But three days later, before the Victory Fleet forces on Earth had managed to resolve the headache-inducing chaos in Daka City, they were forced to leave Daka because of an even more urgent matter.
An alarm signaling an Apostle's arrival had once again sounded in Tokyo-3. An Apostle had appeared, but it was not in Tokyo-3 itself. It maintained a relative orbit with Earth in space, hovering directly above Tokyo-3. Larger than any of the previous Apostles, it had two colorful wings and a huge eye, looking rather abstract.
According to NERV's data, this Apostle was itself a super bomb equipped with an AT Field. If it fell from space and exploded, the consequences would be even more terrifying than dropping a Colony Satellite from orbit.
To deal with it, the power of the EVAs, which also possessed AT Fields, was essential. There was no time to waste, and they left Daka the moment they received the news. But that left Daka with little defensive strength. To prevent the Federation from attacking Daka during this window, Xiao Ran took the initiative to stay behind. Together with Saki and Zechs, he guarded Daka with the few forces willing to join the unification.
Not everyone remaining would head to Daka City. Basak and Luo, for instance, left the Victory Fleet to act independently, racing toward the Federation base in Spain that Roland had once mentioned. Their objective was to destroy this crucial base of the G Hound forces, intimidate those still wavering once more, and formally begin their campaign against Federation forces.
This strike operation, carried out solely by Luo and Basak, would show the Federation what terror an A-Class Pilot could bring. In truth, if Xiao Ran had not been unable to leave Daka and needed to remain as the strongest