"How does it feel? To not be able to move even an inch? I for one hope that you've savoured every last moment of your life prior to now, because we're going to make sure that you won't be moving anywhere after today, ever."
The venom that was present in Hanji's voice was just a tiny bit worrying to the soldiers that were around her, though she didn't take any notice of this as she stood behind the Female Titan, observing as it made minute movements in an attempt to free itself from its predicament, though as the bespectacled woman had just stated, with the amount of restraining wires that were lashed to it, it would take no less than a miracle for it to move even an inch.
Up above their heads, Lynne, who was perched up on the highest branch she could feasibly stand atop, found herself shuddering a little at just how perverse Hanji could get whenever on the topic of Titans, even if it were unintentional for a change, though she she kept her discomfort at bay for now as she focused on keeping watch for any encroaching Titans and signal flares from her position.
"These bad boys were made with the express purpose of restraining someone like you, y'know?" added Hanji with a perverse smile on her face, eliciting a sweatdrop from Moblit as he watched her monologue from the sidelines. "We engineered them so that, the more you heal, the harder it gets to free yourself from them. Discounting Barbatos, I'd hazard to say that these restraints are the pinnacle of human-weapon engineering!"
A perverse laugh was soon to follow Hanji's words as she leaned forwards and drooled a little onto the branch she was standing atop, with her cackling like a madwoman all the while. Moblit found that to be rather worrying as he held a hand up towards his Captain's back in an attempt to snap her out of her trance, though before he could do so, the stressed out soldier perked his ears up and turned his attention upwards to see Levi and Mike swooping downwards to slash at the Female Titan's covered nape.
Or rather… they made an attempt to slash at it. Their intent was to capture it, after all, not to kill it, and though it was rather infuriating to both Elites at the moment, as they really wanted to hang the Female Titan's host's head up on a spike for all that it has done, their orders were not to be disobeyed, and as such, with synchronized movements, the duo dove down towards the hands covering the Titan Shifter's nape and slashed at it in a circular motion.
Mere seconds before their blades connected, however, the hands of the Female Titan found themselves sheathed in a strange, crystalline material that extended all the way up to its elbows, and upon making contact with this material, the Ultra Hard Steel of the Anti-Titan Blades shattered like glass. Both Mike and Levi were taken aback by this as they watched their blades break apart like they were nothing, though, not to be deterred, the duo were quick to swing upwards onto close-by tree branches, with the former landing by Erwin to report to what transpired whilst Levi landed close to Moblit and Hanji, with the former having snapped out of her stupor at this point as she turned to regard the short Elite.
Staring down at Levi's destroyed blades, Hanji felt her eyes sparkling a little as she regarded the Female Titan's resilience with awe. The shorty found her staring to be worrying as he replaced his blades with a fresh set, though by then, the bespectacled psycho had turned her attention towards the crystalline sheath around the Titan shifter's hand, a sheath that was slowly flaking away as the seconds ticked by.
"Astonishing! It seems as though the Titan is capable of generating a sort of armour around itself whenever necessary!" observed Hanji as she smiled in awe. She wondered if this crystalline sheath would be enough to stand up against an attack from Barbatos, though she was quick to realize that it was a ridiculous thought, as very few things could withstand a direct assault from the Gundam.
"It's less astonishing than it is annoying," growled Levi as he unsheathed his fresh set of blades, with him grimacing all the while. Sometimes, he wished that the prototype 'Explosive Gunblades' had made it past their patent phase, if only for some incredibly niche reason such as this, though that was besides the point, really… "Oi, Hanji. Any ideas on getting past that armour?"
"Not really… no," admitted Hanji sheepishly as she held a hand up to her waist and rubbed her chin thoughtfully, with her eyes narrowing as she observed the Female Titan thoroughly. "If we continuously force it to harden itself, we could very well wear itself down naturally, but I doubt we have enough time for that."
"No, we do not," confirmed Levi flatly, with him groaning all the while. Hanji couldn't really blame him for that deadpanned response, honestly, as they had restrained their top priority, and the only thing that kept them from capturing it completely was a simple sheath of armour that they couldn't bypass. Him sounding just a tiny bit annoyed was… to be expected!
"Hm, well in that case, I suppose we can invest in some explosives," suggested Hanji, with her flicking her index finger skywards as she spoke. Levi raised a brow at that, eliciting a mild chuckle from the bespectacled woman as she sighed in acknowledgement of his unspoken words. "But I suppose that we run the risk of killing the host if we try it, though it would be possible for us to line its wrist with the explosives and blow its hand off as well."
"Worth a shot," grumbled Levi, with him sounding almost reluctant to consider an idea that was put forth by Hanji as he got ready to swing himself to suggest the idea to Erwin… if he hadn't already thought of it beforehand, though before he could do so, however, he heard Lynne yelling something down towards the group from her perch above their heads, prompting both the aforementioned Commander and Mike to stare skywards at a rising cloud of smoke. Curious, the Elite did the same, with him raising a brow in confusion at what they were looking at, though when he saw what was rising skywards above their heads, Ackerman had almost cracked a smile.
