History Awesome / VorkosiganSaga

* Nikki Vorsoisson in ''A Civil Campaign''. A paternal relation is trying to take custody of Nikki against his will - so he calls Gregor for help. To repeat: ''he calls the freaking emperor.'' Gregor answers and summons all concerned to his closest office via SecretPolice, thus leading to ''his'' Moment of Awesome:
* Gregor cuts out of a parliamentary hearing to straighten said relation out in person by [[ReassignedToAntarctica sending the provocateur someplace distant]], a fitting punishment for someone too stupid to be in any sort of authority. Gregor ''then'' tells young Nikki why and how his father died in ways that Nikki can understand, all the while protecting his father's reputation in his eyes. Ekaterin at first begins to protest, but realizes that Gregor was giving Nikki the softened version of his father's actions, which were completely self-interest and self-destructive. In addition, Gregor is also dealing with an incident related to Tien's death that would have caused a civil war between Barrayar and Komarr, so it was a highly classified state secret. The way he worded it gave Nikki a stake in keeping it secret to preserve his father's rep, so Gregor killed two birds with one stone. As mentioned elsewhere, Gregor is not the Emperor of Barrayar just because of his name.
* In the aftermath of all the above awesome, one of Richars' former supporters blocks Miles' exit to sneer that apparently, Vorkosigans can get away with murder. Miles considers his options for a second - Outrage? Protest? Argument with a half-drunk idiot? and rejects them all, thinking ''"I am Aral Vorkosigan's son, after all"'', and responds with an unblinking "So, if you truly believe that, ''why are you standing in my way?''" The drunk goes pale and gets the hell out of the way. Ekaterin, veteran of many angry outbursts by her former husband that frequently left her mortified, observes dispassionately that "He's melted. You know, your sense of humour is going to get you into deep trouble someday.".

* At the end of the novel, Miles is called upon by the Star Creche to donate his genetic material. That's right, the superhuman haut ladies think that Miles is awesome enough to have his genes studied for possible inclusion in a future generation. Miles undercuts it by noting the Star Creche already has about a half-pound of his flesh already, so the donation is strictly ceremonial.

---> "Could you people '''''stop''''' trying to come up with ''novel ways to kill me'' for just one hour? Or maybe the rest of the night? I would so like that. Just the rest of the night. Just ''sit down.'' Just ''stop doing anything.'' Sit down and ''wait sensibly.'' Earth, water, air, fire - you're running out of elements, here!

---> Moira ''ghem'' Estif: In some mythologies there a was a fifth element - metal, as I recall.

* Tej's grandmother, Moira, rediscovers the Cetagandan gene survey of Barrayar and then offers to sell it back to the Star Creche. Note that Moira is still somewhat pissed off about being culled from the ''haut'' genepool, even after a hundred plus years, besides her ghem husband and various other compatriots being screwed over by the Cetagandan Empire. So, when the buyer from the Star Creche is right in front of her, [[BestServedCold Moira vaporizes the brooch in which the gene survey is stored.]]

* The strong hint that Illyan's plan to make an alliance with House Cardonnah and get them back into power was going to work, partly because Alys, Udine and Moira became their own little PowerTrio and sold Gregor on it. All it required was Shiv saying "Yes".

* Jole saving Miles' eldest children from being scalded by acidic flaming alien goo raining from the sky (ItMakesSenseInContext) by taking off his jacket, covering them both, then being a HumanShield. Jole suffers extensive burns, but saves the kids. His reward, in addition to gaining Miles's blessing to raise his half-brothers, is spending the rest of the afternoon (including the rather excited immediate aftermath) laying down in a pleasant anesthetic haze.

* Jole shows he rivals Kareen in being LovedByAll, managing to make even Miles approve of his relationship with his mother ''and'' father and basically having kids with Joles' and Aral's DNA.

* Bothari, who's been a victim of Ges Vorrutyer's extensive and excruciating physical and mental rape, at first defies Ges's conditioning and flat out ''refuses'' to rape a captive, naked and bound Cordelia -- and then when Ges starts to do the deed himself, Bothari slits his throat from ear to ear. Gruesome, most certainly, but it's also one of the bravest things Bothari's ever done.

* Miles' [[XanatosSpeedChess scheme]] for [[RefugeInAudacity rescuing]] Gregor from Cavilo, culminating with the ShootTheHostage gambit. Bonus points for Gregor picking up the ball and completing his own rescue by seducing ''his seducer'', convincing her she can marry him and become Empress, and then leads her into scrapping her own plans before Miles gets him to safety. This is the time where Gregor gets to shine, and his gloating to Cavilo says it all:

** A lovely IronicEcho, too, as Cavilo's original plans were supposed to culminate in ''her'' getting paid three times over. (her fee from the planetary government she was betraying, a price from the Cetagandans for betraying them, and the loot she would steal from the planet when she betrayed them)

* Aral gets on in a flashback, when Miles investigates how a Komarran become so highly placed.

* Lady Alys staying by Simon's side even during the absolute worst parts of him memory chip breaking down is both awesome and heartwarming. UndyingLoyalty at its finest.

