[ may i log: the good fight ]

[barrayarmods]

Who: Everyone
What: The culmination of months of planning and suffering finally comes to bear as the Barrayarans launch their debilitating attack on the Cetagandan base. Politics, as always, go sight unseen but felt everywhere.
When: May 1st - 18th
Where: the Barrayaran camp, the Cetagandan base, Riverfall Village
Warnings: TBD

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

TIMELINE
5/5 Eavesdropping
5/7 Hacking
5/11 Mystery Plot
5/15 Attack on the Cetagandan base

riverfall
The village is finally starting to get back on its feet after a few blessedly uneventful weeks. Other than the routine Cetagandan patrols, there hasn't been much activity in the village, and no new strife. The villagers merely continue their rebuilding efforts and tend to their fields, and they'll still gladly accept any help offered by outsiders.

With the village down nearly half its population, there's room to grow, even after last month's fight destroyed some of the homes, so Speaker Gura has been taking in refugees from other nearby hill villages – about ten refugees have moved to settle anew in Riverfall in the last few weeks.

barrayar
The time to strike is now.

All three camps are preoccupied with preparations for the attack on the 15th: as far as Barrayaran intelligence knows, no reinforcements are on their way to the Cetagandan base, and the guerrillas need to strike while the Cetagandans are still down nearly half their forces. It's the only shot they have at forcing the occupying troops to leave Vorkosigan Vashnoi and give them a chance at retaking the city – and they're not throwing away this shot, because they might not get another one.

The political unease surrounding Dorca and Yuri is a quieter tension, plaguing only those politically savvy (or well-positioned) enough to understand the situation, but if you're paying close enough attention to the moody Crown Prince, you'll note that Yuri's primary concern isn't the outsiders, but something much closer to home. He's never been a particularly warm man by anyone's account, but lately he's especially given to foul moods, and only part of it is grief for his most recently deceased son.

All further attempts at hostage negotiation from Zahal have been as curtly denied as the first, and just about as politely. Incorporating a rescue plan into their attack strategy wasn't exactly easy, but they won't get another shot than this at rescuing Princess Sonia – or Byerly, whose cover as a spy was recently blown during a failed attempt at smuggling Sonia out of the base. On the 15th, the Barrayarans prepare for war, some donning Cetagandan uniforms and face paint, others swiping mud over their faces to better camouflage themselves in the dark.

And the attack is a success. There's no real such thing as acceptable loss, but the top brass consider the 70 lives spent on the attack a fair cost for what they got: almost destroying the immediate Cetagandan power supply and the return of their Princess. Plus Byerly. The mood lightens considerably, but there is no rest in war, and just as soon as they take their next victory, Piotr, Dorca and Yuri are already planning the next move: finally retaking Vorkosigan Vashnoi.

camp
All three camps are heavily preparing, officers running drills nearly around the clock, quartermasters taking inventory and making sure every piece of equipment is clean and in working order, medical officers and techs preparing the sickbay tent as best they can for the inevitable injured who will return.

But despite the impending mission, tensions are still rising within the army – while top brass is vocally discouraging the fights that have broken out, it hasn't put a complete stop to them, and no one has openly endorsed the outsiders except for Piotr Vorkosigan. Vorvolk and Yuri are both still staunchly in the skeptic camp at best, but Dorca does not seem to have passed a final judgment on the outsiders before the attack. Perhaps he's merely biding his time, because for all the dissent about the outsiders, the Emperor hasn't barred Piotr from letting them participate in critical missions.

