She knew that she shouldn't be feeling this way, and yet, in spite of just how hard she was trying to calm herself down, Mina Carolina found it close to impossible to stop herself from shaking intensely as she remained seated atop her stallion.
Gripping onto the reins of her horse as though her life depended on it, Carolina found her heart rate speeding up beyond the recommended levels as she realized that… this was it. This was the culmination of the past four years of her training, this was what she had been preparing for… this was why she had joined the Trainee Brigade in the first place…
… and yet, despite knowing that this was all inevitable, Mina still couldn't stop herself from feeling a massive amount of terror build up in her stomach as the Survey Corps lined themselves up before the gates of Karanses. Every one of them sat atop their respective horses, poised to charge onwards at a moment's notice, and though most of them kept themselves as calm and composed as they possibly could, Carolina knew better by now.
She knew that they were all terrified, just as she was. They were all dreading what was to come, and it was not without reason. After all, their job was to charge towards danger, to venture into the Titan infested lands beyond the Walls, and though they acted brave about it, it was honestly very apparent to Carolina that they had much more bravado than actual courage…
"Feeling antsy, huh?" came Nac's voice from Mina's left, prompting her to jolt upright a little as she acknowledged his presence to her side. Darting her attention towards him, the pigtailed girl forced herself to smile at him as she stared up at her overly tall friend with a meek look on her face, and for as nervous as she was currently feeling, she still found herself humoring him ever so slightly as she nodded a little.
"How can't I be, Nac? We're going to depart on our first Expedition mission at any given second…" defended Mina, with her keeping her voice strong as she adjusted her issued Survey Corp cloak, even if the mild quiver beneath her words was a telltale indication to Tias that she was a lot more anxious than she was letting on, though for her sake, he didn't bring it up as he simply nodded.
"Y'know, it might not be too late to back out of this, Mina. If you made a request to Erwin or one of our seniors, I'm sure-" began Nac, with him hastily suggesting the first thing that came to mind, no doubt thanks to his nervousness, as he smiled meekly, though before he could finish that statement, Carolina was quick to jolt upright atop her horse, with her doing so abruptly that her stallion panicked a little beneath her, prompting her to stroke his mane to calm him down.
"N-No, it's not that, Nac!" assured Mina as her horse calmed himself down, and as it did, and as several other recruits and soldiers glanced over at them curiously before turning their attention away once more, she continued to speak, with her seeming a little apologetic for her sudden outburst all the while. "I… appreciate your worry for me, but… I chose this, y'know? I've got to see it through…"
"I can respect the sentimentality, but death is a very likely possibility, just so you know. Erwin said as much…" reminded Nac nervously as he tightened his grip on the reins of his horse, with him grimacing all the while. "I… I-I used to think that offering up our lives was an incredibly simple thing to do. But now… now I'm not so sure…"
Glancing down as he said those words, Nac found himself frowning deeply as he felt his mind travel back to the cleanup duties he had performed after the Trost incident. There were so many people dead… people that Nac knew and had shared precious memories with during his Trainee days. Just remembering their faces… or whatever was left of them… it didn't do much to excite Tias, so to speak, for the upcoming expedition, and by all means, the only thing that he could think of was…
Had it been either Mika, Annie or Mina that had been killed instead of one of the nameless Cadets serving under the Trainee Brigade…
He wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing that, whilst under his watch, any of his closest friends, practically family, were KIA. And while he could breathe easier knowing that neither Annie nor Mikazuki were in any immediate danger from the Titans, that didn't mean that he didn't find himself worrying over Mina, something that came with him being the oldest person of the four, he reckoned…
Don't get him wrong, he knew that she was an incredibly skilled fighter, probably better than he was, really… but even the strongest had limits, and though he didn't doubt her skills, Tias didn't wish to see the outcome of her facing off against a horde of Titans, with or without backup. He wanted her to be safe… he wanted everyone to be safe, an unrealistic wish, sure, especially considering their current occupation, but it was a good one to have regardless…
Rather abruptly, a smaller hand found itself resting atop Nac's hand, with the sudden contact being more than enough to jolt the tall guy out of his brief stupor as he nearly fell off his horse. He was saved from tipping off its side by Mina, who grasped onto his sleeve and pulled him back up onto his mare, who neighed in annoyance, before staring up at him worriedly.
"Nac…" muttered Mina, with her still keeping her hand over his as she spoke, and at that point, Tias realized that he had been gripping the reins of his horse rather tightly, so tightly that his nails ended up digging themselves into his palm, causing a tiny amount of blood to flow from the newly opened wounds as he subconsciously loosened his grip on them. Carolina let out a soft sigh of relief at the sight before she shifted her hand up onto his shoulder and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, one that, coupled with the gentle smile Mina was giving him, was almost enough to set Nac's worries at ease as he relaxed his shoulders just a bit. "It's going to be fine…"
"I… I know. I know… but it helps to keep on your toes, you know?" reminded Nac with a small, almost sheepish grin on his face as he spoke, to which Mina grinned, with her looking almost normal all the while.
"Still traumatized by that lesson with Ness, hm?" quipped Mina knowingly as she giggled a little under her breath, and at that, the mood lightened a tiny bit as Tias' ears reddened in embarrassment.
"D-Don't say that out loud!" whisper-shouted Nac indignantly as he swatted at her face with the hand closest to her, much to her amusement as she grinned a tiny bit, glad to see that she was able to help her friend loosen up a tiny bit all the while. "And… please don't tell Mika or Annie about it…"
"No promises~"
And at that one moment, Nac almost wished that he'd get eaten to save himself from the inevitable embarrassment, and all the while, Luke Sys simply watched the two bicker from behind, with Mylius Zeramuski, the third member of his team, which consisted of Mina, Nac and Sys himself, smiled just a tiny bit at their bickering.
"It must be nice for them… to be able to rely on each other like that," observed Mylius meekly as his shoulders remained slouched over, and his tone of voice told Luke that he was still working on his issues with his confidence, a thought that made the senior grimace a little as he pushed the thought of giving him some extra therapy to the back of his mind before nodding. He could help the kid out with his issues after the expedition was over and done with.
That is… if they even survived it…
"Aye. That's the beauty of having a family, Mylius Zeramuski."
And as he finished that statement, Sys thought that he could see the blonde beside him falter just a bit as he looked away from him, though he didn't have time to comment on it for now as the gates to Karanses began to rise. Metal scraped against metal as the gears of the Wall gates spun on their axis, forcing the gate to rise all the while.
It was time…
"Oi Barbatos, are you ready?"
No words were spoken by the Mobile Suit as Mikazuki Augus remained seated within its cockpit, and yet, the data feedback from the Gundam was enough of an answer to its pilot, who opened his eyes a tiny bit as he nodded in apparent approval. As he did so, the lights within the cockpit came to life, illuminating the relatively small space that Augus was crammed into as the systems booted up. As it did so, Mikazuki found himself tugging on the greyish-green, skin-tight outfit that he had on, his surface warfare uniform, and sighed. It was a little too form fitting, though according to Levi, it was more appropriate than going half naked.
