[ february ii log ]

[barrayarmods]

Who: Everyone
What: Traitors exposed, celebrations had, sleight hands passing cards under the table. And so begin the preparations for what is soon to come.
When: February 18th - 28th
Where: Barrayaran camp / Cetagandan base
Warnings: Torture (interrogations thread)

Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Barrayaran camp / Party / Missions
Cetaganda: Cetagandan base / Moon-poetry party / Missions

The harsh weather rages on, which temperatures still averaging far below freezing, and the wind is still strong. But things are a little less dire for the outsiders, and for the exotics -- well, they have their own chills to deal with.

riverfall
Riverfall village is your typical Dendarii mountain village, which means it's small, humble, and mostly poor. This is the most rural of the rural around here, a little backwater even by Barrayaran standards. Most of the villagers live in houses of wood and stone built themselves or by ancestors. Despite the cold, there are plenty of people outside at any given time -- working, mostly, because the daily grind stops for no one, but even the occasional group of children taken over by fits of cabin fever. The village is built up against a rocky mountain face, from the top of which the eponymous waterfall flows into the river that borders the west edge of the village and continues down the mountain. The place isn't exactly hidden, but if you don't know your way around, it'd be hard to find without a native guide.

The villagers are wary of the outsiders at first, even more than the soldiers had been -- the rural Dendarii are as superstitious as they come -- but, slowly convinced of their good intentions, start to warm to them. They're a blunt, hardy people, largely uneducated and tending toward the most extreme of Barrayaran sensibilities, but they are undeniably fierce. The General Count trusts them, so they'll be more or less civil (by Barrayaran standards, anyway), but you might catch the occasional scrutinizing, watchful stare. With Cetagandans in camp and exotics among them, they border on hostile, especially those who are visibly nonhuman. They keep their heads down enough to keep from getting into trouble with the soldiers, but they do not like you at all.

Not everyone in Riverfall speaks English -- Russian is everyone's first language, and only about half the village has any passable command of English. Thankfully, the village's Speaker Yakiv Gura speaks English, if heavily accented. They're clearly stretching to the limit to help the camp, but to the Dendarii, there's no higher act than one in the Count's service, especially when it comes to fighting this war.

barrayar
Even after scoring themselves a little extra food, morale in the camp is at an all-time low. The miserably dangerous weather hasn't let up, food is still heavily rationed, and everyone is still at least a little tired, cold, and hungry all of the time. It doesn't help that they've lost a few soldiers in the last couple of weeks, and in Riverfall, too, some villagers have died of the cold despite their relative warmth and safety, mostly children. This is hardly the first harsh winter they've faced, but that doesn't stop the inexorable loss that comes with it. Some villagers may be somberly putting their loved ones to rest in the village graveyard when the outsiders are in town.

But Piotr finally calls Negri out as a spy sent by his aide-de-camp Captain Ezar Vorbarra, partly to deliver a message and partly to test Piotr, because Ezar loves coy bullshit. However, he does learn that both Ezar and Prince Xav Vorbarra, Olivia and Sonia's father, are en route to Vorkosigan's District with relief supplies from Beta Colony secured by Xav's ambassadorial connections and tireless lobbying. Once Piotr judges it safe to release this information, it bring with it a bit of hope -- and to seal the deal, Piotr and Olivia arrange a celebration of sorts in the village.

Finally outing the ring of reason in the camp helps to bolster morale, too. Vorhalas is interrogated, and the names of his co-conspirators are revealed: Lieutenant Boris Vortala, who killed himself in disgrace shortly after his fast-penta interrogation at ghem-General Zefyst's hand, and their commander Captain Aaron Vorbataille. Vorbataille has, of course, already started to make his escape -- but with the help out of the outsiders, he won't get very far. Once Piotr is satisfied with Vorbataille's interrogation as well, both men are put to execution, but not by beheading as Doctor ghem-Miko: the sentence for treason is death by public starvation and exposure, and in this weather, it doesn't take long. They are publicly and emphatically denounced as traitors with no honor to speak of, sending a very clear message. Although this might seem like a gruesome sight to the outsiders, to the Barrayarans this is simply how it goes, and very few of them are sorry to see these traitors suffer, particularly as Vorhalas was the one responsible for their food shortage in the first place.

