In Laconia, Cara sits in a classroom where her teacher gives a lecture about how, despite their different origins, all the settlers are Laconians now. He admonishes her for not paying attention, as she is distracted looking at a profile of sunbirds and their food sources.

After the class is dismissed, Cara's brother Xan tells her that the children are going to play soccer and she could be on his team, but she declines and leaves hastily, insisting that Xan cannot come with her.

Cara returns to the grove in the woods, where she retrieves the mini-drone she had broken the day before, though she finds it has mysteriously been repaired. She once more sees the strange dog looking at her from between the trees, and it is followed by the miraculously revived sunbird mother she had accidentally killed, and its three baby birds. Cara joyfully deduces that the strange dog somehow "fixes" things both mechanical and organic, and enthusiastically runs back home, not noticing the revived sunbird's skin has turned a pallid blue-ish grey.

Cara barges into her family's living quarters to tell her parents about her discovery, but she is instead greeted by her worried father giving her a somber hug. Shocked, Cara approaches her sobbing mother and sits next to her. On the couch in front of them, blood pouring from his nose and a grievous wound on his head, lies a motionless Xan.

The joint fleet of Earth and Mars approaches Ceres, announcing their demand for the Free Navy's immediate, unconditional surrender, but receive no response. In the UNN Zenobia, Avasarala convenes with her officials; Gareth comments that, with no ships in the vicinity, it appears Ceres is abandoned, which Sidiqi finds hard to believe. Sandrine Kirino, on the other hand, warns that it feels like a trap.

A joint strike team of marines are sent to raid the docks while Avasarala oversees. They find the station has been completely stripped of parts, and the civilians have been hidden in a compartment, where they are threatened into kneeling down by the armed marines. The only one left standing is Sanjrani, who announces themself as Chief Administrator of the station and states they will talk to "someone who matters".

Avasarala is given an intelligence report on Sanjrani in preparation for their debriefing. Placing them in a separate room, she orders the marines to unrestrain them before she opens a video call channel, asking them if they know who she is, to which Sanjrani retorts with "Is there a Belter who doesn't?". Avasarala comments on Sanjrani's affiliation to Anderson Dawes, who she says was more comfortable with violence than she would have liked, but who also was reasonable and had "an eye for the possible". Sanjrani replies that they shared Dawes' vision, prompting Avasarala to ask why they are working for the man who assassinated him. They reply that they only work for the Belt.

Avasarala asks them where Marco Inaros is, but Sanjrani wasn't told and didn't ask where he was going when he left. Avasarala observes that Ceres is strategically and ideologically valuable to Marco, so he would not give it up without resistance, to which Sanjrani promises that they and their people have no intentions of causing trouble but insists the best thing Avasarala and her soldiers can do is leave. Sergeant Ebron threatens Sanjrani when they raise their voice, but Avasarala stops him, instead trying to turn Sanjrani against Marco by pointing out he abandoned both them and Ceres. They reply that they chose to stay in order to mitigate the damage Avasarala's "illegitimate occupation" would do, and informs her that everything that could be of use to her troops has been stripped: ships, munitions, repair skiffs, fuel and rations have all been taken by the Free Navy, who have left Ceres with nothing but barely enough food and air for roughly three weeks.

After Avasarala closes the channel, Kirino politely but firmly tells her that MCRN command will insist on being allowed to interrogate Sanjrani. Avasarala agrees, though stating they are not to be removed from the station and that a UN representative will be present in every interview to ensure Mars doesn't use coercive methods. Kirino has no objections and leaves, after which Avasarala orders Sidiqi and Gareth to release Sanjrani, but to keep them and their direct contacts under surveillance. She also orders no one is to be taken in for questioning without her authorization, as the last thing they need is to be seen rounding up Belters like cattle.

When he is alone with Avasarala, Gareth points out they are unable to provide for all 1 million inhabitants of Ceres on such short notice, as their lines are already stretched thin, but she finds that this was Marco's exact intention; he knew they needed the port to refuel and repair before heading to the outer planets, so he turned it into a trap, and they fell right in. Gareth opines that, in their place, Marco wouldn't lift a finger to help the enemy's people, but Avasarala insists that, if they don't help the people of Ceres, the responsibility for the massive humanitarian crisis will fall on them, causing their image as the oppressor to be reinforced in the Belt, and Marco's power to grow even more.

In the Rocinante, en route to Ceres, an exhausted Holden tells Clarissa to take over the watch so he can sleep, surprising her as she wasn't trusted to be in the rotation until now. Though she is nervous at her lack of training, Holden assures her she won't have any major responsibilities and convinces her to agree. Clarissa stumbles as she rises from her chair, causing Holden to worriedly rush over to help her. She explains that the side effects from her implants are taking longer to flush out of her system than they used to, to which Holden expresses that hopefully she won't have to use them anytime soon.

