Amongst the million questions and thoughts circling the girl's head, Jade didn't object to being pulled away by Emil. Instead, she went on without really thinking about where she was going or what she was doing, all she could think about was the fateful day that the colossal titan had destroyed her home and taken her parents from her. She could hear Lauren's voice directed towards her but she could not break out of her reverie to focus. It wasn't until they had arrived at their headquarters when Jade finally broke free and caught up to reality. The first thing she heard was that they would be breaking off into groups.

The young woman eagerly listened to her name, only to have her heard falter a bit as she heard that both Lauren and Emil would be in a separate group from her. The two that she felt most comfortable around would be taken away from her. It would only add to her worries, which made her spiral down into a bit of a panic. Her green eyes quickly made contact with Emil's, feeling hopeless in any attempt she could make to try to keep her friends with her.

With a deep inhale, the girl turned to Lauren and watched as her friend took charge. 'I should be doing that too. I need to do that,' she thought as she tried to push away the fear and anxiety. Throughout the entire training she had been nothing but angry at the events that had happened in her life, yet when the time came, she was frozen in fear. The young woman exhaled as she gathered up the courage to walk over to Grant, as quickly as possible. She gave him a small, sheepish smile as she approached him, her voice a bit shaky before she composed herself, "Kind of a sick and twisted irony isn't it? That monster appears again and here we are, together. Let's hope this time neither of us needs saving."

Emil found himself saluting the officer in charge of the rallying of the cadets and moving into formation as if he were on autopilot. Everything was moving so fast, everything was happening too quickly and he couldn't make sense of it all. He quietly listened as the officer began a speech about what the cadets would be doing, 'A delaying force for the elite in the back...' he thoguht to himself before cursing under his breath at what it really meant they were, then came the sound, the massive crash followed by smaller bangs as pieces of the wall rained down on Trost behind him.

He noticed Jade looking his way, which for a moment broke him out of his own mind. He waved at Jade and gave her a sad smile, the kind that people give others when they won't see them for a while, before he turned his attention back to the officer in charge.

The officers seemed to have moved into high gear and for good reason. They began barking orders as more Garrison members ran from their barracks and took to the air in the background as they double timed toward the wall, to their uncertain futures. Assigned to the same squad as Lauren and with three cadets that he had seen a few times but never actually bothered to get to know them. Lauren walked over to them and laid down what seemed to be a solid plan as well as tried to rouse the other three out of their states of shock. The plan itself was alright, although how well a plan holds up in the face of the Titans was a problem that would probably show up in the not so distant future. "Right then, yeah, let's get this over with." he said calmly before following her to the gas stations with the other three close in tow.

After filling their tanks they made their way to their designated position atop a building on the left flank. As soon as they were there Emil turned back to the young boy that Lauren had chosen earlier, he pointed toward a clock tower some two blocks back and nodded his head toward it, "Don't let us get surprised.", the boy shook his head sheepishly and shot off for the clock tower. That over with he turned back to Lauren and moved close to her before lowering his voice to a whisper, "You realize we're the expendable shield, our deaths are just to buy time... Wanting to survive and actually surviving are two very different and unrelated things." he motioned with a nod of his head to the group of two scared cadets on the other side of the roof top behind him, "Your words, as heartfelt as they were, aren't going to save those two if they get into some serious trouble with a titan, and it won't save you either." he paused as he looked off along the rooftops, in the distance there was smoke and the ever present low thuds of the titans, but he couldn't see any yet which had to be a good sign.

He thought on those in the middle, Gabriel and Tanner, they'd be directly in the line of the titans advance. Suicide. He had faith that if anything Tanner could escape the bloodbath if it came to it, but the boy wouldn't be able to hold out on his own. As for Gabriel, Emil already knew what fate awaited him, even with Tanner there it was clear what the outcome in the middle would be for his fellow cadets. Even on the flanks it was almost certain the cadets would be overwhelmed and slaughtered wholesale before this was all over.

"You do the distracting, I do the slashing. Don't get in over your head when this starts and if it gets really bad, which we both know it will, we get the fuck out of here and regroup, Cadet Medic." he said as he pushed his elbow into the taller girls side to try and lighten the mood at least a little.

After a series of disagreements, eventually they had decided on returning to the Headquarters where they could rearm and receive orders based upon where they would defend from. Whilst Grant had intended on first getting into position without wasting time, it was common for the tactic to rearm and ensure they have the most amount of gas and weaponry to combat the threat. But the pain of knowing every second they spent in the Headquarters, another life was taken by the, as he could guess by the thuds in the distant, melancholic footsteps of both behemoths and creatures that lurk only to prey on the weak. Humanity was the weak one here, and it was a clear fact to Grant. He, however, knew that simply allowing them to be weak was something of a moral crime. It was fight or flight, and all prey would struggle to survive. Now was the time for that struggle.

He watched as Jade, the girl he once saved yet knew not too much about (At least enough from their several conversations as the months went by), sheepishly trekked her way towards himself, smiling from what seemed to be masking nothing but fear and worry. Grant too was worried, but he couldn't join the Survey Corps and reunite with his Uncles, providing they were still alive, just to tremble. He'd done enough trembling in the camp, as a youngster at Shiganshina. The scars were there, but they weren't deep enough to emit defeat in Grant's eyes.

"We won't need saving, because no matter what happens out there, we'll work it out as a team. And besides..." Grant nudged the shorter girl with his elbow gently, finally managing to form a genuine smile of a calming nature. "I'm not dying until I get Rhys back. Maybe this time you could rescue me with him?"

Even as Gabriel returned his attention back to the superior, it was a little hard to focus with Tanner messing with him. His face glowed like a tomato from the way she was treating it. "Don't get the wrong idea! It's not a proposal!" He mumbled as he kept his face straight forward. Even if he was being a little mean, the thought of such a thing was a rather happy one. His heart fluttered until he heard the superior officer calling out to the Cadets at attention. His eyes glued onto the officer as he put all of his attention in listening to the orders the veteran barked out to the fresh men and women of the military. Waiting patiently for his own orders, Gabriel began to think of the city.

Trost was a rather well-built area. Far better than Shiganshina was. Even with the roads being as well-constructed as they were, it was going to be a pain trying to evacuate the frantic citizens. In his mind, he raced through every possible outcome that would appear during their mission. How would they react to a horde coming straight towards them if they were busy trying to help a traffic jam? Would they panic? If they did, how we he keep them in line and have them continuing their duties? Such questions flooded his thoughts like a broken dam in a valley. There was so little time to truly react and keep these thoughts from overwhelming him. Unfortunately, he would have to make due with what he was given, and react accordingly to the situation. There was no time to plan against an enemy that doesn't think. At least, not the mindless, wandering Titans that rampaged through the city.

When the call to arms was given out, Gabriel found himself being led to two other Cadets that were to join his squad. The thought of leading was a little embarrassing for the young man, but it had to be done. The introductions were rather awkward, especially with the way Mary stammered nervously and how Jakob was rather indifferent about the whole ordeal. Not to mention the intense staring that he gave towards Tanner, which caught Gabriel's eye. He gave the man a cold glare, as if he was already thinking of a few ways to break him. Nonetheless, when Tanner greeted them both to the two, he smiled and gave them a nod. "A pleasure to meet you both." It was strange introducing himself to new people so suddenly, but that would have to wait for later. Turning his attention to Tanner, he listened to her speak before bringing up his plan.

---

"Our goal is to form the middle guard with the rest of the other Cadets. I believe our primary goal should be to assist civilians in escaping to Wall Rose while we cover for them. We'll eliminate any Titans that get too close to them. We'll keep a tight formation as well. If we split up, we won't be able to kill any of the Titans efficiently enough. Plus, there's the high chance of running into Abormals. If we're not around to help each other, we'll get killed without even having a chance to realize it. So keep the formation tight, assist the civilians, and engage any Titans near us who are already attacking. We have a more important job to do than to just kill them." As he spoke, he felt a lump in his throat slowly forming near the end. To not engage the Titans was a...strange task. Yet, he knew that it was best to avoid needless confrontations. The inhabitants were far more important than the city itself.

With a quick glance at them all, he gave them the signal to follow him closely, the young man clearly eager to get his mission started. "If you have any concerns, bring them up now. We can't keep stalling when there are people who are in danger." He looked over at Tanner as he flew over the stone buildings below. There was a look of cold and calm determination on his face at that moment. His eyes seemed to be burning with a hidden fire, despite the collected emotion he displayed. Perhaps there was more to Gabriel than just being calm and collected. Maybe, just maybe, there was far more: a beast waiting to be unleashed.

