Dendarii Mercenaries
Encyclopedia
In Lois McMaster Bujold
's Vorkosigan Saga
, the Dendarii Mercenaries are the mercenary organisation founded by Miles Vorkosigan
in The Warrior's Apprentice.
, Miles acts on a sudden impulse by buying an outdated interstellar cargo freighter and employing its down-and-out pilot, Arde Mayhew. He offers the freighter's services to the beleaguered government of Tau Verde IV, a planet wracked by civil war. The government's opponents in the war have hired a mercenary fleet, the Oseran Mercenaries, to blockade the planet. By accident, Miles leads the Tau Verde representative to believe that he himself heads a mercenary fleet. Miles takes his freighter to Tau Verde and, through clever tactics and considerable luck, successfully captures a vessel of the Oseran mercenary fleet. Despite his vastly inferior force, he outmanouevres the Oserans at every turn; eventually the defeated Admiral Oser agrees to join Miles' fictitious fleet, giving the previously nonexistent 'Dendarii Mercenaries' (named for a mountain range on Miles' planet of Barrayar
) a real existence.
) to answer charges of treason. In clearing his name, he persuades the Emperor
Gregor Vorbarra
to declare the mercenaries part of the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service
.
Elli Quinn began the series rather unremarkable in appearance, but was horribly injured by a plasma arc, which scorches off her facial tissues and almost all of her features. Miles subsequently purchased her the finest reconstructive surgery money could buy, and paid for her to be so-reconstructed as a stunningly beautiful woman.
hermaphrodite became the Captain of the Ariel as a result of Miles's conquest. It was fired from the Dendarii at the end of Mirror Dance for its part in Mark's scheme to free the clone-slaves from Bharaputra's laboratories. Bel becomes a roving ImpSec agent, and eventually settles in Quaddiespace, resuming its relationship with the Quaddie musician Nicol, who it first met on a Dendarii mission to Jackson's Whole.
. She was the only eventual survivor of the experiment, that seems to have used some animal genes spliced into the human genome. In particular, she is "equipped" with fangs and claws. Taura suffers from a massively accelerated metabolism, giving her extremely fast reflexes and responses and very great strength, compounded with her 8 feet (2.4 m) height and matching mass. Unfortunately this accelerated metabolism will also sharply reduce her lifetime - something she is very much aware of. All attempts to find a medical way around this situation have (so far) had only marginal success. The last time she was seen in the series, in the novella Winterfair Gifts, she states that the doctors give her one more year to live, but also that they've said the same thing for the last four years. She is not concerned about it, deciding to live each day for its own sake.
Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii was supposed to kill her to save her suffering at the hands of her new owners and save her a painful death when her metabolism failed, however when he realised that she was a human being despite her looks, he switched his mission to rescue her, a "damsel in distress" instead. She then joined the Mercenaries as a (very successful) commando Squad Leader.
She dies of old age at the age of 30 at the Durona Clinic on Escobar. Despite pleas from Miles, Roic, Rowan, and Mark, she refuses to have herself frozen in cryostasis until a cure could be found for her condition. Miles named one of his daughters after her.
Instead of cryostasis, she was cremated, choosing "fire over ice." Her one request was that her ashes not be scattered on Jackson's Whole. Miles and Roic buried her urn on the family plot on Barrayar.
found Baz living in a recycling depot on Beta Colony, after Baz deserted from the Barrayaran military for reasons unknown. As his desertion was technically in the heat of battle, his penalty would be quartering ("cut into four pieces", not "domiciled"). Because of his engineering expertise he was recruited to join Miles on his first mission, to Tau Verde IV and thereafter made a place for himself in the Dendarii Mercenaries as Fleet Engineer. He married Elena Bothari and they had a baby daughter, Cordelia.
Arde is first seen in Shards of Honor
when Captain Cordelia Naismith
cons him into giving her an off the record lift from Beta Colony
to Escobar. Miles encounters him approximately 18 years later, when he comes across the down on his luck Mayhew attempting to fend the wreckers off from the last known ship which he is able to pilot.