Clarissa fumbles, unsure, before she decides to confess her crimes to Holden, telling him how she got the implants specifically to kill him, though she later decided it would be best to disgrace him in order to exonerate her father, admitting it was misguided and that her current situation is entirely her own fault. She also tells Holden about how she killed Ren with her bare hands, a subject that she is visibly still grieving about. She laments he was a nice man, who had a family, who trained her and stood up for her and was nothing but good to her. Tearing up, she shares that she sees his face every time she uses her implants, and the fear and pain she caused him before killing him, which she says might be the real reason she always throws up afterwards. Holden is silent for a moment, but tells Clarissa that everyone on the ship has done things they regret, assuring her that she is in good company. Clarissa smiles through her tears and asserts she has the watch covered.

Bobbie walks into the galley, where Amos is eating by himself. They talk, both agreeing they don't think Marco has given up on Ceres, and also that the supply sargeant gave them the bottom of the barrel stuff, because their food is awful. The conversation drifts to the Canterbury, which neither of them had thought about in a while. Bobbie tells Amos that, when the Donnager was destroyed, most Martians blamed the Roci crew, and there was a time she would have jumped at the first opportunity to drag them to Hecate base and have them "vigorously debriefed". Amos smiles and playfully remarks he wouldn't have gone quietly, which Bobbie says would have been fine too. She then retches, causing Amos to laugh loudly and joke about the terrible food's aftertaste. She asks him about what is good on Ceres, and Amos cites the good noodles, booze, and also that all the brothels are unionized. When Bobbie wonders if there's anything there besides noodles, booze and brothels, Amos replies he never looked.

Naomi watches the news in her room, where two journalists are arguing: One is satisfied as the UN and MCR retrieved control of Ceres with no lives lost, while the other is very displeased that they will have to feed the "terrorists" on Ceres, while the people of Earth are in dire need. She shuts down the feed when Holden arrives, who awkwardly asks her how she is doing. Naomi understands he wants to talk about her recent episode and, though Holden didn't want to push her, she shares that she froze because she was reliving her traumatic memories on the Pella and the Chetzemoka, where she repeatedly almost died. She is embarassed, but Holden points out that if he was in her place, having been through all the things she suffered, she wouldn't feel embarassed for him. She agrees and makes a joking jab at him, causing them both to chuckle.

Holden then asks Naomi for a favor, which she readily agrees to. He brings up the Barkeith's strange disappearence, which might be protomolecule related, and informs her that Bobbie brought him a lot of data gathered by Mars on the subject, but he needs her help making sense of it. Naomi smiles and observes he is trying to distract her by giving her an interesting problem to solve, which he admits is true, and she laughs and gives him a kiss, before telling him to show her the data.

The Pella flies in formation alongside the Lauber and the Granicus. Filip walks through the Pella, watching news feeds indicating public unrest in some stations of the Belt, as people felt Marco abandoned Ceres. On Ganymede, a researcher was shot and killed when she attempted to flee during a security check, and it is believed by the Free Navy that she was a spy for the Inner Planets. In Vesta, civilians clashed with Free Navy loyalists, resulting in several injuries and a death. There is footage of a graffiti of Marco on a wall, his face covered with the word "COWARD". Filip, taken aback by what he is seeing, closes the news feed and returns to work.

Marco enters the Pella's command deck and calls for a report, where Rosenfeld tells him they are successfully flying stealth. She brings up her report on the Inner fleet's rebuilding effort, with three new UNN capital ships and two Martian Donnager class battleships, and she also states her worries over unavoidable conflicts along their supply lines, but Marco is unconcerned and confident they will overcome it all.

Filip enters and asks to have a word with his father, informing him of the "dissidents" calling them cowards on the news, and admitting he also feels like they abandoned Ceres, which was supposed to be the capital of their new nation. Marco tells him they could never hold Ceres against the Inner Planets, but they needed the people there to believe they could, so Marco told them what they wanted to hear. Filip heatedly replies they stripped the station of resources and left the people barely enough to survive, but Marco angrily retorts that they created a problem for the Inner Planets which tied up their resources and weakened them. Seeing Filip's visible disillusionment, Marco calms down and tells him it speaks well of Filip that he cares about the Belters of Ceres, but Marco feels they are not like the Free Navy, having spent generations under Earth's rule and placing their comfort over the future of the Belt. He tells Filip that the two of them belong in the darkness, in the fight, and it's who they are born to be, urging his son not to forget their common name before giving him a paternal hug.

