Chapter 12

The early morning bells in Trost rang as the sun found it's way higher and higher in the sky, illuminating the world underneath it. Despite the destruction that had befallen the city, it seemed as vibrant as ever. High atop the wall, Calian stood at attention with the rest of the Scout regiment that were gathered for today's preliminary mission. His eyes marveled at the green cloak he was now adorned with, one that had the wings of Freedom proudly displayed on the back. Despite not being an official member, Calian was still gifted with the honor of bearing the symbol of his heroes. It took significant effort to keep himself from smiling like an idiot as his lifelong dream has finally been realized, standing amongst the bravest men, women, and all those inbetween; that the walls has ever known.

Commander Erwin had his hands folded behind his back as he addressed his subordinates with effortless professionalism and charisma.

"Scouts! We've been tasked with getting rid of titans remaining in the vicinity of the walls as part of the operation to recover Trost. Though humanity has delivered it's first victory against the Titans, do not treat this mission any less dangerously. The danger is still as high as it has always been. Humanity still depends on us! So, let's get this done ASAP so we can start prepping for our next expedition. Let's do this!"

He Salutes the Regiment and they salute back, "Shinzou wo Sasageyo!"

The squads break to their individual positions in preparation of the operations commencement. Hanje quickly finds herself addressing Erwin in Howlett's behalf, "Erwin, what do you think about the new guy taking part of this operation with my squad instead of just running the supply job?"

Erwin glances up to the Cadet who clearly is trying to hide his eagerness. Erwin, as well as many other ranked officers, were aware of the cadets unexpected prowess in battle, it was the only reason he had agreed to allow him to join for this mission. Truth be told, he's eager to see him in action, to see just what this young man is capable of. But it's a gamble and right now, he balancing one too many gambles for even his own comfort. "Hmph, well I know it doesn't seem like much, but we'll definitely be engaging with titans, Hanje. Are you sure they're ready for that?"

Unlike Calian, Hanje wasn't deterred by Erwin's hesitancy. Grinning widely she answers, "I think it's the perfect opportunity for him to gain some valuable experience. Don't worry I'll keep a close eye on them!"

Levi gives Hanje an unimpressed look, you keep an eye on him? She ignores him as Erwin turns his attention to the tall teen. "Well I won't force you into it. What do you say solider? Are you willing to risk death?"

Without fear, Calian salutes and firmly replies, "Willin and Ready Sir!"

Mildly impressed by his bravery Erwin relents, "If that's what you feel, you're in. Let's hope the experience makes you a better soldier. Make sure to follow Section Commander Zoe's orders to the T."

Crossing his arms, Levi shakes his head, " Okay Hanje, you brought this kid on board, so you can do babysitting."

"but of course, sir. And listen Calian, come to me any time if you've got a problem, okay?"

"You're the boss, boss."

Howlett hears a scoff behind him and looks to see a much shorter man wearing a cravat as well with a smug face shake his head, "Yeah you say that, but as soon as a Titan appears, he's just gonna be in the way."

… This guy gotta problem? He opens his mouth, a smart ass comment ready, but the titan lover beats him to it. With a dangerous glint to her goggles she asks, "You say something there, Oluo?"

He nervously clears his throat and stammers, "OH um, nothing, haha."

"So much for the tough guy act huh?"

Oluo glares at the cadet. "You show respect to your superior!"

"Right after ya."

Erwin cuts in commandingly, "I want everyone," he gives Oluo a pointed stare, "to help out the new recruit as much as possible understood? Dismissed!"

Calian begins to follow Hanje but Levi stops them, "Listen brat, don't let four eyes make you feel too relaxed. This is a very dangerous mission, we're going into titan country with just our gear so do us all a favor and don't get yourself killed because you want to impress anyone."

"Oh calm down Shorty I already promised to keep a close eye on him."

"Tch, maybe for two seconds before some ugly titan catches your attention."

