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

Lady Diya d'Zefyst (NPC - Cetagandan) | ota

[eugengineer]

a. gene labs
Technically, this hall isn't restricted access, but every door down the corridor is, each with a bright declaration of the necessary clearance level on its security pad, accompanied by a peculiar screaming bird insignia. You didn't mean to wind up here -- or maybe you did, satisfying the urge to explore the base a little more. This wing is only known as "the gene labs", but all the Cetagandans have explained to you exotics so far is that these gene projects are satellite operations of one of their central branches of government. Considering that their entire culture seems to revolve around genetics, this sort of makes sense.

One door slides open with a soft pneumatic hiss, and Lady Diya d'Zefyst steps out into the hall. Her long hair, never once cut, is gathered up in a complicated ornamental hairstyle, and her haut genes make her beauty almost ethereal. The haut do, of course, always select the very best for themselves. She sees you almost immediately, and smiles tolerantly at you, although her face tightens slightly.

"Can I help you?" She sweeps towards you with a gesture. "Lost on your way to the medbay, perhaps?"

b. medbay
Diya is a geneticist by trade, not a physician, but she's often found in the medbay nonetheless, conversing with the ghem officer who serves as the base's Chief Medical Officer. While he doesn't seem nervous in her presence, he averts his gaze from her even while speaking to her.

When you enter the medbay, there's a moment before her attention shifts to you, and the CMO turns as well, standing at a parade rest with his hands clasped behind his back. Diya's eyes warm with light and she smiles at you.

"Did you need something?" she inquires politely, clasping her hands in front of her as if in reverse of the CMO's posture. "You are due for a physical, aren't you? Ghem-Colonel Naru, I'll take care of this."

c. wildcard
The Lady d'Zefyst is rarely seen in the mess hall and mostly keeps to the women's quarters or her labs, but on occasion she can be seen conversing with one of her science teams in one of the more common areas, or even engaging in the decidedly more ghem art form of watercolor painting, which is as close as she gets to fully engaging with ghem culture. Occasionally she stops by the grow labs to oversee their operations; head geneticist means head of every genetic project on the base, and that includes the synthesis of their food supply.

Once in a while she can even be seen taking a solitary walk outside – well, not so much a walk as an idle circuit around the base's more pleasant areas on a float chair. Ostensibly to eliminate the danger of slipping on the ice or damaging her clothes in the snow – but perhaps she misses the comforts of her old life among the haut.

b

[mirrortide]

There's a lot to get used to here. There's even more that Lapis doesn't like; the fact she's trapped, the fact that she's effectively human, and that human bodies have requirements (that she isn't particularly good at keeping up on, if she were honest with herself), and the fact that she's somehow been dragged into another war.

Even if she's not a prisoner, it's not as if she has any means to escape this place. She wouldn't anyway, not until they can fix what they've done to her to begin with.

The offer for a 'physical' is met with a look of suspicion and mistrust, and Lapis' shoulders are squared and her muscles are tense (a weird feeling, when she's had no such things before), like she absolutely wants to bolt. And she would, if this 'physical' turns out dangerous.

"What's... a physical?"

:))))

[eugengineer]

Ah, Lapis Lazuli. One of the more curious exotics, and one who's certainly held Diya's interest. She smiles benignly at Lapis, unfazed the tension, as though with some conviction that Lapis will not, in fact, bolt.

"A physical examination," she explains. "Not unlike the examination we conducted when you first arrived. An evaluation of your health." Her eyebrows raise slightly, her head tilting just a hair. "You existed in some nonorganic form before, correct?"

[mirrortide]

That doesn't mean she doesn't want to. Slowly, her shoulders loosen, but instead she crosses her arms, looking as displeased as ever as she considers her words.

"That's right." It's not like she made it any sort of secret. "I was a Gem before I ended up on this miserable space ship." Though it's better than the miserable planet below, that much is certain. "But now I'm not." And she doesn't like it, and she's making absolutely zero effort to hide the fact she doesn't.

[eugengineer]

Diya beckons her toward an examination table with a wave. No, no such secrets kept here, not from Diya, anyway. Not if she can help it. She's still smiling serenely at Lapis, her sonorous voice still patient and level.

