History Fanfic / ThePriceOfFlight

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Count Semyon Romanoff, initially posted as a diplomat to Ankh-Morpork, takes advantage of his relative freedom to contact dissident groups intent on overthrowing Prince Heinrich of Zlobenia as the first step towards dissolving Zlobenia and rebuilding a new Rodinia. As Semyon is a Zlobenian, this might be called ''disloyal'. it is hinted that Vetinari has reminded Prince Heinrich that their interests coincide here - neither wants to see the current status quo dissolved. What might have been a brief courtesy visit from an Assassin becomes a posting to Syrrit.[[note]]in the middle of sub-Neffian Klatch, a backward remote semi-desert state, analagous with somewhere like UsefulNotes/BurkinaFaso or UsefulNotes/{{Mali}} on our world[[/note]] When the Pegasus Service runs into trouble ferrying him there, an international crisis begins.

* TheCaptain: Olga Romanoff.

* TragicIceCharacter: Hanna von Strafenburg is first introduced as an isolated, lonely, girl trapped by her nobility and desperately longing for a normal life. Things improve when she goes to Lancre to train as a witch. She discoers her magical affinity is with ice, snow and cold; she ''can'' throw a standard fireball if she has to, but her preferred magical weapon is the complete opposite: a short intense blast of extreme cold not much above absolute zero.

* VestigialEmpire: As with the former Ankh-Morporkian Empire, the spread of old Rodinia, once an imperial rival, is now vastly diminished. The Four Duchies which are now part of Zlobenia are the respective seats of four brothers, the closest claimants to the dormant Tsarate. Blondograd, the former Imperial Capital on the River Musckovada [[note]]Canonical place: see ''The Compleat Discworld Atlas''[[/note]] is now just another city in Far Überwald and under the rule of Lady Margolotta. Wide-ranging Cossack tribes, spread as far as the Vortex Plains, the Vulga Steppes, the Great Moldavian Lake and Kazackstan, a land bordering on Klatch and Muntab. As with all other hopeful migrant groups, Ankh-Morpork itself now has a substantial ethnic community of Rodinians. Who look to Lady Olga Romanoff and her cousin Lady Natasha Romanoff as their social leaders.

* FatCamp: Air Watch commanding officer Captain Olga Romanoff had to ask Assassin advice when she took her first, reluctantly accepted, draft of recruit wizards, some of whom had settled into typical Wizard ways of eating even before graduating. An inferred detail is that there had to be a Fat Camp for some of her Wizards.[[note]]The Assassins have evolved strategies for dealing with promising but overweight new students, or else students who let themselves get fat. Suffuce it to say that you would not want to attend Assassins' School Special Measures classes. (their Fat Camp)[[/note]]

* Flapping Cheeks: To maximise aircrew numbers, the Air Watch will take any Ground Watch member with a head for heights up as aircrew. After all, only the pilot needs to be a magic user. The problem with taking Captain Angua von Überwald up as aircrew, pilots report, is that she gets over-excited, wants to lean out into the slipstream, and howl. Olga Romanoff speculates that this is something hardwired into the canine psyche, even for werewolves.

* FatCamp: Air Watch commanding officer Captain Olga Romanoff had to ask Assassin advice when she took her first, reluctantly accepted, draft of recruit wizards, some of whom had settled into typical Wizard ways of eating even before graduating. An inferred detail is that there had to be a Fat Camp for some of her Wizards.

[[caption-width-right:350:The proposed interceptor/fighter broom code-named the P-51. Illustration identified as by [[https://joncameronli.com/portfolio John Cameron]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The proposed interceptor/fighter broom code-named the P-51. Illustration identified as by John Cameron.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The proposed interceptor/fighter broom code-named the P-51]]

* OldSoldier: In a youth-oriented Service where (if she wasn't there), the average age of a pilot would be around eighteen or nineteen, Nadezhda Popova stands out. She's forty-three. The oldest pilot in the Service, she has transferred from fast single-seat fighter brooms to command the [[GiantFlyer Heavy Squadron]]. The rest of the Air Watch calls her "Mother Hen" and treats her with great respect.

** The little matter of Irena's Pegasus. RuleOfFunny suggested to the author that two majestic flying horses should be named after characters from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony''. Olga's mount duly became ''Raduga Desh'' - Rainbow Dash. [[DidNotDoTheBloodyResearch slapdash research]] suggested "Cupcakes" as a suitable pony name. The author, not being greatly into MPL-FIM, shrugged and thought "that'll do". Reader feedback suuggested this was not ''quite'' the most appropriate choice. After discovering the true nature of "[[NightmareFuel Cupcakes]]", Pessimal agreed. Irena's Pegasus is now ''Pryaniki'', which is apparently a generic word for small sweet cakes served with Russian tea. This may change again: a Russian-speaking reader suggested ''Vatruschka'', another sort of Russian tea cake.

** If a soundtrack is ever devised, Music/{{Sabaton}}'s ''Night Witches'' and the Music/BlueOysterCult's ''[=ME262=]'' will be in there. Both songs are referenced, as are Russian anthems by such as Music/OtavaYo.

** The one [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Rimwards Howondalandian]] pilot in the Air Watch is affectionately nick-named ''Series/DieLieweHecksie'' by family members. (One who is even called Livinia).