Nine days after the Stohess Battle

"It's no good. Nick didn't share jack shit."

Those were more or less the first words shared to Levi, Mike and Erwin as she entered the Sina Survey Corp office, with her removing her glasses almost immediately after she got in and dropping onto the closest chair with an unceremonious plop. Off to the side, Levi could only really roll his eyes at her words whilst Mike and Erwin hummed between themselves. This outcome was unfortunate… but ultimately, it wasn't unexpected.

Hanji's little plan in regards to interrogating the Wallist Pastor was… simple, really. Almost insultingly so, especially for someone with her level of intelligence. Pastor Nick was almost always up atop the wall of Stohess, delivering some untold prayer unto the side of it that had a massive gash going up its side, and earlier today was no different.

Cold fury had seeped into Hanji's demeanor as she interrogated the Pastor. Said fury would've been colder, had she done so on the day of the battle, but as things were now, she had shown remarkable restraint. Still though, Moblit, were he here, would argue that her threatening to throw him off the top of the wall was perhaps a bit too far for his liking.

For Hanji's liking, though, she'd say that she hadn't gone far enough. To Nick's credit, however… the guy had been incredibly secretive regarding his cult, to the point where Zoe could legitimately show some begrudging respect to him, not that it counted for much, though…

"Hung him off the wall by the collar of his shirt and he still didn't budge. The guy's got balls, I'll give him that much, but we're not much closer to solving the mystery behind just what that Titan is even doing inside the Wall," stated Hanji, with her scowling as she shook her head in annoyance. Erwin shared in her dismal mood, though he said nothing of it as he leaned forwards and clasped his hands together loosely.

The Wall Titan… it was an issue that Erwin had neglected for the past few days, having been preoccupied with so many other things that he could barely even get a moment of respite. Said Titan had been exposed to many prying eyes after the battle between Barbatos and Annie had torn a hole on the side of Wall Stohess, and in spite of him having asked numerous times, alongside many others, his higher ups outright refused to answer this question of theirs.

Erwin, alongside his friends and comrades, couldn't help but believe that they were just as clueless as he was, but still, the issue had to inevitably be put on ice as he and his allies refocused on the issue behind Mikazuki, Eren and fixing the damages as a whole.

Until now, that is…

"I for one doubt that any of the other Wallists would wanna poke their heads out in front of us, especially after Nick inevitably goes running back to them with his tail between his legs," stated Levi sarcastically, eliciting a sheepish look from Hanji as she silently acknowledged how she probably should've restrained him or, at the very least, warned him about consequences before he hightailed it out of there, not that he'd heed her, but still, what's done was done, and with a grumble, Hanji flipped her pal off.

"Oh, shut it. Either way, nothing good's really gonna come from us poking around more than we… more than I already have. We're not particularly popular around Sina, after all, and me stirring up trouble isn't gonna make anything better," mumbled Hanji, with her scowling as she scratched the back of her head awkwardly. Erwin hummed at this, with him acknowledging how, if he could, he'd send his soldiers back to Rose and grant upon them some off-time if at all possible, but that was simply out of the question at the moment.

Erwin himself was needed to oversee… well, everything due to his rank of Commander, Hanji was required to be here to oversee the tests made on Annie, even if she wasn't exactly a fan of that, Levi had to keep an eye on Eren, who was essentially on house arrest due to his part in the Stohess battle, and Mike had to stay in close proximity to Mikazuki, not that he needed to as it technically wasn't his or his squad's duty, but he just… wanted to, really.

So in short, they were all bound by their duties to remain, with some duties being better than others, to say the least.

Either way…

"Hm… how's Mikazuki been holding up?" asked Erwin after a few moments of silence, with him eyeing Mike thoughtfully as he spoke. In response to this, the Elite chuckled lightly, an unfamiliar sound to everyone present, though they thought nothing of it as he responded.

"He's been recovering remarkably swiftly. The movement in his legs has returned almost entirely, though he's clearly pushing himself to make it seem as though he's recovered more than he actually has. Arm movement is coming back slower, but still faster than what the doctor had predicted," stated Mike, with him almost sounding proud of the pilot, in a strange way, as he crossed his arms and spoke. The other soldiers seemed glad to hear this, but they didn't really show it as the Elite continued. "He's pushing himself harder than necessary to complete his recovery faster. It's admirable, but pushing oneself too hard is not a good thing."

