The following is a summary of every episode of the Road to PALISADE pulled from their main episode pages. You can read through in order or click on the episode heading to be taken to the episode page.
The Road to PALISADE 01: HOUNDs Pt. 1
While traveling as an honor guard for Cynosure Whitestar-Kesh, the Divine Fealty catches a glimpse of the location of something important. Fealty informs their Elect, Veronique, and Veronique makes the call to Cynosure, but backs out midway through due to Fealty’s own reluctance. Veronique isn’t sure that her Stel should have this information, but her hesitance proves too late, as Cynosure has already ordered nearby Hallows to scan Fealty’s mind for what they have seen. In an attempt to keep their information safe, Fealty and Veronique flee to a nearby Portcullis Gate, pursued by two Hallows of Imperium.
Upon arriving, Fealty tricks the Hallows into opening the gate for the pair, and Fealty and Veronique follow after them. When they arrive, the Hallows make contact to check in, assuming this is simply a misunderstanding. Veronique lashes out and kills them. Distressed at her own betrayal of her Stel, she looks for guidance in Fealty, who assures her that she can hold many loyalties, and that their mandate is older than the Divine Principality.
The two move on to the Skarnoc Debris Fields, and Fealty begins to construct their own throne out of the destroyed ships littering the area. This isn’t enough for Veronique, a human, to live off of, so Fealty intercepts an agricultural ship named Sierra and invites them to be free of their current commander, which Sierra happily agrees to. The trio build out food and oxygen for Veronique, and they spend three months in their petty kingdom until a Nideo Heresy Unit comes to bring them in. They tell Veronique that she will bear no responsibility for this, as clearly Fealty is just an older Divine going rogue. Fealty agrees to do as their Excerpt commands, and Veronique is prepared to accept the deal, but takes an aside with their Divine first. As Fealty thinks of their secret, the Heresy Unit pulls the data out of their head, and Veronique turns on the squad immediately, destroying them. She's even more guilty and disbelieving at their success, as the squad was designed to kill Divines.
Seeing this unfold, a nearby Millennium Break cell reaches out to the pair. Veronique wants nothing to do with them, but goes anyway to try and barter for access to their information network. It is, however, revealed to be a trap, as Gucci Garantine and the Millennium Break cell attacks Fealty's memory core as soon as the two are separated and pull guns on Veronique. Veronique discovers that she’s been branded a traitor by the Curtain. Veronique launches themselves out a window toward Fealty, kidnapping Gucci in the process. Fealty picks the pair up and proposes trading Gucci to a Pact Stel in exchange for safe travel out of Nideo space. Veronique bristles, still believing herself loyal to Nideo and the Curtain, but finally acquiesces to contacting OFOR.
They are smuggled across the galaxy, almost reaching Partizan before they are stopped (Gucci still held inside Fealty) by the Divine Fortitude and its elect Acacia. Fortitude tells Fealty that the Principality is their home now, and to let go of the past. Fealty attempts to fight, but is overwhelmed and forced to flee, telling Fortitude that they owe a debt to the people of the Mirage. It is now revealed that what Fealty spotted was the location of Palisade, the planet that the Curtain of Divinity have been searching for to act as a staging ground for their re-entry into the Twilight Mirage.
The Road to PALISADE 02: HOUNDs Pt. 2
Fealty, Veronique, and Gucci Garantine spend days fleeing Fortitude until they encounter a massive abandoned terraforming station, Baker Miller. Gucci and Veronique disembark to search for supplies and Gucci tells Veronique to ask Fealty how many, of all of the Divines, have been loyal to the Principality. They spend the night on the station while Fealty repairs themself. Fealty and Veronique decide that they have to go to the Twilight Mirage to keep this information out of the Principality's hands. They drop off Gucci at the next station they pass, receiving a Millennium Break code phrase from her in exchange.
As the pair pass near the center of the galaxy, Perennial extends an invitation to Fealty to come speak with her in a particularly powerful Perennial Wave, but instead they use that wave to push further forward, finally getting some distance from their pursuers. Veronique again questions her own fealty to Stel Nideo, worrying that the people of the Mirage won't let her in. Fealty assists Veronique with setting up a ceremony (mostly for her own benefit) to abandon her vow to Stel Nideo, leaving a video of their ceremony for their Princept.
While traveling through Nideo space, the pair are hailed by Pressure Cove, the Equiaxed Captain of the Fox in the Snow, a group of refugees and objectors to the Curtain who saw Veronique's video, which is being passed around in secret. They want to join Fealty and Veronique, but Veronique doesn’t trust them. Fealty assures her that if the people of the ship take an oath, then Fealty will know if they can be trusted. The ship passes Fealty’s test and they and Veronique plan to take them to the edge of the Mirage, but no further.
Gallica and Present arrive to recruit Veronique and Fealty to the Pact, but when Veronique rejects them, Gallica puts together where they’re actually going. Veronique hails the nearest Heresy Unit to stall, but it turns out they’re Pact loyalists. Fealty and the Fox in the Snow flee, escaping through the rings of a dangerous planet and causing some of the Fox in the Snow to begin to doubt their mission. At the next port, though, they find their fleet grows instead. Over the next three weeks more ships join them, echoing Fealty’s words to Gallica: "We want to go outside."
