Chapter 11: Trost Part 7: Working as Bait

"ATTENTION!" The booming voice of Commander Pixis prompts the crowd of nervous soldiers to turn towards the gateway. The Commander stands on top of the gate looking down at the mass of humanity milling through the town. Word has already been spreading that a plan is in the works to retake Trost. Most people aren't too happy about, and I can see why. Only a small handful of us know about Eren's titan ability, so to those not in the know it must seem like a pointless attempt. After all, I'm not even sure how exactly we're going to plug the hole in the gate even with Eren's help, to them it must seem like total lunacy.

"Take note!" continues the Commander, "our primary objective for recapturing Trost is to seal the hole in the gate. Yes you heard me right. What's more it will be done manually!"

"That's impossible," someone mutters, "we don't have the technology to pull off something like that!"

"As for how this monumental task will be accomplished, that's where this fellow comes in." The Commander gestures to someone behind him, who steps forwards so that everyone below can see him. "Allow me to introduce Cadet Eren Yeager. Do not let appearances deceive you; this young man is in fact the successful product of cutting edge science!"

'Science, right.'

"Cadet Yeager posses the ability to fabricate and control a titan body at will!"

Almost immediately I can hear people muttering. Clearly none of them believe what they're hearing. I probably wouldn't either if I hadn't seen Eren come out of the titan corpse myself.

"The strategy revolves around the large boulder not far from the gate. Having assumed titan form Cadet Yeager will hoist said boulder on his back, slap it to the hole and voila! Now this is where you all come in, your job will be to defend him. Yes, defend a titan against his own kind. If we are able to stave off the titans long enough, Trost's reclamation is guaranteed."

Silence falls over the assembled soldiers as the Commander finishes his briefing. Then people start to talk.

"Is he saying we finally have some kind of advantage?"

"A kid that small can lift a rock that big?"

"This is impossible, they're making it up!"

"They're lying to us! They just want us to throw away our lives so that they can gain status!"

'Dam, they're not going for it.' "No!" I cry out desperately, "it's true! Don't any of you remember the berserker titan that fought the others off and allowed us to retake HQ? That was Eren! I saw him come out of the titan body myself!"

This draws the attention of quite a few people, but nowhere near enough. "Why on earth should we believe you?"

"You could be leading us on just like them!"

"I'm not going back there, not back to that nightmare!"

People are already beginning to turn away, heading for the road away from Trost. 'Nonononono! We're so close to taking ground here, we can't afford for everything to fall apart now!'

"You traitors! I'll kill you where you stand!" yells the Captain Woerman. "Desertion is answered by death!"

'Oh good lord.'

"Anyone wishing to leave!" the Commander shouts from atop the gateway, "will by my personal order not be charged with treason! Anyone who has witnessed the horror of the Titans first hand will not be forced to experience it again! Additionally, anyone with friends and family who they do not care to spare from the same trauma may also leave!"

'That's a good play. The fact that he's right helps all the more. If too many people desert, the plan falls apart, the Titans break through and we all die.' The Commander's words thankfully have an effect on the mass of deserters, many of whom stop and turn back. The situation seems to be stabilising somewhat at least.

"Now, think back five years ago," he continues. "Specifically the operation to retake wall Maria. Officially it was labelled reconnaissance, but I don't doubt you all saw it for what it was: a poorly disguised exercise in population control! We all knew this in our hearts, but we accepted the state sponsored myth because the deaths of our fellow human beings allowed us to survive!"

"But now we are on the verge of a repeat of the same situation. Should Wall Rose fall the lands within Wall Sina would not support half the population now living. If mankind is whipped off the face of the earth it won't be the titans that do it. No, we'll have done it to ourselves, fighting over the last scraps of land and food. If the line isn't drawn now it won't be drawn at all. If we must die, let us die here!"

There is a moment of silence as everyone contemplates the situation. Eventually we are dismissed and the officers are called away to receive their orders. "We're actually going to do it?" asks someone, "we're actually going to retake Trost?"

'Yes. Yes we are. All I really want right now is just to lie down and sleep in peace. But that cannot happen until we're finished here. This has been one hell of a day, and it still isn't over yet!'

"I can't say decoy duty is all that appealing!" I call out to Armin.

"Well it's better than having to go straight in after them!" he calls back.

We're both hanging off of the top of the wall by our cables, about thirty metres above the ground. I look down and can't help shuddering. The space below us is filled by a huge crowd of bloated and shrivelled flesh, capped at intervals by wide mouths. The constant groaning of the massive swarm feels like it's working its way into my brain. Just beneath me I can see a pawing hand, less than ten metres away. It belongs to a titan with a permanent grin etched into its face by a bizarre lack of lips. Its gums are left exposed to the air, leading to a wide smile when combined with a line of teeth that literally stretches from ear to ear.

