-Chapter 39: Titan Wars-
Somewhere along a great expansive ocean…
We find our hero floating along a great body of water that seemed to span for miles on end, the only signs of land being the small islands some distance away or the little blips of green beyond the watery horizon.
It didn't matter to him however, the thought of going to dry land was beyond him. For all he wanted at this moment was to freely enjoy the feeling of the blazing sun on his exposed skin, and the cool water below, all while singing a catchy tune he'd heard so long ago in his native tongue.
"Somewhere, do do do doo, beyond the sea…Somewhere waiting for me…"
It was an old song, made long before his, his fathers', and even his grandfather's time. Luckily one of their great ancestors had a hobby of collecting a vast variety of music, which had been added to by the following generations over the years. There, stumbled upon during a visit to his grandparents he had heard the melody, and had earned a place in his memories ever since.
"My lover stands on golden saaands, and watches the ships, that go saaailing…"
So relaxed and unworried was he that he didn't notice the small bubbles forming around him, till it was too late. With a massive splash an equally massive force pushed him upwards nearly knocking him back into the water.
Shaking his head he rose up to see that he was now atop a massive brown shell, a turtles' shell judging by its texture. But the massive cannon poking through the center filled him in immediately on this creature's identity, as did its voice.
"Blastoise, Bla-lastoise…"
An old companion had joined him in this little trip along the sea and joined him in a duet.
"Blastoise, Blaaas-toise…"
A bright smile flashed on his big ol' face, as this scene was all too familiar. Singing while out on the open sea was an often-enjoyed pastime when they weren't out battling of training. The Orange Islands being an often-yearly vacation spot. Reclining over the hydro canon of the mega evolved shell he continued to sing.
"If I could fly like birds on high!" Raising its head further from the water Blast followed along.
"Then straight to her arms, I'd go sailing! / Blasto-to-to-toise, Blaaastoise!"
The two partners continued to sing to their hearts content as the massive water type swam along the waters. At the songs conclusion the two relaxed, letting the currents carry them wherever.
"*Sigh* S'been a while since we've done that." An agreeable grunt came out from his old friend. While looking up at the avians above he felt a small rumbling, a sign that all this would end soon.
"Oi bud, why don't we take a quick look down under yeah?"
"Blastoise!"
With an eager nod the mega-sized battle turtle quickly dived down into the water, leaving his friend little time to hold onto his cannon and prepared for their descent into the deep.
The sea around them changed to darker shades of blue as they went further down, with numerous species of sea life passing by and around the two. It was always such a spine-tingling sight to see the abyss below, as one would never know what sort of things could be swimming down or rising up just under your feet. But here he felt no worries.
Eventually the two found themselves surrounded by one of the sea's many forests, a great coral reef. They two drifted along, observing the sea life in its natural habitat.
And the giant would have continued to enjoy this little trip, had he not sensed a foreign presence, stopping him and his friend in their tracks.
It wasn't the first time that someone, or something, had made themselves welcome into his dreams, so he wasn't as alarmed as one might think. He was a dream warrior after all, in here he was the master. If anything, he was quite curious, as this foreign presence was immediately familiar.
"I know you're here." Mav called towards the being hiding from his sight. A call that went unanswered. His companion went into a firing position, aiming both his cannon-mounted arms and massive water cannon at the reefs which spooked the fish, causing them to scatter.
"Never did thank you for reminding me of the that machine." He smirked. "Though I would have thought of it sooner or later…"
He looked around while Blast patrolled around him. There was no response to his jest, nothing but the sounds of the sea, and soon the rumblings. Soon rays of light began to seep from above the ocean, a common sight and meaning to the man.
"Time to wake up."
At the sound of the deep voice he turned to see Blast looking back at him, a sad smile on his face. Sharing one of his own Maverick raised his hand to pat Blast's snout.
"Ahh well, we'll hang out some other time Bud."
With a far more invigorated smile the old Blastoise and master gave one another a light headbutt, just as the mon dissolved into a burst of bubbles. Just in time as the rumbles of his awakening psyche continued and increased with greater force.
As the rays of light began to glow brighter and fill the sky even more, he resigned himself. But just as his view was filled with light, he saw something among the reefs, just barely out of his field of vision.
With a quick turn of his head his glowing eyes met another pair of glowing eyes, peering from an opening in the corals, which went wide as it realized it was spotted.
Quite a shade of green, Maverick pondered.
-oOo-
Mav's eyes opened to see the sight of the massive trees surrounding his resting body, and the sounds of his still sleeping comrades all around him. Rubbing his eyes he noticed it was still nighttime. Around three in the morning, if he read his pocket watch correctly through his still sleepy eyes.
A soft sigh escaped his lips as he recalled his dream. Once these giants were dealt with he would make it his next mission to find this lands coastline and let the sea take him on a trip. Anything to feel as good as his dreams had imitated.