Reports from those soldiers and outsiders who were in the village at the same time as the Cetagandan field science team present the General Count with another troubling problem, however: the implications of the Cetagandans building a device that could control this phenomenon are terrifying, particularly to this threadbare resistance movement. But sabotage seems hardly a worthy solution, either. This is the only lead they have on sending the outsiders home, and so many of them have already put their lives on the line for the cause of a planet that otherwise nothing to most of them. There would be no honor in robbing them of their only chance to return home. But whether they should continue to allow the Cetagandans to proceed with their research or try to find a way to copy their plans themselves, a dubiously possible venture at best, weighs heavily on his mind. It only complicates his strategic concerns further, but by his military orders in the next couple of weeks, at least one thing is clear: he wants Cetagandan bodies.

camp
Morale is critically low among the soldiers, particularly after a few casualties during a recent skirmish with a Cetagandan patrol, but spirits definitely begin to lift with news of relief. The soldiers are now more or less accustomed to the outsiders' place in the camp, and they're even starting to become a little friendlier toward them, particularly those who've been involved in the war effort. They might invite outsiders to play card or dice games with them, or share a conversation over an admittedly meager meal, or better still, bond with them in the true Barrarayan form: over a lot of alcohol.

Negri has more or less built himself a niche in the camp, and doesn't look like he's going anywhere any time soon. But he isn't the only spy around. They desperately need a man on the inside, particularly with the troubling news about the wormhole device, and right now, that man is Byerly Vorrutyer. Starting next month, Piotr is sending him on assignment to infiltrate the Cetagandan base under the cover of a cowardly collaborator.

party
By the time they have the party on the 21st, the villagers have warmed up to the outsiders a little, but they don't really bond until the party. With what little they have to share, they scrape together as much of a feast as they can: not much, but by this month's standards, any hot meal prepared with fresh ingredients seems absolutely decadent. And because this is Barrayar there is, of course, plenty of liquor, that Barrayaran moonshine maple mead not the least among them, and there's no shortage of wine or vodka, either.

The hillfolk light lanterns all around the village and raise large tarps to cover the open center of the village where they usually hold gatherings. Inside, protected from the wind and lit by the bonfire and braziers placed around the perimeter, it's actually almost warm. Every villager who's ever laid hand to an instrument seems to gather there to play music all night long, an energetic mix of lively folk music and raucous drinking songs. Anyone with any musical talent would be welcome to join them as well. There's plenty of dancing, too, very little of it formal or complicated, but everyone's having a good time for the first time in weeks, maybe months, and the mood is infectious. By the end of the night, morale seems to have risen overall, and people in camp have something real to look forward to. The partygoing visitors are put up in warmed tents within the tarped village center or in the villagers' homes where they have room. Come morning, they'll head back, but for just one night, it's almost like there isn't even a war on.

missions
Outsiders have been assisting with moving supplies between the camp and Riverfall all throught he rest of the month, and it mostly goes smoothly. Vorbataille is caught on the 20th, although he and Vorhalas aren't publicly executed until a few days later, when Piotr is satisfied with the intelligence he's extracted. By the time he gets Vorbataille's name out of Vorhalas, the traitorous Captain has already fled -- but thanks to Carolina, Duv and Zarya, he's dragged back to camp for his interrogation.

That evening, Maine and William have the misfortune of encountering a dragon -- Darkstalker is on a mission with a Cetagandan patrol, and they run right smack into each other. A fight breaks out, but ultimately Darkstalker and the Cetagandans come out on top, and the outsiders and Barrayarans are forced to retreat -- but not before managing to kill a Cetagandan soldier or two, just barely escaping with one of the bodies.

Miles finds himself in a terrible position when a guard patrol shift goes horribly wrong in a skirmish against some Cetagandans, resulting in the death of their squad leader and a very ugly aftermath.

