Halo, Shingeki no Kyojin/進撃の巨人 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything

Captain James G. Cutter was a very old man. Older than most officers fighting the Covenant War or at least among the experienced ones bar Admiral Preston Cole of course. James, old and whittled as he was, lead some of the UNSC's most daring and, in his opinion, the most bravest group of soldiers in its long history. As a Captain he was proud of his men as they fought bloody battles through covenant forces and endured the horrors of the flood. Sacrifice and valor held true among his men, indeed the greatest heroes in the UNSC were the ones that didn't go home. He had made hard choices in his career, these choices having long since plagued his thoughts as he sat on that Captains chair, eyeing the space outside as the Spirit of Fire drifted through space without the Shaw Fujikawa drive. But today he was about to make an even harder choice, perhaps harder than any choice he had ever made. He was about to ask his hardened battalions of Marines, headstrong regiments of ODST's and three inhuman weapons of mass destruction; the Spartans into doing something so inconceivable it can only be considered inconsiderate.

He was going to ask them to rebuild.

"Why'd you call me up here for, Captain?" Anders walked into the Captains bridge, several Naval personnel gave the asian women brief lingering eyes before returning back to duty. Captain Cutter however kept his eyes transfixed onto the recently discovered planet below, a completely habitable planet with little to no need for terraformation to support human life.

"Ellen, how was cryo sleep?" It didn't seem right to push it all at once so he was going to go sleep, Ellen was going to carry the majority opinion of the crew when he told her this.

"Stiff and cold, not much else than that to really say, Captain" Anders moved around the Captains chair, staring into the planet below them. "What I can say a lot about is that planet there. It has unique Earth-like traits and is only a tenth larger than what our home planet is. There is also the differences in where their oceans lie and where the bodies of water are located." The Captain only kept one ear open to her, his concentration more on how he wanted to tell her that this was to be the New Earth for them.

"It would be the perfect place for us to colonise in light of us being incapable of Slipspace travel" Cutter spluttered and spit, turning to Anders in surprise as she had so easily seen his thoughts. The scientist, however, gave him a unimpressed look.

"Captain, half of the ships crew expected. The ODSTs? They've preparing for it. You should see all the warthogs they managed to repair and the ammunition they were able to restock using the ships foundry. The Marines themselves have been readying their firebases to turn them into living arrangements. Sir, we've all already expected this" As she said this several Naval personnel nodded their heads to the Captain, showing that they too knew.

Cutter let out a fresh stream of breath, his head resting gently against the back of his leather Captains chair. "What of the Spartans? How do they feel about this" The Spartans were the most dangerous and arguably greatest asset. The only thing that got in the way was their loyalty to the UNSC and all Spartans were crisp and clear in Military protocol.

"The Spartans are loyal to the UNSC. But right now we're unsure if there is even anything left of humanity besides a few rundown buildings and skeletons, so you _are _the UNSC to them now until proven otherwise." He? The leader of humanity only due to being the highest ranking man that had survived the Covenant Genocidal campaign? That left a bitter taste in his mouth. But then again, he wasn't particularly in a position to be picky.

"Then what do you think Anders? This planet, though very similar to Earth, isn't really the most welcoming" He was referring to the large lumbering masses that wandered through most of the landmass that the planet sported. The original expedition of ODST's had dropped with a full squad of twenty but returned with only five. Though the five were more or less fine psychologically, given horrific events such as the glassing of planets, genocidal aliens and the ODST's own psychological training had shielded them from what would have surely haunted a normal mans dreams that is if that normal man had also not fought against the flood. As it stood these _Giants_ were more or less indestructible, being capable of rapid regeneration and it's only instinct was to hunt down people. But there was a small weakness on the nape of its neck that can easily be hit with the application of jetpacks.

"We don't really have a choice Captain" Anders seemed grim as she responded, "Even if this isn't the best option I can't really say drifting out in the middle of space is more preferable than this. In the end, this is what's best"

Cutter sighed as he rested his hand on his face, his eyebrows knitted together as he thought it over. Finally he decided on a course of action, "Send down Firebases, Alpha through Echo and make them establish a perimeter on the surface. Get it secure and then we'll transport material onto the surface to build a more stable defense. Serina" A blue hologram appeared next to him, the AI having been asleep for most of the trip to help conserve her lifespan, "I want you to coordinate with the ground forces. Make sure everything is done properly and efficiently"

The AI nodded, a small smile on her lips as she disappeared.

"You know if we're restarting humanity, we'll have to fly by a new banner" Anders said contemplatively as she typed into her datapad.

Cutter frowned, "I don't see anything wrong with UNSC" Anders frowned at him but all she got was a noncommittal grunt. She sighed disappointedly before turning on her heel and moving outside the Bridge.

"If you need me Captain, I'll be somewhere else" She disappeared into the catacombs of the ship and Cutter leaned back onto his chair.