Placing it back where he left it he slowly began to rise to start his day, only for a familiar voice to mutter and moan from his left as well as a rubbing sensation on his shoulder. Slowly turning he saw it was his squad leader, resting her head on him. His movements had nearly woken her up, her fidgeting an attempt to get back into a comfortable position.
He quickly whispering in alien tongues, making the glow of his markings dim out so as to not wake up his squad leader or anyone else nearby.
His held his breath as he watched her squirm before finally settling down again. The small smile she had on her face brought a smile of his own. Containing a relieved sigh he silently apologized to his squad leader as he slowly began to move her from his shoulder, using his large hand as a headrest to slowly bring her down onto her sleeping bag nearby.
Despite a few rejective groans, he was successful. He took a few moments to just look at the small woman now sleeping soundly with a smirk, as he was very certain that she had set up her sleeping spot a bit further away from where she was now.
'Cheeky Hanji, very cheeky.'
"Morning."
Hearing the familiar low-toned voice Mav slowly turned and moved around the tree he was sleeping near to find his fellow comrade Levi in his natural state, brushing the fur of his wolf hood insuring maximum cleanliness, something he did more than often. If he was honest, it was a little odd.
His cleaning habits aside he had heard from Hange that the man was a fellow early riser, nearly bordering on the lines of insomnia. He doubted her considering how he didn't seem to show any signs of sleep depravity both on and off missions, yet here he was. Suppose the man was just a different breed.
"And a good morning to you Captain." He whispered. Levi nodded before going back to his task, though he soon raised a brow as the giant slowly passed him by, seemingly heading off to the edge of their camp.
"And where do you think you're going?" Stopping he slowly turned to give the shorter man a half smile.
"Just gonna go for my morning exercises." He continued to give him a questioning look for a bit before shrugging and going back to his brushing.
"Don't go too far, who knows what sort of weird, nasty animals are out there."
"Oi, you leave Caesar out of this." With that little comment Mav made his way towards the forest, unaware of his comrade's small smile.
-oOo-
At the crack of dawn, inside the forest H.Q.
The base was brimming with activity, despite being quite early in the morning. Scouts examined or took apart and reassembled their gear, others were planning out their exploration routes, and some were still attempting to wake up with a healthy serving of morning stew.
Delta Squad was one of them, though it was very noticeable that they were not up to full squad strength, as a spot reserved for the big man was still empty.
"Our team leaders' been gone for a while." Keiji said aloud. Ever since the morning role call Mav had been missing, the only indication of his whereabouts being the large footprints that went off west of their base, and the words from Levi, who was the only one to have last seen him.
Despite inquiries the captain simply said that he went out for his early morning regimen, apparently taking his words at face value, which surprised some such as Hange and Erwin. Not too long ago the man was the weariest of Maverick, even claiming to be the one to 'deal with him' if he ever proved himself a threat.
To think the man that had at one point held thoughts of stabbing the giant in his sleep was now indifferent to his activities. Suppose a lot could change within two years, in more ways than one.
"I'm sure that the smell of this stew would have brought him running." Moblit joked. The others chuckled in response, as the image of the giant stopping whatever he was doing to race to the mess hall once he smelled the wonderful aroma of food was nothing short of amusing. Didn't help that it actually happened more than once.
Hange smiled at the thought before finishing off her breakfast and rose up from her log to stretch out her limbs, just as the commander approached.
"I take it Maverick still hasn't returned?" Upon the shaking heads he let out a sigh. "Was hoping he'd be back by now." With a beaming smile Delta's leader sprang into action.
"No worries Erwin, I'll go fetch him!" Hange exclaimed, already prepared to follow the trail of footprints and seek him out.
"Actually Hange, I'd like Moblit to go." The commander's words made her stop in her tracks and quickly turn to give him a very questioning look.
He gave a knowing one in return. "Hange we need him back as soon as possible. No delays."
Hange was left both completely insulted and devastated. Was her commander accusing her of something? Betrayed could be added on the list as she saw Moblit salute and quickly go off to get their missing comrade.
While he avoided eye contact Moblit could feel the squad leaders' envious eyes on him, even as he disappeared into the forest.
-oOo-
The vice-captain trudged through the thick woodlands at a brisk but careful pace, his sight constantly shifting to his comrade's large footprints and to the path ahead so as to not bump into any hazards. Passing through what seemed to be the third river stream he began to wonder if Mav had gotten this far away from the base or if he was going in circles.
His search wouldn't be in vain as after ducking through a fallen tree he entered an opening in the forest revealing the target of his search.
"Oh Mav, there yo-"
Moblit's words quickly evaporated at the sight of his giant squad mate, currently in one of his meditative states, completely shirtless. Sitting in the center of this small forest arena he sat crisscrossed atop an old tree stump, his body itself slightly elevating with a few patches of earth and rocks floating around his body.
