At Petersburg, Hikari meets the other members of the Brave Witches, including Nikka "Nipa" Edvardine Katajainen. As Hikari begins her training, squadron leader Gundula Rall and trainer Edytha Rossmann discover that her magic is insufficient to properly use Chidori. When Hikari mentions that she can use a special ability to see a Neuroi's core called Contact Eye, she is dispatched to fight a Neuroi ship with the other Witches. During the assault, Hikari is unable to replicate her Contact Eye, causing Gundula and Edytha to consider deporting her to Sasebo. Later, as Hikari and Naoe go to recover Nipa, who had crashed during the earlier battle, they end up encountering another Neuroi. With Naoe struggling to fight the Neuroi at a high altitude, Hikari and Nipa distract the Neuroi and buy Naoe enough time to destroy it. After reading Naoe's report, Gundula and Edytha decide to give Hikari one more week to prove herself.