9 | The Annulus of Sin
annulus (n.): a region bounded by two concentric circles of different radiuses; also called ring or washer.
DAY 1
The first sign that something was amiss was a rider from the Garrison galloping at full speed past them. He didn't stop, not even as Kostya hailed for him to slow down in case he collided with their travel party on the wagon path. The rider paid no heed, and simply went around them as he frantically urged his horse northwards.
Camille met Kostya's eye as she tightened her hand over the reins of her own horse. "We should go faster."
Kostya nodded. "Agreed," He tossed a look over his shoulder at the wagon with the rest of the 16th Combat Engineers. "Strap in! I want everyone on their guard. There's trouble up ahead."
They spurred their horses together, Camille and Kostya riding side by side and ahead of the wagon. The wind whistled in her ears, drowning out the sound of hooves beating against the ground and the rattling of the squad's equipment.
She breathed slow and deep, air filling her lungs as entire forests and villages whizzed past her vision. She chanced a short glance at her former squad captain, "What do you think it could be?"
"A riot, maybe," Kostya shouted back. His brow furrowed. "If they're rushing that much, it's a bad one. We need to go as fast as we can. The battalion will be short an artillery unit until arrive."
A riot was familiar. She remembered her military history instantly; she'd spent many hours leafing through Kobolt's Notes on the History Within the Walls in training. "But there isn't a food shortage…" Camille murmured to herself. Rumblings about dissatisfaction in the southern districts would have reached Pixis as well, surely.
It was mere minutes before they spied massive traffic down the road and their travel ground to another halt. There was a frenzied stampede of wagons, carriages, and men, women, and children all crammed atop horses and hauling luggage on their backs rushing northwards. Kostya ordered the wagon off the road immediately, and Camille waited with the rest of the squad as the captain rode ahead to get more information about the ruckus.
She couldn't help the worry brewing in her gut. So many people were fleeing – this wouldn't be the case if it were a simple riot. An armed rebellion, maybe. Perhaps a bad fire – and when Camille checked the skies, she cursed herself for not thinking of it sooner.
This close she could spy the black plumes of smoke rising behind Wall Maria, which indicated a fire in Shiganshina. The sudden wave of people on the road – were they people from Shiganshina escaping the fire?
"But why would they come so far north," She muttered, eyeing the distant crowd that drew closer and closer. They were perhaps 30 kilometers from the Shinganshina gate. Surely if there was a fire, they would stay close to the gate and wait until the fire was put out. There was no reason for so many of them to be running this far from a fire that would be naturally contained by the Walls.
Dread began to mix with her worry when she remembered how panicked the Garrison rider they'd passed earlier looked. A fire in Shiganshina wouldn't have generated such a reaction. No: this was something worse.
Camille received her answer when Kostya returned, his face drained of all blood and the grip on his reins slack. She straightened in her saddle. "What is it?"
"It's – " Kostya barked a laugh. When he lifted a hand to his face, she noticed that it was shaking. " – it's the Wall. The Shiganshina Wall."
"The Wall?" Her horse moved forward on its own accord and she guided it on instinct, until she was nearly eye to eye with Kostya. "What about it?"
Her former captain turned slowly to meet her gaze. His wide brown eyes were vacant, disbelieving. "It's broken. The titans have broken through Shiganshina."
Everything came into sharp focus.
The too-green grass, the gritty mud caked on her horse's hooves, and the endless sky now swathed in gray and black. Camille pressed a palm to her head as her brain convulsed, and a horrible kind of ringing crowded the tangled space in her mind.
The titans.
The titans.
The titans are in Shiganshina.
"I – " Kostya began and then stopped. Camille snapped her head toward him. "Shit. We need to go."
She nodded once. "You're right. They'll need every artillery unit on deck."
Kostya looked back on the members of his squad still in the wagon. "Everyone – don your gear! We're headed to the Shiganshina gate to fortify the defenses there!"
Camille glanced up again, and she saw Kostya by her side now. Her vision refocused around his face: his eyes usually crinkled at the corners, his mouth that was always pulled in a teasing grin. Now, Kostya just looked grimly determined, every bit the squad captain he was. "Camille. Turn back. You're the Commander's aide – you shouldn't follow us into Shiganshina. You should be with Pixis."
The words were quick and bitter on her tongue. "I never even wanted to be in his squad. I want to – "
" – stop," Kostya grasped her shoulder – warm and sweaty even through her uniform – and shook it. "This isn't like you. Listen to a superior officer, Camille. This is a job for the Combat Engineers."
"No!" She protested, pulling her horse away. "I can help! I was going to be in the 16th Engineers. You even said you wanted me to be your deputy. You still don't have one. You need me."
"Camille!" Kostya thundered, and she obstinately stared back at him even if this was the first time she'd ever heard him raise his voice. "What part of 'the titans have broken through' don't you understand? We don't have the time for this. You have a post, soldier. Fill it. Especially at a time like this."
She looked away. The reprimand stung and she suspected it fully showed on her face. She was being insubordinate and she knew it; why was she asking him to bend the rules for her when she knew he was correct?
But I could be of so much use here –
Camille bowed her head at Kostya's harsh expression. She shook herself, and whatever indignation she'd had was instantly replaced by shame for her behavior. "I'm sorry, sir.
"But – "
She motioned towards the burning horizon, even as a stone settled in her stomach. "I still want to go. If I'm headed back north anyway, I might as well bring the Commander new information."
Kostya was already signaling the wagon to follow. "Fine. We rendezvous with the Garrison outpost at the Shiganshina gate. Colonel Reinhart should be expecting us anyway. He'll know when to send you back as second messenger."
