Mina couldn't breathe.

How could she?

Here she was, staring death in the face. Hell, death itself had a tight hold onto her very body as it stared right back at her with a seemingly cold, uncaring gaze.

Slowly but surely, the Female Titan had begun to apply more and more pressure onto her body, in turn causing some of her bones to creak painfully beneath her skin as struggled desperately against its grasp. Mina herself had tuned out most of the things that were happening around her as this happened, with the pain overwhelming her senses as the Titan quite literally squeezed the life out of her.

'It hurts…' thought Mina, with tears slowly but surely making themselves present on her face as she felt a few of her bones cracking under the mounting pressure. Vaguely, she could hear Nac yelling out to her as he attempted to help her out of her situation, though he didn't get too far as the pigtailed soldier wheezed out in agony.

So this was it, huh? This was how things would end…? How damned pathetic…

… maybe she wasn't cut out to be a Survey Corp after all…

… and yet, before anything could be broken beyond repair… the pressure around Mina's body abruptly loosened itself up to the point where it was nonexistent. Mina herself had gasped out in shock as she felt such a thing happen, with the air having been forced out of her lungs as the Female Titan squeezed her half to death. Breathing in deeply, the pigtailed soldier took a moment to regather herself before she refocused on what was in front of her, and when she did… she found herself staring directly into the face of the Titan Shifter, who was suddenly very close to her.

"...!" flinching away from the Female Titan, Mina scowled as she tried to swing one of her blades at it, though her arms were pinned by her sides, making this very much impossible. The Titan Shifter's face was a lot closer to her than it had been prior, and to see it so close horrified Carolina. But even so… through her mounting fear and still present pain, the pigtailed soldier didn't seem to notice something.

There was some… hesitation in its eyes, an emotion that was not noticed by everyone present as the situation itself was too frantic for any of them to focus on… anything, really. But even so… the emotion was there, and it did not wane, even as the Female Titan exhaled sharply against Mina's hooded face, in turn causing her Survey Corp hood to fly backwards in an instant, giving it a good view of who she truly was moments later.

Nothing more was said as the Female Titan's eyes widened in shock at the revelation that the one it had in its grasp was… well… Mina, and as this happened, the aforementioned soldier glanced over at the Titan with fearful eyes, though as the seconds ticked by, she couldn't help but feel… confused. Something about the Female Titan felt… familiar to them, but they didn't know why… and likewise, from below, Nac found himself growing somewhat… confused at what was going on with the Titan.

What was it doing…? Shouldn't it be killing them…? Don't get him wrong, he was fine with it not doing just that, but even so… what it was doing right now made no sense. What was it doing, just staring at Mina like it recognised her…? Was it some sort of act? A sick joke? Either possibility was plausible, but somehow… it also didn't feel likely somehow…

Before Nac could further question just what the Titan was doing, however, the man found himself widening his eyes in shock when the Female Titan turned away from Mina, seeming suddenly… disinterested in her all the while. This in itself shocked everyone present… and that emotion only grew when the Titan Shifter abruptly unfurled its fingers from around Carolina's body, in turn releasing her from its grasp all the while.

"...?!" no words were uttered by Nac as he let out a choked gasp, with him watching as Mina fell onto the ground in a weakened heap. The pigtailed soldier coughed weakly as she fell onto her back, with her attempting to get up to little avail as she fought against several cracked bones in order as she just barely managed to prop herself half-upright, though much to her disbelief, the Female Titan didn't even spare her a glance as it kept its gaze far from the pigtailed soldier.

And moments later… Nac found himself equally shocked when the Female Titan ended up lifting its hand off his body, inadvertently freeing him from its grasp all the while. As soon as he was free from its five fingers prison, Tias scrambled backwards and back up to his feet, where he held both his blades up towards the Titan defensively, though considering how it didn't even turn to acknowledge him, it seemed as though the Shifter hadn't even considered him a threat.

"W-What the…" muttered Nac as he scrambled up to his feet, utterly bewildered by what had just happened as both he, Mina, Mylius and Sys watched as the Female Titan stood itself back up to its full height. In front of it, Mina winced as she attempted to get up onto her feet, though the injuries that came with her body being squeezed by the Titan still remained, forcing her back down onto her rear as she stared up at the Titan in terror. In the background, Sys found himself… baffled by what had just transpired as he got up to a kneeling position, with a confused look present on his face all the while, and Mylius… he was still frozen in fear as he watched the Female Titan glare down at Carolina.

Slowly, the Female Titan parted its lips, seeming almost as though it wished to say something, before it snapped shut once more, and as that happened, it lowered its gaze to the point where no one but Mina could see its eyes, which were now shielded by the mop of blonde hair that was atop its head, and though it was subtle, damn near unnoticeable at that point, the pigtailed soldier took note of something… strange reflecting in the Titan's eyes.

