Chapter 25: Unexpected
It was now the second day since the 57th expedition and the southern division of the 104th Scout Regiment were being sent out into an open area of Wall Rose, between districts Trost and Yalkell, for what they were informed was training for 'experimental fighting techniques' involving Alchemy, a copy of the schedule which was handed out to each one of them had shown that it was to be a full day of training; they were to equip themselves in their combat uniform and ODM gear for war games with Alphonse Elric under the supervision of Squad Leader Mike.
A convey of horses and wagons trailed along a long dirt road towards their destination; the sun had begun to rise up from the east, above a bush of trees on the horizon, to signal the start of the new day and bathe the sky in an dark orange glow. Connie and Sasha rode on their horses half-asleep grumbling to themselves about the sudden training programme "This sucks" remarked Connie "I was hoping to go to my village today but Commander Erwin had to pull a surprise training session out his ass yesterday, you'd think they'd give us a break after our first expedition."
"My village isn't that far from here" said Sasha "I wonder if I get permission to visit after we're done."
"Ask for me too while you're at it." Smiled Connie
"Unlikely" said Jean who was riding next to Connie "didn't you read the schedule? The last training course is a practice evacuation into the underground with some civilians; we'll be in Stohess at the end of the day." Sasha and Connie collectively groaned.
"It should be interesting to see what their Alchemy can bring to the table in the battles to come" said Reiner who was with Bertholdt riding their horses close behind the three of them "Damn shame that Eren and Ed had to train with the other divisions, but that is strange."
"Why's it strange?" asked Connie
"Why would they separate the 104th into its former divisions?" asked Reiner "wouldn't it have been easier to have the whole regiment train together with the Elrics and Eren?"
"Maybe the numbers weren't manageable." suggested Jean "There are forty three members in the southern division alone, though the one thing that's on my mind is how Eren can still be allowed in the Survey Crops, the Elrics I understand since they saved one of the last members of the Special Operations Unit from that Titan."
"Thought you two had buried the hatchet before the expedition" commented Reiner
"Don't get me wrong big guy; I may still think of him as the suicidal blockhead but I'm glad he's still with us" replied Jean "It's just that I thought that since the expedition was a failure they'd have to hand him over to the Military Police."
"Good point." Replied Reiner
"Commander probably got a silver tongue." Suggested Connie his head turned trying to face Reiner and Jean at the back "Hey Armin, Mikasa you guys were there at the trial, how slick is the Commander?" Armin and Mikasa were riding behind Reiner and Bertholdt; their orders were to watch the two of them at all times throughout the day right up to the ambush in the underground and while not giving off any indication that they were on to them.
Act as you'd usually act when with them, like they're still the friends and not the monsters that ruined your lives…
"The Commander can be persuasive." replied Armin "He manage to get Premier Zackly on his side when the Military Police looked to be winning the argument."
"So that's probably it" responded Connie "If Armin says it's true then it's gotta be true." He turned his head forward; ahead of him were Krista who looked to be slightly annoyed and blushing at Ymir who was had a sly grin on her face and Mina who was talking to Alphonse, she seemed to be laughing at something Alphonse said "You think Mina might have a crush on Alphonse?" he whispered to Sasha with a grin on his face
"Probably" giggled Sasha "Did you see her face lit up yesterday when they said he'd be with us?"
"It'd be stupid if she does" said Jean to Connie and Sasha "Edward and Alphonse are only here until Wall Maria gets patched up and depending on how things go it may just be a matter of months, someone should remind them of this; better sooner before they get hurt" the stupid grins on Connie and Sasha's faces quickly faded at the thought being replaced with a somber expression.
Why do I have the feeling it's going to be me doing it? Thought Jean
"You have a point Jean." Said Reiner "But let them have this just for a while, I'll be the one to talk to Mina about it and I'll see if Ed could have a conversation about it with Alphonse."
"Thanks Reiner" replied Jean, grateful that another thankless task wasn't up to him for once.
"So this guy would always try to bear hug you guys?" Laughed Mina "that's hilarious."
"He's freakishly strong also, for a big muscular guy he was always very emotional, not that there's anything wrong with that." mentioned Alphonse "but he's a great person; he always cared about my brother and I and the people he worked with."
"That's good to hear that he cared" replied Mina "My best friend Annie told me I shouldn't put myself in harm's way back in graduation; it's nice when people try and look out for you." Alphonse shifted slightly on the saddle of his horse and his grip on the reigns had tighten, he remembered the look of heartbreak on Eren's face when he found out one of his friends was a traitor out to push humanity off the edge, he dreaded to think about the reaction Mina would have when she found out about the truth of her best friend. "You think she might be upset about me joining the Scouts?" Mina asked innocently "maybe I should write a letter to her or visit her."
"You should just write a letter…" Alphonse suggested "she could be busy and all." Busy being tortured…
"You're probably right" replied "from what I've heard new MPs get paper work pushed onto them from their superiors."
"So why did you join the Scouts?" asked Alphonse, trying to change the topic from Annie
"You saved my life Al, I figured if I joined I might get the opportunity to return the favor" Mina joked "But really; I thought about joining the Garrison, I figured I might get assigned in my home district but I felt that I needed to do more, I wanted to do two things; help give humanity a future beyond Wall Rose and protect the people I care about, I figured joining the Scout Regiment would be the best way to do both of those."
