"Hahaha… ah… Titans have invaded Rose… ah… you're funny, Mike, you know that? A real jokester, you…"

"..."

"Hahaha…"

"..."

"Haha… ah…"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"You're not joking, huh…?"

"Do I look or sound like I'm joking, Gelgar?"

"... fuck…"

And, for as crude as Gelgar's comment was, the other members of Squad Mike couldn't resist agreeing with him on the matter as they all stared over at their Captain incredulously. Their eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as they stared over at their superior in a panicked state of stupor, and out of all of them, the only one present that didn't seem to be all that concerned, outwardly at least, was Mikazuki himself, though then again, it was always difficult to get a good read on that guy, even on a good day.

"H-How is that even possible…?" muttered Henning, with his panic being very much obvious as he grabbed at his hair and began to pull. "There was no indication of a breach, and even if there was, we would've known ahead of time, considering how those Titan changer bastards are the only ones we know of that can cause one, and whenever they appear, they appear in some sorta thunderstorm or some shit! How'd those Titans even get in here in the first place?!"

"Calm yourself, Henning. There must be a logical explanation behind this sudden occurrence… captain, sir… may we please have more details on the situation? How were the Titans even able to get in in the first place, and what is our plan to repel this invasion?" asked Lynne, with her still silently hoping for this to be some sort of elaborate prank from the higher ups as she spoke, though much to her dismay, Mike's vision was quick to darken before he exhaled heavily and gave his response.

"The reports in regards to the Titan invasion are fragmented and… unreliable at best, but based on what we do know, Titans simply… appeared within the eastern wing of Rose without warning," began Mike, with him crossing his arms stoically as he spoke. His men, plus Mikazuki, all seemed taken aback by this, and for good reason, as…

"Titans don't just appear out of nowhere, though… there has to be a breach somewhere," muttered Tomas, to which Mike nodded in agreement. "Even if it wasn't made by a Titan Shifter…"

"Regardless of whether or not there was a breach, the reports state that multiple spots in Rose are currently under siege by an unknown amount of Titans, and that is enough for us to take up arms and retaliate," stated Mike firmly, and as he said this, the soldiers that were under his command all stepped forwards and saluted their Captain rigidly, with them showing that they were willing to go along with whatever his plan was with this simple gesture all the while.

"We're all ready and willing to do what we can to repel the Titans, sir! Just give us the order, and we'll mobilize at your command!" stated Nanaba, with her being more than willing to lay down her life as she saluted her superior with gusto, and as she did so, Mike looked between his five soldiers and nodded in approval; they were all good men and women, and they had his respect, more so than anything, though before he could say much more, however, the final person in the room, Mikazuki Augus, surprised everyone, himself included, with what he did next.

Getting up to his feet, Mikazuki sighed softly before he too saluted Mike with a rigid stance, with his unexpected salute having caught the Captain off guard, but even so, it didn't take long for the various members of his Team to get what the boy was getting at with this gesture, and as if to dispel any and all doubts, Augus confirmed it to them all.

"I'm willing to help, regardless of if I get to use Barbatos or not," stated Mikazuki bluntly, with him staring over towards Mike with a look of utter neutrality as he spoke. Hearing this caught the Captain off guard, and for good reason, seeing as how very few were willing to throw themselves to the Titans, regardless of how righteous they were, but even so, Zacharius was quick to get over his initial bout of surprise, something that couldn't be said for the rest of his team as they continued to stare over at Mika in shock, before he responded.

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way, Mikazuki Augus," stated Mike, with him almost smiling as he said this. Mikazuki didn't react to that comment as he watched his superior reach into his jacket, and moments later, he pulled out a letter with an official Military Tribunal stamp on its surface. To Augus, it didn't mean jack shit, but to the other members of Squad Mike… it held quite a lot of significance. "We were hoping to have you join us on the battlefield regardless. We've already got approval from Brigade Premier Zachary to absolve you of your suspected crimes until we are able to push back the invading force of Titans."

"..."

A pause, with all of the soldiers present staring over at Mike, dumbfounded, as they tried to process what they had just heard, with the MPB guards all doing the same as they peered into the cell with their eyes widened in disbelief. None of them could believe what they had just heard… but even so, after a few minutes of silence, the pilot took a step forward and looked Zacharius squarely in the eyes… before speaking his mind.