The eyes of a Titan were usually emotionless, with them reflecting nothing more than primal desire and the urge to hunt humans down, nothing more and nothing less, and even in Eren's case, the guy was always consumed by mindless rage… but in this one instance, Mina saw none of that in this one Titan. Rather, all she saw was… remorse shining in the otherwise cold blue eyes of the Titan… and because of this, the pigtailed girl found herself widening her eyes at how familiar that gaze appeared…

… those cold blue orbs… that chilling blue gaze… it eerily reminded her of her friend…

Before the connection could be fully made, however, the Female Titan snapped its attention towards its rear as the sound of a flare being shot into the air could be heard. Glancing up at the sky, everyone present watched as a Purple Flare rose up into the air, and as it did so, a decently sized group consisting of about seven soldiers rode up towards Sys' team and the Female Titan at top speed.

Upon seeing this, the Female Titan grimaced quite a bit, seeming somewhat distraught at how much time it had wasted thanks to Mina and Nac's involvement in this whole ordeal, before it turned to make its retreat. The four fatigued soldiers winced quite a bit as it turned on its heel and ran, with it being able to put a massive amount of distance between itself and them in such a short span of time. The newly arrived soldiers broke off into two groups, five of them pursuing the Female Titan itself whereas the remaining two moved in to check on the members of Team Sys.

Amongst the duo was, surprisingly enough, Christa Lenz, who was quick to get off her horse and rush over to help her comrades. She would've checked on Nac had he not assured her that he was fine, with him insisting that she helped Mina, as she was more than likely more in need of help than he was.

"Trust me, she… s-she survived the worst out of us all… I-I think I'll be in b-better shape than her once the a-adrenaline wears off," assured Nac as he waved his fellow 104th graduate off, eliciting a nod from the blonde as she ran over to help Mina onto her feet. The pigrailed soldier winced a little as she did so, with her feeling the pressure applied onto her body to be very much painful, albeit not unbearable, as she allowed Christa to help her up, though she was a little embarrassed to say that she had to lean against the shorter blonde for support moments later.

"M-Mina! Are you alright? We saw some black smoke rising in the air, and since we were close enough, we decided to investigate!" said Christa, with her tone and gaze reflecting her worry for her fellow soldiers as she helped Mina stand, to which Nac groaned. The smoke must've been from that signal flare that he shot to distract the Female Titan, he reasoned. That was certainly lucky, he reckoned…

"Well… I-I wouldn't say that we're alright… but w-we'll survive," assured Nac as he got up, eliciting a relieved nod from Christa as she smiled at him. Well, Nac was sure that he'd survive, though he worried for Mina's side of things; she didn't look too good right now.

"Thank goodness… and… what of that Titan?" continued Christa as she glanced off into the distance, where the Female Titan was sprinting off to, with the five soldiers hot on its tail. Mina and Nac noticeably flinched at the question as they glanced between each other, though not long after, the former answered for the both of them.

"It's… an Abnormal one, even by our standards. If anything… it's as if it's… it's like Eren…" muttered Mina, with her shuddering as she recalled her up close and personal experience with that Titan, eliciting gasp from Christa as her mouth dropped open in disbelief.

"Like Eren… as in… a human is controlling it?" clarified Christa, to which the other two nodded, furthering the shock that had begun to course through her veins as she processed what she was just told.

"Yeah… if I had to hazard a guess, it's probably responsible for all the purple signal flares being shot from the rear of the formation," confirmed Nac, with him grimacing as he sheathed his blades and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Christa found herself wincing a little at that, with her having recalled several signal flares being fired in the past few hours. To learn that a single Titan, controlled by a human no less, was responsible for all that didn't sit well with her…

"But… why? If… i-if they are truly like Eren, why would they go against humanity?" questioned Christa uncertainly as she glanced over towards Nac. She knew that amidst the 104th Trainee Brigade, he was always amongst the smartest of them all, but even so… he didn't always have the answers, as evident by how he grimaced and shook his head in response to her question.

"That… is something that I don't think we'll be able to find out… not unless we can get the person inside that Titan," commented Nac, with him sounding rather… uncertain on if such a thing was even possible as he stared off into the distance. Though he was by no means close to Barbatos' level, Eren's Titan form was still capable of being a substantial threat to the unprepared. But even with that said, Eren himself was still relatively easy to counter.

He was hot headed, especially when in Titan form, with easy to read attacks and an overreliance on brute force tactics. This one… it seemed more calculated and deliberate with its movements. If Eren was a wrestler, then the Female Titan was a martial artist, one that fought with not just their fists, but also their mind, and that on its own only made it more of a threat than Jaeger as of now.

"Hey, kids! Could you help us gather the horses? We have to move on before the Titans get us!" requested the other soldier that was present to assist them, prompting everyone present to turn their attention towards him before nodding. Mina and Sys' current conditions prevented them from being much help, however, and as such, Christa, Nac and Mylius had to assist their senior in gathering up the horses that they had dismounted from in the skirmish.

Whilst they did so, however, Zeramuski seemed rather… downtrodden as he moved to rein in one of their stallions. Nac himself took note of this, and with a small smile, he nudged his blonde acquaintance.

"You good, My'?" asked Nac gently as he eyed his friend, to which he shook his head.

"I… barely did a thing back there, Nac. I just… stood there and watched you and Mina take that thing on… I…" muttered Mylius, with him frowning deeply as he spoke. Nac was quick to put an end to his words, however, by holding onto his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze, eliciting a blink from the blonde as he smiled at him.

