"…The Wallists always preached about Judgement Day coming for us all…there was a lot less blood than I was expecting…"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
Spring 850
Wall Rose & Trost City District
Garbed in a mash-up of medical and ODM gear, Edith and the other field medics wandered the streets, collecting the bodies that littered the way. They hadn't made it very far, there were many corpses and only so many medics; they could only do so much until the civilian medics and cadets were given the all clear to come and help.
This is going to take a while. Edith thought as she took her blade to another pile of Titan vomit plastered against a wall. Since Titans had no digestive tracks, this was really the only way for the bodies to be expelled, in a big piping hot, stinking mess. It was gag-inducing.
Slicing through the outer layer of the substance took a fair amount of time, but once you were in, the bodies spilled forth like yolk from a poached egg. It was the stomach acid and stench inside that you had to watch out for.
Quickly darting out of the way once the outer layer began to give way, she and the older medic she had been paired with began to pull the bodies from the pile and load them into a spare cart that had been lying around. Once the unknown soldiers were identified and the cart was full, they would take the bodies back to the HQ where the pyres were already burning before setting out once more. It was tiring work, but it had to be done.
They had just finished loading half of a cadet into the cart when the sound of canon fire was heard from within the Walls. Snapping towards the sound, Edith could see Titan steam rising from above the Walls. What the…? She thought as she left behind her superior to get a closer look. Latching her wires into the side of the bell tower next to them, she was able to see what was going on in the courtyard, on the other side.
"Holy shit…" she breathed as the other medic soon joined her, curious as well. On the other side of the wall stood the upper half of a Titan. Little flesh covered its head and outstretched shoulder whilst the rest of the skeleton could be seen stuck in the ground. Underneath the Titan sat Mikasa and Armin, looks of surprise and shock written across their faces. Eren was nowhere in sight.
"What the hell…" breathed the man next to her as Edith continued to watch wide-eyed and slack jawed as the singular eye rolled around in the Titan's head before it disappeared all together. The sound of bones breaking met her ears as the form began to crumble.
Steam poured from the nape of the Titan as Eren burst outwards but remained stuck fast to the carcass, his legs still stuck steadfast to hot Titan flesh. With an almighty pull, Eren freed his legs and tumbled to the ground, immersing himself in the smoke.
Edith was unable to hear what happened next as the Titan form crumbled to the ground and the trio remained hiding within the steam. What will you do now, Eren? Edith thought as the minutes seemed to drag on with no sign of any life from the trio.
Finally a figure emerged from the smoke with their hands in the air. It was Armin. Edith would recognise that blonde mop anywhere. "IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR TRUE FORM MONSTER? I DON'T BUY IT! I'LL GIVE THE SIGNAL TO FIRE, I MEAN IT!" Weilman called.
"EREN IS NOT A FOE OF HUMANITY! WE'RE WILLING TO CO-OPRATE WITH MILITARY COMMAND AND SHARE EVERYTHING WE'VE LEARNED ABOUT HIS POWERS!" Armin replied, hands still raised.
"YOUR PLEAS FALL ON DEAF EARS! HE REVEALED HIS TRUE FORM AND BECAUSE OF THAT THREAT, HE CANNOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE! IF YOU INSISTS HE'S NOT AN ENEMY OF OURS, SHOW ME PROOF! OR I WILL BLAST HIM BACK TO WHATEVER NIGHTMARE HE CRAWLED OUT OF!"
"YOU DON'T NEED ANY PROOF! THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WE PERCEIVE HIM TO BE!"
"WHAT?!"
"REPORTS SAY HUNDREDS OF SOLDIERS SAW HIM AND THOSE WHO WERE THERE SAY THEY SAW HIM FIGHTING OTHER TITANS! AND THAT MEANS THEY SAW HIM GET SWARMED BY THE TITANS AS WELL! TO PUT IT PLAINLY, THE TITANS SAW HIM THE SAME WAY THEY SEE EACH AND EVERY HUMAN BEING: AS PREY! IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW ELSE YOU MAY LOOK AT IT! THAT IS AN IRREFUTABLE FACT!"
The soldiers within the courtyard seemed to agree as they lowered their weapons until Weilman spoke up again, panic clear on his voice even this far out. "PREPARE TO ATTACK! DON'T BE FOOLED BY HIS CUNNING LIES! THE TITAN'S BEHAVIOUR HAS ALWAYS BEEN A COMPLICATED MYSTERY TO US, I WOULDN'T PUT IT PASSED HIM TO ASSUME HUMAN FORM! SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE…IN AN ATTEMPT TO DECEIVE US. I REFUSE TO LET THEM CONTINUE THIS BEHAVIOUR!" The soldiers retrained their weapons on the cadets before them, their fears clouding this judgement.
Edith watched on, white-knuckled, as Armin saluted the officers before him with a look of anger she had only ever worn once or twice before (usually when someone touched his straw hat) and began to speak once more.
"I AM A SOLDIER AND I HAVE DEDICATED MY WHOLE HEART TO THE RESTORATION OF HUMANITY, SIR! NOTHING COULD MAKE ME PROUDER! DYING FOR SUCH A NOBLE CAUSE! IF WE WERE TO USE HIS TITAN ABILITY AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MAN POWER WE HAVE LEFT, I BELIEVE WE CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY! FOR HUMANITY'S GLORY, WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE! I WILL ADVOCATE HIS STRATEGIC VALUE!"
"Holy shit, that kid's got balls" breathed the medic next to Edith, "He's almost scarier than the Titan kid"
"Yeah, no kidding" Edith mumbled.
Several things happened at once. Mikasa gripped tight to her blades, ready to strike at anyone who came near, Eren got ready to bite down on his hand & transform once again, the soldiers surrounding them gripped tight to their weapons & kept them trained on their targets and Weilman who raised his arm once again, ready to give the signal to the canon operators to fire on his command.
