barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2017-04-02 02:25 pm

[ april i log: if home is where the heart is ]

Who: Everyone
What: The sun finally comes out in proper spring, the labs are full of excitement, and Piotr prepares for real war. Your princess is in another castle.
When: April 1st - 18th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD

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

TIMELINE
4/5 Eavesdropping Eta
4/6 Eavesdropping Sigma
4/8 Eavesdropping Mu
4/10 Mystery Plot
4/11 - 4/12 Resources: Weapons & Equipment


riverfall
The locals are celebrating the much-welcome coming of spring, and it is a warm one. Pleasant mountain breezes carry the far-off scent of the ocean, and bit by bit, the Barrayaran flora is beginning to bloom. Wildflowers spring up all over, adding a lively splash of color to the camp and village on the backdrop of Barrayar's rust-red native flora.

While the villagers aren't exactly hosting a festival, the entire village is pitching in to sow the spring crops, delayed by the cold freeze. But they lost a quarter of their population to the flu, and they're short on hands. So Barrayarans and outsiders alike come to the village to help, the villagers welcoming them into their homes for the night, as it's a half a day's hike between the camp and the village. While it isn't quite summer yet, the village children are already starting to splash around near the waterfall, inviting others by way of playfully splashing water on them as they pass by.

After the battle, however, the mood in the village turns to ash. With another dozen dead to bury, they've lost almost half their population in the last few months, only 48 of them left, and some of their homes were damaged or destroyed by plasma fire during the fight. Mercifully, their fields were untouched, but the village is littered with bodies, the site of a massacre. Barrayaran soldiers carry off their own dead as well as the Cetagandans, while the villagers burn death offerings beyond the fields.

barrayar
Morale is finally on the rise with the brightening weather, especially with their food stores replenished and the full recovery of the flu in the camp. Their numbers are down, but the Cetagandans' are even worse, and the tactical situation has changed. With half the Cetagandans' force either dead or out of commission, a window of opportunity presents itself. Piotr decides that need to recapture Vorkosigan Vashnoi -- if the city weren't occupied, then Micah's kidnapping by the Cetagandans could have been prevented. The base is an easy target right now with its defenses down -- until reinforcements arrive -- and the reconnaissance they'd done on the base's power generators a few months ago will finally be put to use. They may have a chance at using this to drive the occupying forces out of the city, too.

But they don't have a chance of successfully taking hold of the city without the rest of Piotr's army. About a month before the first outsiders arrived, the location of Piotr's previous camp was discovered by the Cetagandans, and the army split in two to return to fallback locations. The plan was always to rendezvous as soon as possible and reunite the army, and they need to rejoin forces now more than ever. Scouts are sent off into the mountains, looking to make contact with their comrades, and they're in luck -- the other half of Piotr's army, currently led by Major Rifkin, one of his missing general staff.

The last few months haven't been kind to the Barrayarans' supply of weapons and equipment. There's no way they could launch a successful assault on the base with their meager supplies, so Piotr sends several parties to make contact with the underground civilian resistance in Vorkosigan Vashnoi and stock up, then smuggle the weapons out of the city.

They're also low on weapons and equipment, which means Piotr is sending several parties back to Vorkosigan Vashnoi to stock up. Piotr and Ezar have contacts in the city, valuable allies who are part of the underground civilian resistance. They can provide the goods -- but one of the teams will be responsible for making sure the weapons are smuggled safely out of the city with the assistance of other members of the civilian resistance.

