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forbarrayar_ooc2017-04-18 09:11 pm
barrayarmods) wrote in forbarrayar_ooc2017-04-18 09:11 pm
[ april ii event results ]
BARRAYAR: Village Repairs / Eavesdropping / Raid: Cetagandan Uniforms / The Resistance
CETAGANDA: Eavesdropping / Satellite Launch / Investigation: Weapons Smuggling / Fast-Penta Interrogation: Sonia / Lab Notes / Gene Therapy / Undercover
NOTE: As has been mentioned before, I'm trying to freeform up some of the missions that have been historically divided into teams. I'm giving you guys some parameters and goals, along with the overall success/fail of the rolls, but rather than divide each group into teams, I'm instead giving you guys the freedom to figure out how you'd like to coordinate the mission and determine the details. If at any point you need or want details on a given situation, don't hesitate to hit me up, and as always, if you have questions I am here! Top-levels for events will still go up, but those are largely placeholder top-levels so that mission threads are easy to find. Feel free to start as many threads as you like under your mission top-level -- whatever you wind up having the most fun with! The Satellite Launch mission will have a Micah top-level prompt as well, as they are leading that mission.
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
| Village Repairs Agent York Duv Galeni Lavernius Tucker Agent Washington Miles Vorkosigan Agent Maine Ratchet Agent Carolina Nash Latkje Benjamin Sisko Eavesdropping Alpha Agent Washington Miles Vorkosigan Eavesdropping Bravo Lakshmi Bai Nash Latkje Raid: Cetagandan Uniforms Lavernius Tucker Agent Carolina Agent York Miles Vorkosigan The Resistance Agent York Duv Galeni Nash Latkje Agent Maine |
Flower-Viewing Party Tarn Pearl Symmetra Lapis Lazuli Vex'ahlia Natasha Romanoff Kaidan Alenko Deanna Troi Jasper Whirl Eavesdropping Lapis Lazuli Deanna Troi Satellite Launch Pearl Symmetra Natasha Romanoff Kaidan Alenko Investigation: Weapons Smuggling Vex'ahlia Byerly Vorrutyer Whirl Natasha Romanoff Fast-Penta Interrogation: Sonia Tarn Byerly Vorrutyer |
village repairs
| York - 17 Duv - 8 Tucker - 3 Wash - 7 Miles - 3 |
Maine - 10 Ratchet - 21 Carolina - 17 Nash - 16 Sisko - 17 |
Well, Ratchet might have some embarrassing disasters in his own field of expertise, but apparently he fixes a mean roof. Tucker and Miles, please go home and don't touch anything. However, despite some evident disasters, the outsiders are able to help rebuild some of the damaged homes in the village.
eavesdropping
TEAM ALPHA: Wash & Miles
Roll 1: Avoid detection - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Spot Negri - FAIL
Late at night on the 19th, near the war tent, Wash and Miles will be able to overhear the following conversation between two soldiers on the night shift:
"Dull tonight," remarks a soldier on night guard. He and his comrade are making a slow circuit around the inner perimeter of the camp. His uniform, less weathered than the guerrillas', marks him as one of Dorca's soldiers, and the tabs at his collar put him at the rank of private. "Is it always this dead at night? I thought Vorkosigan's District was supposed to be a real hot spot."
"Dull tonight," remarks a soldier on night guard. He and his comrade are making a slow circuit around the inner perimeter of the camp. His uniform, less weathered than the guerrillas', marks him as one of Dorca's soldiers, and the tabs at his collar put him at the rank of private. "Is it always this dead at night? I thought Vorkosigan's District was supposed to be a real hot spot."
"It is." The other man, a lieutenant by the color of his tabs, sounds terse. "Didn't you get briefed on our situation here? It's been hell for months."
The private gestures at his collar. "You think they let me in on any of those briefings? I only got the broad strokes, just like the rest of the grunts."
The lieutenant lets out a derisive noise. "Yeah, well, I hope the broad strokes included the Princess's kidnapping. How's that for dull?"
"Believe me, we've heard about it," the private says grimly. "Have you been anywhere near the Emperor since General Vorkosigan delivered that tidbit? If you think Vorkosigan's pissed, watch the Emperor for a bit. The only difference is that he's hell of a lot more composed about it."
