In a militaristic empire where war mages are prized and steam knights celebrated, Mikolai reluctantly signed up to be a steam suit mechanic to avoid conscription into the regular infantry. In this world, magical talent is rare, precious, and a pathway into the nobility. But Mikolai is a peasant from a small farming village with simple ambitions: Stay alive and do the right thing. When an unfortunate accident leads to Mikolai's assignment to a special task force commanded by the notorious war mage Ognyan Spitignov, surviving with a clean conscience becomes very difficult. Ognyan's mission: To stamp out resistance to imperial rule in newly-conquered territory. However, Mikolai will try everything in his power to make the best of a bad situation - and he has more power than he realizes.