Without another word, they moved south once again.
They never made it as far as the Shiganshina gate – they spotted the Garrison bivouacked 5 kilometers from when Kostya first received the news about the titan invasion. The rear of the camp was scarcely guarded save for a few soldiers running about tending to horses, and its front was layered with wooden barricades and men manning cannons. They found the command tent somewhere towards the back of the camp, and the 16th Combat Engineers squad hurried to assemble and make themselves available to the commanding officer at the scene, Colonel Reinhart.
"I don't know where the hell you've been but the titans have broken through Wall Maria now," The colonel practically yelled at Kostya before the squad captain rushed off.
"All engineers squads are out there manning artillery to slow the titans down while we evacuate who we can to Wall Rose!" Reinhart sharpened his gaze over her now, "What are you doing here, soldier? All lower-ranking officers have been deployed to evacuate the villages!"
Camille saluted, heart trembling. "Specialist Camille Leto sir, from Central Command! I was sent to coordinate with you regarding the Commander's inspection of the Southern Garrisons – and I – " the words almost died in her throat. She fully realized how bold of a request this was now that they were in the middle of an even bigger disaster ever imagined, " – I can dispatch your latest action report to the Commander now that I need to return to headquarters instead."
Reinhart blinked. Then he laughed, the sound positively drowned in hysteria. "Action report! Action report!" He grasped her by the lapels. "Wall Maria was breached, the titans are roaming the lands inside the Walls for the first time in a hundred years and you think I had the time to sit down and just write an ac – "
Then he sobered, letting go of her jacket.
"Who am I kidding. My own aide never made it out of Shiganshina. He's probably dead by now," Reinhart murmured. He stepped back, continuing to mutter to himself, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Sir – "
Their conversation was interrupted by the booming sounds of cannon fire and screaming. The ground shook with wave after wave of the cannons blasting. Just as Camille steadied herself on her feet, a major tore into the command tent, terror in his eyes. "Commander! The titans are encroaching on the perimeter!"
And just as with Kostya earlier, Reinhart's military training seemed to kick in. He stood ramrod straight, and authority materialized out of thin air to shroud him and his voice. "Set off the charges! While the titans deal with that, prepare to evacuate to Everstel!"
That seemed to calm the major down – "Yes sir!"
Reinhart regarded her again. He seemed to silently come to a decision because he then spoke – "I'm sure other outposts have sent their own runners, but we've got a poor sot here who witnessed everything. You can't miss him – he'll be by the horses.
"I didn't have the time to write a report but the Commander must know: Wall Maria has fallen. We've been forced to relocate to Everstel. I've sent nearly every one of my men to help with evacuation. Those of us stalling the titans' advance are the engineers and the veteran squads. We need the Scouts if we want to make evac as quick as possible."
A massive boom unlike any other went off – the ground practically pulsed this time, the tent jumped, and even the Colonel's scattered papers were blasted off their table while she and Reinhart stumbled for balance. More charges were detonated as the ground continued to quake, the cries of agitated horses joined the cacophony, and the shouts and screams of the Garrison men rose in pitch.
Reinhart crouched to pick up the papers, and when she moved to help him, he just shook his head. "Go! The man's name is Hannes. Make him tell you everything you need to know while you drag him to Trost. Wall Rose preserve you, specialist."
Camille snapped a salute. "Thank you, sir."
Before Reinhart could say anything more, the din died down for a moment, and everything reached an unnatural stillness. As if the camp took that collective moment to breathe, wondering if their efforts to hold the titans off were enough.
Then: footsteps. Big, pondering footsteps. Footsteps large and heavy enough to make the earth tremble. Reinhart closed his eyes, and Camille hastened to leave.
Then the cannons, the rumbling, the screaming, began all over again.
As she staggered out of the command tent, she thought she heard Reinhart's voice behind her, quiet as a whisper: "Wall Rose preserve what's left of us."
Camille cut a path through the soldiers hauling more explosives and cannonballs to the front. There were shouts everywhere and the ground continued to shake; daylight was fading fast, but it seemed the titans showed no signs of slowing down. She hurried to the grove where the temporary camp had tied the horses. She spotted her own horse easily enough – the scared-looking filly with the pink nose. Just a few yards away and standing against a tree was a slender man.
SPC Hannes, his flak jacket read.
"Hannes," She spoke quickly as she untied her horse and took the reins in hand. "Specialist Leto, Central Command. I'm on orders from Central and Colonel Reinhart: come with me, we're headed to Trost!"
When he showed no signs of moving, nor that he even registered her words, she grabbed him by the collar and pushed him toward her horse. "Get on!"
"I – " he muttered. He had a smoker's voice, thin blonde hair sticking out in all directions, a scraggly mustache, and the sticky sheen of sweat all over his wrinkled face.
Outwardly, he looked and smelled filthy, but it was his countenance – his utter dejection, his watery stare – that told her of the taint inside. Here was a man that had his whole life destroyed in front of his eyes, leaving nothing behind but this pathetic husk. "I – I can't. Leave me here, please. I barely did anything. I left everything in Shiganshina. I can't… I can't…" And he dissolved in tears, practically sniveling and collapsing against the tree.
His pain was undeniable. She couldn't imagine witnessing the titan invasion firsthand: she'd run into more than a few terrified faces as she navigated her way from Reinhart's command tent. But there was something to be said of the fact that the men were still manning the cannons and protecting their position. All so that they could buy more time to evacuate civilians.
Camille swung herself up on her horse.
"We've got orders, Hannes. No matter how much you've lost, we have to carry on! For the sake of everyone still here."
