She knew that she shouldn't be feeling this way, and yet, in spite of just how hard she was trying, Mina Carolina found it close to impossible to stop herself from shaking intensely as she remained seated atop her stallion.

Gripping onto the reins of her horse as though her life depended on it, Mina breathed in deeply as her heart rate sped up dramatically. Usually, this would be a bad thing, but honestly, considering their current situation, one couldn't blame her as… this was it. This was the culmination of the past four years of her training, this was what she had been preparing for… this was why she had joined the Trainee Brigade in the first place…

… this was the prelude to the 57th Expedition beyond the Walls… and also the very first proper mission that the 104th graduates would be sent on following their graduation.

She wasn't the only one present that was terrified, of course. Far from it, really, as there were others with her that looked just as, if not even more, horrified than she was at what they were in for, and it was not without reason. After all, their job was to charge towards danger, to venture into the Titan infested lands beyond the Walls, and though they acted brave about it, it was honestly very apparent to Mina that they had much more bravado than actual courage…

… not that she was any better, honestly…

"Feeling antsy?" came Nac's voice from Mina's left, prompting her to jolt upright a little as she acknowledged his presence to her side. Darting her gaze towards him, the pigtailed young woman forced herself to smile at him as she stared up at her friend with a meek expression, and for as nervous as she was currently feeling, she still found herself humoring him ever so slightly as she nodded.

"How can't I be, Nac? We're going to depart on our first Expedition at any given second…" defended Mina, with her keeping her voice strong as she adjusted her Survey Corp cloak around her shoulders, even if the mild quiver beneath her words was a telltale indication to her friend that she was a lot more anxious than she was letting on, though for her sake, he didn't bring it up as he simply nodded.

"Y'know, it might not be too late to back out of this, Mina. If you made a request to our Captain, or one of our seniors, I'm sure-" began Nac, with him hastily suggesting the first thing that came to mind, no doubt thanks to his nervousness, as he smiled meekly, though before he could finish that statement, Carolina was quick to jolt upright atop her horse, with her doing so abruptly that her stallion panicked a little beneath her, prompting her to stroke his mane to calm him down.

"N-No, it's not that, Nac!" assured Mina as her horse calmed himself down, and as it did, and as several other soldiers glanced over at them curiously before turning their attention away once more, she continued to speak, with her seeming a little apologetic for her sudden outburst all the while. "I… I appreciate your concern for me, Nac, but… I chose this, y'know? We've spent too long training for this, and honestly, if I backed out now, I'd feel like a dipshit for doing so. I've got to see it through…"

"I can respect the sentimentality, but need I remind you that death is a very likely possibility? Erwin said as much…" reminded Nac nervously as he tightened his grip on the reins of his horse, with him grimacing all the while. "I… I-I used to think that offering up our lives was an incredibly simple thing to do. But now… now I'm not so sure…"

Glancing down as he said those words, Nac found himself frowning deeply as he felt his mind travel back to the cleanup duties he had performed after the Trost incident. There were so many people dead… people that Nac knew and had shared precious memories with during his Trainee days. Just remembering their faces… or whatever was left of them, all frozen in horrified shock as they were being torn into by their Titanic foes, it didn't do much to excite him, so to speak, for the upcoming expedition, and by all means, the only thing that he could think of was…

'Those people that were killed… it could've so easily have been any one of us. Mina, Mylius, myself or even… w-well, probably not Mika or Annie… but it could've been…'

He wouldn't be able to live with himself, knowing that, whilst under his watch, any of his closest friends, practically family, were KIA. And while he could breathe easier knowing that neither Annie nor Mikazuki were in any immediate danger from the Titans, that didn't mean that he didn't find himself worrying over Mina or, to a lesser degree, Mylius, whom he was someone he was rather close with. Such feelings came with him being the oldest person of his friend group, he reckoned…

Rather abruptly, however, a smaller hand found itself resting atop Nac's very own, with the sudden contact being more than enough to jolt the tall guy out of his brief stupor as he nearly fell off his horse in shock, much to a nearby Mylius' dismay. He was saved from tipping off its side by Mina, though, who grasped onto his sleeve before pulling him back up onto his mare, which neighed in annoyance, before staring up at him worriedly.

"Nac…" muttered Mina, with her still keeping her hand over his as she spoke, and at that point, Nac realized that he had been gripping the reins of his horse rather tightly, so tightly that his nails ended up digging themselves into his palm, causing a tiny amount of blood to flow from the newly opened wounds as he subconsciously loosened his grip on them. The pigtailed soldier let out a soft sigh of relief at the sight before she shifted her hand up onto his shoulder and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, one that, coupled with the gentle smile she was giving him, was almost enough to set Nac's worries at ease as he relaxed his shoulders just a bit. "It's going to be fine…"

"I… I know. I know… but it helps to keep on your toes, you know?" reminded Nac with a small, almost sheepish grin on his face as he spoke, to which Mina grinned, with her looking almost like her old self all the while. It was a saddening sight to Nac, though he said nothing of it as she spoke in a somewhat teasing tone of voice.

