[ may ii ooc info/signups ]

[barrayarmods]

Quick links: Barrayar / Cetaganda / Missions

Signups will close at midnight PST on May 18th (this deadline is, as ever, pretty flexible) so that I have a day to write up the results and the log.

Last round was a lot of action in a short span of time. The Barrayarans finally launched their attack on the Cetagandan base, and to great effect -- they not only took down the main and backup power generators and did a hell of a lot of property damage, they also managed to rescue Sonia and Byerly. This has left the Cetagandans even more badly undermanned than they were before, and now preoccupied with repairs to the base and trying to patch up the giant holes in their security hole -- and they're also furious, especially Zahal. But the Barrayarans have already succeeded in the first part of their plan -- what can he possibly do now?

barrayar
The jubilant atmosphere in the Barrayaran camp doesn't die out, but it does shift back into the sense of intense focus on their next task, their exhilarating victory driving them forward. The attitudes toward the outsiders are gradually lightening -- the fact that two of them rescued Princess Sonia has gone a long way toward fostering good will. While Prince Yuri and Colonel Vorvolk are still staunch their position of mistrust, Dorca is now openly showing support for Piotr's decision, tipping the balance of politics among the top brass -- which always has a trickle-down effect. But it's a slow spread, and while some of the other soldiers have turned entirely grateful to the outsiders for their part in the attack, for most of them they're only just starting to tone down the hostility. But the shift in atmosphere, however gradual, is clear: the outsiders are starting to fall back into favor with the soldiers.

Vorvolk himself still remains unconvinced, and in the downtime between briefings, can be seen frequently in conference with Piotr, and they don't often look to be in agreement. The fact that the body of Falco Vorkalloner, one of the more vocal anti-outsider dissidents, was found dead shortly before the attack only throws things into hotter contest: although as far Lakshmi and Sisko, the ones to discover the body, reported to him, it appeared to be an accidental death. Colonel Vorvolk remains suspicious considering the timing, but a funeral for Vorkalloner complete with death offerings is held on the 19th. If one is positioned correctly in certain circles, too, one may overhear more talk about the increasingly tense succession politics – talk, say, about finding Yuri a new wife so he can produce another heir. Yuri, perhaps surprisingly, seems reluctant.

Lapis has requested a note be delivered to Sonia through the villagers, and Sonia rushes to show it to Piotr. While the gene therapy trials weren't news – and subsequently dire conclusions could be drawn from it – any deals with Jackson's Whole are news, and dangerous at that. If the Cetagandans release the outsiders' gene complexes to the Jacksonians, they might as well be releasing them into the wild: there'll be no hope of permanently recovering them. Piotr is going to want the his handlers to pass on this information to their informants so that they can keep an eye out for any new developments or ways to sabotage the deal.

Scouts are sent to Vorkosigan Vashnoi to further coordinate their efforts with the civilian underground resistance in the city and move on to the next step in their plans to retaking the city. The attack on the base had been meant to force Zahal to withdraw some of his troops from the city, and it works – except that according to Barrayaran intelligence, by May 21st he has recalled the entire occupying force from Vorkosigan Vashnoi.

At approximately three o'clock in the morning on May 22nd, the night sky goes ablaze with a sudden flash of light. The sound of the explosion doesn't follow for another minute, but even at night, the mushroom cloud is clearly visible from the mountains. And even at night, given the vantage point, it's clear that this means only one thing: the Cetagandans have just bombed Vorkosigan Vashnoi.

cetaganda
Thanks to the Barrayarans' extremely effective sabotage, there's no hope of getting the main or backup power generator back in operating oder until their next supply drop arrives with reinforcements -- still weeks away. Most of the base is without power, which also means no running water, no refrigeration, and no way of recharging their weapons' power packs. As much is being done by daylight as possible, including pre-preparing meals -- still a mix of MREs and fresh food, but especially the latter, as they have no way of keeping it from spoiling, but when they run out of fresh food from the Grow Labs, the base's denizens are stuck with MREs and rather unpalatable ration bars. Thankfully, the water treatment plant has a considerable buffer, so while they may not have running water, they do at least have some manually retrievable potable water for the time being. Hey folks, if you ever wondered what it's like for the Barrayarans roughin' it up out there in the mountains, here is a tiny fraction of what that's like.

