>>23383540you'll be in the mech pretty much immediately, though they throw you back and forth or give you the option top choose depending on the mission.
the first games story was played a lot more seriously, and it was actually a very similar setup to other real robot shows. the IMC is a corpo-nation dictating deep space policy and sometimes abusing workers and the militia oppose them basically through acts of terrorism.
in 2 its much more camp, the IMC is like star wars evil and the militia are the plucky heroes, which is fine for the story they're telling. but the protag / titan buddy duo is the best part, you'll see.