Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

Part 145, Chapter 2633
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Thirty-Three



1st August 1977

Camp Hale, Near Leadville, Colorado

In the predawn darkness, it was cold at Camp Hale, even in the middle of summer. Mario had heard that there was even a chance that it could snow here in August. He had never thought that he would find himself with worse weather than the Alaskan interior, but apparently this was.

“Pick your feet up Ramirez!” The Instructor yelled at him as he passed. In the high, thin air of the Rocky Mountains he could feel his head swimming as he continued the run, in full kit, including thirty pounds in his rucksack. Mercifully, the M-10 “Stoner” rifle they had given him was considerably lighter than the old M-9 Garand that was the mainstay in Alaska. Ritchie had asked him if he wanted to remain a grunt his entire career? The answer was an obvious no, and no one had said that improving his lot in the Army would come easy.

The “Ranger Physical Assessment” was what they called this particular brand of torture and it was what made up the first week of the twenty-one-day training course. Sergeant Mullins and Mario’s brother Ritchie had told him that as a newly minted Specialist, he should accept the offer to go to Ranger School that he had been offered. Both Mullins and Ritchie had made it through this, so he had figured that that it wouldn’t be too hard. Besides that, even if he didn’t make it through the course due to injury or not making the cut just having volunteered for it would look good in his service record. If he completed the course and then didn’t get selected, he would still get to wear the Ranger tab when he got back to the 11th Airbourne. If a new LRRP team was being formed by the 11th Mario would be in contention to lead it with that tab. As it had turned out, this was turning out to be a lot harder than he had figured it would be.

Camp Hale was home to the 10th Mountain Division and where those who sought entry into the elite Ranger Regiment trained. It was also part of the mysterious selection process for the Green Beret. So, the entire process was meant to weed out those who were incapable of doing the job. That meant that having the thin air play a key role in a physically and mentally demanding course was all a part of the process. Ritchie had told Mario about John Cassey, a Sergeant who had been in the 10th Mountain who had become a legend in the 1st Special Forces Group. Men from the Mountain Division certainly had a leg up in the selection process in that they lived here while those like Mario were merely visiting.

Ritchie had also mentioned that he had been assigned to be a Gunner when he had done this. The weight of a light machine gun and belts of ammunition, the accompanying tools… Pure torture. It was with that pleasant thought that Mario finished that morning’s run. That meant that he would get a few minutes of rest before his instructors had a new task for him.



Balderschwang, Bavaria

Kiki had started to suspect something while they had still been in the United States the month prior. It had been what had been happening in the days since she had gotten back that had swiftly become impossible to ignore. By now it was something that she knew and understood all too well. The pounding migraines, exhaustion, and strange dreams. What all of that meant. That was how her body reacted towards an intruder of sorts that it both fought against and welcomed, which a simple blood test a couple days before had confirmed. Kiki had told no one other than Ben, until now, having invited Zella, Aurora, and Nora Berg to her house for lunch. They had known as soon as they had arrived that Kiki was going to tell them something momentous. This certainly qualified.

“Can I please be recording when you tell your superiors?” Zella asked, more like begging. “The looks on their faces will be priceless.”

“This is why I was reluctant to tell you” Kiki replied. Actually, it had been Aurora’s reaction she had been worried about. After struggling through a series of miscarriages, Aurora had finally had her daughter Gisela, and even that had been difficult. After that it had been deemed medically inadvisable for Aurora to have any more children. Later, she had not taken it well when she had learned about Zella’s accidental pregnancy. “Besides, the Medical Service isn’t completely in the dark over matters like these.”

“Yes and no” Berg said, “Yes, they are aware that women have babies, but the reality is that with you they are in totally uncharted waters. I think that Zella is right about their reaction.”

Zella and Berg got a laugh about that as they went into the dining room where lunch was being served. In many respects, Zella had replaced Kiki as Berg’s surrogate daughter. As Berg had put it, she still loved Kiki and was proud of what she had become, but Southern Bavaria was a bit out of her way.