The soldiers make enough noise about it on their own. They're especially tetchy about the outsiders who crossed over from the Cetagandan side – they're as good as spies, as far as some of the soldiers are concerned. But even worse is letting Duv Galeni, a Komarran, not only remain in camp and feed on their resources, but actively participate in missions. For the most part, the soldiers in camp who have known the outsiders from the start and have befriended them are sticking with them, but the half of Piotr's army that was with Vorvolk after the split when the location of their last camp was discovered by the Cetagandans are nearly as suspicious as the Vorbarra battalion. Hostility towards Duv and those who escaped from the Cetagandan camp is especially severe, and it's no secret that some of them would prefer the outsiders dead rather than taking up space and resources in their army, though no one has been so bold as to actually make any attempts. Falco Vorkalloner, one of the Rangers who had been in Vorvolk's half of the army, hasn't been afraid to make his voice heard, though. He's even been heard saying that he thinks someone ought to make an example out of the Komarran and demonstrate just what they think of those who would side with the Cetagandans.

After the attack, the atmosphere of the camp is noticeably changed – the return of the Princess as well as what can only be considered a resounding victory for the Barrayarans has led to a jubilant and triumphant environment. And with Barrayarans, all celebration comes with a whole lot of drinking. Wine, vodka and maple mead are passed around aplenty in the nights and days following the attack, as soldiers burn offerings for their dead comrades and trade stories of action.

The tension with the outsiders begins to lessen after this victory, too. The fact that two outsiders, Wash and Lucy, are responsible for the Princess's rescue goes a long way toward relations between the outsiders and the rest of the army, and after the attack, Dorca gives the outsiders his endorsement as comrades to be trusted and honorary warriors fighting alongside them. Of course, this doesn't mean all hostility and tension merely dissipates – there are still plenty of soldiers like the now-deceased Falco who still think the outsiders are a threat and a parasitic presence. But things do start to lighten up a little after this victory...finally.

missions
General Piotr Vorkosigan himself leads the attack on the Cetagandan base, and Yuri leads his own contingent. Although there are some hitches getting in undetected, their plans to disable base security are overall successful, as is their sabotage of the power supply generators and Sonia and Byerly's rescue.

Meanwhile, Lakshmi and Sisko have found Falco Vorkalloner's dead body, and while it looks like an accident, it also looks like someone might have taken care to make sure it looked like one.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

cetaganda
The social relief brought by the flower-viewing party quickly fades, and tension settles back over the Cetagandan base, underlined by Zahal's frustration with Piotr's flat-out refusal to meet his demands, or even so much as discuss them. He's sent more than one political ransom demand since Dorca's arrival, too, but to no effect. Given the recent guerrilla activity in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, he knows Piotr must be planning something, but with no informants left in the Barrayaran army, his intelligence is dry, and the investigations into weapons smuggling were ultimately fruitless. All known civilian resistance cells seem to have scattered and disappeared, their bases of operation boarded up or burned down. All he can do is concentrate as many troops as he can afford on the city's occupation, though he doesn't leave the base totally unmanned. But he does add another thousand troops to the occupying force in Vorkosigan Vashnoi in the week before the attack on the base.

Not everyone is being sent over, though, and the transfer doesn't make for as smooth a cover as one might hope. Gail is caught on an unauthorized trip to the city while off duty, and you might hear -- or overhear -- the dressing-down he gets from his commanding officer for it. He doesn't appear to have a ready excuse for it -- at least, not one that doesn't sound flimsy as hell.

Military matters affect those of the Star Crèche, however, and Zahal's frustration does not touch that sphere. Not that it isn't without its own tensions -- anyone who spends enough time with Diya and Sei (and Ba Talim, for that matter) will feel the rising tensions between them, though their origins are as obscure as the haut always are. The Star Gate Project, now officially under the jurisdiction of the Star Crèche, continues on with Micah at the lead, although they haven't for a moment forgotten that they are a prisoner here, or where their true loyalties lie.

