"The calm before the Storm" – Derek Landy

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Ian kicked the double doors to the small storage area open and rushed inside, Sky's arm still over his shoulder as the man hobbled along beside him into the room.

All the Cadets darted their heads to look at the commotion, fearful that a Titan had somehow gotten in but wore relieved expressions when they saw it was only the officers, though some looked concerned seeing Sky.

"Someone get me a chair!" Ian exclaimed, stopping to look around at the group, hastily Marco grabbed a small wooden chair in the corner with a stool and ran them both over to the officers before placing them down.

Sky almost slumped into the chair, the metal on his ODM gear making a rattling noise as it hit the side of the chair as he let out a grunt of relief finally getting of his leg; Ian grabbed the stool Marco had brought and quickly propped Sky's injured leg atop it as other cadets gather around in shock.

"How injured are you?" Ian asked looking to Sky as he knelt next to him.

"Large gash on my lower leg and impact damage to the knee" Sky muttered in response, "Bad enough to get me put in medical care".

"But not bad enough to keep you there?" Ian mused as he looked at the boot, "I've got to take it off to look" Sky gave an affirming hand gesture indicating to go ahead, slowly Ian lifted Sky's leg up and got a hold of his boot before slowly taking it off as to not agitate his wound more.

As he pulled it back his white jeans looked fine but as it passed the knee the red started to show, as he pulled back further, they all started to see that it wasn't just a small red stain, the whole lower leg part of his jeans had become stained red with blood.

Sky grunted with pain as the boot as finally removed and placed to the side, Ian then began to raise up the jean leg as high as it would go, as he did the extend of Sky's injures become clear to everyone, his lower leg looked almost split open by the gash, the remnants of stiches were littered about the wound as fresh blood oozed out, not in large quantities but enough to raise concern and more than a few gasps.

"Holy hell…" Jean muttered staring at the injury, "How tough is this guy, he's been fighting hours on that…" he muttered in amazement at the Captains resilience and tolerance to pain.

Ian pulled the jean leg up to Sky's bruised knee to keep it clear of obstructions, Christa then came over with a small medical box they could find and began pulling out a few bandages and cloth along with what remained of a bottle of alcohol that'd she'd found, then began to clean his wound.

Sky let out a small grunt of pain but that was all; he then proceeded to look around the room observing the survivors.

"Who's she?" Sky asked looking at the small, bloodstained girl in the corner not recognising her from the group.

"We found her when we arrived sir" Marco answered looking to her, "She looks to be the only survivor, there was no one else that we could find…" he muttered feeling awful for the girl and understanding she must have been through a lot.

Sky looked her up and down to see her still shivering, "She must be in shock, Lieutenant see if you can get anything out of her, we need to know how overrun the Armoury is, and if they got into the gas room".

Ian nodded and made his way over to the girl crouching down to get as close to eye level as he could, he inspected her himself seeing the blood streaked across her face, to him it looked more like a splatter from close range.

He gently lifted up her chin and wiped away some of the blood with a handkerchief, her eyes looked a little less shocked than Mina's suggesting it might be wearing off on her more so than the other young girl, "What's your name?" he asked quietly hoping for some kind of response.

She looked to him for a moment, her shaking not stopping before her lips started to show a quiver of movement, "S-S-Sofia…" she squeaked out not blinking yet.

"Sofia? I'm Lieutenant Ian Dietrich, of the Garrison, remember me?" he asked getting the smallest shaky nod in response.

"I s-saw you… in the courtyard… e-earlier…" she squeaked, "Y-you chose me to s-stay behind…".

"I did, for the resupply unit" he nodded in confirmation not sure if she felt bitter or relived that he placed her here, "I'm sorry the Titan's got through to the Armoury, they were stronger than we anticipated- ".

