[ march ii log: ageless beauty ]

[barrayarmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The skies finally lighten, and so do spirits, but there are still quiet machinations in the dark. The good doctor's fate is finally decided.
When: March 18th - 31st
Where: Barrayaran camp, Cetagandan base & Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD

Quick links:
Riverfall
Barrayar: Plague / Camp / Missions
Cetaganda: Plague / Base / Missions

First: Special thanks and credit to Vee (veelynn) for lending us her beautiful photography for this event!
TIMELINE
3/19 Art Fair
3/20 York & Ratchet's arrival to the Barrayaran camp
3/22 Raid: Medical Supplies
3/26 Haut Sei's arrival, Eavesdropping Eta
3/27 Eavesdropping Sigma
3/27 - 3/28 Rat Race
3/29 Official reception for Haut Sei
3/30 Mystery Plot

One thing can be said for the month of March: at least the weather's gotten better. By mid-month, while the piled-up snow is slow to melt, the temperatures have now risen to just freezing rather than well below freezing. It's still a pretty cold March, but by this point, anything close to freezing feels like a balmy spring, and they have a nice string of sunny days for the rest of the month.

riverfall
Although their numbers have been thinned by the flu epidemic, Cetagandan patrols still pass regularly through the village, allowing those spying for the Cetagandans to pass along information via dead drop.

Riverfall was hit just as hard by the epidemic as the camp, and by the end of the month, the village houses no more than sixty people. The aid from the outsiders and soldiers in caring for and treating the sick goes a long way, but by the end, there are still a lot of bodies to bury and souls to burn death offerings for. There's an overall somber cast to the village despite the brightening weather.

barrayar
The Barrayarans haven't been hit as dramatically as the Cetagandans, but their numbers are much fewer, and patrols are still thin. Anyone healthy enough is being asked to pull double shifts, stretching their resources where they can, but at least the food situation is improving considerably thanks to both Xav's relief supplies and the lightening weather.

Once seeing both his daughters recover from the flu, Prince Xav leaves camp on the 19th to rendezvous with his transport back to Vorbarr Sultana so he can make another risky attempt at getting off-planet and back through the wormhole blockade. Ezar, as Piotr's aide-de-camp, sticks around -- and so does Negri, of course.

Knowing that it would be safer (if less comfortable) and possibly more useful for the Barrayarans to rendezvous with Micah rather than try to get them back off-planet, Xav leaves Doctor Niadem's fate in Barrayaran hands…and not to great result. Now that the Cetagandans have Micah, Piotr and his general staff -- and anyone in-the-know enough about the situation to provide any advisement -- are still debating what to do about Micah and the wormhole device. They could either try to rescue Micah to their side…or leave them in Cetagandan hands and hope to make contact via one of their informants.

This makes cultivating informants on the Cetagandan side an even higher priority, and if anyone has any ties to outsiders on the other side, personal or otherwise, Piotr wants to hear about it. Any intelligence about the Star Gate Project is vital.

plague
The ill in the camp and Riverfall are recovering, slowly, but the flu is still spreading, reaching its apex, and people are still getting sick. Even as the weather clears up, it's still damp, and many of the sick are falling to pneumonia, a near-certain death without antibiotics. They've already exhausted the medical supplies Xav and Ezar brought with them, and the medical raids went poorly -- only resulting in enough antibiotics for about 20% of the village and camp's combined population.

By the end of the month, though, the Barrayarans are finally beginning to pull through. The camp and village start to recover, with the mortalities over the month total to 58 influenza-related deaths. It's time to bury the death, burn a death offering, and keep on moving on.

camp
Both Olivia and Sonia have recovered from their bouts with the flu, more or less intact despite Olivia's very touch-and-go health for a while. Now Sonia's repaying everyone's visits to her by tending to the sick and helping out where she can. And as the weather warms up and people start to recover, the line for the bath tent starts getting longer…it's still pretty cold, but after lying around in the sickbay tent for a while, few people are going to complain for the chance to wash.

Morale is still buckling, so amidst all the doom and gloom, Sonia decides to try and bring a little levity to the camp by hosting a makeshift little art show on the 19th. The Princess can often be seen with her old antique camera, taking candids or scenic pictures in the mountains, although she rarely shows her work to anyone else. Tonight, though, she has hung up a variety of her black-and-white photos around the camp for the art fair -- some of the candids are even of outsiders, and Sonia's aim seems to be catching everyone in their warmest, happiest moment. There's no sense of tragedy or despair in her work.