At the front of the convey, Mike went over the plan with his squad "You all have the maps I gave you?" he asked
"Yes, squad leader." Replied Nanaba
"Good, we're coming up in the first location; it's an area north of Ragako village and East of Castle Utgard." Said Mike
"Never knew there was a castle near the wall." Commented Gelgar
"Likely abandoned or a refuge for outlaws and bandits." replied Mike "stick to the plan, this training day is just a distraction, once we get to Stohess we'll need to separate Reiner and Bertholdt from the rest of the Southern 104th." The convey was now in an open field which stretched out for miles and in the distance to the north was a wide forest "Soldiers!" boomed Mike "Dismount, set up a posts for the horses; we're reached the first location, get moving!" the convey quickly grinded to a halt as everyone moved off their horse, large wooden posts were hammered into the ground in a neat straight line for the recruits to tie the reigns of their horses to.
"They couldn't have set up the training course before we got here?" grumbled Connie as he unloaded thick large chunks of foam from one of the wagons "They did pull this out of their asses' last minute…" Alphonse walked out into the open space a few dozen meters from the rest of them; he clapped his hands together and placed them on to the wet grass and a group fifteen meter tall titans, made of harden mud, with their backs hunched over rose from the open field; the ground shook slightly as they were erected from the dirt, their number scattered across the field. The entire platoon of Scouts had stopped what they were doing to watch in awe at the sight.
"That will never stop being awesome" remarked Connie wide eyed
"Second time you've said something I agree with, Connie" said Jean as he watched too
They tied the foam onto the necks of the dirt titans, once everything was ready the forty some recruits of the 104th southern division formed ranks in front of Mike, his squad and Alphonse "Listen up!" announced Mike, his voice reaching out across the field "As you should know this is the first training session of the day; the objective is to combine the abilities of Alphonse's Alchemy with your ODM gear."Mike then pointed to the dirt Titans "ahead of you are some Titans, on an open field your gear would be close to useless; only a fool would face the Titans on an open field… but this won't be an open field for long."
He turned his head towards Alphonse "I want five squads with around eight in each squad, first squad form up here!"
Jean, Reiner, Mikasa, Mina along with four other recruits of the first squad walked forward, they took out their handles from the pockets and attached their blades
"On my command you are to charge at the dummy Titans with Alphonse Elric." Alphonse stood in the middle of the group but unlike them he hadn't taken out the handles for his ODM gear
"Go now!" they sprinted forward straight towards the Titans, Alphonse clapped his hands and struck the ground with them; transmuting long slanted pillars in front of them, they ran and leapt from the pillars firing their cables onto the exposed napes of the Titans, they zoomed forward and with stunning grace they carved through the foam, Alphonse quickly ran past the first Titans, he quickly transmuted a line of pillars leading up to the next set of Titans for them to swing towards, doing just that they made their way towards; Mikasa was leading the charge with stunning speed and efficiency similar to someone else Mike and s squad knew, they summarily cut the napes of the dummy titans before lowering themselves onto the ground. "Good work" said Mike; even if this was just part of an elaborate trap he knew the benefits of doing such an exercise "Altight, give Alphonse here a breather then we'll get on with the next group."
After their first training session the 104th were stationed at a small facility, just south of Dauper village, for a short break; they were ordered to keep their gear on with the exception of their scarabs which they had to leave near their horse; ready to leave at a moment's notice. Armin bit into his field rations after being told by Mikasa to eat something; he'd been busy keeping an eye on Bertholdt and Reiner to focus on anything else, they sat on the same table as them with Connie and Jean separating Armin from Bertholdt and Sasha and Mina separating Mikasa from Reiner.
"Is this seriously all we're getting?" said Connie as he took a large bite from his field ration "Could have at least packed from bread or soup along with us."
"If you don't want it, I'll have it." Suggested Sasha as she reached out for it
Connie defensively gripped his food "I still want to eat it!"
"We're only here for twenty minutes Connie" reminded Reiner "Mike said we've got to stick to a tight schedule."
"We could get something to eat at Stohess" suggested Mina "Hopefully we could even meet up with Annie, I know you'd like to Bertholdt." She teased
Bertholdt almost choked on his ration cracker, crumbles spilling onto the table "Wha?" he exclaimed "What do you mean?"
"I always catch you staring at her" replied Mina "back in the training camp you always sat behind us in the mess hall and stared."
"It's true Bertholdt" added Reiner "You do stare a lot."
"That's pretty creepy dude." laughed Connie as Bertholdt squirmed in his seat looking completely mortified
"Yeah well, you're one to talk Mina!" replied Bertholdt defensively "What about how you look at Alphonse?"
"Damn Bertholdt" remarked Ymir mildly impressed, she sat at the other table listening in on their conversation with Krista once she saw Bertholdt freaking out "never knew you had it in you"
"Hey shut up!" replied Mina, blood rushing to her cheeks.
Armin and Mikasa remained silent as their friends joked with each other, just like when they were trainees not so long ago, Armin wanted to smile, he wanted to remember this moment fondly… but knowing what him and Mikasa knew, they couldn't look past the large Colossal sized shadow that was cast over their happy moment.
"How 'bout the way Jean looks at Mikasa?" teased Connie, Mikasa turned her head towards Jean and gave him a puzzling look.
"Hey why are you throwing me under the wagon for?" yelled Jean at a grinning Connie
Alphonse sat with his legs crossed on a tall tower in the small facility with Mike and his squad, he stared into the open field, the large grass covered hills, scattered trees and in the far distance was Wall Rose. He scrunched up the wrapper in his hands and placed it in his pocket mindful not to litter and ruin this perfect enviroment
"It's a shame those two are Titan shifters" said Nanaba "From what I've read on them they were top of their class; they had a lot of promise."