"Either way, he's getting back to how he usually is, which is a relief. Say, think we can just… steal him away or something?" hummed Hanji, with her adding in that last part as a subtle nudge at Erwin. To this, the blonde shook his head almost immediately, saddening the bespectacled soldier all the while.

In truth, Erwin had considered this option many times prior, but still there were too many problems with trying to kidnap Mikazuki away, even if he was now conscious and capable of movement, key of which being…

"Kidnapping the brat's too much work. The place he's in is on high alert, 24/7, and even if we got out of there, somehow, they'll know it's us. Who else would want to kidnap that kid, anyways?" groaned Levi, with him crossing his arms as he spoke.

"To add on, us kidnapping Mikazuki doesn't change the fact that we'll be leaving Barbatos behind," added Mike grouchily, further deflating Hanji's mood all the while.

"Drats… sorry. I just…" muttered Hanji sadly as she removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose, only for Erwin to cut her off.

"I understand, Hanji, you mean well. But for now, we can't do anything to exacerbate Mikazuki's current situation. We can only really wait and hope that the rumor about him knowing of Annie's true self is just that; a rumor," said Erwin reassuringly. Hanji… was everything but reassured as she processed his words, but she didn't comment out her thoughts as she sighed and nodded.

"I don't mean to bring down the mood, but… I personally think that it isn't a rumor," stated Mike direly, with his words making everyone present wince as they processed them. If Zacharius, the one closest to Mikazuki in this very room, had his doubts on him… then that certainly accounted for a lot.

But still…

"I think it's still too early to say, Mike. Let's just… wait and see for now. We still have a few days before our higher ups start to actually demand for us to force the info out of the kid, after all," reminded Hanji, with her recalling how, in private, Zachary had given Mikazuki an extra five days to prove his guilt or innocence. Mike nodded at this, with him suppressing a sigh all the while.

"Well, as long as nothing supernatural happens, he'll hopefully be proven innocent, and thereafter, he'll be able to keep Barbatos as a bonus," mused Hanji optimistically, and to that, Levi simply scoffed.

"You jinxed it. You fucking jinxed it, Four Eyes."

And to that, everyone present couldn't help but shudder as they hoped to god that she didn't.

Eleven days after the Stohess battle

Mikazuki was back up on his feet, and by all accounts, his strength had returned in full, something that was very much a relief to those that still cared for him.

Still though, the medic overseeing him couldn't help but frown as she watched the young man perform a series of pushups from inside his cell/room. The pilot had claimed to have regained his full strength yesterday, and though she did believe him to a certain extent, the young woman was still hesitant to allow him to perform any arduous work so soon after he had 'recovered'.

Did Mikazuki care? Well, take a guess.

Either way, the medic was impressed by Mikazuki's absurd amount of stamina, with her observing as he performed several more pushups in rapid succession. He didn't even seem winded, even after his seventieth rep; if anything, he just looked more motivated than ever to push himself onwards.

"He's still going…" muttered the medic absentmindedly as she tapped her pencil against her notepad, frowning at just how doggish the pilot was in regards to his determination, and to this, Lynne, who was standing beside her, chuckled lightly as she shook her head.

"If only you knew, kid. Mikazuki's ranked number two in the 104th Trainee Brigade for a reason," cackled Lynne with a grin, with her recalling how Keith had told her that, had Mikazuki done better in the written portion of his exam, the pilot would've been ranked number one, as, in regards to everything to do with physical strength, skill, instinct and mobility, Mika outclassed Mikasa in every conceivable manner.

"I see. Still though… it's a little remarkable, how strong the boy is," hummed the medic, prompting Lynne to roll her eyes as she continued watching on in silence, though not long after, the doc' lightly jabbed her in the ribs with her elbow before motioning towards Mikazuki's Alaya-Vijnana spines, something that caught her eye multiple times prior, though she never did have the time to ask about them until now. "But I must ask… what are those spines on his back?"

