July 5th, 1710
At the age of 81, Vijay became the longest-serving Emperor in the history of the world. He had ruled over the Bharatiya Empire for more than half a century, and given that he had practically founded the empire from a small south subcontinental kingdom and raised it into a global superpower with no competition in sight, his experience was nothing short of legendary.
Emperor Vijay officially abdicated his throne in July of 1710, sending shockwaves throughout the empire. For the people of Bharat, the existence of Emperor Vijay Devaraya, their Rajyapathy, Prajapati, was like a backbone. With His Majesty Vijay at the helm, they had no troubles; their lives were happy and fulfilling, but now that His Majesty had suddenly abdicated, they couldn't sit still.
As hundreds of millions of people poured into the streets, demonstrations broke out throughout the empire, with people holding banners and pleading with Vijay not to abdicate, to continue to look after them as he always had, like his own children. Spontaneously, people began setting off toward the capital by whatever means possible, determined to plead with their beloved emperor no matter the cost. It was as if the imperial capital, Bengaluru, had become the centre of a black hole, drawing people in from every corner of the empire, from Tibet in the north, Anuradha Puri in the south, Balochistan in the west, and Ahom in the east.
Even across the eastern hemisphere, upon learning that the greatest emperor, a man second only to God, was abdicating, people set off as well. Among these multitudes were ordinary civilians wishing to return to their homeland and plead with their emperor, alongside doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, engineers, and artists, people of every kind who had benefited, directly or indirectly, from the policies of Vijay, the emperor of the Bharatiya Empire. It even included people from the vassal kingdoms, whether of the Ranavikrama Dynasty or the Senapati Dynasty, all of whom set off toward the Bharatiya Empire.
Agni knew that his father's influence was most probably the greatest in the world, but still, after witnessing this series of events, his heart palpitated. Ever since he was born, he had carried a burden of expectation from his parents and expectations from his relatives, and when he decided to become an emperor as a teenager, his burdens only became heavier. As years passed by, the weight of his burdens only continued to increase, but he had constantly improved himself because he knew that he could not take on the responsibility of becoming an emperor if he was not ready enough to bear the burdens that came with it.
He thought he was ready; he thought he had been fully prepared, but only now, witnessing the adoration his father received from people across the world, did he realise that he could never be fully prepared for the role he was about to take on. Compared to the pressures he was feeling now, the burdens of the past looked almost laughable. The things he did previously, including acting as a substitute for his father, looked almost easy.
But he had already spent half of his life preparing for one purpose: to carry his father's mantle. He was 54 now. There was no going back; besides, he did not want to either.
He immediately took action and blockaded the entire capital, freezing all forms of incoming transportation. Right after that, he personally mobilised the police force throughout certain parts of the empire and immediately assigned them to maintain order in Bengaluru.
With so many measures taken, no problems arose, and Vijay gave a final speech to the people of the Bharatiya Empire right in front of the 100-metre Shrirama statue at the parade grounds, right in front of the everlasting flame that had stayed lit for over three decades.
By the end of the Emperor's speech, everyone was in tears. His Majesty the Emperor had given his whole life to the empire and his people; it was finally time to relieve His Majesty of his burdens.
The last thing Vijay did as an emperor, on official terms, was to monitor the election from the sidelines. The special function of the Election Nobility and Examination Commission, a special unit within the Imperial Committee, was finally put to use, holding the imperial election, an election to choose the next emperor for the Bharatiya Empire among the eligible candidates.
The Observer of the empire used her executive privileges for the first time and brought over 80% of the entire military power currently within the empire under control. She also took over civil servants from the Ministry of Special Affairs and other ministries with a lot of manpower and directed the human resources for voting locations across the empire.
The military was naturally needed to stand guard in each of the voting booths. Subsequently, all the intelligence departments across the empire were fully mobilised and were put on high alert in order to catch any insider deals between the military and criminals. Unknown to anyone, behind all this, Vijay had mobilised his Asura special forces and secret service to monitor the higher echelons of the Election Nobility and Examination Commission 24/7.
The candidates eligible were only four: Agni Devaraya, Vaibhav Krishnamurthy, Lavanga Sinha, and Anand Binoy.
Apart from Agni Devaraya, the rest were newly promoted titled Kings, two for their exploits in the military and the other for their contributions to the scientific field.
Without any surprise, all three contenders gave up the right to become the emperor and chose to opt for founding their own dynasties overseas, whether in Africa or the Americas. With their withdrawal, the election simply became a farce before it could even begin. Right on the day of the election, the winner was declared throughout the empire, and Agni Devaraya inherited the throne from his father.
The news was not enough to erase the gloomy mood the people were in due to the abdication of their beloved emperor, but it was still enough to cheer them up.
August 4th, 1710
The ascension ceremony was officially held, and Agni was crowned as the Emperor of the Bharatiya Empire and sat on the throne built single-handedly by his father.
Right after abdicating, Vijay retreated to the backstage area, no longer in the public eye. He spent most of his time with his wife and in the Rocket Project at the Bharatiya Space Research Organisation.
March 1711
The emergency was lifted, and the process of handing over the property officially began.
The Panama Canal was finally completed, and there was now a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean right in the middle of the two American continents.
Only a month later, all the car and tractor manufacturers announced that they would be developing new-generation products powered by internal combustion engines.