With Micah in Cetagandan hands, they are no doubt making progress on the Star Gate Project. Piotr, however, is convinced of Micah's sympathies, and their work could still be to their benefit -- or at least, to the outsiders'. And if nothing else, Micah would be the ideal candidate for sabotage should it come down to it. But for now, Piotr is interested in keeping Micah alive. Micah is a personal friend of Prince Xav's as well as a sympathizer, and their care was entrusted to Piotr, a matter of honor. So for now, his orders to his informants are merely to keep a close eye on Micah and their activities, even befriend them, but not to let slip their true sympathies to Barrayar. And now, with Sonia held captive, Piotr wants more than ever to make new informant contacts on the Cetagandans.

camp
Morale is on the rise, steady and surely. People are feeling good, enjoying the sun and warmth, a relief and a blessing after the weeks of cold and near-starvation. And so the soldiers do what Barrayarans always do when they're in good spirits: they drink. Evenings spent around bonfires playing cards or chest, drinking wine and mead, and they're a lot friendlier to the outsiders these days. Even the new ones have proven themselves with all the aid they gave during the epidemic, so if you're invited over for a drink and a game with the soldiers, don't be too surprised.

Of course, sometimes get taken a little too far, and some soldiers start up some drunken swordfight contests, which probably seemed like a great idea at the time. But you know what they say: it's all fun and games until somebody accidentally gets stabbed in the side. Piotr quickly shuts this down, and anyone involved, outsiders included, is likely to receive punishment, probably in the form of manual labor despite any hangover. The camp is down by over thirty men after last month, but on the (slightly morbid) bright side, at least this means that the outsiders finally get two tents to themselves, which is good considering the warming weather.

After the Princess's capture, however, the mood starts to shift back downhill. They're still not remotely ready to launch their attack on the Cetagandan base, let alone rescue Sonia. Both Piotr and Olivia are in vicious spirits; if you thought Piotr's previous demeanor was dour, he was a ray of frigging sunshine in comparison to now. Now he's furious, frustrated, and he has even less patience for time-wasting bullshit than usual.

missions
Overall, the outsiders' contributions to the spring planting on the village farm is helpful and greatly appreciated: they're able to fully sow their fields, and with the weather, they're hoping for a good summer harvest. However, no one should let Carolina around farming equipment ever again.

Hunting parties were sent out to stock up on food stores, with overall success. Some of the outsiders are proving themselves to be pretty competent hunters, much to the Barrayarans' appreciation.

Scouts were sent out to comb through the Dendarii Mountains for the other half of the army. With some help from the outsiders, William and Wash in particular, they're able to make contact with the other half of Piotr's army to coordinate and reunite their efforts.

Several parties were sent into Vorkosigan Vashnoi to make contact with the underground civilian resistance, which has a strong presence there, and smuggle weapons out of the city. There's a dangerous chase by Cetagandan patrols, but ultimately they're able to make it out of the city safetly and successfully return with the goods.

On the 10th, a Cetagandan patrol unexpectedly shows up in Riverfall when Sonia, Gavalas, and several others are there. A fight breaks out across the whole village, resulting in more than 30 casualties, including two Vorkosigan armsmen, and the Cetagandans successfully capture Sonia back to their base.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

cetaganda
Zahal is furious at Piotr's successful biowarfare attack on his base, however accidental. It's devastated his ranks, and while they still outnumber the Barrayarans about forty to one, it's still a serious blow. The ghem-General decides that they need to force a forfeit, and they'll have to do it as quickly as possible, before Vorkosigan can strike them while they're down. The Cetagandan patrols double down and start swarming the mountains in search of the guerrilla camp.

The Star Gate Project is well underway with Micah on board, who is cooperating for the time being, though not happily. Most of their waking hours seem to be spent in the lab, though they're around the mess at mealtimes. They are certainly interested in the work -- it's totally unprecedented -- but their true sympathies lie with Barrayar, and they are entirely uncomfortable working for the Cetagandans. They're currently focusing their research efforts on possible power supplies and solving the problem of what, exactly, is getting people from the wormhole to the planet surface. To speed things along in the lab, the Cetagandans are asking for more help with their research -- anyone with any relevant knowledge is highly encouraged to step forward. And any informants for the Barrayarans are being instructed to keep an eye on Micah, too, as well as their progress on the project.