"It is a damn shame" replied Mike "But they are a threat to humanity and as such they need to be dealt with." Mike slowly shut his eyes for a second and inhaled from his nose, trying to take in the calmness of the moment. His eyes shot open when he picked up on a familiarly disgusting smell. He turned around to face the direction of a forest and leaned forward slightly "Thomas!" he yelled "get four couriers to notify the districts, you'll head to our former HQ and notify Captain Levi this; the possibility that recruits Reiner and Bertholdt are the Titan shifters is low and Wall Rose has been breached from the south! Tell him to link with us at Utgard castle" Nanaba and Alphonse both looked at the direction Mike gazed upon and in the distance they saw small silhouettes in front of hills in the distance growing larger by the second. "Alphonse attach your scarabs and get on your horse!" he ordered, Alphonse frantically placed the rest of his equipment on, he jumped from the tower, reeled himself onto the ground and sprinted towards his horse. Nanaba fired off her cables to one of the windows of the building next to the tower where the recruits were eating and swung herself around to an open window immediately catching everyone's attention
"Is everyone here?" she asked with a great sense of urgency
"Executive Officer Nanaba?" said Krista a little concerned
"This is not a drill" she quickly stated "we have multiple Titans about five hundred meters from the south heading for our direction! Attach your scarabs and saddle up we've evacuating the nearby towns and villages" they stared at her; some shocked beyond belief and others wondering or hoping that this was just a surprise part of the training course "Now!" she yelled. "This is not a drill!"
"Wait… my village…" said Connie as he came to a horrifying realisation
"How the hell is that even possible…" whispered Reiner to Bertholdt
But if the walls have been breached then… Armin looked over to Bertholdt and Reiner those two aren't the Titan shifters… a small drop of relief hit him along with a feeling of dread over the latest Titan incursion showering over him.
Nanaba turned around and fired her cables onto the roof of the building where Mike had been standing; reeling herself up to meet him, Mike stood there stoically as he counted the number of Titans approaching their position.
"Nine so far" said Mike as Nanaba walked up to him
"They've broken through Wall Rose… there's nothing stopping their advance inwards…" observed Nanaba grimly "Our best course of action after evacuating the towns and villages in the area is to get Edward and Alphonse to the breach and have them seal it up." She knelt down and stared stared off to the side, trying to assess the grave situation "Still the whole situation is on a knife's edge; there's no telling how many have already made it inside and breach is probably swarming with them making an approach extremely dangerous, Humanity may well be pushed off the cliff edge…"
"No" replied Mike defiantly "the scales maybe tipped in their favor but there's still hope, all we need to do is keep fighting; so long as we keep putting up a fight, we haven't been beaten yet." Nanaba knelt there, taking in his words of resistance. "We'll wait for Levi to bring in Ed and Eren along with any reinforcements at Utgard castle; it might be the only defensible position near the entry point, after that we'll make a push for the breach." The two of them watched as the forty three members of the 104th southern division saddled themselves on their horses
Mike and his squad lead the large convey out of the facility "Once the Titans reach the woods we split up!" ordered Mike, he yelled over the thunderous sound of galloping "split into four groups with veterans and recruits, on my command we'll scatter across the area, inform as many people as you can, engage the enemy only if you have to, Southern team will be responsible for assessing the damage and everyone link back to Utgard castle we'll wait for Captain Levi to bring in reinforcement from there, does anyome here know the area?"
"My village is just north of here, sir!" replied Sasha "I know the terrain!"
"You'll guide the northern team!" ordered Mike
"Connie's village is from the-" she turned to face Connie; he gave off a look of paralyzed shock "Connie?"
"My village…" he replied weakly "It's to the south… where the Titans are coming from… I'll guide the southern team but please… let me go back to my home"
"Alright, you guide the southern team and afterwards head to your village." Responded Mike
"Thank you sir!" replied Connie
"I'll join you!" yelled Reiner
"You're not the only one!" added Jean "I'm coming too!"
"Are you guys crazy?" replied Connie "Titans have probably swarmed the placed!"
"Exactly; we're not about to let you go in on this alone." Replied Jean
"What about you?" asked Reiner turning his head to face Bertholdt "You tagging along?"
"Of course." Replied Bertholdt
"Mikasa Ackerman, you're with the southern team!" ordered Mike, she turned to Armin and gave him a worried look; she couldn't leave Armin, the last time she'd left him and Eren was at Trost and they both almost got killed.
"I'll be fine Mikasa" Armin reassured her "You just focus on getting as many people as you can out of here."
As the convoy rode onward on the path they quickly caught sight of a stray group of Titans in the distance to their right; a fifteen meter Titan stopped its lumbered movements and froze. Suddenly it leapt into the sky, its arms twirling in the air, before sprinting towards the Scouts, the other Titan immediately followed with the same erratic movements in pursuit of the Scout convoy.
"What the hell?" exclaimed Jean
"They're sprinting towards us!" yelled a one of the recruits in the back
"Oh fuck!" yelled one of the Veterans "Everyone get moving! Go! Go! Go!" they whipped the reins of their horses trying to increase their speed, but the Titans were still catching up to them; it was only a matter of time before they collided with the convoy.
Mikasa took out the handles to her ODM gear and attached them to her blades, ready to charge the incoming Titans.
"No!" yelled Mike, catching Mikasa in the act "You're with the southern team" he then turned to Gelgar "Gelgar, you lead the southern team!" he commanded as he pulled the reins of his horse in the direction of the Titans, charging head on towards them.
"Yes Sir!" replied Gelgar almost hesitantly
"He's going out to face those Titans alone?" questioned one of the veterans
"I'll go with him!" suggested another Scout veteran
"No, he'll be fine!" countered Gelgar "He can handle it; he's Humanity's second strongest soldier after Captain Levi."