The lieutenant grunts in concession. Neither of them sounds particularly buoyant about the situation. "What about the Crown Prince? I mean, he seems pissed enough."
"Yeah, he wears his rage like he wears his insignia," the private says grimly. "But he's been like that since before we left the capital district. That last battle, before we set out…"
The silence is uncomfortable, and like scratching an itch he can't ignore, the lieutenant asks roughly, "That when the Prince was killed?"
"When he died, yes," the private says, his turn to be terse. "Plasma cannon to the chest. Messy as hell, plasma fire. There was barely anything left of him to burn after the fact."
From the slightly nauseated tone to his voice, it sounds like the private was close enough to see Yuri's son die with his own eyes. But there's another underlying tension to his voice, the way he shifts stance, standing a little more stiffly.
"God," mutters the lieutenant. "And that was -- what -- when did the last one die? And the Princess with the Cetagandans… Dorca's hemorrhaging grandchildren at this rate."
"Little under a year. At least the Princess is still alive. And no disrespect to her Highness, but she's not Dorca or Yuri's biggest problem right now."
"Yah?"
"That was Yuri's last heir that died in Vorbarr Sultana last month."
"Yah?" the lieutenant repeats, more expectantly this time.
"And his wife passed two years ago," says the private pointedly.
"Yah?"
"You yah me one more time and I'm going to deck you, Vorbretten, rank be damned." But the private sounds more wary than he does annoyed. "I might be a Vorpatril, but I hardly ever set foot in that district. Lived in Vorbarr Sultana all my life. And when you live that close to the seat of government, you get to be all kinds of aware of just how nasty Vor politics can get at the top." He pauses, scratching his chin. "That, and my Da was Imperial Security at the Residence before the war."
"So what's the big fuss, then?" the lieutenant says glibly. "He'll get another wife, she'll pop out a few more heirs. He isn't even Emperor yet."
"You've been up in these mountains too damn long, Vorbretten," the private says witheringly. "We're in the middle of a frigging war, and the Crown Prince is one of Dorca's top generals. Yes, he ought to find himself a new wife, but he's not so young these days himself. What do you think happens if he dies before he produces another heir?"
"The Crown Prince title goes to Prince Xav, I suppose."
"You suppose." The private scoffs. "And you think Prince Xav is a spring chicken, do you?"
"He's got a son himself, doesn't he? Ought to be married by now, too."
"Prince Evgeny's been on Beta Colony since before the war started," the private says flatly. "And he mostly grew up there too, same as the Princesses, only they've spent the last ten years here. How do you think the Council would react to an heir who's barely spent a fraction of his life on Barrayar? They'd go into collective apoplexy at the mere idea of his ass grazing that camp stool."
The lieutenant narrows his eyes. "I thought you said you weren't in on any of the big briefings."
"You think I got all this out of a military briefing?" The private lets out a snort. "Vorbarr Sultana politics, my man. It's about reading the situation. And you don't have to be all that politically literate to see the tension. Everyone's nervous as hell about succession right now. 'Cause we're in a war, and the Emperor's in good health these days, and so is the Crown Prince, but so was his son, too, till he took that plasma cannon to the chest."
"Alright," the lieutenant says, drawn in, "let's say Yuri kicks it before he has another heir, and the Council won't accept Prince Evgeny as his heir -- can they do that?"
"Oh, they can," mutters the private. "They can riot, if nothing else. And don't think they'd be too keen on Prince Xav on the camp stool, either. Galactic wife, living on Beta Colony all those years -- he's not a much more appealing candidate than his son. But he at least knows Barrayar, and no one can question his loyalties, not when he's been risking his neck running back and forth through that blockade. But his son? Forget it. And his sons, assuming he's got any? They've never even seen Barrayar."
"What about Xav's daughters?" the lieutenant prods speculatively. "You just said it -- they've spent plenty of time on Barrayar. One of them's got to have a son one of these days. I'm surprised the General hasn't started on that yet. He doesn't exactly have an heir himself."
"You mean pass the camp stool through the female line?" The private sounds slightly appalled.
"Yah. That's how Dorca got on it, isn't it?"
