Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

Babies are babies no matter how royal they are.
Glad to see how Kiki was forced to accept help from others because if she had her own way she would be trying to do everything by herself.
Ben is going to get some time off in order to help Kiki and do some bonding with Nina which from what I understand ITTL Germany at this time is something that everyone in Germany gets to do.
Of course it goes without saying (then why am I saying it) that Kiki needs to be monitored for Post Partum Depression as she is prone to other types of depression, this where Aunt Kat can help the most as she went through the same thing herself.
 
Is Kiki still part of the long term psych study? IIRC Dr. Holtz was leading a study on PTSD and Dr. Berg will be looking after Kiki with Dr. Holtz on call.
 
Part 122, Chapter 2051
Chapter Two Thousand Fifty-One



14th March 1971

Mitte, Berlin

It was raining as they drove to the next story they had been assigned to cover. Yuri was outraged over recent events, but Zella wished he would cut it out. It was like a small dog trying to bite someone’s ankle and only getting a mouth full of cloth in the process. It was hardly a surprise that Yuri would react this way, he had always taken things way too seriously.

“I don’t see what the big deal is” Zella said, “People like novelty and you can never tell where they will find it.”

“Still, getting beat by a show with an animated mouse and elephant?” Yuri demanded, “What is up with that?”

Zella just shrugged. It was a children’s program that was suddenly the highest rated thing on television and these things happen. “Mairi loves it” She said in reply, “And I thank that is the target audience.”

“There are not too many girls like Mairi” Yuri said.

“Six-year-olds?” Zella asked, “I think there are lots of those out there.”

“You know what I mean” Yuri replied, “Beyond being your friend’s niece, she is also the Emperor’s daughter.”

“Ask Kiki how that works for her” Zella said, “The happiest I have ever seen her was when she found out that Nina would not hold the title of Princess but would be a Gräfin due to her connection with Ben. Kiki seems to think that it has been a curse that has poisoned everything in her life.”

Yuri looked bewildered for a second. “She has a husband who went to the ends of the earth looking for her, money, and now a healthy daughter?” He asked, “How is any of that poisonous?”

Zella looked at her hands on the steering wheel as she waited for the signal to change. How exactly to explain this to Yuri, mostly because she’d had her own differences with Ben. Embarrassingly, it had mostly been that she felt Kiki could do a lot better than the first guy who had ever shown an interest in Kiki as a person rather than a fancy title. In the years since Ben had stepped up to become the sort of man who Kiki deserved, not that Zella would ever admit that to her best friend.

“It just has been” Zella replied, “You have never been around Kiki when she is in a mood as opposed to what is put out there for public consumption. You would understand if you had.”

Yuri gave her the look that he always gave Zella whenever she mentioned something about Kiki or her family that fell under the category of Not for Public Consumption. He knew that Zella would not betray her friendship with Kiki, but he also felt that Zella was sitting on several stories that could be big because of that.

“I cannot believe we are getting beat by that stupid children’s show” Yuri said, switching back to safer topics.



Base Aérea El Tepual, Puerto Montt, Chile

“That fucking bastard” Reinaldo said when he saw the photograph the front page of the newspaper. This drew a few curious looks from the other men in the Squadron who were eating their breakfast, but they went back to their food when they saw what he was looking at. Everyone knew that he had gone mano a mano with the Black Knight after he had managed to down one of the hated Orkan fighters which had taken on a fearsome aura over the summer. He wouldn’t be getting a second chance and that was grating.

Benjamin von Hirsch, the infamous Black Knight who had terrorized the skies over Chile and shot Reinaldo’s plane out from underneath him had gotten himself sent home. In the photograph, he was receiving the Military Class of the Pour le Mérite from the German Kaiser, a medal that every aspiring pilot knew about. The article also said that he had been promoted, both in military rank and in the Imperial Court of Germany, Lieutenant Colonel and Markgraf, whatever a Markgraf even was. He had apparently been assigned to be an instructor for the Luftwaffe Air Wings in the Military District he lived in, again, whatever that was.