Zarya, William, Beth and Miles are in Riverfall with some Barrayaran soldiers on a supply run when a Cetagandan field science team arrives with a few exotics in tow. This is a rare chance to learn more about the Cetagandans' scientific exploits, and among other things, they find out that whatever it is that brought them here, the Cetagandan scientists are convincede it has something to do with the wormhole that collapsed 700 years ago.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

cetaganda
The Cetagandans are a notoriously tight-lipped bunch, but they're blowing away most of the smoke surrounding their wormhole science research. As has been alluded, they're currently working on a device to harness the phenomenon that brought all the exotics here in the first place, and hopefully find a way to send them all home with it. They invite any exotics with scientific expertise to a series of interviews about neurology, astrophysics, and mechanical engineering. None of the advisement they receive helps to solve one of their most critical problems -- that of generating a Necklin field to match the one that must have surrounded each exotic -- but it certainly puts them closer to their goal, particularly in the area of neurology, and they're hardly going to stop there. But it's clear that the mathematicians and astrophysicists on base don't have sufficient expertise to solve the most complex equations before them. But on the brighter side of things, in the interest of this scientific exchange, they're letting the lab techs help a little more beyond just grunt work.

Meanwhile, the genetics project that seems so strange and arcane to the exotic carries on, largely behind the scenes, although Diya is increasingly at odds with her husband and even some of her senior staff, particularly the precocious Amai ghem-Soren. But there is very real purpose behind it -- and far more than just one -- and Diya d'Zefyst is a woman of great ambition. And more than anything else, she is haut.

Unfortunately, the relative peace on base is abruptly broken when Daryl, Lakshmi and Wash all manage to escape in a wild breakout attempt on the 25th. York and Ratchet are left behind, and as a result, some of their privileges revoked. They're now being watched a little more closely as a result.

base
Overall, despite simmering tensions under the surface and the miserable weather, life on base seems to be going more or less smoothly around them. The Cetagandans have had some recent victories against the Barrayarans, so morale is high. Unfortunately, after the breakout they begin cracking down on security with the exotics -- going back to treating the exotics a little more like they did when they first arrived. They aren't under guard, but after the 25th, they are being watched.

They still maintain that insistent veneer of civility, however, breaking only in cases where they feel the need or security risk is significant enough. The ghem on base remain overall cordial and courteous to the exotics as they ever were, which is to say considerably and always with a touch of smug superiority. With her success at the party earlier this month followed by her performance in the moon-poetry garden, the often-sequestered Amai ghem-Soren is seen more around the base.

moon-poetry party
The moon-poetry party is about three hours long and steeped in ceremony, each participant taking their turn to recite. This is, apparently, not a recitation of one's own work, but rather selections of classical Cetagandan poems, and in so referencing something culturally ubiquitous, each makes a statement in its mere selection and juxtapositions. If you pay close enough attention, you might notice that each participant has very subtly coordinated their outfits to further complement the theme of their recitation. Although there is a definite dignity to the party, it doesn't take much to pick up on the fact that this is yet another arena ghem use to try and socially one-up one another. Among the participants are both the Chief Medical Officer Colonel Faro ghem-Naru and Doctor Amai ghem-Soren, whose performance was especially well-received, the theme apparently being something about subtle passions.

missions
The science interviews with the exotics go more or less well, although not quite so hopeful as the Cetagandans were hoping. They do, however, learn some things about FTL travel in other worlds as well as other kinds of neural implants.

On the evening of the 21st, York, Natasha and Kaidan accidentally bear witness to what is clearly some kind of travesty: clearly a human being, but both overgrown and underdeveloped, and exhibiting powers of hydrokinesis and psychic empathy, referred to only as a ba.

On the 23rd, Jasper, Lapis, Pearl and Darkstalker accompany some soldiers and a field science team to Riverfall village, coinciding with a visit from some outsiders and soldiers. They encounter some outsiders while there but also pick up a bit on what it is the Cetagandans are doing -- that the Necklin field problem still remains their biggest problem, and they've been getting conflicting orders from the higher ups lately.

The unabridged mission writeup is here.

Note: Negri and Zahal are available for threads by request only this round. Please hit up Madi or Ammay respectively if 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.

Comments

B

[dendarii]

Miles ... is rather startled by Daryl. In general in addition to just now. Given their first encounter involved punching, Daryl was the last guy Miles had expected to see helping Lakshmi escape. But help he had been, and Miles has to respect that.

He holds up his hands in surrender as Daryl turns. "Just wanted to talk," he says. "If you don't mind."

