COUNTER/Weight 21: Crisis! (A Solemn Vow Above the Sea of Counterweight)

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

Military water running down stainless steel cookware. The rustling of paperwork, yet unsigned. The warm hum and soft glow of engines alight. Distance and purpose, intermingling in the space between stars. A hand on a shoulder. A choice that makes itself. Eyes and voices, hearts and threats, and our familiar hesitation.

This week: Crisis! (A Solemn Vow Above The Sea of Counterweight)

Some things last a long time.

Contents[edit | edit source]

Opening[edit | edit source]

“

When Jace and Addax finally moved, he’d watch them from the busy shores of Vox, his sight reaching where his own voice no longer could. They moved, an asymmetrical pair. Peace, gigantic, a city-state on wings above the banks of magma and steam, stomping and gliding in mechanical oscillation. A fortress of power. And then, suddenly, a bird of prey on the thermal wind. And all around it, Jace’s Panther, a rigger broken into pieces, but not like glass, like an inverted puzzle, only complete when taken apart. Its core dancing balletic between incoming beams of light as its dozen metal feathers - black and shining - returned the violence twelvefold. Each slept soundly that night, and from the busy shores of Vox, Ibex watched.

And later he would watch them again, so still in the air, together: a crisis, a solemn vow, above the sea of Counterweight.”

Plot[edit | edit source]

In the aftermath of the last meeting, Sokrates keeps an eye on Ibex, and Natalya offers them support in keeping him under control. Ibex makes it known, informally, that Sokrates is no longer welcome on the Seventh Sun, the largest Oricon ship in the fleet.

Ibex votes to take supplies from Wreathe, but Sokrates and Addax vote against him. A military strike begins, which the civilians on the fleet hold Ibex accountable for. Over the next month, as the fleet floats slowly on, they are angry and exhausted. Civilians are forced to defend the fleet, as only Jace, Addax, and Tea are willing to break the strike. Orth and Natalya take up arms as well, Natalya losing a limb in the fighting. Sokrates becomes more involved with running the mission, which chafes at the Diasporans, and Orth begins to feel uneasy about the decision he’s made with Ibex. Despite his unpopularity with civilians, soldiers take Ibex’s side, including the Queen's Gambit, who rename themselves the King's Gambit.

Crossroad 5: Will the Kingdom destroy the prisoner-operated shield generators on Apote?[edit | edit source]

The fleet passes by Apote and Vox, where Apostolosian attacks are impossible to repel thanks to a new technology that is allowing the Apostolosian Colossi to self-repair in combat.

Jace reaches out to Orth to check in on him after another meeting with Ibex, and Orth confesses he’s made a mistake by letting Ibex in. Jace promises to support him, but when Ibex calls a meeting with Jace, Addax, and Orth to discuss the shield generators, Orth still struggles to fight back. Sokrates takes Jace to confront Orth about the situation, and things escalate until Orth tells them both that Oricon has set this mission up to fail and orders Sokrates to leave his ship. Jace, shaken, walks out as well. Orth misses his next meeting with Ibex, and when Ibex seeks him out, Orth tells him he is no longer welcome on the Kingdom Come; Ibex goes to stay with Addax on Peace.

To deal with the shield generators, it is decided that Jace and Addax will go on a solo mission and then catch up using Peace, allowing the fleet to continue towards their objective on Counterweight. Natalya takes Addax aside and informs him that the Rapid Evening had a hand in the development of the shield generators, and she is a member. She asks him to join them, but he rejects the offer for now. Sokrates, Natalya, Tea and Addax meet to discuss Ibex, and decide to leave him behind to look after Vox, but just as importantly get him out of the Kingdom. Tea takes back command of the Queen's Gambit.

Orth, Sokrates, and Addax vote to destroy the generators, but in doing so Ibex reveals that Apostolosians with them on the Callisto sent a message to another Apostolosian ship, and personally implicates Sokrates in the creation of the shield generators. Sokrates is given a chance to protect themselves by giving up the Apostolosian who sent the (completely innocuous) message, but they refuse, and the fleet now thinks of the Apostolosian rebels as traitors. Addax and Jace are successful and return to the fleet as they arrive at their final destination.

Crossroad 6: What will be done with the Apostolosian superweapon?[edit | edit source]

Having located the superweapon on Counterweight, Jace is chosen to infiltrate the Apostolosian base and retrieve it. Sokrates’s initial plan is to destroy it, but Oricon wants to use it against the Apostolosian Empire, and the Diaspora wants to keep and study the weapon. Oricon and the Diaspora are prepared to take action against the Kingdom if they do not follow their respective orders.

Addax and Orth meet with Sokrates in the Kingdom Come, where Sokrates refutes the idea that they are disloyal, saying that they gave up everything to warn Oricon and Diaspora, so it makes no sense to betray them - the outgoing message was someone making a stupid mistake, not a traitor. Orth is sympathetic, but Addax thinks a mistake will get them killed, and seizes control of the Callisto, taking the Apostolosians prisoner. Sokrates publicly supports the decision in an attempt to keep the fleet unified, though Natalya reaches out to them to offer what support the Rapid Evening can provide to ensure the weapon is destroyed.

Jace works on the Panther alone, thinking on what Orth told him about their doomed mission. He reflects that no matter what path the fleet takes, the war will continue and the losses will be devastating. Inside Peace Addax considers their options and concludes that he may need to destroy the fleet altogether to prevent them from becoming a destabilizing force in the region. Orth thinks that if they follow Oricon's orders, the mission will be over and they can go home. Tea tells Jace to come back safe.

The Kingdom is divided, leading to a Crisis. Tea tries to abandon the mission, but Orth talks her into staying. As Jace retrieves the weapon, however, he abandons the mission and refuses to hand it over to Addax. Addax takes it by force and in doing so the weapon is activated, destroying the atmosphere of Counterweight and creating Weight. The members of the Kingdom are scattered: Sokrates escapes with their life and little else, Orth and Tea go their separate ways, Jace is comatose, and Natalya vanishes, eventually to be joined by Addax in the Rapid Evening.

The Chime awaken in the present just in time for the ten year anniversary of the final battle of the Golden War.

Cast[edit | edit source]

Other Characters[edit | edit source]

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