"Why?" asked Mikazuki, with him sounding genuinely curious as he spoke, and without requiring an elaboration, the Elite Captain shook his head before answering… sort of.

"There's no time to go into details, but when we were first informed of the Titan invasion of Rose, myself, Levi, Hanji and Erwin were in a meeting with the other Commanders and Zachary himself in regards to what we were to do with you, Mikazuki Augus. Your fate is still very much undecided as of now, after all," explained Mike stoically. If he was worried by this, the pilot certainly didn't show it… "The letter came in the middle of the meeting, and after realizing that this situation had the potential to get out of hand incredibly quickly if not resolved in an orderly manner, we could potentially lose all of Rose within a matter of hours to the invading Titans, and as such… Erwin proposed something."

"Let Mikazuki join the battle with his Gundam?" tried Gelgar, to which Mike nodded.

"Correct. Not just him, but Eren as well," amended Mike, with him recalling how Erwin had argued for both Titan Shifter and Gundam Pilot to be a part of the perimeter defense against the invading Titan forces. It wasn't an easy argument to make, but considering the severity of this whole situation, Zachary had folded rather quickly and issued his approval towards the Commander's request. Allowing Eren to join the frontlines wasn't much of an issue, though as for Mikazuki, a written note was required with his official stamp of approval, and with that given, all that was left to do was to get both of them out onto the field. "Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Jean Kirstein and Mikasa Ackerman will be working with Levi and his Team to lock down the area around Stohess and towards the northern wing of Rose. For whatever reason, the Titans seem to be keen on targeting Stohess specifically."

"It's likely because of the high number of civilians and soldiers around the area. Titans are known to be attracted to that sorta stuff, after all, even if the temperature doesn't exactly agree with them," posited Tomas, eliciting a nod from Mike.

"That much is likely, though that is besides the point. Mikazuki, alongside Barbatos, will be joining us in actively hunting down the Titans that are roaming around Rose, specifically the east and southern wings," continued Mike, with him surprising his men with the fact that they were taking on a more aggressive role in this whole conflict. Still though, it did make sense, especially when one considered who they had on the team. "The entire District of Stohess is on high alert, and all the Civilians are being evacuated into Sina as we speak, and the MPB and Garrison are both working overtime to get their cannons shifted up to defend the damaged gate of the District. We won't have to worry about the Titans that get too close, considering how heavily defended the district is in general, so we're free to move on ahead and take the fight to our enemies rather than face them head-on for a change."

"Sounds like a plan to me, sir! Let's get a move on already!" proclaimed Henning, only to be halted by Lynne as she grabbed onto the collar of his shirt before he could leave the room. "Huh…?"

"Before we depart, however, I would like you," began Mike, with him pointing towards Lynne as he spoke. "To lead Mikazuki to the armoury. Have him geared up before bringing him to Barbatos' holding site. I do not doubt the capabilities of your Gundam, but in its current state, I find that it is best to be safer than sorry."

"Got it," hummed Mikazuki, with him glancing up at Lynne, who gave him the peace sign, before Mike continued.

"The rest of you will follow me. We are going to the holding site ahead of time to inform the guards of this change. Better to tell them sooner rather than later," finished Mike, with him motioning for his team to mobilize all the while. "I take it that there is nothing more that needs to be said, correct? You all understand what we must do?"

"Yes sir!" responded everyone, barring Mikazuki, as Lynne made the first move. She grabbed hold of Mikazuki, slung him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and made a beeline for the armoury. Her haste was commendable, with her leaving behind a Lynne + Mikazuki shaped smoke cloud with her departure, and as she left, Mike and the rest of his team departed soon thereafter, with them showing the guards the letter of leniency from Zachary all the while.

Said guards let them off the hook without much issue; it wasn't as if any of them wanted any smoke with Mike, after all!

"Sir," began Nanaba after they had absconded from the cell, and as she spoke, Mike turned towards her and offered her a light nod of his head, granting her permission to speak, which she used with gusto. "What're the odds of us making it out of this in one piece?"

"Relatively low. The last time we repelled a Titan invasion, in spite of the low amount of casualties, we still suffered a tremendous loss in our ranks, and even with Barbatos on our team, I wouldn't put it past the Titans to somehow be able to work around it and get to us, one way or another," stated Mike, to which Gelger cringed at the thought whilst Henning shook his head in dismay.

