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forbarrayar2017-03-04 05:33 am
barrayarmods) wrote in forbarrayar2017-03-04 05:33 am
[ march i log: we need medicine ]
Who: Everyone
What: New arrivals, desperate times, whispers down the hall.
When: March 1st - 18th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: TBD
Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Plague / Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Plague / 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.
With March comes some relief. The first few days to a week are still bitterly, dangerously cold, but the weather starts to pick up gradually over the course of the next couple of months. It only gets barely above freezing, but after the last month, it might as well be a summer's day.
riverfall
The party last month definitely boosted morale, and certainly brought the outsiders closer to the villagers. They're noticeably friendlier toward the outsiders afterward, although they still give the exotics and their accompanying ghem soldiers the evil eye.
Given the village's covert assistance with the war effort and the fact that the Cetagandans found enough data to include the village in its regular patrols, Riverfall has become sort of a middle ground between the two sides. Coinciding visits don't happen every day, but they can provide opportunities for the two factions to secretly meet. Of course, this always carries a risk…best be sure not to be caught by either side's soldiers. Thanks to Negri, the Barrayarans roughly know the patrol schedule.
barrayar
Temperatures are still pretty low by the time March rolls around, and the first week is considerably cold, but it's steadily getting warmer as the month goes on. By the second week, it's just warm enough to start taking baths again -- and boy is there ever a queue.
On the 2nd, a small troop of soldiers arrives, led by Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, and Piotr's aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, a distant cousin of theirs. They bring with them a load of relief supplies fom Beta Colony, improving not only their food and medicine situation, but some to pass on back to the Riverfall villagers in return for their help. Anyone lurking around at night might see Ezar talking to Negri from time to time as well, and Sonia seems to be getting up to some kind of mischief where Ezar is concerned.
Prince Xav gives Piotr a very helpful tipoff -- there's a Betan biochemist waiting in the occupied district capital, Vorkosigan Vashnoi, to rendezvous with him on his way back off Barrayar. Xav can't stay long; he needs to find another way off-planet, and Doctor Micah Niadem has been laying low in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, but the risk of their presence being detected grows with every day. It may be easier and safer to smuggle them back to the camp than try to get them back off-planet for now -- and besides, their expertise in astrophysics might prove useful. But Xav hasn't yet been able to make contact through the soldiers occupying the city, so Piotr sends his own scouts.
Piotr, with Xav and Ezar as advisors, is trying to come to a decision about what to do about the Cetagandans' wormhole project. There's no telling what the Cetagandans really intend to do with the wormhole device, but disrupting or destroying their project would mean no way home for the outsiders, and…Piotr no longer feels that to be the most honorable option. That, and the idea of this technology in Cetagandan hands does them no favors. But their intelligence on the project is limited -- Byerly will prove to be a useful intelligent asset, certainly, but Piotr is looking for more informants. Any outsiders willing and able to make connections with any exotics sympathetic to the cause would certainly be appreciated by the General.
plague
Early in the month, some of the villagers begin to get sick -- it looks just like a particularly nasty cold at first. It quickly worsens and spreads to the camp, and by the 7th it is evident there is an outbreak of the Barrayaran flu, an influenza variant that has mutated over the last several centuries. Barrayarans have built up antibodies against most strains, but this is a particularly virulent strain, and with a population that has neither vaccines nor modern medicine, it can be fatal. The recent cold snap and limited food haven't exactly fortified anyone's immune systems, either, and in the first half of the month, about half the population of the village and camp come down with the flu at some point.
Although the virus isn't spreading much more quickly than your average flu, it's still a nasty infection, and the symptoms are difficult to effectively treat without proper equipment of facilities. Some of the relief supplies brought by Prince Xav include surgical masks and gloves for the people working triage to protect them from the airborne illness as much as possible. The supplies also include some analgesics and synergine, but hardly enough to go around. Fevers, aches and chills, coughing, vomiting -- they treat them with what they have once they run out of relief supplies. And for the most part, those with the flu manage to pull through and recover -- but if the flu turns to pneumonia, there's almost nothing they can do at that point. Thanks to the tireless efforts of villagers, soldiers, and some outsiders, the first half of the month sees only a 10% mortality rate between the village and the camp, resulting in only 23 influenza-related deaths.