"F'course I remember. How could I ever forget that lesson we all had with Ness, hm?" quipped Mina knowingly as she giggled a little under her breath, and at that, the mood lightened a tiny bit as Nac's ears reddened in embarrassment.

"D-Don't say that out loud!" whisper-shouted Nac indignantly as he swatted at her face with the hand closest to her, much to her amusement as she grinned a tiny bit, glad to see that she was able to help her friend loosen up a tiny bit all the while. "And… please don't tell Mika or Annie about it…"

"No promises~"

And at that one moment, Nac almost wished that he'd get eaten to save himself from the inevitable embarrassment, and all the while, Luke Sys simply watched the two bicker from behind, with Mylius Zeramuski, the third member of his team, which consisted of Mina, Nac and Sys himself, smiled just a tiny bit at their bickering.

"It must be nice for them… to be able to rely on each other like that," observed Mylius meekly as his shoulders remained slouched over, and his tone of voice told Luke that he was still working on his issues with his confidence, a thought that made the senior grimace a little as he pushed the thought of giving him some extra therapy to the back of his mind before nodding. He could help the kid out with his issues after the expedition was over and done with.

That is… if they even survived it…

"Aye. That's the beauty of having a family, Mylius Zeramuski."

And as he finished that statement, Sys thought that he could see the blonde beside him falter just a bit as he looked away from him, though he didn't have time to comment on it for now as the gates to Karanses began to rise. Metal scraped against metal as the gears of the Wall gates spun on their axis, forcing the gate to rise all the while.

It was time…

With a panicked gasp and his eyes widened to their limits, a soldier of the formation's Rear Guard found himself leaning forwards in terror as he urged his stallion to rush onwards with greater vigor.

One couldn't exactly blame him for being so hasty, however, as he was a part of the outer row of the formation's Vanguard, and his duty was to alert the rest of the formation to the Titans that were approaching them from the sides. Such a job was easy in concept, though in execution, it was a lot less so, and when this soldier in particular had stumbled upon no less than five Titans, all of which ranged from Nine metres to Fifteen, that wasted no time in pursuing him, he was justifiably panicked beyond comprehension as he hastily had his horse sprint away from them.

Whilst he did so, the lone Vanguard fumbled for the flare gun that was attached to his hip, with him almost dropping it as he panickedly pried it out of its holster and broke open its barrel. Hastily, he wasted no time in grabbing a single Red Flare from the back of his waist, loaded it in and aimed it towards the sky, and seconds later, he fired, sending a red cloud soaring up into the air.

As soon as he fired it, the lone Vanguard lowered his arm and glanced back behind himself, only to nearly shit his pants when he realized that the tallest of the Titans, a spindly Fifteen metre, was gaining on him, with it running on all fours like some demented beast from Hell to increase its footspeed.

"OH, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!" screamed the lone Vanguard as he kicked at his horse's sides, urging it to go a little faster as the Titan closed in on them.

(And off in the distance, a single dot appeared on a Mobile Suit's damaged but otherwise still-powerful radar, with it alerting its pilot to an… issue that was less than two hundred metres away from him.)

Rather abruptly, the Titan lunged towards the lone Vanguard with its mouth agape, ready to gobble the soldier up in one fell swoop all the while. Upon noticing this, the guy veered his horse towards the left, in turn avoiding a head-to-back collision with the humanoid monstrosity all the while, much to his relief, though his relief was unfortunately cut short when the Titan, despite having face planted into the dirt, swung its arm out towards the soldier, and by some ungodly miracle, its hand was able to impact the poor man, who found himself restrained by the Fifteen metre and swept up into the air.

The lone Vanguard's horse halted in its tracks as soon as it felt that its rider was gone, and at the same time, the soldier cried out in terror as he swiftly unsheathed his blades and swung them wildly at the Titan's fingers. A few cuts were made onto it before it could bring him up to its mouth, and after one final, powerful swing, the soldier was able to sever a major tendon that forced the Titan to release him… onto its face. The Vanguard was lucky that he didn't fall straight into its mouth, as he only landed on its forehead, with him swiftly kicking off its face and landing on the ground shortly thereafter.

As he landed, however, the Fifteen metre Titan, alongside the rest of its pack that was swiftly closing in on him, turned to stare down at him, and at that, the soldier more or less accepted his fate, with him grimacing as he finally realized what his instructor had meant by Offer up your lives back during his trainee days. Even so, that didn't mean that he'd die like a coward, as he intended on fighting to the bitter end against these things.

Even if he didn't take any one of them down, he reckoned that going down fighting would be better than going down like a coward!

