suga had decided that spending the afternoon outdoors would be a wonderful idea, taking Mirai and Alexandrine with her.
The Zen garden and pagoda had been a present from her new family when she had married into it because they had felt that she would like a taste of home. It wasn’t exactly authentic when compared to what was found in Japan with many of the details slightly wrong, but she had been touched by their effort to make her feel welcome.
Now, a few years later Suga was preparing tea while watching Mirai as she lay on a rock that formed an overhang over the pond, transfixed by the brightly colored Koi that swam in the still water below. At four, Mirai was still trying to come to terms with the idea that she now had a little sister.
Mercifully, Alex was sleeping in her carrier which Suga had placed in the shade, something that was completely unpredictable with babies and Suga was enjoying it while it lasted. A couple weeks earlier, Louis Senior had arranged for his younger sister, Alex’s namesake Aunt Adini to visit Potsdam and she had been overjoyed to meet her newest great niece. Too many people treated those like Adini badly, Suga had recognized that she was a warm and caring woman who didn’t allow her difficulties to define who she was. Louis’ mother had always insisted that she be a very visible part of the family and Louis had tried to continue that, though Adini preferred to remain at her home in Starnberg, just south of Munich, most of the time. Adini had mentioned that she had been a little scared, that Alex may have been born with a similar genetic condition as hers. That wasn’t the case though, the only oddity with Alex was that she had inherited her father’s eyes, which coupled with her Euro-Asian features would give her a startingly exotic appearance when she got older.
“Opa!” Mirai yelled and she rolled off the rock and ran to Louis who had been walking from the Summer Residence.
Suga watched as Mirai started talking at her grandfather in a manner that few other people did. To his credit, he just listened and did his best to answer her questions. Like always Louis did his best to dress like a businessman. Today he was wearing a summer suit that was cut from lightweight tan fabric, a red tie, and white fedora. The hat was clearly being worn at the suggestion of Charlotte. Louis was rather famous for the lack of fashion sense he had taken on over the years, so it was unlikely he chose that for himself. He also looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Decided to hide out here while the Headmaster is looking for you?” Suga asked.
“That is a little too on the nose” Louis replied, “Ever have a day when it seems like the whole world is trying to drive you mad?”
“Try being a mother” Suga said as Alex woke up and started fussing.
“Touché” Louis replied, amused by that answer.
Over time, Suga had become something of an expert in trying to sort out the meaning of her children’s cries. There weren’t many, mostly letting her know if they were hungry, tired or had just soiled themselves. The nurse who always hovered nearby wasn’t nearly as attuned to them. Back in Japan it would have been unthinkable that a woman in Suga’s station would take such an active roll in raising her children. It was a small act of rebellion, one she delighted in. While she saw to Alex’s needs, Louis kept Mirai busy. When she was done, she grabbed the rope connected to the bell that was there for the exact purpose she put to.
A moment later, one of the Palace Servants appeared.
“The Emperor is going to be joining us for tea” Suga said, “Please let the kitchen know.”
“Very well your highness” The Servant said before disappearing.
Louis just smiled at Suga’s presumption, even he needed to take a break occasionally.
9th July 1968
Warsaw, Poland
The broken glass under his feet from the decanter said more about their situation than Mieczysławm Moczar was prepared to admit. The night before, Moczar had been in his office when Warsaw had been buffeted by sonic booms and the lights had gone out. Out of the window he had seen anti-aircraft artillery shooting blindly into the night, the yellow-green tracers filling the sky. Later he would learn that the radar installations that were meant to guide their fire had been the first thing that had been hit, followed by powerplants and the Warsaw railyards. In mere minutes, a modern city had been knocked back to the Fifteenth Century. Then reports had then started coming in of rail junctions being carpet bombed while bridges had been hit with almost supernatural precision.
No one had noticed that Stanisław Mikołajczyk, the Prime Minister of Poland, had suffered some sort of event in his home office for several hours after it had happened. By the time the housemaid had found him his body had already grown cold. When Moczar entered the office, he had seen the Premier on the floor face-down in a pool of what smelled like gin and shards of glass from where the decanter had hit the floor and shattered. On the Premier’s desk were several telegrams from Louis Ferdinand giving him an ultimatum, cease the provocative actions or else. Moczar had thought that the events of the night before had been a surprise attack. The truth was that Mikołajczyk must have thought that the German Emperor was bluffing and had apparently fallen over dead when the bluff was called.