Sonia is among the first to get sick, but she sweats it out in five days or so and manages a full recovery. Olivia, on the other hand, falls much more seriously ill. Piotr takes great care not to get sick; the camp is already incapacitated as it is.
camp
Camp morale is still buckling under the weight of crisis after crisis, but the arrival of Prince Xav and the improving weather have done a lot to lighten the mood. Xav and Ezar coordiate to distribute the relief supplies even as the flu ravages the camp and village, never a dull moment . Olivia and Sonia haven't seen their father Xav in over two years, and it's a long-overdue family reunion. Piotr welcomes the return of his friend and aide-de-camp Ezar, and Sonia seems to be getting into some kind of mischief with her cousin. And in a quiet moment here and there, Ezar can be seen talking to Negri.
By the morning of the 1st, Byerly Vorrutyer will have abruptly disappeared from camp.
Piotr is trying to keep military operations running as much as he can while half the camp tends to the sick or fall sick themselves. They'd found the traitors, yes, but Piotr's anger is far from satisfied. The food shortage had derailed their power supply strategy, and it's only further pushed back by this current crisis, so large operations are off the table. But Piotr has never underestimated the value of psychological warfare in this war. He has a few conveniently available corpses for hacking up and planting in the Cetagandan base just to shake things up a little, and anyone who can lift a sword without coughing is qualified. Xav does not approve.
missions
The medical assistance provided by the outsiders doesn't go unappreciated, nor without effect. Not every day is a success, but they manage to keep the mortality rate relatively low.
The infiltration missions to plant the severed body parts mostly go according to plan, although Lakshmi and Nash run afoul of some guards. Between the outsiders and other Barrayaran squads, they manage to plant several body parts, and in doing so, inadvertently spread the Barrayaran flu to the Cetagandans.
The outsiders scouting out Vorkosigan Vashnoi manage to stay undetected by Cetagandan soldiers, although they run into exotics on the other side. They manage to get some information about Micah's location, but very little…thankfully, Byerly passes on to Miles much more specific information the exotics were able to obtain.
Here are the unabridged mission results.
cetaganda
The snow piled up around the base starts to gradually melt over the course of the month as temperatures rise. The new wave of exotics are processed and very gently prodded like every group has been, but they've been treated with the same level of civility. The Cetagandans are generally exceedingly polite, but they are becoming a little less patient with the exotics after the recent bouts of violence and escapism.
Despite the Barrayaran flu sweeping the base, military operations must carry on. Zahal might have lost his informants in the Barrayaran camp, but he knows they've been struggling, and wants to implement some more aggressive tactics to hit them while they're down -- and more than that, the dead body parts of his own soldiers scattered around the base have had their intended effect, rattling and aggravating the ghem-General -- even more so when they realize that this was the means by which the plague spread to the base. Whatever organized strategy Zahal starts to pull together is immediately disrupted by the rapid spread of the virus through the base. With Cetagandan soldiers dropping like flies, military operations all but come to a halt on the base.
However, Cetagandan intelligence gets wind of a Barrayar-allied astrophysicist from Beta Colony, a planet renowned for its cutting-edge technological advances, particularly in the field of wormhole science; they may be able to solve some of the pieces of the puzzle. The Betan scientist is apparently hiding out in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, the capital city of the city. The virus has spread there too; Barrayarans and Cetagandans alike are facing the outbreak, although the native population seems to be faring a bit better. The Cetagandans need help bringing medical supplies, so while they're at it, the ghem-General dispatches a few teams to try and sniff out the scientist's location. Meanwhile, in the R&D labs, some of the exotics who have been promoted to lab assistant are helping the Cetagandans to make some advancements, and they're finally let in on some more details about the project.