She scoffs, "For your information, they're not ugly, but beautiful creatures!" she blushes and holds her hands to her chest dreamily, "Oh I'm so excited to meet them!"

Levi rolls his eyes then looks up to Calian, privately annoyed by the teens massive height but he'll never admit it, "See what I mean? So do us all a favor and don't try to impress anyone, else the titan freak will be dissecting your corpse from a titan's stomach."

He leaves to join his squad with Cal looking on bewildered. "So… that was—"

"Don't take it personal, levi's terrible with words and emotions and social interaction in general but he means well!"

"I'll take your word for it boss."

"Nevermind shorty, let's get to work! We'll start with the Titans nearest to the wall!"

She laughs maniacally as she hops off the wall and pulls out her blades. The ODM gear reels her safely into battle. Cal laughs to himself quietly, "This is nothing like what I had in mind but shit, I'm already here." He follows suit, quickly descending and reaching the ground in no time. Instantly, a 7 meter titan is near and makes to grab him but he twirls out the way of it's arm, cutting up the appendage and landing on the ground for just a moment before reeling up and cutting the nape. Three titans converge and boosts himself up higher and takes out a flare gun, shooting it into the face of the largest on of the three, blinding it and it's 'friends', allowing the cadet to fly down and slice it's nape in a rolling downward slice before opening up and firing the hook to his side, swinging him rapidly through the air and straight into another titans neck, his blades digging deep and the momentum allowing him to cut the nape and fling his body around and straight into the face of the last titan of the trio. He delivers a powerful double kick that stumbles the giant, right into the pathway of Nifa who kills the flesh hungry monster.

"Section Commander wasn't kidding about the cadet!"

"Are we sure this is his first time outside the walls?"

Nearby, Hanje watches him in the corner of her eye. This was the other reason why she had advocated for Calian to take part of this mission with her Squad. Ever since she Trost, she had noticed many things, from how similar his moves are to that of Levi to even his strength, which after some private investigations she's done on the side, is seemingly newfound. So many dots popping up that need connecting! She giggles to herself as she sees Calian roar fiercely as he takes down 4 titans back to back, looking like an angry hornet.

Her attention quickly finds it's way to an abnormal titan that is moving on all fours, with it's knuckles pressing down to the ground, in a way that's reminscint to an animal she had heard of in one of the forbidden books that she may have 'appropriated' years ago. What was it called again, oh yea Ape!

She lands in front of it with her arms spread out, "Aw just look at that Titan! Hey there, would you like to play with us?"

"Section Commander!" Moblit yells.

Calian springs into action with him as Hanje jumps out the way and the pair swing up and drop down, cutting off both arms. Howlett uses the momentum to get himself parallel to the Titans nape and delivers the killing blow.

"Aww Moblit, that was such a lovely titan it would've been so fun to study it!"

Moblit grips his hair, "Section Commander you are way too Reckless!"

"Calian! Good job… but I would've preferred you capture them alive too."

"Um… Sorry?"

Howlett Slides across the ground right under a 13 meter Titan and slices through both Achilles Tendons bringing it down face first to the ground and allowing Moblit to deliver the killing blow. Cal celebrates with a fist thrown into the air but notices a shadow loom over him and looks up and is met with a massive hand that is nearly a foot away from him.

Shit Howlett! Hanje directs herself to the cadet but is too far to be able to make it in time, but is amazed to see him move so fast it was like a blur and he slices the fingers away, hopping into the air to be clear from the danger. But the moment of relief is cut short as he is met with a powerful swipe that knocks him out the air and rolling to the ground, his gear flying off him just as it was designed to. Dazed Cal gets on all fours and shakes his head. The hair on the back of his neck stand and he rolls forward, barely escaping the grasp of the offending titan. He scrambles back as another foot nearly squashes him, opening his legs into a split to narrowly avoid them being crushed. He then kicks the foot with both feet, sliding him a few meters away and he flips back onto his feet,

"Dammit Cal ya really had to stand there like an idiot didn't ya? Now your about to be titan fodder." He curses to himself.

