For all his victories, the Middle East remained Mikhail's most delicate ambition.
It was not merely oil that drew his eye—it was history, prophecy, and power long buried under sand and sect.
The region had fractured long before the rise of the Consortium, torn apart by foreign interference, theocratic regimes, and rival dynasties. Now, it burned again—tribal skirmishes in Mesopotamia, holy site bombings in Jerusalem, and drone proxy wars waged over Yemen.
[Regional Stability Index: -65% | Oil Flow Disruption Risk: Critical]
The Iron Doctrine had adherents in Iran, Lebanon, and parts of Syria. But Saudi Arabia remained an enigma—its royal family fragmented, its military outdated, and its ultraconservative clerics fiercely resistant.
So Mikhail came not with armies—but with miracles of steel.
He arrived in Riyadh aboard the sky-dreadnought Volchitsa, descending like a comet cloaked in gold and crimson banners.
"Do not greet me as a conqueror," he said to the assembled House of Saud remnants. "Greet me as the future's architect."
He offered them something none had dared: transformation without erasure.
A deal to maintain the Custodianship of Mecca and Medina, under Doctrine security guarantees.
Economic reformation through Doctrine Petro-Fusion, a process that converted surplus oil into high-density energy substrates.
Tribal autonomy zones with integrated tech-hubs and autonomous educational systems.
A transition plan for women into science, governance, and defense roles, tailored to avoid cultural rebellion.
[System Module: Cultural Acclimation Suite – Activated]
The Doctrine-backed Arabian Concord began to form—a confederated model blending tradition with technocracy.
Yet deep beneath the Rub' al Khali, the Empty Quarter, a hidden citadel awakened.
It was an ancient Consortium outpost: ARK-9—built decades ago beneath the sands, housing a core of psychotronic weaponry and mind-altering broadcast technology.
Their goal: destabilize the Doctrine's neural data grid and reignite the Sunni-Shia divide.
Mikhail deployed Cognitive Shield Teams and elite doctrinal psych-ops.
He entered ARK-9 himself, not as emperor, but as The Anchor—a symbol of grounding amid chaos.
[Neural Sync Achieved | Consortium Signal Suppression: 98.7%]
The battle was not of bullets—but of symbols, narratives, and inherited fears.
And Mikhail won.
The ARK-9 core was repurposed into a Neuro-Harmonic Shrine, transmitting Doctrine harmony pulses across the region.
[Middle East Stability: +41% | Arabian Concord Formalized | Oil Network Secured under Doctrine Grid]
As the sun set over the dunes, Mikhail stood in the Great Mosque's outer courtyard, surrounded by imams, engineers, and tribal leaders.
"Your faith is not your weakness," he said. "It is your compass. Let it point to the stars."
And the Crescent, once fractured, began to forge itself anew under the shadow of the Iron Banner.