Hanji and, funnily enough, Lynne protested against that statement, though their protests went nowhere.
Leaning forwards a little, Mikazuki pressed the flat of his palm against the main cockpit monitor of the unit, and as he did so, the symbol of Barbatos flashed on screen for the briefest of moments before disappearing. Seconds later, the unit began to power itself up as the telltale hum of its twin Ahab-Reactors could faintly be heard in the background, and all the while, Mikazuki simply sighed and leaned his head back against the cockpit seat.
Closing his eyes briefly, the boy found his consciousness slipping as he tilted his head off to one side, with him attempting to get a few precious minutes of rest before the 57th Expedition officially began. The previous few days, weeks rather, were all spent rigorously preparing for the expedition itself, and though Mika could very well be considered a night owl to most, even he had his limits, and because of the important role both he and Barbatos played in this expedition, he was present during many of the strategy meetings for it, and by all means, as he found himself drifting off, his mind ended up wandering towards one of the many discussions in regards to the expedition.
Or rather, it drifted towards the most important discussion regarding it…
"Thank you all for coming today on such short notice, especially you, Mikazuki Augus. I know it was a sudden request, but your presence here is just as important as everyone else's."
A bored yawn was the only response that was given to both Erwin, and unsurprisingly enough, it came from Mikazuki, who looked completely done with life as he stood on the opposite side of the massive table situated in the room they were in.
They called this the strategic meeting room, which, unsurprisingly, was the room where Survey Corp soldiers would discuss their plans for their Expeditions. Mika had never really paid any attention to the room as he'd rather let his superiors work out a strategy for him, though that all changed when Hanji, may god curse her very soul, suggested that Augus be pulled into the meeting as he played a key role in the upcoming expedition, and after seeing the logic in her words, Erwin took her advice.
Which led to the present, with Team Mike, Team Levi, the leaders of both aforementioned teams, Hanji, Eren, Erwin and himself, alongside a handful of unnamed Scouts that the blonde Commander trust enough to let in on this, stood within the strategic meeting room, with every one of them encircling a circle shaped table with a map of the expedition route drawn onto it.
"Bless you," quipped Mike offhandedly after Mikazuki finished yawning, more so out of general politeness as he kept his gaze fixed firmly onto the map. Augus responded with a nod as he glanced over at Erwin, ignoring the bewildered looks he was receiving, mostly from Team Levi, all the while.
"I don't see why I have to be here," commented Mikazuki, with him cutting straight to the point as he rubbed at his eye in irritation, and as he did so, he grimaced, acknowledging how it was almost five in the morning by now as he shook his head to force himself to stay awake. He wasn't the only one that seemed to be out of it, however, as Eren appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness as well, and likewise, several members of the senior teams, namely Gelgar, Henning, Orou, and, surprisingly enough, Gunther and Nanaba seemed close to fainting right there and then, though they remained strong as they remained at attention. "And why are we meeting up so early. Couldn't this wait till tomorrow?"
"You ask some good questions, Mikazuki Augus, and to answer the first, you are here because you play an incredibly important role in the upcoming Expedition," explained Erwin direly as he leaned forwards to place a bit more emphasis behind his words. "I will keep this briefing short for all our sakes; recently, we have begun to assume that the traitor within our ranks is similar to Eren Jaeger."
Alright… that definitely got Mika's attention, and by all means, it seemed as though the other seniors in the room, plus Eren, didn't seem surprised to learn of this. Augus would have wondered why he wasn't filled in on this earlier… though if he were honest, he'd rather have not learnt about this. After all, with the connections his mind was making in regards to this traitor of theirs and a certain somebody, adding on the fact that they could possibly be a Titan Shifter only served to agitate Mikazuki further…
"You think that they can become a Titan?" asked Mikazuki for clarification, to which Erwin nodded, confirming his worries as Hanji helpfully took over for him. The damn woman seemed to be in high spirits in spite of the absurdly late (or more accurately, early) hour, as she began to explain the situation to her junior with a level of energy that would've made even Shino envious.
"Yeah. Admittedly it's an assumption that has very little basis, but honestly, we have to prepare for the absolute worst outcome at every turn. Not the best mindset to have, but we need it to survive," said Hanji, her tone of voice sounding shockingly serious as she spoke. Augus was taken aback by this at first, though he reckoned that when it came to saving lives, Zoe was not one to kid around.
"But what do I have to do with this?" asked Mikazuki, to which Mike answered.
"Your role will be to fend off this potential threat should this theory turn out to be true. We do not know how capable this potential Titan Shifter is when compared to Eren, but we must assume the worst and believe that they are his superior," explained Mike, eliciting a nod from Hanji as she took over.
"Mike's right on that front. For all we know, we'd be assaulted by the Armoured or the Colossal Titans whilst out on the field, and when that happens, you and your Gundam will be our best deterrence against them," agreed Hanji as she leaned forwards onto the strategy table to put a bit more emphasis behind her words. "Keeping you in the dark on this would've been a detriment to the expedition, especially if this theory of ours turns out to be true, but if it means anything, we're sorry for keeping this piece of information away from you for as long as we have."
"It's fine," assured Mikazuki dismissively as he waved Hanji off, with him hiding his small sense of nervousness rather well as he glanced back down onto the formation map. Bringing a hand up to his chin, the pilot stared down at the map thoughtfully, with him shifting his arm up to poke Eren on the cheek to wake him up before he fell onto his side. "Is that all?"
"No. We still need your opinion on something, kid," came Mikazuki's near immediate answer from Levi, who glanced over at him as he crossed his arms. Erwin nodded in thanks at his subordinate before he picked up on where he left off.
"Indeed. Your position in the Expedition party is crucial to this plan as well, and as such, we would very much appreciate your input on the situation as a whole," began Erwin as he nodded towards Team Mike, and as he did so, Nanaba stepped forward and placed a smaller diagram onto the table. Mika raised a brow at this one, with him quickly acknowledging how it was a simplified sketch of the Long Distance Scouting Formation before Smith continued to speak, with him leaning forwards to stick a small tack onto the center of the diagram all the while. "Eren Jaeger has agreed to remain at the heart of the formation, as we believe that our traitor will strike us there. The past two attempts were on the life of a particularly valuable individual," Hanji beamed a little at that backhanded praise, "and two of our most valuable test subjects, leading us to believe that their main objective is to cripple our force's highest ranking officers.
"Eren Jaeger's position ensures that, should our traitor attack us, he will be able to fend them off at any given second, an outcome that he is willing to entertain. However, we have yet to decide on your position, and to assign you without your input would benefit no one, and as such-"
"Rear Guard."