"Yes, so I understand. Gems -- an interesting life form, by your account." She takes stock of Lapis in a glance, eyebrows lifting slightly. "You seem to be having difficulty with the adjustment."

[mirrortide]

"What gave it away? The fact that I don't like eating? Or is it the thing where I don't like having to breathe either. Or maybe it's I can't fly or use water how I want to? Or is it maybe the fact that I've never felt as vulnerable as I do like this? Or that I can't go back to the place I was just starting to call home? The place I had just been learning to enjoy."

In short, Lapis has a few issues. So while she does take a few (barefooted) steps towards the table, she doesn't do anything with it out of her own petulance.

b

[epsilol]

Having a body again is the fucking pits and no one will ever convince Epsilon otherwise. It's gross, needy and being able to feel how cold it is feels like some kind of karmic punishment for all the times he's been an asshole for no reason. (So, basically, punishment for being himself all the time.) He's been pretty careful to avoid being left alone with any of the mad scientists so far but he's been handed a pile of flimsies to deliver to the medbay which puts him right into Diya's sights.

"Nice of you to offer but I think I wanna pass. This body is practically mint condition, never out of the box and all that." He takes a step back towards the door. "I don't think it'll need anything until its next mileage inspection."

: )

[eugengineer]

Diya's eyebrows raise in polite skepticism, although there's almost a smirk to her serene smile. She sweeps a step closer, her hands folded in front of her.

"Just so," she says, laying a hand at the head of the examination table. "Mint condition, as you say. Those of us born with organic bodies, ours certainly have their wear and tear..." If there's a trace of irony there, it's because Diya's haut and we all know how smug as fuck the haut are about their genes, seriously.

"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, isn't that the old Earth adage? I'm afraid in this case it's quite correct. Disease, injury...they leave their marks, better prepare us for the next time, the next battle. Our bodies are constantly at war with our environment, and one so new as yours..." She's not close enough to touch him, has no interest in getting that close, but she lifts her hand, palm up. "Where do you suppose you get your antibodies from, hm? You have none."

[epsilol]

His body isn't entirely organic, there's circuitry visible in his eyes that makes the color shift slightly as the fragments of himself react to Diya. He doesn't make a move toward the examination table. The Theta part of him thinks she's scary and Delta is quietly calculating the likelihood of him escaping the building without being dissected.

(In the background of it all Omega lurks, in case he's needed.)

"I really have no fucking idea and honestly I don't care. All I can say is that you're really goddamn deluded if you think I'm going to turn my head and cough while you get your jollies playing "let's probe Church"."

The voice of Delta in the back of his head warns him that the probability of leaving the room keeps dropping drastically. He silently tells D to shut up.

[eugengineer]

Diya smiles tolerantly in an expression that might have said what are you going to do about it from a less reserved woman. The message should be clear enough. Rather than repeat herself, she merely gestures at the exam table.

"Church," she echoes, tasting the word on her tongue. "Is that a name you came up with for yourself, or did your creator give it to you?"

B for Bratty Alien War-Child

[tough_love]

Looma is not sure what in the name of Tetra's Fist is going on here but she is about ninety-eight percent sure that it's something she'd feel a whole lot better about when someone in the nearby vicinity gets a punch to the face one or two dozen times. So, while Diya may be the model of a calm, composed and professional individual, the new arrival is basically anything but.

"Yes, and you will start with the name of the one responsible for...all of this!"

After all, she is a princess and you have [presumably] abducted her and while normally she'd applaud such a gutsy move she's more concerned with angry vengeance right now. Mostly because she has no recollection of a battle prior to waking up in...whatever this place is, which means whoever's responsible probably cheated. So excuse her for basically ignoring basically any concept of personal space as she just leans right on in to start angrily shouting demands. It's...it's a Tetramand thing. As is the angry gesticulating with four arms, making sure Diya's got a good look at one fist while Looma's other three hands are pointing back at all of...whatever this is that counts as her body now.

"Bad enough I have been abducted by some horrid little coward, but look at me!"

Clearly, she's figured out she's not completely Tetramandian anymore. Sure, she's still got the red skin, four arms, the works- but she's also got a head full of black hair now and what did you people do with her other two eyes, who goes around stealing eyes what is wrong with you?! She used to tower over you squishy humans by like an extra three feet and now she's fitting comfortably through doors and she looks positively scrawny now that her arms aren't literally the size of a guard's torso.