"A dismal thought to have, but let's not dwell on it for too long, yeah? We oughta just get to that holding site before Lynne and Mikazuki do," suggested Tomas with a small smile, and to that, Gelgar grinned and nodded, with him picking up the pace all the while.

"Race you guys there?" challenged Gelgar, and ultimately, against Mike's wishes, they ended up sprinting to the horse stables, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Zacharius was the one that had won.

He was their Captain for a reason, after all!

Watching Mikazuki equip whatever gear he needed was, honestly, a bit of a treat. Lynne was very much impressed with just how quickly he was getting himself kitted out, with him strapping the various harnesses onto his person with minimal difficulty.

Within minutes, he had all the harnesses equipped onto his person and the Survey Corp jacket worn around his body, and truth be told, Lynn couldn't resist a small, impressed whistle as she watched him move on to grab ahold of the Maneuver Gear.

"Not bad… you're not wasting much time on anything, hm?" chuckled Lynne as she watched Mikazuki methodically slide a spare Anti-Titan blade into one of its sheaths. In response to her comment, Mika simply grunted.

"There's no point in wasting time in the first place," stated Mikazuki, eliciting a shrug from Lynne as she silently agreed with that statement, and moments later, the boy paused briefly as he sheathed the last blade into the Maneuver Gear sheath and moved to attach it onto his hips. He managed to get them on in record time, and once that was over and done with, he sauntered up to Lynne and motioned for her to lead him to the stables, something that she did with gusto.

Along the way, however, Lynne did take stock of how Mikazuki was fidgeting a lot more than he usually would. Sue her, but she had been with this kid for long enough to notice some of the physical ticks that he was plagued with; although subtle, Mika tended to twitch a little more than usual when in a bad mood, and he had a bad tendency to flex his fingers when agitated, and he was doing both right now.

"Something on your mind, kid?" asked Lynne as both she and Mikazuki sprinted to the stables, with the boy not looking the tiniest bit winded as he ran. Lynne herself couldn't resist feeling somewhat inadequate, honestly, as it seemed as though the boy was running at a slower pace just to let her keep up with him, though she spoke nothing of this as Mikazuki frowned.

"Nac was in Rose, last I heard… he… could be in trouble if he stays there," muttered Mikazuki, with some concern being audible in his voice as he spoke. This surprised Lynne at first, but even so, the woman was quick to remember that Nac, alongside one, possibly two, other individuals meant the world to Mika, so this level of concern was probably to be expected, really…

"Nac… might not be the best soldier out there, but he's no slouch either. Put some faith in his skills, kid," advised Lynne as they stopped in front of the stable doors. Mikazuki shoved the doors open, spooking a soldier that was behind them initially, though they paid him no mind as they moved on to saddle up a stallion. They would have made use of one horse each, but time constraints made Lynne decide to just use one. Mikazuki was small enough to share the horse with her, after all.

"I know. Nac's strong in his own way, but it doesn't stop me from worrying," admitted Mikazuki bluntly, and for all it was worth, Lynne could sympathize with him on that front. She couldn't remember how many times Squad Mike had been separated in the past, and how worried she had gotten over her fellow Elites following their separation. She harkened the pilot's concern over his fellow 104th Graduates to what she felt all those times, and truth be told… it wasn't pleasant. "What about… Mina, though?"

"Hm? What about her?" asked Lynne for clarification as she hopped onto the top of her horse, to which Mikazuki huffed.

"She… is she still incarcerated?" clarified Mikazuki, with him hopping up behind Lynne as he said this, and as he got settled in, Lynne flinched as she responded.

"Yes… she is," confirmed Lynne, and for the briefest of moments, she had expected Mikazuki to respond with some anger as she got her horse to ride onwards, though much to her surprise and relief, he seemed to relax a little at this notion. "You… don't seem too upset about this…"

"... I'm… relieved to know she won't be in danger," was all Mikazuki said on the matter, with Lynne flinching at his words as she glanced back at him. It didn't take an expert to know that he was remorseful over her current situation, but even so…

"Mina chose to jump into the cockpit with you, Mikazuki… you shouldn't hog all the blame onto yourself," assured Lynne, with her glancing back at her junior as she spoke. Her response was a short bout of silence as she rode on with her passanger behind her, and after half a minute of quiet, she opened her mouth to speak, only for Mika to cut her off with a frown.