An aura emanated from him, constantly shifting from hues of blue and white. His back had been turned in Moblit's direction, giving the scout a view of his Gods-given markings.
Looking at the many punctured trees and trails along the ground around him told Moblit that the man had just gone through his usual morning routine.
His eyes then drifted to the multitude of glowing tattoos etched into his back. Though he had seen and examined them with Hange multiple times, it still amazed him just how heavily marked his body was, each of them a sign of a devoted and adventurous life.
A Living Vessel of the Higher Powers, as he'd described himself once.
He humored the idea of what would be done should Mav ever run out of space on his body. Would some blessings be removed to make room for more of the gods' gifts, or would the powers that be gift the giant more limbs?
The image of a multi-armed Maverick slaughtering through an army of titans the size of mountains was both pretty funny and pretty scary.
"*Sigh* So that's how it's gonna be..."
His comrade's voice made him freeze up, despite knowing he wasn't the object of his annoyance. He had no idea whom or what he was taking to, but judging by Maverick's tone at that moment it didn't seem to be an overall pleasant encounter.
Moblit slowly began to circle around his comrade who continued to meditate, his slowly rising chest and breaths heard clearly. The vice-captain was so focused on Maverick that he was completely unaware that he was about to step on a branch until the crisp crunching sound sounded off, causing him to sputter.
At the sound of Moblit's voice the Slayer's eyes quickly opened, and quickly turned his head to the source, an audible crack of his neck joints spooking the scout.
"Oh Moblit, morning." Mav's feet touched the ground as he repositioned himself as the small patches of rock and earth fell back to the soil, all the while Moblit shook off the shivers that ran down his spine.
"M-Morning. Hope I wasn't interrupting something." The man's low chuckle somewhat reassured him.
"No, no. Just trying to make sense of things."
"Oh?" Looking past the trees that surrounded his vision he revealed to him what he saw deep in his dream sea.
"Had another run in with the voice."
Moblits eyes widened as he remembered that specific day during last winter. When Mav introduced the pack-a-punch to the regiment, and the spiritual source that had assisted him.
"While I was enjoying a nice little trip in the sea, the voice made itself known to me." He explained. "Didn't show themselves, but I knew he was there." Before he could say more he quickly corrected himself. "Scratch that. I saw their eyes."
"Eyes?"
"Mhmm. They were green, saw him through the reef. Glowed pretty bright too."
Moblit was once more surprised by Mav's words. While it wasn't much, they at least had something on the voices' appearance.
"It has to be God right?" Said the vice-captain. "Who else could know about your past exploits?"
Maverick slowly shook his head. A pretty good assumption, all things considered. But Ol' Maverick had more than enough experience with the almighty powers to know the differences between beings with God-like power and full-on godly power.
"No. Whenever I've communed with them the gods always had an unnaturally powerful aura emanating around them, completely different from demi-gods or spirits. While this mystery man of ours has some power in him, he's no god."
For the next few minutes the two continued to speculate on whom this figure's possible identity could be, and what connection they possibly had with their resident demigod. With the little knowledge they did know and based on Mav's past experiences the two deduced that this mystery figure might be some minor spiritual entity. As for how it knew of his past, it was agreed that this spirit was able to see into Mav's own mind when he first appeared.
It wasn't the first to do so, it wouldn't be the last.
As for why it continued to be illusive? Multiple factors. Could be a classic case of shyness, a daunting task of working up the nerves, or perhaps the figure wasn't keen on exposing themselves to him.
"Well, I'm sure they'll show their faces in due time." Mav said, concluding this little mystery for the time beings, to Moblit's seeming amusement.
"Quite optimistic, considering you've been here for two years now." He just had to remind him of that. Two years and the all-mighty creator, or creators, of this world still hadn't shown themselves. He knew they were around, he literally felt their presence in everything. It was understandable if they preferred to observe and watch their creations go about their lives, but once he appeared they should have acted and shown themselves to question his motives and purpose in their world, like so many others.
He exhaled whatever irritation that had accumulated inside of him through his nose. In the end it was their decision to make themselves known, he'd just keep doing what he did best.
"So, did you need me for something?" Moblit stood quiet for a moment before remembering the reason as to why he even came to find him in the first place.
"Ah yeah! Breakfast is almost over!"
Maverick's eyes went wide. While it wasn't the exact reason Moblit figured it was the best way to get the giant man moving.
"*Shiza!*"
He would be proven right as Mav immediately went to grab his shirt and race off back in the direction of their woodland headquarters, picking up and placing Moblit under his arm as he ran.
"They better have saved me a damn plate!"
-oOo-
Once Maverick and Moblit returned to the fold, and after consuming the leftover stew, the giant informed the Commander and his closest comrades on his whereabouts, his reasons of course leaving everyone quite surprised, his squad leader especially, who was growing more than fond of their world's supernatural aspects that wasn't titan related.