After the attack, Zahal's fury reaches a boiling point, and since the Barrayarans did so much infrastructural damage, the consequences of military matters finally reach Diya and Sei, rankling them, too. The power shortage and damage to the science/medical complex has put a serious damper on Star Gate research, although as far as anyone is aware, the gene therapy trials and other related Star Crèche research goes on unimpeded, thanks to the successful protection of the secondary backup generator, which seems to exist only to power the medbay and gene labs. But since power is a hot commodity right now, Zahal is going to start pushing to reroute some of that power to what the haut would probably deem as lower priority needs.

base
The mood around the base is restless, Zahal's frustration trickling down into tensions among his officers and seeping into the very atmosphere. They're hardly prepared for the attack that comes because they don't even know what to expect. The soldiers all seem on edge, nervous, a little tetchy, particularly after Tarn's altercation with Diya and Natasha, and then the failed attempt to smuggle out the Princess -- but that did, at least, lead to the outing of Byerly Vorrutyer as a spy among the Cetagandans, confirming some suspicions held by the higher brass in Cetagandan intelligence. About the only comfort, if one can call it that, in all this tension is Byerly's summary fast-penta interrogation.

The gene therapy trials, despite some...trials, continue, and with much greater success than last month. Sei and Diya are as impassive as ever, but even so, there's a tangible undercurrent of mixed relief and triumph. Micahworks as feverishly as ever on the Star Gate Project with the aid and oversight of the military's scientific division and the exotics working as lab assistants. The satellite launch has proven to be a highly productive venture -- it's yielding data they couldn't have gathered otherwise, which is proving to be critical, and Micah spends time having Kaidan, Symmetra and Pearl put through another series of brain scans and consulting the neurology team as they study the results.

Although Sei is never seen outside of her force bubble, and doesn't actually travel around the base all that much, her presence seems to dominate the more civilian areas of the base, overshadowing even Diya -- although Diya is considerably less visible around the base after her altercation with Tarn. Amai is, of course, somehow seen just about everywhere, a constant social and professional presence that refuses to let anyone forget she's there. But after the 5th, she seems to be troubled -- she's far less impassive than the haut, and her anxiety and discomfort are much easier to see.

After the attack, Diya seems somewhat shaken -- it's almost impossible to tell how Sei is affected, but with facilities down, audits are being done on all existing projects to determine what's important enough to remain active while they have limited power. The base isn't quite in a shambles, but there's a lot of damage -- while the Barrayarans personally only carry swords and bows, they clearly have no issue with taking the Cetagandans' plasma arcs to wreak havoc at home -- and the atmosphere is overall demoralized. Sending more troops to Vorkosigan Vashnoi was clearly the wrong move, and it's a bitter pill to swallow, but Zahal begins to recall troops from the city in small waves to help better man the base, knowing full well that this must have been what Piotr intended.

missions
A few interesting tidbits are overheard in the dark of night, and Amai finds herself in the uniquely uncomfortable position of holding Diya's dark secret in one hand, and Sei's in the other -- and Ba Talim seems to know something, though it isn't clear what. And some creative hacking turns up some unexpected dirt on Sei that makes Diya's illicit ba experiments look like mere misdemeanors.

Despite the best efforts of the soldiers and the exotics and the fact that, even undermanned, they still outnumber the guerrillas by a landslide, the base is still overrun by Barrayarans and their attack is successful. The main and backup power generators are totally disabled for the time being, and it's unclear how long it will be before full power is restored to the base.

The unabridged mission results can be found here.

Note: Gavalas, Olivia, Zahal, Diya, and Sei & Ba Talim are available for threads on request. Hit up Madi (Gavalas, Diya, Sei & Ba Talim) or Ammay (Olivia & Zahal) if you'd like threads with these characters!

Comments

[protocol]

[ Ah. That does strike home.

A different time and he might've been able to hold fine, but after just revealing something -- even if it's not quite that deep of a cut, among the many hurts he has -- it's still raw enough that his usual ability to hold a mask isn't quite as firm. There's almost an actual flinch, a tightness in his shoulders, a set in his jaw. His eyes flicking up far too quickly. He knows he's slipped as soon as he's done it. ]

Go on.

