[ 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

[dendarii]

Byerly would have been smooth as silk and twice as fine, but Miles is no slouch himself. All crackling energy, cribbing steps from other dances sometimes, and sometimes just flat out doing a silly move because he can. Why not?

"I had my quarters aboard my flagship," MIles says, careful not to name any actual names. Not that anyone would recognize ship names, but ... "But that wasn't the part that was home. It was my fleet and the people in it. A bunch of enthusiastic, loveable thugs, all of them." His smile turns fond and wistful. "They d do anything for me. Stupid things, if I asked i of them. But I tried my damndest to keep them all alive if I could." And every failure weighed heavily on his heart.

[vorbratta]

Sonia returns every ludicrous move with one of her own, clearly having the time of her life, because for once, just for once it doesn't feel like they're at war. Nights like these are rare. She intends to treasure it.

"Oh, that sounds lovely," she sighs, smiling, and gives Miles a neat little twirl with a laugh. "I think they must be very lucky to have you as a commander, and if any of them are half as interesting as you, then I should like to meet them someday."

[dendarii]

He can't hide the sad look that comes into his eyes. Even if she did survive that long somehow - even if he changed things enough to preserve her life - would she live that long? She is half Betan... it's possible, he supposes. Dammit, smile again. Don't distress her with inevabilities.

"If I ever get the opportunity," he says with a smile. "Look for the Dendarii mercenaries."

[vorbratta]

It's only for a moment, but Sonia catches that look in Miles's eyes. She'd seen almost the same look on Byerly, only briefly, but for that moment that look is mirrored in Sonia's eyes, underlaid with confusion, but then it's gone, and Miles is smiling again, and he's delightful.

"You didn't!" she exclaims, grinning at the name. "They must be at least half as tenacious as their namesake. The Dendarii mercenaries...it does have a nice ring, doesn't it? They seem like such...such a good home."

[dendarii]

He's so glad to have someone who's appreciative. Even his own mercenaries hadn't really gotten the full impact - it was just a funny, obscure name. But Sonia gets it. He hadn't realized how gratifying that is.

"I miss them fiercely," he says with a very real ache of homesickness. More so because he knows he can't go back. "If I could be there right now, I would go to them right now. Bring in the cavalry."

It's just the mission they'd be up for.

[vorbratta]

"I'd miss a home like that too," Sonia says wistfully, but smiling, just imagining it. Imagining Miles's own mercenary troupe sweeping in to save the day... The idea almost overwhelms her, drunk as she is, but she catches her breath and squeezes Miles's hand before she lets go.

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to see you when this is all over." A corner of her mouth turns ironically. "Maybe I'll come with you for awhile. I'm sure it'd be very educational, and, well -- I never did finish my schooling."

[dendarii]

God, he only wishes. But if he takes her with him somehow ... Even if that didn't play merry havoc with the timeline, there's nothing to take her back to. A one way trip all around.

So he shakes his head a bit at that. "Alas," he says. "I'd love to have you, but there would be no going back either. I don't think we could manage it."

[vorbratta]

Sonia squints owlishly at him, missing a step in the dance, but she manages not to stumble too much. "What? What are you talking about? I could just catch a jump ship from wherever you are and head back in this direction -- or Beta Colony's."

An idea that neither her sister nor father would probably care much for, but Sonia doesn't really care at the moment. "Wait, are you -- " from that alternate Vorbarr Sultana like Byerly, she almost says, but no, that is a secret, and Sonia won't break that confidence. Even if Miles is, to ask him would be breaking that promise anyway.

"I'm sure I could find a way," she says instead.

[dendarii]

It's a damn shame that she hadn't told him just now; he'd have leaped at the explanation. As it is he's weaving dangerously close to the truth, trying to lie as little as possible without actually tipping over the edge. Much harder when he's thoroughly tipsy. Some part of him is tempted to just confess all and see what happens. Would she think him crazy? Drag him to Piotr? Maybe.

So he looks at her searchingly at her aborted question. Wondering for a moment if Byerly has told her. That's a possibiliy too. On the eve of their mission no less ... Ah, well.

"Maybe," he allows reluctantly. "But I could not return with you if I did. If I go back to the Dendarii, I would not set foot on Barrayar ever again."

[vorbratta]

Her face falls at that, her dance slowing, and this time when she takes hold of Miles's hand, she doesn't let go immediately. It seems this night is full of unexpected disappointments.

"Why not?"

[dendarii]

How the fuck does he explain this with anything like the truth. He can't even pretend to be ImpSec - he'd never have made it past the tests. So what the hell does he say? Especially in the face of having clearly made her sad.

Maybe ... maybe he could just stop lying. How much of a hypocrite would that make him? Agreeing with Piotr when it involves Byerly's secrets, and then going against that same tactical decision for the sake of his own comfort. The longer he thinks about it, the more obvious his conflict becomes.

"It's not a discussion for a party," he says at last. "Tell me about one of your homes, will you? I want to keep dancing."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's expression flickers -- there is something there, something Miles isn't telling her, and she wants to know what. But Miles wants to keep dancing, and she doesn't want to say no to him, not when they've both been having a good time. She'll ask him later, she decides. She'll want to sit eventually, once the room starts to tilt, and then she can probably needle him for answers a little bit. The kinds of answers she'd gotten out of Byerly were...not what she could get from Miles, she thinks, and not what she wants anyway. Later. For now, they'll dance.

