Lysander interrupts the summit, halting Diomedes’s exit and invoking his right of interjection with votes prearranged by Horatia. Over Julia’s enforcement of procedure, Atalantia yields the floor. Lysander disarms insults, then indicts Gold infighting and war-glorification, warning that without unity the next conflict will be Core versus Rim. He frames Gold’s duty as shepherding peace, not perpetuating war.

Turning to strategy, Lysander praises Atalantia’s service but rejects her Luna-first plan as divisive and prolonging the conflict. He argues the war ends only with the fall of Mars and urges the Two Hundred to veto the Luna strike in favor of a united Mars campaign. Declining command himself, he nominates the “greatest field commander” for the task: Apollonius.

Lysander and Horatia then reveal a surprise: Cicero leads Votum ships to Venus under a ceasefire Lysander brokered. A holocube shows Valeria au Carthii announcing Asmodeus’s death, her assumption of the dockyards, and support for unity. Apollonius appears to confirm peace with Carthii and vows to sail on Mars with Votum and Lune. The chamber erupts into “Mars must fall,” with the Rim delegation, Julia, and many others joining.

Outvoted, Atalantia keeps her fleet on the Luna siege but cannot stop the Mars coalition. In a tense exchange, she needles Lysander, who hints at her past deeds; Ajax hesitates, then raises the horns with Lysander. Above, Atlas watches and departs, leaving the new alignment set: a majority backing a Mars offensive while the Dictator holds Luna.