The Commander didn't hold such feelings, not out of interest oh no, but more that this was something he believed was far beyond either he or his men's abilities to deal with. Titans, while monstrous and admittedly frightening creatures, were physical beings. They could be harmed, bled, and therefore could be killed.
Spirits were…well spiritual creatures. Non-corporeal beings long having crossed the mortal plain. All of which was right up Maverick's alley.
Thus, it was decided that while Maverick should definitely keep the regiment updated on any more spectral anomalies and issues it would be more vital to focus on the physical issues plaguing all of them, such as the continued improvement and development of their southern headquarters.
Which is exactly what Maverick set out to do. Many building supplies had been procured and purchased for their bases newly designed command center, the redesign itself made by Mav himself.
"Maverick are you absolutely certain about this?" Erwin pressed, looking at the redesign shown on the planning table in the command tent. The redesign Mav drew up was both an awe-inspiring and slightly worrying piece of work. What especially concerned both him and the other squad leaders was when he offered to build it himself.
"Of course, I wouldn't offer my services if I couldn't do it." Maverick reassured. He was more than confident in his construction skills. His father's teachings mixed with the years of apprenticeships, on-site construction jobs, and starring in multiple home redesign programs all helped to improve them.
"I don't doubt you. But perhaps for something this…grandiose, I believe we should have contracted some additional craftsmen from the local guilds." Erwin said looking back at the multiple conical shaped building designs, which earned a scoff from Maverick.
"At their rates?"
"Pretty sure we could have gotten some better deals if we said that you were requesting them." Dirk remarked. Maverick went silent as he mulled it over before slapping the side of his head.
"Dammit you're right." Hange and the others chuckled at his response. "Ah well, something for next time."
Wasting no time he quickly strapped on his massive toolkit and sped off out of the tent. Erwin could only let out a sigh in response to the man's excitement, with such confidence how could he hold any doubt. Turning to the rest of his gathered comrades he set his eyes on Squad Four's leader, who was looking out towards where the giant had run off.
Sensing his eyes on her she turned to receive a sharp look form the commander.
'Keep an eye on him.' Was what Erwin said through his eyes.
She gave a curt nod in return, as she'd seen such a look before. Quickly saluting she headed off to round up the rest of her squad and rejoin her giant.
-oOo-
Sometime later in the day…
It was nothing short of spectacular for Hange and the others as they watched Maverick work his magic. In just short of a few hours much of their new tree fort headquarters was halfway into completion. Utilizing his ODM gear and his speedy blessings he swung along the massive central tree, hammering down, reinforcing, and adding to the tree fort with God-like speed.
Hange looked on with eyes filled with wanderlust. While she did promise to keep him in check, she really didn't wish to bug him while he was working. In the few times she saw his face she noticed his clear look of deep concentration. His brain was on complete auto pilot, tuned out of everything else around him, his mind dead set on getting this fort up and running as soon as possible.
The others attempted the best they could in helping him. Be it leaving out nails, wood, and other necessities for him to grab. In those brisk moment he'd turn to give them an appreciative nod and smile, before he switched back to building mode.
But even the demigods can grow weary of their labors, as Mav suddenly landed atop the reconstructed platform, wiping a few beads of sweat from his brow. Seeing the construction stop Hange and the others shot up to meet him, basking in the new sights.
"You good Mav?" Hange asked, reaching for her canteen to offer her comrade some refreshment.
"Just dandy Hanji." Placing his massive tools in his utility satchel he turned to see Hange holding out her canteen. Giving her his thanks he took a quick swig and handed it back. "Should be done with the roof in a few. Then I'll move on with the sentry tower. Shouldn't take me too long."
Hange sighed as she watched him pull back his black hair, her eyes turning then to the interior of the new command center. She chuckled to herself as she remembered when she and Marlene made a treehouse when they were young, oh the fun times they had.
A shame that it collapsed during an absurdly strong rainstorm one day.
"Gah!"
Her musings were interrupted by Harold's alarmed voice. Everyone turned to see the young man giving an embarrassed look as he backed away from the railing.
"I-I leaned a little too hard, heh-heh." He spoke. "Heard the wood creak and thought it was going to give in."
Maverick approached to give him a hearty pat on the back, nearly making the scout fall over.
"Nothing to fear Harold, lean on it as much as you like." He slightly turned his head in the direction of their squad leader, smirking as he did so. "Definitely more secure than a giant's shoulder."
The members of Delta tried their damnest to hide their grins and chuckles from their leader, who sighed at the very recent memory.
"Not gonna let me live it down, eh?" He quickly turned to her, holding out his hands to the woman.
"How did you not see where you were stepping on that thing? You wear prescriptive goggles for All-Fathers' sake!"