In the Tynan, flying jointly with the Inazami, Drummer and Walker look over their potential allies in the Golden Bough dissidents, whom Walker is almost certain they can trust. Michio sees Pastor Anna Volovodov on the news, talking about how the beginning of a disaster is easier to deal with, as everyone pools together to help each other, according to natural human instinct. But when nothing gets better, and people remain hurt and hungry and scared, it is hard to remember that feeling of caring for each other. Anna stresses that they all have to continue to care, no matter what part of the system they are from, as it is the only way they will pull through this. Josep walks in and watches the video, smirking bitterly and commenting "poor, poor Earther. Doesn't know where she'll get her food and water. Welcome to the Belt." Michio, however, looks very affected by Anna's speech.

Walker shows Drummer the approximate location of the supply depot they plan to raid. She wonders why Marco is setting up the depots in the first place, as he has control of most major stations in the Belt and the trouble seems unnecessary. Walker theorizes it might be to keep them away once the Inners returned, which they have, saying Drummer herself should tell him, as "strategy is for generals".

They both suddenly shift their attention away, as Josep and Michio's argument grows louder; Josep doesn't feel sorry that the Earthers will have to live the way they always have and thinks they will now understand what it's been like for Belters, but Michio feels that no one should live the way they have and wonders if it will do any good that the Earthers now know Belters poisoned their water, starved them and killed their children, repeating the crimes they used to hold against the Inners. Drummer interrupts the argument, and both of them apologise to her, though clearly still at odds. Walker jokes he sees why Drummer wanted Michio off her ship, but she replies she didn't ask him. They then get a tightbeam from the Saberhagen and the Galt, two former Golden Bough ships pledging their allegiance to Drummer and her faction. Satisfied, she replies she is ready for a fight.

Sidiqi briefs Avasarala on their progress taking control of Ceres, as well as their poor reception by the locals, who nevertheless seem to be complying. Avasarala says that maybe Sanjrani wasn't bullshitting her, and she confirms she was being sarcastic when a confused Sidiqi asks her. She then runs into Monica whom she commends on her last report, satisfied by its effect as Anna is good at eliciting sympathy. Monica is visibly displeased at having to do Avasarala's bidding, though she promises her next report will be even better, smiling wryly. After Monica is gone, Avasarala orders Sidiqi to have his marines keep an eye on her, stating she has a knack for causing trouble.

As the Pella flies through the Belt, its scopes catch sight of a nearby drive, and Marco is incredibly pleased when it turns out to be the Rocinante. Rosenfeld repeatedly cautions that it's not a good idea to attack now for many reasons, but Marco, overtaken by a desire to destroy the Roci, insists they have the advantage and waves aside Rosenfeld's warnings, telling her to learn to recognize an opportunity when it arises. After calling the crew to battle stations, he approaches Filip, who has been staring at the screen in shock, and asks him if he will take the guns, to which Filip agrees with conviction.

Amos and Bobbie are hanging out in the machine shop, where Amos is repairing his armor, when he receives a mysterious message, heavily encrypted and re-routed through several anonymous relays. The message turns out to be from Praxideke Meng, whispering and hiding in the darkness. He opens by saying he hopes Amos is well, though he amends it was trite as they are in a war. Bobbie recognizes him as "plant-guy", while Amos seems really glad to see him again.

Prax informs Amos on the murder of the researcher on Ganymede on charges of spying for Earth. The woman was named Karvonides and she was a colleague of Prax's, and they had been working together to improve crop yields so they could make more food. Karvonides was developing a new strain of yeast mimicking the protomolecule's harvesting procedures, and Prax explains her methods in rambly botany-speak, causing Bobbie to sigh, while Amos promises that if she gives him a second, he will get back around to the point. In the pre-recorded video, Prax immediately admits all his botany-speak probably didn't make sense to them, and explains that Karvonides's creation could generate massive amounts of food with minimal input. He thinks Karvonides was trying to help the people of Earth, and gives all her data to Amos, hoping he can get it to someone in power and help those in need, particularly the Earthers. He tells Amos not to worry about him or Mei, as Prax can take care of it now. He then smiles, closing the message with "I miss you, my friend. I hope this helps".

Amos expresses that Prax has a new family and has nothing to gain from doing this; he's just a good person. Bobbie replies that that's what it always takes. Amos believes in Prax's word and resolves to send the data to Avasarala, after which he and Bobbie joke about their nicknames for "the old lady".

As Holden sleeps, Naomi works on a 3D display of the Ring Space, and wakes him when she makes a discovery: She has found a pattern with the disappearances of different ships into different Ring Gates, but they always happen in clusters and last roughly the same amount of time. She compares to a hole opening in the floor, and everyone who falls in is gone, but the hole itself disappears a minute later and everything seems normal, until another hole suddenly opens up somewhere else. Holden wonders if all those ships' disappearances are similar to what happened to the Barkeith, but neither of them are experts on the Ring Space's phenomena, though Holden knows someone who might be. They are interrupted by Clarissa, who has picked up three ships speeding towards them on the radar. When she sends over the ship's profiles, Holden orders everyone to strap in for battle. Naomi stares in horror at the ship's IDs, with the Pella right in the middle.