It was an orange flare… the flare colour issued to Mikazuki Augus and Gundam Barbatos, and if the distance between themselves and the aforementioned flare was anything to go by, both pilot and Gundam were less than a few hundred metres away from the group's current position, and based on speed calculations that Hanji had performed prior to the Expedition, it would take them less than two minutes to reach their destination at maximum.
Lynne, from her vantage point, fired a purple flare skywards, marking their position to Mikazuki all the while (realistically speaking, he probably already knew where they were, though it never hurt to be sure!). At the same time, Levi glanced over to Hanji and raised a brow when she saw that she was now smiling just a bit more manically than she usually was.
"Or, of course, we could get Mikazuki to do the dirty work for us!" proclaimed Hanji cheerfully as she bounced up and down on the branch she and Moblit were perched on, only to slip and almost fall were it not for her assistant saving her rear. She offered him a quick thanks before turning to spot an exasperated Levi rolling his eyes at her, though seconds later, the midget turned his attention back towards the Female Titan… and he found himself raising a brow when he saw the tremors that were present all along its body.
At first, Levi was willing to dismiss it as nothing more than a part of his imagination, though after a split second of realization, he took note of how the restraining devices all around the Female Titan were beginning to quiver, prompting the Elite to realize that the Titan Shifter was now redoubling its efforts into freeing itself as it struggled against its bonds with all its might. Unfortunately for it, however, even with all of its efforts, the Titan was incapable of budging from its restrained spot in any way, shape or form.
Its eyes were widened in terror as the fear was reflected off its irises with very little issue; the Female Titan was clearly terrified about something… and it took less than a handful of moments before Levi realized what had caused this reaction in the first place, prompting him to almost grin in sadistic glee as Hanji raised a brow in its direction. Likewise, Moblit made an attempt to get his Captain to back away from the Titan's quivering form before she hurt herself, though as for Levi, however, he readjusted his grip on his blades before doing something that he's almost never done before up till now.
He mocked the restraint Titan.
"Why don't you just come out? We don't have time to waste, and considering just how frantically you're struggling now, it seems as though you don't either," said Levi, with the condensation being just barely audible beneath his calm and collected tone of voice. Upon hearing him, the Female Titan's eyes darted towards him in a panic, something that more or less confirmed Ackerman's thoughts as he continued. "Do you really think that you can escape? Even if you somehow manage to break free of all of this, Mikazuki will find you, and he'll get you. He's not the type of person who'd let a mistake as big as this fly under the radar, you know, and considering how much of a fool you've made him out to be, I don't think he's going to be gentle.
The frantic gaze in the Female Titan's eye only intensified with each word uttered by Levi, though the Elite took note of how its pupils dilated when Mikazuki's name was brought up, something that was noteworthy as him being the Gundam's pilot was not common knowledge, even within the Military Brigades, just yet. Interesting enough to be filed in for later, though for now, he simply continued to speak.
"Perhaps you should've considered all that before you attacked. If I recall, you slaughtered a lot of our troops before you caught up with us. Let me ask you; did you have fun? I'm sure you did, and you know what? I'm having so much fun right now as well," snarled Levi, with his words growing darker and darker with each passing moment as his gaze grew increasingly more lifeless. Even Hanji thought it wise to put some distance between herself and Ackerman at this point as she felt the killing intent radiate from the Elite's body with each word uttered, though it didn't mean that he was done with his little speech to the Titan Shifter. "But we can have so much more fun when Barbatos arrives, now can we?
"I'd wager that he'll peel the flesh from your bone, slowly and painfully. Or maybe he'll dismember you. Whatever he does, it doesn't matter to me, since I'll be more than happy to bear witness to it. Mikazuki's not good for much, but I can tell with confidence that he's got a knack for hurting people… and right now, you're at the top of the list of people that all of us, him included no doubt, wish to hurt.
"When it arrives, I'm going to watch as the Gundam tears you apart, limb from limb. And then, when it finally removes you from that filthy body of yours, I am going to personally carve off your hands and legs. I'll start from your fingers and toes and work my way up from there. It shouldn't be a problem for you, now shouldn't it? After all, you can regrow them, can't you?
"We want you alive… but Erwin never specified in how many pieces."
Levi, despite not wishing to admit it to anyone, found great pleasure in the fact that the Female Titan was growing more and more erratic with every word that was uttered by the Elite. To see the killer of so many of his fellow soldiers grow more and more horrified with each passing second was… euphoric to him, so much so that a sadistic smile almost made its way onto the midget's face (Hanji herself had shifted away from him at this point, more so out of some sense of self preservation), though before long, that small sense of euphoria was lost when the Titan Shifter did something… unexpected.
It opened its mouth… and let out a high pitched, ear shattering scream.
Gasping in shock as this happened, Levi found himself recoiling a fair bit as he felt his hair and Survey Corp cloak being blown backwards by the aftershock of the Titan's cry of terror. Likewise, those around him were also affected by the aftershock of the Female Titan's scream, with every one of them having to hold their hands over their ears so as to not go deaf as they attempted to stand against the powerful cry.
Elsewhere, various soldiers and new recruits could only widen their eyes in shock at what they had heard. Ness' team were unsure of what that was, though Reiner seemed to frown a little deeper than he usually did when he heard that cry ring out through the air, and though it was subtle, Ymir felt something inside of her attempting to tug her healing body towards the source of the scream, though she was able to resist the urge as she sat where she was with a grimace.