Offering no retort or response Hange simply pouted while punching his arm causing some of their juniors (Abel and Keiji) to release amused snorts of laughter, earning them a very unamused look from their squad leader.
In an effort to escape their leader's possible ire Rashad brough up a topic that he knew would attract her attention.
"Your woodworking skills are honestly impressive Sir, was carpentry your first job?" He asked. Mav raised a curious brow before answering his junior's inquiry.
"No. If you boys recall, my first job was in orbital construction." Took a bit of time but the young scouts did recall such a story told by the giant. Many months of training and Hange's experiments and tests tended to wear out the mind and body.
"It was my dear old father who was the carpenter of the family." His squad mates' eyes widened at this little factoid, Hange's especially. His more personal anecdotes were always a treat for her to hear.
"Before he met Ma he wound up doing all sorts of jobs after he graduated, carpentry being one of them." His features softened as fond memories began to resurface. "By the time I came around he was the living embodiment of a jack of all trades. Gave my brothers and I plenty of advice when we started thinking about our future careers."
His squad mates simply continued to listen with warm looks as the giant recounted his days of old, only for the sound of artillery shells going off, startling nearly everyone.
"Well, sound like Hannes' boys are having fun." The others agreed. High command wanted reports on their new cannon's effectiveness, and by God the artillery squads were gonna give it to them.
As the others continued to look on towards the south Hanger looked back own towards the titans, the newly christened Sentinels, guarding the base with a disappointed look on her face.
"I really want to see these titans fight though." She sighed. While as exciting as it was to have these towering guards protecting their base, the thought of seeing them actually put up a defense against any of their intruding kin to be even more exciting.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah! I mean they've been managing to keep the titan levels so low. I want to see how they do it!" Mav crossed his arms and gave her a raised brow to his starry-eyed leader.
"You really want to see the equivalent of a bunch of cavemen go at each other?" Her response was to rapidly nod her head and give the man a very pleading smile, like a child wanting a precious and expensive sweet from the candy store.
"It be pretty amusing Sir." Rashad added. Scratching his beard he thought about it for a few moments as his squad mates looked on with looks ranging from overly eager to expectant gazes. Releasing a low sigh, he eventually made his decision.
"Alright, I'll take it up with Erwin, see if he'll greenlight it." Hange clapped her hands in joy as Mav slowly made his way towards the edge of the balcony, to the specially made diving area, and lazily dropped down to Moblit and his junior's shock, as well as the scouts below who saw the giant plummet down towards the ground.
"Maverick!"
-oOo-
A couple days later…
To Maverick's somewhat surprise, Hange's joy, and Moblit's worry the Commander was all for allowing some titans to come near the base, despite some pushback from some equally concerned squad leaders and a certain unamused captain. After some time however it was agreed that it would be best for everyone if the needs of the base were met first and foremost before anything else.
Thus, after a few days, and a few all-nighters, the Survey Corps' new treehouse command center, additional bases, and surrounding sentry towers were complete and fully operational.
After the morning meal the Commander had a few squads go out into the deeper areas of the forest to search for any titans and draw them in towards their headquarters by any means necessary.
That was some time ago, nearly half an hour if one were specific. From the balcony Erwin looked to his pocket watch, watching the time tick away. A plethora of thoughts concerning the departed squads filled his mind, some of them more morbid than most.
He was quick to cast them away. He had to remain confident and hold out hope that they would all return safely, not just for his own sake, but for the morale of the men as well.
Turning to the men he saw that a certain someone was trying to keep spirits high, as he answered a question made by one of Miche's men, Tomas, regarding their new tree bases' design.
"Well you can thank the Wookies for all this." He heard Maverick reply. "I based my designs of this fort on the homes they built back on Kashyyyk."
"Cash-eek?" The giant chuckled at his mispronunciation.
"Close, I'll write it down for you later." Seeing the rest of the curious looks he went into another tid-bit of his life beyond the stars.
"You see, back in my days as a young Jedi Knight I was sent to Kashyyyk to help the Wookies deal with a nasty group of Trandoshan hunters that had been causing trouble for far too long." Erwin could hear a nostalgic sigh escape Mav's lips.
"A very kind family offered me their own home to stay in during my trip. There I got to see and learn their way of life. A lot like how our own human ancestors lived if you can believe that." Erwin could only imagine what the man was seeing through his memories as he continued.
"I saw how they built their homes atop the great wroshyr trees that stretched hundreds of meters beyond the sky. And let me tell ya, those trees made the ones here in this forest look like saplings."
"Ah yeah? How big we talking?" Erwin looked back to see Mav leer towards Moses, the ends of his beard curving upwards.
"Let's just say that the smallest species of the tree went up to just a mere three hundred to four hundred meters."
"What?!"
"Bullshit!"
