Petrograd awoke to a new morning—and a new order.
The printing presses thundered across the Empire. Newspapers, manifestos, and proclamation pamphlets flooded cities, towns, and rural hamlets.
Each bore the sigil of the double-headed eagle now fused with a cogwheel—the emblem of the Iron Tsar.
[National Edict: The Iron Doctrine – Status: Implemented]
The Doctrine was more than policy. It was a blueprint for civilization.
Tenets of the Iron Doctrine:
Unity Through Progress – The Empire is one, indivisible body, advancing together through technological enlightenment.
Strength Over Stagnation – Weakness is the seed of collapse. Strength—military, industrial, intellectual—is the only security.
Merit Above Blood – Nobility must now earn their station through innovation, contribution, and loyalty.
Knowledge as Power – The Imperial Institute governs education, standardizes innovation, and shapes ideology.
Empire Eternal – Russia is the steward of humanity's future—its borders defined not by geography, but by destiny.
[System Integration Complete: Doctrine Codified – Loyalty Rating +35%]
The reaction was immediate.
In universities, student unions swore fealty to the new ideology, eager for advancement. In factories, workers cheered the elevation of skill over class. In the military, generals purged reactionaries and old nobles unwilling to adapt.
[National Efficiency Increased | Internal Dissent Decreased]
But the Iron Doctrine was not universally embraced.
In Paris, pamphlets decried Mikhail as the new Attila. In London, debates raged in Parliament over whether the Tsar was a tyrant or a visionary. In Constantinople, the Ottomans declared a holy fatwa against the "blasphemous science cult" of Russia.
[Global Tension: Elevated to Crisis Level – War Imminent]
Mikhail remained unmoved.
From the Imperial Throne—no longer a gold chair but a reinforced steel seat engraved with cipher-scripts—he addressed his nation.
The speech was transmitted via radio towers, type-telegraph, and even mechanical voiceboxes embedded in town halls.
[Broadcast Protocol: Echo of Iron – Live Transmission]
"Let the world call us monsters, machines, heretics. Let them rage against the future. We will build it regardless."
"We are no longer merely Russian. We are the Empire of Iron. A people forged by adversity, tempered by wisdom, and driven by vision."
He ended with the new national motto:
"Through Steam and Steel, We Rise."
The people roared.
And far beyond the Russian borders, others listened—some in fear. Some in envy. And some in secret admiration.
[New Ideological Movement Detected in Bavaria, Persia, and Korea – Possible Allies or Rivals?]
As Arc 2 closes, the map of the world has changed—not just in borders, but in spirit.
A new force has entered history.
One not of divine right or popular vote.
But of purpose, intellect, and iron.