Counterfeit Hero

In the central control computer of the operations conference room, Fatty opened the electronic document forwarded to him by Su Kezhou from Bernadotte. The first thing that appeared before him was a letter.

Fatty took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

It’s been nearly half a year since I drifted into the Free World, and this is the first time the Leray Commander has been able to contact me. Over the past six months, the situation has been constantly changing. Leray is no longer the Leray it used to be. Whether all my struggles here have meaning, whether all efforts have gone to waste, are in this letter.

Fatty kept his eyes tightly shut, not daring to look at the text on the virtual screen for a long time. He was truly afraid that all of his perseverance wouldn’t be recognized, and that his last support would completely collapse. He was also afraid that under the pressure of the Fei Alliance, the freshly accumulated strength of the bandit army would be easily destroyed by a single order.

After thinking about it for a long time, Fatty gritted his teeth. Dammit, if it’s good or bad, there’s no avoiding it. Anyway, it’s a path to the end, and whoever dares to order me to surrender power, I’ll just say I didn’t see a thing!

He raised an eyebrow and opened one eye.

”Fatty:

I am very pleased to hear about everything you’ve done at Mars Free Port.”

Seeing this first sentence, Fatty’s eyes fully opened.

”I thought for a long time and finally gave up on the video, deciding to write you a letter. Because I have so much I want to say, but when I look at the camera, I can’t say anything. Perhaps these emotions suppressed deep in my heart can only be freely expressed through a letter.”

On the virtual screen, the text flowed quietly.

”It has been four years since the Gazalin Empire invaded the Galileo Star System. I always find it hard to recall everything that has happened in these four years. The war has brought such pain to Leray that it often wakes me from my dreams.

The wreckage of battleships slowly rolling into the depths of the universe... the blood-red names on the fallen warriors’ announcement board... and the bewildered, pained expressions of the Leray people... These scenes repeatedly appear in my dreams. I know that no matter what the outcome, I will spend the rest of my life in pain.

Standing at the Command Department’s command platform, leading the army, yet helplessly seeing Leray sliding into the abyss. Every image of suffering in my dreams is a punishment for me.

Now, the fleets of Desic, Suss, and Jiepeng are jumping over the Jump Point and appearing in the Star Domain that once belonged to us. Our cities are destroyed, our people are displaced, and our warriors fall one by one in pools of blood. The pain, at this point, is beyond measure.

On the day the Central Leray Star Domain fell, Flavio and I personally lowered the half-mast flag at the Leray embassy stationed in Chuckna. That day, many people locked themselves in their offices and wept openly. For Admiral Snyder, for Admiral Brown, and for every warrior of the Leray Fleet who bravely sacrificed in the Central Star Domain defense.

Words cannot describe this sorrow. Those were Leray’s most loyal warriors, the finest youth, who had defended this country with their lives for four years. But who would have thought they would die in such a manner.

When I held the battle report forwarded by the Fei Alliance Command Center, my hand was trembling all the time.

Before that battle, they had gone for half a month without supplies. They had just bravely repelled the joint attack of Jiepeng and Suss, expending a large amount of supplies and ammunition, yet receiving no resupply. They had to repair the ships themselves and could only hold the Space Jump Point alone.

I seemed to see those broken battleships, those exhausted warriors right before my eyes. They were telling me they lacked ammunition, food, water, and parts. The battleships would no longer move, and many wounded warriors died for lack of treatment.

Yet, even so, they still stood firm against the powerful enemy, fighting to the death without retreating.

I watched them fight through tears, and my heart was torn.

I still clearly remember the appearance of Snyder and Brown, these two guys who were as good as wearing one pair of pants, always keeping their spotless uniforms pressed and their shoes polished, leaning against the railings in the corridor of the Supreme Command Department building, teasing the girls in my secretariat. It’s as if they’ve always been by my side, never having left.

I can’t say more; if I continue, I’m afraid I’ll pick up a gun now, put it in my mouth, pull the trigger, and go with these warriors that pain me!

I love them; they’re all good!

In those days, we didn’t know how we got through it. We often thought, is Leray really done for? After four years of indomitable resistance, to end in such a humiliating way?

And at this moment, we received news about you. You know, when we received the Mars battle report forwarded by the Fei Alliance Command Center, we dumbly sat in the embassy for a whole night.

We were afraid to fall asleep. Because we feared that when we woke up, we would find it was just a dream. We prayed that God would not play tricks on us, that in our despair, it wouldn’t give us false hopes. We prayed for dawn to come quickly so that someone would rush to us, shouting and yelling, telling us it was true.

That day, even those arrogant staff at the Fei Alliance Command Center Chuckna Liaison Office, who usually looked down their noses at us, voluntarily made way when they saw us arriving. That day, the Fei Alliance Command Center surprisingly sought our guidance on the Mars Channel, requesting that we order you to transport a Mecha there.