There were many things that Eren Jaeger was willing to believe.

The fact that he could become a Titan, for starters, was something that he had come to terms with, however excessive it sounded, and he was definitely able to believe that the job he was assigned with now was of the utmost importance, as evident by how the Elite Garrison squad were escorting him towards his destination alongside Mikasa.

'Elite' Squad might've been a bit of a stretch, honestly… this team was nothing more than a hamshackled group of three Garrison soldiers, all of whom were skilled enough and also somewhat willing to escort Eren to his destination. Led by Ian Dietrich and with Rico Brzenska and one Mitabi Jarnarch, a middle aged man with tanned skin, short brown hair and a beard, they were tasked with keeping things going smoothly.

How they performed was yet to be seen, but either way, Eren still found it decently believable, to have himself being escorted by such individuals towards his destination. It was… excessive, sure, but it was still within the realm of possibility.

And yet, the one thing he couldn't believe was how the Mechanical Titan was much more than a mere myth.

Staring down at where it was as he sprinted onwards, Eren couldn't help but keep his eyes glued to the Mechanical Titan as it, somewhat literally, mopped the floor with any and all Titans that were swarming the streets of Trost. Whilst the soldiers were ordered to assist it in drawing the Titans' attention away from the boulder Jaeger would have to carry, their assistance seemed to be extremely unnecessary, as evident by how easily it was able to clear the streets without their aid.

It was almost comical, really… the soldiers could only lure the Titans away whereas the Mechanical Titan could outright kill them in but a second. The gap in power was truly a sight to behold…

"To think that we have become so desperate, so much so that we have to rely on both a mechanical monstrosity and a 'top secret human experiment' like yourself… it truly shows how dire the situation has become," Mitabi, who was very much irked by just how dire their situation was as they ran on. Eren couldn't help but flinch lightly at his words as he heard them, and Mikasa noticeably scowled when she did, but even so, Ian was quick to tell him off before anything could escalate.

"Hold your tongue, Mitabi," scolded Ian, with him eyeing Mitabi as they ran onwards. "Us relying on the Mechanical Titan or Eren Jaeger, or both, is a trivial matter. The only thing that does matter is if they can seal the breach. Remember that."

"Whatever you say, Ian," mumbled Mitabi as he shook his head and glanced down towards the base of Trost, where the Mechanical Titan sliced off the arm of a Titan before spinning about and elbowing it in the face, destroying its head and sending it falling onto its back; the ease that came with its dispatch was concerning, to say the least. "Either way, it still feels… surreal. For not only the Military Brigade to have a top secret human experiment, but for the Mechanical Titan to reveal itself at such a convenient time… what are the odds?"

"Best to not ask about the odds, Mitabi, lest you wish to risk overthinking these things," warned Rico in an apparent attempt to lighten the mood, and in a way, it did work, as the man in question offered a mild chuckle, one that felt more forced than anything as he grinned at the shortest individual present.

"Look at you cracking a joke, Rico. The world must be ending if you're willing to do such a thing," quipped Mitabi with a smile, and in response to his jab, Rico rolled her eyes; were they not running, she would've given him an elbow to the ribs for his snark.

"Eyes forward," was her response for now, and Mitabi chuckled as he kept his pace. And, for a brief few seconds, the small group ran in silence, with Mikasa glancing over at her brother on more than one occasion all the while. Concern was very much clear in her gaze, and from time to time, she would speak to him with worry.

"Eren, are you well?" inquired Mikasa, not for the first and certainly not the last time, earning Rico's attention as she perked her ears up to listen in on their conversation.

"I'm fine, Mikasa," assured Eren, sounding quite annoyed as he said this, though Ackerman was evidently unsatisfied with that answer.

"Are you sure? If you are unwell, we can slow down and-" continued Mikasa, only for Eren to cut her off once more.

"Mikasa, I'm fine!" assured Eren firmly as he grimaced, with his words causing Mikasa to flinch away as her sprinting halted for the briefest for seconds, though she didn't slow down for long as she continued onwards. "Much better now than when we were surrounded. Now stop asking! We have a job to do!"

"Ah… I… I'm sorry," apologised Mikasa, her tone reflecting her apologeticness, and at that, Rico rolled her eyes at the bickering of the siblings. How annoying… she understood Ackerman's worries and Jaeger's prideful responses, but even so…

"Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, quit playing house and focus!" ordered Rico, with her not even turning to stare at the siblings as she issued her command. At that, the two nodded, with Eren giving an 'understood!' in response.

"To have our fates be put in the hands of a brat like you… Trost is beyond saving at this point…" mumbled Mitabi miserably as he sprinted, ignoring the glare that Mikasa was directing his way. Ian, on the other hand, spoke up before things could get out of hand.

"That is more than enough, all of you! Stop your chatter and focus! We are nearing the closest route to the boulder!" ordered Ian, and at that, all chatter ceased, much to his relief as he turned his attention back onto the path before him.

The sudden boom, courtesy of one of the Mechanical Titan's arm mounted cannons, caught their attention after some time, however, and Mitabi couldn't help but wince when he heard it.