Veronique receives a message from Amaryllis, a fellow Elect Veronique was close with, asking to meet, and Veronique invites them onto the ship. Amaryllis’ Divine, Conviction, warns Fealty that fleeing to the Mirage will cause the people of the Mirage to be drawn into the war. Fealty insists they will not allow that to come to pass, but Conviction asks Fealty to destroy her here, wishing to avoid the casualties when she's inevitably sent after them. Amaryllis admits that if their Divines want to fight, they will not draw against Veronique; Veronique asks Amaryllis to join them instead, but they decline and part peacefully.
Fealty and Veronique approach the Mirage and are met with a Curtain blockade that includes Fortitude and Acacia, who offer to let them pass so long as the Curtain can follow. Fealty and Veronique refuse, and as the fight starts, the fleet scatters, though many are killed by the Curtain forces.
Fealty does not join in; instead, Veronique and Fealty punch through the Mirage to stop the Curtain from discovering their secret, or taking it off of Fealty’s corpse. Their fate is left unknown, and the mists of the Mirage overtake Veronique’s cockpit.
The Road to PALISADE 03: Stealing the Throne
The Road to PALISADE 04: Last Shooting
"Last Shooting" centers on two rival mech pilots who meet repeatedly over the skies of Palisade. The first is Cor'rina Corrine, an Apostolosian idealist who is dedicated to ensuring the Pact is able to protect the people of Palisade from Curtain forces. The second is Misericorde, a Nidean pilot of the Curtain, who is trying to earn back his family's last name, which was taken from them after their last generation supported the Farmer's rebellion. They first meet when Miseri is captured after being outnumbered by the Pact. The rookie Cor'rina frees them after hearing their story, believing it is the right thing to do. When they later met on the battlefield, Cor'rina feels cheated, which solidifies cor’s feelings on the duplicitous Curtain.
Their first battle takes place as Stel Apostolos prepare to set up a forward operating base in the Skarnoc Debris Fields. Unbeknownst to them, Nideo has already done the same thing, and picks up the movement of the Apostolosians in the area. Miseri breaks off from their squad, the 16th Epiphany, and begins picking off enemy scouts, leading him to Cor'rina's Onyx Squadron. Miseri takes down the members of Onyx Squadron, but lets Cor'rina live as repayment for freeing them previously. Cor'rina is incensed at Miseri, while Miseri is left intrigued and curious by Cor'rina's reappearance.
The Nideans hold their position, waiting for the tides of the Twilight Mirage to be in the right position for them to attempt to move forward on Palisade. In the meantime, they begin the construction of a Portcullis Gate to move more troops in. Miseri is sent to defend this group, which includes the old family friend Echelon Leson, but they are attacked by the new Onyx Squadron. To Miseri's delight, Cor'rina joins the battle in cor newly rebuilt mech, and Miseri focuses on them exclusively; Cor'rina is able to keep their focus using the Split Soul Prognosis system, which allows them to independently control many parts of their mech in tandem. Apostolos manages to take the Gate. Corina concludes that if only Miseri fought for a real reason they could be on the side of good, while Miseri thinks that he and Corina must be destined to fight.
Apostolos and Nideo prepare for a confrontation in the skies above Palisade, though an unusually high Perennial Wave combined with the tides of the Twilight Mirage disable both fleets. Except for Miseri and Cor'rina — who meet in the middle, tearing each other's mechs apart until ultimately crashing together onto Palisade, presumed dead. Nideo’s mechs come back online first, and they are able to strike back against Apostolos, eventually taking back the Gate. Miseri is thought to have died for the cause, giving his family back their surname. The Apostolosian fleet is pushed back, but take over a nearby Nideo base to lie in wait and force Nideo to fight the war on two fronts.
On Palisade, Miseri and Cor'rina have survived the crash and are forced to work together. Miseri decides he has no interest in returning to the war, and simply wants to fight on forever. Cor'rina is determined to mount a Pact resistance cell against the occupying Curtain “to fight for the freedom of everyone on Palisade”.
The Road to PALISADE 05: Wagon Wheel Pt. 1
After the invasion of Palisade by the Curtain, several communities make the decision to reach out to Millennium Break for resources, people, and assistance pushing back. Wine, the Excerpt of the Divine Bounty, travels off of Palisade and returns with a group of Millennium Break agents: Ce Gull, Caeso Wair, and Broadleaf. The four of them travel together to the Bontive Valley, Wine’s home, in the BigStar★ to start providing relief and to lay the groundwork for more revolutionary activity.
The BigStar★ arrives in Eversin and the crew disembarks to find the town has been pillaged, and is now under the Curtain’s authority. Wine visits the clinic of Doctor J and helps supplement his supply stores with offworld medicine while Wine notes some of the equipment has been stolen.