Team Sys were likewise uncertain of what the cry meant, though Nac, having been focusing elsewhere as the scream rang out, found himself widening his eyes when he saw a Titan that was just beginning to climb up the side of the tree he was on halt its advance, and within a split second, it turned towards the source of the cry and began sprinting in its direction. The man was quick to relay this information to the rest of his team and the small group that Tomas had brought along with him, and upon realizing this, the aforementioned Elite soldier widened his eyes as he reached for his flare gun.
The gathered members of Team Levi, plus Eren, were experiencing a similar ordeal as the other smaller groups, with all of them confused as to what that scream was, though as with Team Sys, they noticed how the Titans that were gathered at the base of the tree they were using as a perch seemed to lose interest in them the moment they heard the cry of terror from the Female Titan, with all of them turning tail and running towards its source at that very moment. Eld was quick to take note of this before the rest of his team, and in an instant, he unholstered his flare gun and readied a purple flare.
And over with the advancing Gundam, the unit's systems were momentarily scrambled by the powerful yell emitted by the Female Titan's cry, with the audio receptors of Mikazuki's unit glitching briefly as it struggled to lower the volume down so as to not burst the eardrums of either Mika or Bertholdt; the former was rightfully confused by what that scream was as he maneuvered his unit around a tree before bashing into a Titan at full force with his unit's Wrench Mace, though as for the latter, he found himself sweating bullets as he realized what all this meant.
Back with the soldiers surrounding the ensnared Female Titan, they found themselves recovering from the cry relatively quickly as they turned their attention back towards the aforementioned Titan, with them being more cautious than they once were as they eyed the Shifter warily. Hanji was quick to shoot Levi a disapproving glare as the elite huffed and shook his head, having been caught off-guard by the Titan's cry of terror, though seeing as how nothing had changed, not yet at the very least, Ackerman thought nothing of it.
"Well… that was a surprise…" commented Levi dispassionately as he scratched his cheek noncommittally, eliciting an eye roll from Hanji all the while. Meanwhile, Moblit found himself poking at his ears as he was still recovering from that shriek, as were several other soldiers, though Lynne found herself raising a brow when she took note of a flare rising up into the sky.
'Purple… and from so many directions as well?!'' thought Lynne in a panic, with her wondering what sort of emergency was headed their way as she observed the innumerable purple flares rising skywards. In a panic, she opened her mouth to relay this information to the rest of her team, though before the words could escape her lips, the ground below her abruptly shook, momentarily making her pause as she felt something… many things, encroaching upon them from all sides. 'W-What the… no way…!'
"It stinks."
Raising a brow upon hearing Mike's seemingly offhand comment, Erwin turned towards his old friend and looked to him for an explanation, one that he was given in almost an instant as the bearded man glanced back towards the blonde.
"Erwin, it stinks," repeated Mike, with his tone of voice growing more serious as he offered his friend a rare grimace, and though he was a man of few words, what he usually had to offer tended to hold enough meaning behind them that it could make even Erwin panic to a certain degree.
And upon realizing what Mike was implying with his words, the Commander found himself widening his eyes in a panic, with him having not expected something like this to occur during the planning phase for the Expedition thanks to rigorous preparations on their part, and not even a second after that thought came to his mind, the ground beneath them began to shake violently.
The soldiers gathered around the Female Titan were quick to gasp at this, though not a moment later, their combat instincts came to them at full force as they got up to high ground, and as they did so, Mike, after taking in one last, big sniff, stepped towards Erwin and grimaced slightly.
"The first wave is upon us, approaching towards the East," alerted Mike as he turned his attention towards the aforementioned direction, eliciting a grimace from Erwin as he too turned Eastwards.
"Abel, Moblit! Get those explosive charges primed and ready, NOW! Wrap them around the Titan's wrists and detonate them!" ordered Hanji as she scrambled to get her comrades into position. The two aforementioned soldiers nodded in acknowledgement as they moved to do just that, with several others moving to provide assistance, and at the same time, Erwin swung his blades to the side to issue his own orders.
"Guard Team, intercept the Titans and halt their advance!" bellowed the blonde Commander as he motioned towards six soldiers in total, including Gelgar and Henning, who all nodded before they flung themselves into the fray. Gelgar led the charge with a grimace as he swung himself in, with him fully expecting for the first wave of Titans, specifically a pack of five that ranged from Six to Twelve metres in height, to make a beeline for them specifically, but much to the group's shock, instead of diverting their attention towards them, the five Titans simply ran past them.
"What the?!" proclaimed Henning as soon as the last Titan had moved past their group, with him shifting his body to halt his movements as he turned to regard the now fleeing Titans.
"Are they Abnormals?!" added Gelgar in a panic as he and his small team scrambled to pursue the Titans. From their vantage point, both Erwin and Mike watched on in shock as the Titans closed in on the Female Titan with reckless vigor, and from her perch above them, Lynne grimaced deeply as she fired one last purple flare into the sky before she swung down to provide assistance to her fellow soldiers.
