To anyone else, the rocky overlay would have seemed drab, boring, and depressing. The metal wires and random bulletin boards drilled against the side of the hollowed out cave stood out almost threateningly, swamped with enormous amounts of news bits, and little messages. Throughout it, the voices of workers and fellow soldiers could be heard. A power tool whirring viciously. A buzz saw cutting through a slender pipe. Men laughing and joking together as they welded various salvaged metal goods together. The odor of mold was overwhelming from the instant it was entered. To Ubuu, it was home.
He stepped forward into the large cavernous structure, hearing the echo of activity as he sealed the metallic doors shut behind him. On the outside, it appeared as the rest of the mountainous system that surrounded it. 17 and 18 had suggested this particular area as the point from which to direct their operations, as it was their old home. From the very beginning, Ubuu had known that Dr. Gero's old laboratory was definitely well hidden, carved out, and provided a good bit of protection from any oncoming threats. Upon arrival, the first order of business had been to create a series of tunnels that would enable almost instant evacuation, as well as an efficient transportation service throughout the rest of the range. In other areas, there were large docking bays, weapon storage units, barracks, dorms, and even a cafeteria. All in all, there were nearly four thousand men and women alike living in the underground quasi-utopia of the "Ward", as so many of the brutes had dubbed it.
The dark skinned leader of the rebellion stood silently, taking in the feel of home, letting its warmth seep into him. One of the greater pleasures of life was returning to the safety of security. The Galactics had not been able to take that away from him...yet.
Ubuu sighed, and walked slowly through the main hall, taking note of the slow progress of the metal sheet casing that was being planned for the walls. Recently, many of the Wayward had taken it upon themselves to reinforce the cavern walls with whatever steel they could scrap together, and wasn't good enough to be used on aircraft. The result was a rather shabby, but sturdy, interior. As he strolled through, different pieces of the wall reflected as they pleased, some stretching his dark image, and others not reflecting at all, due to being covered with rust. It reminded Ubuu of a funhouse.
He approached a group of friends in pilot uniforms who were taking in some coffee. The scent burned Ubuu's nose the way Chi Chi's used to. Memories...
"Good evening, sir," one of the men saluted him. The patch over his heart read "Carlington."
"Stop that, you know I hate it," he smiled back. He appreciated the general respect that they showed him, and loved them all dearly for it. Life was about community for him, and here he had one, even amongst so many faces.
"Are you looking for the androids, sir?" Another one asked after their brief chuckle had subsided. "They were asking around for you earlier."
Ubuu raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware of that. Did they say where they were going to be?"
He nodded. "Check the barracks, sir. We got the new shipment in." The pilot pointed to the corridor on the left. "From what I hear, it's good stuff. 17 seemed particularly excited."
"Oh really?" Ubuu thought about this for a moment. Had they already come in? "Thanks, guys." He walked past them, and they saluted him once more, eliciting a smile from the humble leader. As soon as he was past them, the smile transformed into more of a thoughtful expression, full of the emotions that were jumbled around in his head. Particularly the burdens.
All of this. It would sometimes hit him in waves, taking its time to sink in to his being. He was in charge of lives- people that would follow him with no thought for themselves. And for what? He had no promises for them, no proof that things would go their way at all. All he had was the vision for a better future. That was their uniting force.
It had happened quite unexpectedly, actually. About seven years previous, he had been on his way home after a day of work, and witnessed a Galactic soldier beating an innocent woman senseless. Granted, he had seen the same kind of thing time and time again, but it was like something had finally snapped within. I'm through hiding. His last coherent thought. Before he knew it, he had singlehandedly wiped out a whole platoon of the bastards. And along with that, had come the onlookers. The fathers, the mothers, the teenagers, the homeless. They all looked at him with a sense of hope... Something he had long forgotten.
The way he had looked up to Goku. The way everyone did. Like a vise grip, the feeling siezed a hold of him like nothing he had ever experienced before. It welled up within him, and poured out into his actions. His training would not be wasted. Goku was going to have a legacy, and Ubuu took it upon himself to see that it was carried out. Was this what it was like? Had this been the sense of duty that his teacher had conveyed?
He sulked. How could he live up to that? Ubuu slowly shook his head, trying to force away the melancholy sensation that had overwhelmed him so. The corridor suddenly seemed longer than before, the lights seemed darker. It had set in again...
The defender of Earth began to walk down the major tunnel intersection, veering off to the left. The layout of the Ward consisted of a major intersection, sectored off into the North, East, South, and Western quadrants. Because of its relative similarity to the universe, different areas took on certain nicknames. For instance, the control room was known to the citizens of the Ward as the "Sun". Such intricacies could provide useful for any kind of code that they might like to use in the future.
On the North Side were the dorms and medical areas, complete with out of practice doctors for the sick, and, occasionally, wounded. On the Eastern end were the general bulk of hangars and docking pads, along with the pilot's quarters, as well as the cafeteria, and general goods smuggled in from the outside in large quantities. To the West, many of the military supplies were stored, and also the transportation and computer facilities. On the South...