"*Whistle*…"
Erwin couldn't help but look impressed. He would personally have loved to see such a tree with his own eyes.
Such thoughts were soon set aside, as the sounds of ODM wires was heard from the returning squad. The first of them being Dirk's Squad, each squad member still individually in one piece.
"Titans approaching from the east Commander!" He shouted, his deer hood flying off his head as he and his squad soared across the forest, straight into the command center platform.
"Apologies for the wait." He joked, looking as if he didn't worry nearly half of the regiment with him and his crew's long absence.
"Didn't doubt you for a second Dirk." He placed his hand over his comrade's shoulder, his smiled disappearing as a questioning look formed on his face. "Though I must ask, did you have any trouble?" Looking back to where they arrived the squad leader scratched his chin.
"Getting the titans to follow wasn't the hard part Sir. Actually finding some was the real fun part." He looked to Maverick giving him a smirk. "That giant pig of yours has really been clearing this forest out."
Mav could only shrug in response. Despite the branding the boar was still an overly aggressive creature, all he did was direct it at the right targets.
Just then the sound of more ODM wires sounded off from the western part of the forest. From the treetops Klaus' squad had finally made their return as well. With a spin the man landed near flawlessly on the platform, his fellows not far after.
"Got some to follow us from the west Commander!" The sound of neighing horses then suddenly sounded off from the south, causing everyone to look and see the sight of Hanne's artillery crew quickly enter the area of their H.Q.
"Didn't spend too much ammunition Captain?!" Erwin shouted from above. A short laugh escaped Hannes' mouth.
"Just fired off a couple shots in their direction, more than enough to get them riled up!" Hannes shouted back. "Pissed one off real good!"
A satisfied look formed on Erwin's face. Despite the extended time on this small operation he was glad this all went off without a hitch. And what time for the squads to return as the sounds of distant squawking birds was heard by everyone. A sign that they would soon be having company.
Many scouts had positioned themselves atop branches or hooked themselves onto the trees themselves or utilized their base's newly made tree fort to overlook the forest. Such as Hange's and Miche's squads.
"How many you think they wrangled up Sir?" Gelgar asked. His leader simply took a single whiff of the air and his eyes narrowed and his grip on his blades strengthened.
"Enough."
"Hmmm, must be if your nose is acting like this." Nanaba said, all the while her grip on her gifted blades tightened and weakened in anticipation.
Her eyes darted towards one of the titans under Mav's control, or Sentinel as they've been calling them. While Caesar had proven to be a capable tool, she still wasn't entirely sure about them. While they hadn't made a move on any of the scouts since they arrived it still was an uncomfortable sight to have humanity's mortal enemies on the field.
She really wanted to believe Mav had a handle on the titans, but it wasn't easy to just overlook the century worth of havoc these creatures had wreaked, the people they've lost to them would never be forgotten nor forgiven.
Yet she had to set those worries aside for now. Despite her misgivings the Commander had given his order, as did Mav assure them all that the titan's would follow the commands he had given them to a 'T'. As a subordinate and comrade, she had to put her trust in both of them.
The sounds of rumbling trees closing in alerted all of the incoming threats arriving to their base. Everyone stood their ground as the sounds of approaching footsteps began to become audible with every second.
"Were really risking the base for this?" Levi asked once again, his hands idling towards one of his eastern blades. Erwin simply closed his eyes, his mind long set on this course of action.
"A report on these Sentinel's defensive abilities was one of the major requests by the Premier." A smirk began to form as he opened one of his eyes and looked in his captain's direction. "You're just as eager to see them in action yourself Levi."
The captain scoffed as he turned back to the view of the forest. "Eager's a strong word… If anyone's eager it's Four Eyes."
Their view shifted to the members of Delta Squad atop the balcony overlooking the forest, just as they were in the middle of conversing with one another.
"You sure we should remove our cloaks?" Abel asked. The giant nodded as he neatly folded his bear cloak.
"Gotta give the bastards some incentive." Firing off his anchors Maverick soared towards one of the trees near the edge of the base and began to shout out to the forest. "*Come on you worthless abominations! Got some prime grade A flesh standing right here!*"
The scouts simply looked on as the giant continued to hoot and holler in his ethereal tone of voice. The veterans among them looked on with hints of spine-tingling nostalgia, as this was the same tone of voice he had shouted in to attract the titan horde back during the breach.
Hearing the sounds of anchors firing off Mav stopped to turn and see his leader join him on the tree and scream her lungs out.
"*Yeah! Come on you ingrates!*" Her choice of words was amusing to the man, even more so when she screamed out in his native tongue. Looking back he saw the others simply watching from afar.
"Come on Moblit, join us in mocking our dim-witted foes!" He turned to the others with a grin. "You two boys!"
The other scout squads watched on as Delta Squad began to shout to their hearts content, some more vigorous than others.
