Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III

That kind of thing but slightly more specialised, so an all wheel drive fire engine to tackle forest fires or an Ambulance that cen drive up a mountain if the weather stop rescue Helicopters flying, down to one off comissions for ARD to kit out a wagon to follow the next Berlin to Banjul rally.

In German it's either Sonder-Kfz* (Special-Kfz, Kfz in the abbreviation Kraftfahrzeug (literal translation would probably be powered vehicle) which is the official German term for all powered, not rail-bound land vehicles). Another, shorter term would be Sonderfahrzeug (literal translation Special Vehicle).

*the best known examples should be the Sd.Kfz designations the German Wehrmacht used during OTL WW2, for example the Sd.Kfz 142 is the designation for the StuG III,
 
Since the story is focused on the Eastern Med. atm, what is the status of the Dodecadese Islands ITTL? Are they still under Italian rule? Or were they returned to Greece years ago?
 
Ben has become the darling of the Luftwaffe PR office. Citizen-airman turned war hero & Raumsfahrer = recruiting officers dream poster boy. Which will, of course, panic Kiki. If he does decide to visit Kiki on the weekend, I can actually see Parker being more of an accidental relationship counselor than a love rival, with one of his snarky anal retentive comments succeeding where everyone else's sage advice has failed.

P-M, could you please make that happen? If only to enable Parker to get a gift basket & hand written note from the Kaiser thanking him for his services to the Empire that significantly fails to mention exactly what the particular service was, thus leaving Parker totally confused as to why he's received them. Bonus points if Richie works out why and just bursts out laughing at the look on Parker's face.
Oh yes, so many times yes.

Meanwhile Louis Jr. has discovered that Zella has wrapped his entire flotilla around her little finger. There probably isn't a damn thing those sailors won't do for her, especially if they think that she's the flotilla commanders woman. Which they probably do, due to scuttlebutt; his crew sees how they interact, put 2 & 2 together to get a number that may or may not be 4, next thing the entire flotilla "knows" the score.

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Eight
...

“He had his reasons” Kurt said “Mostly it had to do with that journalist.”

“The journalist?” Ivo asked.

The one he has the thing for” Olli said with a smirk.

Ivo looked at these two, hardly more than boys. Their reaction to whatever was going on with this journalist reminded him of the reaction that schoolboys might have if they learned that the Headmaster was dating the Kindergarten teacher.

“You should have been there” Kurt said “Maria this, Maria that.
Enlisted's gotta enlisted, it would seem.

Perhaps a young RM officer called Paddy Ashdown serving in the SBS might make an appearance?!?
Or maybe Admiral Jon Pertwee, too?

Marc A
 
Part 107, Chapter 1751
Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-One



12th September 1966

Charlottenburg, Berlin

Suse had been warned about lectures before nine o’clock in the morning. Still, she had signed up for this one because she wanted to get through Post-Secondary Education as quickly as possible and get on with her life. Hopefully freeing herself from her embarrassing family entanglements in the process.

The lecture at the Technical University’s Main Campus might have been one of the most boring subjects imaginable, Introduction to Materials Science. With the Space Program being all the rage, the lecture was focusing on the work of Belgian Engineer Karel Bossart, how it played a key role in the ongoing Programs of the ESA and the properties of stainless steel. The way that it was being presented was rather dry, especially considering the nature of it. Not that Suse minded, presently a bit of boring was good because it allowed her to decompress a bit. The summer had been a little too eventful and not in a good way. After she had broken up with Manfred, though whether they were ever together in the first place was debatable, she had spent the summer in Prague with her family.

That was when the trouble started.

Her brother, Alois, had told all his friends at the Culinary Academy he attended that his older, unattached sister was coming to town and the description that he had given them of her was extremely problematic. It was the very thing most likely to anger Suse and Alois had thought was funny since they had been children, the idea of her being a cuddly little elf. That had been reflected in the gifts that Suse had received as a group of feckless boys had tried and failed badly to get her to go on a date with one of them.