"Ahhhhh!" exclaimed Annie as Levi poured a bucket of ice cold water over her, she instinctively moved her arms closer to try and cover herself but the shackles holding her arms in place prevented her from doing so. She looked upwards and glared at Levi who just looked at her with his usual emotionless expression; if he felt any enjoyment or anguish from torturing her then he doesn't show it. "Youuuuu…. Bbbasssttaarrd" said Annie through chattering teeth
"Oh shut it" replied Levi "You should be thanking me; you were absolutely filthy." He turned to face Eren and Ed who were behind him, Eren stood there staring at Annie with harden eyes while Ed leaned back against the bars of the dungeon with his arms folded "If you want to try and get anything out of her than now would be a good time." Eren walked up to Annie and knelt down so that they were at eye level. They were trying out a new strategy; appealing to her sense of humanity and if that didn't work then they go back to torturing.
"Annie, I want to talk" he said, she could tell from his voice that he was trying to hold back his anger but at the same time he seemed more upset "please just tell us, tell me, what the hell is going on… why all this is happening…" Annie looked at him, she felt sorry for Eren; Bertholdt had told her about the story Eren mother dying in the district they attacked, she knew that Eren had every right to be angry at her and if they did managed to find out about Reiner and Bertholdt than he'd have every right to be angry at them too, she almost wanted to tell him.
"What I did…" said Annie, she looked into Eren and saw an uncontrollable and all-consuming fire behind his teal colored eyes there's no future for these people even if I do tell them, they can't fight the nature of things and if Eren really is the coordinate then these people are fucked ; they're dead either way… "I did because it was necessary for me…" Eren was about to lunge at her but was stopped by Ed who held him back I just have to hold out long enough for Reiner and Bertholdt to notice I'm gone; no doubt they'll come back for me and then we can finally complete this god-forsaken mission and go home…
You really need to cool it down thought Ed as he held back Eren who was struggling to escape his grasp and reach Annie, he thought back to all the times he lost his temper.
The slamming of the door to the hall caught their attention as one of the Scouts rushed down the stairs towards them "Captain Levi!" the Scout yelled "report from Mike; There's a breach in the south side of Wall Rose, Titans pouring in!" their eyes widen in shock at the news
That's where Al is… thought Ed as he let go of Eren who was now too stunned to be angry at Annie
"How… How long ago was that?" he asked the Scout
"Three, maybe four hours…" replied the messenger
Annie wondered if they discovered she had been kidnapped and were now creating a distraction to rescue her Looks like I won't be here for long then…
Levi walked up to Annie and threw a hard punch to her head; knocking her out cold, he then unlocked the shackles holding her hands to the wall causing her to drop down onto the ground "Why are you looking at me like a bunch of useless idiots?" asked Levi at Ed and Eren who were staring at him "Move your asses!" They both quickly ran out of the dungeon to retrieve their gear and horses while Levi tied up an unconscious Annie, he placed her on his shoulder "Alright, fill me in on what happened." He asked the Scout
"How'd the wall get breached?" said Eren as he strapped on his ODM gear
Ed thought back to the large Titans in the wall, he wondered if one of them had woken up and caused a massive breach or if maybe there was section of wall that wasn't made of Titans and was just regular building material.
"You think Reiner and Bertholdt got caught and are now trying to escape?" asked Ed
"It wasn't them" said Levi as he entered in to collect his gear "messenger said Mike noticed Titans heading from the south and concluded that Reiner and Bertholdt are not the other Titan shifters, Mike's got the 104th held up at Utgard castle near the wall."
A small smile formed on Eren's face at the news that his friends weren't the traitors after all, he felt vindicated in his defense of them "I was right, I knew we shouldn't have doubted them!"
"You can say 'I told you so' in your own time" replied Levi "right now we need to head to Stohess"
"Wait but you said they're at Utgard castle" interjected Ed "shouldn't we be going there? Our orders were to mobilise at the first sign of trouble, this is trouble!"
"Our first priority is to get Leonhart into Wall Sina" replied Levi "Second we don't have the experienced manpower to bring you and Alphonse even remotely close enough to a possible breach; once we get to Stohess we'll link up with Hange's squad and head over to Mike and relieve the 104th then we'll see what we can do about the breach." He said as he walked out of the room with his ODM gear on him, he stopped at the door and faced them "I know you're probably worried about your brother but I'm sure he's fine; Mike can handle the situation." Levi then continued to walk, making his way to the stables
"How do you know that by the time we've done that it might not already be too late!" countered Ed as he and Eren followed him "We should take the men we have now and just link up back with the 104th and Mike's squad and seal the breach."
"So you're suddenly alright with sending a bunch of recruits into a Titan swarm?" questioned Levi, Ed didn't know how to respond, he thought back to those Cadets in Trost and how terrified they were, while he was impatient to go out and help Alphonse and seal the breach he knew he couldn't condemn the 104th to an early grave.
"No sir." Ed replied hesitantly
"Good" replied Levi as he got in his horse; there were seven other Scouts on their horses waiting for them near the entrance with small wagon covered over tied to one of them.
"Our first objective is to move the prisoner into Stohess! I want you all to cover each side of the wagon, understood?" yelled Levi "Squad, move out!" they whipped the reins sending their horses sprinting forward.
Mina and a veteran Scout followed Sasha along the path, she pointed ahead of them towards a small village in the distance "There's a village just north!" she yelled
"Got it!" replied the veteran "Is that the final one?"
"Not yet, there's still my village deep in the forest!" responded Sasha
"Alright, I'll handle this one, you two watch each other's back and head for the last one!" he ordered
"Yes sir!" replied Mina; they rushed off along the path into the forest, they rode along the path straight through mass of trees for a while, Sasha gasped when she noticed it; large foot prints "What is it?" Mina asked
"Footprints" responded Sasha "They're already pretty far in; the Titan we saw weren't the first one." Sasha then spotted a few buildings along the path "Did they build a new village?" They approached the village, the place looked desolate; not a soul in sight.
