2718, China. Re0emergent coorperations under early United Earth funding have developed the world's first potentially working mecha. They're intended to be used as advanced agricultural tools, but all specs found in record from the time indicate something much more sinister. The team must prevent the mechs from being granted further funding for research, and must find a way to so totally botch the process as to render them as unrealistic and unreliable for purposes of agriculture or war.

They have to destroy all research indicating otherwise, create malfunctions where there were none, and put on the show of their lives to force the UE to back out of funding the project, and to pull resources from similar flashes in the pan.

Mecha weren't long lived historically speaking, but the brief time where they were involved scare tactics and brutalization that wiggled the United Earth into a more firm position over its contenders. The delay in development and the lack of familiarity with such mechanisms is predicted to work in decreasing overall military effectiveness of the United Earth. Changes in ship design and processing units within ships and tanks will be noted.

Characters will have to infiltrate to find the actual pilots, take them out of action, take their places, and then coordinate together how to best present the mechs as a total investment failure with no redemption that wouldn't cost billions. Working as a group is a necessity.

Granted, with one PC gone from the group, you're able to fill in his missing spot, and wait until all players have returned to run this plot.