"Crazy works. Crazy really works…there's really nothing more you can say…"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
Spring 850
Trost City District
By the next morning, Edith was knackered. Besides the small nap she taken the evening before, she hadn't really had a time to stop and rest, surviving on the jerky made from the boar that Sasha and co and caught a year or two ago. Sure it was a little chewy and musty, but meat was meat, so who was she to complain? It's not like everyone got their fair share of meat on the daily anyway.
So here she stood practically dead on her feet along with the other gathered cadets and Garrison members. Along with many others, she couldn't help but feel wary about the proposed operation to retake Trost. She shifted on her feet as her left hand absentmindedly traced the scar across her torso, memories of Maria's failed operation surfacing. She stared up at Commander Pixis and Eren who stood atop Wall Rose waiting for Pixis to begin his spiel.
It was sometime in the wee hours of the morning when the field medics had been called back behind Wall Rose, many reeking of death and smoke. The group had gathered together off to the side where they leisurely ate a meagre breakfast of dried fruits and ration bars. The other cadets gave them a wide berth; either from the tiredness they exuded through sharp glares and snappy tongues or the blood splattered across their figures. Edith wasn't sure, but she was glad for the brief peace.
"ATTENTION!" roared Pixis, his toes hanging over the edge of the wall and freezing all in their tracks,"TAKE NOTE, THE BLUEPRINT OF THE TROST RECOVERY OPERATION IS THIS: OUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO RESEAL THE HOLE. YES, TOU HEARD RIGHT. WHAT'S MORE IT WILL BE DONE MANUALLY!"
"What?…But that can't be done! It's impossible! We don't have the tech!" Marco breathed in disbelief.
"AS FOR HOW THE TASK WILL BE DONE, THAT'S WHERE THIS FELLOW COMES IN! ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE CADET EREN JEAGER. DON'T LET APPEARANCE DECEIVE YOU, THIS YOUNG MAN IS IN FACT THE SUCCESSFUL PRODUCT OF CUTTING EDGE SCIENCE. FANTASTIC AS THIS MAY SOUND, CADET JEAGER POSSESS THE ABILITY TO FULLY FORM AND CONTROL A TITAN BODY AT WILL!
RECALL THE MASSIVE BOULDER ROUGHLY A LEAGUE FROM THE GATE. HAVING ASSUMED TITAN FORM, CADET JEAGER WILL HOIST SAID BOULDER ON HIS BACK, SCHLEP TO THE HOLE AND VOILA! AND THIS IS WHERE YOU ALL COME IN! YOUR JOB WILL BE TO DEFEND HIM! YES! DEFEND A TITAN AGAINST HIS OWN KIND!"
Off to the side, near the Trost side of the Wall Armin stood with Mikasa and two of the Garrison lieutenants as they hashed out their plan of attack. "…What do you mean, we don't actually need to fight them?" the lieutenant asked.
"There's an easier way" replied Armin, "Sorry, I know it's not my place to interrupt, I meant no disrespect"
"It's alright, just go on with what you were saying"
"Right. See whatever else is going on around them, Titans are generally drawn to large groups of people. If enough of us collected in the corner away from the breach, we could lure the Titans out of Eren's path; we could be discreet about moving the boulder and he also won't have to slow his pace while we fight the others off of him. Since the Titans will all be in one area we can pick them off in canon fire without incurring casualties of our own.
Now I'm not suggesting we leave Eren defenceless, it'd be too risky. We'd need a modest band of elites to act as his body guards. There's no way of knowing how many Titans will come through the wall while he's trying to patch it up, so his security detail need to be able to handle them"
"Easy enough I think. We can reorganise the plan around that"
"Thing is, we're making a huge assumption here. Namely that in full-on Titan mode, Eren will be strong enough to move the rock. I mean to be perfectly honest there's very little reason for us to suppose he can. I have my doubts, serious ones"
"As do I. Sending people to their doom on a whim isn't a tactic I'm fond of, uncertainties have killed too many already. But the Commander's right, let's do this"
"Agreed" added the second lieutenant, "We're working on the clock here. Titans are still lumbering into Trost as we speak. There are already maybe more than we can handle, frankly. The longer we wait, the worse our chances of succes become"
"And it goes without saying, the better chances they have, they'll bust through Wall Rose and wreak untold havoc"
"There's something else too, even the bravest of us can't indefinitely bottle our fear, not before something gives"
Mutterings ran through the crowd as they took in the plan, many unable to believe what had just been said. A few tried to leave, forcing themselves through the people so that they could get home to their families instead.
"Oh God…" Edith breathed stumbling slightly backwards into Reiner who placed his hands on her shoulders steadying her when she did so. Like the others, she couldn't quite believe what the Commander was proposing. But is was those who were a part of the failed Wall Maria retake, that knew what he was really asking of them.
