[center]Five years ago,
She remembered that day of retribution.
She remembered that sky of twilight.

[b]"Penny, please..."[/b]

***[/center]

It was that day again.

[b]Elaina Penny[/b] wondered why she of all the officers in the Survey Corps had to... well, survey the corps, pun intended. Thinking on it, there were only so few of them remaining, and even fewer squad leaders; it was no surprise that she had to be here on behalf of the legion. Those who survived for over an entire year of expedition after expedition were considered veterans among the soldiers. Some, like her, who was still alive after three, were even promoted to lead their own squads during those expeditions. Though, other than herself, there was only one squad leader remaining, and that man was the only person in the legion to surpass her in titan kills. He was supposedly the Commander's son who graduated as the first out of ten cadets in his trainee squad a year before she did. Had that man been the representative here, the Survey Corps would be a lost cause - he would've scared them all off.

As all of the (few) trainees shuffled before her, Elaina overheard the Military Police's representative; Laura Strasse. Listening to her brief speech nearly made her gag, forcing herself to hover a hand over her mouth in order to not laugh. Just about every single member of the Survey Corps absolutely resented the Military Police and all of its bullshit; [i]made up of only the most skilled, my ass. They've never even seen a titan in their lives, and if they did, they would just quiver in their pants.[/i] Yet, the Military Police continued to complain about the Survey Corps and the fact that they were just a 'waste of resources', even though the Military Police was evident in their corruption and stealing from the civilians within Wall Sina. [i]I'd rather be ripped apart by titans then be one of them.[/i]

When she saw that the trainees finalized their decisions, Elaina took a step forward to address them, folding her arms together. [b]"At ease, ladies,"[/b] her bored eyes squinted as she instructed them to lower their salutes, trailing through pairs of (somehow) intimidated eyes. She hadn't even tried to be frightening, and already, a number of the cadets that she was to work with were already trembling. 

Elaina stiffed a light yawn, already unwilling to follow through with this; she knew that out of all of the trainees standing in front of her, only a tenth would even consider the Survey Corps. Every now and then, she was able to catch eager eyes that spoke potential interest, but she remained particularly uninterested in teaching people who would not even follow the legion in the end of it all. [b]"Well, I'm Elaina Penny, squad leader and representative of the legion, blah blah blah. Let's just cut out the formalities, shall we?"[/b]

---

The first thing that caught [b]Aleron Sinclair[/b] by surprise was how nonchalant and... [i]unofficial[/i] that the representative of the Survey Corps sounded. For a moment, it seemed like she had been forcing herself to at least make an attempt at sounding like a formal officer, but she hadn't even lasted two minutes like that. It was as if she could not stand it; that, or she was discouraged at how little recruitment the Survey Corps would truly have versus the number of cadets standing before her. It was understandable.

[b]"At any rate,"[/b] Elaina spoke as she slowly walked around each and every cadet, her eyes trained on nobody in specific. [b]"No need to be afraid of me. I've only killed one human in my lifetime."[/b]

Aleron gulped as she passed him, not even giving him a little amount of attention as she continued. [i]Did she really just say that?[/i] It reminded him briefly of the first day as a cadet, when the senior drill instructor would walk around and, every now and then, begin shouting at an unsuspecting cadet to question their origin and reason for enlisting while adding in his own personal comment towards the way they looked, or whatever. It might have miffed him at first, but two years had toughened him up significantly.

[b]"If you don't already know one another, well, get to it,"[/b] Elaina sighed, which continued to bother Aleron - [i]was this woman actually affiliated with the Survey Corps? Was this how all of them really were?[/i] Even after she ordered all of them to 'get to know one another', everyone seemed to be just as confused by her behavior, and did not move an inch. He looked to Sano, Dania, all of the faces that he could pick out from the huge crowds. The other two regiments had already begun to disperse under the orders of their own representatives, while the small group of the Survey Corps stood still.

Aleron was unable to brace himself for the sharp kick directed into his torso as it caught him off guard for a brief moment. For the split second, he saw that it was Elaina - [i]why is she attacking me?![/i] Fortunately, he was fast enough to raise both of his arms to deflect a second kick aimed for his head, but the sheer strength of it was enough to knock him to the ground. Close quarters combat was not his strongest suite, but who in the world needed that when you were fighting titans?

Aleron felt a pang of fright as Elaina glared down at him, evident that she was now deliberately intending to strike fear into him. [b]"I said to start getting to know one another, which requires movement of the feet and communication. Did I stutter?"[/b]