Last stand

As Kraft and his squad were helping the last of the armor-wearing soldiers get out of the tunnel, he noticed something was wrong. Having worked as a rescue squad captain for a dozen years, his instincts, honed by countless battles, had reached the point of a sixth sense.

Feeling a sense of approaching danger and knowing that everyone was already evacuated from the tunnel, he ordered a hasty retreat.

Currently, they were nine kilometers away from the Great Gate. With most of the people under him carrying armor or even two, their movement speed was heavily affected.

"Alright, wedge formation, we're going home. And keep your eyes peeled, something is coming!" said Kraft to his squad.

"Roger!" came the simultaneous reply.

As every single one of the armors and Kraft's mech extended their wheels and went into drive mode, they left the area.

Mere minutes after they left, a shadow was creeping through the tunnels, deeper and deeper towards the Arcology. Thousands upon thousands of stalkers and hunters followed it, and even sparsely a Queen's Guard. 

The broodmother was approaching.

Somewhere a few kilometers deeper underground...

Inside the meteorite, the RivTech operation squad, with Gareth at the forefront, was trying to remain optimistic. While the stalkers and hunters wouldn't be capable of opening the door according to Gareth, there was one small issue with his calculation: the acidic blood of the stalkers.

Behind the door, a dozen stalker corpses were emitting a sizzling sound as they were wrung out of their blood by hunters. The blood was then splashed on the door, and as the metal kept getting weaker and more corroded, the first holes appeared after an hour's effort by the critters.

Seeing that they had started opening holes in the door, the morale of everyone hit rock bottom. Most of them had not even restored a fifth of their Quietus, with the fullest being Uria.

Standing up and seeing the naturally forming funnel at the gate, and walking towards the gate with a smile on her face, she knew what was coming. The others kept silent as they saw her get ready to block the beasts by herself. Paul and the RivTech grunt, who had introduced himself as Bill, stood up and went to the door to help her. Yet she shook her head and said with a smile on her face, "Rest, I can fight for quite a while."

With a confused look, they got down to the ground to rest, yet they were still much closer to the door so they could reinforce her if something happened. Sword in hand, she waited for the main hole to grow further. Soon enough, the hole could fit her entire armor through it.

Not having to wait long, a tail suddenly flew out from the door and went straight towards her head. Yet with one simple uppercut, she bisected the tail, and grabbing a remaining part of it, she pulled the hunter inside. As the creature was pulled inside, in the last moment of its life, it saw an expanding steel foot.

SPLAT

Removing her leg and seeing the blood flowing down from it, she kept looking forward to greeting her guests. Occasionally, they would rush in through the opening. Occasionally, multiple would run in at the same time. Some would wait for their comrade to die before they rushed in. Yet with one precise sword strike, every single one of them was bisected. With a pile of stalkers and hunters' bodies forming next to the door slowly, minutes passed like that. Finally, after 27 kills, she got what she was waiting for.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for having completed their first 100 kills. The first bonus ability slot has been unlocked! And as a first-time unlocking bonus, you will be granted a random ability!"

A slight burning sensation spread out throughout her body with that announcement, and as she was slowly taking in the changes, she was interrupted. With a metallic scratching sound, she looked at her chest that had another scratch on it. Grabbing the tail of the stalker after dropping her sword, she pulled it inside the gate. Placing her hand on top of its carapace-covered back, and the other one firmly gripping the tail, she smashed it into the ground.

BANG

After she picked up her sword that was resisting the acid blood's corrosion, she now looked at her 3rd slot in detail. Seeing that it was spinning and undecided, she went back to swinging her sword. Yet she didn't have to swing for long as the notification resounded again.

"Congratulations on getting the basic ability: Strengthen! You can now view your abilities' descriptions by using the system window!"

She then inspected her abilities in the system window:

Basic Ability: Harden

E grade, 24% progress.

Increases the resistance of the material affected by it, up to double the resistance. Higher grades increase the resistance further.

Basic Ability: Tremorsense

F grade, 96% progress.

Feels the vibrations in the surrounding 50 meters. Requires contact with the ground.

Basic Ability: Strengthen

F grade, 0% progress.

Increases the user's power output, both Quietus and physical, by up to 50%.

Having understood how much of an increase in power she had gotten, she was quite satisfied. Wanting to test out her ability on a new target, she noticed a hunter rapidly approaching her. Exiting the gate under the shocked gazes of everyone, she rushed towards the hunter. With one swing of her arm that had Strengthen applied to it, her sword went through the hunter like a hot knife through butter, compared to the slight resistance she usually felt. Retreating back to the hole, she was about to get in when she had a thought. Turning around, she stood just outside the gate, getting ready to hack down anything that came close. To no one's surprise, seeing that one of them was outside, every single mutant rushed at her, intending to rip her to pieces.