"Hmph, I'unno. Last I heard, they help him connect to Barbatos, like, y'know, help him to control it or something. Whatever they are, they're not much of a bother to me," stated Lynne, with her shrugging indifferently as she spoke. The medic nodded a little at this new piece of information, with her jotting it down onto her notepad all the while. "You don't think they're weird, do you?"

"Do you?" rebutted the medic, eliciting a snort from Lynne.

"Well, admittedly, I did at first, but I've grown past em. They're just things that happen to be on Mikazuki, and I won't let them affect how I view him as a person," mused Lynne with a smile. The medic nodded at this, with her finding what the older woman said to be rather admirable as she drummed the rear end of her pencil against her notepad thoughtfully, though right as she did so, the duo paused when they saw Mikazuki, after his hundred-plus rep of push ups, stand himself up and sit atop his bed, seemingly lost in thought all the while. Curious, the medic stepped forwards and spoke.

"Is something wrong, Mikazuki?" asked the doc' curiously, and to that, the pilot glanced her way with an unreadable expression and answered accordingly.

"Something bad's going to happen…" mumbled Mikazuki, with him staring at nothing in particular as he spoke. His words were just barely picked up by the two women in the same room as him, and upon hearing this, Lynne approached him and sat beside him curiously.

"Something bad… as in?" tried Lynne, to which Mikazuki shook his head.

"I… don't know. It's just a gut feeling," was all the pilot could say by then, with him almost scowling as his gut instincts told him that this… faux peace that and no doubt quite a few others were experiencing would come to an end soon. It would probably amount to nothing in the end, but even so…

"I see… well, regardless, if you've got anything you wanna get off your chest, just let me or the others know, alright? Squad Mike's gotcha back, no matter what," smiled Lynne lightly, to which the pilot glanced at her before nodding. In truth, he really did appreciate their support. Mike and his Team weren't perfect, no one could claim to be, but still, Augus has grown to accept them as reliable individuals.

"Yeah, thanks," hummed the pilot. His words were genuine, and Lynne had worked with him enough times to know this, and with a grin, she lightly nudged the pilot in the arm before standing up and stretching.

"Well, then, I guess I'll leave you to your exercising, hm?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me. I want to do some sit-ups."

"Oh?"

And for the next few hours, the medic, and Lynne to a lesser extent, could only marvel as Mikazuki performed several thousand reps of sit-ups without breaking a sweat.

Twelve days after the Stohess battle

Wall Rose

Rico felt a mixture of boredom, agitation and anger welling up inside her as she stood on guard duty alongside Ian and Mitabi. What were they guarding? Well… a Survey Corp base, of course!

Although the damages of the battle between Gundam and Titan were mostly relegated to the district of Stohess, there were still a few areas that had been damaged when Barbatos had traversed from Karanses to battle Annie, and because of this, most of the soldiers stationed in the Eastern wing of the Walls, namely the Garrison and Survey Corps, had moved in to help with the reconstruction efforts. It wasn't much; just a few damages done to the ground and a few to the buildings that were in the unit's way.

Still though, the Eastern wing soldiers were stretched thin, and the reconstruction efforts were being stretched incredibly thin, so much so that, even after more than a week after the mess was made, the damage had not been undone. The Elite trio were acutely aware of how their higher ups were diverting practically all their funds into the repair of Stohess, and it pissed them off to varying degrees.

Still though, regardless of her anger at the situation Rico didn't let it shine through as she uncapped a flask and took a powerful chug from it, hydrating herself to her absolute limits before she tossed the thoroughly emptied flask off to one side.

Ian watched on curiously as his teammate wiped at her lips in annoyance, scowling all the while. None of them were in particularly agreeable moods at the moment, but Brzenska's was a lot more obvious than the other two. Glancing towards Mitabi, the leader of the Garrison Elite Trio sent a silent question his way, only to be answered by a shrug, telling him that Jarnach knew as much as he did, and with a sigh, Dietrich cleared his throat, catching their friend's attention all the while.

"Hey, Rico, why don't you go for a walk or something? Mitabi and I can hold the fort down on our own," offered Ian with a smile, eliciting a raise of Rico's brow as she turned to face him curiously. Dietrich's expression remained genuine as he nodded at Brzenska, who sighed as she found the offer to be tempting.