The sound of thumping made Gabriel turning his attention forward quickly, his eyes catching civilians on the run from the Titan. In it's hands were it's most recent victims, who'm it had already taken a rather messy bite out of. The fire in his eyes lit up into a blazing flame as he called out to the others. "Engage the Titans! Keep the civilians safe at all cost! We're not about to let these damn things make another Shiganshina!" His voice cried out with such fury that it seemed like the beast within had already emerged. What was once a timid and quiet youth during his time as a Cadet had grown into a leader with the heart of a lion, even when he himself did not recognize it. To Gabriel, he was still a coward. That's what he thought as he charged head first into battle. Yet, the shaking in his hands was not that of fear, but of a silent rage, finally breaking free from it's sealed heart. The coward was dead. The soldier was born.

"You're unusually chatty, Emil."

Her words seemed to ring in his ears as he stood, the oddity of his chattiness wasn't lost on him and he already knew why. Just as the other two cadets showed their fear through frightened faces and hopeless words, he showed it by talking. "Nerves." he said in response as he stared off down their block. The thuds were becoming ever more evident as time went by, and he could now see a small amount of fighting over the rooftops although he was admittedly a bit too short to see the majority of it, but even what he could see didn't seem good. Larger titans were constantly showing up, and the Garrison forces ahead seemed to be dwindling by the second.

"Fuck." Emil cursed aloud as the titan rounded the corner of the buildings ahead. It seemed to be smiling at them, its jaw seemingly open more than was usual for a titan and showing a twisted horror of a smile as the titan lumbered down the road. 'Eight meters, with a distraction it should be easy enough...' Emil though to himself as he drew two blades from his gear. To his right Lauren shot off moving directly for the titan. It turned its head ever so slightly and settled its gaze on her reaching out like a toddler reaching for a toy. Emil watched for a brief moment, as Lauren headed directly for it and the titan responded in kind by reaching out to where Lauren would no doubt be if she continued on her path.

"Decoys are not supposed to die to do their jobs..." Emil said to himself as he leapt from the roof top and sent his hooks ahead. They landed in buildings on either side of the road and with a press of his triggers he reeled himself forward before releasing the hooks and hitting on the gas. As he shot ahead he watched as Lauren suddenly changed directions surprising both the titan and himself, with a clever move inbetween the lumbering giants legs and then back out. Emil watched as the Titan fell, it's ankles cut away and no longer able to support it's own weight. Out in front of it was Lauren, caked in the titans blood and now yelling orders to the other two cadets. In the heat of the moment Emil hadn't even noticed the sound of the other titans approaching, somewhere he was sure he was glad to not be alone in this.

As he began to fall he shot another two hooks out in front of himself, lodging solidly in the buildings to his left and right and just slightly before the titans head. He shot by over the top of Lauren and reeled himself in while using his gas to gain even more speed. In front of him was the odd face of the titan, the monster that they had been taught for the last three years how to kill, the enemy. And then it looked at him. Flying right for its face Emil found himself suddenly terrified as the titans twisted smile turned into a wide open mouth, ready to catch him as he flew right for the opening. He turned his head back and found Lauren beneath him, she was counting on him to be able to do this, and the three farther back were too.

He turned back to the titan ahead, now just a few meters away and reeled in his hooks sending himself flying upwards into the sky and out of the way of the titans gaping mouth. He released his hooks as he flew past and shot into the air, he twisted around as he went up and flipped himself over so he was facing down and back in the direction that he had come from. The titan seemed to have immediately lost interest in Emil after he had left its line of sight and had went back to crawling toward Lauren in the brief moments since he had shot up. He gritted his teeth and gripped the handles of his blades so hard you could have seen the bone beneath his skin before firing both of his hooks directly into the titans upper-back just below the nape.

With a burst of gas Emil rapidly closed the distance with the titans weak point. He shot his legs out in front of himself and braced for the impact of hitting the titan. With a solid thud Emil landed on the titan and brought his blades across the titans nape using the energy from his fall to bring the blades cleanly through the skin of the monster beneath his feet.

The titan slammed into the ground as it suddenly found itself hit from behind by an object with a fair bit of force behind it. The impact of the titan with the ground sent up smoke and a small amount of debris around the body of the titan, which was quickly followed by the steam of the corpse dissipating into nothing.

Emil stood atop the titans neck. He stared at the cut across the back of the titan, unsure if he had truly just done it or it had been some other cadet named Emil that he just happened to be living through. He jumped off the titan and shot a hook back towards Lauren and flew over to the building that they had started on landing with a bit of a stumble. His legs ached from the impact, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Emil turned back to the corpse of the titan in the road, the heavy steam billowing off of it obstructing the view of the rest of the block rather well. "I did it...." he said to himself as if to reassure himself that he had succeeded.

He raised a blade into the sky and yelled to Lauren, "I think I pissed myself!"

"So keep the formation tight, assist the civilians, and engage any Titans near us who are already attacking. We have a more important job to do than to just kill them."

The squad nodded their confinement of the plan, but there had been no time for anyone to protest or object, something sure to come from Jakob. A quick double check of their gear and gas, and the squad dove into the massive district of Trost, and made their way to their respective flank in the middle guard, right smack in the center. After the garrison has ate the dust, it'll certainly be us next... Tanner thought as they ran across rooftops, using their gas to propel over jumps they couldn't make on their own. Nonetheless, Tanner cast her thoughts away before they distracted herself, and refocused back on their mission.

It wasn't long before the buildings and ground quivered with intensity. Loud thuds continued their way, like a travelling earthquake. Looking upwards, Tanner met her eyes with horror once more, seeing a Titan chew away at a fresh meal as it chased the civilians. Gabriel quickly abandoned all of his planning, charging into the battlefield to save the civilians before another had been snatched by the monstrous beast. Damn it!" Tanner muttered as she turned to the other two cadets. "Jakob, you're on look out. Mary, help the civilians." Tanner explained before taking off after Gabriel. They were quick orders, but there was no time for a monologue.

Propelling herself over with the use of the gear, Tanner landed effortlessly on a roof next to the Titan. Waving her hand in the air, Tanner swung around the blade like it was a big foam finger to catch the Titan's attention. "Oi, mangle tooth! Yeah, you! Come get me!" Tanner shouted, sprinting down the roof as fast as she could to distract the Titan long enough for Gabriel to do something, but everything quickly changed. The Titan slammed its hand down on the roof in attempt to grab Tanner, sending her flying in the air as she narrowly avoided become a meal. However, something had been obviously wrong. Where was Jakob!?

Floating like a bird in the air, Tanner noticed Jakob missing from where she told him to keep a look out for Titans. Being forced to make a quick decision before the possibility of the Titans outnumbering them became a reality, Tanner launched her wires into the Titan while it recoiled from the failed attempt at capturing another meal. Swallowing her pride, Tanner held her breath as she swung rapidly into the Titan's nape, fresh burning blood sprouting as the blades dug into the Titan. The Titan soon fell to the ground, and the thud was bone-shaking. Sighing in relief as she stood on the fallen Titan, Tanner looked towards the civilians, and an obviously frightened Mary when she heard a familiar voice...

"Tanner!" A young voice cried out, causing Tanner to tilt her head in the direction it came from. Taking a second to blink and come back to reality, Tanner soon realized who the voice was. Leaping off the Titan before she was burned by it, Tanner knelt down, giving Hannah a large embrace. "How are you doing, sweetie?" Tanner asked as she ruffled her sister's hair, to which Hannah gave her a great big nod. "I'm doing great! ...but you went woosh, and floosh! Like an action hero!" Hannah exclaimed, clearly amazed by the works of the gear and seemingly oblivious to the fact that someone had just died.

"That's good to know, Hannah, but we'll have to talk later. Right now, I need you to listen to me, alright?" Tanner explained, more focused on Mr. Stuhr now, naming him the de facto leader of their group. "Mr. Stuhr," Tanner stated, standing up from the ground. "The rear is holding the gate for the civilians to escape to Wall Rose. We can hold them off as best as we can, but we'll need the civilians to hurry, understood?" Tanner continued to explain, hoping that the man could suddenly take responsibility for the leadership role she had suddenly forced onto him without asking for his approval.

A second went by that felt like an eternity. "You've grown into a fine soldier, Tanner..." The elderly man exclaimed, nodding his approval. "Come along, Hannah. Listen to your big sister!" Mr. Stuhr beckoned, and with a kiss on the forehead from Tanner, Hannah ran back to the group as they quickly made their way to the Wall Rose gate. Mary was too busy smiling at the conversation, but the realization that they still had a job to do hit them quickly. Using their gear to climb back on the rooftops, the two girls rendevoused with the group, where Jakob decided to show his face again.

---

"You said we won't need rescuing, right?" Jade flashed a brilliant grin at the taller young man before turning towards Reese, who approached them slowly. The dark hair girl smiled at her old friend and agreed with a small nod, "I definitely didn't think this was how I'd be welcomed back after receiving the wrong orders. Typical that even to this day they confuse me with Olivia." A small laugh escaped her lips before turning towards the others that had already gotten in their assigned groups and departing towards the oncoming onslaught. With a sigh, Jade turned to her comrades and gestured for them to follow suit, leading the way into their formation with as little words as possible.

