User:UnabashedlyRose/drafts

COUNTER/Weight -01: Secret World Gen Episode

Austin, Dre, Keith, Jack, Art, Ali and Nick use Stars Without Number's world generation system to create the setting of COUNTER/Weight.

COUNTER/Weight 00: If Han Solo Used To Be Beyoncé, or: Hashtag Otechku

The players make up a group called The Chime, a team of freelance troubleshooters with mechs who work out of Counterweight, primarily contracting with the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy.

The Chime consists of:

• AuDy, a car parking intelligence that for unknown reasons, became sentient and downloaded itself into a robotic body. In Mechnoir, AuDy has one Bodyguard training, one Pilot training, and one Enforcer training, making them blunt, coordinated, and tough.
  • They are sympathetic to J-m 27, and dependent on Cene Sixheart.
  • Cene helped them implant a shotgun in their arm.
  • They owe Orth Godlove for getting them the Kingdom Come, the Chime’s ship.
• Mako Trig, a runaway stratus from the September Institute who can hack with his mind. Mako has two Engineer trainings and one Criminal training, making him clever, quick, and charming.
  • He is protective of J-m, and lustful towards Paisley Moon.
  • Cene helped get him clear of the September Institute.
  • He owes Paisley money for some of his gear.
• Aria Joie, a EarthHome pop-idol turned mercenary, with her own performance mech. Aria has two Idol trainings and one Smuggler training, making her alluring, energetic, and savvy.
  • She is trusting of Jamil and affectionate towards Paisley.
  • She owes Paisley and Jamil money for helping get her mech, the Regent's Brilliance, onto Counterweight.
• Cassander Timaeus Berenice, an informally exiled Apostolosian royal. Cass has one Bodyguard training, one Pilot training, and one Enforcer training, making them authoritative, intuitive, and attentive.
  • They are loyal to Koda Whitegloves and respectful of Paisley.
  • They owe J-m for getting their mech, the Megalo File, through to Counterweight.

The season opens with Aria, AuDy, and Mako in the Kingdom Come taking a call from Cene, who is showing off the newly built BluSky Dome on Counterweight. The dome is a historic joint project between Oricon and the Autonomous Diaspora using both their own workers and recruiting local engineers from Counterweight. Their call is interrupted as the dome is attacked and destroyed by a group of riggers, leaving Cene’s fate unknown.

COUNTER/Weight 01: I Would Like A Bribe

The Chime has just seen their vidcomm with Cene Sixheart break off with the arrival of attacking riggers. Orth Godlove contracts them to find out what happened and they take the long Starlight Straights ride to the BluSky Dome. The destruction there seems to be a distraction from the attackers' real goal. Jamil Quartz-Noble is filming at the scene; she reveals that Cene Sixheart has been kidnapped, and asks the Chime to find them. The Chime visits Cene's lab, and find evidence of an infiltrator who they trace to the Rethal-Addax Spaceport.

While Aria and AuDy return to the Kingdom Come, Cass and Mako visit the spaceport and convince J-m 27 to give them clearance. Three approaching mech attack the Kingdom Come, and Aria launches in the Regent's Brilliance. Cass and Mako find the infiltrator's face from an AI clerk: his name is Shell Lotz, a Golden War era Oricon technician and friend of Jace Rethal. AuDy ducks the Kingdom Come out of range of the enemy scanners.

COUNTER/Weight 02: Soldier Game

AuDy's quick maneuvering causes one pursuing Rook to fall out of formation. Aria draws the attention of the remaining two and AuDy successfully loses them. Cass and Mako follow Shell Lotz to a mech hangar and knock him down with a hover-scaffold. As Cass tries to question Shell, the Queen mech in the hangar shoots at them, but Mako diverts her missiles. Unable to attack further without harming Shell, the Queen mech shoots his mech, destroying it, and takes off.

The Queen heads for the Regent's Brilliance and breaks its eye cam. AuDy pilots the Kingdom Come into the hangar and brings Cass, Mako and Shell aboard, but the enemy ship in the hangar follows them out. Mako ties Shell to a chair. Aria, who is getting swarmed, sends out fireworks to the song Soldier Game to disorient the enemy. Cass launches in the Megalo File and fires back and forth with the Queen. Mako tries to hack the Queen and enemy ship, but is countered by Tril aboard the ship. AuDy shoots the Queen, and she starts falling until Tril hacks her thrusters and reactivates them. The enemy ships and mechs disengage.

The last scene shows Cene imprisoned in a lab, being shown strange code on a series of displays.

COUNTER/Weight 03: It's Fine, We're Criminals

The Chime is all back on the Kingdom Come. Mako and Cass hang Shell Lotz off the edge of the ship to convince him to talk. He explains he is a member of the "patriot" Oricon mercenary group the Weightless, hired by Snowtrak Synergies. Having gotten the information, they knock him out and drop him off at the Rethal-Addax Spaceport. The Kingdom Come redocks there and does repairs. As the Chime leaves, they see a recording of the previous fight overriding a weather display, with the sign-off "The Angels of Counterweight". They report back to Orth, who points them toward a Snowtrak Dome a rogue Rook was spotted approaching. When they ask about the Angels of Counterweight, he claims not to know of them.

Mako and Aria visit Snowtrak Synergies Lab Tau and pose as potential buyers Drillbot Taylor and Laura Ausche, respectively. Cass and AuDy sneak in through a loading bay, destroying a camera as they enter. Jorne brings Mako and Aria in, and while Mako has to turn his gun in, Aria manages to secretly keep hers. Mako and Jorne mutually charm each other. AuDy forces a door open. Cass and AuDy find themselves in the catwalks above the R&D garage Mako and Aria are touring. Mako and Aria both sign a contract to buy six extremely expensive robots and a new flyboard for Mako (the Ring of Saturn). AuDy and Cass head further into the facility, now shadowed by an unknown person.

COUNTER/Weight 04: The Bells Are Ringing

AuDy and Cass, being followed, enter the catwalks above the room where Cene is being kept. There are three armed guards below. AuDy throws themself off the balcony to the floor, pretending to be malfunctioning, and then shuts themselves off. Two of the guards approach them, giving Cass an opening to sneak down the stairwell. Cene is incapitated by the display they're watching, so Cass has to pick them up. Jorne brings Mako and Aria into the same room, and the guards recognize Aria as a member of the Chime.

Aria shoots into the air and says “The bells are ringing!” Pretty, one of the guards, shoots back at her and hits her gun hand with explosive rounds, hurting her badly. Cass uses their Rigalia to make the Megalo File shoot at the compound from outside. A gunfight begins inside, and AuDy powers back on to join in. Bee, another of the guards, takes Aria hostage. Jorne flees. Mako tries to free Aria by spraying his complementary water into Bee's eyes, but Bee still shoots him. Aria takes the opportunity to get free and knocks him out. Cass loads Cene into the Megalo File, and Aria calls the Regent's Brilliance to pick her and AuDy up. Mako stumbles back through the facility and takes back his gun. Beck, who had been following AuDy before, speeds off in a car, shooting at the Regent's Brilliance with a rocket launcher. AuDy helps Aria navigate to lose him.

Jorne calls for medical assistance for Mako and agrees to have Snowtrak pay for it, but will not cancel Mako's purchase. Cass is able to treat Cene, but Aria is going into shock, and they call Koda; Aria ends up needing to get a prosthetic hand/forearm. Cene wakes up before she does, and seems better, although they are worried about the source of the code, a dig on Ionias. AuDy reports back to Orth. They don't say what Snowtrak wanted Cene for.

A new Angels of Counterweight video is released, showing Cene's kidnapping and rescue, and ending with “When the bells chime, you’re out of time.”

COUNTER/Weight 05: A Ship of Seeds

Dre and Sylvi introduce their special factions, Snowtrak Synergies and the Odamas Fleet; they will be important each week, but other factions may get less attention. All the factions get a brief overview.

Minerva begins to build up wealth.

EarthHome uses their marketers to go after the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy, which is played out in a scene. Leonard Bircham (with his assistant, Darius Flannigan) attempts to argue that the recent Angels of Counterweight broadcasts which showed Aria's mech were IP violations and the CCT is at fault; Orth rebuffs this, as the broadcast was clearly deliberate interference by a third party.

The Rapid Evening builds up money in preparation for further action.

Snowtrak purchases a franchise asset on Joypark to deal with worker shortages caused by some sort of mind control centered on the ice planet of Ionias. This is played out in a scene: Lena Shashkova meets with her subordinates in a temperature-controlled, beach-themed office. Oren reports that people like working on Ionias a little too much and suggests contacting his friend Leonard Bircham to run a recruiting campaign. Natalya is frustrated by her bosses and their "ship of seeds" metaphor. The air-conditioning hums ominously in Lena's office.

Fairchild purchases a posttech industry asset and Apostolos begins to build up power in preparation for attacking Torru.

The Odamas Fleet attacks Fairchild with their stealth unit: a mixed group of work robots, humans, and genemodded people. The work robots infiltrate a Fairchild facility for weeks, until the humans cause an outside distraction, allowing the robots to act. The facility is destroyed in an explosion, at the cost of the robots' lives.

Horizon attacks Tetrakal in the hopes of taking it from Odamas, but fails miserably. With this, Odamas meets their goal of dealing damage to enemy fleets, which will allow them new opportunities in the next Faction Game.

COUNTER/Weight 06: Here's Your Bribe Tip

The Chime receives an automated message from Orth Godlove, scheduled to send in the event of his own disappearance and offering 10 credits for his recovery. They head to the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy office and speak with his coworker, Maris Lynwood, who explains that Orth was organizing a supply drop in Dome 7. In return for an exorbitant 6 credits, she agrees to let them into Orth's office. Mako hacks Orth's biotracker, which reveals that he left Dome 7 with off-world food supplies before the connection was lost. Aria also finds messages in his computer to Horizon Tactical Solutions, The Weightless, "Jaq n Jyl", and various people from Oricon and the Diaspora. Mako creates a back door in the systems for the future.

