Everything to do with Alex's sudden return with four new pirate ships had already been sorted.
There were tens of thousands of witnesses to the spectacle, so it was impossible for someone to claim that Alex hadn't done what he had claimed to do.
Colonel Margit had already reported Alex's sudden surprise to the main HQ back in the Solar System.
So Alex was expecting another bout of rewards some time in the near future.
He wasn't too bothered about whether he got them in a few days, or a few weeks, since the war was already stressful for the federation to deal with, so he would understand if they couldn't prepare anything for him just yet.
But Alex had more important things to worry about that day.
Reaching C tier!
He was determined to finish his requirements within the next 10 hours, and he first started with getting out of the human base.
Which only took him a few minutes, considering he could leave from any airlock near him and take out his ship from his spatial storage.
Others who didn't have the luxury of such a large spatial storage had to park their ships in designated stations, and it could take them 30 minutes up to a full hour to traverse their way across the station and deal with all the bureaucratic jargon before they were actually on the ship.
Meanwhile, Alex had specifically requested that his private dorm be one near to an emergency exit, so it only took him 2 minutes maximum to leave the base.
***
After a short 10 minute journey across the Shen Wu system, Alex was already in orbit of the main battlefield.
He went through all of the usual procedures he was used to by now, scanning for the biggest hot spots on the planet, and identifying where the strongest Red Demons were battling.
And after just a few seconds he had gotten his answer.
And he couldn't help but have a smile creep up on his face when he saw one of the Red Demon's faces in the results.
'Varkoth!'
The Red Demon prodigy who had probably the easiest chance to kill him that anyone would ever get, but spared him due to 'honour'.
Alex was wondering when he would encounter this guy again, and he was very happy that it would be this day of all days.
'I'll be sure to let him know he's contributing to my ascension to C tier.'
And today, the monotonous atmosphere of the battlefield felt different.
'Something feels off...'
But Varkoth couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He felt his heart slowly speeding up in anticipation of something, but he had no idea what he was anticipating.
Until just a moment ago.
Varkoth's instincts, honed from years of combat, sensed a shift in the air.
It wasn't just the usual air of battle, nor was it the arrival of reinforcements from either side.
No, this was something else.
His eyes narrowed as he focused his senses, reaching out beyond the immediate battlefield.
'It's him!'
He sensed what had caused his weird feeling.
Up in the sky above the battlefield, a ship was rapidly descending.
And it was a ship that Varkoth would never forget.
"Alex..."
Varkoth muttered, his voice a low growl.
He could tell immediately that Alex wasn't headed for the battlefield below the cliff.
No, he was headed for Varkoth directly.
And when the ship was just a few dozen metres above the cliff, Alex appeared in the airlock door way.
"Surprised to see me?" He asked, with a wide smirk on his face.
Varkoth couldn't help his rage from boiling over from this provocation.