Quite frankly, she was muted by fear. Jade didn't know how to even begin to form a sentence, much less give commands during this time.

"Do we have any plan of attack? We need to figure out what we're going to do or else we'll all be mid-day snacks for the titans."

Jay's words were true,and struck a cord in Jade. She cleared her throat after a moment passed before deciding that she needed to speak up, "Reese, you're the closest to being as fast as I am. I want you to stick by me at all times in case there are any titans that get too close. We should focus on helping citizens, but if need be, you and I will go behind it and take out the legs." She hated that she was now becoming a bit bossy and demanding but there was little to no time to wait for protests. Her eyes went over to Grant, knowing that he was the best with his gear and could efficiently get up to the titan's nape. "Grant, you will be taking the titan out for good. Once Reese and I knock it down, that's your cue to hit it where it hurts." "What am I? Chopped liver?" Jay's ignorance irritated Jade, causing her to snap at him without her thinking twice, "You will be if you don't shut up. You'll distract any titans in order for us to..." Jade's words were cut off mid sentence as her eyes widened in horror. As they flew by buildings, she did not think that the titans would be anywhere near them, but she was wrong. It wasn't horribly tall, about six meters, but the dead eyes that stared back at her were enough to chill the small girl's bones. "T-titan... Titan to your right!!"

"On it, short boss!"

Jay was the first to truly react, sending his body in a sort of loop before launching it's way towards the titan that was reaching into a house full of screaming people. Jade took little time to make sure that the hideous beast was distracted before she shouted for Reese and followed after Jade, zooming through the alleys and streets so fast it made everything besides her turn into a giant blur. Not really measuring her distance, she had gone well past the titan, but it allowed for her to get a better angle as to be able to cut right behind its legs. She knew she had only cut the first leg deep enough to make it fall on one knee, but she would need Reese to come through the opposite side to cut through the rest of the leg that she couldn't cut deep enough. 'Please work, please work, please work!'

"I think I pissed myself!"

She could not help but smile at the small cadet's euphoric joke, swinging herself back onto their vantage point to stand beside Emil. Although they had both been part of the same cadet programme she had never truly understood just how fast and just how good Emil was with the Gear until he had attacked the Titan. Waiting until the very last moment he had avoided its gaping mouth before landing the killing below cleanly as if he had been doing it his entire life. She looked at the blades in her own hands, still stained with steaming Titan blood and was surprised at the chips already appearing in the blades. They had been told how tough Titan skin was but the instructors had demonstrated the strength of the steel in their blades; the damage from the single attack struck home just how hard to kill the Titans were.

"Stay alert, that's just the first one. We'll hold here before slowly pulling back. Nice job, Emil. I'm glad I've got you on my team." She said the last quietly so that the other team could not hear before turning her attention back to the bottom of the street where two more Titans were making their way up. Both had already spotted the soldiers on the rooftops and eyed them with that deathly blank stare as they trudged towards them. Grimacing at their size, both taller than the previous Titan, she readied her blades and dropped off of the rooftop again. "We'll take the one on the right. Helen, you distract the left and Russ take it down. Try and get them to turn away from each other so you don't get caught."

She swung close to their targeted Titan, reeling in her hooks quickly to avoid being grabbed and then pulling herself up onto the rooftop rapidly with a burst of gas. The other Titan started to pay attention but she saw Helen shoot behind it, slicing her way across to draw its attention before swinging herself through its legs and back up the way they had come. The Titan followed the speedy girl, seemingly unaware of Russell jumping between rooftops to circle around it. Lauren dropped back into the street, as if making towards the breach, and taunted the Titan closer towards her but always staying just out of reach.

The two separated, giving Emil and Russell clear ground so as not to get caught in one another's lines of attack. She watched expectantly, seeing Russell ready to propel himself off the rooftop to claim his first kill while Emil snuck up on her Titan. Both she trusted to make the blow clean, Emil had already proved himself and she knew that where Russell was slow he made up for it with power and he required no finesse to take out the Titan so cleanly laid out for him. Then she spotted the huge foot sticking out from a road further up the street, behind Helen and in her blind spot. A hand reached around and then a Titan's head, zoning in on the small girl. It was small, only a five metre but small enough to be hidden by the buildings surrounding them, small enough for their lookout not to have seen it.

Russell was too focused on his kill, already leaping off the building to administer the blow, and Emil was looking the wrong way so only she could see it. Gritting her teeth, Lauren released her hooks and applied new ones, heading straight for the Titan she was meant to be baiting. Its jaws opened wide and its hands reached for her, like a child trying to grab a toy in some kind of horrific parody of life, but she shot a hook into the building to her right, pulling herself sharply out of its way before immediately applying one to the left of its head and shooting across its face. The sudden change of direction jerked her body painfully but she ignored the discomfort, using a burst of gas to raise her trajectory to avoid the snapping jaws, her blades slicing through the Titan's softer eyes as she shot past its face.

Safely away from her victim now, Lauren applied hooks ahead of her, using her gas dangerously fast to propel herself as quickly as possible up the street, spinning wildly up into the air before reapplying her hooks for the next pull. Her body ached and she felt lightheaded from the constant changes of direction but there was no time to feel weak, no time to worry about the creature she had barely hampered behind her. Emil would have to make good on the kill by himself, up ahead Russell was clambering free from his successful attack and only now spotting the Titan sprinting down the street. It was fast, much faster than the plodding creatures they had faced so far.

Had to be an Abnormal, didn't it!

Russell was calling to Helen who turned to finally spot the creature thudding towards her. It dived toward the girl, grabbing her in one hand as it pulled to a halt, eyes focused entirely on its prey. Russell was yelling for help, Helen was crying hysterically for her life, Lauren was screaming madly as she swept up from below. She rammed her blades into the Titan's wrists, hooks planted into its arm so that she was standing upside down. Switching her grip and with a cry of rage and desperation she sliced the blades back outwards. Blood poured down onto her from the wrist and she saw Helen fall free from its limp grip. The blonde girl had the presence of mind to dodge the Titan's other hand as it reached up to grab her, swinging around to its rear.

Lauren released her hooks and shot herself directly at the ground, twisting and firing hooks up at rooftop on the left at the last moment and yanking herself back up in a curve that had her face barely a foot from the cobbled ground in an effort to lose the Titan but it was an Abnormal and behaved less slowly than the others had. Its hand swung down and an outstretched finger clipped her side lightly but the force was enough to send her risky manoeuvre into a mad, uncontrolled spin. Her hooks disengaged and she couldn't reorient herself and retain control.

Her side flared with pain, she was sure the ribs were cracked, and her mind span with the extreme forces she had put herself through in too short a space of time. She had been too desperate to protect her team, she knew, but what else could she do? Vomit rose in her throat, her rapid rise finally slowing before she began to fall, still spinning. She clutched desperately for her handles but seemed unable to locate the triggers for the hooks; she was still spinning too fast to try and manage her descent even if she could find a place to apply the hooks and her mind began to go blank as the world span and span.

I come back and its all gone to hell, she sighed as she arched through the skyline. The world around her trembled with the heavy foot falls of bumbling titans; while the air hissed with the sound of cadets whizzing past on their gear.

From the corner of her eye she could see the steam billow off of freshly wet blades, titans dropping to their knees as the cadets wore them down.

It was a glorious sight to behold.

And Mora’s fingers twitched to pull her own blades from their sheaths, but there was a different task set before her.

Her feet slammed into the rooftop, shaking the panels as she barreled across the slanted top. There was no time to hesitate. Mora leapt from one rooftop to another, her trained eyes pinpointed on the dark headed figure that plummeted through the air. She’d only have one shot at this. Miss, and the girl would die. Hit awkwardly, and risk getting them both injured which would probably also lead to their deaths.

Come on. Come on. She let out a burst of gas, sending her sprawling off the side. Mora let her body drop through the air like a stone before sending her hooks straight into the side of a clock tower. She swung, hard, as she pulled her limbs in close to pick up speed.

One shot.

Gas hissed in the air as the hooks snapped, reeling back in as Mora felt herself slice through the sky. Lauren was in her path; limbs whipping in the air as she spun. There was no avoiding it, the slight pain as her body collided with the woman’s and the faint 'oomf' that escaped her lips.

They started to drop.

She arched back, glaring as the cobbled road rushed up as if to greet them. With one arm fastened around Lauren's limp body Mora shot off her hooks, jerking them up and to the left. It was sloppy—she knew it. Mora could feel her gear tighten under the pressure and her body protest the sudden change in direction but that was the least of her concern.

The titan rumbled the earth behind her and she sent out a small prayer that the rest could handle it in her wake. Her eyes frantically scanning the bleary rush of buildings around her; she just needed to find the right one.

There! her mind cheered, as she sent her hooks out once more, releasing more gas as they soared.