Getting the amount of people down there unnoticed had proven to be quite the task. Elton Frind was the resident hacker of the Wayward, and the vast majority of his day was spent operating and maintaining their privacy to the Galactics. His first step in creating the Ward had been to eliminate the people from the system as deaths, travelers, or any other excuses they could think up. It had been a long and arduous project, spanning several years' time to effectively get everyone in without a trace. And Elton had certainly performed one hell of a job when he did it, working with the technicians to also insulate the entire cavernous domain with anti-sensory devices, to keep the presence of life from being monitored from outside of the rock. He was a genius, and it certainly was more than helpful to have him aboard.
Ubuu was on the Western end now, coming upon the yellow framed doors that told him he was at the barracks. With a quick nod to the guards, he entered, moving with ease through the rows of weaponry. He knew exactly where he was headed...
After a few moments of navigation, he was there, opening the back door into the dimly lit domicile where the androids stayed.
"Ah, there you are," 17 hopped up from his chair, crossing the room to meet him. "What took you so long?"
"I was in the greenhouse," Ubuu replied, looking to the left side of the floor, which happened to be 18's. "Needed some time to think."
"Hi, Ubuu," 18 called from her standard military bed, not looking up from her computer. Her eyes were scanning the screen rapidly, soaking in the information on its display with obvious inhuman speed. It seemed she was still brushing up on the Galactics' arsenal.
"I never understood the fascination with plants much, myself," 17 said with that ever-so-smug tone that seemed to be forever lodged in his throat.
"It's a human thing, I guess."
"Ooh. Point for Ubuu." The android turned then, doing his best to be animated in his speech. He walked towards a table under a desklamp at the far end of the room. "Take a look at this."
He wasn't much for conversational etiquette, Ubuu mused. This had to be as excited as the machine could muster. The defender of Earth followed him, stepping over the various clutter that was usually plastered to their floor. 17 had recently taken up an interest in all kinds of trinkets and gadgets, bringing whatever stray workings he could into their room to see what he could conjure up.
"What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much... Just-" He pulled away the cloth that was on the desk, revealing an obviously high-powered assault rifle. "This."
"He's been drooling over that since it got in," 18 called to them. She still didn't lift her eyes from the screen. Ubuu furrowed his brow as he studied the weapon. It stood at nearly a meter and a half long, with a long slender computerized scope attached at the top. The base appeared light, sporting padding for extra support in the shoulder. A small slit in the barrel provided ventilation near the muzzle so that it didn't kick back from the apparent power supplied with the pack on the right-hand side. Near the tip of the barrel, scrawled neatly with gold on the side, were the two letters that Ubuu had looked for- "KI."
"It's a beauty, no?" 17 asked as he lifted it from the stainless steel desktop. It made a scratching noise as he pulled it away. "I'll take this over a flower to look at any day."
"Wow," was all that Ubuu managed to get out. "They came through, then?"
"Yes, and with flying colors. The remaining KI distributors were rather prompt, too." He peered through the scope, and then, with one hand, held out the rifle to Ubuu. Turning to the side, he pulled one of the metal panels engraved into the side of the wall, and raised it up, revealing the window that overlooked the ocean. In the distance, the lights of Orange Star City could be seen. "Go ahead, see for yourself."
Ubuu effortlessly holstered the rifle, and brought it up to his line of sight. He impacted the base against his shoulder, and turned the scope to point through the window. While the fighter had had little experience with weaponry, he had learned at least a little from 17, who took pride in a well constructed firearm. Why he was so fascinated by them, the human could never understand- but, to each his own...
Suddenly, a world of color opened up before his squinted eyes. What was he looking at?
"You're seeing the billboard that sits at the edge of the ocean. Zoom out." Ubuu did as he was told, and suddenly realized how much of a sight adjustment this sniper's rifle had on it. Orange Star City was well over a mile away... Though he was breathing heavily, it remained steady, electronically enhanced to correct for human error.
"Like I said- wonderful," 17 smirked as he took the gun from Ubuu's grasp. Children didn't like to lend their toys out.
"Will it do?"
"Of course."
"Good to know," Ubuu responded, and leaned against the desk. "Who else knows about this?"
"Just Elton," 17 answered as he set the rifle down on his bed. "He's the one that found the rumors on the system about the political demonstrations. Apparently, they have a Galactic scientist making some public speech about a new kind of technology that will help seek out the 'persecutors of our freedoms'. They're trying to mobilize the people against us."
"Whatever they're trying to do, we need to show them that they won't always come out on top of us." Ubuu rested his fist on his strong chin.
17 smirked. "That's the plan."
"When are they going to make the announcement?"
18 stirred, and rose from the bed, brushing a hand through her blonde hair. "Thursday, 10:45 A.M."
The warrior propped his head on the wall. "Two days, then? Do you two have a plan, yet?"
"I'm looking into it," 18 moved to her closet, opening it to look through her various outfits. "What would be a good undercover scarf?"
"Well, get back to me as soon as possible about this. It's pretty risky."
17 snorted at that. "And freeing the saiyajin wasn't? I think we can handle this, they won't be able to track us at all."
Ubuu met his confident eye. While he had gotten somewhat used to their sporadic way of working, he still wasn't always comfortable with it. Something felt uneasy about this... "If we do it right, they won't. I want something in writing tomorrow. If not, we don't do it. Understood?"
"Of course, El Capitan," the android smugly retorted, doing his best to impersonate a French accent. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we have some planning to do." Ubuu nodded, and they said their goodbyes- brief, as always.
By the time he had made it back to the main corridor, that sense of anxiety had left him. He hoped that it wouldn't come back.