"And you think the Council wants to let that become tradition? Get serious, Vorbretten. If Dorca hadn't near-singlehandedly united the Counts and finally put an end to the Bloody Centuries, no one would've stood for that, but who's going to tell that to him now? And there aren't a lot of progressives like Vorkosigan on the Council. Hell, I don't even think Vorkosigan's that progressive." The private shakes his head. "It's a tangled frigging mess right now, and if you so much as whisper the words female succession within earshot of Yuri, you'll watch him turn purple. He's just worked up about it as the rest of them, even if no one's telling. They'll get Yuri set up with another wife and heir as soon as they can find one, but mark my words, Vorbretten -- if Yuri dies before that happens, we might be in for another civil war."
…and that's all they'll get to hear before the guards start to get too close not to notice the eavesdropping.
+2 LP to Wash & Miles
TEAM BRAVO: Lakshmi & Nash
Roll 1: Avoid detection - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Spot Negri - SUCCEED
On the evening of the 21st, Lakshmi and Nash can overhear the following conversation from the war tent:
The tent flap to the war tent is left open this late, taking advantage of the clear weather to air all the tents out as much as possible after the long months of cold and confinement. Only Colonel Vorvolk and Piotr are inside at this hour, the braziers snuffed out, the only light coming from a few low-burning wax candles.
The tent flap to the war tent is left open this late, taking advantage of the clear weather to air all the tents out as much as possible after the long months of cold and confinement. Only Colonel Vorvolk and Piotr are inside at this hour, the braziers snuffed out, the only light coming from a few low-burning wax candles.
"I know things have gotten desperate, Vorkosigan," the Colonel is saying in a voice of suppressed exasperation, "but don't you think you've taken this a bit far?"
Piotr looks up from the table, his face all hard lines. These aren't good days to be testing the General Count's patience, not even if you're one of his most trusted staff. Sonia's kidnapping had him in a dark enough mood, but the death of Yuri's son -- none of it bodes well.
"A bit far?" Piotr repeats. His voice is clipped, edged.
"These -- outsiders, or whatever you're calling them. These strangers." The frown on Vorvolk's face is only deepened by the flickering candlelight, the shadows stretching. "We were badly undermanned after the split, too. The cold was hell, and while it sounds like you had far worse of the flu than we did, we still lost a few to the epidemic. I understand that. But to put it frankly, sir -- I think you place far too much trust in these outsiders. I've never thought you a gullible man, Vorkosigan -- you don't get as far as you have, do the things you've done by being a fool -- but you let them walk around this camp entirely unchecked."
"We kept them under guard for two weeks when they first arrived," Piotr says brusquely, turning his attention back to the table and the map he's studying. "Spoke with them, heard their stories -- as outlandish as they sounded at the time -- "
"They still sound outlandish," Vorvolk mutters. Piotr gives him an impatient look.
"So did the end of the Time of Isolation to our fathers. I know you've only just got back, Vorvolk, but it's been months. We were too undermanned to keep them all under guard for much longer, and it was obvious by then they weren't with the Cetagandans. I put them to work. And they worked. They have been. At this point, they've done just as much for this camp as any one of our soldiers in that time -- some of them more, even." His look turns withering. "Don't lecture me about trust, Vorvolk. These people tended to the sick and the dead with the rest of us, helped the villagers in Riverfall at our sides -- put their lives on the line, more than once."
"That you let them in on military operations is even more alarming to me," Vorvolk says abruptly, frowning at Piotr -- not angrily. He merely seems frustrated that either he doesn't understand, or Piotr doesn’t. "Crucial ones, at that! You've sent them into enemy territory -- you've enlisted some of them. God, Vorkosigan! I've known you all my life and I trust you with it, but hell if I can understand what's in in your head right now!"
Piotr looks over at his old friend, expression tight, nostrils flared. "If you'll trust me with your life, then you'd better hope you can trust my judgment, Vorvolk. I get it," he says, just as Vorvolk opens his mouth to object, and cuts him off with a smooth slicing motion with his hand. "You think I wasn't wary at first? Skeptical? But they've all risked themselves for us, for our cause, at one time or another. They outed Dmitri Vorhalas when they figured out he'd destroyed our food supply. They caught Aaron Vorbataille when he tried to flee, after we'd uncovered his treason. They penetrated enemy territory to steal medicine during the epidemic, to save lives, to do everything I've asked them so far. War makes brothers of us in weeks, Vorvolk, sometimes even days. You know that. And you question my judgment on this?"