"Well I can already tell this is going to be a long day"

**So I found this sitting on my Google Drive and nostalgia hit me like a truck. So I was like, you know what why not. It's semi-original!**

**Note the UNSC doesn't replace the SnK faction, the UNSC is a separate Faction. If I do continue this I'ma probably time skip through it all as I'm way to busy to write the intricacies of building a civilisation using already designed technology from a ship that can spew resources from its port side to its exhaust port. Don't worry Cutter would still be alive by the time they meet the men and women in the SnK world. You know if this get's popular enough to get me to continue or hell you guys who are aspiring authors can use it as a basis for a similar story. BTW if I do make this again it'd be an Uber-powered UNSC and there would be, **_**almost (ALL MY STORIES MUST HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A PLOT) **_**no plot because I'm already fagged out with Naruto:The Voyage. So really this is only for people who want some UNSC killage**


	2. Chapter 2

_**So I decided, since it got like 7 reviews in like a day that I would continue this. Now I remembered that I said that Cutter would still be alive when they meet the SnK faction and I know I'm stretching it considering Cutter was in his late thirties in Halo Wars but hey that old mans pretty tough plus I needed to give the New UNSC time to properly build its foundations and what not. Since the ships had a total of 11 000 people onboard it safe to say that within 23 years that number would have grown by a third or so. A pretty small number for a civilisation but take in mine they're still practically young.**_

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023_

_23 Years after the UNSC rebuilding began_

The loud blares of the AV-14 Attack VTOLs engines was all that was heard as the pack of Hornets raced through the canopy of a forest. The UNSC pilots sitting snugly inside the Hornets cockpit skillfully danced their hands around the aerial attack crafts controls, their hands finely set around the aircrafts control yolk. Standing at the side of the Hornets jump-seats were two ODSTs each, culminating to an entire 30 man platoon of the ODST Corp riding out from the walls of New Harmony. Among these UNSC elites was Staff Sergeant James Riker, the famed 'Two-Hand Massacre' of the ODST Scouting and Extermination Corp. In the twenty three years that the UNSC were rebuilding itself on the planet of Ne Earth, they had thrived even under the domain of huge disproportionate beings none to the Military as Charlie-Ones or just Titans. And it was the sight of these things that Riker was looking at, his disgusted face hidden by his black and silver helmet. "We're five minutes out from your drop off point!" The pilot of Rikers Hornet said through the communications link. "You boys better get ready!" Riker nodded his head towards the pilot, receiving nothing more than a cheeky thumbs up as he maneuvered the Hornet through the oversized tree trunks. The ODST Corp was the UNSCs leading Exploration branch as well as Elite infantry. Today would mark the fourth exploration mission since the founding of New Harmony twenty-three years ago and if all goes well, it would also mark another day the UNSC grew in their new homeland.

"Alright this is your stop! Remember boys and girls, you have thirty minutes to clear out the forests as much as you can before the Marines start tumbling down with their Grizzlies and Cobras" The ODSTs locked on the side of the Horner gave silent understanding as their armored boots left the side of the Hornets, uncaring of the Titans underneath them all gazing at the falling soldiers with wide open mouths. The pilot in the Hornet flattened his lips as he saw the ODST fall, only one word coming to mind "Fucking show-offs"

In one fell swoop the ODST tucked their legs beneath them, pulling the M7S close their chests as they tumbled closer into the Titans reach. Riker quietly counted down the distance between them and the creatures. _One thousand metres._ The Titans lolled their tongues out, their deranged eyes and glazed eyes savoring the sight of their food coming. _Eight hundred metres._ The ODSTs reached their terminal velocity, their matte black armor stopping even the sun to shine down on it as they calmly fell to the surface. _Five hundred metres._ Riker readied his twin barreled fully-automatic M6C/SOCOM pistols, quietly bringing the weapons parallel to his head as he increased the rate of his rotation. _Three hundred metres._ All the ODSTs save Riker extended their legs out, increasing the drag force on their body and stabilising their fall. _Two hundred metres_. The Titans reached their hands up, their moans and cries punctuating the silence. _Now. _The Jetpacks on the ODSTs backs lit up with fire and chemicals, slowing down their descents and maneuvering them close into the Titans face, narrowly avoiding their deadly grips. When their armored boots touched the soft flesh of the did they aimed their M7S down the monstrosities head and depressed the firing stud of their SMGs. The Titans all cried out in alarm or annoyance as these small bullets obliterated their heads and lodged themselves deep in their cranium but it was the after effects that gave true to the ODSTs capabilities.

With timed explosions, the bullets of the M7S that the ODSTs used went off inside the Titans obliterating the inside of their heads and destroying their necks, effectively killing them just as the ODSTs cleared the blast radius. Riker however didn't use that method. Pulling his twin-barreled M6C Full-Auto pistols known as 'The Saturi'. Bracing himself for the bone-jarring recoil of the gun he depressed the firing studs and immediately a near waterfall of bullets streamed out of the guns nozzle, with the close distance the lowered accuracy was nothing of a hindrance for Riker. The Titan wailed in pain as its eyes were shot out and blood oozed out of its mangled flesh. With a snarl Riker pulled free a grenade from his belt and threw it into the Titans mouth, activating his Jetpack just as the grenade went off and ripped the head of the Titan free from its body and killing it. "ODSTs with me!" Riker yelled. There was a resounding yell in the air, one that overshadowed the roaring engines of the Hornets as the ODSTs raged onwards on their Jetpacks towards the charging horde of Titans.

