Early Arrival

Time continued to pass.

Soon, the promised day of war would arrive.

To be precise, the "day" itself was only two hours away.

The atmosphere in the Military Hub was thick with tension, a mix of anxiety and steeled resolve. Security had been heightened to the extreme—so much so that we couldn't even leave the premises to continue our practice anymore.

But more than that—

"So many ships..." Eva muttered, gazing out the lobby's window.

She wasn't wrong.

With the war imminent, the entire Standing Army of the Astoria Conglomerate was mobilizing. The thousands of ships stationed around this Military Hub were no more than 1% of their total fleet—an overwhelming display of force meant to cover every corner of the Astoraxia-001 Star System.

Eva and Cassandra were trying to act casual, but I could tell they had already pieced together what was happening.

'I guess telling them now won't make much of a difference.'