plague
A few days into the month, some of the soldiers start to show cold-like symptoms -- and then the outbreak of Barrayaran influenza spreads rapidly throughout the base. Unlike the Barrayarans, the Cetagandans have no antibodies for this strain, and even their advanced immune systems cannot defend them against a totally new pathogen. They are infected even more quickly than the Barrayarans and their symptoms escalate rapidly as well, resulting in an alarming mortality rate. Cetagandan soldiers are falling sick left and right. Triage starts in the medbay, but they have to quarantine off another wing of the building just to make room for the rapidly growing population of infected ghem. The airborne virus is spreading through the base at an alarming speed -- save for Byerly, no one on base has ever been exposed to it. The symptoms are severe and while the Cetagandans have plenty of equipment, they have neither an antiviral nor a vaccine for the Barrayaran flu. High fever, vomiting, dehydration, respiratory and sinus problems run rampant, and though they have plenty in the way of synergine and analgesics, the Barrayaran flu quickly leads to pneumonia in most Cetagandan patients, and with their immune systems so completely unprepared, most patients with pneumonia die within 24 to 48 hours. The triage assistants are, at least, provided with surgical masks and gloves and antibacterial gel by the bucket load to protect them from the airborne illness as much as possible. By mid-month, nearly two thirds of the base has been infected.
The medical staff scrambles to put up a quarantine while also working on a vaccine for the uninfected population on the base. Byerly, being the only person on base who has ever been exposed to the Barrayaran flu, offers a blood sample -- potentially containing antibodies to this strain. Some of the Cetagandans' testing methods are a little ethically questionable, but they're trying to work fast. They're able to develop a working vaccine with a projected effectiveness of 70%.
Toward the middle of the month, Amai catches the flu and is laid low for about a week. Diya and Zahal take great care not to catch it -- Diya seems particularly absent lately.
base
Paranoia of infection hovers over the entire base, but some of the Cetagandans are concerned with another upcoming event: the arrival of the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche. What the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche actually is or does seems to be rather vague to the exotics -- she seems to play some role in genetic politics -- but it's known that she's haut, like Diya. The Cetagandans are scrambling to prepare for her arrival with considerable worry about resolving the flu epidemic before she touches down. The Cetagandans are about as close to cultural panic as they get right now. Diya received personal notice from the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche herself.
Starting on the 1st, Byerly Vorrutyer joins the exotic ranks as an undercover agent, looking not only for information but to potentially recruit exotics sympathetic to the Barrayaran cause.
Meanwhile in the labs, the Cetagandans have been letting the exotics get a little more hands-on with their research. Natasha, York and Symmetra have risen a bit in the ranks and are brought in on more specific projects. The ghem ladies are, surprisingly, now looking for volunteers to work in the gene labs too -- personnel shortage, of course.
missions
Even though a few of their own fall prey to the illness, the exotics' medical assistance does wind up being quite helpful, particularly with development of the vaccine. Meanwhile, eavesdroppers are doing their usual business and digging deep in places they shouldn't -- particularly where Amai and Diya are concerned.
The exotics that accompany the Cetagandans to Vorkosigan Vashnoi manage to stay undetected by Barrayaran soldiers, although they run into exotics on the other side. They are able to get some very detailed information about Micah's location, which Byerly passes back to the Barrayarans via Miles.
Here are the unabridged mission results.
Note: Negri and Zahal are available for threads by request only. Please hit up Madi or Ammay respectively for you want threads with either of those NPCs. You can also request a thread with Village Speaker Yakiv Gura if you want, in which case hit up Madi.
What: New arrivals, desperate times, whispers down the hall.
When: March 1st - 18th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: TBD
Riverfall
Barrayar: Plague / Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Plague / 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.
With March comes some relief. The first few days to a week are still bitterly, dangerously cold, but the weather starts to pick up gradually over the course of the next couple of months. It only gets barely above freezing, but after the last month, it might as well be a summer's day.
riverfall
The party last month definitely boosted morale, and certainly brought the outsiders closer to the villagers. They're noticeably friendlier toward the outsiders afterward, although they still give the exotics and their accompanying ghem soldiers the evil eye.
Given the village's covert assistance with the war effort and the fact that the Cetagandans found enough data to include the village in its regular patrols, Riverfall has become sort of a middle ground between the two sides. Coinciding visits don't happen every day, but they can provide opportunities for the two factions to secretly meet. Of course, this always carries a risk…best be sure not to be caught by either side's soldiers. Thanks to Negri, the Barrayarans roughly know the patrol schedule.
barrayar
Temperatures are still pretty low by the time March rolls around, and the first week is considerably cold, but it's steadily getting warmer as the month goes on. By the second week, it's just warm enough to start taking baths again -- and boy is there ever a queue.
