barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2017-02-02 08:00 pm

[ february i log ]

Who: Everyone
What: New arrivals, desperate times, whispers down the hall.
When: February 1st - 18th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: TBD


Quick links:
Barrayar: Barrayaran camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Cetagandan base / Missions



welcome to barrayar.
It's the dark of night when you come to in the foothills. Snow on the ground, chill winter wind whistling -- in fact, it's dangerously cold, and all you have is the clothes on your back.. A steep mountain range towers just ahead, its peaks illuminated by the light of two moons. Whatever you last remember, it isn't how you got here, and you feel oddly jetlagged, slightly queasy.

And you're not alone. There are a few other people close by, all looking equally lost and confused. But before any of you have a chance to figure out what's going on, the soldiers arrive.
There's a war on, they say, and you unlucky bastards have just been dropped right smack in the middle of it.

barrayar
The cold snap hits the guerrilla camp hard, especially with a handful of new people to care for. On the 1st, a few people from Riverfall Village come to the camp, Village Speaker Yakiv Gura among them, who seems to have a rapport with Piotr. They bring extra supplies with them, such as clothing, heavy wool blankets and bedrolls, as well as extra firewood to help fend off the cold. The new outsiders are accommodated the best they can -- they're all provided bedrolls and any extra clothing they (probably) need -- but the Barrayarans don't have an extra tent to spare, so that means all twelve outsiders are force to share a tent that ordinarily sleeps ten. On the plus side, it should provide some warmth. The cold is

A young boy comes in tow of the villagers; Speaker Gura tells Piotr that the boy turned up a week ago and insisted on helping them with the supply haul, despite his small size. He's clearly Barrayaran, and looks as though he might have been living on hisown for a while. He doesn't speak mcuh, and when asked his name, will only give it as Negri -- first or last, no one's sure, but the boy doesn't seem easily fazed. Piotr tells the villagers he has no room in his camp for lost children, but somehow the day after the villagers leave, Negri turns up in camp again. He's curious, but quiet and unobtrusive, wherever he is in camp. He's a very good listener…even when you might not want him to be.



On the 3rd, the Barrayarans and outsiders awake to discover that the part of the cave where they've kept the majority of their food supply has collapsed, either blocking their access to the cache or destroying it entirely. It's impossible to tell. The villagers can't spare much more than they already have been -- certainly not enough to feed the hundred and fifty-odd soldiers in the camp -- so while they try to find out a way to recoup their food supply, they have no choice but to slaughter their own horses for food. Food will be heavily rationed, but fairly -- the outsiders receive no less than the rest. The prisoners, on the other hand, get nothing. There probably isn't enough wild game in the area to sustain the camp, but Piotr sends out hunting parties, and when they get wind of a Cetagandan supply drop on its way, they organize a raid on the supply lines.

camp
With temperatures well below freezing, no food, and excruciatingly little in the way of advantage against the Cetagandans after their last infiltration attempt, morale is beginning to drop. Piotr and Olivia remain bastions of perseverance as always, but Sonia is beginning to buckle and wilt as the days go on. The soldiers do their best to entertain themselves and keep morale up, but all they've got are maple mead, and old card and dice games. They could use some new forms of entertainment. Maybe a snowball fight might get the blood moving -- assuming you can stand the wind chill. Thankfully, there's no shortage of warm clothes and wool scarves.

The cave isn't big enough to simply move all of camp inside, but the sickbay and mess tents are moved where it's a little warmer and out of the harsh wind. It's generally crowded with off-duty soldiers despite the food shortage, because no one wants to be out in the cold right now. Things get a little better after the mostly successful raids, but food is still heavily rationed.



missions
The hunting parties are only moderately successful; there isn't much wild game out there right now, and while the soldiers fare alright, the outsiders' hunting party fails miserably. The raiding parties yield a little more in the way of relief, enough now that they don't have to keep eating horse meat, but Pearl was captured by enemy forces in the chaos.

Maine helps Piotr with a very successful final interrogation of ghem-Miko, the Cetagandan scientist taken prisoner last month. He reveals that the Cetagandans have been studying the locations where exotics appeared, as it seems to be linked to wormhole technology, and that the Cetagandans are planning on building a device to control it. They have the technology, they're almost sure, but it's a puzzle they haven't solved yet. Ghem-Miko doesn't live long past his interrogation -- public execution by decapitation is his sentence, and when it's done, a few soldiers carry off his body and severed head.

