"Hey, uh, what exactly are you trying to do?" Kamille muttered.
"I'm trying to get the hell out of here. It's only a metter of time before some armed assholes come after us." Karako said, "Name's Karako, by the way. I'm a Lieutenant and a piloting instructor. Or I was a piloting instructor."
"Why did you do that, anyway?"
"Titans are bad news. They took over the Earth Federation and from the sounds of things, they have their own agenda. They let their own pilots do as they please and question every fucking detail of everyone else. They're completely ass-backwards. There was a terrorist attack yesterday and I'd helped take care of it but their leader was trying to push me to lie about it, probably so he'd have an excuse to imprison my ass or something. So I'm leaving this bullshit sideshow of a base and I'm taking my mobile suit with me. Your little scuffle with Jerid was kinda my ticket out. Sorry if I stole your thunder."
"It's okay."
Kamille processed what Karako had told him about the Titans. He'd had a bad feeling about them ever since they'd showed up in the city. If what Karako was getting at was indeed true, then it was probably best that he'd leave as well. He'd probably only continue butting-heads with them until he landed himself in some deep trouble. He felt bad leaving Fa behind with no idea what was happening but he'd find a way to catch up with her later.
"You can let go of my hand, you know." Kamille said, "So where are you planning to go?"
"I'm not entirely sure but as far from here as possible would be nice." Karako said letting go of Kamille's hand, "You can go ahead and go wherever. Just tell them I kidnapped you and you got away."
"No, I want to go, too. If the Titans are really that bad, I don't want to be around them either."
"Really? Huh. Well, you ever pilot a mobile suit before?"
"Ha! I've built them. Smaller exosketelon type ones but I can probably manage."
"Think you can handle one of those Titans gundams? I kinda want to give those asswipes a final fuck you on the way out."
"Yeah, shouldn't be too hard."
"I'll get you in their hangars. C'mon!"
* * *
The hangar that housed the test-suits was shorter than the others, as the suits were stored laying down on truckbeds instead of standing up.
"Alright, here they are. Looks like the cockpit is open on that one over there on the truckbed on the end. Looks like they're testing them so be careful. I'll meet up with you as soon as I can." Karako said before sprinting off.
"Got it!"
Kamille snuck around the hangar as a jeep pulled out with armed Titans personel pulled up near a group of workers. He broke into a sprint, hopping onto the mobile suit and diving into the open cockpit of the mk-II. It was now or never. He hopped into the cockpit and quickly closed the hatch, breathing a short sigh of relief. He skimmed over the controls, finding they were a little different from what he was used to but nothing he couldn't figure out. He switched on the cameras before powering on the suit. Sure enough, this caught the attention of the engineers and armed guards. One of the guards got on the loudspeaker.
"Pilot, identify yourself!"
Kamille just chuckled as his suit sat up, effectively breaking through the roof of the hangar and sending everyone scrambling. The loudspeaker guard wasted no time phoning the control center and any pilots on the field. Kamille's mk-II stood up and took a few steps forward, ruining the hangar and flattening a few trucks. He couldn't help but laugh.
* * *
Karako's situation was a bit more challenging, as the hangar which housed her Hyaku Shiki was being guarded. This only further proved that Bask was an asshole and had probably been plotting against her from the start.
"I should have steel-toed that son of a bitch." she growled.
Startled by the sound of screeching tires behind her, Karako whirled around as she spotted armed guards had pulled up and were hopping out of thier jeep. Well, shit. She made a run for it, sprinting toward the guarded hangar door. The guards looked toward her only to be dropped by some well-placed kicks before Karako slammed herself through the door. She made a break for the catwalk stairs with the armed guards close behind her, some of them firing their rifles haphazardly.
A few of the shots managed to graze Karako but it wasn't nearly enough to stop her. It only pissed her off more. She slid to a stop in front of the cockpit hatch of the Shiki and opened it up, wasting no time hopping in and closing it.
"Oooooh you all are in deep shit." she said flicking on the cameras and powering up the suit.
The comm system quickly came to life as the control tower called in. Karako rolled her eyes.
"Lieutenant Karako, you are to cease activity right now and stand down."
"You can blow me. I am not one of your pilots." she muttered in response, slamming the shiki's arms through the catwalk.
"Karako, if you don't stand down, we will authorize all pilots to use force."
"And they will do nothing but scratch the paint on my suit and piss me off."
Karako lit up a smoke and then set about eliminating the guards in the most unnecessary manner: by delivering an Isaac Clarke curbstomp to each and every one of them, smiling to herself.
"Better hurry, I stepped on some ants." she said, holding the cigarette between her teeth as she spoke.
The Shiki took its kanabo staff off it's backpack and swung it through the side of the building, clearing out a wall.
"Oh and you may be surprised to find that one of your pilots isn't one of your own, but actually one of mine." she said with a smirk as she took off toward the Titans testing hangars.