Knowing that every kill gave her energy back, she applied Harden to parts of her armor and Strengthen to her arms. Feeling that she lost roughly 2% energy per second, she knew she needed to kill at least four or five of them to break even or even gain a net profit. Seeing that the swarm of mutants got close enough, she changed her stance. With her right leg forward, and her left hand on the hilt of the meter-long blade, she lowered her center of gravity slightly.

As soon as the first of the mutants was in slashing distance, she started swinging her sword. Her right arm that held the sword was released, and like a vicious beast, it cleaved through multiple mutants per swing. Wide, arcing swings kept mowing down one mutant after another, while her left hand had sunk into a stalker, using it as a shield occasionally. The occasional ambush from above wasn't very successful either, as most of the time after she finished a swing, she would turn towards the wall, preserving the momentum of her swing, and cutting everything on it into pieces. Among those that succeeded in hitting her, none made it past the heavy armor. Like that, hundreds of stalkers died by the minute. Finally, after feeling that her reserve was starting to get dangerously close to empty, she returned back to the hole to guard it. Looking at the progress bar that said she was at 239/500 kills, she was satisfied. Turning her still sizzling armor around, she noticed everyone was staring at her, guarded.

"Something wrong?" she asked, feeling slightly confused. Didn't I just do a heroic last stand? Shouldn't I get some cheers now?

"Do you have an energy absorption ability?" Bill, the RivTech grunt, suddenly asked with a frown on his face.

"Maybe I do, why?" she replied.

"... You're a reincarnated one, aren't you?" asked Gareth from the back of the bunker, his voice carrying a faint heaviness.

Hearing that, everyone put a few extra meters of distance between themselves and Uria.

"Yes, so what? Is that bad?" still hacking away, she replied.

A moment of silence reigned before it was ended by Gareth.

"Because every single reincarnated person has grown to be a powerful mech pilot. The issue is that most of them are complete and utter trash that is irredeemable."

"Gareth! You ca-" Paul tried to interrupt him.

"Stop, I know what I'm doing," Gareth continued. "Do you guys really think the average reincarnator would bother saving us? They would've tried stealing part of the stellarite vein or abandoned us a dozen times over. While she is 'farming XP' undeniably, she's still helping us get through this by blocking the entrance. Maybe she's also doing it to leave a good impression on us, but she's still willing to risk herself for us. Does that really seem like the average reincarnated person to you?"

Continuing up to here, he closed his eyes and waited for the replies. Opening them after only hearing silence, he continued.

"So just pretend she's normal, that way she won't get in trouble with the other reincarnated, or the government who are still at war with them. You all agree to keep your mouth shut, right?"

"... Roger." came the series of replies.

Turning to look at Uria after everyone agreed to keep quiet, he continued.

"Do not, I repeat, under any circumstances let others know you're a reincarnated. Especially now when you're this weak. You don't have a mech to your name either, nor do you seem to have any powerful system. I don't want my new grunt to get in trouble before I can send you into trouble myself. Got it?" Gareth said, with genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yes, boss," she replied with a smile on her face. It had been a while since she felt someone's concern for her wellbeing. It didn't feel bad at all. 

Like that, she continued guarding the gate while cutting down anything that came close. Each swing of her sword drew blood, ensuring that no mutant could breach their defenses. The soldiers watched in awe as she single-handedly held the line. 

As the minutes kept passing by, and finally hitting the one hour mark, the thinned swarm outside finally slowed its relentless assault. Feeling the accumulated exhaustion that came from her cutting down countless mutants, and that she was finally starting to get sick of them, she waited for it to end fully. 

Finally, after another 5 minutes passed, she was finally free. The mutant swarm finally stopped its relentless assault, and looking at the piles of cut open bodies, a sense of grim satisfaction welled up in her. The originally exhausted soldiers behind her had gotten back at least half of their Quietus by now, and with it their morale was restored. Seeing a single human hold down countless mutants also helped bolster their morale immensely knowing that the fierce warrior stood at their side. 

"Alright, seeing as those things arent charging and that everyone has somewhat recovered, you can now go rest Uria. You've done plenty for now. 

Walking a bit further from the gate, and seeing Bill and Paul take watch, she finally relaxed. Remembering something, she checked her system window, and suddenly broke out in a smile. 

51/1500

2 slots available. 

Suddenly hearing someone approach her, Gareth sat down next to her. 

"Thank you, Uria. I mean it. Without you we probably would've been annihiliated. And i know this probably isnt much to you but, your actions have inspired everyone here. You had our back until now, and now, its our turn to have yours, so rest up." 

Looking around, and seeing that everyone nodded to what Gareth said, her lips curled into a smile while laying down. Her newfound brothers in arms were beginning to remind her of what it meant to feel alive. 

"This wasn't that bad of an idea was it?"