We had just pulled into the covered dockyard. We were surfaced and ready for our break. We got shore leave for a week to resupply the Dimitriy. We were expecting maybe some captain or maybe even an admiral outside to great us. We openned up the hatch and were stunned. There was a whole mob of people out there clapping. We even saw the new leader of the country applauding with a smile on his face. I started climbing down the ladder from the mast and stepped onto the hull. My crew was starting to disembark through doors on the hull and our mouths were gaping. We could see flashes from cameras going off, fighter planes were performing overhead. It was insane.
We finally got onto the dock and stopped, I was approached by the head of the communist party Gorchev was his name. He was smiling and it was infectious, my crew had dumb smiles on all our faces and were laughing and waving to this audience. The president shook my hand, THE PRESIDENT, Gorchev, he told me that the entire crew was getting a presidential unit citation in honor of our accomplishments, that was the highest award a unit of any kind can achieve. He even told me in between laughs and smiles that I was going to get the order of St. Andrew, I swore he was joking, Im no hero Im just a submariner, and I just chuckled. But than some colonel walked up with a velvet case with the medal of order of Saint Andrew the first apostle first called (OOC: man that's a long name for a medal, but it is real) I was stunned, so was the crew around me...
I can safely say that we all thought the same thing "this is going to be the longest week ever."
There were flashes from cameras, movie recorders, military police, newspaper reporters asking questions. I was flabbergasted.