Darrow braces in a spitTube as the Iron Rain begins, wrestling with fear while bantering with Sevro, Mustang, Victra, and Roque. At Roque’s command, the fleet unleashes the drop. Darrow is hurled into a vast, silent space battle where leechCraft race to board capital ships under storms of missiles and flak.

Victra’s destroyer disgorges an oversized wave of leeches at the Bellona flagship Warchild. Then Victra’s mother betrays the Bellona, her flotilla unleashing hundreds more boarders into the enemy core. Darrow’s Titans latch onto the Warchild as the broader battle devolves into a chaotic web of boarding actions.

Plunging into atmosphere, the cacophony returns. Anti-air fire tears through the falling troops; Daria the Harpy is killed without ceremony. Darrow and the Howlers make landfall on a snowy mountain, recover from the drop, and begin a hazardous advance, skimming terrain to avoid missiles and hunters. Ragnar downs a gunship after Darrow is briefly pinned by debris.

Darrow moves to link with Mustang’s nearer, larger force and pushes toward Agea through mountains, forests, and storms. Communications are degraded by jamming and lightning. He dispatches Ragnar and Jupiter with Obsidians to secure the northern valley while he climbs above the storm to reach the fleet.

In orbit, Roque reports a stunning discovery: Praetorians on the Warchild exposed that the Sovereign is secretly on Mars, her shuttle trapped behind Agea’s shields. Darrow reveals he already planned for this—Agea and the Sovereign are his true objective.