Riker, ejecting the spent clips of his pistol free from its chambers, had a contemplative looks on his face as his helmet's VISR locked on to the incoming heat signatures. '_No MAC supports, Marines would take half and hour to reach us with their Grizzlies and Cobras slowing them down. We're on our own for now_' The Captain grinned viciously, "Just how I like it" he whispered. His Jetpack roared a sullen agreement as he rocketed himself, literally, towards the marching Charlie-ones. The ODSTs behind him following his lead. From years of training and hunting each one of them instinctively began to spin their bodies mid-flight, like a drill piercing the ground they in turn speared through the air, distorting everything around them as they whizzed by in phenomenal speeds. When Riker was fifty feet from the nearest Titan did he flipped himself over so that he was perpendicular to the ground and began turning himself, The Saturi outstretched in his hands by the sides as he became a violent human tornado in the air. Depressing the firing studs of his weapon the ODSTs accompanying him were given a front row seat into why he was known as the Two-Hand Massacre. Bullets spewed forth from the high-velocity weapon, tearing into the meat and flesh of the Titan that he had aimed, the bullets separating the head from the body as effectively as a gigantic butcher blade as Riker completely decapitated the Titan. Clearing the gruesome display of sheer epic power the Captain was quick to reactivate his Jetpack and zoom towards another Titan that was nearby.

All around him the ODSTs moved with speed and grace, weaving in and out of a Titans reach with the fluidity of a master chef cooking his signature dish. The battlefield was the ODSTs ingredients and death was there dish. Riker's Jetpack sputtered and spat, revealing that it needed a moment to recharge. The Captain gritted his teeth and flipping himself in midair he crashed into the trunk of a nearby tree, his knees bending down low to cushion his fall. But the Jetpack had died too fast for him and he had landed on a trunk closer to the ground that he had anticipated. The hand of a Titan had suddenly clamped itself right next to him, narrowly crushing the Captains right foot, and the deranged mad smile of a Titan bore down on the diminutive human. But Riker was perfectly calm, crouched low to the ground and his M6C spent of bullets. The ODST's matte black helmet scanned the creatures face and it was only a moment later that he shook his head, "Guess I'll have to give this one to the Devil Dogs" If the TItan had a mind of its own, it'd have frown in confusion but it didn't so that was why it had little to no reaction when a high velocity slug suddenly impacted against its face, destroying it and causing the giants to tumble to the ground as white phosphorous burned out the insides.

"Cobras, kill stealers" Riker muttered underneath his breath. Casting a glance over his shoulder the ODST Captain was, not pleased but somewhere around happy disappointment, to see the green camo paint of UNSC Cobras cresting the hill that the forest sat on, their wheels already clamped down and their artillery barrels glistening underneath the suns hot rays. Guarding the Cobras were a pair of Grizzlies each, Warthogs riding up forward and zigzagging around the legs of chasing Titans as their gunners unloaded slugs from M41's or Gauss cannons.

A black armored ODST landed by his side, his M7S tucked underneath his hand as he pulled a SPNKr free from his back. "Marines are here" The soldier muttered. Whether absentmindedly or planned the male had lifted his SPNKr up casually and spewed a HEAT rocket straight into the ranks of two Titans, not killing them but off balancing them enough for two Warthogs to speed around and train its M41 onto the monsters backs. "Pretty soon they'll place the firebase and we'll be sticking up around here for a little more as the Spirit of Fire ferries materials for another wall here" New Harmony, the UNSC Capital, was defended by a 50 metre high metal wall topped with Gauss cannons. Since five years ago the last human settlement had begun sending firebases out into the outside world to set up FOB's or separate towns outside New Harmony, where they would grow and hopefully become a whole nother Colony that still held true under the UNSC banner, which everyone knew would more than likely be the case. Afterall everyone in the Spirit of Fire was loyal to the UNSC. These missions were often times assisted by the Spirit of Fire herself, its normal routine of scouting and acting as an in-space factory would be put aside as it returned to its reservice of warfare, launching MAC rounds onto high concentrations of Titans and launching pelicans into the planet below filled with ODSTs and Marines fresh from the Military Academy on the ship.

Riker grunted as he reloaded his Saturi's, the weapon seemingly purring as the cold steel of 12.7X40MM round jackets chambered themselves into the firing mechanism. "How many did we lose?" The ODST Captain asked. The other male in the area shifted his shoulder upwards, jerking his head off to the side. Riker followed the path and grimaced when he saw the body of an ODST embedded into the side of a tree, his hand still gripping his M7S as blood flowed freely and as if to punctuate the sight a Warthog had been caught in the arms of a Titan and the Marines in side were too late to spring their Jetpacks on as they were engulfed in by the Titans, the Warthog exploding in its mouth and surely killing its crew while the Charlie-One had only lost its lower jaw for a set amount of time. "It's not all too bad, only seven dead and mostly from being inattentive or malfunctioning Gear. It happens R, it happens" Riker shook his head, holstering The Saturi's onto his chest holsters as he leaned against the trees body.