On Ceres, the UN and Martian marines give food and blankets to the people, with Ebron in charge, who is speaking to them in Belter. One of the marines complains that he came there to shoot the Belters, causing Monica, who is capturing footage with her eye, to tell him that she'll edit that out, visibly bothered by his cruelty. The marine bashfully apologizes, but Monica walks away indignantly, and Ebron calls the marine an asshole. He continues to hand out resource packets, reading from a translator so he can inform the Belters in Belter Creole that Earth and Mars are happy to help.

Monica wanders through Ceres, stopping to talk with an old man cradling a kitten. Though he is initially scared of her, Monica speaks to him in Belter Creole, which she apparently speaks fluently. The man lets her come closer, and they engage in friendly conversation.

The marines realize Monica is gone but, before they are able to go find her, the entire docks are blown up in a multitude of explosions. The damage dislodges the docked ships, and breaks the docks' tanks, releasing a massive cloud of valuable water into space.

Battle begins as the Pella and its escort approach the Rocinante, and Filip readies and fires their missiles at Marco's orders, but they are deflected by the Roci's PDC. Holden begins heating up the railgun and, despite the almost impossible distance, strikes a critical hit on the Lauber, causing it to be disabled, and subsequently the Granicus disengages to aid their fellow soldiers. Marco calls both of the crews idiots and states they don't need them, ordering his pilots to maintain the chase, and telling Filip to end it now. Filip fires unsuccessfully once more, but the Roci's next shot also misses, and with more torpedoes incoming, Bobbie states they can't keep this up for long. Naomi reports that their port PDCs are damaged and misfiring, so Amos unstraps to go and fix them. Clarissa is incredulous that he is going in the middle of a fight, but he replies "that's the job, Peaches", so she unstraps too and follows him.

Holden spins the ship in a maneuver to distract the Pella, but misses the shot again, after which Bobbie asks for fire control. Her shot misses too, but she realizes they are dodging on the same side each time, and Holden catches on to her plan. Sending their torpedoes as a distraction, Bobbie fires a stream of shots from the PDC turrets at the Pella. The Pella shoots down the torpedoes, and then dodges the railgun shot Bobbie fires, but it dodges to the same side again - as predicted by Bobbie - and gets hit by the stream of PDC shots from the Rocinante, which kill and seriously injure many of the crew.

While the Pella tries to recover, Bobbie resolves to blow them up, but Holden asks her to hold the fire, hoping to take Marco prisoner despite Bobbie and Naomi agreeing that he will never surrender.

Holden opens up a channel to the Pella, finding Marco defiantly staring at him. He demands Marco's surrender, promising he and his crew will be judged fairly but warning it is their only chance. Naomi also sees the feed, noticing Filip in the background, much to her devastation. Marco replies he would die rather than live at the end of Holden's leash, and Bobbie, tired of listening, fires a torpedo. A tearful Naomi closes her eyes so as to not witness her son's death, but Holden, also seeing Filip in the ship, deactivates the missile at the absolute last moment. Though it strikes the Pella, it does not detonate, much to the Pella crew's astonishment and Bobbie's disappointment. As their reactor recovers, Marco orders to disengage and withdraw. Amos asks if they won, which Bobbie says they didn't, though at least they didn't lose. Holden, meanwhile, stares at the disarming order on his helmet's screen, bearing his name on the log.

Rosenfeld reports on the bad shape of their escort ships, as well as the damage to the Pella, admitting that the Roci crew were smart. Marco growls they were lucky and barks that they lost their advantage because the other ships fled, angrily demanding a new pilot who won't "shit himself in battle". Filip feels they all fought hard, but Marco retorts they didn't fight hard enough, causing Filip to point out he followed Marco's exact orders, so he doesn't know what else Marco wanted from him. Marco replies he wanted Filip to kill the enemy, but they are alive, so Filip failed. Filip counters that it was Marco who failed, as this fight was frivolous and unnecessary. Marco is enraged by being challenged and calls Filip a coward, but Filip maintains they didn't need to kill James Holden, it was all in service of Marco's pride. Marco interrupts Filip with a furious scream, relieving him of duty and telling him to get out of his sight. After Filip is gone, Marco stares around at the crew, including a tense-looking Rosenfeld, who all return to their stations awkwardly. He isolates himself in his quarters, where he tears off his battle armor and lies against the wall, reeling from the defeat. He then receives a report from Medina Station that the Martians in Laconia have delivered "RSR-G6", which will be put in operational testing under Marco's watch. The officer reporting says that, if it performs as well as the other tests, "it will be fun". Marco smiles triumphantly.