"We were supposed to be keeping watch of this side of the base together, though," stated Rico, with her motioning towards the base in question as she spoke. It was a decently sized structure, out of the public's view and temporary home to a few individuals, most of which were recently graduated Trainees. The Elite Trio actually recognised a few of them by face, though that was besides the point.

"It's not like we need to keep watch for anything coming in, Rico. They probably just gave us this job after you mouthed off to the Pastor. No offense, it was cool, but they probably didn't like you doing that," mused Mitabi, earning himself a half-hearted glare from Rico as he spoke. Still though, his point still stood. "Just sayin'."

"Hmph. Fine, I'm headed to the closest village or something. It's a good hour's ride by horseback. You two need anything?" asked Rico, to which Ian chuckled, assuring her that he was fine, whilst Mitabi shrugged. They didn't really need anything from the village, so they just waved her off, prompting her to nod and depart on horseback. As she disappeared from view, the two Elites sighed and eyed one another uncertainly.

"Something's bugging her… it's that kid, isn't it? Mikazuki-something?" mused Mitabi, to which Ian nodded.

"Yeah, she still feels as though she owes the kid something, especially after the Trost incident. Honestly, I feel the same too. Kid's helped us a lot, and all we can do now, when he needs our help, is stand around and suck our thumbs, and I hate that," groaned Ian. Mitabi winced at his leader's words, though he couldn't bring himself to go against them.

"The best we can do is make sure that his friends get out safely, Ian. I interviewed a few of the kids when we got here; quite a few of them were worried for Mikazuki. Probably his friends or something," assured Mitabi, with him trying to lift his friend's spirits by pulling his mind onto another matter. To this, the Elite shuffled over to a window and peered in, where he saw a few young soldiers conversing with one another within the base's canteen. In truth, it reminded him of himself and the soldiers he had trained with back in his early days.

He missed those days… the days where things made sense. Now they had giant robots and a kid with three spikes on his spine, and Ian felt as though his lifespan was cut in half thanks to all this nonsense!

"Yeah, let's just focus on doing what we can right now, I guess," smiled Ian as he stepped away from the window to avoid making the juniors within uncomfortable and turned back towards Mitabi, who grinned as he punched his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"There's the spirit. Now then, you wanna arm wrestle?"

"Mitabi, we've established that you're stronger than I am."

"That was two weeks ago! C'mon, maybe you've improved!"

"Bah! Fine; winner gets the loser's rations for the day, deal?"

"Hah! Deal!"

And in an instant, the duo went along with their arm wrestling competition, oblivious to how… terrible things were going to get in a matter of hours.

Some time later

In all due fairness to Ian and Mitabi, Rico reckoned that their suggestion to go for a walk was doing quite a bit of good for her.

The small village that she was hustling through was rather quaint, which wasn't much of a surprise. It was one of the many isolated regions within Rose, housing several civilians that one could consider to be hermits in one way or another. They strayed away from the Walls to be left to their own devices, away from the prying eyes of the Military, and though she didn't get why they wished to stray away from the protection of the Garrison or Survey Corps at first, the platinum blonde haired woman found herself slowly but surely understanding as the days went by.

The past few days proved to her that the Military Brigades, be it intentional or not, cared little for those living outside of Sina. All of their funding had went almost directly to rebuilding the innermost regions of the Walls, and whilst Stohess, the last she saw of it, was mostly rebuilt by now, the minor-in-comparison damages done to Karanses and Rose were still a work in progress, something that pissed Rico off, to say the least.

Right as she thought that, the bespectacled soldier paused her walking and glanced off to the side, where she saw that the grass had been parted when an unspeakable force had boosted over them. Barbatos had no doubt been through here when it had gone roaring into Sina, Rico surmised, and right as she did so, a civilian waltzed up to her and stood a few feet away from her warily.

"It came through here, you know? That… thing," hummed the civilian, with him sounding somewhat agitated as he spoke. To this, the Garrison soldier simply glanced his way as she adjusted the Maneuver Gear she had on her person; the guy had caught her off guard, a surprise to say the least, and on instinct, a hand had gone up to the hilt of her blade, though she was quick to lower is as she sighed.