The one building that does still have power is the building containing the medbay and gene labs, powered by the secondary backup generator that clearly exists for that express purpose: if all else fails, protect the interests of the Star Crèche. However, even with the base's population reduced, there are still thousands of people who need power, and Zahal is in heated argument with the haut over redirecting power from the secondary backup generator to other vital base functions. The secondary backup generator does not possess the capacity to power the entire base, but some of its power could definitely be rerouted to select other areas. By May 21st, the barracks and mess have limited power -- just barely enough to get running water and the most basic of kitchen functions running. A little bit of power is rerouted to one of the undamaged research buildings for continued research on the Star Gate Project, since it's of nearly as much interest as the genetics research.

By May 21st, Zahal has recalled the entire occupying force from Vorkosigan Vashnoi. This means a couple thousand soldiers have now returned to the base, but they're still badly undermanned. Reinforcements are slated to arrive along with a supply drop at the start of next month, but until then, it's time to make do. Some of the repairs can at least be started manually, so any off-duty soldiers and willing and able bodies will be asked to lend a hand to start fixing up some of the base now that it's more cleaned up.

At approximately three o'clock in the morning on May 22nd, the night sky goes ablaze with a sudden flash of light. The sound of the explosion doesn't follow for another minute, but even at night, the mushroom cloud is clearly visible from the upper perimeter of the base. And even if you don't have the vantage point to see it for yourself, it doesn't take long for word to get around: the Cetagandans have just bombed Vorkosigan Vashnoi.

missions
Barrayar: Corral Roundup +2 LP
SKILLS: EQUESTRIANISM, PHYSICAL
Oh no! Something seems to have gone awry at the stables -- either the cold took more of a toll on the makeshift structure than anyone realized, or maybe there was some mischief at play, but several of the horses have gotten loose, and the soldiers need help rounding them back up. If any of them get away, Piotr will be pissed. Signups are unlimited.

Cetaganda: Base Repairs +2 LP
SKILLS: TECH, ENGINEERING, PHYSICAL
Exotics helped clean up in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but now it's time to try and repair what they can before the supply drop and reinforcements come in. Not everyone has access to powered tools, given the power shortage, but hey, sometimes all you need is some good old-fashioned muscle and a little elbow grease. Signups are unlimited.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[barrayarmods]

[dendarii]

QUESTION. Given that Miles laid out this exact sequence of events re: Vorkosigan Vashnoi, he is going to panic HARD when Cetaganda withdraws.

Could we do something with that? Miles' gut instinct is to involve Piotr and try to get him to pull people/use soldiers to get out, but I can avoid that. I think it'd be fun to organize a last-ditch evacuation effort even if it's just among the outsiders, especially since there isn't a specific event this month. And again, doesn't have to involve Piotr/Barrayar finding out (tho either way Miles may have to explain himself afterwards).

[barrayarmods]

I WILL GIVE THIS SOME THOUGHT but the timetable is such that there isn't really time; by the time they know that they're all out, it'll be too late, because it's about a half a day on horseback between the camp and Vorkosigan Vashnoi. Piotr's goal has been to get them to pull out for some time, so they're expecting the Cetagandans to; he just wasn't counting on all of them. He is likely to respond to that intelligence by sending a scout right back to investigate, but there won't be time to put together a last-minute rescue.

[dendarii]

DAMN. I was wondering how far away VV is. (Break into the Cetaganan base and steal a ship?? That would just add time probably.)

Can Miles still go to Piotr with the info (confession?) without derailing your plot? I'm alright with consequences on Miles' end, I'd just really like him to try to do something even if it's doomed.

[barrayarmods]

DEPENDS when exactly would Miles go to him about this?

[dendarii]

Probably the first moment he heard about Cetaganda withdrawing completely.

[barrayarmods]

HMMM after thinking about this I think I'd rather not, mostly because I want it to be a total shock to Piotr for character reasons.

[dendarii]

All right, so ... Can he try to gear up some kind of evacuation effort without telling Piotr but be too late to do anything? Or if you have any other thoughts I'm super open to suggestions. This is a pretty major character moment for Miles too, and you know he'd try to pull something outrageous, successful or not.