It was all a reminder of how it had taken Reinaldo days to get out of the wilderness of southern Chile and how in his absence there had been some changes. The Fourth Air Brigade had been withdrawn from Base Aérea Chabunco outside Puerto Arenas after repeated visits by the Argentine Navy had left the runways unusable. The other change was that his squadron’s planes had been replaced with brand new F-11E Super Tigers straight from the Grumman factory, which was about time. The rub was that this was about the time that the CIA had caught up with Reinaldo. Word had leaked out about him going toe to toe with the German Ace and President Allende wanted to give him a medal, they were not happy about the resulting publicity. They had pointedly reminded him about how as far as the U.S. Government and Navy were concerned, Flight Captain Reinaldo Contreras didn’t exist. What part of this being a covert operation didn’t he understand? Publicity was the exact opposite of that and if the Germans learned of this and saw it as an advantage to out him as an American pilot, then it would jeopardize this entire operation.

“Fuck them” Reinaldo muttered to himself as he reached for the hot sauce that helped make the powdered eggs somewhat palatable.
 
Last edited:
“Still, getting beat by a show with an animated mouse and elephant?”
Sendung mit der Maus, huh?

Can we assume that Sesame Street or something similar enough is a thing as well? Since OTL the production was in many ways a reaction to the successful and imported American series.
 
Well lets see if the F11E is able to brighten the mood of some sourly German pilots...

But I have my doubts as the Chilean Air Force seemd to have had problems with "Weekend Warriors".
 
What part of this being a covert operation didn’t he understand? Publicity was the exact opposite of that and if the Germans learned of this and saw it as an advantage to out him as an American pilot, then it would jeopardize this entire operation.

“Fuck them” Reinaldo muttered to himself as he reached for the hot sauce that helped make the powdered eggs somewhat palatable.
Randy Cunningham is about to hand the Argentines and the Germans a coup.

The CIA could ask a favour of SIS though if that looks possible.

Do the Royal Navy have a listening Station on the South Sandwich Islands?
If so, maybe Mr Cunningham would be the ideal person to become the first permanent Inter-service exchange representative from the CIA to SIS?
View attachment 649920

Of course, he'd be due a promotion for taking such an obviously prestigious post...
 
But I have my doubts as the Chilean Air Force seemed to have had problems with "Weekend Warriors".
Those "Weekend Warriors" were armed with a weapons system the likes of which no one had seen before. The F-W FD 121 isn't capable of BVR and the pilots of JG1 operate with a different set of tactics because of that. There is also the amount of combat experience, considering which units would have more veteran pilots left over from Korea. So, things are about to get interesting.
 
Last edited:
It is in the both interests of the United States and Germany not to get in a direct conflict with each other and I doubt that Germany will go public with the knowledge that USN pilots are flying combat missions with phoney IDs and credentials.
It is most likely that the American press is going to break the story and that is going to cause major problems for the Rockefeller Administration.
Germany will buy any plausible B.S. story that the Americans come up with like yes the USN sent pilots to Chile but only as instructors and trainers.
No they did not have any orders to fly combat missions in fact they were directly ordered not to engage in combat.
It seems that President Allende offered bounties to American pilots and gave them the phoney IDs and credentials.
 
It is in the both interests of the United States and Germany not to get in a direct conflict with each other and I doubt that Germany will go public with the knowledge that USN pilots are flying combat missions with phoney IDs and credentials.
It is most likely that the American press is going to break the story and that is going to cause major problems for the Rockefeller Administration.
Germany will buy any plausible B.S. story that the Americans come up with like yes the USN sent pilots to Chile but only as instructors and trainers.
No they did not have any orders to fly combat missions in fact they were directly ordered not to engage in combat.
It seems that President Allende offered bounties to American pilots and gave them the phoney IDs and credentials.
Though mind you, Germany could use the threat of going public. State that they'll keep it under wraps, but in return the US has to pull all its support from Chile and get them to quit this war.
 
