Chapter 43: Cat and Mouse
It came without warning, a bolt of lightning striking the castle from the sky like javelin from heaven and instantly a powerful rumbling from the ground, it was as if the ground beneath Levi squad and the scouts was about to collapse from underneath their feet as they fell to the ground from the violent shaking. Not a second later the left side of the castle began to collapse upon itself, grey bricks raining down towards the ground, a few unlucky ones caught by the terrible hail, and the sound of crashing rumble filled the ears of those within the castle walls.
"What the hell is going on?" Levi yelled as he quickly got back to his feet, helping Petra up from the ground. Both Ed and Alphonse quickly got to their feet after stumbling to the ground.
Not a second later a fourteen meter tall titan with short blonde hair, a feminine figure and strips of skin partially covering its exposed muscle emerged from the side of the castle. "No… No! No! NO! Fuck!" Levi yelled as he caught sight of it. The Female titan turned its head and looked in their direction, its blue eyes narrowed glaring at them. Levi could tell what she wanted; nothing more than to crush them under her heel like a bug. But she turned away, her foot crashing into the outer walls of the castle like sledgehammer to bundled twigs.
As her foot crossed the other side of the wall, the zipping sound of metal cables and small bursts quickly rang around as a few scouts flew towards her. "No! Don't!" Levi yelled as he caught sight of them. But it was far too late, the scouts swarmed Leonhart; one of them fired their cables into her neck and reeled themselves forward, the Female titan quickly grabbed the cables attached to her neck and yanked out the hooks and swung the person onto the castle wall like child smashing conkers onto the wall, a disgusting blood splatter painting the grey bricks as their body flopped to the ground. Another scout spun themselves around towards her front as her head was turned to look back; the Female titan caught the scout in her hand and squeezed hard before throwing them into the nearby forest. The third scout tried to retreat after the gruesome death of their comrades but was swatted away by the hand of the titan like an annoying fly, they crashed onto the ground their body injured by the fall but still alive.
"Do not engage the Female titan!" Levi ordered.
"Where's Eren?" Petra yelled. She turned towards one of the scouts "You find Eren!"
"Yes Lieutenant!" replied the scout as they ran inside.
Levi turned his head to the other scouts around them "Alert Commanders Erwin and Pixis!" Levi knew that they couldn't stop her here, if she was smart she'd make a break for it than battle them on their own turf. She managed to wipe out his squad in their first encounter. But if Eren could quickly show up "Edward and Alphonse incapacitate her!" The scouts quickly got onto their horses and rode off.
Ed then placed his hands onto the ground, flashes of blue lighting appeared around him as cannon merged out of the ground, the cannon fired off its shot hitting the left side of the Female titan's face. Alphonse pressed his own hands into the dirt a large spike burst from the ground and impaled her leg. Alphonse quickly got up and ran towards the Female titan.
"Al!" Ed yelled.
"Alphonse, where the hell are you-" Levi watched as Alphonse ran towards the large hole in the castle left by the titan "Son of a bitch" he grumbled. Another cannon shot went off, the shot hitting Female titan directly in the face, blinding her. Suddenly a burst of fire struck the titan, knocking Female titan to the ground as she tried to run away. Armin stood above them on the castle wall, running towards the gap and Female titan. "Arlert!" Levi yelled "Don't let her get away." Armin nodded and continued the onslaught. The Female titan quickly got up onto her feet, its face already healing from the damage, a bright blue eye spotting them. Armin set off another blast of fire but the Female titan quickly hardens her forearms and shielded her face. She grabbed a chunk of the wall and tosses it at them. They all scatter around from the flying debris. Armin almost tripped off the wall before Mikasa grabbed him and kept him up.
"Where Eren?" Levi barked, looking at them on the wall.
"He's unconscious!" Mikasa replied "The falling debris hit him on his head, the others are with him." Mikasa turned back towards the Female titan and locked eyes.
"You've got to be kidding me." Levi growled. The Female titan swung her leg into the wall, more chunks of debris falling towards them; Mikasa grabbed Armin and leapt off the wall, the gas from her ODM gear breaking their fall.
The Female titan turned her back towards them once more and ran, its feet knocking down the trees in its way.
"Captain, the Female titan is escaping!" yelled one of the scouts.
"I know, alert the nearby outposts and towns, and inform the garrison inside Trost district." Levi ordered as he surveyed the damage "The Female titan has escaped, she's heading south."