“I think this is wonderful” Aurora said, “A little brother or sister for Nina and Lutz.”

“And a cousin for Gisela and Irina” Kiki said, which made Aurora happy. Partly due to the current climate in the Empire and the resurgence of anti-Semitism, Aurora had embraced the Reform Jewish beliefs of her husband and that part of her identity. That had driven a wedge between her and her parents. Aurora also had a brother and sister who were much younger than her, who she had never been particularly close to. Kiki and Zella had become key parts of her family. Like all families there were times when they had disagreements and others, like this, when they came back together.
 
Last edited:
I think, realistically, this will be the end of Kiki's military career. Not her medical career though.
I think, if they have any sense, the German Army will give her one final promotion as she retires as a quiet but definite "Goodbye" and a bit of positive PR.

It's not like there's a war about to start that would see her recalled to service.
Even if there was she would be kept very firmly on the home front.
 
I think, realistically, this will be the end of Kiki's military career. Not her medical career though.
I think, if they have any sense, the German Army will give her one final promotion as she retires as a quiet but definite "Goodbye" and a bit of positive PR.

It's not like there's a war about to start that would see her recalled to service.
Even if there was she would be kept very firmly on the home front.
Yes, that is correct.
Kiki's last promotion was basically a FU to Kissinger and his coalition by King Albrecht of Bavaria who is a fierce monarchist and is zealously protective of the special rights that Bavaria has in the Empire.
 
Sergeant Mullins and Mario’s brother Ritchie had told him that as a newly minted Specialist, he should accept the offer to go to Ranger School that he had been offered. Both Mullins and Ritchie had made it through this, so he had figured that that it wouldn’t be too hard.
Mario is a slow learner, isn't he?
 
You would think that Kiki as a Doctor would have it figured out by now what causes pregnancy. ;). Ben is definitely going in for a quick cut or snip depending on your feelings on the matter. Nice to see Nora Berg and Zella getting along and Nora helping her. Aurora has a child like the rest now and can now feel like them.
 
I am getting vibes that Mario is going to find himself in Panama if he finishes Ranger training.
IOTL, The Torrijos-Carter Treaties were signed on Sept. 7th 1977, which gave control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999, which somehow I think won't happen ITTL.
One of the original inspirations for the Panamanian demands for the return of the Canal Zone was the Suez Crisis of 1956, when Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.
There has been no posts on whether or not it happened, and Nasser and Sadat were leaders in the Free Officer Movement that over threw the Egyptian Monarchy, and once again, no posts about if that happened ITTL.
The main impetuous for the coup was the humiliating defeat of the Arabs in the 1948 War of Independence, which once again did not happen ITTL along with the creation of the State of Israel.

ITTL, I can see the United States being more invested in the idea of keeping the Panama Canal, especially if the United States went ahead in upgrading the Canal.
That along with the Naval Base at Gauntanamo Bay are probably "Redlines" for the American people as being vital for National Security and will not agree to give them up without a fight.
 
As always you have the speculation, in this case as to how Luftwaffe Flight Helmets would have evolved if they had continued in service into the 1950's and what would have replaced them moving into the 60's and 70's.


m1457_wwii_german_luftwaffe_flight_helmet_goggles-4.jpgORLWSMRHLT-2.jpgONI_JAN_1_Uniforms_and_Insignia_Page_030_German_Air_Force_Luftwaffe_WW2_Flying_suits._Officers...jpg
 
Part 145, Chapter 2634
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Thirty-Four



6th August 1977

Potsdam

Getting the family together was such a complicated undertaking these days, time passed, and everything grew more complicated. Louis Ferdinand understood that much as he was accompanied on his walk through the forest that made up much of the expansive grounds of the Summer Residence by the young woman who was his oldest granddaughter. Louis had to struggle with how he thought of her still as a small child. He knew that despite Freddy and Suga’s best intentions, they not only thought of her as a child but tended to treat her like one as well. The additional pressure that came from being the designated heir meant that Mirai was being crushed under the weight of expectations that Louis felt had grown unreasonable on top of that.

