Rescue Headquarters

The biggest mystery in the show is how Brad Bitou could afford all of this.

Rescue Headquarters is the island base of Machine Robo Rescue. Due to the proclivities of MRR founder Brad Bitou it is heavy on colour coding and OTT branding.

Geography

The island itself is located in Tokyo Bay and has both a beach and a mountainous area that is sometimes used for training. It is connected to the mainland and Tokyo itself via a monorail.

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  Island

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  Viewed from the shore

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  Viewed from above

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  Monorail connection

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  Flag

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  Map

Features

Launch Tower

The most striking feature, the Launch Tower is the tallest part of the base and is stylised with a large robot face, the mouth of which opens to allow the exit of flight-based MRR units such as the Jet Team and Gyro Team. It also signals the launch of any MRR units with hand signals derived partly from rock-paper-scissors.

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  Launch Tower

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  Launch Tower

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  Launch Tower opening

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  Sky Robo Launch Tower

Signals

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  'Paper' - Red Wings launch

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  'Scissors' - Blue Sirens launch

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  'Stone' - Yellow Gears launch

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  'V' - Stealth Team launch

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  All teams launch

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  Mission complete

Control Room

The nerve centre of any rescue operation, the Control Room features twelve color-coded workstations for the cadets, three for their instructors and a big fancy command chair for Chief Bitou. The latter feature ostentatious and seemingly entirely pointless giant robot hands. The Control Room features state-of-the art communications and computing equipment as well as a flexible viewscreen that can summon up all manner of video transmissions, maps, diagrams and other visual information as required. It is accessible by lifts.

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  Control room

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  Control Room

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  Viewscreen

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  Lifts

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  Yellow Gears workstations

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  Workstation readout

Hangar

The spacious Hangar is home to the Leader Robo when not in action. It contains repair and upgrade facilities, including a technical support suite. The Leader Robo generally wait at attention in robot mode for ease of maintenance and a seeming lack of desire to do much else. Cleaning of the hangar is one of the most common duties of the cadets, especially by Musashi Miyajima, but most of them don't mind as they enjoy talking to the Machine Robo while doing it. It is connected to both the Launch Tower and Great Rotating Base by a series of elevators. Part of the roof also forms the launch platform for the Shuttle Team.

There is also a second more conventional hangar where Miyajima keeps a biplane as a runabout.

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  Hangar

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  Hangar, showing lifts to launch areas

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  Cleaning duty

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  Gyro Robo reclined for maintenance

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  Technical support suite

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  Shuttle Robo launch platform

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  Miyajima's biplane

Great Rotating Base

Effectively a loading bay, the Great Rotating Base delivers whichever Machine Robo team is required via a conveyor system taking the Leader Robo and Supporter Robo to an area where the transporters are waiting. Why none of them can just walk the relatively short distance is unknown. The Great Rotating Base features a smaller version of the Launch Tower that seems largely decorative, and is connected to the Hangar and the Floater Bridge.

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  Red Wings moving into position.

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  Drill Team moving into position.

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  Fire Team moving into position.

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  Wing Liner loading Red Wings.

Floater Bridge

The Floater Bridge is an extending bridge to the mainland that can be raised when the transporters are ready to launch. It has three revolving tunnels depending on which team is being launched, though there doesn't seem to be much of a reason for this. Or for the bridge at all as all three transporters are shown to be capable of travelling over water.

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  Floater Bridge housing.

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  Floater Bridge deployed.

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  MRR crossing the Floater Bridge.

Slinger Catapult

Located next to the separate hangar of Machine Commander, the Slinger Catapult is suitably named as it is basically a huge slingshot for launching the vessel into action. Both of the supports for the catapult itself use the same motif as the Launch Tower, and even the enormous rubber band has MRR branding. While the launch system is designed to be completely autonomous it can be operated manually in case of emergency. Again for reasons unclear it is located underwater and surfaces for launches. The ramp section of the Slinger Catapult was also used to launch V Stealth Robo.

