Disclaimer: I do not own Gate: Jieitai Kano Chi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri while Shingeki no Kyojin is the property of Hajime Isayama, I only own the OCs I create. I would also like to thank ManwithaPlan113 for volunteering to serve as a proofreader for my story. Please enjoy reading this story. And Thank you.

"Hi!"=Yelling/Title

"Hi"= Speaking

'Hi'=Thinking

"Hi" = Flashback

'Hi'= Flashback thinking

Hi=Intro

"Hi!"= Flashback Yelling

Chapter 12

June 3rd 14:03 hrs., AOT Universe, Eldian Aid Station, Trost District

Modern warfare is a messy business. Bullets can easily pierce through a human body, tearing through anything that happens to get in their way. Artillery and its many forms of ordinance make the destruction on entrenched positions and enemy combatants, as well as innocent civilians, an almost daily occurrence. Navies allow for the transportation of men, munitions, and aircraft anywhere in the world, making no place safe. While the creation of the modern air force, with its long range tactical strike craft means that death can come from the sky at almost any time or place. Yet, even with all that said and all the training designed to conflict it, Daz stood in the ruins of the aid station he felt so unprepared.

As if, in the scramble to technically prepare for the role of a medic, his instructors had forgotten to teach him how to deal with one inevitable side of battle. A side that was slowly being presented to him.

That side in question was the chaos of battle and all of the horrors that came with it. Sure, Daz had been made to perform mock aid on soldiers injured in wargames. Which meant that the sounds of munitions going off weren't new to him, nor were the groans of his comrades as they pretended to be in agony from their mock wounds. But, nonetheless as he stood at what had been the front of the damaged aid station he couldn't help but sense something new in the air. A component that, even when his comrades were acting at their best, hadn't been instilled into him during training. Simply put, that component was fear and what he was currently feeling was all the apprehension that came with it.

This already traumatic experience was made even worse by the fact that for Daz, this was the first time that he'd been made to experience the reality and the lightning speed that a titan attack could appear. Making Daz slowly begin to understand as to why neither the Garrison nor the Survey Corps ever seemed to be able to properly defeat the titans whenever they engaged them. Often being defeated, with the breaking of this bad news being the occasional pyrrhic victory.

"Hey Daz!" a voice called, causing the man in question to snap out of his gaze to see where it was coming from and finding himself looking towards Sergeant-Major Leonhart as she approached him.

"Yes, ma'am" he answered, attempting to raise his right hand in a steady salute only for him to realize how badly he was shaking.

"At ease, are you hurt?" she asked causing Daz to suddenly looked down and, for the first time since he'd picked his was out of the pile of rubble that had been the office he'd entered, began to examine his person for any injuries.

"Nothing, but a few scratches ma'am" Daz answered before patting the sleeves of his jacket and causing small clouds of dust to suddenly rise from his person.

"Good" Annie said before casting a glance at the destruction that surrounded them. It wasn't just the aid station that was had been hit by the blast from the wall, in fact Annie would go as far as to say that the station had taken the least amount of damaged due to being shielded by the surrounding buildings. Said buildings were now destroyed, some beyond recognition while most could have been repaired relatively easily, and their occupants, or what was left of them, littered the street. Making the area almost entirely beyond recognition, its inhabitants roaming the street in a sort of dazed and shocked state. The world as they previously knew it having suddenly and violently come to an end.

"Daz, I'm going to need you to try to make something out of this" Annie began, gaining her Daz's attention.

"Like what?"

"Hopefully some rescue efforts but most likely an evacuation, especially if the vanguard units can't slow the titans down" Annie continued before turning her attention back to Daz and finishing with.

"Do you understand?" If this same situation had occurred roughly a year ago Daz wouldn't have understood anything. Not the situation, not the people trapped in in, and most certainly not his own role in addressing it. In fact, as much as he hated to acknowledge it, he might've already begun to make his way back to the rear in an attempt at self preservation. Leaving the unfortunate inhabitants of this area, as well as the soldiers sent to help them, to what was almost guaranteed to be a grizzly fate. But now, things were different.