Over with Levi, the short soldier was eerily calm as he observed the movements of the inbound Titans, with him narrowing his eyes at their strange behaviour as he wondered what could've caused them to act this way. His confusion was quick to melt into no small amount of anger and irritation, however, when he realized that this was too strange to be a mere coincidence, and upon acknowledging this, he turned back to face the Female Titan with a look that showed just how pissed off he was at what it had undoubtedly done.
"You did something to attract them, didn't you, bitch?" snarled Levi as his pupils dilated into pinpricks. His grimace was more than enough to freeze the blood in the Female Titan's veins as he glared at it, though despite this, there was an odd smugness to be seen in its gaze as it watched the Titans draw closer to it, something that Ackerman would not allow as he held his blades upwards and got into an offensive stance.
Narrowing his eyes in focus, Levi locked onto three Titans in particular, the Twelve, Nine and Eight metres specifically, all of which were the tallest Titans in the first wave summoned by the Female Titan. It would take some concentration for him to pull this off, but the Elite was confident in his skills, and with a sigh of exasperation more so than actual worry, Ackerman darted forward, and in an instant, he lashed out at the Twelve metre Titan.
Its concentration on the Female Titan proved to be its downfall, as, with very little effort, Levi was able to swing around to its nape from the side and, with a single, well placed slash, he sliced into it, felling the Titan with very little issue. Before he could spin out of control in the air, however, Ackerman shifted the position of his hips and let out a powerful burst of gas from his Maneuver Gear, propelling him in the opposite direction that he was falling in and allowing him to swoop towards the Nine metre Titan at an angle, an angle that allowed him to effortlessly slash at its nape with minimal movement.
Levi repeated this with the Eight metre before he latched one of his anchors onto a close-by tree, with him using it to help him circle back into combat with minimal time wasted, but even so, despite him taking less than a second to slingshot himself back into the fray, the remaining two Titans had already been taken out by then, with Henning and another soldier having eliminated them in his steed.
"Sir, behind you!" protested Henning, with him pointing his blade at a Thirteen metre Titan that was rushing Levi from behind, prompting the soldier to turn and face it head on with a grimace. He already had a good idea as to how to go against it by then, though much to his surprise, as with the previous five Titans, this one ignored him completely as it dashed past him and ran for the Female Titan.
The Thirteen metre's advance was halted by Mike and Hanji coordinating an assault on it, however, with the latter slashing at the Titan's ankles, effectively immobilizing it, whilst the former slashed at its nape before it could fall to the ground, killing it within seconds before they swung up to prepare for the next wave.
"Hm?!" proclaimed Mike as he took in a deep breath, sniffing all the while. To his side, Hanji perked up at the uncharacteristic amount of fear in his tone, and seconds later, he turned towards her and grimaced. "Titans, advancing from all sides!"
"What?!" proclaimed Hanji in a panic. For as much as a Titan researcher as she was, Zoe still knew what her limits were. Sure, they were some incredibly high limits, but to be surrounded on all sides by an innumerable amount of her interests… was admittedly a little too much for her liking. "How many?!"
"... too many to count. The smell is mixing into a single, foul cloud of filth," responded Mike pitifully as he grimaced and turned towards the closest inbound Titan, which made a mad dash for the Female Titan's leg. Its attempts were stopped by Lynne, however, as she swooped in and slashed at its eyes, blindsiding it and allowing for Gelgar to finish it off shortly thereafter.
"Tsk! Abel, Moblit! Status report!" ordered Hanji as she spied several Titans approaching the Female Titan from behind, prompting her, and several others to charge in to intercept. Swooping in ahead of her compatriots, the bespectacled woman zipped past the head of a Twelve metre before abruptly stopping mid-launch and boosting herself backwards. As she did so, she tilted her body to one side and began spinning like a top, with the maneuver giving her blades the much needed momentum in order to slash into the Twelve metre's nape.
"We're still working on it!" cried out Abel as both he and Moblit swung in with whatever explosives they could scrounge up, to which Hanji scowled.
"THEN WORK ON IT FASTER!"
As she did this, several other soldiers provided assistance, with them launching coordinated assaults on the inbound Titans or simply going against them solo. A handful of them were trampled by the advancing beasts, however, though Zoe did find it strange how they weren't actively trying to kill them this time. If anything, they seemed more interested in the Female Titan.
"How peculiar…" muttered Hanji as she observed the Titans that broke through their defensive line rushing towards the Female Titan as though their lives depended on it, though before she could think much else on it, she heard Moblit cry out to her on their progress.
"We have the charges set, Captain! But we just need a bit more time before we can arm them!" proclaimed Moblit, with him screaming loud enough that Erwin could pick up on his words. Hanji found herself grimacing at this as she watched her assistant arm the explosives around the Female Titan's wrist, though before she could do much else, their blonde Commander issued a new order.
"ALL HANDS, ENGAGE THE TITANS! DEFEND THE FEMALE TITAN WITH YOUR LIVES!" bellowed the Elite as he pointed down at the aforementioned Shifter with his blade, and though the soldiers that had been inactive in combat appeared reluctant at first, their devotion to their cause forced them to head in without a moment's hesitation.
And what followed could quite easily be described as carnage.