The Chime meets up with Jamil Quartz-Noble at a Constellation Café. She suspects the Netted Wave are behind recent protests, especially with the upcoming ten year anniversary of the Golden War.

COUNTER/Weight 07: I Am Not Allowed

The Chime arrive at Dome 7. The drop-off point for the supplies is a small spaceport, and they talk to the J-m unit working there. Mako hacks them so he can check on the tracking number (and also so that J-m 144 can talk to other robots). J-m 144 reports the package's last known location. They recognize images of Netted Wave members, who they last saw yesterday, and who were also looking for the supplies. Mako unfogs them when he's done.

The Chime heads for Starlight Straight 12-12-20, and Mako is incensed to see that Jorne has stolen his idea for a casino line. The 12-12-20 is shut down, so they fly the Kingdom Come along it instead. After nightfall, they find a crashed maglev train. Mako flies in on his Ring of Saturn. The Kingdom Come is hit by a howitzer sent from a line of approaching vehicles: two trains and some wheeler carts. Cass fires back, destroying multiple wheelers. Aria approaches in the Regent's Brilliance and cuts the front train with her beam saber, spotting a driver and a priest. AuDy makes a train crash. Mako fights with the two remaining wheelers. Titan, one of the wheeler pilots, shoots her bolo gun at the Regent's Brilliance, destroying its armor. Aria strikes back in retaliation, killing her.

Out of the crashed Starlight Straight train, a woman comes out with a gun to Orth's head. She tells them to stop. Mako shoots the gun out of her hand, but she just threatens to break Orth's neck. AuDy lands the Kingdom Come. A golden-sailed Netted Wave airship and three Apostolosian Hoplite mechs arrive.

COUNTER/Weight 08: Our Hostage Below

AuDy pilots the Kingdom Come towards the Netted Wave group, and starts leading them back to the rest of the Chime. Mako ends up in a standoff against Sister Rust and Nickel. Aria jumps out of her mech. Cass puts out static on their rigalia as a signal to the other Apostolosians, who open a comms channel, but the conversation doesn't go well. The Athenian charges into the Kingdom Come, destroying its thrusters. Aria convinces Nickel to flee, who grabs Brother Sterling from the wreckage.

Tisiphone lands in a Hoplite mech. Mako tackles Sister Rust, knocking her out and sending Orth flying. Tisiphone tries to grab Orth, but Cass in the Megalo File jumps from the ship and blocks them. Aria and Orth rush into the Regent's Brilliance, dodging shots. AuDy runs out of the Kingdom Come, grabbing Sister Rust and dragging her back into the ship. The Chime and Netted Wave Hoplites exchange attacks. Aria pulls her fireworks and music trick again, shouting "This ends here," and then flees, drawing the Netted Wave away. The Kingdom Come and Megalo File head in the other direction.

While meeting up with Jamil later at a Constellation Cafe, another Angels of Counterweight video plays, showing their recent battle, with the commentary "Security group The Chime successfully defeated foreign terrorists and recovered the food that the people of Counterweight so desperately needed." In fact, it was the Netted Wave who recovered the food from the Iron Choir and brought it back.

COUNTER/Weight 09: This Month of Ours

Recap

Austin summarizes the last faction turn, recontextualizing Horizon's failed attack of Odamas as an attempt to break through so that a convoy with food supplies could land on Counterweight, and linking this to the food crisis seen in "Here's Your Bribe Tip". He then describes the rest of that faction turn, which he played out himself:

• The Hands of Grace attempted to raise money for a covert transit net asset to allow them to travel stealthily, and although this failed, they have enough money that it didn't seriously affect them.
• The OEG moved their superfleet to Tetrakal, bribing Odamas to let them through with Counterweight's needed food supplies.
• The CCT spent their limited credits on surveyors, preparing to establish a foothold on Weight.
• The Ethnologistical Committee bought Stealth for Integrity, with the long term goal of reaching and 'civilizing' the badlands planet of Gemm, currently controlled by the Hands of Grace.
• The September Institute, which had already infiltrated Vox with its Strati, bought Smuggler units on the planet.
• The DDMR:SD attempted to make money with their venture capital, but were unsuccessful; this gave Lux Vox the opportunity to move mercenaries onto Slate in the hopes of destroying the DDMR:SD, their ideological enemies.
• Finally, the Automaticorps bought smugglers, planning to move onto the nearby planet of Coral, which has no factions currently associated with it.

Faction Turn Two

Grace is introduced, the Divine who is associated with the Hands of Grace. Unlike a Divine like Service, she is both interested in and savvy about human culture, deliberately associating herself with gendered tropes about womanhood in order to be a more palatable public figure. The Hands of Grace spend some upkeep on maintaining Grace, buy a small base of influence on Sage, and move the fleet there as part of plans to bring the planet back into the fold of the Diaspora. This is played out in a scene; a huge procession of Grace and her space marines takes place in a park in one of the few cities on-planet. Sheriff Chet Wise and young idealist Rory Kingston discuss the parade, while from a rooftop council member Kira Voight observes through her sniper rifle. She attempts to assassinate Grace's candidate Vicuna, but a space marine takes the bullet. In the aftermath, Grace projects her Divine aura through the crowd, causing ecstacy and terror.

The OriCon Expeditionary Group simply makes money peacefully. The CCT move their surveyors to Weight. The Ethnologistical Committee spend their credits on stealthing their personnel by teaching their militia how to blend in on Gemm.

The September Institute have bought up a false front asset, a new media outlet on Vox. Austin explains that Loyalty, Lux Vox's Divine, is being fogged by the September Institute's artificial Divine Voice. They begin a scene: Loyalty worries to Voice about the buyouts, but is quickly calmed. Loyalty's young candidate Kobus is deflected from inquiring deeper into Voice, and they inadvertently let slip intel on Grace's activities to September.

The DDMR:SD spends the last of their resources on a posttech industries asset in the hopes of making some kind of profit. Lux Vox attacks the DDMR's mercenaries on Slate with their own mercenaries, which is framed to be what Kobus and Loyalty were watching while speaking with Voice.

Next are the L&D Automaticorps and its Divine Righteousness, who is a distributed Divine and "kind of a dick". Its candidate, mechanically a Seductress who can reveal the stealth assets of other factions, is named: Ibex, the oldest candidate in the Golden Branch, a proud and righteous man. He's sent ahead of the L&D smuggler units to schmooze on Coral.

Snowtrak and Odamas

Earthhome openly give Snowtrak Industries a credit, and Leonard Bircham cooks the books to give them a second credit as a favor for Oren. Along with their other income, this allows Snowtrak to investigate what's below the ice on Ionias. Natalya and her successor Maddie Graden visit the glacier dig site, where the young Kalliope-born worker Omen Kane has left his vehicle, unauthorized, to finish digging by hand.

Before the reveal of what's in the ice, the Odamas Fleet is upgraded to a major faction for achieving their goal last turn. This gives them increased attributes, the new assets pretech infantry and informants, and transforms the Yersinia into their mobile base of influence. They move to Vyshe on their way towards Kalliope. A scene ensues: pilot Augustus Foxwell has been picked up from the Horizon fleet destroyed last turn, gravely injured, and Diego Rose begins a very threatening recruitment pitch until Captain Thorne arrives to play good cop.

Snowtrak have also been upgraded as a faction. On Ionias, Natalya and Maddie try to stop Omen Kane from digging, but they're thrown back by a pulse of energy. A huge mechanical figure rises from the ice: Rigour, the first Divine.

COUNTER/Weight 10: Drawing Clocks

Mechanical Changes

The session is dedicated to moving the Chime from their game of Mechnoir to an early copy of The Sprawl. To start each player picks one faction to mechanize as a corporation for The Sprawl. Art picks the Diasporan Department of Material Resources, Keith picks the September Institute, Ali picks Counterweight's Angels, Jack picks the Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps, and Austin picks the Rapid Evening.

Aria’s new playbook is The Pusher. Her new moves focus on her ideals and her ability to inspire action. She is hunted by Earthhome now that her activities have begun to gain more attention. Her new personal directives allow her to mark experience when she values heroism or her own fame over the mission.

AuDY’s new playbook is The Driver, with some moves from The Killer. Their new moves focus on their piloting as well as their capabilities for violence. They also gain several small drones they can pilot. They are considered to be owned by Orth Godlove in repayment for the Kingdom Come. Their new personal directives allow them to mark experience when they discover more information about their sentience, or adhere to the laws of robotics to the detriment to the mission.

Cass' new playbook is The Soldier, with some moves from The Tech. Their moves focus on planning and strategizing, as well as their medical background. Cass is considered hunted by Oricon and the Diaspora, who aren’t thrilled about the Apostolisian heir running missions with a mech they shouldn’t have. Cass’ new personal directives allow them to mark experience when their role in Apostolos hinders the mission, or when they put the advice of Koda Whitegloves ahead of the mission.

Mako’s new playbook is The Hacker. In the new system the focus is on his body as his source of hacking. Mako is considered owned by the September institute, and is being hunted by Snowtrak for the money he now owes him for the mechs he purchased. Mako’s new personal directives allow him to mark experience when the mission is hindered by his goofball persona or his lies about his identity.

Missions

During the game’s two month time skip members of the Chime run various missions.

Mako runs a job against Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps, sabotaging some blueprints that they had stolen from Mako’s client. Mako “fogged the shit” out of their automated security. Aria helps Mako secure an escape route.

Cass attacks the supply lines of the September Institute, hitting them back for a perceived slight during the war. AuDy brings the Kingdom Come to assist, and Mako is happy to help fight against the Institute.

AuDy breaks into an AI research unit of Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps to try and uncover more information about artificial intelligence units. Cass runs a diversionary play to keep the defence drones away while Aria breaks in with AuDy. While inside, AuDy learns of the laws of robotics, and finds they can’t stop thinking about them, leading to their new drive.