On the 2nd, a small troop of soldiers arrives, led by Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, and Piotr's aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, a distant cousin of theirs. They bring with them a load of relief supplies fom Beta Colony, improving not only their food and medicine situation, but some to pass on back to the Riverfall villagers in return for their help. Anyone lurking around at night might see Ezar talking to Negri from time to time as well, and Sonia seems to be getting up to some kind of mischief where Ezar is concerned.
Prince Xav gives Piotr a very helpful tipoff -- there's a Betan biochemist waiting in the occupied district capital, Vorkosigan Vashnoi, to rendezvous with him on his way back off Barrayar. Xav can't stay long; he needs to find another way off-planet, and Doctor Micah Niadem has been laying low in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, but the risk of their presence being detected grows with every day. It may be easier and safer to smuggle them back to the camp than try to get them back off-planet for now -- and besides, their expertise in astrophysics might prove useful. But Xav hasn't yet been able to make contact through the soldiers occupying the city, so Piotr sends his own scouts.
Piotr, with Xav and Ezar as advisors, is trying to come to a decision about what to do about the Cetagandans' wormhole project. There's no telling what the Cetagandans really intend to do with the wormhole device, but disrupting or destroying their project would mean no way home for the outsiders, and…Piotr no longer feels that to be the most honorable option. That, and the idea of this technology in Cetagandan hands does them no favors. But their intelligence on the project is limited -- Byerly will prove to be a useful intelligent asset, certainly, but Piotr is looking for more informants. Any outsiders willing and able to make connections with any exotics sympathetic to the cause would certainly be appreciated by the General.
plague
Early in the month, some of the villagers begin to get sick -- it looks just like a particularly nasty cold at first. It quickly worsens and spreads to the camp, and by the 7th it is evident there is an outbreak of the Barrayaran flu, an influenza variant that has mutated over the last several centuries. Barrayarans have built up antibodies against most strains, but this is a particularly virulent strain, and with a population that has neither vaccines nor modern medicine, it can be fatal. The recent cold snap and limited food haven't exactly fortified anyone's immune systems, either, and in the first half of the month, about half the population of the village and camp come down with the flu at some point.
Although the virus isn't spreading much more quickly than your average flu, it's still a nasty infection, and the symptoms are difficult to effectively treat without proper equipment of facilities. Some of the relief supplies brought by Prince Xav include surgical masks and gloves for the people working triage to protect them from the airborne illness as much as possible. The supplies also include some analgesics and synergine, but hardly enough to go around. Fevers, aches and chills, coughing, vomiting -- they treat them with what they have once they run out of relief supplies. And for the most part, those with the flu manage to pull through and recover -- but if the flu turns to pneumonia, there's almost nothing they can do at that point. Thanks to the tireless efforts of villagers, soldiers, and some outsiders, the first half of the month sees only a 10% mortality rate between the village and the camp, resulting in only 23 influenza-related deaths.
Sonia is among the first to get sick, but she sweats it out in five days or so and manages a full recovery. Olivia, on the other hand, falls much more seriously ill. Piotr takes great care not to get sick; the camp is already incapacitated as it is.
camp
Camp morale is still buckling under the weight of crisis after crisis, but the arrival of Prince Xav and the improving weather have done a lot to lighten the mood. Xav and Ezar coordiate to distribute the relief supplies even as the flu ravages the camp and village, never a dull moment . Olivia and Sonia haven't seen their father Xav in over two years, and it's a long-overdue family reunion. Piotr welcomes the return of his friend and aide-de-camp Ezar, and Sonia seems to be getting into some kind of mischief with her cousin. And in a quiet moment here and there, Ezar can be seen talking to Negri.
By the morning of the 1st, Byerly Vorrutyer will have abruptly disappeared from camp.