"The signs are rather obvious. Things are bound to get messy when something as powerful as Barbatos even passes by," muttered Rico, with her eyes darting towards the civilian as she spoke. Said civilian seemed perplexed by what he had heard, however, and it took her a moment to realize that she might have said a bit too much.

"So it has a name… Barbatos," muttered the civilian as he rubbed his chin, and rather slowly, he smiled a little as he processed that name. Rico didn't know what to make of this as she simply observed him in silence, though not long after, he continued. "It is… nice, to finally be able to put a name to that thing."

"You don't sound like you're afraid of it," observed Rico, with her seeming curious as to why the man sounded so casual about all this, to which he chuckled lightly.

"Well, it did save my life a few years back, so I kind of owe it a lot," stated the man, and when Rico did a double take at his words, he chuckled and continued. "I was from Shiganshina, need I say more? That damn thing… Barbatos… it literally saved me from getting eaten by those Titans, right as I was being shoved into one's mouth. Without it, I wouldn't even be here right now."

"I… I see. I knew that the kid saved a few lives back then, but I never thought that I'd meet someone that he's actually rescued, intentionally or not," mused Rico. The man raised a brow at the woman's use of the word kid, though he thought nothing much of it as he smiled lightly.

"Well, either way, I hope that thing's doing alright. Last I heard, it was with the Survey Corps, isn't it?" continued the soldier. Rico gulped a little at this, with her not having the heart to tell this man what was going on with the Gundam, and with some guilt, she nodded.

"Yes. It is. There have been some complications regarding its current dilemma, but even so… it's still alive, if that's what you're wondering," said Rico, with her having to force out the word alive as she was aware of how that thing was never a living thing to begin with, but that aside, after processing her words, the civilian nodded in appreciation before he scratched the back of her neck.

"Alright… alright. Thanks for telling me, miss," smiled the civilian, and after Rico offered him a nod as a response, he left, leaving her to her own devices all the while.

'I never thought I'd meet someone that was actually saved by him,' thought Rico as she watched the civilian leave. Sure, she had met a few other soldiers that had their lives spared from the cold embrace of death, all thanks to the pilot and his unit, but to meet a civilian that had been rescued by him? That was something that had never happened, not until now, and by all means, there was something rather… nice about meeting one.

It reminded her that keeping that pilot safe was a smart move, as without him, a life would've been lost five years ago. Lives were precious to her, and she wished to preserve as many of them as humanly possible, a goal that was easier to attain if Barbatos remained operational. Losing such a powerful, life-saving asset was not an option to her… but alas, such was not the case for her higher ups, it would seem… and it saddened her that they wished to wreck it, even in its damaged state.

'Bloody fools,' groaned Rico thoughtfully as she removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. Great… this little moment of respite was meant to ease her stress, not add onto it! She needed to get her mind off this issue, pronto!

In an awkward bid to do just that, Rico, without her glasses, glanced around the village she was in lazily. Her eyes went from a few kids playing around with sticks to an elderly couple just enjoying tea. At one point, she saw a drunk bubbling around with a friend of his, telling him how much he loved him, something that almost made her smile, and at another, she saw Nac Tias, with his Maneuver Gear strapped to his hips, staring right back at her whilst walking down the streets of the village with a woman by his side, only to pause when he saw her. Another glance to the side allowed her to-

Hang on…

Turning back towards the previous individual, the Elite Garrison put her glasses back on, only to see that Nac Tias was still there and was, in fact, not a figment of her imagination. Baffled, Brzenska walked over to him and that woman he had by his side, seeming curious all the while, and as she got closer, Nac saluted her stiffly, earning him a light giggle from the lady with him, much to his embarrassment.

"Captain Rico, I didn't expect to see you here…" admitted Nac earnestly, to which Rico nodded lightly, with her motioning for her junior to be at ease. Admittedly, Brzenska knew very little of Tias, but she was aware of how he was one of Mikazuki's closest friends, which said a lot about him, seeing as how reclusive the pilot tended to be, and evidently enough, the much taller young man was aware of who she was as well, not that it was much of a surprise, considering how she was an Elite, and Elites tended to be put under the limelight, whether they liked it or not.

