Mina couldn't breathe, and likewise, the soldiers that were alongside her found it hard to do the same as they watched the Female Titan stare at the young woman in silence.

Their initial assault on the Titan had been a disaster, to say the least, with Mina and Nac's attacks doing very little to actually injure, much less kill, the Female Titan while Mylius had been too stricken by fear to be able to actually make a move. Their Commander, Sys, had been too injured to offer any real help in time, and before they knew it, the only two fighters of their squad were pinned down by their adversary, with Carolina having been caught in its hand whilst Tias remained pinned under the other.

Both had struggled vigorously as they attempted to free themselves from the Female Titan's grasp, though it was simply too strong for them to do so, and the close proximity rendered their Anti-Titan blades unusable, leaving them utterly defenseless as they remained at the Titan's mercy, though that didn't stop Nac from spewing out threats and profanities, something that was very unlike him, as he watched the Titan bring Mina up to eye level. He had expected it to eat his friend, something that didn't sit well with him as he redoubled his efforts at freeing himself…

… though he found himself pausing briefly in shock when he saw that, rather than consume his closest friend… the Female Titan instead let out a small exhale that pushed Mina's cloak backwards, revealing her true face to it in the process… and though it was subtle enough to be missed by the untrained eye, Tias found himself raising a brow in abstract confusion when he saw the formerly cold blue eyes of the Titan widen, if only by a little, when it saw who it was holding onto.

Mina, however, didn't acknowledge this as she stared right back at the Titan with a glower plastered on her face. The girl was always a fighter, and regardless of what would happen to her, she refused to let even a Titan like this one make her expression falter. Her grey eyes reflected no small amount of animosity as she grimaced at the Female Titan in a rage, with her steeling herself for whatever was to come…

… what she didn't expect to happen, however, was for the Titan in question to abruptly unfurl its fingers around her body, in turn dropping her to the ground. Mina gasped in shock at that as her expression went from grim anger to abstract confusion before her rear impacted the grass beneath, and likewise, the other soldiers present found themselves gasping at what had just happened. Nac in particular seemed rather relieved at the sight as he smiled just a little at what just happened, only to widen his eyes a little when he saw that, as with Carolina, the Female Titan was now lifting its hand off his body, inadvertently freeing him from its grasp all the while.

"W-What the…" muttered Nac, utterly bewildered by what had just happened as he got himself up into a sitting position, though as he did so, he quickly snapped back at attention as the Female Titan stood itself back up to its full height. In front of it, Mina winced as she attempted to get up onto her feet, though the impact of her falling still lingered within her, forcing her back down onto her rear as she stared up at the Titan in apprehensive. In the background, Sys found himself… baffled by what had just transpired as he got up to a kneeling position, with a confused look present on his face all the while, and Mylius… he was still frozen in fear as he watched the Female Titan glare down at Carolina.

Slowly, the Female Titan parted its lips, almost as though it wished to say something, before it snapped shut once more, and as that happened, it lowered its gaze to the point where no one but Mina could see its eyes, which were now shielded by the mop of blonde hair that was atop its head, and though it was subtle, damn near unnoticeable at that point, Carolina took note of something… strange reflecting in the Titan's eyes.

The eyes of a Titan were usually emotionless, with them reflecting nothing more than primal desire and the urge to hunt humans down, nothing more and nothing less… but in this one instance, Mina saw none of that in this one. Rather, all she saw was… remorse shining in the otherwise cold blue eyes of the Titan… and because of this, the pigtailed girl found herself widening her eyes at how familiar that gaze appeared…

It reminded her of her friend…

Before the connection could be fully made, however, the Female Titan snapped its attention towards its rear as the sound of a flare being shot into the air could be heard. Glancing up at the sky, everyone present watched as a Purple Flare rose up into the air, and as it did so, a decently sized group consisting of about seven soldiers rode up towards Sys' team and the Female Titan at top speed.

Upon seeing this, the Female Titan grimaced quite a bit, seeming somewhat distraught at how much time it had wasted thanks to Mina and Nac's involvement in this whole ordeal, before it turned to make its retreat. The four fatigued soldiers winced quite a bit as no small amount of dust and dirt was launched into the air following its retreat, though that didn't stop any of the pursuing soldiers, who broke off into two groups, with five of them pursuing the Titan whilst two others lagged behind to check on the injured soldiers.

Amongst the duo was, surprisingly enough, Christa Lenz, who was quick to get off her horse and rush over to help her comrades. She would've checked on Nac had he not assured her that he was fine, with him insisting that she helped Mina, as she was more than likely more in need of help than he was.

"Trust me, she j-just survived a pretty unpleasant fall… I-I think I'll be in b-better shape than her once the a-adrenaline wears off," assured Nac as he waved his fellow 104th off, eliciting a nod from the blonde as she ran over to help Mina onto her feet. Carolina smiled a little in appreciation as she got up, though she had to lean against Christa for some support.

"Are you alright? We saw some black smoke rising in the air, and since we were close enough, we decided to investigate!" said Christa, with her tone and gaze reflecting her worry for her fellow soldiers as she helped Mina stand, to which Nac groaned. The smoke must've been from that signal flare that he shot to distract the Female Titan, he reasoned.

