"A plan to recapture Trost?!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"As if we even have the tech to plug that damn breach!"

Those were but a small handful of the voiced thoughts which belonged to the assembled soldiers at the base of Rose.

To say that the news of Commander Dot Pixis intending to not only send them back out into the battlefield, but also to seal the breach in Trost had spread like wildfire would be a severe understatement, as, within an hour of word getting out, all of the gathered soldiers caught wind of it, and nearly all of them were all against the idea.

Personally speaking, Mina and Nac found themselves…unsure about the whole idea. They did have a vague idea of what the plan was; to make use of Eren and the Mechanical Titan to retake the district, but, as tempting as that notion was, they were still rather skeptical of it actually working. As a soldier had stated prior, they simply lacked the means to actually seal the breach in Trost, and even if they did, and even with the Mechanical Titan factored into all this, the amount of casualties that would undoubtedly follow would be immense.

"You seem less enthusiastic about all this than I thought," commented Annie as she stood shoulder to shoulder next to Mina, who noticeably perked up a little at the sound of her friend's voice. Nac himself turned to Annie as well, and he forced out a small smile in response to her comment.

"The fact that they actually considered Armin's plan to retake Trost is, in itself, a miracle. But for them to actually want to pull it off… whatever it may be, and for them to field us to do so… it just makes me wish that they didn't actually listen," admitted Nac, prompting Mina to raise a brow at her taller friend. In response, Nac offered a weak chuckle as he turned to scan the crowd around him. Already, he heard someone screaming about abandoning their duties, and it was enough to make him bite his lip with concern. "The mere thought of us going back into combat has sent some of our comrades over the edge. And even with the Mechanical Titan fighting by our side…"

"I understand, Nac. You don't need to finish that statement," assured Annie as she offered a mild nod. Nac himself was ready to nod in response, happy with the blonde understanding how he felt about the whole situation, before he heard several more yells come from the crowd. Nac and Mina were taken aback by the amount of commotion that was caused, though Annie simply held a hand against her waist as she offered a mild snort. "Hmph. I wonder how long we'll have to wait before we see a rebellion spring up…"

"What…?" muttered Mina in disbelief as Annie turned back and spotted a black haired Garrison soldier holding one of their comrades by the arm. He seemed desperate, and although she couldn't hear it, Annie could make an educated guess on what they were speaking of. "A rebellion… but why…?"

"Soldiers within the Military Brigades aren't as pure as you think they are, Mina. They're trained for these sorts of scenarios, sure, but at the end of the day, they're only human, and they're scared. The Garrison especially; they weren't trained for this line of duty," explained Annie as she turned back to her two friends, with her frowning lightly as she felt their sadness grow with each passing word. "If they cause a big enough scene with the right amount of people, it will undoubtedly cause enough of an uproar that will open up an opportunity for them to escape."

"But… where will they go then?" muttered Mina as she twiddled her fingers together. "They'll be branded as traitors… and they'll be hunted down."

"It doesn't matter to them," replied Annie as she shook her head, prompting her friends to blink incredulously, a sign for Leonhardt to elaborate as she sighed gently; the naivete put on display by these two was certainly annoying, to say the least, though seeing as how they were her friends, she exercised some patience with them as she continued. "They're fearing for their lives now. They think this will be a repeat of Shiganshina and Maria, where both major walls fell simultaneously. Because of this, they want to spend what they think to be the last few seconds of their lives with those that they love…"

"And they'd even betray the Military Brigade to do so," added Nac with a frown as he shook his head. "It's so deplorable… and yet… I can't fault them for it. If I could choose, I'd choose to spend my last moments with you guys too."

"Us… all of us…" muttered Mina as she slouched over a little, and at that, Nac bit his lower lip whilst Annie refrained from making eye contact with either of her friends. Biting his lower lip as he rested a hand atop his friend's shoulder, Nac did his best to sooth Mina without using words, and Annie, being who she was, was only able to watch on in silence.

"All of us…" muttered Nac as he gave Mina's shoulder a mild squeeze, and at that, Mina raised her brows and turned towards her taller friend, who offered her a comforting smile. "Mika's alive. I'm sure of it. Being MIA doesn't mean that he's dead, y'know? That, and he's the most capable out of the four of us when it comes to surviving out there… no offence, Ann."

"None taken," snarked Annie, with her tone making it apparent how she had, indeed, taken offense to his words, though she spoke nothing of it as she crossed her arms and exhaled softly, seeming rather impressed and just a bit ashamed all the while. "You really are a hopeless optimist, aren't you?"