Aria joins the mission to Weight that Orth set up as a part of the Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy in "This Month of Ours". AuDy flies the Kingdom Come to sneak them through the blockade while Aria uses her pop star status to get her and the surveyors past the security. Cass provides medical support before and after the mission to help the surveyors deal with the change in environment.

COUNTER/Weight 11: A Thing You Know About Nightclubs

The session begins with love letters. AuDy asks the captured Sister Rust about her beliefs and ends up returning her to the Iron Choir. Mako retrieves some intel on Snowtrak from his Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps raid. After Cass's space mission, their family asks them to guard their cousin Laris on a visit to Counterweight, but they refuse. Aria learns that when she first joined JoyPark, she signed over her rights to her image and audio.

Paisley Moon asks the Chime to the opening of the Krilham C-E-D dome's BluSky dome and beach. He passes them a job from his client, Apostolos, to recover data from the September Institute before it is sold. The data is currently being protected by an OriCon security firm, and several other factions are interested in acquiring it.

Mako does some light hacking and learns the data is called the Gnosis Virus; it has already caused the deaths of 12 people in a Centralia nightclub a few weeks ago. AuDy contacts shadow broker "Benny", who points them to Dome 32 and Horizon Tactical Solutions, who direct the movement of Gnosis from a distance. Aria talks to her own contact, Wes, and learns about the new Aria Joie song, "SkyBright Love". Wes warns her about the security at the Horizon facility, while Cass surveys the facility alongside AuDy's Junebug photography drone, and spots their best way in.

Cass assigns themself and Mako to the Horizon facility, and AuDy and Aria to going after Gnosis. Just as everyone is moving into place, Aria gets a call from Jamil.

COUNTER/Weight 12: A Home After A Wake

Jamil warns Aria about the Gnosis virus, and asks her not to give it to Apostolos, but to her, as she knows people who can destroy it.

Mako enters the Horizon facility covertly. He begins hacking into the Horizon systems (which he views in the Mesh as a house) but a program spots him and calls for "Larry". Mako suggests to the program that he is actually Larry and sends it away. Cass is recognized as Apostolosian by an Apostolosian guard on patrol, who decides to overlook them. They follow Mako's path in.

Aria is flying in the Brilliance south of Centralia, and can see both an Aria Joie concert happening inside the Kilham C-E-D Dome and the lights of Horizon riggers from Dome 32 flying towards it.

Cass and Mako encounter some guards in the next security room and pose as heater repair technicians; one guard takes them down to the weapons testing facility. Adler, who they last saw while rescuing Cene, comes out of one of the mechs but is fooled for now.

AuDy heads for a Constellation Coffee to work out the location of Gnosis. In the Brilliance, Aria follows the Horizon riggers to the EarthHome Really There-ter, and then tails one of them, Beck, on foot disguised as a fan in Aria Joie cosplay. The space is mostly physically empty; the majority of fans are here virtually.

Mako hacks the heater and opens the door to the next level. The Larry program shows up, and Mako starts copying him, confusing him so badly that he leaves.

In the back halls of the concert, Aria hears a woman tell Beck the test is about to start.

COUNTER/Weight 13: Our Customer of the Month

As Aria follows Beck up the stairs, he hears her. She pretends to be a lost fan looking for the bathroom, and he shows her there. Cass and Mako successfully sneak to the elevator down. AuDy is at the Constellation Café, monitoring the others.

Aria gets spotted by a fan in the bathroom, who takes a selfie with her, almost immediately blowing up Aria's social media feeds (and getting covered by the TV in the Constellation Café). Aria sneaks back up, but hears gunshots. There's a guy tied up, and Beck has been shot; the woman he spoke to earlier shot him and stole the Gnosis virus. Aria chases after her into the rafters and shoots at her to make her stop.

Cass and Mako reach the bottom floor, which is filled with moving server banks. Mako uses blueprints from charming his way into the building to find where to go. When he enters the mesh (shaped like statuary made of ice), he sees the Gnosis virus disappear, as though someone else got it first.

Aria and Jacqui Green have a flirtatious back and forth, in which Jacqui somehow knows Aria's callsign. Aria jumps over to her, but drops her gun onto the stage. As they start fighting, Jacqui triggers explosions using some weird goo. The people below start screaming, even as the music keeps playing.

On the Constellation Café screen, AuDy sees that there's been explosions at the concert.

COUNTER/Weight 14: We've All Killed People

AuDy calls Aria in the middle of her fight with Jacqui, and she asks them to come help; AuDy and their drone Just A Dog rush back to the Kingdom Come. Aria has the Brilliance cut a hole in the wall. Jacqui is cut off from escape. AuDy is arriving in the Kingdom Come and opens the dock for Aria's mech. As Aria grabs Jacqui with the hand of the Brilliance, AuDy is attacked by Jillian Red, who snuck in through the open dock. She tells them to land the Kingdom Come somewhere else but AuDy spins the ship around sharply and Jillian is slammed against a wall.

Cass takes off from the Minerva facility to join up with Aria and AuDy. Aria has the Brilliance pick her up and puts the unconscious Jacqui in the cockpit. Horizon's Luna mechs have been alerted by all the noise and are trying to target her. Cass arrives just in time to destroy them, but they get shots in first which hit the Brilliance. Aria is forced to land on a rooftop briefly; Jacqui manages to get out.

AuDy threatens to throw Jillian out of the Kingdom Come, and she lets them do it; as they throw her out, an explosion goes off from the Kingdom Come's control room. The ship begins descending towards a park below.

Mako sees a weird shadow of himself in the Mesh as he logs out, but he successfully hits the bricks.

Cass is actually piloting the Megalo File remotely, and has a gun pointed at Jacqui. Jill has just fallen to her death; Jacqui gets a call, gives them the Gnosis virus, and flees. Cass gets their own call from Koda, who is concerned about what's going down and wants them to give the virus to Paisley and Apostolos. AuDy manages to land the ship without hurting anyone, damaging the ship further.

The Chime is conflicted about what to do with the virus. Aria calls Jamil, who tells her it's Counterweight's Angels who would destroy Gnosis. This does not help the discussions very much. In the end, Cass hands Gnosis over to Paisley, to be delivered to an Apostolosian science lab. Cass is publicly labeled part of a bio-terror incident ("Fishy Prince Leaves Fingerprints...") and is now wanted by the CCT.

COUNTER/Weight 15: A Candle in the Sun

Recap

Austin recaps the last faction turn and describes the rest, which he completed himself:

• Minerva flooded the market on Counterweight with knockoff Earthhome goods; Earthhome tried to defend with their organizational moles, but the moles were bought off, causing Earthhome to lose that asset.
• The Rapid Evening used their deep strike lander assets to move space marines from Torru to Sage.
• Fairchild bought surveyors for later expansion.
• The Apostolosian Empire bought posttech infantry on Torru.
• Horizon Tactical Solutions moved their fleet to Vyshe.

Faction Turn Three

Austin accidentally gave Earthhome an additional move, so it will be applied to turn three; they use their marketers in retribution for last turn to create anti-Minerva propaganda shows, forcing Minerva to pay a whopping 10 credits to stop them from airing.

Austin zooms in on the high tech faction of the Rapid Evening and the supercomputers they use to monitor Ziishe and Kesh. They buy up the Hands of Grace's new base of influence on Sage at the cost of all their credits. They also successfully attack the Hands of Grace fleet. This is explored in a scene: the Hands of Grace have captured would-be Rapid Evening assassin Kira Voight from the jungles of Sage and brought her into space to be questioned by Vicuna. Rapid Evening forces unstealth and surround the fleet, cutting off Grace's arm. Kira breaks Vicuna's arm on the same side Grace was injured, then fights back to her extraction point alongside Tetsuya Mori.

Snowtrak, under the control of Rigour, has focused on Earthhome as its new enemy. They use their franchise asset on Joypark to begin setting up a base of influence there and display ads which subtly imply people should always be working; Earthhome is none the wiser as they still consider Snowtrak their allies.

Fairchild move their new surveyors onto Gemm.

Apostolos attacks the Rapid Evening's base on Torru, which turns into a weeks-long siege, explored in a scene: Commander Argus and Elias, a unit commander serving under them, meet over the bedside of Nicodeme, a dying soldier about to be awarded with a medal. Argus wants to stop the senseless violence of the siege, while Elias, and the rest of command, are more concerned with the potential glory to be won for the Empire.

Horizon attacks Odamas again, this time at Vyshe, but is defeated soundly once more. The Odamas Fleet continues on its path toward Kalliope, stopping over Archonic to refuel. But before that happens, there's a short scene in which Augustus fights on the side of Odamas for the first time.

COUNTER/Weight 16: The Rear Left Engine

Mako, Aria and AuDy follow an anonymous request to meet at a park in Monument Square. They notice new Angels of Counterweight videos running there, now promoting the Weightless. At the park a man shows the Chime a video of a strange, explosive golden orb, and asks them to recover it from the Iron Choir. He is Tendency Porter, the V.P. of Rare Materials Acquisitions in the DDMR.

AuDy has not told the Chime that Sister Rust owes them a favor, and as they admit to Cass, they in fact lied about receiving a bounty payment and using it to fix the ship's left engine. Cass and AuDy go to the crashed ship A Collection of Inconsistencies, trailed by various robots. The person at the crash site, Tungsten, agrees to take AuDy to Seabed City to speak with Sister Rust (after they pay him three credits to buy food). AuDy tells the Chime what they're going to do and shuts themself off, refusing to explain.

Mako calls Orth, who is not happy with the Chime, but tells him that OriCon currently has a blockade on the Iron Choir, who reside out in the seabed near the abandoned dome. Aria talks to Caleb, an Apostolosian who runs a pawn shop, and pays them in exchange for intel that the orb is from Ziishe. A longer video shows the orb not exploding, but rolling along a hill into a stream. Cass searches on the Apostolosian net, and learns a bit about the Rapid Evening. In the process, they accidentally download "LDA Track V3.2," Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps tracking malware.

