The preparation for the excursion took an entire month. During that month, Dina spent most of the time planning along with Erwin and the command.
"You have to be careful with swords" she said on one of the meetings. Everyone looked up from the drawing table.
"I beg you pardon" Hange Zoe, a moderately crazy woman responsible for research, asked.
"Titan shifters possess the ability to harden their skin" Dina explained "our swords won't be able to pierce it if they manage to do that."
"That's extremely important information" Hange said with her eyes wide open. The woman with glasses turned her head towards Erwin, "how does she know that?"
Erwin closed his eyes.
"How she came to this knowledge is top secret" he responded "however, we have to trust her on that information."
Hange pondered on that for a moment.
"If that's the case" the woman started "then how are we supposed to bring them down?"
Dina looked at her.
"We go for the nape only when we're sure the shifter won't be able to harden it in time. We can also try to make use of Eren."
Hange didn't seem so sure about that.
"So far, Eren didn't do a good job at controlling his titan. He is barely capable of transforming."
Erwin stood up.
"That will have to do for now. If the first plan fails, Eren will be our backup."
As the meeting concluded, Dina sat in her place.
"Why do we have to gamble everything?" She asked the commander.
"We don't" Erwin said, "You gave us valuable information about the enemy."
"Still" Dina said, "people may die."
Erwin stood in front of her.
"I know" he started "but we may uncover the identities of our enemies. If nobody was taking action, we would just end up in titans' mouths anyway."
She wondered at that. It was unlikely, all of the shifters would appear during the expedition. Besides her female titan, Eren's attack titan and the armoured titan, there were three more titans who could appear there. The war hammer titan was presumed to be in possession of the Tybur family. That left only the cart titan and the jaw titan.
Dina thought about the possibilities. The jaw titan would be extremely dangerous within the urban areas and forests. As the expedition was planned to reach inside the titan forest, that would be the worst-case scenario. However, the cart titan was effective in open areas. Its stamina combined with its high mobility was a force to be reckoned with.
The day of the excursion finally came. The scouts were already mounting horses before the gate in Karanes.
"COMMANDER!" Yelled a garrison member from atop the wall "WE LED THE NEAREST TITANS SOME DISTANCE AWAY!"
"THIRTY SECONDS TO GATE OPENING!"
Dina watched as the gate was being opened. She looked to the side and saw that Erwin had a determined look on his face.
"ADVANCE!" He yelled as he rode forward.
It didn't take them much time to encounter first titans. According to the plan, support teams were supposed to take care of them. As they advanced into the plains, they started to spread out. The formation they were riding in was designed by Erwin himself. Each team had different information about where exactly Eren was. This was supposed to protect his position.
Dina knew Eren was in the very front, with team Levi. She knew what the small captain was capable of, so she wasn't worried. She thought about her colleagues from the cadet corps.
'I hope they're doing fine.'
As they rode forward, they could see first flares signifying approaching titans. Erwin loaded up his flare gun and pointed to a different direction. Whenever the scouts ran into trouble, they would fire a flare into the air, and the commander could change the direction the formation was heading towards.
Time was going by and still nothing major was happening. The teams stationed on the flanks encountered a few titans, but it almost seemed too peaceful. Dina was getting anxious with each passing minute. Did the warriors see through their plan?
She rode closer to Erwin.
"We still haven't encountered anything!" She cried out "Do you think it's a good idea to ride ourselves right into that forest?"
Erwin was deep in thought.
"The enemy is after Eren!" He exclaimed "if they don't show up, we'll have to bait them in more. That's why we need to play into their hands for now!"
The warriors were smarter than she thought. Fake information about Eren's position was supposed to possibly reveal their identities, since every squad was told something else. If they went into the forest, both that and Eren's protection would disappear.
Finally, they could see the titan forest. The giant trees stretched beyond the horizon. Erwin called for his adjutant.
"Relay this to the rear!" The commander ordered "Only the central column wagon escorts are to enter the forest!"
"Yes, sir!"
Dina looked at Erwin as they were riding right into the forest.
"Are you sure about that?" She asked him.
"There's no other way to lure the enemy in. They will for sure think Eren is riding into the forest" the commander responded.
"They will be right to think so…" Dina said.
When they finally hit the treeline, the light barely made it through the dense leaves. The titan forest was dark, and as they rode the path everything around seemed quiet.
'Something is wrong' Dina thought worryingly 'did the enemy see through our plans?'
When they reached the destined spot, Erwin stopped his horse.
"Set the trap up!" He ordered.
The wagons had been emptied out of the harpoon launchers. Scouts began swishing around the trees, setting the grand trap up. As Dina was tying the last launcher, a loud noise ripped through the air. She looked at Erwin and nodded.
"ON YOUR POSITIONS!" Yelled captain Erwin.
Dina could feel the titan approaching. Yet something seemed off. She didn't hear any footsteps. This wasn't good. The harpoon launchers were positioned to hit targets moving on the ground. The beat of the hooves could be heard but not footsteps.
Finally, squad Levi responsible for Eren was in view
Closely behind them the jaw titan was approaching
The titan was using trees to move. It didn't touch the ground for even a second.
'They played us like a damn fiddle' Dina thought, but it was too late. The plan was already in motion.
"FIREEE!" Yelled Erwin.
Hundreds of harpoons shot towards the approaching titan.