That near immediate answer from Mikazuki was more than enough to catch everyone off guard as they turned to stared at him in surprise. As for the pilot, however, he simply remained stoically silent for a brief few seconds to allow what he had just said sink in before elaborating.
"If the traitor is like Eren, they'll be able to do a lot of damage. But against a well organised group, they won't last long," commented Mikazuki flatly, sounding as though this were incredibly obvious as he spoke. "They'll want to throw the formation into chaos, make everyone panic so they won't be able to function properly. So they'll attack the Rear Guard first. It's the largest part of the formation, right? If they manage to destroy that, the formation will crumble."
And upon concluding, the silence that followed became rather deafening as the soldiers present looked between one another, with them being taken aback by the unexpected amount of insight that Augus had with him on the situation as they glanced between each other. The only ones that didn't seem too surprised were Team Mike, sans Henning, and Hanji, with the aforementioned woman and leader of Team Mike having brought up the issue with Erwin a handful of days prior.
"... the brat's a lot smarter than he lets on," admitted Oruo begrudgingly after some time, with several others begrudgingly agreeing with him as they stared over at Augus in shock. The pilot in question didn't seem to care much about the attention, however, as he simply waited for his commander to say something, and before long, he did, with him flashing an impressed smile all the while.
"Yeah, but how do you know all this, kid?" inquired Henning curiously as he tilted his head a little, to which the boy shrugged dismissively. The soldiers present really did underestimate his strategic nature, honestly, as, despite scoring incredibly low for all his written exams, the boy had survived enough conflicts to have the most basic of strategies ingrained into his memory. He left most of the major planning to his smarter comrades, but when push came to shove, Augus could still format a decent plan strategy for most situations.
"An astute observation, Mikazuki Augus," praised Erwin in approval as he nodded, with him ignoring the comments of both Henning and Oruo as he smiled to himself once more, with him grinning once more at just how much of a blessing it was to have this problem child within their ranks, only this time, he could acknowledge his surprisingly tactical mind rather than his brute strength, something that was never recorded down in either his Trainee records or during the Preliminary Expedition reports. "We shall station you at the very back of the formation, where you can respond to any and all threats to the Rear Guard as soon as possible. Should there be any indication of our potential traitor being in close proximity to the formation in any way, shape or form, a Purple Flare shall be fired. Take that as your cue to act, is that clear?"
A mild nod was enough to answer Erwin's inquiry, prompting him to continue.
"Because of your position, we will not be overseeing you as we believe that all of Team Mike will be required to uphold the heart of the formation. You are fine with being alone for the duration of the Expedition, yes?"
Another mild nod was the answer that Erwin needed from the pilot, and at that, Hanji leaned forwards and stuck a blue tack down onto the back of the diagram, indicating that both pilot and Gundam would be stationed there during the expedition. Augus held no objections to all this, and upon acknowledging that, Smith smiled and nodded.
"Now then, with that settled, I wish to ask before I dismiss all of you; are there any further questions?" inquired Erwin, and much to his surprise, Mikazuki did have one whereas the others had none.
"How will you deal with the traitor if they actually make an appearance?" inquired Mikazuki, sounding completely serious in spite of his deadpanned tone of voice as he spoke, to which Erwin flinched. He had hoped to not discuss this with Augus as, by all means, he was not a part of this portion of the plan, and yet, a quick glance towards Mike, Levi and Hanji, with all three nodding in approval, made him reconsider.
"We will be attempting to capture them," said Erwin, with this coming as no real surprise to Mikazuki as he reckoned that they, or at least Hanji, would very much love to perform experiments on a Titan Shifter, and with Eren acting as one of their two most valuable assets in this battle, they couldn't afford to experiment on him. As for their traitor, however… well, they had no qualms about carving them up in the name of science.
"How?" inquired Augus curiously, and at that, Smith shook his head dismissively.
"You needn't worry about that for now, Mikazuki Augus. All you need to think about is keeping the Rear Guard safe from any attackers. We are counting on you," deflected Erwin, with him sounding incredibly serious about all this as he spoke, and for as uncaring as he felt, Mikazuki still felt the gravity of the situation weighing down on him quite a bit as he nodded, with him dismissing the issue of how they would even capture a Titan Shifter for now. "Good. You are all dismissed. Do not forget that the Expedition begins in less than a month's time. Spend this time wisely."
And with that, the soldiers present saluted their Commander before leaving, with Team Levi marching off first, followed by Hanji, who smiled as she waved goodbye to Mikazuki whilst slinging her arm around Eren's shoulders. Jaeger waved at him as well, and Augus responded to the gesture with a mild nod of his head, and before long, Lynne placed her hand atop his shoulder and gestured for them to move out as well.
"If this responsibility's too much for you, kid, just tell us. We can convince Erwin to move you to a different part of the formation," assured Lynne gently as she glanced down at her junior, surprising him just a bit as he glanced up at her, though he got over his initial surprise before shaking his head.
"No. I volunteered for it. I have to see it through," muttered Mikazuki passively as he shook his head dismissively. At this point, Lynne couldn't even pretend to be impressed by Augus' straight laced demeanor as she shook her head in acceptance, though she reckoned that it being five in the morning had something to do with her less energetic nature as well. Call it a hunch.
"Well, at the very least, I can commend your dedication to the call of duty," praised Lynne as she patted her junior's shoulder one last time before retracting her hand away from him, and at that, Augus gave her a stare that she didn't notice as she walked onwards.
'It's not being dedicated to my duties, Lynne…' thought Mikazuki passively as he shook his head and glanced back ahead of himself…
'It's being a decent person…'
An on screen alert pinged to life, accompanied by a rather annoying beep beep beep alarm, and likewise, accompanying it was a rather sudden surge of data that came in through the Gundam's side of the Alaya-Vijnana system, which ended up waking Augus up from his mild nap as he leaned forwards and stretched his limbs as much as possible.
Shaking his head a little to rid himself of the lingering sense of fatigue in his system, Mikazuki frowned a tiny bit as he leaned forwards and stared through the optic-to-cockpit visuals of his unit, and as he did so, the optical sensors zoomed in to a rising cloud of smoke. A signal flare, Mikazuki realized, one that was orange in colour, signifying the start of the expedition.
As the flare rose up into the air, Mikazuki shifted himself atop the cockpit seat of his unit. Once he was sufficiently comfortable, the pilot nodded and tapped several commands into the main cockpit monitor. The system flared up a little as the Gundam's thrusters began to warm themselves up, and as they reached their operational limits, the unit's optics burst to life, flashing a brilliant shade of viridian as excess steam was purged from the many vents on the unit.