"Stuff of nonsense, Mylius. You were the one that helped us make the plan to rescue the Captain, and that's more than enough to warrant some thanks. We're not all fighters, and even if we all were, someone had to hang back to protect the Captain while we fought that Titan," assured Nac with a thumbs up, eliciting a mild blush from Mylius as he chuckled, flattered at Tias' words as he nodded in appreciation, though before he could give his thanks, Sys, who had mounted his horse with the aid of the other senior soldier, called out to them.

"You two! We have to move, now!" called Sys as he stared back at the duo, who blinked a little and blushed a fair bit in embarrassment. Nac was quick to get over it, however, as he patted Mylius' shoulder and motioned for them to get a move on, eliciting a nod from the blonde as he mounted his horse. Mina herself had mounted one alongside Christa, with her holding the shorter blonde close as they did so.

Christa did feel somewhat awkward with this, honestly, though either way, she spoke nothing of it as she kicked at her horse's sides, causing it to gallop forwards alongside the others present. Mina herself, on the other hand, found herself substituting Annie for Christa… which wasn't too difficult, really, seeing as how the two of them were blonde and very short.

"Sir, do we have any form of countermeasure against that Titan?" asked Christa as the small group of six rode onwards, following the rest of the formation all the while. In response to this, Sys simply grimaced while the other senior remained passively silent, forcing the former to scowl. "Does… it involve Mikazuki Augus and Gundam Barbatos?"

"... for the most part, yes. The plan involves those two, but seeing as how the Titan was not stopped before it reached this portion of the formation, I suppose that we were over reliant on it to begin with," lamented Sys, with him scowling at how a good chunk of the plan to counter their traitor's presence was mostly reliant on Barbatos stopping them early on, but alas, the unit was still just but a single entity, so to rely on it to protect such a large formation whilst also keeping an eye out for the traitor themselves was, ultimately, quite hardfooly.

Thankfully, though…

"Surely there's more to the plan than just that…?" asked Christa, sounding uncertain as she spoke. Weakly, Mina glanced back at Sys as she too wished to know if they had a backup plan, and upon noticing this, their senior nodded gently before grinning reassuringly.

"There's more, but that's not for you kids to know about, not yet at least!" assured Sys with a reassuring smile as he glanced off into the distance, where he could see some smoke rising into the air as something powerful boosted past their current position. He had a feeling that he knew what was the cause of that as they rode onwards, though he was quick to look back at his soldiers with a serious expression. "For now, just ride on and focus on surviving, you got that?! There's a temporary base nearby that's got some supplies that we can use to patch ourselves up and resupply! If we ride hard, we can make it there before sundown!"

"Yes sir!"

Elsewhere

Stomping through the fields at high speeds, the Female Titan continued her advancement towards the center of the formation, with its gaze focused on its objective all the while.

For as focused as it was, however, the Titan Shifter couldn't stop itself from scowling heavily as it maintained its sprint. All that had happened mere minutes prior still weighed heavily on its mind, and the image of Mina Carolina's horrified face kept flashing in its host's mind.

It shouldn't be bothering it… its host shouldn't care. Their heart was already hardened to these soft, wishy washy emotions, after all, so why the Hell were they affecting them so damn much…?

Clenching its fists tightly to the point where its nails tore into its palms, the Female Titan jumped over a long abandoned house near a windmill as it continued its charge, with its thoughts still plagued by the soldiers that it had almost killed. As it did so, however, a pair of soldiers peered out of the windmill's sails and peered out at its sprinting form, and as soon as it was within range…

"NOW!"

Everything had happened in an instant; the one that had yelled out that order lunged out from behind the windmill's sails alongside another soldier that was hidden alongside him. Another burst out of an open window in the abandoned building, and a fourth burst out from beneath a nearby stone bridge, with all four of them boosting towards the Female Titan with reckless abandon.

And in response to this, the Female Titan turned its attention behind itself and slowed itself down as the quadruple of soldiers closed in on it.

Two of the soldiers had made an attempt to strike at its ankles whereas two others attempted to strike at its nape, if where their Maneuver Gear Anchors snagging onto her meant anything, and upon realizing this, the Female Titan scowled in annoyance as it made its move against them.

After all four soldiers had latched onto its body, the Female Titan dug one of its heels into the dirt before spinning around on a dime. Its sudden stop had caused all four to gasp out in shock, and as they were forced to turn alongside it; due to how they were going at maximum speed, they couldn't slow down quickly enough to make landing a safe ordeal, though as they were dragged alongside it, the Titan kicked one of its legs towards the side of the windmill, in turn causing the soldier that had his anchors latched onto it to be swung alongside it. The poor man didn't even realize what was happening before his body splattered against the side of the windmill, reducing him into nothing more than a bloody stain.

"What the-" began one of the other soldiers, only to be cut off whenthe Female Titan raised one of its balled up hands in the air, and she realized too late that she was on a crash course towards it! Widening her eyes in horror at this realization, the soldier attempted to slow herself down, though she wasn't able to in time and, in an instant, she crashed into the back of the Titan's fist, with her built up momentum killing her almost immediately on impact.