Piotr is trying to keep military operations running as much as he can while half the camp tends to the sick or fall sick themselves. They'd found the traitors, yes, but Piotr's anger is far from satisfied. The food shortage had derailed their power supply strategy, and it's only further pushed back by this current crisis, so large operations are off the table. But Piotr has never underestimated the value of psychological warfare in this war. He has a few conveniently available corpses for hacking up and planting in the Cetagandan base just to shake things up a little, and anyone who can lift a sword without coughing is qualified. Xav does not approve.
missions
The medical assistance provided by the outsiders doesn't go unappreciated, nor without effect. Not every day is a success, but they manage to keep the mortality rate relatively low.
The infiltration missions to plant the severed body parts mostly go according to plan, although Lakshmi and Nash run afoul of some guards. Between the outsiders and other Barrayaran squads, they manage to plant several body parts, and in doing so, inadvertently spread the Barrayaran flu to the Cetagandans.
The outsiders scouting out Vorkosigan Vashnoi manage to stay undetected by Cetagandan soldiers, although they run into exotics on the other side. They manage to get some information about Micah's location, but very little…thankfully, Byerly passes on to Miles much more specific information the exotics were able to obtain.
Here are the unabridged mission results.
cetaganda
The snow piled up around the base starts to gradually melt over the course of the month as temperatures rise. The new wave of exotics are processed and very gently prodded like every group has been, but they've been treated with the same level of civility. The Cetagandans are generally exceedingly polite, but they are becoming a little less patient with the exotics after the recent bouts of violence and escapism.
Despite the Barrayaran flu sweeping the base, military operations must carry on. Zahal might have lost his informants in the Barrayaran camp, but he knows they've been struggling, and wants to implement some more aggressive tactics to hit them while they're down -- and more than that, the dead body parts of his own soldiers scattered around the base have had their intended effect, rattling and aggravating the ghem-General -- even more so when they realize that this was the means by which the plague spread to the base. Whatever organized strategy Zahal starts to pull together is immediately disrupted by the rapid spread of the virus through the base. With Cetagandan soldiers dropping like flies, military operations all but come to a halt on the base.
However, Cetagandan intelligence gets wind of a Barrayar-allied astrophysicist from Beta Colony, a planet renowned for its cutting-edge technological advances, particularly in the field of wormhole science; they may be able to solve some of the pieces of the puzzle. The Betan scientist is apparently hiding out in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, the capital city of the city. The virus has spread there too; Barrayarans and Cetagandans alike are facing the outbreak, although the native population seems to be faring a bit better. The Cetagandans need help bringing medical supplies, so while they're at it, the ghem-General dispatches a few teams to try and sniff out the scientist's location. Meanwhile, in the R&D labs, some of the exotics who have been promoted to lab assistant are helping the Cetagandans to make some advancements, and they're finally let in on some more details about the project.
plague
A few days into the month, some of the soldiers start to show cold-like symptoms -- and then the outbreak of Barrayaran influenza spreads rapidly throughout the base. Unlike the Barrayarans, the Cetagandans have no antibodies for this strain, and even their advanced immune systems cannot defend them against a totally new pathogen. They are infected even more quickly than the Barrayarans and their symptoms escalate rapidly as well, resulting in an alarming mortality rate. Cetagandan soldiers are falling sick left and right. Triage starts in the medbay, but they have to quarantine off another wing of the building just to make room for the rapidly growing population of infected ghem. The airborne virus is spreading through the base at an alarming speed -- save for Byerly, no one on base has ever been exposed to it. The symptoms are severe and while the Cetagandans have plenty of equipment, they have neither an antiviral nor a vaccine for the Barrayaran flu. High fever, vomiting, dehydration, respiratory and sinus problems run rampant, and though they have plenty in the way of synergine and analgesics, the Barrayaran flu quickly leads to pneumonia in most Cetagandan patients, and with their immune systems so completely unprepared, most patients with pneumonia die within 24 to 48 hours. The triage assistants are, at least, provided with surgical masks and gloves and antibacterial gel by the bucket load to protect them from the airborne illness as much as possible. By mid-month, nearly two thirds of the base has been infected.
The medical staff scrambles to put up a quarantine while also working on a vaccine for the uninfected population on the base. Byerly, being the only person on base who has ever been exposed to the Barrayaran flu, offers a blood sample -- potentially containing antibodies to this strain. Some of the Cetagandans' testing methods are a little ethically questionable, but they're trying to work fast. They're able to develop a working vaccine with a projected effectiveness of 70%.