[barrayarmods]

I don't want you to miss out on a big character moment for Miles, so he can totally try and throw something together last minute if he keeps it on the DL, but no one will be able to make it to the city before the bomb is dropped. The report on the evacuation of the occupying forces is going to be coming later in the day, so he'll have all of an evening to try and gather some of the outsiders and convince them to go off on a rescue plan before the bomb drops. For obvious reasons, we can't have Miles or any of the PCs get all that close to Vorkosigan Vashnoi when the bomb hits otherwise, since, yk, they'll die or at least wind up significantly injured. So trying to gather a ridiculous last-minute rescue party isn't off the table, as long as it's kept to PCs (again, don't want any NPCs with premature knowledge), and they can even manage to sneak out of camp at night, but they're probably not going to get far before they see the explosion.

BUT THAT MEANS MORE DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MILES

Given that they were counting on Zahal to pull troops, would Miles have kept his mouth shut on any objection to the strategy they've been running with? Because if he'd have been protesting the strategy on principle/from the start then I want to be able to make note of it.

[dendarii]

YEAH NO getting people killed would be. Bad. I'm figuring a panicked evening trying to pull together what he can... and just barely setting foot out of camp as the bomb goes off. As long as he gets to try, I'm super okay with him failing. I can keep it to PCs as well - Miles will be frantic and in no mood to try and explain himself to any Barrayarans anyway, so that will work.


Re: strategy: he won't be against retaking VV per se, but he will be noticeably reluctant about committing more troops to the city with that reluctance ratcheting up to outright advising against it the more he hears that Cetacanda is pulling out. The tipping point is still the full withdrawal, but you better believe he'll start acting screwy before that point. He just doesn't know for sure the city is doomed until Cetaganda's gone. I am A+ okay with him reading weird to anyone watching, especially if it leads to interesting consequences.

Thank you for working with me on this btw, I don't want to derail anything obviously. (But this is one of the few events he can actually predict, so I wanted him to do something, even if it's futile.)

[barrayarmods]

That sounds good! For the record, they haven't been committing troops to the city -- just sending scouting parties back and forth to communicate/coordinate with the civilian resistance there. Posting troops while there's still an occupying force would be too risky, but whatever objection Miles raises, it will be pointed out to him that they want Cetaganda to pull out. (There won't be any news of Cetaganda pulling out until after the attack anyway; prior to that, Zahal was strengthening the occupying presence in Vorkosigan Vashnoi.)

And of course! There are obvs things that need to be kept on a certain track, but as a mod/GM I try to find creative ways to say yes before I say no.

[dendarii]

Gotcha! He will still quietly object to increased civilian activity, and get mildly (for Miles, anyway) agitated at mentions of Cetaganda pulling out, even hypothetical.

I am still real grateful, ty. :|d

BARRAYAR: CORRAL ROUNDUP +2 LP

[barrayarmods]

Signups are unlimited. Please rate your character's proficiency in EQUESTRIANISM or PHYSICAL, whichever is higher, from 1 to 4.

[dendarii]

4 for equestrianism! Like. Super 4. Miles probably worked with the descendants of these exact horses.

[shri]

HORSES 4. RUBS FACES ON HORSES HAPPILY.

[latkje]

Horses 3!

[thesisko]

so, horses is no but physical is 3

[protocol]

Phys 4!

CETAGANDA: BASE REPAIRS +2 LP

[barrayarmods]

Signups are unlimited. Please rate your character's proficiency in TECH, ENGINEERING, or PHYSICAL, whichever is higher, from 1 to 4.

MAYBE SHE WILL ROLL BETTER THIS TIME DAMMIT

[durango]

Tech 4

[mirrortide]

tech is 2

i dont know what anyone expects of her at this point

[symmetricks]

Tech & Engineering are both 4.

Re: CETAGANDA: BASE REPAIRS +2 LP

[standsentinel]

Now that I have finished making patios IRL, Kaidan should make stuff on Barrayar.

Tech 4 for the Alenko.

[moneytwin]

Vex canonly is a bit of a limp noodle, in spite of being a long bow archer and having upper body strength to fire arrows. So we'll go with a low end 2 in tech. She's good at fetching, finding and lending assistance where directed, at least!