test drive meme

[barrayarmods]

Playlists by tsarcasm:
Barrayar ⚔ Cetaganda ⚔ The Invasion

Have you read the FAQ?

The Village ⚔ The Barrayaran Camp ⚔ The Cetagandan Base ⚔ The Fight

You've been on Barrayar for a while now, and you're finally starting to adjust. Or maybe you're not. Maybe this is all still too much for you – the attacks, the constant raids, living in the middle of a war zone by no choice of your own. But if you want to live long enough to make it back home one day, you might as well do what you can to help the war effort. Besides, where else are you going to go?

The fierce Barrayaran winter rages even to the southern end of the continent, and it's been none too kind to Vorkosigan's District. Temperatures at sea level are well below freezing, and up in the mountains, it's even colder. Several inches of snow already blanket most of the mountains all the way down to the Cetagandan base, and the storm that's just started up is only bringing more down. Visibility is low in the flurries, wind swirling snow everywhere, and God help you if you get lost on your own out in the storm. Nights are cold, these days.

A recent attack on the Cetagandan base has left half their facilities damaged and in disarray. Raid parties snuck in by night, planting bombs in previously scouted locations for maximum effect. Damage to the base's water treatment plant and organic grow labs have considerably impacted the Cetagandans' food and water supply, and in the chaos caused by the explosions, the Barrayaran guerrillas raided their medbay and made off with a considerable bounty of medical supplies. One man's bane is another man's boon, and while the Cetagandans have reserve supplies to sustain them for now, some of the damage is extensive and the repairs will take time. But in the meantime, the Barrayarans have scored a precious victory as well as equally precious resources.



the village
The Riverfall villagers are used to the harsh winters of the Dendarii mountains, and though they don't have much themselves, they are happy to offer what they can in terms of cold-weather clothing and extra blankets to those allied with the guerrillas. Despite the cold, the hill children are going wild in the snow, and they may try to lure you into their play by sneakily pelting you with snowballs.

Cetagandan allies, however, may not be met so warmly, and at the first sight of ghem soldiers, any children out playing in the snow will be immediately ushered into their homes. Unaccompanied outsiders from the Cetagandan base might have an easier time talking to the hillfolk, but any attempt at digging information about the guerrillas out of them will get you stonewalled fast. A sneaky hill child or two may steal away from their home to approach one of the "bad guy" outsiders to sate their curiosity.



the barrayaran camp
Morale is higher than it has been in a while after their recent victory, and the guerrillas are in high spirits. And do they ever love their spirits – as night falls, most of the Barrayarans gathered around the campfires are enjoying the deceptively named, dangerously alcoholic moonshine they call maple mead. It might start out sweet, but it burns all the way down, and a few glasses of that stuff will tank even the heaviest Barrayaran soldier.

But the storm rages on despite their celebration, and preparations must be made. Clearing as much snow off the tents as possible will help ensure that no tents collapse overnight, the horses need to be tended to, and the officers are always running training drills. Food is in real supply now, but the guerrillas need help foraging and hunting nonetheless. And when night falls, you'll have to find a way to keep yourself warm – it's a good thing there are a cozy ten of you to a tent.



the cetagandan base
The Cetagandans outnumber their guerrilla enemies almost seventy-to-one, so their base has not been completely devastated, but it hardly looks to be the work of a few raiding parties. Nothing is beyond repair, but the water treatment plant has been taken offline, which means that all water is now locally sourced and must be treated by hand with purification tablets. No one in the base will starve, but fresh food is mostly unavailable until they get the grow labs back online, which means that meals are mostly comprised of ration bars and MREs. Morale isn't exactly at an all-time low, but none of the ghem officers seem to be in a good mood.

They won't hesitate to put you to work, either. They need all the engineers and laborers they can get for the grow labs and the treatment plant, and the medbay's inventory needs to be thoroughly audited before they can send a request for more supplies. But if you need a break, it's not too hard to slip away for a little quiet downtime. Some of the lower-ranked ghem ladies might let you participate in some more artistic activities, or maybe some of the enlisted soldiers who are a little more used to you by now might invite you into one of their Cetagandan games of strategy. Or, since the treatment plant only affected potable water, you could appreciate your comfortable surroundings and take a nice hot soak in the bathroom while everyone else is working.


the fight
PVP
You're in the midst of a skirmish with the other side -- maybe you signed up for the battle, maybe you just got caught up in the fight -- but at least it's easy to tell who's on what side. Only one side is wielding swords, and the other guns.

