The first blood of 834 came later than usual.
It happened on April 1, 834 of the Common Era. This universe didn't have April Fools' Day, after all, and the mighty Holy Galactic Empire certainly wasn't going to worry that launching a full-scale attack on such a day might seem undignified.
Even now, however, construction on the Galactic Empire's fortress at Seder was nowhere near completion. The colossal fortress, which could rival Skykeep, had only finished the assembly and closure of its first structural layer. It looked like a massive cross floating in space—impressive, to be sure, but also awfully fragile.
Under the circumstances, everyone in Seder Fortress's upper ranks, Yu Lian included, figured that unless something unexpected happened, the enemy wouldn't launch a full-scale attack until sometime after June.
Of course, they couldn't rule out the possibility that the Imperial fleet would start provoking them first. Now that the enemy's third Titan had arrived, their forces were steadily growing, and their efforts to establish a foothold were beginning to bear fruit, that possibility was becoming more likely by the day. And considering that the newly arrived Titan, supposedly called the Sky Dragon, had greeted them with a full broadside the moment it showed up, Yu Lian even suspected that its commander wasn't quite right in the head.
It later turned out that the Titan's owner was the new king of the Soren, Yuent, who had just turned twenty.
That alone was proof enough.
"Understandable. Plenty of people haven't even outgrown their rebellious phase by the time they're thirty. Being a rebellious twenty-year-old is perfectly normal." Yu Lian said, "Still, with someone so young and influential added to the front lines, we should adjust our defenses."
"You mean the Empire is going to attack ahead of schedule?" Admiral Sylvester asked.