Darrow briefs veteran officers at the construction site, unveiling Operation Voyager Cloak. With Mercury blockaded and shields their only advantage, he plans to leak a shield-chain vulnerability so Atlas will destroy Eleusis, opening a gap Atalantia cannot resist. Her legions would land at the Plains of Caduceus, a mined killbox encircled by hidden army groups and torchShips, to be driven into the Waste of Ladon. The assembled officers, designated BlueReach Seven under Orion, are held as Operation Tartarus—an insurance policy if the trap fails.

Afterward, Darrow confronts Harnassus about using Glirastes’s tech to sync seven Storm Gods. Harnassus calls the plan madness and morally bankrupt, citing depleted resources against full Ash Legions and accusing Darrow of cold autocracy. Darrow counters that the planet was lost when half the fleet left and asserts command, backing it with black-clad Howlers. Harnassus demands a promise to prioritize saving their army; Darrow refuses and compels his allegiance. Harnassus delivers a resentful salute.

Rhonna interrupts with a degraded holo from Alexandar: the Fear Knight did not take the Eleusis bait, and a distress call is coming from Angelia. The shift threatens Darrow’s timing and killbox. He orders Harnassus back to Heliopolis to preserve the command chain and supply via the gravLoop if air superiority is lost. Darrow sends Orion to BlueReach One to ready the storm pilots, extracting her oath not to raise the Storm Gods above the primary horizon.

Concerned about Orion’s stability, Rhonna presses Darrow, who reveals a master switch he holds—and its armor backup—built as a safety valve over Storm God control. Darrow then orders Thraxa to reconnoiter Angelia without engaging Atlas and sets out himself to investigate, adjusting the operation to the new threat.