Progress creates pressure.
Pressure reveals fractures.
And fractures decide whether steel bends—or breaks.
Cracks Beneath the Surface
Pune's central assembly hall was louder than ever.
Industrial output had doubled in a year.
Rail mileage expanded weekly.
Combustion engines rolled off hidden production lines.
Yet inside the newly formed Federal Advisory Council, voices were rising.
A merchant representative slammed his palm on the table.
"You control fuel production, steel distribution, and rail priority. Private trade is suffocating."
A provincial ruler added coldly,
"You speak of federation, Arjun Rao. But factories answer only to you."
Silence followed.
Arjun absorbed every word.
He had centralized power to accelerate growth.
But acceleration always strained balance.
The British Move
In Calcutta, Lord Alistair Graves received confirmation from London.
New high-explosive shells had passed testing.
Designed specifically to penetrate iron armor.
Manufactured under contracts tied to firms that once supplied the British East India Company before Crown consolidation.
The plan was simple:
One decisive naval demonstration.
Destroy the Iron Lotus in open waters.
Break the myth of invincibility.
Shatter confidence.
"Steel inspires," Graves murmured.
"But shattered steel terrifies."
Internal Tensions Rise
Back in Bombay, labor unrest brewed.
Factory workers demanded:
-Safer conditions
-Profit participation
-Defined work hours
Industrial pace had been relentless.
Arjun had improved safety after sabotage.
But scale had outgrown oversight.
Meera warned him quietly.
"If workers feel exploited, Britain won't need to attack."
Iqbal added,
"Discontent spreads faster than telegraphs."
Arjun stared at production charts.
He understood something deeply:
Industrial revolutions fail not because of enemies—
But because systems outrun society.
The Naval Demonstration
The British fleet returned.
This time, not to blockade.
To provoke.
HMS Valiant anchored within visible range of Bombay.
A diplomatic message followed:
Naval exercise demonstration of new artillery capability.
Translation:
Witness your vulnerability.
Against advice, Arjun sailed Iron Lotus outward to observe.
Distance maintained.
Cannons positioned.
The British ship fired.
The shell arced high.
It struck a decommissioned iron barge placed deliberately offshore.
The explosion was different.
Sharper.
Brighter.
The iron hull tore open like paper.
Shock rippled across Indian sailors.
Arjun's jaw tightened.
The era of thick plating alone was ending.
The Silent Panic
Back in dock, engineers spoke in hushed tones.
"If that shell hits us—"
"We lose the fleet."
Confidence trembled.
And Graves knew it.
He did not attack.
He withdrew.
Psychological warfare complete.
Arjun's Realization
That night, Arjun gathered his top engineers.
"No more reactive upgrades."
He spread new schematics.
"Layered armor. Compartmentalization. Shock-absorbing interior framing."
He paused.
"And we accelerate research into… alternative propulsion."
Meera blinked.
"Already?"
"Yes."
He pointed at the combustion engine models.
"Steam gave birth to this era. Combustion defines it."
He lowered his voice.
"But electricity will surpass both."
The room fell silent.
Electric propulsion experiments had been theoretical.
Now they would become priority.
Political Reform Under Fire
Simultaneously, Arjun enacted something unprecedented.
Worker representation seats formally added to the Federal Council.
Transparent wage structures.
Industrial accident tribunals.
Profit-sharing pilot programs in select factories.
Not charity.
Stability engineering.
Merchants resisted.
Some princes grumbled.
But unrest slowed.
Because participation replaced resentment.
Graves' Frustration
Reports reached Calcutta.
Instead of collapsing—
Arjun adapted.
Instead of fracture—
He integrated.
Graves frowned for the first time.
"This man learns too quickly."
He turned to his aide.
"Prepare contingency measures."
"Military?"
"No."
He stared at a map of northern India.
"Cultural."
Seeds of Division
Pamphlets began appearing in certain regions.
Whispers amplified old rivalries.
Selective funding directed toward factions resistant to centralized industrial governance.
If steel would not crack—
Society might.
Graves understood history.
Empires fall slower when enemies divide themselves.
Arjun's Moment of Doubt
Late at night, alone in his study, Arjun stared at blueprints scattered across his desk.
Tanks.
Engines.
Electrical coils.
Rail expansions.
Governance charters.
He had compressed decades into years.
But compression increased volatility.
He whispered to himself:
"Am I building resilience…"
"…or pressure?"
Outside, the faint hum of generators filled the air.
India was no longer asleep.
But awakening civilizations experience growing pains.
And enemies exploit pain.
Final Scene
On the western horizon, British ships remained visible—silent reminders of escalating stakes.
In northern provinces, subtle tensions stirred.
In laboratories, electrical experiments sparked erratically.
The next phase would not be decided by cannons alone.
It would be decided by unity.
And unity—
Was harder to engineer than steel.
As dawn broke over Pune, Arjun received a coded message from Meera:
"Intercepted communication suggests coordinated unrest within two months."
He folded the note slowly.
External war had forged strength.
Internal fracture would test survival.
The engines roared on.
But now—
The battle moved inside.
To be continued in Chapter 19: Divide and Rule