St. Petersburg's night air was thick with mist and promise. The factory complex outside the city glowed like a crucible—lit by gas lamps, ringed with guards, and humming with quiet anticipation.
Tonight, Mikhail would unveil the empire's first prototype of his crowning vision: the "Grom-Class Steam Artillery Platform"—a mobile weapons platform capable of firing reinforced shells from rails.
The foreign guests had arrived under cover of diplomatic status. German observers. A Turkish intelligence attaché. A British lord whose monocle hid a surveillance lens. All wore masks of civility, but their eyes devoured every rivet and cog.
[System Alert: Foreign Intelligence Present – Active Surveillance Detected] [Options: Obfuscate Technology | False Demo | Direct Show of Power]
Mikhail chose Obfuscate Technology.
The demonstration was impressive—but tailored. The true specs of the weapon, the firepower-to-weight ratio, the auto-loading chamber—were omitted. What the world saw was a marvel. What they missed was a revolution.
The shell fired. The ground shook. Applause followed. Even the British lord clapped.
Behind the curtains, Mikhail whispered to Count Orlov, "Prepare blueprints for mass production in the Urals. And double the security."
[Grom-Class Prototype Unveiled – Military Score Increased | Industrial Reputation: Feared +1] [Legacy Points +200 | Foreign Suspicion: Active | Espionage Risk: Elevated]
As the guests retired to a banquet, Mikhail slipped away to his secure study on the second floor. There, waiting in the shadows, was an unexpected visitor.
Catherine Volenskaya.
She had changed. No longer the poised reformist queen of Kiev. Her coat was leather now, her boots military-grade. She wore a holstered pistol.
"You built it," she said quietly. "The weapon that could end a war before it starts."
"I built it so we don't have to fight the war," Mikhail replied.
She poured herself a drink. "You're becoming the thing you warned me about."
"I'm becoming what Russia needs."
They argued, but softly. It wasn't about ideology anymore. It was about speed. About who would shape the new Russia first.
"I didn't sabotage your dream," Catherine said. "But Anya was right about one thing—you're too good at this."
[Relationship Status: Catherine Volenskaya – Tense Alliance | Loyalty: Fractured | Romance: Lingering]
Later that night, Mikhail met with his inner circle. Generals, financiers, reformists, and a single foreign defector: Colonel Zhang Weilin, a Qing strategist who had fled Beijing under suspicion of treason.
"We must move fast," Zhang said. "China is watching. So is Germany. Your weapon won't keep you safe forever."
Mikhail nodded. "Then we build faster. Stronger. Deeper."
He laid out the next blueprint:
A network of secret research cities. A state-run university system for gifted prodigies. Encrypted rail-based communications.
A military-industrial complex—but refined. Hidden beneath layers of bureaucratic reforms and nationalist revival.
The Iron Empire wasn't just rising.
It was learning.