Failure.

That was the one word that rang through Levi's head as he had his team retreat on horseback, with him trying his best to ignore the downtrodden attitude of the group all the while. It wasn't exactly difficult, so to speak, but even so, he could still feel the negativity pulsing off each and every one of his teammates as they rode back to Karanses.

Eren especially seemed rather downbeat with the realization that the Female Titan was still alive and not captured, even more so than most of his team, as he rode onwards, with Petra being a close second in that department while Eld, Gunther and Oruo did their best to hide their shame. Levi himself was rather downtrodden as well, though he didn't let it deter him whatsoever as he rode onwards in silence.

"... the Female Titan…" muttered Petra after a rather long bout of silence, with Levi perking his ears up to show that he was listening as she spoke. Ral noticed this and continued. "Was it…?"

"It managed to escape the bindings, but last we saw of it, Barbatos was in pursuit of their host," commented Levi as he rode onwards, ignoring the somewhat miserable look on Petra's face as she nodded, appearing ashamed that she had to rely on the Gundam to do her job, but even so, she didn't vocalise that as Oruo groaned in anguish.

"Kh, what even went wrong, anyways?! The plan was airtight, we had it in the bag… and then… that happened!" proclaimed Oruo, with him yelling out loud as he pulled at his hair. He would've yelled further, though his teammates were spared from this when he bit down on his tongue with enough force to draw blood, a sight that made Petra snort in amusement while Gunther rolled his eyes.

Levi, for his part, allowed his amusement to remain unheard as he rolled his eyes at Bazad's words, with him knowing that he was rather upset at the fact that they needed Barbatos to wrap the mission up, even more so than the rest of the team combined! Oruo's pride had tunnel visioned him rather significantly, Ackerman supposed, though that issue could be conversed about after they got back to Karanses.

"That Titan's scream… you all heard it, didn't you?" said Levi, eliciting a blink of surprise from most of his squad as they recalled that shrill cry that shook the forest from hours prior. Looking between themselves, they found themselves nodding, and though Ackerman did not see the gesture, he knew his team well enough to know that they had done it, and he continued. "It called an entire horde of Titans to it with its scream."

"How is that possible…?" muttered a flabbergasted Gunter, with his jaw dropping as he took in what Levi had just said, to which the aforementioned shorty snorted.

"It isn't. But being able to turn into a Titan shouldn't be possible either, and yet here we are," scoffed Levi, with him glancing back at Eren as he spoke. Jaeger flinched a little at the sudden attention but said nothing of it as he looked away.

"Regardless, considering how Barbatos is on the case of the traitor…" commented Eld after a few moments of silence with his words being enough to get the point across as he spoke. Around him, his teammates all seemed to get the memo as they nodded in acknowledgement, sans Oruo who was still pissed off at the fact that they needed the unit to assist them.

"Don't put too much faith in the Gundam, Eld. It's strong, but even it has limits," chided Levi flatly as he eyed Gin critically, eliciting a wince from the aforementioned soldier while Oruo snorted victoriously. To his side, however, Eren found himself blinking owlishly as he rode onwards, with him not exactly seeing much logic behind Ackerman's words.

Barbatos had its limits, sure, but even so, its fight against the Female Titan relied solely on speed, agility and strength. There was no doubt in his mind that, for speed and strength, the unit surpassed the Shifter, with agility being a crapshoot more so than anything, and seeing as how they were likely facing one another in an all-out brawl, it was highly likely that the Gundam would emerge victoriously, lest something absurdly unlucky happened to it.

"If something's on your mind, Eren, then I suggest you saying it now rather than later," advised Eld kindly as he glanced in Jaeger's general direction, eliciting a blink of surprise from the kid as he turned towards Gin, who did appear mildly worried for him as he eyed the Shifter via his peripheral vision. He was an Elite for a reason, it would seem, as he was able to pick up on Eren's worries faster than anyone else, though unlike Gunther, he did not hesitate to ask the moment he took note.

In response to his worries, Eren simply smiled and scratched his cheek meekly, with him chuckling all the while.

"It's nothing… just… it feels kinda weird for you guys to not have faith in Barbatos," admitted Eren meekly as they rode onwards, with Oruo scoffing while Gunther rolled his eyes at Jaeger's naivete. Petra giggled a little behind her hand while Eld chuckled mildly at what his junior had said, though as for Levi, he simply sighed as he turned to glance back at him flatly.

"Eren," began Levi flatly, with him watching as Jaeger turned to look at him with a confused expression. "Just because something is strong doesn't mean that they're perfect.

"The Wallists and the people in Sina consider the Walls to be perfect, but they were breached. Thrice. Many soldiers in the Survey Corps and Garrison were considered perfect, but most of them have long since died. People think that I'm perfect, but I've fallen short of a lot of my duties. Today's display is a perfect example of this."

Eren seemed genuinely taken aback by how Levi was so willingly criticising himself for his misgivings, though all around him, his soldiers found their shoulders sagging a little as they acknowledged how, despite how much they respected their commander, they still knew that what he said was true. For as much hype as he garnered around his name as the best humanity had to offer, Ackerman was still human, and like all other humans, he too had flaws.

And though it would be foolhardy to place them in the same category, Barbatos, and by proxy Mikazuki himself, were flawed as well, and though the chances were slim, the chance of them failing was still slightly above zero. Eren just… didn't want to acknowledge that, he supposed, as he nodded in begrudging acknowledgement of his superior's words.

"I'm not telling you to not have faith in Barbatos or that brat piloting it. But don't deify it. It's strong, and I get that you have some trust in it by virtue of your fellow 104th controlling it, but in the end, it's still a machine," advised Levi flatly, with him turning back ahead as he spoke. "And machines will always have their limits, whereas humans can always surpass theirs."

"... understood, sir," responded Eren quietly as he nodded in acknowledgement, to which his superior huffed and dropped the issue for now, leaving Jaeger to ponder on his words. Machines have limits, after all… whereas humans could surpass theirs… he wondered…

'Is it possible for my Titan form to grow stronger…?' thought Eren as the concept of going plus ultra sank into his mind. Though he has yet to transform, Jaeger knew for a fact that his control over his Titan form was still miniscule at best, and at worst, he would become nothing more than a primal beast, driven by instinct, but even so, if he put his heart into it, he could no doubt bypass both issues that held him back from his full potential!

