The day after the speech of the emperor of the Ruthenia Empire, newspapers around the world printed hundreds of copies of the announcement for the people to see.

Headlines like Ruthenian Launch the First Artificial Moon, Ruthenian Fires Earth Satellite Into Space, It is Circling Around the World at 18,000 Miles Per Hour. Sphere Tracked in Four Crossings Over U.S. Ruthenian Conquered Space sent chills down to the citizens of not only the United States but also the Britannians, Deutschlands, and Francois.

Every night, people would go outside their homes and look up to the sky where they see a streak of light passing along the night sky. People noticed the speed of the satellite, and they claimed that it just passed right over them for two or three seconds.

Now, everyone feared that Ruthenians have developed a special weapon for it like it will drop bombs from space. With their nation having no protection over such a weapon can only accept their fate.

Upon this declaration, the ten great powers of the world were prompted to make a response by building a group of brilliant minds that will make an artificial moon in the hope to rival Ruthenian domination over the realm of space.

The United States, the Britannia Empire, Deutschland Empire, and the Francois Republic were the first to make an effort to build their space programs. But everyone knew that they wouldn’t build one overnight. It will take years of investment and determination to accomplish what the Ruthenians had.

To put it into perspective, in a one-hundred-meter dash race. Ruthenian is already at seventy whereas the rest were in 20 or 30. Though that doesn’t mean they have no chance of winning. Even in the direst condition, a comeback is possible. But the chances of it happening is less than four or three percent.

There’s no man in the world who is happier right now than Alexander. Who was being debriefed by Sevastian.

“That concludes my report, Your Majesty,” Sevastian closed the file he was holding.

“Those four countries are sure to be reactive. One day had just passed and they were already planning on building their own space program. Talk about speedy progress. Well, we can’t be complacent. Even for us who have the infrastructure, building a rocket that will reach the moon will take about three or five years give or take,” Alexander said.

He already had an idea in mind about what rocket he is going to build to reach space. That would be the ones the United States used to transport three astronauts to space. The Apollo rocket.

He had seen the blueprints of the Apollo rocket by buying a copy from NASA. He thought it would be good to copy the same design rather than build a completely new one. Now the problem he is facing right now is that he is having a hard time remembering every detail, resulting in him filling out the void using his expertise in mechanical and aeronautical engineering.

Alexander tapped the end of the pen to his table, producing a sharp tap sound as he did so.

“Your Majesty, you seem to be in deep thought,” Sevastian noticed.

Alexander blinked for a few moments before returning his gaze to the person in front of him. “I am doing some calculations in my mind for the rocket, don’t mind me. Do you have anything to report?”

“Uhm…Yes, Your Majesty. It’s about the commercial policy that we implemented. The moment it went green, orders began to flood in several companies, including yours, the Imperial Dynamic Systems.”

“That is true,” Alexander confirmed. “Everyone wants to get a piece of our technology so we will give them a lesser version. I have prepared my company for this and started producing export models. Even if they acquire, for example, fighter jets, they will still be dependent on us because we are the only ones producing spare parts,” he chuckled. “Are there any other reports besides that?”

“There is the last one, Your Majesty. Remember the Grand Duchy of Finland referendum? Where it allowed people living within the realm to vote whether to break away from the Empire and achieve independence or stay with the Empire?” Sevastian asked.

“Yeah…the memory is as clear as day. The Finnish people voted yes, though, didn’t they?” Alexander questioned and continued. “But something about it is contrived.”

“Yes, an overwhelming majority, Your Majesty. Not to mention the fact that they omit such a referendum to the Imperial Council. So, the referendum was nullified and was ordered to take a referendum again but under the condition that Ruthenia officials would oversee the voting.” Sevastian said.

“Since you brought that up, are you saying that you have the results of the vote?” Alexander brought his hands together and rested them atop his desk.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The result is the opposite. 20 percent of the Finns voted for independence while 80 percent said they are satisfied to be part of the Ruthenia Empire. I must assume that they don’t want to lose the perks of being Ruthenian citizens,” Sevastian let out a chuckle.

“What was the statement of the government of Finland about this? Are they satisfied or not?”

“They are yet to give their statement about the vote. Though, even if the results stayed the same as the last one, I don’t think the Imperial Council would let Finland become independent. The reason is the confidence of them working harmoniously with the Ruthenia Empire is low, especially after the incident where a Finnish general conspired with the Black Hand to illegally smuggle Ruthenian military vehicles out of the country,” Sevastian said.

Alexander rose to his feet and turned around to face the window. He looked out the window for a while watching as the snow gently fell lightly onto the Palace grounds. His hands rested over the windowsill feeling the cold wind permeating through it.

“The Finnish General, well he is already dead so I guess his crimes were paid off anyway. Okay, our problem currently is the Civil War in the Han Dynasty. We are certain that the Empress will abdicate the throne and pave the way for a new government system. We have to make sure that the Nationalists will win the civil war. After that, we can shift our attention to the Black Sea where we will have to deal with the Anatolia Empire. The sick man of Europe is getting exploited by the Deutschland Empire. Not even the Deutschland Empire wanted to ally themselves with them as they considered them a burden rather than an advantage. We should take advantage of it and seize control over the Bosphorus Straits. Once it happens, there’s no blocking our warships from crossing into the Mediterranean Sea.”