"C-C'mon then you fuckers!" challenged the lone Survey Corp Vanguard as he tried to keep the shakiness out of his voice, though it was very obvious that he was failing incredibly hard at doing so as he grimaced. His knees quivered beneath him and his hands shook with barely contained horror, but he hardened his resolve and pointed a sword up at the Fifteen metre. "Come and get me-"

And right as that last word left his lips, the Titan closest to him vanished in a massive cloud of smoke and dirt, with something incredibly heavy crashing down atop it and cutting the soldier off mid-sentence as the aftershock of the newcomer's timely appearance sent him soaring backwards. Landing in an awkward tumble, the lone Vanguard soldier coughed a little as he shook his head and glanced up at where the Titan used to be, only to widen his eyes when he saw, through the dissipating cloud of smoke and dirt, Gundam Barbatos standing with its damaged but still intact back facing him.

Crouching down into an offensive stance, the Gundam wielded both its Mace and Longsword as it effectively formed a wall to block the Titans from getting the soldier behind it. As it did so, the unit glanced back at the soldier, who seemed to understand what it was trying to do, as he nodded in appreciation and rushed towards his horse. The aforementioned animal neighed a little as it bowed its head and allowed its rider to mount it, and as he turned tail and fled the immediate area, the lone Vanguard found himself glancing back at the Gundam… and he promptly widened his eyes and dropped his jaw not even a second later.

One couldn't blame him for such a reaction, however, as it wasn't exactly common to see four Titans being taken out simultaneously within the span of two seconds. Barbatos had dispatched the Titan closest to it, a Twelve metre, with a single swing of its Wrench Mace, before it rocketed its Mace-wielding arm towards a Fourteen metre, slamming its elbow straight into its skull, caving it in on impact. The next Titan to be taken out was a Nine metre, the shortest of the pack, which was immediately killed when Barbatos launched its leg unit towards it, obliterating its entire torso on impact, and whilst its foot was still in the air, the unit brought it down onto the thigh of a Ten metre, and it didn't just break the Titan's thighbone… no… the foot tore the entire leg off at the thigh, forcing the Titan down onto its knee before it stared up at the Gundam with a dopey look on its face.

Said look was quickly wiped off the face of the world when the Gundam swung its Longsword at it, slashing not only its skull, but also its neck and part of its torso in half, and before the severed parts could even hit the ground and begin dissolving, Barbatos had already turned away from its handiwork and began boosting after the formation, leaving a very much bewildered soldier to try and register what just happened.

It was all so fast that his brain struggled to keep up with what he had just seen, and by the time he had registered all of it, the soldier couldn't do much more than watch on, slack jawed, as the Gundam boosted onwards, with it keeping pace with his horse with very little issue. Its Land Boosters were deactivated, presumably to save on fuel, and its optics were facing directly ahead of itself, though in spite of this, the soldier couldn't shake the feeling that the thing was staring at him, prompting him to shudder a little as he veered away from the Gundam out of instinctual fear.

And as the soldier he had just saved veered away from him, Mikazuki found himself huffing a little to himself as he rolled his eyes and tapped the cockpit monitor of his unit, with him staring down at the radar all the while.

As the strongest and fastest asset in the entire formation, it fell upon Mikazuki to protect the soldiers of the Rear and Vanguard, whether they liked it or not, and by proxy, the pilot had to handle any and all Titans that were within a hundred metres of the formation's flank. Thankfully for him, Barbatos' on board radar had a farther reach than one would expect, with it being able to detect movement from over three hundred metres away, which wasn't too far off the full size of the formation itself, thus allowing the pilot to detect any Titans that were in the vicinity that could pose a threat to them in any way.

He couldn't help everyone, of course, seeing as how he and Barbatos were only a single unit, though he did still do his best. Mina and Nac would've wanted him to do so, after all.

That aside, a ping on the radar alerted him to a Titan not too far from his current position, prompting him to turn towards it and narrow his eyes at the sight of a tiny Titan in the distance. The optic-to-cockpit monitor zoomed in on the Titan, allowing Mikazuki to identify it as an Eight-to-Seven metre sprinting across the field, with it seeming to be making its way over to the center portion of the formation. Upon acknowledging its existence, the pilot boosted his unit towards the nearby Titan, startling the soldier he had saved initially in the process, and as soon as he was roughly a hundred metres away from it, he fired up the Land Boosters and activated all of his unit's thrusters all at once.

Seconds later, Barbatos was sent soaring through the air, with the combined might of its six thrusters allowing it to close the distance between itself and the Eight/Seven metre Titan in record time, and mere seconds after his unit had landed, with metal and pistons creaking on impact, the unit boosted towards the Titan and crouched down low. The Titan, a Seven metre, Mika noted, barely had enough time to even turn around to acknowledge the Gundam's approach before it got close enough to strike it below the jaw with its manipulator.