"Just ride. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

And to that… Lynne simply rode them on in silence.

Nac Tias never did consider himself to be a good fighter, but even so… when faced with a crisis, the human body tended to go into an overdrive state by virtue of an adrenaline rush, and right now, the rush that he was feeling served him well.

Swinging through the air like a rabid bird of prey, Nac grimaced as he weaved through the grasp of several Titans that were stomping around the village. Said village was still being evacuated as they held the Titans back, and due to its rural location, far from any proper military outposts, there were no soldiers stationed here, none barring himself and Rico Brzenska, forcing them to fend for themselves and the civilians without aid.

Thankfully enough, however, the Titans invading this small village were not particularly numerous. There were only five in total, with none of them being Abnormals, thankfully enough, and for all it was worth, Nac Tias and Rico Brzenska were able to hold them back whilst the civilians evacuated rather effectively.

By now, the last of the civilians had evacuated via a horse-drawn cart, which allowed the two soldiers to focus on the Titans without compromise.

"HAAAA!"

With reckless abandon, Nac swung in and swung his blades at the elbow of a Twelve metre Titan, with him swinging with enough force to sever a major tendon in its joint. As the limb dangled uselessly by its side, distracting it briefly as it glanced down to stare at its now limp arm, Rico was given more than enough time to swing in and slash at its nape, downing it in an instant.

Seeing this made Nac grin as they took down one of the five Titans present, though in his satisfaction, he wasn't able to take note of a Fifteen metre swinging its arm towards him until he was caught by it. Gasping when that happened, Tias began struggling as he was brought up towards its face, though before anything could escalate, Rico swung in and boosted past the Titan's face, with her slashing at its eyes and blinding it in the process.

Upon being blinded, the Fifteen metre swung its arms to its side in apparent surprise, with it in turn throwing Nac to one side all the while, before bringing both hands up to its face on instinct. In this state, it left itself vulnerable to an attack from Rico, who circled around and swung her blades at its nape, killing it instantly.

Meanwhile, Nac, be it fortunately or unfortunately, found himself being thrown through the window of the nearest building, with him rolling to a stop inside of the building moments later. Landing within the second floor of the house, Nac groaned softly as he got up… only to glance up to see a Ten metre Titan peering in at him through the window he was thrown through, and within an instant, Tias shrieked (and incredibly girly shriek that he'd never tell anyone about) as its hand came crashing into the room, demolishing the window in the process.

On instinct, Nac rushed out of the room, with him closing the door behind him in the process for whatever reason, as the Ten metre's hand drew closer to him, and once out in the hallway of the building, he made a mad dash for the other end of the hall. The Titan's hand burst out of the door he had shut moments later, with it demolishing it like it was nothing, before it pursued Nac, carving a crevasse through the building all the while.

With his heart pumping and his legs carrying him through the hallway of the soon-to-be demolished building, Nac, as he got close to the end of the hall and gulped before he jumped and slammed his body straight into the wooden wall in front of him, and thanks to his built up momentum and the flimsy wood that the wall was made from in the first place, Tias was able to break straight through it, and as he did so, he swung his arms around in the air momentarily as he remembered that he had quite literally just jumped off the second floor of a building, only to swiftly recover from this stupor as he activated his Maneuver Gear, allowing him to swing away to safety.

Seconds later, the Ten metre's hand swung out of the building, practically cutting it in half with that gesture, as it grasped at where Nac used to be, and as it pulled its hand back to see if it had caught him, Tias circled around it before zeroing in on the back of its nape. Narrowing his eyes, the man fired both of his anchors towards the Titan's back before reeling himself in, and once he was close enough, he slashed at its nape. The strike wasn't all that much, but it was still strong enough to kill it, as evident by how it had gone limp before falling face first onto the building it had demolished. Nac himself landed on the ground in a stumble, with him sighing in relief all the while.

Whilst that happened, Rico brought down another Titan, a Seven metre, without much hassle before she swung in to check on Nac, who grinned awkwardly at her as he offered her a wave of his hand. Byzenska responded to that gesture with a nod of her head, though moments later, she did wonder about something…

"That's odd… I could've sworn that there was one more Titan here…" muttered Rico, with Nac blinking as he acknowledged how they had eliminated four Titans when there were five initially. Where could that fifth one-

And then it hit them, with both Rico and Nac widening their eyes in horror as, in near perfect sync, they yelled out what was on their minds.