[ You have something. You know you do. Don't hold back. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ An arch, haughty smile. (And deep down, a surge of caution. At the end of the day, he does not truly want to cause Wash real pain, no matter how spiteful he feels.) ]

Ah. What lovely masochism. Shall I really? Go on?

[protocol]

Don't fucking insult me, Vorrutyer.

[ There's a real sharpness there. A hardness in his eyes. He's still slightly hunched forward, his fingers loosely laced together, and if he could sense where that caution comes from maybe he wouldn't react that way, but right now it feels a terrible lot like pity, and he hates that just as much as Byerly seems to. ]

I know what I give you. [ Step one, don't give away what you're not ready to lose. ] Go on, and don't waste my time.

[ Because ah, Byerly's right here, too. Masochism. That might be a little of what this is about. Ability, he's always lacked the ability, he was never fucking good enough and in the same way some people want others to tell them about how they were always good enough all along, Wash rather wants the opposite, sometimes. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ A hesitation, but...If it's what he wants. (Byerly, at his core, deep-deep down, isn't the sadist he fancies himself. He's a nasty son of a bitch sometimes, but not sadistic. So if Wash wants it - and he seems to want it, looks miserable in his hunger for cruelty - unlike a sadist, he will not deny.) ]

No offense meant.

[ There's a softness to his voice. A mildness. It's a soothing and disarming and unthreatening sort of tone. That mild voice has loosened plenty of secrets out of plenty of people - sometimes post-coitally, sometimes like this, with one person hunched in misery, suffering through a dark night. ]

But I've seen the people you served with. Maine, for example - there's a man who could cut down enemy soldiers like wheat before the scythe. But you - you're just an ordinary man with ordinary strength. How many times did you fall short?

[protocol]

[ There's a part of him that notices that hesitation, still, and that might cause something to flicker in his eyes, a stall in his resolve -- but the hunger for cruelty is real, even if Wash usually doles it out to himself rather than hearing it from someone else. He'd meant it when he told him to go on. He didn't want Byerly backing down, and he isn't going to back down from hearing it, either.

And ah, Maine. That hurts immediately, in a way that Byerly himself probably doesn't even know. He closes his eyes, takes a slow breath. That voice. He's never heard Byerly sound quite like that. It's soft and soothing, and has to be the most dangerous he thinks he's ever heard him be. It's easy for it to wash over him. Easy for him to answer. ]

Every time.

[ It's a lie, there've been plenty of times when he's been more than capable, but it feels true because Wash does believe it. Whole-heartedly. He's not nearly as terrible as he makes himself out to be in a dozen different ways, but he does genuinely think that of himself, ignores every good he's ever done and fixates on every miserable failure. ]

[vorrutyer]

Every time.

[ Byerly nods just a little, and goes on in that same voice, quiet and easy in spite of the cruelty of his words: ]

And it's a small team, isn't it? Elite. The best of the best. So you're sitting in a spot that could have been held by someone at the absolute top of their game. But instead, they got you. How does that feel?

[protocol]

[ The softness of that voice just makes it easier to hear, but Wash reads it as something else. Harsh and cruel in a different kind of way, calculated to coax and comfort. Being aware of it doesn't really make it any better, though. It just makes it worse, makes every word sting sharper, but maybe that's what Wash is after, anyway.

Byerly had asked him once just how he became so much of a liar when so many soldiers are usually so terribly direct. There's more to it, but this was where it started. He'd made himself seem worse than what he was. Made himself a joke. He let himself be laughed at and doted on. It was easier, that way -- it meant both that he was hiding that awful violent anger that had gotten him in trouble in the first place, hid the part of him that made him dangerous, while also making how much he dragged everyone down easier to swallow. ]

It makes me feel like a miserable little liar, Vorrutyer. [ Eyes still closed, but there's some genuine amusement to his tone. Cold and detached. ] They chose the rest because of what they could do. They chose me because I was -- exploitable.