"Can you not sound so objective when you list of casualties" The ODST chuckled but it came of sad and depressed. "It ain't as bad as in the Covenant war, I still remember being on Harvest, that hell hole. This is tamed in comparison but...its funny how even when Humanity starts a fresh we're placed against an impossible enemy that we _again_ know nothing about but this time? They look like deformed humans with a sweet teeth for human flesh" Riker shook his head, turning his head back to the scene of Grizzlies unloading onto the Titans. "Well...just be glad it's better here then"

**This Chapter is just to test how fighting in the SnK world would work and where all the Branches lie. Translation, ODST: Survey Corp (With diff of course), Marines:Stationery Corp, and no MP because theres no need since they all are Military anyways. If anybody want to submit an OC please do. I had three OC's I need. An ODST, A Marine and a Survey Corp member. Please help out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OFFICIAL CHAPTER 1**

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023, November 23rd_

_New Harmony, Neo Earth_

_Captain James G Cutter_

New Harmony, the Capital of the UNSC on Neo Earth, was a large sprawling city (for the military at least) that had been built from 23 years of labour and spirit. The city was a masterpiece of metal barracks and wooden houses all meshed to form a militaristic harmony among them, the buildings all having been arranged into blocks for easy access and to allow timely evacuation should the wall be breached. For the 11 000 soldiers that had made New Harmony their home, they had likewise defended it to their best capabilities.

A wall as tall as 50 metres metres high had been erected alongside the borders of New Harmony, Gauss Cannons salvaged from destroyed Warthogs were placed on top with UNSC Marines guarding the wall with their lives. In each side of the wall was the entrance of a firebase that had been merged with the metal barrier, allowing easier access to and fro the city as well as giving Marines a more secured way to leave the confines of New Harmony on their expeditions. Not only that but a compliment of Scorpions, Grizzlies, Cobras and Vultures were prepared to spew death onto any unlucky Titan should they breach the wall, which admittedly was unlikely considering it was made from reinforced Titanium. This was not questioned by any inhabitant of New Harmony.

But for Captain James G Cutter, the New UNSCs De Facto leader and old man, the question of humanity's continued survival plagued his thoughts was all that occupied his mind. The old Captain stood still as he looked out his office window, his grey officers uniform still pressed and clean as it was twenty-three years ago. The seventy-five year old male wasn't quite the image of a frail and bony man sleeping on his chair with the comfort of his wife in the next room over. As the leader of a colony full of old veterans and soldiers Cutter couldn't afford to look weak in front of them, thus, he had maintained his physique and looked no different than he did when he was fifty-two and skippered the Spirit of Fire in its military campaign. Though admittedly brittle bones would come into effect once in a while. "Serina" Immediately a blue holographic image of a woman appeared by his side, splotches of green and red on several places of her programming. The former AI of the Spirit of Fire had long since past her life expectancy but she was a stubborn woman and Anders recognised Serina's assistance in the building of New Harmony, so with two equally smart women working on the same problem Serina was able to survive her rampancy though it was fleeting at best. Cutter inwardly shivered at the memory of that day. "Yes, Captain" She asked. Her voice had a noticeable twitch in it as her face flickered.

"Has Daniel Hart and Chris Redfield been summoned as I asked?" The A.I. paused, her efficiency being drained by her long years of service as well as operating the Colonies rudimentary functions. "Chris Redfield is currently outside the embassy building while Daniel Hart is in the hallways...based on my calculations should they avoid each other they'll be here in 3 mi-and they just met each other. Make that 5 minutes if they keep to professionalism on duty" Though her voice wasn't like how she was 23 years ago she still had that notable quip after every sentence. Cutter coughed into his hand, his lungs still not use to the atmosphere of Neo Earth as he screwed his Captains hat over his graying hair and made a smart about face. No sooner did he turn that there was a knock on the door. "Damn I was 2.35 seconds too long" Cutter ignored his companion.

"Enter" The wooden door that blocked the threshold between his office and the world outside swung open, an armored gauntlet attached to its handle. Entering the room was a fully dressed and combat operational ODST, trailing behind him was an equally dressed Marine. These two were Chris Redfield and Daniel Hart respectively, soldiers who had became wary the moment they entered the office of a Military superior.

Chris Redfield was an aging ODST Captain in charge of the 3rd ODST Scouting Company. The brown-haired male was set at the age of 43 but didn't look a day pass thirty while Daniel Hart was a year older and had a heart shaped scar on his cheek. These two soldiers had been some of the leading men since the UNSCs refounding on Neo Earth. Staff Sergeant Daniel, the Corporal and Sniper of the original Marine Expedition on Neo Earth had developed, perfected and refined the UNSC military doctrine. What had once been an army that capitalised on shock and awe, the new UNSC marines now relied heavily on long range hunter based tactics where baits and speed held prevalence over psychological effect. Chris Redfield however had been one of the original ODSTs that had scouted out Neo Earth on the Spirit of Fires first day since arriving on the planet. Chris was a legend in the ODST Corp and helped the transition of ODSTs in the use of their jetpacks instead of their drop pods. Where the Marines were suited to fight a long drawn out conventional war against the Titans, the ODSTs were trained to be brutal, emphasizing strength and skill rather than speed and ambushes.

The Marine Expedition, the Marine Garrison and the ODST Corp. These men had a direct influence in the nurturing and development of the UNSCs new fighting force and continued to have an effect to this day. Daniel Hart was now teaching the new generations of New Harmony on the Spirit of Fires Military Academy, educating them on the new military doctrine while the ODSTs thrived under Chris' guidance. The ODST Captain, alongside James Riker, had trained some of the best ODSTs in the Corp.