Erwin looked over the large map of the walls, laid out over a table in the middle of the office he had made his temporary home as he planned for the expedition for Shiganshina. The morning sun began to seep through the cracks in the lazily closed curtains, the small wooden pieces on the board casting long shadows over the map. A loose line of red dots connected by a thin black line spanned from Trost to Shiganshina, representing the chain of supply outposts.
An organised formation of triangles with the regiment's emblem carved into it facing a large swarm of blank circles which crowded the entrance of Shiganshina and inside the district itself. There were a few knocks on the door. "Come in." Erwin said. The door opened, creaking slightly, as Dot Pixis walked in.
"I see you're still up." Pixis remarked as he walked towards him. "Tell me Erwin, have you slept at any point?" Pixis looked at the large map before him.
"Not yet." Erwin replied. He didn't notice it until now but he was tired. Still. That wasn't going to stop him, not when he was getting closer… "There is still far too much to plan and account for."
"I'd say that a tired mind is rather dull but… I've never known you to be dull in any sense." Pixis replied. He examined the pieces on the map. Specifically the number of troops on the field "I'm curious, Erwin, you appear to have number of platoons on the field."
"The majority of them are the new recruits from the 104th." Erwin replied. "Those numbers are further bolstered by the addition of former scout regiment soldiers who had lost limbs but will be reintegrated when they've been outfitted with automail."
"I'm sure it's crossed your mind that those among your ranks may not be ready for such a battle." Pixis said.
"Of course, but the alternative is going into an expedition with fewer soldiers in a decisive battle against the enemy." Erwin's eyes moved over from the organised triangles to the mass of circles "We have to assume the enemy will not hold back, we may likely face the full brunt of their forces."
"And why would you assume that?" Pixis asked.
"If your enemy had a shifter who has the ability to command titans and two other individuals who can manipulate material, all in one area, would you fight conservatively?" Erwin asked. Pixis shook his head slightly "Exactly, this will be a turning point in history. Either for humanity or the titans, we can't afford to pull our own punches."
"Those poor souls could drag you down." Pixis speculated.
"There are other roles in a battle than combat." Erwin responded.
"But if the enemy isn't going to pull their punches than can you expect your line of more able bodied soldier to thin very quickly." Pixis pointed out. "Perhaps you would benefit from having soldiers from the garrison to fill in those gaps."
Erwin pondered on this for a few seconds "I don't think there's a battalion of garrison troops that would offer to join us."
"I'm not talking about having a battalion of garrison soldiers joining your ranks permanently." Pixis replied "I'm sure one of my captains is willing to volunteer themselves and others."
Suddenly the door to Erwin's office burst open as a scout collapsed to their knees while breathing heavily. "Commanders, the Female titan has escaped!" Erwin's blood ran ice cold, his eyes twitching slightly breaking the stone wall expression on his face.
"How long ago was this?" Pixis asked.
"A couple hours ago, just last night." The scout replied. "I and others left to inform the outposts and districts while Levi squad distracted her."
"Thank you, solider." Erwin replied, his voice remained calm despite the situation "You're done your part, get some rest." The scout saluted and left the room.
"Another fire to put out" Pixis remarked "And it couldn't have come at a worse time; right when we were establishing our control over the walls."
"If the people of the walls find out that the Female titan is now on the loose, this will be seen as a failure and a major test of Historia's reign." Erwin speculated "Any fear among the people will be used by the last supporters of the old regime."
"We have to inform Darius but keep the circle as small as possible." Pixis added. "We also need to decide on our next course of action."
"I'll inform some of the regiment's squads to sweep the areas around the former regiment's HQ." Erwin stated.
"I'll have the garrison battalions sweep the south." Pixis suggested "This must be frustrating for you, having this happen while you plan for the expedition."
"This is unfortunate but there's no point in being frustrated, all we can do now is act." Erwin replied. But past his calm exterior and monotone authoritative voice, Erwin was beyond frustrated; another obstacle in his way towards his father's dream.
She didn't know how long she was down there for, but it felt like an eternity in the darkness. The roof of the hallway had collapsed in with the debris; the candles that lit up the hallway were snuffed under the rocks.
The muffled sound of rumbling and explosions had already died; every so often she heard the sound of someone shouting in the distance. But it was the sound of her shallow breathing and the rattling of her chains as she tried to move every so often in a futile attempt to escape.