"It's part of my charm," responded Nac, with him smiling a tad as Annie rolled her eyes. His optimism was annoying at times, though she would be lying if she didn't admit that it was, indeed, part of his charm…

And for a brief moment, everything seemed… calm, at least within the small group of three, anyways. Nac's optimism seemed to lighten Mina's mood just a little, as she gave a small smile, having apparently forgotten about their current situation, and Annie, admittedly found some happiness in seeing her pigtailed friend loosen up; she'd never admit it, but seeing Mina's mood be lifted was more than enough to raise her own quite a bit…

… she just hoped that it would last.

Not long after, however…

"ATTENTION!"

A single word found itself being carried across the streets of Rose.

A single word… one so simple, and yet it was yelled out at such a high volume that, despite its speaker standing over fifty metres away from where they stood, it was still more than enough to silence all who stood at the base of Trost. Hell, even Mina, Nac and Annie all immediately stood at attention as soon as that order was made, and they, alongside their fellow soldiers, turned their attention up to see Commander Pixis quite literally standing on the edge of the Wall as he stared down at them.

"...he's got some good lungs on him…" muttered Mina under her breath in an almost envious way as Nac offered a mild nod in agreement, a bead of sweat sliding down the side of his face as he did. Several more followed when the Commander continued, with Pixis' commanding tone of voice being more than enough to make both even Annie herself shudder in respect.

"I shall now brief you on the upcoming operation to retake Trost!"continued Pixis as the soldiers remained silent, mostly stunned into doing so; even though they did expect this, the mere confirmation of it was enough to shake them up.

Before Pixis could continue with his briefing, however, a rather loud explosion could be heard from inside Trost, loud enough to cause everyone to wince, though Pixis himself remained mostly uncaring as the explosion in the background died down before continuing.

"The goal of the operation is to seal the breach in Trost!" continued Pixis, eliciting several gasps of terror from the crowd. Even Annie found herself raising her brows in apprehension as soon as she heard what the Commander just said, and several others voiced out their objections, all of which went unheard by Pixis as he continued speaking. "As for the means to block the breach, I shall now introduce one of the two elements which we shall make use of!

"The first: Eren Jaeger of the 104th Trainee Corps!"

At that, those who were unaware of Eren's powers were, rather justifiably, taken aback. Murmurs began rising in the crowd, most of which regarded the mental state of their current Garrison Commander; Hell, even the few who knew of his power appeared rather apprehensive of all this, and it stayed that way, even as Eren Jaeger walked up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Pixis, offering a rigid salute as soon as he was by his side.

"Eren Jaeger is the product of a secret Titan transformation experiment carried out by the Military Brigade!" continued Pixis, sounding just as firm as ever as he spoke. It was safe to say that not many amidst the crowd below were convinced by his words, especially those that had trained by Eren amidst the 104th, but even so, it wasn't as if they could voice their thoughts out regardless… "He possesses the ability to summon the body of a Titan and control it at will!"

Upon hearing that, several soldiers began screaming out about the absurdity of what the Garrison Commander just said, and Nac swore he heard Connie admit that he didn't get any of what their Commander had just told them, only to be shushed by Ymir as Pixis continued speaking.

"The second element shall be the Mechanical Titan!" continued Pixis, his voice not wavering for a second, and, as if to add some dramatic flare to his words, as soon as he had finished that statement, a loud boom could be heard from Trost, and a massive cloud of smoke could be seen in the background as well. Whilst the soldiers at the base of Rose stared at it, mouths agape and eyes widened in shock, Pixis simply ignored it as he continued. "The Mechanical Titan itself has proven itself to not be a threat to mankind, viewing its fellow Titans as enemies! As such, it can be counted as an ally less provoked into attacking us!"

"I… I'm not getting where the Commander is getting at…" admitted Connie as he stared up at Pixis, and Sasha nodded in sheepish agreement as they shrugged to one another. Nac, however, did seem to have a decent enough grasp on what their commander was getting at, though before he could voice out his thoughts, Pixis continued on with a frown.

"After he transforms into a Titan, Eren Jaeger will pick up the giant boulder that is located close to the breach in Trost! He shall then bring it to the breach and use it to seal it shut! Your mission shall be to protect him as he carries out his duty! Make use of all that you have! Your Maneuver Gear, your Anti-Titan Blades and most importantly, the Mechanical Titan, to ensure that he sees this through! The future of the Trost District lies upon the success of this operation!"

