L:   Iremacht saw France walking towards him and headed farther down the hall. He reached a roughly secluded corner, leaned against the wall, and stared expectantly at France.

"Are you behind this?" France hissed as soon as she reached him. "I needed those trucks."

"So did I," Iremacht said. "How else can I help you quell the anarchists infiltrating your country?"

"There is still unrest happening! You clearly haven't been doing a good job so - "

"So you didn't pay me your regular dues for the assistance," Iremacht tsked. "I merely seized my overdue payment. I was even nice and took only my share - the rest will go to assist my agents who are helping you on the ground. If anything, it's really your fault for the continued trouble - you could have just paid me and we'd all have been happy, dear France."

"Don't call me that," France winced.

"Touched a nerve?" Iremacht hummed. "My, what a powerful figure my great-grandfather was, wasn't he?"

M:   "Is my brother willing to come out with me now," MA asked, the two had been sitting in his office for a while and MA felt it was time for them to leave.

"He doesn't know, it seems a lot nicer in here than it is out there," Mandara said, still talking in the third person.

"Maybe so, but his son has been wanting to tell him about how he did at the shooting range, and how good of friends he is with Iremacht."

Mandara stared at him for a second, then smiled and agreed to go, so MA helped him up and they both started walking down the hall. On their way, MA caught sight of Iremacht and France in the corner, he stopped when he heard the tail end of what the German said.

"Iremacht, what did I say about bringing up that stuff, we had a deal remember," he said through gritted teeth, Mandara looked at him confused since he didn't catch what Iremacht said.

L:   "Apologies," Iremacht said, raising his hands in surrender. "It's getting quite stuffy here and it slipped from my mouth. Why don't we rejoin the others?"

"Wehrmacht is here, isn't he?" France asked.

"Yes, we all returned from the shooting range." Iremacht retraced his steps down the hallway. "Have the two of you sorted things out ever since the war?"

"We're on neutral terms. The nation of Germany is a close ally of ours now."

Iremacht nodded. He hid his guilt well though. Even France was closer to his father than he was.

M:   "That's good to know," Mandara said as he and MA walked with them, "I was a little worried about it considering all the ... rumors, that I heard about you two, but I'm glad you're on ok terms with each other."

"What rumors," MA inquired.

"Things I don't want to say in front of Iremacht," Mandara whispered, MA nodded in understanding and left the conversation at that.

The four made their way to the backyard where they assumed everyone was, which they were. Poldara was telling Germany, Belarus, and Poland about Wehrmacht and MA's aerial duel and how Iremacht helped him shoot a bullseye.

L:   "Not bad," Germany commented after Poldara's tale. Though he wasn't interested in shooting, Poldara's excitement was contagious. "There's going to be more where that came from." 

"Watching Iremacht train him made me want to have a go too," Wehrmacht chuckled. Then he said, "Speak of the devil." when he spotted Iremacht, MA, Mandara, and France returning. He dipped his head politely at France, who said "Bonjour" back.

Germany was drinking a bottle of beer from a tray of restocked refreshments that the servants brought out. Iremacht and France both took one; Iremacht took the opportunity to lean close to France's ear and whisper something, to which she pursed her lips and walked away to chat with Poland. 

M:   "Dad, dad, dad, I shot a bullseye today," Poldara said when he saw Mandara and MA approach, he jumped up from his chair and practically tackled Mandara. 

"Oh god," Mandara grunted when his son collided with him, almost knocking the air out of him, "well, it must have been a pretty great shot for you to be so hyper." 

"Not only that, Uncle MA and Mr. Wehrmacht had an aerial duel too, it was so cool," Poldara beamed, dragging Mandara over to the sitting area on the patio so he could tell him about it.

"Oh they did," Mandara said with interest, he turned to the two militants, "so how did it go, and how bad did Whermacht kick your ass, Thunder?" 

MA rolled his eyes but focused on the glass of water he was drinking rather than answer.

L:   "MA beat me, actually," Wehrmacht said. "Don't let him protest that he didn't, I got a fair shot in the wing and two other paint splatters from him so I lost." 

"You're getting old, Uncle," Germany said plainly. 

Wehrmacht elbowed him. "Not in front of our two-centuries-old hosts here. Nein, I just have to take advantage of my ability to fly now that I'm retired. EU can't stop me from training up on aerial skills again."

