Comrades of The North: Party All Night

One After Another

Today marked the last day the carriers would stay before they headed back home, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I relax on the couch.

"So today's the last day huh?" I ask.

"Yes." Illustrious replies. "We quite enjoyed our time here."

"You did?" I ask. "I'm a little surprised. We don't get that many visitors from the start."

"Even then, you helped make our time here enjoyable." Illustrious replies. "Although some people don't seem too fond of us being here."

"They're pretty biased." I say. "They're the same people that doubt my status as a komandir."

"Really?" Formidable asks. "When I first met you I thought you were the fleet admiral or something."

"Do I really give that kind of aura off?" I chuckle.

"Yeah, kinda." Formidable replies. "You look like a very respectable commander, or komandir as you're called here."

"I can go by either one honestly. They mean the same thing." I say. "Although here they call me komandir. Anyone else outside of here calls me commander, so I'm used to it."

"You wouldn't mind if I spoke to you alone for a bit before we leave?" Illustrious asks.

"Just make sure you don't try anything with me." I reply as Illustrious leads me away, and as soon as we're outside I see she has a serious look on her face, one she rarely puts up and that tells me she means business. "Alright, what is it that you want to talk with me about?"

"Well, there was a reason we wanted to visit." Illustrious replies. "It wasn't just to see what was going on here, but to quash some crazy rumors that have been flying around about you and the others."

"And what would that be?" I ask, knowing what she was going to say.

"That you have been in kahoots with the sirens." Illustrious replies. "The news went global after that strange picture and then the picture of your girls using riggings that looked a whole lot like the ones the Ironbloods used. Now the Crimson Axis used a lot of siren technology, the Ironbloods using the most, but even then they hated the sirens just as much. Having spent a good few days here, it would seem like things are pretty normal here."

"I see." I say.

"Don't get me wrong, everyone got really suspicious after seeing those riggings, but considering you do just as much research and you're just as resourceful as the Ironbloods, it wouldn't be a surprise if you made this kind of technological progress. Are you even affiliated with the Ironbloods?" Illustrious asks.

"Not really. I mean we're neighbors and everything but not once have I actually crossed paths with the mighty Bismarck." I reply. "So at the very least I know of them, but I'm not acquainted with them like you are."

"The Ironbloods were the first to publish that strange report of siren activity in your land, I'll be sure to relay it to them at some point." Illustrious says. "I'm just glad that we're not fighting like before, but we still have our differences."

"Yeah, I haven't seen wars between you and the others ever since the world wars." I reply. "Even then the only time I saw you fight was against the sirens whenever they decided to pester the whole lot of us."

"I'm just amazed you fought them off." Illustrious says. "How did you do it?" I suddenly stiffen up, realizing I can't quite bullshit my way out of that, but before Illustrious can get any more privy Formidable taps her on the shoulder.

"We gotta get going." Formidable says as Victorious playfully drags her along.

"Seeya!" I reply as I head back inside the base and crash on the couch.

"What was all that?" Gangut asks.

"She was about to ask me how we managed to beat back the sirens, and I couldn't bullshit my way out of something like that." I reply. "It's a relief that her sisters dragged her away at the last second."

"Talk about being saved by the bell." Tashkent says. "At least you won't have to admit that we allied with the sirens."

"At the very least." I chuckle. "We didn't have the best weaponry back then and Avrora got sick on many occasions. At least she's in much better health now."

"I wasn't sure if it was the food I was eating or something but I just kept getting sick and I couldn't see a lot of battle because of it." Avrora says. "At least you were there all those times."

"And the one time you were given the green light to battle you turned green and threw up all over me." I reply. "And then you got more sick leave."

"I'm... Still so sorry for doing that..." Avrora says sheepishly.

"Wait... You WHAT?!" Tashkent suddenly shouts, not able to believe what she just heard. "You puked all over the komandir?!"

"It was just so sudden!" Avrora replies. "What could I do?!"

"Well at least you could have aimed away from the komandir!" Tashkent says. "That just sounds awful!"

"Girls, girls that was a long time ago." I reply. "We've long gotten past that, I don't think we need awkward memories to rise again."

"It was still shocking to hear that though." Tashkent says.

"Anyone would be shocked to hear that." I reply. "It's not the first time I've had to replace my uniform either. Not even that incident at the restaurant was the first time."

"That was?" Tashkent asks.

"He smelled like engine oil, his uniform was stained black among many other colors and that stuff was NOT going to come out." Gangut replies. "I didn't even know what happened until Rossi told me. Before I thought he had landed in an oil vat!"

"GANGUT!" Avrora and I yell as Gangut starts laughing all over again. Rossi only facepalms and Chapayev and Tashkent look at each other before chuckling.

"Some things just never change do they?" Rossi chuckles.