Episode description[edit | edit source]
This episode carries content warnings for civilian harm and death.
The Bilateral Intercession’s net continues to spread across Palisade in response to (and retribution for) the events on the Isle of the Broken Key. In the east, the Frontier Syndicate draws ever nearer to extracting the remaining Fundament Nodes inside Palisade’s surface, a task opposed by a Divine who’s pledged undying fealty to the people of this planet and its neighboring worlds. Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, Crusade’s Elect, Gentian, has called a most monumental meeting of the minds. Their goal? To discover who, exactly, opposes them on Palisade. But hers is not the only snare closing…
This week on PALISADE: PALISADE 18: How It Always Looks Pt. 2
Won't you come and join the party / Dress to kill, dress to kill[Note 1]
Dossier[edit | edit source]
Organizations[edit | edit source]
Jade Kill: Based in Joyous Guard, this military arm of the Cause is operated by the Delegate liberation faction known as Reunion and supported by Kalar Anakalar's (he/him) Giantkiller unit and a wing of Swordbreakers. Led by August Righteousness (he/him). Violet Cove: The Dim Liturgy claim to have seen the Divine Devotion's arrival coming in their sacred text: A battered and corrupted backup of Crystal Palace's final predictions for the future. Now the two cults work together to oust the Bilats... and perhaps to do more intriguing things, as well. Grey Pond: With members of the Oxblood Clan, the Company of the Spade, and the Shale Belt's Concrete Front, these blue collar revolutionaries are experts at getting the Cause the equipment it needs (and maintaining what it has when that's the only available option). Carmine Bight: From ramshackle additions to the rocky shores of Rifle Island, Captain Skelton Knaggs (he/him) and his fearsome flotilla launch rusted pirate vessels beneath the waves, guided by a coalition of Hyphan navigators. Rose River: Though they are undoubtedly committed to the Cause, this unique research unit (combining Veronique (she/her), her Divine Fealty (any pronouns), and their followers with an out-of-time NEH Sleep Detachment squad) hope for a day when they can be something other than soldiers. Lock and Cross Security Services: The largest mercenary unit on Palisade, invited to the world by Exenceaster March. Founded by Maidstone Cross (she/her) and Margate Lock (she/her), a pair of divorcees too committed to their work together to fully separate. Margate was lost to the depths of the Diadem. The Lone Marble Group: Built around a single artifact recovered from an ancient Advent facility, this Frontier Syndicate subsidiary develops the future of Bilat war machinery. People[edit | edit source]
Connadine (he/him): Commander of the BIS on Palisade. An expert in psychological operations and folklore. As a composer, his opus is the Adagio, a plan to get everyone on Palisade operating in ways not only predictable, but scripted. As a conductor, his orchestra now turns towards the second movement. Fool Factotum (she/her): Dedicated member of the BIS, assigned to Connadine’s new executive unit. Difficult to guess her age. Gentian (she/her): Elect of the Divine Crusade. Impossibly old, yet a source of power and vibrance. Ramondre (she/her) and Ignadiah (he/him): Swordbearers of Gentian, Elect of Crusade. Rivalrous and devout. Stargrave Elcessor (she/her): Leader of the Bilateral Interecession’s occupation of Palisade, assigned personally by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh. As a Stargrave, she has been granted the means and “right” to detonate the star at the center of Palisade’s star system if she determines that those here are an existential threat to the Principality. Exenchester March (he/him): Founder of the Frontier Syndicate and the March Institute, former chair of the Zenith Fund. Betrayed the Pact and Stel Columnar, defecting to the Bilateral Intercession in exchange for territory on Palisade and the freedom to use it as he wishes. Occam Olio (they/them): Columnar member of the Frontier Syndicate and low level officer of Lock & Cross Security Services. Sharp the way a knife is. The Witch in Glass (she/her): A former scion of Kesh who, after knitting a bond with the adversary Perennial, came into control of the broken body of the Divine Past, which she has renamed the Reflecting Pool. Rules over the Crown of Glass, a city-state on the southeastern reaches of Palisade. A shaky ally of Millennium Break. Haunted by an old foe. Objects[edit | edit source]
LMG Altar: Colloquially, the most prominent mechs of the current era of the Principality are all called "Altars," but this is a name derived from one specific design: The Lone Marble Group Altar, a mech designed by Exanceaster March's top weapons team, capable of harnessing any of the new sources of power. Though it's offerings are straight forward, even simple, It has become the go-to frame for combatants across the galaxy. LMG Bench: A long, four-legged Hollow that services as a mobile support unit. Can be fitted for communications, repair, medical, and industrial needs. LMG Throne: A specialized re-model of the Altar with greater focus on detachable "bits," free-floating drones that can augment the pilot's attacking vectors. Places[edit | edit source]
Bontive Valley: Blessed by the departed divine Bounty, the Valley provides the Bilats with fruit that never rots and hyper-nutritional grain. Diadem Gravtrain: While the vast trench-city on Palisade's equator lays abandoned, Kesh has reactivated its railway via an operations center in Carmathen. The Paint Shop: Sitting atop the central peak of Steeple Catterick, most people assume the Paint Shop to be no more than an artist commune where visiting artists collaborate on eccentric and avant-garde work. In truth, it is both a manufactory and front for the Bilateral Intelligence Service. Divines[edit | edit source]
Asepsis (it/its): The final living remnants of a Divine who pursues its particular vision of purity at the cost of everything else. Kept, studied, and utilized by Captain Kalvin Brnine. Perennial (she/her): The Principality's so-called 'adversary,' who lives at the center of the galaxy and whose chaotic whims spread through her "Perennial Wave," an ever-present nanoparticle that has recently bonded with Kalmeria. The Divine Crusade (they/them): Leads Stel Nideo’s occupation on Palisade along with their Elect, Gentian. Crusade is an enormous, bipedal machine covered (or perhaps made with) beautiful stained glass. Mysteries[edit | edit source]
The Iconoclasts: Something beyond the human, desperate to eradicate subjectivity itself. The Fundament: In the depths of the world, further on even than the Diadem… there is the Fundament.
Contents[edit | edit source]
Plot[edit | edit source]
High-ranking members of the Bilateral Intercession and the Frontier Syndicate gather to share intel and uncover the members of the Cause. After much in-fighting and maneuvering, Gentian consults Crusade's book and the gathered parties successfully identify all six factions. They give the Cause a new name: Hexagon.
Meanwhile, Jade Kill, with the assistance of Carmine Bight, attempts to move on Stargrave Elcessor. The operation is unsuccessful because Elcessor has already been moved out of her base in Tintagel, and is not there when Jade Kill breaks its way in. Carmine Bight's pirates are spotted assisting the Delegates of Jade Kill during the operation, resulting in intel that helps the Authority make the final connections.
Having identified the members of Hexagon, the Frontier Syndicate wages war, advancing on New Oath through the heavily forested island to its west. During this encounter, a Frontier Syndicate soldier named Occam Olio leads an ambush against Rose River's forces. Occam then leaves a decoy mech behind and makes a run for the Fundament node behind enemy lines. Against all odds, Fealty falls for the decoy and Occam blows it up, dealing significant damage to Fealty and enabling the Frontier Syndicate to harvest the node.
At the Crown of Glass, the Witch in Glass continues her experiments on the Usher of Truth with the aim of harnessing the power of the Iconoclasts for herself. Elsewhere, STEREOMA launches a Pact counteroffensive, engaging in heavy propaganda against the Bilateral Intercession and Millennium Break in order to recruit members and advocate for the Pact.
Cast[edit | edit source]
Other Characters[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Lyrics from the song Eminence Front by The Who