The soldiers cut down as many Titans as they possibly could, with the likes of Levi and Mike slashing into the napes of countless beasts within moments. Gelgar and Henning backed each other up as Lynne provided support to those with lesser experience, and likewise, Hanji provided support via flash flares and whatever other tools she had at her disposal. However, for each Titan that was cut down, another would inevitably arrive to take its place, and though their advance had been initially halted by the wires of the restraining devices, in due time, they were able to snap the wires clean off, inadvertently freeing the Female Titan from its grasp all the while.
Thereafter, the seemingly Abnormal Titans… began to sink their teeth into the flesh of the Titan, something that made even Erwin flinch as he watched all this from his vantage point, but even so, outside of this mild lapse in his emotions, he kept himself stoney faced and expressionless as he observed all this from afar.
He watched as his plan, carefully crafted and with all loopholes accounted for… fell apart before him. He watched as the efforts of so many good men and women were flushed down the drain due to an unforeseen circumstance… he watched as his soldiers sacrificed himself for the sake of the mission… and before long, he opened his mouth to give the order to retreat.
The mission was lost, and if they continued onwards, they'd only risk the lives of so many more soldiers unnecessarily…
Or at least, he would have given the order to do so, had he not perked his ears up at the sound of inbound engines.
"Three."
Likewise, Mike Zacharius found himself sniffing the air curiously when he felt the scent of the forest shift ever so slightly. The forest still reeked of Titans, but at the same time, its overall scent had changed ever so slightly as well, with a new, foreign yet still recognisable addition having been thrown into the mix out of seemingly nowhere. The shift was subtle at first, but after a handful of seconds, it became impossible to ignore…
"Two."
As with Erwin, Hanji perked her ears up when she heard the sound of inbound thrusters closing in on their location. In an instinctual act of joy, she swung herself high above the heads of all the Titans present and turned towards where the sound was coming from, and when she saw the encroaching shades of blue, white, gold and red, she found herself smiling so widely that her head almost split in half.
"One."
"Do you guys hear that…?" asked Gelgar as he, Lynne and Henning simultaneously struck a Fifteen, Thirteen and Ten metre, respectively. Jumping off the napes of the Titans they had felled, the Elites all shared a look between one another as they focused a little harder on their surroundings, and when they heard it, they too found themselves smiling a little when they realized what was approaching.
"Oh, fuck yeah."
"Making contact now. Hang on, Bertholdt."
"ALL HANDS, FALL BACK!"
And with those words uttered out by Erwin, the Survey Corps that were gathered around the clumped up Titans surrounding the Female Titan's body dispersed, with them all giving a wide berth to the aforementioned Titan's body upon hearing their Commander's orders.
Whilst they were rather disheartened by the order to withdraw, however, the soldiers all knew that there was a good reason for this, and that reason soon made itself known as it barreled into view with reckless abandon. Hanji, who was still retreating as it came into view, felt her spirits lightening up when she saw the familiar sight of white, red, blue and gold blurring into view, and likewise, the soldiers that were familiar with their reinforcements found themselves smiling at its arrival.
Conversely, the Female Titan seemed as though it had just seen death several times over, as its eyes widened in shock as it watched the 'Mechanical Titan', as it was once known as, boosting towards it with reckless abandon.
And seconds later, it felt a powerful pressure being applied onto its waist as it was forced out of the crowd of Titans that surrounded it.
Mikazuki's gaze was neutral as he barged his Gundam into the fray, with the momentum that it had built up throughout the journey here being more than enough for it to barrel its way through the Titan horde surrounding the Female Titan's body.
Bertholdt himself screamed as they tore through the aforementioned bodies with minimal effort, though Mikazuki himself retained completely calm as he had his Gundam bring its Wrench Mace wielding arm unit upwards. Thereafter, he waited for the right moment to lash it out… and when that moment came, he grunted and jerked the arm controller forwards.
Within seconds, Barbatos' Wrench Mace jolted forwards, with its damaged but still working jaws clamping themselves around the waist of the Female Titan tightly as it boosted towards it. The Titan itself widened its eyes as it was effortlessly forced out of the crowd, with its mouth opening into an O shape as it dug its ankles into the ground, fruitlessly attempting to stop itself from being dragged any further all the while.
It would've been very easy to simply slice the Titan in half, Mikazuki realized, especially with the hidden chainsaw within the Wrench Mace's jaws, but even so, he reckoned that it would've been too easy, and by all means, the Female Titan didn't deserve it. He wanted this damn thing to suffer from the pressure that was being applied onto it, and he wanted it to know that it had fucked up by even daring to show its face to them.
Mikazuki may have felt some guilt over doing such a thing, especially when one took into consideration just who he believed to be controlling the Female Titan's body… but at the same time, his current anger at failing at his issued duties trumped his worries on the identity of this Titan Shifter, and without pause, he forcefully shoved the Titan Shifter out of the dogpile that it had created around it, effectively recapturing it all the while.
As the Wrench Maceclung onto the Female Titan's waist with very little issue, the Titan itself desperately attempted to free itself from the weapon's grip, albeit to little avail as, despite its strength, the hydraulics in the Wrench Mace's jaws, for as damaged as they were, were a lot stronger than it could ever hope to be. From within the unit's cockpit, Mikazuki barely flinched as the aftershock of the Titan's cry passed him, though as for Bertholdt, he found himself sweating bullets as he watched him glare at the Female Titan with a downright feral look in his eyes.