On impact, the Titan's entire head was promptly sent flying off its shoulders as it soared through the air at (literal) breakneck speed, and seconds later, its body fell onto the floor, dead, with Mikazuki snorting at the sight all the while. Goodness… he forgot just how fragile these things were when compared to enemy Mobile Suits…

That aside, however, was quick to turn his Gundam's attention towards a close-by trio of Titans. Said Titans were roughly five hundred metres away and seemed to be chasing a small group of Survey Corp Vanguards, and upon acknowledging their existence, Mika was quick to crouch his unit down before he boosted it towards his new prey.

'I hope they're alright," thought Mikazuki absentmindedly as he had Barbatos boost towards the Titans in a zig-zag motion, and as soon as he was close enough, he had his unit crouch down low and slam its unit's shoulder straight into the fastest Titan of the three. The shoulder-armour's inner frame buried itself deep into the Titan's chest on impact, slicing into its ribs and causing it to be lifted up into the air as the Gundam turned towards the other two that were pursuing the soldiers.

The aforementioned soldiers only spared the Gundam a quick glance before they sped off, knowing that it was more than enough to handle three measly Titans all the while, and as they did so, Mikazuki ripped the Titan off his Gundam's shoulder-inner frame via its neck and swung its towards the other two like a makeshift club. On impact, the two Titans staggered backwards while the one that was used as a makeshift weapon had its head, neck and spine ripped out from just how fast it was swung, and upon realizing that his unit was holding onto nothing but the Titan's spinal column, Mika had Barbatos throw it off to the side before he swung the Wrench Mace at the remaining two.

'They're strong, but it doesn't hurt to worry… right?' thought Mikazuki absentmindedly as he nonchalantly had his unit slam the Wrench Mace down onto one of the two Titans, squashing it below the weapon, and seconds later, he brought the weapon high up into the air and had it open its damaged jaws. The jaws of the Wrench Mace then came crashing down onto the last Titan, with them ensnaring it with very little issue and trapping it in its maw.

Mikazuki could've just ended it right there and then, but by all means, he still found himself delaying the Titan's inevitable demise as he kept it ensnared in the jaws of his weapon. As he did so, he removed his hands from the unit's arm controllers and began massaging them a little, with him grumbling a little to himself as he acknowledged how they had been at this for roughly two hours.

Two hours of him being bored as he boosted near the back of the formation, eliminating Titans that were as threatening to him as a bunny… and two hours of him worrying for his two friends that were not even close to him in the formation… according to Mike, Mina and Nac were somewhere nearer to the center of the formation, which did make it so that they were safer, sure, but to not be close to them… it concerned him quite a bit.

He knew that he shouldn't be worried with them, not anymore at least, as both Mina and Nac had proven to him that they were more than capable of defending themselves. Their exploits during the Trost incident had told him as much, and they had been trained further in the time before the 57th Expedition. And yet… despite all this, he still found himself fretting over their safety and wellbeing. Let it be known that Mikazuki was never one to feel frightened over much… but when it came to those two? In spite of him knowing that they were far from helpless, Mika could never truly stop thinking about their safety.

For all intents and purposes, however, his worries weren't unjustified. They were among the very few that Mikazuki cared for in this world, and if he found them dead on his watch… well, he honestly didn't know what he'd do if such an outcome were to transpire, and by all means, it took him a lot of willpower to resist the urge to abandon his post and boost towards the center of the formation just to find his friends and confirm that they were alright.

As things were now, however, he was able to keep his personal feelings in check thanks to years upon years of experience, and as he suppressed his worries for his friends for now, the pilot glanced back down at the Titan that was still trapped within the jaws of his Wrench Mace, and after huffing out in apparent irritation, he activated the weapon's hidden chainsaw, which ripped through the Titan's flesh as though it were nothing. Seconds later, both halves of the Titan fell onto the ground, though the top half of the beast was still moving, with its nape still intact and how it was writhing on the ground in apparent pain.

'Hmph…' thought Mikazuki, with him wasting no time in stomping Barbatos' foot unit down onto the Titan's neck, killing it in an instant before turning away from it with a soft sigh. Thereafter, the pilot made use of Barbatos' multitude of scanners to survey the area around him, and much to his relief, there weren't any Titans that were within range… that his unit's radar could pick up, anyways…

Strangely enough, though… when there were no Titans present (that Mikazuki could see, at least)... the world around him felt oddly… pleasant, so to speak, and as he thought this, Mikazuki had Barbatos bring a manipulator up and catch a few leaves that had been blown towards it by the wind. The area they were currently in wasn't much, honestly. A massive, grassy wasteland that had very little life to it outside of the Titans roaming around and the occasional Survey Corp rushing along…

… and yet, for as simple as it was, Mikazuki saw quite a lot of beauty in it. He knew that this was what the Survey Corps were fighting for… a simple yet beautiful future where humanity could frolic around regions similar to this one…

"..."

