A/N: Sorry for the waiiit! I have my Leaving Certificate exams next Wednesday, so I won't be posting for a while. Not that it will make much difference, what with the scarceness of my posts! xD But anyway. Hope you like this! :D The plot is growing by the minute! Well, by the chapter. ;P

Please review! And if you like my work, you can like my fan page KuraraOkumura's Disciples on Facebook. I update about in-writing chapters there, and you can talk to me directly too if you have any questions. :P

~Tenshi

Chapter 6:

When Connie and Sasha heard the fuse go off, and turned to see the yellow smoke originating from the point they had been headed to before getting ambushed by Titans, Sasha's first instinct was to exclaim that the mission was over and that they could go home. The Titan taking a swipe at her quickly proved her wrong.

Eren might have been safe, but the Titans were still there. They had to be fought back.

All around the battlefield that had become the surroundings of the Recon Corps HQ, the Titans were inexorably advancing. There weren't enough of the Corps to push all of them back. There were too many of them, too many Abnormals, and nobody had been prepared for them. Little by little, the Titans gained on the Recon Corps' territory. Soon they were past the third arc altogether. An hour after Eren had been rushed inside the HQ by Levi and Mikasa, they were past the second arc, and approaching the first. By that time, a third of the Recon Corps' manpower had been wiped out.

There didn't seem to be anything that could be done. The Cadets and the Seniors alike grew more desperate by the minute. The Cadets had organized their attacks perfectly, hardly needing any help at all from the more experienced Hanji. The Seniors fought with just as much determination as the younger members at first, but soon, that determination, for all of them, turned into frantic despondency. Forced into their trenches, the Recon Corps could see no way out of the trap that the Titans, with their huge and frightening number of Abnormals, had pushed them into. It wasn't long, after the second arc had been breached, before the first arc became the last defence line.

Levi and Mikasa had never come back out of the HQ, and though Erwin Smith fought alongside them, the rest of the Corps was feeling their absence, and paying it deeply. Mikasa and Levi were worth a whole legion on their own. But nobody knew why they hadn't come out, and they knew better than to question the Commander.

With the first arc violated, the Corps were wilder in their fighting. Less coordinated, more desperate. It was a grim spectacle for any onlooker; a feast of screams and blood and disorganised roars, promising revenge but only receiving pain. For every Titan that fell and didn't get up again, three soldiers were eaten or crushed. For every meter of territory gained back on the huge creatures, five were retaken. From up high, it was obvious that the Corps were losing. There were groups of soldiers trapped in the forest, cut off from the main body of their comrades' units and unable to either escape or call for help. On the east front, the Titans were close to the castle's walls, and still advancing. On the west front, a break had been managed through the Titan lines along the cliff bordering the HQ, like a peninsula jutting out to sea. The north front, facing outward and into the forest, was relatively well guarded. The mountains protected the south front.

Just as the Corps were beginning to see that defeat was inevitable, strange reports began to filter through the west and east fronts. These reports said that the Titans were trying to climb the steep cliff of the south front; rather than attacking the HQ, Titans that had broken through the western front had thrown themselves at the rocky vertical walls and attempted to dig their fingers into it to climb, making it easier for soldiers to slash through the backs of their necks and kill them. The Titans were climbing the wall barehanded, heading for the mountains, leaving the Recon Corps HQ behind them without a backward glance.

When Jean heard the news, he was stationed at the eastern front, and had already witnessed that same thing twice, much farther from the HQ than the western front's Titans. He and Armin had left the others behind, preferring to go on ahead and try and clear a passage for what they both knew was a suicide mission. The Commander had been planning a hasty retreat into the mountains in case the Titans broke through all three fronts and compromised the HQ, but now, with the creatures apparently heading precisely where they had planned on taking refuge, the mission, which Jean and Armin had volunteered for, along with Hanji Zoe, two other Cadets and a Senior, seemed useless.