She closed her eyes, it didn't matter as all she could see was darkness regardless, and clenched her fists as she remained lying on the floor. "Idiot…" she muttered to herself. "How could I have been so stupid?" she tried to get up once more before a sharp pain on her side prevented her. She lay back onto the floor, gripping her side. "Damn it…" she muttered weakly. "Someone… help me…"
Am I going to die here?
There was a low rumble above her as feint blue sparks caught her attention, she shifted her head up, her eyes looking up towards the ceiling. Very quickly a large hole formed above her as a light blanketed her. A rope was thrown down, dangling near her, as the sound of clothes gliding against the rope and the shadow of figure descended upon her.
"Mina…" said a familiar voice, comforting in its sound. Next came the sound of the chains breaking, the figure quickly ran to her front and very gently lifted her up to her knees. Her eyes adjusted to the light as she began to make out the features of the person holding her up slightly.
"Alphonse…" she muttered. Alphonse helps her up to her; she once again clutched her side as her legs buckled behind her. Alphonse her down gently and moved to her side. She looked to her and Mina nodded her head. Alphonse opened up her coat and lifted her shirt up slightly, he placed his hand on her side and she winced.
"Your ribs might be fractured." Alphonse said "I don't know much about medical alchemy but I might be able to help with it." He placed his hands together and placed them on her side, there were a few small flashes of blue light and Alphonse placed down her shirt. He moved back to her front "Okay… 3…2…1" they tried again and this time Mina got up to her feet, if only weakly, leaning on Alphonse as she stood up.
Mina buried her head into Alphonse chest "I'm so stupid…" she muttered "This is entirely my fault; she got away because of me…"
"You were trying to look out for a friend." Alphonse replied trying to reassure her as he embraced her. Alphonse pulled her away slightly "C'mon let's get out of here." He pulled his arms away, placed his hands together and placed them onto the ground. The ground below them rose up lifting them up to the surface.
"Move them over there." Levi said as he pointed towards the wall; a growing line of bodies began to stretch along side it, bloody white drapes covering the fallen. He turned towards one of the scouts cleaning up the mess around them. "What are the numbers?" he asked a low and monotone tone in his voice to mask his frustration.
"Including the MPs that were here, we're looking at ten dead and seven wounded." The scout said "But we're still pulling people out of the rumble from the side of the castle that collapsed."
"Alright… continue on." Levi replied, the scout saluted before running off back into the rumble. Levi sighed "Damn it, all this shit to deal with now. Of all the fucking times in the world." He looked at the castle before him; one half the building, by some kind of miracle, was still standing and the other half was completely gone, a large pile of rocks, wood and random materials scattered across the courtyard.
"Nothing ever works for us does it?" Hange remarked walking up to Levi, her sleeves rolled up and her clothes covered in dust "Well… at least it doesn't seem to."
"Always feels like God, or I guess the 'Truth', must love throwing curveballs at us at every opportunity." Levi remarked. "If it's willing to help us by sending the Elrics you'd it make things even just a bit easier."
"Maybe it's not their job." Hange replied. "We'll just have to do it the hard." Levi rolled his eyes and sighed once more. "This is pretty much just continuing on as normal."
"Tch" he said "So whats damaged?"
"The mess hall is practically gone; the whole place is just a pile of rubble." Hange replied "The barrack is almost gone, a good chunk of the rooms are under some rocks and the storage area is just a mess but some of the supplies we have were spared." Hange paused for a second "Areas that are still standing are the offices, armoury, the library and the R&D room."
"So your office was spared?" Levi asked.
"Yeah, thankfully, the serums were spared too." Hange replied "If we had lost those then that would be a body blow to our research in understanding the titans and limiting our options in the future."
"We should have fed that shitty titan brat to one of our men the moment we got those damn serums." Levi remarked. As he looked off from the rubble he spotted Alphonse, his arm around Mina as if trying to support her. She stood up on her own, walking towards both Levi and Hange, a slight limp in her stride.
"Captain… Squad Leader… I-"
"Stop" Levi said interrupting her. "Now's not the time and I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear apologies; I want to know if I can rely of the people I have left right about now."
"You… you can count on me." Mina replied with harden determination through a voice shaking with rage.