"At ease, kid. I'm just here on break at the moment," stated Rico, with her glancing between him and the woman as she spoke. "If anything, I'm more surprised that you're here to begin with. Weren't you given a few days of leave?"

"Ah, well… I have my reasons for being back in uniform, ma'am," stated Nac awkwardly, and at that, Rico nodded, with her glancing past him and over at the woman behind him. Noticing this, Tias attempted to use his taller frame to hide her from view, if only to delay the inevitable interrogation that Brzenska would inflict upon her, not that it really helped, of course, as the platinum blonde haired woman asked about her almost immediately.

"I see. And what of the woman behind you? Is she a lover, by any chance?" mused Rico, with her smiling just a bit as she watched Nac splutter and wave his arms around in a panic. Behind her, however, the woman appeared more appalled than anything as she lightly brushed Nac behind her, surprising the soldier with just how much authority the woman had over the soldier. It was almost as though she was his-

"I apologise, but there seems to be a misunderstanding. I am Martha Carolina, parent to Nac Tias, Annie Leonhardt and Mikazuki Augus," introduced Ms Carolina… nay, Martha Carolina, as she curtsied a now shocked Rico with a soft smile. She… was not expecting this, and her surprise was very much apparent to both Carolina and Tias, who eyed her worriedly until she recovered.

"I… I'm sorry, I… you're Mikazuki Augus' mother?" muttered Rico, and when Martha nodded, she gave her a quick once over… and then a twice over… and then a thrice over, seeming to not believe her ears all the while, though neither mother nor son could really blame her, as putting a face to someone that raised Mikazuki, however briefly, felt rather impossible.

Brzenska had never thought of just who could've been responsible for raising Augus until now, and to learn that his single parent was a relatively normal looking woman… well, it was a bit of a shock, to say the least.

"I… I apologise for the staring. I'm just shocked is all," muttered Rico apologetically, eliciting a nod of understanding from Martha all the while.

"I can understand. After all, I don't think anyone would expect me to be the mother of Barbatos' pilot," giggled Mrs Carolina as she hid her mouth behind her hand, and as she said that, Rico took a moment to process her words, and moments later, something in her broke like a lightbulb before she turned towards Nac indignantly. Tias, to his credit, had enough decency to look sheepish, even as Brzenska leveled her glare onto him, and after some time, she moved to drag him off to a secluded alley for a stern talking to.

"Pardon me, I need to have a word with your son," stated Rico politely as she grabbed ahold of Nac's earlobe and pulled him to the aforementioned ally. Martha was, somewhat rightfully, worried by the gesture, though she was put (somewhat) at ease when Nac motioned to her that he'd be alright, and once they were out of sight, Brzenska released Tias' earlobe and shot him a mean glare. "Alright, kid, I know you're smart. If it wasn't for your abysmal hand-to-hand skills, you'd be in the Top Ten through brains alone."

"Oh, uh, tha-"

"So, why did you do something so idiotic, like, I don't fucking know, tell a civilian about something this confidential!" whisper-shouted Rico, with her eyes blazing with annoyance as she did so. Nac flinched at her tone, though he supposed that he deserved it. Although Barbatos, on its own, was very much a public secret at this point, the identity of the one controlling it was still under wraps. "I understand that she's your mum, but-"

"Rico… that's exactly why! She's my… she's our mum! Ms Carolina may be a civilian, but she's taken care of me for as long as I can remember, and she loves every one of us! She, more so than anyone, deserves to know the truth behind Mika, among other things, so I told her!" rebutted Nac, sounding incredibly defensive as he spoke. To this, the Elite flinched as Nac's usually polite nature crumbled in favour of a more defensive mask, but before long, a small amount of guilt seemed to wash over him as he took a step back. "I… I'm sorry. It's just that… my mum's been out of the loop for at least a year. She deserves to know, especially now, so that's why I told her, alright?"

