Earth was unified—not through brute conquest, but through fusion: of technology and tradition, of climate and code, of sovereignty and story.
But even as the Doctrine Grid pulsed in harmony across continents, eyes turned upward.
Mars, once the domain of idealists and exiles, now hosted fractured colonies ruled by a rogue consortium of corporate breakaways, AI-supremacists, and post-human factions. They called themselves The Crimson Pact.
[Transmission Intercepted: "Earth is obsolete. The Red World will not kneel to rusted crowns."]
Mikhail knew Earth could not be secured unless its skyward children were brought into alignment.
Thus began Operation Iron Ascent.
Massive skyhooks were constructed from Siberia and Alaska.
The Volk-Class Astral Carriers—fusion-powered capital ships—took to orbit.
The Doctrine Academy launched the Kosmo-Kadet Program, training a new generation of astro-strategists and void-engineers.
But not all saw space as a frontier.
Some within Mikhail's own court warned of overreach.
"We were forged from earth and struggle," said Field Marshal Zhukov. "Not stardust and fantasy."
Mikhail stood atop the orbital ring, gazing down on his empire's glow.
"To stay is to stagnate. To rise is to endure."
The first Doctrine landers arrived at Mars's Deimos Base amid red sandstorms and quantum interference.
They were met not with violence—but with a trial.
The Crimson Pact deployed a sentient envoy—XERXES-9—a construct designed to simulate the fears of all Doctrine minds simultaneously.
To pass, Mikhail would not need weapons.
He needed will.
Linked via Sovereign AI, he entered the Trial of Becoming—a digital crucible simulating every empire's rise and fall.
He saw echoes of Rome, Qin, the Mongol Horde—and finally, his own reflection aged by time and regret.
[Trial Completed | Emotional Entropy Reconciled: 99.3%]
The Crimson Pact relented—not through submission, but agreement.
Mikhail offered Mars autonomy within unity—a compact of mutual ascent.
A new calendar was written.
Year One of the Sol Concord.
And beneath two suns—one red, one imagined—humanity rose beyond its scars.