Annie woke up groggy, her neck and body ached from the pain of sleeping on the wall of a cramp alleyway, a stolen tarp acting as her blanket which was wrapped around her and shielding her from the cold. The sun was already out and the people in the village she had found herself in were going about its day. She threw the tarp off her and stood up from the ground, a dark red stain on the edges of the tarp, she walked from the shadow of the alleyway into the sunlight.
Even now she wasn't use to it; being in that basement for God knows how long. The initial torture, isolation and then the boredom which was only elevated by Mina's visits. The warm feel of the sun on his skin, the breeze on her face and the sun hurting her eyes slightly as she looked up to it. It was better than she remembered.
She began to wonder around the Jinae, the small village just on her way to Trost. She wanted to just make a break for southern wall rose but as she made her escape from the castle she collapsed from the fatigue; months in the darkness had ruined her sleep cycle and she wasn't nearly as in shape as she was before her capture, despite her efforts to keep herself sharp. She wondered into Jinae, choosing it as a place to recover.
The clothes she wore she found in a travelling vendor's cart, a plain shirt and some brown trousers, along with the tarp she used, stealing little things here or there.
She passed through the small market; fruits, vegetables, fish and bakery stalls filled the areas along with the other stores. She moved towards a stall selling apples, baskets full of green and red apples sat near the stalls.
As she did two garrison troops walked by, stopping her in her tracks.
"Did you hear about what Commander Pixis is doing?" said one.
"Heard the entire southern section of the wall is reinforced; more troops, hooks cannons and mortars all facing inside the walls."
"It's the damn Female titan; whole army is on a massive goose chase trying to find her." Said the other.
"Tell me about it, the captain forced us to memorise her face."
She waited for the troops to walk by, after they walked at away at a good distance she slowly approached the stall; it looked as though the person manning it had gone. She knelt down and picked up a green apple from the basket.
"Hey!" yelled a person; she looked up to see an old man with grey hair and rough brown beard now standing to the side of the stall. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Crap… she thought about making a quick getaway.
"Oh you found them." Said a voice behind her, she turned around to see a middle aged woman with long black hair and freckles under eyes wearing a simple brown dress. "Sorry about the misunderstanding." She said to the man "She's my daughter's friend and wanted to help me with the shopping, I needed to get some apples."
The man looked at both her and the woman suspiciously before getting some apples from the basket and into a small straw bag.
"Thank you." the woman said, smiling before waving for Annie to come with her. Annie quickly walked towards her as they both began to stroll along the market.
"Thank you for that." Annie said, the woman then handed Annie the small bag of apples, Annie took out the red apple and bite down into it.
"It's no trouble." The woman replied "I saw you sleeping in that alleyway earlier, you must fallen on some terrible times, where are you parents?" Annie quickly swallowed the mouthful of apple.
"My uh… my father is somewhere else." Annie replied "I'm just trying to get back to him."
"How did you two get separated?" the woman asked.
"I joined the army a while ago, I recently got discharged." Annie lied "They pretty much left me to pick up the pieces from there; I didn't have any money so I'm just getting there on foot."
"Oh my God, you poor thing." The woman replied. "I'm so sorry to hear that, do you need any more help?"
"No it fine, I'll get there." Annie replied. "I promised him I'd return to him so that what I'll do."
"My son joined the corps too." The woman said, her voice sounded a little sadder "he died during the titans attack on Trost."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Annie replied
"He was probably around your age." The woman replied "You might have known him, Marco Bolt; he said he had a lot of friends in the training camp."
Annie felt her heart drop at the mere mention of his name, her stomach churned as she wanted to spill the contents of the apple bits onto the ground. She wanted to faint or run away.
Stop it! Annie! Don't so this!
That same voice screaming in her head…
Why?! Why?! Why?! Why do this?!
It's like she was there again.
"I'm… I'm so sorry." Annie replied, trying to hold herself together. She then felt her legs give as she collapsed onto her knees. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." She mumbled weakly.
"Are you okay?" Marco's mother asked concerned as she knelt down "Help!" she said to two garrison troops "This girl needs help." She looked back towards Marco's mother, familiar eyes now looking back at her.
This is what makes us warriors…
"Hey… you're the…." One of the garrison guards said before coming to the realisation. "It's her!" they quickly pointed their muskets at her "Don't move! You're under arrest!"
Annie looked at the garrison then to Marco's mother, confusion and fear in her eyes. She looked down at her hand; an old cut she refused to heal decorated her palm. A bitter feeling took over her as she looked back at them with cold eyes.