Ce stops in at a local market and starts chatting with Lishan Charles about the work he's here to help with, discovering that Lishan is a seneschal for the Curtain — a local left in charge of keeping an eye out for dangerous resistance such as Millennium Break. Ce manages to talk Lishan into letting them stay and help, and Lishan admits that she’s not in a position to turn down aid, they just can’t let the word get around that it came from Millennium Break.
Broadleaf has a strange dream where no one in the BigStar★ crew knows who he is, and Ce tries to fly using a secret Broadleaf shares with them, but ultimately fails and begins to fall. Wine is accusatory, calling this a trap. Broadleaf struggles to catch Ce on his own, but can't when no one else will help. When he awakes and mention the dream, Wine wonders if it was sent from Bounty, who is dispersed across the area, and apologizes for the behavior of dream-Wine.
The Road to PALISADE 06: Wagon Wheel Pt. 2
Continuing his work in Eversin, Caeso Wair wants to fix a large support pillar in the market square, but is stopped by Tivanon, a local trader. Since Eversin has already put in a request to have it repaired by the Curtain, they will be suspicious about any ‘unauthorized repairs’ done before they get to it. As a workaround, Caeso works with him to repair the larger beam and damage a smaller one to account for the one they reported. Meanwhile, Ce Gull acts as an assistant for Doctor J, helping him collect local herbs while learning from him about them. With Ce’s assistance, Doctor J is able to catch up on his work at the Clinic.
After several weeks in Eversin, the BigStar★ leaves for their next stop, Tivanon temporarily joining their crew to carry supplies to the next town. With the change in load, the BigStar★ breaks down before they reach the next town, requiring them to bring it to a local mechanic, Tzion Archana. Tzion immediately pegs the group as Millennium Break, and joins the caravan, as he doesn’t think the BigStar★ can be kept running on their current parts alone.
The BigStar★ arrives in Braunton, a casino town in the Shale Belt that is populated by Concretists, where Curtain soldiers often take leave. Broadleaf hosts a dinner to gather local workers together, and Wine discovers this used to be a union mining town. Caeso and Wine work on clearing out the abandoned mine so it can be used to stockpile supplies where Curtain forces can’t find them, and to act as a shelter if and when fighting begins in the area. Wine reveals that Bounty faded away during the invasion of the Bontive Valley, as it was spread out over the area; they use the last of their connection to Bounty to make food (mainly mushrooms) grow in the rebuilt mines.
Caeso is approached by Gastone Ol'D'Cassino to repair his expensive watch. Caeso agrees, but is unable to fully repair it. Gastone is the mayor, and has set this up as a ruse to kick out Millennium Break by publicly claiming they stole the watch from him and forcing them to leave. Tivanon stays back, planning on catching another caravan back to the Bontive Valley, and Ce invites along Highway Nine, a local tag-along who wants to join them to their next destination.
The Road to PALISADE 07: Wagon Wheel Pt. 3
The BigStar★ arrives at Joyous Guard, a town in the Fabreal Duchy where Perpetual Lustre, the Duke of Glass, has fled after refusing to cede power to the returning Divine Principality. Much of the Duke’s servants are enslaved Delegates, and while the agents of Millennium Break do their best to stay civil, Wine is itching to take direct action. Broadleaf keeps the Duke occupied while Wine meets with August Righteousness, the chef of the Duke and secretly the leader of a Delegate resistance movement. Wine fumbles their words and has a hard time selling August on Millennium Break’s value, but ultimately August is receptive to the fact that the two groups share a goal. Caeso Wair and Tzion Archana assist the townspeople in dealing with a migratory stampede that the Duke has neglected to prepare for, but they worry what will happen the next time when Millennium Break isn’t there to step in.
Wine proposes they assassinate the Duke, working with August on the logistics while Ce prepares a poison. Rather than outright killing the Duke, however, it simply makes him very sick. August proceeds with their own plan to kill several high ranking officials at the same time, and takes advantage of the Duke’s illness to keep him under lock and key while he recovers, effectively taking control of the Duke’s keep in Joyous Guard. Millennium Break’s efforts with the townspeople outside the keep assist with making the townsfolk friendly to the Delegates' own resistance, and they help keep an eye out for anyone suspicious of the Duke’s absence.
Broadleaf dreams of a simpler time when they were young and living with their family. As they realize they are dreaming, they try to hold onto the memory, but are awoken by the BigStar★ hitting a bump, and made to reflect on how much messier and more complicated reality is than their dream.
The Road to PALISADE 08: Lancer Pt. 1
The episode centers on the planet of Saboria, where a group of Hypha have been given a refuge by Stel Columnar. A group of these Hypha including Zeke Minuet and Deanthe discover an underground necropolis containing records and bodies of ancient Hypha from before the time of the Divine Principality. Studying those ruins, they begin to translate old texts and instructions to uncover how the Hypha’s Chorus Bond worked and are able to replicate these methods on three volunteers to turn them into Strati. Upon realizing just how valuable this information is, and what the Pact might be willing to do to to take it for themselves, the mayor of Harborview, Kaliope Flow makes a call to Millennium Break asking for assistance extracting them from the planet.