"Well… I-I wouldn't say that we're alright… but w-we'll survive," assured Nac as he got up, eliciting a relieved nod from Lenz as she smiled at him.

"And… that Titan?" continued Christa as she glanced off into the distance, where the Female Titan was sprinting off to, with the five soldiers hot on its tail. Mina and Nac noticeably flinched at the question as they glanced between each other, though not long after, the former answered for the both of them.

"It's… an Abnormal one, even by our standards. If anything… it's as if it's like Eren…" muttered Mina, eliciting a bewildered look to appear on Christa's face.

"Like Eren… as in… a human is controlling it?" clarified Christa, to which the other two nodded.

"Yeah… if I had to hazard a guess, it's probably responsible for all the purple signal flares being shot," confirmed Nac, with him grimacing as he sheathed his blades and rubbed his chin. Christa found herself wincing a little at that, with her having recalled several signal flares being fired in the past few hours. To learn that a single Titan, controlled by a human no less, was responsible for all that didn't sit well with her…

"But… why? If… i-if they are truly like Eren, why would they go against humanity?" questioned Christa uncertainly as she glanced over towards Nac. She knew that amidst the 104th Trainee Brigade, he was always amongst the smartest of them all, but even so… he didn't always have the answers, as evident by how he grimaced and shook his head in response to her question.

"That… is something that I don't think we'll be able to find out… not unless we can get the person inside the Titan," commented Nac, with him sounding rather… uncertain on if such a thing was even possible as he stared off into the distance. Though he was by no means close to Barbatos' level, Eren's Titan form was still capable of being a substantial threat to the unprepared. But even with that said, Jaeger was still relatively easy to counter.

He was hot headed, especially when in Titan form, with easy to read attacks and an overreliance on brute force tactics. This one… it seemed more calculated and deliberate with its movements. If Eren was a wrestler, then the Female Titan was a martial artist, one that fought with not just their fists, but also their mind, and that on its own only made it more of a threat than Jaeger as of now.

For all his power, Eren wasn't able to control his Titan form with any real finess. The Female Titan's host, on the other hand, knew how to do so with deadly precision…

"Hey, kids! Could you help us gather the horses? We have to move on before the Titans get us!" requested the other soldier that was present to assist them, prompting everyone present to turn their attention towards him before nodding. Mina and Sys' current conditions prevented them from being much help, however, and as such, Christa, Nac and Mylius had to assist their senior in gathering up the horses that they were dismounted from in the skirmish.

Whilst they did so, however, Zeramuski seemed rather… downtrodden as he moved to rein in one of their stallions. Tias took note of this, and with a small smile, he nudged his blonde acquaintance.

"You good, My'?" asked Nac gently as he eyed his friend, to which he shook his head.

"I… barely did a thing back there, Nac. I just… stood there and watched you and Mina take that thing on… I…" muttered Mylius, with him frowning deeply as he spoke. Nac was quick to put an end to his words, however, by holding onto his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, eliciting a blink from the blonde as he smiled at him.

"Stuff of nonsense. You were the one that helped us plan the actual rescue of Commander Sys, and that's more than enough to warrant some thanks!" assured Nac with a thumbs up, eliciting a mild blush from Mylius as he chuckled, flattered at Tias' words as he nodded in appreciation, though before he could give his thanks, Sys, who had mounted his horse with the aid of the other senior soldier, called out to them.

"You two! We have to move, now!" called Sys as he stared back at the duo, who blinked a little and blushed a fair bit in embarrassment. Nac was quick to get over it, however, as he patted Mylius' shoulder and motioned for him to get a move on, eliciting a nod from the blonde as he mounted his horse. Mina had recovered just enough to be able to ride her horse without any external aid, though Christa lingered close to her, just in case, as they rode onwards.

"Sir, do we have any form of countermeasure against that Titan?" asked Nac as the small group of six rode onwards, following the rest of the formation all the while. In response to this, Sys simply grimaced while the other senior remained passively silent, forcing the former to answer the junior's question.

"We do, but due to factors outside of our control, we're not exactly sure if the plan for our counterattack can be pulled off properly now!" responded Sys direly as he reached into his back pocket and pulled a flare gun out of it. Loading a flare into it, the senior aimed it up into the air and fired it off, sending a purple flare cascading into the sky all the while.

"Care to share the plan with us, sir?" inquired Mina, eliciting a shudder from Luke, though he nonetheless complied as he responded.

"Well, the situation is dire, so I don't see any reason not to… we're relying on Barbatos to handle that Titan," responded Sys, to which the other soldiers, barring the senior, winced a little. They knew that it was only logical, to have the Gundam be the one to stand against the Female Titan thanks to its immense strength, but to rely on it so much… it just felt a little lazy on their part.

"Surely there's more to your plan than just that…?" asked Christa, sounding uncertain as she spoke, to which Luke nodded.

"There's more, but that's not for you kids to know about, not yet at least!" assured Sys with a reassuring smile as he glanced off into the distance, where he could see some smoke rising into the air as something powerful boosted past their current position. He had a feeling that he knew what was the cause of that as they rode onwards, though he was quick to look back at his soldiers with a serious expression. "For now, just ride on and focus on surviving, you got that?!"