Iremacht cast a final glance at France before wandering over to Poldara. "So who else is coming today for you to boast your accomplishments to? Any word from Russia and Kazakhstan?" 

M:   "You're off by a century there, Wehrmacht," MA corrected him, "we were born in the 1700s remember." 

Mandara chuckled, "yup, militant and special entities didn't even exist yet, only after LoN invented them did Thunder become one." 

The two sat down with the others to chat while Poldara was throwing a few balls for the dogs. He looked to Iremacht when he spoke, 

"I don't know if they're going to make it or not," he said, "dad says Uncle Russia has some problems in his capital and he and Uncle Kazachstan are running late. I do hope they come though."

L:   Iremacht watched the balls being thrown, brought back, thrown, brought back, as Poldara said that. He nursed another glass of beer and wondered how good Poldara was at keeping secrets. No, the kid loved his parents and the guests too much. 

"You must like Russia and Kazakhstan a lot," Iremacht ventured carefully. "But I mean, you have the rest of us here. Would it be so significant that those two are absent? They visit you all the time, don't they?"

M:   Poldara stared at him for a minute, then let out a rueful sigh, "they do, but it's not me that they are coming for, it's dad. When dad was captured by Ussr, Uncles Kaz and Rus were the only ones who were nice to him, Kaz even tried to stop his dad from branding mine, it didn't work and dad still has the hammer and sickle scar on his chest, but Kaz did try to help him." 

Poldara stopped for a second to make sure none of the adults could hear the conversation, they were still talking to each other so he continued, "later on, Kaz and Rus helped Uncle MA rescue dad just in time to save his life, he would have died if they didn't step in and that's why it is so important that they come, because if it weren't for them, dad would be dead, and I would have never been born."

L:   "I suppose I have those two to thank then," Iremacht said quietly. Even if the main reason Russia and Kazakhstan visited wasn't for Poldara, Iremacht decided that if Poldara thought it was important, then so it was for Poldara to cherish. His other plans could wait. Iremacht stood up and said over his shoulder as he walked away, "They'll come. I'll make sure of it." 

With a side glance at the other adults to make sure they were still deep in conversation, Iremacht walked further into the backyard. His eyes flickered red as he checked his initial surroundings for any eavesdroppers, mostly focusing on the occasional servant. When the coast was clear, he took out his phone.

"It's Iremacht," he said as soon as he got on the line. "Patch me through to Moscow."

M:   Poldara watched him go with confusion, he didn't understand what he meant by 'he'd make sure of it', but as he watched Iremacht start talking on his phone, he wondered if the militant knew his uncles somehow. 

"Poldara, can you come here for a second," Poland called for him. He wordlessly obeyed and headed back to the patio, the dogs following him. When he got to the others, Poland said, "what were you and Iremacht whispering about?"

"Iremacht asked why it was important that Uncles Kazakhstan and Russia come to the festival, I told him that they helped dad escape." Poldara explained, "then he said that he'd make sure they make it and now he's on the phone with someone." 

Mandara and MA looked to each other then to where Iremacht was, Mandara turned to Wehrmacht, "does Iremacht know Rus and Kaz?"

L:   "Not well, to my knowledge," Wehrmacht answered, also watching Iremacht from a distance. "Then again, whenever I visit, he's never there. I don't know where he goes half the time." He sighed at his own failure. 

"He's just like that," France reassured Wehrmacht. "Whenever I have to find him to clear things up, he always sends some representative to answer my calls." She smiled sweetly and curiously at Poldara. "You must be a special boy for him to get on a call for you." 

Meanwhile, it only took a few seconds for Iremacht to be transferred to the appropriate line in Moscow. He glanced again at the others and noticed some of them were staring, so he maneuvered himself behind the backyard tree, out of prying eyes. 

"What's taking so long?" he hissed through the phone and paused as a human frantically answered. "Then call them off. I need Russia and Kazakhstan here, by tonight ... I don't care, postpone it, we've caused enough unrest there to last ... Call them off. Make sure those two get here or your head is mine."

M:   Poldara hummed to France's suggestion, "but I didn't ask him to call anyone, I don't even know who he's talking to." 

"It is very interesting how close you two have become," Mandara commented, "To think that not even half a day ago you were hiding behind Germany because you were scared of him, now you're almost inseparable." 

MA stayed silent when his brother said that, he had felt that Iremacht had a small obsession for Poldara, but he didn't want to voice his concerns until he knew for sure.

