The crew of White Base earn themselves some much-needed respite as the ship hides in a coastal area, the men and women working on the ship taking time to relax. All except for Amuro, who has left for a nearby town — his hometown — in the hopes of finding and reconnecting with his mother, whom he had not seen since moving with his father, Tem Ray, to Side 7.
When Amuro finds his childhood home, however, his mother is nowhere to be seen: the house had been long abandoned, and a group of drunken Federation soldiers have been squatting in it. Amuro later finds another Federation soldier harassing a woman, who recognizes Amuro as a friend of her own child. She explains to Amuro that his mother had left to volunteer at a refugee camp.
Amuro flies out in his Core Fighter to the refugee camp in search for his mother. Upon arrival, a group of volunteers warn Amuro to conceal the Core Fighter. It is then that Kamaria Ray, Amuro's mother, emerges from the crowd, and mother and son are finally reunited.
Amuro learns that Zeon soldiers pay regular visits to the refugee camp in search of Federation personnel, hence the worker's anxiety over Amuro's Core Fighter: if the Zeon soldiers saw it, they could crack down harshly on the refugee center. At that moment, a boy comes into the hospital warning of approaching Zeon soldiers. Kamaria hides Amuro under the covers of one of the hospital's bed as the Zeon soldiers search for Federation personnel.
It seems at first that the Zeon soldiers would leave without incident, but just as they make for the exit, Amuro's communicator goes off. The soldiers demand to see who is lying under the sheets of the bed Kamaria is tending to. As they struggle, Amuro fires his pistol at one of the soldiers, killing them and forcing the other into retreat. After Amuro chases off the soldier, Kamaria confronts him on his strangely violent nature: he was not the same gentle boy she knew! Amuro, arguing that he is a soldier fighting a war against Zeon and believing his mother no longer loves him, runs off to respond to his communicator.
As Amuro learns from Bright, Zeon Lugguns were found patrolling near White Base. Ryu managed to shoot one down in a Core Fighter, but the other escaped. Amuro pursues the remaining Luggun in his Core Fighter to a Zeon base and is attacked by anti-aircraft fire. Kai flies in on a Gunperry carrying the components for Gundam, and suggests Amuro perform a risky aerial conversion into Gundam. Amuro agrees and, even with anti-aircraft fire around him, successfully executes the aerial conversion into Gundam, which Amuro uses to lay waste to the Zeon base. Bright is less than pleased, however: the base had practically no strategic importance, and assaulting it was a waste of valuable resources. The mid-air conversion was also an incredibly dangerous maneuver.
After the fight, Bright meets Kamaria and informs her that Amuro had accomplished great things as a member of the White Base crew, saving countless lives. Amuro says his farewells to Kamaria, saluting her before departing aboard White Base. As the ship flies off into the setting sun, Kamaria collapses to the ground and cries, mourning the kind and gentle son she lost, and the violent soldier he had become...
Following tropes are:
- Downer Ending: The biggest in the series. Amuro finally gets to reunite with his mother but...this happens. Kamaria is horrified that her son is a soldier while Amuro is distraught that his mother shuns him. Amuro leaves with White Base, coldly leaving behind his mother who could only weep.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Kamaria chides Amuro for shooting a Zeon soldier but then...
- ... Amuro angrily berates back, questioning her if it's more preferable that they capture him and kill him. Kamaria can't form a proper response other than saying that it's wrong.