The Handmaiden of the Star Crèche is seen about the base, for certain definitions of seen -- she travels exclusive in an opaque luminescent force bubble, often escorted by one or two of her ba servitors. At the beginning of the month, Haut Sei announces the gene therapy trials they're conducting: if you're one of the exotics who lost genetically inherited powers, or were made human from some other type of being entirely, you are invited to participate in a new, experimental kind of gene therapy. Why participate? Well, they're aiming to restore any lost powers you might have had, although there's no guarantee of success, and such an experimental treatment does, of course, come with risks. But what's a little reward without risk?

base
The base feels unusually dreary in the wake of the epidemic, and with thousands of dead, it's impossible to have a service funeral for each of them individually. And so dozens of collective funerals are held, each of them solemn and steeped in ornate ceremony. The Cetagandans take their dead as seriously as anybody, and no nonsense will be permitted during the funerals. The base is only operating at half capacity, with only about 5,000 soldiers ready for active duty. Zahal has put in a request for reinforcements from Vorbarr Sultana, but that request has yet to be answered.

Haut Sei officially assumes her authority on base as Handmaiden of the Star Crèche, although Diya is, in name, still the head of the genetics project. Sei's ba entourage is most often seen in her company, but occasionally Ba Talim, one of her most faithful, may be seen on its own around the base, possibly on errand for its lady.

Diya is somewhat more present around the base now that the plague is over, but she still most frequently found in the labs or the gardens, and often in the company of Haut Sei, always in her force bubble, making Diya look strangely naked in comparison. The ghem around the base who have recovered are marking earnest attempts at brightening the morbid atmosphere that's settled over the base by decorating the barracks areas with fresh art -- literally freshly engineerd botanical creations, or sometimes hybrid biological-zoological creations…ah, Cetagandan art.

Princess Sonia is taken into custody on the 10th and housed in a cell. The Cetagandans offer her relative freedom to move about the base if she'll only give them her parole; she stubbornly and furiously refuses for the first several days, but the misery of being stuck in a cell by herself gets to her and she reluctantly agrees. Micah, the Cetagandans' other captive, though less strictly guarded, can most often be found in the labs and the mess. Although they're getting to know some of the exotics extrauniversals, they're still ill at ease here and not thrilled to be here. It isn't entirely clear, though, whether Micah's long hours in the labs are by their choice or at the Cetagandans' behest.

missions
The mess is shorthanded, and the exotics' help is much appreciated. A few of them even manage to impress the Cetagandan mess officer a little, who clearly takes the craft very seriously. (They all do.) A few of you, though…you can stick to dishwashing duty, thanks.

As is now established tradition among the exotics (because anything done twice on Barrayar is tradition, and they have done this way more than twice), several people go eavesdropping. On the 5th, Kurt and Pearl overhear Zahal receiving an Imperial writ to turn the entire Star Gate Project over to the Star Crèche. On the 6th, Jasper and Symmetra are caught listening in on a very personal conversation between Diya and Sei, and Diya's overambitious hopes for herself. On the 8th, Byerly and Lapis eavesdrop on a curious conversation between Ba Talim and Diya, hinting that the decision to cull Diya may have been somewhat personal after all.

In the labs, things go more or less alright, although things keep breaking or exploding. A plasma power pack explodes in the lab with Jasper and Whirl (which may or may not be Whirl's fault), though Jasper saves Micah from serious injury. In another stroke of spectacularly bad luck, one of the Necklin rods they've been using for testing falls and crashes down into one of the lab areas, and it's thanks to Natasha that Micah sustains anything more than minor injury.

On the 10th, a Cetagandan patrol unexpectedly shows up in Riverfall when Sonia, Gavalas, and several others are there. A fight breaks out across the whole village, resulting in more than 30 casualties, including two Vorkosigan armsmen, and the Cetagandans successfully capture Sonia back to their base.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

Note: Negri, Diya and Gail are available for threading by request. Please hit up Madi (Negri & Diya) or Ammay (Gail) if you'd like some CR with the ghem-Lieutenant!
komarran: (super unsure)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-24 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ Familiar, but only because it had become a center for cultural embassies throughout the Nexus. North America had lost its chance to be that when it had been nuked and it seemed the best place to throw everyone together on a planet that only held cultural importance these days. Duv's not sure many even try to make a pilgrimage back to the planet despite all the historical importance it holds.

