Fitchner rouses House Mars for a predawn run and reveals their battlefield: a highland valley bounded by two rivers—the Metas and Furor—that form a V, with the castle exposed along a single bridge approach. From Phobos Tower they survey the broader terrain, Olympus floating above, and Fitchner names the distant Deimos tower. Sevro points out Mars’s open approach; Fitchner shrugs that it’s their problem to solve.

In the plains below, a Ceres dropship lays out a lavish picnic as bait. Despite suspicion, Cassius challenges Darrow to a race. Watching a sparrow startle from the grass, Darrow deduces an ambush. They break the table into staves and charge, surprising five concealed Ceres students. Cassius uses finesse, Darrow brute speed; Darrow seizes a slingBlade and they subdue the ambushers.

Fitchner and the Proctor of Ceres arrive on gravBoots, bantering and revealing the Proctors’ indulgent interference from Olympus. Ceres unleashes mounted girls with nets; Mars retreats to the woods. Titus topples a horse but is stunned by the Ceres Proctor and humiliated, while two Mars students are captured. The episode underscores both Houses’ resource disparities and the Proctors’ whimsical favoritism.

That night over leftovers, Titus demands permission to kill. Fitchner forbids murder in this phase—medBots stand by for accidents—and reframes the objective: not killing but conquest. The Institute now tests leadership—supply, justice, and command—rather than mere brutality.

Darrow answers Fitchner’s challenge by stating the winning strategy: unite the twelve by enslaving rivals. Fitchner applauds and unveils Mars’s standard, instructing them to protect their standard and castle and to conquer others to make slaves. The path toward Primus now hinges on organizing, provisioning, and subjugating competing Houses.