"THE CIVILIANS!"

Martha Carolina wasn't exactly a stranger to Titan invasions, seeing as how her home district had been the second one to be invaded, but even so, she had been one of the first few to be evacuated at the time, and as such, she hadn't bore witness to the Titan threat up close and personal.

Now, however, the woman was faced with a Titan… one that was pursuing the small cart of civilians in a sprint. Said Titan was about Eight metres tall, with a doofy expression on its face and its stout legs carrying it closer and closer to the cart the Carolina matriarch was sitting atop with each passing second. Its haunted expression horrified those with Martha as it drew near, and for the briefest of moments, they thought that it would get them in no time.

That being said, however, the Titan's charge was suddenly halted when, from behind, Nac Tias swung in like a man possessed, and with a yell, he swung his blades at it. The strike was aimed at the Titan's nape, no doubt, though somewhat unfortunately, the Eight metre seemed to be more aware of its surroundings as it whirled around and caught Tias before he could land his strike on it, with the sudden stop of his momentum causing the air to be knocked out of his lungs as he wheezed in pain.

"NAC!" shrieked Martha as she watched her adoptive son be grabbed by the Titan, with her lurching out the back of the cart as she instinctively tried to help him, though she was held back by the other civilians as this happened. She struggled against them briefly as her maternal instincts kicked into overdrive, though thankfully enough, before anything could escalate, Rico swung in after Tias and slashed at the distracted Titan's wrist, severing a major tendon and forcing it to drop her junior. Relief flooded Carolina as she watched her kid swing to safety, though he didn't look all that well as he pulled a Flare Gun out from inside his jacket and took aim with it.

Whatever was loaded in the gun didn't exactly matter, as Nac was able to fire its content into the ear of the Titan, where it lodged itself inside it briefly before exploding into a cloud of smoke. The Titan raised its arm up to scratch at its ear in discomfort, though as it did so, it opened itself up to a strike from the back, courtesy of Rico, who circled around it and slashed at its nape with minimal recourse. Thereafter, the Titan fell forwards, just a few feet shy of landing atop Nac's body, with Rico standing atop the back of its neck as it collapsed.

"Nice shot, Nac," praised Rico as she jumped off the back of the dissolving Titan's neck and held a hand out to get Nac back onto his feet, and as he did so, he stood up and grabbed at his abdomen, with him grumbling about feeling sore as he responded.

"Thanks. Nice cut too, ma'am. I've gotta hand it to ya, you really saved my ass by disarming that thing," grinned Nac, with him annoying Rico with a few puns as he spoke. This got him a light punch to the shoulder, something that made him wince lightly as Brzenska sighed.

"Must you really joke at a time like this, Nac?" groaned Rico, to which Nac grinned as he shook his head.

"No… but actually, yes, ma'am. If I'm gonna die out here, then I may as well die with a smile," grinned Nac, to which Rico's features hardened. She could take a joke or two about their situation, but she wasn't willing to tolerate that, and with a frown, she lightly elbowed the taller guy in the ribs, eliciting a groan of discomfort from him all the while.

"Do not joke about that, Nac Tias. You will survive this, that is my promise to you," assured Rico, with her glaring at Nac through her spectacles as she spoke. The conviction was definitely there, and it was more than enough to fluster Tias as he nodded in acknowledgement.

"I… uh, thanks, ma'am," smiled Nac as he rubbed the back of his neck meekly, and after a nod of approval, the woman motioned for him to follow her.

"Now then, cmon, we oughta catch up with that civilian cart. The least we could do is to escort them to Stohess before asking about the situation," mused Rico as she got ready to move, and Nac, in spite of his soreness, nodded and followed her lead.

The entirety of Stohess was in a panic as Mikazuki and Lynne rode through the streets, what with civilians arriving within the district en masse to escape the invading force of Titans whilst soldiers made their attempts to get them to shelter in an orderly fashion. The massive influx of people rushing through the streets grinded their progress to Barbatos' holding site to a crawl, but even so, they were able to reach it in due time, and as soon as they were there, both Pilot and Elite hastily dismounted the stallion and rushed into it.