"Some of them came from enemy territory."
"And they've worked twice as hard to earn my trust," Piotr shoots back.
"You've let a mutant into your army. You enlisted a woman," Vorvolk bursts out, incredulous. "You didn't just let her fight, you made her an Imperial Ranger and gave her a rank. And you think I shouldn't question your judgment?"
"That woman," Piotr says curtly, "is a queen, and a warrior in her own right. I trusted her with Olivia's life long before I let her into the Rangers. If you've ever seen her move, you'd hardly question me." A small, dangerous smile splits over Piotr's face. "Perhaps you should challenge her to single combat, Vorvolk, and see it firsthand."
"This isn't a laughing matter, Vorkosigan," Vorvolk says heatedly. "One of them is Komarran. Why is he even alive and walking around this camp? You should have killed him after his interrogation."
The small smile disappears. Open though he is to suggestion and criticism from his general staff, he doesn't appreciate being told what he should have done. "I interrogated the man myself. He actually believes we'll win. And he's put his life on the line since, too. I'm starting to get tired of repeating myself, Colonel."
"Do you imagine I'm the only skeptic here?" Vorvolk demands. "Dorca isn't keen on this either. Have you even spoken with him about this?"
Piotr doesn't answer directly. He's silent a moment, looking supremely displeased. "These people fight for a planet that, for the most part, is not their own. None of them had to fight. But they all have, time and again, and while I cannot claim to have no reservations at all, I will not repay honor with dishonor."
Vorvolk exhales long and slow through his nose, looking thoroughly flustered. "You are a man of honor, Vorkosigan," he says, "and I trust you with my life and then some. But I do not trust your outsiders." He slaps a hand down on the table in frustration before he turns and marches out of the tent.
…and that's about the point at which Lakshmi and Nash need to get gone before Vorvolk catches them spying. But before they leave, they'll spot Negri lurking around the corner, apparently having caught it all.
+2 LP to Lakshmi & Nash
raid: cetagandan uniforms
Roll 1: Procure at least 50 uniforms & face paint - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Extra supplies - FAIL
Miles, Tucker, Carolina and York are one of the squads put to the task of obtaining Cetagandan uniforms and face paint so that they can disguise some of their own soldiers in next month's attack. The infiltration is an ultimate success -- between all the squads, they manage to come up with fifty uniforms and accompanying face paint, but don't manage to get more than that. They do, however, manage to steal a small printed primer on Cetagandan face painting basics, apparently intended for children. The outsider team might run afoul of a Cetagandan patrol, but they're pretty badly undermanned, and the team ultimately makes a safe escape -- with help from the inside or without.
+2 LP to Tucker, Carolina, Miles & York
the resistance
Roll 1: Meet with underground civilian resistance and pass on Piotr's plans - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Avoid detection by occupying troops - SUCCEED
York, Duv, Nash & Maine are one among several squads sent to Vorkosigan Vashnoi to make contact with the underground resistance and pass on Piotr's plans for the upcoming coup. Piotr's instructions are as follows: locate an inn by the name of Madame Antoinette's and speak to the eponymous proprietor, a figure of influence in the underground resistance. Thanks to recent events and clashes between the exotics and outsiders in the city, the underground resistance is extra wary -- they'll have to convince her they are, in fact, from Piotr's army, using the passphrase maple delivery. She'll then take them to a private room in the cellar where they can speak more frankly.
Right now, Piotr asking the city dwellers to lie low and begin organizing and coordinating in preparation to retake the city, but it's made clear that they cannot act until they have gotten Zahal to recall his troops.
They manage to avoid detection by Cetagandan troops, but that doesn't mean there aren't obstacles to overcome: during their tour in the city, they'll encounter a few Cetagandan troops mercilessly bullying an elderly woman and her young granddaughter attempting to get back to their home after a day of errands. If they choose to intervene, they'll have to do so without revealing themselves as agents of Piotr's -- so choose carefully. And of course, there's always the chance of running into one of the coincidentally visiting exotics, but beware -- if a Barrayaran soldier sees an outsider talking with someone from the other side, especially if they're one of Vorvolk's or Dorca's men, they're likely to be very suspicious.