"T-They all died!" she cut him off with a sudden but shaky tone, "Everyone you left here, t-t-they all d-died!" she shook more as she remembered it all, "I-I heard them, t-the screams, they all b-b-b-begged to be saved…" tears began to form but Ian wiped them away getting Sofia to look at him.

"I know, and I'm sorry" Ian said stroking her head as he felt sympathy for what she went through, "I wish we could've done something for them, but we can't change what has happened" he smile at her, "Now we're going to try and get out of here, that includes getting you out but I'm going to need your help with that, can you help me, please?"

She nodded weakly, "Thank you, now I just need you to tell me, did any of the Titans get inside the gas storeroom?".

There was silence for a minute between them that Ian was hoping she used to think and not fall back into her shock, as he was about to repeat the question she opened her mouth, "I t-think so…" she said quietly, "I-I think that's how some of them g-got in, I-I saw Ruth go down there j-just before a-and I heard h-her scream b-b-before she came running up, w-when I ran to the w-window I saw they were all over the p-place f-from outside, and from I-inside, they came from the storage area and s-s-surrounded her before…".

"It's okay, that's all I needed, you rest now Sofia, we'll get you out soon, I promise" he smiled before helping her lean back against the wall properly and leaving the handkerchief with her to clean anything else of with.

He walked back over to Sky who seemed to have a thoughtful expression on, "She's not too sure but she did see them come up from that way when the armoury was attacked, she believes that was a way some or most of them got in here in the first place" he answered.

"How could they have gotten in there without anyone noticing?" Conny asked looking around for any answers.

"The cargo doors are the likely answer" Ian said looking over to him, "The doors are large for the gas drums to be replaced, also means they are large enough for a something as large as a six metres to get in, some idiot must have left the door open" he grimaced.

"The most likely scenario" Sky muttered as Christa began to bandage his leg.

"Sorry sir, I've not been taught stitches, the best I can do is make the bandages as tight as possible" she apologies looking glum.

"It's fine cadets, we won't be here long I just need something that stays in place until I get out" he said with a nod making her smile in relief as she tightened his wrappings up.

Ian looked at his leg as Sky began to recover it, "You're not fighting on that" he commented looking to Sky in concern.

"If it'll ease your worries I won't be, I can barely move on this leg as it is, I'll be useless in these close quarters even in the gas room" Sky answered sounding almost bitter as he slid his boot back on, "Right now we need a plan, she didn't say how many she saw did she?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, not, she doubt she'd even know if the door was closed down there, for all we know more are filtering in as we speak" he said crossing his arms before looking around to the wooden stairs surrounding a small wooden lift.

Sky looked here too; "We need to know what we're getting into…" he muttered looking to Ian, "Think you can handle some recon work?" he questioned.

Ian nodded in confirmation, "No problem, I'll scout it out with Marco and Jean to watch my back" he answered getting an agreeing nod in response.

"Marco and Jean with me, we're scouting the gas storage out" Ian said walking to the stairs being closely followed by Marco, "Don't worry, we won't be engaging just taking a look" he reassured the boy who looked briefly worried.

Marco gave a curt nod before following the Lieutenant, Jean however opened his mouth to immediately protest but was silence by a death glare from Ian, so he reluctantly followed down into the depths of the armoury.

Annie watched them go before turning her attention back down to Eren who was still peacefully unconscious on the ground, she was looking him over, inspecting him for any other injures from her position leaning against the wall nearby.

She couldn't see much, her vision being blocked by the three girls, Mikasa, Christs and Sasha around him, two of which were tending to his primary injury the other watching Eren intently and taking occasional glares at Annie.

Annie ignored this knowing Mikasa wouldn't stop so it wasn't worth the time focusing on, instead she focused her attention onto the missing limb that held all their focus.

It wasn't looking much better but Christa was doing her best, she had already changed the bandages to fresh ones when they arrived but they had already bled through and were falling off; Annie could hear the young blonde muttering to herself not understanding how it could still be bleeding and that is surely should have clotted by now.