Mora bent her legs slightly as she knocked the heavy soles of her heels together. Glass splintered beneath her force, sending little crystal shards dancing in the air as they rolled into the darkened room.

A sharp click echoed as her hooks returned to their chamber and Mora scrambled off of the woman’s body. "Lauren?” her voice was shrill as she pulled her close. "Law, you have to wake up. You need to wake up now. We’re not safe here.”She gave the woman a little shake, fingers trembling as searched for a pulse.

Adrenaline snapped beneath her skin, as the realization hit her fresh. Lauren had been spinning, madly, in the air. Sent flying by a titan but it didn’t dawn on her, not until she had a moment of calm, that Lauren might have been already passed help.

She bit back a tremble of panic as she felt the thrum of Lauren’s heartbeat beneath her fingertips. She was alive. At least for now.

“Ra?”

Oh thank the heavens! She pulled Lauren up into a tight embrace. “You’re okay!”

“You’re . . . hurting me,” Lauren whispered into Mora’s shoulder.

"Oh!” Mora released her, wiping brimming tears away with the back of her hand. She marveled down at Lauren's face, her heart aching as she realized just how painful their time apart truly was.

"We need to go,” Mora whispered as she pulled her gaze away from Lauren, her face flush.

Without waiting for Lauren to respond she pulled her close once again. “Come on, hold onto me. I’ll get you back to the medics.”

She felt Lauren’s arms wrap around her as she stood, lifting them both up. “What about Emil? There’s an abnormal out there.”

Mora shook her head in disbelief, even with her own life at stake Lauren was still more concerned with the lives of others. How typical.

"I'll come back for them. Right now I need to get you to a safe place. Just hold on.”

They teetered on the edge of the broken window as Mora scanned their surroundings. It didn’t look like any of the titans had followed her but she didn’t want to take that chance. With a flick of her fingers she sent her hooks soaring and the duo shot back out of the building. If I hurry I can make it back before anyone else gets hurt, she lied to herself.

---

---

The flames of battle raged on in the city of Trost as the Stationary Guard and Cadets fought off the inevitable horde of Titans. Gabriel, though not quite as fast as Tanner, was an incredibly strong young man. Even though his skill at teamwork was rather lacking, he was able to see the move that Tanner had taken to distract the Titan long enough for him to get a clean hit. Of course, the situation changed dramatically when she was forced to evade the Titan's own counter atack. Gripping the blades tightly, Gabriel pushed his fingers down onto the device, the gas accelerating him quickly through the air. Forcing his way through a small black cloud from a recently made fire, Gabriel found himself facing a Titan for the first time. His fear gripped him like he did to the handles of the Three-Dimensional Maneuver Gear, but he had to be strong. That was the only way to survive and lead his team to victory. Of course, it was no small task to just wave off the horrifying sight of such an grotesque monster. Legends circulated like wildfire on the brutality of the Titans. Of course, most of it was true, since Gabriel witnessed first-hand how cruel the cold the Titans were when it came to their never-ending hunger and need to annihilate human life wherever they found it.

The fear was gone the second the Titan turned to face Gabriel. Taking it's place was the heart of a warrior, ready to face his long-awaited foe for the last and final time. With precision and great strength, Gabriel cut deeply into the Titan's neck as a spray of blood exploded from it's body, leaving a large form of steam to slowly grow above it's not decaying body. Looking back at Tanner, who had nearly been squashed, Gabriel felt a small tinge of worry strike his heart. He couldn't worry about her now, though. She was ranked the #1 Top Cadet of their class. She would be fine. He had to worry about the civilians. Making another move with his gear, Gabriel found the next engagement far easier on his own, albeit a bit more complex. A titan, which made it's way over to a small group of civilians trapped in an alley, was nearing it's next victim until Gabriel arrived. Finding the space too close for comfort, Gabriel managed to squeeze through the alleyway with his gear, flying towards the Titan head on while it was distracted. As it look up at the oncoming threat, it's sight was blinded by the shine of metal, until it went black. Blinded, the Titan reared back in pain and cried out loudly, it's hands reaching for it's face in order to ease the pain. Unfortunately, it had no way to protect itself from Gabriel's offense, and was cut down easily by the young man.

He took a deep breath as he looked down to the civilians and called down to them to move. "Make your way to Wall Rose immediately and evacuate! We'll hold the rest of them off for you! Go, now!" The civilians ran without a single protest to the orders given to them. Better to live as a refugee than as food for the Titans. Standing on the roof quietly, Gabriel took an extremely short break to catch his breath. Wiping a small bit of the previous Titan's blood off of his cheek, Gabriel tried to analyze the situation his team was currently in. With Titan's incoming and the main defense of the hole slowly deteriorating, their job would certainly only get harder. Perhaps, he thought, it would be better to recollect at a nearby location and find a way to get the civilian's out in a more timely ma- where the hell is Jakob!? Where was he indeed? Of course he was nowhere to be found. Gabriel suddenly felt a quick pain in his forehead from the stress of the situation. If Jakob was fulfilling his duty, how would their team survive? There was no way they could all do it on their own. Sure, two kills was impressive for an amateur, let alone one, but with the amount of Titans coming in at the rate they were, neither he or the squad would last long!

"That damn idiot..." Gabriel muttered under his breath as he moved to find him, assisting any lost civilians that he could in an attempt to guiding them in the right direction in the least likely Titan filled areas that he could see from above. Of course, Jakob was unable to be spotted, and Gabriel found himself calling out to Mary. "Where is Jakob? He isn't at or anywhere near his po-" His words were cut short by the cries of a young boy. Gabriel turning his attention swiftly, caught sight of a young boy dragging his lifeless mother's body down a street. Upon closer inspecting, it was clear that the lady was dead; the lower half of her body was missing as the boy hopelessly cried out for her to wake up and move. Gabriel could feel himself shaking. For the first time, he was breaking...in front of one of his subordinates no less. Pushing past Mary as quickly as he could, Gabriel charged forth to help the child. Of course, it was never really that simple. At the corner of his eye, Gabriel spotted the offender of the heinous act.

A Titan, lanky and large, no more than twenty meters, was making it's way towards the child. At first, Gabriel thought nothing much of it. It would be an easy enough kill, he thought...until it began running. Alarmed, Gabriel squeezed down on the handles of his gear to increase his speed. It was all in vain however, as he noticed the Abnormal Titan would reach the child first. Thinking quickly, Gabriel pulled out a small flare gun, an emergency tool that was handed to him in the chance that an Abnormal Titan was spotted in his area, and fired it towards the Titan's face, hoping to not only grab it's attention, but to alert his team and the nearby ones of the danger. The distraction worked well enough as the Titan turned to face him. The boy, now fully behind cover, waited for the area to be clear before he continued down the street. Although the Abnormal Titan was quick, Gabriel was smart enough to move out of the way, and cut the beasts eyes just like he did with the last.

The desired effect was the same; the creature was rendered immobile due to the inability to see and the intense pain that it felt. Good! Now was his chance to strike! Turning around towards the Abnormal Titan once more, Gabriel throttled the gear to it's maximum speed as he raced towards it's nape. There could be no mercy for this thing! Now was the time to strike! The child must be safe! It had to be safe! This well placed blow wi- WHAM! The sound of bone snapping and being completely destroyed rang out in Gabriel's ears. As he fell from the sky, the noises all around seemed to stop, his ears ringing from the intense sound that he had heard. The sky was blue...beautiful, yet terrifying. Was this the last thing that he would see? Not his lover, but the sky that he had seen every day? That same, boring blue sky? No...there was something else entering his vision now. A leg. His leg. The sight left him as he crashed down into a nearby building. The black flare that had gone up remained in the air for all to see, until it slowly descended, and the Abnormal Titan slowly recovered it's sight. What seemed like hours was mere minutes, as Gabriel's vision slowly got harder and harder to keep open.

The area, now swarming with Titans, was beginning to get dangerous. Several had now passed the very same Abnormal Titan that Gabriel engaged, overrunning the area slowly, but surely. The Abnormal Titan, finally having recovered it's sight, cornered the small boy from earlier....and began to feast a street across from Gabriel's supposed corpse.

Still a bit in shock that he had managed to take down a titan, Emil was slow to reply to Lauren's reassurance, "Yeah... Yeah thanks." he spoke softly to the girl before she began to call out orders once more. Snapped back into the present by Lauren, Emil focused on the two titans coming up the street. They were taller than the first one, and closely packed, 'Things must not be going well in the Vanguard if the numbers keep increasing.' Emil thought to himself as Lauren leapt from the rooftop and sped away.