And at the end of his briefing… there was silence. The soldiers at the base of Rose dared not utter even a single word as they let what Pixis just said sink in; Nac found himself biting his lower lip as he thought of the possible outcomes of this plan that Armin had managed to pull out of his ass, only to stop when he realized that most of the possible outcomes he thought up ended in either death or failure. Meanwhile, Mina felt her face go rather pale as she acknowledged how this was roughly on par with a suicide mission for everyone involved in it.

And as for Annie… she found herself taking a step back. It took another two for Nac and Mina to notice that she was backing away from the area, and it made them turn towards her with shocked expressions. Leonhardt… cared little for this, however.

"Annie…?" muttered Nac in apparent confusion, only for the blonde in question to turn on her heel and motion for them to follow her lead. "What…"

"We're leaving. There's no need for us to participate in this suicide mission," explained Annie as she gestured for them to follow along. Two steps were all the managed to get, however, before she realized that they were not following her, prompting the young soldier to pause in her movements with a pained sigh as she shook her head in dismay, with her recalling just how… idealistic her two friends still were in spite of all that they've been through. "Look, if we stay and fight for this lost cause, we'll surely be killed. Best to just hit the road before that can happen."

"But… what about our duties as soldiers? We've only just graduated, sure… but it doesn't mean that we can just walk away when we're needed!" retorted Mina as Annie raised a brow, though she didn't know if it was in irritation or confusion as he just continued on speaking. "And what about Trost? We can't just abandon our home like that!"

"We can, Mina," responded Annie almost instantly as she clenched and unclenched her fists, her response being more than enough to make her two friends widen their eyes in shock. "Trost is just a district, just as Shiganshina was. We have no obligations to risk our lives for it. So I say; let it fall."

"N-Nac… help me talk some sense into Annie… please?" pleaded Mina as she turned to her taller friend, with her hoping that her more level headed and logical pal would come to her aid, only for her to slouch over a little when he saw that he appeared indecisive as well. Taking advantage of that, Annie lowered her brows and spoke up with at least some sympathy.

"You get it, don't you, Nac? You know it's a lost cause. If we participate in this mission, then we'll most certainly be killed before its conclusion. So what say you? Will you follow Commander Pixis's orders blindly, or will you act out on your own and retreat?" inquired Annie calmly as she crossed her arms. Her light blue eyes locked onto her taller friend's brown pair as she narrowed them in an attempt to get her point across to him, something that ended up stressing Tias out quite a bit as he shuddered.

"I… I-I don't know…" admitted Nac as several soldiers around him began dispersing, having already considered this whole plan to be fruitless. The tall guy was inclined to agree with them… but even so… to abandon Trost, his home district, to fate… it didn't feel right whatsoever. "I… I really don't know what to do here…"

"M-Mika would've wanted us to retake Trost!" blurted out Mina out of seemingly nowhere, and the mere mention of their missing friend's name was more than enough to make them go silent. Seeing that as an advantage, Mina attempted to press on. "He would've wanted us to reclaim our home… and-"

"He wouldn't have wanted that, Mina. Mika's smart. He knows when something is lost and when it's time to back down," retorted Annie as she turned to see several soldiers being stopped by Garrison members from leaving, a sight that made her grimace a little. "Times like now. We don't have much time left. So come on…"

"ARE YOU PREPARED, DESERTERS?!" bellowed the distinct voice of Kitz Woermann over the commotion, with him speaking loud enough to catch the trio's attention as they turned towards his general direction. They just barely saw the man himself wielding his Anti-Titan Blade whilst threatening the soldiers that wished to desert, and the sight alone was enough to make Mina and Nac widen their eyes while Annie remained silently amused. "I SHALL CUT YOU ALL DOWN HERE AND NOW!"

"... let's go already, the longer we stay, the less likely it is for us to get out of here unscathed," advised Annie as she marched back towards Mina and seized her hand with her own; Nac seemed very much keen on following her lead as, for as sentimental as he was, even he knew when to quit while he was ahead, but even so, Mina was a lot less keen on budging than he was. She would need a good push in the right direction, or rather a pull, as Leonhardt began yanking her out of the area.

And yet… before any of them could get too far…

"HEED MY WORDS!"