I visualise my cables giving way, and I shiver. Suddenly I hear a scream from away to my right and look up just in time to see a soldier with light brown hair plummeting down towards the ground, his cables having indeed broken away from the Wall. He turns once in the air, before falling head first straight into a titan's jaws. The giant humanoid snaps its mouth shut, slicing off the unfortunate man's legs which fall away towards the ground. Blood sprays over the titan's lips, and I feel like vomiting as it swallows.

I look back at Armin. His eyes are filled with horror, but he swallows nervously and turns to look back up at the top of the Wall. I do the same hurriedly, shutting my eyes in an effort to ignore the sound of the titans' groping.

We're taking the hanging position in shifts, soldiers rotating point every ten minutes or so. The soldiers on the Wall help to keep the titans in place, while various teams draw the titans in towards the corner itself. The idea of using the greater part of the army as bait to clear the way for Eren was Armin's and whilst it's a good idea, I personally find it less comfortable than open combat. I haven't been on patrol duty yet, but I'm scheduled to take it after this shift on the Wall.

The seconds and minutes blur together into one as I hang, limply from the Wall. Eren and a sizable force of Garrison elites have already set out, heading for the gate via the top of the Wall. The only thing that worries me about this plan is that elites in the Garrison Regiment aren't what would be considered elites in the other two regiments. The Garrison has always had a bad name as far as skill goes. Some people call them the dregs of the military, which I suppose in some ways they are. The Military Police are exclusively those soldiers that were able to perform to a certain level, making them reasonably skilled be default. The Scout Regiment is of course the most elite force out of all three, purely out necessity and regular gruelling experience. For a soldier to survive multiple missions they have to be of a fairly high calibre. The Garrison however, is both inexperienced and has none of the elite 'top tens' from the various Cadet Corps.

Eventually the signal is given for those on Wall shift to pull themselves back up. Most people are relieved to get back up onto the Wall and to safety, but I'm about to attempt something even more hairy. Patrol duty is far more hazardous than Wall duty.

I'm assigned to a squad composed fully of soldiers from the Garrison Regiment, no other trainees here. We descend down into the city and start making a curve around the large mass of titans in one corner; we don't want to draw any of them away by mistake. Heading out into the streets, we make our way towards the centre of the city to try and pick up any titans that haven't already headed for the large mass of soldiers grouped up in the north west corner.

"Hey," says one of the soldiers, a blonde young man about three years my senior. "I heard you know that Yeager kid, the one who's supposed to be able to turn into a titan."

"Yes," I answer cautiously. "I was in his squad."

"So, you know him personally?"

"Yes."

"Tell me, is it actually true? The whole titan thing."

I hesitate over answering, noticing that all the rest of the squad have turned to look at me, even the corporal, who should be quieting any talking in the ranks. "Yes, it's true. I saw him come out a titan body during the first stage of the battle. I also saw him fighting in his titan form as well."

"Wow," the man shakes his head in disbelief. "Do you think he can seal the gate?"

"In all honesty I have no idea. I know he'll try, but whether or not his titan form will be strong enough to move that rock, I really don't know."

As if to emphasise my words, there's a faraway cracking noise, and a red smoke trail soars up into the air. "What the hell? What does that mean?" asks another soldier, a woman with short dark hair.

"It means that the elite squad's having trouble," answers the corporal. "It's none of our business what's going on over there; concentrate on doing your job."

'What could possibly have gone wrong?' I wonder. 'Did Eren fail to transform?'

"Soldier!" barks the corporal at me, drawing my attention away from the pillar of red smoke. "Eyes front!"

"Yes sir!"

'It isn't my part to get involved. I'm a soldier and I have to follow orders. Besides, I have confidence in Eren and Mikasa. They can handle themselves. At least I hope so.'

Suddenly a fourteen metre titan looms up out of an alleyway in front of us. It must have been crouching for some reason, so we didn't see it until just now. The titan swings its hand forwards in a wide sweep of the roof. I can't think what else to do, so I fire my grapples straight ahead and pull myself out of the way. Straight towards the titan's face. I'm so rushed I can't make any sort of landing, slamming straight into the giant's forehead. 'Dam this thing's skull is like a brick wall!' I don't have time to try and pull off something clever; I'm too close to the titan. I let myself drop straight down past the titan's grasping arms towards the ground. Turning in midair I fire into the titan's left arm using it as a point to swing from.