Toward the middle of the month, Amai catches the flu and is laid low for about a week. Diya and Zahal take great care not to catch it -- Diya seems particularly absent lately.
base
Paranoia of infection hovers over the entire base, but some of the Cetagandans are concerned with another upcoming event: the arrival of the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche. What the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche actually is or does seems to be rather vague to the exotics -- she seems to play some role in genetic politics -- but it's known that she's haut, like Diya. The Cetagandans are scrambling to prepare for her arrival with considerable worry about resolving the flu epidemic before she touches down. The Cetagandans are about as close to cultural panic as they get right now. Diya received personal notice from the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche herself.
Starting on the 1st, Byerly Vorrutyer joins the exotic ranks as an undercover agent, looking not only for information but to potentially recruit exotics sympathetic to the Barrayaran cause.
Meanwhile in the labs, the Cetagandans have been letting the exotics get a little more hands-on with their research. Natasha, York and Symmetra have risen a bit in the ranks and are brought in on more specific projects. The ghem ladies are, surprisingly, now looking for volunteers to work in the gene labs too -- personnel shortage, of course.
missions
Even though a few of their own fall prey to the illness, the exotics' medical assistance does wind up being quite helpful, particularly with development of the vaccine. Meanwhile, eavesdroppers are doing their usual business and digging deep in places they shouldn't -- particularly where Amai and Diya are concerned.
The exotics that accompany the Cetagandans to Vorkosigan Vashnoi manage to stay undetected by Barrayaran soldiers, although they run into exotics on the other side. They are able to get some very detailed information about Micah's location, which Byerly passes back to the Barrayarans via Miles.
Here are the unabridged mission results.
Note: Negri and Zahal are available for threads by request only. Please hit up Madi or Ammay respectively for you want threads with either of those NPCs. You can also request a thread with Village Speaker Yakiv Gura if you want, in which case hit up Madi.
no subject
Seeing that she was getting dressed, he politely let his eyes skip away from Satya but did move over towards the bunk she had indicated thinking perhaps there was a reason she'd pointed it out. Maybe the person near his original choice was a loud snorer or had some kind of unsavory sleep habits.
"Thanks for the tip, ma'am." Out of the so-called 'Exotics' he'd seen so far, this woman seemed more adopted to the Cetagandan style of dress which was interesting in its own way. Some might assume she was 'going native' or perhaps just as likely, perhaps her culture was not so dissimilar to their hosts.
At this point, he wasn't making his mind up about anything because there were simply too many unknown variables and factors to consider. The most pressing of course being whether or not he'd found himself in some over-glorified hostage or kidnapping situation. Just because the Cetagandans said they had no idea how to get them home or even how they came to be here didn't mean they were necessarily being completely truthful. And that weighed heavily on his mind even now.
no subject
Graciousness costs nothing. Once her robes are back in place she resumes her observation of him. The way he moves, the way he holds himself...the things he isn't doing.
"For most of us, this is all very different from what we are accustomed to. Cooperation makes things more manageable for everyone involved." Which shouldn't need to be said to be understood, really, but a surprising amount of people don't.
Hard to say what his stance is from just a glance.
no subject
"It is certainly not how I expected my day to do, no." There was a ghost of bone-dry amusement laced through his words but something about Satya's statement seemed to stick with him because his gaze traveled back to her once he deemed it safe. There was a seriousness in his eyes that seemed to cut through the tiredness.
"I hadn't planned on not cooperating. Or in being an ungracious guest if that is what we are. But in truth, my only goal is to find a way of getting home." If the Cetagandans were being truthful and on the up and up then he had no problem with them. If it proved they weren't being as forthright as they claimed then he would cross that bridge when he came to it.
no subject
So cooperating really did serve in his best interests. It never hurt to have a little additional motivation, or context. The Cetagandans might have their secrets, but they were also being fairly frank when it came to any scientific assistance they might need.
"Of course, the air here is a little more tense then it was previously. A number of exotics seemed to think it was in their best interests to run off into the wilderness to join the rebels. For what reasons, I can't imagine, but our hosts are predictably less patient about such things, these days."
no subject
But it also didn't mean he was going to be airing any of his doubts aloud to her either. She could genuinely believe in their hosts and what they said but she could just as easily turn around and talk to them about which exotics were dissatisfied and liable to cause problems.