"Yes sir!"

Elsewhere

The thunderous footfalls of the Female Titan enunciated its arrival to several of the soldiers in range of it, and in spite of their worries in regards to facing a Titan as intelligent as it, they were still ready to give their lives up for the Survey Corp cause, and without a second thought, they moved to intercept it.

"NOW!"

Roaring in rage, a single Survey Corp leapt out of a building that he was once hiding in and sprung towards the Female Titan, whose path had put it on a crash course for this abandoned town in particular. As the soldier emerged from his hiding spot, three others did so as well, with all of them moving to back the first one up as he drew closer towards the aforementioned Titan.

The first to reach the Female Titan was, unsurprisingly, the one that had yelled for the attack in the first place, and as he drew close to it, he made an attempt to strike at the Titan's eyes, or more specifically its rightmost eye. Blinding a Titan as intelligent as this would've been key in bringing it down, and as such, he closed in on it at breakneck speeds.

Meanwhile, the other three soldiers moving to back him up aimed for different parts of the Titan's body. One had its sights set on the nape, the other two on its ankles. If they could coordinate this attack perfectly, they could bring an end to the Female Titan in one fell swoop. It was a high risk, but the rewards for doing so were high enough to warrant them putting their lives on the line.

However, things never did go as planned, and right the four soldiers would soon learn that as, right as the first soldier got close to the Female Titan's face, with him swinging his blades at its rightmost eye, the aforementioned Titan jerked its head to the left, with it avoiding the swing, albeit just narrowly as the very tip of the soldier's blade glided against the very edge of the Titan's eye.

Widening his eyes at the immense speed and genuinely horrific reaction time that the Titan possessed, the soldier that brushed past the Titan's face could only watch on in terror as the Female Titan's right eye snapped towards him, like a predator eyeing its prey, before he flew past its head. As it did so, the Titan slammed one of its heels into the ground to halt its momentum, and as it did so, it veered its entire body to one side as it turned to face its pursuers head on. The duo that were aiming for its ankles gasped in shock as they were forced to bring their arms up to shield their faces from the inbound dust that was launched into the air.

"What the?!" proclaimed the soldier that had been aiming for the nape, with her gasping in shock as the Female Titan tore apart their plan with such ruthless efficiency, though before she could even recompose herself, the aforementioned Titan swung its hand at her and quite literally slapped her out of the air. Her body combusted on impact, with it being reduced to nothing more than a fine red mist as the hand passed her body.

Her fellow soldiers, somewhat rightfully, gasped out in shock when they saw their fellow comrade being taken out that quickly, though in their state of shock, they were unable to recover fast enough to avoid the upcoming retaliation from the Female Titan. One of the remaining soldiers, the one that had been aiming for one of its ankles, could only gasp out in shock as one of its feet came barreling towards him, and before he could even react properly to the inbound attack, he was reduced to nothing more than a cloud of red smoke as the Titan kicked him out of existence.

"NO!" proclaimed the soldier that had been aiming for the Titan's eye as he watched his fellow troops being eliminated without any shred of remorse, and as he yelled this, the man launched both his Maneuver Gear anchors at the Female Titan, with him having hoped to be able to latch on and reel himself in for a potentially fatal strike.

Whilst the first anchor did find its mark on the Titans upper left breast, however, the other was snatched out of the air by the Female Titan's hand. The feminine monster simply glared at the soldier before it yanked back on his Maneuver gear wire, forcing it to fly towards it all the while. In the meantime, the soldier that had attempted to target one of the Titan's ankles made an attempt to strike at the Female Titan whilst it was distracted, with him aiming to kill this time as he swiftly swung up to the back of its neck and got ready to deliver a powerful slash-

And then, the Female Titan simply jerked its head to the side, effortlessly dodging the inbound attack without even breaking a sweat. The attacking soldier barely had enough time to acknowledge his failure before the Titan's free hand was suddenly in front of him, causing him to fly face-first into it. It would've been comical had the Female Titan not clenched its hand into a fist immediately thereafter, in turn causing the soldier's entire body to be reduced to nothing more than a fine red past.

"..." and then, there was but one… one that was dangling from the Female Titan's hands via his Maneuver Gear wire like some sort of prized catch.

The last remaining soldier, despite being at the mercy of a merciless foe, remained steadfast and strong as he kept a brave face on, and as he did so, he attempted to lash out at the Female Titan with every ounce of his strength. He didn't get very far, however, though it didn't stop him from spewing out threat after threat to the one that wiped his Squad out as he glared at it.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU'D BEST START RUNNING RIGHT NOW BEFORE I KILL YOU WITH MY BARE FUCKING HANDS! I SWEAR TO GOD, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE TODAY! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" spat the soldier venomously as the Female Titan stared down at him in amusement. How bold of him, it thought. Few could be this courageous when faced with certain death, and if it were honest, its host did consider sparing him out of respect for a person with a warrior's spirit.