But then you come across someone who doesn't look like they're either -- not one of the rugged Barrayarans or the face-painted Cetagandans, but an outsider, an exotic like you. They must be. So do you fight?

RECON
Maybe you're not on the front lines, but there's plenty more to winning the war than just fighting. You're partnered with another outsider on recon; the ground is cold, and you try not to let your shoes crunch too loudly on snow as you scout, scanning for patrols or supply lines.

Or maybe you're with the Cetagandans, hiking it thorugh the mountains with one of your fellow exotics in an attempt to locate the enemy camp. Except it's damned cold, and there's hidden ice everywhere, and everything is starting to really look the same.

--

Feel free to write prompts for your character on either side -- you don't have to choose just one for the TDM! Just label it clearly so folks know. GO WILD, MY FRIENDS

Comments

b

[vorbratta]

The younger Princess, suffering from what she's convinced might be a fatal case of cabin fever, is stepping through the snow in thick boots, her heavy wool skirt hiked up to avoid getting the hem wet. Luckily at 5'9, her height spares her the extra effort of trudging through thick snow. The flurries that have been going on since last night have added an inch or two. She's pointedly ditched her Armsman bodyguard for a little me-time, a rather vintage-looking camera tucked under one arm.

But she hears the sudden rush of snow and turns, blinking snowflakes away from her eyelashes. Oh, it's that little man she's been seeing around camp. The one all the soldiers have been making hex signs at. The man's clearly a mutant by Barrayaran definition, but Sonia's Betan half is sensible enough not to take that all too seriously.

And either way, the man's buried under a modest mountain of snow and clearly needs some help. Stifling a rather un-princesslike snort, Sonia kicks her way through the snow to him, reaching for his hand. "Here -- " She's not particularly strong, but she's got plenty of leverage and the man isn't exactly heavy, and she manages to pull him at least halfway out.

[dendarii]

Good enough for Miles, who really just needed a little leverage. He stumbles out of the snowbank and nearly on top of Sonia. Only a last minute rebalancing saves him from an embarrassing plunge. (It's a bit embarrassing to be pulled out of such a silly situation anyway - he'd thought he'd made peace with his stature by the age of thirty, but the constant dark looks and hex signs have been demoralizing--)

As he looks up to thank his savior, he freezes. He knows that face. Has seen it in portraits, the limited holo recordings remaining from this period... If he looks utterly gobsmacked, it because he is. "Princess," he says rather breathlessly. "What are you doing here?"

No thank yous just yet, sorry Sonia. He's too busy staring.

[vorbratta]

Ha! Sonia lets out a triumphant little breath of a laugh once she tugs him free, and she staggers back a half a step with the momentum. Well, not off to a bad start, then. She might not be very judgmental, but she is curious.

And then he gets that look on his face. She's seen it before. That moment when they realize they're talking to an Imperial Princess, the highest of Vor, and they go all shellshocked and eggshells. It's not like she doesn't like being a Princess, far from it, but what does a girl have to do to score a little normal conversation around here? Her brows draw together and she purses her lips, and at twenty-three she is far from a child, but she manages an astonishing pout. She even looks briefly like she might actually stamp her foot.

"Oh, who told? Was it Count Piotr? I bet it was him. Or the Colonel. Or did my Armsman tell you? You haven't seen him, have you?" She huffs in exasperation. "I just wanted a walk. I think I ought to be allowed."

[dendarii]

Not only is he staring up at Princess Sonia Vorbarra's face, he is also older than she is. Dear god. He might just faint if doing so wouldn't just put him directly back into the snow. Shaking his head a bit to clear it, he reluctantly drags his gaze away from her.

"No, no. Of course. I won't tell," he says hurriedly, throwing up his hands. Better to promise that than even try to explain where he's seen her before. (Although he could truthfully say he's seen her portrait ... At the tender age of eight or nine, when he'd dragged Gregor up and down the halls of the Residence screaming curse words at the possible ghosts skulking about.) "And given you've just rescued me, I'm in no position to criticize."