Then Suse’s mother had opened her mouth in one of her rather embarrassing conversations. There were times that she was certain that her mother just liked pressing buttons to see if anything went off in a fun way. Suse had no idea how the conversation had gotten around to the topic, but her mother had asked if all of Manfred was as big as the rest of him. It had taken entirely too long for her to realize what her mother was getting at, so Suse had been left sputtering and red-faced as she had tried to explain that their relationship hadn’t progressed to that point. Inadvertently revealing several other aspects about herself in the process that her mother found incredibly amusing. Months earlier Kat had been worried by the fact that Suse was her mother’s daughter. It had been during that conversation with her mother that she had come to understand why. And the most grating part was that she had turned down the opportunity to go with Jo to the East Frisian Islands because that had seemed entirely too pedestrian at the time.



Trieste, Austria

The VW Microbus was still parked next to the warehouse a short distance from the pier. Louis could see the power cord that ran to it that Laninga was complaining about snaking out of the building. Zella had said that the Microbus had been built specially for them by VW’s Sonder-Kfz Division to provide her and Yuri a place to work and sleep while they were in the field. All the windows and the back doors had been left open, that was to be expected because it had never really cooled down the night before. Yuri was sound asleep on the backseat that had folded down into a bed and Louis assumed that Zella was up in the tent like structure that was from where a section of the roof had hinged upwards. The remainder of the interior was a working space with televisions bolted to the wall, video players set up on a table just below and a pair of stools, one laying on its side. There were boxes containing tapes and cases for video equipment crammed in everywhere.

“Anyone awake?” Louis called out.

He heard movement up top and Zella’s bare feet appeared before she dropped down through a hatch in the ceiling. She was wearing red and white striped men’s pajamas, sort of an odd choice.

“What do you want Louis?” Zella asked as she sat down in the open side door. It was extremely clear that she had not wanted to get out of bed.

“To tell you that Wunsdorf got back to me about your request to accompany us the next time the flotilla goes out” Louis said, “They told me that it was entirely at my discretion.”

“Oh” Zella said, clearly not thrilled about that.

“You need to understand that being on the boats of the flotilla can be dangerous even at the best of times. If there is any action protection is scant and the accommodation will make what you currently enjoy seem luxurious” Louis said, “Most of all though, you have to be prepared to do what you are told and cannot be seen as undermining the chain of command.”

“I know how the military works” Zella replied, “I’ve a lifetime of experience.”

“Do you also understand the sort of presumptions that the crews have made about you?” Louis asked.

“Also speaking of other things that I’ve dealt with my entire life” Zella said.

“They think you are my woman” Louis said flatly.

Zella just laughed at that. “Speaking of presumptuous” She said, “You are my best friend’s little brother.”

“Perhaps it would be better for everyone if you stayed here” Louis said, disliking her attitude. “Your Cameraman seems perfectly capable.”

The instant Louis said that, he saw anger lite up in Zella’s eyes. “Don’t you dare” She said coldly.
 
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Chapter One Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty-One



12th September 1966

Trieste, Austria
Zella had said that the Microbus had been built specially for them by VW’s Sonder-Kfz Division to provide her and Yuri a place to work and sleep while they were in the field.
:D

The instant Louis said that, he saw anger lite up in Zella’s eyes. “Don’t you dare” She said coldly.

I don't think Zella realises yet that she's just been played. Of course, when she does, it's going to cause one of two opposite reactions: She gets revenge, or...
I can practically hear the wedding bells!
This.
 
“To tell you that Wunsdorf got back to me about your request to accompany us the next time the flotilla goes out” Louis said, “They told me that it was entirely at my discretion.”

“Oh” Zella said, clearly not thrilled about that.

“You need to understand that being on the boats of the flotilla can be dangerous even at the best of times. If there is any action, protection is scant and the accommodation will make what you currently enjoy seem luxurious” Louis said, “Most of all though, you have to be prepared to do what you are told and cannot be seen as undermining the chain of command.”

“I know how the military works” Zella replied, “I’ve a lifetime of experience.”

“Do you also understand the sort of presumptions that the crews have made about you?” Louis asked.

“Also speaking of other things that I’ve dealt with my entire life” Zella said.

“They think you are my woman” Louis said flatly.

