At the icy seam of Mercury’s Sycorax Sea, Darrow arrives at a glacier dig where the Second Legion Blacksmiths excavate a colossal terraforming engine. He meets ArchImperator Cadus Harnassus, whose formal authority and past recall of half the fleet strain trust with the ranks. Orion appears with her Blues despite doubts about her readiness, and friction flares as Harnassus objects to secrecy and risk.

Darrow reveals there are seven storm engines, with Orion’s units masking heat spikes as volcanic activity. Orion insists a central engine is needed for total control, dismissing Harnassus’s warnings. Darrow ends the argument and orders the machine prepared for deployment.

Inside the pit, Master Maker Glirastes—fearful of mass carnage yet committed to Mercury’s people—presses Darrow to honor his pledge not to exceed the primary horizon. He explains the Storm Gods once worked with Lovelock engines, and that Octavia’s secret vault enabled this restart. Darrow hopes Atalantia remains ignorant of the buried technology.

After evacuation, Orion reports the hardware is installed; Glirastes notes the army runs on stimulants and cites simulations showing significant risk of implosion. Darrow activates the engine himself as Orion privately suspects Harnassus of sabotage, which Darrow rejects. With a groan and rising gravity field, the Storm God lifts free of the ice, ready to join its brethren at sea.