Carolina listens to Lakshmi as she tends to the sword she has. The General had made a point of impressing on her the value of every weapon the Barrayaran camp had and the consequences for neglecting it. Not that she'd do something so foolish after finally making some headway against their backwards ideas about women in combat.

"It depends on gun, I think. Mostly it's a matter of familiarity." A rifle would be reassuring. Epsilon saying something snarky in her ear would be even moreso. It was funny how much she took his constant commentary for granted until she had to go without it.

"I'll make do, but this isn't the type of war I'm used to."