She looked down. He was a rather tall man, but astride the horse, Hannes still had to gaze up at her.
And for a moment she thought she spied something in those sallow eyes of his: something that longed for a purpose, or some kind of meaning after all the destruction he'd seen that day.
Camille extended her hand. "Come on! We've got no time to waste. Commander Pixis is waiting."
The sound of Pixis's name startled him into lifting his own hand.
But then he doubted: his eyes started to shutter again, and he took a step back – I won't let him, she thought. Quick as lightning, she snatched his hand and jerked him upwards. She clamped their hands together on the saddle with an iron grip and spurred her horse.
Having to choose between getting on or being dragged and trampled seemed to jolt him back to life. He swung himself up and sat behind her rather quickly, "What the – "
She could have laughed, if the situation wasn't what it was.
Just as they cleared the temporary camp, Camille threw one last glance behind her. One look, so I can know what we're up against.
There were tall, brown figures amongst the trees. Some of them towered over the trees, some were shaded by the foliage. They could be round or slim; fleshy or starved thin. They were exactly as the military books described them to be – yet nothing prepared her for the sight of their faces.
Humanlike and yet not. Her horse galloped further and further away from them the more she looked. Little of the dying sunlight filtered through the trees, but even she could see their giant, unchanging expressions. Their twisted grins, their chagrined mouths – their blank eyes that didn't change even as they languorously approached their prey.
In that initial span of hearing about the breach and reaching Reinhart's camp, everything wasn't lost. She thought the titans were only in Shiganshina then. Wall Maria would contain them. With enough cannon fire and pure manpower concentrated into that one overrun district, Shiganshina would quickly become habitable and the loss to human territory was only temporary.
But Wall Maria had been breached. And suddenly, a hundred kilometer ring of land needed to be evacuated. Humanity was pushed back even further inside their walls, like terrified rats pushed into a corner.
As it turned out: even the Walls – those mighty Walls, 50 meters tall, 6 meters stout, and hundreds of kilometers long – could be broken. Humanity's haven from the titans was imperfect. It was not impenetrable.
Funny – for all their divinity, even the Walls were not infallible. All those theological commentaries from Pastor Kircher had always hinted that they were as worldly as the humans that worshipped them. For all that the Church of the Walls claimed the Walls were heaven-sent, the Walls still existed before everyone's eyes, made of something that felt like stone. They could be touched and held like any other thing, and it was only modifying the Walls that the Royalty had outlawed, as modifying them would be like changing something that was already perfect, a desecration of something sacred.
The titans obviously had no qualms of desecrating them in the way they did right then.
Suddenly, it seemed stupid that a religious belief so easily disproved was what kept Pixis and whoever else from fortifying the Walls. If only, her mind kept saying.
If only we could have reinforced the gates.
If only we could have installed watch towers above the Walls.
If, if, if.
Camille urged her horse faster. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable, even as she was avoiding every hitch and obstruction on the roads back to Trost – roads that were by then bursting with refugees. Her horse however was a hardy type, of a breed reserved only for military business between Walls, though not as fast nor as strong as the Scouts' horses. With enough maneuvering, she outpaced most of the refugees.
No other runners, her eyes flitted between the persons on the road going north with her. She hadn't spotted a single khaki jacket, nor even a green cloak amongst the mass exodus fleeing the titans. It would make sense; after informing the civilians and telling them to evac, the Garrison would have to speed to other towns and spread the news. They couldn't spare anyone to simply escort the refugees.
No sign of the Scouts either.
They could be somewhere else, she reasoned. They'd be coming in from the east, returning from their expedition. I'm too north to run into them if that's the case. They'd be heading in the opposite direction, straight for the frontlines.
That assumes they even heard about the titan breach. If Holst District evacuated before they even let the Scouts back inside –
She saw double immediately. Anxiety spiked in her gut, and a splitting pain arced behind her eyes.
"Calm down," She asked herself, one hand cradling her temple. She took a deep breath.
Break bigger problems into smaller. Take one thing at a time.
I need to get back to the Commander.
Worry about everything else later.
The scene of Pixis with his back to her, hands clasped behind him and staring out at Trost from his office, appeared in her head. It would be Friday morning, and the words well, Leto, are you getting down to the pit? would be on his lips.
Strangely enough, the scene brought her comfort. Her breathing evened again.
The Commander will know what to do.
Hannes was silent the entire time. The only reminder that he was still with her was the sub-optimal speed they were going and his grip on her back.
"Hannes," And she surprised herself at the hoarseness of her own voice. She cleared her throat. "Hannes – you need to tell me. What happened in Shiganshina?"
The wind was her only response for a moment. Darkness enveloped half the sky now. She was moving them as fast as she could to avoid traveling in the darkness of night.
"It was hell," His answer finally came behind her. With both of them crammed onto her saddle, his breath puffed in her ear – and she could recognize the scent of alcohol she'd smelled on Pixis many times. The fact that Hannes had been drunk or drinking at the time of the titan invasion was not at all surprising to her. Garrison guards in some no-name town were usually lazy and corrupt. The stakes were lower than being an MP inside Wall Sina, but the job was nominally the same: it was boring, and it was routine, making it prone to incompetence and complacency.
"Everything was the same as it was the day before. We were even getting ready to switch guard shifts because it was almost sundown. Suddenly there was a boom.
"I thought I went deaf – that's how loud it was. CRACK! Like lightning hit. You could see it on everyone's faces that they heard it too. The ground was pulled out beneath everyone. When I landed on my feet again, I looked up because something was blocking the sun.
"And I saw it."
Camille held her breath. Something blocked the sun? That meant –
"A titan taller than the Walls appeared."