Annie shared these questions in her own head as she narrowed her eyes on the limb missing just under the knee; looking closer she saw the smallest puffs of smoke still coming from the wound, "Still Titan blood? How did he get so much on him?" she muttered watching the smoke slowly evaporate before it stopped as Christa recovered the wound.

A realisation struck Annie as she looked at the missing limb, "I could have sworn-" she was cut off from her mutterings as Hanna got everyone's attention.

"Has anyone seen Franz?" she asked aloud having been for a while obviously not finding him yet and a panicked look had overtaken her expression as she looked around frantically.

Everyone looked around to her but must gave shakes of their head having no idea what had happened to him making the young Hanna become more and more frantic as she was desperately looking for answers.

"Please, has anyone seen him, he was with the rear unit!" she begged but no one seemed to know but just as Hanna was close to giving up, her eyes locked with Floch who was leaning against the wall, a shameful look across his face as he looked to the ground, "Floch?" she asked walking up to him.

He glanced up at her but didn't want to meet her eye, "He was with your squad, wasn't he? Where is he?" she asked desperate to know the answer.

Floch hesitated in answering, he knew the answer, the images were burned into his head so there was no way he could forget or lie about it but approaching Hanna with the news, he wasn't sure how she would take it.

It had been no secret they were close, very close if you'd believe the rumours around the cadet corps so there was no simple way to let Hanna down easily about the truth but Floch knew that he had to, he saw her as a friend and could never bring himself to lie to her.

"I-I'm so sorry Hanna…" he muttered slowly, finally able to find his words, "Franz… he… he didn't make it…" he said slowly so Hanna could take it all in, "He died during the charge… there was nothing I could do…"

"W-What…" Hanna whispered her eyes going wide as she took a small step back in shock unable to look away from Floch who held is shameful look, "H-How…".

The look turned from one of shame to anger as he glared daggers across the room to Ymir who leaned against a pillar looking at her nails as she picked dirt out of them, seemingly having no care in the world, "Ask her!" he grumbled but she paid him no mind.

Hanna looked over and took a few steps toward Ymir, "Y-Ymir…" she asked hesitantly and the girl glanced up at her, "What happened to Franz…" she asked.

"He died" short and to the point was her answer not wanting too keep the conversation going in any way shape or form, "The dumbass took his eye off the ball and paid the price".

Hanna covered her mouth with both hands as she fell to her knees with a sob with Floch and Daz coming over to console her, the former glaring daggers at Ymir who simply snorted, "What?! I just told her the truth; she'll have to face it sooner or later!" she sneered.

"That's not the point Ymir!" Floch snapped storming up to her, "There was no need to be so insensitive about it, he died because of you, and you don't seem to give a single fuck!" he snapped getting into her face.

"So, what he died!" Ymir snapped back shoving Floch, "So have Thomas, Nack, Samuel and probably Ruth along with a shit load of other people what the hell if one more body called Franz all he does is add his name to an extremely long list!" she fired back stepping up to Floch, "And as for blaming me I did nothing, he turned away to face me, he chose to do that not me, the lumbering idiot got himself killed all on his own, I had nothing to do with it, matter of fact I tried to warn him!".

"But that doesn't excuse how you treat his memory; you were spitting all over it even then!" Floch shouted back refusing to let Ymir get away with her bullying, "Don't you dare think you can get away with saying your hands are clean, you were in charge of our unit, and you gave us no orders, no methods of attack, you stayed silent, and we had to speak to you, he wouldn't of been in the position to be killed if you'd just been a leader, but you were just a selfish bitch!".

"Oh, what memory, he was a lumbering idiot who got what was coming his way due to his own incompetence; and I did all I needed to, I lead you guys to the armoury, if you guys fucked up or got left behind that was your own problem, there were no Titan's to fight, we just had to get into the building and we did!" she slapped his arm, "Well done, you didn't die" she snorted again.

