Counterfeit Hero

”Stop pretending!” Fatty said decisively, ”Do you know, Commander Barbarossa, under my keen observation, you’ve shown at least four flaws!”

”Flaws?” Barbarossa looked puzzled, ”What flaws? You’ve got me confused, I really don’t...”

”Won’t admit it? Then let me tell you how I recognized you!” Fatty patted Barbarossa’s shoulder, interrupting his defense, with a cheerful smile, ”First, these two escort ships have a total carrying capacity of sixty people, but there’s one more person on this ship. On a combat ship where the number of people is strictly regulated, one extra person is indeed quite suspicious...”

Barbarossa’s heart sank. What Fatty said was indeed a flaw. When he boarded the ship, he hadn’t considered how long he would stay. On a strictly equipped combat ship, one extra person must be someone special.

”Secondly...” Fatty cleared his throat and said, ”As the only Kole person on these two ships, your appearance and name are hard to separate from the name Barbarossa. In the ancient Earth era, the name Redbeard Pirate Barbarossa was well-known. Naturally, people also know that he was a Turk from ancient Earth, the same ancestry as you Kole people!”

Barbarossa could only force a smile. If this was considered a reason, he really wanted to hear what other two reasons Fatty had.

”Third!” Fatty pointed at Barbarossa’s hand and laughed, ”If you took on another identity, I might not be so sure. But pretending to be a mechanic was a mistake. A mechanic’s hands, due to the nature of their work, can’t be disguised with just a roll in waste oil. The bone structure, skin, textures, and even the degree to which the oil has ingrained are completely different from your hands!”

As he spoke, Fatty grabbed another pirate’s hand and held it up in front of Barbarossa: ”Wash your hands and then compare them carefully with your companion’s hands. Wide and deep lines, stubborn oil stains, grime under the nails that can’t be cleaned, calluses on the palms and knuckles, and some deformed, enlarged joints...”

Throwing away the pirate’s hand, Fatty sneered, ”That’s what a middle-aged man’s hands should look like if they’ve been doing mechanical work for a long time!”

Barbarossa fell silent. Originally, he thought his disguise, designed based on his relatively non-menacing appearance, was very meticulous. Who could have known that this outfit, these oil stains, would appear full of flaws in Fatty’s eyes.

Since he was under suspicion, denying it any further was futile. If Fatty wanted to confirm his identity, he had plenty of ways and people to choose from. Barbarossa calmly looked at Fatty, smiled slightly, and asked, ”So, what is the fourth flaw you recognized?”

Two Leray soldiers came over and took Barbarossa into custody.

”Very simple...” Fatty walked forward with a cheerful smile, ”I just happened to have seen your picture.”

****************

When the battle-scarred ’Castle Lily’ docked at the Capital Star Space Port, escorted by two battleships and six cruisers of the First Fleet, a deadly silence shrouded the heads of the entire Leray military and government high officials.

The special fleet had suffered a meticulously planned attack, the diplomatic mission had been aborted, and Federation Hero Tian Xingjian, along with the ’Blue Rose’, was deep in enemy territory, still missing and presumed dead. Each piece of terrible news plunged the Supreme Command Department into deeper gloom.

Vice President Flavio, upon his return, immediately demanded the deployment of a fleet to assist the ’Blue Rose’. The old man, usually seen as a tough veteran, burst into tears in front of everyone for the first time. No amount of comforting could stem his tears.

It wasn’t just Flavio who cried; the entire crew of the ’Castle Lily’ wept. These men, who had fought the Gazalin people, the Desic people, and regarded death as simpler than sleep, were now drunkenly crying in the bases’ bars, in their homes, in their quarters, and in their girlfriends’ arms.

A radar operator, tearfully, told his father, ”Originally, we were the ones who should have died. Now, whenever I close my eyes, I can see the ’Blue Rose’ accelerating past the radar cabin window...”

”...It was the most beautiful scene I have ever seen... The silver-white teardrop-shaped warship, dragging a long blue ion trail, gliding silently and peacefully through the quiet space, their energy cannons flickering red and white, their portholes brightly lit...”

”...They just charged up, facing the enemy...” The radar operator’s tears fell in large drops, rolling down: ”I will never forget that scene, until I grow old and die!”

His father, tearfully, embraced his devastated son’s shoulders. He believed that what his son said was also the most beautiful scene he could imagine.

”They sent light signals... They told us to get lost...” the young radar operator wailed.

Outside the study room door, a mother holding a tray of peeled fruit, ready to enter, gently released the doorknob. She wiped away her tears. She knew her son was still alive. But in the distant space, there were hundreds of young men, the same age as her son, who might already be dead.

The mother trudged downstairs, placed the fruit tray on the table, and sat on a bench on the terrace, staring blankly at the starry sky. She wondered when this war, which had shattered countless dreams and families, would finally end...

From the makeshift fleet, which was already stretched thin, ten destroyers set off towards the Tuna Constellation as soon as they received the news. However, the dozens of high-speed stealth reconnaissance ships sent earlier had scoured the entire star domain but found no trace of the ’Blue Rose’.

The battle zone left nothing behind.

Space battlefields are like that. The shockwaves of explosions turn all debris into meteors within the cosmos, disappearing into the interstellar depths. Unless caught by gravity, no trace remains.

Under Flavio’s orders, the ten destroyers spread out, trying to find the Western Alliance battleships that had launched the attack. But in such a vast star domain, the futile search by ten destroyers was destined to yield no results.

Eventually, the fleet had to abandon the search and set sail for Chuckna, continuing Flavio’s mission.

Time was no longer on their side. Just a day before, the electronics warning ship traveling with them had transmitted a message from the Federation Supreme Command.

On December 22, 2062, two mixed fleets of the Suss Empire crossed the Chucknaresk Star System and approached the Saleria Federation’s Longbow Star System.

On the same day, Saleria Federation President Teri announced his resignation and the presidential elections would be held ahead of schedule. The Federation Congress passed a resolution to withdraw all troops from the Leray Bermuda Star System. They unilaterally declared neutrality, closed their borders, and put the entire country under martial law.

A storm was coming!

.

.(To be continued. To find out what happens next, log onto www.qidian.com, more chapters to come, support the author, support legitimate reading!)