She's encouraged as many of the soldiers and outsiders to contribute anything in the way of art -- stories, songs, performance, or craft, she invites it all. A few soldiers make a surprisingly harmonic little chorus, and some visiting villagers give engaging tellings of Barrayaran legends. Lakshmi shows off some of her embroidery, and Beth and Tucker both bring a little singing to the table, although the majority of Barrayarans probably aren't going to appreciate a cappella Queen. Daryl shoots a mouse and either fails to understand art entirely or transcends to a brand new plane of artistic enlightenment. Also, please don't let Tucker pose nude for you.

It winds up doing some good for morale -- giving the soldiers some other context to focus on besides the war, something of an escape, or a reminder of what they're fighting for and what they long to live to see again. And for the first time, Sonia doesn't feel quite so useless.

missions
The medical assistance provided by the outsiders doesn't go unappreciated, nor without effect. Not every day is a success, but at least they manage to keep the mortality rate from climbing too high.

The medical raids are a near-unmitigated disaster, with every single raiding party running afoul of Cetagandan guards and losing some of their bounty on the way out. They only manage to make away with supplies/topicals/OTC analgesics for 40% of the population, vaccine for 20% of the population, and antibiotics for 35% of the population.

The race to Micah's location in Vorkosigan Vashnoi is a frantic one, but despite the outsiders' efforts as well as Natasha, Byerly and Kaidan's efforts to slow down the Cetagandans, the Cetagandans get to Doctor Micah Niadem first.

Here are the unabridged mission results.

cetaganda
Piotr's attempt at psychological warfare was a total success: Zahal is furious over the severed body parts of his own soldiers discovered around the camp, and even more so over the wholly unintentional but devastating biowarfare that comes with it. That part has Piotr rather tickled.

With full intel on Micah's location in hand, Zahal sends as many able-bodied squads to Vorkosigan Vashnoi as he can, including several exotics. Natasha, Kaidan and Byerly work covertly to try and slow the operation down, but ultimately, the Cetagandans still reach Micah first and bring them back to base -- taking proper precaution to vaccinate them before bringing them in, of course. It wouldn't do for their newest and very valuable asset to suddenly die of some backwater plague.

The Cetagandan base is still pretty thin on the personnel front, but they're managing to continue operations as normal. The announcement of the visit from the Handmaiden of the Star Crèche has every able-bodied person on base in a frenzy as they try to prepare and make the base suitable for receiving her. This is clearly an occasion of great honor as well as face -- if she were improperly received, ghem-General Zahal and Lady Diya would surely suffer for it.

plague
The plague reaches its apex in the Cetagandan base, but with Ratchet and Natasha's help, they were able to synthesize a vaccine for the flu. The quarantine isn't airtight, so there's still risk of infection, and they have to make sure those distributing the vaccine aren't at risk of spreading the infection. Overall, they're able to inoculate about 80% of the uninfected population.

Amai makes a full recovery, despite being dramatically (albeit not entirely unrealistically) convinced she was on death's door every second.

By the end of the month, the Barrayaran flu has about a 30% mortality rate on the Cetagandan base, resulting in about 3000 influenza-related deaths.

base
The quarantine remains in effect until nearly the end of the month, but finally, once the epidemic has died down and the Handmaiden has been vaccinated, Haut Sei Navarr arrives. The base hurriedly puts together a formal reception for her on the 30th, and rather than another party, it is just that -- a clearly ritualized receiving of her presence, so rarely seen beyond Eta Ceta, let alone the rest of the Empire.

The reception for Haut Sei is exceedingly formal, and unlike the relatively lighter air of the party last month, inappropriate behavior is going to be much less generously tolerated here. The exotics are not required to attend, but if they do, it'll be about a four-hour reception with a clear ritual protocol that will nonetheless seem very obtuse to outside viewers. Diya is prominent in the reception, being the only other haut on base, and is in fact the only one truly suited to receive her -- although, unlike Diya, Haut Sei does not appear in public unmasked. As is the custom of haut ladies still in their constellations, Haut Sei travels in a float chair encased in an opaque force bubble -- she can see out, but no one can see in. She brings with her a small entourage of servitors known as the ba, who serve not only as testing grounds for new genetic combinations, but are also genetically engineered for loyalty and service. Ba are not clones -- each ba is a work of art unto itself, each carefully created, and while they are not quite so fey in their beauty, the aesthetic effort is undeniable. All of the ba with Haut Sei are curiously hairless, which seems to be a popular trend in their design among the haut these days.

