"Come on...Come on..."
He wiped the sweat from his brows, the summer heat beating down on him. He had stripped down to nothing but a white shirt and tan cargo shorts, a brown cloak warpped around him to protect his body from the sun. "It's soooo hot." He complained, wiping his forehead, his blue eyes blinking to get sand out. "Shiiiiiinji, I can't fiiiiind it!" he whined, moving his bright green hair out of his face, showing a cheerful, if not a little sunburnt face. "If we were ripped off, I'm gonna be really upset!" he whined, looking all around him, seeing nothing but sand. There was supposed to be a machine out here, and he wanted it! He figured it was some out-worlder's machine, some one who had gotten out to look around and had bit. Would make sense, if somebody was suddenly teleported to another world, who wouldn't be confused?

So that's why the green haired boy and gis friend was there, to find the machine and sell it, enough to last them for a while!

"Max... This is the last time I let you pick where we go next," his friend, one Shinji Jerit groaned. Pulling out a rag, he wiped his forehead, grumbling about how damn hot it is. He was in a similar state to the green-haired young man, wearing little more then a light blue tank-top and a pair of tan shorts with a dusty cloak of his own. Unlike his friend however, he had a significantly more normal head of scruffy brown hair with a pair of blade-shaped bangs flopping out. He had a significantly more pragmatic look on his, albeit sunburnt, face. Glancing around, there was a twinge of irritation in his green eyes. "I mean really! Sand. Sand. AND MORE SAND!" With a loud shout of irritation, he facepalmed. "We should probably head back before we die from heatstroke."

"Give me like...five more minutes!" Max pleased, smiling. "All I need! If we don't find it, then we'll leave." He said, walking over to his friend, reaching into his shirt and pulling out a necklace. Attached to it was a white key! "Besides, maybe one of our keys will work on it!" He said...when he heard something. A roaring of some sort, rumbling above them. Engines. He grabbed Shinji, throwing them both to the ground, hiding them underneath their cloaks. He couldn't help smirk at this, remembering being told to grab a different color to lessen the heat. He would rather be warm then filled with bullets.

"Alright, don't move, Shinji. Not at all." He whispered to his friend, coughing as sand entered his throat. Okay, maybe not the best idea he ever had.

"Where is it?" A man asked, as his machine landed onto the ground, looking around. Several others join it, tall, lanky machines, covered in various weapons, colored in blue with black detailing, with visored faces, green lights showing the mono eyes underneath. "The Red coin said it would be here!"

"Red Coin...?" Shinji muttered. Slowly, a grin started to form. "Hey Max... I take back what I said. Think that there might actually be something out here."

---

Miles away, a trio of machines were watching the scene. "Hmmm, looks like those guys got here first," the pilot of one of the machines commented. The machine in question was a lithe bipedal mech, with rounded pauldrons and angular boot-like lower legs. The upper-torso had a ring-shaped breastplate, leading up to the rounded pyramid-shaped head with a visor where the eyes would be. Overall, it had a dull gray paintjob with silver highlights on the pauldrons. Folded back on the forearms were a pair of rectangular cannons, and on the back was an array of thrusters attached to jet-shaped wings. "Sooo, should we throw them a party?"
"Um, Hana... Isn't that a bit reckless?" The second machine's pilot asked. His machine was significantly more generic-looking, with a rather blocky yet slim frame and blocky-shoulderpads and limbs. The head was about the most interesting part of its body, with its distinctly humanoid-shape mouthplate, green visor, and antenna attached to the back. Attached to its left arm was a shield, and in its right was a rifle, four rectangular handles were stashed on its waist... Beam sabers. On its back was a generic mech backpack with slightly tuned up thrusters, and on its feet were wheels that could be used for skating along the ground if it wasn't a desert. For a paintjob, the pilot went with yellow, gold, and white. "We should probably try sniping them first."
"Awwww, but that's boring Akira!" The first pilot complained.
"But still..."
"Shut it you two!" The third machine's pilot snapped. The last machine was also a lithe mech, with angular pauldrons, a pyramid-like chestplate, distinctly angular armor on the lower legs and forearms, and a quartet of thrusters arranged on the back and upper legs. On its back was a pair of folded down segmented wings, the kind you'd expect to unfold and separate into three or four prongs once extended. Its head was also humanoid, with a pair of antenna sticking out of the sides of the head and pointing upwards like a pseudo-crown, a red visor on its face. Attached to the waist were a pair of beam sabers of its own and a pair of holsters, holsters for the pair of pistols it was carrying. Folded back over its shoulders were a pair of cube-shaped rocket launchers. For its coloration, the pilot went for the reds and golds usually associated with a phoenix. "Akira, the two of us will take point. Hana, set up your Prominence's main cannon. Once you're set up, start shooting at those bastards until me and Akira get up close. Then catch up to us. Understand me?"
"Alright," Akira nodded.
"Right right, whatever you say Amane."
"Good. Let's go!" With that, the three machines went straight into action.

