Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 538: Volume 6 Chapter 28 The Legend of Leray (Part 1)

The special program ”Hero” did not end with the departure of the protagonist.

The determined program team seized this opportunity by focusing the camera on the enthusiastic crowd while interspersing clips of the three-year war chronicles of Leray and the captivating battle scenes of the hero, Tian Xingjian. They aimed to create an unforgettable classic episode riding the wave of the Federation Hero’s return home.

The first thing that appeared on the screen was the shocking invasion of the Galileo Star System by the Gazalin forces.

Alongside the main footage of a cold Gazalin Space Battleship’s cannon sliding past the camera, there were two smaller screens. One showed Leray Warriors resisting fiercely amid the bombardments, while the other depicted the Western Alliance’s spokesperson at the Human Supreme Joint Council, arrogantly accusing Leray of deliberately provoking the conflict.

The silent parade of the fleet charging into the interstellar jump point, the soldiers in their positions, the whistling shells, and the Western spokesperson’s flapping lips were overshadowed by the deafening shouts from the Capital First Military Academy.

Viewers bit their lips hard as they watched the transforming scenes on the screen. In the Galileo Star System, in the Newton Star System, numerous immigrant planets were conquered by Gazalin soldiers. Cities turned to ruins in a fiery inferno, streets littered with the corpses of countless civilians.

Men were killed, women were violated. On the screen, a small girl with a dirty face stood amidst the ruins, on the burning streets, crying in terror and helplessness. Her tear and snot-covered lips, though silent, clearly mouthed a heart-wrenching word that everyone could see.

”Mama!”

In front of the giant screen in the square, several girls covered their mouths, tears streaming down their faces.

The cameraman moved through the crowd, capturing various voices as the camera moved, ”Long live Leray!” one girl’s tearful shout was particularly clear.

On the screen, the camera panned over the wreckage of warships in the starry sky, over the ground battlefields of Lucerne and Miloke, finally freezing on a prisoner-of-war camp.

Outside the cold isolation fence, bodies piled into small mounds. Inside the fence, emaciated and dull prisoners were fenced in like livestock.

In the smaller screen, there was still that dignified Western spokesperson, this time three months into the war, accusing the Leray Federation of massacring dissenting civilians and mistreating prisoners of war.

Gazalin’s army spread across the Leray map like locusts, while the righteous spokesperson’s mouth moved quickly.

Picture after picture of wartime scenes played out silently.

Finally, the Federation began its counterattack on the screen. First, the Newton Local Fleet, with resolute determination, broke through the jump point, returning to the Newton Star System. Next, the Miloke ground battle commenced.

Kato, the famed meat grinder battlefield, appeared once more before the public. One fully-equipped division after another vanished as soon as they were sent in. Photos showed twisted bodies of fallen soldiers, wreckages of Mechas and weapons, burning crashed aircraft, and field hospitals filled with wounded... The battle was so brutal that it was almost unbearable to watch.

In the smaller screen, the Western spokesperson continued her rant, now a detestable, arrogant woman demanding that the Leray Federation cease fire and accept the mediation of the Human Supreme Joint Council. In another small screen, a grand ceremony celebrated the return of 270 Federation Heroes. Behind weeping warriors reuniting with their families, the familiar backdrop of the Fierce Fire combat scene was vaguely visible.

The director in the broadcast van typed the caption: ”The children of the Federation have never surrendered. That day, we met our own heroes.”

His hand moved over the control panel, bringing the background image into clarity.

In the smaller screen, the Fierce Fire stood beneath a big tree, facing thousands of enemies, firing six rounds in a row... On the main screen, the Federation Fleet began its advance towards the Galileo Star System. Magnificent new warships pierced the jump point’s void, appearing before the enemy.

In a daring leap during a sprint, the Fierce Fire spun and fired a sniper cannon, a white streak of light flared... Federation Army landed in Lucerne, dense Mechas leaped from giant transport ships, descending in hordes to the ground...

In the tangled crossfire, the Fierce Fire charged left and right... The Federation Armored Division crossed enemy defensive lines, launching a tidal wave assault on the Gazalin Army commanded by Liebgoet...

In the rapid pincer move of surrounding enemy troops, the Fierce Fire leaped off a cliff, its body flashing under countless Energy Cannon strikes... The Federation Army cheered for victory. Before them, one after another, the Gazalin Mechas disarmed...

The images shifted rapidly, faster and faster, overwhelming the viewers. Even though they had seen these battle scenes countless times, they still found their hearts racing and blood boiling.

Finally, the rapidly changing three screens simultaneously froze.

It was a photo of Tian Xingjian and eight large characters: ”Hero comes home! Long live Leray!”

The patriotic fervor of the Leray people was ignited by the sensational program ”Hero”. Every viewer of the live broadcast jumped up in ecstasy.

The mature and composed ones clenched their fists in front of the screen, striving to hold back their tears, unlike the cadets on screen who cried ”Long live Leray” as tears streamed down their faces. Meanwhile, young people quickly gathered, forming a passionate torrent. Where they found so many Leray National Flags was unknown, but soon the square and street sides became a sea of waving flags.