After the Three strong ones returned to the Gadi Ru with their machines, Xiao Ran, who had stayed behind to provide cover, also piloted the Aegis Dagger back into the warship's hangar. The Gadi Ru, having received everyone aboard, had already been fighting while retreating due to the unfavorable situation and was some distance from the ZAFT warships. After recovering all the machines, it accelerated without hesitation and began fleeing the battlefield.
One side was determined to run, while the other had concerns and did not dare launch a large-scale pursuit. Any ordinary commander would worry about whether other enemies might be lying in ambush nearby. Furthermore, under that old fox Durandal's orders, they had to immediately conduct rescue operations for Armory One and the chaotic situation in the surrounding sector, making them even less willing to stray too far.
When Xiao Ran emerged from his cockpit, he heard the chaotic noise filling the hangar. The foggy haze before his eyes also left him slightly stunned. It was not until he felt a wave of heat surge up behind him that he turned around in surprise to look at the machine he had just piloted—the Aegis Dagger.
With its VPS Armor shut down, the Aegis Dagger had returned to the inactive gray color. Yet perhaps precisely because the VPS Armor had been deactivated, the entire machine was now billowing thick white smoke from its intense heat. The noisy maintenance crew had spotted this before Xiao Ran did, which was why they had been shouting in a panic and rushing over with rapid-cooling equipment to spray the Aegis Dagger.
"At this level of overheating, the machine's system did not give even a single warning? Where did they dig up this piece of trash?"
Xiao Ran quickly moved away from the Aegis