[pigsfeet]

The feeling is mutual, at least. Daryl isn't quite sure what to make of the little guy, and not just because of his size. It feels like he's been on the periphery of some of Daryl's worst days, and now that average's been pulled up to almost twice in a row. If Daryl believed in fate, he'd think there was some meaning to that. Being the morbid pragmatist he's become, though, it's more of a warning. Whoever and whatever this guy is, he's a survivor.

They need more of those.

So Daryl decides to give the guy an inch. He scoots over a little on the bit of log he was hunched over, revealing the contraption he was working on. He points to a bit of loose twine. "Hold that still," he says, "and talk."

It's a moment of kindness and trust from Daryl, allowing the other guy to prove his worth while still allowing Daryl to still get something done. It's not something he expects the other man to pick up on, though. It's good that Daryl seems stubborn and distracted, good that he seems disinterested. It's safer.

[dendarii]

Since before he was born, really. Miles has gotten damned good at clinging stubbornly to life.

He obediently holds the string taut for Daryl, more curious than anything else. He's capable of that much, at least, and he's interested in the work. Even if he doesn't quite realized that he's being tested here. "What are you making?" he asks, peering at the contraption. "Some sort of trap?"

[littlemissfutility]

She remembers the shack in the woods and the last time either of them cried over something. Daryl doesn't smell quite the same--less liquor, less like the woods at home--and it's freezing out, and actually, she realizes, everything is different now. He's the one clinging to her this time, holding her the way Maggie might have, if she were here.

I'm never going to see her again. I'm never--

Long minutes pass while she sobs into Daryl's shirt, for her own losses and everyone else's, and for the shock that comes from knowing where a bullet is supposed to hit your brain. If she'd pulled her scissors a few moments earlier, Daryl would be alone here. She can still feel his hand on her scalp even now, marking out the reason she can never leave Barrayar, even if they find a way to return everyone else to their rightful homes.

"Thank you," she mumbles, when she has breath to speak again. Her voice is congested from crying, but she's no longer weeping uncontrollably. "For killing her."

[pigsfeet]

Daryl hrmms a quiet assent. "Motion trigger," he says. It's a finicky one, and it's good that he's got two pairs of hands on the thing. There's always a danger it'll snap if you aren't careful. Daryl is lucky, or perhaps just practiced-- he's been doing this since before he can remember. "Y'all need more'n the larder."

That's a goddamn understatement.

[pigsfeet]

Daryl lets her cry, and it's almost like returning a favor. Christ, it reminds him of the burning cabin in the woods, too. Crying and being goddamn useless and stinking of booze, and only being able to think it's my fault, it's my fault, it's my fault. In some ways, it's still his fault. He remembers what he said.

You ain't never gonna see Maggie again.

And now he has to live with that, but worse, so does she.

She thanks him for the absolute least he can do, has ever done. "Bitch deserved it," he mutters darkly. He doesn't know what else to say.

[dendarii]

Clearly. Miles can only nod in agreement himself. "I quite agree," he says. "We'd been hunting, but game has sparse. Not uncommon this time of year." He sounds like he knows - because he does. Not that he'd been in his kind of need when he'd been in this region in winter, but ... He'd heard many stories. From Piotr himself, even.

[pigsfeet]

"Bad time of year for it." Daryl nods. Hunting in winter is always dangerous, for a myriad of reasons. The ground is heavier, weighing down your steps, and it's also louder. The crunch of a snowy footfall can alert the game you were tracking where in the spring, they'd stay blissfully unaware. Traps are a better bet by far. "But if we're hungry, so're they." He gestures toward the forest. Rats, rabbits, squirrels, they need food too. "Come by for scraps, more'n likely."

Thus, the trap. Daryl sets the trigger taunt, and taps the back of Miles' hand, signaling for him to let go. It should hold fast, now.

[dendarii]

He does so - and is mildly surprised to see it hold. Huh. "Very clever," he says, leaning down to peer at it. "We'll take anything we can get. I believe there was talk of slaughtering the horses." Which he says with only a slight grimace. He likes horses, but knows that the war will definitely get to that point eventually. Courtesy of being a time traveler and all.

