In Neo-Sandora, under city lights tinted blue, 17-year-old Akito Rengai faces the scanner before the reinforced gate. His mecha license is all he has. He clutches it like a shield. If you were Akito, would you be scared seeing steel husks lined up, each twice the body’s height?
He came here for answers. “Karashi, are you sure this isn’t a set-up?” he asks his friend, always dodging trouble but drawn to it like moths to black neon. Karashi only nods once. His face is shadowed, hands jitter at his sides. Neither smiles.
Inside the rust-mottled hangar, their goal—a lost relic mecha, Mark-00—stands silent. Legend says Mark-00 saved a city fifteen years ago and vanished. That’s why Akito sneaked out. He thinks Inside that hull are memories—maybe from his dad. It’s hope for him. Hope, and old fear at war in his gut. You ever feel that when making a choice you can’t walk back?
The city reels that week as the mercenary pilot known as Iron Elara enters the fighting circuit with her black-striped suit, twin lances, and contract from mad Lord Zurd. He’s offered Sandora as bounty, piece by piece. Elara doesn’t smile; no one’s ever seen her laugh. She moves without hurry. Pilots whisper about losing to her before the match even starts.
No time left. Captain Kiyoko arrives, barking at Akito and Karashi: “No rookies. Not at this hour, unless you bring a ghost with you.” Kiyoko keeps a patch sewn crookedly to her jacket—a wolf howling at circuit boards.
Akito speaks, low: “We know who we are. My father flew Mark-00 the year Sandora burned. We found it, maybe we can fight.” Karashi barely meets anyone’s gaze, but he answers, “At least give us a shot, Captain. We have no tricks. Just grit.”
Kiyoko just grunts. “Hope you’re worth the tell. The league isn’t going to wait for you.” Something in her eyes softens, a flick for the past.
Preparation montage: power cells snap in, looted plates weld fast, decals little more than past flames under gas lamps. Under Akito’s gloved hands, Mark-00 shudders to life. The pilot frame smells like old oil and flowers crushed under heat. Sprites flit across his HUD—last messages from its real era, 2074.
Akito asks quietly, “Mark-00… if you remember Dad, show me you want to fight.” The mecha admits a low thrum that mingles with the rain on the hangar roof. Karashi hauls his machine, Ash Sparrow, into rig check, uncertain hands but wild hope anyway.
Soon, Iron Elara’s fleet blocks the dusk sky. Their broadcast breaks through barter static. Akito can’t look away. She’s first to challenge: “One-on-one. No snipers. No satellites. Sandora’s core in the ring; winner takes it whole.” 
The people gather round the Dome, betting what little they cling to. Can the past save the present, or will legacy prove hollow? Akito’s palms sweat, but elbows lock in place. Kiyoko pulls him aside. “You’re not here for posturing, right? Don’t make Mark-00 a tomb.”
In round one, Ash Sparrow shields Mark-00, drawing Iron Elara’s lanced strikes. Sparks bounce colors against black chrome. Operators call codes in sharp, sharp bursts. It’s rock-paper-scissors writ with steel and crush. 
But Karashi misjudges—Ash Sparrow stumbles, suffers a crippling blow. Elara’s war machine looms, but Mark-00 lurches with sudden force. From the transmission: “Old blood. New game. Let’s dance!”
The rest—heartbeats split slow, minutes cut into endless frames. Mark-00 acts like it recalls, sails sideways under Elara’s lance, tears grit from the ring. A core reactor under Akito’s feet hums to override limits. Kiyoko refuses to blink, mouth set hard. Akito, voice rising: “Not today! Not your victory!” Iron Elara laughs for the first time ever, ear-splitting across comms. “Then fall!”
The bell rings. Both charge. Lances light. Will Akito—driven by a father’s faded name—surpass a pirate champion? Will Karashi get back up if even tech can’t save him? The city watches. 
Smoke shields winner and loser as the match ends. Metal screeches fade away. A lone part, wet with rain, spins to halt near the Dome. Which will rise—a hero, or a new tyrant under city lights? Don’t you want to know what Akito learns the next moment?