Strangely still not feeling fear but feeling the severity of the situation. He sees that the Hanje squad is making their way towards him but their still distracted by the crowd of titans that are almost like a wall between him and them. And with two titans converging on him, it would be too late before they make it to him. Thankfully, Oluo appears and kills the titan closest to the Cadet.

"This is why I told the Captain it would be a terrible idea to allow trigger-happy rookies onto the battlefield, you'll only serve to get yourself killed!" he admonishes Calian as he kills the second titan.

He's about to begin another condescending admonishment when he yelps and is yanked down hard to earth as the titan he had just killed had fallen on his cable. Oluo lands hard on the ground… right before a 3-meter titan. OH goddammit really?!

His body begins to move on it's own sprinting towards the Titan as it begins to ominously reach for the fallen Scout. "CALIAN NO!" he hears, not sure if it was from Hanje or Moblit but he doesn't care, he's not gonna let the Titan get ahold of his comrade… no matter how much of a smug sonuva bitch he is. To everyone's amazement, he catches the Titan by both wrists, and stops it in its tracks. The monsters expression remains emotionless and yet it let's out a sound that sounds very similar to a moan of confusion. Calian grimaces at that horrid stench of it's breath but it turns into a growl as he pushes with more effort and the titan is slowly being pushed back!

Gunther's jaw drops as he watches, "H-How?!"

Taking a quick glance behind him, he sees that he's still pretty close to Oluo. God please don't let me trip! He yells and shoves the Titan back into a stumble. He quickly runs up to Oluo and grabs his blade in a reverse grip. He roars and turns with the blade, beheading the creature ferociously and stabbing the blade down into it's nape as it's putrid body falls before him. Calian's wild eyes rapidly search around him to see that the battle has died down, with very few titans remaining and the squads finally being able reach him. Hanje whoops as she comes running towards her 'intern'. "Calian! Why didn't you tell me you could hold back a titan with your bare hands!?"

"I… didn't know I could." He admits.

Moblit slouches his shoulders, "So you did it anyway?! Ugh you're just as bad as Section Commander." He buries his head into his hands with a whimper.

"My bad." He does a double take as he sees blood pouring from Oluo's mouth.

"Holy shit is he gonna make it?!"

Petra just rolls her eyes and stuffs some cotton into the mans mouth, "He's fine, idiot just bit his tongue again."

"Wait again?"

"What the hell was that!? Barely a day with shitty glasses and your already trying to die?!"

Humanity's Strongest Soldier glares up to the cadet. Ya kiddin me? I just saved your teammates ass! And makes his thought known, earning gasps from all around him. "He wouldn't have been in that situation if you hadn't have stood like a stupid duck in the middle of a gaggle of titans!" and he turns to Hanje, "You were supposed to keep an eye on him!"

"Levi, Hanje! This is no place to have this conversation!" Erwin announces, preventing the argument from escalating. He looks at the three, "all of you report to my office, the mission was a success, I want to debrief as soon as possible."

Commanders Office

"He saved Oluo's life!"

"Again, he got him in the situation in the first place!"

"ENOUGH FROM THE BOTH OF YOU!"

Erwin stares coolly at them both, daring either of them to talk back. "Levi I understand the concern you have for you fellow teammates, but Hanje does have a point," he lifts both hands in a placating manner, "I know that Oluo was involved because of Calian but as we had all agreed, we all were to pitch in to help the cadet. And he pulled his weight just as much."

"Tch, it was a mistake getting him involved in this mission."

"Oh come on Levi, everyone starts off somewhere! If we had it your way, there'd be no one but us three on the battlefield."

He narrows his eyes, "I'd rather have my team on the battlefield than have to rely on you."

She laughs, "Not even Erwin?"

The commander rests his chin on the back of both hands, "Focus. We all saw what had happened am I correct?"

Levi crosses his arms and nods stiffly. "Just how many people do we know could hold back a titan using physical strength alone?"

"None." Levi answers through gritted teeth.