The unit had been stationed near the rightmost side of Wall Karanses following the end of the Preliminary Expedition, with multiple cannons aimed directly at it as a safety precaution on the part of the Garrison, and when the unit abruptly powered itself up, the soldiers that were watching over it jolted upright in shock, with one of them seeming ready to blast it out of reflex as he held onto the cannon he was standing behind tightly. The sight of Barbatos slowly but surely getting itself up onto its feet didn't help much, honestly, and the Garrison could only whimper in fear when they felt the wall of Karanses shuddering a little as the boosters attached to the Gundam began to power themselves up.
And as soon as they activated, the close proximity of the boosters to the Wall caused the entire structure to shudder a tiny bit as the Gundam boosted onwards, and as soon as the soldiers atop the wall recovered from the aftershock, they could only widen their eyes in shock as they watched the unit boosting off into the distance, with it already catching up to the main formation despite leaving much later than they did.
"I think the expedition will go pretty well…" commented one of the many Garrison offhandedly as he watched the Gundam cover over two hundred metres within the span of five fucking seconds, and to his side, Captain Kitz Woerman, for as fearful as he was of the Mobile Suit, found himself nodding in apparent agreement all the while, with him not trusting his voice at the moment.
Not long after
With a panicked gasp and his eyes widened to their maximum, a soldier of the formation's Rear Guard found himself leaning forwards in terror as he urged his stallion to rush onwards with greater vigor.
One couldn't exactly blame him for being so hasty, however, as he was a part of the outer row of the formation's Vanguard, and his duty was to alert the rest of the formation to the Titans that were approaching them from behind. Such a job was easy in concept, though in execution, it was a lot less so, and when this soldier in particular had stumbled upon no less than five Titans, all of which ranged from Nine metres to Fifteen and were sprinting after him, he was justifiably panicked beyond comprehension as he hastily had his horse sprint away from them.
Whilst he did so, the lone Vanguard fumbled for the flare gun that was attached to his hip and broke open its barrel. Hastily, he wasted no time in grabbing a single Red Flare from the back of his hip and aimed it towards the sky, and seconds later, he fired, sending a red cloud soaring up into the air all the while. As soon as he fired it, the lone Vanguard lowered his arm and glanced back behind himself, only to nearly shit his pants when he realized that the tallest of the Titans, a spindly Fifteen metre, was gaining on him, with it running on all fours like some demented beast from Hell.
"OH WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" screamed the lone Vanguard as he kicked at his horse's sides, urging it to go a little faster as the Titan closed in on them.
And off in the distance, a single dot appeared on a Mobile Suit's radar, with it alerting its pilot to an issue that was less than two hundred metres away from it.
Rather abruptly, the Titan lunged towards the lone Vanguard with its mouth agape, ready to gobble the soldier up in one fell swoop all the while. Upon noticing this, the guy veered his horse towards the left, in turn avoiding a head-to-back collision with the humanoid monstrosity all the while, much to his relief, though his relief was unfortunately cut short when the Titan, despite having face planted into the dirt, swung its arm out of the dust and dirt that had been kicked up after its impact, and by some ungodly miracle, its hand was able to impact the fleeing soldier, who found himself restrained by the Fifteen metre and swept up into the air.
The lone Vanguard's horse halted in its tracks as soon as it felt that its rider was gone, and at the same time, the soldier cried out in terror as he swiftly unsheathed his blades and swung them wildly at the Titan's fingers. A few cuts were made onto it before it could bring him up to its mouth, and after one final, powerful swing, the soldier was able to sever a major tendon that forced the Titan to release him… onto its face. The Vanguard was lucky that he didn't fall straight into its mouth, as he only landed on its forehead, with him swiftly kicking off its face and landing on the ground shortly thereafter.
As he landed, however, the Fifteen metre Titan, alongside the rest of its pack that was swiftly closing in on him, turned to stare down at him, and at that, the soldier more or less accepted his fate, with him grimacing as he finally realized what his instructor had meant by Offer up your lives back during their trainee days. Even so, that didn't mean that he'd die like a coward, as he intended on fighting to the bitter end against these things.
Even if he didn't take any one of them down, he reckoned that going down fighting would be better than going down like a coward!
"C-C'mon then you fuckers!" challenged the lone Survey Corp Vanguard as he tried to keep the shakiness out of his voice, though it was very obvious that he was failing incredibly hard at doing so as he grimaced. His knees quivered beneath him and his hands shook as though they were experiencing an earthquake, but he hardened his resolve and pointed a sword up at the Fifteen metre. "Come and get me-"
And right as that last word left his lips, the Titan closest to him vanished in a massive cloud of smoke and dirt, with something incredibly heavy crashing down atop it and cutting the soldier off mid-sentence as the aftershock of the newcomer's timely appearance sent him soaring backwards. Landing in an awkward tumble, the lone Vanguard coughed a little as he shook his head and glanced up at where the Titan used to be, only to widen his eyes when he saw, through the dissipating cloud of smoke and dirt, Gundam Barbatos standing with its damaged but still intact back facing him.
Crouching down into an offensive stance, the Gundam wielded both its Mace and Longsword as it effectively formed a wall to block the Titans from getting the soldier behind it. As it did so, the unit glanced back at the soldier, who seemed to understand what it was trying to do, as he nodded in appreciation and moved towards his horse. The aforementioned animal neighed a little as it bowed its head and allowed its rider to mount it, and as he turned tail and fled the immediate area, the lone Vanguard found himself glancing back at the Gundam… and he promptly widened his eyes and dropped his jaw not even a second later.
One couldn't blame him for such a reaction, however, as it wasn't exactly common to see four Titans being taken out simultaneously within the span of two seconds. Barbatos had dispatched the Titan closest to it, a Twelve metre, with a single swing of its Wrench Mace, before it rocketed its Mace-wielding arm towards a Fourteen metre, slamming its elbow straight into its skull, caving it in on impact. The next Titan to be taken out was a Nine metre, the shortest of the pack, which was immediately killed when Barbatos launched its leg unit towards it, obliterating its entire torso on impact, and whilst its foot was still in the air, the unit brought it down onto the thigh of a Ten metre, and it didn't just break the Titan's thighbone… no… the foot tore the entire leg off at the thigh, forcing the Titan down onto its knee before it stared up at the Gundam with a dopey look on its face.
Said look was quickly wiped off the face of the world when the Gundam swung its Longsword at it, slashing not only its skull, but also its neck and part of its torso in half, and before the severed parts could even hit the ground and begin dissolving, Barbatos had already turned away from its handiwork and began boosting after the formation, leaving a very much bewildered soldier to try and register what just happened.
It was all so fast that his brain struggled to keep up with what he had just seen, and by the time he had registered all of it, the soldier couldn't do much more than watch on, slack jawed, as the Gundam boosted onwards, with it keeping pace with his horse with very little issue. Its Land Boosters were deactivated, presumably to save on fuel, and its optics were facing directly ahead of itself, though in spite of this, the soldier couldn't shake the feeling that the thing was staring at him, prompting him to shudder a little as he veered away from the Gundam out of instinctual fear.