Though, admittedly, she's also making all these accusations without a shred of proof, but hey- she's kind of angry. And in a strange place. And also you humans are only slightly smaller than she is and she can't rip a beam out of the floor and beat you with it and there's not any part of that change that isn't horrifying to her.

[eugengineer]

Diya endures Looma's tantrum with what seems like saintly patience, but honestly, is mostly boredom. Few of the exotics pose a threat to her, and Diya doesn't count this one among them. Maybe it's just her deeply ingrained haut superiority (it's exactly that), or perhaps the stunner holstered under her lab coat (that too), but all Diya does is raise her eyebrows and stand there with her hands clasped in front of her until Looma stops shouting.

"I'm looking." She is clearly unmoved. "Are you quite finished?"

[tough_love]

Seeing as how Looma's idea of superiority is less 'composed behavior' and more 'aggressively assert yourself at literally the slightest provocation,' Diya's not exactly a calming influence. Not measurably, anyway. Especially since the princess responds to that by narrowing her eyes at the woman and literally growling at her. Congratulations are clearly in order for the Cetagandans, they've managed to draft the intergalactic problem child.

"I will be finished when the one responsible for this insult lies dead at my feet, human!"

Frankly, the only reason she hasn't gone completely ballistic yet is that she's already discovered she's not as strong as she used to be. How isn't really important, but. It's probably got something to do with why the knuckles of her lower left hand are bloodied. And, now that she's doing her absolute best to continue the usual chest-puffery, also the side of that nice new shirt someone had been kind enough to provide for her.

"You will tell me why I am here and who is responsible. And perhaps I will be so gracious that I will not persuade my father to obliterate this puny planet!"

[eugengineer]

"Oh, my," Diya murmurs, taking note of the raw scrapes on Looma's hands. All the better that she's at the medbay, then. Diya gives her another careful look, head to toe, like she's some kind of a body scanner rather than a human being. "This sort of behavior is rewarded on your planet?"

a.

[standsentinel]

Time enough to settle in is time enough to start asking questions, even if it's only in the privacy of his own mind. Kaidan's gotten familiar with the layout of much of the lower-security areas of the Cetagandan base through the simple approach of quietly going about his business and keeping his eyes open. Being put to work as a repair technician had helped still more, as a man with a electronics diagnostic kit was a man with a reason to be in a lot of places, especially in the wake of the guerilla raid.

He'd come up short on excuses to investigate the gene labs, and so the arrival of the lady d'Zefyst means he's caught short with a slightly sheepish expression and one hand lifting to rub at the nape of his neck. "Ah... not exactly," he admits, deciding on the truth after a look at her expression. "Curiosity only, ma'am." The haut are as human as he is, he's put together, but there's something about the woman that reminds him of an asari matriarch: ageless, seemingly serene, and worth all the more caution because of it.

claps hands

[eugengineer]

Diya's eyebrows raise slightly, her expression polite but there's plenty of nuance to it. Strained politeness, perhaps. That Zahal insists on treating these exotics like they're ghem soldiers or something is a source of mild frustration for her, but it's starting to mount. The exotics have no place in these labs -- in whole, anyway.

"Then I suggest you curb your appetite," she says brusquely, though her face still bears that same tolerant smile. "Perhaps I ought to redirect you to the mess instead. I'm told Cetagandan cuisine is of much curiosity to offworlders."

[standsentinel]

He can't tell whether it's his exotic status that's behind the brusqueness, or just the fact that he, a non-geneticist, is somewhere near the labs. He's certainly encountered his fair share of scientists as protective of their bioreactors as a mother hen. Or mother bear.

Curiosity apparently as lethal for Canadians as cats, he opts to push at the tolerance a little. "Your cuisine is worthy of much praise, but... point taken, ma'am. I have to admit some of the curiosity about this wing's more personal, though -- you might've seen the results of my intake physical?"

He hasn't bothered to volunteer excess information about the implant wired into his skull, or about the shorted out amp that leaves him about as biotic as the average kitten, but the idea that he'd have any sort of genetic privacy here is one he's not going to waste time considering. He might as well see about some answers. Or, more likely, some interesting non-answers.