The thunderous voice of Commander Dot Pixis came up once more, and that in itself was enough to silence all who were speaking and make every deserter stop in their tracks. As lighthearted as he usually was, Pixis was certainly quite a scary guy when things were serious, and upon hearing his yell, even the likes of Annie halted their march and turned back to face the Commander…

"Those who desert now shall go unpunished!" proclaimed Pixis as Mina, Nac and several others widened their eyes in shock. Hell, even Kitz gave a gasp that was loud enough to be heard by nearly everyone, though Pixis didn't stop for a moment as he continued on speaking. "The moment a soldier gives into their fear of the Titans, they shall never be able to face them ever again! So heed me… and know that if you have succumbed to your fears, then you should leave without question!"

Those words were enough to cause a large majority of the soldiers to step back, all thinking that they could leave scott free. Even the loyalists felt their resolve weaken as they contemplated the choice of living to fight another day or to risk their lives in this operation.

Annie in particular, however, simply saw this as her chance to get her and what remained of her friends out of this mess, and without pause, she lightly squeezed Mina's hand and pulled her onwards, something that the young woman reluctantly allowed her to do… for a while at least. After making it a few steps away from where they once stood, Carolina did eventually put up some form of resistance against Leonhardt's pulling, and as she did so…

"Annie…" muttered Mina as she looked at her friend with a pitiful expression. Although she wasn't looking at her directly, Annie could still tell that her pigtailed friend was giving her a very much pitiful look as she nonverbally begged for her friend to reconsider her options. She did not wish to leave Trost's future in the hands of others… she wished to help in retaking it, and likewise, Nac shifted uncomfortably as well, a telltale sign of his agreement with Carolina's silent sentiment all the while.

Annie herself was, unsurprisingly, not a fan of this, but even so, she was aware of how she wouldn't be able to change their minds on this… though fortunately enough for her pride, before the blonde could even voice this statement out, Pixis was quick to follow up on his words, with his tone of voice still very much rock solid as he spoke.

"And if you wish for that same feeling to reach the hearts of your brothers, your sisters, your family, or even your loved ones, then you may leave as well!"

And at that, Annie felt a knot grow in her stomach as she slouched her shoulders further down than they already were. Her resolve, having already been weakened by the unspoken words of her friends, all but shattered now as she grit her teeth in fefeat, and likewise, Nac himself was quick to widen his eyes in realization as well, and the thought of abandoning the Military Brigade was quickly ejected from his mind when he realized what Pixis was talking about.

"...no…not… that…" muttered Nac as the mental image of Martha Carolina, the one he saw to be his own flesh and blood mother, being lifted up towards the gaping mouth of a Titan came to mind. Just thinking about that was more than enough to harden the soldier's heart as he grimaced and reaffirmed his stance to partake in this mission, with him clenching his fist tightly all the while "A-Anything but that… we've already lost one family member… w-we can't… we can't turn back now when we stand the chance of losing another!"

"..." no comment from Annie, who simply bit her lip as she felt her heart crumbling at the ravenette's words, though moment's later, her frown was quick to waver when, without warning, Mina's grip around her hand tightened, if only by a little, prompting the blonde to turn and see Mina smiling lightly at her. Her smile was one of uncertainty, but it also held a glimmer of hope behind it as she locked her gaze onto Leonhardt's, and moments later, she motioned for her to return to the crowd alongside her.

"Come on, Ann… we have to do this… for mum… and for Mika," encouraged Mina as Annie pursed her lips. This was not what she had to do… not what she was told to do… and it was what she feared would happen all those years ago. And yet, even with all that in mind, the blonde was unable to stop herself from allowing Mina to pull her onwards, back into the crowd of soldiers, with reinvigorated courage and a renewed fighting spirit.

"...whatever," was all she could spit out at that point as Mina offered a mild smirk, and as she said this, and as their hands split apart once more, Pixis continued to speak to his subordinates, with him granting upon them some of his wisdom all the while.

"Let us remember what happened four years ago…"

"... during the Wall Maria capture operation!"

With a single swing of his Longsword, Mikazuki had his Gundam slice straight into the chest of a Fifteen metre Titan. The cut wasn't enough to bisect it, though Mika didn't exactly care as he noticed the massive cut his unit had given its chest. Without wasting any time, he had Barbatos throw its Longsword to the side for the time being and grab onto the Titan's sliced open chest, and, without even using much force to do so, the Gundam ripped it right open, in turn exposing the Titan's insides. The Fifteen metre fell back thereafter, and the pilot had his unit step down on the nape as soon as it hit the ground.