And as the soldier he had just saved veered away from him, Mikazuki huffed a little to himself as he rolled his eyes and tapped the cockpit monitor of his unit, with him staring down at the radar all the while.
As the strongest asset in the entire formation, it fell upon Mikazuki to protect the soldiers of the Rear Guard whether they liked it or not, and by proxy, Augus had to handle any and all Titans that were within a hundred metres of the formation's flank. Thankfully for him, Barbatos' on board radar had a farther reach than one would expect, with it being able to detect movement from over three hundred metres away, thus allowing the pilot to detect any Titans that were in the vicinity.
A ping on the radar alerted him to a Titan not too far from his current position, prompting him to turn towards it and narrow his eyes at the sight of a tiny Titan in the distance. The optic-to-cockpit monitor zoomed in on the Titan, allowing Mika to identify it as an Eight to Seven metre sprinting across the field, with it seeming to sense the formation in front of it all the while. Upon acknowledging its existence, the pilot boosted his unit towards the diminutive Titan, and as soon as he was roughly a hundred metres away from it, he fired up the Land Boosters and activated all of his unit's thrusters all at once.
Seconds later, Barbatos was sent soaring through the air, with the combined might of its six thrusters allowing it to close the distance between itself and the Eight/Seven metre Titan in record time, and mere seconds after his unit had landed, with metal and pistons creaking on impact, the unit boosted towards the Titan and crouched down low. The Titan, a Seven metre, Mika noted, barely had enough time to even turn around to acknowledge the Gundam's approach before it got close enough to strike it below the jaw with its manipulator.
On impact, the Titan's entire head was promptly sent flying off its shoulders as it soared through the air and breakneck speed, and seconds later, its body fell onto the floor, dead, as Augus snorted at the sight. Stomping his unit forwards, Mikazuki deliberately crushed what remained of the Titan's body beneath its heeled feet before he turned the Gundam's attention towards a close-by trio of Titans.
Said Titans were roughly five hundred metres away and seemed to be chasing a small group of Survey Corp Vanguards, and upon acknowledging their existence, Augus was quick to crouch his unit down before he boosted it towards his new prey.
'I hope they're alright," thought Mikazuki absentmindedly as he had Barbatos boost towards the Titans in a zig-zag motion, and as soon as he was close enough, he had his unit crouch down low and slam its unit's shoulder straight into the fastest Titan of the three. The shoulder-armour inner frame buried itself deep into the Titan's chest on impact, slicing into its ribs and causing it to be lifted up into the air as the Gundam turned towards the other two that were pursuing the soldiers.
The aforementioned soldiers only spared the Gundam a quick glance before they sped off, knowing that it was more than enough to handle three measly Titans all the while, and as they did so, Mikazuki ripped the Titan, a Fourteen metre, off his Gundam's shoulder-inner frame via its neck and swung its towards the other two. On impact, the two Titans staggered backwards while the one that was used as a makeshift club had its head, neck and spine ripped out from just how fast it was swung, and upon realizing that his unit was holding onto nothing but the Titan's spinal column, Mika had Barbatos throw it off to the side before he swung the Wrench Mace at the remaining two.
'They're strong, but it doesn't hurt to worry… right?' thought Mikazuki absentmindedly as he slammed the Wrench Mace down onto one of the two Titans, squashing it below the weapon, and seconds later, he brought the weapon high up into the air and had it open its damaged jaws. The jaws of the Wrench Mace then came crashing down onto the last Titan, with them ensnaring it with very little issue and trapping it in its maw.
Augus could've just ended it right there and then, but by all means, he still found himself delaying the Titan's inevitable demise as he kept it ensnared in the jaws of his weapon. As he did so, he removed his hands from the unit's arm controllers and began massaging them a little, with him grumbling a little to himself as he acknowledged how they had been at this for roughly two hours.
Two hours of him being bored as he boosted behind the Rear Guard, eliminating Titans that were as threatening to him as a bunny… and two hours of him worrying for his two friends that were not even close to him in the formation…
He knew that he shouldn't be worried with them, not anymore at least, as both Mina and Nac had proven to him that they were more than capable of defending themselves. Their exploits during the Trost incident had told him as much, and they had been trained further in the time before the 57th Expedition. And yet… despite all this, he still found himself fretting over their safety and wellbeing. Let it be known that Augus was never one to feel frightened over much… but when it came to those two? He could never stop thinking about their safety.
For all intents and purposes, however, his worries weren't unjustified. They were among the very few that Mikazuki cared for in this world, among the very few that he lived for now, and if he found them dead on his watch… well, he'd half the reason to live at that point, and by all means, it took him a lot of willpower to resist the urge to abandon his posting and boost towards the center of the formation just to find his friends and confirm that they were alright.
As things were now, however, he was able to keep his personal feelings in check thanks to years upon years of experience, and as he suppressed his worries for his friends, the pilot glanced back down at the Titan that was still trapped within the jaws of his unit's weapon, and after huffing out in apparent irritation, he activated the weapon's hidden chainsaw, which ripped through the Titan's flesh as though it were nothing. Seconds later, both halves of the Titan fell onto the ground, though the top half of the beast was still moving, what with its nape still intact and how it was writhing on the ground in apparent pain.
Mikazuki didn't kill it. Not yet, at least, as he simply huffed and shook his head, with him staring off into space all the while. Things had been rather hectic recently, he had to admit, what with him jumping and boosting his Gundam all around the place just to respond to the various signal flares that were shot up into the air. He reckoned that he had handled no less than thirteen emergencies prior to now, and during that time, he had no time to just stop and admire the view provided to him.
It wasn't much, honestly. A massive, grassy wasteland that had very little life to it outside of the Titans roaming around and the occasional Survey Corp rushing along. And yet, for as simple as it was, Mikazuki saw quite a lot of beauty in it. He knew that this was what the Survey Corps were fighting for… a simple yet beautiful future where humanity could frolic around regions similar to this one…
It was rather funny, really. He knew that he was on a mission, one that was honestly incredibly important, for himself, Eren and the Survey Corps as a whole… but at the same time, it was also oddly peaceful for him. He reckoned that it was Barbatos' fault, honestly, as he was practically untouchable now, thanks to his Gundam's brute strength, but even without it, if he were to discount the fact that the Titans were roaming the barren wastelands of what was once Shiganshina, Mikazuki could very well pretend that he were living a somewhat normal life right about now…
Well, as normal as it could get for him, anyways, and sadly, he reckoned that overseeing a beautiful, grassy wasteland whilst piloting the deadliest weapon on the planet was considered to be normal for him these days.