"Oh, um, okay -- " Sonia finds it easy enough to pass off her imbalance as merely drunkenness and pulls a smile back onto her face. "Well, I suppose you'd know enough about Beta Colony...but we really did have a nice home there. Just me and Olivia and Evgeny and Da and Mama..." She smiles wryly. "And the armsmen, of course. Well, just two. It was a nice flat -- big, you know, the ambassador's residence and all, we all had our own rooms, but it always felt like a full house."

[dendarii]

Thank god he's put her off for now. Maybe if he drinks enough he'll just pass out after, and be able to claim blacking out with no memories. That was too close. The strain of this secret is beginning to tear him apart at the seams. He's let too much slip in front of Piotr already, probably ...

Refocus. Smile again. He's genuinely interested in her response too. "Ah, I've seen that area," he says, as he makes their next step a neat little twirl. "I'd always imagined it must be quite beautiful inside. How old were you?"

[vorbratta]

She's drunk, yes, but she's also had the benefit of a little rest before this, and she'll find a way to get an answer out of him. Eventually. But she follows the dance with a smile on her face before responding kind.

"Thirteen, when I last left," she says, and it is with a pang, but after ten years, that pang has started to dull. "Two when I first arrived. Grandfather insisted we all be properly born on Barrayaran soil. I don't remember much, except...snow."

[dendarii]

No wonder she's so thoroughly Betan. And what an age to leave at ... he shakes his head a bit. "A shame you couldn't stay longer. I was a little older when I was on Beta Colony, and that makes it a much more interesting time." Ironically more destructive to him in particular, but he is getting absolutely nowhere near that incident tonight.

[vorbratta]

"You're lucky," she tells him, lips pursed wryly. But it immediately brings back her conversation with Byerly to mind -- that no, there hadn't ever been anyone on Beta for her, she was far too young when the war started. She huffs out a laugh. "I had just gotten my contraceptive implant and first pair of earrings..."

[dendarii]

Miles shakes his head a bit at that. "Sheer cruelty," he says with a sympathetic grin. This time he's more relaxed, not inclined to hide this part of himself. He tilts his head up so that she can see his own ears better, the sealed over holes still faintly visible if one looks hard enough. "I had those earrings too. See?"

[vorbratta]

Sonia leans in to look, and she smiles, delighted. "You didn't keep them?" she asks, gesturing to her own earrings -- of course, on Barrayar they don't hold nearly the same significance. "Although I suppose you wouldn't need them, with all your mercenaries...oh, but do you have any Betan mercenaries?"

They're not exactly the mercenary type, but then again, wormhole wildcatting isn't exactly a tame occupation, either.

[dendarii]

If his mercenary story was really true, then he could have kept the earrings. But not when he actually went back to the service academy instead. He brightens a bit at her question instead. "I had a Betan hermaphrodite named Bel. One of my closest allies. Captain of one of our flagships." And ultimately kicked out for betraying Miles, sort of. He wonders where Bel is now. God, he'd be so glad to see them right about now...

[vorbratta]

Sonia's eyes widen and she claps her hands in between dance moves, laughing. "Really? That's the last place I'd expect to find a Betan hermaphrodite -- they tend not to go very far..." But a ship's Captain? That's not small feat, and Miles really knows how to see the potential in people. That much she can tell about him.

"Tell me about them -- Bel -- what are they like?"

[dendarii]

He had seen that potential since the beginning even. And part of that may have been Bel holding a big ol' torch for Miles, but it had still been from the start. The entire rebellion would have gotten nowhere without the Betan.

"Remarkable. A bit of an asshole, but in the best way." He sighs a bit in longing. Bel would have been a much kinder partner for figuring out ... well, what he'd been forced to confront with Byerly a few days ago. He still can't quite think the word comfortably. "Incredibly bright and clever. All I had to do was insinuate what we had to do, and they were on it."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's answering smile is almost dreamy. What it must be like to have a friend like that -- she and Olivia are almost like that, almost, but she's changed over the years, slowly and inexorably.

"They sound like the best kind of officer," she says, "not that I know anything about mercenaries. But it must be really thrilling, working with someone like that..." Her smile broadens. "You really do have a nice home out there."

[dendarii]

"The very best. I won't find their replacement any time soon." Maybe Bel's departure had been a sign that everything was over. Naismith was dead already, after all; he'd just kept walking for a few years after the killing blow.

"I miss it terribly," he says after a moment. "Especially now." If he had a choice between staying here in this era and going back to his Dendarii ... He'd probably choose the latter.

[vorbratta]

Sonia blinks, only just now realizing that Miles had been talking about his friend in the past tense, and her expression sobers, her brow knitting.

"What happened to them? They didn't -- they're not dead, are they?"

Oh, that would be so depressing right now.

[dendarii]

Ah, shit. The story is thankfully not so depressing as that, though the truth is perhaps a bit too harsh anyway. He decides to skip over the details. No way to explain Mark, after all. Or how Bel would have gotten Miles' sponsorship for those ImpSec missions.

"Oh, no. Fine and healthy, working elsewhere now." He sighs a bit. "They ... struck out on a mission without my permission. Did their best with a bad situation. But insubordination is still insubordination. I was forced to ask for their resignation."