He watches attentively as she draws. Crude but effective, he recognizes the continents and general lay of the planet's surface even if he doesn't know every country within it. Barrayar had been his specialty and focus though he dabbled in some Earth history during his stay. ]


One of the largest empires to span the globe, [ he muses as he watches the list grow. ] I would ask how long their empire existed for, but I imagine the end hasn't happened for you yet.
shri: (» our visions turned too cold)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-25 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
50 years. [ She says it firmly over that thought. That she will not see the end. She is filled with that, all of a sudden. She could be drunk on it - hope. Pure, utter, hope. Choking her, swimming through her and making every movement hazy to herself. ] 50 years and they will be gone from my home.

[ But she forces her breath low, slow, easing herself. She cannot count it yet, completely. Satya had only told her of the British. Not of the Company. Irrevocably as they were linked, the Company's hold stretched further than the Empires. Trade often did. ] They are not all of the problem of course, but even so.
komarran: (more of that far cry au)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-25 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
No, I imagine they wouldn't be though their existence likely exacerbates all other issues. [ As Empires often did. Komarr had been on track to be an Imperial conquest of one Empire or another -- he still holds to the idea that Cetaganda would not have left his planet alone had they won this invasion -- and Barrayar had been the lesser of two evils. At least with Imperial funding real work was being done on terraforming and made a priority. One day future generations of Komarrans might be able to breathe on the damn planet without a mask on. ]

Is 50 years the entire life of the empire?
shri: (» i'm speeding up and this is the)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-26 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
It's their companies that bother me, more than just them. If it were just a matter of their Queen I would have done battle with her openly.

[ She shakes her head - oh if that was all it was, the damage might be easier to undo. She looks down at her brief map and oh she has learned the history of the British Empire in the intermediate years better than she thinks she ever learned her own histories. But necessity demanded she know the full breadth of what she fought. ]

No, their Empire began some 300 years ago. When they first settled in the New Continent. [ She taps America with her stick. ] My home followed, though not through direct colonisation or conquest in war. But in trade, debt, and a slow collection of power and important centres until they controlled almost everything.

[ She wets her lips, moving along. ] The now United States of America, rebelled some, ah, 60 years ago or so now, and that led them to settle further south, and found the Colony of New South Wales, here - [ a tap to Australia ] - the Great Southern Land. Though I believe it belonged to the Dutch, initially. Of course, never to the people I am told already lived there. [ Her bitterness is - palatable. Her grief always there, and her rage just the same. ] They take systematically, if slowly. Little by little they consume.

[ A particularly set use of words. Consumption is exactly what it is. ] And worse than all that, their own people live in squalor, starving, beset upon, and they often punish them for it.
komarran: (less rude and making that pattern work)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-27 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Companies. Duv perks up at the word. That is something he can understand very well. Companies were the lifeblood of Komarr and while he hadn't gotten involved in his family business for various reasons, that mercantile sense ran through him.

He nods, taking in all the information she's giving him. Typical colonial presence by the sounds of it. ]


I wish I had paper handy. This isn't a time period I've gotten to study and I wonder if your timeline matches up with what's happened in our Nexus' Earth. [ Which who knows if that would be true given what else she's told him about her time. ]
shri: (» we will never be bought or sold)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-28 04:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ She has nothing good to say of them, but she is the beginning of that world, and the end of the old one. Where such things are now decided only upon contracts, not upon someone's word. She did not mind so much being left behind, if there was not so much misery to be found in it. ]

It seems to be enough the same that even someone years from my own time still knows of my wars. Some parts of it must still be the same even then.
komarran: (how many icons are there of duv drinking)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-28 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
Some yes, but I want to know how much. [ Because he's a nerd like that. ]

I won't make you rehash your entire history now however.
shri: (» sit and watch you wiggle)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-28 10:08 am (UTC)(link)
No, we have much, you would be here for hours if you were to hear it all, and I am afraid it's not something I ever made a great study of.