'One day, we'll all be able to experience this. Mina, Annie, Nac and I…' thought Mikazuki absentmindedly as he loosened his grip on his unit's arm controllers for the briefest of moments and relaxed his shoulders a tad, with him almost smiling at the thought of winning this war against the Titans and granting his best friends the opportunity to stare over a world that wasn't surrounded by walls or infested by Titans. One that they could freely live in without fear…
The sudden alert that pinged on his screen snapped Mikazuki out of his thoughts, and after he shook his head a little, the pilot turned towards the source of the alert, with him raising Barbatos' head upwards to do so, and raised a brow when he saw another flare rising into the air. Automatically, the unit zoomed in on the flare, allowing Augus to get a better look at it all the while, though as soon as he realized what colour it was, he found himself widening his eyes in realization as he grimaced and slammed his feet down onto the thruster pedals of his unit.
'Purple… purple… purple!' thought Mikazuki repeatedly as he grimaced and began boosting Barbatos towards where the flare had been shot from, with him grimacing all the while. 'They made their move…'
His mind moved a mile a minute as he realized what this could potentially mean, and for as… worried as he currently felt about the possibility of her being the culprit behind all this, the boy was quick to suppress any and all of his worries for now as he worried about getting to where the flare had been shot from. The data feed provided to him by Barbatos assisted him in this, as it estimated that the flare's origin was no less than six hundred metres from where he currently was. If he pushed the thrusters to their limits, he could make the trip in less than two minutes… and by all means, he did just that.
He needed to limit the damage their Titan Shifting traitor could do to the formation, and by proxy, he needed to keep them from getting any deeper into the formation. If they managed to get close enough to Mina and Nac to hurt them in some way… well, he'd make sure they'd die a slow and agonising death…
And in his haste to depart, Mikazuki didn't even acknowledge how one of the Land Boosters had inadvertently activated whilst pointing down at the halved Titan writhing on the ground, resulting in it being burnt to a crisp as soon as it was activated.
Elsewhere
"T-Titan inbound!"
Right as those words left her mouth, Mina found herself squeaking in terror as she veered her horse to the left and narrowly avoided a lunging bite from the Titan that was pursuing her, causing it to crash headfirst into an abandoned building seconds later. The entire structure caved in on itself as the Titan slammed into it, and for a brief few seconds, Mina hoped, or rather, prayed that it had been killed by the impact.
Much to her dismay, however, she realized that the Titan was still very much alive, as it burst out of the totaled building and continued to give chase. Biting her lower lip with almost enough strength to draw blood, Carolina found herself hyperventilating a little as she urged her horse to pick up the pace, though it didn't do any of that as she grimaced and surveyed her surroundings.
She knew that if worse came to worst, she would have to face this Titan directly in combat, something that wasn't advisable, especially when one considered her lackluster combat rating, but she didn't exactly have much of an option on the matter. Glancing off into the distance, Mina just barely noticed a small tree that she could perhaps use to slingshot herself behind the Titan, though it would very well be risky…
"MINA!"
Her thoughts were abruptly cut short, however, when the ever-familiar voice of Nac came to Mina's attention, and on instinct, she turned her attention behind herself just in time to see her friend load a flare into his designated flare gun and aim it at the Titan's head. His aim wasn't perfect, but he managed to lodge the Red Flare into the Titan's ear, and though it didn't actually injure it in any way, the shot was still enough to catch its attention as it slowed down and stared down at Tias.
"Oh shit," muttered Nac as he winced and had his horse speed up, with him just narrowly avoiding being scooped up by the Titan as it crouched down low and swiped a hand at him. It came close enough that Tias could feel the wind pressure of the swing, though he didn't let it deter him as he glanced back to see the Titan giving chase, with red smoke pouring out of one of its ears all the while. It would've looked rather comical, honestly, if the damn thing wasn't barreling right for him!
Thankfully enough, however, the Titan only managed to give chase for a solid ten seconds before a newcomer leapt in, and from where he was at, Nac could only widen his eyes in shock when he saw Luke Sys ride up behind the pursuing Titan and jump off the saddle of his horse. As he did so, he launched his Maneuver Gear wires towards the ankles of the Titan, which remained blissfully unaware of his presence, and reeled himself towards them, and once he was close enough, he swung both his Anti-Titan blades towards the back of the beast's ankles, severing both of its major tendons and forcing it to fall flat onto its face. The falling Titan narrowly missed Nac by a good few centimeters as the tip of its index finger came close enough to give Tias some goosebumps.
Despite having been greeted with a faceful of dirt, the Titan pursuing Nac was still adamant on continuing the chase, as it tried to grab at him with its outstretched hand. It wasn't able to get him, however, and before it could make another attempt at his life, another newcomer jumped onto its back and lunged for its nape. Said blonde newcomer appeared very much panicked as he did so, though it didn't stop him from slashing at the nape with all his might before he jumped off it and mounted his horse once more.
And as the body of the Titan dissolved behind them, Nac could only offer one of his two saviours a shaky smile as he nodded at him in thanks.
"T-Thanks for the save there, Mylius!" thanked Nac shakily as he grinned at Zeramuski, who was still shaking from that honestly terrifying experience. He didn't trust his voice enough to respond verbally, and as such, he simply nodded as they rode on, and as he did so, Mina veered her own horse in to ride beside Nac, who found himself sandwiched between the pigtailed and blonde haired soldiers shortly thereafter.
"I just d-did what anyone else w-would…" muttered Mylius shakily as he still felt himself quivering from that admittedly daring stunt of his. The guy was usually too much of a nervous wreck to do something like this, though Mina reckoned that, when the going gets tough, even a scaredy cat like Zeramuski would rise to the challenge whenever necessary.
"Well, either way, you saved my ass, you and the Commander, so I owe you one! How about we get something to eat when we're done here? My treat!" quipped Nac as lightheartedly as he could as the three of them rode onwards, with Mina letting out an uneasy chuckle at that statement whilst Mylius remained mostly the same, though his lips did twitch upwards a little as he nodded uncertainly.
"If we make it out alive, N-Nac…" responded Mylius uneasily as he turned away from Tias and glanced around awkwardly, with him scanning the terrain for any close-by Titans all the while.
"We will make it out alive, Mylius. Count on it," urged Mina gently as she smiled at him reassuringly, to which the blonde nodded, and at that, he opened his mouth to comment on his ally's optimism, though before he could do so, by the corner of his eye, he noticed a purple cloud of smoke rising up into the air. Instinctively, he focused his attention onto the rising cloud of purple, and when they noticed his sudden focus on it, Mina and Nac glanced behind themselves as well, with the three of them, plus Sys who was lagging behind a bit, staring up at the Purple Flare in silence.
"A Purple Signal Flare… that… t-that means that there's an emergency back there, and judging by where it was shot from… the flare came from the Rear Guard!" observed Nac as he widened his eyes in shock, and as he did so, the three of them instinctively halted their horses to stare up at the rising flare with widened eyes. Sys noticed their abrupt stop, as evident by his mild grimace, prompting him to speed his horse up by kicking its sides before he was right by their sides.
