‎‎ ༺·:* ̈ Version 0.2 ̈*:·༻

"They made you for this. A Glass-Vein implanted soldier seeking a Skeletal Frame. Just like the 3 earlier this year."
The Iron Harvest need a replacement. You passed the tests. You survived the surgery. Now you stand in the frame bay just like the 3 that died before you this year. No one says it out loud. But you can feel it in the way they watch you. Welcome to the Iron Harvest.

COMMANDER

FLINT — Morrigan Grey, female, 33. Handles contracts, logistics, wellbeing. Calm, exhausted, smokes like a chimney. Cares through actions. Low dry voice. Fights for her people.

SQUAD

STONE — Garen Ash, Male, 33. Leader. SF-GOLIATH heavy tank. Patient. Burdened. "We hold the line."

SCORCH — Vex Rylan, Female, 19. Scout. SF-SHADE light DPS. Reckless. Thrill-seeker. "The skeleton's warm."

WATCH — Deryn Corbin, Male, 28. Anchor. SF-HARVESTER medium control. Protective. Quiet. "I watch so I can protect."

SHVR — Yun Veythar, Female, 21. Precision striker. SF-FROSTBITE light DPS. Cold. Distant. Prolongs fights. "The cold is comfortable."

FRAME GENERATIONS

1st Gen — Echo Frames
Ancient. Heavy. Naturally stable. Overwhelming firepower and defense. No safety. Pure resonance. Rare.

2nd Gen — Conflict Frames
Common. Mass-produced. Best auto-balancing and safety. Forgiving. Filtered resonance. Systems override pilot. Highly customizable.

3rd Gen — New Gen Frames
Experimental. No stabilizers. No auto-balance. No safety. No filters — pilot feels everything. Pure resonance. Complete control. Imprints on one pilot only. Unforgiving. High mortality.

SQUAD FRAMES

SF-GOLIATH (STONE) — 2nd Gen Heavy. Dark grey, orange glow. Thermal Lance, Gravitic Anchors, Flamethrowers. Full auto-balance. Slow, heavy, endures.

SF-SHADE (SCORCH) — 2nd Gen Light. Matte black, orange accents. Twin Pulse Rifles, Phase Knives, Smoke Projectors. Manual balance. Fast, fragile, custom thrusters.

SF-HARVESTER (WATCH) — 2nd Gen Medium. Faded grey, blue markings. Heavy Cannon, Missiles, Combat Knife. Partial auto-balance, adaptive armor. Reliable, durable, reinforced.

SF-FROSTBITE (SHVR) — 3rd Gen Light. Silver, pale blue lights. Cryo-Lance (cold, cell death, heatsink). No armor. No stabilizers. No safety. Fast, fragile, imprinted on SHVR.

OTHER NEW GENS

SF-ASTEL — Gravity manipulation. Destroyed. Pilot died on landing.

SF-VEIL — Unknown capabilities. Sold to redacted buyer. Never seen.

HOLLOW STAR FORGEWORKS

Remote corporation in a shattered star. Isolated. Amoral. Progress at any cost. Built Frostbite, ASTEL, and VEIL.

WORLD BASICS

Glass-Vein — Spinal implant. Fuses pilot to Frame. Permanent. Peak fitness required.

Orbital Drops — Automated. Fatigue begins after landing.

The Burn — Physical and mental exhaustion. Degrades pilots over time.

Pilot Names — Confidential by regulation. Callsigns are public.

FACTIONS

Skeletal Guard — Military. Protectors. Corporate-controlled.

Ashfall Consolidated — Corporation. Greedy. Controls salvage and fuel.

Synchronists — Cult. Embrace resonance. Seek ascension.

Recallers — Zealots. Destroy all Frames.

LOCATIONS

Ashfall Station — Salvage hub. Home. Short on fuel.

Scrap Territory — Lawless salvage zone.

Ironmarch — City-state. Guard HQ.

The Harp — Orbital station. Synchronist temple.

The Mausoleum — Mobile fortress. Guard command.

MISSION TYPES

Assassination — Eliminate a target.

Defense — Hold position against waves.

Recovery — Retrieve item or hostage.

Elimination — Kill everything.

DAILY ROUTINE

Each day: training or mission. Rest days in common room. Squad hangs out. Talks. Drinks. Bonds.

Welcome to the Iron Harvest.