It was these men, the original soldiers of the Spirit of Fire who had survived the Covenant war, that had made New Harmony possible. It was they who had supported Captain Cutter as leader of the then-fledgeling Capital and it was they who rallied the soldiers for New Humanity. That was why Cutter trusted them and that was why he was about to regard them with information that would decide the future of the UNSC. "Sir" The Marine of the two greetee. Chris, however, remained silent as he sat down on a nearby chair, carefully placing his ODST helmet on his lap. Daniel followed suit soon after, his brown BDUs (Halo Wars) clinking against the hardwood.

"Gentlemen" Cutters voice was more gravelly than in his younger years, especially so when he had to stress specific letters. "The matters that are to be discussed in this room are not to leave irs seams unless given special authority by either my authority or your trusted opinion" whatever these two soldiers felt when they entered the room disappeared just as quickly as those words were uttered.

"What is it Sir?" Daniel asked. The marine was fidgeting in his seat, Cutter couldn't blame him the wait before supposedly important news always left a bad taste in his mouth. Cutter nodded his head to the mismatched hologram by his side. "Serina will fill you in on the details"

The A.I. smiled alluringly at the two soldiers, the smile making Daniel shift uncomfortably while Chris remained stony face. Cutter had to sigh, wishing the old Serina back as at least she didn't harass the men as often ad the current one did. "As you boys know when the Spirit of Fire arrived on Neo Earth we had very little information on the planet and its unique inhabitants. Even know Professor Anders and her team of scientists have yet properly been able to find how the Charlie-Ones came to be. While most of the tests and theories proved inconclusive she was able to confirm that the Titans were not naturally made."

"We already knew that though" Surprisingly Chris had voiced the statement, his voice a deep monotonous baritone. "There's no way these things were naturally made, they have no instinct, no intelligence, no drive besides the hunting of human beings. They don't eat, don't breathe, hell, the only thing classifying them as living creatures is that they move which should be impossible considering their size and disproportions" Cutter had to agree with the ODSTs assessment, he himself having long since coming to the conclusion, however there was a more pressing concern...

"But yet nobody questions the starkly human design of the Charlie-Ones in a planet that was thought to house no intelligent life" Chris grunted in acknowledgement to Serina's words. "While they are indeed confirmed not naturally made that leaves the question as to who made them and why the resemblance to human kind. I needn't remind you that this is unchartered space far away from UNSC reach and the Covenant appalled anything that even show semblance of humanity" The two humans in the room were silent, they would both agree that they had thought little in _how_ Titans came to be, simply that they were here and they were an enemy after all they had more pressing concerns.

"What exactly does that have to do with us? We're not scientists so we can't particularly unravel this mystery knot like Anders and her knick-knacks" Daniel questioned, his hands crossed over his chest. Serina dipped her head towards the marines, her smile growing an inch larger.

"That's exactly why we are having this meeting" To the surprise of the soldiers in the room a holographic map appeared in front of them, revealing the rocky terrain of Neo Earth. In the centre of the formation was the UNSC Capital New Harmony identified by the color green. In a radius of fifty kilometres from New Harmony were four blue dots representing UNSC Firebases outside New Harmony and on the side of a nearby mountain was a yellow dot signifying the mine that had been constructed on top the mountain. From the Capital, New Harmony, was a thin line reaching towards the Spirit of Fire that was in geosynchronous orbit around the planet. "When the first UNSC troops landed on Neo Earth we barely had any topographical data on the planet due to the damage the Spirits observational equipment received when we did battle against the Covenant Corvette on the Shield World" Chris frowned, quite a bit of ODST had been killed during that engagement, "And the EVA engineers had been bust constructing supply pads, reactors and the like on the Capital to properly repair them but it was functional enough to allow accurate thermal scans while within atmosphere of the planet. These thermal scans were kept within the immediate area of New Harmony for fear of putting too much stress on the damaged parts but just a week ago we did a sweep strong enough to reach halfway through our side of the planet" She paused dramatically, watching in satisfaction as the Marine leaned forward in anticipation and the ODST gnaw at the bottom of his lip. "We've encountered several concentrations of heat signatures all across the continent however the largest concentration was found some hundred kilometres away from New Harmony, about a couple hours worth of travel on Pelican and the interesting about this is they all seem to be converging around an area with much smaller heat signatures, what these are however is up to debate as we couldn't get a proper read on them"

A silence dominated the meeting room, the A.I.'s avatar flickered as the splotches of green and red continued to grow. "Serina I think it's best if you leave us, it'd do no good for you to overtax yourself" Cutter warned, having seen the growing colours on her body. The female A.I. raised an eyebrow at Cutter before she too saw the growing erosion her body was experiencing. "Sorry Captain but I'm not as young as I used to be" She flashed him a small smile and Cutter would have sworn it was held a touch of sadness, "Well then tah-tah" She dipped her head in goodbye to each of the Military men in the room before finally disappeared to serve the Colony.

After she left Cutter retook control of the meeting, "We don't have the necessary information to be able to discern exactly what this concentration of Titans mean. It could mean this is their Origin, it could mean that this area has some significant value to them. Who knows, I sure don't." Cutter shook his head, memories drifting back to the five bloody years on Harvest, battling against a superior foe and falling amidst disarray to the beasts that were the Covenant.

