death of hope

Chapter 313 "Enterprise Warrior" (229) The Hero Is No Longer

"You know me."

"Of course... God... this is not... a dream..."

Old Jon covered his forehead, feeling dizzy.

(This old man... what's going on? Why is he so excited all of a sudden? Early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease? Is he demented? No, he doesn't look stupid, he's quite energetic.) Marcus Lynch is quite incomprehensible,
The old man who runs a small bar in the slums puts on a look of reunion after a long absence to himself, as if he has been wronged so much and needs to find someone to talk to.

Marcus Lynch didn't know what kind of storm the old man had set off in his heart.
For half a century, living in a neighborhood where poverty and violence are intertwined, the life without passion is boring, the old man has been longing to find the same kind,
(Comrades, where have you gone? Who will save the fallen human beings.)
When anyone listens, Old Jon is the critic, babbling out on the world,
The traffic star killed the troubadour,

Bad money drives out good money, people's hearts are not old, Terra Federation has gradually become a cultural desert of entertainment to death,

Young people in York City are addicted to the jumping numbers in the stock market, the neon-flashing consumption traps, drug addiction, cyberpsychosis caused by excessive prosthetic transformation...

Especially in recent years, Old Jon felt that he was out of tune with this world,

The romance between knights and cowboys is buried by flowers, there is no longer any chivalrous feelings, only greed that has no limit to release,

(A carnival of speculators and bloody capital, addicted to corruption, the decline of human civilization is inevitable.)
Children worship the old nobles, upstarts, politicians, traffic stars, and even interstellar pirates, and the heroes of the old days are forgotten.

For countless days and nights, Old Jon was beating on his cane, complaining to the boys in the neighborhood that he didn't get the respect he deserved, but the boys always thought he was complaining about too little pension.

(Poor little fools, who have never seen the years of passion... How can they understand what romantic love is!
Or maybe... I'm just an old guy who doesn't understand anything,
Can't keep up with the trend of the times,

deserve to be abandoned,

forget...)
No matter how strong your body is, sooner or later there will be a day when
The stubborn veteran, along with his outdated memories, and those oxidized, tarnished medals and moldy awards, were buried in the barren graves of the old days.

The boys in the block respect old Jon,
I regard him as the patron saint of the neighbors in the neighborhood, but I don't understand that this stubborn and grumpy old man hides in the corner all day, thinking about something.

Old Jon feared neither death nor poverty, but what he feared most was being forgotten.

He is afraid that the values ​​of the old era that he cherishes will be rounded up by the vulgar general public and thrown into the pile of old papers of history.

(The age of heroes is gone forever, knights and cowboys fall to their deaths, businessmen and actors come on stage...)
As if the gods heard his complaint,
Right now, like a dream, in the small bar I opened,

Spartan company commander, a living legend standing in front of him, so unreal.

(Same kind? No! Even if I am an old man who loves to brag, I dare not place myself in the same rank as legends. Although I am a junior, it is a height that I will never reach.)
The Spartan company commander, the fierce man who changed the direction of the battle by himself, is like the warrior who slays the dragon in the fairy tale book, the idol that the old boys dreamed of becoming.

Old Jon's creased old hands trembled, his eyebrows quivered with excitement,

(It’s not a dream, just like the newspaper, an ugly and hairy giant, with criss-crossing scars like trenches on a battlefield, honorably wounded! His face is covered with medals! I’m so envious!)
The old soldier suddenly became very ceremonial, polished the brass buttons on the cuffs, wiped the federal badge on the military cap, and put it on straight.

He seemed to be looking for a way to express his reverence. Seeing this, if it wasn't for the loss of a leg, he would have to stand at attention, take a break and pay attention.

In an instant, the melancholy that spanned half a century, such a complicated state of mind, even Lynch, who possesses powerful psychic powers, could not understand, so he could only smile awkwardly and politely;

"Grandpa, there's no need to do this, is it okay to sit down and talk." Sigurd Lifa also felt embarrassed and embarrassed.

(Our old man is crazy!) The young people in the bar were dumbfounded, and Downey thought: (As for?)