Meanwhile on the scientific end, the Cetagandans are delving deeper into what is officially referred to as the Star Gate Project. They're working with Satya to build a hard-light mapping device, but in the meantime, they have laid out the most crucial parts needed to build it: high-precision electromagnetic bearings to hold up the Necklin rods and spin them by a magnetic field for reduced friction; high-quality seals and pumps to create the necessary vacuum required for precise jump-plotting; something generating EM shielding to prevent interference, a problem unique to creating a Necklin field of this size and in this environment; and high-precision controls and controls software based on those used in existing jump ships, modifications for which are underway. And, of course, the Necklin rods themselves, which they have yet to figure out a way to fabricate.

And now that Micah is on base, the Cetagandans can finally put them to work in the wormhole lab on some of those elusive five-space math problems.

They're still developing their theory of neural netting and how a Necklin field might directly interact with the human brain without a jump implant. Based on their research so far, this may not actually be much of a problem, but there's another factor they have yet to work out: how to key the Star Gate to an exotics' own home universe. The Cetagandan neurologists have a few theories that they're working with Deanna and Natasha on.

missions
With help from the exotics, they're able to vaccinate 80% of the base's uninfected population. Satya and Pearl, despite their hard efforts, have yet to finish the hard-light mapping device by the end of the month.

A few exotics learn a bit more about Sei and Diya's history, as well as Diya and Amai's plans for covering up their less than authorized experiments. It also comes to light that the haut are planning to open gene therapy trials for any exotics who experienced power loss.

The race to Micah's location in Vorkosigan Vashnoi is a frantic one, but despite the outsiders' efforts as well as Natasha, Byerly and Kaidan's efforts to slow down the Cetagandans, the Cetagandans get to Doctor Micah Niadem first.

Here are the unabridged mission results.

Note: Negri, Amai, Zahal, and Olivia are available for threads by request only. Please hit up Madi (Negri & Amai) or Ammay (Zahal & Olivia) 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.

Comments

[withanh]

"From a third party's perspective? Yes."

Micah's answer is level -- not quite terse, verging on defensive, but only just slightly. Rather than directly answer Satya's question, instead they ask, "Do you know how the Cetagandans got their warships through Barrayar's wormhole?"

[symmetricks]

"I do not."

But she waits expectantly all the same. Surely, if it was brought up, Micah has a reason for doing so. They might as well come out with it.

aaaaand here's a novel about wormhole politics

[withanh]

Ah. Micah thought not. The Cetagandans are very selective in the way they choose to disburse information, and often very subtle.

"As you know, there is only one active wormhole in Barrayaran local space, the other having collapsed several centuries ago, which effectively makes Barrayar a -- well, what we call a cul-de-sac. No other route in or out. Barrayar's next nearest neighbor is Komarr, and Komarran space acts as a wormhole hub -- they have five wormholes in their vicinity. Well, six now, with Barrayar's newly discovered wormhole."

They pause to draw in breath, wetting their lips. Their explanation is careful, deliberate -- not condescending, because Micah knows Satya is a woman of great intelligence, but she has no experience in wormhole politics.

"We don't have true faster-than-light travel here, only jump ships and wormholes. So while no one truly owns a wormhole, they can be controlled. Like trade routes on Old Earth. Komarr serves as a hub -- so much traffic passes through their local space that they make a living off it. Their primary industry is trade. You can't ship merchandise through Komarran space without paying tariffs. But they are very much not a military planet, and have very little interest in participating in war. And the Cetagandans..."

Micah glances around the lab, their voice going slightly quieter. "Make everyone nervous, because they're the largest military force in the Nexus. They didn't get eight planets under their belt by asking politely. Komarr wants nothing to do with war -- their kind of trade doesn't benefit from it. So why would they let a full fleet of Cetagandan warships pass through their hub without so much as a whisper of protest?" Their arms cross over their chest -- not in defiance, but some vague discomfort, shoulders drawing together. "The only reason the Cetagandans are here is because they offered the Komarran government a considerable bribe. And Komarr accepted it."