"Enemies!" one of the pilots of the blue machine said. One of them nodded, giving hand signs to the other three, running off as they ducked between the sand dunes. They begun to open fire at the other trio of machines, aiming for joints and thrusters.

"These sensors that scientist gave us are something else! it even picked up those two kids!" One of the pilots said, using his machines speakers, causing Mac to yell out. "Shinji, new plan! RUN" He yelled, jumping up and letting the cloaks get thrown off by the wind. He grabbed his friend, breaking into a run...towards the blue machines. "Alright, if they're looking for something, we're gonna find it first, especially if they want it for the Red Coins!" He said, focusing on his footing on the lose sand. Of course, as they were two small children, the men in the blue machines didn't pay them much mind!

"And if it's that robot, then we won't sell it, we'll trash it, just to piss them OFF!"

"These guys must not be very bright," Hana commented, as she was still beyond the enemy's effective range when they were aiming at her, which meant what few attacks actually hit her machine missed the joints and thrusters, and instead only hit the armor itself. "We're doing these guys a favor by taking them out." As she said that, the cannons unfolded and separated, so that she could attach them to each other. With that done, she aimed the now massive cannon at them. "Eat electrical bolts," she said, firing a burst of pure electricity at the enemies.
"You're overestimating yourselves," Amane scoffed, dancing around shots with quick bursts of speed, whipping out her machine's pistols. "Get lost." Firing the twin pistols, narrow beams shot out of the barrels, aiming to pierce the other trio. "Don't look down on my Artemis!"
"Whoa!" Akira exclaimed, boosting upwards. "That was clo- holy!" Boosting to the side, he evaded another volley. "I knew I should have put in some more practice," he sighed, aiming with the rifle and firing. Groaning, he watched as the shell missed entirely. "I especially need to work on using guns."
"Oi Max, shouldn't we be running... I dunno... AWAY from the giant robots?" Shinji questioned. "Also, wouldn't it be more practical to use it against them then to trash it?"

"...Shit, right!" Max smiled. "We'll use it to trash them, then trash it!"

Max was not a clever boy. "...OWOWOWOWO." he cried out, ripping his key necklace off of his knec. "It's burning! Is it meant to be burning? I don't think so!" He said, juggling it in between his hands. "I think it's close!"

---

"Hehe." one of the pilots of the blue machine chuckled, suddenly moving backwards. "The white and piss colored one, men!" He said, all of the machines suddenly turning their attention to Akira's mech, their shots suddenly becoming much more accurate.

A risky strategy. Open fire on all of the enemies, but not at full force, to see the pecking order of the opponent. Was the order was confirmed, open fire on the weakest one. "Hey, rookie! Aim for the damn cockpit!" One of the pilot said, his machine glaring at another. "Our orders weren't to kill anybody, you know. If we can get out of this without murder, I would kind of like it!" the pilot of the othe rmachine replied back.

"Pffthahahah! Kid, that attitude will get you ki-"

The man's sentence was forever to go unfinished, as a bullet ripped through his machine's cockpit, causing it's generators to blow, taking the machine and the pilot's body with it.

"You were saying? The rookie said, ducking down and dodging an attack.

Above, in a large helli-carrier for machines, a white machine looked down below at the fight, it's visor scanning the battlefield, looking for something. A altar of some sort.

"...Hmm?" The pilot of it aid, zooming it on two, small, blurs. "Max and Shinji? Damn it, if they're here..." He said, sighing. "Let's go."

And with that, his machine jumped out of the carrier.

