Darrow anticipated Pliny’s leak and the Sovereign’s ambush, hiding a Telemanus detachment under Roque to slingshot in and strike Kellan au Bellona’s force. On Europa, Darrow pressures Lorn au Arcos, warning that neutrality means destruction when Octavia retaliates. Lorn resists choosing a side as Praetorian Obsidian and Aja au Grimmus arrive, with Tactus au Rath among them.

As Aja challenges Lorn, the Howlers reveal themselves, seeming to set a straightforward duel. Instead, Darrow triggers layered mines he planted: pulses drop shields, a gravPit pulls the Praetorians in, then kinetics shred them. Aja and Tactus barely tumble inside the castle and vanish. Sevro launches the hunt while Roque prosecutes the orbital ambush, his fury sharpened by Quinn’s death. Aja slips into the sea and escapes.

Fearing Octavia’s fallback order, Darrow and Lorn race to a hidden bunker where Arcos’s grandchildren and caretakers are concealed. There, Tactus stands wounded amid dead Obsidian, poised to massacre innocents. Bitter and insecure, he vents about living in Darrow’s shadow and being the “Mighty Servant.” Darrow rejects Octavia’s logic, offers forgiveness, and promises Tactus a path back—command and a standard when they take Mars.

Tactus breaks, drops his razor, and embraces Darrow, sobbing. The children are evacuated; Pebble reports Roque is closing out the space engagement. Then Lorn declares “consequences” and swiftly kills Tactus with an ion-dagger through the armpit, executing the surrendered traitor. Roque’s victory in orbit stands, Aja is at large, and Darrow cradles Tactus as he dies, while Lorn’s claimed neutrality irreparably erodes.