I wonder if the JG1 will struggle harder then the ben’s group because they don’t have BVR/slightly outdated planes. might mean a shake up coming to the airforce,
 
Individually? Maybe. That said Reinaldos first bit he commented about how the S. Americans don't seem to get squadron tactics preferring to be cowboys... So while individual aces, like Reinaldo, might rack up some imptessive scores I'd bet on the germans winning the air war in a similar way to the allies in WWII iotl.
 
It is in the both interests of the United States and Germany not to get in a direct conflict with each other and I doubt that Germany will go public with the knowledge that USN pilots are flying combat missions with phoney IDs and credentials.
It is most likely that the American press is going to break the story and that is going to cause major problems for the Rockefeller Administration.
Germany will buy any plausible B.S. story that the Americans come up with like yes the USN sent pilots to Chile but only as instructors and trainers.
No they did not have any orders to fly combat missions in fact they were directly ordered not to engage in combat.
It seems that President Allende offered bounties to American pilots and gave them the phoney IDs and credentials.

It's probably a situation like Vietnam in OTL. It was known that there were Russian trainers and advisors assisting the North Vietnamese airforce leading to rumors of Russian pilots flying combat missions but no proof and no one, including the US, was talking about it very much or investigating even post-war. It was in no ones interest to probe too deeply.
 
It is in the both interests of the United States and Germany not to get in a direct conflict with each other and I doubt that Germany will go public with the knowledge that USN pilots are flying combat missions with phoney IDs and credentials.
It is most likely that the American press is going to break the story and that is going to cause major problems for the Rockefeller Administration.
Germany will buy any plausible B.S. story that the Americans come up with like yes the USN sent pilots to Chile but only as instructors and trainers.
No they did not have any orders to fly combat missions in fact they were directly ordered not to engage in combat.
It seems that President Allende offered bounties to American pilots and gave them the phoney IDs and credentials.

It's probably a situation like Vietnam in OTL. It was known that there were Russian trainers and advisors assisting the North Vietnamese airforce leading to rumors of Russian pilots flying combat missions but no proof and no one, including the US, was talking about it very much or investigating even post-war. It was in no ones interest to probe too deeply.
Considering Reinaldo/Randy's reaction to being told to pull his head in and keep a low profile, I see him going "Fuck it. I want the goddamn medal" and go for it. If so, and if it is discovered he is actually an American (US), I can also see the US government PNG-ing him, disavowing his actions and presenting proof that he did this against orders. Proof that admits that he was there as an instructor, that he was ordered home just after the war began for a new posting, that he ignored those orders and went AWOL, that he is now considered to be a deserter and that, if the Argentinians manage to capture him, the US would be interested in extraditing him to stand trial for such.
 
My father spent 24 years in the USN mostly on aircraft carriers and he told me that there was nobody more arrogant or having a bigger ego than a Navy fighter pilot and my father armed Nuclear weapons and that meant that he had a higher code word clearance then most of the pilots.
But my father then qualified that you need a big ego and arrogance to be a good fighter pilot and as we have seen the person with the biggest ego and is extremely arrogant in this timeline is none other than Manfred von Richthofen the Red Baron himself.
I have no doubts that Ben have a very healthy ego and a touch of arrogance but the reason we haven't seen it because Kiki who is no slouch in the department herself would shut that down real quick and Ben is not going to risk anything that ruin their relationship.
 
Randy Cunningham is about to hand the Argentines and the Germans a coup.

The CIA could ask a favour of SIS though if that looks possible.

Do the Royal Navy have a listening Station on the South Sandwich Islands?
If so, maybe Mr Cunningham would be the ideal person to become the first permanent Inter-service exchange representative from the CIA to SIS?
View attachment 649920

Of course, he'd be due a promotion for taking such an obviously prestigious post...
I don't remember if Adm. Byrd is around now but if he was, that would mean the Navy would have the lead on an Antarctic or Arctic base that would need to have a person of a certain rank to handle staff duties like counting items in the property book and making sure that outlying stations had their property books checked.
 
Top