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.
"Hi!"=Yelling/Title
"Hi"= Speaking
'Hi'=Thinking
"Hi" = Flashback
'Hi'= Flashback thinking
Hi=Intro
"Hi!"= Flashback Yelling
Author's Note: Hey everyone,
Sorry for the wait, things have been absolutely crazy that past few weeks. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I won't be able to post for the next two weeks due my schedule getting even crazier but that I should be able to post in late May and that I will try to post consistently over the course of the summer.
Sincerely,
JackieRobinson
Chapter 20
A few hours, and several cups of coffee later, General Dreyfus once again sat at his desk, with a map of the Trost district spread out before him: the situation displayed on the map being almost entirely different from the atmosphere in the command center. The various pins and models that once represented the immense threat of the titans were mostly gone, while all the models that represented military units were pressed at the farthest parts of the map. The space on the map in between the military models and the entrance of the Trost District being filled with several vehicle models that were meant to represent supply trucks. Creating an image of absolute tactical domination.
'If only it had been that easy' running through the general's head as he took another sip of coffee. In all honestly the operation itself hadn't been that hard, just a straight forwards mission that involved a fairly blitzkrieg like dash by the Coalition forces to plug the hole in Wall Rose followed by a standard seek and destroy mission to eliminate the rest of the titans. The problem had occurred when the diversionary forces on the left flank which were supposed to lure the remaining titans in western half of Trost got bogged down in the lower section of the district's northwest corner.
A delay forced the Belgian and Canadians to hit a greater amount of resistance than originally planned and had to move to help the Eldians on he left flank, who he believed were made up a mixture of cadets and members of the Military Police, shepherd the titans to the center of the assault. Forcing both the British and French to halt their advance to avoid becoming overstretched which had, in turn, left them open to attack and temporarily hung the distraction force from the Garrison that was closes to Wall Rose out to dry. The disastrous consequences of these failures made clear in the disproportionately higher casualties suffered by the Eldians in the Garrison, the British, and the French when compared to their Canadian and Belgian counterparts.
"It's hard to believe that it seemed like the operation was on the brink of disaster for nearly half an hour" he muttered, before letting out a weary sigh.
'God, I'm getting too old for this'
"General Dreyfus?" thankfully breaking the general out of his musings and sending his gaze towards the front door of his makeshift office where a young staff officer stood.
"Yes?'
"I have the most recent casualty reports from General Pixis" the staff officer answered, his words earning him a nod from Dreyfus as he extended his hand towards the you man, beaconing for him to come in.
"Thank you"
"I was also told by Colonel le Mans to remind you that you have a meeting with several Eldian dignitaries tomorrow afternoon regarding the repatriation of the deceased-" he continued only for Dreyfus to let out a small groan.
"So, it'd be wise to get some shut eye, I know, I know" he countered, his words being accompanied by a wave of his hand.
"And I will, as soon as I read this report", earning him a nod from the staff officer.
"Colonel Le Mans said that you'd say that"
"Oh really?" Dreyfus asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"And what counterargument did he instruct you to make?", a look of interest, and slight amusement coming across his face.
"All he said was for me to tell you he wished you a plenty of sleep" the officer answered, earning him a chuckle from Dreyfus and a wave of the general's hand.
"Dismissed", sending the staff officer's right hand to his head in a salute along with a.
"Good night, sir" before the young man exited the officer, leaving Dreyfus alone.
Perhaps one of the hardest things to do after a battle, particularly one on the scale of the Battle of Trost, is for officers to get their troops back to a pre-battle level of normalcy and routine. The rush of adrenaline, smell of cordite, or the way that smoke emanates from the from the fires of destruction caused by dropped bombs and other spent ordinance can cause inky black trails of smoke to be visible all across the sky chocking the life out everything that it touched.
Or the empty bunks in the barracks and unused benches in the mess hall where comrades in arms once sat and dined together. Luckily, as Cesar sat in the aerodrome's mess hall, he was thankfully not made to endure the sight of empty places at the mess hall as he dined on his meager breakfast that morning. Leaving him to think about a far less important, but no less frustrating thing that was on his mind.
"Stand down orders" he muttered between spoon full of the bland mixture of oats that was supposed to be hot cereal, repeating.