Cass decides that they will go with AuDy, Mako will get the orb with his Ring of Saturn deck, and Aria will follow in the Brilliance, ready to draw OriCon in. Tungsten brings his supplies on board with some J-M units, and the Kingdom Come prepares to launch.

COUNTER/Weight 17: Metal That Has Died Twice

As the Kingdom Come and the Regent's Brilliance fly off in the early morning, they can see the OriCon Expeditionary Group blockade, but they both slip under. To the west is a broken dome, with the Divine Order, once Peace, exposed and towering over it. Aria stays out, but the Kingdom Come lands in Seabed City, and loses comms contact with her.

AuDy tells Sister Rust that OriCon is going to launch an attack on the city, but she doesn't believe them. They give Rust one of their antennae. She simply accepts it, so they give up on subterfuge, telling her that they're looking for the golden orb. She says they don't have it, but looks toward Order. At the same time as this conversation, Aria sees some "Bright Silhouette" Automaticorps drones flying in towards the Divine, and soon catches more blips flying in. Explosions begin to go off.

Mako flies toward Order, and sees eight drones attacking the city while a rigger made of modular pieces scans for something. Cass and AuDy run back to the Kingdom Come. Mako hacks into the drones and makes them attack each other. AuDy slams the Kingdom Come into the drones. Cass launches in the Megalo File and shoots at the rigger (a Keyfield suit), but the shot is intercepted. Aria sees five rooks arriving in the distance, and brings the Brilliance into the city to help.

AuDy starts shooting the remaining drones, misses and hits a church. Cass is still shooting missiles, but the last remaining drone attacks the Megalo File. Aria attacks the Keyfield suit, which breaks apart into individual Bright Silhouette drones, briefly revealing its pilot, Territory Jazz. Territory Jazz uses his laser whip and drones to cleave off one of the Brilliance's legs from the knee down.

Mako finds a way into Order, but can't easily fog it. Instead, he's brought into a strange black hallway filled with projected images of Peace. The final one shows Addax and Jace reaching for a golden orb.

COUNTER/Weight 18: The Order of Things

AuDy warns people away from the ship and then sends out their rotor drone Junebug at Territory Jazz. The Brilliance kicks at the drones, but is caught back up by Territory Jazz, and drops its beam saber to the ground. At this point, five of the Weightless arrive at Seabed City and begin flying for Order. With a drone attacking the Megalo File, Cass is able to flood its channels with Apostolosian script, disabling the Keyfield suit's drone shielding. But the damage to their mech is bad enough that Cass is auto-ejected.

Mako reaches the center of Order, where the golden orb is. The Divine interfaces with him, and while he has the chance to sway it back towards Peace, he instead picks the orderly answers. Order wakes and begins to move. It easily destroys two of the Weightless mechs; Tea Kenridge affirms that they'll beat Order like she did before.

Cass shoots and kills Territory Jazz even as they're flying through the air. Sister Rust begs AuDy not to let Order leave the city, and as it moves the crops that were planted near it are beginning to die. Mako manages to keep Order from attacking the Kingdom Come. As he deactivates the Divine, Cass parachutes into Order and blasts through its doors.

The Kingdom Come lands. Aria is shot by Tea just before she slams into the back of the ship. Cass pulls Mako and the orb out of Order and brings them back. They begin treating Aria's wounds. The remaining members of the Weightless flee.

AuDy watches Sister Rust give her sermon. She shows AuDy how the golden orb keeps the Choir's farms alive and keeps the people able to live safely without a functioning dome. AuDy takes a Dead Metal symbol from one of the fallen people. They return to the ship, power down everything but the medical bay, and return the orb to Seabed City. In return, the Iron Choir repairs their mechs and gives them some credits, but the Chime is still at a net loss.

Cass receives a video message from Ibex, threatening them for their interference in the operations of the Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps.

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

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?

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?

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.

COUNTER/Weight 20: The Glimmer Incident: The Executive Enters!

Crossroads 3: Will the Kingdom allow Ibex to join?

The Kingdom almost universally agrees that allowing Ibex aboard is dangerous, as he is a known destabilizing element in the Diaspora. Natalya’s intel from the Rapid Evening has her especially riled, and she goes to Tea to ask if the Queen's Gambit can move the refugees planetside without involving Ibex at all. Tea agrees, and Natalya informs Orth, reassuring him that they can handle this without involving Ibex.

Addax calls Tea, Jace, and Orth onto the bridge of Peace to discuss options if Ibex reacts violently, and Peace ends that discussion by interjecting that when divines fight, millions of people die. This perspective causes Tea to reconsider their position, especially when Jace suggests having Ibex aboard at least lets them keep an eye on him. Sokrates ruminates alone on the mission, and the unity it was meant to represent.

Orth and Addax struggle with their decision. Orth votes to not allow Ibex aboard, since everyone has emphasized how dangerous he is. Addax votes to allow Ibex on, believing the Diasporan philosophy that conflict will drive them forward. In a stalemate, Sokrates pleads their case that they need to focus on helping these refugees, since they are doing this for the good of the Golden Branch. Orth dials Ibex and accepts his offer, and Ibex arrives on the Kingdom Come. Natalya is cut off from the Rapid Evening by Righteousness, and she confesses to Orth that she is not what she appears.

Crossroads 4: Will the Kingdom take food and supplies from the people of Wreathe?

The Kingdom continues on, and as Orth predicted, they begin to run out of supplies. The nearby Diasporan planet of Wreathe may have what they need, but the planet is stretched thin as it is.

Orth and Addax discuss whether they can ask for aid from Wreathe, since they are working as part of a Diasporan mission, and assisted the refugees earlier. Orth notes that they can make use of Ibex here to lead the negotiations on the ground, but Tea later disagrees harshly, since they can’t trust Ibex. Meanwhile, Ibex meets with Sokrates and Addax to discuss taking over the fleet so it is led by the Diasporans, saying that Orth is ill-suited to be a commander in times of war. Neither are enthused, but neither disagree outright. Addax later reviews newsfeeds of the Apostolosian destruction of Vox and considers his original orders from the Diaspora.

Sokrates calls Addax, Jace, Orth, and Ibex to the bridge of the Kingdom Come to confront Ibex head-on about his planned takeover, and an argument immediately erupts. Ibex tells Orth that while his heart is in the right place, he doesn’t have what it takes to lead this mission, and tears into both Sokrates and Jace when they try to defend Orth. Ibex and Sokrates both get heated, but in the end Sokrates takes power from Ibex. Orth asks everyone to leave the bridge and sits alone as the power starts to give out, plunging the bridge into darkness.

Orth meets privately with Ibex, and asks for advice on how he can lead the fleet better, ceding his power to Ibex.

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

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?

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?

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.

COUNTER/Weight 22: The Broken Branch

Recap

Due to the developments of previous faction games and the Kingdom game, Austin has decided to consolidate the factions from 16 to 7, leaving them with:

• the Hands of Grace (from the Hands of Grace and the DDMR: Slate Division)
• the Minerva Strategic Alliance (from the OEG and Minerva)
• the Righteous Vanguard (from the Automaticorps, Lux Vox and the September Institute)
• Petrichor Automedia (from Snowtrak and EarthHome)
• the Rapid Evening (from the Rapid Evening and Fairchild)
• the Golden Branch Demarchy (from the Apostolosian Empire and Ethnologistical Committee)
• the Odamas Fleet (from Odamas and Horizon).

The Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy has lost enough power that it has been removed from the board, though it still technically exists in the world.

Golden Demarchy

After the Kingdom game, Sokrates fled toward Slighter, entering and slowly taking control of the Ethnologistical Committee over the following decade. They are now the candidate of Integrity, and have thrown a coup of the Apostolosian Empire to create the Golden Branch Demarchy, a representative government run by six Eidolons selected through sortition. They and Integrity helped Apostolos defeat the forces of the Rapid Evening on Torru.

A scene is played out: a confrontation between Sokrates, Argus (the new Eidolon of Security), and Sokrates' parent, the old Apokine in a dusty throne room on Apostolos. When the Apokine rushes Sokrates, Argus defends them by shooting and killing the Apokine.

Sokrates now uses a dark space strike force centered around the rebuilt Callisto II, allowing them to hit their enemies without warning.

Other Faction Outcomes

Grace has become increasingly totalitarian, clenching a police state down on Sage and striking back hard at the Rapid Evening.

Austin has recast Fairchild as a front of the Rapid Evening, to give the Rapid Evening some more moral greyness.

Natalya, on Ionias, knows about Rigour. But because of the Kingdom game, Rigour also knows that she's a Rapid Evening agent, and has decided to make her its next candidate. She manages to send off one last message to Ibex and the others from the Kingdom game, but Rigour, insinuating itself into her consciousness, redacts it so it's just the word Rigour over and over.

Earthhome releases a surprisingly bleak "Oscar-bait" anime film about the war and the Kingdom game, while Rigour works the animators to death. Rigour's hum now extends throughout all Earthhome and Snowtrak products, represented by the newest Aria Joie song.

Crystal and Colleen Steiger are introduced as the heads of Minerva Mining and Mechanics, and a scene is played out where they meet with Trenton Blackford, the CSO of the OEG. Representatives from Earthhome, Snowtrak and Horizon are mysteriously absent, so Crystal and Colleen are offered an advisory role, allowing them to effectively become the heads of Minerva Strategic.

Odamas sends Diego Rose to negotiate a ceasefire with Horizon. He offers them access to the regeneration tech used by Jacqui and Jill, in exchange for being on call for Odamas, which they accept.

