Morning Star

As Darrow leaves Sevro sitting by Ragnar’s body, he runs into Victra, who goes to comfort Sevro. Darrow then finds Mustang drinking with Kavax, Daxo, several of Darrow’s family members, and some Rising engineers. Mustang is telling the story of a fight in the Institute between Darrow and Pax au Telemanus, Kavax’s late son. Darrow is shocked to see Mustang and his family interact without him there. He greets them and sits down, allowing Mustang to continue her story and noticing her charm. Once Darrow’s mother has left, he tells Mustang that he is glad that she met his mother on their own terms. The group talks about their meeting with Dancer, which did not go well. The alliance between Mustang’s allies and the Rising is strained already.

Mustang gives Darrow a method to contact Orion, who, she says, has been causing chaos by raiding shipping lines. Daxo and Kavax voice complaints about a Rising plan of using Obsidians and clawDrills to invade cities from below. They are worried that the Obsidian are too dangerous to unleash on civilian populations, and Mustang does not think that it properly deals with her brother. She tells a story of how the Jackal was obsessed with outsmarting her as a child and stresses that he will never forgive Darrow for the Institute. Before the conversation can progress, a man comes into the room and says that Cassius is asking for Darrow.

Darrow finds Cassius in the center of an infirmary filled with badly wounded Sons of Ares soldiers, Dancer’s attempt to make him feel guilty for his part in the war. Cassius’s guards claim that he has information, so Darrow takes him to a private room to talk. As they do, Darrow thinks about his relationship with Cassius. He wants to be friends again, sees how lonely Cassius is, and knows that Cassius can become a better man.

When Darrow asks what information Cassius claims to have, Cassius says that the Sovereign believes that the Jackal is making a play to become Sovereign. Cassius then asks if the Sons of Ares raided a specific asteroid several months ago. When Darrow says no, Cassius reveals that on this asteroid there were 500 high-yield nuclear warheads, placed in case the Sovereign needed to destroy a planet in the Rim. The Sons were blamed for raiding it, but the Sovereign suspects the Jackal, a suspicion that Darrow has now confirmed. Cassius tells Darrow that he is worried that the Jackal will destroy Mars.

Darrow relays this information to leaders in the Sons of Ares and Mustang’s party. They debate over whether Cassius is telling the truth and what the appropriate response is. Eventually they agree that it is likely that Cassius is telling the truth. Darrow then tells them that he does not intend to attack Mars. This would lead to a long ground war in which they are exposed to Society counterattacks or the Jackal’s nukes. Instead, they should take the fight elsewhere. He promises that he will divide the Rim from the Core planets and destroy Roque’s Sword Armada.

As Darrow is preparing to leave Tinos to go to his navy in orbit, Dancer finds him. They discuss how Fitchner would have loved to see a Red Armada sail to war, and Darrow tells Dancer that Fitchner was always the heart of the Sons of Ares.

Darrow sees his Uncle Narol depart for a sabotage mission while Mustang and his mother are speaking. They stop speaking as soon as Darrow arrives and do not tell him what they were talking about. Darrow’s mother gives him a box of dirt from Lykos, telling him to remember home and that he must come back so that he and Mustang can start living. Darrow asks what this means, but she and Mustang brush him off again.

The narrative then jumps forward. Darrow and some of his compatriots are now on Io, a key moon of Jupiter. The inhabitants of this area, the “Moon lords,” think highly of themselves. They believe that their harder life makes them stronger. Sixty years ago, the Moon Lords rebelled against the Sovereign in the hopes that they would gain independence. They were subjugated only when the Ash Lord, Magnus au Grimmus (Aja’s father), destroyed the moon of Rhea.

It has been a month and a half since they left Mars. On the route, they met up with Orion and Mustang’s fleets, Sefi studied modern warfare, and Sevro and Victra struck up a romance. Now, they are waiting for Mustang to return from a meeting with Rim diplomats. After a while, Mustang returns with Rim representatives, who invite her and Darrow to meet with Romulus au Raa, the Rim’s leader.

Romulus’s home is a remarkably simple place. As they enter the property, they are asked to remove their shoes and notice that a pair of military boots is already there. Mustang is asked to go ahead while Darrow waits in one of Romulus’s gardens.