"No!" yelled out one of the two remaining soldiers, shocked at just how quickly the situation was deteriorating as they managed to detach themselves from the Female Titan and land on the ground some time prior. Hearing that cry, the Titan turned to face the duo, who stood strong against it as it turned to glare at them, and with a grimace, the Titan Shifter lunged up and aimed to stomp down onto the duo with its foot.

They were able to evade the attack of course; only a fool would be killed by something so telegraphed, and as the Female Titan recovered from the delivery of the attack, it felt their anchors latching onto its collars as the twin soldiers latched onto its body and used it as a slingshot to flank around it. Darting past its had, the two remaining Survey Corps were quick to laser in on the Titan's nape as they narrowed their eyes and fired their anchors towards it, though right as they got ready to reel themselves in, however…

… the Female Titan, in a near literal blink of an eye, reached back and ripped their anchors out of its flesh. They realized this a little too late, however, as by the time they had processed this occurrence, they felt themselves being pulled forwards as the Female Titan yanked on their wires, only to be pulled back towards the Titan's palms, and mere moments after they felt their backs slam against them…

SPLAT!

… they were immediately reduced to nothing more than a bright red mess between the Female Titan's hands as it clapped them both together, evicerating both soldiers in an instant before it tossed what remained of their bodies to the side. With blood still dripping from its palms, the Titan clenched its fists before continuing onwards with its sprint, seeming uncaring to the lives it had only just ended all the while.

This… this was how the encounter against Mina, Nac, Sys and that fourth blonde nobody should've gone… quick, efficient and without remorse, the Female Titan thought. But alas… who it truly was had some… ties to the former two, and by all accounts, it had hindered its efficiency when it came to doing its job. That in itself was a problem… one that it hoped to have left in the dust for now as it continued on with its sprint.

Whilst sprinting, however the Female Titan had also kept its ears at attention as it listened out for the sound of Gundam Barbatos' thrusters. Its host had remembered the admittedly distinct sound that they made whenever the unit was close, and based off past experience with it, it would be able to hear from over a kilometer or two away. The Titan just had to pray that the Gundam hadn't detected it beforehand.

Though by no means weak, the Female Titan knew for a fact that, should it go up against the Gundam in an all out brawl, it would stand no chance against it. Barbatos was simply in a league of its own, and if it wished to succeed in its mission, it would need to avoid the unit like the plague. That was much easier said than done, however, as the unitcould outpace it incredibly easily, and even with all the distractions it had thrown at it, the Titan knew that it was only a matter of time before it caught up with it, especially considering who its pilot was…

Honestly speaking, the thought of going up against Barbatos didn't really frighten the Female Titan's host all that much. If anything, they considered it to be divine punishment for every atrocity that they had committed up till now… but at the same time, they were also worried about the Gundam's pilot. The unit itself was the axe, but it's pilot… Mikazuki Augus… he was the headsman, and whilst a physical blow from the Gundam would no doubt hurt the Titan Shifter like nothing it has ever felt in the past, should Mikazuki, among a few others, find out who they really were…

A mental shake of the Titan host's head was just barely enough to force those thoughts to the back of their mind, with the Female Titan itself grimacing a fair bit as it continued sprinting tirelessly onwards. Now was not the time to think of the ramifications of its actions! It was time to act, and as a Warrior, it needed to focus! The Titan's host had always been steadfast and resolute about this, and as such, now was not the time to falter!

They had committed to being a monster since the day they were given their powers, and to give up now was to go back on an entire lifetime's worth of preparation!

Preparation… that the host had never wanted…

Elsewhere

'Another one…'

Via the optical units of his Gundam, Mikazuki watched as another purple flare was fired up into the sky at an angle, with this one further down the Formation, he noticed, something that made him grimace a little as he pried his unit's Longsword free from the dissolving corpse of a Titan. All around him were several other smoking Titan corpses, all of which had been eliminated by the Gundam.

The decently large pack of Titans, seven in total, stood little to no chance against Barbatos, who had eliminated them within the span of a minute in order to keep them away from the innermost circle of the formation, and upon slaughtering them, the unit alerted its pilot to the rising flare, prompting him to turn its attention towards it as it blazed a trail into the sky.

Titans in themselves had no proper set movement pattern, nor did they have any noticeable behavioural patterns behind them. Sure, there were some commonalities in regards to how they behaved, but like the reliability of them not moving in the dark, these commonalities that they all shared were not to be relied upon completely as Titan behaviour was sporadic at best and unpredictable at worst. Still though…

'Even Hanji's predicted forecast didn't account for this many Titans to be present this soon,' thought Mikazuki, with him raising Barbatos' head unit up towards the sky, where he took stock of the sun's position. It was still decently early, and the sun wasn't as blazing hot as it usually was, meaning that Titan activity should be quite middling right now. They tended to be more active during the evening, which made their sudden upshoot in aggression quite confusing to him… unless…

"..."

"Hmph… the traitor, you say?"

"..."

"I guess if they're like Eren… then… kh… nevermind. Let's keep moving."

Grunting softly to himself as he acknowledged some of Barbatos' silent 'words' from its end of the Alaya-Vijnana system, Mikazuki boosted his unit along the grasslands and advanced onwards. As he did so, the pilot took stock of several more signal flares being fired, and based off the scanners of his unit, they were being fired from several kilometers ahead of his unit; he could more than likely close the distance between his unit and those flares within just a few minutes, sure but even so, he was also tasked with eliminating any and all Titans that got into the formation as well, and as such, that slowed his progress quite a bit.