Piotr's interrogation of Duv Galeni goes about as well but, blessedly, less fatally. It becomes known that Duv is from Komarr, the planet that sold Barrayar out to the Cetagandans, and that Duv Galeni is really David Galen, a relative of a few Counselors in the head of Komarran government. However, he's able to successfully convince Piotr that he isn't allied with the Cetagandans, and after a few days of agony, Duv is granted parole at Piotr's discretion.

On the evening of the 15th, Maine, Beth and Byerly inadvertently catch Vorhalas in the act of trying to sabotage what little of their food supply they've been able to recoup. He tries both fight and flight, but the three outsiders are able to take him down and drag him to Piotr's doorstep. It quickly becomes apparent that Vorhalas was responsible for the cave-in earlier in the month. Piotr is both furious and victorious; he now has a lead on the traitor conspiracy among his men, and his esteem of Beth, Maine and Byerly has gone up considerably for their part. Vorhalas is up next in the interrogation chair, and this one won't be pretty.

The unabridged event writeup is here.

cetaganda
The recent supply drop not only provides resources for the base and for distribution to their other outposts, but also brings fresh species for transplant into the gardens at the Grow Labs. The arrival of a handful of new exotics gives rise to a fresh wave of buzzing curiosity around the base. All of the new exotics are given thorough physicals, just as the first wave were, and provided with fatigues and anything else they might need. They make an even dozen now, their bunk at capacity. The Cetagandans are beginning to become accustomed to having the exotics on base, some of them even forward enough with their curiosity to be friendly. Darkstalker now has a small following of ghem lady scientists who regularly feature him as a subject in their art.

New arrivals will be processed as the first were -- once everyone has been whisked out of the extreme cold, everyone is subject to a thorough physical, including a number of scans that may or may not seem totally arcane to you. Other than a blood sample, nothing they're doing is at all invasive. Lady Diya d'Zefyst, while not a physician, is present at all physicals. She is easily notable not only for her striking, almost ethereal beauty as is typical of the haut, but, as the only haut on base, she is easily distinguishable by her lack of facepaint.

While the exotics still have freedom of movement around the base, the recent extreme temperatures have their hosts diplomatically suggesting they travel as much as possible, they are provided cold weather wear, as the mess hall and medbay are in separate buildings from the barracks. Weather warning aside, they encourage the exotics to take advantage of the non-restricted recreational facilities -- exercise rooms, art rooms, the lush gardens in the Grow Labs -- and will satisfy any reasonable curiosities.

base
In an effort to make the exotics feel more at home, the Cetagandans decide to put on the sort of function they might for visiting diplomats, full of art of all sorts, to show that they're just as willing to share their culture with the exotics as they're asking the exotics to share with them. The function is hosted on the evening of the 7th in an annex to the Grow Labs apparently meant for this express purpose, as it shows off the most beautiful and elegant of the Grow Labs' specimens, and acts as a live arboretum in and of itself, and quite vibrantly beautiful.



If there's one thing the Cetagandans are good at (besides art, and language, and genetics) it's throwing a good party. Functions like this are always an opportunity for Cetagandans to try and socially one-up one another; everyone is in their most fashionable dress in the latest fashions they manage to keep off-planet, or at least a dress uniform, wearing fanciful scents and vibrant facepaint they might not otherwise on the job. For the artistically inclined ghem (read: a lot of them), this is the chance to show off their artistic endeavors as well -- large sculptures of unusual and improbable materials, walkable installations meant to engage every sense, and of course the living art engineered by the ghem ladies, ranging from relatively simple and tame pieces such as koi fish patterned with clan insignia or black roses and blue orchids, to complex combinations of non-human DNA to create some genetic sculpture. There is, of course, food and drink -- in the usual flagrant Cetagandan style, although the hors d'oeuvres and drinks are even more ecletic than the usual mess hall fare. It seems as though the Cetagandan passion for genetic art extends even into the culinary realm.