How many times had Louis heard Kiki complain about how lonely her childhood had been? For Mirai it seemed like it was so much worse because she was very different from her aunt. To the public, she had come to be seen as the severe, humorless figure. That was the unreasonable part. Why wasn’t Mirai allowed to just be a thirteen-year-old? Adult expectations should not be part of the equation. Worst of all, Mirai was showing signs of growing into a beauty when she got older and that would do her absolutely no favors. It could be argued that she had inherited the best features of her German father and Japanese mother, that wasn’t always to her benefit.

“I hate it” Mirai said with far more venom than Louis might have expected.

“You should really try to avoid hate like that” Louis replied, even as he said that he knew that it was a bit late. Mirai had already learned to conduct herself in this manner and that was something which was nearly impossible to unlearn. “Things are already vastly different from when your grandmother was your age. By the time you are Kiki’s age…”

Louis shrugged at the end of that.

Mirai stopped walking and glared at Louis. Despite how profoundly different Mirai was in appearance and personality from Kira the look in her eyes was one that he had seen whenever something happened that displeased his first wife. Kira had died years before Mirai had been born, but he recognized an echo of her when he saw one. How exactly had that happened?

“The choice that Aunt Kiki was forced to make was unfair” Mirai spat out. “Getting forced out like that. Having to decide between her family or her work.”

“Has it occurred to you that you are basing your opinion on incomplete information?” Louis asked, “Kiki’s choices were forced on her when she had to accept a promotion when she had already decided to leave the Medical Service and was having to live apart from Benjamin. While she wasn’t exactly planning on having another child, she had stopped actively trying to prevent the conception. It had only been something that they had been talking about before Albrecht mucked things up for them.”

Mirai stared at Louis, she had a look of surprise on her face this time. Kiki had told Louis the truth after she had told him that she was pregnant, she had been happiest when she was managing a hospital near the Observatory where Ben was the Director. King Albrecht of Bavaria had upset the applecart and oddly, this was Kiki taking back control of her life. When she left to go on maternity leave this time, she was not planning on coming back.

“That is one of the things about being an adult” Louis said as they resumed walking. “Things are never as simple as you might like.”

Mirai frowned when she heard that. Louis remembered that her name meant “Future” in Japanese. Mirai Louise Kristina von Preussen was her full name. In Germany it was often thought to be a misspelling of Marie, while her middle names were that of her ancestor Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and her Aunt Kristina, two women who could be described as forces of nature, like a thunderstorm. Well, like the weather, the future happened whether you liked it or not.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Amedeo Giovani, Prince of Naples and heir to the Italian throne certainly felt out of place. His father had practically ordered him to go to Germany after sulking around for months after having had to give up command of the RN Audace, the Destroyer that had been his first true love. The reason for that was that he was attending the birthday party of Princess Kristina, a woman who had very publicly rejected his older brother before his untimely, though many in Italy would argue fortuitous, death in an auto accident. Kristina herself had been born on Christmas Day, so she had celebrated her birthday sometime mid-summer since childhood. In attendance today would be several high-born women who Amedeo should probably get to know better.

He could take a hint.

Amedeo’s father made of point of mentioning that included Antonia Marie, the eighteen-year-old half-sister of the German Kaiser. That was to his considerable annoyance, he was more than a decade older than the German Princess and figured that he would have absolutely nothing to talk about with her. Sure, Amedeo had seen mention of Antonia in magazines, but that was the sort of thing that he had never had time for. Cosimo de Medici, his father’s Consigliere, had told him that the Princess was a pretty blond girl. He had been saved by Kristina announcing that she was pregnant with her third child, who would be a new addition to the family sometime next winter. That had drawn all the attention.

