What is a warrior? What makes one? Is it the skills one possesses or the choices one has to make? Why do they exist? To fight for freedom, liberty and justice? Or for family -brothers and sisters in arms-, protecting fellow soldiers on the battlefield and making the ultimate sacrifice?
Attack on Titan: Warriors
Chapter One: Induction
DAY ZERO, 845,
Somewhere beyond Wall Maria
Survey Corps Expedition No. 56
PFC. Shaun Hendricks
"Come on, Sarge! Don't die on us!" I spat, slamming a clenched fist against the side of the cart the sergeant lay on. The squad leader was in very poor shape. While clearing a path through one of the forests, a Titan had snatched him and bitten into the man's stomach. Bringing him to the nearby rest station, he lay on one of the supply carts, gurgling blood as medics frantically ran about.
"What happened?" One of the senior medics asked me. He was a corporal in his late teens. "Titan…" I wheezed, wiping dirt from my face. "Got him in the gut." The medic nodded, pulling a surgical mask up over his mouth and nose, approaching the wounded CO. "What's your name, Sergeant?" He asked the man as I waked over, still shaken from the battle. "Ch-Charles…" The Sarge choked, gripping the side of the cart in pain. "Okay, Charles, listen to me. You've been heavily injured and I need to take a look at the wound." The medic replied, moving to open up the man's shirt. "Oh Jesus…" he said under his breath as he looked down at the sergeant's stomach which was pockmarked with several deep bite marks, all bleeding violently and turning everything around them a dark red. "I'm gonna need some painkillers over here!" the medic called out to one of his subordinates. He looked up at me again. "Private. Go see the Commander. Let him know what's up. Meet us back by the surgery tent when you're done."
I nodded and turned, taking off running across the open field to where the officers of the expedition where in the temporary rest camp. It was an odd cluster of small tents and horse-pulled carts dotted around several small campfires, with soldiers gathered in groups talking as they drank from their flasks and talked. As I jogged pas them, tried to avoid eye contact, rushing over to where the superior officers were. The three main officer stood by a table on which several maps lay. They were quietly discussing something about aborting the expedition as I approached. "Private Hendricks?" One of them said as he spotted me. It was Captain Erwin Smith. "What is the situation?"
"Delta Squad has cleared the east forest, sir." I said, saluting. As he heard, the division Commander, Keith Shadis, turned around. He was a tall man in his late thirties, with short dark hair and a thin beard along his jawline. "Sergeant Christian is wounded, sir." I explained, to which Shadis nodded. "Smith, come with me." He said, turning to his subordinates. "Hange, go check on Ackerman's squad." He ordered before looking back to me. "Let's go."
The medical tent was on the other side of the rest camp, with several soldiers sat and standing around it, all with varying degrees of injury. A man and woman were sat by a tree, one of them clutching a broken arm in a sling as the other fidgeted with the bandage that wrapped around their head. Another soldier almost walked straight into me. "Sorry. Didn't see you there." He said distantly, looking off into the orange sky. He clearly wasn't at his best, his eyes appeared sunken and blank and his skin a pale grey. Turning, he headed away towards another tent and only then I noticed that his left arm was missing from the elbow down, wrapped tightly in bloody bandages.
There groans and screams of pain as panicked medics tended to patients inside the tent. Soldiers cried in pain at missing limbs or coughed violently into their dirt caked hands while surgeons darted about wielding various tools and utensils. Sergeant Christian had been moved onto a bunk, breathing rapidly as several medics tried to put pressure on his stomach. The Corporal from earlier looked up at Shadis, Smith and I. "He's not looking good, sir." He informed the Commander before going back to the CO. "Charles, listen to me. You're going to be okay, understand." He said desperately as the officer went into shock.
His eyes wide, Sergeant Christian gasped for air as he shook violently on the bunk. He made a final wheezy inhale before exhaling and going still. All three medics around him fell silent and stopped what they were doing as the corporal closed the Sarge's eyes, pulling a torn and bloody Survey Corps cloak up over him. "Private Hendricks." Shadis said to me grimly, causing me to jump as I turned to face him. "As of now, you're acting Squad Leader. Let Delta know." He said. Without another word, he turned to leave as Smith followed.
….
The rest of Delta Squad sat by one of the nearby supply carts, cleaning their equipment. Erik Valos and Mathias Greko were talking quietly as I walked up to them. Greko scratched his beard as he picked flecks of mud from his maneuver gear, muttering about the conditions we were expected to fight in. Erik saw me and looked up hopefully. Grief hit like a bullet and I couldn't bear to meet the soldier's gaze, instead looking to the floor and slowly shaking my head. "The Sarge is gone." I said bleakly. "The Commander put me in charge."
….
It was a long march home. There were very few of us left after the expedition, less than thirty men and women and only half that number not critically wounded in some way. My squad and I were lucky, being placed right behind the Commander at the centre of the formation, meaning we saw very little action. Unhooking my maneuver gear, I tossed it into the cart next to me and took out a flask, gulping at the warm water thirstily before taking in a breath of fresh morning air. "Shaun, you okay?" Greko asked. He was four years my senior with long scraggy hair and a long beard. He was a soldier of Polish descent and one of the best trainees in his class. "Yeah, I'm fine." I replied, clipping the flask back onto my belt as I walked. "I just don't understand how we managed to lose the Sarge. He was the best of the best; killed six or seven titans solo."
A large bell rang loud over the district of Shiganshina as we made our way down the busy street; the populace of the town lining the sidewalks as we made our way down the centre. Most of them were silent, staring blankly at us as we passed. Others looked hopefully into our ranks, straining to see anyone they knew, quickly beginning to weep when they came up short. Two kids were staring eagerly at us as we walked past where they were standing, trying to make eye contact with at least one of us with a gaze of wonder and admiration. I couldn't bring myself to meet the young boys' gaze, the events of the last two days had burned their marks into my memory forever.
"Moses?" A woman called out as she darted into the centre of the street to face Commander Shadis. "Have you seen my son Moses?" She asked desperately. She must have been Private Brown's mother. He died earlier this morning trying to kill a titan -at least it was quick. One of the soldiers behind the commander handed her his remains and she began to sob loudly, asking Commander Shadis something. "WE ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING!" the Commander roared, falling to one knee as he vented his grief, blaming himself for those who were killed on the expedition. I really felt sorry for the man. One loss was enough to push me towards breaking point, while the Commander had the weight of all ninety seven of the dead on his shoulders; their blood all on his hands. I couldn't be Commander, but fate was calling in that direction as I was now responsible for the members of my squad.
I hope you enjoyed this introductory chapter. I really wanted to convey the hopelessness and grittiness implied in the Attack on Titan universe. I want to kind of make this story the "Band of Brothers of Attack on Titan" showing the experiences of the ordinary soldiers on the front lines and the physical and emotional horrors they face as they go up against the Titans.
If you've read some of my works before, you'll know that music plays a big part in my writing, and that I often recomend tracks to listen to while reading. "High Ground" from the Medal of Honor soundtrack and "The Catalyst" by Linkin Park got me into the mindset to write this kind of gritty war-movie-esque drama style.
You can check them out HERE: watch?v=bvZbGcX2ckA
and HERE: watch?v=51iquRYKPbs
Have a good day :)