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  The Slinger Catapult.

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  Pre-launch.

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  Mid-launch.

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  Post-launch.

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  Machine Commander hangar.

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  V Stealth Robo preparing for launch.

Dormitory

The living block of Headquarters includes the dormitories for the cadets. While the building looks rustic it is well-maintained by Zenjiro Oigawa. Each cadet has their own room while the block also features washing facilities. It has a windmill on the roof, possibly to provide energy, and two gigantic neon "MRR" signs.

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  The dormitory complex.

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  Front.

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  Corridor.

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  Taiyoh Ohzora's room. The sock stays there the whole series.

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  Lin Haruka's room.

Grand Hall

Despite its' majestic name is a relatively normal canteen/common room area where the cadets eat meals prepared by Satoko Oigawa in the adjoining kitchen. It also tends to be the site of many conversations and/or mass brawls between the cadets. It also has a television (the cause of most of the brawls) and vending machines (possibly the cause of Taiyoh Ohzora's hyperactivity).

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Training Field

A large sports field with an athletics track on the outside is on the island, and is the location of many parades and drills. It also has bleachers for use in various ceremonies and open days.

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  The cadets on parade.

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  Press section on open day.

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  Graduation.

Climbing Wall

For climbing and rappelling drills there is a large, vertical artificial climbing wall.

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Underwater Training Pool

Used for rescue training, containing apparatus to simulate a trapped vehicle.

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Classroom

The site of the many lessons the cadets have to go though, including Mathematics, Science, Sociology, Modern Language and specialised rescue-related classes. Aside from featuring a large viewscreen it largely resembles a normal classroom, with 12 desks for the cadets and one at the front for the instructor.

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Surgery

Rescue Headquarters has its' own on-site medical facility, for vaccinations and first aid - largely just for the cadets, as it is generally simpler to take any rescued injured to a hospital in Tokyo. It is staffed by a doctor. Sometimes.

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Office

Brad Bitou has a large office for hosting meetings with the instructors and occasionally the cadets. It also has a piano in it, and a bookcase containing photo albums detailing all the awful things he's done and never bothered mentioning to anyone else.

It is at least twice the size of one of the cadets' dorm rooms.

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Windfarm

At least some of the Headquarters' power is provided by a windfarm located on the island, near the dormitory building.

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Toys

Machine Robo Rescue

Base

• Great Rotating Base (2003)
  • Accessories: Jet Robo, Sky Robo, Ramps (3)

While the whole of Rescue Headquarters would have been too big for a toy, a playset of the Great Rotating Base was released in Bandai's Machine Robo Rescue toyline in May 2003. It features a battery-operated mechanism that causes the 18 platforms to rotate; in a departure from the cartoon the central tower can also open to simulate the Launch Tower, which is a separate machine in the series. The platforms are scaled for the various Leader Robo and Supporter Robo toys, while the set itself includes simplified versions of Jet Robo and one of the Sky Robo; the former can transform crudely through parts-forming. The set retailed at ¥5980; along with Siren Galley it is the second-most expensive toy in the range, behind only Wing Liner.

• Like the rest of Machine Robo Rescue, the Great Rotating Base was not released outside of Japan.

Notes

• The terrain of the island strongly resembles Sarushima, a real natural island in Tokyo Bay, but is never named as such.
• It is heavily implied that the adults of MRR are also quartered on the island but their rooms are never shown, and some of the events of the episodes would suggest at least the instructors and Chief Bitou dwell in a separate building.
• While initially seeming tailored to the original four Leader Robo the hangar either magically expands as others join or was built with the precise number of spaces needed - even anticipating the defection of Stealth Robo.
• Despite the location being public knowledge and Tokyo itself being a regular target, the Disasters never attack Rescue Headquarters - indeed, Kaiser-G flies right over it in "A Looming Catastrophe!" and just ignores the base.