"Hmph…"

"..."

"... yeah, you're right, Barbatos… one day… we'll all be able to experience this. Mina, Nac, Annie, Mrs Carolina, you and me… after we've gotten rid of all the Titans, we can sit down and just enjoy the view," smiled Mikazuki in response to Barbatos' data flow. The Gundam's end of the Alaya-Vijnana system pulsed with no small amount of anticipation as it 'cheered' its pilot on, and thereafter, for the briefest of moments, both Mika and his Gundam remained silent as they observed their oddly calm surroundings, with them reminding themselves that this was all that they were fighting for all the while…

… and as with all good things, the small moment of peace shared between the pilot and his unit was quickly interrupted when an alert had abruptly pinged itself onto the Gundam's heads up display, snapping Mikazuki out of his thoughts in the process, and after he shook his head a little, the pilot turned towards the source of the alert, with him raising Barbatos' head upwards to do so, and raised a brow when he saw another flare rising into the air.

The flare itself originated from the rear guard, something that concerned Mikazuki quite a bit as Barbatos automatically zoomed in on the flare, allowing Mika to get a better look at it all the while, though as soon as he realized what colour it was, he found himself widening his eyes in realization as he grimaced and slammed his feet down onto the thruster pedals of his unit.

'Purple…!' thought Mikazuki as he grimaced and began boosting Barbatos towards where the flare had been shot from, with him grimacing all the while. 'They've made their move… I need to hurry!'

His mind moved a mile a minute as he realized what this could potentially mean, and for as… worried as he currently felt about the possibility of her being the culprit behind all this, the young man was quick to suppress any and all of his worries for now as he focused on getting to where the flare had been shot from. The data feed provided to him by Barbatos assisted him in this, as it estimated that the flare's origin was no less than six hundred metres away from where he currently was, and if he pushed the thrusters to their limits, he could make the trip in less than two minutes… and by all means, he did just that.

He needed to limit the damage that their Titan Shifting traitor could do to the formation, and by proxy, he needed to keep them from getting any deeper into the formation. If they managed to get close enough to Mina and Nac to hurt them in some way… well, he'd make sure they'd die a slow and agonising death…

Elsewhere

"T-Titan inbound!"

Right as those words left her mouth, Mina found herself squeaking in terror as she veered her horse to the left and narrowly avoided a lunging bite from the Titan that was pursuing her, causing it to crash headfirst into an abandoned building seconds later. The entire structure caved in on itself as the Titan slammed into it, and for a brief few seconds, Mina hoped, or rather, prayed that it had been killed by the impact.

Much to her dismay, however, she realized that the Titan was still very much alive, as it burst out of the totaled building and continued to give chase. Biting her lower lip with almost enough strength to draw blood, Mina found herself hyperventilating a little as she urged her horse to pick up the pace, though it didn't do any of that as she grimaced and surveyed her surroundings.

She knew that if worse came to worst, she would have to face this Titan directly in combat, something that wasn't advisable, especially when one considered her lackluster combat rating and how the environment wasn't particularly friendly towards Maneuver Gear Combat, but she didn't exactly have much of an option on the matter. Glancing off into the distance, Mina just barely noticed a small tree that she could perhaps use to slingshot herself behind the Titan, though it would very well be risky…

"MINA!"

Her thoughts were abruptly cut short, however, when the ever-familiar voice of Nac came to Mina's attention, and on instinct, she turned her attention behind herself just in time to see her friend load a flare into his designated flare gun and aim it at the Titan's head. His aim wasn't perfect, but he managed to lodge the Red Flare into the Titan's ear, and though it didn't actually injure it in any way, the shot was still enough to catch its attention as it slowed down and stared down at Tias.

"Oh shit," muttered Nac as he winced and had his horse speed up, with him just narrowly avoiding being scooped up by the Titan as it crouched down low and swiped a hand at him. It came close enough that Tias could feel the wind pressure of the swing, though he didn't let it deter him as he glanced back to see the Titan giving chase, with red smoke pouring out of one of its ears all the while. It would've looked rather comical, honestly, if the damn thing wasn't barreling right for him!

Thankfully enough, however, the Titan only managed to give chase for a solid ten seconds before a newcomer leapt in, and from where he was at, Nac could only widen his eyes in shock when he saw Luke Sys ride up behind the pursuing Titan and jump off the saddle of his horse. As he did so, he launched his Maneuver Gear wires towards the ankles of the Titan, which remained blissfully unaware of his presence, and reeled himself towards them, and once he was close enough, he swung both his Anti-Titan blades towards the back of the beast's ankles, severing both of its major tendons and forcing it to fall flat onto its face. The falling Titan narrowly missed Nac by a good few centimeters as the tip of its index finger came close enough to give Tias some goosebumps.

