Malus glanced down through the cockpit window at the devastation that he saw before him. First, there was a blinding flash of light, so much that his visor automatically darkened to protect his brain from vision overload. He winced as the blinding flash of light turned into a ball of light, that expanded and grew, taking up almost a third of the tiny planet.
The planet was already weak enough as it was. It'd been barely habitle for colonization and frankly rather unstable. As a gigantic mushroom cloud the size of a continent formed over the sky of the planet, he saw a gigantic chunk of the planet break free from the other side.
Then another. And another. He watched it for a long time, as the planet broke up, it's gravity turning against it and crushing the planet into tiny bits. He'd had no idea that Velvaa had been cleared for a Planet-Killer. The Planet-Killer Nuclear Bomb was a beast of a weapon, reverse-engineered from the Predator self-destruct device, and improved on a hundredfold. It was used for situations that were so hopeless that the destruction of an entire planet was nessecary.
There were two things to be worthy of a PK bomb. A Xenomorph Infestation that was on the verge of migrating to other planets, and a Yautja strike team.
Malus inclined his head, a silent euology for the Hunters on the planet, a funeral right for the Xenomorphs whom had been culled, and for the three squads of brave marines that had lost thier lives. Kawalski, Jarred. Peterson. They sacrificed themselves so that he and Delta could escape. A silent prayer for the hunter who had killed Peterson and for Shadowathching, that they find the afterlife they sought to attain.
He then noticed an unusual flash of metal, hurtling away through space, and his pale face formed into a grin. So, it seemed that one had escaped. If that one had, then chances were that maybe another did. Good. That meant that there would be more battles. He would avenge Peterson and finish off Shadowatching.
"Planet-Killer was 100% effective. The planet is dust. Possible Yautja survivor. We'll let him go. He earned the right to survive this one. This mission is over, and rated as a marginal success, after 75% casualties. I can only predict that Yautja casualties were at about 90%, and Xeno casualties were Total. We are done here. Let's go home." He said as he turned his back on the dying planet, and flew his damaged dropship into the cargo bay of the Fate.
He re-activated the boarding ramp and stepped into the Fate, a small smile on his face. He had survived yet again.
Once again, Alpha Draconis was victorious. Or, at least, not completely vanquished.