From Here On Out, This Is My Battlefield

"I am sorry. This world has not always been well protected. But please, always believe that there are people doing everything they can—including laying down their lives—in striving to protect it, and us." In Huaxia, in Fenglong'ao, from the television in the Han family home, came the only voice-over once the images appeared. At the same time, across the entire world, thousands of languages were speaking those exact same words. On the screen, accompanied by colossal sheets of seawater peeling away, over thirty human source energy aircraft—Needlefish-class, Swordfish-class, Qing Spear-class—surged into the people's view. Every one of them pushed to maximum speed, surging in desperate, heedless abandon straight toward the zenith. The Azure Zenith War's Second Daie Decapitation Operational Plan, formulated personally by Xu Xiaohong, Chief of Staff of the Huaxia Front's Sole Witness Legion. Earlier, not long after those thousands of Great Spike craft had completely lifted off the sea's surface, these thirty-plus Azure craft had already slipped quietly into the ocean, hiding far off behind the hovering Great Spike fleet. This was something the Azure officers and soldiers never expected. Nor had the Great Spikes—including Daie—anticipated it. They had only just risen from the water themselves, and were actively emitting source energy interference across this patch of ocean. Precisely because of this, Xu Xiaohong had judged that they would not scout the underwater conditions again. The lost submarine carrying the linguists from the primary command system, which had gone undetected, had been prime proof. Xu Xiaohong had done everything he could. Through crude, direct communications, he gave the final order for execution... and stepped out of the small boat's cabin, looking up into the sky in silence. Up there, white sea spray still rained across the sky. The craft tore upward through the air, carving streaks of trails where the atmosphere burst layer upon layer... Like a sky-wide dust storm, a majestic and staggering spectacle... "What are they doing?" "Attacking!" "Maybe they're attacking Daie!" At this moment, even the people in front of their TV sets could roughly guess. That was why there were over thirty craft, not just one. Thirty-seven modified, maximally agile human source energy aircraft, charging to the death toward the zenith. It was an all-or-nothing strike. Yet only a handful knew the specific plan, and the same was true for the hundreds of thousands of Azure soldiers and Oceanic civilians standing along the coastline. Some guessed that perhaps the craft themselves were weapons, fitted with spear-like rams; others thought that the vessels might be carrying all of Azure's super combatants, every one of their mightiest and most heroic warriors. In truth, they weren't. In truth, there was only a single passenger. Aside from that peerless Huaxia legion commander, the only ones accompanying him to battle were the thirty-seven finest Azure pilots in those thirty-seven human source energy aircraft. The *Deathblow*, a ten-person Swordfish-class craft. The name *Deathblow* had been secretly chosen by Stuart himself, after learning he was selected to carry a man named Chen Buer. "The honor is mine, Legion Commander." Stuart had wanted to say it all along. He could speak the Huaxia language too, which was another key reason he had been selected, besides his superb flying skills. But he held it in, from the moment Chen Buer boarded the craft right up until now... *Boom!* The craft abruptly banked hard, making Stuart's arms tense tight. The Great Spike craft were coming. Though only a small fraction had arrived for the moment due to the suddenness and distance, by comparison, they still held a definitive advantage in agility and numbers. That blast just now... Stuart had no time to look, but he knew: a teammate in the formation and the craft they flew could no longer continue this journey with them. *Boom!* A second craft. ...A third. The pilots ejected from their cockpits, their fates unknown. This journey was not very long. Yet it would be brutally hard. "Focus on evading... Focus on protecting it." Squadron leader Grant's voice came over the comms; once they reached the open sky, communications had been restored. The order given, the thirty-odd human source energy craft charging forward instantly drew their own individual trajectories across the sky... The only constant was that every nose cone was swiftly pulled back, pointing straight toward the zenith. Stuart knew that he was the target being protected. Ahead, two Great Spike craft came ramming in from the left and right to intercept them. Stuart pulled back on the control stick, and the *Deathblow* pitched up, sweeping violently backward in a massive arc... Stuart, naturally, was among the very best. *Crash!