And Hell, if Levi's words were to be trusted… if he put more than his 100% into improving himself… he could potentially surpass his own limits and become even stronger! An even more powerful asset for humanity!

Perhaps Hanji could help him out with that… or maybe…

Rather unfortunately, however, Eren's thoughts found themselves quickly cut off when he heard a scream ring out through the air once more. He wasn't the only one, however, as the other members of his Squad heard it as well, with them coming to a halt as they turned towards its source; the forest of giant trees.

The scream was very much the scream of the Female Titan, Levi noticed, and at that, he found himself grimacing as he saw several Titans in the distance rushing into the forest. There was no doubt in his mind that the other Titan Shifter had called for other Titans to surround it, though whether or not this was to dogpile Barbatos or as a way to cover up its tracks was a mystery to him.

"Shit… the damn thing's bitching again. Think it's trying to cover its tracks?" asked Oruo as he glanced over at his Captain, who remained silent as he watched the Titans run into the forest en masse. The screaming didn't stop for even a second, though not long after, several faint explosions and loud bangs could be heard ever so slightly as Barbatos began wiping the floor with the inbound Titans, and to that, Ackerman simply huffed as he shook his head indifferently.

"It doesn't matter. The Gundam can handle cannon fodder like that. Let's keep moving, all of you," ordered Levi nonchalantly as he motioned for his squad to continue onwards, to which they did. Eren, however, did send a silent sign of luck to Mikazuki before he left, with him looking mildly worried all the while.

They weren't exactly friends, Hell one could barely even consider them acquaintances, as they were mere teammates with one another, but even so, they were abnormalities in this Hellish world, and if Mikazuki was going to go up against an entire horde of Titans, with or without his Gundam, then the least Eren could do was to wish him good luck…

A handful of minutes later

The sound of inbound thrusters was more than enough to signify the approach of the Gundam, and upon acknowledging this, the entirety of Squad Levi got up to their feet and stood atop the building they were on to get a better look at where the unit was coming from.

The entirety of the team, sans Levi and, to a lesser degree, Eren, seemed rather surprised to see that Barbatos, despitebeing over two kilometers away from where the team was gathered at, could still be heard from this distance. Regardless, however, upon hearing its approach, Petra, after getting a quick nod from Levi, pulled her flare gun out of its holster and loaded an orange flare into it. Thereafter, she aimed it skywards and fired, signaling to Mikazuki their current position.

Mere moments after firing the flare, Barbatos' movements ceased, with the unit's head glancing upwards to observe the rising cloud of smoke all the while. Unbeknownst to the assembled team, the Gundam's internal scanners were also calculating the origin of the flare as its damaged but still functional optics focused on it, and within seconds, it tilted its head down to stare at Squad Levi, eliciting a flinch from Oruo while the rest of his team remained silent.

Eren did see fit to raise an arm up to wave at the Gundam, more so to confirm to its pilot that they were indeed there, and not long after, the unit began boosting in their general direction. As with before, Oruo seemed rather unsettled by the unit's rapid approach towards them, though the rest of the team didn't really seem to mind as it got in close.

When it was roughly twenty metres away from the decrepit building that Squad Levi were perched on, Barbatos deactivated its boosters and dug its feet into the ground to slow its approach. The entirety of Squad Levi, sans their namesake, had to bring their arms up to shield their faces as the momentum built up by the Gundam's approach ended up launching quite a bit of dirt and dust towards the assembled squad, though not long after, the mess settled, allowing them to lower their arms and stare up at the Mobile Suit standing before them.

"It… certainly looks more imposing up close," admitted Gunther sheepishly as he stared up at the Gundam with an awkward look in his eyes, to which Eld chuckled briefly before nodding. That reaction to the unit was not unwarranted, honestly, as Squad Levi had never come face to face with an operational Barbatos that wasn't in combat prior to now. It was honestly a lot more intimidating than any of them could've expected, though they tried their best to not let their intimidation show as they kept their gaze leveled on the unit.

Only Levi and, once more to a lesser degree, Eren seemed to be mostly unphased by the unit's appearance before them, with the latter not even flinching as it knelt down to one knee in order to level its chest to the building that the squad were standing on. The rest of Ackerman's team, aside from Eren, found themselves moving back on instinct as the various vents on the Gundam's body expelled no small amount of steam before the central portion of the unit's blue chestplate shifted downwards, allowing two more flaps that were once beneath it to swing upwards.

Once the flaps were folded up, a head poked out of the Gundam's chest… just not the one they were expecting. Squad Levi as a whole were mostly caught off guard by this unexpected person's head popping out of Barbatos' cockpit, with them flinching a fair bit and going on the defensive when they saw him… though as for Eren, he only appeared confused when he saw…

"Bertholdt…?" muttered Eren in abject confusion as he watched the aforementioned junior soldier smile sheepishly at his fellow 104th, though not long after… the guy was quite literally sent flying out of the cockpit when the one true pilot of the Gundam shoved him out of it with enough force to send him airborne. Luckily for Hoover, Petra was able to respond to his sudden launch within the blink of an eye as she stepped forward and reached out for him, with her managing to grab him into a bridal carry before he could fall to his presumed doom.

"Gah! S-Sorry, I… uh… I-I can explain…" muttered Bertholdt awkwardly, something that only got worse when he saw that he was now being held by Petra Ral, who had an oddly smug look on her face as she grinned at him. They were quick to break eye contact, however, when the actual pilot of Barbatos poked his own head out of the now opened cockpit and stared down at the assembled Squad Levi, and when he did, he didn't do much more than grunt in acknowledgement at them before he jumped out of the cockpit and landed in front of Levi.

Upon landing, Mikazuki greeted Levi personally with a mild grunt, something that irritated the rest of his team due to just how rude all that was, though Ackerman himself didn't seem to mind it as he nodded in response to the guy's greeting.

"I didn't think I'd see you out here, Levi," admitted Mikazuki, with him speaking the truth for a change as he stared slightly down at his superior, who scoffed at his words. In truth, Squad Levi weren't meant to be here, they were supposed to have reached the primary formation by now, but even so, due to an issue regarding fuel and blades, the group was forced to stop by a spot set up by the Preliminary Expedition Party in order to stock up on supplies. They were just about to leave the area when they heard the Gundam approaching their general location, and seeing as how it would've provided them with more protection, they made the executive decision to signal it towards them.

