[ 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

[vorrutyer]

[ And Byerly sits back himself, letting out a breath that's mingled frustration and annoyance. ]

No. I don't know the rules of the game as you play it. It's played a certain way here - don't get high and mighty because it's not what you think is best.

[ He rubs his mouth, then, feeling a sharp stab of regret. God, he wants a fuck. He wants a brutal hard fuck, wants to suck someone off, wants to choke around a hand on his throat. He wants a slap across the face, a belt across his back, someone hard and cruel driving all the thoughts out of his head. He just can't stop thinking. He wants something so intense, so breathless, that he'll stop that. But, sure, Wash wants to play, wants his game, and so he won't be that. Byerly can deal. No one who's faked whiskey-dick as often as he has is driven entirely by lust. But it still stings, and it simmers.

I'm desirable, damn it all. I deserve this. I deserve something good after all I did. I've earned something more than just Vorkosigan's contempt and the camp's hatred and a feeling that I did something very wrong. ]

So what is it? If you can get your dick out of that high horse you're on long enough to speak.

[protocol]

[ He doesn't care how it's played here. He's particular about how he plays it. Wash is calm, though, not reacting much as Byerly snaps out of the moment -- such a quick change, he was being so sweet just a moment ago. He might sympathize a little with his frustration, because ah, if that were him, he wouldn't want to be wound up that way, either. But Byerly did start it, really. And Wash did even remind him, partway through.

Wash really would've gone further. ]

If it's a game, then it's a risky one. One that needs rules in place. That's all that's about -- making sure everyone's on the same field, at least in some sense. [ Just tipping his head slightly, as he watches him. ] I'll always ask for one, the moment there's anything actually dangerous involved.

[ So yes, he was thinking of doing something like that -- though he usually asks long before that point, too. ]

It's you jamming on the brakes. You draw the line, you set the limit. I'll only ever stay within it. Because going through the trouble of discussing all that beforehand isn't always practical, and because sometimes something unexpected happens, it's best to have a signal in place where you can tell me if something's wrong.

You can get pissy with me about it, if you want. [ He won't exactly hold it against you, not too much, at least. He shifts where he's seated, curving a hand over his own wrist, flexing his hand slightly. It's interesting, that trick of his. He swears he can still feel it. ] But it's really in your best interests. In an environment where no, please stop tends to mean the opposite, it's useful to have something that actually does mean no.

[vorrutyer]

Oh, don't misapprehend.

[ A small, thin smile. There's nothing indeed in his face of the previous desire - not that he doesn't still feel it; he can't just shake that off. It still surges through him, persistent as real physical hunger. But a fellow who would, back in his lean days, prioritize wardrobe over food is able to learn to ignore hunger. A fellow who regularly humiliates himself - deliberately, for profit and patriotism - can ignore the sting of wrung-out embarrassment. He doesn't enjoy any of it, though, and that makes his tongue perhaps just a little sharper than it needs to be. Particularly when he'd gone in knowing full well what was going to happen. ]

It's a lovely notion. And I'm always for more safeguards to protect consent. It sounds like a very Betan thing, and I adore Betans, you know.

[ He settles back a bit. ]

What's making me pissy is that you just, once again, pulled the shit that you pulled with Miles, even after our talk about it. You got a bit uncomfortable, and so it immediately became I'm stopping now because you're dangerously ignorant, there's a fault in you instead of I'm too nervous to go on. That's quite fucked, Washington.

[protocol]

[ He pulled the same shit he did with Miles in more than that regard, even. He really needs to learn to back down from simple challenges like that. It's sharp enough that it does sting, a little, and he's a little raw from that bit of exposure that's just happened, not quite on guard enough to hide it fully, there's a set to his jaw, something flickering in his eyes. He bites it down. ]

A lot of things about me are pretty fucked. I thought we'd established that much. [ Just kind of dryly. ] It's not exactly mutually exclusive, besides. More of I'm stopping because you don't know what you're doing, because I don't feel like guiding you, and I'm too nervous to go on.

I would've stopped eventually, anyway -- even reminded you of it. I didn't exactly have to do that.