However the Pact catches wind of this transmission and sends ships down to Saboria, preparing to take their discovery by force. They kidnap the three Hyphan Strati and steal some of the Hyphen remains. At this point Kaliope reaches out to some of the only trained pilots in Harborview; Narmine Te'ketch, an ex-criminal laying low, Teasel Fauna, a local entertainer, Zark Vapor, a questionable explosives enthusiast, and Martilla Häske, a Pact soldier currently refuelling on Saboria before returning to the war.
While the crew is not overly enthused to be pulled into the fight, they all end up agreeing for their own reasons. (Narmine is certain he can get Millennium Break to foot his bill, Teasel is offered the position of Mayor for their next settlement, and Zark is toldthey that they can blow up as much as they want during this mission). Martilla however is not convinced of the threat, and only agrees when Kalliope offers to turn herself over to the Pact for calling Millenium Break, so long as Martilla helps them first.
The crew arrives in a train yard, where they encounter hostile Pact forces, much to Martilla’s dismay. While they work to retrieve the three missing strati, Deanthe is on stand-by to assist with the extraction, and Kalliope is helping to move the civilians of Harborview to the Millennium Break extraction point.
The Road to PALISADE 09: Lancer Pt. 2
The crew find the three missing Hypha researchers and Deanthe escorts them to the extraction point while instructing the crew to take a separate path and draw fire away from the civilians. They are chased to a canyon where they are met with a giant Pact mech piloted by Saxton Clash, alongside several smaller units.
The group proceeds to fight their way though, with Narmine Te'ketch managing to kill Clash and destroy his mech, though reinforcements arrive and they are forced to continue their escape by fleeing through a tunnel that is collapsed behind them by Pact bombers.
When they arrive at the rendezvous point with the rest of the civilians from Harborview, Kaliope Flow informs the crew that Millennium Break is unable to land on the planet due to a Columnar blockade and no help will be arriving to extract their team or any of the civilians. Zeke Minuet declares that they will simply have to show the Pact just what their new Strati can do.
The Road to PALISADE 10: Lancer Pt. 3
With the crew’s original mission done, Kaliope Flow offers to let Martilla Häske arrest her, but she declines, arguing that their mission is not yet complete, and they are still in the thick of it. Deanthe then requests assistance from the crew to help move the population of Harborview up a nearby mountain filled with more Hypha ruins. Martia grudgingly allows them to ride Under the Radar, though testily points out there’s a weight limit for her mech. Zark Vapor warns them that technically the Ill Portent isn’t safe for them to be riding in, and while they can ride on the hat they do need to sign a waiver first.
They arrive at the ruins, and the Strati are able to activate a door to allow them passage, revealing crumbling Hypha statues and a safe place to rest. The crew is able to spend time repairing their mechs until Deanthe announces that there are more Columnar forces inbound, and they need their crew for one last mission. Deanthe asks them to hold off the Columnar until they are able to activate and launch the ruins, revealing them to be an ancient Hypha ship called “The Brightsky” which they plan on moving off the planet using the Strand.
The Columnar forces arrive, including Callister Multiply, a Pact pilot who Martia’s describes as “a solid guy”. During the fight Narmine Te'ketch activates the Captain, who is revealed to be the Divine Tenacity which he had previously stolen from the Pact, and Teasel Fauna absolutely vaporizes a number of enemy mechs. The crew manages to hold off the reinforcements as the Brightsky takes off into the night sky with the crew swept up into the Strand alongside the ship.
In the aftermath, having recreated the Chorus Bond, Deanthe is declared the Loess of their group of Hypha. Zark quickly departs the group, preferring to be on his own. Teasel does not become mayor (he didn't run) but does become the de facto night mayor. Martilla is cautious of what comes next, on edge for retaliation from the Pact or Millennium Break, but she stays on the fleet, committed to her new mission. Narmine stays on as well, helping train new pilots, and conspicuously keeping an eye on Martilla on Millenium Break's dime.
The Road to PALISADE 11: Orbital Pt. 1
This episode takes us to The Brink at the edge of the Twilight Mirage where people have been living safe from the Divine Principality for what they perceive as five hundred years due to the time changing effects of the mirage. The Brink has become a hub, close enough to the border of the Mirage that it receives news, visitors, and trade with the outside world. As of late however, with war on their doorstep the Brink finds itself on a precipice.
The players identify three threats to the station;
- Hundreds of military starships are using a nearby moon as a staging area.
- Residents have been disappearing, emerging days later as new members of a strange cult.
- A huge shipment of blue oranges has pushed the Bink to the brink, with too many people to safely keep housed and fed.
The characters consist of;
- Teleos Triton Tanager, aka 3T, is a musician and pop-star who thinks the people of the Mirage should be involved in the war against the Principality on Palisade.
- Cheal Pushy has heard rumors that 3T is smuggling soldiers and weapons onto Palisade on the blue orange shipments.
- Cheal Pushy, is running a bar out of The Brink, and has a past that is tied up with the mysterious vines that now permeate the station, which resulted in him being banned from gardening.
