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

[shri]

[ If she does, she makes no mention of it, rather she's glad for the assistance, because as it stands, she's not a particularly tall woman. Nor heavy, even if she's all muscles. Gratingly, these days, without the blackwater, nowhere near as strong as she used to be, either.

Makes her pride soothed enough to take the hand in offering, so to speak. ] Carelessness, and an enemy's advantage of it, nothing more. [ she nods to it. The bandage that's a lump underneath her pants. More than anything, she's irritated by it, rather than worried. ]

[vorbratta]

[ sonia's brow wrinkles as she glances down at lakshmi's leg. even in the dim light of the campfire, she can see the bandage under lakshmi's trousers. ]

Ooh, damn. That looks like it hurts. Not plasma fire, I hope... Here --

[ apparently not content with just helping lakshmi to her feet, sonia tugs the other woman's arm over her shoulders. ]

So, where to?

[shri]

[ She grimaces for it, or rather she has a habit of always looking grim, looking exhausted. Easy to do when you're too old for the body you're in. She might have been thinking of another drink, but as soon as she feels the movement ache all the way she knows all she's had enough for one evening. ]

My tent, I think. I am at my best for the evening, best to not stress it further.

[vorbratta]

Tent it is!

[ that chirp is punctuated with a little grunt as sonia helps lakshmi move along, quite determined to help her all the way. sonia never gets to do anything around here. good for morale, they say. pbbtbththh. to hell with that. even if it's just helping an outsider, it beats sitting around, feeling so useless all the time. ]

I think you're the wiser for it, really. [ it's like a little confession, accompanied with a little smile. a bit rich coming from her, but she's not too drunk, at least. ] You wouldn't believe how obnoxious some of these men can get on that stuff. Or maybe you would. I don't suppose rude drunks are a universal constant.

[shri]

[ It is a relief, to not have to hold her weight on the leg, feeling its pang up her whole body in a way she had not felt pain linger in an age. The blackwater might be a cursed object, for all no one knew where it came from in truth, but it certainly stopped this problem, to say the least.

But the vial is no more than a liquid made of her own blood at her neck, keeping her alive, but healing her no longer. So she must endure her pride being made to hobble, leaning on this girl for how Lakshmi has aged now. Though it's not on her face, still young in appearance, small mercy that. ]

Unfortunately, it would seem so. But they are men, a good whack to their heads tends to sort them out where they get brash, so I've found the same too.

[vorbratta]

[ sonia puffs out a laugh that turns into more of a giggle. ]

Don't I know it. Wish I could get away with giving them a good thwacking sometimes. But, [ she sighs ] sometimes they're the only ones around to talk to.

[shri]

[ Being nearly sixty - damn, she doesn't feel like putting that out loud for reasons that are less secrecy, more her vanity - gives one a certain amount of authority. Being a Queen does too, granted, of a different sort. ]

I am quite sure you could, when they are being rowdy, such as is your place, Princess.

[vorbratta]

[ sonia gives half-pout at being found out, but she's still enjoying the benefits of frank conversation, and she's not going to make a fuss. she does huff out a laugh at that, shaking her head. ]

God, no. You'd think being Vor of all Vor would grant me that privilege, but my sister and her husband both would have it out at me if I did. I'm supposed to be a symbol of morale, and -- [ she makes a face and effects a halfway decent impression of piotr ] for God's sake, Princess, stay out of trouble!

[shri]

[ Takes one to know one, and that being said, she was a daughter of a strict order of herself - raised in the court of the Peshwa, the ilk of Bajirao himself. Then to her husband's household where she learned the ways of the Brahamin, a order she learned from girlhood to observe.

She's no stranger to the concern of what is acceptable. ]

I am not sure how I should offer words to you, to speak of what I would do in your place would surely cross your sibling and her husband. [ It's laughing, cut short with a breath of pain as she keeps walking. The momentary curl of her fingers against the material of her clothes in the aftershock. ] Men are close to dying and crave something to hang onto. Not out of cruelty. In my experience, that you know their faults and do not hate them for it, is what they truly crave. Soon enough, after all, they will meet their Gods. You will be their closest consolation in those times.

[vorbratta]

[ sonia giggles along with her, but it's stop-and-start whenever lakshmi starts to falter. hm. maybe she should've heeded gavalas's warning and drank a little less. ]

Barrayarans don't believe much in gods. More like ancestor worship, I guess. Besides, I'm no...leader of warriors. My sister, that's more her thing. I'm just...trying to get by. [ she makes a face, wrinkling her nose, but she looks sadder behind it. ] I was thirteen when this all started. Before this, I mostly lived on Beta Colony, my mother's planet. I think what it really is...I don't think she'd ever admit to it, not to me, but I think my sister's just trying to protect me.

[shri]

[ She shakes her head, no not quite that. ] They entrust their commanders with their lives, such is the point. [ A few more steps, and she directs to where the tent she is sharing is located, tucked away with the others.

Her gaze turn, contemplative - not all were cut out for war. For this kind of life. ]

Do you wish to be protected?

[vorbratta]

[ that question catches sonia off guard. she bites her lip as they hobble along. ]

I...don't know. No one's ever asked me that before. [ she falls silent for a moment save for her breath. ] I don't want to get hurt. I don't want to die. I don't...I don't want to be here at all.

[shri]

[ There's something of a stifled sigh - she remembered her father's second wife, she had not wanted to be in Jhansi, either, and she did not blame her for leaving. Not with her little brother in Chimbai's arms, still a boy, whose life would only be after and Lakshmi would never know him.

( Was he grown, now? Did he ever manage to have a family of his own? ) ]

There are many in our lives that will seek to make those choices for us, but there is no truth to such things. Because no one here truly wants to be here, hurting or dying neither wise and yet for you, they do so. It's nothing about Fighting that has been going on since you were thirteen and all you must have seen, it must be apparent to you by now?

[ It's not harsh, but war is what war is. It cannot be shielded from, as much as that cost to say, it could only be adapted to. The words that she had gathered up in her arms and asked him: what was warrior? 'He who feared none.' What is fear? 'another name for defeat.' ] ... It will come down to you and the weapon you put in your hand.

[vorbratta]

[ they finally get to the outsiders' tent, and sonia, tipsy as she is, looks suddenly stricken by what lakshmi says. she doesn't let go of the other woman, exactly, but she does shrink a bit, shoulders slackening. no, now she just looks distressed. ]

No, I -- [ she looks down at her free hand, and maybe, if she hadn't been drinking, she'd be a little more composed about this. she bites her lip. ] There's not going to be a weapon in my hand. I don't fight.

[shri]

[ she shakes her head. ] You are a Princess, you are a fighter.

[ she steps away from her, straightening herself to do so. It's pained, the leg aches from the walking protests at the way she holds herself. Regal down to the curl of her fingers, the uptilt of her face. She has shouted herself hoarse on battlements, she has walked wounded - she has looked at the ruins of her life, her people, and moved forward. ] Do you think a sword and spear is what we are ... discussing?

[vorbratta]

[ sonia knits her brow at her in puzzlement, a little too intoxicated to be as quick on the uptake as usual. ]

What else?