barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2017-04-19 07:12 pm
Entry tags:

[ april ii log: here's unbroken bone ]

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 18th - 30th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD

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

TIMELINE
4/18 Fast-penta interrogation: Sonia
4/19 Eavesdropping Alpha (Barrayar)
4/21 Eavesdropping Bravo (Barrayar)
4/22 - 4/23 Vorkosigan Vashnoi trips
4/24 Eavesdropping (Cetaganda)
4/25-4/26 Satellite launch
4/27 Flower-viewing party



barrayar
Morale is still recovering after Princess Sonia's capture and the deaths that resulted from the ensuing battle in Riverfall, but at least they were able to make contact with Colonel Vorvolk, the leading officer of the other half of Piotr's army, and reunite the guerrilla army for the first time since their last camp was discovered several months ago. Their discovery is not only timely, but critical -- Piotr intends to launch an attack on the Cetagandan base next month, before any reinforcements can arrive, in order to force Zahal to recall at least part, if not most, of the occupying force in the capital city, so that Piotr's army and the civilian underground resistance can work together to retake Vorkosigan Vashnoi. If they can take back the city and continue to defend it, they might even stand a chance at pushing Zahal's forces out of the district entirely, and considering that Vorkosigan's District is one of the hot spots of the invasion, this might even turn the tide of the whole war in their favor. They'll also be attempting to rescue Sonia during the attack, making the most out of the chaos, but that is their secondary objective.

Zahal, of course, means to make the most out of his new hostage. Knowing for certain now that Piotr's army has contact with the Riverfall villagers -- a fact that puts the camp at risk for discovery once again -- Zahal sends a missive to Riverfall with instructions to pass it along to Piotr. His demands are simple: they'll guarantee the safety and return of the Princess on Piotr's complete surrender. Piotr responds by scrawling a particularly rude and short-worded rebuttal over the original message and has it returned promptly -- stuffed inside the mouth of some poor beheaded ghem soldier, left at one of the base entry gates to be discovered by patrols.

Hopes for a successful attack are bolstered still when word comes that Emperor Dorca and Crown Prince Yuri are on their way to the Dendarii mountains. On the 18th, a courier from Dorca's battalion arrives, only to discover that the first courier sent by Dorca some weeks ago never made it to Piotr's camp to deliver the news. Dorca and Yuri bring with them another 200 soldiers when they arrive on the 20th, which nearly doubles their forces, and, like Colonel Vorvolk's half of the army, they set up camp in another part of the mountains nearby, connected by the cave netwrok that runs through the Dendarii mountains. Unfortunately, the occasion isn't entirely joyous, as Crown Prince Yuri recently lost his only remaining son and heir in battle shortly before departing for Vorkosigan's District. This is not only a sad occasion, but a politically uneasy one: Yuri's wife died some years ago, and while he is next in line to succeed his father as Emperor, the lack of an heir to his own makes for a politically shaky situation. Should he die before producing another heir, the title of Crown Prince will fall to his half-brother Xav instead, and that…brings a whole host of other political issues to the table. Needless to say, while Yuri's succession isn't an immediate issue, the politically savvy are feeling a little nervous about it.

But the war marches on, and preparations must be made. Their odds are better, but they're still vastly outnumbered by the Cetagandans. They'll need the help of the underground civilian resistance to prepare to retake Vorkosigan Vashnoi, as well as some supplies. After all, they'll have an easier time infiltrating the Cetagandan base with a larger force if some of them look enough like Cetagandans.

camp
Although the army is stronger than it has been in months, not all is at peace. Colonel Vorvolk has always been a trusted member of Piotr's general staff and a loyal officer, as well as a long-time acquaintance. However, his views on the outsiders don't exactly align with Piotr's: he thinks Piotr has been much too quick to trust them, especially given that several of them came over from the Cetagandan side, and Duv Galeni hails from Komarr, the planet that sold Barrayar out to the Cetagandans. Vorvolk doesn't believe that the outsiders should be given such freedom or privilege, let alone allow them to participate in critical military operations. Most of his own soldiers seem to share the sentiment, as do the Vorbarra soldiers -- in fact, Yuri vocally agrees with Vorvolk, and those outsiders who have been in Piotr's camp from the very beginning will feel an uncomfortably familiar air of suspicion and mistrust settles over the camp. While nothing has effectively changed -- the outsiders are not segregated away from the camp again as they once were, nor put back under guard -- the Barrayaran soldiers who are comfortable with and even like the outsiders are suddenly in the minority.