[ Though that's a bit of a lie. He might've gone on, he could've gone on, he doesn't know, now that the moment's passed. There and then he'd wanted to push it a little further. Play a little more, god it's been a while, but if he'd actually gone that far and with Byerly being as good as he was, he might've kept going. The reminder was mostly for Byerly's benefit, genuinely, and also a little to dig in, to see if he really would beg anyway even knowing what was likely to happen -- but if he's honest, it was a reminder for himself, too. ]

[vorrutyer]

[ The smile goes just a bit less brutally sharp at that flicker in his eyes. But only a bit. ]

The reason I like you, in spite of the fact that you're a haughty asshole, is that the things that are fucked about you are largely self-directed. But this is corrosive and vicious. And obviously I don't give a shit about Miles, he can handle himself, but that sort of thing simply irritates me.

[ And then - ]

Why are you nervous?

[protocol]

[ The things that are fucked about him are, in fact, largely self-directed. But there's a whole lot of it that happens because of things that have happened to him that are considerably less self-directed. He answers readily enough. ]

Because there's such a thing as going too far.

[ He's always been insanely careful, because he learned to think of himself as dangerous far too young -- but he wasn't always this stringent or disciplined about it. Still, though, he latches onto something else, there. ]

You like me, now?

[vorrutyer]

[ Ah. Shit. He honestly hadn't intended to say that. His gaze drops, flicks over to the side, embarrassed. And then he shrugs, and draws broadly - ]

I've always liked you, Wash. [ And then, moving right along - ] And - going too far. How do you imagine that happening, exactly? Me, huddled and frightened, too overwhelmed and delicate to speak up in my own defense? Or...?

[protocol]

[ Now that's new. Makes him a little uncomfortable, even, the way Byerly's clearly embarassed when he says that. Something easily faked, honestly, but.

He'll come back to that. ]

People have their limits. Most don't realize what they are until they're actually right up against them, and even then plenty don't like admitting it. Too far is anything from leaving a visible scar, to a bit too much pain, to knocking someone unconscious.

You're being sarcastic, but huddled and frightened and too overwhelmed happens. Some people want that. Some people don't.

[vorrutyer]

[ A pause as By examines Wash. After a moment: ]

Washington, I'm a trained intelligence asset whose assignments are frequently of the honeypot variety - not always, or even the majority of the time, but often. Before I was recruited to that job, I supplemented my income during lean and desperate times by screwing people for money or just for access to their kitchens. Sometimes brutal people. I have no doubt you're absolutely astonishingly sexy, that you have these inborn skills that more than make up for your relative lack of experience. I'm sure I'd be absolutely wowed and go wild with your sheer ability. But do you really think the fact that we don't have safewords means I'd be helpless?

[ He holds out his hands demonstratively. ]

Tie my wrists.

[protocol]

[ A little flatly; ]

Not the point.

[vorrutyer]

[ A sigh, and Byerly subsides a bit with a bit of disappointment. It's a good trick, the untying-himself trick. He doesn't get to show it off very often - it's not exactly something you pull out at parties. It's the problem with all the neat ImpSec skills: they have to be kept secret from nearly everyone. ]

So what is the point?

[protocol]

[ Wash just watches him for a moment, maybe faintly amused by that disappointment in his expression, but mostly he's just kind of irritated, annoyed. Not because of Byerly not getting it, exactly, but because now he's in a position of explaining it, and he just. It's another touch too much to give away when Byerly's gotten so much already.

He relents, after a few moments. Mostly because they're trading, right, and he already has something to press on, later. ]

It doesn't matter if you can get out of any rope I tie you down in. It doesn't matter if while I'm choking you, you're trained enough to be lucid and conscious enough to do something like knee me in the stomach, or if you know how to disarm me even when I'm the one with a knife. The point is that you shouldn't have to rely on those things. You shouldn't have to rely on anything -- but me.

The point is for that surrender to be not just voluntary, but absolute.

[ For the control to be absolute, and honestly, more importantly? For the trust to be absolute. That matters to him. That's why he does this, even more than the thrill of inflicting pain or squeezing the air from someone's throat -- even though of course it's not like they play small parts. The trust just matters, most of all. ]

I'm sure you're very good at untying yourself, though.

