Rainblade-Ryalors Private Barracks/Imperial Condos Such Devoted Sisters

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk accepted the bandana, looking at it in momentary horror before gingerly using it to dab at her eyes. "Thank you," she managed, returning it gingerly, some of her fussiness reasserting itself as she regained her composure. "It... It means a lot to hear you say that." She sighed before admitting, "I wish I'd done more for my other four; there were times I simply couldn't stand being cooped up in Talinn's castle, and I had to leave, at least for a while. Go off and be my own person for a bit. Of course, if I'd taken any of the kits, he'd have hunted me to the ends of the earth, so..." She paused, then shook her head. "No," she admitted quietly, "that was only partly it. I wanted to experience what it was like to just be me again. That... that was selfish of me. There were so many times I should have been there for my kits, but I wasn't. Those are wounds I'll be spending the rest of my life trying to bandage."

She sighed before straightening up, fixating her attention on Tanya. "Details from the Keys have been scarce," she admitted. "There's been a series of woodlander uprisings there across the past three decades that have left the Imperial presence marginal at best. There have been scattered reports of Red Fleet activity between there and Valles Mensa, but it would be extremely bold for the Fleet to attack an Imperial settlement. The navy may no longer be what it once was, but to provoke the wrath of the Imperium would still be extremely unwise." She mused on this before adding, "Still, with the Hide up north, they might have been feeling particularly impetuous. And," she added with a sigh, "my source within Alkamar has indicated that there may be movement of some Alkamarian weapons into the paws of proxies. We may be facing a proxy war on our doorstep soon."

 

[Tanya Keltoi]

She should probably have kept the focus to the family, but instincts ran deep and Tox’ fascination was at once caught by these growing political tensions. Handling deep emotions for any length of time had never been her strongest suit: to steer away from it to practical matters suited her well.

Stroking her whiskers contemplatively, her ragged ear flicked. “That’s alarmin’,” she murmured. Honestly it was: in her time as Minister of War relations with Alkamar had been distant to frosty, but held. To think her kits were joining right when they could be recruited for warfare brought the sick feeling back to the pit of her stomach. Don’t be a premonition.

“S’ppose it’s been an inevitability for a while,” she sighed. “If they ever did manage to sink their claws in the Keys, I wonder if their eyes’d be on the likes of Resolution or Pricklee Point as a…” The vixen shook her head violently. “I’m gettin’ all ahead of myself: all of that’s work for the Navy an’ Ministries to handle,” she grinned, “lucky you. Still, if I do happen t’ notice anything on my visit to the Keys you’ll hear about it.”

A puzzled, curious expression settled on her features then. “You mentioned weapons. What kind we talkin’ about, shiftin’ arms and armaments or something more substantial?”

 

[Duchess Dusk Rainblade]

Dusk nodded in gratitude at Tox's offer, shifting seamlessly to her next question. She hesitated, then admitted, "This is more Talinn's provenance as Minister of Innovation, but, based on what we're hearing, they've been developing cannon technology to match our own - albeit primarily land-based for their coastal fortresses. We hear whispers that they're close to perfecting a kind of handheld cannon - much smaller, much less force and far smaller projectiles, but still dangerous. I'm hoping that the intelligence I'm receiving is overblown, but knowing the beast who is feeding it to me, I don't have much hope in that. If, by chance," she added, "you manage to acquire one, I would be very interested in examining it closely to better understand what we're up against."