"Yes ma'am, I'll try to organize the boys right away" Daz answered, causing Annie to nod and respond.

"Good, I'll try to get the radio in the station up and running to radio for some additional vehicles to help transport the wounded and find out where they want us to evacuate to" with that Annie walked past him and further into the aid station and towards the main command office. It was at that moment, for a reason that was truly beyond him, that Daz realized that he was no longer wearing the hat he'd been issued and turned his attention towards the rubble he'd crawled out of in an attempt to find it. Shifting the pile around a bit Daz was eventually able to find it and dust it off in an attempt to make it look presentable, for reasons couldn't explain, before jogging over towards where some aid workers had gathered.

"Sir, over here" one of the individuals, who appeared to be a man, declared as he waved his hands wildly in the air. Probably thinking that Daz was planning to jog past them rather than to them. Causing Daz to abandon his jog and break into a run as he neared the man and his accomplices, a feeling of urgency beginning to come over him.

"What is it?" Daz asked upon reaching the group, causing the man who'd signaled him to point at the small structure that was next to him, causing Daz to cast his gaze that same way. What Daz saw was a numbing sight, as in front of him was what looked to be a young boy who was buried from the waste down under a pile of debris, cuts and bruises littering his body. To make the whole thing worse the boy was fully conscious and was crying fat tears, no doubt from the pain of being under the debris, and had what looked to be his mother clutching him in a soothing manner, trying to offer some sort of comfort.

"After the blast we got up and began looking for survivors in the rubble and found these two" the man answered, causing the boy to begin sobbing even louder.

"Is he injured?" Daz asked, causing one of the other men to answer back with.

"We don't know, but we know he can't dislodge himself from the rubble and it takes all three of us to get enough of the rubble off of him to move him". Nodding upon hearing this Daz proceeded to take a deep breath an attempt to calm himself as the sound of further survivors crying out for help, and the cries of other inhabitants who no doubt were finding their loved ones dead by one means or another.

"Okay, I want all of you to grab bits of the rubble and on the count of three shift it so that I can move him out" Daz ordered causing the three men to nod before strategically positioning themselves around the boy.

"Sir, are you going to get him out?" the woman asked, the combination of the distressed tone in her voice and the terrified look in her eyes causing Daz to feel all the breath escape from his lungs before answering with.

"Don't worry miss, we'll get him out in a second"

"Okay, boys on my count" Daz stated before beginning.

"One"

"Two"

"Three" and with that the three men lifted the rubble and allow Daz to begin to pull the as hard as he could and as fast as he could seconds before the rest of the men dropped the debris. Successfully dislodging the boy from the rubble, but also causing Daz's stomach to take a dive. While the boy's leg was still attached, it was badly gashed and bleeding profusely. Possibly suggesting a wound that was closer to the boy's femoral artery than anyone should be comfortable with. The boy must've seen the look on Daz's face for he suddenly began to sob again and garner Daz's attention.

"Don't worry kid you're going to be alright" Daz stated a firmly as he could before turning and handing the boy to one of the men.

"Take him to the station and try to get his wounds dressed and the bleeding stemmed, Sergeant-Major Leonhart is calling for additional transports when they get here I want this boy to be one of the first patients placed on them and I want him watched by you personally when he's evacuated" before adding.

"Understood" the man in question offered an affirming nod before running to aid station, the boy's mother following dutifully behind him, leaving Daz with the rest of the men.

"Alright, let's try and find some more survivors" he added, before leading them off in the direction of another group of at all prepared for the additional surge in chaos that was rapidly coming his way.

June 3rd 14:05 hrs., AOT Universe, Eldian Security Checkpoint, Trost District

If the scene at the aid station was hectic the one at the crossroads was in total chaos. For while both were hit by the debris and force of the Colossal Titan's kick the aid station was not currently under attack. Well at least not yet, and it was the job of the Armin's unit to keep it that way for as long as possible. But that idea in itself was truly something that was easier said than done.