"They must have evacuated then." Said Mina as they passed through the entrance.
"We'll go around and check, just in case" replied Sasha, they dismounted from their horses and took out their blades, their eyes scanning for any kind of movement be it human, animal or Titan. As they walked along a dirt path Sasha stopped dead in her tracks and raised her blades
"You see something?" whispered Mina, Sasha pointed towards a small house with an open door
"There's someone in there." Sasha whispered back, they slowly walked up to the door and caught sight of a three meter Titan chewing into a poor woman's leg as she whimpered in pain, Sasha placed one of her blades back into her scarab and held the handle to her left one in both hands as she approached the door and she crept into the house going unnoticed by the Titan who was gourging himself on the woman's leg.
"WAAGH!" yelled Sasha; she struck her blade into the nape of the three meter Titan, killing it instantly. The Titan carcass fell on top of the woman whose right leg had a huge chunk bitten off of it. Sasha and Mina scrambled to get the body of the Titan off of her, they flipped the now evaporating carcass to the side of her, Sasha turned her head to see a small child with light blond hair staring at them with wide emotionless eyes. Mina tended to the woman's wounds by wrapping some clothes she found around her open wound in the hope it would stop further blood loss while Sasha took the hand of the child and led her back to the horses.
"Don't worry madam" said Mina as she finished wrapping her wounds "we're gonna get you and your daughter out of…" she turned to face her and noticed she'd stopped breathing; her dead eyes staring blankly into the floor. Mina stood without saying another word and immediately looked at her own blood stained hands, she wiped the blood off with the wrapped clothes and walked out the door.
"Damn it…" she muttered to herself as she walked back to Sasha and the small girl sitting on her horse, she tenderly held the little girl's hand "I'm so sorry, but there was nothing I could do to help her"
"They left us" replied the small child "the whole village knew my mom had bad legs, but they still left us…"
"We're not leaving you." Replied Sasha stoically, they rode along the dirt path and quickly they ran into a group of people on horse back
"Is that the rest of the Northern team?" said Mina
"No…" replied Sasha it's…" the riders came to a halt as she almost instantly recognized the man with the thin brown beard leading the group "Dad?"
"Connie!" yelled Reiner as he and Jean rode up to him, Connie looked transfixed at the sight of a Titan lying down on the remains of a house, and Reiner gripped Connie's arm and pulled him back slightly.
"My...My home" replied Connie with a shaky voice, he looked to be one the verge of tears "It's gone…"
Jean examined the Titan lying in the rubble of Connie's home how the hell did it even get here? He thought its legs looks too weak to support its body and head
"Recruits!" yelled Gelgar "get back!"
"Mikasa, patrol the outskirts of the village for any Titans!" order Lynne
"Yes Sir!" Replied Mikasa
"What the… how the hell did that get here?" said Gelgar as he stared at the titan.
Ten minutes had past as the southern team searched the ruins of Ragako village for survivors, Connie stood staring at their ruined house and the Titan who destroyed it with tears pouring from his eyes as he held a bundle of torches.
"Connie!" yelled Jean, as he, Reiner and Bertholdt ran up to him "Did you find anyone?"
"No…" replied Connie choking on his tears "They're gone… my house…my family" Reiner placed his hand on Connie's shoulder and gripped it reassuringly; from the look on his face the whole ordeal was painful for him too.
"Hey!" Gelgar called out "Did you find any bodies?"
"No" replied Reiner
"Nothing, not even a blood stain." Added Jean
"How the hell is that even possible" questioned Gelgar
"They must have all escaped" said Lynne trying to comfort Connie "there's no way a Titan attack could be this clean, they must have escaped before the Titans could reach them!" a smile crept up on Connie's face as the idea that his family hadn't died offered him a ray of hope through a dark cloud of grief. "They must have left hours ago; they might already be in Wall Sina." Jean examined the uneasy smile on her face; he didn't think she believed her own theory.
Strange though… he thought as he looked at the stable full of horses they couldn't have made it this far without the horses and the buildings; why would Titans just ransack buildings with no people inside?
"Are the torches ready?" asked Gelgar "We're heading to the wall now so be on your guard."
Connie walked over to his horse; the reigns were tied to an undamaged fence next to Jean's horse, Jean tapped him on the back with the palm of his hand "Whatever happens Connie; Sasha, I and the others we'll all be there for you" Jean said as he got on his horse.
"Thanks Jean" replied Connie as he got on his horse; he greatly appreciated the comment and reassurance that he wasn't going to be alone in facing this nightmare "sorry abo-"
"Welc…ome ho…me" said an unnatural sounding voice from behind them, they both looked at each other; a cold chill running down their spines as they sat on their horses frozen on the spot.
"Tell me I'm not the only that heard that." Said Connie
"No…" replied Jean as they both turned to face the Titan staring at them with its large hazel eyes. "Did… did that Titan just-"
"Hey you two!" yelled Reiner "hurry the hell up; you're gonna be left behind!"
"Reiner! The Titan just spoke!" replied Jean
"Well I didn't hear a damn thing" responded Reiner dismissively
"It…it sounded like my mom-" said Connie
"Damn it could you two could you just get a grip!" yelled Reiner "instead of diving into fantasies how about you focus on the-"
"Don't give me that kind of crap Reiner!" yelled Jean angrily "I know what I heard and what I heard was a Titan speaking!"
Reiner gritted his teeth in pure frustration "We'll talk about this later" he replied "In case you've forgotten we're still soldiers and we have a duty to do, now get moving!" he then rode off to back to the southern team.