He looked ready to eviscerate this Titan, regardless of his orders or his thoughts on who the host could be, and that thought worried him even more so than anything as he gulped and shivered at the murderous aura radiating from Mikazuki's smaller form.
However, before he could go any further with his torment of the Female Titan, Mikazuki took note of how, after screaming out in apparent pain, the Female Titan's body had gone limp, with its arms and legs now dangling uselessly as its shoulders slackened and its movement ceased. It leaning its torso forwards did make the pilot prepare for the worst at first, with him getting ready to slash at the Titan with the Longsword, though when he saw the Titan's head go slack, he realized that something was wrong.
Mere seconds after the Titan had gone limp, Mikazuki, with help from the audio and visual receptors on his unit, picked up on the sound of flesh being torn apart, emanating from the back of the Female Titan's neck, and likewise, he saw a figure emerging from the nape of the Titan in a rather hasty manner, prompting him to grimace as he realized what the Titan's host was attempting to do.
With a grunt, Mikazuki jolted the arm controller that controlled the arm unit wielding the Wrench Mace to the side, in turn throwing the now lifeless and dissolving body of the Female Titan off to the side as well. As it ragdolled against the ground, however, the Gundam was quick to follow up on this as it threw its Wrench Mace to the ground before lashing it's now free manipulator out at a small, human sized figure that was retreating away from it.
Said figure possessed a Survey Corp cloak that shielded their identity from view and was equipped with a set of Omni-Directional Maneuver Gear, something that surprised Mikazuki quite a bit to no end as it he was unaware of the fact that Titan hosts could maintain their equipment even after removing themselves from their larger bodies, but even so, his only (limited) experience with Shifters was with Eren, so he supposed that he wouldn't know much about them anyhow.
Regardless, rather expertly, the fleeing traitor was able to avoid being caught by the Gundam's manipulator with a surprising amount of dexterity, with them twisting their body backwards and narrowly dodging the tips of the unit's digits as they did so. The fleeing traitor did veer out of control for the briefest of moments, but before long, they were able to course correct themselves as they shifted their hips around and kicked off the side of a tree, using it as a springboard to launch themselves away from the mech all the while.
"Shit," scowled Mikazuki, with him locking onto the fleeing traitor with a grimace as he advanced after them, leaving behind the Wrench Mace all the while. He doubted that he'd need it, honestly, and as he pursued them with unmatched determination, and with Bertholdt fearing for his life whilst he watched from the background, the soldiers he had saved could only watch on in disbelief as the Gundam slowly but surely disappeared behind the line of trees, hot on the trail of their fleeing traitor all the while.
Standing atop the tall trees in the former training site, several of the remaining soldiers present all turned towards the dissipating body of the Female Titan, most of the soldiers present had assumed that Mikazuki/Barbatos had killed it, though most of the Elites knew better. Mike especially, thanks to his nose, and with a frown, he relayed his thoughts to Erwin, who nodded a little as he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.
"Where's that kid going?! He just killed our target and now he's just gonna hightail it out of here?!" protested Henning in a somewhat annoyed tone of voice, with him grimacing as he watched the Gundam weave its way through the trees as it pursued the fleeing traitor. Gelgar seemed a little keen on agreeing with his fellow Elite, as did a good few others that didn't notice the traitor emerge from their Titan body, though before they could do so, Mike cuffed Henning over the head and gave him a mild glare. "Gah! Captain…?!"
"... Commander, your orders?" asked Mike as he turned away from Henning and glanced over at Erwin, who appeared mostly uncaring as he watched the Gundam disappear behind the line of trees, and when he was gone, the Commander huffed to himself and shook his head in dismay.
The logical course of action right now would've been to send some backup after Mikazuki, more so to secure the Female Titan's capture rather than actually aiding in combating it. After all, the Gundam was more than capable of leveling the playing field with that beast, even more so than Eren possibly could, but no one could be certain on if he would have the restraint necessary to capture the alive.
With that being said, however, Erwin could also tell that his men were exhausted from all that they've done for the day. The fight against the sudden influx of Titans, paired with the long and perilous journey that they undertook just to get here, looked to be taking its toll on his subordinates, and though it was expected for them to be worked to the bone in order to get some results, the Commander could not in good faith order for any of them to pursue either Gundam or traitor as he grimaced and turned his attention towards his soldiers.
"We are retreating. Levi, give the signal," ordered Erwin as he motioned for everyone to leave the former training site, with the soldiers around him appearing baffled by his order as he spoke.
"Wait, but what about the Female Titan, sir? Do we just let the Gundam handle it?" protested Abel as he took a step forwards, eliciting a nod from Erwin all the while, baffling the goggled soldier as he watched Levi aim his flare gun skywards and launch a Yellow flare upwards. After a brief delay, Mike followed it up by shooting a Blue flare, issuing the order to retreat before he holstered his own flare gun with ease.
"Sir, with all due respect, but is it wise to let Mikazuki handle this? I don't doubt his skills, but I don't think that he's the most… uh… well suited individual for a capture mission," commented Gelgar uncertainly, to which the senior soldier scoffed. Glancing towards Mike, Erwin gave him the go in informing the pompadour haired soldier on what the new plan was, and though he had not stated it verbally, Mike knew the blonde long enough to be able to read his mind at this point.
