War, war has never changed.
Ever since the moment humans first learned to grip stones and use them as weapons.
The war never stopped.
For territory, for food, for faith, for power, or simply for survival.
Weapons evolved from bone clubs and stone axes to swords and armor, and from bows and spears to guns and gears.
The battlefield expanded from the land to the sea, spread into the sky, and eventually even reached beyond the atmosphere.
According to legend, human civilization reached its peak a thousand years ago.
They touched the stars and cosmos, arbitrarily altered nature and life, and even attempted to create their own gods.
Even though it can now travel between stars, its ferocity has never faded.
Thus, the creation known as the Giant God Warrior, an artificial god that was supposed to exist as a mediator between nations, descended to punish.
Everything turned to ashes within seven days, turning the entire civilization and the earth itself into a sea of fire.
Historically known as the Seven Days of Fire ".
Sea of Corruption crawled out of the scorched earth, a fungal forest engulfed the surface, and giant insects and miasma appeared in the process.
The survivors could only huddle in the valley, hiding underground, struggling to survive amidst the wreckage and ruins.
Even in the face of such dire circumstances, the war did not cease.
Every three hundred years thereafter, when the population slowly recovers and ambitious individuals regain power, war reignites on this continent.
Until the Sea of Corruption is enraged, it drives swarms of insects and fungi to swallow up both sides of the war, along with the land they fought so desperately for.
It repeats itself endlessly, like destiny.
The war continues to this day.
The Torumekian Empire, a nation founded on a peninsula.
Its territory borders the endless ocean to the east and the edge of the Sea of Corruption to the west. Relying on the rugged mountains as a barrier, it was spared from the expansion of the Sea of Corruption three hundred years ago.
This country was not built by the descendants of Eftal, but gradually revived from the ruins of an ancient city.
The survivors and their descendants lived and thrived here, excavating the technologies of their ancestors and spending hundreds of years transforming the ruins into the imperial capital, Toras.
Ultimately, they used this as a foundation to radiate their power and rule over this vast peninsula.
More than 20 years ago, a coup d'état tore the country apart.
The man, then an imperial general, led his troops into the palace and, under the watchful eyes of his courtiers, personally plunged his sword into the old king's chest.
The following morning, he sat on his blood-stained throne and declared himself the new king, then forcibly married the pregnant widow of the former king.
He ordered the erasure of all historical records about the former king and forbade anyone from publicly mentioning his name.
He even forbids others from calling him by his real name.
From then on, this iron-fisted emperor was left with only a fearsome title—
King of Torumekia.
Nobles and generals rebelled because of their loyalty to the former king, while commoners and soldiers rose up because they could no longer tolerate the tyranny.
Throughout the empire's territory, dramas of suppression and resistance have unfolded one after another, never truly subsiding in the past twenty years.
Today, yet another internal conflict is about to come to an end.
The Gurak City, located on the southeastern border of Tolmekia, is also the seat of the Southeastern Governor's Office.
This is a fortified city built at the junction of the Gobi Desert and the coast.
The buildings inside the city are mostly domed or trapezoidal, a distinctive style of the pre-civilization that was adopted by the Empire.
Apart from underground metal veins and a deep-water port capable of accommodating large ships, there is nothing here.
Its sole purpose is war.
The city wall is 30 meters high and more than 5 meters thick. It is made entirely of reinforced concrete and its surface is covered with firing ports and watchtowers.
At the top of the city wall, a fortress turret stands every hundred meters.
At this moment, the city is collapsing.
All the fortress turrets were silent, and wisps of smoke rose from the metal wreckage.
The city wall was damaged in many places, with the largest gap large enough for two chariots to pass side by side.
Black smoke billowed continuously from within the city, and several flames remained burning.
On the north side of the city, the Imperial Army's positions stretched for several kilometers across the Gobi Desert.
Heavy infantry and tanks formed a square formation, with blood-red military flags fluttering in the wind.
At the very front, a fully armed female officer, dressed in silver embroidered armor and a white cloak, stood on the roof of the command vehicle.
Kushana, the fourth princess of the empire, is the commander-in-chief of the anti-rebellion army on the southeastern border.
"Why haven't you sent a messenger to surrender yet? You're truly stubborn."
This rebellion was the largest since King of Torumekia personally led the campaign to quell it fifteen years ago.
In order to suppress the Southeast Governor who had rebelled for reasons unknown and who controlled several fortified cities of the empire.
King of Torumekia not only dispatched an elite force exceeding a quarter of the empire's military strength, but also once again invoked the alliance to summon the northern kingdoms to aid in the war.
Unsurprisingly, this rebellion, like countless others before it, will be quelled by massacre.
The time for the announcement had arrived, Kushana wasn't going to wait any longer.
She raised her right hand, her five fingers pressed together like a knife, pointing straight at the fortified city.
"Attack--!"
The order was given, and hundreds of bronze assault vehicles began to advance, a steel torrent surging toward the breach in the city wall.
"For His Majesty!!!"
Shouts drowned out the roar of engines as the heavily armored infantry phalanx advanced, following the tanks.
This is the final battle; no tactics are needed, just crush them.
However, it was not the ground troops that launched the first attack.
Buzz--
A piercing whistling sound came from the sky.
Twelve streamlined aircraft swooped out from below the clouds, each with a different paint scheme and a design that was completely different from the rugged transport ships of Tolmekia.
These are ancient gunboats from the northern allies, full of the streamlined beauty favored by the Eftal.
(Front/back view of an ancient gunship from Valley of the Wind, equipped with plasma thrusters, two main cannons, and two machine guns.)
Shells flew diagonally into the city, exploding into fireballs; machine guns swept across the defensive fortifications on the city walls, sending concrete debris flying everywhere.
Anti-aircraft guns began to return fire, but the gunboats were far more agile than expected; they easily evaded the bullets, drawing elegant curves in the sky.
Even if a stray bullet manages to hit, it would be difficult to penetrate the defenses of these gunboats.
One of the off-white gunboats suddenly climbed to cloud level, then turned and dove, its main gun aimed at the anti-aircraft position.
boom!!!
The 300mm high-explosive shell struck the last air defense outpost directly, and the violent explosion completely obliterated the two-story building, forming a small mushroom cloud.
Inside the gunboat's cockpit, a man with a thick mustache released the control lever and wiped away sweat.
He had a scar on his right eye, running straight from his brow bone to his cheekbone, but it did not damage his eyeball.
The scar didn't ruin his resolute face; instead, it made him look even more sharp and capable.
"As expected of Chief Jihl!" the veteran in the passenger seat laughed. "His aim is flawless!"
Jihl, the chieftain of the Valley of the Wind, and also Nausicaä's father.
He did not respond to the praise, but simply looked down at the city through the porthole beside him.
The entire battle went very smoothly. They only needed to bomb, return for supplies, and bomb again. In just a few days, the enemy was on its last legs.
The ancient gunboats completely overwhelmed Tolmekia's ordinary aircraft, leaving the entire city utterly defenseless against the aerial attacks.
But for some reason, a sense of unease welled up inside him.
His intuition told him that there was an ominous aura about that city.
"The battle that follows is none of our business. Let's return to camp as soon as possible!"
"Clear!"
Soon, the twelve gunboats traced arcs in the air and returned triumphantly to the northern camp.