Despite having been greeted with a faceful of dirt, the Titan pursuing Nac was still adamant on continuing the chase, as it tried to grab at him with its outstretched hand. It wasn't able to get him, however, and before it could make another attempt at his life, another newcomer jumped onto its back and lunged for its nape. Said blonde newcomer appeared very much panicked as he did so, though it didn't stop him from slashing at the nape with all his might before he jumped off it and mounted his horse once more.

And as the body of the Titan dissolved behind them, Nac could only offer one of his two saviours a shaky smile as he nodded at him in thanks.

"T-Thanks for the save there, Mylius!" thanked Nac shakily as he grinned at Mylius, who was still shaking from that honestly terrifying experience. He didn't trust his voice enough to respond verbally, and as such, he simply nodded as they rode on, and as he did so, Mina veered her own horse in to ride beside Nac, who found himself sandwiched between the pigtailed and blonde haired soldiers shortly thereafter.

"I just d-did what anyone else w-would…" muttered Mylius shakily as he still felt himself quivering from that admittedly daring stunt of his. The guy was usually too much of a nervous wreck to do something like this, though Mina reckoned that, when the going got tough, even a scaredy cat like him would rise to the challenge whenever necessary.

"Well, either way, you saved my ass, you and the Captain, so I owe you one! How about we get something to eat when we're done here? My treat!" quipped Nac as lightheartedly as he could as the three of them rode onwards, with Mina letting out an uneasy chuckle at that statement whilst Mylius remained mostly the same, though his lips did twitch upwards a little as he nodded uncertainly.

"If we make it out alive, N-Nac…" responded Mylius uneasily as he turned away from Nac and glanced around awkwardly, with him scanning the terrain for any close-by Titans all the while.

"We will make it out alive, Mylius. Count on it," urged Mina gently as she smiled at him reassuringly, to which the blonde nodded, and at that, he opened his mouth to comment on his ally's optimism, though before he could do so, by the corner of his eye, he noticed a purple cloud of smoke rising up into the air. Instinctively, he focused his attention onto the rising cloud of purple, and when they noticed his sudden focus on it, Mina and Nac glanced behind themselves as well, with the three of them, plus Sys who was lagging behind a bit, staring up at the Purple Flare in silence.

"A Purple Signal Flare… that… t-that means that there's an emergency back there, and judging by where it was shot from… the flare came from the Rear Guard!" observed Nac as he widened his eyes in shock, and as he did so, the three of them instinctively halted their horses to stare up at the rising flare with widened eyes. Sys noticed their abrupt stop, as evident by his mild grimace, prompting him to speed his horse up by kicking its sides before he was right by their sides.

"Mina Carolina, Nac Tias, Mylius Zeramuski, continue onwards! When on the field, stopping for even a moment could become a matter of life or death!" ordered Sys as he had his horse come to a complete stop in front of his juniors. He remained calm as it reared back on its hind legs before returning to all fours, and as it did so, Nac, being the softest of the three, saw fit to protest.

"B-But sir, the Rear Guard-" began Nac worriedly as he pointed in the direction of the aforementioned part of the formation, only to be cut off when Sys shushed him with an outstretched hand. Tias reddened a little at the gesture, though he said nothing as his superior responded.

"Such an outcome has been planned for, Nac Tias. For now, simply continue along onwards," ordered Sys as he motioned for his juniors to do as they were told, and though the three of them wore expressions of guilt whilst turning to leave, they complied nonetheless, with Sys himself reaching behind himself and pulling out his Flare Gun shortly thereafter.

Breaking open its barrel, Luke loaded a Purple Flare of his own and aimed it upwards, and with a simple pull of the trigger, he blasted it into the air, relaying the appearance of their Titan Shifting traitor to the rest of the formation all the while. As the streak of purple rose, Sys saw fit to holster his gun and continue on after his juniors, who found themselves grimacing as they rode onwards.

"It doesn't feel right… to leave them to fight for themselves like that…" muttered Mina after a few seconds of silence, with her grimace reflecting how she currently felt as she spoke. Nac very much agreed with her on the matter, though with him being the oldest and the most experienced in these real world issues, the guy thought it best to not comment on it for now as it wasn't a good time to do so. Mylius, however…

"The smart thing to do i-isn't always the good thing," commented Mylius meekly as he glanced over at Mina, who frowned as they rode on, with her acknowledging the truth behind his words all the while. "But I'm sure that the Rear Guard will be alright…"

"Why's that?" asked Mina curiously. It wasn't as though she doubted the skill of her allies, but even so, an emergency was still an emergency, and she couldn't help but worry about their allies up back, to which Mylius chuckled awkwardly.

