It's the year 844, a year before the Colossal Titan first appeared. Humanity still believes they're safe from the titans. The Garrison guards the walls, while the Survey Corps tries to discover more about the titans. Humanity hasn't had any success at discovering more about the titans, but they certainly won't simply give it up. Many are training to join the Survey Corps, not knowing how dangerous it really is.
The training was finally over. After training for such a long time, Petra Ral was relieved that she could finally join the scouts. She got the first place in the top 10 trainees of the year, with her friend Eld Jinn on the second place, her friend Gunther Schultz on the third place, and her best friend, who she knew since they were both little kids, Sebastian Boden on the fourth place. During the training she was very popular because of her charisma and her fighting skills. However, she didn't impress everyone. Oluo Bozado, who was on the fifth place in the top 10, kept claiming how his skills were better than Petra's. His friends, Philip Krauser and Adrian Kolb, agreed with him. Petra and Oluo often got into arguments during the training. Philip and Adrian both didn't make it to the top 10.
"Hello cadets. My name is Keith Shadis. You all agreed to join the Survey Corps, and we welcome you here. But if you think this will be an easy job, then leave now." Commander Shadis says. Everyone seems to be a bit nervous, except for Petra. She has a smile of confidence on her face. "Finally I can show them that I'm not useless..." She whispers to herself, thinking back to her life before she started the training. She notices that commander Shadis continued his speech. "Since you're all here, I will tell you your first mission. We will go outside the walls, and we will try to capture a titan. This won't be easy, but if we succeed we could learn more about them." Shadis says.
The next day, the new scouts are talking about the mission. "Our first mission, and they let us catch a titan. Do they really want us to die on the first mission?" Eld says. "I think they want us to know how dangerous this can be." Sebastian says. Petra shakes her head. "No." She says. "The citizens are hesitating to pay for the Survey Corps. This means we have to take bigger risks, because we can't have smaller missions anymore. Not until the citizens continue paying is, anyways." She says. "I guess that's true..." Sebastian says. He seems disappointed. He hoped that they wouldn't give them such a dangerous assignment as their first one.
"Sebastian! Petra! So you two joined the scouts after all!" Someone screams at Petra and Sebastian. Petra looks, and she sees her old friend Stefan Rorer running towards them. "Stefan! Long time no see!" Sebastian says. Petra, Sebastian and Stefan used to be the closest friends when they were younger, but since Stefan joined the Survey Corps a year before them, they hadn't seen him. "I'm glad you're alive." Petra says, laughing. "You know me, I don't like to die." Stefan says. "And who are you two?" Stefan asks to Eld and Gunther. "I'm Gunther Schultz, and my friend here is Eld Jinn." Gunther says. "Nice to meet you! I'm Stefan Rorer." Stefan says.
"So, did you make it to the top 10?" Stefan asks to Petra and Sebastian. "Yeah, I even got first place." Petra says, smiling. Stefan is impressed. The year before, Stefan just barely made it onto the tenth place, and Petra got to the first place. Stefan knew that the little girl who he knew long ago was gone. She wanted to show what she was capable of. Suddenly, another scout calls for Stefan, so he runs towards the scout. "You know, guys... I really hope none of us will die." Gunther jokes, but secretly he means it. They all knew this could be the last conversation they ever had with each other. "Well, I certainly won't go down without a fight." Petra says.
"You better won't." Commander Shadis says. He walks to the new scouts. He sees that they're nervous for their mission, and he wants to comfort them. "You'll be in the safest position there is, the middle. While the scouts in the front catch the titan, you will have to make sure it stays on the ground. The scouts on the outside will fight off any titan who's approaching." Shadis says. This comforts the group. They thought their chance at surviving was way bigger now.
Meanwhile, Philip and Adrian are stressing out. "We shouldn't have followed you into the Survey Corps, Oluo! We will die trying to capture a titan! I don't want to get eaten, Oluo!" Philip says to Oluo. Oluo seems calm somehow. Philip and Adrian have no clue how he could stay so calm, considering that he might die. "Well, you could've joined the Garrison, but you would be a coward." Oluo says. Philip and Adrian are shocked. "You don't really think that, right? The Garrison isn't full of cowards!" Adrian says. "Well, considering the fact that you two are here, I'm beginning to think that the Survey Corps may be getting filled with some cowards." Oluo says. Adrian and Philip realize that he is serious. They never saw him like this. "Look, I also don't want to die, but I won't guard some walls that won't ever break for the rest of my life!" Oluo says. Adrian starts to think about.
