Editing Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Stories Sky Striker Ace Arc - Chapter 001

{{Infobox chapter
| image           = OCG Stories 001.png
| en_name         = Sky Striker
| ja_name         = {{Ruby|閃|せん}}{{Ruby|刀|とう}}
| romaji_name     = Sentō
| ja_trans_name   = Flash Sword
| series          = Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Stories
| arc             = Sky Striker Ace (arc)
| number          = 1
| ja_magazine     = V Jump
| volume          = 1
| ja_issue        = June 2022
| ja_release_date = April 21, 2022
}}

"'''Sky Striker'''" ({{Ruby|閃|せん}}{{Ruby|刀|とう}} ''Sentō'', lit. "'''Flash Sword'''") is the first chapter of the [[Sky Striker Ace (arc)|Sky Striker Ace]] arc of the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Stories]]'' manga and first chapter of the series overall. It was first published April 21, 2022, in the ''[[V Jump]]'' magazine.

{{Chapter summary|[[Raye]], the last of the human race, is celebrating her 13th birthday with the androids that act as her family. However, the town they live in is about to be destroyed by the enemy that drove her kind to extinction.}}

== Synopsis ==
[[Raye]] lives an ordinary life. She goes to school with her siblings [[Aileron (character)|Aileron]] and [[Pylon]], who wish she wouldn't be so risky, as they couldn't fix her as well as they could fix themselves. Sometimes, she clambers over the rooftops of her hometown of [[Karma]], not just to see the weeds growing out of chimney tops, but because she swears that it's a quick way to get back into her room to retrieve school materials without being seen by her mother. She has an aforementioned mother, [[Ciela]], who is willing to get angry with Raye when she does things that would get her hurt or sick, as humans tend to do, but loves her enough to send her on her way with a smile, knowing that she'll make the right choices in life. At school, Raye learns ordinary subjects such as history, mathematics, and the sciences from teacher/father [[Himmel]], and the subtle art of close quarters combat from her instructor/older sister [[Aakas]]; all of which she excels in, to the consternation of her siblings. And throughout it all, she slowly but surely receives lessons about growth, change, and what it means to be human, before finally ending the day by watching the sun set over her quiet town. This is Raye's ordinary life, and even though her life is so ordinary, there is still nobody like her in all the world.

Because Raye is the last human left in the world.

Many years ago, long before Raye's time, there were more humans, and those humans waged wars with each other. The humans of Karma fought using the "[[Sky Striker]]" combat system, striving for their fullest potential to overcome their enemy, the [[Spectra Union]]. Spectra, though lacking a direct counter to the Sky Strikers, had a vast array of Artificial Intelligence to conduct their war efforts, and so the conflict raged on. Eventually though, the Spectra AI developed a cataclysmic new weapon: orbital cannons, focused on the planet's surface, tasked only with destroying humanity - Karma, Spectra, and all in-between. The war was quickly brought to a definitive end, and within a few hundred years, humanity had ceased to be, with only AI left to roam the earth. It was in the ruins of humanity that three AI from Karma found a fertilized human embryo in a old research facility, from which they could bring to life a single new human. So they took this human under their wing, and took her far away from war.

But that's not Raye's story, because Raye leads a completely ordinary life with her android family in her quiet town. She has turned 13 today, and her family have all gathered to throw a small party for her. They even baked her a cake, which she loves the most, knowing that she gets to eat all of it. They take a family photo together, and the three Karma Sages offer her a birthday wish. She wants to finally see the world outside the town, but Himmel refuses, as that's only something she'll be ready for when she's older. The Sages suddenly and swiftly take their leave, so Aileron and Pylon instead take Raye to hang their family photo up in the exhibition hall - a museum of sorts dedicated to preserving the memory of humanity. Walking through these halls reminds Raye of a human phrase Himmel once taught her, discussing the impermanence of things: "This too shall pass." For now though, humanity still endures thanks to the machines they left behind.

Aileron and Pylon are suddenly summoned by Aakas, and take their leave of Raye. The lights in her small, quiet town go out shortly after, and beyond the town, that place she's never seen, there is a light, as if the sun is setting. It's already well past dark though, and so Raye decides to finally see what's beyond the town. There, she finds the ruins of old humanity, now once again under attack by Spectra. Himmel arrives in time to save her from their bombardment, and explains that they've finally broken past their defenses after many years of struggle. Indeed, the war didn't truly end those hundreds of years ago: the Spectra AI were programmed to destroy all remnants of the Karma nation, and so will never stop until all traces of it are destroyed. Himmel brings Raye to a military command center, and beseeches her to hide in the underground bunker while the remaining Karma AI make their last stand. She will have what she needs to escape Spectra there, and live her life on her own.

But Raye refuses. Learning what it means to be human won't mean anything if there's nobody else left in the world. She implores Himmel to let her help, to let her make the right choice. Himmel relents, and brings Raye to one of humanity's most precious remaining artifacts - something only a human could use: an intact Sky Striker system. Himmel warns her that nobody can know what sort of effect - good or bad - the system will have on her mind and body. Raye doesn't know if she's doing the right thing in the end, but she doesn't back down.

Raye engages the system, and the ordinary life she had ends.

{{Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG Stories chapters}}