"Idiots…they'll come regardless." Levi remarked, unamused by the antics. He could feel the integrity of the regiment slowly collapsing in real-time.
In moments his words came true, as just some distance away south from the base came the appearance of a titan, a very angry looking titan. Which was followed by another one, and then another one.
If one were to look around they could see many titans appearing from every angle, each with looks of complete contempt and speeds ranging from race walks to full blown sprints.
Mav noticed a few among the southern group still steaming and limping, no doubt the one's Hannes and his crew peppered with shells. The one currently shambling towards him had half of its head missing, an angered expression on its deformed face.
"Jeez Hannes, took a bit too much on the top off some of them eh?!" The captain shrugged before ordering his crew to retreat further into the base, under the "safety" of the Sentinels.
Heading back into the fort the members of Delta watched with anticipation as the approaching horde of titans was gaining ground. The titans under Mav's control suddenly became animated, their eyes glowing bright and the grip on their weapons tightened. In seconds they all went into defensive positions, as per the commands instilled into their warped minds. Moving in unison the strongest of them formed up shoulder to shoulder, forming a strong frontal wall, their makeshift weaponry pointed towards the incoming horde. The unarmed and quadrupeds among them went into either pouncing stances or gathered behind their larger brethren.
"Huehuehue!" Hange was absolutely elated to see the titans finally moving, a sentiment felt by some among the scouts, as many didn't expect them to behave so...prefessional. Their stances made them look exactly like the how armies of old were depicted in book she read in her youth.
As the enemy continued their advance the Sentinels continued to stand firm, letting their kin come closer and closer, which started to make some scouts antsy.
"Uhh how long till they start doing their jobs Sir?" Abel asked, the small hints of nervousness in his voice very audible. Maverick simply looked around at the approaching giants and yawned, estimating their current distance inside his drowsy head.
"Ah well I ordered them to attack any enemy giant once they enter a predetermined zone. *Yawn* Which they should be entering right…."
*THUMP THUMP THUMP!*
"About…."
*THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!*
"Now."
The second the first titans were withing weapons reach the Sentinels went into action! Spears were thrusted forward, clubs were raised and brought down with unnatural speed, and stakes were jabbed into the eyes and necks of their invading kin.
In just a few moments the invading titan's momentum was halted. Those that were still rushing forwards crashed and collided into the bodies of their stricken brethren, like a horrid carriage crash. The amount of bodies colliding caused some sentinels to be pushed back by the force, only to quickly dig in their heels and push the horde back, those in the back proving support.
Throwing off the steaming bodies off their weapons the Sentinel vanguard pushed on to meet the titans in a brutal melee, as the commands of their master ringed out continuously inside their heads…
"DEFEND THE BASE AT ALL COST."
"DON'T LET A SINGLE ONE PASS."
"KILL EM ALL."
-oOo-
The sights below were nothing short of glorious and bloody, like the old gladiatorial duels of ancient Rome, or the savage melees that could erupt from a Blood Bowl match. The Sentinels were certainly proving their absolute worth to the regiment.
It would be one of the more muscular Sentinels, Titan Nine, that would be the one that caught the most attention. With quick and powerful swings of its dual clubs it pulverized any titan in its path, turning his opponents' heads into bloody messes, destroying their nape in the process. Bashing away his most recent kill away Nine went on to the deal with two more titans that followed their kin into the killing field. Holding his clubs in an "X" formation he charged forward pushing all of his upper body strength into his advance, pushing his enemies down, and beating their heads in in quick succession.
Titans Six and Seven, armed with sharpened logs rammed their spears into the necks of their non-enslaved kin in unison, destroying the napes and quickly bringing them down, adding further insult as they stomped on their necks for good measure before continuing on to the next.
Titan Ten, armed with a massive two-handed tree branch swung it around like a drunken loon, knocking down multiple titans that were immediately set upon by the smaller ones like starved dogs, their napes and throats ripped out withing moments.
"Wall's sake! Look at the little ones go!"
Titans Three and Four, twins from the look of it, double-teamed a much larger titan that had managed to nearly pass through the Sentinel's wall. Utilizing a nearby tree Three jumped to tackle its enemies' face, while Four went for one of its ankles, their combined weights bringing it down, with Three making the killing blow.
Titans Two and Twelve, while unarmed still racked up kills as they went for quick strangle holds, and quickly tearing out the back of their enemies' necks before tossing the bodies away and going for others that attempted to pass them.
These were but some of the moments seen by the Survey Corps from up above their tree forts. Their great enemy fighting and killing one another in a brutal moshpit. Even if one side was under the control of the resident demigod it was still a very oddly pleasing sight.
"SQUEEE!"
The ever-familiar guttural squeals of Caesar were heard by everyone atop the forts. From the east the giant boar arrived on the scene charging through the titan hordes to join in on the brawl.