"It's not my fault that you're so slow, brat," scoffed Levi, with him raising a brow at Mikazuki's lack of reaction as he processed his words. Off at the back, Petra had let Bertholdt down, where he began to profusely apologise for his awkward exit of the unit's cockpit, prompting the older soldier to wave him off and assure him that things were fine, much to the amusement of Eld, Gunther and Oruo, though Eren remained away from all that for now as he listened in on the conversation between Ackerman and Augus, with the former appearing mildly… concerned, so to speak, as he glanced past the pilot and towards the still opened cockpit.

An unspoken question had been asked, one that was answered without words as Mikazuki stared down at his feet in shame, eliciting a surprised raise of Levi's shoulders as he, despite having expected there to have been at least a small chance of Augus failing his mission, a tiny, slightly greater than zero chance… had not expected it to actually come to pass as he stared incredulously at the pilot standing before him. Eren took note of this as well, and though he took a moment or two longer to process it, he eventually realized what Mikazuki was trying to tell him through body language, prompting him to widen his eyes in a mixture of shock and horror.

"How?" asked Levi flatly, though even with his flat, emotionless tone of voice, both Mika and Eren could tell that he was incredibly shocked by this revelation.

Shocked… and disappointed. And really, who could blame him? Mikazuki had in his possession the most powerful weapon on the planet… and somehow, he managed to squander it to the point where he failed to capture a single Titan, Shifter or not. Hell, he didn't even deal the killing blow to it, something that only rubbed salt into the still bleeding wound.

"... I don't know," was all Mikazuki could mutter out at that point as he kept his gaze averted from Levi, with him feeling uncomfortable for a change as he crossed his arms, a gesture that looked more like him trying to hug himself for comfort as he lowered his gaze to the point where his bangs shielded his eyes from view. Levi found this response to be interesting… but even so, outside of a mild grimace, he didn't comment on it as he shook his head and motioned for them to drop the issue for now.

Eren seemed somewhat reluctant to do so, with him fidgeting a little uncomfortably as he begrudgingly let the issue drop for now, with him knowing that it could wait till they returned to Karanses, and with that, Levi moved to order his team to continue with their retreat back to the confines of the Walls. He left Jaeger and Augus to their own devices as he did so, something that made the former feel rather awkward while the latter chose not to comment on it as he moved to board his Gundam once more.

"H-Hey, Mikazuki?" began Eren, with him cursing his stutter as he spoke. The pilot didn't seem to notice it, however, as he simply turned around and glanced back at the Titan Shifter in silence, a telltale sign to speak his mind before he got bored of waiting, and upon acknowledging this, Jaeger blurted his mind out. "Are you alright…? You seem kinda… out of it…"

Eren's words were more than enough to surprise Mikazuki, if only for a moment, as he huffed and looked away from his fellow abnormality with a surprised expression, or at least as surprised as he could get at this point. Sometimes, he forgot just how observant Jaeger could be when he was actually focusing on the world around him, though then again, in spite of his approval, Augus couldn't help but consider that to be a backwards compliment at best as he shrugged at Jaeger's inquiry.

"No, I'm not," was Mikazuki's simple response to Eren before he hopped back onto his unit's chest, with him not giving Jaeger even a second to ask about his current mental condition before he shut the cockpit, effectively drowning out the Shifter's words all the while. Eren appeared visibly upset that he couldn't question his fellow 104th further, though as said before, he reckoned that it could wait as he sighed to himself in dismay.

"Oi, Eren! What're you dilly dallying around for, eh? Let's move!" proclaimed Oruo from behind the kid, prompting the aforementioned junior to perk up and turn to face him. Bazad seemed somewhat annoyed at Jaeger's slow response time as he snorted when the young man turned to face him head on, though he thought it best to not comment on it as he moved to rejoin his team, plus Bertholdt, at where the horses were gathered at.

"Uh… y-yes sir!" responded Eren almost immediately after as he moved to join his team. As he jumped off the building that he was on, the young soldier glanced back at Barbatos, which was still in a dormant state. With that being said, however, the moment Eren's feet had touched the ground, the unit's optics blazed to life, signifying its complete activation, as steam poured from the various vents located along its chassis.

Running swiftly towards his stallion, Eren mounted it with relative ease (he still had to jump quite a bit as the saddle was much higher up than he would've liked), and as soon as he was atop it, the young Shifter grabbed onto the reins of his stallion and held them tightly. At the same time, he glanced back at Barbatos and watched as it stood up to its full, imposing height, towering above them all the while. Though he was already used to seeing it as an ally thanks to his faith in Mikazuki and it having proven itself during the Trost incident, Jaeger still felt a shiver go up his spine when he saw the green optics of the Gundam staring down at him stoically, though he tried to not let his discomfort show as he nodded towards it with a small smile.

The gesture was not mirrored as Barbatos simply eyed the group stoically, with it only moving when Levi gestured for his team to get a move on. Ackerman himself led the charge, unsurprisingly, with the rest of his Squad following closely behind. As per usual, Eren was at the heart of the group, though this time, he was riding alongside Bertholdt, who was lucky enough to be given a spare horse.

The Gundam simply hovered behind the retreating soldiers at a respectable pace and distance, with it boosting at less than 10% of its full speed. It was far enough away from the soldiers that its thrust aftershock would not affect them too greatly, but close enough that, should a Titan threat approach them from any angle, it could respond in an instant. Despite this, however, Oruo seemed incredibly uncomfortable with how close the unit was as he kept glancing back at the Gundam as they rode on, and at one point, Barbatos stared right back at him, catching him off guard all the while.

"Eyes forward, Oruo. We're supposed to be keeping an eye out for threats out here," chastised Gunther with a grin as he glanced at his fellow Elite smugly, eliciting a grimace and a glare from Oruo as a vein appeared on his forehead in a comical fashion. Beside him, Petra held a hand up to her mouth to cover up a snicker while Eld simply rolled his eyes at the immaturity of his younger comrades. Levi remained unresponsive as he just rode onwards in subdued silence… though as for Bertholdt and Eren, the former leaned towards the latter and spoke his mind.

"Is… your team usually like this, Eren?" asked Bertholdt curiously as he made sure to keep his voice down lest he wished to accidentally offend any of his superiors, eliciting a soft chuckle from Eren all the while.