"Oh shit!"
She saw the shock, confusion and fear in their eyes as they saw her palm. It must have been the last thing they saw until a bolt of lightning struck her from the clear sky, the ground rumbling and all nearby people and buildings thrown away as she began to rise above them, then the houses and then the village before she looked down at them like person looking down on insects.
The devastation she caused on this one village… and to these people…
Annie, you did well…
A garrison troop ran through the doors, a piece of paper in their hands, she ran towards a group of smartly dressed garrison officers flanking Pixis surrounding a large table with a map almost covering each corner of the table's surface and a bunch of triangles with the garrison rose and the scouts wings carved into them were constantly being moved around on the map. All of them trying to encircle a single blank circle near southern wall Rose, trying to form a ring of steel around the escaped titan shifter. All while a few other garrison troops lingered around, came and gone through the room.
"Commander!" said the garrison soldier as she placed a clenched fist on her chest. "New report on the Female titan's movement." She then handed Pixis the piece of paper.
"Thank you, soldier, you are dismissed." Pixis said, the garrison soldier once more saluted him before running off. Pixis read through its contents of the letter before placing it down on the table. "It appears our target has been spotted at the village of Jinae, near southern wall rose."
"So after close to 48 hours of being in hiding and now she's decided to show herself" said one of the officers."
" She was discovered and was forced to escape sooner than expected." Another officer mentioned.
"If she's at Jinae then she's getting close to Trost and the southern section of wall Rose, I assume that she's moving further south?" asked one of the officers.
"No, it appears she's moving to the west now, a platoon of our men are leading the chase for her."Pixis replied as he continued to read the report. "She was discovered in the village and then was given chase by a nearby garrison platoon."
"Those men won't survive against the Female titan." One officer stated "If she was able to kill Levi's previous squad members then they'll no doubt be massacred."
"Have all garrison troops been given a map of our positions?" Pixis asked.
"Yes, as you've ordered." Other officer replied.
"Good." Pixis replied. "If all goes well, then we will get to choose our battleground with the Female titan."
A loud bang went off behind Annie; she turned her head back to see a pillar of green smoke flying over her. She turned her head back forward towards the small forest she was closing in on. As she moved pass the first trees, the sound of cables being fired from the ODM gear and the harsh impact of metal hooks crashing into the wood quickly followed. The sound followed her as she ventured deeper into the forest. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see them gliding through the trees, like ghostly spectres that stalked and hunted her.
But she didn't fear them.
She quickly turned around, the forest surrounding her, like annoying insects the garrison troops were buzzing around her; the first one flew straight for her, looking to go for her eyes and blind her. But she was faster, quickly swatting the soldier away like a pest they landed onto the group with a thump.
"Alex!" yelled one of the garrison troops. Two more decided to attack, one from the front and the other from behind, Annie quickly covered her neck with a crystal coating, she quickly leaned forward and bit the incoming soldier in half, spitting out the remains as the other attacker's blades broke off her neck she quickly grabbed him too and squeezed him in her hands before dropping him like a squashed piece of fruit. She turned towards the other garrison troops swarming her, hooking onto the surrounding trees. As calm and assured as she liked she bent her knees down slightly and arms out, she watched as two of them aimed themselves towards a nearby tree. She threw her leg towards the tree, cutting it in half as the hooks of the ODM gear hit into the bark. The garrison troops were thrown into disarray in the air as Annie then swatted away one like a fly and then stamped the other as they fell onto the ground.
"Retreat!" yelled one of the garrison troops, they quickly began to disperse, pests running away from the light. Annie spotted a nearby garrison troop, likely was going in for the attack had it not been for the new order. Annie leapt forwards and grabbed the solider in her hand; she pressed her fingers into her palms slightly, crushing the soldier's legs. The garrison soldier was a woman, with long chest brown hair done in a long ponytail with a face aged with experience was etched in terror.
Annie watched as the rest of the garrison soldiers fled from the forest, she turned back to the trapped soldier; Annie knelt down and carelessly dropped the woman onto the ground. There was a loud puff as she broke from the nape of her titan's neck, she slid down the back of her titan and landed onto the ground and began to walk around her decaying titan body to the injured solider.
