[KESTREL COLOR] Kestrel is sleeping on the Leviathan, advancing towards the presumed position of a hiding remnant of the Vaylen fleet. She has an intense nightmare: she is playing with Dove by herself, when Dove disintegrates into blood in Kestrel's arms. Maris is standing over her, holding a bundle of something that she is guarding protectively.
[CROW COLOR] We see the wreckage of the Painted Palace. Crow trudges aimlessly through it, covered in soot and lacerations. He stops and picks up a tiny, intact glass bird.
[YVENNE INTERSTITIAL] Yvenne leaves Isla Norte in a fury, and asks Thalia to make her personal craft ready. She raises Zabad on the comm. She tells him that they are repoing the facility from Maris - and to bring as many guys as he can raise on short notice.
[MARIS CONFLICT] Yvenne confronts Maris at Isla Norte. Maris tries to convince her that Chrysalis, the fetus she has growing inside the lab, is as much her child as Dove is Yvenne's. Yvenne: "Then it will hurt all the more when I take your child away from you." Yvenne cannot make peace with the fact that Chrysalis has Sparrow's DNA, and attacks Maris and her Sodalis. The superior tactics and firepower the Sodalis command drives them back, though, and Yvenne's morale breaks and she leaves. Afterwards, Maris puts forth waves of sadness as Delphia turns away from her in horror.
[KESTREL INTERSTITIAL] Kestrel raises Yvenne, and Yvenne explains the situation. "She killed our baby, and she made her own!" Kestrel: "Don't make Maris angry. Not now. Not when we have all of this. What would happen to Dove if something happened to you? We can't fight two battles." Kestrel convinces Yvenne not to do anything rash, and says she misses her and will be home soon.
[CROW INTERSTITIAL] Crow meets Kestrel late at night in the bunker under the Painted-Palace-that-was, and tells her that she needs to meet someone who matters with and to the slaves - Alix Weller. Torrent fidgets uncomfortably to be meeting with this hated enemy. Kestrel explains her amnesty offer. Torrent's fists clench and unclench. "What you're proposing is... not in any way appealing." The deal being offered by the Vaylen is, he argues, better. "We would know what freedom tasted like for a little while, anyway. What you're offering assumes that we live... and we won't, because we are not soldiers." "I very much believe that your interests will no longer be relevant, once Avarine is conquered." "This isn't about many years from now. This is about months from now. This is reality - if we fight for you, we die. And why would we fight for you when we were just, before they came, planning your murders?" "So, which is it? Either you're all a bunch of helpless farmhands, or you're dangerous murderous revolutionaries. You can't have it both ways." "Can we poison a master's tea, or stick a knife in their guts? Yes!" "Those skills might come in more handy than you think. They do hide among us... The opportunity to die a clean death, rather than the inevitability of being hulled, is a good one. That's all there is to it." Torrent walks out. "I'm not going to sacrifice the fate of our planet to some high-minded ideals about brotherhood and equality." Crow: "He was looking to be wooed, and you did not woo." "If he's looking to be wooed, then you need to arrange to have the meeting with my wife, not with me." Kestrel promises to try again. "Alix is not an easy man to talk to. I did mean it when I said it went well!" She arranges with Wren to send a Crow-crafted glass letter opener to Alix as a peace offering. The note says, "Perfect for stabbing masters with."
[TORRENT COLOR] Torrent and Frost have a laugh over the gift when it arrives, but Alix slips it into his robe when he's alone.
[MARIS INTERSTITIAL] Maris "confronts" Kestrel in her mind about her promise to "take care of her" when the crisis is over. Kestrel promises that she does not want to see Chrysalis dead. "Can you appreciate how complicated a situation this is? What should I do, Maris?" The connection goes silent, an admission that Maris has no idea.
[YVENNE BUILDER] Yvenne remembers Maris mentioning Sister Priya, back during the initial invasion. She contacts her anonymously, giving her the coordinates to the lab, and a brief description of its blasphemous contents. The good sister examines the message, and smiles as she connects the dots.
[YVENNE COLOR] The Brotherhood ships start taking flight to engage the Vaylen fleet.
[MARIS COLOR] Delphia slams down a tablet showing images of the fight against the bedraggled but still potent Vaylen fleet, pounding Church Sodalis from the sky. Maris remains fascinated by Chrysalis, bathed in eerie blue light.
[QUINN INTERSTITIAL] Quinn and Farouk are poring over a dynamic map of Isla Tienne, showing the devastated Painted Palace. "This is still a strategic position, and I think we would do well to attach hard, here." Quinn gives him a quizzical look. "We go deeper."
EPILOGUE: TAKE ACTION VS. FLAK: Torrent makes an autotuned music video of Kestrel repeating her promises of amnesty until they lose all meaning, set against images of the slaves suffering in work camps. Brotherhood ships, rag-tag as they are, target Vaylen supply ships, outmaneuvering them and slamming them dead in space with nail launchers. Meanwhile, Zabad rallies the slaves, asking them if they are there to sing and dance, or to kill worms. On the Vaylen ships, the screens flash. "YOU ARE FAR FROM HOME. YOU ARE ALONE."