"Yeah, they are. It was a little weird at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly," admitted Eren just as quietly as he rode onwards, offering Bertholdt a half-smile all the while. Hoover seemed to accept this to a certain degree as, if he were honest, this wasn't the strangest group that he knew of (Mikazuki, Mina, Nac and Annie's little ensemble was much stranger in his humble opinion), and though they did seem to be rather rude at a glance, the tall guy could tell that they didn't mean any offense to each other. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, though… how'd you get into Barbatos' cockpit, anyways?"

"Oh, that…" was Eren's initial response from Bertholdt at first, with him looking mildly sheepish as he scratched his cheek awkwardly. At first, he didn't seem comfortable with telling Jaeger why he was in there in the first place, though after some consideration, he spilled the beans and told him what had occurred, eliciting a horrified look to take shape on the Shifter's face as he concluded.

"That's… horrible. Your e-entire team…?" muttered Petra, having overheard the entire conversation alongside the rest of her team as they rode onwards, with all of them looking equally shocked as Bertholdt nodded somberly.

"Y-Yeah…

"... one of the soldiers on our team got too close to a pack and set them off. We tried to put some ground between them and us… but we didn't manage it…"

That… was different.

Frowning a little at Bertholdt's statement, Mikazuki found himself huffing silently as he acknowledged how, mere hours prior, Hoover had told him that the death of his Squadron was caused by several Titans coming to them, not vice versa. Now, Augus knew for a fact that the taller junior soldier had incredibly weak nerves, but even so… they couldn't be so bad that he would forget something as important as the reason behind why his team had been taken out in the first place… right?

Regardless, it was certainly rather strange, but Mikazuki saw little reason to comment on it as he focused on boosting his unit after the team. As he did so, however, the pilot moved the leftmost arm controller of his Gundam, which was wielding its Longsword, only to grimace when he acknowledged how stiff it felt now. The movements were laggy and the manipulator digits jammed up more than he'd like, something that he couldn't really fix due to the lack of knowledge behind how to actually repair the thing.

'That Titan did a number on you…' thought Mikazuki bitterly as he sighed to himself sadly, eliciting a soft thrum from Barbatos' side of the Alaya-Vijnana system all the while. The soft sensation of assurance wasn't in regards to its damaged state, however, but rather regarding the current mental state of its pilot, something that surprised Augus quite a bit as he focused on the AV system's data flow.

The data flow for the Alaya-Vijnana system was two way, and as with how Augus could easily acknowledge the data that was being given to him, Barbatos could do the same on its end, and it seemed as though it had picked up on his current mental state. Surprisingly enough, however, instead of discarding it alongside all the other 'unimportant data' that it had stored in its files, the system instead opted to attempt to reassure its other half with a few pleasant data inputs that made Mikazuki breath just a bit easier, and for as… strange as it felt, to be reassured by a machine, Barbatos or not, Augus still found himself smiling as he stroked the arm controllers fondly with his thumb.

'Thanks, Barbatos…' thought Mikazuki fondly as he felt some of the guilt that came with him potentially having killed one of his friends, even indirectly, being lifted off his shoulders, eliciting a mild hum of acknowledgement from the other end of the Alaya-Vijnana system as they boosted onwards, much to the pilot's amusement as he shook his head. For something so ancient, the Gundam sure did have some bouts of… immature data flow from time to time. It almost made the pilot wonder if Barbatos was a human teenager or a 300 year old Mobile Suit at times…

Before the pilot could think too much more on the potential pseudo-sentience of his Gundam, however, the unit's Alaya-Vijnana system suddenly went silent for the briefest of moments before it sent a new surge of data to its pilot. At first, Mikazuki was taken aback by this sudden shift in data flow… but not a few seconds later, he found himself narrowing his eyes a little when he turned his unit's head skywards and took note of a purple flare rising high into the sky mere milliseconds before the optic-to-cockpit interface alerted him to it.

"Another emergency?!" proclaimed Eld through the localised comm-links in the cockpit, eliciting a raised brow from Mikazuki as he glanced down at them. Beside him, the other members of his team, Eren and Bertholdt included, both appeared shocked at this as well, though Levi himself didn't seem to care that much, as per usual, as he huffed and shook his head.

"One way or another, emergencies are bound to happen," commented Levi as he turned around to eye his teammates briefly. His squad didn't seem to understand why he was doing this, as they stared back at him in confused silence, though after some time, Ackerman glanced up at Barbatos and motioned for him to move onwards. "You. You're the fastest one here. Go assist them, that's an order."

"... yes sir," muttered Mikazuki sarcastically despite it being inaudible to the older soldier as he got ready to boost towards the source of the flare, though before he could do so, he paused when he saw Eren perk up, and seconds later, he spoke up.

"Captain! May I make a request?" insisted Eren swiftly, eliciting a raise of Levi's brows as he nodded mildly, giving Jaeger the go to speak his mind. "I wish to follow Mikazuki into battle!"

The mild uproar that came thereafter was… something, to say the least, with Oruo being rather vocal in his opposition to Eren's request, stating that, though he did trust him to a certain degree, he didn't trust him enough to let him be with Mikazuki without supervision. Likewise, Petra and Gunther thought it best to keep Jaeger here for his own safety. Levi and Eld, however, thought differently.

"Though it's risky, we don't know the amount of Titans that're swarming the area. Based on its earlier performance, I'd call the Gundam unreliable at best, inefficient at worst, so it would be in our best interest to give it some backup," commented Eld, with him glancing back at the unit to make sure that it wouldn't stomp him down upon finishing. He sighed in relief when he saw that it didn't, though it did feel some form of insult towards his comments, if the surge of annoyance through the unit's end of the AV system was anything to go by.

Regardless, Levi took a moment or two to make his decision, and though Oruo, Petra and Gunther hoped that their superior would be able to see the logic in their words, ultimately, he decided to go with Eld, more so due to him being more experienced than most of them, sans himself of course, as he glanced back at Eren and gave the kid a meaningful look.

"You won't go on a rampage, won't you?" asked Levi flatly, with him surprising his team with his decision. Hell, even Eld seemed rather surprised that he had taken his side this time, but regardless, he smiled as he watched Eren perk up and shake his head quickly.

