barrayarmods: (Default)
For Barrayar mods ([personal profile] barrayarmods) wrote in [community profile] forbarrayar2016-12-20 10:13 am

[ january i log: cetaganda ]

Who: Everyone
What: Arrival on Barrayar and what follows
When: January 2nd - January 17th
Where: Cetagandan base
Warnings: None (at the moment)


welcome to barrayar.
It's the dark of night when you come to beyond the foothills. Snow on the ground, chill winter wind whistling. A steep mountain range towers overhead, its peaks illuminated by the light of two moons, and the foothills behind you ascend quickly into rocky mountain faces. Whatever you last remember, it isn't how you got here, and you feel oddly jetlagged, slightly queasy.

And you're not alone. There are nine other people close by, all looking equally lost and confused. But before any of you have a chance to figure out what's going on, the soldiers arrive.

They're fitted with what look like futuristic tactical vests and armed with some kind of energy weapons that look deadlier than not. They surround you at gunpoint, dealing orders in intelligible English, but with some obscure, unplaceable accent, and their faces are colored with vivid paint. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that you are not the people they at first assumed -- something about Barrayarans, the barbarians in the mountains. The one who seems to be in charge steps away to murmur into what looks like a wristwatch-like communicator. After a minute or two of inaudible conversation, the officer steps back in. He orders his men to escort you all back to their base. As long as you cooperate, that's all that will happen.


the base
You are taken back to a military base of considerable scale and some serious fortification. There are two rounds of guard checks to go through, both taking what must be a lot longer than usual, and it's cold out. You are ushered past the guard checks into what looks like a barracks building, but relegated to a bunk on one end. They seem to have cleared the immediate area, with guards posted at the door, but there's audible activity beyond the short hallway in front of the door. They make it clear you are not under arrest, that you are merely being detained until they have ascertained the situation -- the word quarantine is used, but it doesn't seem to be of a medical sort. Either way, the only people who come to the bunk are those cleared by the guards, and they all seem much more interested than hostile.

They answer your questions with the very basic facts: the people who hold custody of you are the military service of the Cetagandan Empire, and the planet you are on is their Ninth Satrapy, and they're currently at odds with some of the native population. They won't say it outright, but it's clear they have no clue how you came to be here or why, but it's clearly of great interest to them. For the most part, the Cetagandan soldiers are civil, if at times distant and aloof, but if you look a little less -- or more -- than human, they'll eye you with visible curiosity, perhaps even some kind of appreciation.

At daylight, a few women in lab coats and the same face-paint as the soldiers come to the room to escort you across the base to the nearby medbay, two or three at a time. The medbay is an intimidatingly sterile and state-of-the-art facility, all gleaming chrome and polished glass and crisp holo displays. You are taken in one at a time for a physical examination -- they have to make sure you haven't brought any foreign contagions into their base, after all -- but the military physician isn't the only base personnel in the exam room. You hear the word exotic tossed around a few times until they realized they're talking about you. They call you the exotics.


the exotics room
For a military bunk, it's in surprisingly tasteful design. The room sleeps a dozen soldiers, so you even have a little bit of room to yourself, and while the furnishings are relatively spartan, they're hardly uncomfortable. If you're in need of clothing, the soldiers will bring you base fatigues – no rank insignia, of course, but the make of the textile is surprisingly fine.

You're served food at mealtimes, a combination of shelf-stable meal rations and what seems to be fresh food, all prepared with unusual artistry for a military base. There's a sophistication to the preparation that seems more like it belongs in a four-star restaurant than a military base. If you have any special medical needs, they'll do their best to attend to them -- and their medicine seems impressively advanced.

Soldiers and scientists alike come to the room every so often to ask you questions, more like interviews than interrogations, but behind the civility there's a burning intellectual curiosity. They seem intent on knowing as much as you'll tell them, and then some.

The nearest bathroom is at the end of the hall, and while they seem to have cleared the area of all other personnel, showers and baths are scheduled, and any trips to the restroom are chaperoned. The guards, while not hostile, are certainly not interested in letting you escape. You could try sneaking past them, but you probably won't get far.