[ An emotionally unstable man, desperate to fight, facing a courts-martial he feared would bring that to an end. Giving him that chance bought them his loyalty. He was too naive to see it, then. ]

[vorrutyer]

How cruel of them.

[ Byerly's eyes narrow just a bit as he regards Wash. He considers how to push past that cold detachment. If By were in this for the information alone, it wouldn't matter how he spoke. But for these purposes, there needs to be more to it than that. Wash isn't after detachment. He's after pain. But how best to elicit that? ]

And you were just their tool, then. Of these people who wanted a servant. A toy. Did you hate the people who put you in that position? Who put you in with your betters like that? Do you hate them?

[protocol]

[ It is pain. Just viewed a different way. Being that vulnerable is something he loathes so, so deeply, and as -- personal as this is, he doesn't trust Byerly remotely enough to let him really see that kind of pain. That coldness is just the same one as the voice at the back of his head, the one that murmurs and whispers and laughs at his failures, that mocks him more harshly than anyone else could. It's easier to externalize that, than to externalize the hurt.

But what Byerly says next has him snapping in a different way. Shutting down, he's done, a different tension in him now, his gaze sharper than anything Byerly's ever seen out of him when his head snaps up to look at him. There's no petty anger there, but something real, a loathing so deep it burns in him so many years later, a memory among so many others crystal clear in his head. The Counselor's voice, calm and soft almost like Byerly's is, gentle and coaxing, would say that you have overwhelming feelings of anger, and a need for revenge?

He's right back there in that room, when he answers. ]

More than you know.

[ He can see the flickering screens. His own reflection in the monitor. The Counselor's face, calm and soft as always. And finally he's actually moving, leaning back, his teeth grit, lifting a hand to his jaw before he moves it up to rake through his hair. Whatever reverie he was in, it passes, and that hunger for cruelty eases, too. Of all things, an actual smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ Byerly recognizes that. He doesn't understand it, but he recognizes it - that moment when inner vision fades, when the opportunity for unfiltered data is lost. He doesn't know what it was that triggered that sudden self-consciousness...Usually he can keep people going longer than this. That anger should have been sustainable. Is it a good thing or a bad thing that they're through? He doesn't wholly know. ]

Naturally, more than I know. I've never met them, after all.

[ He watches Wash a moment, puzzling over that smile, then says: ]

Did the Cetagandans remind you of them? Your recruiters?

[protocol]

[ There's quite a bit of quiet, before he answers. ]

Get fucked, Byerly.

[ An echo of before -- but there's an actual laugh there, almost friendly, and in some ways it's genuine, in some ways it really, really isn't. But that's the nature of games like these, he can always choose not to play, and when he does. He knows it's only himself to blame. Don't give up what you aren't ready to lose. That had cut close, closer than he expected Byerly to ever get. He seems relaxed, at ease, again. He's not, really, but it still means he's calm enough for the act to slip back into place. ]

They do. Extensive military base, questionable scientific research labs attached. Little disregard for morality in pursuit of their goals. No oversight. No justice for any wrongs. [ A tilt of his head. ] You've a pretty voice when you want it to be. You pull that out for all the boys, or am I just special?

[vorrutyer]

[ A smile of his own. One that looks foolish and transparent and easy to read. ]

You're not special. [ The smile shifts, then, to something a little more crooked and real. ] Though usually it comes out after I've sucked them off so hard they can't move. Or stopped just short of killing them with high-end brandy. You're not the first person who I've had to hurt to put in the right frame of mind, but there aren't so many of you.

[protocol]

[ Of course he isn't special -- but god, that is dangerous. Even more or less aware of what he was doing it was still terribly easy to slip. For someone that still doesn't really know much of those details he's after, Byerly has terribly good instincts for them, managed to brush up right against the places where it'd dig in the most. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was also enough to jolt Wash from it. That voice was. Too familiar. ]

It reminded me of someone. [ Obviously. No point hiding that. ]

You grew a conscience there, for a second, too.

