With the monsoon bringing the first rainfall of the Imperial Calendar year 560, the vast plains of the Newly Reclaimed Land regained their vitality once more.
New grass sprouted beside fallen leaves, cloaking the earth in a thin layer of green; pine and oak trees unfurled tender shoots, giving the forest an entirely distinct hue.
Even deep within the still snow-clad Jinding Mountains, swathes of pale-yellow blossoms braved the frost, blooming first on the white wasteland.
Yet, the arrival of spring did nothing to alter the fate of those living on this land; their lives were instead overshadowed by the looming clouds of a new war.
The Maplestone City Incident ended in an overwhelmingly tragic fashion: General Adams took his own life in martyrdom, and a large number of New Reclamation Legion officers were either killed in combat or executed, with only those who surrendered immediately spared.
