"There's only one Donald I know, one of the first S tiers to appear in the Federation. He's from Farnes' generation, so another old fogie. Most of the higher ups are too lenient with his actions if you ask me."
Althea explained, not bothering to wait for Alex to confirm whether they were the same person or not.
However, none of what she said clicked in Alex's mind. 'But it would make sense that he was someone with such influence, to be able to give me information on the Red Demon race back then. He also knew of the Overseers as well, so that should be enough of an indicator of his status in the Federation.'
"Here, is this what he looks like." Alex decided to shorten things by just showing Althea a picture that he snapped back when he met him. The man was so arrogant back then that he hadn't even stopped Alex from doing something as bold as that.
'Thought I didn't know he was an S tier back then… Things could have ended extremely badly!'
Thankfully, Alex was a well known figure already at that point, and his movements were well known. Donald wouldn't have killed him and Mira in a place like that unless it was strictly necessary.
"Yes, that's him." Althea confirmed with one luck.
As a higher up herself, she interacted with people like him everyday. At least in times when she wasn't leading an extragalactic expedition… Donald was a well known figure in the higher circles, so he would be rather hard to forget.
Alex's face scrunched into a ball with her confirmation.
"It seems the Federation itself needs a purge as well."
Althea reeled back slightly from his words.
They sounded so absurd, especially coming from the mouth of someone so young who until just recently she considered just another above average weakling.
But with his present strength, the only person who might be able to stop him was Farnes.
"What do you mean by that? Are you saying he betrayed us?"
Althea needed an explanation.
"He sold us out before to the Red Demons, so I wouldn't be surprised if he did so again. In fact, I'm almost certain he's colluding with one or multiple of the other races involved in this frenzy for Andromeda."
Althea was appalled by his words, and she was quick to question him.
But now wasn't the time, nor the place. The highest priority right now was to secure the Bugonia system so that it was safe for Mira's return.
"You said there are 15 S tiers?"
"Yes, not including you."
"Point me in the direction of the strongest."
Althea stared at him for a brief moment longer. There was too much to ask, too much that should have been discussed.
About Donald. His supposed betrayal to the Red Demons, let alone the suspected betrayal Alex was currently accusing him of as well.
But the battlefield around them did not care for politics, secrets, or delayed outrage.
War was still raging across Bugonia as they spoke.
Mira was still left vulnerable, left in the Void Realm all by herself. It wasn't even certain that she was safe in there, as her last encounter into the Void Realm had already proven to her – with her likely encountering a being beyond S tier that ended up with her just barely making it back to the normal universe intact.
And better yet, there was an absurd amount of 15 S tiers from hostile races scattered across the system.
So Athea swallowed every question that cropped up and turned her attention outward.
"There." Alex raised a hand and pointed towards the innermost combat zone surrounding Bugonia's primary star. "Near the remains of the closest planet to the star."
Althea followed the direction of Alex's finger.
Even from her position halfway across the star system, she could feel the oppressive aura emanating from that direction as if it were right next to her.
"Good."
She disappeared in the following moments.
Alex did the same soon after.
***
Elsewhere in the Bugonia system.
"That damn human! The information he gave said that there would just be Human Federation ships occupying this system, not an all out war involving every race contesting for Andromeda!"
Kargan was a one of the highest figures in the Lux circles. As a Variant Class S tier, there were few who could match him in this region of the universe, let alone the Andromeda galaxy or his own race.
Only the powerhouses of the other major races in the region could match him in power, and even still, they rarely showed themselves on the battlefield.
Yet what he was experiencing at the moment seemed to contradict that notion entirely!
"There's 7 other Variant classes like me, and a few Mutants to fill in the numbers. But there just has to be a fucking King class here! Here, this fucking system of all places!"
Kargan didn't even have any comrades to vent his emotions to either, leaving him with nothing but the vacuum of space to listen to his ramblings.
The space surrounding him had long been reduced to a ring of debris from all of the ships he took care of once he teleported in.
The shattered remains of space stations, huge troop carriers, and dead bodies drifted in flaming segments around half a planet. The other half already becoming part of the debris ring.
In both hands he wielded a colossal axe formed from the spine of a creature he once killed in the Primordial Expanse.
"Hmm. I didn't expect there to be any survivors."
Suddenly, a life signature appearing nearby caught his attention.
"Hmm. Just a B tier as well, how did someone as weak as you survive my initial attacks."
Kargan grew a little intrigued by the weakling before him. Taking a closer look at him, he found that he appeared to be just an ordinary looking human.
"You there, human. Tell me how you survived and I'll make your death painless"
However, before he could utter another word, the human shot at him at a speed that shouldn't have been possible for someone of his rank.