[komarran]

He raises a brow at Daryl. It's been a long time since anyone has ordered him around or offered protection, as abrupt an offer as this is. Allies were in short supply here and if Daryl is willing to be one then he and Miles could use the extra support. He studies Daryl for a long moment before nodding.

"Yes, I've met Ms. Greene. Is she a friend of yours?"

[pigsfeet]

As long as you ain't cuttin' up people, but he doesn't say it. He just nods, slow, taking it in. He'd rather eat squirrel than horse, and that's as far as he'll go. He hasn't seen a single goddamn sign of deer on this rock. Christ, these assholes could use some goddamn venison around now.

But none of that matters, because it's not why Miles is here. He's indulging Daryl, and helping him a fair deal, even if he doesn't know the extent of it. He'll let that go, for now. "Better'n starving." Most, but not all, things are.

Daryl stands, and is mildly surprised to see how he towers over the other man. He knew he was short, but their interactions before now have been quick and chaotic. This puts it in relief. "That all you wanna talk about?"

His brows rise just slightly.

[littlemissfutility]

Beth had had to believe otherwise, right up until the end. Maggie wasn't there in Grady with them, but she'd had to be nearby. They must have found her--and once they'd left the hospital, all of them together, they'd meet back up.

If she thinks any longer of what all this means, what Maggie must think happened to her, she'll only start crying again. Nobody should have to be the last of their blood, however little blood matters at home these days. Her sister's going to live the rest of her life thinking she's dead, and there's nothing she can do about it. And that means, Beth tells herself fiercely, you have to think about something else right now. It'll pull you under if you don't.

"You found them," she says, because she's not up for agreeing with him about Dawn. That would mean telling him just how much she'd deserved it, and the idea of talking about what happened in Grady makes her feel like the blood's draining out of her. It's nothing she's up for tonight. "Was everybody okay? Was Judith--"

[dendarii]

Look. They wouldn't cut up people to eat. Kill half-Barrayaran babies and hurl them at Cetagandans? Absolutely. Eat people? No. Probably not.

"Better than starving," Miles agrees empathetically. And that's the end of that topic for now. Not what he'd come to see Daryl about, anyway. He looks up at the taller man, rubbing idly at the forming crick his neck. "But no. As fascinating as this topic is, it's not what I came to talk to you about." A pause. "Well. The last time we met, I think you were trying to punch me in the face."

[pigsfeet]

'Friend' is quickly becoming such an understatement when it comes to the people he knew in the prison. Not quite family, but more than friends, but definitely not romantic. Is there a word for people I'd kill for without a thought? It feels like there should be.

But there isn't, so Daryl just nods after a moment's hesitation he hopes wasn't obvious.

"She'll watch your back," he says. "Worst problem's assholes who like easy targets."

So the obvious solution? Make the targets harder.

[komarran]

"I was unsure if she had training," he says carefully. "She didn't sound keen to talk about where she came from beyond that it was dangerous."

He knows better than to underestimate someone based on their age. Duv's own childhood had been marred by his father taking advantage of that, using him to spy and work for a resistance that Duv had been too young to fully understand. How similar were the situations for Daryl and Beth back home?

[pigsfeet]

Daryl stares down at Miles in a fair parody of blankness. He's got a fair few opinions on the subject, why he was fighting and where the punch was aimed. Why it was important then, and not now. Life is a balancing act. If there isn't a reason for everything you do, you aren't thinking hard enough.

But instead, he just says, "you got one'a them faces."

It's pretty close to a joke, by Daryl's count. As much as the last few days have been a harrowing, chaotic mess, he's in an excellent mood. Someone he thought was dead, isn't. He's not in prison. Lakshmi isn't dying. Beth is here. All told, Miles has caught Daryl in positively excellent spirits.

[pigsfeet]

"Baby's fine," Daryl says, charmed and saddened that Beth's thoughts are still on Judith. Even now, she's kinder and gentler than anybody deserves, least of all him, filthy and shivering in the snow. They ought to get up, take this inside, yet Daryl can't find it within himself to give a damn what other people see. Later, he's sure, he'll kick himself for it, but for now, Beth is the axis on which the world tilts.

"They're all fine," he says a moment later. "Glenn too. Found 'em all, got everybody ready to come on up after you."

And we were so goddamn close. But he doesn't say it.