The President of the International Federation of Mobility, Garuda Paoli, officially declared in a press conference that the rules of F1 would change, and starting next season, the very first one after a decade of hiatus, would be a competition where cars powered by internal combustion engines would be participating.
January 1712
The recession brought by the sudden halt in military supplies demand hit the empire's economy hard, reducing it by several percent.
Thankfully, in the upcoming months, interest rates were cut, pro-business policies were adopted, and the civilian economy absorbed the damage, discarded the old technologies, and once again came to the forefront as the driver of the Bharatiya Empire's economy.
Automobile manufacturing became the engine of the Empire's industrial growth as several car and truck manufacturers finally came out with civilian cars and trucks.
The conflicts in the Americas between the natives who survived and the Europeans who were left behind became more intense, and Agni started to shift his sight onto the Americas and set the game for the future.
October 1712
The second-generation Garuda Aero engine was developed, and a new generation military reconnaissance plane was born. Subsequently, the first civilian aeroplane operator, Rama Aeronautics, founded by Rama Devaraya, the son of Agni, was established. Its primary purpose was to map out the topology and fly advertisements in the air.
July 1714
20 Ramachandra-class dreadnoughts were officially commissioned for the Bharatiya Navy to maintain peace and dominance across the globe, while also getting rid of the older wooden battleships and warships, converting them into merchant vessels and selling them at low prices.
September 1718
Empress Kavya Devaraya, a beloved figure across the empire and a legendary novelist who brought forward so many works, finally passed away.
A grand procession spanning 50 kilometres was held, and Vijay finally appeared in front of the public, looking much older, causing the sadness of the people to increase tenfold.
January 1719
Europe paid nearly 90% of the reparations, and they had managed to rebuild their nations, but sadly, it looked like the slaughter for dominance had begun.
Not missing the opportunity, Agni sold off all the older declassified tech systems to the Europeans, while also keeping an eye on the countries in the non-alignment movement.
That year, the electronic revolution also kicked off, and the electrification of everything had begun.
In the blink of an eye, five more years passed, and it was 1724.
Vijay, 95, had lost all the strength he had in his body, and he could no longer move around as he used to, but that did not matter because what was in front of him was a majestic rocket built to take on the skies. Maybe due to his nostalgia or maybe in order to find a connection with his past life, he had named the vessel SSLV, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, and its load, the very first satellite of the world, Parashuram I, which contained nothing but a simple radio transmitter hooked up to a battery that could be picked up by antennas across the empire in the eastern hemisphere.
Sounds of various people echoed in the Devaraya Launch Centre. Researchers and scientists hurried around doing final confirmations, lights were blinking across the control room as gas was flowing out of the rocket body, and finally, the countdown began.
Vijay's cloudy eyes brightened, and he stood up, looking at the rocket with great intensity.
"3....2.....1....."
The engines roared into life and spewed out flames at great force.
"Takeoff normal."
Updates began to come one after another, and like a ladder to heaven, the rocket shot into the skies, leaving behind a streak. Now, hours later, a flaming fireball could be seen. It was a rocket coming back down, and a few researchers in the command room were worried because the rocket's mission was not to stay up in the sky permanently; it was only to deliver a package.
"Hahah, we got a signal, it's Parashuram One, we did it, we put a satellite in the sky."
Everyone broke out in joy, and Vijay, as if his last obsession had been fulfilled, let out a deep breath and sat down.
"You did it, father."
Vijay looked at his son, who had become an old man, and smiled.
"Agni, I will leave the rest to you, look after my people and the empire."
Emperor Agni was taken aback because he could see the aura of his father flicker as if it were about to disappear at any moment. His eyes became moist as he understood what it meant, and sure enough, only a week later, when the world was in awe of the ability of the Bharatiya Empire to put a man-made object into space, news broke that the greatest emperor the world had ever seen, Vijay Devaraya, had passed peacefully in his sleep.
The day he died, the old men came out of their homes with tears in their eyes, and riots broke out throughout the nation. The various opponents Vijay had made throughout his governance suddenly stood up and started to cause trouble, but Agni used bloody means to suppress all the troubles, butchering over 100,000 people and sending off his father in a grand procession accompanied by more than five million people.
Vijay might have had idealistic goals in the beginning of his journey; he might have wanted not to shed unnecessary blood, but throughout his journey, he realised his naivety, his hypocrisy, and his faults. He accepted all of it, grew stronger, and finally achieved what he set out to achieve, making his homeland strong.
Due to the change he brought to the timeline, the importance placed on technology was far greater than in his past life. Due to this, by the year 2000, the Bharatiya Empire had already figured out how to warm up Mars in a sustainable way, how to extract its resources, and how to develop it to become habitable in only 100 years.
By 2100, the Bharatiya Empire, still strong after withstanding the attacks from the combined might of the United European Empire and the non-alignment countries, finally became a multi-planet empire.
A 1000-foot statue of Vijay was carved directly out of a large mountain on Mars and officially became the centre of the whole planet, and Bharat, once again absorbing the resources from the losers, set a foundation to become a galactic empire in the hands of the ruthless empress known as the Iron Lady of the Devaraya Family, Rudra Maharani Devaraya, a ruthless woman who rose from the bottom of the inheritance sequence of the Devaraya family.
P.S. Read the testimonialsππ