"Well, he is still a little intimidating, but I can tell he's really trying hard to be friendly, so I'm willing to give him a chance, see if he's actually as bad as everyone says," Poldara explained. 

Poland, MA, and Mandara felt a little guilty when he said that, were they being too hard on Iremacht?

L:   Wehrmacht wished Poldara didn't pay so much attention to the adult talk. He wanted Iremacht to start out fresh in his budding friendship with Poldara, but to be honest, that was ruined the moment he brought up criminal activity on the border. 

"Thank you," Wehrmacht said quietly to Poldara. "For giving him a chance." 

"Kids are the best teachers," Germany commented. "Perhaps you and I will learn a thing or two. Or we'll deal with two troublemakers." 

"Oh non." France rubbed her head worriedly. "Dealing with one is enough already." 

Behind the tree, Iremacht got off his call, feeling pleased with the orders he'd given. He had a genuine smile when he walked back to the patio. 

"Guess what I just heard on the news," he announced. "Moscow's unrest is dying down. Your friends Russia and Kazakhstan might make it after all."

M:   "Yay," Poldara said, "I was worried they weren't going to make it." 

"Yeah, I was too," Mandara said, though he had confusion in his tone. He pulled to his phone to check his messages, "it is odd though that I didn't get a call or anything, Rus or Kaz would have told me if things were settling down." 

He then stood up from his chair, "I'm going to go call them to make sure." and he left to do that.

MA on the other hand was staring suspiciously at Iremacht, "I find it interesting that you tell us this when we watched you make a call behind Mandoria's tree, is there something your not telling us Iremacht?"

L:   "Why would I keep things from my hosts?" Iremacht said merrily. "Or innocent Poldara? I had some business to take care of and happened to get a phone call at the end from a human friend in Moscow. He gave me the update and I'm sure Mandara will soon confirm it with Russia and Kazakhstan."

"Well, if it is recent ..." France reasoned. "That may be why Mandara hadn't gotten a message yet. Russia and Kazakhstan must be waiting to call after the unrest is subdued for a prolonged time." Iremacht nodded along to France's defense. 

Wehrmacht and Germany exchanged a glance. Both could feel a general hostility around MA - he had been this way against Iremacht early on but that was reasonable considering the younger militant's attitude. 

M:   MA stared at him with doubt in his eyes, it's not that he was hostile, he just had a lot of trust issues when it came to people, he had been double-crossed, backstabbed, and betrayed enough times in his life that he always had an underlying suspicion of everyone he met, even his own friends. 

Though, if France was defending Iremacht - he noticed those two didn't really get along well - then maybe he's telling the truth. MA sighed and said, "fine, I'm sorry for being suspicious." 

"Why are you suspicious?" Belarus asked when she walked out from inside. 

MA turned to her, "wait, you didn't hear any of that, where have you been?" 

"I was on a call with Kaz to see how things were going in Moscow," she said, oblivious to what was being talked about earlier, "he said that it was really stressful there because some sort of foreign organization was causing unrest, and he said that they couldn't risk leaving until it was settled." 

Poldara cocked his head to the side with confusion, "but Iremacht said that it was settling down there."

"Not from what Kaz said, he told me that a group of protesters tried to get into the capital building just a few hours ago." 

 This information made everyone very confused, MA, Poland, and Poldara turned to Iremacht for an answer.

L:   Iremacht's fingers flicked towards his pocket, itching to retrieve his phone and ask what the hell was happening again. He wasn't sure whose side these protesters were. But since it had happened a few hours ago, he remained confident that they'd either pull out ... or his contacts would force them out. 

"Give it some time," Iremacht said. "Everything will be fine." 

Wehrmacht stood from his seat and stepped forward. "Machty, who exactly is your human contact?"

"Old friend." Iremacht waved his hand. "No one worth mentioning. We all have human buddies, don't we?" 

"Ja ... I guess," Wehrmacht sighed wistfully. 

"I vote we all go back inside," Germany said, raising his hand. "I'm confused and a little cold, and I bet poor Poldara is bored of all this adult talk." 

He didn't wait for Poldara to confirm, he took the kid by the shoulder and guided him back into the house. France glanced at Iremacht, who narrowed his eyes back at her in a brief warning. She followed Germany inside. 

Iremacht's smile returned and he tilted his head at the remaining countries. "Shall we?"