"Oh! Here comes Caesar from the rear!" Some began to cheer and holler as the massive swine used its body to slam into a titan's kneecaps, just as it had its head torn off by Twelve.
"Quite an effective fighting force, wouldn't you agree Peers?" Erwin said. His assistant remained silent as his eyes were still very much glued to the skirmish below. His interest drifted to one of the unarmed sentinels currently taking on three titans at once. It grabbed ahold of two of the charging titans by their necks stopping them completely. When the third tried to pass it by it was met with a swift leg swipe and a mouth full of dirt and stone. It's near effortless movements shocked and impressed the scouts.
It spared no time in taking care of its foe-kins. With a mighty force of strength nearly on par with the Slayer it collided the titans' heads that it had by the necks into each other, turning their craniums into bloody mush and bone fragments. In tandem it stomped on the head of the third that fell and kicked it away, straight into the path of one of the abnormals, which it seemed to take as a personal insult.
"Quick and brutal." Was all that Peers had to say. His fellow aide smirked at his wording.
"Emphasis on brutal. They fight like Mav."
Beirer certainly had a point, Erwin thought. As his eyes turned back to the brawl. The Sentinels were performing better than he had ever hoped. He had initially expected them to fight on par with the rest of their primitive kind, but here they were, fighting with makeshift weaponry and martial skills and tactics with the experience of hardened veterans.
They even seemed to have a sense of comradery and teamwork, just like the men and women under his command. It was both an amazing and rather startling thing to see with his own eyes, if he was honest with himself.
He sighed internally, of course this was all in thanks to Maverick's blessings that made such a thing possible. No doubt he had tapped into something inside of each and every one of these titans to make them reach this potential, perhaps a fragment of their humanity, if his bio-weapon theory was true, which might as well have been at this point.
Soon the last of the invading titans were soon being mopped up and the Sentinels would return to their original spots around the base, uncaring for the steaming blood that painted their bodies and weapons. Seeing as the threats were dealt with the Erwin ordered for the squads to continue with their assignments.
Maverick himself was given a very important task by the commander. To head back into their new barracks and enjoy some much needed R&R. Now that was an order the giant could get behind.
Thus did the skirmish outside of the Southern Forest H.Q. come to a swift end, with the Sentinels having more than proven their worth to both the Survey Corps and to their master.
The events that had entailed and been witnessed this day would be marked in the scouts reports, and go down in the history of humanity as the first opening fight of what many future historians and generations years later would call the Titan Wars.
-A Brief History of the Walls: The Survey Corps Edition-
-The Sentinels: This term refers to the numerous titans that guard the Survey Corps' exterior bases and roam the supply lines and roads outside the Walls during the day and afternoons. To the common citizen of the Walls the mere idea of a titan, the same creature responsible for our species' near extinction, now actively serving to protect that species' interest is an unthinkable, borderline insane concept.
They'd be correct. Under normal circumstances these titans would no doubt operate on their murderous instincts, however the Sentinels are a different breed of titan. For these special groups of titans have been made to serve and fight for humanity through the Titan Slayer. While the process is still an enigma what is understood is that the Slayer has the ability to enrapture the minds of these titans through the use of his divine blessings.
A feat he had accomplished with the legendary Giant Boar of Maria, which now serves as his personal mount.
Based on reports and testimonies by members of the regiment the blessings have also allowed these titans a measure of increased intelligence and combat abilities on par with ancient foot soldiers of humanity's distant past, utilizing their titanic strengths to the fullest when defending strategic points of interest.
-Exterior Bases: Scattered across the lands outside the Wall lie the Survey Corps exterior bases. Theses massive forts built along the towering trees of the giant forest serve as the Corps bases of operation and staging grounds during their renowned(and infamous)expeditions.
Previous attempts were made by the regiment to establish them during the commands of the eleventh and twelfth commanders of the scouts, which unfortunately failed, one such disaster resulting in the former commanders' demise. In the year 847, under the leadership of Erwin Smith the attempt was once again made, which bared better fruit.
Thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Titan Slayer and the rejuvenated soldiers of the Corps did the plan of reestablishing the exterior base truly come to fruition. Following the construction of the H.Q in the Southern Giant Forest many more were built across the western and eastern areas of the land. Each of them connected through multiple supply routes, and under the protection of the Sentinels.
A/N: Meant to get this chapter out much earlier in the month but found myself busier than usual this September, also didn't help that I wasn't personally feeling satisfied with what I originally wrote, so I found myself putting it though more than one rewrite. Not to mention my charger finally crapped out on me so I had to wait a few days for the new one to get delivered so I could get back into it.
All that aside I hope it was worth the wait, cause with October coming up I'm thinking that The Survey Corps is due with another of Mav's tales by the fireside.
Hope you'll keep sticking around for that. Till next time.