"How powerful even is that thing…?" mumbled Mitabi uncertainly. In response, Rico shook her head and glanced towards the battlefield briefly, wincing just a little when she saw the Mechanical Titan quite literally throw a Titan over the top of Trost, where it landed outside its confines, with seemingly very little or even no effort whatsoever.

"I've seen it fight up close on a handful of occasions. It is… a monster, in the most exaggerated sense of the term," answered Rico as she shuddered at the memory that came with recalling the Mechanical Titan's prowess. "If you wish for a gauge behind its abilities… think of every Abnormal Titan you've read about in the Survey Corp reports… and multiply it by ten."

Mitabi… did not shudder when he heard Rico say that. He did not. Ian, on the other hand…

"I shall repeat this once more, it does not matter how powerful it is. What does matter is that it's doing what we want. So long as it eliminates all the Titans within the vicinity… then we needn't turn our blades upon it," stated Ian as he spared the Mechanical Titan a quick glance. "Eren Jaeger, do not let it distract you from your mission, am I understood?"

"Yes sir!" proclaimed Eren as they continued on, biting his lower lip as they pressed on. "I'll do my absolute best, sir!"

"You had better…" mumbled Rico, prompting Eren to turn towards her with his brows raised, a prompt for her to continue. "Though we have an irreplaceable advantage in the form of the Mechanical Titan, many will still perish in order to keep you alive. Seniors, colleagues and juniors, countless lives have already been lost and they will continue to be lost until this mission has ended.

"While it is true that all soldiers have already accepted that they would die at one point, that does not change how each and every one of them are more than just a faceless entity. People who love, who have hated. People who have families… Alyusha, Dominique, Phine, Isabelle, Ludwig, Martina, Guido, Hans. Know that they are all humans who live and bleed. Some of them have even shared bread with me whilst we were still Cadets, and know that some, if not all of them may have to die for your sake on this day. And you have a responsibility to ensure that their deaths are not in vain.

"No matter what may come, Cadet, know and remember this. Sear it into your naive little heart, if you must, and be ready to die to fulfill your duty."

Rico's little speech was more than enough to spur something within Eren, who grimaced and sprinted faster with a determined expression, with his sudden burst of speed surprising even Ian, who offered a mild smile as Rico raced up to his side.

"You truly have a way with words, Rico," complemented Ian as Mikasa raced past them to keep up with Eren, and, in response, Rico nonchalantly shrugged.

"Someone needed to tell him about the stakes. If you two weren't going to, then it was up to me," explained Rico, prompting Ian to nod.

"I see. Now brace yourselves, we have arrived!"

And at that, the small group abruptly turned and leapt off the edge of Trost, into the interior where the boulder waited.

Elegant, swift, brutal and without fear.

Those were the words that Annie had decided to use to describe the Mechanical Titan, especially now as it swung its Mace-like weapon in a circular motion around itself, with the attack having knocked back or outright killing several Titans on impact.

Following up from that, the 'Titan' brought its weapon down onto the Titan closest to it, shaking the very earth beneath it on impact. The next swing was directed towards another Titan, and the Mace quite literally liquified its torso and sent its limbs flying as its chest became nothing more than a fine red mist.

Wincing as the arm of the Titan that was just killed landed a little too close to her for comfort, Annie could only gulp as she watched the Mechanical Titan do its part in the plan. While yes, with the Titan on their side for however long it wished was a great thing, the firsthand view of its strength was more than enough to make Leonhardt shudder. She already knew that it was capable of an unprecedented amount of brutality thanks to both a good source and firsthand viewing of it in combat, but even so… the blonde was still taken aback by how powerful the thing truly was.

If this thing were to turn on humanity… then, well… let's just say that annie could think of no force in this world that could stand against it…

'This… is no Titan… it's a monster straight out of the most decrepit and depraved minds from within and even without these Walls…' thought Annie as she took a subconscious step back, only to widen her eyes when her instincts told her that something was approaching her from behind. Turning on her heel, she winced when she saw that a Ten metre Titan had somehow managed to sneak up on her. A doofy smile was plastered onto its face as it extended a hand towards her, though before it could grab her, Annie sprung out of the way and began circling it. 'You got the jump on me. Bravo.'

Narrowing her eyes, Annie watched as the Ten metre turned to eye her and got ready to leap forward. In her mind, Leonhardt already had a plan to counter its eventual lunge, though before she could even consider putting it into motion, the Titan's nape was severed by a newcomer who landed rather awkwardly on the ground not long after dispatching it.

"Ann! You alright?" inquired Mina from ground level as the blood evaporated off her person, and Annie sighed as she nodded whilst landing close by, offering her friend a small salute with her Anti-Titan blade as thanks. In response, the pigtailed soldier nodded and offered a similar salute before she went back to work, swinging herself off to do whatever she could to help keep the Titans away from the Elite Garrison squad plus Mikasa and Eren.