* In mid-air, the two Great Spike craft slammed into each other. Yet at the same time, the squadron lost its fourth and fifth source energy craft, and the pilot of one of them was none other than Christine. Christine hadn't died. After ejecting from the cockpit, she erupted with peak power in mid-air, cleaving a blade toward a Great Spike craft. *Boom!* She shattered that craft to pieces. At the same time, her body swung upward, twisting around to strike another Great Spike vessel charging at her. Another clean destruction. Then she plunged toward the sea. High in the sky, Daie did not flee, nor did it move in for the kill. The distance was still great, and it simply stood there watching. ...Second by second, time slipped away. Great Spike craft appearing in the sky grew ever more numerous, while the human source energy vessels only dwindled, never replenished. The chaotic, brutal, and vast aerial battlefield gradually expanded across a sweeping expanse. By this time, the fighting along the coastline had finally come to a complete end. Filled with grief, rage, heartache, and powerlessness, Azure warriors—bleeding, gripping their battle blades tightly—stood on the ground, gazing up at scene after scene. At this moment, billions of people across the world fell silent before their television screens. Children cried, fathers gathered them into their arms, men gripped their wives' hands with all their might, and the elderly wiped their eyes with weathered hands. "How did that saying go again?" In the Han home, the village chief, whose Mandarin wasn't even very good, stood up with red-rimmed eyes. "The one from Azure... for... what was it?" "For all that breathes: no retreat in battle, our bodies barring the boundless sky." From the back row, a weathered voice answered him. People turned around... and saw Master Longchi staring dazedly at the television screen. It was he who had spoken it, Azure's motto: "For all that breathes: no retreat in battle, our bodies barring the boundless sky." Fenglong'ao, the Han home, Kanagawa, Kamakura... across cities and villages in this temporarily peaceful world, among those evacuated from the covered cities in the north... on the Oceania battlefield, people cried out that same phrase in different languages. At the same time, "Report!" Xu Xiaohong drew back his gaze and turned around. "They want to go up, Chief of Staff," an officer explained, then turned to gesture toward a soldier standing behind him. He was not an Azure warrior, but a serviceman from the ordinary world—one of the best fighter pilots in the world of ordinary mortals. This time, over three hundred non-source energy pilots had flown conventional fighter jets to Oceania. At first, they had come to assist in delivering emergency supplies, and later they had risked their lives to help out, dropping supplies across the battlefield. "I believe that if we go up, we can at least cause some distraction, General." This soldier had been chosen to come as their representative, but the decision belonged to all of them. Distraction? But if they went up, they would be reduced to ash in an instant. "..." Xu Xiaohong's eyes wrestled with hesitation. Looking at the soldier, he raised his hand in a return salute... saying nothing, he turned once again to gaze toward the zenith. Up there, a Needlefish-class craft had just quietly slipped into the aerial battlefield. The aerial battlefield had already spread vast and chaotic, so hardly anyone noticed its arrival. *Tsk!* Cutting into the comms, Yang Qingbai clicked his tongue in place of snapping his fingers—his signature greeting within his circle. Up here in the sky, every single pilot in Azure's aerial squadron knew him. Most were close friends—fellow comrades from the very first batch to test-pilot source energy aircraft—and the remaining newcomers had naturally heard of him and read his aerial combat flight manual. "Thank you, Yang," Azure squadron leader Grant replied with words of gratitude, thanking Yang Qingbai for joining the battlefield at such a moment. Because he was the best. In that moment, Grant couldn't help thinking to himself: *If I had known he was coming, we should have had the Legion Commander board his craft...* Little Red violently jinked in midair—a mere sway, knocking aside a pouncing Great Spike craft—and then Yang Qingbai spoke over the comms channel: "No. From here on out, everyone, this is my battlefield."