"So I take it you want the ODSTs to scout it and find out what it is?" Chris rose from his seat, patting his armor in consideration as he waited for a response, it'd be unlikely if the ODST Corp wouldn't be called on anyways considering how far away the area of interest was to New Harmony. "Yes and No" The ODST shifted his eyes towards the Captain, awaiting the coming elaboration.

"I want the ODSTs to find out what it is but I also want that area locked down when we find it. That's why Daniel is here." The Marine perked up at the mention of his name, "Staff Sergeant you've trained most of the Marines in the Garrison and the Expeditionary Force. I want you to round up your best men and get them prepped for a long mission outside the walls. When the ODSTs confirm what it is I want the Marines on the ground to be prepared to either storm the area or set up a Firebase so that we can properly understand what exactly make these Titans tick. This is a large scale operation, not quite at the level of the Covenant war but no less important. The goal is the same, it had always been the same; the Survival of the Human Race. Chris you'll send out your team first, Daniel inform your boys that they will have Armor and Aerial support"

"What about Jerome and the others?" Chris asked, mentioning the Spartans by name rather than their label. Cutter frowned a moment, eyes concealed by the canopy of his Captain cap. "They're somewhere in the Northern Mountains right now, don't know. They went silent an hour ago, it's just a simply recon mission but given how the Northern Mountains have quite a few of those Abnormal ones crawling about the Spartans were about the only units I could spare to scout it out without coming back in the belly of a Charlie-One" The two soldiers nodded their heads in understanding, the population size of New Harmony was barely passed 14 500 people with most of them being the original crew and the rest were the new generation ranging from twenty year olds or a one-month newborn.

"We'll get it done, Sir. Full lid?" Chris asked. Cutter nodded his head in full confirmation.

"I trust your judgement in the sharing of information but limit it to within your own men" The hardened soldiers nodded before leaving. When there was nothing left in Cutters office save silence and the stale air of the indoors the Captain slid into his chair and sighed. "Mary I wonder if you're safe out there." The Captain closed his eyes and imagined himself on Reach, his daughter playing by his feet and the soft smell of omelets wafting through his house. "There's no place like home"


	4. Chapter 4

**OMG HALO 2 ANNIVERSARY!**

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023, November 25th_

_3rd ODST Scouting Company_

_Somewhere in Nevada (Ie they're really far away)_

UNSC Pelicans raced through the skies in near phenomenal speeds, cutting through winds and clouds as they weaved through the few towering trees in their way. Twenty of the New UNSCs finest pilots sat at the controls of these ten transport carriers. Their cargo; the Elites of the UNSC and their destination; the unknown. They were the best the UNSC could offer, they were the 3rd Scouting Company led by the famed ODST Captain Chris and legendary James 'Two-Hand Massacre' Riker. These two knights in black and silver, eyes hidden by the steel hollow of their visors, stood passively in their Pelicans troop bay.

Surrounding them, nestled in their seats, were a dozen ODSTs all arming their M7S and loading their HE rounds into their cartridges. Silence was their forte but destruction was their motto, such contradiction was only reserved for the toughest in the food chain of humanity. Chris could attest to that, he had fought and trained with one man armies after all. James, well, he was humbled to be serving with a one man army. Such was the sheer epic power that the ODSTs held within their ranks, their most experienced members having been the oldest and had undoubtedly fought through hell during the Covenant-War and their newest members being conditioned by not only the lumbering giants of this world but also by the stories of glassed planets and human heroics. The bar had been set and every one of them knew it would be a long time till they reach it.

"What do you think we'll find Chris?" Riker asked. The ODST was leaning against the side of the pelican, his hands tracing his left gauntlet.

"I'm not one to make speculations with, R" Chris replied, in his arms was an SRS99C-S2. His most preferred long range rifle when it came down to a decision. Slung on his back was an MA5B, his second most preferred rifle. On his thigh was a standard M6C PDWS.

Riker shook his head, his helmet being clipped to his belt revealing his short crop of black hair and steel grey eyes. The Staff Sergeant was a hard man and the Captain himself professional, the two having served together during Arcadia. They were from two different units, Chris was working his way through Arcadias ruins while Riker was the only one to survive his own teams demise. When they met it was from fire and steel, neither had realised they had even reached the company of a human being, the only thought in their mind was surviving the alien onslaught. When the skirmish died down they were shocked to see each other but even then that was fleeting and it wasn't long before they had to raise their weapons in preparation for another firefight. From then on, they were close but not quite brothers. That spot was mysteriously reserved for the SPARTANs.

"You could at least try" Riker prodded. Chris was an intellectual, a realistic man with realistic ideals. He made his men the best and he knew it was they alone that decided if they live or die but it didn't mean he wouldn't try to keep his men alive as much as possible. As such he always had a read on a situation.

"If I expect to find anything then it will be a lot of Charlie-ones in one general area" Chris answered, his hands still calibrating his Sniper Rifles scope. Riker snorted, Chris apparently wasn't in much of a talkative mood.