[ She ventures then, trying not to be too - well, embittered. ]

Outside of your own home, I take it the history you are more familiar with is European?
komarran: (and another drinking icon probably)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-30 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
Somewhat. I picked up some during a stay on Earth. My specialty is more within local space.

[ Komarran history and government along with Barrayar. Hell, with all the time he put into his graduate education, he knows more about the ins-and-outs of Barrayar's modern history than he does his own planet. ]
shri: (» we're at the start)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-30 10:45 am (UTC)(link)
Your stay in London? Like Admiral Miles?

[ Keeps calling him that without even a hesitation. She's good at some secrets at least, especially when they come to hiding identity. ]

Well this place would be rather more important to you, I should wager.
komarran: (unimpressed with miles' bullshit)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-30 06:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, it's where we met.

[ Because that much of their personal stories they were keeping the same. They had to explain their previous connection somehow. ]

Komarr is Barrayar's closest neighbor. We're focused on trade and need to know who we're dealing with.
shri: (» i'm speeding up and this is the)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-30 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
But it was your people that allowed this invasion to occur?

[ Hard not to hear how the soldiers gossip, about why Duv wasn't the most welcome. ]
komarran: (ALSO RUDE)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-04-30 11:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Komarr did, yes. The Cetagandans paid them a large sum to have access to the wormhole that leads here.
shri: (» the colours disappear)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-01 12:13 am (UTC)(link)
The usual method then. [ She doesn't sound frustrated or disappointed, merely accepting about how these things usually go. ]
komarran: (who did what now and why)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-01 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
Unfortunately. It's why my presence garners negative attention in camp.
shri: (» is all yours)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-01 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
As it would, when people cannot discern the difference between leaders and their people. [ She looks again, down at his food and - what a wretched position to be in. Some twenty years ago, she might have been the same as the Barrayarans, but even so, she had never approved of taking out vengeance on those who quite rightly had nothing to do with it.

It's a little thing but as she looks down at the shared drink between them.
] I'm afraid I am taking a ruler's prerogative to ignore those around her, I will be sharing some of my meals with you from now on. Take it as the least I can do to help your lot here.
komarran: (insert something dry and sarcastic)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-03 04:39 am (UTC)(link)
[ He frowns and waves her words off. ] If your intentions are to throw yourself in the line of danger for me, I do not need it. You already draw your own commentary.

[ Which could easily be an argument for them staying closer together, but he's never been one to lean heavily on another for any sort of protection. ]
shri: (» so we pull our feet through)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-03 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
I do, don't I? [ Her smile is a slow predators pull, white and sharp. ] But it isn't. It's being prudent and ensuring I do what I can for Miles' friends.
komarran: (drinking to forget bullshit)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-04 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
Are you trying to win favors from the man? I assure you, you don't need to go that far to seek it.
shri: (» and now people talk to me)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-04 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ She is... just going to press on from that because well - she's quite sure she has more the Mile's favour. ]

Hardly that. I do not quest for him, nor anyone, to dote on me in such a manner. [ Or if she did, it was a private thing, nothing she would be sharing. ] But I take such matters seriously.

[ Devoted in her own way, to a fault. ]
komarran: (damn you gregor why)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-04 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
If you want to sit with me because of my own merits, I won't argue. I don't want protection based off of your relations with another.

[ Whatever impression Miles had made on her. ]
shri: (» the colours disappear)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-05 10:36 am (UTC)(link)
And if I offered it because it is the right thing to do, regardless?

[ Regardless of who he is, who Miles is, or this war. Firm, but not said in some dreams chivalry, a flat way she progresses forward in everything. ]
komarran: (is he painting)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-06 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Then I would ask that you respect when I wish to take my meals elsewhere.

[ Since he would rather not have a shadow at all times. ]
shri: (» sparking up my heart)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-07 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
Of course. Take your spare time at your own leisure. But I insist on helping where I can.

[ Stubborn as Miles, apparently. ]
komarran: (insert something dry and sarcastic)

[personal profile] komarran 2017-05-07 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
I'll consider it. [ Because he too could be stubborn and he's not willing to cave so easily. ]