Lysander leads a thousand Praetorians, the Love Knight Kalindora, and Romulus’s daughter Seraphina west into Mercury’s sandstorm to find the Storm God’s eye. Using Rim towing lines to stay linked, they grind forward through near-zero visibility, losing some to snapped tethers as their starShell cores drain. Lysander sheds fear for purposeful resolve, intent on proving himself to Ajax and Atalantia.

In the murk, scouts contact starShells bearing House Votum hammer sigils. Cicero au Votum emerges with the Scorpion Legion, and Kalindora readies to fire while Seraphina flanks. Lysander forbids fratricide, reveals himself, and negotiates: he will support Votum’s claim to Heliopolis if Cicero aids the push. Cicero agrees, adding thousands to Lysander’s force despite the political break with Atalantia.

The united column reaches the storm’s eye at dire energy cost. In the eerie calm, animals drift in the Storm God’s gravity shadow beneath a floating monolith shrouded in cloud and lightning. Confronted with its destructive potential, Lysander concludes Darrow will drown Mercury’s northern coast to kill them, condemning millions.

With instruments unreliable and orbital support absent, Lysander plans to down the engine so Ajax can extract them at 0600. Kalindora orders heavy columns and wedge flanks for an old-fashioned assault. Before they advance, a flash from the Storm God precedes a massive rail slug that shears Seraphina in half. As her body falls, Kalindora screams incoming, and the engagement begins under the Storm God’s guns.