In a Quality Control processing room beneath the Jackal’s fortress, Darrow is shorn, hosed, and beaten by Grays from Legio XIII Dracones. Danto taunts and injures him while a Yellow doctor clinically assesses Darrow’s resilience for a three-week transfer to Luna, ordering heavy sedation. The centurion readies to drug him.

Suddenly, two Grays execute the dragoons and Obsidians with suppressed slug guns. They reveal themselves as Holiday ti Nakamura and her brother Trigg, Sons of Ares sent to extract Darrow. They unlock his restraints, but his atrophied legs collapse. Trigg returns Darrow’s razor, now etched with intimate images of Eo and Darrow’s family, stirring powerful emotion.

Darrow, mistrustful, accuses them of a Jackal ruse. To prove themselves, Holiday opens a channel to Sevro. Sevro appears via hologram, confirms he is alive and that Darrow’s family was secured from Lykos, and orders the team to extract Darrow immediately, renewing Darrow’s hope.

Accepting their help, Darrow grips Holiday’s hand and echoes “Break the chains.” Unable to walk, he consents to a stimulant. Holiday injects a potent “snakebite” directly into his heart; the drug ravages his body but restores short-term mobility. With time limited, the rescuers prepare to move Darrow out.