[symmetricks]

"And a peaceful solution is frowned upon? Komarr profits and both sides avoid bloodshed."

Sorry, Micah, but that doesn't seem like a whole lot of wrongdoing to her. Things tend to be rather black and white, and if no one was harmed in the process, it doesn't seem like a bad deal for either of them.

"Now, suppose they had simply threatened to burn them to the ground for refusing to cooperate, and the Komarr had cowed to the threat. An argument could be made there. But purchasing safe passage is hardly unheard of."

[withanh]

Micah stares at her, incredulous and a little perturbed. What kind of moral gymnasitcs does she have to do to arrive at that conclusion?

"They weren't selling safe passage. They accepted a bribe. You don't take bribes for services you already sell." And war trafficking wasn't one of Komarr's specialties. They shake their head, lips thinning.

"Then what do you call an unprovoked attack on a still-developing planet when they had barely been ten years out of isolation? Barrayar was just beginning to develop relations with other planets, just getting started on adopting galactic level tech, catching up to the rest of the Nexus... It takes more than ten years for an entire civilization to go from horseback to spaceflight, you know. But they were making progress. The Betan government -- my government -- was even supplying technological aid and training."

Mindful of their company, Micah lowers their voice, though some of the ghem researches are already giving them dry looks. "The Cetagandans aren't benevolent do-gooders here to speed along the civilization of this planet. They're here because they're known aggressive expansionists, and the prospect of a fledgling planet with barely developed planetary alliances and absolutely no defense against modern warfare was too much to resist. They're here because they thought Barrayar would be easy pickings."

[symmetricks]

"So you're saying that the Cetagandans expended enough money for a bribe, travel, and the necessary manpower and forces to come here, thinking they had an easy acquisition waiting for them...and then simply decided to stay when that proved not to be the case? Why continue to risk resources that could net them more elsewhere?"

Not saying she doesn't believe what Micah is saying, but things have to make sense to be believed. And there are still far too many pieces missing here. What the Cetagandans proposed? Makes sense to her.

Is this conflict really as senseless as Micah makes it seem?

SORRY SYMMETRA MICAH REALLY LIKES TO TALK

[withanh]

"Pride," Micah says, a little flatly, "and politics, and lack of any other easy target. There aren't a ton of planets in cul-de-sacs, and one wormhole blockade is resource-heavy enough. It's less expensive for them to keep pouring money into this occupation than it would be for them to pull out, deal with the political fallout -- and the longer this goes on, the less political face they're going to be able to save after the fact -- and then start again someplace else. Resources aren't even the biggest issue, when you get down to it. The Cetagandan Empire has those in spades. It's politics."

They glance around again and shift closer to Symmetra. It's not as though Micah's sympathies are a secret here, and they've made it clear they're working more or less under duress, but best not to start too much unnecessary shit in the lab they'll be stuck working in for the foreseeable future.

"Think about it, Symmetra. Barrayar makes for such a politically -- and militarily -- appealing target. Relatively small population, almost no modern technology to speak of, certainly no modern warfare they can effectively utilize, isolated from any other planet by five wormhole jumps, and they've barely been around the Nexus long enough for anyone to care what happens to them, not enough to get in the Cetagandans' way, because no one wants to get in the Cetagandans' way. So who's to care if they annex a bunch of backwater barbarians who wouldn't know the business end of a nerve disrupter if you shoved it under their nose?"

Oh, is that bitterness creeping into Micah's tone? They bite it down, chewing on their lower lip.