Austin notes that the September Institute is a ploy of Ibex, allowing him to have potential weapons against Grace while making sure they won't affect Righteousness. There's a short scene where Twelfth boots up Voice, which is revealed to be based on Righteousness's software, in order to talk to Loyalty and Kobus again. Twelfth reports back to Ibex, who then messages Kobus himself; after the Kingdom game he spent years on Vox practically raising Kobus.

COUNTER/Weight 23: An Astonishingly Illegal Ship

Orth wants the Chime to get off Counterweight, past Detachment and the anniversary blockade, and take a weapon from September so they can get past security at Liberty and Discovery Automaticorps headquarters and clear their biometrics from the databases. He gives them the few credits remaining from the collapsed Consolidated Counterweight Technocracy.

It’s time for love letters: Mako keeps spotting a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. Cene is worried about AuDy going off planet, and gives them some healing goop to maintain their systems. Aria gets a chai latte with Tea Kenridge; Tea gives her access to the Weightless’s old hangar. Cass receives notice that their parent, the Apokine, has been killed in a coup thrown by their sibling and Koda insists that they attend the funeral remotely, to much fanfare. Afterwards, Cass learns Sokrates has gifted them their parent’s personal mech, the Arete.

The Chime visits the Rethal-Addax Spaceport. Mako and AuDy talk to J-m 27, who agrees to hide their astonishingly illegal ship in exchange for payment. However, AuDy offends J-m 27 in the process. Aria and Cass pick up the Queen Custom and Arete. The Kingdom Come has a new warehouse attached underneath to fit them. Aria equips Jace's old beam saber to the Regent's Brilliance.

AuDy finds Orth asleep in the ship: he’s coming with them as another pilot.

Mako hacks a waiter bot, which responds to him with his own face as it suggests the best time for the ship to launch.

COUNTER/Weight 24: It's Still Dark Out

AuDy and Cass go to BAABS, who gives them intel on how procedures to move through space undetected, in exchange for them making a delivery. Aria tries to get in contact with Jamil, who isn’t answering her calls. As she’s approaching Jamil’s apartment, she sees Jacqui, Jamil and two security officers descending in the elevator. She follows them out and tries to stop them, but Jacqui just attacks her with an explosion.

Meanwhile Cass is researching Detachment at the library, and learns that deactivating its satellite system might give them a chance to get past. Mako is logging into servers trying to figure out why his face has been popping up. AuDy delivers some films, although signing for them leaves a record of their presence.

Aria pushes through the crowd towards Jamil. One of the suits shoots her as she’s pulling Jamil away. Jacqui interrupts, pinning Jamil to the ground and stepping on her. Aria notices Jacqui’s lack of interest in this mission; she asks Jacqui to go on a date with her, and Jacqui agrees.

Jamil tells Aria her cover has been blown, and something bad is going down on Ionias. They both have to leave Counterweight soon; the two part ways. Jacqui and Aria go together to the Kingdom Come where Aria gets her gunshot wound treated by Cass.

They’ve bought back the Kingdom Come’s old engines from the war, that had been sold off, and this is just enough to get it off the ground. As the ship takes off, Mako finds someone on the mesh who looks a lot like him, but says his name is Larry.

COUNTER/Weight 25: You Can Call Me Captain

The Kingdom Come receives a communication from Minerva Strategic asking for their clearance. Three Horizon ships are arriving. AuDy feigns that they’re out of fuel. The Minerva Strategic worker, Johnson Jeremiah, concludes the Kingdom Come has been stolen by a robot. Minerva Strategic ships now approach as well.

Adler contacts them from Horizon, asking for them to hand over Jacqui Green, who has gone AWOL, and a down payment on the money owed to Petrichor for Mako’s robots. AuDy mutes the call while Mako produces a fake payment receipt. As the Chime starts arguing over what to do, Horizon fires a warning shot. Reopening comms, Adler accepts the receipt for now, but AuDy and Mako’s disagreement over whether Jacqui Green is on board is obviously fishy. Adler shoots again, hitting the ship. Mako falls and hits his head, and is now seeing Larry with him.

AuDy sends out the Queen Custom, pretending that Jacqui Green is inside it, and Adler accepts the ruse. But the Minerva ships want to board, especially after Mako pretends, over the comms, to be the Captain. After a frantic discussion, Jeremiah and twelve space marines are let on, and they start to interrogate the crew. At the same time, Mako is hacking into the Minerva ships.

Cassander defends the presence of Apostolosian mechs on board as “collector’s items”. Mako is followed in his fogging by Larry, but makes the Minerva ships’ weapons need to be recalibrated. Cass decides to reveal that they are an Apostolosian prince. Larry and Mako argue, and Larry returns to Mako’s body, possessing him.

Jeremiah lets Cass go, and wants to talk to Orth. Mako makes a Minerva ship spin around and send out a mayday signal; then he also returns to his body, so he and Larry are now cohabitating. The Minerva people return to their ships. Both Larry and Mako start talking to the Chime (to their confusion) as they receive an incoming call from Jerboa, candidate of Detachment.

COUNTER/Weight 26: Do You Have Room For Me?

Jerboa informs the Chime that they’ve been shaking up Diasporan affairs way too much, and Detachment comes into view on the scanners. As the Chime is arguing about Mako-Larry, Detachment catches the Kingdom Come in its orbit and the ship rapidly speeds up. AuDy falls to the back of the ship and Mako falls as the ship turns vertically. Orth tries to right the ship. Aria heads for the hangar.

AuDy feels a strange Liberty system turn on and prompt them to connect to the Mesh; they turn it back off. Larry, going by “Mako”, jacks into Detachment and blocks Mako, who he insists on calling “Larry”, from doing the same. AuDy and Orth right the ship. Cass and Aria launch in the Arete and the Regent’s Brilliance to attack Detachment’s satellites, avoiding Detachment’s blows. AuDy makes evasive maneuvers while Orth sets course for another satellite. “Larry” (Mako) begins fogging “Mako” (the real Larry).

When Aria destroys one of the satellites, Detachment slows but lets out an EMP that knocks out the ship’s systems. AuDy’s Liberty system turns them off just before it hits. Cass attacks another satellite, and Jerboa sends out a second EMP that fries the Kingdom Come’s backup systems. Detachment stabs a sword into the ship, depressurizing it just as AuDy powers back up. Mako (Mako) has followed Larry into Detachment’s systems, represented by a forest being menaced by Rigour, and then further into a digital beach.

AuDy heads into the depressurized room before Orth and Jacqui close the blast door. They grab onto Detachment’s sword just as Cass and Aria destroy the last satellites. Detachment pulls the sword out through the jagged hole, making AuDy lose an arm. In the beach, Mako finds Larry and someone who looks like Ibex relaxing. Larry tells Mako that he and Righteousness will start fogging Detachment soon. He also says that Righteousness has been in Mako’s head forever. Meanwhile, AuDy is panicking as they float through space. They manage to get into Detachment’s cockpit even as Jerboa shoots at them with a pistol. AuDy throws Jerboa out into space to die.

AuDy sees Liberty and Discovery boot up inside them, and the two Divines overrides Detachment. A Divine portal opens and lets through the Seventh Sun, which destroys the Minerva ships and moves on towards Counterweight. As the digital beach begins to fade, Larry tells Mako Righteousness has explained to him not to goof around. He’ll be good, as long as there’s room for him in Mako’s head.

COUNTER/Weight 27: An Animal Out of Context

Tens of thousands of years prior to the main story of COUNTER/Weight, a nameless pilot of a Juggernaut Mk. 7 lumberjack rigger encounters the Divine Liberty and Discovery; this is framed through, in the present, AuDy accessing their memories of this encounter while comatose aboard the Kingdom Come. Meanwhile, Aria composes a song while hanging out with Jacqui; Mako hacks his own brain to find information on what he had discovered at the September Institute; Cass looks at the news and makes a lot of squid ink pasta.

COUNTER/Weight 28: A Special Kind of Warmth

Recap

Austin starts going over the state of the factions after the last full faction turn and their reorganization. Faction goals are reviewed and updated:

• Odamas Fleet: planetary seizure of Kalliope;
• Petrichor Automedia: planetary seizure of any planet;
• Hands of Grace: Peaceable Kingdom (refrain from attacking any faction);
• Golden Demarchy: planetary seizure of Gemm;
• Rapid Evening: expand influence onto Minerva XII;
• Righteous Vanguard: planetary seizure of Counterweight;
• Minerva Strategic: destroy Petrichor.

Faction Turn Four

Grace and Vicuna move from Garden to Sigilia. They gain access to the book of secrets asset there, which allows them to reroll or force an enemy faction to reroll, like a time machine. A brief scene takes place where Grace and Vicuna agree to mobilize the resources on Sigilia, before Grace activates something within herself. The Hands of Grace also buy psychic assassin assets, who use a version of the Sigilia powers to adapt to negative outcomes with grace.

Minerva Strategic attempt a hostile takeover of Petrichor's resources on Counterweight, poaching their marketing team. The Steigers buy out and dump a lot of Petrichor stock; they also popularize an anti-algorithmic face covering that Minerva, of course, has a back door into.

The Rapid Evening launch a drop pod from Kesh to drill into Minerva XIIa, the manufacturing moon of Minerva XII, with a handful of super soldiers led by Kiva Helsing.

The cast decides that the Golden Demarchy's Demagogue on Gemm is Ariadne, the soldier who Sokrates refused to sell out in the Kingdom game. They roll incredibly high against the Hands of Grace thanks to their Machiavellian tag. Though the planet sends Fortitude's phalanx against Ariadne's demonstration as riot cops, Gerenuk and other members of the formation refuse to properly mobilize against them.

Dre realizes they can put Rigour on September. Rigour learned that strati are developed there from Natalya, and has decided to "shut that shit down". The Righteous Vanguard tries to use their planetary transport lockdown and psychic academy asset to stop Rigour, but both strategies fail. They're meant to fight modern Divines, not Rigour.

