While the Imperial court descended into panicked recrimination and desperate orders for patricide, Maximilian was already deep into the next, crucial phase of his plan: solidifying his military and industrial supremacy. The terrifying obliteration of Fort Astra had granted Valum a critical, invaluable window of security, and Max used every single moment of it to realize his vision of mobile warfare and personal power. He viewed the Imperial paralysis not as a victory to celebrate, but as wasted time if he failed to capitalize on the momentary terror.
In the massive, newly constructed Central Forge—a colossal complex of steel and glass serviced by the smooth, black expanse of the new asphalt roads—the roar of sophisticated combustion engines now competed with the relentless clang of steel being worked by hydraulic presses. Max had directed his chief engineering teams to prioritize the completion of three critical prototype vehicles, all fundamentally fueled by the abundant oil refined in the Scofield facilities. This triumvirate of machines represented the genesis of a truly modern, mobile army, capable of moving faster and with more sustained power than any cavalry regiment or steam wagon train in the Empire's history.
The first prototype completed was a rugged, slow-moving Traction Engine, or Tractor. It was a beast of a machine, designed not for immediate combat, but as an indispensable industrial powerhouse. Built with massive, heavy steel frames and large, deep-treaded steel wheels, it was a workhorse intended to pull immense loads of iron ore from the remote mines and massive logs of timber from the remote forests, completely replacing dozens of slow, inefficient draught animals. Its simple, durable, single-cylinder combustion engine proved that Valum could apply its oil power to the essential processes of peacetime industry, further cementing social order among the workers and exponentially boosting the flow of raw materials necessary for the war machine. This tractor symbolized the core of Max's philosophy: power applied to logistics was the ultimate force multiplier. Its success meant the material flow to the Central Forge would become constant and reliable, regardless of weather or season.
The second prototype, deemed the "Supply Hauler," was a medium-sized, four-wheeled Truck. Designed explicitly for speed and capacity, it was built low to the ground and utilized large rubber tires for maximum grip and speed on the new asphalt arterial roads. This vehicle, Max knew, was the true logistical core of the future army, capable of delivering vast amounts of ammunition, food, replacement parts, and, crucially, refined fuel to the front lines faster than any Imperial courier or traditional steam wagon. Max's greatest frustration with feudal armies was their reliance on slow, animal-based supply chains that collapsed under pressure. The Supply Hauler ensured his future ground forces would never run out of the necessary resources to keep fighting, allowing sustained, aggressive maneuvers deep into enemy territory.
The most revolutionary military prototype, however, was the Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). This machine was the first true harbinger of a fully motorized army. Built low to the ground and utilizing a heavy, six-wheel configuration for superior off-road capability, it was clad in thick, overlapping plates of reinforced steel salvaged from Imperial scrap yards and shaped in Valum's presses. Its primary purpose was not to engage the main lines of battle, but to swiftly and safely transport a squad of ten elite ISB or DEA agents directly into a hot zone or behind enemy lines. It utilized a slightly more powerful engine than the Hauler and featured a small, enclosed firing port for a crew-served machine gun. This APC was the tangible realization of Max's tactical doctrine: speed, protection, and rapid deployment across the entire continent, ensuring that Valum's special forces could strike anywhere, anytime.
Away from the deafening, industrial noise of the Central Forge, in a highly secured, mana-shielded laboratory deep beneath the foundations of Scofield Castle, Max dedicated his personal time to a project far more advanced, delicate, and entirely personal: Project Shadow, a prototype suit of ultimate personal armor.
Max's design inspiration for this armor came from the historical anecdotes and scientific principles of highly advanced, flexible combat gear, specifically focusing on the concept of a suit that could not only withstand damage but absorb kinetic energy and redistribute it as a weapon. He drew upon the legendary prowess of the Black Panther suit from his lost history—a suit that possessed both incredible flexibility and astonishing protective capabilities.
The core material of the suit was an exceptionally fine, proprietary weave of Adamantine threads, a legendary metal known in this world for its near-indestructibility and its compatibility with the arcane, which Max had painfully synthesized in liquid form and spun into ultra-thin, highly flexible fibers. This material alone provided unmatched kinetic protection, but Max's true genius lay in its seamless integration with the arcane energy of this world.
To achieve the suit's incredible, reactive functionality, Max used Liquid Mana. He pumped highly refined, concentrated mana—a liquid that glowed faintly with raw, stable power—through a dense network of micro-capillaries woven directly into the Adamantine fabric. This infrastructure allowed the entire suit to function as a unified, reactive, and instantly responsive magical capacitor and conducting array. This was the most challenging aspect, as liquid mana was notoriously unstable and difficult to contain under pressure. Max's unique application of cryogenic micro-pumps kept the liquid mana stable and flowing perfectly through the fine, non-clogging channels.
Max painstakingly etched thousands of microscopic, interlocking runes onto the surface of the Adamantine threads. These runes were not for casting spells but were engineered for energy conversion and storage. These runes were designed to:
Absorb Kinetic Energy: When the suit was struck (by a sword, a bullet, a cannonball, or a concussive spell), the runes instantly converted the kinetic energy and physical impact force into stored, condensed liquid mana potential. The harder the suit was struck, the more energy it stored, making the wearer functionally immune to conventional force.
Focus and Release: Max built a precise, mana-controlled release mechanism into the suit's gauntlets and knuckles. The wearer could instantly channel the stored energy into a focused, destructive beam through a single point on the palm, or, if the suit's internal mana storage capacity was nearing overload, the energy could be instantaneously and safely released in a wide, devastating concussive wave from the armor's surface. This made the suit both a perfect defense and a terrifying, reactive weapon system that used the enemy's own force against them.
The finished product, which Max slipped into and tested personally, was astonishing: a sleek, dark suit, flexible as cloth but stronger than a fortress wall. When the internal liquid mana flowed, the rune lines pulsed with a dim, vibrant violet light, ready to negate any attack and return the violence exponentially. This creation represented the ultimate hybrid of Max's two worlds: using cutting-edge material science (Adamantine threads) and advanced physics (kinetic energy conversion) to harness the very essence of this world (liquid mana) into a perfect tool of war. It was the ultimate protector and the most fearsome assassin—the logical evolution of the MSW-1 strike brought down to a single, man-sized package. Max, standing in the shielded lab, felt not just protected, but utterly and completely invincible. The terror of Fort Astra was now a wearable reality.
With the new mobile army prototypes built and tested on the new asphalt roads, and the Adamantine Suit complete, the forces of the old world were about to make their inevitable move. Max was ready for them to come to him, or for him to take the fight to them.