"He's here!" came a yell from a Garrison soldier, with him alerting the entire site to the Pilot's arrival as he rushed in. All around the holding site were several soldiers, mostly Garrison and the odd Survey Corp here and there, key of which being all of Squad Mike, and they all remained quiet as they watched Mikazuki sprint up to Barbatos… only to pause when he saw the state of disrepair he was now in.

The poor hunk of metal kneeling before him was but a shadow of what it once was. Its right optic was punctured, no doubt useless at this point, and the damages to the chest were almost enough to make Mikazuki visibly cringe; one of the waist pipes had been ripped out by Annie during their battle, and it had been used to stab into the Gundam's cockpit from below. That puncture wound remained present, a glaring reminder of Mika's failure to subdue Leonhardt in a timely manner, but even so, he did his best to suppress those thoughts as he stepped towards one of the only reminders he had left of home and patted its damaged left manipulator fondly.

"Your Gundam's a wreck, I'll say that much… do you think it can even move at this point?" asked Henning as he glanced over at Mikazuki, to which the pilot scowled, with him stepping back and aiming his Maneuver Gear anchors up at his unit's chest. He responded only after firing the anchors.

"He can move. He will move. Barbatos won't stop moving until he's been completely destroyed, count on it," stated Mikazuki, with him watching as the anchors landed atop his unit's chestplate and hooked themselves onto the edges of its armour. Thereafter, the pilot gave the wires a test tug to make sure that they weren't going to come off, and once he was sure that they were firmly attached, the young man began to reel himself up to his unit's chest.

Once up there, Mikazuki knelt by the still open cockpit of his unit and surveyed the damage within. It wasn't as bad as he had thought, but still not as good as he had hoped; the piston Annie had embedded into his Gundam's chest hadn't destroyed anything vital, but even so, the monitors to the right of his unit were wrecked almost completely, and the gaping hole near the bottom of the cockpit was an issue all on its own. But still, the Alaya-Vijnana system, leg steppers and arm controllers were still intact, and in truth, that was all that really mattered as he removed his Maneuver Gear and shoved it into a corner of his cockpit. His jacket came off his shoulders moments later as he threw it in haphazardly, and thereafter, he jumped onto his cockpit seat, with him sighing in annoyance to himself all the while.

'The least they could've done was keep you clean…' groaned Mikazuki as he felt his rear land atop the somewhat damp cockpit chair of his Gundam. He was unaware of whether or not there had been rain recently, but if there was, they certainly hadn't been keeping his unit covered during it. Still though, he didn't think all too much about that as he leaned back and plugged himself into the Gundam's Alaya-Vijnana system, and as he did so, he heard the sound of Maneuver Gear anchors latching onto his unit's chest, prompting him to glance up to see two more soldiers swinging up onto Barbatos' chest; Lynne and Tomas.

"Yo," greeted Tomas with a smile as they both leaned in to have a look at what Mikazuki was up to. Much to their chagrin, none of the members of Squad Mike had actually had a peek into the cockpit whenever Mika had been preparing for its launch, and now, two of them wished to remedy this fact by peering down at him whilst he was working on getting the damaged Gundam back onto its feet. Augus didn't seem to mind their presence, so it was fine, they reckoned.

"Yo…" was all Mikazuki really bothered to say in greeting, and moments later, his irises dilated a little as the data flow from Barbatos' end of things suddenly flowed into his Alaya-Vijnana system. The two Elites tensed when they saw the pilot abruptly tense up and arc backwards, even more so when Barbatos began to shake beneath them, though they remained atop the unit's chest, even as it shook a tiny bit, and moments later, the quaking ceased, allowing them to peer in once more without much hassle.

"The heck was… M-Mikazuki! You're bleeding!" gasped Lynne, with her widening her eyes a little as Mikazuki leaned forwards and grit his teeth lightly. Thereafter, he turned towards one of the damaged monitors and saw through his reflection that, indeed, he was bleeding a fair bit from one of his nostrils; nothing more than a thin line of blood, honestly, and thereafter, he nonchalantly wiped it off his lip before sighing.

"It's fine. It happens frequently," assured Mikazuki flatly, with him honestly freaking his seniors out with his level of nonchalance as he spoke. They thought that they knew everything they needed to with this kid, but he still found a way to surprise them… and not for the better, unfortunately.