"Stay back!" yelled the garrison troop as she waved her blade at Annie desperately. Annie shifted back into her stance, moving towards her slightly, the garrison troop continued to desperately swing. After another stray swing, Annie threw a hard kick which struck the hand knocking the blade to the side. She placed one foot on the hand on the soldier and the other on her chest.
"Tell me what you know." Annie demanded.
"Go to hell!" The garrison soldier responded.
Annie began to place more pressure on the soldier's hand, crushing their fingers "I'll make this easier, your defences what do you know about them."
"How the hell am I supposed to know that information?"
"You must know something." Annie replied "How fortified is southern rose?" Annie placed more pressure on their hand, a sickening crack echoed followed by a loud scream from the soldier. Annie picked up the blade and pointed it at their chest.
"In my pocket… they… they gave us a map of our positions." The garrison troop admitted.
"Is that so…" Annie aimed the blade towards the soldier's chest before plunging it in, the last gasps of air was the last action of the soldier.
Annie knelt down and slipped her hands into the pockets touching a folded piece of paper. She pulled it out, standing up once more; she unfolded the paper to reveal a map of Wall Rose from Karanes to Chlorba districts. Along walls that stretched from Trost, massive red dots scattered across the wall and then thinned out as it stretched on. A small gap remained between the last position and Karanes.
A small window of opportunity
Erwin knocked on the door, the knocks on the wood echoed across the hallway. "Come in." said a muffled voice on the other side. Erwin turned the handle and pushed the door forward. Inside was a large table, a map on the table and advisors either standing around the table or sleeping on the furniture and the floor.
"Erwin, a pleasure to see you again" Pixis greeted.
"Indeed, last time I we met you questioned my constant work." Erwin remarked "Now I see you've worked so long your advisors are dropping.
"Well a titan shifter wasn't currently running loose then." Pixis shot back jokingly.
"Have you located the Female titan?" Erwin asked.
"Yes, so far we're been able to track her movements." Pixis replied "Scouting parties are trying to locate the shifter, once located a single rider breaks off and informs the outposts who then inform us, that way the information isn't lost and the rider could then link back or receive new orders." Pixis looks back on the map dotted with pins laying out the titan's path moving south then west. "Our hunt went cold for two days after her escape until she was found in the village of Jinae, a platoon began chase and her last location was in this forest here." He placed his finger on the map. "Located about thirty to forty miles from Karanes."
"You think Leonhart will fall for it?" Erwin asked.
"The fake maps?" Pixis stated "Hopefully, we've gone out of our way to feed our men false information just for that and if she falls for it then it is up to your special operations squad to defeat them."
"This is a high risk strategy; if she calls your bluff then she can make a straight run for southern Wall Rose and there won't be a mass of troops waiting for her." Erwin stated.
"Right now Leonhart is a caged animal looking for a way out of her prison and I'd bet she would take any likely window she can find." Pixis argued "She doesn't have time to decipherer our plans or play our game."
"I see."
"Tell me; is the special operations squad ready?" Pixis asked.
"Yes, I've already informed Levi about your plans." Erwin replied.
"Good, if there are a group of people more experienced to handle a battle with a shifter then it's them." Pixis replied.
"Everyone get in here." Levi said waving his hand towards library. The members of his squad and other scouts quickly moved into the room, sitting on the empty chairs set out in front of a chalk board. He watched as everyone took their places. He turned his head back to the hallway and saw Mina lingering around watching as the last few people entered in. The two made eye contact before Levi waved her in, Mina walked towards him, her head down slightly, as she was about to walk past him Levi quickly placed a hand on her shoulder. "I still haven't changed my mind on the earlier decision." He said in a hushed tone "I need the manpower and experience now but afterwards you're getting transferred to another squad. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Captain, I understand." Mina replied as she looked at him. She was hurt. It wasn't hard to understand why; she gave up everything for the person their now hunting. After the dust has settled Levi did feel sorry for her even if he couldn't forgive her for her devotion to the shifter.
Levi closed the library door before walking up to the large blackboard in front of them. He took a piece of chalk from the small wooden shelf attached to the board. "Over the course of the three days since Leonhart's escape, the garrison corps has been sweeping the southern region of wall rose." He drew a crude outline of Trost district and the connecting walls. "The trail had gone cold for two days till she was discovered in the small village of Jinae."
"That the village Marco's from…" Jean muttered. Levi paused for a second.