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir!" answered Eren in an instant, with his word being more than enough to make Levi nod in approval, much to the dismay of the rest of his team, who seemed ready to protest, though they were shut down by a quick glare from Ackerman.

"Then grapple onto the big metal piece of shit and move out," ordered Levi with no small amount of finality in his voice, to which Jaeger nodded firmly and turned to face Barbatos. Mikazuki watched as the Shifter, after saying his farewells and wishing the rest of his team, plus Bertholdt, good luck, launched both his Maneuver Gear wires up onto the unit's chest, latching them onto its chestplate, before he swung up onto it, and once he was on, he held onto the collar-piston to steady himself and glanced uneasily at the unit's optic.

That unease only increased when he noticed how one of the sub-optics was locked directly onto him, eyeing him like a hawk as he gulped and offered the unit a thumbs up.

"L-Let's go, Mikazuki!" suggested Eren with a smile, to which the pilot rolled his eyes a little before he did as he was requested. Boosting around the members of Squad Levi in a wide arc so that the aftershock from the thrusters would not affect them too heavily, the pilot made sure that he was out of range before he kicked down fully onto the steppers of his unit, and as soon as they were fully compressed, all six thrusters roared louder than they once did as the Gundam was propelled forwards at maximum speed. "WHOA!"

Yeah, Eren was probably regretting his decision right about now.

Elsewhere

This was… not good.

Titan activity should've been at an all-time low, at least according to what they were taught back in training camp anyways! Based on the position of the sun, Mina reckoned that the Titans should've been inactive by now… but despite her hopes, they remained worryingly active as they began pursuing the convoy of soldiers that were retreating to Karanses with dopey grins on their faces.

The closest Titan to the retreating convoy was a Twelve metre muscular Titan, which bounced up on its heels as it drew closer and closer towards its quarry. Mylius sweatdropped intensely as he watched it close in on their cart specifically while Sys turned towards the rider in a panic.

"Are we sure that this can't go any faster?!" proclaimed Sys as the rider tried to get the horse to do just that, only to turn towards Luke with a grimace, confirming his worries all the while. "God dammit!"

Turning back towards the encroaching Titans, the senior soldier present saw that there were no less than fifteen of those monsters in pursuit of them. If they could make use of their Maneuver Gear, it would've been nothing more than a cakewalk to lose them, but alas, their environment stopped them from doing such a thing, and they had to rely on the stallion pulling their ride to keep them ahead, something that was getting less and less reliable as the seconds ticked by.

"If this keeps up, we'll be swarmed in about… two minutes, give or take?" observed Nac with a grimace as he knelt down atop his cart and held his blades at the ready. Christa paled a little at that possibility as she knew that they were at a severe disadvantage, and likewise, Mylius felt woozy at the prospect of fighting in such a terrible spot. Despite this, however, unless a miracle were to be pulled off, they would have no choice but to fight, and they all acknowledged this as they got ready to engage.

Beside them, a soldier on another horse drawn cart whistled towards them, prompting most of the cart that Team Sys was occupying to turn towards them. Thereafter, they noticed that the one that had whistled at them was Jean Kirstein, who was occupying a cart alongside the rest of his team. He held his blade skywards and waved at Team Sys, a telltale indication that he was willing to provide assistance, and though he didn't like the prospect of him jumping in at the cost of his life, Nac still appreciated it as he nodded at Jean in appreciation.

Alongside Jean were Reiner, Ymir (who seemed more fired up than Jean for whatever reason, probably because of Christa), Ness and Lauda, with the former three appearing ready to jump in at any second while the latter two seemed more reluctant. Regardless, the look Ness shot Sys told him that he had his back, regardless of the situation, and with a firm nod, they turned towards the encroaching Titans with a guarded expression.

Off in the distance, a soldier that was riding a cart further up ahead fired a flare skywards. The purple cloud of smoke alerted the other soldiers nearby to their plight as they attempted to flee from the inbound threats, though few of them were confident in their survival as they rode onwards. The other teams, namely Squad Levi, Mike and Research Team Hanji, were all too far away to respond to the flare in time, after all, and though it was probably a waste to make use of it, the soldier had reckoned that it was still better than nothing.

It gave them some hope that they could be rescued, and even if it would be squashed in no time whatsoever… having some hope was always better than having none.

Ten seconds passed… and then twenty. Thirty flew by thereafter, with the Twelve metre stomping closer and closer with each given second. By the time a minute had passed, the Twelve metre was already uncomfortably close to Team Sys' horse-drawn cart, and at that, they got up, ready to pounce the moment it made its move.

"W-What're the odds of us getting out of this?" asked a worried Mylius as he glanced over at his teammates. Christa didn't have the heart to respond while Mina simply looked away awkwardly. Sys, for his part, seemed willing to answer, though if he were honest, his injuries kept him from doing as such, and as a result, Nac beat him to it with a confident smile on his face.

"100%, Mylius. We are getting out of here!" assured Nac with an assuring grin, one that looked fake to no one but Mina as she could see that it was trembling. Despite this, however, Zeramuski bought it, hook line and sinker, as he nodded and steeled himself for what was to come.

"At times like these, I just wish that Barbatos was here…" admitted Sys as he remained in a kneeling position, poised to jump at any given second, to which Mina smiled and nodded in agreement.

Yeah, having the Gundam here would certainly help a lot, she reckoned…

Despite the bleakness of the situation, Mina did find some warmth in remembering the unit and its pilot. Call it nostalgia or whatever, but it just felt… nice, to be thinking about either these days. They always did conjure up a feeling of safety whenever they came to mind, something that proved to be rather useful when out here, on the plains…

… and Hell, Mina must've been thinking a little too much about either the Gundam or Mikazuki, as she thought that she could hear its thrusters closing in on their current position as the seconds ticked by.

"Hey guys… d-do you hear that…?"

Wait…

"Yeah… isn't that…?"

She wasn't imagining that…

"Damn straight it is!"

And before Mina could add her own two cents on the matter, a flash of lightning struck the area not too far behind the Twelve metre's position, and as soon as it do so, a powerful shockwave was created, forcing the soldiers present to shield their eyes on instinct while their horse began panicking in fear. Christa, surprisingly enough, was the first to recover from the shockwave as she lowered her arm hesitantly to have a look at what had caused that blast…

… only for her eyes to widen to their absolute limits when she saw Eren Jaeger, in his Titan form, tackling the Twelve metre Titan with such force that both he and the aforementioned Titan went flying over their heads. Time slowed to a crawl as Lenz, and subsequently the rest of her team, saw Jaeger's massive frame strike the Titan with his shoulder, and not long after, both he and the Twelve metre crash landed onto the ground in front of their horse, startling it further all the while.