"Capturing the Female Titan's host is a priority, but at the same time, if necessary, killing them is on the table as well. Don't forget that they are our enemy, and though we could learn a lot from capturing them, it would also benefit us to kill them as well," informed Mike, with him speaking concisely as he gestured for Gelgar and the rest of his team currently present to fan out and assist in the retreating efforts. "Henning, Lynne, Gelgar, you're with me. We're going to divert the Titans' attention away from our retreating soldiers."
Blinking a little at that, the three soldiers in question glanced down at the ground and appeared mildly taken aback when they saw the cluster of Titans that were gathered at ground level. There were at least twenty Titans present, and even though they could very well outpace them with the Maneuver Gear, they would most certainly be unable to lose them when they were out of the forests, much less on horseback, with just how many there were.
"Lynne, Gelgar, you two bank left. Henning, with me. We're headed right," continued Mike, with him gesturing for the former two to get a move on as he motioned for them to go. Though he were still a little uncertain on letting Mikazuki go like this, Gelgar still nodded in affirmation as he saluted with his blade and went on his way, and likewise, Lynne nodded and swung after him.
Thereafter, Mike gestured towards Henning with his chin and motioned for him to keep pace with him, eliciting a nod from the Elite as he swung after his senior soldier. Rather quickly, Zacharius latched himself onto a nearby tree and reached behind himself, with him grabbing onto a cluster of what appeared to be a small lump of primitive pressure activated cluster bombs. Turning towards Henning, he saw that his subordinate was now holding onto a small bag of what seemed to be powder, with him looking somewhat antsy about using it as he held it tightly in his grip.
Lynne and Gelgar were latched onto a tree about twenty metres away from where Mike and Henning were at, and as with them, the former held onto a primitive cluster bomb while the latter had the bag of powder held firmly in his hand. Lynne and Mike shared a quick glance at each other before they nodded in affirmation, and seconds later, they, with matching grunts, threw the cluster bombs down behind the Titans' feet, causing them to activate and explode rather loudly.
Rather than harm them in any way, however, it simply drew the Titans' attention, with a good majority of them turning around to fix their eyes on the source of the sound. As soon as the last Titan turned around, and after it became clear that no more would do so, Gelgar and Henning, somewhat reluctantly, opened the small bags they were holding onto, reached into it and tossed its contents into the air. Said contents were fistfuls of sparkling powder that clung onto their skin rather stiffly, with it landing atop Mike and Lynne as well.
As the sun shone down upon them, the 'shining powder' glimmered quite a lot, more or less announcing Team Mike's presence to the Titans around them all the while, and at that… the few Titans that had turned around to regard them went feral.
Without warning, the Titans surged onwards, with their uncanny expressions clashing rather hard against the frantic body movements they were going through as they attempted to ensnare Team Mike, one way or another. Seven Titans broke off to pursue Lynne and Gelgar, who had to lunge off the tree they were latched onto to avoid a lunging Titan that broke its nose and probably snapped its spine after slamming head first into it, and likewise, nine of them branched off to pursue Mike and Henning, who kicked off their tree and began leading the Titans away with great vigor.
"H-How long does the shining effect last, exactly?!" proclaimed Henning as he and Mike led the Titans away from the main group, who had much less to deal with, now that there were less Titans present to haggle them, to which Mike scoffed. For an Elite, Henning could be quite the baby at times, though considering how he was the youngest member of his team, he supposed that it was understandable.
"A minute at most. It'll be blown off by the wind," assured Mike noncommittally before both he and Henning were forced to dodge in opposite directions to avoid a lunging Titan that had its jaws opened as it jumped, poised to clamp down on either one of them at a moment's notice, only to come crashing into the ground beneath itself and get a mouthful of dirt instead.
"Do you think that we can even survive that long?!" protested Henning as he watched several more Titans quite literally trample the initial Titan just to cover some ground between themselves and the fleeing Elites, to which Mike shrugged, not willing to give his subordinate any false hope as he charged onwards, weaving to the left to avoid the lunge of another Titan before boosting upwards to avoid another.
As he and Henning fled, however, Mike couldn't help but stare off into the distance, or more specifically at where the traitor and Mikazuki had gone off to. A small part of him had already considered this whole operation to be a failure, more so because he didn't really have much faith in Mika actually capturing the Female Titan without killing it, but at the same time, the Elite still had some hope left in him to believe that the pilot had what it took to see this mission through… and as such, he simply grunted in silent encouragement, encouragement that Mikazuki would never hear, as he effortlessly turned on a dime and slashed at the fingers of a Titan that was trying to grab his leg, severing all of its fingers and causing it to recoil in pain.
'Grasp ahold of victory, Mikazuki Augus!'
"We've got the signal to retreat!"
Those words were the first indication to the rest of Squad Levi that the mission was (possibly) a success, with the soldiers present all smiling widely as they glanced skywards, seeming more than a little relieved as they watched the Yellow and Blue flares rise upwards. Oruo and Gunther shared a quick smile between each other as Petra fistpumped victoriously, and over with Eld, he nodded in approval of Ackerman's command skills having led them to this point.