Augustus leads a diversionary force onto Joypark so that the Yersinia can slip past Petrichor next turn. Diego is frustrated because Captain Hudson has taken on a mentorship role with Augustus.

Righteousness rallies the popular movement on Counterweight, completely obliterating the Hands of Grace's base on the planet. With this, the Hands of Grace are the weakest major faction in the Golden Branch. Austin decides this episode has been happening concurrently with the last episode; the speech that Ibex gave at the end of that episode was not before a coup but after it had already happened. The statue of Grace in Monument Square has been pulled down, leaving it as rubble at the feet of Peace.

COUNTER/Weight 29: Three Conversations

AuDy answers Ibex’s call. They talk about the death of Jerboa, Ibex’s brother, before Ibex suggests he simply open a portal and come aboard. AuDy calls everyone to the cockpit and informs them they’re Liberty and Discovery. Now is their chance to parley with Ibex. Cass and Mako just want to clobber him instead. After some discussion, Cass reluctantly agrees and retreats to their quarters.

Ibex’s arrival is extremely awkward. They convene in the lounge; Cass slinks back in. Ibex assures the Chime he is way too busy to be personally invested in killing them. The threat Cass recieved was just an automated message. To establish an equilibrium, he just needs them to do something for him: find Maryland on September, where communications have suddenly gone down, and convince her to leave. Mako and Ibex start arguing, and Mako punches him in the face. He throws Mako against Cass (who is unhurt because when they went back to their room they put on body armor). The Ibex they’re talking to is a robot, and states his intent to use Righteousness to the last. At this point, AuDy wants to know they can trust him; Ibex removes Righteousness from Mako’s brain, which means Mako can now use his fogging abilities against Ibex.

The Kingdom Come can see September in the distance now, and Liberty and Discovery hear an ominous sound. They warn everyone to get off the mesh — Rigour is down there. Ibex is furious at the potential impact to his plans, and launches into an elaborate animal metaphor to explain what Rigour is. AuDy tells him now’s the time to make nice with Grace. Ibex agrees, and asks Cass to tell Sokrates about Rigour as well. He tells the Chime not to let Rigour get control of the September Institute.

Ibex leaves. The ship lands in a hidden hangar of a familiar design.

COUNTER/Weight 30: Another Facility Among Trees

The Kingdom Come has just landed in an emptied-out hangar modeled after ancient anti-Rigour resistance bases, which is running on a pre-Divine version of Liberty and Discovery. As Mako wanders around, the September AI welcomes him back as a student and gives him a bunch of old, useless messages. AuDy interacts with the hangar terminals and inadvertently causes the OS to update to the current version and wipe the database; they can now “feel the doors”. Aria finds a map of the building with two ways out: through a tunnel that leads into the city, or directly up to the landing pad in the forest. In an armory, she also finds the ID card of Declan M. from something called the Tzadik unit.

Cass starts planning, but their Rigalia neural interface breaks. AuDy looks through the cameras in the tunnel leading out and sees a fake, empty office building, with only a single receptionist present. Mako recalls what he knows of Maryland and the Institute’s security. Cass works out their plan: Mako will get them through security, then the Chime will split up. The groups will be Mako and AuDy (finding information on Rigour), Cass and Aria (finding Maryland) and Jacqui and Orth (doing recon).

AuDy finds a map of the city. As they watch Jacqui and Orth leave, it begins to rain, limiting communication. The rest of the Chime heads through the tunnel, and they hear the receptionist outside listening to music.

COUNTER/Weight 31: Expertize with a Z

The Chime argue about whether to set off a fire alarm to make the receptionist go away. Mako just goes right up to her. She warns him she’ll have to file a report, but lets him bring out his “friends”. She immediately recognizes Aria, though Aria insists she’s just a big Aria Joie fan. AuDy can see through the cameras that the receptionist has reported back to some people in military gear.

As the sun sets, Mako brings the Chime through the alleys of Mode City and over to his friend Lazer Ted in the Bacchus Biotech Recreational District. Lazer Ted offensively hits on Aria and Cass and chats with Mako. He will get them ID cards for two credits each plus access to the Kinko’s he’s been banned from. AuDy insists they, at least, will only pay one credit and he agrees. At the Kinko’s, they’re vehement about not letting Lazer Ted in, so Mako hacks their system so that the ban has “expired”. Ted prints out everyone’s IDs, and takes AuDy to buy a suit, to which he attaches a pin that projects a hologram of a human face.

Mako briefly connects to Orth and Jacqui, who try to give a warning, through the poor connection, about a group called the Tzadik. A weather report the Chime passes by forecasts the rain becoming an upcoming, and unprecedented, blizzard.

COUNTER/Weight 32: Through The Crosshairs

AuDy search Liberty and Discovery’s database for information on the Tzadik unit, but can’t get access to the conversation where they discussed it with Ibex. Thinking back on punching Ibex, Mako realizes he has strength-enhancing muscle grafts that have, for some reason, only kicked in as they approached September.

The Chime heads to the library, which is where Orth and Jacqui are supposed to have gone first, near where they first entered the city. Cass spots a sniper aiming at Mako, and tries to fire first, but with their Rigalia broken, misses. Mako is hit, and panics as Aria tries to get him under cover. AuDy purposefully draws the fire of the sniper away. Cass rushes through the residential building the sniper is perched on and up to the roof, throwing a flashbang. The sniper shoots back, catching them in the shoulder, and as she makes her escape, is revealed to be the receptionist they met earlier.

Aria manages to get Mako under cover now and does what she can to treat him without first aid equipment. AuDy takes the sniper rifle from the roof. The Chime cuts through a park and AuDy hides the sniper rifle under a car before they enter the campus.

COUNTER/Weight 33: A Fractal Garden and an Intercepted Message

The Chime heads for Student Affairs, which is empty due to the storm and the late hour. When Mako jacks into the Mesh, the rest of the Chime can see and feel the Mesh around them as though they were Strati too. Mako calls up Larry, and they look into Maryland, who has been gone long enough that her last appearance was giving a guest lecture three years ago; she had some kind of ideological disagreement with Twelfth and the current leadership.

They go toward the communications servers next. The door is hot. AuDy tries to examine it and gets caught up in the deep part of the Mesh, a sort of garden made of fractals, where something tries to soothe them. AuDy opens the door for the others and Mako cuts off the ICE backlash. Mako tries to follow whoever created the garden and sees a light coming from Twelfth’s office in the strati lab. He finds a message sent from Natalya on Ionias, trying to warn Ibex about Rigour, which Twelfth intercepted and used to call Rigour to September. Mako also finds Maryland’s location, out in the woods in a cabin being monitored by Twelfth.

Liberty and Discovery leave a backdoor (that may become “other things”) in the Mesh garden. Rigour is alerted, and everyone hears a sinister announcement over the intercom, as the gates to the Institute close. Outside, they see Paisley Moon. He’s managing to stay out of the Mesh somehow, and didn’t hear anything scary. The Chime are conflicted about how much to tell him, but in the end everyone joins him in a cafe, except for AuDy. Paisley explains he’s here for the Steiger sisters, and the Chime somewhat confusedly tells him about Rigour and the sniper. Paisley says the Tzadik unit used to be working for Twelfth until recently, but something happened; he offers to let the Chime stay with him until the storm dies down.

AuDy leaves campus and picks up the sniper rifle they hid. They can now see past the Mesh facade over Mode City that makes it look nicer than it really is. They find evidence of a gunfight, and the body of M. Declan, whose ID card Aria found in the hangar. He was clearly killed by Orth and Jacqui. AuDy goes to the path in the woods, and is stopped by an armed Maryland September. She hears that Ibex sent them, and brings them deeper into the woods.

COUNTER/Weight 34: Reaching Out

Aria, Mako and Cass notice the hidden door to Paisley’s workspace under the cafe. Aria convinces him to let them go down and use his comms despite the inherent risk. The call connects to Jacqui and Orth, who are with AuDy and Maryland September; everyone reassures each other that they’re okay.

Orth and Jacqui explain to AuDy that they found Maryland’s location from the library, fought off some of the Tzadik unit, and moved here. Maryland recognizes AuDy as Liberty and Discovery, who Ibex had told her about before. They try to warn her about the presence of Rigour, and tell her that they’ve been sent to evacuate her, but she’s not interested.

The rain starts to let up as the sun rises. Paisley warns Cass, Mako and Aria that the storm isn’t really over yet. Cass also concludes the best option is for them to wait out the storm. Mako sees people walking outside and goes outside anyway. Suddenly he’s wearing his September uniform in the colors of House Rosemoon, and he sees one of his school friends out on the lawn: Tower Chalet. Mako chats with him. He walks part of the way to the woods, simultaneously feeling that he’s part of the Chime and that’s he’s been a student here the whole time, before deciding to go back to his dorm.

AuDy tries to find information on Maryland in Liberty and Discovery’s databases, and as they reach out to Liberty and Discovery HQ through the mesh, someone sees what they're doing.

COUNTER/Weight 35: A Knock at the Door

AuDy scrubs through conversations between Ibex in his early days as a candidate and Liberty and Discovery, where he reflected on his relationship with Maryland. They literally play the audio as though they're a speaker. Maryland is unphased. AuDy hears the old conversation come to a close as Ibex speaks to Quentin, and a strange hum is audible.

Aria and Cass have a conversation about weather over coffee before Aria gets ready to leave the cafe. Two Tzadik unit agents who appear in the mesh as school security guards knock down the door. At the same time, Aria finds herself in a House Blueworld uniform and Cass finds themself in a House Whitestar uniform. Cass shoots one of them. The second, however, avoids Aria’s shots and puts a gun to Paisley’s head, telling them to drop their weapons. When they do, he shoots Paisley. Cass chucks a flashbang at the agent, stunning him, and Aria kills him.