But even so, it wasn't here to be nice. It was here on a mission, and in order to accomplish this, the soldiers that stood in its way had to die. So without a second thought, the Titan grabbed onto the wire firmly, and after winding up briefly…

"W-What the fuck…"

That was more or less the only thing that a soldier atop a horse could really say at this point as he watched the Female Titan stomp towards his current position. The Titan's approach was already a big deal to him, but at the same time… the fact that it was twirling around the corpse of one of his former allies in its hand whilst it stomped onwards was something else entirely.

After a few spins, the Female Titan released the anchor that it was using to spin the corpse on, seemingly having gotten tired of it by then, causing the dead body of the soldier's former ally to be launched up into the air. The body got quite a lot of air as it was flung up into the sky, though the soldier didn't seem keen on waiting to see where it would land as he turned around atop his horse and made a beeline for it.

'The ambush failed… I need to alert the others to the Titan's approach!' thought the soldier as he reached into his back pocket and pulled his flare gun out. He already had a purple flare loaded into it for good measure, and without even a second thought, the doomed soldier aimed it skywards and fired. He knew that there was an ambush awaiting the Female Titan ahead of them, though he didn't wish to take any unnecessary risks at the moment as he rode on.

The moment his flare was fired from his gun, however, a massive shadow loomed over the soldier's body, and he didn't even have time to turn around completely before the foot of the Female Titan trampled him and his horse completely. Nothing more than a bloody stain remained as the Titan's foot landed atop them, and after it recovered from that attack, the Titan scoffed, wiped its foot against the grass it stood on, and continued sprinting onwards, with it keeping its eyes peeled for any Survey Corps in the vicinity and any signal flares being shot up into the sky.

Likewise, the Titan also kept its ears at attention as it listened for the sound of Gundam Barbatos' thrusters. Those things had a rather distinct sound, and if it could hear it, that meant that it was close, and by then, it had more than likely spotted it, be it visually or via its radar.

Though by no means weak, the Female Titan knew for a fact that, should it go up against the Gundam in an all out brawl, it would stand no chance against it. The Gundam was simply in a league of its own, and if it wished to succeed in its mission, it would need to avoid the unit like the plague. That was much easier said than done, however, as Barbatos could outpace it incredibly easily, and even with all the distractions it had thrown at it, the Titan knew that it was only a matter of time before the unit caught up with it.

Honestly speaking, the thought of going up against Barbatos didn't really frighten the Female Titan's host all that much. If anything, they considered it to be divine punishment for every atrocity that they have committed up till now… but at the same time, they were also worried about the Gundam's pilot. The unit itself was the axe, but its pilot… Mikazuki Augus… he was the headsman, and whilst a physical blow from the Gundam would no doubt hurt the Titan Shifter like nothing it has ever felt in the past, should Mikazuki, among a few others, find out who they really were…

A mental shake of the host's head was just barely enough to force those thoughts to the back of their mind, with the Female Titan itself grimacing a fair bit as it continued sprinting tirelessly onwards. Now was not the time to think of the ramifications of its actions! It was time to act, and as a Warrior, it needed to focus! The Titan's host had always been steadfast and resolute about this, and as such, now was not the time to falter! They had committed to being a monster since the day they were given their powers, and to give up now was to go back on an entire lifetime's worth of preparation!

Preparation that the host never wanted…

"The moment you let anyone decide your future… that is the moment your life loses its meaning."

The words of the host's friend still rang within their head. Simple words, but they held enough meaning behind them that it made the Female Titan reconsider its path of wanton destruction on multiple occasions. However, its host ultimately chose their devotion to their mission over their own happiness… and as such, the monster surged ever onwards, with the amount of sins that it left in its wake growing ever larger with each step it took.

Elsewhere

'Another one…'

Via the optical units of his Gundam, Mikazuki watched as another purple flare was fired up into the sky at an angle, with this one further down the Long Distance Scouting Formation, he noticed, something that made him grimace a little as he pried his unit's Longsword free from the dissolving corpse of a Titan. All around him were several other smoking Titan corpses, all of which had been eliminated by the Gundam.

The decently large pack of Titans, seven in total, stood little to no chance against Barbatos, who had eliminated them within the span of a minute in order to keep them away from the innermost circle of the formation, and upon slaughtering them, the unit alerted its pilot to the rising flare, prompting him to turn its attention towards it as it blazed a trail into the sky.

To others, the signal flare was a sign of an emergency, an issue that was rapidly working its way towards the center of the formation with rapid efficiency… but to Mikazuki, it was nothing more than a sign of his failure. He had specifically requested to be positioned at the Rear in order to protect it from the Titan Shifter, should it arrive, and though he did manage to ensure the survival of most of the Rear Guard, he had still failed to halt the Female Titan in its advance.

Each purple flare that was fired only served to aggravate the pilot further as he boosted his unit onwards, forcing the grass ahead of Barbatos to part as it hovered past at incredible speeds. From time to time, the unit would stop to assist a soldier or two, but that in itself was rare, and for the most part, Augus simply kept his mind on the pursuit of the Titan Shifter… the Female Titan, without delay.

