Wow, this is such a powerful image.
There is a strong sense of emerging after a period of difficulty in this card for me. It looks as if the person holding this sword has been buried and has fought their way towards air, towards the light. It makes me think of the scene from the 'Game Of Thrones' episode 'Battle of the Bastards' when John Snow is suffocating under the crush of retreating and dying men and just when we think he's almost certainly dead, he sees a chink of light, summons all his strength and manages to claw his way towards it, emerging and gulping down the air; almost a rebirth moment.
Aces are newness, beginnings, seeds filled with potential and all the energies of their suit, they are number 1s; the part and at the same time the whole, they're something offered but it has to be taken and built upon to actually amount to anything. The Aces say the power of their particular element (in this case air) is in your hands, use it.
So this Ace is clear thought, truth, justice, communication and also the will to fight for something that you believe is right. The Ace of Swords can be a call to action, a call to speak your truth, to be logical and clear headed and to act with fairness and justice. For me this particular version of the Ace of Swords seems all the more powerful because it hints at what may have gone before.