Cass uses future medicine to keep Paisley alive, and Aria braves the mesh storm outside to bring him to a hospital. A girl she “knows” through Mesh memories, Maritime Lapel, helps her carry him. She reports to campus security while Aria gets him signed in. Cass goes after AuDy. Along the way they meet their “friend”, Maxine Ming, who shows them a shortcut to the woods.

The campus goes into lockdown due to the shooting. Mako sees Maritime Lapel outside his dorm and looks her up on the mesh, finding out that she died young. He’s very confused. Cass and Maxine keep just ahead of the sniper following them. AuDy and Maryland talk, on her porch, about Divines. When Cass and Maxine arrive, they see that at the cabin it’s still raining; for their part, AuDy can tell that Maxine’s arrival has brought another Divine.

COUNTER/Weight 36: Everything is Temporary

Austin does a brief recap of all the factions' goals, and gives Minerva Strategic a new, secret asset on September based on the recent events of the ground game with Paisley Moon.

Since Ibex said he's planning to warn people about Rigour and AuDy told him to speak to Grace, they decide to play out that scene. Loyalty and Grace rest in the background, having their own conversation, while Ibex arrives to meet with Vicuna with Kobus as mediator. Vicuna thinks Rigour's just a fairy tale, until Ibex shows her images of Rigour's emergence on Ionias months ago. He fears that with no stellar bridge to collapse this time, they'll need to work together; he'll make concessions to Grace if that's what it takes. Vicuna agrees to speak with Grace, and Ibex leaves a micro-SB with a weapon on it for Grace's arm as a gift before putting on a pair of sunglasses and stepping back through a portal.

The Righteous Vanguard are letting go of their goal to seize Counterweight, which will cost them morale, income, and the ability to make further moves this turn.

The Hands of Grace's goal not to attack any faction for the next three turns remains the same; this turn they simply make enough money to pay upkeep on their fleet.

Minerva Strategic pulls together a huge fleet from the combined forces of countless OriCon businesses in the sector and throws it at September, with plans to put together a second fleet soon. Unfortunately, September's transport lockdown goes into effect here, leaving the ships of the fleet blockaded and looming overhead. Sylvia suggests that they would have been visible in the previous ground game episodes on September.

The Rapid Evening work to create a base of influence on Minerva XII. They roll badly against Minerva's counterattack, but their space marines, Kiva Helsing's crew, are barely fazed, and only injured because they were slow in setting up a shield generator.

In a scene, Ibex visits Sokrates, and Integrity opens the portal for him. Sokrates and Argus, who's acting as their bodyguard here, are immediately on the defensive. While Sokrates cares about the betterment of the sector despite their enmity, they're very displeased when he threatens Argus. They agree to help in exchange for the Demarchy gaining a place on Counterweight, and Integrity stops them from outright punching Ibex as he leaves, putting his sunglasses back on.

The Golden Demarchy immediately gains a base of influence on Counterweight, and reactivates the Netted Wave, assigned as a psychic assassins asset due to their stealth tech.

The Odamas Fleet are still making their way to Kalliope, with Ionias now in their forward path.

Rigour and Petrichor attempt to break through from the Slate Mineral Cooperative mine into Mode City, but Voice begins collapsing pieces of the mine to force it down. Natalya is spit out of Rigour into the mine to counter-hack amid the explosions, while Rigour begins to focus its attention on her as it prepares to get up.

COUNTER/Weight 37: Visions from Windows, Or: The Last Time the Bomb Dropped

Vision Number One: Defective Appendages

Aleph Set, a mining maintenance worker, contemplates a question: what does it mean to work for Rigour? He reminisces about how the mechs he makes are referred to only as "Rigour's, mining", and factory workers similarly can be considered to belong to Rigour, some even becoming automaton-like appendages.

As Aleph considers how, no matter what, someone will always work for Rigour, he is obliterated by the explosion.

Vision Number Two: The Last and Final Voyage of the Wayfarer True

Captain Commander Centra Center of the Wayfarer True, a smuggler captain, leads the suicide mission to deliver the bomb to hit Rigour in the middle of the Perseus-Sagittarius star bridge. She and the rest of her alliteratively-named Earth-born crew are unworried about their fate, with the exception of the weapons officer, Cowboy, who believes that the destruction of many populated worlds will be a sin that prevents them from ever returning home to Earth. Centra Center takes out seven interceptors while Cowboy flinches and prepares an objection, at which point Catalino Christopher shoots them on her prior orders. Centra takes the device out in her small personal rigger and contemplates the future, before pressing the button to detonate it.

Vision Number Three: Reams of Distant Cloth

Kadaknath, Candidate of Independence and reluctant diplomat, is given a box of vibrant fabric samples by their secretary Tertiary Perfect. These represent a gift to the sector from a recently liberated world (whose name has not yet been voted upon).

They reminisce about the war against Rigour: forty years in, only now is the tide beginning to turn. Colors such as these swatches have not been available due to rationing. By implementing a newly designed bellicose voting software as a weapon of war, Kadaknath has won several major battles and others of their ilk have been dubbed by reporter California Rose as "those great heroes, in whom we find the living ideals of our democracy. Truth, Equality, Independence. They fly alive and bright and virtuous. Our divine candidates."

However, planet whatever-it-is is about to be destroyed by the stellar combustor, for which the order had already been sent out years ago. Kadaknath's secretary Tertiary Perfect asks what they will do with the fabric, and Independence suggests that they build beautiful cities that bend in the wind and move with the individual needs of the people. Tertiary observes the light from the window as the combustor explodes.

COUNTER/Weight 38: Found Footage

Mako and Aria meet each other on campus and Mako explains about Maritime Lapel. They go to the library, where Maritime is studying. Mako tries to tell her that she died, and Aria tries to remind him that they are not actually students here; everyone is even more confused than before. Mako realizes Maritime is being affected by another presence. He can scrub back through history here using the Mesh, and see both her immediate past and immediate future actions. He moves forward to the day before she stops being visible: the day of the Spring Formal.

AuDy pulls Cass inside the cabin to warn them that Maxine is a Divine. Cass tells them about the reality-shifting situation on campus and is introduced to Maryland. Maxine, who they left outside, has gone. AuDy follows the Divine Mesh signature attached to her and finds her trapped in some sort of invisible building connected to the cabin.

Aria and Mako go to “Sunset by the Sea: A Fantasy Prom”, which is themed after the Hieron anime. Of the Chime, only Aria, as a former EarthHome employee, has seen the show. Lazer Ted, who is dressed as Fantasmo, hooks Mako up with a hologram costume of Captain Brandish and gives Aria a real dress to cosplay Adelaide.

Cass and AuDy try to confront Maxine as a Divine, but while something seems to respond, she herself doesn’t understand. Suddenly she realizes she doesn’t know either of them, and panics, falling to the ground. She can hear Rigour, too. Cass considers shooting her, and Maxine demands to see Maryland. She slams her fist on the cabin, revealing a football field long warehouse in its place. They take Maxine inside to Maryland, who is happy to see her.

COUNTER/Weight 39: Just Another Machine

Mako forgets about his intent to find Maritime in favor of dancing with Tower Chalet. Aria uses the Mesh to follow Maritime away from the dance, into a control room, and then into an underground hallway.

Meanwhile, Cass replaces a part on their broken Rigalia, and can temporarily see through walls; they see the other Mesh views of the area, and something inside the warehouse. AuDy learns from Maxine and Maryland about Voice, the Divine which empowers everyone in Mode City. They again try to convince Maryland of the dangers of Rigour, but she remains unphased. The Chime decide to just leave her and focus on Rigour.

When Aria catches up to her, Maritime is surprised that Aria is a real person, and explains she’s trying to investigate something she saw. Mako joins them just as Maritime looks inside the final door and flees, crying. They see a huge room filled with vats of blue liquid, filled with many Maritime Lapels, Mako Trigs, and, in the center, Maryland September. Mako realizes that he and Maritime are experimental variations on Maryland’s genetic code. It’s hard to know how many clones there have been, or how long this has been happening. Maritime screams outside: there are countless echoes of her in the Mesh running from the room and being shot in the back. Mako follows the one that managed to escape.

Cass slips into the warehouse alone. Inside, covered, is Apokine, the first Apostolosian mech, and it resonates with the collective minds of its people, and with the Mesh. Maryland rushes in, but doesn’t stop them from connecting to the machine.

Maritime always dies on prom night, but one Maritime managed to escape into the city before she was killed, and that’s the one whose death was in the news. Much of the September Institute is an experiment on stratus abilities, and many people here aren't real (though Tower and Maxine are). Mako was let go as a different kind of experiment. Larry helps use the Mesh to move the clone tanks out. In the sky, ships are visible as the storm revives. The illusions blanketing Mode City begin to break as Rigour rises from the quarry to the north.

COUNTER/Weight 40: The Storm Over September

Just by rising, Rigour has destroyed the Bacchus Recreational District and Slate Mineral Cooperative, and starts on the ships that have been sent from outsystem to attack it. It wants Voice.

Cass pilots the Apokine out of the warehouse. They open a channel to Sokrates to warn them of Rigour, and Sokrates prepares to mobilize. AuDy reaches out to Detachment where it rests in the Kingdom Come, and asks Cass to carry them north and into line with the ship. Aria calls the Brilliance to her, and jumps in.

Rigour knocks Mako off his hoverboard and he falls onto the Divine, suffering just being near it. Cass attacks Rigour with Apokine’s beam spear, though using Apokine’s power in this way grants a psychic backlash from drawing on the same source as Voice. Mako keeps Rigour’s wound open, slowing it from healing using nanomachines. Aria draws Jace’s blade and strikes at Rigour, cutting off its arm, which slams into the Brilliance as it falls.

AuDy leaves the Apokine as they pass the ruins of the bunker. They run toward the ship while Liberty and Discovery search for data on Rigour. They recall there is a way to lock one Divine away, with the sacrifice being that two other Divines must lock themselves in with it.