While few are foolish enough to disrespect the outsiders where Piotr can see them, some of the soldiers from Vorvolk's and Dorca's camps are borderline hostile toward the outsiders, jeering, taunting, even making hex signs or spitting in the most extreme cases. There are still plenty of soldiers who remain friendly towards the outsiders, but it's leading to friction between them and their other Barrayaran comrades as well. After several days of tension, a major fight breaks out in Piotr's camp over the outsiders' presence, and a few outsiders might even be dragged (or throw themselves) into it. Everyone involved in the fight gets a firm reprimand and then some, and worse still is that the fight does little to ease the tensions -- if anything, it only makes them worse.

Dorca and Yuri's mourning casts a somber air over the camps, and both Emperor and Crown Prince are in grave moods, Yuri's especially prickly. As his son was a public figure, they hold a public burning of death offerings on the 22nd, so that Imperial subjects may pay their respects to the recently deceased Prince. A large pyre is set up within one of the larger caves, so that the smoke will be less conspicuous, and any offerings submitted in earnest will be accepted. Typical Barrayaran death offerings consist of a small lock of one's hair, or, if none is to hand, any other personal object they might have on their person that would burn, such as a piece of clothing.

missions
With contributions of…mixed success from the outsiders, as well as help from the soldiers, the villagers are able to repair some of the homes damaged in the recent skirmish. Some of them are too far gone for repair, and so are broken down to salvage whatever materials they can for other repairs. Considering the village now houses fewer than fifty people, housing space is not a concern at the moment.

Preparations for the coming attack on the Cetagandan base go well overall. The raiding parties manage to steal uniforms and face paint for about 50 soldiers to disguise themselves, and parties sent to Vorkosigan Vashnoi successfully make contact with civilian resistance cells to pass their plans along.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

cetaganda
Zahal sends his terms to Piotr for Sonia's release, and the gruesome rebuttal -- a crude message scrawled over Zahal's own hand-penned calligraphy, the delicate paper shoved into the gaping mouth of a dead ghem soldier, his head left to be discovered just outside the best -- infuriates him. He's known Piotr for too long to expect him to give in right away, but this is just sheer insult. He's well aware of just how vulnerable the base is right now -- the epidemic has mostly run its course, but their total forces are down to about 6,000 soldiers, and there are only about 100 ghem scientists left. His requests for reinforcements have been delayed by Cetagandan central command -- they have no extra troops they can spare on planet, and it will be another month before more ships arrive. Zahal is struggling to balance out his forces, split between the base and Vorkosigan Vashnoi -- right now binternal base security is badly undermanned in favor of increasing the occupying force in the capital city. Piotr Vorkosigan is too smart a man not to take advantage of an opportunity like this -- Zahal just doesn't know exactly what he's planning to do. The Cetagandan base is in a vulnerable state.

However, there is one edge they have: Cetagandan intelligence knows that Emperor Dorca and Crown Prince Yuri are in Vorkosigan's District. The courier who never made it to Piotr's camp was intercepted by Cetagandan intelligence before he even made it to Vorkosigan's District, and the information was sent accordingly to Zahal's outpost. Piotr might have rejected his first demand -- but would the Emperor, the Princess's grandfather, respond the same?

But as the trials of war marches on, so do the advancements of science. Micah is still hard at work in the labs working on the Star Gate Project, but the data they've been able to gather is incomplete and insufficient. They have convinced the Cetagandan science officers to send a scientific party, Micah included, off-planet to take a closer look at the collapsed wormhole and launch a satellite to record more data. They've made a fair bit of progress in discovering the new type of field generated by the collapsed wormhole, tentatively named the Niadem field after its primary discoverer, but they still know too little about just how and why the exotics have been brought here to complete their designs.

base
Despite the military tensions, the Cetagandans work hard at maintaining a lighter atmosphere around the base. Since the weather this month has finally given them some real relief -- and the epidemic raging the base has been quelled -- the Cetagandans decide to host a flower-viewing party on the 27th in the gardens adjacent to the Grow Labs. It is explained to the exotics that such events are regularly held to herald the coming of spring, although emphasis is placed on the fact that the viewings are usually much more sophisticated and lavish than the 'meager' offerings of the lush gardens on the base.