Zella just laughed at that. “Speaking of presumptuous” She said, “You are my best friend’s little brother.”

“Perhaps it would be better for everyone if you stayed here” Louis said, disliking her attitude. “Your Cameraman seems perfectly capable.”

The instant Louis said that, he saw anger lite up in Zella’s eyes. “Don’t you dare” She said coldly.

*taps finger on chin*

I can't quite put my finger on it, but this seems entirely familiar set f circumstances.

;) ;) :p:p
 
I can practically hear the wedding bells!

Deafeningly loud ones at that. While Louis & Zella are still in denial, aka the initial flirting stage, the crews of the flotilla (& Yuri) are going to thoroughly enjoy the up-coming courtship rituals & mating displays of the von Pruessen & von Holz clans. Talk about shades of Emil & Maria. Zella is following in her mothers footsteps in more ways than one, in fact, the only way she could follow more closely would be to wear her mothers shoes... while Maria was still in them.


The summer had been a little too eventful and not in a good way. After she had broken up with Manfred, though whether they were ever together in the first place was debatable, she had spent the summer in Prague with her family.

That was when the trouble started.

Her brother, Alois, had told all his friends at the Culinary Academy he attended that his older, unattached sister was coming to town and the description that he had given them of her was extremely problematic. It was the very thing most likely to anger Suse and Alois had thought was funny since they had been children, the idea of her being a cuddly little elf. That had been reflected in the gifts that Suse had received as a group of feckless boys had tried and failed badly to get her to go on a date with one of them.

Then Suse’s mother had opened her mouth and in one of her rather embarrassing conversations. There were times that she was certain that her mother just liked pressing buttons to see if anything went off in a fun way. Suse had no idea how the conversation had gotten around to the topic, but her mother had asked if all of Manfred was as big as the rest of him. It had taken entirely too long for her to realize what her mother was getting at, so Suse had been left sputtering and red-faced as she had tried to explain that their relationship hadn’t progressed to that point. Inadvertently revealing several other aspects about herself in the process that her mother found incredibly amusing. Months earlier Kat had been worried by the fact that Suse was her mother’s daughter. It had been during that conversation with her mother that she had come to understand why. And the most grating part was that she had turned down the opportunity to go with Jo to go to the East Frisian Islands because that had seemed entirely too pedestrian at the time.

While angering Suse, this, without a doubt, provided Alois weeks of entertainment, no doubt helped along with a little judicious prodding on his part. And then there is Gerta, who is in the running for "The Parent Most Likely To Be Decked By Her Extremely Pissed Off Daughter Award", a title currently held by the late Kira Kirillovna.
 
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Speaking of Manfred, we haven't heard from him in a while. From the last update involving him, he was off on some sort of hush-hush recon job. So the questions that we must ask: Is he in Albania? Or is he in Poland?
 
Speaking of Manfred, we haven't heard from him in a while. From the last update involving him, he was off on some sort of hush-hush recon job. So the questions that we must ask: Is he in Albania? Or is he in Poland?


Manfred? Due to a bureaucratic mixup, he is currently deployed in Poland where he is tasked with listening in on Albanian communications. ;)
 
Manfred? Due to a bureaucratic mixup, he is currently deployed in Poland where he is tasked with listening in on Albanian communications. ;)

No, he's been sent on an arctic survival and warfare instructors course before being posted to Vietnam.
 
So long as he doesn't get jump training in preparation for a insertion via submarine.

"It says here you've been trained in special insertion techniques"?
"Yes sir I have been trained in..."
"Good good, this mission requires you to insert via this small goose".
 
I imagine Suse going spending the next summer on an island away from her mom. She talks to Tante Helene and asks if her brother can get an internship at Peenemunde for the summer. Then the engineers discover not only is she intelligent and understands there work but fits places others don’t and gets to do actual hands on work.
 
I imagine that Berlin Technical University is where a lot of the theoretical scientific research meets with the practical engineering applications for the space program among other things and Suse Rosa gets roped in by accident because she is waking down a hallway and someone grabs her because her size makes her the right person for a emergency job.
Also I think that the armed forces have their own people there and someone with the last name of Knipsel is going to generate some looks by them.
 
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