"Mina Carolina, Nac Tias, Mylius Zeramuski, continue onwards! When on the field, stopping for even a moment could become a matter of life or death!" ordered Sys as he had his horse come to a complete stop in front of his juniors. He remained calm as it reared back on its hind legs before returning to all fours, and as it did so, Nac, being the softest of the three, saw fit to protest.
"B-But sir, the Rear Guard-" began Nac worriedly as he pointed in the direction of the aforementioned part of the formation, only to be cut off when Sys shushed him with an outstretched hand. Tias reddened a little at the gesture, though he said nothing as his superior responded.
"Such an outcome has been planned for, Nac Tias. For now, simply continue along onwards," ordered Sys as he motioned for his juniors to do as they were told, and though the three of them wore expressions of guilt whilst turning to leave, they complied nonetheless, with Sys himself reaching behind himself and pulling out his Flare Gun shortly thereafter.
Breaking open its barrel, Luke loaded a Purple Flare of his own and aimed it upwards, and with a simple pull of the trigger, he blasted it into the air, relaying the appearance of their Titan Shifting traitor to the rest of the formation all the while. As the streak of purple rose, Sys saw fit to holster his gun and continue on after his juniors, who found themselves grimacing as they rode onwards.
"It doesn't feel right… to leave them to fight for themselves like that…" muttered Mina after a few seconds of silence, with her grimace reflecting how she currently felt as she spoke. Nac very much agreed with her on the matter, though with him being the oldest and the most experienced in these real world issues, the guy thought it best to not comment on it for now as it wasn't a good time to do so. Mylius, however…
"The smart thing to do i-isn't always the good thing," commented Mylius meekly as he glanced over at Mina, who frowned as they rode on, with her acknowledging the truth behind his words all the while. "But I'm sure that the Rear Guard will be alright…"
"Why's that?" asked Mina curiously, to which Mylius chuckled awkwardly.
"Well… I… recalled hearing one of our seniors state that your friend was stationed at the back of the formation," explained Mylius, with him recalling a conversation he had happened to stumble onto not too long ago in regards to formation plans. He didn't hear much of it, though he distinctly remembered the speakers stating that Barbatos was to be positioned at the back of the formation in the case of an emergency situation.
"Mika's back there…? So that's why we haven't seen him just yet!" proclaimed Mina, with her smiling for the briefest of moments as she acknowledged how her friend was on the case. Sure, it would've been better if he and his Gundam, as he called it, were with them all the way, but even so, it was still a relief to know that he was able to do what they could not and possibly solve whatever emergency the Rear Guard was facing.
"Yeah. If anyone can fix the issue the Rear Guard are facing, then it's him!" agreed Nac with a shaky grin as they rode on, with Mylius reluctantly nodding in agreement all the while. He had no real opinion on either Mikazuki or Barbatos, as his exposure to them was rather limited, and by all means, he would've liked to believe that his friends were hyping up his abilities a little too much, but at the same time, he knew that both pilot and Mobile Suit were incredibly powerful, leading him to believe that both Carolina and Tias weren't hyping him up enough…
"Well, either way, can we please refocus on the road ahead? I'd rather not ride into any Titans!" suggested Mylius nervously as they turned their attention towards him, and at that, they nodded in collective agreement before they turned their attention back ahead of themselves. As they did so, Luke Sys found himself raising a brow in amusement as he watched all this unfold, with him shaking his head a little all the while.
"Kids, all of them…" muttered Sys as he trailed behind the three juniors assigned to him with a mildly amused smile. They had been through so much bloodshed in the past, witnessed so much death and violence over the course of so little time, and yet, even now… almost three entire months after the Trost incident, they were still acting so naive in spite of everything they had been through.
Luke knew from personal experience that getting over the trauma that came with watching your friends die right before your very eyes wasn't easy. Hell, he was still reeling back from the death of a friend of his that died three whole expeditions ago, and despite almost an entire year having passed, he still wasn't over it completely. And then here these kids were, seemingly completely fine after the Trost incident despite having experienced more than enough trauma to last them a lifetime…
… or two…
Sys wished to say that he was envious of them, but in actuality, he could not. He couldn't confirm it at all, but the senior soldier believed that these kids… young adults, rather, were hiding their fears rather well. He'd have to sign them up for counseling after the expedition was over and done with, as, yes, they did have those in the Military Brigades, though he found himself shelving that thought for now as he focused on the task at hand.
Opening his mouth, Sys was ready to issue an order to his juniors to veer a little into the formation, as, over by the corner of his eye, he could spot another Vanguard group close by, a little too close as the standard distance between formation Vanguards was about one to two hundred metres, though before he could issue the order, he found himself snapping his mouth shut when he heard the sound of thumping closing in on them from behind.
Raising a brow in confusion, the ponytailed soldier turned around to get a good look at just what was making that thumping noise, though when he did so, he found himself widening his eyes in shock at the sight of another Titan sprinting towards him and his group at top speed. At first, Luke thought it to be nothing more than an Abnormal, as it seemed to be making a complete beeline for himself and his juniors, though that thought was swiftly ejected from his mind when he noticed something…
This Titan… it looked too… different from the average one, including the Abnormal kind. Its appearance looked too… human, so to speak, as its proportions were uncannily similar to the average person's, and the way it ran could be likened more to an athlete sprinting towards their destination rather than the clumsy shuffle that a Titan would perform whilst it sprinted.
As it got closer, however, Sys found himself widening his eyes in disbelief when he took note of how the Titan had a mop of blonde hair atop its head, a simple observation that came as a massive shock to him as, historically, all Titans, Abnormal or not, had black hair… all except the Armoured Titan, reportedly at least… and by all means, when he noticed this small feature, Luke began fearing the worst as he pulled out his flare gun and broke open its barrel.
"S-Shit… kids, we have to move, NOW!" ordered Sys as he began to panic a little at the prospect of facing a Titan that was similar to Eren in some way, and as he spoke, he loaded a Black Flare into it, and as soon as he locked the barrel into place and fired. The moment the black flare had been discharged from the barrel, and mere seconds after it flew over ten metres into the air, the junior soldiers turned to stare back at Sys, and at that, they were quick to widen their eyes in shock at the sight behind them.
"W-WHAT THE-" began Mylius as he widened his eyes in disbelief, though before he could finish that statement of his, and before the four soldiers could move out of the way before they were trampled beneath the approaching Titan's feet, the damn thing jumped over them.
As soon as it was about twenty metres away from the group, the blonde Titan slowed its pace down a little and bent both its legs at the knees, confusing the soldiers briefly, though their confusion swiftly became shock when they watched its knees straighten abruptly, sending it rocketing through the air shortly thereafter. And at that, time slowed to a literal crawl as the entirety of Sys' team watched as the Titan soar over their heads, with it landing nearly ten metres in front of them seconds later with very little issue.