Typical of Cetagandan functions, it is elegant, overwrought and full of a lot of needlessly artfully crafted food and drinks -- many of them intoxicating, so take care what you drink. Sonia and Micah are both in attendance, although Sonia doesn't look particularly happy to be there. The party is celebrating in particular some of the genetic-botanical achievements of some of the ghem lady artists on the base, as well as some recently genetically engineered koi, to update the atmosphere of the garden to proper spring. However, the real show-stealer is the debut of Amai's personal project: an elaborate zoo-biological sculpture designed as tribute to the Star Crèche itself. It takes up a considerable portion of the back wall of the garden, vinelike branches woven into the trellis, curling and spreading in elaborate patterns, and flowers bloom along the lengths in clusters, each a different color. On a closer look, they can be identified as asters -- but some in colors no one's ever seen an aster before. The vines themselves are ridged with what looks like some kind of delicate fin that sways softly with the slightest breeze, a shimmering dark blue. They look more like koi fins than anything botanical, and with the groups of flowers set over them, it looks something like a night sky. In the center is an elaborately crafted flower sculpture of the Star Crèche's screaming bird insignia in minute detail. And though it is rooted to the rest of the sculpture, it seems to move at times -- the slightest flutter of its wings. The placard placed with it explains that each colored cluster of asters is an artistic representation of one of the Constellations that make up the haut caste. The Navarr constellation, from which both Diya and Sei hail, is flowered in asters of a striking violet color.

As time passes, Haut Sei's presence becomes more palpable on the base, and her force bubble is seen more frequently outside of the science/medical complex. Though she and Diya are working closely together, it's clear to anyone who spends enough time around them that there is some tension between them. Ba Talim is almost always present when they are together, although it can at times be found on its own around the base.

missions
The gene therapy trials take a turn for the worse despite glimmers of promise earlier on, and all three subjects suffer from complications with no progress made.

The investigation into the weapons smuggling operation is ultimately a failure -- while they are able to track down one of the resistance cells, the civilians involved manage to get away before any useful information is extracted from them. The next time Cetagandan soldiers return to the place where they'd been discovered, the establishment has since been boarded up and closed down.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

Note: Gavalas, Ezar and Gail are both available for threading on request. Hit Madi (Gavalas) or Ammay (Ezar & Gail) up if you are interested!
shri: (» now we've become the ghost)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-30 10:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Both, in truth, this is the one kind of fight she could never walk away from. Then, once sworn to that fate, she gave it everything, she could never do anything less. Going to get her killed, one of these days. She knows it, she's always known it. After all, it's what she's remembered for and it had never been far from the truth. Some part of her had died that day on the fields of Gwalior.

There's a grunt of understanding for that. What ruler didn't know the damage of a standing army? They grew restless, all that training and nothing to take it out on. Who better than those utterly aligned. If they took it out on a villager, a civilian of their own kind, their commanders would hound them for it. But a group of outsiders that belonged to no one? Who was to care for them?
]

Your father is right, and you've... summed up its dangers I suppose. [ Nods to him, taking in a thin breath through her lips, looking back in review. ] It's not as if it hasn't already happened. [ An irritated murmur back to him in agreement. ] Byerly turned traitor the Cetagandans, and he purports it to be because of the cruelties that his home has inflicted upon him.
latkje: (lxvii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-04-30 05:21 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He winces a bit at the words "your father is right" and then raises an eyebrow when she mentions Byerly. ]

That isn't what he told me.
shri: (» their legacy's too hard to take)

[personal profile] shri 2017-04-30 10:57 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Her brows knit as she turns to him - her surprise is minimal with the stories he tells. ]

Oh, what did he tell you?
latkje: (lvii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-08 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
He told me that the Barrayans were going to lose the war. Something about inferior technology and refusal to educate their women. [ He thinks about it for a minute.
]


I assumed that's why he left, at least.
shri: (» the gravel and the stone)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-08 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
He may wish they might, [ she grits her teeth, her temper is not in the best mood after all that, but all the same. ] The fact of the matter is he is a coward, all traitors are.
latkje: (lxii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-08 05:12 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hmmm. ]

Maybe. If a knight were to fight rebel against his tyrant king, would that be treason or loyalty?
shri: (» tragically we fall like the arrows)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-08 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
It is hardly that. He wouldn't be saving his people, he is just damning them further. Never look to a country outside of your own borders to quell internal unrest. They only have one thing in their sights.

[ It's grit out, bitter to her core over such a thing. ]
latkje: (xxxvii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-08 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
What is that? Conquest? [ He shakes his head. ] That's never just one thing.