"I am confident that I need not remind you all that to call it a 'recapture operation' is nothing short of a joke! It was nothing more than a desperate attempt to dispose of the unemployed refugees which were unable to be fed!"

Disregarding the Longsword for a brief moment, Mikazuki had Barbatos slam its balled up manipulator over the head of a Ten metre Titan. On impact, the fist pulverised the Titan's skull, though Mika was not content with doing just that, as he followed it up with an Autocannon shot which ripped through the Titan's body and impacted the ground beneath it, causing a minor explosion all the while.

"We told ourselves that it was not the case for one sole reason; by sending those people to their doom, we would be able to survive more efficiently within the narrower confines of the Walls! Such a sinful act is borne from all of Mankind, including myself!"

A simple shoulder tackle, one that was unassisted by Barbatos' boosters, was enough to send a Fifteen metre Titan flying backwards. Mikazuki himself was sure that the tackle had probably cracked more than a few ribs, though he didn't think much more of it as he had Barbatos rocket its manipulator forward and grab the Titan's wrist before it could fall back. The Gundam was quick to pull back on the Titan's arm, causing it to jerk forward towards the unit, and it was quickly obliterated when Mika launched his unit's knee at its torso. On impact, the Titan's back exploded outwards from the force of the strike, splattering blood and bone onto anything close by in the process.

"Conflict did not erupt back then because the people of Maria were considered a minority. But what about now? Should Wall Rose fall, then throwing away merely a fifth of mankind's population will not be enough! Wall Sina can support only half of Rose at best, and if mankind falls in the thereafter, then our defeat will not be caused by the Titans!"

Turning his unit to its side, Mikazuki had Barbatos reach its arm unit out towards the Wrench Mace, which was buried in the side of a building after having been thrown at a Titan some time ago, and grab onto it. After ripping it out of the building, Mika had the weapon's 'snout' shift open; in spite of the amount of damage that it had sustained back at Edmonton and the five years of neglect, the weapon's snout was still able to open itself up, and thereafter, Barbatos clamped the opened jaw of the Mace down on the torso of a Thirteen metre. Despite its broken appearance, the weapon was more than capable of crushing the Titan's torso in its 'mouth', and it did so with little issue, with blood, flesh and bone becoming visible as the Titan was squashed in its maw.

"No, our defeat will be brought upon by ourselves! We cannot die within the Walls, not like this! Given the choice, die here, as the soldiers who gave their all to retake our land!"

Sighing to himself, Mikazuki had Barbatos open the jaws of its weapon back up, in turn allowing the dissipating Titan to drop onto the ground, and had it turn its head unit to the side. As it did so, Mika, via the cockpit-to-optic visual feeds of his unit, spotted an approaching Seven metre Titan, waddling towards the Gundam like the mindless beast it was.

Were it intelligent, it would've probably thought better of this… but alas…

Intelligence aside, with a roll of his eyes, Mikazuki opted to just wait for it to get close enough for him to pummel, something that, admittedly enough, was starting to get a little repetitive, to say the least. There were only so many ways you could kill a Titan with a Mobile Suit, after all, and it got boring incredibly quickly, and though it was a strange thing to admit, Augus was really hoping for something… unexpected to happen to spice things up.

Hell, even Barbatos seemed to be getting rather bored of all of this repetitive Titan killing, and even it wished for something unexpected to happen!

And, in a rather ironic twist of fate, their little wish did end up coming true, with it doing so in the form of a sudden blur that whizzed past the Seven metre's nape. Upon noticing it, Mikazuki blinked, leaned forward in his cockpit seat and paid more attention to what had just happened, and at that moment, the Seven metre fell forward onto its face, allowing Mika to see that its nape was cut open by what was most likely an Anti-Titan Blade.

'...they're resuming combat?' thought Mika as he saw the soldier that had taken out the Seven metre Titan land on a nearby building… and he was quick to widen his eyes when he saw who she was.

"Annie…" muttered the pilot as the blonde in question wiped some of the evaporating blood off her cheek. She was quick to turn towards Barbatos, seeming completely devoid of fear as she snorted and glared at it, and likewise, Mikazuki found himself smiling a tiny bit at his friend as he nodded at her… not that she could see the gesture, anyways. Before long, however, Leonhardt was joined by several other soldiers who had reentered the battlefield, though out of the several that entered the fray, only two of them stood out to Mika as one of the few whom he had hoped to not see return. "Mina… Nac…"

"A-Annie, slow down!" protested Nac, something that was picked up by Barbatos' local audio receptors as Mika turned its head unit towards the young man in question. Via its optics, Mikazuki could quite easily see that the group of soldiers that stood on the building before him were mostly ones that he could recognise. Aside from Annie, Nac and Mina, the pilot took note of Reiner, Bertholdt, Mylius, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Marco, Armin, Ymir and Christa, all of whom were acting oddly casual around his Gundam.