Miles buys the ship, and hires Arde as its pilot, but the ship's jump engines are irreparably damaged in Tau Verde when Arde uses it to ram Ky Tung's Triumph, facilitating its capture.
Arde stays on with the Dendarii as a shuttle pilot.
Lois McMaster Bujold
Lois McMaster Bujold is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo...
's Vorkosigan Saga
Vorkosigan Saga
The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of these were published between 1986 and 2002, with the exceptions being “Winterfair Gifts” and Cryoburn...
, the Dendarii Mercenaries are the mercenary organisation founded by Miles Vorkosigan
Miles Vorkosigan
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is the hero of a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold known as the Vorkosigan Saga. In an article in The Vorkosigan Companion, Bujold acknowledged several real-life inspirations for the character: T. E...
in The Warrior's Apprentice.
Formation
The mercenary fleet begins almost by accident. While visiting his grandmother on Beta ColonyBeta Colony
Beta Colony is an important planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The planet's biome is almost entirely desert, described as "screaming hot," and the colony itself exists primarily underground.The concept of Beta Colony was first created and introduced in...
, Miles acts on a sudden impulse by buying an outdated interstellar cargo freighter and employing its down-and-out pilot, Arde Mayhew. He offers the freighter's services to the beleaguered government of Tau Verde IV, a planet wracked by civil war. The government's opponents in the war have hired a mercenary fleet, the Oseran Mercenaries, to blockade the planet. By accident, Miles leads the Tau Verde representative to believe that he himself heads a mercenary fleet. Miles takes his freighter to Tau Verde and, through clever tactics and considerable luck, successfully captures a vessel of the Oseran mercenary fleet. Despite his vastly inferior force, he outmanouevres the Oserans at every turn; eventually the defeated Admiral Oser agrees to join Miles' fictitious fleet, giving the previously nonexistent 'Dendarii Mercenaries' (named for a mountain range on Miles' planet of Barrayar
Barrayar
Barrayar is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel...
) a real existence.
Later on
Miles is summoned to Barrayar (see The Warrior's Apprentice in Vorkosigan SagaVorkosigan Saga
The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of these were published between 1986 and 2002, with the exceptions being “Winterfair Gifts” and Cryoburn...
) to answer charges of treason. In clearing his name, he persuades the Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Gregor Vorbarra
Gregor Vorbarra
Gregor Vorbarra is the Emperor of the Barrayaran Imperium in the sci-fi series the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.As of CryoBurn, Gregor Vorbarra is the current Emperor of Barrayar...
to declare the mercenaries part of the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service
Barrayaran Imperial Military Service
In Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, The Vorkosigan Saga, the "Barrayaran Imperial Military Service" is the national military force of the planet of Barrayar.-History and organisation:...
.
Elli Quinn
Miles's one time lover, at the end of Memory she commanded the Dendarii as Admiral Quinn. She is a native of Kline Station and hates living on planets, which she luckily doesn't have to worry about, having declined numerous marriage proposals from Miles and also being a mercenary fleet Admiral.Elli Quinn began the series rather unremarkable in appearance, but was horribly injured by a plasma arc, which scorches off her facial tissues and almost all of her features. Miles subsequently purchased her the finest reconstructive surgery money could buy, and paid for her to be so-reconstructed as a stunningly beautiful woman.
Bel Thorne
This BetanBeta Colony
Beta Colony is an important planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The planet's biome is almost entirely desert, described as "screaming hot," and the colony itself exists primarily underground.The concept of Beta Colony was first created and introduced in...
hermaphrodite became the Captain of the Ariel as a result of Miles's conquest. It was fired from the Dendarii at the end of Mirror Dance for its part in Mark's scheme to free the clone-slaves from Bharaputra's laboratories. Bel becomes a roving ImpSec agent, and eventually settles in Quaddiespace, resuming its relationship with the Quaddie musician Nicol, who it first met on a Dendarii mission to Jackson's Whole.