"You're right. We wanted the action, and now we have it." Adrian says. Philip is shocked. "You don't really think that, right, Adrian? We're going to die out here!" Philip says. He is stressing out. "If you don't want to help, then don't. But then you have to accept the consequences." Oluo says. Oluo seems very sure about fighting outside of the walls. "Why do you always want to be the hero, Oluo?" Philip says. He is angry at Oluo. He is blaming him for dragging him into the Survey Corps. Oluo looks at Philip, and he hits him in the face. "You're a coward, Philip!" Oluo says. "No." Philip says. "I'm a realist."
After a couple of days it is time. They will go outside of the walls, and they will catch a titan. The scouts leave on horses. The gates open, and they see large green fields. They get in their formation, and they look for any titans. "Do you see any titans?" Sebastian asks Petra. According to the position they had in the strategy, they had to ride their horses next to each other. Petra shakes her head. "No, I don't. Shouldn't we've seen one by now?" Petra says. She has a strange feeling about this. Oluo rides his horse in front of Petra and Sebastian, while Eld, Philip and Adrian ride behind them. They ride their horses into a small forest, with only a couple of trees. Suddenly, the signal is given in the front. A titan is coming.
"Here we go!" Sebastian says. Oluo, who was confident about this all the time, suddenly starts shaking. "Oh god, what have I gotten myself into..." He whispers to himself. None of the scouts in the center saw the titan yet. "I suppose that it's a small one." Eld says, to comfort Philip and Adrian, who are both shaking. Petra looks to her left, and she sees another signal. "There's another titan approaching from the left!" She screams to the others. Another signal is given. "There are multiple titans approaching from the left! Do they need our help?" Petra asks to the others. Sebastian shakes his head. "The scouts on the outside are trained well. They know how to handle this." Sebastian says.
Meanwhile, on the left side of the formation, Stefan sees three titans approaching. "One of them is an abnormal!" Stefan screams to his comrades. Will Bickell, one of the comrades, gives the signal. Shadis now knows that an abnormal is approaching. He gives the signal, and the formation changes. They all go towards the abnormal, and they take him out together. Suddenly Stefan gets scared. "The abnormal, he is taking a turn, into that big forest over there!" Stefan says, pointing towards a huge forest. "Maybe it got scared!" Will says. Stefan disagrees. He thinks the titan is luring them into a trap.
Petra looks scared. "What's wrong, Petra?" Sebastian asks. "Stefan is on the left of the formation, and they saw an abnormal out there. What if-" Petra gets interrupted by Sebastian. "Don't think like that. Stefan knows how to handle himself." Sebastian says. "Let's just hope that you're right, because otherwise we're in a lot of trouble." Oluo says. The scouts are entering the huge forest. "This doesn't seem like a good idea!" Petra says. "That's because it isn't! Why isn't Shadis telling us to get the hell out of here?" Sebastian says.
When the abnormal was seen on the left side, the left side changed to the front, causing the front to become the right side. A titan was still approaching Shadis' side, but they ignored it. Captain Levi, who was riding his horse on the right side of Shadis, finds this a bad idea. "Commander Shadis, we shouldn't go into the forest. We can't see the titans coming. And the titan that is chasing us must be taken care of before he gets one of the new scouts." Levi says to Shadis. Shadis doesn't react. "Commander?" Levi asks. He looks at the commanders face, and he sees that Shadis isn't sure what to do. "We must capture a titan if we ever want to know how we can get rid of them all..." Shadis says.
"I can't see the abnormal anywhere anymore!" Will says. This frightens Stefan. If they lost sight of their target, then they became the target. "Those other two titans can also be a pain in the ass." Stefan says. Suddenly, a regular titan approaches from Will's left side, and he grabs him off the horse. Stefan stops the horse as fast as he can. His face freezes. He watches as Will gets put on the titan's tongue, and as the titan eats him. Stefan uses his Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear to get into a tree, from where he can attack the titan's weak spot. He is about to jump the titan, but then he sees the abnormal running towards him.
"You won't get me, you piece of shit!" Stefan screams at the two titans. The abnormal hits himself against the tree, so Stefan falls out of it. Stefan uses his 3DMG to get a grip on the tree, but the abnormal grabs him by his legs. He starts screaming for help, but the scouts who were in the center are too far away. The titan puts Stefan in his mouth, and he bites him into two pieces. The upper part of his body drops on the ground, while the titan takes the other part down his stomach.