Stars No More

Starting that night, word of the incident began to spread. Even though the Alliance authorities were unable to issue a definitive announcement—just as the old chief of staff had anticipated—news regarding The KG, or rather, Major The Qing, still swept swiftly across the national front armies over the next two days and a night, and onward throughout the entire hidden world of source energy. It had all happened too quickly, too abruptly. In many places, people had only just begun discussing his astonishing feats atop Xilang Peak and his boundless glory upon being promoted straight to major at the All-Army Conference, debating whether the proper pronunciation was "The KG" or "The QG"... Yet the man they were discussing with such fervent passion had already streaked across the sky overhead like a meteor, vanishing into the darkness. "Stars no more." "The fall of a nascent legend." "The strongest recruit in history." "God Qing." People of different skin tones and tongues in every corner under the dome tried in their own ways and words to define him, to depict the dazzling, peerless performance he and his team had delivered over this fleeting single year. Among all these perspectives and definitions, there was one common thread: regret. Countless people mourned that Azure had lost a spark of hope that could have illuminated the future; some lamented that he had strayed beyond return. Girls mourned that they had never met him, wondering if perhaps dead iron could indeed melt. Geniuses lamented that they had never crossed blades with him; people in the City of Iniquity lamented the bounty placed on his head... And so, whether The KG and his people were truly dead, or whether they had merely gone into hiding to evade the Alphonse family's vengeance, became the biggest controversy in Azure's hidden world. Some were convinced they were dead, believing that any remaining hope was merely the denial of those unwilling to accept reality. Others firmly believed they were still alive and would surely return one day bearing the truth. Meanwhile, another major point of contention stirred within Azure, stemming from the rumors concerning the Alphonse family that were spreading at the same time. As the rumors propagated, more and more voices began seeking the truth—especially those who had lost relatives or close friends buried at the Nepal trial grounds. ………… It was on this very night that Ashleia and Ian, having returned to the press station at Alliance headquarters, slipped into the newspaper printing plant in the dead of night. The contents of tomorrow's paper had already been vetted and sent to press. They had decided to swap out a portion of the layout so that an article written by Ashleia could appear in tomorrow's edition. "Are you really sure you want to do this?" Ian whispered to confirm once more, cautioning her, "This could send you to prison, Ashleia." "I am." Ashleia's eyes were rimmed with red, but she showed no hesitation. "I'll exercise the utmost restraint, but I must do something for him. Otherwise, I'll never be able to live with the sights I witnessed with my own eyes." "What's more, I'll sign my name to it." With that, Ashleia turned back. "Ian." "Yeah?" "You should go. Thank you for coming this far with me. I think..." "No way. I want to keep you company in prison," Ian said, pointing at the newspaper that was about to be reprinted. "I contributed to your article too. So please respect my hard work and let my name be on it as well." Ashleia didn't move. "Good grief, you're actually trying to push me aside and take credit for my work, you dastardly famous reporter," Ian bantered, walking over to add his own signature and restoring the parts mentioning him that had been omitted from the text. Then he looked back. Ashleia stood there watching him with a smile. "Men and women are separated in prison." "Oh, God!" Ian smacked his forehead with his hand and laughed along with her. "I bet that's hands down the worst rule in human history." ………… Early the next morning, the newspapers printed during the night were distributed. Among the first to read it were personnel at Azure Alliance headquarters. There, in a corner of an inside page, they found the piece that Ashleia claimed had been written with the utmost restraint: *Stars No More*. *Last night, I saw no starlight. And so, I would like to tell you a story—to tell you about a man and a few of his friends. Nothing more.* *The truth is, starting from Xilang Peak, I went around asking everywhere about his story. Fortunately, it wasn't so distant. It was just last year; he was nineteen.* *No one told me how he came to Azure in the story.* *Yet before coming to Azure, he saved a hidden reserve depot.* *To this day, I don't know the exact details of how he did it. But hey, let us all remember that before he even arrived at Azure, he had already earned a Silver Azure Guard.* *And that was merely the beginning.* *It was the beginning of this story, the beginning of glory, and the beginning of those medals that would pave his path, fortunate enough to have once graced his chest.* *When he received his first Gold Azure Guard, he was still in his recruit period, around his third month. When I heard about him leaping from the dirt cliff to strike down a Great Spike, I couldn't help but repeat in my mind: Don't leap, don't leap, don't leap...* *Yet he still leapt!* *Look at me. Those of you who claim everything happened because he wouldn't follow rules, please look into my eyes. I want to tell you: if he had followed the rules, many of his fellow recruits would have died that day, and that blue-sheened Great Spike might have completed the summon.* *Just as later on, he shouldn't have appeared inside that Great Spike mothership at the peak of Xilang.* *He shouldn't have broken the rules by penetrating deep into the mothership; he shouldn't have risked his life entering that giant traction field; he shouldn't have drawn his sword with hands bleeding like a spring... That way, none of what followed would have happened.* *[Photograph: Under the starry night sky, a towering black dreadnought stands upon the earth while blazing red light plunges from midair... Amid dozens of figures leaping high and low into the sky, barring the heavens with their bodies, a streak of blue light soars skyward.]* *This is the part of his story you are most familiar with, isn't it? You might even be talking about it right now.* *As for all this, I do not know how you would express it.* *Yet my friend Ian, while editing that footage—which some of you may have already seen, or may yet see in the future—found himself at a loss for words, unable to find the right terms to describe it.* *Later, we tried together to translate a Huaxia idiom:* *"Stemming the raging tide as it collapses; propping up the grand pavilion as it falls."* *It is difficult. I hope you can grasp the essence of it.* *Then again, it was precisely from that night on Xilang Peak that I began to consider my otherwise unlucky life more fortunate than most, because I was right there. I was blessed to witness that scene and take that photo—even if it is not clear.* *At the same time, I feel deep regret.* *I regret not being there in Nepal last December, in the midwinter canyon of the Third Fixed Exploration Site. I heard that there, besieged by over a hundred enemies, he fought his way out of that canyon of death all on his own, with two blades.* *I regret not being there at Medical Station 101 later on. They told me that on that night, his twin blades parted the moonlight.* *I regret...* *I regret that a year so brilliant and radiant for him and his comrades-in-arms, a year that illuminated everything, ultimately came to a halt right before the Star of Azure that should have been his.* *Oh, I haven't mentioned his name yet, Ian reminds me from the side.* *It doesn't matter; call him whatever you like—The King, or Major The Qing.* *Let it be, then; I have almost said all I wanted to say. In choosing to tell you these things, I don't think I am making an outcry, nor do I need you to grant him anything... I only hope that those who have never heard will know his name and hear his story.* *Lastly, some among you are saying that he isn't actually dead—that they ran away, right?* *As his admirer, you must think I would try to offer defenses and explanations on his behalf, wouldn't you?* *No! I choose to believe it, and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.* *I couldn't give a damn about what unspoken truths, right and wrong, rules and choices there might be. I just want to see him again—to see Major The Qing again, and his dead iron war blade destined to be invincible in the future.* *Signed: Ashleia, Ian.*