Well, at least you've got each other for company: the exotics on the Ninth Satrapy.
asafepairofhands: (human - what the hell)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-03 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
"They--" He checks himself almost seamlessly, cursing internally. "We were only on one planet last time I checked, at any rate, except for one or two special cases. I've never set foot on a 'warp pad,' so I don't know how that accounts for my being dumped here. I was just standing around, and I woke up outside, freezing."
mirrortide: (084)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-03 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
"I have no clue then." She's just a Lapis Lazuli, that stuff isn't her business. The correction does get her to raise an eyebrow, but she doesn't comment further than that. "Either way, I'm going back to earth as soon as I can get my water working again."
asafepairofhands: (human - what the hell)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-03 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
Ratchet blinks, staring at her attentively, but what she just said doesn't resolve itself into anything that makes sense, even after he waits a beat.

"Your what, excuse me?"
mirrortide: (093)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-03 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Water. I have water powers." Which no one could have ever guessed, considering the fact that she's blue. "All I need is to get them working again and i'm out of here."
asafepairofhands: (human - shock)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-03 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
"You have... water powers. Which include what, exactly?"

Ratchet's tone is carefully polite before what she's saying really penetrates and he frowns again.

"And you had them before, but they're gone since you got here? How do you intend to get them working again?"
mirrortide: (093)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-04 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Anything I wanted." Gosh, water powers is a broad list of things. And Lapis can do all of them. "I don't know. There's probably some sort of anti-gem force field or something. But as soon as I'm let go I'm out of here." She's going to fly all the way to Earth.
asafepairofhands: (human - what the hell)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-04 01:32 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, you seem to have this place all figured out, in that case," Ratchet says, settling back. "You're certainly one leg up on the rest of us, in that case."
mirrortide: (086)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-07 05:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Why does she get the feeling she's being mocked? She's being mocked, isn't she? Lapis shoots him a glare. "I have this place as much figured out as any of you. They can't keep us here forever." Well, they can, but Lapis has been doing her best to do whatever she's told in the hopes that if she's compliant enough she'll be let go.
asafepairofhands: (human - hello)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-10 12:59 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't see why not," Ratchet says lightly, watching Lapis glare at him. "They certainly don't look like they're hurting for space or supplies."
mirrortide: (097)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-10 01:17 am (UTC)(link)
... Okay, he has a point. "They have better things to do on this planet than look after a bunch of outsiders." Is all she has. Of course, being a prisoner until inevitable death isn't exactly a pleasant thought either. "If we do what they say, they'll let us go."

It's really all she has.
asafepairofhands: (human - shock)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-10 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Ratchet looks at her hard, but she doesn't appear to be joking and his brow furrows.

"They might let us go," he says slowly. "But if it happens, I don't think that will be why."
mirrortide: (097)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-10 01:25 am (UTC)(link)
"It's better than fighting against them. If we cause a fuss we'll make things worse for ourselves." Just. Do as you're told. If they do they'll be fine. Even if they aren't let go right away, if they listen to what their captors say things won't get worse, right?

Oddly enough, Lapis can recall feeling the same way she had when she had been trapped in a mirror. But these are Humans, not Gems. And she isn't cracked. She can speak, say what she needs to. It should be fine, right?

Her shoulders hunch together as she tenses.
asafepairofhands: (human - pissed)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-10 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, they sedated Daryl, I disrecommend it. Though he seemed like maybe he could need a bit of a break."

Ratchet shifts forward, leaning his knees on his elbows and looking up at her, trying to ignore how weird his clothes feel against his skin.

"How are you holding up, otherwise? If you don't need to eat, do you get energy some other way?"
mirrortide: (097)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-10 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
"No. Gems take everything they need before they come out of the ground." And leave said ground lifeless and barren all around, because that's just how her species rolls.

"I'm fine." She's not.
asafepairofhands: (human - what the hell)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-10 02:12 am (UTC)(link)
Ratchet snorts a laugh and shakes his head.

"I don't think any of us is 'fine' just now, whatever else we are. This sure as hell isn't my idea of a vacation, at any rate."
mirrortide: (097)

[personal profile] mirrortide 2017-01-10 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't care. I just want to go home." She's so tired of having a home and then having it taken from her, whatever the reason. "Don't make trouble. Just do what they say."
asafepairofhands: (human - tired)

[personal profile] asafepairofhands 2017-01-10 03:07 am (UTC)(link)
Ratchet's eyes linger on Lapis for a moment before he looks away, rubbing slowly at one of the thick scars wrapping both his wrists.

"Yeah," he says quietly, sounding tired. "...yeah. Not really interested in making trouble, at any rate. I'm just not convinced it'll help."