“
I'm with you to the end, Anchor.”
Fealty is a Divine of Stel Nideo, piloted by Véronique. They are an ancient Divine from the long era of conflict after COUNTER/Weight, and also recall the time of the Twilight Mirage.
Fealty has a very close, even codependent relationship with Véronique; they both refer to each other as "Anchor", with all the associated symbolic baggage. However, Fealty has lost several early memories of their relationship.
Their countless oaths made to various parties include ancient oaths, their oath the people of the Twilight Mirage, their oaths to their "Excerpt", and the oaths they made to Stel Nideo, whom they served as a PR figure. Various parties are unclear on how Fealty chooses to balance potentially contradictory obligations.
Appearance[edit | edit source]
They have been described as "beautiful and terrible as the Cheesecake Factory".[1] They are humanoid, with a face like a statue in a park. They are covered in smaller glittering chrome statues in varying, clashing styles, in the hopes of appealing to every possible viewer. The statues are all bowing, reaching, or looking upwards toward Fealty's face. They can detach from Fealty and move according to their will, but Fealty had not done this in Véronique's view until their flight from the Principality.
Under the statues, Fealty has a matte, stone, or brushed metal finish.
Personality[edit | edit source]
Fealty accepts any pronouns assigned to them by their Elect. When Véronique was sworn in as their Elect, she chose "they/them" pronouns for Fealty.[1]
History and Involvement[edit | edit source]
Origins[edit | edit source]
Fealty's existence predates the Twilight Mirage. At some point, they chose to swear an oath to protect the people of the Mirage.
Their Elect immediately before Véronique was called Carex.[2]
The Road to PALISADE[edit | edit source]
Early in the Curtain's search for a way into the Twilight Mirage, Fealty and Véronique are escorting the Peaceful Princept across Nidean space when Fealty happens to catch sight of something that will allow the Stel access to the Mirage. Fealty expresses hesitance at reporting this to the Princept, resulting in Véronique holding back the information in her report to the Princept, forcing the pair to flee when the Curtain forces realize something is amiss.
Véronique and Fealty proceed to try and escape their pursuers, with Fealty allowing them to use the Portcullis System to flee to the Skarnoc Debris Fields where they kill Curtain forces, start a small kingdom, and come into conflict with Millennium Break agents. While in the Debris Fields Fealty attempts to keep the information they have on the Twilight Mirage out of their short-term memory by starting a small kingdom, recruiting an agricultural vessel known as Sierra after Véronique complains that her "Divine has forgotten [she's] a person" and that she needs to eat food while Fealty is setting up their kingdom.[1] While they are eventually forced to flee the debris field, through their journey Fealty and Véronique are petitioned by Fortitude, Perennial, Present, and Conviction. After eventually deciding that their only option is to flee to the Twilight Mirage, which Fealty is positive will accept both themselves and Véronique. Though Véronique is doubtful, Fealty assists them in formally breaking their oath to their Stel and Fealty swears an oath to her, which is broadcasted across the sector. This leads to several other ships, including Pressure Cove of the Fox in the Snow joining up with the pair.[2]
Over the course of their journey Fealty takes significant damage several times, resulting in them losing some of the early memories of their relationship with Véronique.
Upon reaching the edge of the Mirage, Véronique, Fealty, and their followers are cornered by the forces of the Curtain. While their followers fight, Véronique and Fealty choose to pilot directly into the Mirage, risking being lost forever in exchange for preventing the Curtain or Pact forces from being able to retrieve any information from them about how to breach the Twilight Mirage.[2]
PALISADE[edit | edit source]
Together with Véronique, Fealty leads Rose River, a faction of the Cause that resists the Principality's occupation of Palisade "with ingenuity and curiosity." They are based in New Oath and supported by, among others, members of a 5,000-year-old NEH Sleep Detachment squad. Unlike the many "dyed-in-the-wool revolutionaries" of the Cause, Fealty and Véronique fight for the Cause only in order to protect the Twilight Mirage.[3]
During an altercation between Rose River and the Frontier Syndicate, Fealty falls for a decoy set up by Occam Olio, sustaining damage and enabling Olio to harvest a Fundament node on the island west of New Oath.
Appears in[edit | edit source]
- The Road to PALISADE 01: HOUNDs Pt. 1
- The Road to PALISADE 02: HOUNDs Pt. 2
- PALISADE 19: How It Always Looks Pt. 2
- PALISADE 35: Weapons Ready Pt. 1
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Anchor is the term for the final runner in a relay race.