"... I understand why you did it, but you should have her keep her knowledge of Mikazuki's true nature to herself for now. Not everyone's a fan of either him or his Gundam, and if word gets out that she raised him, there's no telling what the general public's reaction will be. Not to mention that if our higher ups find out, they definitely won't be happy," grumbled Rico. Nac shuddered a little at this, with him acknowledging the risk he took just by telling his mum here, though he didn't think twice before nodding. "Alright, good. At least you know what you're doing. Now, my next question is why is she even here?"

"She… wants to see Mina and Mika, I guess?"

And upon processing that response, Rico found herself requiring every ounce of willpower residing within her to not tear some of her hair out and shove the strands down her junior's throat.

"I… I don't even… how do you even intend on getting her past security, kid? And for that matter, you don't even know where they're being held! I don't even know where they're being held! How on Earth are you even gonna pull this off?!" protested Rico, with her shouting out at this point as she felt her stress bubbling up, and at that, Nac grumbled and pulled at his hair in anger that matched Brzenska's in full.

"I don't know! I… I don't fucking know!" proclaimed Nac, with him acknowledging how the act of bringing his mum in was an emotional decision rather than a logical one. Rico was surprised to hear the kid yell, though considering how he looked just as stressed, if not more so, than she was, she supposed that it was inevitable… "I just… mum insisted… she wanted to see her other kids again, and she wants to see Annie… she was so worried for all of them and I couldn't tell her anything about anything, so… so I was just banking on the possibility of Mike at least letting us see Mina or something. Use the family connection to worm our way around security protocol!"

'That won't work,' thought Rico as she acknowledged the desperation in Nac's voice, though she couldn't bring herself to vocalise that thought. She couldn't blame him for his mood, honestly, as she could understand where his anxiety came from. The young soldier was, if the reports had anything to say about it, obscenely caring for those that were his friends, and him not seeing either for practically two weeks was bound to set him on edge, something reflected in just how frantic the young man looked at this point.

"I see… look, I'm not gonna stop you from doing whatever it is you wanna do, but still, this is incredibly reckless of you," huffed Rico, eliciting a wince from Nac as he opened his mouth to defend himself, only for Brzenska to hold a hand up to stay him. "But… I suppose that's what makes you a Survey Corp. You leap before you look and punch before you speak. You lot were always the type to move forwards, even if your brains told you otherwise."

"Running away gets you one, but moving forward gets you two…" muttered Nac softly, just barely audible to Rico, who scoffed as she motioned for him to follow him out of the alley, and as they did so, the Elite smirked.

"Heh, you got that right, punk. Now c'mon, you won't be able to get your way past the Rose gates and into Sina without my help. The Stohess gates are very much under lockdown after your friend slammed his Gundam straight through it, so you'll need special clearance to get in, which is where I come in," mused Rico with a small smile, surprising Nac as he followed her.

"You're… helping us? Why?" asked Nac curiously, to which the Elite shrugged.

"I still feel as though I owe your friend for not just ending the Trost debacle, but also for saving the lives of my friends. This is the least I can do for him, to help a friend of his get past security," responded Rico with a huff, prompting Nac to gape a tiny bit at her willingness to help.

"You… really respect Mika, don't you?" muttered Nac, surprised, to which Rico rolled her eyes.

"Anyone with a brain oughta respect the kid. He's a beacon of hope to most of those living outside of Sina, both him and that Eren brat, and by all accounts, he's our best shot at winning against the Titans," stated Rico matter-of-factly. "I'm vaguely aware of how some people in Trost are big fans of it, but still… even if we ignore everything the Gundam now stands for and has done, Mikazuki himself has done a lot to help us soldiers on the field. Again, helping a family member of his is the least we can do in return."

"... thank you, ma'am."

"Just Rico will do, kid. Calling me ma'am makes me feel old."

"Alright then, Rico. So, what now?"

"Now, you're going to get a horse and follow me to the gates of Stohess. From there, we-"

And from there, things went south incredibly quickly.

Fourty five-ish minutes later, within Sina

Haymaker from the left, blocked with relative ease.

Jab to the ribs from the right, dodged with a simple shift of his torso.

Attempted sweep of his legs, evaded with a simple raise of his left foot.

A rising knee aimed at his chest, blocked when he brought his elbow down to meet the rising attack with one of his own.

"YOUCH!"