[vorbratta]

Oh, and now he's doing that looking away thing. Really, why must they always do that? Sonia blows a snowflake away from settling on her nose, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Oh, half the stupid camp knows. I just thought maybe I'd get lucky with one of you outsiders and get to have an honest conversation for once." She wrinkles her nose in thought, though, tilting her head at Miles. "But you're Barrayaran, aren't you? Unless you're faking a really good accent, but hmm...no."

[dendarii]

His damned accent. He wishes he could fake an otherworldly one, but even Beta Colony would have given him away. "Is it so obvious?" he says, trying to play it off. "I admit that I am. Whatever it is bringing us together brought me here too. I haven't been back in the hills for years."

[vorbratta]

"It was your reaction that really gave you away," she tells him with a slight ladylike shrug, but she brightens with curiosity at his apparent origin. "So you're from around here? When did you leave? And," she says, raising a finger threateningly, although the way she purses her lips is almost childish, "don't you start with all the bowing and scraping, or I'll just keep on walking."

[dendarii]

Miles finds himself grinning, despite the dangerous road he's treading with this conversation. No one ever told him that Sonia Vorbarra was so spirited.

"None whatsoever, I swear it," he says. "My mother took me from the Dendarii hill area when I was just a baby. Raised me in Vorbarr Sultana. And then Beta Colony, briefly."

A bit of a stretch, but hopefully not a ridiculous one. And most importantly, it hews quite closely to the truth - if not the whole truth.

[vorbratta]

Sonia grins right back, equal parts delight and relief. Finally. The little man seems interesting enough, and her face lights right up when he mentions Beta Colony. Oh, it's a breath of fresh air just to hear the name.

"Beta Colony, really? I mostly grew up on Beta Colony, you know. My father's the Barrayaran ambassador at the Silica embassy, so we all got most of our schooling there. Before -- you know." Her smile flickers slightly, but it returns in full earnest. "So where on Beta Colony, then? And what brought you back here?"

[dendarii]

This, at least, Miles can answer without fear of tangling timelines. He relaxes nearly as much as Sonia does. "Really? That's quite rare here. But it's good to see someone else who knows the old sandbox." He leans one hand on his hip, tapping the other to his chin while he thinks. "Not too far out from Silica. And - well, I was brought here much like everyone else."

[vorbratta]

"Oh, yes. It's been...a long time, but I know I'll see it again." Sonia's still smiling, though she thinks of the ten long years it's been since she last saw it. She twists her lips at the whole unexplained appearances of people thing. "Oh, really? I thought it was only bringing people from other worlds, or whatever. I guess there's really no sense to it after all."

She shrugs and scuffs her boot against the snow, brushing snowflakes from her hair. "Oh -- I didn't even get your name, did I?"

[dendarii]

Did Sonia live through the Occupation? Miles doesn't remember. Wouldn't tell her even if he did. So instead, he settles for a warm, "I'm sure you will. We both will."

He has to believe that. Stranded in the past for the rest of his life is not his idea of a good life, even if he can effect any kind of change.

Ah, but it is cold out here. Miles gestures back towards one of the buildings, beckoning for Sonia to follow him. "Miles," he says easily enough. "Miles Ilyan." The lie rolls off his tongue neatly by now.

[vorbratta]

Oh, that conviction -- that's encouraging. The only time anyone around here has that kind of conviction is about death. He really does seem like a nice man, this one. Sonia likes him, anyhow. She gives him a polite but still tongue-in-cheek curtsy, holding her skirt with one hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miles," she chirps, "and you just call me Sonia." She hesitates before following him, though, pursing her lips. "Have the soldiers been giving you a lot of trouble?"

She knows it's not no trouble, because come on, this is Barrayar.

[dendarii]

Miles would give her an equally tongue-in-cheek bow in return, but she specifically asked for no bowing or scraping. So instead he grins up at her.

"Sonia, then. A pleasure." Less pleasurable is that second question... Miles frowns a bit. She's right to ask about the amount of trouble rather than whether he's having any. "Oh, I get the usual hex signs," he says with forced airiness. "I've encountered it all my life. But no ones laid a finger on me yet."

