Lysander and Cassius arrive shackled at a desolate mountain fortress on Io, greeted by Vela au Raa and masked legionnaires amid Obsidians and Whites. In a stark warroom, Romulus au Raa sits humbly at the foot of a massive throne, one-armed and measured, as Marius au Raa and Pandora stand nearby. Romulus honors Pandora and Diomedes, then greets his daughter Seraphina with unexpected tenderness.

Romulus notes the razor calluses on Cassius and Lysander’s hands. Cassius, using the alias Regulus au Janus, claims to be an unscarred former soldier turned water trader. Romulus presses Seraphina about her disappearance; family tensions flare as she condemns Pandora for torturing Hjornir on Marius’s order. Seraphina reveals she pursued the truth of the Ganymede Docks’ destruction but found nothing, and Romulus betrays quiet relief.

Romulus explains he brought Seraphina to this hidden site to protect her from the Moon Council, which would execute her for treason. He sentences her to indefinite confinement at the fortress, isolated by distance, radiation, and the elements. Diomedes apologizes as Obsidians drag Seraphina away, devastated.

Turning to the “gahja,” Romulus rules that Cassius and Lysander cannot stay or leave; to protect the secret of Seraphina’s return, he orders Pandora to behead them and dispose of their bodies in Jupiter. Cassius prepares a desperate lunge, while Lysander seeks a diplomatic opening through Diomedes.

Before the execution, tremors shake the fortress. Romulus identifies a missile strike; Vela reports incoming warhawks and chimeras that bypassed orbital defenses by launching from the surface. As Vela organizes a response and Pandora moves to engage, Romulus sits, unhurried, and says he is waiting—for Seraphina’s mother.