Rigour moves toward the September Institute. As Twelfth tries to control it, a dead-eyed Paisley Moon shoots him in the head. Mako crawls into Rigour’s body and finds Natalya Greaves inside it, but can think of no way to free her. AuDy gets the Kingdom Come into the air and enters Detachment. Voice has been freed by the death of Twelfth, and the people of September cry out for help. Mako asks the other strati connected to Voice to help him, and they use their powers to pull him out of Rigour, badly hurt.

Detachment and Voice begin to open the doors that will shut September away. At the same time, the Chime manage to save Paisley, Maxine, and Lazer Ted. Liberty and Discovery are desperately trying to get out of Detachment. AuDy pushes back on them, insisting they stay as the portals close.

Orth, Jacqui and Mako are returned to the Kingdom Come. Below them, the planet is falling apart. Rigour tries to climb and escape, but it too is caught in the cut-off portion of September. The rest of the planet begins to slowly fall out of its orbit.

The galaxy reacts to everything that’s happened.

And 53 months after the September Incident, in the blizzard-swept remains of Mode City, AuDy and a dying Maryland talk about gardens and the nature of time.

COUNTER/Weight 41: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 1

Four and a half years after September, the Chime and the other characters have all taken up roles within or leading the various factions of the Golden Branch. Cass leads the Golden Demarchy, within which they have been futilely trying to unite the squabbling leaders. Mako is head of a Rapid Evening team, consisting mostly of his own clones, that tries to squash exploitation of Rigour's technology. Kobus is no longer a Candidate but still works for Grace, and is trying to prevent rebellion from breaking out on Slate. Orth travels the branch for OriCon, creating and enforcing regulations to keep its mega-corps from getting out of control. Jillian Red is a captain in the Odamas fleet, where she manages the blockade of Oricon and tries to unify the Free States. And Aria has taken over the Righteous Vanguard, where she starts to expand its influence after a period of retraction. They all receive vague and ambiguous warnings from AuDy, who they haven't heard from since the September Incident.

Orth has a meeting with the Steiger sisters of Minerva Mining and Mechanics, who threaten revolution against OriCon if they are pushed aside. Orth confidently dismisses the threat.

Aria and Jill meet at the Righteous Vanguard HQ on Counterweight to discuss ownership of the planet Glimmer, a symbol of the sector's disenfranchised. The discussion has a personal edge because Aria is dating Jacqui Green, and Jill is Jacqui's ex. Most of the branch favors the Free States. When Jill departs, Jacqui follows her.

Mako leads an attack against Minerva to destroy some Rigour research and its outputs, but Orth feels that they need the war machines for what's coming and mounts a defense. A deadly skirmish occurs on the factory floor, but Orth submits.

Aria and Jacqui do a routine inspection after the meeting with Jill. Jacqui is brusque and avoiding the subject of Jill. Aria brings it up, and Jacqui re-assures her that she just needs time.

Cass and Aria meet up in deep space to spar and blow off steam. Aria wins the match and they return to their factions.

Mako and Orth, who is now Mako's prisoner, debate whether it's wise to use Rigour tech to develop weapons to use against Rigour. Kobus goes looking for Mako to find out info on what's going on with Grace's weird behavior. He interrupts the meeting but ends up being chased by a bunch of Mako clones after getting too close on Kesh. Kobus easily eludes them.

There is a gala on Counterweight which includes the auctioning off of a strange golden orb with various writings on it. All the player characters attend. Jacqui is Jill's plus one. Ibex attends, in his first public appearance in four years. Orth and Ibex dance and Orth asks for his aid in the coming conflict with Rigour. Mako sneaks off and investigates Grace. He finds the strange orb that's up for auction and it inflames his angers, and he realized it's the Divine Zeal. He steals it.

COUNTER/Weight 42: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 2

Orth spreads the word of the crisis during R&R at a favorite bar, but a corporate enemy ends up buying the bar and demolishing it just to stick it to Orth.

Grace launches a raid into Demarchy territory which ends up destroying an old Diasporan monument. Kobus chews out her and Vicuna for this and her other recent recklessness.

With relations with the Vanguard deteriorating, Jill runs extra training drills with the Free State military. They are interrupted by an Oricon squad which has broken through the blockade and a skirmish ensues, with Jill victorious.

Cass hosts Maxine Ming on his family estates. They talk about their experience with Rigour. Other elements in the Demarchy view this as a potentially important political marriage, but that isn’t Cass’ intention.

Mako has dinner with Orth. He can’t convince Orth to not use Rigour own tech against it, but he does hand over the orb of Zeal to Orth. Zeal’s influence on Orth’s mind helps convince him that they can work together despite their different strategies. Zeal becomes Ambition. They stay up late into the night planning. This causes Orth to miss an appointment with Aria, and while she’s waiting in the lobby Paisley Moon shows up. He immediately attacks Aria, and a sword duel ensues. Paisley is mostly mindless zombie at this point, and Aria decides that it would be a mercy to kill him and does so. Aria realizes Paisley was sent by the Steiger to assassinate her and Orth.

A distraught Ibex sends a message to the player characters to meet at a point in space. When they arrive they see Liberty piloting Detachment’s body, both of which should be still sealed with Rigour. Liberty neutralizes Ibex’s rigger, then suddenly Rigour appears with a new, smaller physical form. Rigour, piloted by a Maryland clone, reaches and kills Ibex. It seems Liberty was driven to escape Rigour’s prison but let Rigour out in the process.

Rigour engages the player characters in battle. Kobus manages to capture the fleeing Liberty but it causes Liberty to try to take over Kobus’ rigger. Orth and the Kingdom Come fall through the door to the prison. While there Orth is able to swing down to the surface of September and pick up AuDy/Discovery. He also sees that Rigour and Voice have allied and found complementary uses for their powers. The main body of Rigour seems to still be staying on September. The player characters manage to all escape.

Orth and Kobus meet on Counterweight to discuss Grace’s role in the defense against Rigour. Kobus believes they must figure out why Grace is behaving erratically before committing resources to an external threat. Orth argues there isn’t time. The sense afterwards is that the people of the Diaspora favor focusing on Rigour. Kobus decides he should upload the captive Liberty into Grace.

Cass wants to strategize with all the former members of the chime. He hosts a banquet dinner in which they will all receive medals of valor in order to gather them. They talk to AuDy about what happened on September while it was imprisoned. AuDy’s warnings of apocalypse are not taken seriously by most of the Demarchy diplomats. Laser Ted opens up emotionally. AuDy warns Aria about the potential danger of Righteousness and why Discovery doesn’t have candidates. The Chime get their medals, and Cass departs with Sokrates.

COUNTER/Weight 43: A Splintered Branch, A Ringing Bell Pt. 3

Mako spends time training his clones, who were shaken by the seriousness of the battle with Rigour. Aria visits the Iron Choir, where they are disconnecting riggers from the mesh to make them dead metal.

Ambition teleports Kobus to Grace so they can upload Liberty into her. Vicuna and Kobus have a dual, and Kobus is able to hold her off long enough to merge Liberty and Grace. While the merge distracts them, Kobus pilots them into the sun, killing themself and the divines.

Jill and Augustus debate how unified the Free States should be. Jill argues that unity is the only way to beat Rigour when it comes. But most are unpersuaded and prefer to stay independent.

Rigour attacks, using Voice’s power to open doors all over the sector at once. Simultaneous battles occur all over the Golden Branch. Many blows are struck against Rigour but there are also heavy losses: Sokrates, the Mako clones, AuDy, Lazer Ted, and numerous other friends of The Chime are killed. Aria convinces Jackie not to sacrifice herself for victory on Weight, and they flee together. Jill and Capra sacrifice themselves to destroy the last remnants of Rigour’s army in the sector. Cass travels to September with Apokine and dies defeating the main body of Rigour by holding it on the planet as it falls into its sun.

After the war, the Free States do unite but under Gem instead of Kalliope. The Demarchy continues after Cass’ death but he is not remembered fondly by his people. Oricon continues on, its leaders outside the Golden Branch blissfully unaware how close things came to apocalypse. Mako continues to quash clandestine Rigour tech. He has a low hum of Rigour in him (but it is definitively dead). The Righteous Vanguard becomes just the Vanguard.

Discovery managed to save AuDy when the Kingdom Come crashed and lives together across various machines and networks. Orth retires to Counterweight, which he reflects has become better.

In a flashback, Orth gives The Chime the Kingdom Come for an upcoming mission.

COUNTER/Weight 44: Live Post-Mortem

The cast answers questions from listeners about the following topics:

• What everyone’s favorite moment for their character was this season?
• Is there any chance we’ll get to see a release of The Tower?
• Is Ibex really dead?
• How did you feel about the system change? Did it change how you thought about your characters?
• Was there a time you did something as your character you really didn’t want to do?
• Was there a moment that completely shifted the direction of the plot?
• How far in advance did Austin plan AuDy and Mako’s reveals?
• How successful did the faction game feel it aligned with what was happening in the Chime game?
• Where did the vision of the Diaspora’s kind of ideology came from?
• Who was Mako’s first kiss?
• Are there anime conventions in the Golden Branch and does Orth cosplay?
• How did you decide what areas of the game world to fill in and what to leave ambiguous?
• Does anyone find themselves gravitating to a specific character type when they roleplay?
• Did Austin know that Apokine was down on September?
• What Divine would choose you—the player, not the character—as their candidate?
• What was Cene’s reaction to finding out AuDy was a Divine?
• When was Rigour first conceived as a villain?
• How many vocal takes were in the Sermon of Sister Rust?
• What was it like to watch people start to like Ibex?
• What does being queer or trans look like in the Golden Branch?
• How did your plan for your character compare with where they ended up?
• What was the inspiration for the names in this season?
• Advice for building a world as complicated as Hieron or the Golden Branch
• How do you all think the characters celebrate their birthdays?