The problem facing Moczar was that in a few hours everyone would know about this because it was simply too big to be contained. The normal process was to have the King appoint a new Prime Minister until elections could be arranged. The telegrams on the desk showed exactly what the issue with that was. Coupled with the recent reverses that the Polish Army had suffered. When the people inevitably learned of this, the present Government would be lucky if they weren’t torn to pieces by angry mobs.
Potsdam
It was a pleasant afternoon with fluffy clouds filling the sky. The summers in Germany had taken a bit of getting used to for Suga, they were different from the hot, humid summers she had experienced in Japan. She remembered Kiki’s reaction when she had first arrived as a teenager in Kyoto and hadn’t understood it at the time. It wasn’t in Kiki’s nature to complain, outwardly anyway, but she had clearly been suffering due to the climate. Suga had decided that spending the afternoon outdoors would be a wonderful idea, taking Mirai and Alexandrine with her.
The Zen garden and pagoda had been a present from her new family when she had married into it because they had felt that she would like a taste of home. It wasn’t exactly authentic when compared to what was found in Japan with many of the details slightly wrong, but she had been touched by their effort to make her feel welcome.
Now, a few years later Suga was preparing tea while watching Mirai as she lay on a rock that formed an overhang over the pond, transfixed by the brightly colored Koi that swam in the still water below. At four, Mirai was still trying to come to terms with the idea that she now had a little sister.
Mercifully, Alex was sleeping in her carrier which Suga had placed in the shade, something that was completely unpredictable with babies and Suga was enjoying it while it lasted. A couple weeks earlier, Louis Senior had arranged for his younger sister, Alex’s namesake Aunt Adini to visit Potsdam and she had been overjoyed to meet her newest great niece. Too many people treated those like Adini badly, Suga had recognized that she was a warm and caring woman who didn’t allow her difficulties to define who she was. Louis’ mother had always insisted that she be a very visible part of the family and Louis had tried to continue that, though Adini preferred to remain at her home in Starnberg, just south of Munich, most of the time. Adini had mentioned that she had been a little scared, that Alex may have been born with a similar genetic condition as hers. That wasn’t the case though, the only oddity with Alex was that she had inherited her father’s eyes, which coupled with her Euro-Asian features would give her a startingly exotic appearance when she got older.
“Opa!” Mirai yelled and she rolled off the rock and ran to Louis who had been walking from the Summer Residence.
Suga watched as Mirai started talking at her grandfather in a manner that few other people did. To his credit, he just listened and did his best to answer her questions. Like always Louis did his best to dress like a businessman. Today he was wearing a summer suit that was cut from lightweight tan fabric, a red tie, and white fedora. The hat was clearly being worn at the suggestion of Charlotte. Louis was rather famous for the lack of fashion sense he had taken on over the years, so it was unlikely he chose that for himself. He also looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Decided to hide out here while the Headmaster is looking for you?” Suga asked.
“That is a little too on the nose” Louis replied, “Ever have a day when it seems like the whole world is trying to drive you mad?”
“Try being a mother” Suga said as Alex woke up and started fussing.
“Touché” Louis replied, amused by that answer.
Over time, Suga had become something of an expert in trying to sort out the meaning of her children’s cries. There weren’t many, mostly letting her know if they were hungry, tired or had just soiled themselves. The nurse who always hovered nearby wasn’t nearly as attuned to them. Back in Japan it would have been unthinkable that a woman in Suga’s station would take such an active roll in raising her children. It was a small act of rebellion, one she delighted in. While she saw to Alex’s needs, Louis kept Mirai busy. When she was done, she grabbed the rope connected to the bell that was there for the exact purpose she put to.
A moment later, one of the Palace Servants appeared.
“The Emperor is going to be joining us for tea” Suga said, “Please let the kitchen know.”
“Very well your highness” The Servant said before disappearing.
Louis just smiled at Suga’s presumption, even he needed to take a break occasionally.
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