Once the warning began to resonate throughout the entire base, every soldier and cadet sprang into action. The cadets that had just arrived were scared and confused by the sudden alert announced on their first day. Left with no better option, they began to follow the experienced soldiers towards the gathering site.
Most of the cadets gave in to panic, with the exception of Michael. He calmly walked towards the gathering site with Ava close to his side. Not wanting to put more pressure on his mind than necessary, he deactivated the technique. His eyes turned back to their natural brown color a second later.
'The Berserker technique should allow me to dominate most enemies as long as I am not surrounded. Usually few people dare to learn techniques that could affect the mind. But with my 1000 points, that shouldn't pose any problem.'
"How are you so calm?" Ava muttered, seeing his calm expression. It looked like he was taking a stroll in a park.
"The situation will not change, regardless if I panic or not, so why should I waste my nerves?"
Hearing his confident voice, Ava's heart seemed to calm down. It wasn't that she was scared. She just suffered from mood swings.
'Why do I feel safe when I am with him? Who is he really?'
Still, the way the cadet acted was suspicious. Ava was beginning to wonder if he was royalty undercover. But since she didn't know the situation, she remained silent.
'It's about time we are given our weapon of choice.' Michael mused, reaching the gathering site.
'30,000 soldiers and 10,000 newly arrived cadets. The base works as a training ground, so I am really curious how they will decide to deal with the alien threat.'
"Listen up!" Oliver's voice resonated in the air, silencing all chatter. "Just recently we found out that over the whole surface of Triton there are numerous hidden aliens that possess the ability to open portals. What is worse, due to the reckless actions of the other bases, some of these aliens have awoken earlier than predicted and opened portals, bringing more of their kind. As a result, there is a wave of aliens currently running to our base."
The legs of the cadets began to visibly shake. Most of them had just turned 18! They had yet to undergo any kind of official training, yet they were about to face aliens already?
"God help us!"
"I knew that the money sounded too good to be good!"
"I—I don't want to die a virgin!"
Seeing the chaos, Michael felt like facepalming himself. 'How did they mess it up this badly? I clearly told them that they have a week. I doubt that Victoria is at fault. The decision to engage the aliens unprepared had probably come from higher than her.'
With a sigh, he organized his thoughts. 'At least things are vastly better than in my previous life. We should be able to get rid of the aliens and their portals before the official invasion begins.'
By sending just one message, he had triggered a massive change in the timeline, but that was nowhere near enough to fight off the invasion.
Seeing the fear in the cadets' eyes, Oliver's blood began to boil.
'I can guess that most of them agreed to arrive here and be trained only because of the massive paycheck. And now the cowards crap their pants at the first sign of danger.'
"Ahm!" An old man that had recently arrived from a nearby base cleared his throat. That was enough to cause the chaos to die down.
"There is nothing to worry about, youngsters. Most of you are going to stay in the back and shoot anyway. Only the veteran melee fighters are going to face the enemies up close."
With a warm smile, the old man raised a neon chip over his head.
"And to serve as a motivator, the one that has the most confirmed kills will receive an Epic rank cybernetic!"
Michael's eyes immediately widened. He had been debating on how to deal with the aliens, but the promise of such a reward sealed the deal.
The gathered army was separated. The soldiers covered the perimeter of the whole base, ensuring its safety. Once that was done, most of them went ahead to deal with the approaching threat. This was where Victoria had gone off to as well. Once somebody capable of temporarily taking cover appeared, she went off to kill as many of the aliens as she could.
Meanwhile, the cadets were instructed to go towards the armory. Even if it was sooner than expected, they needed to be armed for what was about to come.
"Are you proficient with a sniper? Why are you taking it?"
"I obviously want to be as far away from the battlefield as possible!"
Michael watched the cadets pick their weapon of choice. The majority picked up rifles and snipers, too scared to go close to the enemy.
"And what do you want, young man?" The woman in charge of distribution asked him.
"A melee weapon, the bigger, the better." He answered nonchalantly.
"Eh?" The woman was momentarily stunned. "The melee weapons are for those that are ready to face danger up close. If you don't mind me asking, is there a particular reason for your choice?"
Michael smiled innocently. "Honestly the ranged weapons just don't feel the same. I prefer it when I can feel my blade tearing the aliens apart one by one."
"..."
'He is mental.' With an awkward cough, the woman nodded and led Michael to the place where they stored the melee weapons.
As it turned out, Oliver, as well as the old man that had seemed to take over Victoria's position, was there.
"Oh? Another cadet has the guts to pick up a melee weapon?" The old man laughed before extending his hand for a handshake.
"I am Bryce, temporary commander of the base. It's rare for young ones like you to choose close combat. So I personally want to meet the ones that do."
Michael accepted the handshake with a nod.
Oliver was watching from the side. His specialty was as a sniper, and frankly, he never understood those that chose to confront the enemy up close.
'Lowly barbarian, it won't be long before he perishes.' Oliver told himself.
"You can pick from any of the weapons on display." Bryce said, making way for Michael.
'Is that… a soul weapon?' Michael's gaze immediately stopped at a greatsword that was positioned at the far back.
"Don't even think about it. That is a soul weapon." Oliver scoffed. "It once belonged to Jack the Butcher before he perished. Until now no one had been able to command it."
"Can I try regardless?" Michael turned to Bryce for confirmation.
The old man simply nodded.
That was all Michael needed. Ignoring Oliver, he went towards the soul weapon.
'Now let's see what you have in store for me.'