Kate aboard military vessel for first time. Overwhelmed by scale of war. Senses ship approaching - gives warning. Fleet intercepts and destroys corrupted vessel.

Chelsea Park, overwhelmed by grief, steals a transport ship and travels to the nexus coordinates where Kate disappeared, searching for any trace of the girl she raised.

Petro encounters survivor who escaped one of his hunts years ago. Survivor recognizes him: "You killed my sister." Petro frozen and caught. Survivor doesn't attack but questions why he's there. Tells story of sister executed by Petro without mercy. Survivor found peace at Citadel.

Traq reports scouting findings to Vanguard Wade. Rescue mission organized despite Traq warnings of ambush. Impulsive Instructor Eppard overrides caution. Discovered prisoners are Union soldiers in disguise. Eppard killed in ambush. Yeol and Traq barely escape.

From a ridgeline above the western anchor site, Haatim watches his father Aram calibrating the ritual focal stones. He proposes walking in alone unarmed to confront Aram; Arthur refuses but Niccolo quiet wisdom and Abigail wordless understanding carry the day.

Haatim works through the night cross-referencing Arthur's prison journals with Council archives, formulating the Tether Navigation Hypothesis: the corruption is a bidirectional signal that can be traced back to its origin, Mal'akheth.

On the safe house rooftop, Abigail waits for Haatim after the church. When he joins her, they have their most honest conversation: Haatim describes the real Nida; Abigail admits the corruption is replacing pieces of her identity and she cannot always tell which thoughts are hers.

The team reaches the cathedral's underground heart chamber — a vast natural space where boneglass columns rise thirty feet tall, pulsing with green-white light in sync with the heart's rhythm. Human bodies are fused within the columns, preserved and serene.

Six nexus seals show synchronized degradation with ten days to simultaneous collapse. The emergency council fractures as Lord Kael of Meridia and Queen Seren of the Coastal Kingdoms threaten to withdraw forces.