And all the while, Mina found herself widening her eyes in shock when the Titan had… briefly made eye contact with her. It was only for a split second, but in that time, Carolina's grey eyes locked onto the cold blue pair of the beast, and at that, she found herself widening them past their limits as she found those eyes to be… familiar to her…
She was quick to squint her eyes back to their usual size, however, and raise her arms up to shield them from the subsequent blast of dirt and dust that came with the Titan's landing, and as soon as the dust cleared, the group could only watch on in shock and terror as this Titan… this Titan Shifter, rather, continued sprinting onwards, not even giving them a second thought all the while…
"T-That Titan… i-i-it's… it didn't even…" began Mylius shakily as he watched the blonde Titan sprint off, and as though he were reading his mind, Nac found himself nodding whilst grimacing as he responded.
"It didn't even acknowledge us… and it's behaving very differently from even the usual Abnormals…" finished Tias, to which Zeramuski nodded shakily. Nac couldn't exactly blame him for the mild tremor in his hands, however, as it took him a lot more effort than he was willing to admit to requiring to keep himself from stuttering as well. "Either it's an Abnormally Abnormal Titan… or…"
"... or it's like Eren…"
Whichever the answer was, neither one of the soldiers present wished to know the answer, and by all means, this discovery seemed to overwhelm them quite a bit as they remained frozen in place. Only Sys was still functioning properly as he watched the supposed Titan Shifter sprint off into the distance, and as it did so, he found himself grimacing intensely as he placed a hand atop Nac's shoulder, startling him all the while.
"Nac Tias, you will be in charge of this squad until I return," ordered Sys as he reeled his horse back a little. The aforementioned junior seemed taken aback by that order as he blinked at his senior in confusion, and likewise, both Mina and Mylius were similarly shocked by such an order as they stared at their senior as though he had grown a second head, which was to be expected at this point.
"I-I beg your pardon?!" proclaimed Nac as he watched his senior trot his horse up in front of his, and as he processed his question, Sys simply glanced back and flashed his junior a somewhat saddened smile.
"You're in charge till I get back," muttered Sys, with him offering him a two fingered salute all the while. Nac couldn't believe what he was hearing right now, as evident by his wide eyed stare, and yet, before he or any of his fellow teammates could protest, Luke had darted off atop his horse like a bullet, with him forcing it to sprint after their new target at top speed relentlessly, leaving behind his bewildered juniors all the while.
"Wh-What's he doing?!" demanded Mina in shock as she was the first to recover from all that, and as she spoke, she reined her horse in from the sudden shout whilst Mylius responded.
"It.. i-it's possible that he believes that this Titan is a hostile one, w-which it v-very well might be, and as such…" began Mylius, with him just barely keeping his voice steady as he spoke. Upon noticing this, Nac took it upon himself to help his friend finish his statement.
"He wishes to delay the Titan, long enough for the other Vanguards in the area to relay its existence to the Commanders," concluded Nac direly, with him recalling seeing several other Vanguards that were close by when the blonde Titan had snuck up on them. They had undoubtedly spotted the Titan as well, and if they had any sense left in them, they would be speeding up to relay this information to their seniors without hesitation.
"But that's suicide!" proclaimed Mina, shocked to know that her senior would do something like this, and to that, Nac simply bit his lower lip and nodded firmly.
"It is… and I think Commander Sys knows it…"
Between you and me, even I didn't expect to update this so quickly either.
Originally, this chapter was meant to be a filler chapter involving the Garrison and Mika… but honestly, that didn't seem to be an appropriate way to return. So here we are, skipping that option entirely, in the Female Titan arc!
It's gonna be a decently long one at the very least, and aside from the Trost Arc, this one will deviate the most from canon, perhaps even more so than Trost. But only time will tell if I'm being truthful or speaking too soon on that…
Aside from my ramblings, I'd like to thank everyone that welcomed me back in the update chapter! You really do make a guy feel appreciated…
Onto the review replies for chapter 38, because I have yet to do that!
starscreamer11: Mika doesn't show it, but he's a master class at sassing girls
Grey Falcon Knight: I just really like writing ships tbh. They're fun for me… and in regards to the reaction fic… well I'll save it till after this portion of the outro
CodeCipher: it ain't an IBO story if you don't include a love triangle of sorts!
Kamikisekai: it is only logical that I do
Batman9117: well I'm glad you enjoyed it! I enjoyed writing it so it's a win/win!
Mando-23: maaaaaybe?
cassnova5424: this review of yours has been haunting me ever since I read it
Mario Hernandez III: fine I changed it
nliochristou: while it would be fun to tell you guys if he'll be upgraded into the Lupus state right here right now, that'll spoil the surprise, and I love surprises!
That's more or less it for the reviews for chapter 38. Again I do apologise for the massive delay. I had expected to be stuck in camp for much longer than I was. Hopefully the next few chapters, which will cover the entirety of the Female Titan Arc, will be enough of an apology.
Anyhow, in regards to the review response I gave up top, they were asking about a reaction fic, namely MHA, specifically Class 1A, reacting to something I had in mind. It was meant to be them reacting to animations from SD Gundam G Generation Crossrays, a game I really like, but after a few readers told me that it might not work, I scrapped the idea.
Of course if any of you guys are interested I'll gladly write it out. After all, it's still on my mind, and it's also not the only MHA related story I have in the pipeline.
But enough talk! Onto the next chapter!
… right after this omake.
"RED! RED! RED! GAH!"
Gasping as the red flare slipped from her grasp, Sasha found herself squealing in terror as she turned around to see the Titan running towards her on all fours. Oh god, was this really how she was going to die?!
Perhaps this was the universe's way of punishing her for taking that meat! Regardless, Braus was never one to pray to a higher power for protection, but she was desperate now, and as such, she prayed for her own safety from this damn Titan.
And by God, she got what she wanted, as, mere seconds after she sent a silent, if a little awkward and food-heavy prayer to an indeterminate deity of unknown origin, a disembodied Titan head flew in from the rear of the formation and slammed straight into the back of the pursuing Titan's neck. It impacted it so hard that the Titan was quite literally decapitated by it, and not only that, but the impact created a shockwave that sent Sasha flying off her horse.
Landing atop the grass in an awkward roll, Sasha slowly began to wonder if she had died, though when she realized that the only dead thing around here was the Titan that was killed by a random other Titan head that had been thrown in off-screen, she found herself falling to her knees and praising whatever lord she had been praying to in the first place.
And all the while, the two seniors that were just about to fire a flare for her found themselves gobsmacked at both the sight of Sasha praising an unnamed deity and the fact that a Titan head had quite literally saved her from death.
"Think it was Barbatos?"
"Definitely Barbatos."
Oh and by the by, I've re-renamed this story Mobile Suit Gundam: Tekketsu No Kyojin once more. Tekketsu No Kyojin Remastered seems pretty weird to say, especially when the original version of this story has been taken down...