"Well… I… recalled hearing one of our seniors state that your friend was stationed at the back of the formation," explained Mylius, with him recalling a conversation he had happened to stumble onto not too long ago in regards to formation plans. He didn't hear much of it, though he distinctly remembered the speakers stating that Barbatos was to be positioned at the back of the formation in the case of an emergency situation, and upon hearing this, both Mina and Nac blinked in surprise.

"Mika's back there…? So that's why we haven't seen him just yet!" proclaimed Mina, with her smiling for the briefest of moments as she acknowledged how her friend was on the case. Sure, it would've been better if he and his Gundam were with them all the way, but even so, it was still a relief to know that he was able to do what they could not and possibly solve whatever emergency the Rear Guard was facing.

"Yeah. If anyone can fix the issue the Rear Guard are facing, then it's him!" agreed Nac with a shaky grin as they rode on, with Mylius reluctantly nodding in agreement all the while. He had no real opinion on either Mikazuki or Barbatos, as his exposure to them was rather limited, and by all means, he would've liked to believe that his friends were hyping up his abilities a little too much, but at the same time, he knew that both pilot and Mobile Suit were incredibly powerful, leading him to believe that both Carolina and Tias weren't hyping him up enough…

"Well, either way, can we please refocus on the road ahead? I'd rather not ride into any Titans!" suggested Mylius nervously as they turned their attention towards him, and at that, they nodded in collective agreement before they turned their attention back ahead of themselves. As they did so, Luke Sys found himself shaking his head in amusement as he watched all this unfold, with him chuckling faintly all the while.

"Kids, all of them…" muttered Sys as he trailed behind the three juniors assigned to him with an amused smile. They had been through so much bloodshed in the past, witnessed so much death and violence over the course of so little time, and yet, even now… they were still acting so naive in spite of everything they had been through.

Sys knew from personal experience that getting over the trauma that came with watching your friends die right before your very eyes wasn't easy. Hell, he was still reeling back from the death of a friend of his that died three whole expeditions ago, and despite almost an entire year having passed, he still wasn't over it completely. And then here these kids were, seemingly completely fine after the Trost incident despite having experienced more than enough trauma to last them a lifetime…

… or two…

Sys wished to say that he was envious of them, but in actuality, he could not. He couldn't confirm it at all, but the senior soldier believed that these kids… young adults, rather, were hiding their fears rather well. He'd have to sign them up for counseling after the expedition was over and done with, as, yes, they did have those in the Military Brigades, though he found himself shelving that thought for now as he focused on the task at hand.

Opening his mouth, Sys was ready to issue an order to his juniors to veer a little into the formation, as, over by the corner of his eye, he could spot another Vanguard group close by, a little too close as the standard distance between formation Vanguards was about one to two hundred metres, though before he could issue the order, he found himself snapping his mouth shut when he heard the sound of thumping closing in on them from behind.

Raising a brow in confusion, the ponytailed soldier turned around to get a good look at just what was making that thumping noise, though when he did so, he found himself widening his eyes in shock at the sight of another Titan sprinting towards him and his group at top speed. At first, Luke thought it to be nothing more than an Abnormal, as it seemed to be making a complete beeline for himself and his juniors, though that thought was swiftly ejected from his mind when he noticed something…

This Titan… it looked too… different from the average one, including the Abnormal kind. Its appearance looked too… human, so to speak, as its proportions were uncannily similar to a normal human's, and the way it ran could be likened more to an athlete sprinting towards their destination rather than the clumsy shuffle that a Titan would perform whilst it sprinted forwards, blonde hair bobbing up and down all the while.

It didn't take long for Sys to realize why this Titan was acting so different from the others that he had encountered in the past, and upon realizing this, Luke's eyes grew bloodshot as he began fearing the worst, with him pulling out his flare gun and breaking open its barrel in but an instant.

"S-Shit… kids, we have to move, NOW!" ordered Sys as he began to panic a little at the prospect of facing a Titan that was similar to Eren in some way, and as he spoke, he loaded a Black Flare into it and fired. The moment the black flare had been discharged from the barrel, and mere seconds after it flew over ten metres into the air, the junior soldiers turned to stare back at Sys, and at that, they were quick to widen their eyes in shock at the sight behind them.

"W-WHAT THE-" began Mylius as he widened his eyes in disbelief, though before he could finish that statement of his, and before the four soldiers could move out of the way before they were trampled beneath the approaching Titan's feet, the damn thing jumped over them.

As soon as it was about twenty metres away from the group, the blonde Titan slowed its pace down a little and bent both its legs at the knees, confusing the soldiers briefly, though their confusion swiftly became shock when they watched its knees straighten abruptly, sending it rocketing through the air shortly thereafter. And at that, time slowed to a literal crawl as the entirety of Sys' team watched as the Titan soar over their heads, with it landing nearly ten metres in front of them seconds later with very little issue.