"Why you- "

"QUIET!" Sky snapped glaring at the two who froze as they faced him, even sitting in a chair with an injured leg, Sky remained an intimidating presence, "Unless you both want to attract more attention from our problems outside I suggest you stay quiet or we'll never escape this hell" he said, his eye not looking away as he stared a hole straight through them.

"Yes sir" both said reluctantly before separating to opposing corners of the storeroom, their only interaction where the glares they shared.

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Ian, Marco, and Jean heard the commotion going on upstairs and were quite relieved when Sky put and end to the noise, "That's already too much attention" Ian muttered peering over the banister to the darkness below.

"Do you think they heard that?" Marco asked timidly.

"Almost definitely" Ian grimaced before taking a torch from the wall and dropping it down the dark pit, they watched the light guide it's way down before crashing into the floor, "Not far left, remember we're not engaging just scouting the area out, we need to know if the external doors are closed or not" Ian reminded glancing back at Marco and the slightly lingering behind Jean.

"Yes sir" Marco nodded grabbing a hold of the banister, "Just to check sir, how are going to scout the area out?" he asked glancing down to the dimly lit room below them as they stared walking down the creaking wooden stairs again.

"We'll remain at the top of the stairs and peak down, that's my plan, we should be able to see the door from there and count what Titan's there may be" Ian answered focusing on each stop he took wishing they were better maintained, "But there is a reason I brought you with me, we'll be watching out for each other down here, never take your eyes off our immediate surroundings".

Ian glanced back, "I chose you as you're the most switched on of these cadets, you keep a level head when necessary and don't let your emotions rule your actions" he nodded to him, "If I'm honest, once we're done here, I hope you choose the Garrison to join, I could use more people like you under my command".

"Really sir?" Marco asked in awe at the praise he was receiving from the Lieutenant, "You think that highly of me?".

"I do, Captain Sky would second my opinion, why do you think he gave you your own command above the other cadets, there's promise to you Marco, you remind me of myself at your age" he said giving a small smile to Marco.

"You enjoying this ass kissing Marco" Jean scoffed as he crossed his arms, "It's brilliant, everyone loves you, you're just so amazing at leading" he mocked in annoyance.

"Jean there's no need for that, there's things you're good at too" Marco smiled ignoring the brunt of Jean's words.

Ian narrowed his eyes, "It's a shame about you Jean, from what I hear you're a very gifted cadet, you had some of the best ODM skills in your who detachment if I'm not mistaken" he said with surprising knowledge which took Jean off guard for a moment, "I make sure to check the reports of all the people under my command, they day you arrived in Trost I made sure to read through all your detachment reports, and yours stood out to me Jean".

"A cadet with such promising skill, you too could be good Jean, a model soldier, but that arrogance and permanent chip on your shoulder lets you down, if you took a moment to stop thinking about yourself and more about your team, you'd go far" Ian wisely answered.

Jean grimaced, "As if I care, the second we're done I'm leaving for the MP's, the further I'm away from this shit the better, I only joined up so I could have an easy job in the interior, military is the best paying job up their, like hell was I going to be a shoe shiner or work for a shitty newspaper".

"You could still be a rent boy up there, they're always hiring as long as those creepy old rich bastards are still about" Ian commented and chuckled a little with Marco at Jeans look of anger towards the comment but that swiftly stopped, "But it is a shame, the MP's are a waste of skill, especially yours in ODM usage, you'll only be walking the streets and escorting dignitary's about".

"Well at least I won't get eaten" Jean muttered under his breath.

"Well, I want to join the MP's too sir" Marco piped up getting Ian's attention, "I want to serve the king as best I can" he beamed but it was stopped by Ian's disapproving look.

"A shame too, I've seen many like that Marco, they dream to serve the king and to one day meet him but that'll never happen, he never leaves the castle, only his aides are ever seem in public and even then, you'd have to get through the rampart corruption within" Ian said was the turned down another flight.

