After both sides agreed to a ceasefire and dispatched large numbers of personnel to begin clearing the battlefield, countless small vessels carrying industrial MSs shuttled through the ruins. Rescue took top priority, but clearing all that wreckage would take at least several months. Under such circumstances, Xiao Ran piloted Black Hawk back to the Archangel, followed by three Gundam Astrays. Since the Red Mecha had joined the battle, even though the Scrap Merchant Guild insignia had been erased, it could not exactly return to its own ship openly.
Lightning Aegis had already returned to the Archangel on its own through its AI Chip. When Xiao Ran saw his mecha, he could only shake his head at the miserable sight. The armor across its chest had all flipped open, most of the armor around its waist had melted away, and its arm joints had been damaged beyond movement. Even its head was gone, with blasted fragments lodged everywhere across the body. The rest of its various damage would take a long time to repair.
Through his battle with Destiny Gundam, Xiao Ran had come to understand Lightning Aegis's current weaknesses. First, although it was equipped with a heat and Energy Source Engine, the enhancement those engines provided to the mecha had not been brought out at all. Even its VPS Armor had not become more defensive under the effects of nuclear energy.
Second, the mecha's output was too low. Against ordinary C-class mecha, its own strength was sufficient. But against a B-class mecha like Destiny Gundam, just one of Destiny Gundam's arms had destroyed both of Lightning Aegis's arm joints in their clash. Though the frame structure was partly to blame, insufficient output was indeed a real problem.
Third was the frame issue he had just mentioned. Among the five original