The sky had darken with the coming of night and the whole of Stohess seemed to be in complete chaos as refugees began pouring into the city through the large entrance; Levi's squad slowly made their way through the mass of people towards the Military HQ; riding their horses off to the side of the main road.
"Stay close!" yelled Levi, people began to pull and tug at them asking for help, for them or their children to ride on their horse or the cart so they could get ahead
"I'm sorry, I can't" said Ed to woman holding up her daughter, she was begging him to let her on so that she'd get ahead "Just keep following the road, it's not that farer."
"Hey! Get back!" yelled a Scout at someone trying to climb into the cart
"Stop hogging the road you good for nothings!" yelled a passerby at the Scouts
"You two" Levi said to two of the other Scouts "watch the horses, the rest of you will escort Leonhart somewhere safe, Ed and Eren you're with me." They walked into the corridors of the Military HQ, the whole place seemed to be in a state of chaos as people ran around yelling instructions at each other, they arrived outside Erwin's office "you two wait here." said Levi as he entered through the door." Inside Erwin and Hange were discussing what to do "So I assume you've already got the news." Said Levi as he leaned up against the door
"Titans have breached an area within Wall Rose" said Erwin "I'm assuming you're here to place Leonhart in a safer location."
"She wouldn't be any good to us being Titan puke." Replied Levi
"This doesn't make sense" said Hange "did one of the Colossal Titans in the walls just wake up? Did the Titans really break the wall even with the other Titans inside it? Or are only portions of the wall made of Titans"
"We can worry about that later" said Erwin "right now we have a breach in the wall and Titans pouring through, our best course of action would be to send the Elrics in to seal it, of course they're currently separated and Alphonse Elric location is unknown."
"Mike's got the 104th occupying a castle near the wall, if he's still alive then he'll be there." replied Levi "He also concluded that since Reiner and Bertholdt were under his watch during the breach then they couldn't be the Titan shifters."
"Mike doesn't know about the walled in Colossal Titans yet" said Hange "And the paper work showing a link between them and Leonhart and Armin's account of events during the expedition seemed to fit too well."
"So what are you suggesting then four-eyes?" asked Levi
"That even though Reiner and Bertholdt may have not caused the breach we still can't dismiss the idea that they are the Titan shifters." Said Hange
"So you're saying the original plan to apprehend them still remains the same?" asked Erwin
"Not exactly" replied Hange "we should just leave a skeleton crew to set up for the ambush just in case and if any new information comes to light then we at least we'll have options."
"Alright then, we'll still need to relieve the 104th and Mike's squad at Utgard castle; we'll head to Hermina, Levi and Hange you'll take twenty men and head over to the castle from there and I'll join the rest of our available forces with commander Pixis."
In the corridor outside the office Ed and Eren waited for the meeting to be over, Ed paced up and down the hallway impatiently constantly looking over the map showing the area south within Wall Rose and checking his pocket watch every so often If I go now it would take about a day to get there on horse he thought, he didn't know if he could wait any longer; fearing that every second they spend here is one less second Alphonse had, the location was just north of where the possible breach could be which meant Alphonse was on the front line of the Titan attack.
"Eren" he called out "I'm heading out."
"What?" replied Eren "You can't leave, Captain Levi told us to wait here."
"Well he's taking too damn long" Ed replied "And they won't have enough time left until they get overrun
"Wall Rose could already be a warzone for all we know" countered Eren "if you go out there then you're as good as dead."
"I can handle myself." Said Ed as he turned his back to Eren to head to his horse, Eren walked up to Ed and grabbed his shoulder
"Listen to me; you're worried about your brother, I get it I'm worried about Armin and Mikasa, but we've got to trust that the Scouts know what they're doing." Ed let out a sigh "Trust me; I'm sure they're fine."
In the lower floor of the HQ Marlowe and Hitch were rushing through the corridor, the Military Police had been placed in charge of moving the refugees from Wall Rose into the underground city.
"This whole things a mess" remarked Marlowe, he sounded furious "The Officers can't put together a proper plan to move the refugees and now the situation is in complete chaos; its like they don't even care about these people."
Hitch wasn't listening to Marlowe's angry ramblings; something else, other than the potential breach in Wall Rose, was troubling her "Have you seen Annie anywhere?" she asked
Marlowe looked back at her a little confused "huh?"
"I haven't seen her for a whole day now; she wanted me to call her off sick for yesterday, by the way don't tell her I said that or else she'll be pissed" Hitch giggled "anyway I didn't see her last night or this morning... I'm kinda worried about her."
Marlowe gave Hitch a sympathetic look "She's probably alright" he said, trying to reassure Hitch "Annie can take care of herself and she might of just left early this morning, she probably in the city now trying to get the people to safety." Suddenly a group of soldiers walked up to them, that's when they noticed the Scout insignia on their jackets
"Excuse me" said one of the Scouts as they moved to the side of them, both Hitch and Marlowe quickly took notice of a person with a bag covered over their head being dragged by two other Scouts, the entire group looked on edge as if they were preparing themselves for something to happen.
"Hey, where are you going with that person?" asked Marlowe
"That doesn't concern you" replied one of the Scouts
Alphonse pressed his hands onto the crumbled castle wall stretching out the walls and connecting them to the other side leaving a open entrance for horses to past through; he went around the castle strengthen the crumbling exterior by moving mass from the ground into the outer walls and once he had done that he transmuted several spikes along the walls as a precaution against any Titan attack; very quickly the castle which looked to be in a state of ruin was looking more and more defendable.
"This place is going to be cramped" said Gelgar as he watched more Scouts and recruits from the 104th enter the castle, he held a green bottle in his hands.