"So they get here, ready offering the courtesy of a surrender but fully ready to quash the population into submission, because they're expecting a war -- no one sends warships on a purely diplomatic mission, Symmetra. Only they get far more of a fight than they bargained for. But how long could it take, right? How long to suppress and conquer a planet with a population of less than a billion people with nothing but swords and horses? And now they've been here ten years -- and if they pull out now? Concede defeat to the ass-backwards hicks they were so confident they could own? What does that make them look like?" Micah shakes their head, looking down at their hands. "It'd make them look weak. It would be politically and militarily mortifying, and if they fail, they'll suffer diplomatic consequences, because this planet has Beta Colony's official support, and Beta Colony is a technological empire. Everyone does business with us. Our currency is galactic standard. And if the Cetagandans suffer those diplomatic consequences, how do you think that'll affect their politics, their balance of power? It'll mess with trade agreements. Other planetary governments will push back harder against Cetagandan interests when they don't line up with their own. Cetaganda has eight planets, sure, but they're spread out across the Nexus. If they look weak diplomatically and politically, then they are weak. And Cetaganda has pissed a lot of people off over the years."

They shake their head again, spreading their hands, and look back up at Symmetra. "So pride, political and cultural, keeps them here. So all this war, all this killing, is utterly senseless."

[symmetricks]

She goes stone-faced for a moment, her eyes falling back to her work. It had been easy to believe that the Cetagandans were like Vishkar. Yes, they may have been invasive and intrusive, they may have needed to use force when necessary, but they wanted to build a better world for the people they approached. People would find a place, a function, and they would ultimately be happier for it.

But it's not that at all. It's political posturing, shows of power, meant to increase their influence. And that means...

The pattern is there, she's just been avoiding look at it too closely. When she should have been looking.

Her fingers halt their work, tightening on the instruments she has in hand. There aren't words for what she feels, none she can find, just a yawning depth of realization threatening to swallow her whole.

[withanh]

Micah had been so caught up in their frustration, in that sense of trapped extending even to this conversation -- they weren't actually sure any of that would have even had an impact on Symmetra. The woman seemed determined to buy into the Cetagandan propaganda, enough to repeat it herself. The tension slips away from their face as they watch Symmetra's face, then her hands, and they bite their lips together. Perhaps their aggressive debate tactic had worked a little too well.

"Would you like to take a walk with me?" Micah asks quietly, staying close. They don't look around at any of the other researchers in the lab, but Micah feels like it might be time to get a little fresh air.

[symmetricks]

Satya doesn't answer immediately. There's so much rattling around in her head, thoughts and ideas that need to be put together in some kind of reasonable order, but they clash. They fight against one another and echo against one another, piling up until she's not sure how to start coming to terms with any of it.

The result is her going very, very quiet, and her work progress halting almost immediately.

This means...this means...

Hadn't she wanted the truth?

[withanh]

Oh, damn. Did Micah break her? They're a little afraid they just broke her.

Brow knit, Micah puts a tentative hand on Satya's arm, their touch light. "Come on," they say softly, nodding to the door. "Let's go get some fresh air."

[symmetricks]

She shrinks away from the touch instinctively -- no offense meant, Micah, but she's uncomfortable about touching at best -- but after a moment or two turns towards Micah before nodding quietly.

Alright. Air...air might be a good idea right about now.

It's better than standing here uselessly trying to set her thoughts in order when they refuse, absolutely refuse to hold still enough for her to handle.

[withanh]

Micah withdraws their hand as soon as Symmetra recoils, but they wait patiently until Symmetra nods. They nod back encouragingly and quietly wave her to the door, puffing out a breath as soon as they're out into the empty hall. There's an exit somewhere nearby.

"I haven't yet gotten out today, but I hear it's very nice out. Lots of sun." Micah offers a hopefully nonthreatening smile as they walk down the hall. They're quiet for a moment. "I'm...sorry about that, back there."

Not for telling the truth, just -- for overwhelming her with it.

[symmetricks]

"We should have stayed where we were."

There's no context given straight-away from the sliver of thought that drifts free, and Satya's focus is clearly elsewhere as they walk. She can't focus on the cacophony and speaking to Micah as well, so the snippet itself is something of a miracle.

[withanh]

"Ah?"

Momentarily confused, Micah glances back toward the lab, though they don't slow down or stop. It's a gentle pace toward the exit, anyway. They don't want to rush Symmetra, she's...clearly struggling right now. They look back at her, lips pressed together, trying to read her face.

"Where's that?" Micah asks helpfully, or at least, they try to be helpful. They seem to have hit upon a button they didn't even know Symmetra had. Well, five minutes' acquaintance and all that.

[symmetricks]

"Vishkar," she replies tensely. "We were meant to be helping people. We were not invaders, we sought to bring order out of chaos."