'I hope you're doing alright out there, Mina, Nac…' thought Mikazuki offhandedly as he boosted his unit up a small incline, only to have it jump high up into the air upon reaching its summit. Based on Barbatos' scanners, the gravity of this planet was noticeably lower than that of Earth, and as such, massive leaps were possible to pull off without putting much strain on the unit's joints, something that came as a surprise to Mika at first, though it was certainly a pleasant surprise nonetheless.

And, as luck would have it, when the Gundam had landed, it had landed atop a Titan, a Twelve metre. Barbatos' chassis came crashing down upon it with ruthless abandon, and upon slamming down onto its smaller body, the Titan was completely eviscerated, and as for the Gundam itself, it simply boosted onwards as though nothing had happened.

Movement towards the unit's right alerted Mikazuki to another rising flare, though this one in particular was too far back to be in related to the Female Titan's existence, and as such, the pilot assumed that it was just alerting the rest of the formation to an inbound Titan or two, and that thought was quickly confirmed to him when he looked towards the shooter and saw that they were fleeing from a trio of Titans. The aforementioned Titans ranged from a measly Three metres to Ten at most, and though his task of hunting down the Female Titan still took precedence, Mika reckoned that he could spare some of his time in saving a fellow soldier and eliminating these unwanted variables.

With that in mind, the Gundam quickly began to veer his unit off its beaten course, with it shifting its attention towards the trio of Titans all the while. Its approach did not go unnoticed, however, as the one that had shot the flare was quick to turn their attention towards Barbatos as it approached the Titans giving chase. As soon as the unit was less than twenty metres from initial contact, however, Mikazuki raised a brow when he saw that the one that had fired the shot was Bertholdt Hoover, who appeared beyond relieved when he saw the Gundam rushing to his aid.

And not a moment after, Barbatos had quite literally barreled straight through a Titan, a Ten metre, with so much force that it ceased to exist the moment it made contact with it. Nothing more than a fine red mist was left in its wake as the unit grounded its feet into the ground in order to halt its momentum, and as soon as it had stopped itself dead in its tracks, the Gundam turned on a dime and jabbed its Longsword towards a second Titan, a Seven metre, and impaled it through its side.

The Titan showed visible pain as it was stabbed through the gut, something that surprised Mikazuki quite a bit as these things reacting to such stimuli was very much an uncommon thing, but even so, he said nothing about it as he had his Gundam temporarily remove its hold on the Wrench Mace whilst bringing the Seven metre Titan up to its eye level via the Longsword. Without any hesitation or remorse, Mikazuki had Barbatos bring its manipulator up towards the Titan's chest and sink its sharpened digits into its flesh, and with a single, decisive motion, the Gundam sliced the Titan in half at the waist with bit a flick of its mechanical wrist.

Still holding onto the Seven metre's upper body whilst the lower half fell to the ground, Mikazuki turned his unit's attention towards the final Titan, the Three metre, and watched as it clumsily barreled past his Gundam, oblivious to the massive threat it posed all the while. Amusing, though that in itself did confuse Mika quite a bit… though he was certainly a more difficult target to pin down. Titans didn't always ignore Barbatos as, in spite of the air-sealed cockpit, they were still able to sense him within the Gundam's chest, usually enough to turn their attention away from whichever human they had been chasing prior in order to target the unit's chest in hopes of getting to the pilot within.

Now, however, the Three metre Titan had its sights set solely on Bertholdt… something that piqued Mikazuki's interest, if only by a bit, as he watched it run after the fleeing soldier, though he didn't think much of it for now as he huffed and eliminated it… by slamming the bisected torso of the Seven metre Titan right down onto it. To say that the Three metre had been crushed would've been quite the understatement. No… it was completely eviscerated the moment the Seven metre's bisected body came down upon it, and if he were honest, Mika reckoned that he may have put a bit too much force behind the strike, as he left a small crater beneath what remained of the two Titans, something that he'd notice after he lifted his unit's manipulator off the ground.

'Hmph…' grunted Mikazuki in amusement as he had his unit retrieve its Wrench Mace, and as it did so, he turned his attention towards Bertholdt, who had halted his horse's sprinting for the briefest of moments to glance up at Barbatos. The pilot of the aforementioned mecha found himself raising a brow at the fact that Hoover was alone. He didn't pay much attention to the briefings for the expeditions, especially when they weren't specific to his role in its success or the placement of his friends, but he knew enough to know that Bertholdt would've, at the very least, had a squad with him at all times.

So either they had left him behind… something that was highly unlikely… or they were all killed in action.

Out of curiosity, and mild worry for an acquaintance/friend of his/Annie's, Mikazuki temporarily unplugged himself from Barbatos' systems and opened the cockpit. Bertholdt noticeably flinched a little when he saw the unit expel no small amount of steam from its vents before its cockpit hatch shifted open, though he did seem a little relieved to see Mika jump out of it, with the pilot landing in front of his horse without much fanfare.