- Mustard Red has recently caught him gardening.
- Mustard Red, is a member of Brink Proxy who takes her duties very seriously, monitoring the activities of people across the station to a paranoid degree.
- She asked has asked Paris France to acquire her a deadly magazine.
- Paris France is a broker who mainly deals in fresh fruits and vegetables, recipes, and spices, making deals and trades with those outside the Mirage.
- He is aware that Deutsch Synchro is a Curtain agent, but is keeping this quiet in the hopes of gaining some opportunities from it.
- Lament, aka "Deutsch Synchro", is a Curtain agent sent to the Brink to assassinate three targets and is undercover as a bartender at Pushy's. In addition to the assassinations she has been ordered to investigate an "unsanctioned Divinity" detected aboard the Brink.
- She is 'helping' 3T establish a network of allies sympathetic to his cause.
The Road to PALISADE 12: Orbital Pt. 2
Paris tells Lament about the Pact defector, who he assumes is a spy, and gets her to agree to bring him when she goes to speak with them. 3T consults Mustard about Coracin Seventine investigating him and his concerts, which he considers harassment, and gets his followers to push the Brink for loosened security at his next show. An assemblage (not a meeting!) is held at Pushy's to discuss various issues, Mustard serving as the Brink Proxy representative. Eventually the topic narrows to the strange disappearances and reappearances, strange devices on the arm of someone's cousin named Toaster Wroaster, and the possibility of a cult. The power goes out, and when the emergency lights go on, they trace the symbol of Devotion.
The Pact defector Knighton Reach meets with Paris and Lament at the public baths. After they talk and Lament leaves, Paris mentions she's with the Curtain, and Knighton flees in a terrified rush. Mustard works on her Brink Proxy obligations while watching a live feed of Toaster Wroaster, who keeps checking their pulse.
Paris encounters Mustard while he's refilling a Brink Proxy vending machine and informs her that the magazine she's looking for has a centerfold that kills people if they look at it. Mustard doesn't want the magazine for the centerfold, but for an interview between Grand Magnificent and Morning's Observation that was reprinted in it. Afterward, the Divine, Arbitrage offers its own copy of the magazine if she makes an account on its app.
Coracin Seventine is still trying to track 3T, and spots him helping load 'something' onto the blue orange trucks. Pushy and Craig prepare for 3T's show later that week, and Craig complains about Mustard being a creep, making Pushy think he needs to go elsewhere for help. Meanwhile, though Knighton Reach is not one of Lament's three assigned targets, she's being directed to kill him anyway. 3T has reached out to his fans to improve his show, which leads to him meeting with Devotion cult leader C.T.H. Pasodoble. They both get a sense of each other, though 3T clearly doesn't understand he's being manipulated, and 3T agrees to attend a Devotion meeting this week.
A temperature check on station opinions about conflict with the Principality reveals that while some are hesitant, many are itching for war.
Lament tracks Knighton down in a Brink hostel and cuts their head off, only to be pulled into a firefight by Pact spy Gimme Gimme. Midway through, the gravity goes out due to a concurrent, unrelated heist of the station's gravity lynchpin, and they're forced to disengage. Keith decides that the Orchard Syndicate is a front for the Devotees, and describes them turning off the blue orange trucks and surrounding them with magnets, including the lynchpin, for an unknown purpose. Brink Proxy are forced to manually reset the gravity throughout the station, and Paris assists Mustard and Joe. Arbitrage offers to reset the gravity by providing access to a middleman service, alarming Paris with its obviously capitalist promises; Mustard agrees to refrain for taking Arbitrage's offers for now if Paris can get people to sign up for Brink Proxy.
The Road to PALISADE 13: Orbital Pt. 3
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 Tomorrow 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.
The Road to PALISADE 14: Orbital Pt. 4
After a recap, General Mourning begins looking through Brink Proxy's files, realizing that there are signs of Principality spies aboard the station. She also speaks with Mustard about 3T's beef with Coracin Seventine and the unsecured concert. During the conversation, Mustard receives an offer from the Divine, Arbitrage app for crime-detecting software. She begins showing it to Mourning, who immediately confiscates her laptop after hearing the Divine, Arbitrage's name.
3T's been attending the assemblages convened by the Qui Err Coalition, and talks to C.T.H. Pasodoble during a break, who invites him to the Devotion retreat.
A flashback to the conversation between Mourning and Mustard reveals Lament trying and failing to set off a detonator in Mustard's office. Mustard walks in on her, and Lament poses as 'Latent Peach' by making a complaint about the noisy station birds. The detonator begins to count down just as Joe de Vivre walks in and recognizes Deutsche. Lament makes her excuses and hurries out with the explosives.
Cheal has been following the cult members, and puts himself up for the retreat under a false name.
The retreat begins. C.T.H. leads the group down a hallway not on the station map, which turns into a forest with a view of the sky where they begin setting up tents. Pushy is baffled by 3T and Mustard treating this as a real retreat, as this is obviously a cult. 3T calls C.T.H over to help Pushy check his pulse, and Mustard asks C.T.H about the origins of the group. C.T.H tells them about how he joined up and says it's "a power stronger than any Divine that binds us, and a love even greater than that". Weird pulse stuff continues: Mustard's pulse syncs with C.T.H.'s when they shake hands, and everyone's heart rate has increased slightly since coming to the forest.
