Episode description
This episode carries content warnings for cults, depiction of a missing child, gun violence, hallucination, imagery made from blood, and non-gory but uncanny body horror.
The announcement was bright, loud, and unilateral: the Twilight Mirage would not allow the Divine Principality—in any of its forms—to move one step further. Now, though, in the afterglow of such a vibrant declaration, reality has begun to sink in. General Mourning attempts to sift through fact, opinion, and advice. Pushy, Mustard, and 3T head to Devotion’s retreat—each bringing their unique vulnerability with them. The assassin who goes by “Deutsch Synchro” pursues a risky side objective. And as many Troublemakers heed the belligerent call of their idol, Paris France and his rival False Fruit rush to stop the innocent from being caught up in the wake.
This week on the Road to Palisade: Orbital Pt. 4Records Recovered from the Divine, Arbitrage
Factions
The Curtain of Divinity: Largely aligned to Stels Kesh and Nideo, the Curtain of Divinity is made uup of those loyal to Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Peaceful Princept, and who desire the Divine Principality to continue on as it has for millenia. Defined by their traditionalism, they wield their control on culture, religion, and history as a weapon—and the extensive spy network for which they are named when those come up short. The Pact of Necessary Venture: Led in name by Dahlia, the Glorious Princept, and in day-to-day operation by senior members of Stels Apostolos and Columnar, the Pact paint themselves as liberal reformists who hope to increase the degree of autonomy in each of the Stels. Some even claim that they would see the Principality utterly destroyed and replaced by a loose affiliation of free states. 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. The Devotees (aka the Friends of Devotion): A cultish organization that some suspect is responsible for those who have gone missing recently. Seems to worship something called either Devotion or Fervor. 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. Persons
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 (they/she): A simple bartender at Pushy’s. That’s all. Certainly not an asset in play. Teleos Triton Tanager a.k.a. 3T (he/him): A idealist, a fool, and a musician with a following of “Troublemakers.” Saint Decario Dicario (he/him): Chief Troublemaker, 3T's lover, and a bellicose whisper in the ear. Sly Dente (they/them): Space trucker and memebr of the Orchard Syndicate. General Mourning (she/her): Military commander from the Qui Err Coalition. False Fruit (he/they): An Orchard Guildsman, Paris' rival fruit trader, and father of a missing child. Toaster Wroaster (any): Member of the Devotees who went missing. Coracin Seventine (he/him): Head of security in Brink Proxy. Suspicious of 3T. C.T.H. Pasodoble (he/him): Member of the Friends of Devotion Joe de Vivre (he/him): The charming rogue that Mustard can’t stop loving. Locations
The Brink: A space station and central transport hub that orbits through the Shore, the very edge of the Twilight Mirage. Founded during the crisis on Quire. 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.
Contents
Plot
After a recap, Jack begins a scene with Paris France. After last episode, Paris went to speak with his contacts to ask for help with the engineering systems; the next day, he returns to try to start recruiting for Brink Proxy, a complicated and exhausting process. Paris ends up signing himself up, as does 3T. As a consequence of 3T taking his eyes off some of his own projects, Cheal Pushy successfully looks into the orange truck rumors and learns that it's not guns but strange bombs that are being smuggled out and dumped out into space. He overhears an argument between Sly Dente and Decario Dicario, where Decario insists that Sly drop off two bombs at a time. One of the bombs begins to tick, and Decario doubles Sly's payment to make them hurry. 3T ignores Decario's texts about this, being legitimately busy with Brink Proxy and preparing for the concert.
Mustard Red meets with Toaster Wroaster to look into the cult. Wroaster is recalcitrant, but offers their hands to Mustard. Mustard takes them and feels their pulses move into perfect sync. Then Wroaster gives her a data chip with more information.
Lament (planning to kill one of her targets at the concert) checks in with 3T to make sure there'll be no security. The concert begins. It's incredibly crowded and rowdy. During the finale, as he performs "Morning Mirage", the bombs scattered across the Mirage begin to go off, creating 'synthetic' Mirage which expands it outward toward Palisade and the Principality. 3T's song is a call to action, and hundreds of young people respond by departing the Brink for Palisade. In response, the Qui Err Coalition notifies the Brink that they are sending a general to deal with this unsanctioned act of war.
Mustard attends a Devotion potluck, which appears normal on a surface level. She meets Toaster and their cousin Kengine again, and she and Kengine agree to attend a 'retreat' -- which is where people have been going during their disappearances. Paris, in Brink Proxy, hears from False Fruit that his child has disappeared on a ship heading for Palisade. After checking his pulse, Paris agrees to help and leaves his post along with False Fruit.
Lament reviews, copies and deletes footage of her leaving the bar during the concert to attack her target, a Stel Orion executive. She was secretly aided in hiding the body by 3T and Pushy, who thought that it was self defense.
General Tamara Mourning arrives, along with her very young granddaughter, and immediately goes to speak with 3T, who's been on unofficial house arrest in his open studio. 3T explains his position further, but fails to understand that his project to fight the Principality has been sponsored and fulfilled by more opportunists than liberators. Mourning is concerned with preventing further escalation and protecting the people of the Brink. She asks 3T to attend some assemblages, and begins to set up her peoples in offices aboard the station.
Cheal's vines stir once he's asleep and slither out to edit Lament's footage of the incident with the executive, deleting all signs of Pushy. Meanwhile, a Mirage armada surrounds the station, preparing to protect it from reprisals.