The desert landscape was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun, raindrops gently pattering down, adding a somber hue to the overcast sky.

"You join us today on a special occasion. If you've tuned in recently, you'll know all about the conference between megacorps. After weeks of waiting, it's as we predicted. Someone isn't getting what they want, so now no one can have it!" the spunky news-caster's voice spoke over the visuals.

The view shifted to a bird's-eye wireframe tactical map, displaying a cluster of red dots, along with a handful of triangles, closing in on a white-bordered building. In the opposite direction, a group of white dots was fleeing the facility.

"Now, you join us live in this developing situation. Our teams on the ground provide us with drone and satellite cover to bring you the latest action. The question is, will this be a simple cleanup for the disgruntled Akira forces, or will someone put up a fight?"

A column of armored vehicles rumbled across the desert, accompanied by five distinct mechs moving at a sedate pace. The mechs left imprints on the rain softened desert floor.

"As you can see, Akira is taking this seriously! We have yet to identify the mechs, but Akira only has eight in this entire region!"

A dark mech shuddered as it took a step, its backward legs giving it an aggressive posture. On one shoulder, the emblem of a red lotus, on the other a white corona orbited by a black moon.

"Viewers of tonight's show are in for a treat! Akira has rolled out their ancient veteran, Dark Orbit! Defender of the Eastern Reach and Samurai of Gravity, we can only hope someone decides to defend their new acquisition!"

Dark Orbit was joined by a pair of royal blue mechs, one trimmed in gold, the other trimmed in neon purple. Their armament was so similar that it was almost identical - with a short-range scattergun in one hand, a universal rifle in the other, a backup bladed weapon, and missiles.

In the distance, a familiar camo-painted mech with ridiculous RGB light trims and oversize cannons for arms was followed by a smaller, more standard-looking mech sporting an assault rifle and a red and black color scheme that matched the logo on all of their shoulders.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Oh, this is looking spicy! We have the twins, Astral Soul and Beautiful Day, joining Dark Orbit, and Symphony has a tag-along newbie.”

“You know how it is with Akira,” the other announcer commented, “once you qualify, they will give you a number and throw you into a standardized mech until you can prove you are worth noticing.”

“Speaking of new arrivals, what’s this on the horizon?”

The afterglow of boosters lit up the overcast sky as two more mechs approached from the far side of the facility. The tell-tale curves of a Vision Group design were evident. The first was a blue, black, and white mech armed with a heavy bolt-action rifle. Utterly archaic in design, but its massive caliber and robustness had proven their worth in countless battles. The shells for reloading it hung on bandoliers on its hips, far from safe but that didn’t matter if you outranged everyone else and didn’t plan on getting hit. On its shoulders were a pair of smaller auto-cannons, capable of tracking locked targets independently.

The other mech was painted green and white, bearing a more standard loadout for the company, including an energy rifle and small SMG-style gun. Its shoulders bore flares and an advanced radar system, indicating its role as support for other mechs while remaining relatively safe.

“The well-known aviatrix, Vortex, is on the scene with her apprentice Lady Faye in tow. We’d heard they were in the area.”

“I thought Moonraker was present too? Where has the top-ranked pilot of the group disappeared to?”

“Who knows, perhaps he is with the convoy leaving the facility. Akira does not seem that interested in those AVs. Whatever they want is clearly still in the base. Wait, what's this?”

The roof of the central facility opened up, flashing warning lights going off all over the rooftops. A skyscraper-sized cannon rose, its barrel wide enough to fit two ranks end to end, and leveled itself at the approaching Akira forces. The coils within lit up with blue energy as it began to charge, its ominous pulse drowning out the sounds of tank treads and the base's own alarm system.

The footage then cut to the gantry doors, glistening with the rain. Bay numbers six, seven, eight, and nine were visible on screen as the door on bays nine and seven began to open. From bay nine emerged the infamous sleek and heavily laden form of Machine God. His red eyes glinted in the twilight. From the other side stepped forward an unknown mech of strange design.

Its plain white paint clearly marked it as a prototype, but the battle damage signaled that it was anything but. Sleek in its own way, but not as slim as Machine God or the Vortex designs. Mech nerds would tell you it was clearly an evolution of the class ML Calypso medium mech. A dead end design from over sixty years ago. Its weapons were also unrecognized designs, with four long cannons peeking over its shoulder, giving it a striking silhouette against the bright interior.

“We’re making history here. Stay tuned, folks. This just got interesting!”

// This transmission proudly presented by RedLine. Igniting Your World with News and Entertainment!