Right as Mikazuki's elbow impacted Gelgar's kneecap, the Elite grabbed at his now bruised joint and bounced comically backwards, giving the pilot enough time to bolt in and sweep his other leg out from beneath him. The pompadour haired man landed face first on the ground with an unceremonious thud, and before he could recover, the pilot got on top of him, with him planting his knee atop the Elite's back and placing his hand atop the back of his head.

There was no tension applied onto either Gelgar's spine or skull, though everyone witnessing this little fight could tell that, if he really wanted to, Mikazuki could apply enough pressure to break his spine if he so chose to.

"Your move," deadpanned Mikazuki as he kept Gelgar pinned down, and after a few moments of silence to judge the younger soldier's sincerity, the Elite sighed and waved his hands in defeat.

"I yield," mumbled Gelgar, sounding more depressed than anyone was used to, to which the pilot hummed and got off him. With a groan, the Elite turned around and moved into a sitting position, with Mikazuki offering him a hand to get back up to his feet. The older soldier chuckled at this and accepted it, only to be caught off guard when the younger one yanked him back up to his feet with such force that he went airborne for the briefest of moments. "Jeez, kid. It wasn't enough that you beat my ass, you also had to do that too, huh?"

"Think of it as some extra motivation to improve in hand-to-hand combat, Gelgar," teased Lynne from the sidelines, with her grinning as she acknowledged her fellow Elite's skill in Maneuver Gear combat, though his abilities when it came to actual Hand-To-Hand combat was lacking. Beside her, the other members of Squad Mike, barring their namesake, offered varying forms of agreement with the woman, much to Gelgar's dismay.

"Can it! I almost had him!" grumbled Gelgar, to which the medic shrugged.

"You said that thirty minutes ago… when he beat you down for the third time today," reminded the medic, prompting Gelgar to point at her with a jeerful scowl.

"SHUT IT!" proclaimed Gelgar indignantly as the other Elites chuckled lightly, with Henning offering a snort or two all the while. This whole situation was somewhat comical, and it had started just a day prior.

When Mikazuki had regained his strength in full, or at least most of it, the pilot had asked to spar against a few of the Elites to make sure that he hadn't lost his edge after spending so long in a coma. The Elites were hesitant at first, but they complied regardless, with Lynne stepping in to take it easy on Augus first and foremost.

She soon found out that taking it easy against Mikazuki was a one way trip to having her back against the ground and with the pilot pinning her down, and from then on, none of them held anything back against him, and for good reason. Mika was a brilliant CQC combatant, in spite of his recent recovery and small stature, with only Nanaba being able to properly fight against him due to their roughly equal footing in regards to height and how her speed could just barely match his, but when it came to every sparring match they had against one another from the first match up till now, Mikazuki had taken home all of the victories, though there were a few brawls that were narrowly won on his part.

Did Mike know about this? Well, he did walk in on Mikazuki holding Henning in a headlock, and when he did, he chose to backpedal out of there as quietly as possible, ignoring how his teammates were cheering Mika on all the while. He was a little too tired to deal with this right now, and as for the MPB guards that were assigned by Erwin personally to keep an eye on Augus' room/cell, well… they kinda gave up on stopping the sparring after the second attempt and just started placing bets on who would win.

The one that betted on Mikazuki won quite a lot, though that was besides the point.

In the middle of the laughter shared between the Elites, and the short moment of respite that Mikazuki got as he took a moment to sit down and rest, however the door to the room/cell suddenly swung open, with said door slamming against the wall beside it all the while. Its hinges groaned in pain as the newcomer barged in without hesitation, and though the soldiers were put on guard by this at first, they quickly saluted when they saw that the one that had entered was none other than…

"Captain Mike?! What's the problem, sir?!" proclaimed Nanaba as the other soldiers saluted their superior, with Mikazuki glancing his way all the while, and without another word, the Elite Captain grimaced and spoke his piece.

"Titans have been spotted within the confines of Rose. We are being invaded now, as we speak."

And to say that the dread that poured over every one of the soldiers present was chilling… would be quite an understatement, with even Mikazuki's usually deadpanned demeanor faltering as his eyes widened in shock.

This… was not going to end well…

:)