Taking the longer way around, Emil began moving along the rooftops so as to be behind the titan once Lauren finally had it distracted enough. Using his gas to leap across gaps in the rooftops Emil was making good time getting into position and had yet to even fire a hook when he noticed that Lauren had the titan paying full attention to her and Helen was making good on her end as well. Giving a nod to Russell who was running along the rooftop opposite of Emil, the younger boy jumped off the roof and landed his hooks in the titan they had been assigned, heading in for the kill. With Russell on the move and already on his way to his titan, Emil jumped from the building and shot a hook for the shoulder of his titan that was clearly focused on Lauren.

The whir of his wire being reeled in and the hiss of his gas filled his ears as he closed the gap with his titan, and then Lauren just left, flying past him as fast as she could. Surprised by her sudden leaving Emil lost focus on his titan and watched the girl fly off before the whir of his wires reminded him of just what he was currently doing. Emil turned his head back to the titan to find that it was beginning to turn around to follow Lauren as she flew off. His original hit botched Emil hit his gas hard and released his hook sending himself forward toward the titan. As he flew through the air he shot another hook for the side of the titans face, landing it cleanly in hits jaw and reeled in. He flew on a path that sent him past the titans nape in a parallel fashion, all he had to do was extend his blades out to his right and the kill would be secured.

In the blink of an eye Emil shot past the titan, leaving a spray of blood behind him where the titans nape used to be. Confident that he had finished off the titan he planted a hook in a tall building to his left and careened around the side of it in a wide arc. With a touch of gas and a hook placed into a watch tower nearby Emil shot up over the buildings and back towards where he had come from.

Now facing the direction that Lauren had traveled, Emil was stunned to find both Helen and Russell engaged with a large titan. There was a large swathe of blood on the ground beneath the titan and Lauren was no where to be found, "No..." he said aloud as he pressed the gas and shot off toward the larger titan. As he closed the distance he watched as both Helen and Russel shot about randomly around the titan, barely managing to dodge its hands as they did. He planted a hook in a building and landed on the roof shattering a few of the sun baked tiles as he took off running to assist them. Russel planted a hook in a building to the left of the titan, his wire just above the titans arm and began to fly up when the titan raised its arm to try and intercept him, everything would have been fine were it not for the placement of his wire which became tangled on the titans forearm and was rendered useless to Russell, serving as nothing more than a death trap to the boy.

Helen screamed as Russel waved his blades at the titan who was now holding his arm above his head as to place the immobilized Russell square in front of his face. It lifted its arm up faster than normal, sending Russell up into the air in a moment of weightlessness before it clapped both of its hands together on the boy, obscuring him from view. Emil found himself stood still on the roof as he watched inhuman amounts of blood seem to pour from the titans hands before it began to rub them together which was followed by it shoving the contents of its palms that used to be Russell into its mouth. He stared blankly as it swallowed what was once a cadet and seemed to smile contently for all to see. Helen was screaming louder now, something about where everyone had gone and how this couldn't be happening.

She took off down the road heading toward the breach, flying close to the ground as she tried to put distance between herself and the titan that had just eaten Russell. Emil continued to watch, still stuck in place and gawking at the massive amount of blood beneath the titan ahead of him.

"Helen! Helen come back!"

Emil turned his head in surprise to watch Lauchlan, their designated look-out, go flying past him and toward the titan that had just killed Russell as he chased after Helen. The boy seemed to be disregarding the large titan in favor of focusing on his speed and catching up to his teammate who seemed to have lost her sense. "Don't... It's too late..." Emil let out in a raspy voice that he could barely hear himself.

Lauchlan was almost past the titan without it even seeming to notice him when it suddenly and quickly turned his way, the speed of its movements were obviously not that of a normal titan, "Abnormal!" Emil called out, finally finding his voice and his strength as Lauchlan was just moments away from disaster. He pressed his triggers down and shot his hooks out toward the building across the road and pulled himself into the air, at the halfway point of the road he released his hooks and twisted his body to be facing down the road toward the abnormal. He hooked the buildings on both sides of the road and shot off for the abnormal titan.

Lauchlan screamed in horror as the titan reached out for him and managed to snag the boys leg as he tried to go past with a loud pop as something broke in the boys body. The screaming ended abruptly after the pop as Lauchlan's body hung limp from one leg in the abnormals hand, his blades dangling below him as they were let go by his powerless hands. Emil raced toward the abnormal as fast as he could, but watched as it simply threw Lauchlan into the air and caught him on his fall with his mouth like a dog catching a scrap of food. aware of what he was about to get mixed up in, Emil swallowed the massive amount of fear that was bursting forth from him and landed a hook past the abnormal titans leg and shot himself under it as he reached his blades out to cut the titans ankle apart.

As he flew past he released his hook and smashed into the ground, rolling a few times before coming to a complete stop. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could he turned to witness the abnormal titan still standing and now limping in his direction, "GOD DAMNIT" Emil yelled as he shot a hook to the right side of the titans chest and hit the gas. He flew up toawrds the titan, which brought its hands out just as fast to meet him to which Emil responded by spinning himself and managing to take off two of the titans fingers causing it to reel back slightly.

His window open He stopped reeling in the wire and simply hit the gas, falling like a pendulum beneath the titans arm pit and then back up over its back. He planted his unused hook in the nape of the titans neck and released the other before reeling in with the help of gas to slash at the meat of the titan. A spray of the titans blood shot out into Emil's face, blinding him as the titan fell to the ground with Emil attached. The impact wasn't too bad, as there was a large amount of titan acting as a shock absorber beneath him but nonetheless it hurt. Emil feverishly wiped at his eyes as he kneelt atop the abnormal's now steaming carcass. He felt the blood on his face begin to dissipate and was finally able to open his eyes enough to see as he began to hear the foot falls of what had to have been at least a dozen more titans.

He stood up and used his gear to place himself on a building to his left. With his new vantage point he stared down the road in the direction that Helen had taken off in but was unable to find any sign of her. Reluctantly he stepped from the rooftop and took off to find her.

"Helen! Helen where the fuck did you go!" he yelled as he flew along, now at least five blocks from their original position and he had yet to see any sign of the younger girl. He looked ahead as Wall Rose began to loom higher above him, he was getting into the area that had once been part of the Vanguard and had yet to see a single living person, only what was left of them. To avoid a 12 meter class titan Emil detoured around a clock tower and landed on a rooftop, sprinting across it to save gas he noticed the hand of a relatively small titan resting on the tiles at the end of the building. He slowed to a crawl and carefully made his way to the edge of the building only to reel back and vomit as his mind registered the group of three to five meter titans that were feasting on the mangled innards of the body of a girl clad in the remains of a cadet uniform with twin-tails covered in her own blood.

Being sure to pull himself far enough away from the edge that none of the titans could reach him, Emil continued to vomit as his mind ran through everything that had just happened. He raised himself up to a kneeling position on the rooftop. Around him Trost was in chaos, fires were tearing through areas closer to the breach, there were the obvious signs of lost fights versus titans everywhere he looked as blood and pieces of people lay haphazardly strewn about the area around him, titans were everywhere and he could see larger ones making their way toward the left flank, and he was now the only survivor of his squad, "I'm all alone..." he said quietly to himself as he dropped his worn out blades to his sides and simply stared at the titans hand just meters ahead of him as it rested on the rooftop.

The squad members soon returned to Gabriel, or at least Mary and Tanner had done so. Jakob was still nowhere to be seen, but they couldn't look for him. They had a job to do--to protect the defenseless civilians from the carnivorous beasts that broke through the wall. Thankfully, their training had prepared them for most of the horrors on the battlefield. Together, Gabriel and Tanner brought down one Titan, and Gabriel made quick work of another distracted Titan. There seemed nothing that could stop them, especially with Mary acting as support.

Without lookout support, the squad was forced to keep an eye out for Titans and civilians alike. Regardless, they didn't have to look far before they spotted their next foe. A lanky Titan of at least twenty meters was slowly approaching a young boy, all alone by himself. The boy was crying loudly, dragging half of a dead corpse across the streets of Trost and leaving a messy trail of red blood and ravaged innards. Despite surviving the hell that was Shiganshina, Tanner was vividly shaken by the display--that could've been Hannah, after all.

Gabriel, too, was shaken by the corpse dragging and the child's cries as if he was in disbelief that his mother was dead. However, something didn't sit well with Tanner when Gabriel charged into battle to help the child. "Gabriel, wait!" Tanner shouted as the Titan broke into a dead sprint, signifying that it was an abnormal. Upon confirmation, Mary and Tanner ran across the rooftops as quick as they could to outflank the Titan while Gabriel fiddled with a signal flare. They needed to finish the abnormal, lest it became a bigger problem than it was now.

The black smoke canister flew out the flare gun at breakneck speed, exploding directly in the face of the Titan. Taking advantage of the distraction, the girls readied themselves to attack from different angles. Mary stood on a roof of a butcher's shop, ready to swing low and slice the Titan's Achilles' heel, while Tanner waited for an opening to attack the nape on a second floor walkway that connected two buildings. Nevertheless, no amount of schooling could prepare the cadets for how fast a Titan could recover.