Hannes went on, voice thin. He couldn't have been sure, but it was a 60-meter to 70-meter class titan. Taller and bigger than any titan previously encountered, it towered over the Wall enough to clutch the top with its hand. Its head looked blood red under the setting sun, and with a heave of its enormous foot, it kicked the Shiganshina gate to pieces, spewing rock and debris made of the Wall all over the town.
Here, Hannes quieted.
"Buildings were sprayed by the rocks… the people inside were crushed."
Camille pricked her ears, listening to his faltering tone.
"I… ran to help someone…"
She nodded. Whether in true sympathy or simply wanting to hear more for the sake of the report they'd have to give Pixis, she didn't know.
When he didn't continue, she solemnly asked, "What next?"
"I… I…"
She stayed silent. I barely did anything, she instantly remembered him crying earlier.
'Leave me here,' he said. 'I left everything in Shiganshina.'
He probably lost someone he knew in the initial breach, she surmised. Even worse, he said he left everything.
"Hannes," Camille uttered. There was no way to be gentle about this, not when they were on a horse speeding towards Trost and she wove their way through the roads. "Think of what the Commander needs to know. Essential information for now. Everything else, we can deal with later."
She thought of how hours earlier, she'd been on the road with Kostya and the 16th Combat Engineers. How she'd stupidly insisted on accompanying them to Shiganshina, not knowing Wall Maria had already been breached by then. How Kostya and the squad were on the frontlines right now, and here she was, riding with the herds of refugees to the safety of Trost.
"If you feel useless," Camille looked straight ahead. You have a post, soldier. Fill it, Kostya had said. "If you feel like you aren't doing your part, then you aren't alone. But we're soldiers – we follow orders. We do what's asked of us. Even if we don't agree."
They were approaching the border towns near Trost now. Lights flickered in the darkening distance. She would easily find a fellow Garrison soldier there – there would be units handling transport and managing the traffic in and out of Trost for sure.
And so for a moment, her gaze flickered to the side, knowing Hannes was listening. "When this is all over, I'll listen to your story. I promise. For now, we need to straighten out a report for the Commander. Alright?"
Wind and her horse's light wheezing filled her ears. She was thankful they were already on the outskirts of Trost: her horse had been traveling all day, with little to no respite.
Then – "I understand."
"Good," She replied instantly, and spurred the horse toward a sprint for their final destination.
The streetlights of the border town enveloped them both. Her horse whinnied as she slowed them down, and they trotted towards a Garrison soldier on the ground. "Hey! Specialist Leto, Central Command, the Commander's aide. I need to know where he is, quick! We just came from Shiganshina!"
The soldier's jaw dropped at her words, "H-He's on the Wall! W-Wall Rose, find the camp to the left of the gate!" When she nodded and lifted her reins, he leaped after her, "W-Wait! Is it really as bad as they say? We need to get back inside Trost and close the gates already, d-don't we?"
She lifted a brow at the cowardice in the man's tone. Hannes seemed to detect it too and he roared, "Stay in your post, you sack of shit! There's still a ton of refugees down the road who need our help!"
With nothing more, Camille set them off at a gallop towards Wall Rose. At this point, she couldn't hold in her dark chuckle. Hannes had told her about the rest of the titan invasion – and while the situation had only seemed grimmer since then, he had somehow recovered the strength to mouth off to that soldier.
More uniformed men greeted them the closer they drew to the Commander's camp. Viktor's was the first face she saw from Pixis's staff, and he shouted in surprise when he saw her – "You're alive! We thought you'd gotten swept up in the invasion!"
Camille dismounted. "It was my old Combat Engineers captain," She breathed, "He told me to turn back the moment we got word."
Viktor nodded. "The Commander will want to hear everything. We'll be getting new orders soon, I reckon – go on."
Both specialists saluted, and they were cleared to get on a lift that took them to the top of the Wall. It was fully night by then; the top of the Wall was lit with torches, surrounded on both sides by the constellation of lights from Trost and the border town right outside it.
There was a temporary camp, complete with a command tent and supplies of compressed gas to power the lifts – two guards recognized her as she and Hannes walked briskly toward the tent.
Camille blinked at the bright orange lamplight as they were admitted inside, and as her eyesight adjusted, she passed over the heads of the handful of Garrison officers also inside the tent.
She nearly stopped at the sight of the cloaked green figure in front of what could only be Pixis's desk. The Scouts – her heart gasped at the unmistakable emblem on the figure's cloak – they're back!
The Scout, it seemed, was finishing up a conference with Pixis – and when Camille wrenched her eyes away from them, she found herself face to face with none other than the Commander himself. The only sign of surprise Pixis showed was the slight wrinkling of his bald head when he raised his brows at her and Hannes' salute.
"Gentlemen, it seems my aide-de-camp has finally found her way back – " Cue a few nervous titters from the officers gathered, and the Scout turning on their heel to gaze at her, " – you're late, Leto." Pixis uttered airily. "And what's this you brought with you?"
Camille could've groaned. Trust the Commander to be so conversational at a time like this.
"This is Specialist Hannes from the Shiganshina garrison, sir. I managed to rendezvous with Colonel Reinhart's battalion where they were bivouacked a few kilometers outside Shiganshina. The Colonel advised me to bring him in lieu of an action report. He witnessed both the Shiganshina breach and the Maria breach."
The Scout gave a shout of something that sounded suspiciously akin to jealousy. Pixis noted this as well, because he flicked his wrist at the Scout when he sat down. "Hmm. Vital information, naturally. You may want to listen to this, Corporal… Joey, was it?"
"Zoe, Commander. And yes!" The Scout yelped, "Erwin would want to hear this too!"