[pigsfeet]

"Then it ain't my place to say," Daryl says, just as carefully. If Beth wants to seem like the innocent flower, fucking let her. She's earned it, after everything. "She can handle herself. We all can."

Because, for a moment, Daryl forgets that we all aren't here. He's lived with the group for so long, it's goddamn strange to be with some of them and not all of them.

[komarran]

"We?" That's something he didn't expect. "Are there more you recognize here?"

As far as Duv knows, there aren't many here who share the same place of origin. Miles and Byerly are from this planet, but a different time, and he's from the same Nexus as the pair of Vor. All three of them come from different points than the other though nowhere near this time. What he wouldn't give for a light pen and a flimsy to keep track of this all.

Village

[komarran]

[ Duv's local knowledge is limited. The hillfolk of this period had been a footnote in his studies, important enough to discuss in regards to the guerilla warfare utilized against the Cetagandans, but the scope of his subject area hadn't left much space to focus on them in depth. Which meant that for once in Duv's life, he's glad to see Miles walking around the village. This was within the Vorkosigan district and the confident stride Miles has implies a familiarity that would make exploration easier.

He notices the hex signs, glancing at the villagers as he heads towards Miles. Unsurprising given the period and he imagines the younger man experienced it in his own time given the slow state of progress in the more rural areas of Barrayar. ]

Welcome home, [ he murmurs, loud enough only for Miles to hear. ]

[littlemissfutility]

Beth breathes out a sigh of relief. Judith's okay--and she really must be, because Daryl loved her too much to be able to lie about her. If the baby had died when the prison fell, Beth would see it in his face before he managed a single word. Everyone else, that just hurts. Got everybody ready, just in time to see her shot in the face. If they saw her, when she's actually here. The way time works is even more of a headache than the way place does, and place already gives them multiple Earths, none of which match.

Somewhere, Maggie's burying her lifeless body, is what Daryl seems to be saying, even if it's not happening in the exact Georgia she came from. And if she goes back, there's no reason to believe the same thing won't happen. She doesn't want to think about it too hard, for a lot of reasons.

"C'mon," she says, after a moment, and starts getting shakily to her feet. "We're gonna freeze out here."

The snow's melted against her legs, soaking the fabric to the skin. Even if it was warm, enough Barrayarans pass by--more than one, in other words--that they're better off sniffling back the last of their grief somewhere private. It's not warm inside the outsiders' tent, but at least the wind won't blow directly on them.

[pigsfeet]

Daryl shakes his head, a rueful expression twisted up on his face. "Nah," he says after a moment's hesitation. He sticks his hands in his pockets, frowning still.

But then, he's got a better question. "You been on your own all this time?" Or has he been rotting in some cell somewhere? Considering how things went with the Cetagandans, Daryl thinks it's high time he got his head out of his ass and prepared for the worst.

[pigsfeet]

"Yeah," Daryl says, not willing to press. She'll say as little or as much as she wants, when she wants to. Beth is strong, damn stronger than Daryl ever was, living or dead. She can make up her own mind about how she wants to play this. So he follows her inside the tent, and takes a corner by the bedroll she claims. He's sticking by her, that's for sure. He doesn't imagine she'll mind.

He kicks his boots off, and gives her space, time to compose herself, get her bearings back. Daryl's patient. He waits.

Finally, when he thinks she's settled in someplace warm, he says, "how long you been out here?"

[dendarii]

Miles snorts at that. In truth he doesn't blame the man. He's just ... well, surprised. Especially given Daryl's cheer.

"I suppose I do. But - well, even so. You weren't on our side before. What changed your mind?"

Around Camp/A

[komarran]

[ The arrival of the woman who was brought to the other side the same time he was brought here catches his attention. Interrogation by the Cetagandans may have been more humane than the Barrayaran version, but he knows the humiliation that comes from the experience. Never mind what else the woman went through to make it back here. The fact that she chose to come back here is telling and he finds himself curious about the returning outsider.

As a stranger, he holds back until he knows she's up and about. When he enters the med tent, he's surprised to see her set to work and wonders if it's by choice or at request. He shakes his head lightly at her gesture to join in. ]

I'm afraid my needlework isn't up to par unless the new standard for uniforms involves the sleeves sewn into the hem.