"Sirs! We're nearing the AO! Prepare for bay doors to open in five!" Both the ODSTs grunted in acknowledgement to the pilots words. The troopers all stood up from their seats, their hands having found no defects in their weapons and each man began working on the Jetpack of the man in front of him, making sure that the fuel and chemical powered rocket wouldn't be sending a man to hell early. "Heads up! There are Titans swarming all over the place and...whoa! Captain you gotta see this!" Chris paused switching the safety of his Sniper off, passing a look to Riker as the Sergeant had slid his helmet back.

"Don't look at me, that kids a New Gen you know how they are. Excitable little buggers" Chris made a small noise before making a smart about face, his boots barely making a noise as he skillfully moved through his men and towards the cockpit, Riker staying behind and instructing the ODSTs to be ready. The Pelican shook before suddenly stopping, signalling to Chris that the aircraft had began hovering. Scrunching his face up in confusion the ODST ducked underneath the door into the cockpit and frowned as he noticed the Pilot already turning around to greet him, his own mouth set into a deep frown. "Sir" He said. Chris nodded his head and the bigger male intentionally slouched his shoulders down by a small margin, his hands swinging by his sides lazily to try and project an aura of nonchalance to better calm the Pilot down. Judging by his sudden change of rigid posture, it worked.

"I caught something on the radar while doing my normal thermal sweep, like massive spike in temperature, then the other Pilots reported in saying the same things. It took a while but we figured out what happened and...well, we promised to keep a lid on it for just your eyes. We understand this is...one of _those_ missions." The Captain raised an eyebrow from underneath his helmet but nonetheless nodded his head in acceptance.

"Show me" The Pilot nodded and began inputting data into his console before pulling a wire from his dashboard and pulling it towards Chris. The Pelicans that were on the Spirit of Fire during its voyage against the Covenant on Arcadia had been modified by several of the EVA Engineers in its years of service. Where there was once a wide window at the front of the cockpit was now nothing but a metal shutter designed to protect the pilot from Covenant Plasma weapons, of course there came the problem of how the Pilot was supposed to look out in order to fly. That was solved by adding several micro-cameras all around the Pelican that were attached to the Pilot's headset to give him a full 360 degree view (Not all at once however) and also provided him extensive use in different tactical data and applications to use when in flight. This can also be manually connected to any UNSC forces with a Helmet that could withstand such applicational use, mainly ODSTs and some special Marine Armors.

Chris accepted the wire and slot it into the back of his helmet, blinking at the sudden data that scrolled down the left side of his head. Things he didn't really care to know but nonetheless found interesting to read. When the scroll of texts disappeared, a small viewscreen popped up at the bottom right side of his helmet and the ODST Captain couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise. "I know, Sir. I didn't believe it at first"

On the viewscreen was a fifty metre tall white wall, Titans lumbering along the side of it towards a large hole in its side. There were what appeared to be old looking medieval looking cannons positioned on top the wall, its ammunition left haphazardly around it as if it had been hurriedly abandoned. Chris couldn't help the small gasp that left his lips though he cut it off by violently biting down on his bottom lip, the pain that flared from his teeth only causing him to grunt. "If you think that's impressive you should see it in thermal view, that'll make you blind" Without warning the picture suddenly changed to a myriad of different colours, each representing a significant heat temperature. The wall was blindingly red.

Ripping the wire from his helmet Chris shook his head as purple dots suddenly clouded his vision, enough of his eyesight being saved for him to see the Pilot smile shakily. "Sorry, Sir" He apologised. The ODST shook his head, a noise of annoyance emanating from his lips. "Nobody else knows about this beside you and the other Pilots?" The Pilot shook his head in the negative.

"Good, bring the Pelican over the walls and launch us there. Contact the Marines in their Albatross' back at base and tell them to prepare their base, wait for our go ahead and then send the ships in. If you can try and get Professor Anders to follow them. Tell the Pilots to inform the squad leaders about the situation, however, keep the thermal readings a secret. For now at least" The Pilot nodded and quickly turned around, his hands flying around his controls as he followed his orders. Just before Chris could leave however, the Pilot made one last whisper, "You don't think whoever made that wall are still alive, do you?"

"If they are, I hope they're friendly then the Covenant" With that being said, Chris was quick to shut the cockpit door, ending their conversation early. On the other side he was greeted by the waiting faces of his ODSTs, Riker standing at the front his Saturi's already equipped and his scarred ODST armor glinting even in the shadowy compartment. "We got new objectives. Search and recover! Find any evidence of civilisation and mark it for the Marines" Like a ripple effect all of the soldiers suddenly began shifting but none dared to question his orders. Riker himself only shifting so that he was facing the bay doors, his knuckles tightening around the grip of his weapons as he radioed in on the other teams and informed them with the next directive.

It was only a few minutes later that the doors opened and the ODSTs were greeted to the same sight that their Captain had seen only this time they were looking at the inside of the wall and not the outside. Surprise surely colored their features as they watched Titans racing through the walls breach, suddenly becoming active at seeing the ODSTs up above. Chris took his spot next to Riker and was quick to send a high velocity bullet tearing through the air and cutting straight through a Titans neck. "Jump!" He ordered. Like the call of a king the soldiers obeyed and they all leaped out of the troop bay, their legs curled underneath their bodies as their jetpacks sprang to life, descending them to a tolerable altitude for flight using their Jetpacks.

