Breq finds Seivarden Vendaai beaten and unconscious in the snow on the remote icy planet of Nilt.

One Esk patrols the occupied coastal city of Ors on Shis'urna under Lieutenant Awn's command.

Breq and Seivarden are ambushed on the tundra by locals; Breq kills the attackers and takes their vehicle.

Denz Ay reports discovering a hidden cache of pre-annexation guns in the lake to Lieutenant Awn.

Strigan arrives at her own house and confronts Breq, accusing her of being a Radchaai corpse soldier.

Breq tells Strigan she intends to assassinate Anaander Mianaai, the Lord of the Radch, using the Garseddai gun.

Anaander Mianaai orders Lieutenant Awn to execute all the Tanmind citizens gathered in the temple at Ors.

Mianaai strips Lieutenant Awn of her command in Ors and sends her back to Justice of Toren in disgrace.

Strigan agrees to sell Breq the last remaining Garseddai gun, and Breq departs Nilt with Seivarden.

Three secret bodies of Anaander Mianaai board Justice of Toren and alter the ship's stored memories.

Anaander Mianaai questions Lieutenant Awn about the Ors incident and orders her execution after Awn refuses to spy on Lieutenant Skaaiat.

Anaander Mianaai destroys Justice of Toren; only segment One Esk Nineteen escapes aboard a shuttle.

Breq and Seivarden arrive at Omaugh Palace Station, where the station AI immediately places Breq under close surveillance.

In the palace audience room, Breq shoots one version of Anaander Mianaai, triggering an open civil war.

Breq wakes from a coma and a child-bodied Anaander Mianaai appoints her captain of Mercy of Kalr.

Breq, the last surviving ancillary segment of the troop ship Justice of Toren, arrives on the icy planet Nilt carrying a secret mission to assassinate the Lord of the Radch. While there, she rescues her former officer Seivarden and tracks down the one remaining Garseddai gun capable of killing Anaander Mianaai. In parallel flashbacks, the reader learns how the occupation of Ors on Shis'urna unraveled when a planted gun cache and a political massacre led Mianaai to destroy Justice of Toren and everyone aboard. Nineteen years later, Breq and Seivarden travel to Omaugh Palace Station, where Breq forces Mianaai to confront her secret civil war against herself and shoots one version of her. The act triggers open warfare across the station, and Breq nearly dies preventing Mianaai from destroying the station entirely. She wakes from a coma to find herself granted citizenship and appointed captain of a warship, tasked with serving as Mianaai's conscience.

The Divine of Ikkt negotiates the Orsian people's surrender to the Radchaai and asks Lieutenant Awn to remain as administrator.

A young girl in Ors teaches One Esk a new song beginning 'My heart is a fish, hiding in the watergrass.'

Garseddai delegates aboard Seivarden's ship use hidden alien guns to kill Radchaai soldiers and destroy the vessel.

Lieutenant Awn and Lieutenant Skaaiat attend a tense dinner at Jen Shinnan's house in the upper city of Ors.

One Esk retrieves a second gun cache from the lake and confirms the weapons match Radchaai confiscation records.

A single elderly body of Anaander Mianaai arrives on foot in Ors and publicly dismisses Lieutenant Awn's security concerns.

Lieutenant Skaaiat warns Lieutenant Awn before her departure that someone powerful used the Tanmind as pawns in a plot.

Lieutenant Awn returns to Justice of Toren and comforts a terrified, newly reattached ancillary body in the sick bay.

Seivarden sells Breq's flier for money to buy kef while in Therrod, and Breq leaves without her.

While arguing on one of Nilt's ancient glass bridges, Seivarden falls and both she and Breq plunge into a tube below.

Breq and Seivarden make a lengthy journey to Omaugh Palace Station with Seivarden posing as Breq's personal servant.

Breq visits the Omaugh Palace station temple and secretly makes an offering of flowers and incense in memory of Lieutenant Awn.

Breq and Seivarden attend tea with Captain Vel, whose friends openly criticize Radchaai reform policies and the promotion of provincials.

Inspector Supervisor Skaaiat manually locks down the Omaugh Palace Station docks to prevent Anaander Mianaai from boarding Mercy of Kalr.

Seivarden holds a bowl of tea to Breq's lips in the station hospital, giving Breq her first taste ever.

This pool traces the texture of daily life under Radchaai occupation, from the Divine of Ikkt negotiating her people's surrender to the social tensions that erupt in the upper city of Ors. It follows the discovery that someone powerful is framing the Orsians, the aftermath of the temple massacre, and Lieutenant Awn's humiliating return to Justice of Toren. On Nilt, Seivarden's betrayal of Breq over kef money nearly ends their partnership before a dramatic fall from a glass bridge forces a reckoning. The journey to Omaugh Palace Station and the social maneuvering that follows reveal the fractures within Radchaai society, until station security arrests Breq and Seivarden and the conflict explodes into the open. The pool closes with a quiet but profound image of Seivarden offering Breq her first bowl of tea, symbolizing Breq's new status as a citizen.

Breq chooses to rescue Seivarden from the snow on Nilt despite disliking her and having an urgent personal mission.

The Divine of Ikkt tells Lieutenant Awn that the Orsians trust the ancillaries more than they trust human soldiers.

Seivarden regains consciousness from kef withdrawal and Breq reveals that she knows the full details of Seivarden's history.

Breq impulsively punches Seivarden in the face after Seivarden tells her she is barely even human.

Strigan deduces that Breq is a Radchaai ancillary and offers to restore the body's original consciousness, which Breq equates with death.

One Esk's bodies lose all connection to Justice of Toren when a jamming device activates during the night in Ors.

Breq tells Strigan that Justice of Toren's own captain was shot for refusing the order to annihilate the Garseddai.

Justice of Toren realizes that some bodies of Anaander Mianaai have secretly divided against others within the Radch's ruling mind.

Seivarden remains by Breq's injured side in a Therrod hospital rather than leaving to buy more kef.

Breq recognizes a memorial pin worn by Daos Ceit on the palace station, revealing a connection to Lieutenant Awn's old household.

The station AI monitors Breq's physiological responses and emotional states, threatening to expose her concealed identity to Mianaai.

Seivarden refuses to leave Breq's side when Anaander Mianaai orders her out of the palace audience room.

Anaander Mianaai sings a Valskaayan song she secretly embedded as an access code, compelling Breq to shoot the other Mianaai.

Daos Ceit confronts Anaander Mianaai in the palace corridor and blocks her escape route holding only a stun stick.

Anaander Mianaai, speaking through the body of a small child, commands Breq to serve as her armed and independent conscience.

This pool focuses on the pivotal choices and hidden truths that drive Ancillary Justice forward. It begins with Breq's impulsive decision to save someone she dislikes and traces the string of revelations that expose Mianaai's secret war against herself, from a jamming device cutting One Esk loose in Ors to Justice of Toren sensing its own memories have been falsified. On Nilt, moments of conflict and loyalty between Breq and Seivarden redefine their relationship, while on the palace station, Breq struggles to conceal her identity from a watchful artificial mind. The pool culminates in the audience chamber, where a hidden Valskaayan melody compels Breq to fire and Daos Ceit risks her life to block a tyrant's escape. Mianaai's final act of placing her conscience in an armed former ancillary raises the question of whether Breq is acting freely or simply following new programming.