Counterfeit Hero

Outside the two-story cabin was a corridor enclosed by railings, connected to the hall by metal stairs. The metal bulkheads were riveted between beams by rows of large rivets. There was no decoration, only some unusual pirate graffiti.

Exaggerated genitalia, bizarrely shaped naked women, the pirates’ life seemed as messy as the graffiti itself.

In the camera, more and more people gathered in the base hall.

After receiving this awful news, the once bustling activities of warship repair, resupply, and cleanup of the pirate base came to a halt.

The warriors stood together with heavy faces. They still held tools in their hands, with black oil stains left on their fingers. Their clothes were soaked with sweat, mist rising in the warm air.

The entire hall was dead silent, with an air of sorrow silently spreading. Helen could clearly see the bewilderment on the warriors’ faces through the lens and could deeply feel a sense of sadness, an unavoidable despair emanating from their bones.

Who will tell these warriors far from their homeland where they should go?

Who will tell me where I should go?

Thinking back to when Leray declared war on the Western Alliance, standing before the Leray people and vowing never to be conquered, how firm I was, watching those Leray youths rush to the recruitment offices, watching platoons of soldiers march unwaveringly to the front lines, it was so thrilling.

I once dreamed countless times of being a war correspondent, following behind them, using my camera to record the Federation’s victories...

But now, I can only hide in this pirate base deep in space, using my camera to record the confusion and bleakness of the warriors. There was no boiling blood, no fierce battles; all dreams disappeared without a trace upon receiving the news about the Saleria Federation.

As she caressed the camera, Helen found that her aspirations were so vulnerable against the harsh reality.

What kind of war correspondent, what kind of recording history with the camera in hand. Look at these shots, just like Robinson marking dates on a stake.

When Leray finally fails in this war, apart from being historical archival footage of the defeated, what other significance do these shots hold?

Those exciting videos repeatedly broadcasted on television, the fierce and magnificent battle scenes, were all romanticized extracts of war. Only by stepping onto the battlefield does one realize that this bloody romance is so cruel, so monotonous, so heart-wrenching!

Flipping through the previous footage aimlessly, Helen’s fingers gradually stopped on the touch screen.

On the screen, that Fatty was roaring ferociously. Even without sound, one could vaguely discern his cursing...

Helen shook her head, she could never associate that crude Fatty with the Federation Hero.

Turning up the volume, she remembered that the [Blue Rose] under Fatty’s roar rushed forward, thrusting itself into the weaving crossfire.

At that time, I had no fear at all.

In that brain-emptying frenzy, I clutched the camera tightly, recording everything happening in the control room.

The scene was chaotic... the signaller sending signals to the flagship, the observer shouting hoarsely, the radar operator cursing while repeatedly searching for signals amidst interference. Every face bore an abnormal flush.

Later, the warship accelerated and suddenly rammed into the enemy destroyer’s stern.

Turning, accelerating, breaking away... just like when we escaped death, watching the footage again, an electric sensation coursed through Helen’s entire body.

In the footage, everyone jumped up, high-fiving and celebrating!

Helen lifted her head, looking around, and suddenly realized she hadn’t seen Fatty in a long time. At this moment, what was that enigmatic Fatty doing? Still extorting from those pirates?

Following the warriors’ gazes, Helen saw Chekov. The ship captain of the [Blue Rose], was smoking with an expression as hard as iron. Behind him, a few warship officers stood solemnly with similarly dour expressions. Not far from them was the entrance to the hover lifts.

In the round elevator foyer, a listless Leray soldier was gesturing to direct several cargo Mechas loading the old-fashioned metal ammunition onto the rail cars.

Unconsciously, every few seconds, Chekov, the officers, and all the warriors in the hall would look up at the indicator light of the hover lift.

However, the indicator light persistently showed a red fault sign.

They drew back their gazes anxiously and disappointedly, repeating the action after a while. As for the elevators with their doors always open beside them, they didn’t even glance at them!

More and more people were gathering in the hall. Besides the [Blue Rose] warriors, there were also those smugglers from the [Audrey]. They seemed to sense something too. The hundreds of cadets who were originally supposed to be at the Chuckna Military Academy for military exchange also stood quietly among the crowd.

Only one person was missing, and that was Fatty.