Matilda's Rescue

Synopsis
White Base sits at the bottom of a ravine, covered in foliage for camoflauge. The crew are making repairs. Mirai walks by, inspecting their work, and is surprised by a paper airplane that glides past her face. She looks around for its source, and spots another one coming out of a large hole in the side of White Base's engine bay. Up inside, Kai is making the paper planes and throwing them while Amuro, Hayato, and Job John work on repairs. Mirai comes up on a lift just as Kai launches another plane, catching him slacking off and embarassing him a little. Mirai asks the others how the repairs are going, and is told not good. Hayato asks when supplies will arrive, but Mirai's not sure. Just then, she is paged and told that Bright wishes to see her.

Mirai reports to Bright, who tells her he wants her to be the ship's stand-in commander. She says she can't do it, but he insists she can. He hands her a small guide he wrote up on being a captain. She hesitates, but he pleads with her. She reluctantly accepts, saying she'll try her best. Bright reassures her by saying he'll get better soon. Elsewhere, Gen. Revil is giving a briefing to Matilda, Judoch, and Lt. Gen. Elron on their battle plans for Odessa. Revil has recieved White Base's request for supplies, and he tells Matilda that it's up to her and her squadron to deliver them and aid with repairs. He also tells her that he is sending along a new prototype weapon for the crew to test and hands her its manual. Elron objects to this, asking why Revil is giving support to a unit with no official organization, and Revil says it's because a regular unit couldn't test a prototype.

Matilda's Medea supply squadron leaves the base. Elsewhere, M'Quve is in his Dobday receiving a report from Judoch on what Revil's plans for Odessa Day are. He is also told about the Gundam's power-up, but doesn't know specifically what it is as the nature of it wasn't revealed at Revil's meeting. He tells Judoch to tell Elron to go easy with his forces on Odessa Day, and then muses that whoever moves first in this upcoming battle will lose. He orders a subordinate, Klink, to attack the Medea transport squadron with three Goufs and three Dodai YS's. The units take off, surrounded by Dopps.

Back onboard White Base, Mirai is going over Bright's notes when Sayla tells her that she's received a message from Revil. Revil says that he's sending supplies and that as soon as repairs are done, they are to join the forces at Odessa. He also says that he's sending a power-up for the Gundam. However, the message does not say when Odessa Day will start. Elsewhere, Matilda's Medeas spot the Zeon squadron and send an SOS to Revil. White Base picks up the SOS and launches Amuro, Kai, and Hayato as assistance for the Medea squadron and its badly-needed cache of supplies. Sayla has Amuro launch in a Core Fighter, Kai in the Guncannon, and Job and Hayato in the Gunperry with the Gundam parts.

Amuro is in the Core Fighter flying as fast as he can toward Matilda, praying she'll hold on until he gets there. Matilda's squadron, meanwhile, is trying to fight off the Goufs as best they can, but plane five gets shredded. Matilda orders the pilot of her plane to fly a little lower. Amuro arrives and starts picking off Dopps but is soon ambushed by a Gouf. He manages to defeat that one but knows there are two more. Amuro calls to Kai and Hayato for backup as he attempts to defend the rest of the Medea squadron.

Back on White Base, Bright has the monitor in his bunk tuned to the bridge. He is anxiously observing Mirai and wondering why she isn't using her time more wisely. He shudders, causing the compress to fall off of his forehead, and has a flashback to Ryu's kamikaze run. He muses on the lessons he's learned from Ryu both in life and in death, and decides to allow himself to trust Mirai's judgement. Elsewhere, the Gunperry radios Amuro to let him know that it's within docking range and can launch him the Gundam parts. The Zeon, although they don't have the Gunperry in their database, figure out what it's for and decide to attack it. The Gunperry proceeds with the parts launch while Kai picks off one of their pursuers, causing an epic explosion.

Amuro forms the Gundam and starts to pursue the remaining Goufs. The Medea Squadron's plane four gets hit. Matilda orders the rest of the squadron to land despite the fact that the remaining planes could keep fighting, because plane four contains Gundam's power-up, which cannot be abandoned. Amuro and Kai rush to defend the grounded Medea squadron as Matilda rushes to unload the power-up from plane four before it blows up. She intends to have Amuro use it right there in battle, despite objections.

On the bridge of White Base, Mirai is looking over Bright's notes and comes to the conclusion that she could have the mechanics onboard be making repairs rather than standing at level one battle stations, since the enemy has few fighting capabilities and likely won't come far enough to get them. Elsewhere, Amuro is being shocked by a Gouf that has managed to wrap its tentacle around his waist. Amuro lets it pull him in and then attacks it with a beam saber, destroying it. However, the leg on his Gundam is damaged. He spies the last Gouf, which starts to attack him brutally. Just when he thinks he is done for, Hayato arrives with his power-up and tells Amuro to hop aboard. The power-up takes to the sky, and Amuro duels the Gouf while they are both airborne. The Gouf's Dodai is shot out from under it and it drops to the ground, where the Gundam defeats it. The Medea squadron watches the power-up, the G-Fighter, fly overhead while Matilda muses that Amuro and Hayato did a good job using it.

Back on White Base, Mirai is being briefed by Revil, who tells her that she did well defending the Medea squadron and that the Base needs to be repaired right away. Mirai feels awful, but Sayla comforts her, saying that she also thinks Mirai did well and that she thinks Mirai gave Bright some peace of mind. The Medea Squadron arrives at White Base and begins to unload its cargo while Matilda thanks Amuro and Hayato for saving her a second time. She then takes the two of them to go look over the G-Fighter as the episode ends.

Important Events

 * Mecha Introduced: Dodai YS, the G-Fighter
 * Characters Introduced: Elron (first time he's actually seen, I think)
 * The Gundam gets an upgrade and uses it for the first time.