"The MP's aren't a easy job, the officers are lazy bastards, any issues are ignored by a quick exchange of a coin purse, friends of the higher up's can do what they want and there's even a few in with the king's aid who are untouchable but the rich who run them don't care, as long as they keep them safe, they can do whatever they wish" Ian's answer was a shock to both boys.

"And don't think you can go in and change it, many have said that but soon they fall in like the rest, or they just give up, it's futile" Ian stopped to look around at them, "Listen if you two really are intent on the MP's I won't stop you, but just think before you decide".

"The difference you'd make in the MP's is insignificant but with the Garrison, you'd be a huge boost to our strength" Ian paused before he spoke again, seemingly thinking over his next words, "And if you really want, the Scouts too could really use you, they are desperate for skilled recruits, the only ones they get if any are the bottom of the barrel worse off cadets, it's no wonder they haven't had a success in years".

"Either of you could make a huge difference anywhere besides the Military Police, I ask you just to think about it before you make your final decision" Ian finished before turning back to continue walking down letting Marco and Jean think in silence as the slowly followed on.

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The upper area was silent for a while, Sky's warning remaining in all the cadets' heads making them too scared to make any sort of noise, so they silently watched the stairwell eager for Ian, Marco, and Jean to return and give an update on their situation.

An old, tattered blanket was found in the room and had been laid over the lower half of Eren to hide his lower half as some cadets had become a bit on edge seeing the injury.

Sky meanwhile remained sitting in his chair to avoid any weight on his leg, he knew the amount of strain he'd already put on it and it would be best to let it rest for now, the last thing he needed was to cause more permanent damage to it so instead he watched the stairway with the other cadets, mindlessly tapping his finger to the back of his hand.

A sounds of creaking steps began to echo down from below as all attention focused on the exit to the stair way, the wooden lift blocked much of the view so the only way they group could see what was coming up the stairs was when they reached the top.

As the creaking of old stairs got louder a few cadets became to build up fears in their own brain, thinking that it might not be the returning trio and a Titan could be approaching them but those who knew were simply eagerly awaiting the arrival of the three knowing all too well that a Titan simply couldn't fit.

Slowly the trio crept into view and a sign of relief was heard around the room happy that they had returned unharmed, "What's the report?" Sky asked as Ian walked up to him.

"A mix of good and bad news, the good news is, the exterior door is sealed up, bad news is the stairs are still open to the central courtyard, though nothing seems interested in going up or down currently" Ian answered with a grimace.

"They must smell us up here but can't locate us, they've got themselves stuck down there" Sky asked as a group gathered around and Ian nodded, "How many?".

"Looks to be about six in total, all around the 5-metre mark, just small enough to fit down there" Ian answered crossing his arms, "Their wondering aimless mostly, as you said, they may be the only ones that can smell us up here, so I don't think they are moving anytime soon".

Sky pondered this thought for a moment as he brought a hand to his chin in contemplative thought, "What supplies do we have?" he looked around.

Armin stepped up, "We have an abundance of rifles still stored in here, there is only a sliver of gas remaining and only about seven sets of usable blades left sir" he answered having kept the count in his head.

"Seven pairs of blades, enough for all of them with one to spare" Ian muttered taking on his own contemplative look, "But with no gas, we can't reach the nape, not at 5-metres…".

Silence echoed around the room, as the officers began to think of possible ways to deal with the Titan's in the way; slowly however, Sky reached into his top pocket and pulled a small white box from it.

Armin eyed this instantly with a look of confusion, he'd never seen the Captain smoke, not that he'd seen him long, nether the less he didn't seem the type, not with all the skills he could perform, it simply didn't seem to be a thing he would do.

Armin watched as he played with the box in his hand, twirling it in his fingers as his eyes looked to the stairwell ahead, seemingly in his own world, trying to plan a course of attack.