[vorrutyer]

[ Someone. Who? But, well - that's a question only for By's curiosity. And one he suspects he'll never learn the answer to. ]

Did I, now? News to me. Still, thank you - I'd wondered why you'd really defected from the Cetagandans.

[protocol]

[ He honestly might. Wash does play this game like a game. Byerly's better than he thought he was. Deserves a different approach. Though -- that first hesitation he'd noticed, and thought nothing of, but the second, even after he'd asked him to go on again. That wasn't just token caution, but real reluctance. ]

You aren't as cruel as you try to seem. [ Not that that hadn't been cruel, anyway. ] I told you it was for my friends before, didn't I? That's still more true. I came here for them, no other reason. That they reminded me too much of the project I was with was just why I absolutely hated them.

[vorrutyer]

Oh, you don't know how cruel I can get. I mean, to be fair, I don't actually know, either. It's a fun family game - how crazy are we today? [ A laugh, then a shake of his head. ] Ah, well. And the explanation never quite passed muster - after all, you might have invited them to you, instead of coming to them.

[protocol]

[ His family again. Such an interesting thing . . . ]

You forget Lakshmi.

[ Came in a team with Maine, got captured protecting him. Breaking her out had been a clear objective, then. Inviting Maine over to the Cetagandan base was hardly an option, but then there's a pause. A still in his expression. The mask's back in place, but that had cut far too close for it to heal so quickly, it's still raw. ]

I wouldn't have wanted Maine there, anyway.

[vorrutyer]

Ah. And why not?

[protocol]

[ A grimace. A realization he's slipped. He's less together again than he looks, even with the smiling and laughing. ]

If there's anyone I failed to protect, it's him.

[ He is so terribly protective of a man who seems like protection is the very last thing he needs. He tips his head back slightly. ]

I'm not going to stop asking about her.

[ Because he's not forgotten. Obviously. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ At this point, it seems...fair. So By opens a hand. ]

Then ask me a question.

[protocol]

[ He watches him, for a moment, and there's something cold there. Purely calculating, careful, but it -- passes, it fades, and he shakes his head. Part of why he kept asking is because Byerly clearly didn't want to talk about her, but that really wasn't all it was. He has sisters, too. Doesn't want to talk about them in some way that's tied up in some game, some back and forth and about prying vulnerabilities out of each other.

Wash really just wants to hear about her. Just wants to try and talk about her -- he doesn't remember the last time he's really talked about any of his own, either, except with Miles, and that'd been fleeting. After a few long moments, he looks away. ]

Mia always wanted to be some kind of writer. [ An offer. Let's just try and talk, Byerly, Wash is still -- mostly capable of that. ] She was at least half of the reason I read as much as I did. I wanted to be able to talk to her about what she was doing.

[vorrutyer]

[ Byerly watches a moment, wary. He could ask. Push. Get more than he gives. That's his instinct, here. Grab and twist and wring out as much as he can - give as little as possible. That's what he wants...

He takes a swig. Offers instead: ]

Vor ladies are only allowed to be one thing. Or - High Vor ladies, anyway. So all she could do was learn to be a lady. Get ready for marriage. She hated it.

[protocol]

[ That's definitely real. And Wash's instinct too, is to push. Drag more out of him, after he's been asking after it for the whole damn night. But he doesn't want to, at least, not when he can tell how much she meant to him -- not when he understands that. With other things, yes. Not with this.

A soft, amused sound. ]

Mine would've hated it too, I think. God, if they'd grown up here. [ Some humor in his voice. This is difficult for them both, isn't it. ] They didn't, though -- and Evelyn liked to play at being a lady, being a princess. Always asked me to braid her hair so she could look like one.

[vorrutyer]

[ Wryly: ]

Braid her hair? Really.

[protocol]

[ Shrug. ]

I got pretty good at it.

Want me to do yours?