"Whoa!" yelled Nac in shock as soon as Eren and the Titan had landed, with their horse rider doing their best to rein in the stallion all the while. With wide eyes, Team Sys stared over at the impact point for both Eren and the Twelve metre with bated breath, with none of them knowing what to emerge from within the crater all the while, though after a few seconds of tense silence, they could see the silhouette of Jaeger's Titan form through the cloud of dirt and smoke surrounding the impact point, and thereafter, it was dispelled with Eren raised his head up high and roared up to the heavens.

"RAAAAAAAGH!"

The yell was loud enough to direct all Titan attention towards him as their gazes instinctively snapped towards the Shifter's form, eliciting a wince from everyone present as they took note of how they were now approaching Eren at a much faster pace. However, before the first wave could get close to him…

BAM!

They were swiftly eliminated when, without warning, a massive 18.8 metre tall monstrosity barreled into the scene, with it making use of one of its two weapons to bash the Titans into smithereens. Titan blood and viscera went flying as the Wrench Mace of the newly arrived beast tore through their bodies, and though the aftershock of its arrival did send some dirt and smoke flying towards the faces of Team Sys, they were able to recover from it relatively swiftly as they turned to regard this newcomer with massive smiles on their faces.

"Mikazuki!"

The aforementioned pilot didn't want to admit to feeling rather happy when he heard Mina call out to him. He's been worried about her and Nac for the better part of the past few hours, and to have some verbal and visual confirmation of their safety did set him at ease. Hell, Nac even offered Barbatos a two fingered salute, something that was responded with a mild nod of the unit's head, surprising everyone but his two friends greatly.

Christa and Mylius appeared more relieved at Barbatos and Eren's sudden appearance more than anything, with Sys grinning like a madman as he watched the unit stand up to its full height. For now, Augus ignored these reactions to his unit's appearance as he made use of his Gundam's height advantage to scan the area around them. Its optical sensors were damaged, sure, but they were still accurate enough to tell him that there were about twenty Titans approaching them from all sides.

'... the radar said that there were fifteen earlier…' thought Mikazuki, only to turn towards Eren's Titan form with a raised brow. That roar of his… '... perhaps…'

Mikazuki didn't even get a chance to finish that thought, however, when the rogue Titan form of Eren Jaeger, after giving out a loud roar of rage, lunged forwards and charged at the Titans approaching it. Augus grimaced at Jaeger's lack of caution, not that he had any right to criticise him considering his lack of caution (somewhat justified thanks to Barbatos' existence), though he chose not to comment on it as he already knew that Eren was a reckless individual.

Hell, mere seconds before they had made contact with the Titans pursuing the retreating soldiers, Eren had asked Mikazuki to, in his own words, throw him (me) towards the Titans as hard as Barbatos could muster. Augus had complied, more so out of amusement than anything, and threw Jaeger towards the Titan horde with less than 5% of the unit's full strength, and even then he was convinced that something had broken inside the guy, but regardless, he transformed mid-flight and collided with a Twelve metre.

Whether or not that was planned… was up for debate. But that's besides the point, really.

At the very least, Eren didn't seem too keen on attacking Barbatos, something that relieved him quite a bit as he didn't want to add try not to kill Eren onto his bucket list of issues at the moment. Instead, the Shifter moved to lash out at the Titans that were around them, with him starting with a Twelve metre Titan that was quickly struck with a flying haymaker as Jaeger closed in on it.

Recovering quickly from the punch, Eren clasped his hands together and delivered a double fisted strike to the Titan, dislocating its jaw, before striking it once more with his elbow. On impact, part of its skull caved in as it stumbled to one side, and at the same time, Jaeger's Titan form sustained multiple cobweb fractures on its elbow, something that he mostly ignored as he began stomping down onto the downed Titan, pulping it with each strike.

"Hmph…" scoffed Mikazuki, who, despite being quite a messy fighter himself, still found great amusement in just how barbaric Eren was as he shook his head absentmindedly. However, before he could get too lost in his own amusement, Augus took note of the Alaya-Vijnana system pinging an alert to him, prompting him to turn and spot a Fifteen metre stumbling its way towards Luke Sys' team. It just barely managed to reach its arm out for the vulnerable team before Mika dropped the Gundam's weapons and seized its limb with its manipulator.

The Titan, possibly an Abnormal, took note of how Barbatos had grabbed onto it and turned to face it fully. It was lucky, as the unit had grabbed it with its left arm unit, which was damaged to the point of operating on fumes, and it couldn't exert too much force until repaired. However, the Fifteen metre didn't seem to acknowledge this bout of luck as it tried to lash out at the Gundam with its other arm, only for the unit to grab it by the wrist as well, locking the two in a… 'clash', shall we say?

Calling it a clash would've been a massive overstatement, however, as, the moment the Abnormal's arm was caught by Barbatos' right manipulator, the Gundam's pilotpromptly exerted its full strength down onto it. The metal digits of the manipulator clamped down, hard, on the Titan's hand, pulping it all the while, as the arm unit pushed forwards, fracturing the Fifteen metre's forearm and dislocating its shoulder all the while. The Titan didn't even have time to register this as, after its arm had been destroyed, the Gundam promptly launched its knee at its head, striking it with ease thanks to the massive height difference and causing it to explode in a mess of Titan blood and gore.

Stomping its foot onto the ground, Barbatos let some steam escape the vents on its mouthplate and cheek as it turned its attention down towards its pilots' friends/comrades. Team Sys, alongside Team Ness who were quite a distance ahead of them among several others, had mostly slowed down or stopped out of the instinctual need to have a look at what was going on, but before long, they were spurred into motion when the Gundam pointed towards the direction of Karanses, an obvious request for them to get a move on while they held the line.

"A-Alright! Stay safe, Mikazuki!" proclaimed Mina as the rider of their cart had their horse dash forwards. Nac nodded in affirmation to his friend's words while Christa, Mylius and Sys remained silently optimistic, though they knew that this wouldn't be much of an issue for the Gundam. But even so, some goodwill never hurt anyone, and after clasping her hands together in a prayer-like position, Christa bowed her head and prayed for Mikazuki and, to a greater extent, Eren's safety.