"ANYONE WISHING TO LEAVE WILL BY MY PERSONAL ORDER, WILL NOT BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!" thundered Pixis, blocking out the commotion in the square and overriding Weilman's call for death to deserters. "THOSE WHO HAVE SEEN A TITAN FIRSTHAND WILL NOT BE EXPECTED TO REVISIT SUCH HORROR AGAIN! WHOMEVER THIS APPLIES TO, YOU MAY LEAVE WITH MY BLESSING! ADDITIONALLY ANYONE WITH FAMILY OR LOVED ONES THEY WOULD SPARE FROM THE SAME TRAUMA MAY LEAVE ALSO. THE CROWN WILL CONTINUE TO RECOGNISE YOUR SERVICE. THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!"
Scores of people began to leave, many of them in the older generations. But Edith stuck fast, whether due to a sense of duty or just out of fear, she didn't know. But she stayed and it would be something she would never regret.
"NOW THINK BACK FOUR YEARS AGO, NAMELY THE OPERATION TO RETAKE WALL MARIA. I BRING IT UP BECAUSE YOU ALL DESERVE TO HAVE YOUR SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED! OFFICIALLY WE LABELLED IT RECONIASSANCE, BUT IN FACT AS MOST OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW, IT WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A PURGE. A THINLY DISGUISED EXERCISE IN POPULATION CONTROL.
WE KNEW THIS IN OUR HEARTS, OF COURSE WE DID. YET WE TURNED A BLIND EYE, WE SUPPORTED THE STATE SPONSORED MYTH BECAUSE THE DEATHS OF OUR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS ALLOWED US TO SURVIVE. PURE AND SIMPLE. THE GUILT IS OURS, WE SHARE THE BLAME, ALL OF US.
THE CITIZENS OF WALL MARIA SUSTAINS THEMSELVES ON THE WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF THE REFUGEES WHO'D FLOWN TO US FOR HELP. BUT TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY IS IT NOT? IF WALL MARIA FALLS, THE POPULATION SUCCUMBS TO A WHOLE OTHER ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. THE LANDS SURVIVING WALL SINA WOULDN'T SUPPORT HALF THE PEOPLE NOW LIVING! IF WE'RE WIPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH, THE CULPRITS WILL NOTS BE THE TITANS, I ASSURE YOU! OH NO! WE'LL HAVE DONE IT TO OURSELVES. IF A LINE ISN;T DRAWN NOW, IT WON'T BE DRAWN AT ALL. IF WE MUST DIE, LET US DIE HERE!
NOT ONCE IN THIS CENTURY HAS MANKIND RISEN ABOVE THE TITANS! THEIR EVERY CRAVE AND BLOODTHIRSTY ADVANCE HAS LEFT A WAKE OF UNBELIEVABLE DAMAGES FOR US. LIVES TAKE, TERRITORY ABANDONED. HOWEVER, SHOULD WE SUCCEED WE'LL MAKE HISTORY!
TODAY IS THE DAY! LANDS TAKEN BY OUR GREATEST ENEMY, WILL BE RECLAIMED! FOR THE FIRST TIME WE WILL KNOW WHAT IT MEANS NOT TO RUN, BUT TO MEET THE TITANS HEAD ON AND WIN!
NOW IT MAY SEEM AN INSIGNIFICANT PLOT OF LAND COMPARED TO THE VAST LANDS OF FORMER GLORY LONG ABANDONDED. BUT AS A SYMBOL, AS AN IDEA, THE TROST REGAIN SHALL STAND AS A RECLAMATION OF PRIDE AND HOPE BEYOND MEASURE. A LEAP GREATER THAN WE HAVE EVER TAKEN!"
"DON'T BE A HERO! JUST FOCUS ON LURING THE TITANS ON OUR CORNER OF TOWN!" called the Garrison captain, his voice echoing out across the hordes of people. Down on the wall face, Edith hung just out of Titan reach, her eyes never leaving the hordes below. She tightened her grip on the pack strapped of extra gas canisters on her shoulders as the beasts began to jump to try and reach them.
"IF YOU DON'T NEED TO, DON'T ENGAGE!" Across the city the green signal flare could be seen over by where the giant boulder was situated. All of a sudden, a familiar burst of light ignited the sky and Titan steam exploded from the tiny figure of Eren Jeager as he transformed into a beast of nightmares.
Edith could only watch on from her spot on the wall as Eren's Titan form towered over the buildings and let out an earth-shattering roar that almost seemed to pierce the heavens. Terror soon filled Edith as she watched Eren become consumed by the beast he had transformed into.
The green-eyed beast ignored the boulder in front of him and instead turned on the squad ordered to protect him. An almighty crash was heard as Eren sent a punch straight at Mikasa, any trace of her brother was lost behind those glowing green eyes.