"Are you seriously going to drink that now?" questioned Lynne
"Course not, what kind of guy do you take me for?" Stated Gelgar, also offended
"That should be the last team" said Nanaba "How many recruits are accounted for?"
"All of them" replied Lynne "I've counted; we now have all forty three of them, we've had to tied some of the horses to the trees nearby seeing as there isn't much space for all of them."
"Talk about unimaginable good luck" remarked Gelgar "you'd think we'd would have met more Titans."
"And the fact that there isn't a breach in the walls…" added Nanaba "Makes me wonder how the hell they got in."
"If there isn't a breach in the walls, then I don't think we'd need this many soldiers to hold this position then" said Henning "We can send the 104th to Yalkell, we'll just wait here for Levi and the reinforcements."
"We should wait for Mike before we make a decision like that" replied Nanaba
"What if…" said Henning "What if he didn't make it…"
"Don't talk like that." Said Nanaba "Mike's one of the best soldiers in the entire army; he was humanity's strongest soldier before Captain Levi, he'll be here."
"I don't doubt his skill" said Henning "but we have to be open to the possibility, we're deep in what could be Titan country and we have a bunch of recruits with us; the situation has changed and we can't just sit here and wait, someone needs to take command, you are Mike's second in command, you need to decide what we should do." Nanaba folded her arms and looked up into the sky wondering what they should do, she wondered whether Henning was right and if she should start taking command of the situation, she looked at the 104th members who were walking along the battlements on the lookout and those who were heading inside the interior of the castle or tower.
We could have them make a break for Yalkell thought Nanaba "Alright then, Lynne and Henning you two Scout out a path for the 104th to make an escape, the rest of us will hold down the fort."
"Yes, squad leader." Replied the two of them
On the first floor of the tower, members of the 104th sat against the wall or lay down on the stone floor trying to sleep and lining the walls were a large stack of scarabs on the floor. The area was cramped as Armin tried to make his way up the stairs, slowly side stepping over the sleeping bodies, he reached the second floor to find his friends sitting around in a dimly lit room; Connie sat up against the wall beside Sasha who was comforting him, Jean sat next to Sasha and near Mikasa, Reiner and Bertholdt sat to the left of Connie and Mina sat in between Bertholdt and Krista who sat next to Ymir.
"Armin" called Mikasa who was sitting on the stairs to the top of the tower.
"Good to see you made it back too." Said Reiner
"I'm pretty sure everyone made it back" said Jean "talk about the devils luck."
"Doesn't make sense" said Armin as he sat down next to Mikasa "If there's a breach in the walls then there should be more Titans."
"That's the thing Armin; we didn't find a breach, the whole wall is still intact" Replied Mikasa
"Wait! There wasn't a breach?" said Armin completely surprised
"We swept the south side of the wall, didn't even see a hole big enough for people to pass through." Said Jean
"Our team looked from the west" added Krista "we didn't find any breach there too."
Armin pondered on this new information could the Titans have come from inside wall rose? That would explain why there's so few but how they got there in the first place is a mystery and if the wall isn't breached… then Reiner and Bertholdt are still suspects…
"Connie, what happened to your village?" asked Ymir
"It was wiped out" replied Connie, his voice sounded ache with exhaustion and sadness "The Titans trampled their way through."
"I'm sorry to hear that" Ymir said apologetically
"But there wasn't any signs of people being eaten" added Connie "So it must mean they've gotten out, I'm thankful for that at least."
"But you said your whole village was destroyed?" questioned Ymir
"The houses were but we didn't find any bodies around; not even a single drop of blood" said Connie "so it must mean they weren't killed… but... There's still something I can't get out of my head; there was a Titan on top of my house but its legs and arms looked too weak to support its own body and… it sort of looked like my mom and it spoke…"
"I was with Connie when it happened" said Jean "I heard it too, it said 'welcome home…'" Almost everyone in the room listen to their Connie's story and Jean verifying the events with look of complete shock
"Are you two still going on about that?" said Reiner; he sounded annoyed at them for bringing it up
"Yes Reiner, we are" replied Jean, in a similarly annoyed tone "We know what we heard!"
Armin began to quickly piece everything in his head together; the Titans coming from the south but there being no breach in the wall, the relatively small number of them during the attack, Connie's village being destroyed yet no signs of people being devoured showing and the Titan who looked like Connie's mother…. It can't be… dear God… Ymir was about to comment when Armin beat her to the punch "Wait…" he said, he stumble up to his feet, just from the look of him it was clear he was distressed about something.
"What is it, Armin?" asked Mikasa
"I…I… I think…" he stuttered, he didn't want to say it; he knew that if he told Connie this it would destroy him, it would destroy the glimmer of hope that he had about his family getting out, but what he discovered was crucial in almost every way... The Titans were people
"Well spit it out." Said Ymir impatiently
"I think I know… where the Titans came from…" said Armin "Connie… I'm so sorry, I really am but I think the Titans that are in Wall Rose… are the people from your village." The silence that had taken over was almost deafening.
"What… that… it can't be…" said Connie "No, no way I don't believe it!" there was a great sense of desperation in his voice as he held his head in his hands
"I'm sorry but after everything it's the only likely explanation; the small number of Titans, a breach not being found in the area and the lack of any evidence of people being eaten in your village and the Titan that looks like your mother…" everyone in the room looked at Armin almost overwhelmed by what he was suggesting, the idea that Titans were people all along and that everyone in Connie's village had become Titans… Reiner and Bertholdt looked pale as the blood was drained from their faces and a small bead of cold sweat ran down their forehead.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Ymir, destroying all tension within the room "Wow and here I thought you were going to say something clever!" she continued to laugh "That has to be the dumbest thing you've ever said, I never would have taken you for being such an idiot." Armin didn't know how to respond, instead he looked at the floor as Ymir berated him "If Connie's mother was a Titan then why the hell he is so small then?" she laughed
"I believe you, Armin" said Mikasa
"Well of course you'd believe him" mocked Ymir
"Me too, Armin" added Jean, he didn't know whether he agreed with Armin because he really did believe his theory or just out of spite against Ymir
"I saw a Titan foot print up north on the way to our village" added Sasha, this only strengthen Armin's theory "that's means they must have been in Wall Rose longer than we thought."