'I hope you're doing alright out there, Mina, Nac…' thought Mikazuki offhandedly as he boosted his unit up a small incline, only to have it jump high up into the air upon reaching its summit. Based on Barbatos' scanners, the gravity of this planet was noticeably lower than that of Earth, and as such, massive leaps were possible to pull off without putting much strain on the unit's joints, something that came as a surprise to Mikazuki when it had first relayed this information to him, though it was certainly a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

And, as luck would have it, when the Gundam had landed, it had landed atop a Titan, a Twelve metre. Barbatos' chassis came crashing down upon it with ruthless abandon, and upon slamming down onto its smaller body, the Titan was completely eviscerated, and as for the Gundam itself, it simply boosted onwards as though nothing had happened.

Movement towards the unit's right alerted Mikazuki to another rising flare, though this one in particular was too far back to be in related to the Female Titan's existence, and as such, the pilot assumed that it was just alerting the rest of the formation to an inbound Titan or two, and that thought was quickly confirmed to him when he looked towards the shooter and saw that they were fleeing from a trio of Titans. The aforementioned Titans ranged from a measly Three metres to Ten at most, and though his task of hunting down the Female Titan still took precedence, Augus reckoned that he could spare some of his time in eliminating these unwanted variables.

With that in mind, the pilot veered his unit off its beaten course, with him shifting it towards the trio of Titans all the while. Its approach did not go unnoticed, however, as the one that had shot the flare was quick to turn their attention towards Barbatos as it approached the Titans giving chase. As soon as the unit was less than twenty metres from initial contact, however, Mikazuki raised a brow when he saw that the one that had fired the shot was Bertholdt Hoover, who appeared beyond relieved when he saw the Gundam rushing to his aid.

And not a moment after, Barbatos barreled straight through a Titan, the Ten metre, with so much force that it ceased to exist the moment it made contact with it. Nothing more than a fine red mist was left in its wake as the unit grounded its feet into the ground in order to halt its momentum, and as soon as it had stopped itself dead in its tracks, the Gundam turned on a dime and jabbed its Longsword towards a second Titan, a Seven metre, and impaled it through its side.

The Titan showed visible pain as it was stabbed through the gut, something that surprised Mikazuki quite a bit as these things reacting to such stimuli was very much an uncommon thing, but even so, he said nothing about it as he had his Gundam temporarily remove its hold on the Wrench Mace whilst bringing the Seven metre Titan up to its eye level via the Longsword. Without any hesitation or remorse, Mikazuki had Barbatos bring its manipulator up towards the Titan's chest and sink its sharpened digits into its flesh, and with a single, decisive motion, the Gundam ripped the Titan in half at the waist.

Still holding onto the Seven metre's upper body whilst the lower half fell to the ground, Mikazuki turned his unit's attention towards the final Titan, the Three metre, and watched as it clumsily barreled past his Gundam, oblivious to the massive threat it posed all the while. Amusing, though that in itself did confuse Mika quite a bit… though he was certainly a more difficult target to pin down, Titans didn't always ignore Barbatos as, in spite of the air-sealed cockpit, they were still able to sense him within the Gundam's chest, usually enough to turn their attention away from whichever human they had been chasing prior in order to target the unit's chest in hopes of getting to the pilot within.

Now, however, the Three metre Titan had its sights set solely on Bertholdt… something that piqued Augus' interest, if only by a bit, as he watched it run after the fleeing soldier, though he didn't think much of it for now as he huffed and eliminated it… by slamming the bisected torso of the Seven metre Titan right down onto it.

To say that the Three metre had been crushed would've been quite the understatement. No… it was completely eviscerated the moment the Seven metre's bisected body came down upon it, and if he were honest, Mikazuki reckoned that he may have put a bit too much force behind the strike, as he left a small crater beneath what remained of the two Titans, something that he'd notice after he lifted his unit's manipulator off the ground.

'Hmph…' grunted Mikazuki in amusement as he had his unit retrieve its Wrench Mace, and as it did so, he turned his attention towards Bertholdt, who had halted his horse's sprinting for the briefest of moments to glance up at Barbatos. The pilot of the aforementioned mecha found himself raising a brow at the fact that Hoover was alone. He didn't pay much attention to the briefings for the expeditions, especially when they weren't specific to his role in its success or the placement of his friends, but he knew enough to know that Bertholdt would've, at the very least, had a squad with him at all times.

So either they had left him behind… something that was highly unlikely… or they were somehow killed in action.

Out of curiosity, and mild worry for an acquaintance/friend of his/Annie, Mikazuki temporarily unplugged himself from Barbatos' systems and opened the cockpit. Bertholdt noticeably flinched a little when he saw the unit expel no small amount of steam from its vents before its cockpit shifted open, though he did seem a little relieved to see Mika jump out of it, with the pilot landing in front of Hoover's horse without much fanfare.

"Bertholdt," greeted Mikazuki flatly as he watched the tall guy get off his horse, with him smiling awkwardly as he did so. The chestnut stallion seemed a bit unnerved as it glanced up at Barbatos with a nervous (or at least Mika and Bertholdt thought it was nervous. They didn't speak horse) look in its eye, though a quick pat of its mane, courtesy of its rider, calmed it down a fair bit.

"Mikazuki… t-thanks for the save!" thanked Bertholdt wholeheartedly as he bowed his head down low in appreciation, to which Augus nodded. He didn't dwell that much in Hoover's appreciation, however, as he swiftly moved on to ask about his current situation.

