[member="Delila Castillon"]
"Not always a full parade, but they like to show how welcome we are. And you're my friend, so they'll like you as well," Siobhan said cheerily, clearly enjoying herself. Being an Exarch, in charge of an elephantine bureaucratic machine, had not been as fun as Game of Stars would have made it out to be. Rather than reclining on a couch and counting her money while nubile servant girls pampered her or leading armies on campaigns of conquests, her average day had consisted of meetings, petitions, paperwork. Siobhan could bludgeon pretty hard, but she could not bludgeon through bureaucracy!
However, part of her did miss the pomp and circumstance, the feeling of adulation and authority that she possessed. After all, she was terribly vain and had an extremely high opinion of how important she and Tegaea had been for the Protectorate. Suffice to say she thought both of them had been absolutely indispensable to its success back when it had been one of the powers in the Galaxy.
However, before Siobhan could launch into musings about the 'good old days' - people in retirement had a tendency to endlessly wax about things like that and bore anyone forced to listen to them - they had finally reached the Firemane HQ. Undoubtedly much to Delila's relief it would be cooled by air units, so it would be a lot less hot than outside! Obviously the Firemane headquarters on the planet was a good deal less grand than the building Delila would have come to know on Kaeshana - despite all those dastardly space elves who seemed to be stalking her, all waiting for her to punch another old lady so that they would have an excuse to throw her into the dungeon - or even the Omega Pyre Tower on Fondor, but it was probably still the biggest building in town. Of course the Protectorate governor had his grand residence somewhere and the planet loyally paid its taxes, but Firemane was owned by its noble liberators and all that.
So they were ushered in through the air conditioned building, outside of which the tame Cylix was being led around by troopers. Upon seeing them it quickly rushed up towards Siobhan and Dells, pulling whichever soldier was leading it...well, wherever big cats with a double row of needle fangs needed to be led, those very fangs very prominently on display as its mouth was wide open. Instead of getting out of the way or trying to stop it Siobhan smiled and enthusiastically petted the big feline creature as it came to the halt, stroking it behind its ears.
"That's...Valriya. Valriya...Dells. Come all this way to boss this garrison around. You two should get on. She doesn't like elves either," Siobhan said happily. The predator was named after another, ahem, Mistress of the Order of the Torch...one with whom Siobhan did not get on. At all. The dislike was mutual on both sides. It was one of those elves Siobhan would not mind Delila punching. The big feline seemed reasonably tame enough and sniffed at Dells, perhaps hoping to be petted. Or be fed with the flesh of those annoying space elf witches, for that was very tasty.
Regardless the big animal's handler took over and guided it to wherever it should be and the two would be led into the building, which was a hub of activity bustling with life. Secretaries worked through orders, resources were allocated, calls answered. Aside from the actual company building there were also the barracks and the training grounds for the soldiers, the military section Dells would be responsible for. The whole complex looked a bit like a fort, which fit in with the rugged frontier look the town had. The Chief of Operations of Firemane was expecting them on an upper level in the meeting room, there would be cool drinks and refreshments. On the way up there was a holographic newscaster who may or may not grab their attention. Her words would be interspersed with holographic images from the battle of Eriadu, where the Fringe had been forced to retreat despite taking down both shield generators due to its failure to gain orbital superiority, proving that space combat was not background noise, and Cira had suddenly reappeared.
"We rejoice at the victory the brave troops of the Protectorate won for freedom against the Fringe. After they drove the Republic from O'reen this menace appeared an unstoppable juggernaut, but the Protectorate repulsed them. Yet informed sources tell us that it must remain vigilant. The mystery of Cira's return remains. As of now there has been no comment from the former Lady Protector as to why she disappeared...in an hour of great need. Equally no comment about which role she seeks to assume in the Protectorate and where this leaves Protector Cater, whose popularity has soared after..."
Clearly Dahomey was not so backwater that the big events of the Galaxy just passed by it!
