The Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire, Southern Border.
Heritor system, Citadel.
As the Empire's gateway bordering the Starfish Republic, the Heritor system and the three systems behind it had all been fortified with impregnable Citadels. In addition, vast numbers of energy arc gun emplacements were evenly distributed throughout the enormous expanse of space within each star's gravitational field.
This was the Empire's impregnable border stronghold. Over the years, the Empire's borders had become firmly fixed, and all the unclaimed star systems in the Milky Way Galaxy had been divided up. The Empire had therefore begun a massive infrastructure program.
The border systems in the south, where war was most likely to break out, were filled with top-tier Citadels. Shipyards and anchorages were interspersed throughout them, while portions of the nanomachine Ecumenopolis were also set aside for defensive fortifications.
The entire southern region had been forged into a seamless super-defensive line. To the Starfish in the south, it was an insurmountable barrier.
Over the past ten years, friction between the Empire and the Starfish Republic had steadily increased. Amid their dispute over the Dacha system, both sides had massed troops on the border, facing off across a single hyperlane.
That day, an immense fleet entered the Heritor system.
The sensors the Starfish had deployed along the border immediately detected a flood of signals. Almost instantly, they observed countless Whisper Escorts pouring into the Heritor system, with more than a dozen Paradox Titans leading the way.
This was undoubtedly one of humanity's main fleets, and it immediately put the Starfish Republic on edge.
Were the humans going to war?
The Starfish reacted at once, mobilizing their fleets to defend their home systems.
However, this was merely a military exercise planned by Xi Yan-or rather, an exercise combined with the Colossus