Right before Mina could disappear from sight, however, a Titan attempted to lunge at her, though before it could even get close enough, the Mechanical Titan's mace-like weapon sprung forward, with its 'snout' shifting upwards as it was being swung. The weapon then snapped itself down onto the Titan's torso before it began to squeeze down upon it, and within a handful of seconds, its entire torso exploded in a mess of gore, prompting a wince to escape Annie's lips while Mina remained blissfully ignorant of how her life was just saved from possible death thanks to the mechanical monstrosity.

It was rather ironic, Annie reckoned. In spite of the danger that she believed it posed, sticking close to the Mechanical Titan was arguably the safest bet for everyone on the field. Its strength was enough to dispatch any and all Titans within the area, making this a battle of quality over quantity more so than anything. Though, somewhat unsurprisingly, the mere fact that it was a 'Titan' was enough to keep a majority of the soldiers away from it out of instinct, as only a handful of them fought in close vicinity to it.

Somewhat coincidentally, Annie's ears perked up when she heard a yell coming from the sides, and when she turned to have a look at its source, she raised her brows when she noticed Sasha swinging directly at a Fifteen metre Titan. Her movements were just a little too refined for someone like herself, and, admittedly, Leonhardt was impressed when Braus expertly maneuvered around the Titan's grasp and slashed at its nape, with her then launching herself skywards and twirling expertly through the air before she landed next to the blonde soldier in an awkward stumble.

"Anotha' one down!" proclaimed Sasha as she landed and sighed in relief. Turning towards Annie, she offered a wave as the blonde raised a brow, having found her apparent lack of agency to be somewhat amusing, though not particularly surprising, considering how she was as a person. Either way, though… "You holdin' up wel', Annie?"

"Yes, I am. Now get back to work; these fields aren't going to clean themselves," replied Annie, with Sasha nodding as she turned and got back to her job, prompting the blonde to sigh before launching herself up into the air and boosting towards the closest Titan to her.

With the greatest of ease, Annie twisted her body and evaded the Titan's grasp as it lunged at her, causing it to crash down onto the ground. Using that to its advantage, Annie swiftly circled around it and decided to test something as she shut one of her eyes and pulled back one of her arms.

When she was sure that what she wished to pull off would actually work, Annie swung her arm forwards and, at the last minute, detached the Anti-Titan blade from its handle, sending it flying straight at the Titan's nape at thunderous speeds, and, with a combination of good aim and unfathomable luck, the detached Anti-Titan blade found its mark right in the sweet spot of the Titan's nape and sunk into it extremely deep, more than enough to kill the Titan as soon as it struck its nape.

Landing on one knee on the pavement behind the now dead Titan, Annie was quick to stand and, admittedly, give a mild smirk when she saw that her little experiment had succeeded. Without wasting a second, Annie jogged over to the downed Titan as it began dissolving and retrieved the blade she had thrown. Sure, it would've been easier to just unsheath a new, fresh blade, but she'd rather retrieve it to save her armaments for potential emergencies.

As soon as she retrieved it, however, Annie's ears perked up and she turned towards the source, only to widen her eyes when she saw a Six metre Titan sprint directly at her. In a panic, she stepped back and got ready to book it out of there, with a plan to counterattack already forming in her mind.

Before she could put it into motion, however, the edge of a somewhat familiar Longsword slammed down onto the Six metre, with the ensuing shockwave sending Annie backwards a little as she shielded her eyes.

After some time, she lowered her arms and winced when she saw the Mechanical Titan kneeling down with its arm that wielded its Longsword slammed down onto the ground. Annie winced when she saw how the Longsword had sliced the Titan in half, and she noticeably widened her eyes when the front half of the Titan dropped forward in front of her with a disgusting splat. Meanwhile, the Mechanical Titan stood itself up and turned to stare at Annie, who raised a brow at it. Sure, it was nonhostile to humans… but even so… that could change at any given…

… did it just nod at her?

Blinking in confusion as she took stock of some movement coming from the 'Titan's' head, Annie took a double take as she refocused on it, and sure enough, she saw tat it had, indeed, nodded at her. Seeing this only made the blonde flinch as a single word escaped her lips…

"What the fuck…" was all Annie could mutter out in surprise, only to be cut off when a sudden blast of lightning struck an area not too far from where they currently were. Wincing as she shielded her eyes from the light, Annie offered a mild grunt as she lowered her arm, and likewise, the Mechanical Titan turned towards it as well, with the powerful flash of lightning reflecting in its glassy green eyes all the while. "Kh…

"Took them long enough!"

The roar was loud enough to be heard even without the aid of Barbatos' audio receptors, and at that, Mikazuki couldn't help but snort before he had his unit sidestep a charging Titan, causing it to crash headfirst into a still standing building.

Rather nonchalantly, Mikazuki had Barbatos fire a shot from the Autocannon into the Titan's nape, hitting it right on the mark and causing the smoke to dispel. At that, Mika snorted as he got ready to move onto his next target, though before he could do so, Barbatos relayed a something to him via the Alaya-Vijnana system.

"..."

"..."

To say that Mikazuki wasn't exactly a fan of what he had just been told would be… an understatement. Simply put, the Autocannon ammo reserves were slowly but surely running themselves dry, and likewise, the unit's Land Booster fuel reserves were also running on empty.

