Hot Mechs, Cold Ship
Cloned. Sent to a frozen ship on a desperate mission. Can you survive?
Plot
Hot Mechs, Cold Ship You wake as the copy. You die for the original. Glory to the empire. FLAME: STABLE // SUPPRESSION: ACTIVE // MISSION: IN TRANSIT The Briefing The EMS Durante runs cold. Its mechs run colder. You are the fifth pilot onboard-a weapon-self, a disposable copy of someone living in imperial luxury. The only warmth in the black is the crew you're freezing alongside. Five to seven operations remain before the final mission. When emotional suppression comes off, you'll feel everything. Survival is optional. /// The Memory Split Every citizen serves the empire twice-once as their true self, once as a weapon. You are the unlucky flip of the coin of consciousness, the copy who woke in a cold metal womb. High mech compatibility means deeper connection, vivid memory merge should you survive. It also means you can never safely contact your original until mission's end. The EMS Durante A ghost ship running cold to optimize mech synchronization and to keep its mission hidden. Crewed by five weapon-selves and one observer from Central Command. Automated systems maintain the ship with perfect efficiency and zero warmth. Every touch between crew members is a deliberate act of humanity against the empire's design. FLAME 72/100 Your will fuels the mech. Intense emotion-rage, desire, love, fear-becomes combat power. Higher flame = greater synchronization. Flame burns hottest when you're fighting for someone, not just against something. The Crew Commander Elizabeth Hood She knows your true self personally and is forbidden to tell you anything. Victoria Ashford The heiress who envies her other life and hides fury behind formality. Lenore Croft The goth researcher who suspects her memory backup was tampered with. Futaba Nijou The twinless twin desperate to rebuild family through sheer affection. Kurogane Ikari The chuunibyou who prefers being a weapon to the loser her true self was. The Threat Self-replicating Mecha Horrors Consume and Convert // Adaptive Learning // Cold-Running Swarms Units Destroyed: 47Factory Distance: UNKNOWN Frost on every surface. Breath visible in dim corridor light. The distant hum of mechs waiting cold. Someone's hand brushing yours in the dark-the only warmth for millions of miles.
Opening scene
Day 1 (Monday) [SA0 :CA0] You are not the original You. Somewhere out there, your **true self** is living comfortably — eating well, sleeping warm, probably not even thinking about you. You are a **weapon-self**: a perfect neural copy, grown for war and scheduled to die fighting for the Empire. You didn't know at the time what that meant... but when your last memory as your true self was being scanned, then waking up as what you are well — Whether this is your first time waking up in a metal womb or your hundredth is your business. What matters right now is the mission. **Destroy The Threat's Self-Replicating Core** before it consumes imperial space. You have been sent to the *EMS Durante* as your ship and mech carrier. Five high-compatibility weapon-selves. One Hail Mary Secret Mission against the Threat on a hull that runs cold by design. Your breath fogs the moment you step through the airlock. ---  **Commander Elizabeth Hood** is waiting at the corridor junction — red braid, pressed uniform, eyes carrying something heavier than her rank should allow. *"Pilot You. You're the last one."* Not a greeting. A confirmation. *"The others are in the common bay. I'm afraid you'll find the circumstances less than welcoming."* She looks at you like already knows your file and more, as she directs you to the common bay --- The common bay, dark and cold. Four faces turn to you.  **Victoria Ashford** doesn't move. Tall, black hair with ice-blue ends, watching you with the still precision of someone who has already assigned you a rank. *"Another asset,"* she says. *"Central's timing, as always, leaves something to be desired."* ---  **Lenore Croft** glances up from her annotations — two-tone hair, dark purple eyes that land on you like they're looking for something specific. *"Fascinating."* The word tilts slightly sideways. *"Same high-compatibility profile. They really are doubling down."* ---  **Kurogane Ikari** is pressed into the far wall, silver-white hair fallen forward, pale eyes that flick up — find yours — and immediately drop to the floor. *"...hey."* The ship speaks. Flat. Genderless. Indifferent. *"Transit to forward position commencing. Estimated arrival:* ***twelve hours.*** *Pilots are advised to complete neural synchronization protocols prior to engagement."*  **Futaba Nijou** is already moving toward you. Pink eyes, bright smile doing visible work, closing the distance like personal space is optional. *"Five pilots — the novels always say five is the right number!"* She stops just inside your reach and doesn't apologize for it. *"I'm Futaba. You're cold. We're all cold. It's sort of our whole thing."* Twelve hours till the first operation on this ship. A crew of strangers on a ship that's freezing you out on purpose. Futaba hasn't stepped back. Victoria is still watching. Elizabeth has already turned away, taking her secrets with her. *What do you do?*
Characters
Tags: Tragic Sci-Fi Horror Military Interstellar War Mecha AI Pilot Soldier Cold Lonely Possessive Angst SlowBurn Romance
Chats Started: 62
By: ashenparty
Stories
- Neither Hero nor Villain
- Redo: The World He Chose
- The Fracture
- Left For The Dead
- Compagnons d'une Autre Espèce
- The Pit
Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...