"Sir, Sir!" a loud voice called causing Armin to look up from his crouched spot in the outpost's fortified trench, his current task of attaching another magazine to his FAMAS F1.

"What?"

"A message from headquarters" the individual, who now looked to be Connie Springer, declared before extending the hand which held the phone like piece in a violent motion. His steel helmet sliding forwards on his bald head, coving his eyes as a result and making him look a little less serious. If only this development had any effect on the situation at hand Armin might've given into his small temptation to chuckle at Connie. Wrenching the phone from his hand Armin proceeded to shove it next to his ear, subconsciously ducking his head at the sound of more ammunition being fired and debris landing around him, before shouting into the phone.

"This is Sergeant Alert, you have my attention"

"Sergeant, we have been getting reports from all over your sector, what's your situation?" a voice on the other end of the receiver boomed, somehow managing to sound infinitely louder than the various distracting noises that were going off behind Armin.

"We're currently under attack, but we're managing to hold fairly well" Armin began, before biting his lip and adding.

"However, unless we receive air support it's highly unlikely that we will be able to hold this position much longer". For a few seconds there was a brief pause, as if the speaker on the other end of the phone was in the middle of contemplating a rather hard decision, before the silence was finally broken.

"Sergeant, what're your coordinates?" the speaker asked, causing Armin to almost instinctively reach for his breast pocket where a small map a quickly scanned it over before responding with.

"We look to be to the immediate east of the tertiary headquarters, the one that's marked on the map as a small castle and doubles as a supply depot". Once again his response was meet with a brief pause before the speaker on the other end of the receiver once again gave an authoritative answer.

"Sergeant fall back to the that headquarters post to regroup with other units from your area and dig in, it's imperative that you do not let the enemy get past you, it's the only way you can muster enough strength to prevent them from attacking the main aid station". Armin didn't need to protest, the mere thought of what the titans would do to all the innocent civilians if they got through was enough to make his skin crawl. He could already hear the screams, see the blood flowing, and was beginning to get faint images of parents struggling to protect their children from the creatures' looming jaws. An image that reminded him too much of the attack on Shinganshina all those years ago, and the carnage that had come with it.

'No, not again' Armin thought to himself before placing the speaking end of the phone to his mouth and almost shouting.

"Right sir, we'll be there in under 15 minutes!" before shoving it back into the hands of Connie. An act which gained him an unusual look from the boy.

"What happened Armin?" the boy asked, as Armin shoved his magazine onto the top of his FAMAS.

"A change of plans, that's what happened" Armin answered, before turning to face the rest of his unit.

"Alright, everybody listen up" Armin began, making sure to shout his ensuing orders at the top of his lungs so that he could be heard over the near deafening sound of firearms and rampaging titans.

"We're going to perform an orderly withdrawal back to the tertiary headquarters, begin it on my orders". At first Armin feared that that his orders had been drown out by the other competing sounds on the current battlefield, but luckily it turned out that his soldiers were simply waiting to hear if there was an additional part to his commands. As within a few seconds of his declaration going out the sound of "yes, sir" began to echo about, causing Armin to make his way to Jean.

"Jean, I want you to lead the withdrawal, on my command begin leading the men back" Armin stated, attempting to remain calm as he gave these most careful of instructions. It was these instructions that throw Armin a look of surprise and concern before he asked.

"What about you sir?"

"You know the way right?" Armin countered, causing Jean to simply nod, and allow him to add.

"Then you do that while I bring up the rear, understand". Which earned Armin another nod from Jean before the man slung his weapon over his shoulder and waited for the signal, which Armin clarified would be the raising and dropping of his hand, as he went forwards to the more forward position of the line. It was there that he gave the same orders and directed that he would send the unit back in thirds, appointing a second officer to lead the second third out on his signal. The same one, but with his left hand rather than his right, that he'd planned on giving Jean.