[eugengineer]

Yeah, it's better safe than sorry not to estimate just how protective the haut, culled or not, can be of their contributions to the Star Crèche. There seems to be something rather more personal about it with Diya, though.

"Of course." Any look of irritation is washed away with of distant curiosity. "But it's yet to be determined whether or not they have any genetic relevance. Unless you'd care to elaborate."

It's just an implant, after all.

a.

[moneytwin]

To be called 'exotic' here is not a compliment, though not quite an insult (yet), and still a label she did not choose for herself. Though at least in this Vex'ahlia is not alone (save that she no Vax to share it with) as the designation isn't just on account of her parentage.

She can hear the word go unspoken in the look given her by this gorgeous woman, the preternatural beauty almost fey-like. Noble, like Percival, like Uriel had been, it's not hard to tell. Save for the tension lines around her eyes, in the curve of her mouth as the Lady speaks, she would have thought that the Lady d'Zefyst was unbothered by the existence of someone no doubt below her station.

Fortunately, charm is a weapon Vex has learned to use against such attitudes, and use it well, no matter what the social situation. "Is this not the right direction? I'm guessing not, if you're having to ask." The grand gesture is met with her brightest smile, and a sweeping bow - not mocking. Or is it? These people have never attended court in Tal'dorei..

"I was hoping to familiarise myself with the lay of the land, so to speak, but it appears I took the wrong left turn for the ladies' barracks at some point." She straightens, flipping her heavy dark braid back over her left shoulder. "So many new sights, and all these 'machines'. It was really quite distracting."

[eugengineer]

Diya doesn't seem to take the gesture as mocking, though she seems to react like a distant observer. Though it's true they have considerably less polite exotics on hand. "Perhaps I shall find someone to escort you back, then."

Because that's a task for the ghem. But the haut pauses with a thoughtful look. "Are you unused to such technology?"

[moneytwin]

"Frankly, it's quite like nothing I've ever encountered in all my experiences. And I've been inside the Cerulean Palace of Ahk'Harel," Vex informs her quite frankly. A faint pang echoes within her chest, but is kept from her face, as she draws her back straighter and squares her shoulders, offering her hand to the woman.

How did Percival sound when he went into Full Noble Mode..? ..Ah! Yes.

"Lady Vex'ahlia, Baroness of the Third House of Whitestone, and Grand Mistress of the Grey Hunt. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of a proper introduction..?" For a given value of 'pleasure' anyway.

[eugengineer]

Diya looks blankly at the proffered hand for a moment before she takes Vex's hand to shake it, quite delicately. Haut don't really do handshakes. Still, Diya gives her a polite nod of acknowledgment and greeting, more of a gesture than it seems from her.

"Lady Vex'halia. A pleasure." Diya folds her hands in front of her, straightening. "I am Lady Diya d'Zefyst. Head of genetic research. And the ghem-General's wife."

A

[sparkwhisperer]

Tarn hates this. Every minute of it. His human form is clumsy and inefficient, he doesn't understand the purpose of half of these strange organic functions, and having to interact with fleshlings on a constant basis is driving him frankly insane.

In fact, it's that last issue that he's actively trying to avoid. Tarn struck out on his own to find a quiet corner of the Cetagandan base where no one would bother him. Some place where he could begin even wrapping his mind around what is happening and how he can escape.

Tarn startles when a door opens to reveal one of the natives. The forced pleasantries are expected at this point and he can't help but stare directly into her eyes, daring her to move closer.

"No. I'm simply looking for a bit of privacy. Though it doesn't seem like that is something that exists here."

[eugengineer]

Diya's eyebrows raise mere millimeters. "Not in the science-medical complex, no, I would imagine not," she says smoothly, although her voice hints at condescension, as though Tarn were a bit slow. "Perhaps one of the art gardens would offer you some solitude. We do not, however, have the luxury of space enough to give you your own dedicated quarters."

There is a note to her voice that suggests this notion is totally preposterous.

[sparkwhisperer]

Tarn snorts.

"You speak as if I have any idea of how this base is laid out to begin with. Perhaps I would have gone to the 'art gardens' if I had known where they were."

He hates being talked to like a simpleton by a mere organic. His hand curls into a fist and he squares his shoulders, staring at her with more blatent condescension then Diya had dared to show.

"So, I suggest that you drop the attitude and perhaps make yourself useful, or at the very least scarce."