Inside the ship, Alex established a secure line to Colonel Margit.
The Colonel's face appeared on the screen almost immediately after, like he was waiting for some sort of communication.
"It's done. The base is destroyed, and the Planet Buster along with it." Alex reported.
Margit nodded, a rare smile touching his lips.
"You did good, Alex. The Shen Wu system owes you a great debt. Get back to HQ for some well deserved rest. That's an order."
For once, Alex acknowledged Colonel Margit's order, cutting the connection shortly after.
He leaned back in his seat, feeling the immense weight lift off his shoulder slightly.
The war was still raging on in this system, but he had just earned the human race a major victory nonetheless.
***
"Fucking shit, how could the plan have failed so spectacularly!"
Varkoth broke the surface of the water in a tiny, sphere shaped escape pod.
The pod could only carry one person at a time, and he had to kill quite a few of his own people to secure it before the entire base imploded.
Each person was fighting for their own survival, and as the strongest of the bunch, Varkoth obviously came out on top and claimed the escape pod for himself.
He immediately activated his communicator, contacting his superiors.
The screen flickered to life, revealing the stern face of the commanding officer presiding over the Red Demon side of the war in the Shen Wu system.
"Our primary mission is a failure. The Planet Buster, along with the rest of the base, has been destroyed." Varkoth reported, his voice a mixture of rage and annoyance despite reporting to his so called superior.
The superior's eyes narrowed, ignoring Varkoth's tone. "What caused the explosion?"
"It is unknown at this time," Varkoth replied. "But rest assured, we will not stop until we find out what, or who, caused this monumental fuck up."
The superior's expression hardened.
"How many survived? More specifically, how many of our prodigies made it out?"
He turned to a holographic screen on the side and unpaused a video.
On the screen, the normal ocean waves appeared, with nothing of immediate interest in sight.
But Varkoth recognised the Area immediately.
It was the ocean surface right above the abyssal trench, where he had emerged in his escape pod.
The calm of the ocean surface was disrupted a few moments later as a shadow appeared beneath the water.
It shot out of the ocean at speeds only a spacecraft could achieve.
The vessel slowed for a brief moment, allowing the satellite to get a good picture of it, before it rapidly ascended out of the planet's atmosphere, eventually leaving the range of the spy satellite.
"As you can see, that was not a Red Demon ship." The commanding officer stated, looking pointedly at Varkoth.
"It's human." Varkoth stated, gritting his teeth.
"Yes," the commander affirmed. "But our intelligence department recognised this ship at a glance when we sent it to them to investigate. It has become rather infamous on the battlefield over the last week."
The commander took a heavy sigh, before he continued.
"It belongs to the human race's prodigy, Alex."
Varkoth's eyes narrowed.
If he weren't on the command base, he would have sought something out to destroy, and vent his rage out on.
"Alex... so he's responsible."
"Indeed," The commanding officer replied.
"Our intelligence reports indicate that Alex has become a critical asset for the humans. His presence in the Shen Wu system has turned the tide in several key battles."
The commander took an awkward look at Varkoth, knowing that Varkoth could have taken Alex out if he had chosen to face him instead of turning away due to his own pride.
Varkoth had even begun to question his own decision to let Alex live for a moment, before he shook his head and removed such thoughts from his head.
'No, my pride wouldn't have allowed me to kill him in that state. It would be too much of a stain on my reputation.'