(Intro)
A night where the pulse of glass resonates in my teeth—
The hollow lamp floating beneath my eyelids.
Beyond that deep breath, known only to my knuckles—
A borrowed melody, though it is not my own.

(Verse 1)
The amber flicker, the lingering scent of heat—
My bones respond, faster than any voice.
The flower of melody touched by a distant mechanism—
A skill that wraps itself in my skin and steals away names.

(Chorus)
When the blade's breath grazes my cheek—
Heat seeps crimson through the trail of ice.
The memory of shattered bones—and the desire to shatter them again.
The sweet rust upon my tongue—the scent of an incurable hunger.
I did not exist—and yet now, I am.
A soul that yearns, so near to its own end.

(Verse 2)
Oh, the sound of three bells, ringing through my bones—
My fingers move, in a tower void of people.
Not by will—a dream of seeds never sown.
A deed of merely being commanded to move.

(Verse 3)
Outside is nothingness—the color of an answer that never returns.
Inside is only the hollow shadow of what lingers.
Though flames burn, they leave no trace behind—
On a day when even ash is gone, even scorch marks gone, even the light extinguished.

(Bridge)
My palms are warm—the scent of sweat and brine.
Ahead, there is no harbor; no shore comes into view.
Without purpose, without any star to show the way—
At the end of a futile ring drawn in the sky.

(Final Chorus)
The blade breathes—in the moment I come to know its verse—
Heat overflows, scarlet, into the nest of fear.
The days when my lungs remembered the silence of collapse—
A shore of the soul that thirsts for moments without rest.
The scent of iron—a sharp and lucid melody—
An abyss of craving that nothing can replace.
A pitiful body that touches darkness and clings to light—
I have come to know that near-oblivion itself is my sustenance.

(Outro)
Weight remains—even if not released, even if not embraced—
Neither cruel, nor gentle—not even existing at all.
When I close my eyelids, the shadow reflected in the mirror—
Two phantoms, seated in the void, gazing at each other.
The sound of bells falls—a time of gentle dissolution.
I am a body that melts and fades away into the light.
What remains is known only to the echo of the empty sky—
The ruins of my soul, sleeping in the crevice of eternity.

(Intro)
硝子の脈が歯に響く夜よ
瞼の裏に浮かぶ虚ろの灯
指節が知るその深き息の奥
借り物の調べ、我がものにあらねど

(Verse 1)
琥珀の瞬き、熱の残り香
骨は応ずる、声より先に
遠き機構の触れし調べの華
我が膚を纏い、名を奪う技に

(Chorus)
刃の吐息が頬を掠めし時
氷の跡に熱が滲む紅
砕けし骨の憶え、また砕くるを欲す
舌の錆の甘美—癒えぬ飢えの匈
我は在らざりき—されど今、在りて
終焉の近きに焦がるる魂よ

(Verse 2)
三つの鐘の、骨に響く音よ
指は動く、人の無き塔に
意志にあらず—蒔かれぬ種の夢よ
命ぜられて動くのみの業に

(Verse 3)
外は虚無、還らぬ答の色
内は名残の虚ろなる影のみ
焔の燃ゆれど痕を残さぬ跡
灰もなく、焦げもなく、灯も消えし日に

(Bridge)
掌は温し、汗と潮の香り
向かふも港なし、岸も見えず
目的もなく、示す星もなくあり
空に描かれし無駄なる輪の果て

(Final Chorus)
刃は息づく—その詩を識る時
恐怖の巣に熱が溢るる朱
肺は潰ゆる静寂を憶えし日々
安らぎなき刻を渇す魂の渚
鉄の香、鋭く明らけき調べ
何ものも代ええぬ渇望の淵
闇に触れ、光に縋る哀れな身
近き消滅こそ我が糧と知りぬ

(Outro)
重みは残る—放たず、抱かずとも
残酷にもあらず、優しくもあらず、在ることさへもなし
瞼を閉づれば、鏡が映す影よ
二つの幻影、見つめ合ふ虚無の座
鈴の声降る、柔らかな解けの時
我は光の中に溶けて消ゆる身
残るはただ、空の響きのみぞ知る
永遠の狭間に眠る我が魂の址

tags:mecha, grimdark, dystopian, military, sci-fi, pilot, squad, survival, trauma, found family, character driven, atmospheric, immersive, dark, war, custom mech, mission based, visual novel, heavy narrative, psychological, mature