This was not exactly a good situation. Although Barbatos could very well run much faster than the average or even Abnormal Titan, the lack of aid from its Land Boosters and Autocannon rounds could very well cripple its combat effectiveness and leave it at a massive disadvantage. He'd have to use them sparingly from here on out, he reckoned.

Before much else could be made of their current dilemma, however, Mikazuki took stock of how a Titan was approaching his unit from behind thanks to the on-board radar, prompting him to turn Barbatos on its heel and launch a punch straight down at a Nine metre. The balled up manipulator caved its entire skull in and it buried itself in its nape, and after a snort of amusement, Mika had his unit shove the Titan off its manipulator without batting an eye.

A soft tink that was picked up by Barbatos' audio receptors caught Mikazuki's attention, causing him to perk up momentarily, and moments later, he raised a brow when he saw Nac suddenly spring past Barbatos' head. Evidently, he had used the Gundam as a vantage point to slingshot off towards their shared adversaries… creative, if not incredibly risky.

Either way, with a mild grunt, Nac barreled towards a Titan and swung his behind it. And, with a swing that he probably put all he had into, the ravenette slashed at its nape, though rather unfortunately the strike was a little off, as evident by how, when Tias had dropped to the ground, the Titan was still standing.

"S-Shit…" mumbled Nac as the Titan turned towards him, and that in itself was more than enough to make Mikazuki simultaneously wince and snort in amusement. As smart as he was, the guy really didn't excel much in the physical prowess department, though if he were honest, Tias holding his own out in all the chaos wasn't anything to scoff at either.

That aside, Mikazuki wasn't all that willing to let this Titan have its way with Nac, who appeared unsure of what to do at the moment, and as such, the pilot his unit approach the Titan as it began marching towards his friend, smiling goofily as Tias backed away and tried to make a plan up on the fly. In his panic, he didn't seem to notice that Barbatos was approaching the Titan before…

… only for him to widen his eyes in shock when the very tip of the Longsword abruptly appeared before him. Only then did he fall onto his rear, eyes wide and mouth agape, and as he breathed in and out heavily in shock, the man realized that Barbatos' Longsword was embedded into the back of the Titan's neck, with its blade now jutting out of its throat and pointed directly down at him all the while

"... eh…?" muttered Nac as his eyes remained wide, with him staring up at the Titan and thew Gundam in shock, and moments later, his shock somehow increased in intensity when Barbatos jerked its Longsword to the side and dislodged the now dead Titan from it, sending its dissolving corpse flying into the closest building.

And with the Nine metre Titan having been dispatched by it, Nac couldn't help but gulp as the Mechanical Titan stared down at him with its cold, green eyes.

Sure, the damn thing was seemingly on their side, and sure… it had technically saved his life on more than a few occasions… but even so, Nac still couldn't help but feel menaced by the 'Titan', even as it did something as normal as stare at him. It was a literal killing machine, and even that description of it was a bit of an understatement…

Still though, Nac, being who he was, found himself unable to stop himself from subconsciously offering a thumbs up to the Mechanical Titan, something that caused it to shifted a tiny bit as it observed the human with its atypical neutral gaze. Somehow, that was even worse than being spotted by a Titan, Tias thought, but even so, him and his stupid mouth couldn't hold back another comment as he blurted out the following…

"Uh… t-thanks…?"

And, upon saying this, the world around Nac more or less shattered like glass as he realized what he had just said, and to what he had just said it to. What a ridiculous thing to say to a Titan, of all things, one that, in spite of understanding their language, was incapable of responding! Just what was he-

Before he could finish chastising himself for his way-too-friendly demeanor, and before he could lower his thumbs up, however, the sound of moving pistons and grinding gears caught Nac's attention, prompting him to refocus on the Mechanical Titan once more. Silently, the man watched as the 'Titan' lifted its free hand up to its face, with it staring down at it quietly for the briefest of seconds… and after it twitched its fingers a little, the appendage suddenly balled itself up into a fist… wave for a single digit…

… its thumb…

"...wha…?" muttered Nac in utter bafflement as he stared at the gesture, with him momentarily forgetting about their current situation as he stared at the immensely unexpected sight of this 'Titan' giving him a thumbs up, of all things…

And admittedly, within his unit's cockpit, Mikazuki found himself smiling at the sight of Nac's look of utter shock.

That gesture via Barbatos was unnecessary, to say the least. If anything, it was more of a waste of time than anything… but even so, Mikazuki would've been branded history's greatest liar if he claimed to have not enjoyed that whatsoever.

Sure, they were in the middle of the war right now… but fuck it! Mikazuki reckoned that he may as well have some form of 'fun' whilst plowing through these Titans. Of course, it was at the expense of his taller friend, though he reckoned that it was worth it in the end.

His small respite was quickly interrupted, however, when he noticed something being marked on the cockpit's heads up display. Blinking in confusion as he noticed it, Mikazuki turned Barbatos' head unit towards it and had the heads up display zoom in on what was being picked up on. He was quick to raise a brow when he noticed that it was a Yellow Signal Flare, and for a brief moment, he was left confused by its significance, only for Nac to unknowingly inform him of what it meant…

"The mission's failed already?!" came the distinctly panicked voice of Mina through the audio receptors of the Gundam, prompting Mikazuki to raise a brow as he turned his unit just enough to glance at the girl, who had landed atop a closeby building and was now staring out at the rising signal flare. Several others landed by her side, with the most noticeable of the bunch being the likes of Annie, Sasha, Connie and Mylius, most of whom appeared very much concerned.

