Morning Star

Darrow then details some of the history of the Martian moon Phobos. It has been turned into a massive city by the Society, its center hollowed out and its diameter expanded through skyscrapers. Phobos is on a central trade route, taking Martian goods to the rest of the empire. In the city-moon there is a massive wealth disparity between the Silvers and Golds who live near the top of the skyscrapers and the workers who live in the bottom.

Sevro hopes to kidnap Quicksilver, escape the moon quickly, and then detonate explosives on the main docks and refineries of Phobos. This will shut down shipping, leading to a complete economic collapse. The Howlers are smuggled to Phobos in a cargo ship, disguising themselves as Obsidians. Victra and Darrow confer before they land. She tells him about the incredible extent of Quicksilver’s holdings and questions whether Darrow believes in the effectiveness of Sevro’s plan. He does not but is unwilling to voice a complaint because Sevro kept the rebellion alive while Darrow was imprisoned.

When they arrive on Phobos, they are met by a Red named Rollo. He leads them through the Hive (the lower levels of Phobos) to the Sons’ hideout. Once there, Sevro tells the other Sons of their plan and has them plant bombs across Phobos.

The Howlers approach Quicksilver’s skyscraper hidden in a trash collector. They wear thin, camouflaged armor and masks. Using the diversion of “accidentally” spilled trash and the lack of gravity, they attach themselves to the side of Quicksilver’s skyscraper. As they climb, they see several nuclear explosions occur on Mars. Sevro does not know if this was caused by the Sons, and his lack of knowledge compounds Darrow’s worry about Sevro’s qualities as a leader.

Soon they infiltrate the skyscraper, but the mission goes awry as they are unable to locate Quicksilver. Darrow worries about a trap but allows Sevro to continue leading the mission. His capture by the Jackal stripped him of the confidence that once defined his tactical sense.

The Howlers move to Quicksilver’s suite and break in, but they only see a Pink (the pleasure servant caste) male on the bed. Darrow cannot initially tell who it is, and Sevro begins to torture him for information on Quicksilver. When the Pink speaks, Darrow recognizes his voice. It is Matteo, the man who trained him in the culture of the Golds. Darrow pulls Sevro off him but then Matteo tries to sound an alarm, so Sevro knocks him out.

The group argues about what Matteo’s presence here means. They use Matteo’s datapad to locate a room they believe Quicksilver is in. While Darrow worries that it is a trap, the others decide to go. They charge into the room they located to see Quicksilver, a large assortment of Coppers and Silvers, and several Gold Knights. Among these are Cassius, Moria (Aja’s sister), Mustang, Kavax au Telemanus (a Gold father figure to Mustang), and Kavax’s son Daxo.

Sevro quickly escalates the situation by threatening everyone in the room. Quicksilver demands that the Howlers stop and identify themselves, and Darrow notices that the Jackal is the only major Gold player not represented in the room. He concludes that Quicksilver and the Sovereign must be betraying the Jackal.

Darrow tries to stop the fight, which leads to Sevro cutting his communications with the rest of the party. Darrow tries to identify himself to Mustang, but he is not quick enough. The room erupts in violence, and most of the Coppers and Silvers are quickly killed. Darrow kills Moira as she tries to attack Sevro but realizes that now only friends of his are fighting. He is the only thing that binds everyone in the room, and left on their own, they will kill each other.

Before Darrow can stop the fight, Mustang attacks him. She breaks open his helmet and sees his face. Cassius flees his fight with the Howlers but also sees Darrow before he leaves. Mustang then calls for her party to retreat, but Darrow captures Kavax. Mustang tells Darrow that she has the Pax, the warship that Darrow previously used when leading the Augustus forces, and that Orion (the captain of the Pax) is alive. She then asks him not to kill Kavax and leaves.

After the battle, Darrow and Sevro argue about Darrow’s comms being cut and whether Sevro knew that Mustang would be there. Sevro says that he did not. They find Quicksilver trying to run but worry that they will not be able to escape with the prisoners. Sevro tries to rectify this by attempting to kill Kavax, but Darrow stops him. They argue again, but before it can go further, they learn that a security force is headed their way. Sevro tells them to try and cut their way out, but Darrow countermands this, taking charge of the Howlers. Darrow knows that taking the Howlers from Sevro hurts him but still feels that it needs to happen.

Under Darrow’s orders, the Howlers break open a window in the skyscraper and jump out into space. He calls Holiday to fly in with a ship and pick them up before they die.

As they fly out into the open vacuum of space, Darrow thinks about what a vacuum does to people. He sees his team around him in space, with Victra and Sevro holding hands as they die from the cold. Darrow, feeling himself starting to die, considers human mortality. He passes out and then wakes up in the ship that has picked them up. None of his friends have died, but it was close.

The ship lands in the Sons of Ares base, where people soon realize Darrow’s real identity because his disguise wore off in the chaos. Darrow realizes that it is only a matter of time before the Jackal analyzes footage from the area and realizes that he and Sevro are on Phobos. Sevro begins to organize the defense of the base and hopes to bomb the Phobos docks soon and then leave. Darrow and Ragnar go to talk to Kavax.

