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 ofmunication.


    "It''s done. The base is destroyed, and the 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 nheless.


    ***


    "Fucking shit, how could the n have failed so spectacrly!"


    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 imed the escape pod for himself.


    He immediately activated hismunicator, contacting his superiors.


    The screen flickered to life, revealing the stern face of themanding officer presiding over the Red Demon side of the war in the Shen Wu system.


    "Our primary mission is a failure. The 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?"


    Varkoth was about to answer one, assuming he was the only one who made it out alive.


    But as he was about to speak, more and more escape pods began to surface from the ocean, each bobbing up and down on the water''s surface.


    He eyed them all quickly, counting each and every one that appeared.


    "Thirty two survivors." Varkoth reported, a hint of relief in his voice.


    The majority of the Red Demon prodigies in the Shen Wu system were upying that base.


    If all of them died in the implosion, then that might have had even more devastating effects on the war than the failure of the Buster.


    "Affirmative. A ship is on its way to collect you and the thirty one other prodigies that survived. Hold your position."


    The superior''s eyes widened slightly before he regained hisposure.


    Varkoth acknowledged the order and ended the call.


    He looked out at the escape pods scattered across the water.


    Despite the failure of the Buster mission, their survival meant that the fight in the Shen Wu system was far from over.


    A ship soon approached from over the horizon, along with dozens of others.


    All of them were Red Demon ships, with all of them but the first one arriving to investigate the cause of this huge disaster.


    The transport ship picked Varkoth and the other prodigies up, taking them to the centralmand base out in the depths of space, to report what exactly had happened and to collect every one of their testimonies.


    ***


    A few hourster, Varkoth stood in themand room of the centralmand base, deep in the depths of space.


    The sterile, metallic environment bussed with activity as Red Demon officers were rushing all over the ce, trying to bring order back.


    Themanding officer, a tall and imposing figure, wasted no time on pleasantries.


    "What did you call me here for?" Varkoth asked, his impatience barely masked.


    Themanding officer met his gaze, his expression grim.


    "One of our spy satellites picked this up, just a few moments before the base imploded."


    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 momentster 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''s atmosphere, eventually leaving the range of the spy satellite.


    "As you can see, that was not a Red Demon ship." Themanding officer stated, looking pointedly at Varkoth.


    "It''s human." Varkoth stated, gritting his teeth.


    "Yes," themander affirmed. "But our intelligence department recognised this ship at a nce when we sent it to them to investigate. It has be rather infamous on the battlefield over thest week."


    Themander 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 themand base, he would have sought something out to destroy, and vent his rage out on.


    "Alex… so he''s responsible."


    "Indeed," Themanding officer replied.


    "Our intelligence reports indicate that Alex has be a critical asset for the humans. His presence in the Shen Wu system has turned the tide in several key battles."


    Themander 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.''