In that moment, Amedeo envied Louis Ferdinand Junior, Kristina’s younger brother. His friend had been able to beg off this event because he was busy restructuring the Romanian Navy and hoping to get it done before either the Greeks or the Russians did something stupid. The risk of getting shot at was preferable to this. At least on the Black Sea the risks were well understood.

“You don’t look like you are having fun” Amedeo heard a voice say. Looking he saw that it was a girl wearing a Luftwaffe Pilot’s helmet of all things.

“I’m feeling a bit out of place” Amedeo replied, he was one of many guests who were here for diplomatic reasons. Regardless of whatever social considerations there were. “What is with the helmet?”

“My sister Kiki gave it to me as a joke because I’ve been learning to fly” The girl said, taking off the helmet and revealing long blond hair.

“Not an activity that I would expect that someone like you would be doing” Amedeo said, “What do your parents think?”

“Poppa is the one who has been giving me lessons, so of course they don’t mind” The girl said with a happy smile.

The Emperor Emeritus of Germany was well known to be rather proud of his status as a Flight Instructor. Meeting her meant that Amedeo could go back to his father and tell him that he had spoken to the German Princess.

“Tell me more” Amedeo said, considering himself fortunate that the Princess wasn’t a complete bore.
 
Last edited:
I just had a thought, yeah I know its dangerous at times. Are the Schneider Cup being still run here? Italy did really well with there seaplanes and Germany didn't really do much, so I wonder how it would be if they had it run in Italy and Princess Antonia flys for the Germans? Might turn out interesting here.
 
Having previously lost a fair amount of time into speculating what form the Stahlhelm would take, given a few decades of design improvements, I completely understand.
Probably the East German ‘gumdrop’ helmet given that that was the OTL progression and the Communists just borrowed a Wehrmacht design :p
 
Italy did really well with there seaplanes and Germany didn't really do much, so I wonder how it would be if they had it run in Italy and Princess Antonia flys for the Germans?
There is a small problem with that, Antonia isn't into flying and that is not who Amedeo is talking to. Annett Pfenning on the other hand...
 
With Kiki and King Albrecht of Bavaria making their point and sticking it to Kissinger and his government coalition, there is no need for Kiki to remain in the JMS and she now's leaves on her own terms.
Kiki has now found the balance between family and career, and she has learned that being an administrator does not prevent her from practicing medicine.
She is now at a small hospital in an out of the way place, far from the prying eyes of the press, and is probably at the most content time of her life.

Mirai is getting near the same age as her Aunt Kiki was when she was sent to Japan, and maybe some time in Japan to spend with her mother's family and getting some personal training with Madame Natsume will help her gain some perspective.

Cue the farcical misunderstandings, as Armando and Nan talk to each other in plain sight of a room full of gossips that will misconstrue everything.
Armando is now the Number One Bachelor in Europe, and every social occasion is going to be filled with the most "societally acceptable" women wanting to be introduced to him.
When he was a Groomsman for now Prince Consort Louis Ferdinand of Romania, he was paired with one of the four remaining single daughters of King Michael of Romania.

So what does Nella want to do with her life?
She had a great affection for her oldest brother's Akitas, and she loves her dog that she shares with Nan.
Nella also greatly admires her big sister Kiki, so could a career in the JMS as a veterinarian be a possibility?
 
Part 146, Chapter 2635
Chapter Two Thousand Six Hundred Thirty-Five



7th August 1977

Pamplona, Spain

The Festival of San Fermín had ended weeks earlier, not that they would have been inclined to run with the bulls if they had present, and it was the height of summer. So there had been little going on in Pamplona when Marie Alexandra and Tatiana had arrived there after spending the prior week exploring small towns and villages in the Pyrenees mountains.