[vorrutyer]

[ The wry annoyance fades from By's expression as Wash talks. He gives a short shrug when he says that, confirming - ]

Good enough that they had me run a special course on it for other informants. So, yes.

[ Which he says casually - though, truthfully, there hadn't been anything casual about that. He'd been so fiercely proud when they'd asked that of him. He likes being good at what he does. He likes it more than anything else in his life.

A moment, then - ]

And do you find that's actually the case? That random fucks you pick up in bars willingly trust you with their lives?

[protocol]

[ Wash does tip his head slightly at the mention of a special course, curious, maybe even faintly impressed. But he doesn't ask about it. Maybe some other time, he'll have to see that. He likes learning. ]

Not always, obviously, but more often than you'd think. Some people always hold back, that's just how it is, but some want that surrender as much as I want it from them. That's the ideal. Besides, it's not always something like this. Sometimes a quick fuck is just a quick fuck.

[ Though there's always some element of control or the other, when it comes to Wash. He can't exactly help himself. ]

I'm hoping this means that was enough proof for you?

[vorrutyer]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I'm simply questioning it. You pick up someone from a bar. You take them back. And then...? I'll grant that I'm a bit more paranoid than the average person, but even before I became ImpSec, I always did wonder at the back of my mind, first time I went home with someone, whether someone would murder me for fun. No one trusts completely the first time. Or the second or third time.

[protocol]

Just a bit more, I'm sure.

[ There's no bite to that, though, because. How could there be. Paranoia is his thing. ]

It's likely not absolute most of the time, though it probably still is sometimes. Regardless, that's still the aim. No reason to compromise on the ideal. Whether or not they actually do end up trusting me that far, they can, and then it's just a choice.

There's no point if it isn't voluntary. Forcing obedience isn't the same as being given it -- you live to serve, don't you? Willingly. Wouldn't be the same if you were conscripted on threat of your life or something.

[vorrutyer]

[ An ironic lift of his eyebrows. ]

No. I suppose not.

[ A beat. ]

Do you trust me, Washington?

[protocol]

In some ways.

[vorrutyer]

[ He rubs his mouth. There's genuine curiosity in his eyes. This isn't a test - or, well. It is a test, partially, but it's also a real desire to know. ]

If, say, what we liked were reversed. If you liked to be tied down, and I liked to do the tying. Would you trust me?

[protocol]

If you're asking that question literally, then no, given that I just had to explain to you what safe words are.

[ Sorry Byerly, but that's, you know. True. ]

But you aren't asking literally. [ Just looking up at him, for a moment, and genuinely; ] Yes.

[vorrutyer]

[ There's a little twitch in his face. Hard to interpret. It doesn't communicate much. After a moment, he asks Wash: ]

When Sonia demanded that you come rescue me. How did you feel about it?

[protocol]

I asked her where you were before even before she demanded it. The part she had to demand was coming along. I had Lucy memorize a safe route out of the base and I'd intended for them to escape together.

[ A beat. ]

And no, it wasn't because of Miles, either.

[vorrutyer]

[ He studies Wash's face a long time. Finally: ]

I'm a compromised asset. What was the point of saving me?

[protocol]

[ He's answering each of these questions readily, no hesitation, calm and easy, meeting Byerly's eye the whole time. ]

Your cover at the time was compromised, but that doesn't mean you're completely useless. Granted at the time I assumed you were trained as more than a civilian informant, but you'd still proven capable in that area, whether trained or not. Your cover in this one base was compromised, but there might've been uses for you elsewhere in the future, and your skills are broadly applicable enough that some niche would've been found eventually. You have contacts in Vorkosigan Vashnoi, they're less useful without you. You're still native, and more pointedly, native to the future. There's a lot you know that's useful to keep on hand.

[ There's a whole list of practical reasons, which he's sure Byerly's only partially interested in. A pause, then. ]

You cared about her. You thought I might try to kill you, went out of your way to try and safeguard yourself from it, but you took the risk to try and reach out to me, anyway. You went out of your way to make sure that I would protect her. You swore on your loyalty to your people and the Emperor who protects them.

[vorrutyer]

[ He's quiet a moment. Then he looks down and is quiet a moment more. And then he looks up again. ]

Do you have a knife on you?