Mikazuki found the notion to be nice, though even he knew that it was pointless, especially as he turned his unit on its heel and slapped a Titan with so much force that it had not only ripped off part of its cheek, but it had also snapped its neck and caused its head to spin atop its body like a top. Augus… felt some amusement at the sight as he watched the Titan's head slow to a stop… only to have Barbatos give it a haymaker that sent its slowly dissipating skull flying off into the distance.

'I guess they'll make for good stress relievers…'

Elsewhere

"..."

"With all due respect, Captain, but… wouldn't it be best for us to assist them directly?"

In response to Gunther's words, Levi simply remained silent as he sat atop his horse in silence whilst observing Eren and Mikazuki holding back a sizable horde of Titans with very little issue, or at least the latter was doing so with minimal effort. Jaeger was struggling a fair bit with his half of the battle, which was understandable, considering their difference in strength.

Alongside him were his team, as to be expected, and Bertholdt, who looked rather nervous as he watched Eren roar in anger and send a powerful haymaker into the face of a Titan, caving it in all the while. At the same time, his fist was pulverised by the impact, with it requiring a few moments to regenerate before it could be used at maximum capacity once more. The Shifter, however, didn't seem to acknowledge this as he continued using his destroyed fist to lash out at the other Titans that were closing in on him, unwittingly exasperating the damage all the while.

'The brat lacks form,' thought Levi in amusement as he watched Jaeger's tacky fighting skills from afar. All things considered, Ackerman, despite not willing to admit it, was always interested in seeing just how capable Eren was when in Titan form. The kid was clearly determined, but he needed the skills to back that up. Rather unfortunately, however, due to them not wishing to risk him going out of control within the confines of the Walls, not many experiments could be made in regards to Jaeger's Titan form, and by proxy, they couldn't see what he was fully capable of as well.

The only times Levi had seen Eren actually fight in this form were during the Preliminary Expedition, where it was so dark that he could barely even make anything out in the first place, and right now, and though he had only caught a few glimpses of him sending a Titan or two flying, it was more than enough to tell him everything he needed to know.

"The reports didn't lie about anything, it seems," observed Levi flatly as Eld and Petra glanced his way in confusion. He didn't acknowledge them, but he elaborated nonetheless. "He's still following his instincts, letting that determination of his guide him along."

"Heh, I don't know about you, sir, but he seems to be doing pretty well in spite of that," admitted Oruo with a mild grin as he watched the Titan Shifter in question grab a Ten metre by the ankle and swing it like a club to knock back several others. Thereafter, he slammed it onto the ground with enough force to create a minor shockwave before he stomped down on the thing's neck, crushing its nape in the process. "Especially when compared to that machine."

Levi found himself snorting a little at that comparison made by Bazad as he glanced over at the machine in question, just in time to watch it slice the head off a Nine metre Titan, hold its headless body up as a shield to block against a lunging Five metre before kicking both towards an encroaching Twelve, killing all three on impact. Thereafter, a small group of Titans, three at least, began fumbling their way towards the Gundam, and, in lue of its Autocannons, which were practically empty at this point anyways, Barbatos slammed the jaws of its Wrench Mace down into the ground and hoisted it upwards, pelting the inbound Titans with the equivalent of a shotgun blast with dirt, knocking them all down with little issue.

In spite of himself, Ackerman felt the edges of his lips twitching upwards a little at Mikazuki's genuinely ingenious use of his environment. Though he relied primarily on his unit's weapons, his environmental awareness was also nothing to scoff at, a testament to the fact that he was ranked second during graduation.

Eren, on the other hand, was more focused on brute strength rather than innovation, which, again, was understandable, considering how he hasn't been able to train that much with his Titan form. He focused too much on punching and less so on anything else, and his attacks seemed to be guided more so by his baser instincts rather than any form of strategy or goals. There were multiple points where he could've very easily killed a Titan without much setback to himself… but even so, he chose to eviscerate it rather than eliminate it swiftly.

It was rather… odd, to say the least. The machine moved like a man would, and the human controlled Titan… well, it moved almost like a normal Titan would, just with a bit more brain power put behind its movements. Eren hit harder, reacted faster and moved swifter than any other Titan that was in the history books, but even so, the kid was still a mindless beast at the end of the day, something that had to be rectified if he wished to continue operating as a Survey Corp.

Levi was quickly brought out of his thoughts, however, when Eren rather abruptly turned towards Barbatos and roared at it. In response to this, everyone present, including Mikazuki as he turned is unit to face the enraged Titan Shifter, widened their eyes to varying degrees as they watched Jaeger lunge at the Gundam at full force, with it being able to land a decent hit on its armoured cheek all the while. The unit did not stagger, however, and instead, it reached up and yanked the Shifter's arm away from its head.

"What's he doing?!" protested Eld in shock, to which Levi narrowed his eyes quite a bit as he observed the unexpected battle unfold. For the most part, Barbatos relied on avoidance rather than combat, with Mikazuki seeming less than willing to hurt Eren all the while, though vice versa, Jaeger lashed out at the unit with reckless abandon, wishing to down it as quickly as possible. Every swing was accompanied by a roar or snarl as the Titan Shifter attempted to land a hit on the Gundam, though unlike the Female Titan, Eren's attacks were sloppy and unplanned.

Had Augus been countering him at full force, he would've been killed mere seconds after the first hit was caught, and as such, Eren was lucky to be on his side rather.

"The brat's venting," scoffed Levi in mild annoyance, eliciting a few confused glances from his team when he finished. Bertholdt voiced out his confusion as he stared down at Ackerman with a perplexed expression, though in response to this… Levi said nothing as he narrowed his eyes at the two Titans clashing against one another.

Several weeks prior

"Sir… may I ask a question, please?"

"Eren, I know that you're the equivalent of the squad pet, but even so, you don't have to ask for permission to ask a question."

The blunt response from Levi was more than enough to make Mike sniffle a little as he did his best to keep his lips from twitching, but even so, he said nothing about it as he stood by Erwin's office window, seeming mostly uninterested in the whole debate as Ackerman eyed an embarrassed Jaeger in silence. Off to the side sat Hanji, who was too engrossed in the notes she received about Barbatos, courtesy of Lynne, to hear what Levi had said. Erwin himself was currently out of his office, having been pulled out of a meeting between himself and the aforementioned soldiers by a somewhat irate Nile to discuss some blonde girl requesting an exbordanate amount of off days.