Disconnecting my cables neatly I fire again to carry myself safely to the other side of the street, having swung under the titan's arm and across the road. I land firmly, though it jars me a little. Looking back, I can see that the rest of my squad wasn't anywhere near as lucky as I was. Three of them were crushed by the titan's initial swing, another was sent flying over the edge of the building, and lies in a crumpled heap on the pavement. The fifth has managed to scramble backwards away from the monster's grasp, but they're on their back, attempting to crawl away as the titan reaches out for them.

'Oh well, I've been lucky so far. Here's to one more mark on the right!' I fire both hooks into the peak of the roof behind the titan. Since it's at a higher angle than me I'm able to throw myself up above the titan by disconnecting my grapples halfway across. I fire again, this time at the titan's exposed neck. The last survivor has already been seized in the titan's right hand; this is going to be my only shot to pull this off. Hurtling down I draw back for a swing. Last time I tried this mauver I screwed it up. I was able to recover the situation afterwards then but I won't be able to now.

My blades arc downwards, the tips meeting the titan's flesh on the far left of its neck. They drive their way through, the razor sharp edges moving easily through the thick flesh. I widen the cut as I reach the centre of the nape by angling my wrists slightly, then bring both tips back together again as my blades exit the wound. Blood spurts and pieces of loose flesh go flying, but the titan doesn't fall. My cut was too shallow.

I land with a crash bruising myself all along my right side. "No, please no!" screams the last surviving soldier, as the titan's jaws snap shut around him. I failed.

Suddenly the same white light that overwhelmed me before in the supply room floods my vision, and this time takes all the feeling in my body as well. That sense of failure washes over me, fills me and then seems to drown me. "You stupid brat! You've failed us all!"

'Whose voice is that?'

"It was one moment, only one! He knows, he knows now and it is all because of you!"

The voice is male, elderly and high pitched with terror. Something about it makes me shake inside. The fear in it sounds all too familiar. The sound of someone who knows that they're doomed, that their demise is now inevitable. Then images start coming. Something on fire. It looks like a building of some kind with a domed roof. A woman screaming, being restrained by a man in a hooded robe. A mass of people running and pointing up at something behind them. A forest filled with dark fir trees. Another woman, younger with blonde hair and a look of terror and incomprehension in her eyes. Then mountains covered in snow, with a wind so cold it feels as if my blood is freezing in my veins. Then falling, down, down, down into blackness.

At last after what seems like an eternity of total darkness and silence, I hear a voice. "It's a child Andrew not a monster!"

'Wait, that's mom!'

"I know what he is Madeline! Better than you ever will!"

'Dad?'

"What does that even mean? It doesn't matter where he came from we can't just leave him out here!"

"Out where?" I ask. "Mom, where are you? Where am I?"

My father gives a long sigh, "I know. Here, wrap him in my coat; it's too cold out here for someone his age."

"What age? Dad what's going on?"

Then the white light from before rushes over me again. This time I feel myself rising, flying upwards so fast it makes me want to be sick. Then with a hard jolt, I'm on the roof top where I landed again. Slowly I push myself up onto one arm. The titan is gone, and all that's left of my squad is broken bodies. The sun is dipping low over the Walls behind me. 'How late is it? How long was I out for?' The wind whistles in cold against me, carrying the chill of the night air.

"So much for trusting to luck," I mutter bitterly. "That man, he died because I couldn't perform the most core act of all my duties. I couldn't manage to kill that titan!" 'Why am I talking out loud to myself? I need to get of this place, find out what's going on.'

Suddenly the stillness of the air is broken by the sound of cannon fire. I turn to see the bright flashes of artillery firing down from the Walls. The light illuminates the groping forms of hundreds of titans, still gathered in the far corner of the city. 'They're picking the Titans off. Does that mean the operation was a success?' The wind blasts me again from behind, prompting me to wrap my arms around myself in an effort to keep out the cold. 'I have to go, I have to move.' But part of me just doesn't want to. I failed to kill that titan, and that soldier lost his life as a result. I didn't need to go for the killing blow. I could have-no, I should have-just cut the tendons supporting its arm. The man would have been free and we could have at least gotten away. 'But no, you had to go and try to pull off an attack you've never been able to get right. Not in the field or even in training. Matthias you stupid fool!'

I slump onto my knees and put my hand to my temple. 'Why does it feel all sticky?' I lower my hand and see that it's covered in dark red blood. 'No wonder I feel so dizzy. I must have cracked my head open when I fell. At least I didn't puncture an artery or something; otherwise I wouldn't be here anymore.' Darkness is beginning to play at the edges of my vision, my own heart beat heavy in my ears. My eyelids droop. 'No, I can't sleep now. I have to get back, have to find out...'

"Did, did we win?" I ask no one in particular, before totally collapsing into unconsciousness.