Her chest stuttered at the sound of his name. He's alive!
She reined in her gut reaction though, and gestured for Hannes – who was looking more and more nervous under the scrutiny of the high-ranking Garrison officers also in the tent – to begin his report. He initially stuttered, though he gained more and more confidence as he realized everyone was listening intently to his every word. As soon as he finished, Camille filled in the rest.
Among other things, there was a map stretched out on Pixis's desk, with markers indicating the frontlines and active units.
"Colonel Reinhart was bivouacked here," She pointed at an area before the border towns of Shiganshina and Wall Maria. "Shiganshina was breached around sunset, with Wall Maria breached about an hour after. I arrived as soon as Colonel Reinhart began evacuating to Everstel," She pointed at a rest town nearly halfway through the territory between Wall Maria and Wall Rose. "I took these roads back to Trost. I saw refugees from the southernmost towns on the roads with me – they should arrive in an hour or two. Mostly on wagons and carts, about half of them on horseback with another person on the saddle with them."
Pixis and the Scout conferred once again, revising their plans with the new information. The report was more useful in describing the state of evac and suggesting a pace that the titans could overrun an area – though the Scout was quick to point out that the titans would be covering more open land now, and most of them would head for other populated centers.
"'Most of the titans'?" Pixis questioned.
"Oh yes!" The Scout clapped her hands. She wore a practical pair of goggles strapped to her head, but even then Camille could see the excited gleam in her eyes. "We haven't made it official yet, but we've so far observed there to be two general types of titans: the normal ones, which are the majority and are attracted to densely populated areas, and the abnormals. They exhibit completely unpredictable behavior. Hence – "
"The name," The Commander finished. Camille had been listening to them exchange words, and it seemed that Pixis was intent on cutting off the Scout every time she was going to spin off into a tangent. "Right. Well, you best report back to your own Commander now. Thank you for all your help, Corporal Zoe. We can reconvene tomorrow or when the time requires."
The Scout wasn't at all put off by Pixis's abrupt dismissal. She smiled as she saluted. "Of course, sir!"
They all watched as she skipped out of the tent.
It was in her head before she could stop it: Erwin would send her to a meeting with Pixis?
"Interesting," Pixis voiced the thought that was on all their minds. Camille listened in as he then issued orders to the remaining Garrison officers at the scene, until only she and Hannes were left.
The older blonde still looked like half a wreck, but he pulled himself together when the Commander personally addressed him. "Specialist Hannes. Thank you for your report on the events in Shiganshina. You've done well to survive this far."
Even though the words were unexpectedly kind coming from Pixis, Hannes only seemed to deflate. Sensing this, the Commander then added, "They need all the hands they can get down in the supply squads."
"I'll go immediately, sir," Hannes answered, chest puffing.
"Good," Pixis smiled placidly. "Get to work, soldier."
"Yes sir!"
Hannes stopped when he turned around and she locked gazes with him. It felt strange that after hours on horseback together and the words they'd exchanged on the road, Hannes' worn face was still unfamiliar to her. Stranger still was the fact that they had to part ways now, after everything.
Camille could only crack her own smile, an expression that was unexpectedly hard to produce at that moment. "Thank you, Hannes. When this is all over…"
His mouth opened and closed in surprise. It looked like he was going to say something – but the Commander was watching. Hannes only nodded before hastily exiting, though his eyes said that he knew she would try and keep her promise.
Then it was the two of them.
Alone with her commanding officer of the past three months, Camille tilted her head back and breathed a bone-deep sigh.
In front of her, Pixis sat down again, this time with none of the restraint he put on for the rest of the officers and the Scout from earlier. He reached inside his jacket with a sluggish hand, and Camille reflected that for a man usually bent on making everyone wretched with his antics, Pixis actually looked… tired.
"I look like a tired old man, don't I," Pixis guessed as he gulped down his alcohol. Whiskey this time, judging from the scent.
"Respectfully sir, you are old. Tired? Sure. Like everyone else in the Garrison right now."
The Commander clicked his tongue with a shake of his head. He took another swig. "It's been all hands on deck when we first received word but you're looking none too worse for the wear. We were beginning to think a titan had gobbled you up."
Camille stayed silent. Viktor had said something along the same lines when he saw her – and knowing the initial chaos of the first few hours in the titan breach, she didn't blame them for thinking so.
She instead gazed at the map on the war table: she wondered how much this map and its markers would change even a few hours from now. She already anticipated that people would be coming in and out all night, delivering reports – reports that she would have to listen to and note in between Pixis's bidding.
She found herself mentally preparing for it already. This was the least she could do when there were men putting their lives on the line out there battling the titans. Men like the Scouts. Men like Colonel Reinhart. Men like the Combat Engineers and the other veteran squads.
The Commander was still drinking when she finally looked up after what felt like an eternity. She again said nothing, knowing Pixis's tolerance and how sharp he could be even when his cheeks were beet-red and his eyes were glazed over.
The top of the Wall was just as quiet, with the rushing wind pressing up against the tent flaps making up its only sounds.
It was the eve of the titan invasion. Standing there with Pixis seated and guzzling away at his whiskey, Camille felt like a lost child.
Will we be okay, something inside of her yearned to ask him. Camille cast her eyes away. Will we survive this? Will I ever see Kostya again?
She knew better than to say these thoughts aloud, in search of some kind of reassurance that the Commander wasn't at all obligated to give. And yet the weight of her youth and her inexperience painfully pressed down on her, adding to the ambient dread and helplessness that suffused her entire being that afternoon.