"Ah, the rebels. I heard a little bit about them but no concrete details." No, just the typical propaganda intel you often got from one side of conflict versus another. "I take it you've been here a while, ma'am? Enough to get a firm grasp on things here?"
no subject
Never let it be mistaken what her ultimate goal was here. She made no secret of it, just as she made no secret of which side had earned her support. "While I pity the people of this planet and truly hope this conflict finds resolution without further need for bloodshed, we are not of this world. We belong elsewhere. And it is in everyone's best interests if we return to where we come from."
The Cetagandans had been very generous in allowing them the hospitality they had, but there was no cause to impose further than was necessary. Likewise, those conscripted by the insurgency would be far better served fighting their own battles, rather than those of a misguided rebel army.
no subject
"I would think most of us have that goal, of course. I know I for one cannot return home a second too soon because I have people who are counting on me." In point of fact, even if he got home, Kurt didn't know how he was going to get to his Spartans. They were all trapped...somewhere in a slipspace bunker set up apparently for the literal end of the universe. They were safe but in a place far beyond his reach.
"I find it curious why some outsiders would decide to embroil themselves in this war to begin with. Much less with the rebels. Do they promise a way home as well I wonder?"
Just because they were in this shining city with hosts who seemed amiable did not mean they were free though. He privately doubted they'd be allowed to just walk out if they so chose to. So while this place might be a spacious cage, it could very well prove to be a cage all the same. "I am paranoid perhaps but in truth, I don't know what to believe in any of this, ma'am."
no subject
It feels akin to trying to find the exit to a room by wandering out into the center and hoping a door springs into being out of nowhere. And yet.
"I certainly can't tell you what you should believe. But I would hope you're a person of sense, and could reason it out yourself given enough time to see what's going on here." She waves one delicate hand dismissively. "If not, I suppose you'll leave as well. If this pattern continues, doubtlessly someone else will need the bed."
She's not bitter. Not at all.
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"I suppose we shall have to wait and see, ma'am. Right now, I'm just trying to get my feet under me. By all rights, I should probably be dead right now but instead, I find myself plucked from the jaws of death and dropped in this place filled with strangers and too few answers for my own personal comfort." No, she wasn't exactly subtle in the least but he couldn't fault her for that. After all, if their hosts grew vexed with these defections and decided to take it out on the people still here then those consequences could be far-reaching for all of them.
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That prompts curiousity on her part, frowning lightly as she waits, very evidently, for him to continue and elaborate. After all, they're clearly in agreement over needing to return home over choosing a side in this damnable war.
That a soldier has that much sense to him? Is heartening, to say the least.
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He had no idea if the blast being set off so close to a slipspace tear was the reason he was here or there was another explanation. Thus far, he hadn't felt keen to impart that particular part of his story to anyone. Mainly because if these Ceta could control wormhole technology, then he wasn't sure he wanted to risk his Spartans by leading them directly to their doorstep so to speak. "It's a pretty curious mystery and one I wouldn't mind figuring out but right now, my priorities are focused elsewhere. I just hope we can trust our hosts to be as honest and upfront as they claim. Where I'm from, random wormholes don't just snatch people up and deposit them in strange places like this. A lot of math and technology goes into slipspace travel."
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"I've been working alongside them for months to even attempt replicating the wormhole. If they had the potential already, I doubt they would ask us for assistance. They seem too proud a people to request the help of outsiders if it was not vitally important."
It simply wasn't logical to examine any other option. Why search for a conspiracy when the answer in front of you was perfectly reasonable and acceptable?
"For what it is worth, I'm certainly grateful you found your way here, rather than remained to die where you were." Blunt, perhaps, but honest. Every life that could be saved was a victory of some sort.
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"Do you think they are capable of it then? Or is this just...empty promises meant to pacify a potentially aggressive and marooned force of outsiders?" The brunette spoke as plainly as she did but genuinely appeared curious to hear Satya's take on everything.
