As Ichika and Houki begin their operation, the others notice how happy Houki looks, which prompts Chifuyu to tell Ichika to watch over her carefully. As Ichika and Houki engage in battle with the Silver Gospel and are about to corner it, Ichika notices an illegal fishing ship in the area and breaks off formation to protect it. Houki is angry at Ichika for ruining the plan, but he scolds her for disregarding the safety of the ship, which is something she never does. However, the Silver Gospel launches a surprise attack on them, which forces Ichika to protect Houki by shielding her with himself. In the chaos, Houki's hair ribbon gets completely burnt. As the critically injured Ichika is admitted, Houki blames herself on what happened and wants to quit being an IS pilot. Cecilia, Lingyin, Charlotte and Laura manage to convince her otherwise. Together, they ignore Chifuyu's orders to stand by and go after the Silver Gospel themselves.