Well… perhaps casual was the wrong word to use. They were still wary of it, as evident by the worried glances shot towards the unit from time to time, but less so now. That in itself was surprising, though Mikazuki didn't let his surprise overwhelm him as he listened in on their conversation.

"We can't afford to slow down, Nac. Not when we're tasked with sticking by that thing," retorted Annie as she pointed her Anti-Titan Blade towards Barbatos, prompting Mika to raise a brow. Tasked to stick by Barbatos? What exactly did she mean by that…?

"I know, but we still need to be careful! Keep an eye out for any signal flares, alright? Keep at it, slow and steady. Eren's Titan form may be strong, but we don't know if it'll be able to carry that boulder to the breach, especially when Titans are pouring through!" replied Mina direly, inadvertently catching Mikazuki up on their apparent plan as he raised a brow up higher onto his face.

And, evidently enough, Mikazuki had left Barbatos rather dormant as he looked towards his fellow 104th graduates, and before he could change that… several of the soldiers present noticed how the unit was staring directly at them in complete and total silence, and before long, someone commented on it.

"Hey… uh… is it just me… or as the Mechanical Titan staring at us?" inquired Mylius, with him having apparently noticed Barbatos' optics fixed on them before anyone else did as he quivered a little under its cold, lifeless gaze. A large handful of the soldiers present noticeably shrunk under Barbatos' cold glare upon noticing this, and Mika couldn't help but snort in amusement at that, with him gripping onto his unit's arm controllers just a bit tighter all the while.

'They're trying to seal the breach with a boulder that Eren's supposed to carry… and they want us to help them defend him as he does so,' concluded Mikazuki mentally as he adjusted his grip on his unit's controllers. This was certainly a new development, though admittedly it wasn't a bad one. Sealing that breach would most certainly be a good thing, and with that in mind, he huffed a tiny bit before he looked inwards and 'spoke' to Barbatos in confidence. 'Do you think you can manage that, Barbatos?'

"..."

"Not a surprise… alright then, let's do this… Mikazuki Augus… Gundam Barbatos… initiating the mission."

And right as he said this…

… a sudden burst of steam was enough to make the soldiers gathered around the Mechanical Titan gasp in shock, with several of them raising their arms to shield their eyes from the blast.

Mina in particular was able to lower her arms in record time, with her widening her eyes in shock as she still felt herself unsure of what to make of this 'Titan's' apparent ability to generate smokescreens, though moments later, her train of thought rapidly dissipated when both she and her comrades saw the Mechanical Titan burst out of the steam and slam its shoulder straight into an approaching Titan, obliterating it with little issue as the 'Titan'quite literally boosted through its opposition.

"W-Whoa!" proclaimed Connie as the Mechanical Titan was quick to grab its massive sword and cleave a Titan from hip to shoulder with a single swing. Another was practically wiped off the face of the world when it brought its Mace down upon it, obliterating it under its weight. "That's… a lot more brutal than what I've seen so far."

"A-And a lawt moar efficient!" added Sasha, with some hints of her proper accent shining through as she gulped; the myths and legends surrounding the Mechanical Titan certainly didn't do it justice, nor did it prepare the bumpkin for seeing it rampage in person! "Wha' happened? It wasn't actin' like that befer' we came!"

"What are the odds of it hearing what we said and actually wanting to help…?" offered Marco offhandedly, only to gain himself a handful of bewildered stares as he shrunk a little. "Just saying… after all the stuff that's happened today, it can't be the most outrageous thing you've heard, right?"

"... the guy's got a point, honestly," muttered Ymir, with her finding Marco's words to be oddly sensible as she jerked a thumb at him, to which her allies nodded in agreement, though moments later, before much else could be said, Bertholdt cleared his throat and spoke his mind with some hesitation..

"I'd hate to cut this short, but could we just, y'know… get on with the mission? Please?" pleaded Bertholdt out of seemingly nowhere. Reiner offered him a somewhat understanding glance as the taller guy gulped.

And to his surprise and immense relief, the rest of his group went along with his suggestion without question.