* Ekaterin scores a nice one toward the end of the novel. Her AdrenalineMakeover prods her into creating a mess that even Miles would be proud to call his own. (Start with a standard [[WoundedGazelleGambit Sick Old Lady ploy]] to distract your guard. Run for a sealed control booth in the ensuing confusion. Use the remote control for a float pallet on which a Nefarious Device is loaded to first raise it to a height of 4 meters, invert it, then shut off the [[AntiGravity anti-grav]]. Bounce the rubble on the floor a few times just to make sure. ''Then'' use the comconsole in the booth call for help, as it was too late for any errors on [=ImpSec's=] part to screw up the important matter.)

* Russo Gupta only survives the Cetaganda contagion that he was infected with by sheer luck, and his friends end up dying horribly. It would be understandable if Gupta had cut his losses at that point -- but instead he sets off after the person who murdered his friends and ingeniously tracks them across the galaxy by focusing on the weight of their cargo, determined to make them pay.

* When Cordelia is poisoned with soltoxin and Miles has to be removed from her womb to a uterine replicator, Drs. Henri and Vaagen battle to save him from the effects of the toxin's antidote. Then, when Vordarian's forces take over Vorbarr Sultana, they refuse to abandon Miles' replicator and instead hide from the occupying forces and keep up the treatments while hoping for rescue. When Vordarian's men discover the pair and demand the location of the hidden replicator, they refuse to talk and are beaten severely, with Henri actually being beaten to death. Even after seeing his colleague die, Vaagen ''still'' refuses to give up Miles, and the soldiers have to tear the lab apart to find the replicator. Without these two, Miles would likely have died while still 'in the womb' before Cordelia could retrieve him.

* When the leader of the conspiracy against Gregor is exposed in front of the Council of Counts, he pulls a needle gun on Gregor. Said counts proceed to ''charge at the man threatening their emperor.'' As Miles muses, "Only on Barrayar would pulling a loaded needler start a stampede toward one." To top it all, 'that idiot Ivan' is right in front, and rugby tackles the conspirator to the floor.

* Once Miles gets on the case, he unravels it in less than a week. Gregor notes that writing the report will take longer than solving it, which considering the conspiracy was perpetrated by the new acting head of [=ImpSec=] and had repercussions for long-term Imperium security, is saying enough.

* Lady Alys staying by Simon's side even during the absolute worst parts of him memory chip breaking down is both awesome and heartwarming. UndyingLoyalty at its finest.

* Jole shows he rivals Kareen in HundredPercentAdorationRating, managing to make even Miles approve of his relationship with his mother ''and'' father and basically having kids with Joles' and Aral's DNA.

* Meta example: The scene where Simon fires Miles. Exquisitely painful to read each time even when you know that in the end it will all turn out for the better. Not an easy writer's feat.

* In the B plot, Kareen Koudelka and Mark comes to Cordelia's rescue from being indebted to a sleazy construction company by securing a contract from Escobar, which involves ''dropping a factory from orbit''.[[note]]Okay, they're dropped in pieces, but as Kareen notes, it's basically one giant LEGO project.[[/note]] Cordelia grins and prepares to tell [=PlasDan=] what to go do with itself.

* In the aftermath of all the above awesome, one of Richars' former supporters blocks Miles' exit to sneer that apparently, Vorkosigans can get away with murder. Miles considers his options for a second - Outrage? Protest? Argument with a half-drunk idiot? and rejects them all, thinking ''"I am my Aral Vorkosigan's son, after all"'', and responds with an unblinking "So, if you truly believe that, ''why are you standing in my way?''" The drunk goes pale and gets the hell out of the way. Ekaterin, veteran of many angry outbursts by her former husband that frequently left her mortified, observes dispassionately that "He's melted. You know, your sense of humour is going to get you into deep trouble someday.".

---> Moira ''ghem'' Estif: I recall in some mythologies there a was a fifth element, metal.
---> Ivan: I was ''not'' asking for suggestions!

'''Reply memo from Aral:''' Put him back on the list, Simon, and leave him there this time. This issue tires me, and I don't want to be dragged over it again. Let him run, and prove himself -- if he can.

* Jole saving Miles' eldest children from being scalded by acidic flaming alien goo raining from the sky (ItMakesSenseInContext) by taking off his jacket, covering them both, then being a HumanShield. Jole suffers extensive burns, but saves the kids.

* Ivan, after putting up with [[ObnoxiousInLaws his wife's family]] with superhuman patience, has -_ because of their greed and attempts to reclaim a Cetaganda treasure stash -_ ended up trapped with them in an underground chamber that is both running out of air and filling up with water. (Keep in mind that Ivan, thanks to a misadventure a few books back, is claustrophobic.) Then one of Tej's sisters manages to set herself on fire thanks to some dodgy aged perfume. While everyone else is panicking, Ivan swiftly gets her to stop, drop and roll, and puts the fire out with a bin. Then, ''finally'' having had enough, he climbs up onto the bin and Tej realises that 'goodness, he ''could'' yell':

* Aunt Alys gets one of her own, calling Miles, the head of [=ImpSec=] General Haroche ''and'' Emperor Gregor ''idiots'' for not letting her see an afflicted Illyan. Yes, she called two of the most powerful people on Barrayar morons.

* When the leader of the conspiracy against Gregor is exposed in front of the Council of Counts, he pulls a needle gun on Gregor. Said counts proceed to ''charge the man threatening their emperor.'' As Miles muses, "Only on Barrayar would pulling a loaded needler start a stampede toward one." To top it all, 'that idiot Ivan' is right in front, and rugby tackles the conspirator to the floor.