"Bertholdt," greeted Mikazuki flatly as he watched the tall guy get off his horse, with him smiling awkwardly as he did so. The chestnut stallion seemed a bit unnerved as it glanced up at Barbatos with a nervous (or at least Mika and Bertholdt thought it was nervous. They didn't speak horse) look in its eye, though a quick pat of its mane, courtesy of its rider, calmed it down a fair bit.

"Mikazuki… t-thanks for the save!" thanked Bertholdt wholeheartedly as he bowed his head down low in appreciation, to which Mikazuki nodded. He didn't dwell that much on the taller man's genuine appreciation, however, as he swiftly moved on to ask about his current situation.

"What happened to the rest of your team, Bertholdt?" inquired Mikazuki critically, with him wishing to get the most important question on his mind out of the way as he spoke. In response to this, the taller individual appeared mildly uncomfortable as he fidgeted a little with the collar of his uniform jacket, though before long, he spilled the beans to his fellow 104th graduate as he let out a sigh through his nostrils.

"We… were caught off guard by some Titans. They took us by surprise, and my squad was wiped out. I-I just barely made it out of there alive, though I doubt I'd be able to get any further than I have if you didn't happen upon me," answered Bertholdt solemnly. His shoulders slumped in on themselves quite a bit as he said this, a telltale sign of discomfort as he recounted how he had narrowly escaped death's grip, but even so… something about how he had spoken about all this didn't sit right with Mikazuki.

The remorse was clearly there, as were the hints of survivor's guilt hidden beneath Bertholdt's shaky voice… but even so, something about how he spoke just didn't sound genuine to him. His words were too even, too… calm, so to speak (at least by Bertholdt's standards), so much so that it came off as a massive juxtaposition to his nervous body language, but even so, for the time being, Mikazuki chose not to question this as he was quick to nod and prioritise his duty over the strangeness of his comrade's speech patterns.

"Hrg…" groaned Mikazuki, with him grimacing a fair bit at the unfortunate situation that Bertholdt was currently in as he grimaced a little deeper than he usually did. Realistically speaking, the most logical course of action was for him to leave him as is; there was no way for Mika to aid Bertholdt right now without compromising his mission, but even so… it didn't feel right to do so, and by all means, the pilot did consider the much taller guy to almost be a friend, and to leave him would leave him feeling slightly guilty…

There had to be some sort of compromise…

Glancing up at Barbatos, the pilot silently wondered if it was possible for Bertholdt to stand atop its chassis, though Mikazuki reckoned that if Bertholdt rode on his unit's chassis whilst it was going at subsonic speeds, even if he made use of his Maneuver Gear to anchor himself to the Gundam's chassis, it would only be a matter of time before he was thrown right off. Perhaps he could carry him in his unit's manipulator?

… probably not. He risked crushing Bertholdt in his grip, and he needed both of his unit's hands to grip its weapons, after all…

"Hm…"

And as such, that only left one last option… one that Mikazuki wasn't all that thrilled about… but at the same time, for Bertholdt's sake, he was willing to put it into motion.

"Hey, uh, Mikazuki? Is something wrong?" asked Bertholdt after a few seconds of silence, what with Mikazuki having gone silent for a while, and upon hearing his query, Augus simply nodded.

"Nothing's wrong," assured Mikazuki nonchalantly as he narrowed his eyes at Bertholdt, an act that made the guy feel mildly uncomfortable as he tilted his head a little. "Bertholdt. How good are you with cramped spaces?"

"Uh…"

The sound of hooves impacting the dirt beneath them had gotten rather repetitive to the sole Titan Shifter of the Survey Corps, to say the least, and though it was tolerable at first, Eren Jaeger still found it rather obnoxious as he rode alongside the rest of Team Levi, who had him surrounded on all sides as they pressed on.

Not too far off were Team Mike, who rode close by as they kept an eye out for any potential Titans in the region, though for the most part, there wasn't much that they had to contend with. The positioning of Teams Levi, Mike and, off in the distance, Research Team Hanji, may god help the souls of those that willingly joined her team, were too close to the center of the Long Distance Scouting Formation, so close that the Titans were incapable of getting close without being spotted or outright eliminated within seconds, something that allowed the three teams to press on with very little issue.

If he were being completely honest, Eren didn't exactly feel comfortable with just how smoothly everything was going, at least on his end of the formation. A small part of him felt worry brewing up within his chest at the conditions of Armin and Mikasa, among many others, though he was able to dismiss them rather easily as he knew that they were competent enough to fend for themselves.

That aside, however, the junior was also growing increasingly unnerved by the amount of emergency flares being fired as the seconds went by. Each flare came closer and closer to the current position of Team Levi, and by all means, he wasn't the only one to notice this as he rode onwards.

"Hrg… looks like that damn traitor of ours is closing in on us, huh?" scoffed Oruo as he glanced back to see the trail of signal flares looming ever closer on their position, to which Eld laughed humorlessly. His rank of Elite had bestowed upon him enough guts to laugh in the face of danger, but deep down, even he was afraid of what was to come, should their Titan Shifter opponent catch up to them.