At the center of the party is a particular kind of art installation called a discernment garden. Housed in a beautiful, improbably architectural tent, the discernment garden consists of a series of rooms, each meant to test the refinement of the senses -- not unlike a varietal wine tasting. Each room is dedicated to a single sense, inviting participants to judge a collection of samples and suss out the differences, or match tastes and smells and textures to labels; the end of the garden presents its visitors with a final art piece incorporating all five senses, as a final test of one's refinement. Some of the ghem might (a bit wryly) confess that this is actually more of an education tool used for Cetagandan children, but this is meant as a gesture of good will toward the exotics.



missions
On the evenings of the 6th and the 8th, some of the exotics do a little sneaking around, and not for the first time. York lends Kaidan his access badge to the R&D Lab on the 6th and Kaidan, along with Sans and Symmetra, stumble onto a whole lot of wormhole data and schematics to construct a device capable of controlling the phenomena of the exotics' appearance. On the 8th, Deanna and Natasha sneak around to the tactical buildings and overhear some marital discord between Zahal and Diya, and a troubling glimpse at their diverging plans.

On the evening of the 13th, Jasper, York and Daryl are all in the medbay when a biocontainment breach sends it into automatic lockdown, trapping them inside. They overhear Diya arguing with one of her subordinates over unauthorized use of ba genetic material, whatever that is.

The unabridged event writeup is here.
infailtration: (pic#10657630)

I;

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-09 06:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ York can't afford to slack off. With each day he becomes more and more certain that the exotics are going to be asked to pick a side -- he trains with war in mind, with the knowledge that he's used to fighting with advantages and weapons that they just don't have here. His training is brutal, designed to improve his performance rather than maintain it, and it has the bonus of wearing him out physically. It helps him sleep here.

When Natasha appears in the exotics room he notices her straight off -- it's her hair, the way she moves, how she holds her chin up and keeps her back to the wall all the time. She's a fighter and she reminds him so much of someone that it's no surprise to see her in the gym the next morning, punching the single hanging bag with everything she's got. He comes over, staying just off the mat to be respectful of her space. ]


Wanna take a swing at something that moves?
natalia_vdova: (pretty as a rose)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-10 10:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Natasha hasn't quite figured out what she thinks of this place. It reminds her of SHIELD, which just makes her think of Hydra and the creeping cancer she'd missed for a decade, so focused on the idea that there was salvation. Diya is calming in a way she knows the woman shouldn't be. But she reminds her in little ways of the Matron from the Red Room, which is chilling in more ways than Natasha knows how to put words to.

The deadliest blade is the one you don't see coming.

She's in casual clothes, hair pulled into a ponytail, and a set of hard determination to her pretty face as she hits the bag hard, not pausing, like there's a question she's trying to find an answer for and it's just out of her reach, but that doesn't stop her from reaching for it. At the question she takes a breath, pulling back as she looks him over, catching the swing of the bag with one of her hands.]


You going to complain when I throw you on the mats?

[It's agreement with as close as she gets to good humor since coming here, even if it's more trying to hide that boiling near-desperation that shines in her blue eyes. Her smile's too thin and sharp and she tilts her head from side to side as she takes him in.]
infailtration: custom art by <user name="thebutt">, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE (7-2)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-10 05:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ At first glance, York isn't much to look at. He's tall and broad and muscular, but they're on a military base -- who isn't? In Cetagandan fatigue bottoms and a standard t-shirt he could be just another engineered soldier rather than an exotic, except for the deep scar that cuts across the left side of his face, blinding that eye. Surely the Cetagandans wouldn't stand for such a thing. His smile is lopsided and friendly as he extends a hand to her, good eye meeting her gaze steadily. ]

I'd never complain about a good spar, maybe you could teach me something new. I'm York.

[ He waits for her name, and for her to take his hand -- when she does she'll find that his grip is strong and sure, calloused in all the right places for someone who's used to holding a gun. ]
natalia_vdova: (Unimpressed)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-11 09:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[If she's being honest, it was a little bit of a litmus test. There are soldiers, men like Steve and Bucky, Clint, a number of the people she knew from SHIELD who were good people and just as blinded by Hydra. And then there were the ones that tended to fall victim to bravado, men like Rollins, some she'd worked with back when she'd been in the Soviet Army. But he passes, and so while he doesn't get a smile, she eases just a touch, seems a little less like she's drawn too tight over her own bones.]

Romanoff.

[It's that habit, working with a military organization -- last name or her code name are more common. She doesn't give him Black Widow not because her name is more familiar, but more that there's always been a lot tied up in the title the Red Room gave her. People make assumptions, and while it's who she is in a way that's deeper than blood and bone, she hardly knows which way is up in this place.

She takes his hand, and matches his grip, and there's a glint in her eyes because there's a familiarity in the callouses as she shakes his hand. Someone that knows what the fight is like, at least. It makes her voice a little lighter, even if she doesn't smile, a tilt of her head to the side.]