[vorbratta]

"Well, good," Sonia huffs, pursing her lips, and her free hand goes to her hip. She doesn't doubt he's been getting it all his life, that he must have grown a thick skin to it to have survived to his age -- whatever it is, but he looks older than her -- but that doesn't mean he should have to endure it. "And if they start, you let me know. Count Piotr might have a stick up his ass about it, but I'm not going to stand for that horseshit."

An Imperial Princess, cussing like a sailor? Only when her sister's not around, of course. But really, when you spend your formative years around a bunch of gruff and dirty soldiers, what can you really expect.

[dendarii]

The cursing prompts a sharp but very real laugh from Miles. To the point where has to stop for a moment, doubling over. God. Is he really surprised? He shouldn't be - but she's such a firecracker compared to Gregor's quiet reticence. "Then I am very glad to have an ally in you," he says, once he's managed to catch his breath. "I'm quite tired of the horseshit myself."

[vorbratta]

For a split second Sonia's worried he's -- injured, or something, until she realizes he's laughing, and dammit, it's infectious. She smothers her laughter against her gloved hand, though not very effectively, her shoulders shaking. Oh, she really does like him. Good sense of humor. The one benefit to everyone knowing she's a frigging Princess is that if she glares daggers at a soldier stepping out of line, he's almost sure to recoil.

"It really is horseshit," she puffs, trying to recover her own breath, but she's still grinning as she adjusts her hold on the camera under her arm. "God, you haven't gotten any trouble from Count Piotr, have you? I keep hoping my sister will rub off on him a little more, she's the sensible one, but I've never met a man of such ghastly stubbornness. No idea what she sees in him. No accounting for taste, I suppose. But," she declares, adopting her most Imperial Princess tone, "if you're with me, he can't say a thing. Well, he could, but I don't have to listen. I usually don't."

[dendarii]

Ah, Count Piotr. Miles can't help a flicker of fondness in his expression before he manages to lock it down. Perhaps it will look like amusement instead. "Ghastly stubbornness seems to be that man's entire identity," he say with another grin. "I just take that as a challenge. An opportunity to prove myself."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's eyebrows shoot up at that, and she lets out a little breath through her nose, looking both skeptical and amused. "You're either some kind of masochist, or just plain crazy."

Oh, Sonia. If only you knew.

[dendarii]

Miles laughs again at that. "I've been told that many times," he says cheerfully. "A sawed-off maniac, that's me."

[vorbratta]

That gets a crooked grin out of Sonia, a little flash of teeth. "Well, you're a very refreshing sawed-off maniac, I'll have you know. You're the most interesting conversation I've had in at least two years." She wrinkles her nose in a decidedly un-princesslike fashion. "You're the only Barrayaran I've met who will just talk to me. Like I'm just another person. Well, the only one who's not related to me, anyway."

[dendarii]

Ha. He decides not to correct her on that last point. He's not entirely sure what the relationship is in this case. (Great cousin? Something like that.) "Blame it on my appearance, then," he says. "Most Barrayarans won't talk to me like I'm a person either."

[vorbratta]

Sonia's mouth twists, a look of wry acknowledgment as she tosses her head. "Well, maybe between the two of us, they'll just opt to shut up instead."

She puffs out a cloud of breath that fades almost instantly, but the wind is picking up and the snow doesn't seem to be letting up any time soon, either. Sonia glances around and purses her lips. "I came out here to take some pictures, but I think if we don't head back soon, we'll both be buried in snow." She grins and holds out her elbow to Miles. "Shall we head back to camp? A Princess needs an escort, you know."

[dendarii]

Miles looks back at the snow pile he'd been trying to clear. Unsuccessfully ... Yeah, he'd much rather walk a pretty relative back instead. Much warmer for starters.

He reaches up to take her arm carefully. "If you truly don't mind being seen with me," he says, with a sheepish sort of smile. One last chance for her to gracefully extract herself from this apparent mutant's company.

[vorbratta]

Sonia sees him falter, and hooks her arm around his firmly. "Why should I?" she says with an imperious lift of her chin. "I've nothing to be ashamed of, and neither do you. If anything, it's they who ought to be ashamed." She gives a haughty toss of her hair, just for the added Imperial Princess effect. "Somebody needs to set an example."