845 Wall Maria Eastern Distract Kilcoy
That day started like any other of mine, woke up in the barracks not too far from Military Head Quarters in the centre of the district. My bunk mates were already gone for the day, Vi would be at her usual training regime which kept her in top physical form and out of enough trouble while Lila would be around giving out medical treatment to the soldiers it wasn't an official duty of hers but she felt she should use her skills none the less because she had plead her heart to the service of humanity, lately she'd been nursing a scout that had been injured on expedition and given time at home to recuperate. I on the other hand had to make my way to the inner gate for duty that afternoon it was nearing lunch time and time for the morning shift to knock off if they hadn't already found themselves from straying to other pursuits.
My uniform was in impeccable condition, the two roses of the Garrison proudly displayed upon my back and my arms as I made my way through Kilcoy, while it would have been lovely to have walked my way along the canal which flowed to the south instead I made sure to pass through the patches of free land which had been set aside for recreational use. Directly to the west of us had little agricultural benefit, it meant few large farming operations could take place and that the villages were extremely scattered with more preferring to make routes to either the south or west, the east being out into titan country. Therefore was no need for as much housing and when no one could sell it, set up industry or any other gain be bought through the unoccupied land it was gifted to the people of Kilcoy and as such was primarily used as a place to play or sit. With a significantly smaller population and fewer industrial build up than the other outlier distracts Kilcoy was quite spacious and so long as you didn't mind simple living quiet the retreat. A few of the MP's which stayed as a permanent force actually found it to be the best posting outside of Sina. I actually requested to be placed here, the cool quite was much better than the hustle and bustle of Mitras where I had grown up as a lesser nobleman's daughter.
There was a spring in my step as I finished up at the inner gate to the sight of the morning lot already packed up to leave, my red hair, which I still wore in a tightly braided capital style is more than visible from the straight road which leads to the gates, connecting the inner to the outer, it makes it very quick to travel between the two if need be. I gave the men a wave, due to my unique status amongst the military I was promoted to an elevated position and ascribed the title of captain upon graduation from the training core, it basically was a distinction that I wasn't part of the rank and file, yet I also wasn't an officer yet but everyone knew that in order to keep up with pretence I would receive a position regardless of my work. It was a distinction which I tried to minimise upon landing on the ground here yet had done little with some of my comrades to convince that I was more than a stuck up noble girl, so it was unsurprising when I got a couple of mocking salutes as they wandered off, most of the real upper officials had been called to Trost to have some meeting or other, left mostly just lower rank personnel to guard the walls. None the less I took my position at the gate as I should and began to watch.
The sun was shining in the late afternoon while I manned the gate, it had been hours since my arrival and of course there was not much going on, the gate tended to be one of the easiest aspects of any Garrison soldiers' day. People go in and out little fuss ever to speak of, the market place tended to be where they encountered trouble and being on the inner gate virtually guaranteed that nothing would be amiss not that the outer one saw much action as it was they only had to open up for the Scouts when they departed and since the main route they worked with was to the south is Shiganisha even that was beyond the regular.
I looked out amongst the grass outside, the tree line not too far away, it has been used for bouts of hunting but for the most part people have little reason to venture in and most people had finished and retired for the afternoon as such the majority of the gates used was fulfilled, there was little foot traffic except when goods needed to be moved in and we'd gotten most of our large monthly supply only three days ago, so today was set to be rather uneventful. A rather uncompetitive game of dice was going on in the background as gear scattered around the players, the ODM system wasn't really designed for prolonged bouts of idleness and on more than one occasion I'd seen men betting parts of it because they'd run out of anything else of worth on their person, it usual wasn't collected.
I didn't think myself better than my fellow soldiers but rather I did not want to slack from my responsibilities I knew it was a privilege to be able to work for humanity in some capacity and that every action I took in the Garrison was a choice as there was always something better to go back to.
As my eyes tracked over the clear field something emerged from the trees, squinting I could see it moving at some speed and with less than 1 kilometre between us I was quick to react. "Everyone, close the gate. Titan approaching!"
There was barely a head turned my way. "Hey kid, that's not funny."
I didn't waste time trying to convince them instead beginning the mechanism to bring down the gate. It couldn't be done with just one person but it could begin. My fist connected with the back of one of my fellow brothers in arms head as I heard the first scream. That turned some heads with mine as we looked out along the window to the world which the open gate provided, running at full tilt towards us was a man.
"HELP!" He shrieked as we got to work shutting the gates. "KEEP IT OPEN!"
As I helped with three others on my side, pulling the chains to bring the mechanisms down. Even still it was going to take a couple of minutes, alarms were going out from atop the walls but it wasn't enough. The titan was gaining on the man who was running for his life. Its eyes were trained on the man in front of it, the meal in front of it. The gate was lowering but at this rate it wasn't going to plant itself before it was caught and if they guy slide under while it was closing the titans hand would follow, it could throw the whole thing out and break their only hope. My hands acted on instinct as I grabbed the one military issued rifle we had at the gate and got low, taking aim. The titan was focused on its little runner while I was lined up the shot, he was running straight which made it easier. I held steady I only had one shot before having to reload, the kick back was awful at this height but it worked, the guys legs threw back and he faltered, stumbling to the ground but trying to push forward the shot had landed and as the gate shut less than ten meters away from the very edge I could see underneath as hands began to circle the man. Then the gate closed the spikes were digging into the ground.
The gate didn't muffle the scream.
A/N: Hi guys, this was an idea which just wouldn't leave me alone and I wanted to upload this first chapter to get a grasp of what people think of the story. If you've ever read any of my previous work you know I don't update to a schedule but I have a real enthusiasm for this piece so I'm looking forward to writing, please let me know. Thanks.