"None except you of course." Hanje answers, giving levi a shit eating smirk in response to his glare.

"Am I correct to assume that this may have played a hand in why you wanted Cadet Howlett to partake in today's mission Hanje?"

"… It might've played a role."

"Don't tell me you risked an inexperienced cadets like for some damn experiment—"

"Of course not!... more like research." She answers sheepishly.

Before Levi begins, Hanje continues, "But Erwin you have to admit, ending up with another Cadet who has incredible skill and an unnecessary amount of strength that shouldn't be possible for the human body to possess is research worthy." Hanje raises a challenging eyebrow to Levi, "Wouldn't you say so Captain?"

"What're you getting at shitty glasses?"

"I know you've been watching him too and I know that Mikasa is rumored to be worth 100 soldiers. You're just as curious as I am!"

"Eat shit four eyes."

She laughs loudly before looking back to Erwin, "The answer is yes, I did want to see Cadet Howlett in action, I did want to see how strong he is. Call me crazy but I can't but feel like this is somehow connected to the titans."

"I already call you crazy you lunatic."

Now Hanje grimaces at Levi momentarily before smirking again, "you're apart of that hypothesis as well Captain Short stack."

He glares.

Erwin is still pensive. "I admit, my curiosity is piqued by this new development. But Hanje please keep in mind that your main focus should be on the titans you have been assigned to study, specifically the two we now have in custody."

Hanje squeals and hops back and forth on her feet, "It's been a dream come true studying Sawney and Bean, I gotta right up new plans for tomorrows experiments as well!"

"Freak."

"Shut up Levi."

"Can someone please bring in Cadet Howlett?" Erwin interrupts.

Levi nods and heads out, returning a few minutes later with the subject of the conversation. Calian salutes the commander, "Cadet Howlett. Your help battling those titans Earlier was greatly appreciated, it seems Hanje was right about you."

"Even after the fumblin I did?"

"You're new, things like this happens, but you're still alive right now and even Oluo too so I think all's forgiven. Right Levi?"

Levi stares blankly at the two, not saying a word. Erwin continues, "Overall your performance exceeded all our expectations, which is why we want to discuss with you what we plan on doing next. If possible, we'd like to keep using your services."

Calian's jaw drops, even Levi was surprised, meanwhile Hanje is bouncing in excitement once more.

"Y-ya want me to join the Scouts?!"

"in a manner of speaking. It won't be an official deployment just yet, but I'm willing to grant you use of our new facilities as well as allowing you to train with us as an honorary Scout member."

"This… this a dream come true sir!"

Erwin smiles lightly, "So what is your answer?"

"An absolute yes sir!"

"Good. Captain Levi and Hanje will be the ones training you," Surprising the pair, " You'll refer to them for the time being. Dismissed."

Calian salutes, unable to drop the wide grin displayed on his face, "I won't let ya down sir!"

He exits the room leaving the trio alone again.

Levi plants both fists on Erwin's desk as he glares at his commanding officer, "You want us to train him?!"

"What better way to test his abilities? This could be a learning experience for all of us, especially you Levi. Ever since you first met him you've been bothered by something. Think of this as a way for you to find out what you need without arising his suspicion."

"Tch, you and your schemes."

"well if it's all the same to you Erwin, I'm gonna go ahead and share the good news!"

Not even waiting for a response Hanje quickly exits the office and heads towards Calians direction. "hey Cal, wait up!"

He stops and salutes her and she waves it off, "I told you already you can forget about formalities with me."

"sorry, habit. Uh thanks again for all this, I really owe ya one."

"Psssh you did the work I did the talking. But since I have you now just want to see if you'd like to knwow hat our operation is about."

"Of course! Please show me!"

"Great! Follow me!"

Titan Research Facility

Cal stares dumbstruck at the two Titans that are held by a myriad of bolts and ropes secured to the ground. "Wow, Ya really kept them alive huh?"

"Of course why wouldn't i?"