Perhaps he was simply a little bit more sensitive to being shanghaied into things but Kurt had spent his entire life serving the purposes of shadowy figures with little to no say in the course of his destiny so the last thing he wanted was to go through this yet again.
"I appreciate the sentiment, ma'am. I wish we could have met under better circumstances." Though from what he had gleaned thus far from all of these very disparate peoples, he doubted they would have crossed paths elsewhere. Still, he had been trained to be polite and had learned you definitely reaped better results from others with it than approaching things with a piss-poor attitude. "I'm Kurt Ambrose, by the way. Lieutenant Commander of the UNSC Navy." Not that anyone he'd spoken with thus far had even heard of the UNSC.
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"Satya Vaswani...but I am more often called Symmetra. Architect of the Viskhar Corperation of India. And in my cooperative efforts with the technicians and scientists here on the base...yes. I think they are more than capable of it. In fact, we may be very close as it is."
With that she lifts a hand, turning it over so that he might better observe the mechanical limb. "The technology from my world, as it happens, may prove useful to them for that purpose."
No simple matter of mollifying the exotics with a lie, no. Not if she was any sort of judge on the matter.
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Sadly, he didn't see so much as a flicker on her face so chances were, it didn't ring any bells. That just served to further the niggling doubt that said the Ceta had been truthful. That he was going to meet people from different worlds and times from his own.
"That is certainly heartening to hear Symmetra." His gaze was drawn to her mechanical limb but aside from some unusual design aesthetics, it wasn't too dissimilar to the ones he'd seen before.
"If I may, how would a prosthetic limb help them with wormhole technology?"
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Of course, she had not been going back to near-certain death. She might be a little more eager than some, and she regards Kurt with a curious expression.
"Do you still feel such a drive to return, knowing what might await you?"
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Being the soldier that he was, he suspiciously wondered just what the Ceta could do with the ability to create hard-light constructs that didn't necessarily have anything to do with creating a wormhole back home.
Satya's question certainly cut to the heart of the matter, didn't it? Did the possibility of his near certain death back home affect his drive to return? His brow crinkled in a considering look but the brunette didn't take long to think. "Honestly? Yes. Because my men are counting on me. If I'm going to go back to being dead, that's a risk I'll have to take. Maybe I will return healed as I am now and ready to pick up the fight yet again. It's a risk I will take because I couldn't live with myself knowing I'm here safe while my men are back home in danger."
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She gives a small nod of approval, though she doesn't smile. It doesn't seem the sort of thing to smile about. Instead, she settles herself down to the edge of her own bed. "I too have a purpose to return home to. Ultimately, what is decided in this war is not up to us. Nor should it be."
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"I feel like every one of my soldiers would make the same choice." Even here, he could not use the term Spartan so brazenly and had to edit his phrasing so that he didn't unconsciously spill any secrets but it felt almost like a personal betrayal in a way. Perhaps because the III's were forced to live in the shadows without recognition or acknowledgement. Each time he had to deny their existence, it felt like just another betrayal, even one made with the best of intentions.
"For fear of sounding too brusque, but I have no interest in being dragged into another war. I'm not sure what is going on with this conflict on this planet but I don't want to be drawn into it if I can avoid it." Especially when he wasn't sure what he was fighting for.
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They can sit and object and wait until someone does something useful, or do it themselves. She knows which option she prefers.
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In many ways, Kurt was the victim of the unspoken civil war between human rebels and the UEG. He hadn't been kidnapped and trained to fight aliens, his life had been shaped with the intention of fighting other humans. He had his issues with Catherine Halsey's tactics even if he couldn't find it within himself to be angry or resentful for what she did to them. It didn't absolve her of her sins anymore than he expected to be forgiven for his unspeakable actions either. "Either way, I hope we can all find a way home sooner rather than later."
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Rising from her seat, she smoothed her dress back into place. "I would see what use you could be to the labs, for example. There are supply runs to be made as well. Doubtlessly these would improve our chances. They may help the Cetagandans as well, however...if you are dedicated to not participating, you may need time to consider your options."
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Kurt had taught himself how to care for and maintain his MJOLNIR armor all on his own despite the fact that he'd never planned on wearing it again once he retired it. That part of his life had ended when he was put in charge of Onyx and training a brand new breed of Spartans.