The two Cadets had been sent back with the news each time they had witnessed a Titan climbing the wall before killing it, and now it was only Jean, Armin, Hanji and Berner, an elder squad member. They had just stopped moving to wait for the Cadets to return, when three Titans – Abnormals – bolted out of the trees and ran straight into the wall. One of them, limbs moving at an unnatural, near-animalistic speed, was already halfway up the wall when Jean slashed across his neck with the 3D Manoeuver Gear. They had stocked up on gas just before leaving for the clearance mission, so none of them were worried about that. The other two Abnormals were having more difficulties digging their fingers and toes into the rock for purchase, and were moving more slowly. Hanji killed the second one easily, but when Berner took a swipe at the last one, the creature jumped back. Right into the empty air. Berner trapped beneath it, it rushed to the ground, heading right for the soldier's inevitable death – crushed under a Titan.

Armin shouted in alarm, making for his Gear. Jean had just enough time to think that he would never have the time to save him was when a flash of brightness and a familiar hissing noise caught his attention. He looked up from the falling Titan, but there was nothing there – the figure was already gone, a flash of dark clothes and clear blades catching the light of the full moon, heading right for the Titan. Beside him, Hanji knew instantly who it was.

"Levi!"

Jean nearly hit himself. Of course! Nobody else could move that fast – not even Mikasa.

The Corporal's figure disappeared under the Titan's still falling body for all of two milliseconds. He re-emerged on the other side with Berner under his arm and a blade extended to his left. A second later, the Titan disintegrated.

Levi swung himself up between them on their branch, landing gracefully and kneeling instantly to inspect Berner's body and gear as he lay him out on his back. The man was unconscious; probably knocked out cold when the Titan had jumped backwards from the wall of the cliff. His arm was bent at an odd angle, and when Levi cocked his head and bent forward to examine the injury, Armin suddenly froze. Jean gave him an odd look, but Jean didn't seem to notice; instead, the blond was staring at the back of the Corporal's neck as though the man had just grown a second head.

Levi seemed to think the same thing, and he rounded on Armin gaping self without a second thought. "Cadet Arlert, is there any particular reason for your idiotic staring? Would you like me to strip and start a dance? Perhaps the sight of your comrade in distress is not quite challenging enough for you?"

Armin looked taken aback, and Jean was startled to see real surprise there, even a little pain. True enough, their Corporal knew that Armin had never been the type to qualify anything, and much a dying or injured comrade, of 'not challenging enough'. It was natural for Armin to feel insulted at the glaringly false accusation, but it seemed just as natural to Jean that Levi might be pissed that the strategist be standing there staring at him when there were clearly better things to be done. Armin seemed more insulted with that than he did by the Corporal's suggestion that he give him a lap dance.

"Of course not, Sir!" the blonde protested energetically.

"Then what are you doing still standing there?" snapped Levi, apparently more irritable than usual. Which, given the circumstances, wasn't so surprising.

"Levi," Hanji interrupted, and the dark-haired man turned back to where she squatted on Berner's other side, tending to his broken arm. "Where's Eren?"

There was a moment of silence, then Levi said, "In the mountains. Safe."

Jean and Armin gasped. The Major didn't seem surprised by the news and simply nodded, her eyes still strained down on the makeshift sling she was making. "And Ackerman?"

"With him."

"Good." Hanji was done with the sling, and as Levi took it from her hands to put it on the still-unconscious man between them, she stood abruptly. Her fists were tight by her side, her face drawn down so that neither Cadets could see her expression. Nonetheless, they had never seen her so grave. "Arlert, Kirstein," she said, and her voice was as clear as ever. "The Corporal and I have a new mission for you." She looked up, and Jean flinched. Her eyes were both hunter and hunted, and she was downright scary. "I want you to return to the HQ. Gather up the rest of the search party's members – Blouse and Springer. I want the four of you to round up the Recon Corps, and tell the Commander Smith to take a small elite squadron with him, of about ten or so soldiers. He will have to lead them back, back behind the arcs, and round the Titans in towards the cliffs directly around the HQ. Keep them there. Preventing them from crossing over the cliff, and stop them from turning back into the woods.

"In the meantime, Blouse, Springer, Arlert, Kirstein, you will bring with you the rest of the Corps, the wounded and the well alike, and make them cross securely over the cliffs before the Commander completes his rounds and blocks access over the cliff. Then you will send Ackerman back here, and only her. Your pretty self and the Corps will remain in the safety of the mountains while myself, the Corporal Levi, the Commander Erwin Smith and his squadron, and Ackerman, finish off the Titans here. Am I understood?"

"But Major Hanji, the HQ-" Armin started, shock showing on his face.