"She was discovered in the market place by some on patrol garrison soldiers; she transformed into her titan and began heading north-west." Levi continued "Her sudden escape from Jinae resulted in at least nineteen civilian casualties and the overall pursuit of the shifter has resulted in the death of seventeen of the garrison's soldiers." There were a few chatted whispers among the other scout officers attending while his squad remained silent. "As of the information we've been given her current location is here, a forest south east of Karanes; Pixis had been feeding false information to his men about their defences and it seems Leonhart has taken the bait." Levi took an eraser and wiped the board clean before drawing a forest, a windmill and wall rose. "Her current location is about forty miles from the walls which gives us a small window to intercept; thanks to the scouting of our own men we've picked out three possibly locations where she'd go within a radius of at least ten miles apart from each other." Levi then drew a line connecting them together, forming a triangle." Levi turned back to the group "Before I continue any questions?"
Eren raised his hand "Our objective, will we have to capture her or do we kill her?"
"Commander Erwin would prefer you capture her." Levi replied. "However we can't risk her escaping so if you must… then you have permission to do so."
Please, be my guest and, do so…
"What is she saw through the trap?" Armin asked "Is there anything else stopping her if she doesn't walk into our ambush?"
"No." Levi replied. "This is not our only shot at confronting Leonhart, we nor the brass had the time to properly plan so if she see's through our bluff then retaking Shiganshina will get a lot harder." Levi turned to the board. "Special operations unit, you'll be split into two teams; Petra's team will be Mikasa, Armin, Alphonse and Mina." there was more chatter among the scout officers. "My team will consist of Edward, Sasha, Jean and Connie." Levi then turned to Eren "Eren, you'll be positioned on the wall with some of our other men; if Leonhart decides to avoid both locations or manages to kick our asses then it's up to you." Eren nodded. "Okay, everyone get ready, you have thirty minutes till we leave."
Everyone quickly left their seats shuffling for the door when Mina walked up to Levi once more. "Captain." She said "I know you said you don't want to apologies and I know I can't change your decision but I want to say I'm sorry, I will do whatever it takes and whatever is asked of me."
"I want to know right now, if you had the chance to kill Leonhart will you take it?" Levi questioned.
"Yes." Mina replied resolutely "If that happens… then I will be the one to kill her." Levi looked at her; he saw anger carved into her face, not the determination that she usually expressed. It was anger and it was no doubt fleeting.
Ed straps on the last scarab onto the buckles of his leather straps, tugging on them to make sure they were on tightly He counted the blades in them, walking along the halls as he made his way from the armory. He then shifted his waist jacket slightly, his hand tapping on the pocket watch that rested in his front pocket. He reached in and pulled out the watch, his thumb pressing on the button to reveal a familiar message and the folded photograph. He picked out the picture, carefully unfolded it and looked at it.
The creases of the line had formed a cross in the middle but the picture was still good. "I'm sorry Winry." Ed muttered to himself "It seems like everything things are on track something happens and..." Ed sighed "I promise we'll come back as soon as a possible."
"Are you sure you're okay." Said a voice in one of the rooms, Ed paused, it sounded like Alphonse.
"Yes I'm fine and I'm going." Said another, it was Mina "Captain Levi said I could so I will. I have enough experience to handle myself."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Alphonse replied. "It just… after everything that's happened I don't think you're in the right frame of mind for this."
There was a period of silence "It's my fault… the villagers who died, those garrison soldiers, those scouts who died when she escaped…" her voice cracked slightly as she listed it off "I have to try and make this right, I don't care how, I will kill her even if it's the last thing I'll do." Ed then quickly and silently jogged to the turn of the corridor as Mina left the room, Ed peered out to see her walking away, looking at the back of her head as she rubbed her face a few times.
Ed continued to watch as Alphonse left next looking at her, he sighed heavily before walking away in the other direction. He had his gear on him. Where are you going?
Ed silently followed Alphonse up the stairs and into Hange's office. Ed stood at the entrance of the door, the sound of shuffling and objects being moved echoed in the room. Ed peered in to see Alphonse with his back towards the door. "What you got there, Alphonse?" Ed asked as he made himself known, walking the entrance of Hange's office.
"Just looking for my notebook." Alphonse said as he shown Ed the book "I left it here before I went with Mina, must have been during the last teaching session." Alphonse then quickly walked past Ed "We better go." Ed took one last look at the office.
Nothing looked out of place or disturbed.