"Really, you guys are really going to believe this?" scoffed Ymir this isn't going as planned; I thought I could get Armin to back down from his theory… "Hmph, fine, believe his stupid theory…" she said
Alphonse placed his hands into dirt; a line of large sharp stone spikes arose from the ground along the wall, the blue sparks dancing in the air, the crumbling castle had now been repaired and reinforced with better defenses should a Titan attack them, he dusted off his hands and strolled up to the entrance. Unknown to Alphonse a Beast was watching him, crouched down behind the trees in the distance; observing him use his abilities.
What a fascinating ability you have… you're truly something remarkable, now I wonder how I can go about capturing you…
It had now been two hours since the 104th and Mike's squad arrived at the castle, Mikasa and Armin stood at the tower on lookout, Sasha patrolled along the battlements of the castle with other recruits and some veterans while everyone one else was either asleep or ransacking the crates of contraband which was lying around. Sasha yawned to herself, her eyes began to feel heavy and she lay her head down on the wall of the battlements as she drifted off into a blissful slumber.
Thud!
Her eyes widen instantly.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It can't…
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
It is!
She scrambled for the pistol in her pocket and loaded an acoustic round into the chamber; she quickly raised it into the air and fired off the shot. Everyone in the castle was alerted by the loud bang, one of the veterans patrolling the wall ran up to her "What is it?" he asked "do you see something?"
"Footsteps!" exclaimed Sasha "coming from the south and east!"
"What is it, soldier?" asked Nanaba arriving at the scene, everyone inside the castle or tower interior began pouring out
"What the hell's going on?" asked Jean as he and the others exited the tower
"Multiple footsteps coming from the South and East!" repeated Sasha, suddenly the sound of a flare being fired caught everyone; a red flare was fired from the top of the tower by Armin pointing it in the direction of the nearby forest, trying to get everyone to look in that direction ,he and Mikasa both watched in dreaded anticipation as something began to approach their position as it violently shook the trees.
"There's no time to get your scarabs, get to your horse and head north!" yelled Nanaba to the mass of recruits and veterans. Suddenly the sound of galloping coming from the north caught their attention; it was Lynne, she urgently rushed into the entrance of the castle, she fired her cables onto the walls and towards Nanaba, she looked utterly terrified.
"Lynne, where's Henning?" asked Nanaba
"He's dead!" cried Lynne "we were ambushed by Titans on our way back, there were dozens of them, they looked to be coming from the north and west and they're heading this way!"
"We're surrounded…" mumbled Reiner, panic soon began to set in among the 104th at the idea that a Titan horde was descending upon them, some began to run around and others broke down sobbing.
Nanaba watched as recruits began to panic, she began to wonder if this was the end for them, if this was where she was going to die; failing her responsibilities to her squad mates and the recruits under her watch.
No
"All soldiers! Gear up and head towards the battlements, prepare to defend this position!" Nanaba ordered, her voice gave off a feeling of furious determination "WE'RE STANDING OUR GROUND; IT'S THE ONLY WAY WE'LL SEE IT THROUGH THIS BRUTAL NIGHT!"
The recruits scrambled back into the interior to collect their gear and quickly rushed out onto the battlements; standing side by side with each other "we hardly meet any Titans during the evacuation but now they come down on us all at once" remarked Jean, frustrated as he took his place at the south side of the wall "And here I thought our luck had turned."
Alphonse rushed towards the entrance, he clapped his hands together and transmuted a set of spikes on the ground and sealed up the entrance completely, he fired his cables and reeled himself upwards onto the battlements where he met the others; almost all of them, barring Mikasa, Jean, Ymir and Reiner, looked terrified as they watched the trees near the front of the forest begin to shake and the first Titans appearing from the tree line. Alphonse watched as they entered the open field; he thought about his home back in Resembool and wondered if he'll ever get to see it again, he turned his head towards Mina, standing to his left, who was staring ahead at the incoming Titans, doing her best trying to stave off any fear she had at that moment.
I promised your dad I'd look out for you… his grips on the handles of his blades tighten No one is dying on me again...
Ymir stood next to Krista and began chewing on her own tongue as she watched the Titans slowly approach the castle from the south, she contemplated whether she should bite down and transform possibly giving everyone, mainly Krista, enough time to escape. She looked down at Krista, her hands were visibly shaking and she looked as though she was on the verge of tears; Ymir sighed, she placed one of her blades back in the scarab and with her free hand gently held one of Krista shaking hands, catching her attention "Whatever happens, stay close to me." said Ymir We're the same Krista, you and I.
Connie watched with a river of tears flowing from his eyes as two five-meter titans were play fighting with each other Martin? Sunny? is that you... God, please don't force me to kill them...
"Stay close, Armin" said Mikasa, she began picking out Titans in the approaching horde who would be the easiest to dispatch, Armin stood by her, the last time he felt tgid terrified in his life than when he came face to face with Annie in her Titan form.
"This is it!" yelled Gelgar as he walked along the battlement trying to raise moral "I don't know about you guys but I'm not about to die before I get a -" suddenly the sound of a large roar from the distance cut him short, they all turned towards the sound to see a large Titan with long spindly arms covered in fur standing atop of Wall Rose.