After the nations made their respective positions in the War in Heaven clear, war did not break out immediately. Instead, the situation settled into an eerie silence.
Although their fleets were stationed along the borders closest to their enemies, none showed any sign of advancing. The two Awakened Empires said nothing, focusing entirely on restoring production and building fleets.
The storm was brewing, bringing joy to some and dread to others.
The Habinte Unified Worlds had it hardest. They had only just ended their years-long war with the Starfish Republic. Their people were destitute, their economy had been driven back to rock bottom, and they still had loans from the Human Empire to repay. Now, as the northernmost neutral nation, they faced even greater pressure than the United Nations of Earth.
Fortunately, the Starfish Republic understood the danger neutral nations faced. They sent an envoy to Habinte, explaining that their fates were linked and promising that Starfish would guarantee Habinte's safety.
Neutral nations inevitably began banding together for protection.
In Cosmic Era 2300, the second battle of the War in Heaven broke out.
A main fleet from the Rixi Reconquest Empire encountered one from the Phethisia Arbitrator Empire at the Human Empire's border, triggering the second major clash between the two Awakened Empires since the War in Heaven began.
But Rixi was no longer what it had been. With Xi Yan's covert support, they had finally abandoned those damned kinetic artillery weapons and switched to the arc, carrier, and missile setup enthusiastically recommended by the Fourth Calamity, greatly improving their combat strength.
This was an extraordinary achievement in the entire history of the Militant Isolationists. With their weapons configuration changed, they could unleash far greater power.
Leaving wreckage strewn across the battlefield, both fleets fought desperately to the very end.