This was a sudden change. General Sorventia, in her aristocratic derision, was relieved that the Legate's brain had some sense left in it. The other military officers simply analyzed the attire. It was quite formal indeed from a martial point of view, and his behaviour even more so. This Legate alone is enough evidence to prove that the Stoinians truly value their military above most other institutions. Whilst some did not care much for it and merely sought to understand their martial culture in order to make a sound assessment, those among the high command that held militarist views lamented the fact that the Ryccian armed forces was not as cherised as the Stoinian one was.

"I'm so glad you like my species' cuisine. Kalix leaves give it that rich flavor, and they came from cold Vurbenta itself. For you it might be strange, but the Kalix leaves are grown in cold conditions since the planet my race came from is colder than the average for a human. I hear that a rare arctic variety gives the tea a chilling taste, but that kind of Kalix leaf is expensive because most harvests fail in the arctic, so only the rich drink that kind. If you want, I can send your assistant the details about this tea and inform him of any good suppliers I know so he can take care of importing the best Kalix leaves to Daonlathas. Although, I suppose you're fine drinking the regular variety they sell at the capital's shops since, and I'm sorry if I offend for misinterpreting your people, you Stoinians abstain from that kind of luxurious extravagance"

"About the military presence, well, that's to be expected. The town's in this state because we need a high level of security for our retreat, lots of top-secret military stuff needs to be protected and so on. Of course, we pay our dues so the townsfolk don't lose out on good tourist revenue. After all, we're the only guests, so we might as well be worth every credit, ha!"

"Hmm...military parades...we haven't held any of those at a national level in a long, long time. Sure, military academies have their own mini-marches and whatnot, but we haven't held a big one in over 470 years! The pacifist politicians and those who wanted reconciliation after the revolution didn't like 'em to begin with, and since the parades in the New Empire celebrated the victory of the democrats, those folks who still liked the Old Empire a millenia ago hated them to guts. Of course, they eventually disappeared over the centuries, but, as our current era of peace, liberty and prosperity cemented itself, the people lost interest in the spectacles. The pacifists started to hate them even more as they hate all overtly martial displays of force and began to call for the big parades to end since they 'celebrated the spilling of blood' or something to that effect. The government kept cuttin' and cuttin' their budgets until the military decided it was no longer worth the hassle and discontinued the bigger events for Liberty Day. Heck, in the last years of the Liberty Day Parades, the pacifist Chancellors just refused to go! The only 'military parades' we celebrate are mostly local and small these days. Well, if the people don't want to turn in their starscreens for a big parade, we aren't going to waste our time organizing 'em"

"Ryccians don't love the military as much as they used to. There hasn't been any war for over a millenia, so the people are used to peace and generally don't care to the extent you Stoinians do for your military. Even many militarists are starting to hate any martial displays of power since the mainstream militarist politicians see us as a defense force, not something to glorify and take a certain martial pride in. I even hear from some of my politician friends that the Chancellor's in hot water with some diehard idealists in his coalition for that parade he threw for your King out of courtesy and goodwill. But hey, if we served for personal glory and not to protect the Empire, our ranks would be empty, ha!"