Set in

Dorinda and Izar fly invisibly on Sefarina to the dome for recon. Landing on the tower, they notice its hum. Inside the glasteel dome, they see an octagonal room with a concave center, an ornate throne on the east dais, and stairs at northwest and southwest. Dorinda's Vardum-scanner droid scans, then crackles, pops, and smokes, then drops to the ground, sizzling. Dorinda and Izar set four charges . In the ethereal plane, Izar and nervous Hiare observe purple smoke swirling in the room's concave center. They return for Hrothulf's speech's end. Hrothulf flies Poyraz over The 58. He delivers a rousing speech about reclaiming his throne and fighting off-world interlopers, raising Watermelon's Wail. The 50+ troops chant "All hail the king!" The group charges in V-formation with The 58's militia-grade weapons. Halfway there, modified war drones emerge. Hrothulf shoots with Yesterday, creating dusty clouds. Dorinda misses with her sniper rifle. Ego's SLaP wrench creates a fiery explosion, destroying half the bots. Izar detonates the charges, shattering the dome. Armored foot soldiers emerge, bounding in 40-50ft leaps. A second wave of larger bots appears. The first swarm fires pink laser blasts, knocking back 12 of the 53 troops and striking Ego. Dorinda hits a green bot twice, which initiates self-repairs at lower altitude. Ego's second fireball destroys ten smaller bots but doesn't affect the larger ones. Her force ballista critically destroys the repairing bot. Izar uses Color Spray from his ranseur, incapacitating two jumping soldiers while a third hesitates. The battle continues apace, embodying Gliton's chaos and fire.