"Indeed, but don't forget the plan, you guys. Erwin's briefed and re-briefed us on it several times over, so psych yourselves out and get ready for what's to come!" said Eld, with him stirring up some vigor in his fellow Elites as they rode on.

"I don't get it, though… why didn't Mikazuki Augus stop it? Was he not placed at the back for that very purpose?" muttered Petra cautiously, eliciting an expression of apparent agreement from Oruo as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and likewise, Eren seemed to find some truth behind her words as he stared at her uncertainly, only for Gunther to scoff at Ral's lack of field experience as he responded to her query.

"That's because Barbatos is just one thing, Petra. It can't be everywhere at once," responded Gunther sternly as he gave Ral an unimpressed look, one that made her redden in embarrassment as he continued. "For as fast and strong as it is, it still has limits, and to rely on it to do everything would be hard folly."

"Hmph, you have a point there, Gunther, but even so… our traitor's gone pretty far ahead without being stopped, y'know? Feels almost as though Mikazuki's been slacking off a little with stopping em," pointed out Oruo rather smugly as he jerked his thumb back at a purple flare being shot up into the air once more. Eld found himself snorting a little at that proclamation as he shook his head in amusement, though the rest of his team seemed less than amused at that statement as they simply shook their heads and continued on riding.

Eren, however…

"I… wouldn't say that he's slacking off, sir," piped up Eren in defense of Mikazuki, eliciting a blink of surprise from Oruo as he raised a brow at the Shifter. His gaze was more or less requesting for him to explain himself, to which he did. "Mikazuki's always been adamant about protecting the people around him, and if I had to make a guess, he probably got sidetracked into rescuing some soldiers while he pursued our traitor."

"A nice sentiment and all that, but still… our soldiers were trained to handle the situation. Surely, he could've seen that and focused on the task at hand, yes?" rebutted Oruo, with him raising a brow at Mikazuki's apparent tendency to get sidetracked. That comment, for as sarcastic as it sounded, did rub Eren, alongside the rest of Team Levi, the wrong way, however, as they glanced in his general direction to give him the stink eye, though before Eld or Gunther could reprimand him for insinuating that the mission took precedence over the lives of their fellow men, Levi himself spoke up from the front, interrupting them altogether.

"If Mikazuki chooses to save the lives of his fellow men, then that's his decision, not ours. For now, keep your eyes on the path ahead and remain focused. We do not know when our enemy will strike," ordered Levi. His voice was just as calm as it usually was, though there were noticeably hints of annoyance hidden beneath it all as he addressed his team, and to that, Oruo gulped and nodded as he rode onwards. "If our traitor shows their face to us, then we'll engage them as planned. But for now, keep your minds on the path ahead and stop bickering between yourselves."

"Yes sir!" was the immediate response from the rest of Team Levi, Eren included even if his voice was drowned out by his seniors, and at that, the group continued onwards. As they rode on, however, Jaeger couldn't help but lower his head a little as he recalled a briefing that took place about a month prior, one that very much related to this contingency plan of theirs…

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming here today. As you all may know, today's meeting is in relation to the upcoming expedition."

That greeting from Erwin did little to phase the gathered soldiers, mostly Elites or seniors, as they nodded in response to his words. By his count, Eren and Mikazuki were the only soldiers present that were ranked as juniors, though neither said a thing about that as they listened to Erwin speak his piece.

"Allow me to be brief on the situation. For the past few weeks, we have been keeping a keen eye out for a traitor within the ranks of the Military Brigades, and as most of you know, we firmly believe that they will possibly attack us whilst we are out on the field, and though we lack enough evidence to prove it, we also believe that they are capable of transforming into a Titan, much like Eren Jaeger. Because of this, we have devised many a plan to counteract them, should they make an appearance," explained Erwin stoutly as he leaned forwards and placed his hands atop a table that held a massive map of Maria, more specifically the expedition path. Mikazuki and Eren both remembered the thing from several of their mission briefings in the past.

"While most of you know that Mikazuki Augus and his Gundam will be guarding the Rear Guard under the assumption of our traitor attacking from behind, we cannot put all of our faith in him stopping their assault, especially if they are capable of transforming into a Titan like Eren," continued Erwin, with him remaining completely serious as he spoke. There was no room for lighthearted banter, not when they were discussing something as serious as this.

"Because of this, we've devised a contingency plan in the event of Barbatos being incapable of stopping our traitor from advancing too far," piped up Hanji, who stepped forwards and placed a flare gun onto the map table. "Each and every one of you present will be spread out across the formation, and should any of you spot a Titan that moves more… humanly than the others, fire a purple flare. When fired, we expect an immediate response from Mikazuki, without any delays. The only excuse I'll tolerate is if you're saving the life of another… or if you've captured a Titan for me, you got that?"

The steel behind Hanji's words were acknowledged by both juniors as they watched the Elite cross her arms and purse her lips together tightly. Words that were usually spoken as jokes were said with a level of seriousness that unnerved those present, showing just how serious she was about keeping her fellow soldiers alive, it would seem. Commendable, in Mikazuki's opinion, though Eren was still a little too taken aback by this juxtaposition to think the same.