"Stand down orders" only pausing to take a sip of his coffee and another mouthful of hot cereal, sipping his coffee once again before muttering.
"Stand down orders" and tried to begin to rub some of the weariness out of his eyes.
'The least they could do is not woken me up a 0400 hrs. to tell me that'
"You sure seem to like repeating that word", pulling Cesar from his thoughts and sending his gaze up to see Mina Carolina and Sasha Braus sitting across from him.
"Even though, you don't seem to like it"
"I don't like it" Cesar relented as he took a sip of his coffee.
"But, orders are orders, and as long as they don't violate the Geneva Convention there's nothing I can do"
"Well, I think it's alright" Sasha cut in, shrugging her shoulders as he did so, her statement earning her an odd look from Cesar.
"Why's that?"
"I don't know" she began, her first words causing Cesar to squint slightly.
'Not the best way to plead your case'
"I just think that one near death experience is more than enough for a few days" she added, right before she eagerly took a spoon full of the hot cereal and popped it into her mouth. A look of disappointment briefly flashing across her face, before she smiled with satisfaction and began chewing.
'Let me guess, needs more meat,' Cesar thought before eating a spoonful of his own hot cereal. The bland taste of the simple meal causing him to slightly agree with his junior flight officer, even if he wouldn't publicly admit it.
'Even a savory taste is better than nothing'
"By the way, sur, how long are the standdown orders going to last?" coming from Mina, ending Cesar's train of thought before he gruffly answered.
"As long as the higher ups fell like it," a cheeky smile slinking across Mina's face while Sasha started to openly laugh.
"Good one, sir" coming between her mouthfuls of air, preventing either one of the girls from noticing the fact that Cesar's expression didn't change.
'I'm serious running through his mind as he finished his food.
"At least two days, maybe three, especially given the fact the titans aren't exactly well armed" he clarified, this time earning a nod from Mina.
"They also want to reconnaissance to see if the titans will change their current movement and feeding patterns now that they've lost some of their room to roam"
"If that's the case, why don't they have us flying sorties?" Sasha asked, before eating another mouthful of hot cereal.
"We don't need to learn that much about the titans to track where they're going?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, most of those surveillance observations can be carried out by drone" Cesar answered with a shrug.
"Well, if that's the case when all we have to do is sit back until we get our next assignment" Mina added, sending a look of satisfaction over Sasha's face. Mina's statement being one that Cesar knew he couldn't refute, even as he knew that if they weren't called up to fight, they'd likely be called on to do something else.
If Cesar represented the views of a few of the frustrated base confined airmen of the Eldian Auxiliary Air Force and Coalition Air Forces, then Dustin Hoffman was the holder of a different view. The seasoned Coalition sergeant and his troops had been placed on the wings of the formation used during the recapturing of Trost. While that had meant his troops had encountered fewer casualties compared to the French and British, and far fewer compared to their Eldian counterparts, it had also earned them a less than savory duty in the aftermath. The duty of being security for the recovery and clean up detail tasked with the finding and identifying of the fallen, a task which guaranteed hm a level of familiarity with his Eldian allies greater than most officers on the ground.
'Not that it matters much' he thought, watching as the Eldian doctors, logisticians, and support members went about their work under the watchful eye of a line of Military Police guards, one of whom was only about ten feet from Hoffman.
'They've largely kept themselves to themselves' he added just as he caught sight of one of the Military police guards, who was giving what was giving an extremely dirty look at one of Canadians who casually strolled by, completely unaware of the officer's look. The guard's looking sending a subtle but clear message that even though the two parties were fighting alongside each other, and had seen brothers and sisters in arms die to protect one another, that didn't mean they were friends.
"'Scuse me, sir" a feminine voice thankfully called, pulling Hoffman's attention from the odd sight to see a young, female, private before him.
"We've found something that you might want to look at" piquing his interest and earning the girl a simple answer of.
"Alright then, private, lea the way" before the young woman in question nodded, turned, and led Hoffman away from the glaring Military Police guard. The two of them strolling down the street in the general direction of Wall Rose, passing several piles of rubble that had once been houses and several troops inspecting bisected bodies in hopes of getting some sense of identification. The whole area being covered in a miasma of death and decay that was so thick that the smell, and its source, caused Hoffman to become so distracted that he nearly bumped into the private when she stopped and stated.