"What happened to the rest of your team, Bertholdt?" inquired Mikazuki critically, with him wishing to get the most important question on his mind out of the way as he spoke. In response to this, Hoover appeared mildly uncomfortable as he fidgeted a little with the collar of his uniform jacket, though before long, he spilled the beans to his fellow 104th as he let out a sigh through his nostrils.

"We… were caught off guard by some Titans. They took us by surprise, and my squad was wiped out. I-I just barely made it out of there alive, though I doubt I'd be able to get any further than I have if you didn't happen upon me," answered Bertholdt solemnly. His shoulders slumped in on themselves quite a bit as he said this, a telltale sign of discomfort as he recounted how he had narrowly escaped death's grip, but even so… something about how he had spoken about all this didn't sit right with Augus.

The remorse was clearly there, as were the hints of survivor's guilt hidden beneath Hoover's shaky voice… but even so, something about how he spoke just didn't sound genuine to him. His words were too even, too… calm, so to speak (at least by Bertholdt's standards), so much so that it came off as a massive juxtaposition to his nervous body language, but even so, for the time being Mikazuki chose not to question this for now, as he was quick to nod and prioritise his duty over the strangeness of Hoover's speech patterns for the time being.

"Hrg…" groaned Mikazuki, with him grimacing a fair bit at the unfortunate situation that Bertholdt was currently in as he grimaced a little deeper than he usually did. It wasn't beneficial to leave him alone, especially now, when he was at his most vulnerable… but at the same time, Augus wasn't sure how he could help Hoover out in a realistic way.

Glancing up at Barbatos, the pilot silently wondered if it was possible for Bertholdt to stand atop its chassis, something that he, among several others, had done during the Trost incident, but he was quick to reconsider that thought when he remembered that his unit had been walking at a snail's pace back then. They were able to cling on rather well at that point, sure, but Mikazuki reckoned that if Bertholdt rode on his unit's chassis whilst it was going at subsonic speeds, even if he made use of his Maneuver Gear to anchor himself to the Gundam's chassis, it would only be a matter of time before he was thrown right off.

And as such, that only left one last option… one that Mikazuki wasn't all that thrilled about… but at the same time, for Bertholdt's sake, he was willing to put it into motion.

"Hey, uh, Mikazuki? Is something wrong?" asked Bertholdt after a few seconds of silence, what with Mikazuki having gone silent for a while, and upon hearing his query, Augus simply nodded.

"Nothing's wrong," assured Mikazuki nonchalantly as he narrowed his eyes at Hoover, an act that made the guy feel mildly uncomfortable as he tilted his head a little. "Bertholdt. How good are you with cramped spaces?"

"Uh…"

The sound of hooves impacting the dirt beneath them had gotten rather repetitive to the sole Titan Shifter of the Survey Corps, to say the least, and though it was tolerable at first, Eren Jaeger still found it rather obnoxious as he rode alongside the rest of Team Levi, who had him surrounded on all sides as they pressed on.

Not too far off were Team Mike, who rode close by as they kept an eye out for any potential Titans in the region, though for the most part, there wasn't much that they had to contend with. The positioning of Teams Levi, Mike and, off in the distance, Research Team Hanji, may god help the souls of those that willingly joined her team, were too close to the center of the Long Distance Scouting Formation, so close that the Titans were incapable of getting close without being spotted or outright eliminated within seconds, something that allowed the three teams to press on with very little issue.

If he were being completely honest, Eren didn't exactly feel comfortable with just how smoothly everything was going, at least on his end of the formation. A small part of him felt worry brewing up within his chest at the conditions of Armin and Mikasa, among many others, though he was able to dismiss them rather easily as he knew that they were competent enough to fend for themselves.

That aside, however, the junior was also growing increasingly unnerved by the amount of emergency flares being fired as the seconds went by. Each flare came closer and closer to the current position of Team Levi, and by all means, he wasn't the only one to notice this as he rode onwards.

"Hrg… looks like that damn traitor of ours is closing in on us, huh?" scoffed Oruo as he glanced back to see the trail of signal flares looming ever closer on their position, to which Eld laughed humorlessly. His rank of Elite had bestowed upon him enough guts to laugh in the face of danger, but deep down, even he was afraid of what was to come, should their Titan Shifter opponent catch up to them.

"Indeed, but don't forget the plan, you guys. Erwin's briefed and re-briefed us on it several times over, so psych yourselves out and get ready for what's to come!" said Eld, with him stirring up some vigor in his fellow Elites as they rode on.

"I don't get it, though… why didn't Mikazuki Augus stop it? Was he not placed at the back for that very purpose?" muttered Petra curiously, eliciting an expression of apparent agreement from Oruo as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and likewise, Eren seemed to find some truth behind her words as he stared at her uncertainly, only for Gunther to scoff at Ral's lack of field experience as he responded to her query.

"That's because Barbatos is just one thing, Petra. It can't be everywhere at once," responded Gunther sternly as he gave Ral an unimpressed look, one that made her redden in embarrassment as he continued. "For as fast and strong as it is, it still has limits, and to rely on it to do everything would be hard folly."