+2 LP to York, Duv, Nash & Maine
eavesdropping
Roll 1: Avoid detection - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Gain extra intel - FAIL
On the evening of the 24th, Deanna and Lapis will be able to overhear the following conversation in a conferencing room in the science/medical complex:
"So what does our Celestial Lady intend for the exotics?" Diya's voice in the conferencing room is soft and slightly echoed as she sets a cup of tea down with a delicate clink, but there's a stiffness to it. Folders of flimises and several data disks are arrayed on the table; what they're for, exactly, isn't clear, but the word ghem is on every data disk. Sei hovers opposite her in her iridescent force bubble. The two of them are alone in the room.
"So what does our Celestial Lady intend for the exotics?" Diya's voice in the conferencing room is soft and slightly echoed as she sets a cup of tea down with a delicate clink, but there's a stiffness to it. Folders of flimises and several data disks are arrayed on the table; what they're for, exactly, isn't clear, but the word ghem is on every data disk. Sei hovers opposite her in her iridescent force bubble. The two of them are alone in the room.
"I have yet to receive correspondence from Eta Ceta." Sei's voice, coming in flat through the force screen, almost sounds like a drawl. "I've scarcely been here a month. But I imagine she must still be deliberating. In the meantime, I've been given leeway to act in her stead, in my best judgment."
Tension creeps into Diya's voice. "She has placed great faith in you," she observes, as neutrally as she can, but there's a tightness in her throat that bleeds through. Her movements are stiff, stilted, almost awkward, a jarring look on her usual unshakable grace.
"Who else could she put such faith in?" It's a rhetorical question. The Handmaiden of the Star Crèche is not a position without influence, however invisible that influence may be. "No real plans can be made for the Star Gate yet, not until we know more about its capabilities, its potential…but the exotics themselves? Well, I should think we are already making use of them as our Celestial Lady would."
"The trials?"
"Indeed. As limited success as we have had -- " And there it is, a slight ripple of frustration in Sei's otherwise perfectly even voice. "They still show promise. As does Romanoff. Postpartum genetic modification is hardly an acceptable option for any Cetagandan, but there is much to learn from the exotics' genetic processes. As for the rest…"
She trails off dismissively.
"Does she then intend for these complexes to be incorporated into the ghem genome?" Diya asks stiffly.
"Diya, my dear," Sei murmurs, "don't sound so appalled. You talk as though the idea never crossed your mind." Diya is silent. Sei ignores her regardless. "She has no specific intentions for them at all, as of this point. It's too early to tell, and she is only just receiving my preliminary reports. There are certain risks associated with introducing any of these complexes to the ghem. We must keep them manageable. The Dowager Empress already feels that it's time to begin phasing out certain genes. Breeding that extra aggression into the ghem genome was for a purpose, but it's beginning to outlive it. In our Lady's opinion, of course."
"Of course." Diya still sounds stiff and almost choked, as though making mere small conversation is painful. "You speak with her voice here."
"Naturally."
"And on Eta Ceta?"
The force bubble is silent a moment, though whether in appalment, consideration, or hurt, it is impossible to tell. "She has no need of a second voice on Eta Ceta."
"So you speak with your own, then."
"Of course."
"And how closely does she listen?"
Diya's voice raises despite herself, growing slightly shaky. Sei's bubble hovers in silence around the table, approaching her. Diya recoils back slightly, and then she gets to her feet, as though ready to stand Sei down. But then the force bubble shimmers away, and Haut Sei steps off her float chair.
Diya's strikingly ethereal beauty catches the eye every time, but seeing Sei so suddenly unmasked is like looking into the sun, blindingly bright. Her pale hair drapes to the floor and trails a train around her feet. Diya flinches as Sei reaches out one slender hand.
"My dear Diya," she murmurs, and without the force screen her voice sounds impossibly rich. "Is there something you'd like to ask me?"