Kavax fills Darrow and Ragnar in on what Mustang did during the Jackal’s betrayal. After learning of Darrow’s true identity, Mustang went to the Telemanuses to get advice. She then secured many of the ships in Darrow’s fleet against Roque’s attempt to take them. She left Orion in charge of the Pax because she now believes in Darrow’s dream of the new world. This news greatly heartens Darrow. Kavax also says that Mustang was trying to negotiate peace with the Sovereign because the Sovereign was losing the war. The peace would allow them to remove the Jackal and reform the hierarchy. Darrow asks why Mustang never reached out to Sevro, only to find out that she did months ago, and Sevro ignored it.

Darrow goes back to the group, who are learning that all flights out of Phobos have been grounded. Rollo tells the Howlers that if they leave, the Jackal will kill all Sons of Ares left on the moon. He argues that Darrow should lead a general rebellion on Phobos. Sevro instead decides that they will torture Quicksilver until he gets them a way off the station, and he leaves to begin. Darrow follows him to talk.

He catches up to Sevro but not before Sevro enters Quicksilver’s cell. Quicksilver cannot see them but assumes that they are the Jackal’s soldiers. When Sevro speaks, Quicksilver realizes who Sevro is. Quicksilver tells them that he was a founding member of the Sons of Ares and Fitchner’s (Sevro’s father’s) first partner.

Sevro does not believe Quicksilver, but Darrow confirms that he is telling the truth by asking him about Matteo’s role in Darrow’s training and where Tinos is. Quicksilver reveals that Matteo is his husband, and he shows that he knows Matteo helped to train Darrow and where Tinos is. At this point, Darrow reveals himself, shocking Quicksilver.

Quicksilver reveals that he is against the Society because he is a capitalist. He believes that the Gold ideology limits human growth, while a free market will prompt more social change. When Sevro presses him on why he did not reveal himself to the remaining Sons following Fitchner’s death, Quicksilver says that Sevro was a bad investment. He did not trust him to lead a successful revolution. Though Darrow knows that this hurts Sevro, he thinks that he needs to hear it. However, with Darrow back in the picture, Quicksilver is again ready to commit his resources to the Rising.

Darrow and Sevro then argue about what their next steps should be. Darrow tells Sevro to give him the detonator to the bombs on Phobos and Sevro refuses. Sevro tells Darrow that many have died, including Fitchner, because Darrow hesitated. Unlike Darrow, he will not hesitate to do what needs to happen.

Darrow activates a jamField (a device that blocks sounds and signals) which stops the detonator’s signal. Sevro flees down the hall, trying to escape the jamming range. Darrow follows him, and the pair have a fistfight until both collapse to the floor. Darrow thinks that he hears Sevro laughing but realizes that he is crying. Sevro moves toward Darrow and cries on him for several minutes. Though the detonator is next to both, neither reaches for it.

They have a heart-to-heart. Sevro tells Darrow about his fears that he is letting down his friends. Darrow tells Sevro that he was right for saying that Darrow got Fitchner killed. While Sevro apologizes for saying it, Darrow is glad that he did because they should be able to tell each other anything. This is how they have succeeded so far. Sevro then tells Darrow that he wishes that he could inspire people like Darrow has (though Darrow reassures him that he does).

They then talk about their cause and joke about life in the Vale. Darrow tells Sevro that they can no longer be terrorists; they must have a plan for what comes next. Sevro breaks the detonator and asks Darrow for orders.

Sevro and Darrow walk back into the room where the Howlers are waiting with Quicksilver. Darrow tells them that he has a new plan. After Darrow has given orders to his friends, he and Sevro call the Jackal to bait him into deploying legions into the moon. Satisfied that this has worked, they move on.

The narrative then skips forward to Darrow flying through the Hollows of Phobos. Since the call, Kavax has been mysteriously released, Quicksilver brought back to his tower with Victra, the Sons of Ares armed with his weapons, and a secret ship prepared for Darrow. Now, Darrow and the Howlers show their faces as they move to the center of the city. Stopping there, Darrow floats with Sevro and Holiday at his sides. Quicksilver then overrides broadcasting across the worlds to show a live feed of Darrow.

A hologram of Eo singing a forbidden song about the subjugation of the Reds by the Golds is displayed under Darrow, and when it ends, he begins a speech. Darrow says that men are born free but kept in chains across the worlds. The Golds were meant to lead but have only led humanity into darkness. Darrow lifts his hands to show that the sigils denoting his color have been removed. He summons all people to join him in rebelling, and he says that, in doing so, they must be more moral than their enemies. He then declares the Gold rule over. The lowColors will now fight for their rightful property and win because “we are the tide. And we are rising” (182).

Sevro leads the audience in a rhythmic thumping of their chests, which Darrow calls the heartbeat of Eo; her dream lives on through the rising of the people. The broadcasted feed is then changed to Ragnar leading an assault on a key military facility in Phobos. Sevro takes control of the battle as Darrow moves on, thinking that the moon will fall but he will not be there to see it.