"Dude, wrap it up or something if it's that dang hot," Shinji told his more dim-witted friend.

---

"Whoa!" Akira exclaimed, dashing under and around bullets. Eventually, he found himself deep within the enemy ranks. As they turned to aim at him, most would be afraid. But as he dropped his rifle and put his machine's hands on the hilts of its swords... He instead smirked. "It's true I'm no good at firearms. But when it comes to close-range, that's another matter entirely!" With that, he drew twin blades, and guns were cleaved in half with blinding speeds. Completing the spin, he swiped both swords in a big X, cleaving a machine in quarters.
"You're mine!" Amane yelled, grabbing a blue mech in a headlock, and then giving it a suplex that dazed the pilot inside. Letting the machine go, she stopped her fiery-colored mech's foot down on her victim, right where the cockpit would be.
"Well, that's enough sniping for me," Hana said, a trickster's smile on her face. "Time to show off a bit more!" And with that, she charged in, thrusters releasing a wave of energy behind her. Glancing up, she noticed the descending machine. "Guys, above you!"
"Huh?" Akira blinked, glancing up for less then a second before ducking under an attack.

"....Oh yeah." Max muttered, taking off his short and wrapping the key in it.

---

And Akira dodged right into a shot fired by the rookie, blasting his machine's head off.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Akira yelled out in pain, the ONI system transmitting to his brain the damage reports in the form of equal pain.
The rookie's eyes widen. Shit, were the cockpits in the head? The machine was still moving...
He forced open a communications with the machine, his question surprising the pilot.

"SHIT, You alive? Come on, PLEASE say yes."
"What the-?" The ONI Core pilot stopped mid-sentence, groaning in pain. "Dammit that hurts..."
:"What happened? I jsut shot your machine in the head! Not the cockpit!"
"Ugh, feedback from the ONI System. Links my brainwaves and nervous system to my machine for ease of movement. But the downside is that it is linked to my nervous system. So I feel any damage my machine sustains... Wait, why am I telling you this?"

"Beats me." The man said...aiming his weapons at Akira's machine. "We're fighting, but I'm gonna feel awful about this." He muttered, opening fire.

---

The white machine took to the skies, it's short, plane like wings adjusting in the air. It was more proportioned like a a human, with white, large, It didn't seem to be well armored, and several attachment ports littered it's body, mostly on the legs and back, with one on each shoulder. It was rather simple in design besides that, along with a knight vaguely V shaped head with two horn like antennas, a Y shaped visor, and thick forearms.
The panels of the forearms shifted, moving and rearranging themselves, turning into gatling like guns, which it then used to open up fire on Anna and Amane.

"Shit," Akira muttered, ducking low as he charged forward. 'Transfer vision to auxillery cameras,' he mentally commanded his machine. As his vision cleared, he grinned. "Sorry, but I don't want to get shot. No hard feelings!" He shouted, slashing upwards to cleave the rookie's mech's arm off. Using the momentum of the swing, he spun in mid-air to punt the mech in the head. As he landed, he whipped out a beam saber to cleave apart the rest of his weapons. "Look, you seem like a nice guy. So, please... Just pull back, alright?" And with that, he boosted off to go help the others.

---

"Tch," Amane grit her teeth, crossing her arms to protect her cockpit from most of the bullets as she dashed back a bit. "Oi, Hana, can you shoot him out of the sky?"
"Little busy here," the other girl replied, casually evading one of the mass-produced machines' attacks, before leapfrogging over it to make the white machine wind up shooting down one of his allies.
"Fine," the hot-head grumbled. "I'll take him on then." The segmented wings on her machine's back unfolded, as thrust erupted from it. Taking off, she brought out her pistols and shot at the white machine, dashing around so that he doesn't get an easy target.

The other machine met the red and gold one head one, expertly dodging it's attacks. It's movement was fast, but the white machine's bullets were fast, getting a few good strike.
"I'm not here to fight, actually." The pilot admitted, stopping his assault for a moment. "And I admit, I might have been too rash to attack. I am willing to stop this fight if you are." He was only here to find something, and these machine seemed rather powerful. Why destroy them, when he could find them later and offer them employment?