"That can't be right! The team just got there!" proclaimed Sasha in a panic, with her grabbing fistfuls of her hair as she said this. "There's no way-"

"Maybe Eren lost control," suggested Annie, cutting Sasha off mid-sentence as Mina raised an eyebrow.

"He wouldn't… you know as well as I do that Eren would do nothing more than focus on his mission!" argued Mina, a claim that made Annie shake her head as the pigtailed soldier fidgeted uncertainly. "Right…?"

"Normally, yes, but even so, he's a Titan. We can't rule anything out when it comes to someone like him," reasoned Annie, frowning as she motioned towards the Walls. "Come on; the mission is lost. Our best bet is to retreat."

Annie got no response at first, with Mina biting her lower lip as Nac swung up to their building to join them, nodding towards Sasha in greeting all the while (bless his soul, Mika thought. Even in the middle of a catastrophe, he couldn't help but be polite). As they waited for Mina's answer, however, Mikazuki took note of something.

'There haven't been many Titans around here after the lightning struck Trost,' observed Mikazuki as he tapped on Barbatos' built in cockpit radar, raising a brow when he acknowledged how a majority of the dots on the radar seemed to be moving away from their current location. If anything, they were moving towards…

"...!"

"... I know. I see it too, Barbatos!"

"I'm sorry, Ann, but I can't just leave the Elite Team on their own! Neither them nor Mikasa or Eren… it just isn't right!" replied Mina, with her frowning as she turned towards where the signal flare originated from. Annie responded to this with a grimace whilst Nac gulped with dismay, already knowing where this was going. Meanwhile, Sasha seemed completely disinterested in the conversation, with her gaze fixed solely on Barbatos, which had not moved even an inch for quite some time.

"Mina, there's a big chance that they're dead. Stop being so fucking naive and start thinking rationally, for fucks sake!" demanded Annie, sounding to be at her wit's end as she grimaced at her pigtailed friend, who winced just a little at her rather harsh words. At that, Leonhardt breathed in heavily before calming down, pinching the bridge of her nose before continuing. "If you wish to march to your death, march to a meaningful death, not a meaningless one."

"I don't see anything meaningless about looking for survivors, Annie!" retorted Mina, with her tone of voice catching Annie off guard.

Before Annie could even reply to her words, however, Mina scowled and turned her back on her friend, who was rightfully taken aback by just how quickly she had moved, and before any of them could stop her, she lunged off the building and raced off, swinging towards where the flare was shot from in an instant. Neither were fast enough to stop her from leaving, and the others present were unable to react fast enough to help in that department, much to Annie's ire and Nac's dismay.

"That fucking dumbass…!" groaned Annie, who grimaced as Nac shuddered, not liking his blonde friend's angered tone of voice. And, admittedly, Mikazuki did wince a tiny bit at what just happened… he wasn't fond of Mina's willingness to die on the battlefield, but all the same, he knew that she was an incredibly well meaning individual, and if it came down to her dying just to save another, then she'd gladly do as such.

Sadly, she didn't seem to realize that her friends weren't exactly fans of her mindset.

"Come on, I'm not letting that girl die. Not like this, of all ways," groaned Annie as she motioned for Nac to follow her after Mina. The taller soldier simply grunted in agreement, and with a mild sigh, Mikazuki had Barbatos ready its thruster units, a gesture that caught Sasha's attention, and within the blink of an eye, the Gundam sprung forward, propelled by its boosters.

He wasn't going to let any of his friends die, not now, not ever, dangit!

Elsewhere

"To think that things would end this way… I suppose it wasn't exactly an unforeseen outcome."

With that said, Ian sighed as he, alongside Mikasa and the rest of the Elite Team, stared at the slumped over form of Eren Jaeger's Titan body. Both of his hands were nothing more than smoking stumps at this point, and his face was similarly smoking as well. By all means, he didn't look like he'd be getting up anytime soon, and that thought was enough to make the Elite team shudder.

The plan to use Jaeger to seal the breach had hit a snag almost immediately after the team had made landfall. As soon as Eren had dropped into Trost in the body of his Titan, he had seemingly lost control of himself and attempted to take the life of Mikasa. The aftermath was rather obvious, with Eren having punched himself in the face and effectively knocking himself out cold.

And that all led to the present, with Rico having fired the Yellow Signal Flare into the sky as she stared between the Captain of their unit and Eren Jaeger's fallen Titan form. Mitabi himself kept his gaze fixed squarely on the latter, grimacing immensely as he did.

"We need to pull out, Ian!" urged Mitabi, with him not taking his eyes off Eren for even a second as he spoke. He was clearly fearful of Jaeger, and he grimaced when he saw his Titan body twitch a little. "That kid isn't going to be blocking anything anytime soon!"

