The Road to PALISADE 11: Orbital Pt. 1

Episode Description

This episode carries content warnings for the discussion of colonial violence, discussion of death from visual stimulus, and the discussion of industrial and workplace industries.

For the last five millennia, the Divine Principality has expanded its reach across the stars. But in the Twilight Mirage, those 5,000 years were only felt as 500. For those in the Mirage, led by the Qui Err Coalition, life has been stable and if not utopian, then at least a type of living that is aspirational in only the best ways. But today, as the space station known as the Brink orbits towards the edge of the false nebula, those 5000 years come rushing in.

This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 1

Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage

Factions


The Curtain of Divinity: For generations, the Curtain of Divinity operated in the shadows of the Principality, partly as intelligence agency, partly as shadow government. Now they have been dragged into the daylight, and serve as one of the two ruling factions of the whole Principality. Though there are some divisions along questions of secularity, humanism, and cultural taste, in general, leaders of the Curtain are conservative, traditionalist, and nationalistic. They seek the reunification of all five Stels and the permanence of the Divine Principality. Led, in public at least, by Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Peaceful Princept. In fact, the Curtain has five divisions, each led by a ruthless individual known only by a codename: Silk (diplomacy), Damask (research & inquisition), Lace (military), Linen (economics), and Gabardine (espionage and collaboration).
The Pact of Necessary Venture: As their (current) name suggests, the Pact began as a cooperative exploratory committee founded in the late 14th Century of the Perfect Millennium. They sought new territory to conquer, breaking an old taboo in the process, and inviting destruction and fracture. Which is appropriate, as their vision for the future is one where each Stel is granted more autonomy and independence—some even claim that they would see the Principality utterly destroyed and replaced by a loose affiliation of free states. Despite this, the Pact are no radicals: While they want more independence from the Principality, they have little interest in shaking up the internal power structures of the Stels themselves. After all, their founders were all Elects, and though only two remain (Gallica, elect of the Divine Present, and Rye, elect of the divine Space), they are led by Dahlia, who serves as both Apokine and Glorious Princept.
Qui Err Coalition: Comprised of the descendents (literal, metaphorical, and mystical) of the planet Quire’s original people, the Qui Err Coalition is the de facto government of the Twilight Mirage.
Brink Proxy: The volunteers who function as mechanics, operators, janitors, and engineers for the Brink. Bureaucratic, but some tasks require such things.
Orchard Syndicate: A group of gardeners, farmers, and their delivery unit. Specialize in oranges and hidden motivations.
Devotion: A cultish organization that some suspect is responsible for those who have gone missing recently.

Persons

Teleos Triton Tanager a.k.a. 3T (he/him): A idealist, a fool, and a musician with a following of “Troublemakers.”


Cheal Pushy (he/him): While his single biggest influence on the Brink was the founding of the ever spreading Community Gardens, he’s mostly known as the heart of the station, operating everyone’s favorite dive bar and venue, Pushy’s.
Mustard Red (she/her): A cyborg member of the Brink Proxy. A little paranoid, but perfectly tuned for a role in surveillance. Oh, and quite eager. A useful trait.
Paris France (he/him): The Brink is a hub, with countless things moving through its halls and ports. Paris France is the person you go to when you want access to those things, even when you shouldn’t have it.
Deutsch Synchro a.k.a. Lament (she/her): A simple bartender at Pushy’s. That’s all. Certainly not an asset in play.
Grey Gloaming (she/her) and Demani Dusk (she/er): Most know these long past wives as the founders of the Brink. But from my perspective, they were interlopers in history.
Grand Magnificent (he/him): An “artist” (read: weapons manufacturer) from five centuries ago. The picture of arrogance. He was at his best when he was honest about what he was.

Locations


Saboria: A world controlled by the Columnar which they “gifted” to a group of Ashen refugees fleeing the Curtain. A fiction, of course. The city of Harborview where the Ashen live is under constant surveillance. I do wonder, however, whether the Columnar know the irony of the trap they think they’ve laid.

Articles


The “Divine” Arbit: A machine that twists and spins and twirls in impossible to predict ways—making it a poison to prediction engines. To call it a Divine though. What a joke.

Miscellany


The Perennial Wave: Perennial is something like a god, or at least I think she imagines she is. Her wave is her arrogant whim, made manifest. Functionally infinite nano-particles, spread throughout the galaxy, hampering all technology except (curiously) Divines.

Opening

“

[Sound of tape starting] AUSTIN as DECLAN'S CORRECTIVE: Um. All right, uh. This one doesn't have a name, yet. [clears throat, sighs]

When I was young I saw my father on Tuesday afternoons, a tray of fruit and a cup of juice and little else between us. In search of more one week, I thought I'd bring some questions to him, because I knew so little, but I knew he answered questions. My head was filled with textbook descriptions and encyclopedic depictions of places I'd hoped he'd seen in ways that go beyond curt summaries, white indices, quick glossaries, and dreamed he'd have some deeper knowledge, real knowledge, dirt under fingernails, the smells they don't write about, and people with names and ugly faces, and places not like the ones I saw on broadcast news. So I put my juice down and I asked him what the world was like, the real world, the one far away from the one out my window, on my wall, in my mind, the world I didn't have words for yet, tell me what it's like. And my father said I knew all the places worth knowing, but I decided he was wrong. Tell me anyway, I said, and he said there was only here and there, and here was all I needed. Tell me about a place you loved, and he said the house he grew up in always had dried flowers. Tell me about a place I haven't been, and he said, there is a place. A terrible place where they worship gods, have no place for laws, even the law of gravity, and there are no real people there, and there are no real names, and the flowers never really dry. And he looked me in the eye and said, the Twilight Mirage is a place of blue bread and white strawberries, blue bread and white strawberries, blue bread and white strawberries, and I didn't understand, not because I hadn't seen mold, but because I hadn't yet learned to make a meal of the world.

[tape clicks off]”

“

That was the voice of soldier, killer, poet, leader and living controversy Declan's Corrective. A poem published on posthumously, but written while he lived at Contrition's Figure, though we do not know when he recorded it. We play it not because Corrective is in today's episode, but because his work, driven by a preoccupation with and refusal to confront his guilt, gives us a window into the eyes of those who would look out into the stars and see our home, this radiant nebula, and resent it. Which is important, because today, we're telling the story of how the Twilight Mirage got dragged into the war on Palisade. Like so many tragedies, this is one filled with noble intentions, simple mistakes, little bits of kismet, and plenty of cruel manipulation. I am Layer Luxurious, this is Perfect Imperfect, and today, we're going to the Brink.”

– Layer Luxurious

Plot

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Cast

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