"... okay then," muttered Tomas, with him watching as Mikazuki tapped the main monitor a few times, only to hum at what came on screen. The main monitor was a little glitchy, owing to the damages sustained by the Gundam, but even so, after bypassing most of the warning text that had popped up, the unit was up and running in no time. "The damages… it's not too bad, right?"

"No. It's worse," was all Mikazuki responded with in a deadpanned tone of voice, and upon hearing this, Tomas smacked his forehead against his palm whilst Lynne snorted in morbid amusement, and shortly thereafter, he activated Barbatos fully.

Gears shifted against one another as pistons began to come to life, though due to a handful of missing pieces, all torn out thanks to Annie, the Gundam was unable to activate as quickly as it usually would. Steam exploded from the various vents present on the unit's chassis, and as it booted up, Barbatos abruptly listed to left, prompting Mika to bring his Gundam's left arm unit down against the ground to stabilize itself before it could tilt too far to one side.

"W-Whoa… is everything alright in there, kid?" asked Lynne, with both herself and all the other soldiers present feeling very much concerned at the sudden movement as she asked her junior this, and to that, Mikazuki could only scowl.

"Yes… Barbatos is damaged. He won't be able to work as well as he once did," stated Mikazuki bluntly, with him gripping the arm controllers tighter when he acknowledged how his Gundam was, in a sense, dying from the lack of maintenance, though he didn't show his frustration beyond that.

"What can we expect to change with these new damages?" asked Tomas, ever practical as always, and in response to this, Barbatos gave its pilot the full rundown on what was deactivated and what would be weaker, now that it was in such a damaged state, through the Alaya-Vijnana system, and upon processing all this info, Mikazuki exhaled sharply and responded to the best of his ability; he never was the best when it came to relaying data out to others, and even after half a decade, that hasn't changed one bit!

It didn't mean that he didn't try, though!

To put it briefly, the unit's gas reserves were practically empty by now; Barbatos could still use the boosters on its shins, but without the Land Boosters on his hips to stabilize its movements, he couldn't use them effectively. Likewise, mobility was also an issue thanks to several busted pipes and pistons; the left arm unit was hanging on by a metaphorical thread, the unit's waist was more fragile now than ever thanks to the removal of one of its support pipes, and the unit's right ankle was missing a support piston as well, something that made it unbalance, not enough to be too much of a detriment, but still enough to be noticeable.

"Barbatos' right eye is also destroyed. I can't see out of it… and the audio receptors are damaged. I won't be able to hear you guys as well as I usually do now, so if you want to tell me anything, you'll need to come in close and yell instructions at me. The radar is still working, though, so I can still detect Titans ahead of time," concluded Mikazuki, with him finishing up the last bit of preparation for his Gundam's bootup, and upon hearing this, the Elites couldn't help but flinch at just how much damage Annie had caused to this thing during the battle…

"Annie really messed it up, huh? Your Gundam, I mean," muttered Tomas, with Mikazuki grunting as he processed his words. He didn't wish to talk about Annie, so the issue was dropped there and then as the guy slid off the Gundam's chest and down towards the ground. He'd have to relay this info to his team, though as he left, Lynne remained on Barbatos' chest as Mika continued to make the final few adjustments to the unit's bootup. He did notice her remaining here, though, prompting him to speak up.

"You're not going to follow him?" asked Mikazuki, sounding just a bit confused as he spoke, and to this, the woman shrugged as she sat down atop the Gundam's chest in a more comfortable position.

"I will… but I just… I just wanted to ask you something. It's… in relation to Annie," said Lynne, with her not sugarcoating anything as she spoke. Mikazuki stiffened a little at this, though he didn't stop her from speaking her piece, and after some consideration… the Elite did just that. "When you fought her… you seemed… hesitant to go all out. You didn't even bring your weapons to the fight. You just… went in as is."

"I was in a rush, and… Mina was with me. It's hard to concentrate when your friend is sitting on your lap," deadpanned Mikazuki, and as he said this, Lynne winced in sympathy before nodding at his words.

"I get that… but… I just wanna know… were you intentionally pulling your punches near the start? You seemed to be holding back quite a bit at first," observed Lynne, with her words causing Mikazuki's gaze to darken a little as she spoke. Seeing that she had seemingly hit the nail right on the head, the Elite opted to press on with her inquiries. "You knew that Annie was the Female Titan ahead of time… is that correct?"