"Agreed. We haven't any other choice but to leave him," agreed Rico as she stared at Jaeger's slumped over form from behind her glasses. Between the lot of them, Brzenska had just a slither of faith when it came to Eren's capabilities, but even so… she had been quickly proven otherwise when he had lashed out at Mikasa.

Call it what you will, but at the very least, the Mechanical Titan didn't lash out at them.

That aside, Ian himself was inclined to agree with his fellow Elites; Eren had failed his duty, and considering what he had just tried to do, the kid wasn't much better than a traitor, which gave the Captain more than one reason to leave him behind.

And yet… it didn't feel right. Even if he were truly an enemy, the mere fact that Eren Jaeger was as young as he was made him pause. Kid though he might not have been… the soldier was still a young one, and to leave such a young and potential filled individual out on the battlefield to the Titans simply felt… wrong, to say the least, and it was more than enough to make him pause for thought as he kept his gaze fixed on Eren.

Of course, the death glare and massive grimace that Mikasa was giving him probably contributed to his hesitation as well.

Said glare and grimace were sending quite a simple message to him. They promised many things to Ian, to say the least, though the most obvious promise was very clear; should he even think about retreating, Ackerman would never allow him to live this down… if he could survive being decapitated whilst his back was turned to her, anyways, and that thought alone was enough to make a lump form in his throat.

Apparently noticing his hesitation, Mitabi grimaced and stepped forward and attempted to reason with his Captain, his voice sounding panicked all the while.

"Ian, you're the Captain here!" reminded Mitabi, with him gesturing wild with his hands to perhaps strengthen his point as he spoke. "None of this is your fault! Please remember that this plan was dubious at best, and downright disastrous at worst! Every one of us knew that, and even if it was worth a try, it had ended in failure!"

"I… but… the Mechanical Titan!" retorted Ian, frowning as he remembered its existence. Clenching a hand into a fist, Ian grimaced as he spoke to a panicked Mitabi and a close to cracking Rico. "If it is as intelligent as the forward scouts say, then-"

"To think that we'd put as much trust in that thing despite not knowing what it truly is shows how desperate we all are, Ian!" cut off Mitabi as he jabbed a finger towards Ian's chest. "Listen to me, to rely on the Mechanical Titan is no different than to rely on this plan's success, and considering how the plan has already failed before it can even begin, relying on the Mechanical Titan will also end in failure!

"Now come on, we're evacuating!"

With his stance on their current situation made, Mitabi quickly turned on his heel and walked off, frowning as he got ready to leap off the building, with Rico looking ready to follow. However, the sound of someone rushing at him made him stop and turn on his heel, and he was quick to widen his eyes when he saw Mikasa rushing him, though he sighed in mild relief when Ian held an arm out to stay her.

"Mikasa Ackerman, hold," ordered Ian, surprising the young soldier as he sighed. "Mitabi, Rico, we are not leaving Eren Jaeger behind. Stand guard and keep any and all Titans away until he has emerged from his Titan body."

"I-Ian, I beg your pardon?!" proclaimed Rico, stepping forward and staring at her Captain with widened eyes as he grimaced. Opening his mouth, Ian was ready to defend himself, though he held his tongue when a closeby soldier landed on a nearby building and yelled out to the team.

"C-Captain Dietrich!" bellowed the soldier, waving his Anti-Titan blade as he shrieked, catching their attention and prompting him to continue. "Several Titans are approaching your team from all sides!"

"Shit… how many, and what are their metre classes?!" demanded Ian, grimacing as Mitabi began sweating more in a panic. Rico wasn't any better, as evident by her widened eyes, though Mikasa appeared mostly neutral as she listened in.

"A Ten and Six metre class Titans are the closest, coming in from the north!" replied the soldier, sounding close to a panic attack as Ian widened his eyes at that. "From the south is a Twelve metre! Those're the closest… though outside of them, just a bit over a dozen other Titans are coming at us!"

And at that, Mitabi's eyes widened further as he seized his Captain's shoulders, speaking out in a panic as he did.

"Ian! Please, think rationally! This 'plan' has failed, and if we stay-" reasoned Mitabi, only to be cut off when Ian grimaced and forced his teammate to release him with a firm shove backwards. Mitabi stumbled backwards, but even so, he kept his balance as he spoke to his comrades.

"Rico, you shall join forces with that soldier and take down or, at the very least, distract the approaching Twelve metre," ordered Ian, sounding uncertain but still confident as Brzenska widened her eyes in shock. "Mitabi and I shall deal with the Ten and Six metre classes and-"

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!" demanded Rico, losing her calm demeanor briefly as Mikasa stared at Ian in wide eyed shock, having gained some form of admiration for her Garrison senior at that point. "YOU WANT US TO-"

"I am the Captain of this squad, Rico Brzenska! And the least you could do now is to be quiet and listen!" cut off Ian with a grimace as he swung his hand off to the side. "We cannot leave Eren Jaeger defenceless, and as such we shall change our objective!

"Until he is retrieved, we shall keep any and all Titans away from him for as long as possible!"