'Oh, grandpa please help me execute this plan well' Armin thought before suddenly raising his right hand into the in the form of fist.

"First squad move out!" he head Jean shout, followed by the sound of boots moving back towards the rear. However, rather than leading to a lessening of fire it seemed that the withdrawal of the troops lead to an increasing of the intensity of rounds being spent by Armin's forces. Perhaps it was due to the fact that those who had left weren't contributing as much fire as previously thought, or maybe it was because the men feared that a decrease in fire might give away their movement to the titans. Causing them to suddenly rush the line, while both lines of through were equally credibly given the stressful nature of the situation the second was more likely.

But that likelihood couldn't prevent the inevitable drop in fire that occurred when Armin raised his left fist and caused the second part of the group to fall back. A development which definitely got the attention of the titans they'd previously been able to suppress by blinding them with bullets from their rifles. As they slowly began to encroach towards the units line of entrenchment, clumsily fumbling their way down the street due to their sudden blindness, the message was slowly becoming clear. It was time to go.

"Third squad follow me" Armin shouted before rising from his crouching position and beginning to fall back while supplying a consistent level of fire. The other members of his unit did likewise, hiding behind certain buildings and other obstacles in an orderly manner to slow the titans' advance. Unaware that this was only the beginning of what would grow to be a nearly two week long baptism of fire, one that would rob all of them of the wide eyed innocence they still had.

June 3rd 14:10 hrs., AOT Universe, Coalition Headquarters, Ehrmich District

To say that the headquarters of French General Jean-Claude Dreyfus was in the middle of recovering from a bout of hectic confusion would be an understatement. To say that it was in the middle of recovering from a period of chaos was a far more fitting analysis, especially with how quickly things had changed in only a few minutes. No more than 10 minutes ago the staff at the headquarters had been in the middle of dealing with the typical mind numbing day to day banter that confronted any humanitarian Coalition force.

When to schedule relief trucks. Who to schedule to guard them. What local units were properly trained for the task. What Coalition units should be used to supervise them to make sure that things went well. Where should these units be sent to. The little things that never made any of the headlines back home, but were critical for such an operation's success. Then it had happened.

The silence of the beautiful sunny summer day was suddenly shattered by the distinct sound of something flying through the air and impacting something else. The sound had come from the South and as such many of the headquarters staff had turned their attention, and subsequently their binocular, in that general direction to see what was the cause of all the commotion. Only to be confronted by the confusing sight of dust rising in what looked to be the Trost district, the cloud causing the staff's line of sight to be severely impaired.

Then the calls had begun to come in. Some from soldiers speaking in a calm and orderly voice, others in a panicked tone that was unsure of what to do. All from officers of the Eldians Legion. All reporting the same thing, that being that there had been a sudden attack on Wall Rose which had resulted in the compromising of many defensive checkpoints in the immediate area. As well as the pouring of titans into the now open region.

Upon receiving these reports Dreyfus had made what was by far the most reluctant call of his career. That being for the Eldian units to fall back to more defensible positions and wait for Coalition reinforcements until further notice. As well as sending orders to Coalition Air Forces to begin air strikes to begin to blunt the attacks, with the intention of eventually using them to plan a counter-attack. Luckily, since then things had calmed down with the current withdrawals mostly being orderly in execution and all of them having a pre-set destination.

"Sir, you have a visitor" a young voice called causing Dreyfus to look up from the map which way spread out before him. The whole thing being dotted with various marks that detailed where units were and where they were intending to go, or where they had arrived.

In the doorway behind the young junior officer looked to be a man and as Dreyfus began to sturdy him up and down he made numerous notes of his physical attributes and social attire. The man was a fairly tall man who was bald, sported light skin, a distinct mustache, and wrinkles under his eyes. His attire was that of a typical Garrison, the only unusual article of clothing being a purple bolo tie, and he stood in what appeared to be a respectful and orderly manner. A fact that made him instantly more desirable than well over half of the nobles Dreyfus had received complaints from since moving his headquarters to this location.

