IRON SUNSET

IRON SUNSET (22901 words) by Drone6416
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: Original Work
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Characters: Original Female Character(s), Original Trans Character(s)
Additional Tags: Trench Warfare, Trenchsploitation, Mechsploitation, Hive Mind, Identity Death, Death, Gore, Snuff, Violence, Lesbian, Princesses, Great War, World War I, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Tanks, Lobotomy, MedFet, Branding, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Intoxication, Dissociation, Rape, Surgery, Bad end, (We'll get there eventually trust)
Summary:

The Eternal War rages throughout the lands, the count of the dead has ceased many years ago. Trenches tear up the earth, and the heart-beat of artillery never stays silent for more than a second at a time. The princess of the long-disempowered constitutional monarchy longs to see it all for herself, having grown up under the looming gaze of the war, but she winds up in far, far worse than what she was ever expecting.

Review from June 2026
It took me a bit to get into this one. The start is slow in a way that didn't immediately grab me, like I could see all these things that it was setting up but they hadn't quite congealed into something exciting... And then the Behemoth appears. And it's captivating and I couldn't stop reading after that.

I'm a big fan of the dieselpunk/trenchsploitation aesthetic. People have definitely lumped in my mechsploitation stories with that genre (despite the lack of trenches) and so I do try to read everything I can that within that niche and this is actually the first of two stories from this genre I'm going to talk about in this post. Of all the ones that I've read I think this story has the best trenches, I think its the one that feels the most viscerally connected with the mud and the grime and the death experienced by the average soldiers. I love that about it and I think it stands out amidst its peers in that aspect. I also adore the descriptions of the insides of the Behemoth. In general the strong voice of the narration really pulls you into each moment and nowhere is that more keenly felt than in the Behemoth scenes.

I will admit that the MedFet stuff isn't anything I find compelling and that aspect didn't land as well with me, but that is only personal preference. On the whole I really recommend this story. There are aspects of it that I really like, aspects of it that I want to steal, and I feel like there was a lot that I can learn from it too.

Also, right, I just love Klara, she's great. Big Klara fan here. Feeling a little awkward that my upcoming story also has a Klara in it. I don't know if she's as good as this Klara. Real Klara envy hours. (She's so good)