Meanwhile, Paris and False Fruit head for the Blue Monday radio station at the top of the Brink. They ask the radio host, Strikeout, to send a signal to the Joy in the Water, the ship False Fruit's kid is on. While the ship refuses to turn around, they do agree to send Qualitative out in an escape pod. Some far-off Principality warship picks up music from the radio station.
Instead of Mourning, Sylvi decides to have Lament target Mourning's assistant, who has Mustard's laptop, in the Devotee community center. It's the perfect opportunity to take control of Divine activity on the station. Lament fakes a message from Mourning to the assistant sending her ahead to the community center, and then kills her.
At night at the Devotion retreat, 3T takes over a call-and-response, 'using scapegoats and corrosive arguments to get a crowd on side'. Cheal sneaks into the leader's tent and goes through the documents, but is spotted by a guard. As he's copying the files he receives a vision from Devotion, a Divine with the ability to make mirage bombs to expand the mirage. He's standing on a burning planet, with the other planets of Quire burning above him. A voice tells him: "If you reveal this, you will lose. Because you don't love me enough." After a few minutes completely stunned, he rushes from the tent with his copies.
Mustard talks with the cult members to learn about their beliefs over the next couple days, but finds herself being slowly drawn in.
The Road to PALISADE 15: Orbital Pt. 5
After a recap, the cast discuss guns in the Mirage, eventually agreeing that while guns did begin to work towards the end of Twilight Mirage, they are highly regulated by the Qui Err Coalition.
Cheal has left the retreat, and finds Paris and False Fruit in the night markets. Cheal hurriedly tells them about the cult, and 3T and Mustard's involvement. He joins the other two in Paris's ship Waterfall Guardians, headed to pick up Qualitative. False Fruit tries to play ignorant, but has to admit that he's done some work with the cult members. Pushy, despite the vision he saw, mentions that there's a Divine involved, and the ship starts going through turbulence. They change the subject for now. The escape pod contains two extra people who got cold feet about fighting on Palisade, leaving the ship cramped as they return to the Brink.
Reading the station about whether it's safe to have the Devotees aboard the station shows mixed opinions. The Troublemakers are defensive about 3T's decisions, the criminals are ambivalent, another Divine church is sympathetic, the Devotees emphasize that they're everyday members of the station, and truckers and haulers distrust the Devotees for making their work harder.
At the retreat, the Devotees ask Mustard about her knowledge of the station, and she gives up secrets in the excitement of getting to talk about her passion. General Mourning and her replacement assistant Roberta arrive to speak with 3T, drawing him away from the forest to inform him of the killing of her assistant Alexis in the Devotee community center. 3T admits to his involvement (along with Cheal and Deutsch) in hiding a body on the night of the concert. He agrees to leave the retreat early for questioning.
Paris meets up with Cheal, False Fruit and Qualitative Fruit at the sauna. False Fruit reminds Paris that he needs a way off the station, and after a renewed promise to get him to Moonlock, tells what he knows about Devotion, the Orchard Syndicate's connection with the Devotees, and the mirage bombs. False Fruit takes his kid and heads out, leaving Cheal and Paris to talk. Cheal agrees to share his info if Paris can prove Devotion can't see the future. The water of the jacuzzi begins beating in time with their pulses.
The Devotees bring in ships with supplies and housing for the overcrowded station as part of their retreat celebrations.
3T is back under curfew and interviewing with Roberta in the hopes that his testimony will pull heat off the Devotees by showing there are ways to hide a body on the station. Lament, angry that he's put her under scrutiny, breaks into his open studio. After some conversation, she threatens him, though he thinks it's a joke, and tells him not to give up anything else about her.
Mustard returns to Brink Proxy and finds that the Divine, Arbitrage has sent her a message on her personal phone offering first to connect the Devotees with its app, and second to hook them up to supplies for the Cycle End Feast. She's now a bridge between the Divines Arbitrage and Devotion.
Cheal goes to the military command center to report on the Devotees and 3T, since he no longer trusts Brink Proxy. Roberta conducts the interview, focusing on the death the night of the concert. Cheal initially denies 3T's accusations. He hands over the files he stole from the Devotees. After some thought, he admits to everything that happened the night of the concert in order to get Roberta and Mourning to focus on the threat of Devotion.
Paris hasn't gotten confirmation that his cousin on Moonlock will be able to take False Fruit and his kid, but the deadline is approaching, and he sends them off with begrudging goodbyes from both sides. Meanwhile, 3T seeks out Devotion in the retreat ship. Above him in the sky he sees a rift filled with eyes. He confesses his fear that things are going wrong, that he has done wrong. Devotion's answers aren't exactly reassuring; the lives it will take to win this war are more than he could fathom.