"What if it is?" groaned Mikazuki, with his tone making it apparent that he wanted this conversation to end, now, and to this, Lynne flinched before taking a risk and continuing.

"Well… then why-"

"She made a promise. She didn't keep it, so I did what I promised to do if she broke that promise," stated Mikazuki bluntly, and as he said this, Lynne blinked in confusion as she wondered what this promise really was, though she otherwise spoke nothing of it as she shook her head and sighed.

"Okay then… whatever this promise is, you don't have to tell me about it. But that aside… why'd you hold back against her initially, anyways? Is there… a reason behind that?" asked Lynne, and for a while, Mikazuki said nothing as he glanced away in silence, making the Elite assume that he wasn't about to speak out about it any time soon all the while, though moments later, he exhaled sharply… and responded.

"It's hard to hate someone that you've come to love, ma'am. And it's harder fight them," stated Mikazuki, with him speaking with a sense of finality as he leaned back in the cockpit, and as he said this, Lynne's brows raised themselves higher onto her face as she took stock of his words, though moments later, she found herself chuckling, a sound that caught Mika's attention as he glanced up at her, and as she laughed, the Elite reached into her jacket and grabbed onto something.

"You really are a softy at heart, aren't you…? I've seen people, soldiers even, kill their own family members for much less than what Annie has done… and yet, here you are, speaking about her in a tone that tells me that your heart still has room for her, despite everything," mused Lynne, with her pulling something out and twirling it in her hands as she spoke. "Friends and family must mean a lot to you, yeah?"

"... yes. I won't turn my back on any of them, even if they try to kill me," confirmed Mikazuki, with him lightly shuddering at the thought, and as he said this, Lynne gently tightened her grip around the item in her hand and brought down to him, prompting him to turn and see… his Pistol held out towards him by the barrel in Lynne's hand…?

With his brows raised in surprise and his eyes widened in uncertainty, Mikazuki awkwardly reached up and took the pistol from Lynne's grasp. Holding onto the cold steel barrel, the pilot looked between it and the Elite briefly, eliciting a grin from her as she explained herself.

"I was the one that got to you first, and consequently, I… noticed that weapon of yours before anyone else, so I kept it with me for a bit. I wasn't sure what to do with it, so I just… held it close for the past few weeks," explained Lynne, with her silently hoping that Mikazuki couldn't notice how there was one less bullet in the weapon's magazine. Her firing that weapon off that one time was a mistake that she would rather not remember, even if her room ceiling wouldn't let her forget it… "I think you should have it back now…"

"... thank you, Lynne. This means more than you could imagine," muttered Mikazuki as he slipped the pistol into a corner of the cockpit, to which the Elite smiled as she reached down and ruffled the young man's head, much to his begrudging satisfaction.

"You're welcome, kid. Now c'mon, we've wasted enough time chit-chatting, so let's move!"

And with that, the woman slid off Barbatos' chest, giving Mikazuki some privacy as he tapped the main monitor of his unit, causing the cockpit hatch to close in an instant, and thereafter, he sighed and fully activated his Gundam's systems, causing the twin Ahab Reactors to whirr behind him as they powered themselves up.

And as they did… Barbatos sent an unexpected influx of data through to his pilot, and in response, Mikazuki simply smiled as the optical sensors booted up, and even with one broken optic, the young man still saw the awestruck faces of his fellow soldiers as they watched his unit roar to life.

"You like her, Barbatos?" mused Mikazuki, with him smiling ever so slightly when the on-screen visuals locked onto Lynne, and when he got his answer via the Alaya-Vijnana system, the pilot's smile grew just a tiny bit. "Yeah… I like her too…"

So originally, I intended on posting the Clash of the Titans arc as a full set after writing it all... but considering the bait and switch I inflicted upon you all recently, I thought I kinda owed ya'll an apology for that.

That aside, thus begins the aforementioned arc! It will likely be the most modified arc of them all, because Imma be doing my own thing from here on out rather than follow along with canon. Hopefully it's all good... hopefully.

That aside, however, I'm just gonna address something on the down low before ending this off; if a story on my profile has been deleted, it's likely because I've lost interest in writing it. I usually find it best to write about things you're passionate about, and if you write without passion, you'll create a passionless work, which is why several of my older stories have been deleted.

Hopefully that clears things up.

Anyhow, ciao~