"You know," The Commander suddenly said, "Every person that's been on the frontlines and since reported to me came back either relieved to be in Trost, or wearing the same miserable look you've got on your face right now."
The words startled a laugh out of her.
"It's better that way. I sent Meuleman off to organize the Trost communication line because of the chaos, so it's been rather lonely these last few hours," Pixis burped and murmured a half-assed excuse me before continuing, "I'm rather glad you're here. Well done, bringing back that soldier from the frontlines."
Camille gave a limp nod. "I was insubordinate about it. Corporal Ilin would say the same thing. He was the one who convinced me to turn back to Trost. We were almost to Shiganshina when we heard the news. I wanted to stay behind. Meeting Colonel Reinhart was the compromise."
Pixis sat up, putting his flask down. "You wanted to stay? Who would help me with…" His other hand flailed about the tent vaguely, a sign that the Commander was drinking too fast on an empty stomach. "…with… with all this?"
Camille approached him with a bitter tilt to her lip. "Exactly. Corporal Ilin said the same thing." She plucked the now empty flask from the Commander's grasp. Pixis gave no resistance, and he slumped back in his chair with a little hmph and crossed his arms. "Looks like you've had nothing to eat, sir. I'll go find some dinner."
Pixis readily acquiesced with a bob of his bald head, and she knew he was more exhausted than he let on. Even with the Commander's nonchalant joking, the fact that he'd downed all his whiskey in a few minutes and didn't argue was proof of his own labor.
It's quiet now, but we don't know if or when things will pick up again and everything gets worse, she mused as she silently rummaged around the tent looking for some hidden cache of food that Pixis had squirreled away.
Evac ops were fully underway now that night had fallen and the titans were hibernating. There wouldn't be the same carnage as when the titans first breached the Walls, but even still, the soldiers could only count the hours until sunrise and the titans woke up again. The rush to get everyone to safety was on.
How long until then? What if Wall Rose is also breached?
Now, humanity waited for the titans' next move.
Camille jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
Her eyes darted to her side, finding Pixis standing beside her, stifling a snicker.
"Don't worry, I already have a feast pre…" And Pixis burped again, "-pared. Sorry, excuse my mouth. Come on, I can't plan the evacuation of a million people on an empty stomach."
As if on cue, her stomach also started rumbling. Pixis grinned and waved a lofty hand toward his desk in reply.
What awaited them on the desk was…
…a stack of food rations still wrapped in foil…
…and, naturally, an unopened bottle of East of Utopia wine. Complete with wineglasses that the Commander had unearthed from who-knew-where while Camille wasn't looking.
"I made sure to pack plenty, in case Meuleman arrives and he skipped dinner too." Pixis tapped his nose, eyes glittering like this was another day at Central Command, not as if the titans had just reduced human territory by a third, "The wine is between you and me only. You understand, don't you? I can't finish a whole bottle, you like Utopia wines…"
She couldn't do anything but shake her head. "Commander, this really is the worst."
Worst day humanity's had in a century.
Worst possible situation, with those two abnormal titans still on the loose.
This is the worst, most pathetic dinner I've ever seen too, Camille acknowledged with a sigh and an unwilling smile.
"Of course it is!" Pixis chirped in response. "Who said it wasn't? Now, go eat your fill, we've got long hours ahead of us."
"Yes sir."
DAY 2
"How many units did we have stationed here?"
Camille paused, scouring her head for the information. "The 13th and 14th battalions under the 3rd brigade, sir. Colonel Hall should be the commander on the ground. We received word about them from Lieutenant Krause earlier this morning," She pointed at a Garrison bivouac on the eastern side of the map, on the evac route that led to Karanes District, "They evacuated about a third of the eastern population last night, with about 40,000 more now in the safe zones or past them."
Pixis nodded, chin in hand. "I want a status report on the traffic flow around Karanes. Address it to the mayor, and the Eastern division commander. Use whatever language you see fit, let them know I'm impatient and expect the Stohess MP battalion's cooperation in easing eastern evacuation." When Camille nodded and moved for his desk, Pixis stopped her. "On second thought, Meuleman, you take care of it. Leto, come with me."
The adjutant, who'd arrived sometime before dawn and spent the intervening hours getting Camille and the Commander up to speed on the situation on the ground, nodded. Stefan had taken a nap since then, but more reports flooded in from the eastern and western evac operations regardless. Viktor was also still on the ground, in charge of the important operations on the Trost border towns, though the initial outpouring of terrified refugees from yesterday had also been safely evacuated to Wall Rose as well. Pixis was using the rest of his staff to issue directives and bring back status reports, but kept her and Stefan close for all his immediate needs.
Her job hadn't changed at all; her duties had always been to help the Commander with his – whether it was taking notes for him, understanding the state of evac ops from the reports that flooded in the command tent, or simply listening to Pixis as he issued order after order.
Instead it was the quality of the work that had shifted: the constant flow of information, the severity of the situation, and the heightened attention everything now required.
It was physically taxing to either sleep in shifts, making sure someone was awake and assisting the Commander at all times, or to both stay up while Pixis slept and sift through reports, prioritizing which information the Commander should have first when he woke up.
It was mentally taxing as well – especially for Camille who was the faster reader between her and Stefan, and who the Commander first looked to. The Commander had said nothing of her memorization skills, but only because Camille had implicitly understood from the start that she would have to remember every important bit and detail that would otherwise get drowned in the deluge of military intelligence.
As of now, Camille followed the Commander out of the tent to survey the ground operations with their own eyes. It was nearing midday then, with the sun only about to reach its hottest. The Garrison had spent the past hours since the eve of the titan invasion in securing multiple evac routes that involved open gates from all four districts bordering Wall Rose.
