The destion left behind by Phoenix''s overwhelming power was eerie and silent.
Alex wasn''t going to question why the guy decided to call himself something as ambiguous as ''Phoenix'', nor did he liken it to any hint of him knowing about Alex''s talent.
It was probably just a coincidence.
The concept of Phoenixes had been around for thousands of years already, after all.
Not to mention it was known that Phoenixes actually existed, when the Primordial Expanse was introduced to the Federation.
As the two of them floated cautiously among the remnants of the destroyed fleet, the reality of what they were seeing finally started to weigh on them.
The sheer scale of annihtion was mind boggling.
An entire sr system, wiped out in an instant…
Not a single trace of Red Demon life remained, while the indigenous, unintelligent life on the surfaces of thes nearby were left untouched.
Neither of them knew how it was possible that his ability seemed to be able to differentiate between the Red Demons and other life forms, but they just pinned that down to the mysteries and peculiarities of the System.
"I guess… we should salvage whatever we can?"
Mira finally broke the silence, her tone as skeptical as he resolve.
Only a few hours prior, she was more determined than anyone to go on a killing spree of Red Demons.
But now… her mood was much more tame.
"Especially anything from themand ship. I''m betting there are many valuable things on board."
The Red Demons may seem like a brash and ''brawns over brains'' race, but they still had thousands of years worth of development over the Federation.
Their technologies were more advanced than what the humans had to offer, so anything they could scrounge up would be a benefit to the entire Federation.
Alex nodded, still distracted by the sudden appearance, and disappearance of Phoenix.
"Yeah… and anything that can help us understand who he is. Maybe there''s some clue in what''s left behind?"
***
Hours passed as theybed through the debris field.
The hollowed out husks of ships yielded little of value, most of the equipment was scorched or disintegrated in whatever catastrophic force Phoenix had unleashed.
But on the remains of the gship, they struck gold.
The captain''s private quarters, reinforced and buried deep within the ship''s structure, had partially survived.
Inside, Mira found a sealed data cache, its outer casing bearing the intricate Red Demon insignias.
The cache pulsed faintly, with a self sustaining power souce keeping it operational.
After giving it a quick scan with hermunicator, Mira''s gaze lit up.
"These quarters belonged to an A tier captain!"
She spoke, handing the data cache to Alex to store away.
"I only managed to barely scratch the surface of the information on there, but if we can send this back to the Federation for them to crack open… We might find some blueprints for core technologies on there!"
Alex examined the cache, noting that it was warm to the touch.
"Yeah, this thing could hold their entire battle strategy — or something more important. We''ll need to hand it over to the experts to find out exactly what though."
They salvaged a few additional trinkets as well, before turning away.
With their haul secured, the two returned to Alex''s ship, leaving the haunted remains of the Red Demon fleet behind.
***
The journey back was uneventful, but the mood aboard the ship was anything but calm.
Both Alex and Mira were consumed by their thoughts.
The encounter with Phoenix had left them shaken, and the implications of his power — and the existence of humans outside of the Federation — were impossible to ignore.
After several days of travelling, their ship approached the sr system.
Contrary to their expectations, they were unobstructed on their entry to the system.
It seemed the rebellious forces had yet to prate deep into the Federation''s core systems, to the relief of the two of them.
If they couldn''t even escape the target on their backs in their home, they wouldn''t know where to go…
Alex still felt a little guilty for this, but Mira wasn''t bothered by it.
They neared Mars after a short burn, but the closer they got, the more thems channels were buzzing with chatter.
Considering the strict conventions of the border forces, this would normally enact severe fines on all those involved for disrupting the public order and jamming the much neededmunications.
Especially in a time as dire as this, in the middle of an intergctic war.
But when they listened closer, they discovered that even the soldiers protecting the borders had joined in on the chatter, ignoring their original roles a their posts…
Cheers,ughter, and triumphant music filled the airwaves.
''Celebrations?''
Both of them recognised this cheery atmosphere for what it was.
"What are they celebrating?"
Alex muttered aloud, frowning at thems feed.
He was a little annoyed because he couldn''t get through to anyone to get clearance tond.
"Something big, it seems."
Mira replied, equally perplexed.
"But we''ve been out of contact for nearly a week now. Did something happen while we were gone to warrant this kind of triumphant atmosphere?"
Considering they weren''t able to get through to anyone, Alex decided to do away with the official procedures, since the officials themselves had seemed to do so, and headed to the airspace on Mars, above a familiar looking city.
Capital Prime city.
As his ship crashed through the''s atmosphere, their confusion only increased.
It wasn''t just thems channels where the celebratory mood was spreading…
Just a simple glimpse outside of his window let him capture the brilliance that were the celebrations that were going on all across the city, spreading out into even the university.
Soon enough, they caught glimpse of a news report on arge screen on the side of a skyscraper.
"Victory! The Red Demons have been defeated! The Human race has won this era-defining war!"
''???''
''???''
Alex and Mira shared a bewildered nce.