And then all at once it stopped. No shots were fired, no blades were used and no canons were discharged. "That's enough. You should really do something about your nervous disposition, Captain Weilman" stated Commander Pixis as he lowered the arm he had in his grip.
"C-Commander Pixis!" Weilman stuttered, unable to believe his luck.
"Can you not see this soldier's heartfelt salute? I've only just arrived, but I'm quite aware of our situation. Gather our reinforcements, I think we could do these young soldiers the favour of hearing them out" said Pixis as Armin fell to his knees, tears of relief gathering in the corners of his eyes.
"…According to reports from the Scout Regiment it was anticipated that the Titans would appear from the South. These reports were proven correct when they attack Shiganshina district in 845, located on the Southern side of Wall Maria. Therefore, it was summarised that their next most likely target would be the fortified city of Trost on the Southern side of Wall Rose.
Dot Pixis, the commanding officer for the Southern territory was the man in charge of the Trost district defence. He was given full authority over preserving humanities most vital remaining territory. The man was also notorious for being genuinely eccentric…"-The Fall of Rose, Armin Arlert
Commander Dot Pixis stood on the edge of the wall between the two wall-mounted canons as he looked out over the ruins of Trost city District, only the field medics could be seen flitting about the place as they collected their fallen comrades.
Behind him stood Armin and Mikasa, both of them refusing to take their eyes off the man in front of them. Meanwhile, Eren sat on his knees, still too weak to stand and barely able to keep his eyes open, let alone focus on the Commander. The silence seemed to stretch on as Pixis mulled over what the trio had told him.
"…That's that. So all we have to do is visit this cellar? And that should clear everything up?" Pixis asked.
"Yes sir. Well, at least I think so" Eren tiredly replied.
"For now, there is no way to validate all of the claims you have made. For now I'll just catalogue them in here. With that said I can usually tell the difference between the arrogant and the sincere, which is why I personally guarantee your safety" The trio breathed a sigh of relief at the admission.
At that moment the sound of ODM gear met their ears, turning to the noise as one they watched as the person connected to the gear landed on the wall with a small stumble. It was Edith. She hadn't noticed them yet, if her actions were anything to go by. She stood there for a few seconds slapping her cheeks as she muttered to herself, telling herself to wake up.
"Cadet! State your name and business here!" Pixis demanded as he turned on the girl. His gaze wandering over the medical attire she wore over her cadet uniform.
"Sir! I'm Edith Brown, sir!" Edith responded as she snapped into a salute, colouring slightly as she realised she wasn't alone. Her gaze wandered over the trio who were watching on, before returning to the Commander, her posture never once faulting, "I'm here to retrieve supplies from the storage unit, sir!"
"Supplies? For what?"
"For the pyres, sir. We've cleared most of the main road and are moving onto the side streets"
"Carry on"
"Sir!"
Pixis then returned to his conversation with the trio as Edith made her way over to the storage unit a few feet away. Giving the door a good shove, she opened it with a grunt before going to retrieve a container of lighter fluid and an axe. She tied the axe into place above her ODM gear at her back and carried the container of lighter fluid out with her.
Once the door to the storage unit was shoved closed again, she made her way back over to the quartet who were discussing Eren's newfound abilities. Skirting the group, she made her way to the edge of the wall and made to jump when Pixis called her name.
"Brown!" he called, catching the girl's attention.
"Sir!" she saluted as she spun on her heel and faced the group.
"You're a part of the 104th cadet corps, correct?"
"Yes, sir!"
"What is your assessment of Arlert and Jeager's skills? Can they be trusted?"
"Arlert has displayed his intelligence on more than one occasion and while Jeager is about as hard headed and stubborn as they come, his heart is in the right place, sir"
"Good, dismissed"
"Sir!" With that, Edith clutched to the container in her hands and leapt backwards off of the wall, much to the surprise of the trio. She could almost feel their eyes on her as she leapt, their quiet curses following her as she flew through the air.
Once she had reached the peak of her arc, she twisted her body around so that she was diving head first towards the ground. Her hair whipped around in the air behind her and she was glad that she still had her mono-goggles on as she flew parallel to the Wall.
When she became level with the bell tower, she shot out her wires and flung herself back up into the air, enjoying the feeling of flying as she sailed above the city like a bird. She clutched tightly to the cargo in her hands as she searched for towering smoke of the burning pyres.
Back on top of the wall Pixis continued, unaffected by the female cadet "You're Cadet Armin Arlert, correct?"
"Yes sir!" saluted Armin, still slightly caught off guard by Edith's abrupt departure.
"You mentioned a plan to harness this so called Titan ability and then utilise your friend's power to take the city. Do you believe it could work or were you grasping at straws to try and save your hides?"
"Uh well, both Commander. I was going to suggest that Eren using his strength as a Titan could lift that giant boulder and use it to block the wrecked gate. That was the best idea I was able to come up with on the spot. I-I just wanted to make everyone see how Eren's ability might be part of the solution to the problem we all face"
"Hm"
"Granted I was pretty desperate to survive"
"Desperate to survive? That's as credible a reason as any, son" replied Pixis as he took a swig from his flask, "What do you say, Cadet Jeager?"
"Say sir? Eren questioned.
"The hole. Are you pretty sure you could plug it up son?"
"Well I, I don't know…It's possible, but at the moment I don't understand my power any more than you do. It's just I'd feel irresponsible giving you an answer…cause I don't really know"
"Ah yes, my apologies. I asked you the wrong question. Are you willing to, Cadet Jeager or not?"
"…I'll do it. I'll do it! I don't know if I can seal that hole, but I'll damn well try!"