[ But maybe that isn't their motivation. He really knows very little about the Cetagandans, and what he does know he doesn't recognize. ]
shri: (» we're at the start)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-09 01:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ She knows more than she ever wanted to, at this point. ]

No, it never is. That kind of division is how it starts, though. I've seen it... too many times.
latkje: (lxviii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-09 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'm glad I'm not a general. [ The smile doesn't reach his eyes, but maybe that doesn't matter in the dark. ]

But I'll tell you my dilemma, milady. Do you think a person can be sworn to two different causes, and not betray one of them?
shri: (» I got my fingers laced together)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-09 11:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ She shakes her head, no, you cannot. ] Never, pick what your heart belongs to, swear to it wholly. Any good leader will never ask for more than that.
latkje: (xxviii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-09 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He nods. ] You think the same way they do here. [ Honor, and swords, and liege-sworn oaths. He wasn't unfamiliar with the notion, but.... ]

Where I come from, though, we have a saying: a straight path only leads one place. [ This is 100% bullshit, he just made that up. ] That's why we're in this mess, too. If they were a bit more open minded… [ He lets that thought trail off. ]

I've been working on making gunpowder.
shri: (» sparking up my heart)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-10 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
I'm afraid to that, I cannot answer, my life did not -

[ wait who gives a damn about philosophy and governance, not when he comes out with that. ]

- Gunpowder? How have you been fairing with it?
latkje: (xxxiii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-10 06:58 am (UTC)(link)
I won't know for another week, maybe two. The process isn't really fit for royalty. [ He makes a wavy gesture with one of his hands, then tents his fingers, thinking. ]

But there's no reason it shouldn't work. Unless it turns out to be like magic, but I dunno why that would be.
shri: (» so we pull our feet through)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-10 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
Good thing I don't see any of that kind of royalty around here, do you?

[ Cuts across that notion immediately. ]

... You know of magic as well? [ A pause there, she doesn't want to reveal too much. But everyone else looked at her like she was mad when she talked about what she knew best. ]
latkje: (xiii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-10 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes? [ He quirks an eyebrow. ] Is it supposed to be a secret?
shri: (Default)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-10 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Baffled a moment, and then shakes her head. Waving a hand, not a secret, per se. ]

So far that any version of it that I have heard of, here at least, is just stories. I was told that the beasts that I wage war against... well they are myth to everyone I've met so far.

[ Oh good lord, someone not from space high tech future? Perish the thought. ]
latkje: (xlv.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-11 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
Beasts? [ In typical JRPG fashion, the world he comes from is full of monsters that attack you if you leave the towns. His tone is conversational, and he's sort of obnoxiously counting things on his hands: ] Shadow wolves? Demons? Dragons? Vampires?
shri: (» sit and watch you wiggle)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-11 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her eyes light up, and normally, it's not exactly a pleasant topic, but that someone else knows those things as real? ]

Lycans. Vampires. We call them Half-breeds.
latkje: (xvi.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-11 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Is lycan your word for lycanthrope? They're classified as demi-humans in Harmonia. The lowest caste. [ Something he'd always thought was cruel, but also something he'd long since learned to shut up about. ]

There are much fewer vampires in my country than there were half a century ago. They say the first vampire is consumed with guilt for what she made that she's hunting them all down one by one.
shri: (» I turn my back while)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-12 01:31 am (UTC)(link)
They are monsters that prey on the living.

[ For her there is no question about it, they deserve what is coming to them. Hunted down to the last man. She doesn't have that kind of mercy left in her. ]

Consider yourself lucky that one of their kind elects to clean up their messes, rather than let those around them die for their needs.

[ It's a barely kept rage there, heat and black and the way she swallows down. She has no mercy, no feeling for them. They took too much from her. ]
latkje: (lviii.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-12 02:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Her anger is obvious, so he wonders. Is this the cause she was talking about? The one thing she'd dedicated her heart to? Or just something that had kept her from whatever it was she wanted. Circle knows you don't need to be personally affected to be offended by needless bloodshed. But he wonders. ]

I'd consider myself luckier if she didn't drag me into it.

[ His tone is level, but maybe a bit mocking. ]
shri: (» but now the odds now)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-12 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ That makes her recoil, utterly, like he was hot coals in her hand that singed her for the mistake of broaching them. ]

You allied with one of them?
latkje: (lxxv.)

[personal profile] latkje 2017-05-12 04:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ He grins, even steps forward a bit. ]

She literally dragged me, and left me bleeding in a ditch after we killed the other vampire, and all the other things he'd created.

[ But he doesn't regret it. Well... Most of the time. ]
shri: (» the gravel and the stone)

[personal profile] shri 2017-05-12 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ For her, she can't seperate the notion. There is no befriending such creatures, not until it has all been righted, not until that blood, that suffering, is paid in due course for what had been taken from her. No humour even as he tells his story in mirth and her fingers grip at her side. ]

So they are still monsters?

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