Eren Jaeger, however, felt differently, with him frowning deeply as he felt as though he had done next to nothing in contributing to the apparent success of the expedition. Sure, he did act as bait for the Female Titan, but at the same time… he wasn't able to prevent all that needless death… and by all means, though it wasn't exactly an important factor in the expedition as a whole, death was inevitable after all, it still stung him something fierce to know that so many had perished for this.
"Eren, Eren Jaeger? You still with us?"
Gasping a little when he heard his name be called, the aforementioned soldier shook his head and turned towards the one calling for him, and when he did, he saw that Gunther was standing by him with a somewhat worried look on his face. In response to this, Eren blushed and scratched his chin, eliciting a chuckle from Schultz all the while.
"Sorry about that, kid, but you kinda froze up on me there. Got me worried for a moment," apologised Gunther with a smile, to which Eren nodded in embarrassment. In the background, Petra, Oruo and Eld shared a smile between one another as they watched their relatively inexperienced junior blush a tad bit. Their lighthearted nature was not exactly fitting, considering their current whereabouts, though considering how the mission was presumably a success, Jaeger reckoned that it was warranted. "But either way, we're retreating now. You know the drill, don't you?"
"Y-Yeah, I do, sir!" responded Eren stiffly, with him standing at attention as he spoke. He recalled how, following the termination of the mission, be it a success or failure, Squad Levi was to rendezvous with Ackerman himself before moving to rejoin the main formation, and with a quick gesture from Gunther to ease up, the five soldiers present began to swing off to meet up with their senior at the designated rendezvous point.
"Still hard to believe that we were able to capture that Titan, honestly," commented Petra as they swung through the forest, with her smiling victoriously as she spoke. Eld and Gunther seemed inclined to agree, as capturing a Titan, much less a Shifter, was practically unheard of in this day and age. Eren said nothing as he didn't have much to add on anyways, though Oruo found himself scoffing at their words as he rolled his eyes with pride.
"Well, with the Captain's command, there was no doubt in my mind that we would've pinned that bitch down!" proclaimed Oruo proudly as he grinned from ear to ear, eliciting an eye roll from his teammates as Eren appeared to be in apparent agreement with Bazad. Eld, however, simply grinned back at him as he commented on something.
"Yeah, says the guy that was practically pissing himself as we fled from the Female Titan," laughed Eld with a sly grin on his face, and at that, Oruo's smile faded as his face reddened in insult, a sight that made his team chuckle slightly as they weaved through the forest of giant trees, with Eren himself smiling mildly all the while.
"S-Shut it!" retorted Oruo indignantly as he glared at his team, causing them to laugh a little harder as they allowed the mood to lighten, if only by a little. There were no Titans around, after all, and the Female Titan had (presumably) been captured! There wasn't much for them to be on guard about, and as such, they could simply cruise onwards in relative peace whilst sharing a laugh between one another all the while.
Eren himself found that smile on his face growing even wider as he watched Squad Levi boost onwards. Though they had their differences, the team did complement each other very well, and though they would probably never admit it (Oruo especially), they were practically a family at this point, Eren included. Dysfunctional, sure, but a family regardless…
If he were completely honest with himself, despite the qualms he had with the outcome of the expedition, mainly due to all the death that was caused by it… Eren was just happy that his squad made it out in one piece. Call him selfish if you wish, but it just felt nice… to have a 'family' of his remain whole for this long…
"Hey Eren, you alright back there? You've been pretty quiet," observed Eld from the front, prompting the aforementioned junior to perk up as he turned to face the blonde. He was quick to see that the other Elites were staring at him as well, eliciting a blush from the young man as he nodded and smiled, a sight that was reflected by the rest of his team as he responded accordingly.
"Y-Yes sir! I'm just glad the mission was successful, that's all!" responded Eren, with him partially lying as he followed his seniors to the rendezvous point, eliciting a laugh from them all the while. Just this once, Jaeger allowed himself to chuckle alongside them, more so as a sign of victory than anything as he felt his heart lifting upwards a little as they boosted onwards.
And in an instant, his heart would plummet once more when, nearly two kilometers away from their current position, a massive flash of lightning struck a specific spot in the forest…
… and though the strike of thunder and the smoke that was launched skywards because of it did do quite a bit to obscure its vision, Barbatos' internal scanners allowed Mikazuki to pierce it with very little issue.
Barbatos' left arm unit sparked a little as its clawed digits twitched and flexed, only to clench itself into a fist moments later.
The dust was quick to settle as the Gundam stood in silence, with it waiting for its prey to make its move, with its pilot narrowed its eyes at the figure that was slowly becoming visible in the settling smoke. Fourteen metres tall and feminine in appearance, the Female Titan stood tall, defiant, against the unit as it glared at it with its cold blue eyes. The unit responded with a stoic, silent green gaze… one that matched the Titan's and then some.
Within its cockpit, Bertholdt gulped as he watched the two standoff. But as for Mikazuki…
… he found himself grimacing as he narrowed his eyes at the feminine beast.
And vice versa, the Female Titan's host could only gulp as they realized that they were very much out of their league.
Fun fact: the tools used by Team Mike are also usable in the AOT 2 video game. Mike and Lynne threw Firecrackers, which distract Titans in game, and Gelgar and Henning used Shining Powder, which causes a Titan to focus solely on you for a short period of time when used.