Mourning prepares to take 3T and CTH Pasodoble back towards the center of the Mirage for justice. On the Brink, a Divine specialist squad arrives, inflating a sort of paper lantern structure around the station to investigate Devotion and Arbitrage.
Lament cleans up her loose ends on the station. She sees Gimme Gimme in the doorway of her workstation, and then the camera cuts. Paris is working hard to prepare for the Cycle End Feast; his cousin is angry with him and not calling back. Mustard moves into a new office with a vending machine, and sets out the deadly magazine before the screen cuts to black. 3T has one last meeting under observation with Decario Dicario, and the Divine, Arbitrage begins releasing 3T music videos. Cheal's life has returned to normal, except that he sometimes wakes up and feels the vines on his back beating in time with his heartbeat.
The Road to PALISADE 16: Serious Reading
Continental Countinghouse introduces this week’s panelists on CENTRE/line: Pregoria Prilt, Reatta Fossick, and Galaebalus Splu-u-mp. Continental cheerfully goes over recent events, noting that it's been two years since Kesh and Nideo landed on Palisade, and the Pact of Free States (formally the Pact of Necessary Venture) and the Bilateral Intercession (formerly the Curtain) have agreed to Orion's statement of neutrality, guaranteeing that their ships are allowed to fly freely across all of the Principality.
The hosts discuss the role of lobbyists in the Principality, getting sidetracked by pet adoption until Continental hastily puts them back on track when Pregoria mentions the war. They also discuss medical and student debt in the Principality, and after another sidetrack into the famous Do you have it? advertisement, conclude that the solution is to make medical services cheaper by running their institutions like a business. They suggest students can join their respective military or military research units to pay off their debts. Ad reads for empty tin cans, martini glasses for wine, and music chargers are done in between topics.
Continental introduces the final topic for discussion, Millennium Break itself, pointing out that their show has been given official permission by Rye to actually say the phrase “Millennium Break” and discuss their “multiple attempted coups”. Galaebalus expresses frustration on the restrictions the Principality is imposing on its citizens, but is cut off by Continental. The rest of the hosts discuss Millennium Break’s recent attacks, painting them as a loud and violent minority, and highlighting the “necessary” work that the Stels are doing with checkpoints, ID cards, restriction of movement, biometric profiling, and random checks.
Gala enters the conversation again, but Continental mutes them, and directs their production team to check in. After a few minutes Gala can be heard in the background attempting to subvert this, so Continental leaves Pregoria and Fossick to do an ad read while he steps away to deal with Gala. The two can be heard arguing loudly as Pregoria and Fossick try and hold the show together. The argument grows heated, devolving into Continental shouting that they are at war and that everyone hates these measures, finally threatening Gala with a pointed reminder that gal is in Orion space right now. He kicks out Gala and return to their mic to attempt to close out the show just as Fossick admits that they think their wife (who has been trying to stop them from eating chicken for every meal) might be in Millennium Break.
The Road to PALISADE 17: My Way
Professional mech sumo wrestler Dogmatic Mettle is injured participating in the Summer Passage of Arms, and transitions to performing in the Principality Wrestling Association, taking up the name “Dog Metal”. In his scheduled debut, he intervenes ahead of schedule to defend Caden "The Sensation" Davis in a fight against Vlad “Bone Daddy” Rivera, who had pushed the fight too far and badly injured Caden. Dog discusses this experience on the podcast Steam and Smolder, hosted by Jimmy “Steam” Steamanski and Smolderin’ Sara McKenzie, two retired wrestlers, and he quickly becomes a regular guest.
The PWA moves on to more matches around the Principality, and the podcast does a live show in a Nidean Deep Dish Steakhouse. Dog goes against the brass for Jade “The Dentist” Suzuki, who was going to have a career-killing gimmick change without his intervention, and begins working with the younger talent, including Brian “Thousand Dollar Man” Johnson.
As the tensions in the Principality escalate, a backstage altercation results in six Pact wrestlers leaving the PWA, including Vlad and Dash “City Slicker” Dubrovnik, who held the Honor Belt title. With them gone, the PWA hosts the Honor Belt match, which Dogmatic wins against Jade. The victory is short-lived, however, as the conflict in the Principality grows more serious and the PWA begins having to cancel shows. The crew heads to Partizan for their next show, but by the time they arrive tensions have caused the PWA to disband. In its place, Steam, Smolder, Dog, and several other wrestlers form the smaller Wrestlers First Association. The hosts note that they are unable to leave Nideo space due to invading Apostolosian forces moving on Palisade forming a blockade.
At an early show, there is an incident with a fan who attempted to join the fight in a home-made mech using military grade hardware, something Smolder obliquely blames on Millennium Break. After the incident, Dog is approached by the March Anecdatist Foundation about joining their league on Palisade (started after Kesh and Nideo made landfall) but he declines -- choosing instead to stay and help lead the WFA. Steam and Smolder officially invite Dog to be the third host of their show, and the three of them reaffirm their commitment to bringing much-needed role models and entertainment to their fans in the Principality.