Camille knew the Commander's master plan from hours of listening to him and looking at the war map while Pixis moved units around: by directing refugees to multiple routes, they would avoid forming dense herds that the titans would go straight for. There were joint units stationed to the south of these routes made of Garrison soldiers and Scouts to defend them.
By that morning as well, secure communication lines had been established between the frontline joint units and the rest of the Garrison brigades to ensure that the joint units could retreat when the refugees had already evacuated further north. Casualties had thankfully lessened since the first hours of the titan invasion, and they were trying their best to keep them at a low now that both the Garrison and the Scouts were fully mobilized.
"Beautiful weather," Pixis sighed as they strolled towards their vantage point on the Wall, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.
Camille nodded in agreement, and the mood in the camp had shifted so much since last night that she considered the clear blue skies as some consolation. Panic had been on everyone's minds last night, but Pixis's steady and unflinching command had rallied the troops back into a calmer, more disciplined state. The return of the Scouts had done much to boost morale as well, and Camille had listened to more than a few Garrison soldiers promise that the Scouts wouldn't outshine them.
She reached inside her flak jacket for the telescope they used every time they performed a visual inspection of the state of evac. Camille stood to his side and a little in front, blocking out some of the sun as Pixis lifted the glass to his eye.
"I need your professional opinion now, Leto," The Commander said, gaze not breaking as he scanned first the horizon, and then the troops working in the outskirts of Trost. "If you had to knock down a 50-meter wall, how would you do it?"
She blinked. After a few minutes of silence, Pixis brought down the telescope.
He raised a brow. "You're a Mitras-trained engineer, are you not? At least, that's what it said on your officer recommendation."
"Ah," She flushed, not having expected to use the knowledge she'd accrued all those years ago, especially not since she'd only served as Pixis's glorified assistant in the past months. She cleared her throat, combing her memory for the many lessons she'd had on buildings in Pascal College. "Sir, buildings weren't my specialty in university," She prefaced out of caution. "But you can find the weakest point of a concrete wall by looking at where the cracks are, because they're indications of stress. A hole is even better, because the 'crack' is on both sides of the wall – not even counting its inside."
She glanced at the Commander. He was still listening, which made her slightly less apprehensive. They were alone after all, and there was enough wind to drown out the sounds of their conversation to anyone eavesdropping from the tent. On this subject she knew she could trust the Commander, but there were always soldiers coming in and out of the command tent to deliver reports who could hear something she'd said and decide to tell the MP's about it later.
Camille continued as quietly as she could. "The Walls have cracks, and they have indents caused by the weather that we patch up every now and then. But it also has holes that come in the form of the gates," She drew an arch in the air, signifying the opening in the Walls. "The Walls are made of some kind of stone harder than any concrete we've seen. But the gates are made of brick. It would be a different story if the gates were also made of the same material as the Walls, but they're not. If I had to knock down a Wall – I'd start with the gates. Exploit that opening, just like – "
" – the Colossal titan?"
Camille nodded. The southernmost Garrison soldiers who'd seen the two strange titans from yesterday had been informally calling them as such in their reports, and they'd since become official designations. "Yes. And the Armored titan too."
Pixis made a rumbling noise as he handed the telescope back to her. "Hm. That worries me the most – more than the idea that titans can be taller than the Walls, but that they're intelligent enough to aim for the weak point in our defenses."
"Worry, Commander?" She murmured as she lifted the telescope to her own eye, now used to the routine of offering Pixis a second opinion during these visual inspections. "I thought you never worried."
Inwardly however, she also worried at the implication of the existence of intelligent titans. Not simply just intelligent titans either – but titans being as tall as 60 meters, or with cannon-resistant plating, or the ability to appear and disappear at a snap of one's fingers, per Hannes and the rest of the Shiganshina soldiers' reports.
To her surprise, Pixis didn't go along with her ribbing. "You said buildings weren't your specialty. What is?"
"Machines," She began scanning the horizon, tracing the contours of the war map, the troop movements, and the current status of evac according to the latest reports Pixis had received. "My mother's a mechanic, though she didn't go to university like I did. She runs a repair shop near Stohess. You could say I followed in her footsteps."
Her family's own safety had remained a distant thought in the last thirty-six hours. They were safely – whatever "safe" meant in those times, anyway – ensconced within Wall Rose and would no doubt be one of the first arrivals in Wall Sina if the titans managed to breach further inside human territory. It had felt selfish to worry about them when so many other people's lives were already at stake.
Instead, Camille focused on the task at hand. The telescope was good for surveying the Trost traffic, as well as its surrounding towns. It was also good for surveying major landforms and rivers. Beyond that however, Central Command relied on secondhand information from officers on the ground to confirm what they viewed through the telescope.
Her gaze stilled on a valley near one of the main waterways running throughout the Walls. The location was nearer to Trost than it was to Wall Maria; about an hour and a half's worth of hard riding on a regular day, though now all the usual roads would be overrun by refugees. She lowered the telescope.
"Trouble on the west," Camille glanced at the Commander, "the Ister river. That's a shipping lane," She narrowed her eyes in thought. "The 8th and 9th battalions should be stationed in the area; we received their report at dawn. We have a joint unit made of the 6th and 7th battalions and some Scouts deployed down the line as well, protecting the upriver refugees leaving by boat."
Pixis took up the telescope again as she pointed at what had caught her eye earlier. Even with the mountains and trees obscuring some of the view, the river somewhat curved around them, and they could see the colorful clusters on the normally bare river's edge, a sight she had learned to be crowds of people. "Not good if we're seeing the same thing, sir. The nearest evac route is a considerable distance away. This will attract titans."
