The snows of March fell black with soot.
In the mining town of Verkhoyansk, a telegraph station blinked out.
Two hours later, half the Trans-Arctic Rail collapsed into a frozen river—sabotaged. Fifty workers dead. A month's production of coal and iron lost beneath the ice.
Mikhail stared at the reports inside the Imperial War Room, eyes burning like coals.
[System Alert: Internal Threat Level – CRITICAL] [Mission Objective: Suppress the Children of the True Flame]
A note had been left on the wreckage:
"The land is not for machines. Nor for kings. It is for those who remember the fire."
In the wake of his coronation, old enemies had not surrendered—they had gone underground, striking with calculated ferocity.
The Children of the True Flame were no longer just saboteurs. They were an insurgency.
The damage went deeper than steel and smoke. Fear spread across the provinces. Merchants hesitated. Laborers whispered. Nobles reexamined old alliances.
And from the south, disturbing news arrived: Ottoman-backed militias were stirring the Muslim Tatars into open rebellion in the Volga region.
Mikhail gathered his ministers, generals, and advisors beneath the brass dome of the Imperial Council Chamber.
Each representative spoke:
Minister of Industry: "We must prioritize repairing the rail. Without it, our heartland cannot breathe."
General Orlov: "No! We must crush the rebels first, or the rail will simply fall again."
Catherine's proxy: "A surgical strike against their leaders. Swift, silent."
Chief Engineer Volkov: "Give me ten days. I'll build you a locomotive that can cross rivers without a bridge."
Mikhail listened. Weighed. Calculated.
Finally, he spoke.
"We will do all of it. At once."
[New Policy Unlocked: Simultaneous Front Doctrine] [Resource Allocation: Split 40/30/30 – Infrastructure / Military Suppression / Intelligence]
A proclamation echoed across the empire:
By decree of the Iron Tsar, sabotage is treason. Treason is death.
Recruitment offices opened for a new special division: The Imperial Cipher Corps, charged with counterintelligence, sabotage response, and internal policing.
[Unit Created: Cipher Corps – Status: Prototype | Efficiency: 67%]
Factories shifted production toward mobile armored trains—steel beasts designed to patrol and secure railways under threat.
[Technology Research: Armored Trains | Progress: 5%]
Even as the gears turned, the flames spread.
Three provinces declared "Autonomous Free Zones," rejecting Mikhail's authority.
And in Kazan, a hidden bomb ripped apart the Imperial Archives, destroying priceless research.
Blood dripped onto blueprints. Ash covered manifestos.
Yet Mikhail's resolve only hardened.
He penned a secret order, dispatched under utmost secrecy to the head of the Cipher Corps:
"Find their leaders. Find their families. Find their dreams. And burn them all."
The Empire of Gears would not be undone by mere fire.
He would answer ashes with iron.