"Will become a necessary sacrifice." Levi rose, rubbing a hand over his face. The two Cadets stared. The Corporal looked as though he had not slept nor eaten for days. "Cadet Arlert, I appreciate your concern. But the HQ of the original Recon Corps reached its limit decades ago. It should have been demolished then, but the project was aborted due to the loss of access to its land. It has lived its due." It might have been just their imagination, but the Corporal really did seem pained by the thought of the HQ's imminent demolition. Armin and Jean exchanged a confused look. "Kirstein, please go over the plan once again. I'm not concerned about Arlert remembering it, but you are another story altogether."

Jean flushed angrily, but held his tongue. "Go back to the HQ. Tell the Commander to choose an elite squadron to round up the Titans from their backs. Gather the rest of the Corps, bring them up the mountains, tell Mikasa to get back here ASAP. And we stay where we are," he bit out finally. He didn't like the idea of staying idle while others were out fighting for their lives.

"Succinct and to the point," Hanji murmured. "Just like you, Levi. You're a bad influence."

They expected Levi to snap something back at her. Instead, all he did was look down at Berner's sleeping face and murmur, "Oh, shut up, Zoe."

"Corporal, if I may, and with all due respect…" Armin started.

Levi nodded, still not looking at them. "Go ahead, Cadet. Talk."

"This is a suicide mission, Sir. You're going on a suicide mission."

"I am," was the older man's only answer.

Armin started. He took a step forward, anger plain on his face. "That's all you have to say? You're sending my best friend, our Commander, and all of our best men to fight a lost battle? Have you gone mad?!"

Jean grabbed his arm, attempting to hold back an Armin whom he'd never seen so angry. The blond's anger was understandable, but it surprised him nonetheless. "Armin," he said in what he hoped was a soothing manner, but grimaced when it came out more patronizing than anything else.

Armin whirled on him. "What, Jean? Are you going to tell me I'm wrong to be angry? Are you going to tell me I should just let him send Mikasa to her death?"

"'He' is going to be on the front lines too, you know." They both turned. Hanji was looking straight at them, a hard glint in her eyes behind her glasses. "You're accusing the Corporal Levi of sending our men into a suicide mission. Yet you seem to forget that the man you are accusing will also be a part of said suicide mission."

Levi turned to look at them, his expression just as hard as Hanji's. "Are you discussing orders, Arlert?"

"With all due respect – yes, Sir, I am!"

Something flashed in the Corporal's eyes. Neither Jean nor Armin could tell if it was anger or approval, but either way, they both recoiled from it. "Arlert, Kirstein, you will follow orders. You will do what I tell you to do, whether you like it or not. To be completely honest, I don't give a shit what you think. Go against my orders, disobey me, and you will be labelled deserters and traitors. Do I make myself clear?"

Armin gritted his teeth. His fists were tight, and it was obvious he wasn't going to be able to answer. Jean, for his part, really had no wish to loose his place in the Corps, especially when he'd worked hard enough to earn his spot in the Military Police and had instead chosen to join this godforsaken place. He saluted, banging a fist against his chest and the other against his back and clanking his heels together. "Hai, Sir! Perfectly clear! Armin, get some sense into that thick head of yours," he added in a furious whisper.

"Some sense?!" shouted the blond, turning on him, enraged. "He's sending my best friend to her death, and you're asking me-"

"Cadet Arlert!" Levi cut him off violently. "Watch what you say! You will respect your superiors!"

"Sir-"

"What is it, Cadet Arlert?!" Levi spat out bitterly. "Would you rather take my place? Would you be the one to be in my position, where no matter the decision I take, the only thing that will change is the number of dead on my conscience?! Do you have a better plan?! Because if you do I think it would be time for you to tell us all!" Levi paused, breathing heavily. Giving time for any of them to speak if they had something to say. The silence stretched. Then- "Armin. What I am doing here is devising a plan that will spare the most lives that can possibly be spared. That is the duty of a officer. If you or Kirstein have another idea, one in which less deaths could be achieved – then please, enlighten us."

Armin took a deep breath. The Corporal's words had obviously shaken him. Finally, he exhaled, and when he straightened and looked up again, his expression was calm and his voice was clear when he said, "Actually – I think I might have an idea."

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