"Hmph, you have a point there, Gunther, but even so… our traitor's gone pretty far ahead without being stopped, y'know? Feels almost as though Mikazuki's been slacking off a little with stopping em," pointed out Oruo rather smugly as he jerked his thumb back at a purple flare being shot up into the air once more. Eld found himself snorting a little at that proclamation as he shook his head in amusement, though the rest of his team seemed less than amused at that statement as they simply shook their heads and continued on riding.

Eren, however…

"I… wouldn't say that he's slacking off, sir," piped up Eren in defense of Mikazuki, eliciting a blink of surprise from Bazard as he raised a brow at Jaeger. His gaze was more or less requesting for Jaeger to explain himself, to which he did. "Mika's always been adamant about protecting the people around him, and if I had to make a guess, he probably got sidetracked into rescuing some soldiers while he pursued our traitor."

"A nice sentiment and all that, but still… our soldiers were trained to handle the situation. Surely, he could've seen that and focused on the task at hand, yes?" rebutted Oruo, with him raising a brow at Mikazuki's apparent tendency to get sidetracked. That comment, for as sarcastic as it sounded, did rub Jaeger, alongside the rest of Team Levi, the wrong way, however, as they glanced in Bazard's general direction to give him the stink eye, though before Eld or Gunther could reprimand him for insinuating that the mission took precedence over the lives of their fellow men, Levi himself spoke up from the front, interrupting them altogether.

"If Mikazuki chooses to save the lives of his fellow men, then that's his decision, not ours. For now, keep your eyes on the path ahead and remain focused. We do not know when our enemy will strike," ordered Levi. His voice was just as calm as it usually was, though there were noticeably hints of annoyance hidden beneath it all as he addressed his team, and to that, Oruo gulped and nodded as he rode onwards. "If our enemy shows their face to us, we'll engage them as planned. But for now, keep your minds on the path ahead and stop bickering between yourselves."

"Yes sir!" was the immediate response from the rest of Team Levi, Eren included even if his voice was drowned out by his seniors, and at that, the group continued onwards. As they rode on, however, Jaeger couldn't help but lower his head a little as he recalled a briefing that took place about a month prior, one that very much related to this contingency plan of theirs…

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming here today. As you all may know, today's meeting is in relation to the upcoming expedition."

That greeting from Erwin did little to phase the gathered soldiers, mostly Elites or seniors, as they nodded in response to his words. By his count, Eren and Mikazuki were the only soldiers present that were ranked as juniors, though neither said a thing about that as the listened to Erwin speak his piece.

"Allow me to be brief on the situation. For the past few weeks, we have been keeping a keen eye out for a traitor within the ranks of the Military Brigades, and as most of you know, we firmly believe that they will possibly attack us whilst we are out on the field, and though we lack enough evidence to prove it, we also believe that they are capable of transforming into a Titan, much like Eren Jaeger. Because of this, we have devised many a plan to counteract them, should they make an appearance," explained Erwin stoutly as he leaned forwards and placed his hands atop a table that held a massive map of Maria, more specifically the expedition path. Mikazuki and Eren both remembered the thing from several of their mission briefings in the past.

"While most of you know that Mikazuki Augus and his Gundam will be guarding the Rear Guard under the assumption of our traitor attacking from behind, we cannot put all of our faith in him stopping their assault, especially if they are capable of transforming into a Titan like Eren," continued Erwin, with him remaining completely serious as he spoke. There was no room for lighthearted banter, not when they were discussing something as serious as this.

"Because of this, we've devised a contingency plan in the event of Barbatos being incapable of stopping our traitor from advancing too far," piped up Hanji, who stepped forwards and placed a flare gun onto the map table. "Each and every one of you present will be spread out across the formation, and should any of you spot a Titan that moves more… humanly than the others, fire a purple flare. When fired, we expect an immediate response from Mikazuki, without any delays."

The steel behind Hanji's words were acknowledged by both juniors as they watched the Elite cross her arms and purse her lips together tightly. She was serious about keeping her fellow soldiers alive, it would seem. Commendable, in Mikazuki's opinion, though Eren was still a little too taken aback by this juxtaposition to think the same.

"However, we cannot rely entirely on Mikazuki Augus to catch up with our traitor, should they decide to show up as a Titan," continued Erwin, with him picking up where Hanji left off all the while. "Which is why I say this; should there be more than five flares fired, the entire formation will change its course…"

"... and head towards the old training grounds in Maria," concluded Mike as he watched Hanji lean forward and stick a tack down onto the aforementioned location, a forest of giant trees. Said location was about ten kilometres off the charted out path for the expedition itself, and veering towards it would've taken them quite a while, though seeing as how it was a last resort, should their traitor manage to break through their ranks to such a degree, it was better than nothing!

"During the Preliminary Expedition, we brought along several restraining devices, stowed away in these specific safehouses," pointed out Levi, with him marking out a handful of spots on the map. "If need be, we'll retrieve them and set up an ambush in the old training grounds, though it would be better if things didn't get that desperate."

"However, whilst it may seem rather enticing to do so, I must ask you all to not kill this Titan," added Erwin, with his words eliciting a small wave of confusion from his soldiers, especially Eren, as he spoke, though he allowed it to simmer down before continuing. "While there is no doubt in my mind that it will pose a massive threat to us, should our traitor show up as a Titan, understand that we also cannot pass up on the opportunity to capture a Titan as… valuable as this.

