COUNTER/Weight 19: The Road You Take And Who You Take It With

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

With Ibex's threat in the air, an old ally reaches out to The Chime with an offer: Learn about your enemy before you suffer the same fate I did. The group--with a few surprise additions--steps into the past to find out what exactly happened ten years ago. Before she was Queen-Captain of the Weightless, who did Tea Kenridge command? What did Addax mean when he said he hurt Cassander? Who piloted the Kingdom Come before it was decommissioned? Why didn't the Rapid Evening stop the war? And what ever happened to Jace Rethal?

This week on COUNTER/Weight: The Road You Take And Who You Take It With

Let's get this show on the road!

Contents[edit | edit source]

Opening[edit | edit source]

The camera turns on with a hum. A close up on an eye, blinking with purpose, as punctuation to a muted lecture. The shot pulls back slowly to reveal the imperious visage of Ibex, candidate of Righteousness, as he makes his presence known to the crew of the Kingdom Come. The shot pulls back further, and we see them too, in a cutaway of the ship, a dioramic view that reduces it in size, a reduction helped by the sheer force and presence of Ibex, which does not shrink as the camera zooms out, but grows. We see Mako Trig and Aria Joie laid up in the medical bay, AuDy, the symbol of the Iron Choir resting on their chest, at the ship's helm, and the lost Apostolosian, Cassander Timaeus Berenice, in the glow of the comm screen. And then, a shot of Cassander’s face, just their face, determined.

A wave of pale green static tides across this view, and the camera retracts further, now, revealing a second screen, watched by Orth Godlove, leaning forward in his chair, his suit too tight, his eyes straining. It has been a long time since he’s seen Ibex, and he knows what he has to do. It happens quickly. Moments after the candidate vanishes from the screen, Orth’s face appears and makes it known with haste there’s no time to argue, that the Chime needs to know who’s gunning for them, and that they should meet him in Mesa, the dome that houses the majority of Counterweight’s OriCon population.

The flight is long, and by the time you arrive you are all awake and aware and concerned. Mesa is overcrowded and the BluSky Dome here does nothing to improve the cramped feeling this place has, nor do the final preparations for the upcoming ten-year anniversary of the Golden War armistice. You’re guided through side roads and alleyways, and eventually you find a door down a flight of stairs and a building at the end of an alley. Then you move through a set of door-lined hallways, each turn adjoined by a cough or a wheeze or a groan from behind one of the doors. And then you open a door, and there’s Orth, seated among a set of five medical beds, four of which are empty, and in the fifth, Jace Rethal, pale and bearded and asleep, and with Orth’s hand on his forehead.

He explains the situation quickly.

“Righteousness and Ibex are threats, and you must learn what it will be to face them when they arrive. The last time anyone did such a thing was a decade ago, and now you will find out how that happened.”

He seats you in the beds, attaches a wire here, a clamp there. And soon, your body isn’t. You’re someone else, someone then. You’re Jace, or Addax, you’re Orth himself. You’re Tea Kenridge, Queen Captain of the Queen’s Gambit. And you’ll find out what happened.

Plot[edit | edit source]

After The Chime receives a message from Ibex, Orth reaches out to them to prepare them for dealing with Ibex by having them undergo a simulation of the memories of a comatose Jace Rethal.

This episode features the whole cast playing a game of Kingdom that revisits the final mission of the Golden War. Each player takes the role of a member of this mission, and makes predictions and orders moving the mission towards decisions and potentially towards crisis.

Ten years ago at the end of the War, Apostolosian rebels defected to warn Oricon and the Diaspora of a superweapon that is being developed by Apostolos. Oricon and the Diaspora put together a mission to destroy it before it can be completed. The tense alliance is led by Orth Godlove. Other members include Oricon soldiers such as Tea Kenridge and Jace Rethal, and engineers like Natalya Greaves (who is secretly an agent of the Rapid Evening). They are joined by some Diasporans, led by Addax and the Divine Peace, and Apostolosian rebels, led by Sokrates.

Crossroads 1: Will the Kingdom travel through Diasporan space?[edit | edit source]

The Kingdom’s first decision is if they should travel through Diasporan or Oricon space to reach their destination.

Addax, Jace, and Sokrates all agree going through the Diaspora makes sense to underscore that the primarily Oricon forces remain allied with the Diaspora. Tea and many of the Oricon soldiers are unhappy with this, and Natalya worries about the possibility of running into Ibex, whose power is concentrated in areas they will travel through. Orth begins to figure out possible routes for their trip, anxious about their already meagre odds of success.

Orth and Addax agree to go through Diasporan space. The Oricon soldiers are unhappy at first, but as they defeat hostile Apostolosian resistance, they bond with their Diasporan crewmates.

Crossroads 2: Will the Kingdom take refugees from Gemm?[edit | edit source]

The mission continues as the Kingdom passes by the Diasporan planet of Gemm to refuel. The planet has been devastated by Apostolosian attacks, and refugees on planet want the fleet to take them to safety.

Sokrates speaks to Orth about how they can help the refugees; Orth wants to help but needs to determine what resources they have available, and confesses later to Tea that Oricon has not given them what they need -- the entire mission is a well-calculated suicide mission. Tea points Orth to Glimmer, a nearby planet that they will be stopping at next which might be able to take the refugees. Natalya, Tea, and Addax begin to work out details for dealing with the refugees without input from Orth, while Addax privately notes that Ibex is based on Glimmer, and that they will need to face him. Jace worries about the danger the refugees will face if they join the fleet, but realizes if they don’t take them in then it will call into question the abilities of not only Orth as their commander, but Addax’s ability to defend the Diasporan people.

Orth and Addax agree to take on the refugees, but as they are being loaded onto the ships they are attacked by Apostolosians. The soldiers defend the refugees, brought closer by seeing Jace and Addax working together. The Apostolosian rebels are dismayed at seeing their empire attacking civilians, but reaffirmed in their conviction.

The fleet makes its way to Glimmer, though they are initially not allowed to disembark. Ibex makes contact with the fleet to say he is willing to let the refugees stay, and will take care of them on one condition: Ibex must be allowed to join the mission.

Cast[edit | edit source]