The twenty meter Titan was fast to ignore the black smoke, and promptly smacked Gabriel with enough force to send him crashing into the ground, while one of his legs were thrown into the air like a mangled bean bag. Tanner watched in horror, gasping as she saw her lover turn into mushed peas and a shell of his former self. Struggling against her emotions, Tanner charged into battle, while Mary stood frozen and fearful for her own life. Tanner didn't blame any of the cadets for being scared, but now she had a score to settle and stood fearless.

"Mary, watch for any incoming Titans! This one is mine!" Tanner shouted against the screams of death and bloodshed heard throughout Trost. The child had been a lost cause, devoured by the same Titan that now played with his mother's body like how a dog would play with a chew toy. Looking around for a way to outmaneuver the abnormal, Tanner noticed a nearby bell tower that was used to tell the time in Trost. Planting the gear's hooks into the stone, Tanner pulled herself towards the tower, hanging off the edge like a monkey.

Thankfully for the girl, Titans weren't known to show intelligence. As abnormal as the Titan was, it followed Tanner's plan to a T. Like it did with Gabriel, the Titan smashed a hand into the tower, causing it to crumble under the sudden impact. Using gas to accelerate herself out of the way of debris, Tanner flew through the air as the stone and bell fell onto the Abnormal. Saying her blessings, Tanner hitched her wires into the Titan's back and sent herself spiraling downwards.

The iron bamboo blades shredded through the Titan's nape, only stopped by a sudden impact with a chunk of broken stone, shattering them on impact. In the midst of replacing her blades, Tanner heard a somewhat familiar voice call out from behind the smoke and dust created from the damage the Titan did to the tower. With the heal of hte gear, Tanner climbed a wall of a house to have a better view of the situation, but it was just as horrifying as she thought it would be.

"Help me, ple-Aaaaaaaaaaagraaaaaah!" The missing cadet, Jakob begged to Mary as she watched a pack of Titans munch on him as if he was a buffet. One had grasped Jakob from a wire, leaving him dangling, but giving the rest of them evidence that he tried to play the hero just as Gabriel did. Looking back to Gabriel, Tanner was at a loss of what to do in the fucked up situation they were thrown into. On one end, Jakob was still alive despite being munched on, and on the other, she had her beloved to worry about.

Besides, there was also gas to worry over. The battle was becoming one of attrition, and the vanguard was almost crumbling away under the sheer might of the Titans. A choice had to be made, and saving Jakob soon wasn't an option as his limbs were torn from him, falling into a stomach of a smaller Titan. The Titan, hardly five meters, was quick to notice Tanner and Mary as it broke from the crowd distracted by Jakob's corpse--now a bloody mess and terrible sight.

Targeting Mary first, Tanner tried to get the cadet's attention to move. Thankfully, her silent waving was able to alert Mary, who started swinging down the street as a distraction for Tanner to strike the nape of the short Titan. Waiting on top of a roof, Tanner looked back at the Titans eating away at Jakob. At least we've been somewhat useful, damn it! Tanner thought, feeling a flurry of emotions from hatred towards the veterans in the rearguard and despair because they were doomed in the end.

Using her gear to swing herself downwards, Tanner skidded across the ground as her blades sliced the nape of the Titan. As clean as a kill gets, the misshaped midget Titan fell to the ground with ease, but it wasn't enough to save them from the Titan onslaught. As if it came out of nowhere, a much larger Titan crawled from its hiding place and snatched Tanner before she could react. Struggling to break free,
Tanner was lifted high and the Titan went to open its mouth for a human snack.

"Take Gabriel and run, Mary!" Tanner shouted, knowing that it would be better if she could save just a few more lives during the last seconds of hers. Still, Tanner struggled against fate, and freed her blades in a messy display as they sliced through Titan flesh. "I graduated at the top of my class, but you are nothing but another Titan! NOTHING! BUT! ANOTHER! TITAN!" Tanner shouted, fearless as the Titan went to drop her into his mouth.

Let go from the hold he had around her, Tanner fell downwards, but death wasn't about to claim her life. Her blades were shoved into the Titan's eyes as deep as Tanner was able to force them. "I'll wipe your miserable ass out of this city and beyond, you little shit!" Tanner exclaimed as the other Titans took notice of the incident. Falling to the ground at a fast pace, Tanner smirked back at the towering Titan howling in pain. At least she'd be going out on her own terms, and Gabriel would be safe.

---

Connor knew that he would never be the same after this day. This attack had shown him why he'd chosen to become a soldier. As he saw the events unfold around him, saw his teammates flattened, torn in half or, eaten alive, he knew that his job was to stop this from ever happening again. That's why there were hundreds of soldiers in Trost, fighting for the lives of the people that tried to flee. That's why his squadmates had willingly died to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Being the closest squad to HQ, Connor may have been the only person in Trost that knew help wasn't coming. The HQ was surrounding by Titans, leaving the refill teams trapped and useless. The soldiers in the city were waiting for someone that wouldn't be coming, not unless they could rally and clear HQ.

He was alone on a roof, several streets away from HQ. There were no titans around him, so he'd allowed himself to rest. He had to catch up with the flank teams and tell them the situation. Decidedly, he rose from his crouched position. He shifted himself to fix his harness, then stepped towards the edge of the roof. He pushed off with his back foot and sprinted towards the edge, leaping off and shooting his hooks into another building, propelling himself through the air. As he sailed towards another roof, he braced himself and rolled as he made impact with the tiles. His bloody swords in hand, he sprinted towards the edge of the roof, jumping across a street to save his gas. From his high point he spotted two soldiers in the distance, but he couldn't make their faces. One of them seemed injured, so he turned his course to see if he could help. As he prepared to jump from the roof, he was taken by surprise as the hand of a Titan collided with his right side, sending him through the air to crash against the adjacent roof.

He cracked the roof tiles on impact, all the wind being knocked from his chest. The world seemed to spin around him as he stared up at the sky, black spots dancing across his vision. He managed to roll over on his side, eyes locking on the relatively small titan that trudged towards him. It raised its hand and looked as though it would swat Connor like a fly. In a moment of panic he squeezed the trigger on his handle and the gas sent him sliding across the roof. He swung his legs around as he gathered himself to prepare and fight back. As his body swiveled around, he fired his hooks, one into the Titan's hand as it smashed the roof, and the other into the adjacent building. He swung himself towards the Titan, propelling himself to the creature's left side, releasing his hooks and landing on the roof behind it. He jumped to the ground, using the titan's lethargic movements to his advantage. He shoot two more hooks into either leg, propelling himself forward. He slice creature's calf muscles before he was propelled between its legs.

As the titan crashed to the ground, he sailed back to it, engaging the wire brakes and landing on its back. He made no hesitation before slicing both of his blades across the nape of the creature's neck. As the Titan fell limp, he jumped to the ground, his chest heaving from the amount of energy he'd just exerted. He heard the thundering footsteps of more titans and decided that it was not time to celebrate his victory, especially since it had been such a minor titan. He didn't want to test his luck again, so he shot himself onto the roof tops. Resuming his route to the lone pair of cadets. He ran toward the edge of the roof shooting his hooks into a higher building.

He sailed into the air above the roofs, but his stomach lurched as he felt his gear go slack. He was out of gas. He swore as he plummeted to the roof below, landing with a hard crash on his side. He grit his teeth and clenched his jaw, repressing the cry of pain that threatened to release as he felt his shoulder shift from its socket. He rolled over to take the pressure off of his arm. He breathed through clenched teeth as stood too his feet. He allowed himself no time to second-guess his decision as he used his right arm, his good arm, to lift and pull his left arm up, hearing a loud pop as his shoulder relocated. He let his arms fall to his side, then bent down to pick up his blades. He sheathed the left blade, but kept his right sword handy. He saw the cadets he'd spotted earlier, on the next roof below him. He recognized Mora and Lauren, the latter of whom appeared to have sustained injuries. He jumped down to the roof and immediately spotted the flairs on Lauren's belt.

"Mora, Lauren! Good to see y'all alive." He ran to them and knelt beside the two girls. "How bad is it? HQ is completely surrounded, Refill isn't coming anytime soon. He pointed to the flair rounds, saying, "We need to everyone to retreat. I'm out of gas and can't get the message everyone.

@Jinxer@HecateProxy

The screaming perforated her thoughts. Everywhere around them was bending until it snapped, buildings shattering across the skyline and her fellow cadets raging against the swarming titans. It burned at her, that he ever quelling fury that came with the onslaught of her people, and Mora had been almost consumed by her guilt as she soared on by when Lauren requested a moment to stop.

She wanted to press her, see her delivered into skilled hands so she could return and help her teammates but instead she felt the crunch of her boots on a rooftop and the cool air sucking the warmth from where Lauren once clung to her.