Armin watched him intently, trying to guess what could be going through his head but his expression was unreadable, there was no way to even guess what he could be planning.

Armin himself began to look around the room, in hopes of giving himself some ideas but nothing came to mind, instead, his eyes found a focus on the stacked rifles in the corner; the were a bit dirty and their reliability was questionable, but they are the only weapons they really had but against a Titan, they may as well throw rocks, they'd have the same effect.

He looked around more and saw gunpower had been left out, a sloppy job, likely from someone who had been possibly storing it or preparing it but had flee when they heard the commotion of the Titans, not thinking twice about the possible danger they'd made.

Shaking his head, he looked up, hoping something would come to him but alas nothing making frustration build as there seemed to be simply no way to reach the all-important napes to kill the monsters they trapped them here, the ones almost touched the rafters with their height.

"Rafters…" Armin muttered aloud looking at the small wooden bean that ran across the ceiling.

"Did you say something Armin?" Sky asked still playing with his box.

The blond snapped around to find all eyes on him, "Sorry sir, I was thinking out loud…" he muttered sheepishly feeling embarrassed from all the eyes upon him.

Sky didn't break his look though and leaned forward in his chair towards Armin, "If you have any ideas, speak up, I value all inputs cadet Arlelt".

Armin looked at his other comrades who were hoping he had something good, some even made indication to speak up, "I… I…" he hesitated before he felt a figure lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Looking around, Armin met the eyes of Milieus who gave him a friendly smile and a nod helping him to feel at ease, "I… was just thinking aloud, but what about the rafters… sir…" he muttered out still a bit embarrassed.

"What about them?" Sky asked raising an eyebrow.

"What if we attacked from them, there is still a metre and a half between the rafters and the Titans, it would provide a clean shot at the nape if we could reach them" he suggested leading every cadet to look at each other as discussion broke out.

"That rafters do provide a vantage point, and we'd only have to rely on gravity…" Ian muttered aloud, "But you'd be exposed, if any Titan spotted you it'd be over, and once you jump for the nape there's no chance they'd stay still…" Ian trailed off before glance back at Armin, "It's a good idea but there's too much that can go wrong, this is a one shot opportunity".

Armin looked downcast for a moment feeling ashamed of even suggesting his idea, "Unless we could keep them still…" Sky said getting the attention back as he opened his small box, "We'd just need a distraction…" he muttered mindlessly reaching inside and grabbing a hold of a small white stick inside.

Armin saw his hand reach inside as his peripheral vision caught the gunpowder still strew about by the rifles, his eyes focused instantly back on Sky's hand, "NO!" he exclaimed quickly bolting forward to knock the box and its contents from his hands.

He successfully knocked the box sending it across the room and onto the floor, "There is gunpowder everywhere sir! One light and this whole place goes up!" everyone gasped in shock thinking Armin had just saved their lives.

Sky looked at Armin with his one unreadable expression, "I know…" he muttered coldly, and Armin felt a chill go down his spine, "Lieutenant?" Sky asked and with a nod Ian knowingly walked to pick up the box and handed it back to Sky.

Slowly Sky opened it back up and pulled one of the sticks out to hold it in front of everyone, and to their shock, he held no cigarette, but instead the cigarette was just a stick and on the end was a small darkly coloured ball, "…A sweet…" Armin muttered shocked.

"I don't smoke, I never have an never will, the act of it is in fact banned within all regiments but never the less it's stupid to even try and spark anything, any sort of light within the armoury regardless of if gunpower is out or not, why do you think every light in here is contained by lanterns which are carefully replaced from outside this room…" he trailed off coldly before putting his box back and the sweet into his mouth.

Sky leaned back in his chair as the embarrassed Armin stepped back before being abruptly stopped, "Wait, how much gunpowder would you say there is?" Sky asked looking back to the blonde who jumped slightly.