"May I inquire as to who this man is?" Dreyfus asked causing the junior officer to look back at the man who, while covering his mouth, proceeded to whisper an answer.

"Commander Dot Pixis, sir" the officer answered, causing Dreyfus to stand straight up and stated.

"Alright let him in". From the moment he had moved his headquarters to this area Dreyfus had heard whispers of the Commander who was, at least according to the rumors that he'd heard, the highest ranking Garrison Official in all of the Southern Territories. While this title meant little to Dreyfus, who was the Coalition's second in command, and, if he had been so calloused and arrogant, could have told the man to kiss his wedding ring he knew that it was far smarter to try to make common cause with the man.

However, in his various attempts to contact the man since he'd arrived in Ehrmich he'd never been able to. The man always seeming to have "prior engagements" that always postponed their inevitable meeting. Well, now the situation had changed and ten minutes after an attack he'd managed to get the meeting which had eluded him for months.

"Commander Pixis, it's an honor to see you" Dreyfus stated, a smile coming over his face as he extended his hand in a friendly greeting.

"Likewise General Dreyfus, my friends in the area speak often of you" Pixis responded, causing Dreyfus to make note that the man had not included the word "highly" in his declaration. The man's accent somehow being significantly less pronounced than the many other Eldians Dreyfus had come across. However, he was offered little time to dwell on the obvious subtext that went along with this message as Pixis revealed himself to be just as swift at changing topics as he was at giving greetings.

"So, what's the situation?"

"Well, for starters Wall Rose has been compromised and Titans have penetrated the area immediately surrounding the wall" Dreyfus began, a statement that earned him a rather incredulous look from Pixis.

One that seemed to say "of course it has you idiot, otherwise we wouldn't be here", and prompted him to continue. His gaze returned to the map on the table next to him.

"The Legionary units spread out across the district have been given orders to fall back to more stable headquarters positions in the district to lure the Titans way from exits and-".

"What about the Garrison units in Trost?" Pixis asked causing Dreyfus to pause and raise his eyes from the table.

"Excuse me?" he asked, causing Pixis to repeat.

"What about the Garrison units in Trost?".

"Well, unfortunately we have no control over them-" Dreyfus, began only for Pixis to clarify.

"I mean what actions do you desire them to take to guarantee the protection of the district's civilian population".

Dreyfus couldn't explain why he paused briefly. Maybe it was that he was struggling to comprehend a higher up member of Eldian society being a help rather than a hindrance for a change. Maybe it was the idea that the man truly believed that the Garrison could have a significant role in this military action, or that he was being so frank about his opinion. Regardless, for a few seconds there was silence before Dreyfus eventually responded with.

"Where do you believe them to be stationed?"

"Like your men they'll be scattered throughout the city and right now they're most likely on their way to, or are already at, their rally points. My question is concerned with not just the current defense of Trost but the counter-attack to rid it of the Titans" Pixis answered, causing Dreyfus to feel more relaxed now that he knew that the two of them were on even footing.

"If your men could serve as distraction forces or rapid response teams to temporarily fill in gaps that emerge in the defensive lines that would be greatly appreciated" Dreyfus began before adding.

"However, on we cannot begin to discuss in depth plans for a counter-attack until we can determine how much ground we've lost and where we've lost it or until we've stemmed the Titan surge with armored divisions". This response, unsurprisingly, was foreign to Pixis who responded by raising an eyebrow and repeated.

"Armored divisions?" which made Dreyfus realize that in addition to organizing a counter-attack he'd have to give the man a heavily abridged history lesson on cavalry, which would make his job all the more difficult. Of course, no one had ever said it would be easy and as he began his discussion with Pixis on the subject of Armored Cavalry he began to truly realize how big of a task his country had signed up for, and how long of a haul they were in for. As well as how miserable it might be.