While he is waiting, Darrow talks with Seraphina, Romulus’s daughter. Romulus then arrives, sends his daughter away, and talks with Darrow. Romulus emphasizes that Rim Golds are more honorable and restrained than those in the Core. He believes that the Core’s lack of restraint causes many of their problems. But he also insists that enslaving the lowColors is necessary. Darrow says that Romulus’s restraint does not necessarily make him more civilized than the Sovereign and that both are tyrants. Romulus counters that restraint and order are the defining marks of civilization, a view that Darrow immediately rejects.

Before they go to Mustang and the others who are meeting, Romulus asks if it is true that Antonia au Julii killed her daughter by crushing her skull underfoot. Darrow confirms that she did. Romulus thanks Darrow for telling him the truth even though it was hurtful. Darrow then surprises Romulus by guessing that there is another guest at the meeting. Romulus claims that he wants to negotiate peace from the best position that he can and so is weighing his options.

In an orchard into which Darrow is led, Roque au Fabii sits with Mustang and several leading Moon Lords. Despite Darrow’s attempts, he finds it difficult to hate Roque. He knows that Roque is a soldier of Gold, as Darrow is a soldier of Red.

Romulus wants each of them to pitch why he should lend his support to their side. Roque begins. He offers the Rim increased rights, the surrender of Antonia for punishment, and appeals to their fears of societal upheaval. Darrow thinks that these promises are practical and achievable, so his only hope to combat them is by promising them the impossible.

Darrow promises the Rim complete independence and, to prove that he is not interested in freeing the Rim lowColors, says that he will surrender the local Sons of Ares. Though Darrow already gave orders for all Sons to evacuate from the Rim, he knows that many will not make it. Darrow and Mustang then use their information about the asteroid that was stripped of its nuclear weapons to make it seem as if Roque took those weapons to use on the Rim. Romulus and the Moon Lords are greatly angered by this, and Roque is unable to convince them that he did not take the weapons. Roque gives a final warning to the Moon Lords, demanding that they submit now or they will be annihilated. Rising to the challenge, Romulus declares a blood feud with Roque. He confirms with Mustang and Darrow that the Rim will now fight in their coalition.

Before Roque leaves, Darrow asks him when their friendship was lost. Roque says that it was when Quinn, one of Darrow’s advisors at the Institute and a Howler, died rescuing Darrow from the Sovereign, surprising Darrow as Roque still thought he was a Gold at this point. Roque tells Darrow that regardless of his color, Darrow destroys those around him.

Later, Darrow observes the pre-combat ritual of the Golds on Mustang’s flagship, the Dejah Thoris. He thinks about how remarkable the Golds are as a society and that the worlds will never see people like them again. On Roque’s ships, his Golds will be doing the same and hoping to take the lives of Darrow’s friends. Darrow thinks to himself that he will not let them.

The various Golds depart for their own ships after they receive word that Roque’s fleet is approaching. Darrow shares a brief goodbye with Kavax before talking with Mustang. She tells him not to die because she wants him around after the battle. They kiss and then separate.

On the bridge of the Pax, Darrow impatiently waits for the battle to begin. He confirms that the Howlers are in position and thinks that the Gold fleet may outmatch his, but his soldiers have a kinship that the Golds can never match. To his surprise, Victra enters the bridge. She tells him that she wants to keep him alive so that Sevro is not hurt and then the pair can call the Howlers. They all banter until Darrow tells them that they are all lucky to have each other as a family. He asks them to be brave and to come home.

Darrow has the Blues on his bridge transmit a message to his entire fleet. He gives a speech in which he says that they cannot allow the rebellion to be lost today. He then says that they are not Red, Grey, or Obsidian but humanity, and they are Rising.

Darrow thinks to himself that he has never seen a fleet comparable to the size of the Sword Armada. The battle for Mars was two rival houses, but this is a war between people. Darrow knows how difficult it will be to win. He plans on leading the Pax on a sacrifice operation into the heart of Roque’s formation.

Darrow has the Pax and a small strike-force of other ships charge. Roque acts on the assumption that Darrow will try to ram his ship and so keeps his distance until the Pax’s engines are destroyed a kilometer away from Roque’s Colossus. Darrow then launches empty leechCraft (used for boarding) at the Colossus, which are immediately wiped out. Roque gets in contact with Darrow, telling him that the battle is over and he must surrender. Darrow refuses, so Roque orders for the Pax to be boarded.