"Uh, exactly I'm not sure sir…" Armin muttered before glancing over to the barrels, "But the power is all over those barrels there" the crowd looked to where the dark powder covered the barrels nearby to the rifles.

"The rifles…" Sky muttered a thoughtful expression crossed his visible face, "Do we have shot for them too?".

"Yeah, there's a whole crate full of them" Reiner commented jabbing a thumb over his shoulder.

"Much of the supplies in here were untouched" Ian commented looking over to the lone survivor they found, "They never stood a chance… must have been so sudden…" he muttered regret lacing his words.

"We have no time to mourn them now, the equipment they didn't use is going to prove invaluable to us now" Sky said leaning forward.

"What are a few dusty rifles going to do against a Titan, even a small one it will just heal itself up" Ian said cocking an eyebrow.

"We're not going to kill them with the rifles, we're going to blind them instead" Sky revealed making the cadets exchange confused looks, "A Titan can only be killed with the destruction of the nape, weather that be slicing it out or blowing it up with cannon fire, anything else will be regenerated but this doesn't mean that's their only weakness".

"Their eyes are sensitive, it's the only part of them that seems to feel, if you hit the eyes they scream in pain, let their guard down and more often than not, cover them with their hands, this is what we're going to use" he revealed now looking at the lift.

"A large group will ride down in the lift with the rifles point out on each side and we'll stop the lift just around five and a half metres from the ground, high enough to get a shot on a Titans eyes" Sky began unveiling his plan.

"Once down we'll let the Titans draw in on us until they are as close as can possibly be, these rifles are inaccurate, we can't afford any misses" he looked around as nervous looks overtook the cadets' features.

"Once we fire, hopefully all the eyes will be damaged lower the Titan's guard allowing our secondary unit to take them down" Sky looked around to Armin, "Those rafters you suggested are a smart idea, once the damage has been done, the unit will be able to have a clean shot on the surrounding Titans" he nodded in approval to Armin.

"There is one problem sir" Marco piped up, "When we scouted earlier, the space between the rafters and ceiling will be a tight fit, ODM gear won't fit".

"They won't be wearing any, with no gas it's just dead weight" Sky looked up at Marco, "We'll detach the blades from the equipment, size shouldn't be an issue, though there may be a height and weight issue" Sky said looking to Ian, "Think you can handle it?".

"It shouldn't be a problem, I already have a few in mind to take with me" Ian looked around the room, "Mikasa and Annie you'll be with me in the rafters unit, Marco, who performed well in your unit?" he asked looking round to the boy.

"Oh yes uh…" Marco looked to those in his unit and tried remembering how they were during the charge to the armoury, but if he was truthful he hadn't been keeping much of a track of their capabilities during the attack.

Marco decided it may be better to do a process of elimination, swiftly he knew that Reiner while possibly the strongest in their unit he was simply to large and may not fit in the rafter and the same could be said of Bertholdt.

That left him with three, Sasha, Jean and Conny.

Instantly Marco thought one of the best would be Sasha, she had a natural aptitude with this type of combat, simply put she was reliable.

Marco then thought between the other two, he was confident in Jean and while granted he seemed to be the only one to believe in him he truly felt it was well placed, his friend was skilled though he didn't like showing it.

Thinking back however, Jean hadn't really shown much of that skill, he hung back from the group and when scouting he routinely protested to the point Marco thought he was going to run away, this thought made his decision easy.

"Sasha and Conny sir" Marco answered getting affirming nods from the officers.

"Will you all be alright with that?" Ian asked looking to the chose five including Marco knowing this job would be dangerous.

"Yes sir!" Annie and Mikasa stepped up and spoke at the same time, casting a quick glare to each other.

"I'm ready sir!" Sasha added jumping between the two of them keeping them separate.

"Me too" Conny bounded up a bit louder than the others as if trying to prove something.

Ian looked to Marco who nodded confidently, he had grown fond of the young cadet and was happy to see him stepping up to his unofficial third in command duty.