"… Cause they're Titans?" He gives a weird look, "Do you like them or something?"

"HahahahahA! Now that's an interesting question! If you ask me, there's nothing more fascinating in this world!"

A weird stab or rage starts to grow in Calians chest but he keeps it at bay. I fail to see what's so fascinating about these hellspawns. "What makes ya say that boss?"

She steps dangerously close to the Titan she dubbed Bean as she smiles affectionately at it, like a mother smiling at her child. "As soldiers, it's our job to fight the titans of course, but I think doing research into what makes them tick is really important too."

She looks over her shoulder and smirks at Cal, "I already know what's goes through your mind when you look at these beauties."

Cal raises an eyebrow, "Do ya now?"

"It's written all over your face, plus I read your file. 'Killing the Armored Bastard' right? I was the same way, for years I fought the titans out of hatred as well. That hatred only grew as I watched comrade after comrade murdered before my eyes."

This piece of information stops the growth of anger in Calian and he instead pays full attention to his superior. "What changed?"

"One day after cutting one down, I kicked the head of a 3-meter class." She remembers with excitement as the memory of the bouncing head played out in her mind.

"It was unnaturally light. Their bodies were light."

Her companion was stunned by the section commander. "It sure as hell didn't feel like it when I held one."

"Exactly! Normally bodies so huge shouldn't be able to even stand and walk on two legs. It's the same with every Titan. Their cut –off body parts were much lighter than they should've been for their size. And when it comes to Eren, I heard that his Titan body appeared out of thin air. All this makes me believe that there may be things that we can't see that're actually there."

He remembers witnessing Eren transform and how after a bolt of yellow lightning appeared, his titan body came soon after. "Ya might be onto something there Boss."

Hanje grins once again, nonchalantly walking away from the Titan that nearly bites after her retreating form. "Now I want to try looking at them from a different point of view than everyone else. It might prove futile, but still I'll do it."

And right then, all his anger is gone, in it's place is shame. Since he became a soldier, he's been met with soldier after soldier who all have a selfless reason for why they have dedicated themselves to this war. Ian gave his life for the hope that humanity can still go on. And Hanje, her life is dedicated to the study of the titans to find ways to defeat them in the hopes that no further bloodshed will be needed. Damn, kinda makes me feel like a selfish prick.

"So what do you think Howlett?"

He glances at the two titans then back at Hanje, "I think I'd like to see where this research could take us. I think it might even do me some good boss."

She throws a fist in the air as she hops in excitement, "Hahaha! I knew you would! Welcome to the Research Squad, even though you'll also be working with the Levi squad but we're cooler!"

They both share a laugh before continuing. "Well then as your first official order you'll accompany me to the Old Scout Headquarters where they'll be holding Eren for our experiments!"

"Right now? Sun's getting pretty low."

"We still have the rest of the night and morning come on!"

Authors note: Hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! By now a few people have already guessed what exactly is going on with Calian, yes he does have some Ackerman blood, i hope i didn't make it too obvious but honestly it's pretty easy to pick up. Honestly when i first thought of this story, it was the best reason i could think of for why the 'nameless hero' is so skilled so quick to basically be on par with Mikasa and Levi. But as you can tell i'm making clear differences between all of them. Best comparison i could think was the Robin's for Batmna. Levi is like Dick grayson, the most skilled, most experienced and the best of them all. Mikasa is like Damian, extremely skilled but a hothead. Calian is like Jason Todd, not the most skilled or the best of them but makes up for his brutal brawler style and strength. That's all i'll explain here when it comes to his bloodline cause the rest is gonna come through the story but i thought this was safe enough to confirm since if you look back on some scenes in my story, it'll share similarities to Mikasa and Levi's awakening.

Anway thanks to all who've favorited, followed and reviewed it makes me truly happy to see everyone enjoy my story and i hope to continue delivering on this. Next chapter will come this weekend since i split this chapter in two cuase it was starting to get to long. I also apologize if any character seems out of character, i'm doing my best on this. Till the next one!