"You don't understand, old man... finally found the same kind." Roy Steinberg understood the state of mind of the veteran a little bit, and no longer showed hostility towards the corporate soldiers:
(That ugly big man is probably the idol star in Old Jon's heart, just like us screaming at the rock scene.)
"It's not a dream, thank God." Old Jon stuttered: "I... have a question that I've kept in my heart... for a long time."

"You say."

"Why accept re-employment as a corporate soldier? With your merits and abilities, you can be a general or even a federal marshal."

"Hey, this..." Lynch sighed: "I executed the prisoners privately, and I was removed from the army."

"Oh, that's it..." The old soldier shook his head regretfully.

"Sorry to disappoint you, senior."

"Disappointed... how come! I just want to say thank you, I've been waiting for ten years!"

"When I was fighting, you would have been discharged from the army long ago, so it probably didn't help you much."

"It's not me, it's my old unit, the 11th Marine Division,
After my leg was blown off by a landmine, I worked as a trainee instructor for a while. I sent a lot of good guys to the old army, as well as brave girls, many of them were children from the same town. They called me Uncle Jon, and I regarded them... as If you come out..."

"I see." Lynch understood a little bit, how could a father not be excited when facing the benefactor who saved his child.

"Pisces Brenia V planetary battle, the federal army was ambushed by the rebels, the marshal ordered the ground troops to retreat, the 11th division lost most of its armored vehicles, and could only flee on foot, was chased and intercepted by the rebels, and finally evacuated point, only to find that the airport is about to fall.

The division commander, Baron Dodgson, called for reinforcements, but the headquarters could do nothing. The intelligence department underestimated the strength of the rebels. The last reserve team had already entered the battlefield. The channel was filled with explosions and cries for help.

There were no reinforcements left, and we could only wait to die. The marshal wrote in his later published memoirs that it was a difficult time. The rebels were about to capture the airport, and the 11th Marine Division, which could not evacuate the battlefield, could only wait to die. A retreating army returns,
Compared with the strength on the ground, the rebels have an absolute advantage. It is impossible to imagine what kind of a group of lunatics will return to the hellish battlefield at that time. How can there be such a crazy guy?
The Marshal wrote that any sane commander would abandon the 11th Division for the sake of the overall situation.

At this moment, the adjutant said that someone had volunteered, and the shocked marshal ordered the tower to connect directly. He wanted to know what kind of lunatic would be willing to go back to hell. "

Looking at the excited old soldier, Marcus Lynch remembered,
At that time, Mad Dog Johnny had just resigned because of the prisoner abuse scandal. That battle was his first battle as captain and company commander. Johnny once said that the Spartan company would not abandon any comrades in arms. He finally withdrew from the battlefield. Picked up the military radio without hesitation:
"I want to hear the voice of a lunatic. There are two reinforced brigades and tens of thousands of rebels besieging the airport." At that time, the marshal asked: "Are you really determined to do this, young man?"

"Marshal, my subordinates and I have decided to return to the ground. If we want to defend the airport, we alone are not enough, we also need the support of railgun firepower."

"I will mobilize three cruisers to support you, the good news is that another group of madmen have also found,
Major Shivana's Valkyrie transport aircraft formation took over the evacuation mission. You are responsible for their lives. The 11th Division has many seriously wounded. The evacuation will be very slow, and you will have to hold out for a long time under the siege of the rebels.

Gambling two elite troops for the 11th Division is undoubtedly a crazy move. The fleet commander and the staff officer strongly advised me to evacuate immediately.

Captain, you must know that I made this seemingly stupid decision under great pressure,
Now that we have gone, we must fight to the last drop of blood, protect the Valkyrie pilot, and not abandon a wounded person, can it be done. "

Lynch replied:
"Abandoning his comrades and fleeing? My old company commander, Johnny Blazer, will call to greet my eighteenth generation ancestor. You should know he is a bad tempered fellow.

So, Marshal, I'll get the job done and get the Navy guys ready for the drop pod. "

(End of this chapter)