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As White Base pulled into the mysterious Earth Federation fortress known as "Jaburo," the refugees aboard were on edge. They had tagged along in the military ship for a considerable amount of time - not that long by some standards, but too long, by most of their; the fear they'd felt aboard the ship had been offset only a little by the confident-but-young commander Bright and his ragtag crew of youths. Surely they would be much safer at a secret military fortress. Commander Bright was just as happy to see them go; there were already too many inexperienced people aboard his ship, and he would be glad to get rid of many of them. "Think of the children." Everyone said that, and now it was his turn. "Someone take care of the kids, please." He said it to no one in particular, but in a commanderly tone that could not be ignored. Someone would take care of it; it was his ship, after all. Mirai decided that the responsibility should fall to her, and she took the hands of Kika, Katz and Letz with only a little disappointment at being left out of the more military-type stuff that was sure to ensue following their docking at Jaburo. The children, however, were none to excited about their recent reassignment. They liked Amuro and they liked White Base; being holed up in some underground base was kinda cool, they had to admit, but they wanted to help. And from what they'd seen aboard the ship, White Base could use all the help it could get. Fortunately, Mirai was strong enough to direct the kids through the base to the information desk, where she learned of Jaburo's daycare orphanage. It was an highly-experimental endeavor, she was told, having a daycare orphanage on a military base, but the officer assigned to the children would make sure nothing happened to them. It was good enough for Mirai, and she continued forward through Jaburo's tunnels. Meanwhile, back on the base that wasn't Jaburo (White Base), Commander Bright was introducing a new pilot to their crew. Slegger Law came with high recommendations from high command, and low expectations for White Base. After expressing his surprise at how they'd made it so far crewed by children, he went to a nearby vending machine for a juicy, processed hamburger - his favorite snack. Bright did his best to act the stellar Federation officer he was, but Slegger wasn't buying it. Oh well, he'd come around. He'd worked wonders with Amuro already, and if he could whip a kid like that into shape, what couldn't he do? "We're inside." Char had gotten into the secret Federation base with no problems, with a squard of Acguys, and was feeling pretty damn good about it. If he could do that, what couldn't he do? The mobile suits popped up out of the water, and Char began doing what he did best: strategizing, giving orders, and all the while plotting the demise of his enemies. They were walking past a particularly important-looking tunnel, when suddenly, Char paused. "Wait. I see something over there." It was more a feeling than a seeing, but Char had learned to trust his instincts. He wondered what they had in store for them this time. He wouldn't have to wait long; a pair of binoculars gave them a clear picture of the GM production line, and the rows of completed mobile suits. "I think our scouting mission just turned into a sabotage mission." It was Char's lucky day - and he didn't get many of those. he gave instructions for several bombs to be planted on strategic points in the large war factory room, and on the GMs themselves. The Federation would lose millions in the explosion, and taking Jaburo would be a hell of a lot easier without the few dozen mobile suits. And it looked like an easy job. The lights were out, and there was nobody present. It was perfect. His men - Zeon's elite - worked efficiently, planting bombs with satisfied smiles on their faces. They were a little tired of just following a Federation ship, and causing some explosions was just the ticket for cheering some of them up. Yes, everything was going well - at least until the alarms started going off. Char looked around wildly for those who had discovered them, trying to size up his enemies, but he found no one. Kika, Katz and Letz had pulled their own undercover operation, having escaped from the daycare orphanage. It hadn't been difficult, really - it was child's play. Jaburo's experimental daycare orphanage program was canceled that very week. The children began gathering up the scattered explosives with the vigor of children hunting Easter eggs. Fortunately, their quarries were easier to find than the average egg; the average egg did not have a countdown timer that beeped loudly and flashed at regular intervals. Unfortunately, the small boxes, which they carefully threw into the back of a truck, were full of explosives, not candy. They were eager to help, and though they did not fully understand the danger involved in de-bombing a war factory, they were at their most courageous. "Can you drive?" Kika asked nervously, directing her question toward the more capable-looking Katz. "well, sure! Can't be too hard, could it? I bet I could even pilot a mobile suit!" They said that boasting in front of women started at an early age, and Katz stood as a piece of evidence in favor of that theory - but it was probably just a phase. In any case, he did his best. Between the three of them, they managed to get the jeep running well enough. Katz steered, and Letz worked the gas. They didn't worry about the brake. The Federation engineers who had designed this jeep would never know it, but their decision to give the vehicle an automatic transmission would save the lives of thousands. As the talented escapees burst out of the hangar with their payload of explosives, Amuro Rey appeared in a jeep of his own, fleeing the scene of a commander meeting in which his old buddy Ryu had been given a completely-inadequate and obiously-disrespectful posthumous 2-rank promotion. The nerve of the military - thinking they could atone for the lives of their soldiers with posthumous promotions! In any case, he'd given them a piece of his mind, and then raced out; it was par for Amuro's course, as was his sudden appearance here: He seemed to have an affinity for children, for trouble, and for saving the day; his presence surprised almost nobody while delighting them all. "Amuro! Katz was pleased." "Katz! You have to let me drive! You're too young for this sort of thing!" Really, the only difference between them was a few years at school and a bit of puberty, but Amuro didn't have time to think about that - not with a truck full of bombs. He surrendered control of his own vehicle to Kai, and jumped into the jeep, handing the children one-by-one to the strong-armed Hayato. Minutes later, with seconds left on the explosives' timers, he sent the jeep roaring off a cliff. It exploded several hundred feet below, shaking the ground for miles. "Think of all the lives I just saved," Amuro murmered to himself. He'd have to chide the children later for escaping from Jaburo daycare. Meanwhile, Char had noticed the lack of explosions happening on Jaburo, and was displeased. But he radioed in to Garma Zabi nonetheless, choosing to focus on the good, not the bad: "I've found Jaburo." |