"This way sir,", before gesturing towards the interior of the alley, her words giving Hoffman no warning whatsoever for the most repulsive sight of his life. A large, red, balled, fleshy mass that looked to be something directly out of a sci-fi horror movie. The numerous webs of flesh that held it onto the buildings around it, making the ball look like the base form, or a cocoon, for an extraterrestrial life form. For several seconds Hoffman could only stand in silence as he tried to come to grips with the malformed shape in front of him.
That was until he caught sight of what looked to be a hand, pressed up against the inside of the ball.
"What the Hell?", barely making it out of him as he realized it wasn't just a hand, it was a hand that was by a leg, which was by a foot, which was by a head; and that the ball of flesh didn't contain one person but many.
"It appears to be some sort of vomit, sir" the private stated, cutting Hoffman's period of silence off.
"According to the Eldians, whenever those titans have eaten enough, they do this" she added, gesturing to the mass.
"And then eat some more"
"Gentle God" Hoffman muttered, walking towards the piece of, well, vomit, and reexamining the mass of bodies inside it. This time noticing that one of the bodies, a poor soul whose arm was pressed next to the first hand he'd seen, bore the insignia of a Union Jack.
'So this was where the 31st armored cavalry division was ambushed' running through Hoffman's head before he muttered.
"Poor bastard"
"We were going to report this to the Eldians, sir" the private added, seeming to stumble over her next few words before added.
"But then we notice the insignia and... well-"
"I understand," Hoffman stated, cutting her off and taking a deep breath.
"Get some engineering teams over here so we can cut this thing open and begin identifying bodies", he finished, earning an unseen salute before Hoffman was left alone with the ghastly sight.
While the soldiers, guards, and staff officers of the Coalition and Eldian forces might have been struggling to find a way to cope with their duties, or stunning discoveries, one woman was too bust to think of spare time.
"So that's the story?" Madeline heard her boss ask, the woman's eyes running over the reporter and her cameraman with a level of intensity that sent Madeleine scrambling for her notes.
"Based on the released casualty reports and interviews I could get, yes" she answered, her words getting her a nod from her boss, though the woman's eyes made it clear that she had sincerely hoping that Madeleine would be able to get more information regarding the story. The look instinctively sending Madeleine's attention towards her notes, just as Brandon chipped in.
"I was able to get some footage during the attack, garnering him the woman's gaze just as he added.
"If it's spliced together right, it can probably be long enough to only need a few filler photos or stats to keep the viewers attention"
"That could work," their editor relented, only to add the serious question of.
"But how can we manage to supple the visuals for the story? If we don't do this right the numbers will outpace the pictures and other filler"
"You could use some areal footage from the French side of the gate" Madeleine added, her sild idea now earning her the attention of the editor.
"Even if it's only a few extra moments it would be a great way to tie it all back together and be a great excuse to get a good shot of the countryside" her explanation of her suggestion finally earning her a nod of approval from their editor.
"Alright, get your recordings digitized and sent in within the hour" their editor added, her tone making clear that the timetable was not open for discussion, before the call ended. The sight of the screen on the tablet going black causing a sigh of relief to escape the two journalists.
"I swear, it's almost as though at the network don't know hard it is to get any info from a war zone" Madeleine muttered, earning her a side glance from Brandon.
"You think that's bad, you should have seen their requests for footage"
"Like what?" Madeleine asked, as she pulled out a notebook and began writing down the basics she could remember from their conversation with their editor.
"Oh, you know, shots of soldiers fighting titans, shots of buildings being destroyed, distraught civilians" Brandon replied, raising a finger with each point he made, adding.
"The list goes on and on" before letting out a sigh.
"It's like they think this is some B-grade action flick or something"
"To be fair" Madeleine cut in.
"I only came here to further my career", causing a bout of silence to fall over the two of them as they both silently pondered what to do; their silence only being broken with a sheepish suggestion of.
"You know, we could try to get interviews with some of the soldiers or pilots nearby, as long as it stays within the parameters given to us on day one," from Brandon.
"It would let people back home get to know some of these people better", his words sending a smile over Madeleine's face that made it clear that there was no need to discuss the matter any further before the two of them quickly went about their business.