Well, let's find out then.
infailtration: (pic#10119110)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-14 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Nice to meet you. Don't go easy on me, I can take a beating.

[ York steps onto the mat, dropping into a fighting stance and raising his hands. He almost seems more comfortable like that than he had when he first greeted her, like being ready to fight is more familiar to him. Considering his bulk, he's light and quick on his feet (the benefits of fighting in a heavy titanium suit include being able to move more easily when you're out of it) and will dodge her first few strikes, trying to get a handle on her movements. ]
natalia_vdova: (you don't know who I am)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-15 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
I like the sound of that.

[Natasha is petite, but she's stronger than she looks, faster. But not fast enough, feels like she can't be fast enough and she hates it. So when York tells her not to hold back... well. She has less compunction than usual about giving him what he asked for. It's not the same as a battle, blood and bone and the thrum of combat on her skin. He's good, faster than she expected. Her first strikes are vicious, but aimed at center mass, and her lips thin, sharp and like she's got something to prove.

He's better than she expected. But, she's been doing this for a long time. She shifts her pattern, trying to slowly work in an opening to get him to hit back. So she can slam him to the floor. She's not playing nice.]
infailtration: custom art by <user name="thebutt">, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE (5-2)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-18 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He can tell what she's doing, but can't just dodge forever. Maybe knowing her technique will give him an edge, he thinks, so he studies her movements and makes a few strikes of his own, judging her speed and flexibility. They each start to land hits in earnest and he starts to block rather than dodge one, nodding in approval when she really gets him. He staggers back with a fierce smile -- not bad, but can you take this?

They're both solid fighters, but she's experienced and more accustomed to battle outside of armor. He fully expects to get his ass kicked in the end but that's okay as long as he learns something, and he thinks he already has. ]
natalia_vdova: (fight like a girl)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-18 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[Her lips twitch, something a little amused, not quite a smile, but she enjoys it. The movement, the fact that he's good, better than she expected. That's always a pleasant realization. Of course, she's not exactly going easy on him, so once she sees an opening, she takes it.

A moment where she catches one of his strikes by the wrist, twisting his arm and pulling forward, trying to take him off balance. She jumps at the same time, trying to get her legs around his neck; suddenly having that weight when they're off-balance is usually enough for her to pull someone to the floor.

But, well. York might not be most people. She's almost hoping.]
infailtration: (pic#10657609)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-18 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The sudden pull does throw him off balance but he rushes forward to compensate, to reclaim the momentum as his own. He's straightening back up just as she leaps and twists and winds up with her knees hooked on his shoulders, the rest of her weight hanging down in front of him. He rallies and stands up, reaching to tug her to his chest so she doesn't fall... when you're used to several hundred pounds of armor on you, a petite woman really isn't that much of a strain.

It's funny, though, to suddenly be holding her this way. ]


...did you want a ride?
natalia_vdova: (count your options)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-18 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[Normally, Natasha would have been able to manage it anyway. Able to use her strength, turn her body into a fulcrum, just swing herself around his neck and take him off the ground. But she's weaker here, and she hates it.

But, there's an undeniable touch of comedy that makes her a little less prickly than she might have been otherwise, even if she still hits him in the shoulder, that brightness in her eyes and the set of her lips as he tugs her to his chest; it's almost a smile, if a touch exasperated.]


Usually that works better.
infailtration: (pic#10657603)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-18 10:20 pm (UTC)(link)
It would have worked on most people. I'm just used to having things way heavier than you on my shoulders.

[ And he works his core to hell and back because low G requires you to have excellent balance. For now he eases her down, offers her his hand to shake again. Once before and once after, a sign of sportsmanship. ]

You're really good. How long have you been fighting?
natalia_vdova: (Talk Business)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-18 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
[She hops down, lands lightly on her feet, a hint of warmth to her expression that had been absent when he'd first approached her. She's still drawn taut, still has that edge where the things she need are just out of reach and it's infuriating. But it's not York's fault, and he seems to be a good guy as far as she can tell.

She takes his hand, shakes it easy in that gesture of acceptance. She hums thoughtfully at the compliment and the following question, like that question is more complex than it might be for most. Whatever had happened when she got pulled through the wormhole, she still looks vaguely twenty-something.]


Since I was five. So a few decades.

