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

[barrayarmods]

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!

Comments

on parole

[symmetricks]

When she envisions the natives of this land, she had not expected people like Byerly. And she certainly hadn't expected this 'princess' that has been brought back from their latest mission. A bold move, but one that places a great deal of negotiating power in their hands.

Always preferable to out-and-out violence. Ignoring how many must have died to secure her, it still might spare thousands more if used correctly.

Satya's eyes follow her through the garden for a time before she sees fit to approach, composed as ever, in the modest robes the Cetagandans have afforded her with her interest in their stylings. "Have you been inside one of their facilities before?"

Questions before niceties, apparently. But she's trying to figure things out along the way.

[vorbratta]

Sonia finds it near-impossible to relax here. She's been tense for days. Living in the war camp had never been easy, but it had been...home. Safe, in its own way. But here she hardly feels safe at all.

The gardens are at least a change of scenery, but still so utterly Cetagandan that Sonia can't possibly forget where she is. She'd never been to any of the Cetagandan worlds before, no, but as a child she'd been to the Cetagandan Embassy on Beta Colony. Their style is...distinct.

Sonia jerks just slightly at being approached, looking quickly at the other woman. Cetagandan clothes, but no face paint. She must be another one of the outsiders. Or exotics, as the Cetagandans like to call them. Of course.

"No," Sonia says, shortly, wary. This woman hasn't done anything just yet, but Tarn had left a...bad first impression. She rubs a hand over the healing cut on her forehead where he'd struck her with the stunner. It's still a little bruised.

[symmetricks]

"No, I didn't think so. But I have never seen the inside of Barrayaran camp. I suspect they seem quite alien to one another."

For all her cold composure and poise, Satya doesn't appear threatening, per se. Not friendly, no, probably not. But there's nothing about her that screams aggression. Meanwhile, she's taking in the details of this princess with great interest...including that wound.

"You've had that seen to, I trust."

[vorbratta]

"Not really. The war camp isn't the only home I've ever known."

She can't help but sound a little defensive. This whole place makes her feel defensive. Sonia isn't afraid of Satya, but she isn't exactly comfortable, either. The woman hasn't even introduced herself, though she clearly knows who Sonia is. Everyone around here probably does.

She covers the cut with her hand, suddenly self-conscious. "Yes, when they -- " Dragged me here. " -- brought me in. It's fine now."

[symmetricks]

"You'll forgive me. I've heard tales of what life is like on this planet before war took command, but I heard those tales from the tongue of a liar." Someone's still a little bitter about Byerly, but she's going to leave that lie for now.

When Sonia moves to cover the wound, Satya clucks her tongue faintly. "Don't fuss with it now. It would be a pity if it scarred."

[vorbratta]

"I mostly grew up on a different planet," Sonia say, rather tonelessly, though she is curious about this liar. Symmetra doesn't sound like she's talking about the Cetagandans. "But Barrayar was a beautiful place before the war, when I was here."

Sonia frowns at that mother henning and just smooths her hair down before dropping her hand. "It won't." The Cetagandans would be aghast if they let that little cut turn into a scar, with all their grand technology. Sonia almost wishes it would. Her mouth pinches. "Who are you?"

[symmetricks]

"Symmetra." She's grown more selective of the information she gives out, especially to people she's uncertain of. Lakshmi is one thing. Tucker is another. Anyone else...she just doesn't know anymore.

"One of the 'exotics' that came here from another world," she clarifies after a moment.

[vorbratta]

"So I gathered." Sonia wonders if she's being too stiff, too standoffish. Then again, she's a captive in an enemy base, held against her will, and her only would-be comrade here is a traitor. Still, she's not going to be rude. She nods politely in acknowledgment.

"Sonia," she offers in turn, although she suspects Symmetra already knows her name and...God knows what else the Cetagandans have shared about her.

[symmetricks]

And Symmetra offers her a faint nod in return, before pausing. "I do not know how the natives of this world greet their royalty. If you have a preference, I would know it."

Or if she would rather be left alone? Satya can certainly sympathize with the concept.

[vorbratta]

Natives. Sonia's started to hate that word. It feels like it reduces an entire planet of suffering into the subject of a nature documentary about...about ducks, or something. Something less horrifying than the war the Cetagandans have brought down on them.

"Princess. Or milady," Sonia says, a little shortly, terse. "But it doesn't matter in here."

[symmetricks]

"Has your title been revoked?"