Diya's composure begins to slip entirely. She backs away from Sei's reach, her own voice seeming to grow rough in comparison to Sei's. "It was no coincidence I was culled when I was, was it?" Her voice shakes slightly. "Just before I was to join Shiki on Rho Ceta -- "
"Ghem-General Zefyst needed a haut wife," Sei says simply. Diya's hands clench into fists.
"And I was chosen. Just before I could leave."
"You were going to leave anyway," Sei says airily, but at Diya's sudden look, it's clear that was a slip, not calculated.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Diya's voice drops low, horrified, hurt. Sei smiles blindingly.
"Constellation culling is at the Dowager Empress's discretion. It was hardly my choice to make, Diya."
"But you recommended me, didn't you? You suggested me. You wanted me culled, sent away so that I could never return." Diya's voice breaks. "Why, Sei?"
"Because you were already gone." A flash of heat in Sei's voice. "She gets this consortship on Rho Ceta, and you decide to go with her? Bad enough that she leaves, but you too, Diya? You made your choice clear."
"My choice?" Diya says, shocked. "Sei, neither of us -- you had already accepted your position as Handmaiden. It was the realization of a dream. We couldn't have asked you to step away from that to come with us."
"Then you should have stayed!" Sei's raised voice sounds wrong, like a bell chimed too hard. "If I couldn't leave, then you should have stayed. But you chose her over me. You chose to leave me."
"Sei -- " Diya sounds angry by fractions now, frustrated. "What would I have done on Eta Ceta, if I had stayed? Your dream was realized. And then so was Shiki's -- both such coveted positions -- and where did it leave me? Shiki could have helped me realize mine, but the Star Crèche -- there was never a place for me on its inner council."
"You should have stayed."
"And then you cast me out!" There's a flash of anger and frustration in Diya's voice, volleyed back at Sei. "So -- what, so that Shiki could have no part of me either? Would you have done the same to Shiki, had it not been too late? Convinced the Dowager Empress to cast us both out, denied of all we'd worked for, of the only lives we'd known, never permitted to return?"
"No," Sei says, her musical voice suddenly going cold and minor key. "You said it yourself, Diya. There was no place for you in the Star Crèche's inner folds. But someone of such magnificent ability as Shiki -- the Dowager Empress would never have permitted her culling." Diya looks stricken, like a blow to the stomach. Sei continues, mercilessly. "But you? You were never the morning glory, Diya. You were the night-blooming jasmine, only ever blossoming in someone's shadow."
+2 LP to Deanna & Lapis
satellite launch
Roll 1: Successfully launch satellite - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Collect additional data during trip - SUCCEED
Micah leads the team of
Once the satellite is launched and they connect to its scanning systems, some things will be immediately evident: for instance, the field that's been projecting people to the planet surface (tentatively nicknamed the Niadem field after its primary discoverer) is actually at its weakest at the planet's surface and growing weaker over time. This means that in addition to creating an adjusted Necklin field for the Star Gate, they'll also have to fid a way to strengthen the Niadem field on the planet surface. The decreasing particle activity in the Niadem field suggests that whatever phenomenon brought the extrauniversals here may be beginning to wane.
+2 LP to Pearl, Symmetra, Natasha & Kaidan
investigation: weapons smuggling
Roll 1: Locate underground resistance cell - SUCCEED
Roll 2: Gain conclusive information about weapons smuggling operation - FAIL
Thanks to the nearly-intercepted weapons smuggling operation earlier in the month, Zahal is sending parties into Vorkosigan Vashnoi to investigate. The exotics team will be in the city from the 22nd to the 23rd. Their instructions are to track down one of the resistance cells the Barrayarans made contact with earlier in the month and shake them down for information about the rest of the underground resistance and, if possible, about Piotr's operations and whereabouts.
The team, potentially aided by the fact that Byerly is a Barrayaran native, is able to squeeze enough information out of civilians to track back to either the bar or smithy the outsiders met at earlier in the month without too much difficulty. Unfortunately, when they make contact, as soon as the civilians realize the exotics are working for the Cetagandans they'll make a quick getaway, eluding interrogation, though there might be quite the scuffle in the process.
There is, of course, always the chance of running into someone you know from the other side, but don't get too distracted from the mission -- after all, the citizens aren't feeling too friendly to Cetagandan sympathizers.
