Counterfeit Hero

The silver shuttle-shaped craft, threading through the gap between two asteroids each nearly 600 meters in diameter, decelerated and drifted sideways, slowly approaching the majestic steel hull of the Oracle Space Carrier. In the continuous flight attitude adjustments, it followed the mottled shell of the hull, lifted its head upwards, and flew into the elliptical entrance of the flight passage.

As the shuttle’s nose crossed the induction line, the gigantic tractors on both sides of the passage clicked shut, firmly clamping the shuttle. After an electronic tone, the routine scan was completed. Amidst the flashing green lights, the tractor dragged the shuttle, gliding along the long track towards the depths of the carrier.

Tian Xingjian stood quietly in the waiting area of berth six in the gigantic number one flight cabin.

The standard flight cabin was one hundred meters wide, two hundred meters long, and forty meters high. The Oracle carrier has six such flight cabins. On the deck of each flight cabin, there are twenty circles marked with yellow warning lines and white baseline lines. These are the elevators connecting the upper and lower hangars. Around the flight cabin are heavy steel walls. On these walls are distributed twenty Level 1 ejection passage entrances. Spacecraft can complete the procedure from the hangar to the flight cabin and then be sent into the ejection passage along the traction track within a minute during emergencies.

The twenty Level 1 ejection passages are controlled by a central control system, connected with ten dual-craft Second-level ejection passages. After passing through the Second-level ejection passage, spacecraft can enter space in formation at a sufficiently high speed. The carrier’s design standard is a load of two thousand spacecrafts, and if fully equipped, they can be completely deployed in less than twenty minutes.

Undoubtedly, the Oracle is the embodiment of the military technology of Leray and Mars Technology. Even the current main force of Feiyang, the Gods-class Space Carrier, does not have such a large carrying capacity and deployment capability. The six flight cabins not only allow fast deployment of spacecraft but also ensure that during wartime, the recovery, ammunition supplementation, and maintenance of spacecraft are carried out at a speed far exceeding that of regular carriers.

If it were to be placed around Earth in ancient history, around the old Gregorian calendar year 2500, such a space carrier would bankrupt a superpower of that time. Of course, a carrier like this would be sufficient to conquer a planet back then. In an era when ground warfare still revolved around missiles and wheeled armor, a carrier casually drifting through space, equipped with two thousand space fighters, was nearly invincible.

The space carrier was initially a symbol of military strength, with an extremely high cost. During the Earth Federation era, the entire Federation Army possessed only ten carriers. However, with continuous technological and productive advancements, the cost of space carriers steadily decreased. More advanced technology and larger manufacturing capabilities repeatedly transformed previously unreachable things into ordinary commodities for humanity. This kind of progress, when extended to weapons used in war, was a disaster.

In the old Gregorian calendar year 2600, if not for the strong regulation by the Earth Federation, even the production of nuclear weapons could have been completed by a small family workshop.

Dozens of senior bandit army officers formed two lines, standing to the side of Fatty. Behind Fatty were over a thousand original Blue Rose ship officers and the Leray national engineers, scientists, trainees, and officers visiting Chuckna.

Around them, the Mecha Team was swiftly moving. One fighter after another was drawn by the tracks, sliding towards the hangar or repair area.

The takeover of the Hanfrey Fleet was nearing completion.

Even after a fierce battle with the Feiyang 19th Fleet, exhausting many ships, the Hanfrey Fleet still held strength nearly equivalent to four A-level fleets from Feiyang. If not for the Binart Fleet having a fleet structure weighted with heavy artillery ships and light carriers, resulting in two Elephant-level fleets possessing only two carriers, one of which was already destroyed, this combat strength would have been significantly increased.

Of course, top-tier heavy carriers like the Feiling are incomparable to the medium-sized carriers equipped by regular A-level fleets.

With a ”dong” sound, the guiding light of the dedicated track on berth six for the shuttle, which had been inactive, began to flicker. The bandit army officers who were conversing suddenly fell silent, their stance involuntarily becoming orderly and erect.

Everyone was aware that the arrival was of Fatty’s mentor, the great general Russell, who led the last fleet of the fragmented Leray.

Just by looking at Fatty, Chekov, Carl, and other Leray officers’ faces, observing their slightly trembling bodies, one could understand what this moment meant to these soldiers who struggled in the Free World, far from Leray. It was like a wanderer unable to return home, encountering his father, with no distinction!

All the pain, grievances, all the tears, blood, all the confusion, fatigue... at this moment, had a culmination.

The wandering Leray people and Leray’s most elite seeds finally united. From this moment onward, Leray will have a new hope. From this moment onward, they will no longer fight alone.

The silvery-white shuttle finally appeared in view. It followed the track, slowly entered the berth of number six. The support frame secured the body, the automatic telescoping ladder approached the slowly opening cabin door, and Russell, donned in military uniform, appeared at the cabin entrance.

Time froze. In the vast flight cabin, there was complete silence.