Out of some sense of boredom, Eren found himself asking about something that's been plaguing him for the better part of the past few days, and after getting Levi's approval…

"Why are you guys putting so much responsibility onto Mikazuki, anyways?" asked Eren meekly as he scratched his cheek, eliciting a raised brow from Levi as he spoke. Mike perked up a little as he acknowledged the name of his charge, though he remained silent as Jaeger elaborated. "I mean, he's strong and all… but even so… I-"

"That's exactly why, kid. You're tough, but you lack control, and based on what the reports tell me, just one of my team can bring you down, no sweat. That's why we're using you as bait," stated Levi flatly as he narrowed his eyes at Eren. His words caught the attention of Hanji as she flinched a fair bit at his bluntness, though she said nothing of it as she listened in silence. "If the traitor does show up, and if they're anything like you, I doubt that you'd be able to go up against them, even at your best."

"You don't-"

"I do, kid. Ian's report tells me that you have no control over your power. You can't control yourself, not without the risk of going berserk, and as such, we can't put as much responsibility onto you as we can the other brat," cut off Levi, with him narrowing his eyes dangerously as he eyed him critically. Jaeger flinched at his absurdly blunt words, with them having hurt him quite a bit as he looked away, unwilling to agree or disagree with the guy's comment.

While it hurt to admit it, Mikazuki was very much Eren's superior, as evident by his number two ranking on graduation as opposed to his own number six. He was stronger, faster and, debatably, smarter than he was, and when coupled with Barbatos, he was practically an unstoppable force that could be comparable to the Colossal Titan. Eren, on the other hand, was above average at best, and in spite of his powers, his lack of training with his abilities held him down further than he already was, making him just barely a fair match against Mikazuki, with or without Barbatos, when compared to the average Titan.

He wanted to show his superiors that he was strong, that he was worthy of being a Survey Corp, that he could bear the responsibility of being one of humanity's strongest weapons… but despite his efforts, he would always be shadowed by Mikazuki and, more importantly, Barbatos, regardless of how much he trained.

"Eren Jaeger."

Blinking a little as his name was called, the aforementioned soldier perked up as he glanced over at Mike in surprise. The guy had only just spoken up ever since Erwin had left, but even so, his attention was still fixed on the window before him, with him peering out of it in silence all the while. His eyes locked onto the small form of Mikazuki Augus being pulled off into a room by an excitable Mina Carolina, who was eager to spend what little time she had with him, with the sight almost being enough to make him smile as he continued to speak.

"Mikazuki is strong, and so are you. Don't mistake us thrusting more responsibility onto him as us looking down on you. We're only doing so because it is in our best interest," commented Mike flatly as he glanced back at Eren. Levi felt a small amount of surprise when he heard Zacharius console the kid, though he didn't let it show as he huffed in amusement. "Don't focus on trying to be the best, not now. Focus on doing what you can, the best you can until we say otherwise."

"..." no words were uttered by Eren as he nodded grimly in response to Mike's words, though Levi still hoped that he considered them as this petty insecurity in regards to being weaker than a machine that can obliterate Titans was something that was not needed, especially not in this team of his.

Jaeger went silent from then, seeming contemplative as he crossed his arms in a somewhat childish manner, though no one commented on that as they awaited Erwin's return.

Evidently enough, doing what he could the best he could wasn't an option for Eren.

He wanted to be amongst the best, to stand atop the shoulders of titans, and he, on an unconscious level, resented Mikazuki and Barbatos for always making that goal out of reach. His emotions were likely the cause of this aggressive outburst on his part, though as this reasoning was currently unconfirmed, Levi couldn't say for complete certainty.

Regardless, Ackerman found himself snapping back to reality when he heard the distinct sound of flesh being ripped into by metal, and with a wince, he turned back towards the 'battle' between Barbatos and Eren, only to, as with the rest of his team (plus Bertholdt), wince when he saw the former's arm unit buried into the latter's stomach. He's seen the thing fight on multiple instances, both up close, from a distance and whilst shrouded in darkness, but even so, he could never really bring himself to get used to seeing the thing so easily manhandle Titans.

Especially when the Titan in question was that brat his team was assigned to protect.

However, Levi's eyes were quick to widen in some amount of shock when he saw Barbatos pull its arm unit out, and as it did so, it pulled Eren's spinal cord and skull out along with it. The rest of Squad Levi gasped upon seeing this, with Bertholdt damn near fainting all the while, though Ackerman himself remained silent as he observed in shocked silence what had just happened.

The headless body of Eren's Titan form shuddered briefly before it collapsed without a second thought, landing on its side in an unmoving heap as, surprisingly enough, the Titans in the vicinity rushed to consume it. As they did so, Barbatos brought the spinal column and skull of Eren's swiftly dissolving Titan form up to its chest unit and allowed its cockpit to slide open. From where they stood, Squad Levi could just barely see Mikazuki emerge to pull a, thankfully, still alive, but unconscious, Eren into his cockpit from what remained of his nape, and thereafter, he fired an orange flare skywards, signifying that he was returning to Karanses as well.

"... holy shit," muttered Eld after a few moments of silence, with him turning to glance over at his teammates, who held onto the reins of their horses rather tightly after seeing that merciless display, courtesy of Barbatos, with Petra mindlessly nodding after a few seconds of silence.

"Holy shit indeed…"

Eren seems jealous! Can't imagine why...

ian12091995: why thank you

starscreamer11: she'll be back. She always comes back

Touhoufanatic: rage is indeed quite the drug... but is forgiveness a superior one to rage? Only time will tell...

Guest: I'm glad you enjoyed the battle!

Guest(2): ended up discussing this question with some friends of mine and the general consensus is that he likes whatever Orga likes. Personally, I'd say classical.

Guest(Shadow): I'm glad you enjoy the slapped together story, featuring Barbatos! And regarding me tiring myself out, yeah I doubt that'll happen

: the main ship, huh...? Who knows...? And I'm glad that you enjoyed the story as much as I do enjoy writing it! Hopefully I continue to provide!

I might have insomnia and I hate it.

Till next time!