"Since when were you so invested in his safety?!" demanded Mitabi, prompting Ian to grimace.

"I have never been," retorted Ian. "But Eren Jaeger represents something special for mankind, a precious possibility for the future of our species. Unlike the Mechanical Titan, he has a clear goal, even if it is clouded by instinctual, Titan behaviour. And unlike us, he cannot be replaced."

"Dozens have already died for that failure of a human weapon," tried Rico, sounding close to defeat as Ian grimaced deeper. "Now you wish for us to repeat all that just to ensure his survival?!"

Her response was swift, and it was enough to stun her into silence.

"Yes, Rico Brzenska!" roared Ian, showing his authority over her and making her step back in shock. "No matter how many of us must die, we must never stop trying!

"Without more people sacrificing themselves, how would we win against the Titans?! Without sacrifice, there can be no victory, and if we must sacrifice the lives of others, even if we must sacrifice ourselves in order to ensure mankind's victory, then so be it! Unless you have a way to win this war without sacrificing anything!"

His response was silence, with Rico staring at him blankly while Mitabi gulped and stepped back from his fellow Elite.

"I haven't an answer to that, Ian…" admitted a defeated Rico, who slouched her shoulders forward as she admitted defeat, leading Ian to nod.

"Which is why we cannot let Eren's potential go to waste. Powerful though it may be, the Mechanical Titan is unpredictable and, ultimately, unreliable. Jaeger is all we have left to even hope to fight back against the Titans effectively, and as such, for that messed up human weapon's sake…" replied Ian, grimacing as he spoke. "We must risk our lives for it, and give our all!"

A pause, with everyone present frowning as they turned to stare at Ian in silence. Neither Rico nor Mitabi had known Ian to be a man of such conviction, at least not until now, it would seem, as they were all stunned into silence by what they had heard, and after some time, the Captain of them team sighed with remorse as he spoke once more.

"Pitiful, is it not? As humans, this is all we can do… to fight until we can no longer carry on," lamented Ian, with his voice sounding heavier than it has ever been as he said this. "And as such, we may as well do it as best as we can… fight as best we can, to make sure that our race survives forevermore So, what says the both of you…? Will you stand with me and fight?"

His answer was a few seconds of silence, where both Mitabi and Rico remained quiet, considering his words carefully as Mikasa eyed Ian with a newfound sense of respect. For a Garrison, the man seemed more than willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, a rarity in that military brigade.

And after a few seconds…

"I disagree with your words, Ian…" admitted Rico as she turned her back on him, Mitabi and Mikasa, prompting the Captain to slouch a little in disappointment as Brzenska kept her back towards him, only to back perk up when he heard her continue to speak. "But even so, I will follow your plan. I… believe that what you say is correct.

"But know this, Ian Dietrich, Mitabi Janarch, and you especially, Mikasa Ackerman," continued Rico, with putting a clear emphasis on Mikasa's family name as she spoke, prompting the girl in question to frown lightly all the while. "As I struggle, I shall show these beasts just how terrifying mankind can be when we are backed up against a wall. I shall show them that it is not the Mechanical Titan that they should fear, nor is it that failed experiment. I shall show them that humanity is the true apex predator of this world.

"I shall show them that we humans are the ones who shall triumph in this war, for I refuse to die a dog's death…"

And with that said, Rico moved on to carry out her duty, leaving a slack jawed Ian behind to watch as she walked off. And, much to his shock, Mitabi himself began to move as well.

"... this kid isn't going to defend himself, Ian. Come, let us… greet our foes, Ian," urged Mitabi as he placed a hand on his Captain's shoulder. And after a nod from Ian, Mitabi sprinted off to meet the Ten and Six metre Titans head on, leaving Ian behind to calm down before he moved to join them.

Before that, however…

"Thank you, Captain Ian," came Mikasa's thankful voice as Ian calmed down just enough to get his professional facade back up, and by then, he could only glance just a little at his junior as she spoke. Mikasa, for as neutral as she always appeared to be, did seem genuinely thankful towards him, and in response to this, Ian simply smiled gently in her general direction.

"Do not thank me, Mikasa Ackerman," rebutted Ian, with him bowing his head gently as he said this. "This is our duty. To secure any and all advantages for mankind in this war, so keep your head up high and focus on the battle, kid. Move on and keep those Titans away from your brother; your skills are best suited for it, after all."

"Yes sir," replied Mikasa with a nod, and deciding that if he would die today, Ian allowed a rather sly smirk to appear on his face before he added on.

"Go defend your boyfriend," joked Ian, with his smirk growing in size when he saw that flustered expression on his junior's face.

"He's not my boyfriend… he's family," defended Mikasa, only to wince when she saw that he was already out of earshot. Sighing internally at that, Ackerman shook her head, only to turn and widen her eyes when she realized that something seemed off about Eren.

It took her a moment to realize what was off with him, and when she did, she widened her eyes when she realized how… his injuries… they weren't regenerating?!

'... is it because of the damage he suffered from before?' thought Mikasa in a panic, already thinking the worst as she widened her eyes. 'What effects will it have on Eren…? Will he be able to turn back…?'