"...." Max scanned the ground, the sand suddenly becoming hard. He got on his knees, patting, wiping around the sand, finding white metal. "SHINJI!" He yelled, standing up. "This is it! This is IT" He cheered, bouncing up and down. "Help me find the cockpit!"

The rookie watched Akira leaving, thinking. He was right, this group were dead in the water anyways. And he already got paid. "Hey." He said, sending Akira one more communication. "The name is Mark Tone. Thanks." He said, boosting off.

Shinji nodded. "Cockpit... Cockpit... Oi, Max. You don't think your key might be able to shed some light on where it is, do ya?" He asked. As he wiped away sand, he found... A finger. "Well, there's its hand. But where's the damn torso."

---

Akira gave Mark a thumbs up over his shoulder, his machine doing the same. "Akira. Akira Takamachi," he replied.
Up in the sky, Amane was growling. "Sorry, but we've already been hired to retrieve something hidden around here," she told him. Although, the sorry was strongly sarcastic. "So if either of us should be leaving, it's you." With that, she boosted towards the white mech at mach speed. She punched at its face, while at the same time using her mech's other arm to try to grasp at its shoulder for a throw straight towards the ground.

For Amane's trouble, her machine got filled with bullets, the white machine narrowly dodging the punch, getting it's wing like boosters teared off. "I warned you..." The pilot muttered, turning to Max and Shinji.

"Hello." He said, aiming at them.

"Please step away from the machine, little brother."

"Gah! Son of a bitch!" Amane shouted out, using her other thrusters to break her fall.
"Max," Shinji said, his eye twitching. "Am I imagining things or us that your bastard of a brother's voice?"
Before his friend had to answer, Akira charged in, slashing with his beam swords. But the attack didn't end there. He immediately chained into another slash, and then another. And while the white machine's pilot was distracted trying to avoid bladed death, Hana seemingly came out of nowhere and stabbed a knife extending from the palm if her mech's hand.

"...I think it...was." Max muttered darkly, a hint of anger in his voice. "Let's try it. AND YOU, KICK HIS ASS." He said, holding out his key, yelling at Akira and Hana. It jerked forward, throwing him to the ground. "Aha! Think we got something!" He said, letting the key lead the way, not bothering to question the power behind it suddenly having a mind of it's own. It did, so no need to question it. It suddenly plunged into the ground, some sort of force blowing aaway the sand, revealing it had inserted it's self into a green sphere...

The white machine dodged the blades with greatest of ease, his machine going...unnaturally smoothly, like a human. It grabbed ahold of Akira's mech, and spun it around, trying to block Hana's move with it, thinking it was simple a palm strike. Some confused flood the pilot's mind wen the knife stabbed through a part of Akira's mech, hitting him in the shoulder.

"A crystal thing?" Shinji asked, staring at the sphere the key stabbed itself in. "... Okay, that is possibly the most obvious markers for a cockpit on a mech I've ever seen."
"Akira, are you alright?" Hana asked, surprised by the white machine's counter, but not enough for her to be unable to fight. Sure he managed to shift his mech's body enough that it was only a stab to the side of the waist, but considering the ONI System... Yeah, that will hurt.
"I'm alright," he assured her. "Just let him have it." Ten seconds later, he probably wished he didn't say that as she literally kicked him clear out of the white machine's grasp leaving her with her back to the white machine, before firing thin needles coated in electricity over her machine's shoulder aimed at her opponent. Then, she backflipped over it, firing bursts of electrical power from cannons that folded over her mech's hands. Using her thrusters to change her path in the air, she landed to the white machine's left instead of behind it like one would have predicted.

"Maybe it's just the head?" Max answered, as the sand begun to shift...showing it was far moooore than just a small gem in the head. It was a dark green in the center, the outer parts of the sphere a light green, no matter what direction you look at it. "Come on, hurry UP!" Max yelled, stomping on the sphere..causing it to open, and causing his self to drop in. "WAAA HELP"

The white machine dodged backwards, dodging the blasts from above, but that still caused the needles to be heading for him. His plan was to grab her and throw her in front of the needles...but obviously, he could not catch her behind him. He reached for his left, grabbing the machine and pulling it in, causing them to BOTH be hit by the needles. "GAH!" the pilot called out, electricity washing over him. "STIPD! GIRL!" HE yelled, kneeing his machine in the stomach again and again.