Darrow orders his crew to head for escape shuttles. He only used skeleton crews in his strike-force, knowing that their ships would be disabled. He and Victra move to an auxiliary hangar where his real assault force waits. Heavy shuttles, loaded with Valkyries, Reds, and Grays, are preparing while a force of helldivers, using modified clawDrills, get ready to lead the attack. Across the Pax, Roque’s boarding parties begin to land and find an empty ship. Darrow thinks to himself that Roque thought that he could beat Darrow as he was when he pretended to be a Gold. However, Darrow is a helldiver, and Roque is not prepared for that. Darrow mounts a clawDrill.

The modified clawDrills drill out into space, quickly closing the kilometer between the Colossus and the Pax. The weapons of the Colossus do not recognize the clawDrills as threats, so they do not immediately target them. Darrow’s drill digs through the hull of the ship and the assault shuttles fly into the newly created holes.

Across the rest of the battlefield, Darrow’s forces are losing and retreating, but the Howlers are still waiting to spring their trap. Darrow is joined by Sefi, Holiday, Victra, and a large team. Most of Roque’s force has already gone to the Pax, so the Colossus is poorly defended against Darrow’s soldiers.

Darrow’s team makes slow progress in the ship, having to battle past many choke points. He hears from Mustang that Roque used electromagnetic pulses to disable large parts of her fleet. Mustang tells Darrow to get to the bridge and kill Roque quickly.

While Darrow pushes toward the bridge, other assault squads attack vital ship functions. One eventually reaches the communication unit in the ship and broadcasts a prerecorded speech of Darrow’s that exhorts the lowColors to rebel. This partially works, and some of the locked doors through which Darrow’s team must cut are opened. When Darrow finally reaches the bridge, he hears from his other teams that many of Roque’s response teams have been directed his way. They realize that the bridge door is too thick to drill through before Roque’s reinforcements overrun them. As they prepare for a final stand, the bridge door suddenly opens.

Darrow’s team rushes in, expecting an ambush but finding a room caught unprepared. A Pink valet stands by the door. She opened it to let them in and then locked it, keeping Roque’s reinforcements out. Darrow’s soldiers quickly attack and kill the security team within the bridge. Darrow and Victra then move toward Roque, who is hurt by the Pink’s betrayal. He thought their relationship a genuine connection, but she stands proud and takes off the badge that signals that she was his property. Darrow orders Roque to surrender, and when he refuses, Darrow remotely overloads the engine of the Pax. The Pax explodes, wiping out Roque’s boarding parties and several of his nearby ships. Roque says that they will still lose the fight as the Sword Armada has routed toward Darrow, but then the trap is sprung.

Sevro, the Howlers, and a huge force of Sons and Obsidians had been waiting in tunnels dug into one of Jupiter’s moons. Roque’s fleet moved near the moon as they pursued the fleeing Rising ships, allowing Sevro’s force to fly out and board them. Romulus also had soldiers on the moon, but Darrow ordered the Sons to collapse the tunnels they hid in so that only the Rising would capture ships.

Darrow asks Roque to stand down now that the day is lost, but Roque says that his honor will not allow this. Victra mocks the idea that he has honor as he betrayed his friends. Roque, looking at his fleet being defeated, dies by suicide.

Darrow is temporarily too stunned by Roque’s death to act. Victra takes control of the ship and orders it to help the Rising ships, but Darrow countermands that order. He does not want people to know that the Colossus has been captured yet. They are shocked by Antonia au Julii, who orders her ships to flee. Even with the Colossus, the battle would have taken several more hours and exhausted the fleets, but now the Rising will easily win. Victra wants to use the Colossus to catch Antonia, but Darrow again refuses.

With the battle won, Darrow says that he wants to prepare for the next war. He orders the Colossus to move toward the key Rim dockyard at Ganymede. When Romulus notices, he calls Darrow, who pretends that he is still fighting in the corridors of the Colossus. Romulus begs Darrow to take the ship before it can ruin the dockyards. After the call, Darrow orders his ship to fire on the dockyards. With these put out of action, the Rim will not be able to build a navy that can threaten the Core for years. Sefi watches the bombing of the Ganymede docks in awe. Darrow asks her to rename the ship, and she chooses the Morning Star.