Satya doesn't look away, barely even blinks at the response. No, that look is quite intent, if anything.

"We do not un-become what we are based on our surroundings. If you were a princess outside these walls, you remain a princess within them."

[vorbratta]

The look Sonia gives her is flat.

"Do you think my place in Vor society defines what I am?"

[symmetricks]

If she was hoping to convey displeasure at this line of inquiry -- or really any nuanced emotional reactions -- she was going to be disappointed. Satya doesn't look perturbed in the least.

"I know little of Vor culture. I do not know what the role of princess entails there. Simply that whatever it meant to you has not simply vanished based on your current circumstances."

[vorbratta]

Sonia gives Satya a very small, very grim little smile that doesn't look like much of a smile at all.

"On the contrary," she says tonelessly. "Circumstance is everything."

[symmetricks]

"And how is this so?"

Perhaps it's a little presumptuous, but she genuinely appears curious as to what her answer might be. The unfriendliness doesn't surprise her -- she has no reason to be friendly, and few are friendly towards Satya to begin with -- but she's hardly being threatened here.

[vorbratta]

Sonia gestures limply with one hand, letting her gaze wander. She doesn't feel the particular need to maintain eye contact.

"I didn't grow up here, mostly. Beta Colony. Where Doctor Niadem is from. My father's the Ambassador." She hasn't met Micah yet, but she sort of hopes to. Maybe...maybe the only person on this base with whom she has common ground, in sympathies, at least. She's aware that she's sharing more of herself than she really wants to with this stranger, but whatever. Her personal secrets no longer feel like hers to keep, here. "Total democracy. You know what they have there? A President. What do you think being a Princess on that planet means?"

[symmetricks]

She's learned something of speaking more cagily, but this is Princess Sonia. She is unlikely to use the information against those who fight on her behalf, as opposed to Byerly, happy to save his own skin. Still, she is cautious when she speaks in answer.

"There is a woman in the camps who is a legend among my people. History speaks of a queen who refuses to bow before the invading forces of the British and lead a campaign of terror and rebellion against them. Here, no one would recognize her position as queen." Satya's eyebrow arches.

"Do you think that will stop her from being precisely the same person here, and now? To her, to be queen is to defend her people. To stand for their rights, and their freedoms, to spill her own blood as gladly as her foes. You would tell me now that you are not the same princess who stood for her people outside this base?"

[vorbratta]

Sonia starts to mount a response, something stubborn and sullen just because she doesn't want to be wrong, but then her brain catches up to her and she looks at Satya sharply. That description is familiar enough.

"You know Rani?"

[symmetricks]

Ah. Now this is something.

Satya glances briefly towards the entrance before nodding briefly. "That is one way of putting it, yes," she replies mildly.

[vorbratta]

Sonia narrows her eyes, brow knit, and she looks hard at Symmetra. She doesn't know how her sister does it, or Piotr, that whole looking straight through people thing, but Sonia sure as hell is trying.

"Then how would you put it?"

[symmetricks]

"As I said. She is a legend among our people. How would you describe your knowledge of such a person, were you to meet them?"

She can say she knows Lakshmi, but that is through books and stories and statues, retellings of a tale that the woman in question lived through. She has no right to claim a place in her life, a page in that book.

[vorbratta]

Sonia doesn't answer the question at all, just tilting her head and studying Symmetra carefully. She might not have that stone-faced x-ray vision Piotr and Olivia seem to manage, but she's clever enough. And she doesn't like being the party who knows less here. It makes her feel even more powerless.

"How long have you been here?"

[symmetricks]

It's fortunate that Symmetra really doesn't have much to hide. Her emotions aren't as readily transparent as some, but she has no intention of deceiving anyone.

"Two months now," she replies simply. "Though it seems an age since we first arrived."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's eyes brighten slightly, her gaze sharpening as she does some brief mental math. She doesn't think Symmetra is hiding anything, necessarily, she just wants to see straight through to the truth of her. She's starved for it.

Slowly, she says, "You were here when Rani was a prisoner, weren't you? You met her then."

[symmetricks]

"Correct."

How long ago that seems now, not a matter of months at all. And what she has learned in the subsequent time since Lakshmi's departure has her regretting...well. A number of things. But her expression remains impassive, for the most part.

"I could not understand her at first. They had allowed her to wander freely, given her shelter and food and all else she could need, and still she rebelled. Still she tried to flee. It wasn't until her first attempt to do so that I learned who she truly was."