And all the while, Mina found herself widening her eyes in shock when the Titan had… briefly made eye contact with her. It was only for a split second, but in that time, Carolina's grey eyes locked onto the cold blue pair of the beast, and at that, she found herself widening them past their limits as she found those eyes to be… familiar to her…

She was quick to squint her eyes back to their usual size, however, and raise her arms up to shield them from the subsequent blast of dirt and dust that came with the Titan's landing, and as soon as the dust cleared, the group could only watch on in shock and terror as this Titan… this Titan Shifter, rather, remained in a crouch, with one of its fists held by its side all the while.

Moments later, the 'Titan' tightened its fist around whatever it was holding in it, and upon doing so, black smoke exploded out of its balled up hand, causing everyone present to realize that the Shifter had snatched the Black Flare out of the sky and crushed it, presumably to keep its existence confidential for now, and without pause, the beast continued sprinting onwards, not even giving them a second thought all the while…

"T-That Titan… i-i-it's… it didn't even…" began Mylius shakily as he watched the blonde Titan sprint off, and as though he were reading his mind, Nac found himself nodding whilst grimacing as he responded.

"It didn't even acknowledge us… and it's behaving very differently from even the usual Abnormals…" finished Tias, to which Zeramuski nodded shakily. Nac couldn't exactly blame him for the mild tremor in his hands, however, as it took him a lot more effort than he was willing to admit to requiring to keep himself from stuttering as well. "Either it's an Abnormally Abnormal Titan… or…"

"... or it's like Eren…"

Whichever the answer was, none of the soldiers present wished to know the answer, and by all means, this discovery seemed to overwhelm them quite a bit as they remained frozen in place. Only Sys was still functioning properly as he watched the supposed Titan Shifter sprint off into the distance, and as it did so, he found himself grimacing intensely as he placed a hand atop Nac's shoulder, startling him all the while.

"Nac Tias, you will be in charge of this squad until I return," ordered Sys as he reeled his horse back a little. The aforementioned junior seemed taken aback by that order as he blinked at his senior in confusion, and likewise, both Mina and Mylius were similarly shocked by such an order as they stared at their senior as though he had grown a second head, which was to be expected at this point.

"I-I beg your pardon?!" proclaimed Nac as he watched his senior trot his horse up in front of his, and as he processed his question, Sys simply glanced back and flashed his junior a somewhat saddened smile.

"You're in charge till I get back," muttered Sys, with him offering him a two fingered salute all the while. Nac couldn't believe what he was hearing right now, as evident by his wide eyed stare, and yet, before he or any of his fellow teammates could protest, Luke had darted off atop his horse like a bullet, with him forcing it to sprint after their new target at top speed relentlessly, leaving behind his bewildered juniors all the while.

"Wh-What's he doing?!" demanded Mina in shock as she was the first to recover from all that, and as she spoke, she reined her horse in from the sudden shout whilst Nac responded.

"I… I think that he wishes to delay the Titan, long enough for the other Vanguards in the area to relay its existence to the Commanders," concluded Nac direly, with him recalling seeing several other Vanguards that were close by when the blonde Titan had snuck up on them. They had undoubtedly spotted the Titan as well, and if they had any sense left in them, they would be speeding up to relay this information to their seniors without hesitation.

"But that's suicide!" proclaimed Mina, shocked to know that her senior would do something like this, and to that, Nac simply bit his lower lip and nodded firmly.

"It is… and I think Captain Sys knows it…"

Omake

"RED! RED! RED! GAH!"

Gasping as the red flare slipped from her grasp, Sasha found herself squealing in terror as she turned around to see the Titan running towards her on all fours. Oh god, was this really how she was going to die?!

Perhaps this was the universe's way of punishing her for taking that meat! Regardless, Braus was never one to pray to a higher power for protection, but she was desperate now, and as such, she prayed for her own safety from this damn Titan.

And by God, she got what she wanted, as, mere seconds after she sent a silent, if a little awkward and food-heavy prayer to an indeterminate deity of unknown origin, a disembodied Titan head flew in from the rear of the formation and slammed straight into the back of the pursuing Titan's neck. It impacted it so hard that the Titan was quite literally decapitated by it, and not only that, but the impact created a shockwave that sent Sasha flying off her horse.

Landing atop the grass in an awkward roll, Sasha slowly began to wonder if she had died, though when she realized that the only dead thing around here was the Titan that was killed by a random other Titan head that had been thrown in off-screen, she found herself falling to her knees and praising whatever lord she had been praying to in the first place.

And all the while, the two seniors that were just about to fire a flare for her found themselves gobsmacked at both the sight of Sasha praising an unnamed deity and the fact that a Titan head had quite literally saved her from death.

"Think it was Barbatos?"

"Definitely Barbatos."