"They're sticking to the riverbanks. If they're hoping for another boat to arrive, these must be the refugees that don't have the means to escape on horse. You're right," The Commander declared, "If yesterday is anything to go by, the joint unit will be overrun by noon unless we evac those crowds. The titans will move onto the rest of the 2nd brigade I've scattered to cover that side of the river after." Pixis clutched his head, "What I'd do for a drink right now. I think I'd rather be a titan's breakfast than do this sober."
Just as she opened her mouth to question him about their options, another soldier came running up to them.
"Commander! News from Colonel Winters, the boat ferrying refugees on the Ister's broken down!"
"Speak of the devil," Pixis met her eye with a knowing look. "Report, soldier."
"We requested assistance from the MP's hours ago," The soldier panted as he saluted, "We received no reply!"
"The MP's?" The Commander questioned with more than a little incredulity. "What do they have to do with the boat?"
"Something below deck exploded during the ferry ride, and the captain couldn't repair it. He said to contact the MP's if we wanted it fixed, sir."
"The boats are property of the Royal Government," Camille surprised herself when she spoke up in answer to the Commander's confusion. "The engine itself must be protected property. Not anyone is authorized to repair the boats, I suspect. Operation is fine and the Captain might know basic repairs – but something like an explosion must need the expertise of someone the Royal Government licensed to do refittings."
When the Commander's brow only continued to rise higher and even the soldier stared, Camille coughed into her hand. "It's something I learned in university, sir."
Pixis nodded slowly, rubbing his chin in thought. "I see…"
He turned back to the soldier. "Those people on the riverbanks, how many of them are there and how long have they been waiting? What's the situation down the line with the joint unit?"
"13,000 people in estimate, sir. They've been there since 0800H. Last word we received from the joint unit showed no signs that the titans noticed the crowds upriver. There's an operation underway to trap the titan herd into the Hanya gorge right now. Lieutenant Zacharias of the Scouts assured me of the steady cooperation with the 6th and 7th battalions."
"Steady is one way to put it, if they're already confident enough to stage an operation like that together. What does Colonel Winters plan to do with the refugees?"
"Wait on MP assistance. We've sent word to redirect any incoming refugees without horses into other routes. Even with the 2nd brigade's horses, it won't be enough to get all of those stranded out of the area, not without wagons and carts from the 1st brigade. But it's a mountainous area with dense forest on both sides of the river. The 1st brigade's rescue is taking a lot of time. For now, Colonel Winters has the Combat Engineers constructing bridges made of salvaged logs – he wants to move the refugees across the river and defend the crossings while waiting for more aid."
The Commander clicked his tongue. "Good thinking. He should be taking the advice of the refugees, some of whom are bound to be locals familiar with the terrain and the area. Their help should speed operations, as well as get the refugees into a more defensible position. I would rather they not just be sitting on the riverbanks like they are now. The Engineers plus suitable support should defend the crossings first then the civilians. The rest of the regiments continue coordinating with the 1st and 2nd brigades."
Pixis paused here, seemingly ruminating on something. Both she and the soldier stood at attention - Camille didn't know if the soldier felt the same, but the way Pixis could simply take in a situation without a second glance, consider numerous variables and sticking points, and arrive at a decision in a few seconds was awe-inspiring. Having been by his side all these hours, it was no wonder that Pixis had been Commander for so long. Underneath the wine and the drunkenness was a superb tactician and a humor that was untouchable.
Then the Commander nodded to himself, seemingly coming to a final decision.
"Lastly, tell Winters to keep an eye on the refugees' mood. I don't want a panicked mob endangering the lives of my soldiers just because a boat's been damaged. Quite the opposite – tell him help is on the way."
"Help, sir?" The soldier looked at Pixis with wide eyes. "Really!? From who?"
Even Camille was surprised. She also turned to stare at the Commander with curiosity, wondering who this aid was coming from. Perhaps he was talking about the 5th brigade, stationed on the west side of the Ister; the 2nd brigade was on the Ister's east, and the 1st was upriver, also on the east side. Colonel Winters's engineers still hadn't finished constructing a bridge after all, so he wouldn't have been able to easily contact the 5th brigade yet.
Pixis however was smiling all too serenely.
He stared back at Camille with a glimmer in those amber eyes of his.
Then it hit her.
"Who, soldier?" Pixis laughed. "Why, you're staring right at her."
Notes:
oh, camille. be careful of the things you want.
i had a lot of fun putting this together, AKA doing research (it was a lot of military history) and worldbuilding on top of that.
(1) one of the Guest reviews said (among other nice things) they respected how much research went into this piece - which admittedly touched me, thank you! while i find research fun, it's also about craft. there's many ways to write convincingly, and research is one of them; it's sometimes obvious when someone doesn't know what they're writing about.
also, the military is such a rich setting. how can you not try and incorporate some military research into your fic, especially if the OC is also part of the military? beats me!
(2) here's my garrison organization for now, which you can hopefully deduce from the story so far: squads → battalions → brigades → divisions. ie, squads make a battalion, battalions make a brigade, etc. the organization won't be the same for the MP's or scouts because i consider them to be different branches (with different officer ranks, though they will be similar).
(3) there are many cool historical examples of combat engineers and aides. some western examples include alexander the great's war engineers, and napoleon's aides-de-camp. it makes great reading if you're interested in that sort of thing.
chapter 10 is the action-y and the *insert specific scouts* part. sorry i didn't put so much of it in this one, the pacing felt off.
thank you to my lovely readers and reviewers - this update is for you. receiving feedback and constructive criticism is always a joy, and i have fun talking to all of you!