Chapter 9 The skybreaker protocol

The name echoed across the Civic Aeronautics database like a ghost.

Skybreaker Protocol.

Jun stood before the hangar’s central screen, decrypting files pulled from a classified server. Sora and Riku leaned in, watching line after line of redacted data scroll past. The hum of machinery faded into the background as the weight of what they were seeing settled in the air.

“This isn’t just flight tech,” Jun muttered. “This is warfare.”

“Warfare?” Riku asked. “But… it’s just a racing league.”

“No. The league is the mask. Project Aether, Skybreaker Protocol—these were military designs, rebranded as sport. Your brother uncovered something dangerous.”

Yuto entered, towel slung over his shoulder. “What are we looking at?”

“A ghost project,” Jun said. “Rumors say your brother tried to expose it.”

Yuto clenched his jaw. “Then I’ll finish what he started.”

Trial by Wind

The next tournament round brought them to Sakurai Dome, a suspended arena surrounded by open sky and roaring crosswinds. It was one of the most feared tracks in the Aether League—no barriers, no mercy. Pilots flew over storm-churned air currents with only their skill keeping them alive.

Their opponents: Kaito Academy, known for their Cyclone Formation—a synchronized glide attack using shifting wind currents to box in rivals. Fast, aggressive, and tactical, they were undefeated in high-altitude matches.

Coach Amano tapped a holographic diagram. “They’ll try to isolate Yuto. Don’t let them. Work in pairs. Communicate constantly.”

The team nodded, serious.

On race day, the stands were packed with fans and scouts. The roar of gliders, engines, and storm winds filled the air. The race started with a surge of air pressure—and the Shiratori team launched forward.

But in less than two minutes, everything went sideways.

Yuto was separated.

Spinning through gusts, chased by two precision flyers, he hit terminal velocity. His glider shook violently. A wrong move would send him plummeting into the abyss.

Instead of panicking, he closed his eyes—remembered Jun’s words:

“Trust the wind. Even a storm can carry you.”

He tilted, angled, spiraled.

The storm was not his enemy. It was the rhythm.

With calculated grace, Yuto dived into an updraft, looping behind his attackers. The sudden reversal sent both enemies scattering. With a burst of energy, Yuto surged forward—breaking through their Cyclone.

Riku and Sora joined him moments later.

Together, they cut through the chaos.

Victory.

The crowd erupted.

The Shiratori team had just beaten a sky-level elite.

A Message from the Shadows

That night, back at the dorms, Yuto found a message on his tablet.

“You fly well, but the sky is a cage. Project Aether lives. Meet me under the Obsidian Tower. Midnight.”

He showed the team.

Riku frowned. “Could be a trap.”

Sora smirked. “Or a lead.”

Jun said nothing, but his fingers twitched near his old pilot badge.

At midnight, they went.

The Obsidian Tower loomed above them like a monument to secrets. Beneath it, in the neon-lit shadows, stood a masked woman with a mechanical eye.

She called herself Valkyrie.

“You’re Kaede’s brother,” she said.

Yuto nodded.

“He didn’t crash. He was sabotaged. Just like others before him.”

She handed Yuto a fragment drive—partially damaged but encrypted.

“Decrypt it. But be warned: truth burns.”

Before they could ask more, she disappeared into the night.

Back to the Sky

The next morning, the team returned to the hangar. Training resumed with double intensity. The drills weren’t just physical—they were psychological. Jun introduced anti-Aether tactics, new maneuvers inspired by old warflight data.

“Everything they taught you in school?” Jun said. “Forget it. These skies don’t care about honor. Just survival.”

The team adapted quickly.

Riku learned to jam sensors and fake readings.

Sora developed code that created false heat signatures.

Yuto…

Yuto flew like a whisper on fire. Silent, swift, searing.

Jun watched him with a haunted expression.

“You’re not just Kaede’s brother,” he muttered. “You’re something else.”

The Decryption

Sora and Jun worked on the fragment drive for days. The code was corrupted, laced with Aether encryption—a language used only in military-grade systems.

One night, while the others trained, Sora burst into the hangar.

“I got it!”

He plugged in a projection.

The screen showed flight records, camera feeds, and AI test logs. All from Project Aether.

The last entry: Kaede’s final flight.

His glider systems had been overridden remotely. A ghost signal had forced him into a dive.

“He fought it,” Jun said. “But it was already too late.”

Yuto stood frozen. The footage showed Kaede’s last words, barely audible:

“Protect them… they’ll come for the next ones…”

Silence.

Then, static.

Yuto clenched his fists. “They killed him.”

Jun nodded. “And they’ll keep killing, unless someone stops them.”

Skybreaker Activated

Suddenly, the hangar lights flickered. Warning sirens flared.

A broadcast hijacked every screen.

A masked voice, distorted and cold:

“To those who defy Project Aether. You’ve seen what happens. Back down, or fall.”

A map appeared—highlighting Shiratori’s base.

Coach Amano cursed. “They’ve tracked us.”

Jun acted fast. “Lock down the hangar. Get the gliders underground.”

Yuto didn’t move. He stared at the screen.

“They declared war.”

“No,” Jun said. “They confirmed it.”

The Oath

Later, beneath the stars, Yuto stood on the rooftop with his team.

“I didn’t come here to start a rebellion,” he said. “But I’m not flying just to win anymore.”

Riku placed a hand on his shoulder. “Then let’s fly to change everything.”

Sora grinned. “I always wanted to hack a military satellite.”

Jun joined them, holding a dusty old badge. “Then let’s show the sky it doesn’t own us.”

Together, under the endless black sky, the team made an oath:

To rise. To resist. To rewrite the skies.

The storm was coming.

And they would meet it wing-first.