A mental slap was required to force her out of her trance, with the top graduate of the 104th grimacing as she turned away from Eren's still body. No… she shouldn't dwell on such things. It was something she couldn't figure out with the current situation… and as such, she backlogged it with a frustrated sigh.

Best to focus on keeping those Titans away for now, she reckoned…

With a loud grunt, Rico Brzenska grimaced as she swung her Anti-Titan blades straight at the wrist of a Titan, severing the artery of the limb and causing it to let go of the soldier that it had in its hand. Before the soldier could hit the ground, she swung down and snatched him out of the air with surprising dexterity.

"Be more careful, soldier," scolded Rico as she tossed him back into the air. Said soldier nodded and thanked her before swinging off to continue his duty, though as he did so, Rico couldn't help but grimace as she glared at the Twelve metre.

'This is taking too long…' thought Rico as she glanced behind the Twelve metre and grimaced when she saw an approaching pair of Fifteen metres. 'More Titans are approaching… if that brat doesn't come out anytime soon, then we'll be swarmed!'

And yet, even with that in mind, Rico refused to back down.

To die a dog's death was the job of a lesser soldier, and she was by no means a lesser soldier, as evident by how she grimaced and boosted straight at the Twelve metre. She was an Elite Garrison, dammit! And she was trained for this line of work!

And as such, even she had a thing or two to show off.

Focusing as intensely as she could, Rico narrowed her eyes behind her spectacles and focused on the legs of the Twelve metre. As she did, the Titan swung its hand at her, and Rico waited until the absolute last second to dodge, and as soon as she did, she exploited the opening that was presented to her and swung down towards the Titan's ankles.

With a strong swing, Rico slashed open both the Twelve metre's ankles, and within a moment's notice, the Twelve metre fell forward, leaving its nape open, and Brzenska swung up and latched onto the back of the Titan's neck. Reeling herself in, she swung both blades at it with as much strength as she could muster, and with a single, almost surgical slice, she took down the massive beast in one fell swoop.

"W-Whoa…" muttered the soldier in shock as Rico swung up towards the closest building and wiped the dissolving blood off her cheek. In response to that, however, Rico simply got him to get back to work.

"You offer nothing by standing and watching," shot Rico as she gestured for him to get back to work. When he was gone, Rico sighed and eyed her Anti-Titan blades. "Hm… three more swings at best before I'm forced to swap blades. I have three spare blades left, and two Fifteen metres are approaching."

Despite herself, Rico couldn't help but offer a weak smile. Though this situation was dire, she had to admit that it was… exciting. Her life was on the line, yeah, but that only added to the 'fun'. Life would be boring without the danger, after all, and right now, life was truly exhilarating, especially as the first Fifteen metre got close to her.

Rather abruptly, however, a blur zipped past the back of the Fifteen metre's nape, and the moment it shot past, the Titan fell forward, prompting Rico to widen her eyes and leap across to the closest building to avoid the now dead Titan as it dropped face first onto the building she was just on.

Within a few moments, Annie Leonhardt landed behind Rico and offered her fellow short soldier a nod, one which was replied with a raised brow as Brzenska cleared her throat.

"Annie Leonhardt…?! Why are you here?" inquired Rico as she pointed towards the Wall. "Weren't you supposed to be keeping the Titans away alongside the Mechanical Titan?"

"Yes, but my… teammates had other ideas," replied Annie as she pointed her Anti-Titan blade behind Rico, prompting her to turn and raise a brow when she spotted Mina Carolina and Nac Tias land on the building they were on.

"Y-You two as well… why are you here?! Didn't all of you get specific orders to…?!" demanded Rico as they saluted, only to drop the formalities as their former Captain continued. "Cease with the pleasantries. We are on the battlefield!"

"... I apologise, Captain Rico, but we couldn't just ignore the Signal Flare that came from here,," apologised Nac as Mina quickly nodded. Opening her mouth, Rico seemed ready to give them a good scolding, though before she could, a loud crash caught her attention.

"B-But hey… on the bright side, we did bring some backup…!"

And at that, Rico could only widen her bespectacled eyes as their 'backup' arrived and slammed straight into one of the approaching Fifteen metre Titans. An audible gasp left her lips as the Fifteen metre quite literally exploded before her, and her shock only grew when the Mechanical Titan seized the other by the neck and raised it up into the air.

With the brutality that could not be rivaled by anything Rico knew of, the Mechanical Titan plunged its hand into the Fifteen metre's stomach. It kept it in there for a brief moment before ripping it out, pulling out a handful of the Titan's internals and causing them to drop onto the ground.

That wasn't the only things it pulled out, however, as in its hand was also a slowly dissolving rib that belonged to the Titan, and Brzenska, alongside the newly arrived soldiers, widened their eyes when they saw it stab the Fifteen metre Titan in the nape with its rib.

"... yeah… b-backup…"

Brrrrrrng…

Brrrrrng…

Brrrrrr-

"This is Orga Itsuka, boss of Tekkadan. How can I help you?"

"..."

"Montag. What is it that you want?"

"..."

"Face to face to see my reaction, huh? You'd best make this worth it."