"Should you ever come across this potential Titan on the field, expressly avoid it. And Mikazuki, if you come across this Titan, try to keep it alive."

As he said this, Erwin turned his attention up towards Mikazuki, more or less telling him that the success of this expedition, should their traitor show up as a Titan, more or less hinged on him being able to play his part properly, and he seemed to get the memo, as he nodded in affirmation. Meanwhile, however, Eren, seeming somewhat unsure of his role in all this, lifted his arm up to ask a question, only for Erwin to seemingly read his mind and answer it almost immediately.

"As for Eren Jaeger, we will be using you as bait for the traitor," continued Erwin, sounding almost disgusted with himself as he said this out loud. Everyone present seemed to be taken aback by this statement, as no one could ever expect for humanity's second-most-powerful asset to be used as mere bait, though Smith was quick to explain. "Over the course of the past few months, our traitor has been seen attacking us on various fronts. The first came in the form of the elimination of the captured Titans-"

Hanji noticeably deflated at that memory, though Moblit gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, assuring her that she would get her revenge someday.

"- and the assassination attempt on Hanji Zoe and, though possibly unintentional, their attempt at killing Mikazuki. Their attacks were not frequent, but at the same time, whenever they struck, they would strike at high value targets, people or entities that hold significance to humanity's victory in this war. With all this in mind, we can argue that, outside of the likes of Hanji or Mikazuki, Eren would be among our traitor's priority list in regards to who they wish to eliminate."

The room quickly went silent as the soldiers present took in what they had just heard. Some of them hadn't been informed of the assassination attempt on Hanji prior to now, and they needed a while to actually process what they had just heard, though not long after, a single soldier, one that Eren recognised as Ness, piped up.

"No offense, sir, but… what's stopping our traitor from attacking Barbatos instead of Eren? I get that it's tough, but at the same time, doesn't it pose much more of a threat than him? No offense f'course, kid," pointed out Ness. Eren, despite taking some offense at that statement, chose to let it slide as he, somewhat bitterly, acknowledged how Mikazuki outranked him in every way shape and form, both within and without Barbatos.

Erwin nodded a little in response to Dieter's concerns, with him seeing some logic behind his inquiry as he nodded towards Hanji, who stepped forwards a bit to comment.

"While it is true that Barbatos is the more significant threat between the two, we have to remember that, so far, our traitor has been actively trying to hinder our research into the Titans more than anything," explained Hanji, and when she saw that her compatriots appeared confused, she elaborated. "Them… murdering Sawney and Bean was them trying to hinder our research into them-"

"I don't think you can call that research, but sure," whispered a single soldier in the background, not that anyone outside of the writer could hear him anyways.

"- and them trying to kill me in particular was them trying to do the same thing," explained Zoe, with her crossing her arms as she spoke. "While sure, destroying Barbatos will weaken us significantly, but at the same time, I believe that our traitor is more concerned about us learning more about the Titans than they are about the Gundam for the time being…"

"That, and attacking the Gundam head on, even with the brains of a human and the brawn of a Titan, is generally considered to be a bad idea," added Lynne from Mike's side of the table, eliciting a handful of snickers all around as she finished, and once that all died down, Erwin nodded, with him dismissing everyone present all the while.

As they left, Eren glanced over at Mikazuki, partly out of envy and partly out of pity. Mikazuki had a big role to play in the upcoming expedition, and if he messed up, Jaeger would have to pick up where he left off. The thought of having such a heavy burden, one that weighed as much as an entire scouting formation, hanging over him made Eren feel genuinely nauseous as he shuddered to imagine how Augus felt about his dilemma, though either way, he resolved to do his part, should his fellow abnormality fail to do his…

… and by all means, Eren felt his resolve returning to him tenfold as he and his team rode into the Forest of Giant Trees, ready for what was to come.

This is a bit of a late update, but I do hope you enjoyed it!

Things are escalating, and what's up with Bert? Who knows? *cough*

I'm working on shortening my outros since I don't have anything really reasonable to say at this point. My work kinda speaks for itself so...

Review responsesstarscreamer11: I took the original down because it was honestly pretty bad. Worst than what youre reading now!Dead344156 and Touhoufanatic: Female Titan vs Barbatos, eh? Hmm...

Jredor13: will the FT Arc have a different ending? Hmmmmm...

Kannn: MNMA relaxing together for once? What a thought to have. And in regards to how this will all end? HMMMMMMMMM...

dietyoftheuniverse: let's try to not pretend that it's been more than 6 months since the previous actual chapter-

pt1oef: the monkey... will not be a problem

Guest: let Team Mike live...? Hm...

Dancouga01-23: "Hey Renn (proofreader), should I make Sasha/Mikasa a thing?" - something I asked my proofreader. Things will change. Trust me.

ian12091995: it took me 6 months or so but here you go!

johnnylee619: best to not think too hard about the world transportation issues. And yeah, it really did take a while, didn't it?

My review section is so damn messy so I'm sorry if I missed your review.

FYI I'm very into the Brave series right now. If any of that ends up translating into the story... uh... sorry?