It's not as helpful an explanation as it might otherwise be, but it is a very definite clue as to what's currently rattling around in Satya's head.

[withanh]

It's...enough of one. There's still plenty of missing context, and Micah, naturally insatiably curious, wants to fill in all the blanks, but they manage to bring their more Betan sensibilities about other people's personal space up short, and they don't barrage her with questions.

"I suppose," Micah says slowly, "it was easy to see that echoed in Cetaganda's mission here. A familiar parallel."

[symmetricks]

"We wanted to make people's lives better. And the Cetagandans have such culture to share with them, I thought..."

Surely that must have been the reason. That desire. And maybe force was required to settle unrest. She could have accepted that. But for purely selfish gains, for power plays and posturing, it's...abhorrent.

The Barrayarans are no better, but it appears they are no worse, either.

[withanh]

Micah bites their lower lip and glances at her, and when they come to the exit, Micah pushes the door open for her.

"The Cetagandans are excellent propagandists. But..." Micah sighs. "The truth is that the general Cetagandan cultural attitude toward offworlders is...not favorable. They consider themselves superior to the rest of the Nexus by virtue of their extensive genetic modification, honed and tinkered over centuries. It's true they have the longest life expectancy in the Nexus -- most Cetagandans routinely live to one hundred and fifty, sometimes even older for the haut. I...don't want to generalize, but the average Cetagandan rarely considers an offworlder their equal."

[symmetricks]

She sweeps through the door with a muted nod of thanks. Ever mindful of manners. She has to be, lest she seem uncultured. It's part of the rhythm of things, the way she keeps her life in order.

But nothing seems in order any longer. What if that structure has been something else all along?

"I've seen this, in my study of their culture. There are layers and intricacies there that seem to go on forever."

[withanh]

"That they do," Micah agrees carefully. "They like to keep themselves...opaque, while offering an illusion of semitransparency. I think they prefer it that way. I don't envy any of the ambassadors posted to Cetagandan worlds, having to navigate all that."

It's nice outside, even warm, the spring sun beaming down at them. A nice change from the sterile lab environment, a breath of fresh air. Micah needed it, too. They keep step with Symmetra, walking in no particular direction.

"I'm not...saying they're all bad people," Micah says, feeling the need to clarify. Symmetra clearly seems like a very black-and-white person. "You can hardly say that of hundreds of billions of people. But to view their aims as purely, or even primarily, altruistic is just looking at it through rose-colored glasses."

Their mouth crimps, and they look at Symmetra with sincere apology in their eyes. "I'm...sorry."

[symmetricks]

"They did so much for us when we arrived. They did not ask us to join in their fight, but observe their culture. To learn. To participate as we saw fit or else simply to be hosted by their generosity until the time came to deliver us home again, if it were possible."

Symmetra pauses in her step, looking at a distant point over Micah's shoulder as she works through her thoughts.

"I could see no fault in their goals. They seemed to be a force to bring order and new growth to this world, and I thought..."

[withanh]

"...You thought you knew them," Micah finishes softly, watching her face. "That you could trust them and take them at their word."

Master propagandists indeed. Micah halts with her, hovering slightly.

"The Cetagandans excel at diplomacy. I think maybe because you need to be any good at it just to navigate their society, but -- they have a way."

[symmetricks]

"That in itself is not a crime. Diplomacy often serves to avoid bloodshed and suffering. To use it to promote it..."

If that's what they're doing. She shakes her head.

"I don't believe that they want this bloody conflict going on any longer than it has to." That much at least she believes of them, without reservation. They are not bloodthirsty destroyers, no. They are efficient to the last.

[withanh]

"I don't believe that, either. They want to annex Barrayar, not destroy it." Micah looks uneasily over their shoulder, as though someone might be listening, but there aren't any guard patrols around outside right now. "If they wanted to kill everyone on this planet, they could have done that years ago. The haut supposedly have some of the most potent biochemical weapons in the Nexus. But I don't think this is nearly significant enough a cause for them to prove it."

They sigh. "So the fighting will continue, until either Barrayar buckles or the Cetagandans leave. Neither looks likely to happen any time soon."

Unless they can get the advantage, somehow. Unless they can give Barrayar enough to truly turn the tides of the war.