[She told Diya the truth, and York seems more trustworthy than someone that reminds her of her childhood in all the wrong ways.]
infailtration: (pic#10657599)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-18 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Decades, she says, and York's head tilts in confusion. She's can't be that much older than him. But like all strange things he encounters here, he doesn't argue, just answers in kind. ]

Well you've got me beat. I joined up out of high school.

[ Maybe there was a war on? It's the most common reason for training a child, and probably the kindest. He doesn't want to assume anything about her, though, so he asks as he stretches back out, kneading areas she hit. ]

Why so young?
natalia_vdova: (Still a Weapon)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-19 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[She catches the look of confusion, but he doesn't ask, either. He doesn't push, and she respects that in someone. She has secrets to keep, but maybe less of them here than she did in DC. So when he asks, she considers the question, the possible range of answers, some more real than others, even if they're all a kind of truth.]

There was a War. So they started pulling orphans out of the state facilities and into a military program.

[Which could be benign enough; training, lessons on weaponry, trying to turn orphans into soldiers. But there's more to it, of course. Isn't there always?]
infailtration: (pic#10907487)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-25 11:51 pm (UTC)(link)
...of course they did.

[ He's not surprised, not by any means, but also not impressed. That's just the kind of thing that people do, use one another as resources. One way or another. His expression is one of distaste but not pity. ]

How long did your war last?
natalia_vdova: (earnest)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-26 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Honestly, Natasha's never taken well to pity. It's one of the reasons that she hates talking about herself, her past. Because she hates seeing that sympathy in peoples' eyes, that look as if she's some delicate broken thing in need of fixing.

Instead, she just shrugs her shoulders at the question.]
Six years. But, it just faded into what they called the Cold War, and that lasted more than forty years.
infailtration: (pic#10907432)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-26 01:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ York nods -- if he knew Earth history better that would sound familiar. ]

Our Great War lasted thirty years... it just ended, actually, things are still pretty tense. We don't have a name for what's going on right now. In some places humans are working with aliens, I've heard.
natalia_vdova: (strike team delta)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-26 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
The aliens didn't happen until recently. They attacked New York through a wormhole. We managed to close the wormhole, so.

[She shrugs her shoulders. Clearly shutting down the wormhole means that's a problem they wont have to deal with ever again-- yeah. She's not that naive but it's a problem that had been far enough in the future that they'd had bigger problems.]

When I first came through I almost thought it was connected, but these people aren't-- let's just say the aliens I knew didn't look this human.
infailtration: (pic#10657599)

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-26 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Neither are the ones I've fought. But I didn't want to rule it out. [ He's learned since that the Cetagandans are human, just colonists. ] Turns out they've never met real aliens. Weird, huh? All this galactic travel and nothing?
natalia_vdova: (plan of action)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-26 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
That's surprising. On my world it was all pretty new to us, aliens and other worlds... but it sounds like they've had the technology to explore the stars as it were for much longer. [Technically, all the aliens she knew had come to visit Earth themselves, but the point still remained that it seemed somewhat odd. She can't help wondering if that's a lie, if there were other species left as ashes and forgotten to time. No way to tell, really.

She's quiet a moment. A brief pause, tilt of her head as if she's looking York over, looking for something.]


What do you think of things here? The Cetagandans?
infailtration: custom art by <user name="reikofanel">, PLEASE DO NOT TAKE (york (13))

[personal profile] infailtration 2017-02-27 04:06 pm (UTC)(link)
[ York crosses his arms, giving Natasha a long look before answering. Can he trust her? ]

I'm grateful they saved us instead of leaving us to die or executing us -- that's what my outfit would have done finding strangers close to the base -- but I don't like them and I don't trust them. I don't know what they want from us or what's going on behind the doors in R&D, and their propaganda pisses me off.
natalia_vdova: (please tell me you didn't do the thing)

[personal profile] natalia_vdova 2017-02-28 02:07 am (UTC)(link)
[No matter how he answers the question, there's information in it. Either about him or the Cetas or both. And at the moment she's willing to take anything that she can get.]

Yeah, at the very least there would be a thorough interrogation with chemical coercives.

[Before everything had fallen apart, at least. But that's something she's still dealing with herself, let alone sharing. She still thinks of things in terms of SHIELD.]

You mean their bit about how they're benevolently rescuing the savages from themselves? Yeah. Usually translates out to they have something we want and it sounds nicer that conquest and colonization.