The Road to PALISADE 18: Upstairs & Downstairs Pt. 1
Somerset House prepares to host a very important dinner for a family friend, Exanceaster March, who they hope to sway towards joining the Bilateral Intercession and in doing so restore the standing of the Solstice family. The siblings Catrina Solstice, Carvisle Solstice, and Catalina Solstice, alongside their father Coughton Solstice, meet March only to discover he has brought an additional guest, his sibling-in-law Bel’Agos Bloom, an Apostolisian admiral for the Pact of Free States. Bel’Agos and March, alongside March’s bodyguard Guilford Gain, and his three servants, make their way to Somerset House. Back at the house the servant Eileen Lilas prepares an additional room, and Martine Sprue, the house mechanic, and Vivian Exler, the house gardener, bicker. Coughton calls in a panic requesting the staff to prepare some kind of activity that can allow him to separate March from Bel’Agos so he can speak with him alone, and proposes they do a sport hunt.
Once the guests make it to the house, Guilford insists on getting a room across from March, which Eileen prepares. Catrina makes small talk with March and gets invited to his half of the hunting party. While Catrina makes a good show of the hunt, Carvisle accidentally shoots Coughton in the shoulder, and the hunters put out a signal for aid. Back at the house Vivian prepares to break into Guilford’s room with Eileen keeping watch. Vivian picks the lock on one of the bags using skills she learned from reading Millennium Break zines she downloaded over the Strand Semaphore and discovers to their horror that Guilford’s bag contains a device that can summon an escape pod, guns, zip ties, three gas masks, and a ticking bomb, set to go off in the middle of dinner. Martine arrives to alert Eileen that there’s been an injury in the maze, only to discover the bomb situation. Coughton bleeds out in the maze while the staff tries to figure out what to do next.
The Road to PALISADE 19: Upstairs & Downstairs Pt. 2
Vivian Exler enters the maze to retrieve the injured Coughton Solstice and manages to warn Catrina Solstice that something is going on, and to be on her guard. Back at the house Martine Sprueworks on disarming the bomb while Eileen Lilas does her best to keep Guilford Gain distracted and out of her room. Catrina does her best to keep her cool and keep the party going, but does need a pep-talk from Exler. At that point Crevera Solstice, the absent matriarch of the family, arrives back from her latest expedition, just in time to severely complicate plans for the dinner service. The downstairs crew get the rest of the house staff up to speed on the situation, and they resolve to deal with it themselves despite initial protests from the head butler Talbert. Exler and Eileen try to return to Guilford’s room, only to discover her leaving. To their surprise Guilford warns the servants to leave, and Exler realizes to her delight that Guilford and March’s other three servants are actually undercover Millennium Break operatives.
Exler updates Eileen and Martine, and while Martine is quick to grab one of the family mechs to keep them safe while Eileen tracks down Catrina and tries to convince her to leave and not go down with the rest of her family, though Catrina is reluctant to leave without Eileen, fearing for her safety. Back at the house that has been evacuated due to a fire alarm going off, the Millennium Break agents complete their mission, breaking free the Branched Thalia who was trapped in the form of the Somerset House for generations. The agents flee with Thalia into the night. Martine and Eileen get credit for saving the family and Exanceaster March, with Eileen staying with the family and Martine getting a job with the March Anecdatist Foundation. Exler uses a stolen escape pod to flee with handfuls of yet more stolen goods and eventually ends up with Millennium Break - sending along literature to his old friends at the Somerset House. Catrina takes Crevera’s hunting mech and leaves the household, backpacking through sectors of unknown space. March joins the Bilateral Intercession due to Bel'Agos Bloom's failure to protect him, and restores an amount of prestige to the Solstice family name.
The Road to PALISADE 20: City Planning Department
The Witch in Glass is given direction from Perennial, and she uses the Reflecting Pool to crash through the Bilateral Intercession’s blockade of Palisade. Hours after she lands, the Witch departs on another mission from Perennial, wandering into the wilderness and leaving the de facto leaders of the Reflecting Pool to create a new settlement called the Crown of Glass. Apparatus Aperitif, Shunley Pernard, Antonina Juris, Kojack Variety, and Plum Tort form the city planning council, and together they work on creating recreation, housing, and food supplies for the city. They are interrupted by Kojak receiving what he believes is a vision from Perennial, telling them to dig into the nearby mountain to build an altar. As they begin the project, the mountain is slowly covered in Russian sage. When the Witch in Glass returns, one of her fingers has been replaced with an ornate brass key.
The afterword narration reveals that in the next year more people begin to land on Palisade, with the Cult of Devotion, the Qui Err Coalition, the Hypha, and Millennium Break all taking part in attempts to fight the Bilateral Intercession on Palisade. Kesh and Nideo hold a strong grip on the planet, however; Stel Nideo reveals their New Asterism, with the prophet Gur Sevraq at its head. Meanwhile, the founder of the March Anecdatist Foundation, Exanceaster March, debuts his new war machine, the Altar, which outclasses anything else on the battlefield. As Altars begin to spread across the planet, they become known as "the platform on which the future would be earned, whether through worship or through sacrifice."