+2 LP to Vex, Byerly, Whirl & Natasha
fast-penta interrogation: sonia
Roll: Interrogation proceeds without any major disruptions - FAIL
Princess Sonia's fast-penta interrogation was always a matter of when, not if, and on the 18th the time has finally come. The ghem-major conducting the interrogation has allowed Byerly and Tarn to sit in, and potentially offer insight or even their own lines of inquiry where appropriate. Sonia isn't allergic to fast-penta, and so the interrogation should proceed smoothly -- except it doesn't. There is some major disruption during the interrogation -- an untimely outburst, or perhaps another reaction to the fast-penta -- whatever it is, it doesn't go very smoothly at all.
+1 LP to Tarn & Byerly
lab notes
Natasha, Symmetra, Kaidan and Deanna, as lab assistants, will learn the following about the Star Gate Project:
Data collected from the satellite confirms the findings that the Niadem field is beginning to grow weaker over time, and that they will need to find a way to strengthen it from the planet's surface. Micah theorizes that this could be done with a set of modified Necklin rods, but with this new piece of the puzzle comes a new knot in their power supply problem. The power needed to generate not only a Necklin field and an EM field to prevent interference, but a Niadem field as well, would cause an unreasonable drain on the base's power generators. Micah proposes instead that they build the Star Gate into an existing jump ship to take advantage of its power source and already conveniently-placed Necklin rods, but the Cetagandans are reluctant to essentially junk so expensive and precious asset as a jump ship for this.
The satellite also yields insight into what, exactly, is happening with the wormhole. As far as Micah can tell, when the wormhole collapsed several centuries ago, it caused another tear in spacetime, though this one is much less stable, and instead of punching through to another spacetime location in this universe, it seems to be punching through to a variety of other universes. The activity generated in the wormhole emanating as the Niadem field is blasting out the other end of the wormhole in unstable waves that ebb and flow, which create a kind of tidal drag effect -- Micah's current theory is that the Niadem field on the other side catches people as it expands, but the "tide" recedes, it could pull others in on the ebb. This "drag" could account for people appearing from the same universe but different points in time.
gene therapy
The first round of trials went alright. This round did…not.
Pearl's case is, perhaps, the least catastrophic this month, which…is not saying much. No visible progress is made in advancing her physical durability beyond human capability, and after the most recent round of trials, she begins developing small flare-ups of neuropathic-like pain lasting a few hours at a time.
Lapis's case is…bad. Her hydrokinetic powers actually begin to regress a little, though not completely, and the migraines are no longer directly tied to her immediate use of her powers -- now she just sometimes gets migraines.
Natasha's case is not any better off. No progress whatsoever is made on her healing factor -- in fact, Natasha is showing signs of developing mild hemophilia.
undercover
Byerly Vorrutyer
Roll: Maintain cover - FAIL
Not only does Byerly fail to maintain his cover this round, he fails spectacularly. (Way to roll a 2, buddy.) The Cetagandans always had their suspicions about Byerly, but chose to allow them to play out -- but now that it's made clear, he'll be hauled into holding and slated for fast-penta interrogation.
Natasha Romanoff
Roll: Maintain cover - SUCCEED
Natasha doesn't have any difficulty keeping her informant status secret from the Cetagandans. It probably helps that she is an actual spy.
Please comment if you have any questions! NPC starters will go up for each mission top-level with the IC log as usual, and, as always, here are the rolls for this event. All rolls are d20 unless noted otherwise; the skill ratings of 1-4 are converted into modifiers of -1 to 2. The number of people in each group is also added to the total modifier.
And don't forget to take down your new LP! As of this post, event LP is immediately granted and you can go hit up the loyalty perks page if you so choose.
| +5 LP | Miles Vorkosigan Nash Latkje Natasha Romanoff Agent York |
| +3 LP | Pearl Symmetra Lapis Lazuli Vex'ahlia Kaidan Alenko Deanna Troi Agent Carolina Whirl Byerly Vorrutyer Duv Galeni Lavernius Tucker Agent Washington Agent Maine |
| +2 LP | Tarn |
| +1 LP | Ratchet Jasper Benjamin Sisko |