The car that they had acquired in Barcelona after disliking how they had been at the mercy of other people’s schedules in Andorra, an old SEAT 850, needed a bit of help after having barely made it over the mountains. Marie being Marie, she had been totally flippant over the matter and assumed that they could just pay someone to fix the car. While she wasn’t wrong about that, any idiot with a wrench set could service an 850. That was a key part of the model’s enduring popularity in Spain. Tatiana had very different perspective, one that seemed rather idiotic after she had made her point. How many times had they heard that they should never allow themselves to be dependent on others? Even if it was to do simple repairs on a car.

It had been much to Tatiana’s annoyance that Marie asked when exactly she was planning on having the car ready so that they could travel on to Bilbao. Or should she start looking at the train schedule? The truth that she was forced to admit to was that she had only disagreed with Marie’s course of action because Marie had been so fast to suggest it. So, Tatiana had to watch as Marie had a lot more success than she would have in finding the sort of Idiot with a wrench set who would fix the car and not try to rip them off. It was the anger over that which would lead directly into Tatiana’s next mistake.

Since they were stuck in Pamplona until they got the car back on Monday, was Marie planning on attending Church? After all Pamplona was an important stop in the Way of Saint James, and while they had absolutely no plans to walk the pilgrimage themselves it would make Oma Blackwood happy. As it had turned out, reminding Marie of the sort of compromises she had needed to make to maintain the peace in their grandfather’s household had been precisely the wrong thing to have done. Perhaps if Tatiana had known what her sister was planning she wouldn’t have drunk most of a bottle of wine with dinner the night before. It was something that both Tatiana and Marie had indulged in since they had arrived in Spain, the sort of wine which fetched a premium in shops in Berlin was cheaply available in abundance.

In the predawn hours of Sunday morning, Marie had dragged Tatiana out of bed. Forcing her to wash and get dressed so that they could go to the Cathedral. Tatiana understood why her sister was doing this, while they were on holiday no less, so she had grudgingly gone along. Tatiana had watched as Marie showed that she had become extremely good at doing the associated rituals while Tatiana smiled in the face of the looks of disapproval that she had received.

Finally, they were walking back to the hotel. The old city, which dated back to Roman times, was coming alive. Despite it being a day of rest and all, the business of going about life still went on. There also were a number of tourists from around the world like them even if the height of the season in this part of Spain had passed.

“Okay” Tatiana said, “Can we call a truce?”

“There was never really a battle” Marie replied, which Tatiana knew was bullshit but didn’t call her sister on it. “I’ve gotten pretty convincing when it comes to the whole Catholic thing, so it was nice to have someone along who knows the real score.”

Tatiana couldn’t help but laugh at that. Their parents had come from different religious backgrounds, and they had solved the problem by basically raising their children in a mostly agnostic household. Sure, there was Great-Aunt Marcella’s version of Christianity, which was technically Lutheranism but that had been a battle that Marcella had stopped fighting with their mother when she had been a teenager. Things were a lot more complicated with their grandmother in Canada who seemed to have an opinion about everything, including religion. For Marie to do anything else than play along would have been asking Margot Blackwood to make her life miserable for as long as she planned to stay in Montreal.

“You could have clued me into that” Tatiana said, “That crowd back there seemed to be going out of their way to make certain they didn’t approve. Did you say anything to them?”

“I didn’t mention you at all, beyond saying that you were my sister and that I had brought you along” Marie replied, “I had other things to consider, there was the whole thing about confession before…”

“What could you possibly have to confess to?” Tatiana asked. To her that seemed absurd. She knew that her younger sister was extremely shy and the way she conducted herself, there wasn’t anything that she could possibly have done that the worst scolds in any church could take issue with.

“Envy mostly” Marie said, “I feel it when I watch how you have no trouble introducing yourself to new people.”

That was not an answer that Tatiana was expecting.
 
What a difference 40-odd years makes. I wonder if Tat & Marie are unconsciously following in the footsteps of their Uncle Hans as he trudged across the Pyrennes and through Spain as a young rifleman during the Spanish intervention?
 
Last edited:
Top