Blood pooled from Lauren’s mouth as bile splattered from her lips, and Mora felt herself begin to splinter beneath the turmoil that boiled within. No, hold yourself together, she mentally berated herself. She needed to stay strong, Lauren needed her and her strength if they were going to make it through this. So with a quite tight-lipped smile she padded towards her fallen friend, clinging to the shreds of strength that was quickly beginning to fray.

"Ra, why did you come here?" she asked.
"I... don't mean it like that. I thought that you were away." Law paused, opening her eyes to look at her and Mora felt her calmness slip a little more. She needed her to live, more and more Mora felt herself draw a little closer as if just her presence alone would somehow make things right. But there was pain the girl’s eyes, pain and what looked like a little sadness that Mora refused to accept.

"I thought that you'd be safe." she sighed, looking up at the heavy clouds above. "God, I missed you though. When you were reassigned I . . . didn't know where I was anymore. It was like the ground beneath me was gone. And then . . . this." She waved towards herself as Mora watched tears gather in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you, Ra. For coming back."

Mora held back a tremble as the world around around them began to blur. Her own eyes stung with the prices of tears, threatening to fall as she looked over Lauren’s damaged body. "Of course,” her voice betrayed her, heavy with fear that laced down her spine. “I couldn’t allow you to have all the fun.” Mora let out a weak chuckle. She needed to get her back, that was her mission. Save Lauren’s life and the rest would fall into place but as they say there, Mora doubted her strength as she felt the tear drops drip down her cheeks—hot and thick. She didn’t want to cry, there would be time for that later when she knew she could let her guard down but apparently her body didn’t feel the same way as it gave a little shake.

I’m not strong enough, yet.

"Mora, Lauren! Good to see y'all alive," a voice startled her back to reality.

“Connor!” Mora cried out as he ran to them.

"How bad is it? HQ is completely surrounded, Refill isn't coming anytime soon." He pointed to the flare rounds, saying, "We need to everyone to retreat. I'm out of gas and can't get the message everyone.”

"She’s bad, vomiting blood. Lauren needs to get medical attention immediately,” Mora confirmed, not bothering to hide her weakness in front of him. At least they were no longer alone, though by the sound of it there wasn’t anytime to waste.

Mora rocked back onto the heels of her feet, brows knitted together as she scanned the horizon. I have to do something. She affirmed her thoughts with a quick curt nod, before looking down at her companions. Lauren needed someone and the cadets also needed help. Without a word she removed her gas canisters and handed them to Connor.

“They’re a little under half full, but they should hold out until you get her back to safety.” Mora gingerly stepped over Lauren, fiddling with the girl’s almost empty canisters and releasing them from her gear.

"She doesn’t have much left, but it’ll do what I need it to do,” Mora paused as she leveled an intense look. Into he confused dark eyes. A small, sad smile tugged at the corners of her lips before she snapped her head back in his direction. “Connor, I’m trusting you to get Lauren back safely. Do not fail me.”

Mora carefully stepped away from her friends, snapping Lauren’s almost empty canisters into her gear. They were on a high tower, high enough to send the signal far into the greying sky. With a stony silence she picked up the flares and quickly shot one into the air. The sound hissed in her ears and as the light bloomed across her vision. Looking back at the two she handed one back to Connor as she said, “When you’re good bit away from here, shoot one off just in case.” As she drew in a deep breath Mora cast one last longing look at Lauren before she took a running leap off the buildings edge. Mora needed to fire the signal again but she needed to get some distance between them and her. Too close together and the signals would be a waste, she needed to warn the cadets about their need to retreat.

She pulled the triggers and listened as her hooks soared from her gear, swinging her onto the next set of rooftops tiles. Her heart stammered in her chest, it didn’t matter if she made it back as long as Connor did what she asked of him. Everything would be alright. A flimsy hope that Mora poured herself into as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop.

Her feet pummeled the shaky tiles below as she snaked her way across the crumbling buildings. Everywhere she looked was soaked in death, not just that of humans but death of a society. These were homes, playgrounds and businesses. These were people’s lives being so callously ripped from them and even if they did manage to escape with their life, they’d never be the same.

Come on, she urged her feet to move faster. Mora wasn’t as quick as some of the other cadets, the ones who could fly through the air and zip down the spines of each roof. And once upon a time she didn’t think it was necessary to be quick, not when she was so strong but now she could feel it. Her heavy thudding of boot against tile. She’d be faster if she could use her gas, a crutch she had long since learned to rely on. But Lauren’s canisters were almost depleted and Mora was loathed to burn what was left without a reason. So she made her way, painfully slow, as she gripped the next flare tightly in her hand—towards the heart of the city.

I hope I’m not too late.

The city of Trost seemed so beautiful as the young cadet drifted off into a deep sleep. Everything faded away into darkness, until he opened his eyes. In front of him, his father gave him a disappointed look and shook his head. "If you get knocked down this easily, you might as well never become a soldier, Gabe. Come on, back on your feet." The young boy rubbed his bruised cheek and stood up, standing at attention before his father. His eyes began to tear up and puffin as he waited for his father's next instruction. He stared down at Gabriel, as if judging him harshly, but let out a heavy sigh, kneeling down in front of his son. "What are you crying for, Gabriel?" The words spoken was a rare thing to Gabriel. For most of his life, he only knew his father as a military man with nothing but duty on his mind. There was hardly a soft spoken moment in their time together, but now was the first. Gabriel, unsure of how to answer, had to stand there quietly and think of what to say, still caught in surprise over the question. He father let a small smile as he held tightly onto Gabriel's shoulders as he waited. "Go on, Gabe." After a bit of hesitation, Gabriel let loose his feelings. "I'm scared..." "Scared? Scared of what? You're certainly not scared of me are you?" "No...I'm scared of being hurt."

Mr. Moreau knelt in silence from the answer, but kept his smile in front of his child. "So why are you crying?" Gabriel was confused by the reply and stared at his father, waiting for an answer. "Fear isn't something that should make you cry, even as a soldier. Fear is something you have to conquer. A true warrior knows that fear is a natural thing and is not afraid to admit their fear. It's how you deal with it that defines you." Gabriel seemed to light up at the wisdom that his father had given him and returned the smile, his tears no longer rising. His father grew a grim face and stood straight up, with Gabriel snapping to attention and sealing his lips tightly to get as serious as possible. "We will continue the boxing exercises!" Without another word, the two sparred once more, with Gabriel placing every strike with as much dedication as his small body could muster into them. This was how he was raised; as a soldier. A warrior. Warrior...? The word seemed strange to him the more he thought of it.

---

---

The pain returned as quickly as the memory faded away. Now what had replaced the comfortable image was one of terror. A blurry scene had taken over his thoughts. His father was there, screaming for mercy among a group. The sight of him being taken by large beings gripped his every attention. Was this how he died? There was no way. These large figures weren't Titans; they were cloaks with hidden faces. At first, it was nothing but a nightmare. Some kind of horrifying thought...that was until Gabriel noticed his own legs. Fear was beginning to grip him as the blurry images began to fade away. The only words that could be heard was that of muffled yelling or chanting. Something at that moment began to hurt Gabriel. His mind stung as he came to his senses to the real world. The orange sky was beginning to cover with stormy clouds. His blurry vision returned to him slowly as he noticed his legs, one broken, the other completely gone and leaving a trail of blood. In front of him, he noticed the gnawed remains of the mother, the excess of blood revealing the boys fate to him without even having to see another sign. He looked up, noticing Mary pulling him with all her might.

His eyes seemed to widen as he looked forward, noticing Tanner in the far distance. He could hardly speak as a lump began to gather in his throat. Protesting against Mary, he began to pull himself forward and out of her grasp. "Let go, damn it! I have to help her! I can't let her die alone!" No matter how much he struggled, he found her constantly trying to help him back, as if she too was desperate to do what she could to save him. With as much strength as he could muster, he took a firm grasp of her shirt, and pushed her back, knocking her into a door that had been left open due to the civilians rushing out as quickly as they could. Gabriel began to feel his heart racing as he dragged himself towards Tanner, watching her in the distance as the Titans slowly advanced towards her. His nightmare from his time as a Trainee was coming to reality. Olivia was facing the same situation perhaps; all of them were. But for her...right in front of him. His father's voice rang in his head as he felt a the strong dedication to save her rise up inside of him. He was afraid. But I am a warrior. So very afraid. A warrior. Afraid. Warrior.

Gabriel never had enough time to fully realize it. His leg slowly regenerating with a strange smoke, 'nor the thought of the impossibility of saving his lover. All there was for him to see was a flash of yellow light engulfing Tanner and the scene around him. Where he was shuffling on the ground before was now replaced with a large pile of smoke that seemed to engulf the area around him. Without any warning, a scream erupted from within the smoke, and a titan launched itself from within towards Tanner's position. Before any word might be said, Tanner would find herself facing the very same titan that she had blinded in the grip of a lean and muscular titan. It repeatedly smashed it's head into the ground, before her, until it looked towards her with a menacing glare. As if by some divine chance, she was being saved as the titan reached for her and held her in it's grasp. Yet, by another miracle, it never made any move to squash her or eat her. She was simply there, alive and well in it's iron, yet gentle grip. As the other titans moved in towards the one she was being carried by, it slowly began to back away, as if it knew that the titans were it's enemy...as if she, a simple human, was it's ally.