"However, as I have stated, we cannot rely entirely on Mikazuki Augus to catch up with our traitor, should they decide to show up as a Titan," continued Erwin, with him picking up where Hanji left off all the while. "Which is why I say this; should there be more than five flares fired, the entire formation will change its course…"

"... and head towards the old training grounds in Maria," concluded Mike as he watched Hanji lean forward and stick a tack down onto the aforementioned location, a forest of giant trees. Said location was about ten kilometres off the charted out path for the expedition itself, and veering towards it would've taken them quite a while, though seeing as how it was a last resort, should their traitor manage to break through their ranks to such a degree, it was better than nothing!

"During the Preliminary Expedition, we brought along several restraining devices, stowed away in these specific safehouses in the old training grounds," pointed out Levi, with him marking out a handful of spots on the map. Those present for the aforementioned expedition remembered them well as initially useless devices that they had lugged with them all that time prior. "If need be, we'll retrieve them and set up an ambush in the old training grounds, though it would be better if things didn't get that desperate."

"However, whilst it may seem rather enticing to do so, I must ask you all to not kill our traitor, should they reveal themselves on the Expedition," added Erwin, with his words eliciting a small wave of confusion from his soldiers, especially Eren, as he spoke, though he allowed it to simmer down before continuing. "While there is no doubt in my mind that it will pose a massive threat to us, should our traitor show up as a Titan, understand that we also cannot pass up on the opportunity to capture a Titan as… valuable as this.

"Should you ever come across this potential Titan on the field, expressly avoid it. And Mikazuki, if you come across this Titan, try to keep it alive."

As he said this, Erwin turned his attention up towards Mikazuki, more or less telling him that the success of this expedition, should their traitor show up as a Titan, more or less hinged on him being able to play his part properly, and he seemed to get the memo, as he nodded in affirmation. Meanwhile, however, Eren, seeming somewhat unsure of his role in all this, lifted his arm up to ask a question, only for Erwin to seemingly read his mind and answer it almost immediately.

"As for Eren Jaeger, we will be using you as bait for the traitor," continued Erwin, sounding almost disgusted with himself as he said this out loud. Everyone present seemed to be taken aback by this statement, as no one could ever expect for humanity's second-most-powerful asset to be used as mere bait, though Smith was quick to explain. "Over the course of the past few months, our traitor has been seen attacking us on various fronts. The first came in the form of the elimination of the captured Titans-"

Hanji noticeably deflated at that memory, though Moblit gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, assuring her that she would get her revenge someday.

"- and the assassination attempt on Hanji Zoe and, though possibly unintentional, their attempt at killing Mikazuki. Their attacks were not frequent, but at the same time, whenever they struck, they would strike at high value targets, people or entities that hold significance to humanity's victory in this war… individuals or items that possess great power… or some means of understanding the Titans beyond what we have already learnt prior. With all this in mind, we can argue that, outside of the likes of Hanji or Mikazuki, Eren would be among our traitor's priority list in regards to who they wish to eliminate."

The room quickly went silent as the soldiers present took in what they had just heard. Some of them hadn't been informed of the assassination attempt on Hanji prior to now, and they needed a while to actually process what they had just heard, though not long after, a single soldier, one that Eren recognised as Ness, piped up.

"If I may… what's stopping our traitor from attacking Barbatos instead of Eren? Between the two of them, to wreck the Gundam would cripple us more than getting rid of Eren could. No offense, kid," pointed out Ness. Eren, despite taking some offense at that statement, chose to let it slide as he, somewhat bitterly, acknowledged how Mikazuki outranked him in every way shape and form, both within and without Barbatos.

Meanwhile, Erwin nodded a little in response to Ness' concerns, with him seeing some logic behind his inquiry as he nodded towards Hanji, who stepped forwards a bit to comment.

"While it is true that Barbatos is the more significant threat between the two, we have to remember that, so far, our traitor has been actively trying to hinder our research into the Titans more so than the Gundam," explained Hanji, and when she saw that her compatriots appeared confused, she elaborated. "Them… murdering Sawney and Bean was them trying to hinder our research into them-"

"I don't think you can call that research, but sure," whispered a single soldier in the background, not that anyone outside of the writer could hear him anyways.

"- and them trying to kill me in particular was them trying to do the same thing," explained Zoe, with her crossing her arms as she spoke. "While sure, destroying Barbatos will weaken us significantly, but at the same time, I believe that our traitor is more concerned about us learning more about the Titans than they are about the Gundam for the time being…"

"That, and attacking the Gundam head on, even with the brains of a human and the brawn of a Titan, is generally considered to be a bad idea," added Lynne from Mike's side of the table, eliciting a handful of snickers all around as she finished, and once that all died down, Erwin nodded, with him dismissing everyone present all the while.

As they left, Eren glanced over at Mikazuki, partly out of envy and partly out of pity. Mikazuki had a big role to play in the upcoming expedition, and if he messed up, Jaeger would have to pick up where he left off. The thought of having such a heavy burden, one that weighed as much as an entire scouting formation, hanging over him made Eren feel genuinely nauseous as he shuddered to imagine how Augus felt about his dilemma, though either way, he resolved to do his part, should his fellow abnormality fail to do his…

… and by all means, Eren felt his resolve returning to him tenfold as he and his team rode into the Forest of Giant Trees, ready for what was to come.