Taura
Sergeant Taura of Dendarii Mercenaries started life as genetics experiment. She was developed as a super soldier on the planet of Jackson's WholeJackson's Whole
Jackson's Whole is a planet in the science fiction series "The Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold; its name comes from the Wyoming town of Jackson Hole. Originally a hijacker base, Jackson's Whole evolved into a government by a series of interlocking crime syndicates known as Houses Major and...
. She was the only eventual survivor of the experiment, that seems to have used some animal genes spliced into the human genome. In particular, she is "equipped" with fangs and claws. Taura suffers from a massively accelerated metabolism, giving her extremely fast reflexes and responses and very great strength, compounded with her 8 feet (2.4 m) height and matching mass. Unfortunately this accelerated metabolism will also sharply reduce her lifetime - something she is very much aware of. All attempts to find a medical way around this situation have (so far) had only marginal success. The last time she was seen in the series, in the novella Winterfair Gifts, she states that the doctors give her one more year to live, but also that they've said the same thing for the last four years. She is not concerned about it, deciding to live each day for its own sake.
Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii was supposed to kill her to save her suffering at the hands of her new owners and save her a painful death when her metabolism failed, however when he realised that she was a human being despite her looks, he switched his mission to rescue her, a "damsel in distress" instead. She then joined the Mercenaries as a (very successful) commando Squad Leader.
She dies of old age at the age of 30 at the Durona Clinic on Escobar. Despite pleas from Miles, Roic, Rowan, and Mark, she refuses to have herself frozen in cryostasis until a cure could be found for her condition. Miles named one of his daughters after her.
Instead of cryostasis, she was cremated, choosing "fire over ice." Her one request was that her ashes not be scattered on Jackson's Whole. Miles and Roic buried her urn on the family plot on Barrayar.
Baz Jesek
Miles VorkosiganMiles Vorkosigan
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is the hero of a series of science fiction novels and short stories by Lois McMaster Bujold known as the Vorkosigan Saga. In an article in The Vorkosigan Companion, Bujold acknowledged several real-life inspirations for the character: T. E...
found Baz living in a recycling depot on Beta Colony, after Baz deserted from the Barrayaran military for reasons unknown. As his desertion was technically in the heat of battle, his penalty would be quartering ("cut into four pieces", not "domiciled"). Because of his engineering expertise he was recruited to join Miles on his first mission, to Tau Verde IV and thereafter made a place for himself in the Dendarii Mercenaries as Fleet Engineer. He married Elena Bothari and they had a baby daughter, Cordelia.
Ky Tung
Ky Tung is a military history expert from Brazil, Earth. He commanded the Triumph prior to its capture during the Tau Verde war, by the Dendarii. After being mishandled by his former commander, he switched his loyalties to the Dendarii and became Chief of Staff.Arde Mayhew
Pilot Officer Arde Mayhew is a cargo ship jump pilot, whose neural implants, necessary to guide a ship through a wormhole jump, are for an obsolete class of jump ships. Arde Mayhew has been medically disqualified from receiving new implants.Arde is first seen in Shards of Honor
Shards of Honor
Shards of Honor is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in June 1986. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the first full-length novel in publication order.- Plot summary :...
when Captain Cordelia Naismith
Cordelia Naismith
Cordelia Naismith is the name of two fictional characters by Lois McMaster Bujold. One is the titular character from a Victorian era Sherlock Holmes short story entitled "Adventures of the Lady on the Embankment" included in her anthology Dreamweaver's Dilemma...
cons him into giving her an off the record lift from Beta Colony
Beta Colony
Beta Colony is an important planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The planet's biome is almost entirely desert, described as "screaming hot," and the colony itself exists primarily underground.The concept of Beta Colony was first created and introduced in...
to Escobar. Miles encounters him approximately 18 years later, when he comes across the down on his luck Mayhew attempting to fend the wreckers off from the last known ship which he is able to pilot.
Miles buys the ship, and hires Arde as its pilot, but the ship's jump engines are irreparably damaged in Tau Verde when Arde uses it to ram Ky Tung's Triumph, facilitating its capture.
Arde stays on with the Dendarii as a shuttle pilot.