Marco on the other hand felt a pair of eyes glaring at him from the crowd of cadets, glancing around he saw Jean peering out from between the others, he couldn't read him this time around, whether he was thankful he wasn't chosen again or if he were angry for being thought less than.

Marco knew he would have to deal with that later but for now he had a duty to perform.

"Good, everyone else ready the rifles, and gather what working blades we have left for the rafters unit" Sky ordered and the cadets immediately ran about pulling remaining blades from the holsters and loading the rifles, while the rafter unit began removing their ODM gear to line against the walls and detached their blade grips.

"Christa, watch out for Eren" Mikasa said looking down to her as she placed her ODM gear and sheathes on the ground nearby, "Mina too" she added.

"Of course, you all be safe down there, and come back in one piece" she said with a small warm smile and a nod.

The Akerman nodded and walked to the gathering group by the stairs as Annie finished unbuckling her own equipment and setting it down, they shared a small glare as one passed the other, but they didn't stop in what they were doing.

One Mikasa had stepped far enough away, Annie removed her own handles and walked up to the still shock ridden Mina who was leaning against the wall, her legs pulled to her chest while her body shook.

Annie crouched to her level to look in her eyes and saw the same stare into nothingness that the young girl had held for hours now, she was deep in shock, and Annie wasn't sure if they could ever get her out of this state.

Slowly she reached a handout and grasped Mina's shoulder gently, "I'll get you out of here Mina, I promise" she didn't shake her but held her friend firmly instead, to Annie the shaking seemed to stop somewhat, "We'll kill those Titans and I'll get both you and Eren out of here!" she insisted to her.

Annie looked down to the still unconscious Eren who lay on the floor, guilt racked her heart as she looked over his features, primarily when her eyes trailed down to the blanket covering his lower half where is dipped slightly over is missing limb, "I will get you both out of here, I have to…".

"Annie?" Christa asked looking over to her, "I'll look after them both, I promise" she said with a sweet smile.

Annie looked to the blonde, "Christa, just don't let them die, please" she said in a desperate tone, one Christa had never encountered before, for a moment, she was too stunned to answer for a moment, but when she looked at Annie, she saw nothing but sincerity in her eyes, and even maybe regret.

"Of course, Annie, I'll do everything I can for them, they'll be perfectly safe until you return with the gas" Christa smiled again at her and gave a confident nod, "Eren and Mina must be important to you, I've never seen you get worked up like this for anyone else before".

Annie looked down, facing away from Christa before slowly parting her lips, "How would you feel Christa, if two people gave so much of their time to you, helped you feel included and welcome, how would you feel if you betrayed their trust, if you let them down, when they needed you most?".

The blonde was taken aback for a moment at this question, she wasn't prepared for a sudden heart to heart with Annie, and if she was honest she wasn't sure how to answer the girl, as if she was missing some context.

"Annie, there was nothing you could of done, they were the other side of Trost, it wasn't your decisions to leave them" Christa tired to reason, "What happened to them isn't your fault".

"I should have stopped this happening, I could have done something…" Annie seemed to trail off, as if she was talking to herself now.

She was shaken from her muttering by Christa placing her hand on her shoulder, "Annie…" she said quietly, the blonde snapping her head towards her, "If you truly feel you've done wrong then you should try and make it up to them, in my mind helping them to escape alive would be enough but if you'd truly want to do more, then think about what they'd want or even what would fix your mistake".

"Fix my mistake…" Annie muttered looking down at her hands, "Could I do that…".

"Everyone makes mistakes, it's how we recover from them that matters to people" Christa smiled giving her shoulder a small squeeze before retuning to her spot beside Eren and Mina.

Annie took a heavy breath before slowly standing up and stepping away from her injured friends, giving them both one last look and a glance to Christa she turned her back and joined the rest of the chosen few to enter the rafters.

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Thank you for reading apologies for the delay, all reviews welcome.