Heliopolis falls into darkness as the EMP nullifies power. Lysander escapes a collapsing fountain and crashing ships, keeps hold of the Horn of Helios, and sprints through panicked streets. Bloodied but mobile, he climbs to rooftops, swaps to light boots, arms himself with a loyalist razor and Alexandar’s superior blade, and swings north toward the Hippodrome.

Passing a prison riot where Golds and Obsidians overwhelm lowColor guards, Lysander avoids the chaos, reasoning he cannot control it on foot. He calculates that Darrow will recover quickly and that Atalantia’s reinforcements are not yet in place, so he must seize momentum with speed and spectacle before Darrow can reconstitute his forces.

At the Hippodrome, midColor loyalists guide Lysander into the stables. Glirastes’s servant and House Votum’s Obsidian stablehands arm and armor him in old, circuit-dead gear. Lysander blood-bonds with Cicero’s famed sunblood, Blood of Empire, proving his worth to the wary handlers as the stablemaster declares the horse will bear him.

Riding into the arena, Lysander finds Rhone ti Flavinius, Kalindora, and Praetorians gathered. He exhorts the Guard to reclaim their legacy as equestrian protectors of Lune, then sounds the Horn of Helios to summon Votum’s herd and weapons. Kalindora, missing an arm, warns to wait for Atalantia, but Lysander argues for decisive action and offers her the loyalist razor. She reaches to accept as the Praetorian cavalry forms for an immediate strike.