The sweetness of death.

Death was sure to come as Tanner plummeted to the ground; The cadet deciding on an instant death upon impact rather than the painfully slow death of being gnawed on by a Titan. Her mind was elsewhere as Tanner smiled to herself, remembering all the sweet moments of the nineteen years she spent behind the walls. From making new friends to becoming an adoptive sister, Tanner felt it was a life well spent. Gabriel, while legless, would be at least safe, and Hannah was alive thanks to the cadet's quick decision making. Tanner struggled until the last second to protect humanity, and refused to give in until her options were limited as they could have been.

Then, it happened--the bright flash that blinded Tanner many years ago, as well mere hours ago. Attempting to shield her eyes from the light, Tanner had been caught in the middle of her free fall by a lean and muscular Titan. The creature repeatedly smashed the other Titan against the ground, the impact killing the Titan that Tanner had blinded just moments ago. The cadet looked back at the mysterious Titan that gazed down on Tanner with a menacing glare of its own. It surely has to be an abnormal... Tanner thought, making no movement in caution of the Titan suddenly changing its mind about the human it carried.

Yet nothing did change, and the Titan backed away from the others. Tanner had been astounded by the display--not only was she was alive, but a Titan had been fighting on the side of humanity. It can't be... Can it? Tanner thought as the Titan gently set her down on a roof, away from the incoming Titans. The monstrous being was protecting her--a tiny human--from the very creatures meant to devour Tanner and the rest of humanity. Still dumbfounded, Tanner barely noticed Mary return to the rooftops with her gear swinging the cadet upwards. "I.. we... Where's Gabriel?" Tanner replied with a struggle to spit out a sentence once she realized Mary had landed near her side.

"I-I don't know!" The meek girl stammered, obviously confused and distraught by the situation. "A-all I r-remember is that G-Gabriel shoved me b-backwards... t-then he disappeared, and that T-Titan appeared out of n-nowhere!" Mary continued on to explain, distressed by the sudden disappearance of the boy she was ordered to evacuate. Tanner, too, was at a loss towards the situation. How could Gabriel just disappear? By the walls, he has only one leg now! There had been no way the cadet could have gone far. Tanner felt a urge pulling at the back of her thoughts to search for her lover, but she needed to keep a cool head despite her love getting in the way.

After all, there was much to consider. In front of them, a horde of Titans marched down the street. To look for Gabriel would mean wasting gas, and no gas around Titans usually meant death. The numbers were stacked against the two girls, and even through they had the Titan at their side, there was no way of telling how long the Titan would be on their side. Thankfully, aid was coming to the cadets in the form of a friendly face--Mora. "Mora? I thought you were one of the lucky ones not to experience this." Tanner questioned, blinking until she realized who the cadet had been.

"Not that it matters right now. We have a situation on our hands." Tanner commented, pointing to the tall Titan that had saved her earlier. "We have little gas, one of us is dead, and Gabriel..." Tanner paused, hesitating to speak before she continued. "...is missing. An abnormal caught him hard enough to send one of his legs flying. Mary went to evacuate Gabriel, but there was a bright light, and then next we knew Gabriel was missing and then that Titan appeared out of nowhere." Tanner let out a sigh as she explained the situation to Mora, and tried her best to ignore the approaching Titans.

"For all we know, the Titan is abnormal. It could have, even as we speak now, devoured one of us... but it stands ready to protect us." Another sigh was had, albeit this time more angrily. "I don't know what the hell is going on. First, the vanguard crumbles and the Titans start to eat us, then Gabriel disappears and this Titan shows up..." Tanner begins to rant, kicking a roof tile down to the streets below in obvious stress despite the clear mind she tried to have. "Where is the resupply, anyway? What about the rear guard elites, who get to sit comfortable while we get mauled and chewed on?" Tanner announced, somewhat loudly as she pointed to the bloody mess of leftover cadet and civilians.

"Life, as beautiful as it can be, is cruel and merciless." Tanner mumbled, stopping for a moment to speak to herself. Still, she shakes her head, and Tanner looks back to Mora. "I can't complain. We signed our lives away the moment we joined. I'm stupid enough to think of flocking to the Survey Corps in pursuit of my own goals, but dying is currently an option we can prevent. We need a plan. Got one, Mora? Any ideas?" Tanner asked, patiently waiting for anything Mora could spout off while the mysterious Titan watched over the cadets.

---

[centre]

Grant Hyral

_{Wall Rose - Trost District
@wolverbells@Solace}


Grant waited, at least at first. Jade swung into action, flying around with both Jay and presumably Reese to deal with the threat nearby. But for Grant, he stood there, watching at first. Though you could claim that it was because it was his role to hang back until the opportunity arose, but it was really to speculate where he was. He was stood there, facing off a human threat with people he either knew barely or knew quite well. This was the test that everyone had built him and his comrades up for. The first threat, the first assignment. This was how it was going to play out. With the blood, anguish and fire, the tyranny and the pitiful slaughter, this was the way that the world was going to play out. But for this moment, whatever the world had destined, Grant had his hopes on breaking his fate of death and pushing his boundaries to ending a Titan, once and for all.

The plan Jade had set up was quite well made, allowing them to work as a team and in harmony. However, Grant didn't feel up for the task of delivering the finishing blow. Originally, he would have wanted the chance to support and allow someone to take the glory they deserved, but Jade had other plans. She wasn't wrong in saying that out of the group, Grant did score the best in the use of the ODM gear. Maybe that skill was what was required, not the brute strength that would be required to tear it down. Whilst you could cut deep with strength, speed and angle favoured the same benefits. He could only guess that this was his chance to prove Jade right in her wise words that filled him with a somewhat warm determination. If he were to make it out alive, she'd need to be thanked for at least coming up with a plan stable enough to get him through this day to the next, or the hour to the next.

He readied himself, taking the stance to proper etiquette and form in order to gain the best possible lift he could. The two had already begun their swiped at the legs, hoping to at least demonstrate a clear boundary that the titan wasn't going to surpass this squad. But something felt off, very off.

Grant began to run across the roof-tops that encircled the now-raging fight between the Titan and Jade's squad. He needed to build up the momentum to quickly strike the behemoth, but the time it took for both Jade and Reese to strike was starting to wade into a shallow size. Jade's first strike was enough to damage and stagger the Titan, but the rest was up to Reese. Their timing was according to plan, but the Titan was quicker than anticipated. An outstretching arm only meant one thing...The Titan was getting ready to finally fight back against the group of defending cadets. Eyes widening, pulse raising, the instincts of Grant kicked in early as he began to launch his first hook onto the surrounding buildings. His mind raced as he dodged the plan slightly that meant he needed to wait for the legs to be fully incapacitated. The sight of the moving arms made him nervous, for Reese and especially Jade.

With his first momentum, Grant was already moving quicker than he needed at minimum, as he prepared his final approach. Firing the left hook to a distant, yet thick, chimney, he slingshoted himself around the target area and latched his grapples once again onto an opposing building. The only thing between his hooked destination and his current and rapid position was the targeted hostile's back. The alignment was perfect, and the angle too good to be true. His blades were already far prepared for the engagement. Yet, in his control and focus on his target, he couldn't help but loudly exclaim a chant of determination.

"This is for all that you've done!" The words left quickly, sharpening themselves to a fine degree. Upon his final word, the blade began to slice, cut and saw it's way into the nape of the titan, striking blood and a downpour of unnatural rain upon him and the town. The splatters of blood were light on his head, but moderate on his jacket, as he stumbled upon his landing. This stumble led to him falling, rolling to his shoulder and staggering to get back up. The flickers of blood staining his cheek stayed put, as he looked up at his target, seeing it fall slowly to the ground by both the attacks from Reese and Jade and from the killing blow he just delivered.

However, even only haven standing up, he dropped to his knees upon the rooftop and stared blankly at his prized achievement. Words barely left his lips as he muttered what he could, looking at the squad around him upon what they had achieved as a team. He smiled slightly, waiting for the rest to rejoin him as he tried getting back onto his legs.

"Holy fuck...we did it...we actually fucking did it..." Yet before he could fully get into the reality of his imagination, Grant snapped back into his real military persona. "S-shit. Fucking great job, guys...But I'm not sure about you lot, but I'm low on gas. I used most of it getting here in the first place, and I am desperate for more." His finger pointed in the direction of other returning Stationary Guardsmen and Cadets. "And we aren't the only ones who need it either..."