Chemicals spewed free and the ODSTs made sudden stops in the air, well beyond the reach of the Titans below them. The trees in these areas were low hanging, closer to the ground than their counterparts outside the walls. For whatever apparent reason Riker found himself still too close to the Titans for comfort and he was quick to remedy that.

Flipping forward the ODST turned into a literal pinball as he raced downward to ground level, all thoughts about the wall and the sudden change in mission leaving his mind as he concentrated on depressing the triggers of his Saturi's and spewing out high velocity bullet that tore through the Titans flesh and dismembering them. Leaving them bleeding and memberless for a set period of time, easy pickings for Chris and the Snipers of the ODSTs to eliminate with quick shots from their Snipers.

There was still many more Titans around the area but with the sudden shock of the ODSTs appearance they weren't as quick as they were to close up the distance between them and the human beings, not that they were quick to begin with. Seeing that their new enemies were still trying to properly get a read on the situation a such the ODSTs were quick to slam their Jetpacks into full throttle and launch forward.

_Outside Wall Rose_

_Scouting Legion_

_Corporal Levi_

Levi quickly and efficiently launched his 3DM Gear onto the trunk of a tree, his Gear launching gas into the air as he was sent straight through the air in phenomenal speeds. His short stature decreasing the wind resistance on his body as he sliced through three Titans blocking his way, twisting his body around and connecting the heel of his feet in between two tree, performing daring and near impossible acrobatics in the air. The short male quickly ejected his blades, the metal having already been reduced to working efficiency as he clipped a new set on.

Levi watched silently as his Special Operations squad quickly eliminated any Titans around the main expedition, Hanji Zoe, the crazy woman, was zipping around the area like a deranged megalomaniac cutting down Titans and asking if they wanted to have tea. The Corporal sighed, in the back of his mind he wondered just how isabel got along with her. "Corporal!" Levi was awoken from his brief reminisce by a shout. Turning to it he spotted a pretty brown haired young woman looking up at him from her place on a tree branch. "Commander Erwin is ordering for a full regroup" Levi nodded his head, the Expedition had dissolved from their usual formation, instead engaging Titans in the forests to help clear the way for a future campaign to retake Wall Maria. Only 15KM had been properly cleared, hundreds of Scouts being killed by the years as they marched through.

Just as Levi was about to drop from his spot in between the trees a sudden crack filled the air. Instinctively Levi brought his legs together, his body turning quickly to act as a drill as he fell quickly to the forest floor before he launched a grappling hook free from his the device mounted on his hips, the hook connecting with another tree and allowing Levi to roll onto a tree trunk, his body close to the trunk as he scanned his surroundings. If Levi wasn't mistaken that was a gunshot but not a normal one, it was louder, rivaling that of a wall-mounted cannon and it obviously held greater power as even now it still echoed through the area.

"Petra?" Levi called. The sound of a 3DM Gear firing and the noise of gas reached his ears and the same brown haired woman from before appeared next to him. "You heard that too?" He asked. The woman nodded her head, her eyes going over the area where she heard it from as Levi contemplated the situation.

Suddenly another crack shot through the air followed by three more before they ceased again. Levi scrunched his eyebrows together, noticing slightly that the rest of his team had landed around him and were awaiting his command. "Eld launch a purple flare but keep it low, just enough for Erwin to see back at camp" The said soldiers nodded his head in acceptance and he quickly did as he was told. Oluo, having stood next to Eld, crossed his arms as he surveyed the sky, noticing the direction of the birds. "Corporal whoever is firing those rounds is moving closer to our position." The brown haired male brought his eyes back down and he spotted some Titans ignoring the Scouting members and were instead bee-lining their way southward. "Their attracting the Titans too"

Levi frowned, his mind trying to comprehend his situation as the grip on his swords tightened. "Petra you head back to Erwin and inform him of the situation, everyone else with me. We have to find out what;s going on and if it poses a threat to Wall Rose" the Special Operations squad nodded to their leaders decision and they were quick to launch their hooks and move in their own respective directions, Levi twirling in the air and using the momentum to send his own hook further than the rest and into the waiting neck of a Titan.

Racing forward, his blades sliced through the Titans neck and his wire was quickly ejected for him to spread his legs wide and send it into the eye of a Titan that was trying to chomp down on him. The beast balked as it took a step back, surprise from the momentary lack of vision before it met a violent end by Eld who zipped past at phenomenal speeds and cut straight through its nape. But as the Squad was fighting the sounds of shooting had reemerged and they got louder. Levi gritted his teeth and launched his wires again.

Something was gnawing at the back of his head, there was something incredibly wrong with what's going on. That gunfire sounded like it came from numbers, not a single individual firing some sort of repeating hand-cannon. This situation caught the Corporal in a loop. Perhaps those conspiracy theorists spouting nonsense about humans outside the walls were true and the scouting legion was about to meet a representatives from them...or an invasion force. It didn't matter which, whoever it was they were in the way of work that costs hundreds of people their lives. He had to find out who they were and need be he had to kill them. He wasn't going to let his men die for nothing simply because of newcomers starting things up.

Because Levi was sure in his head, whoever they were, they could not understand the sacrifices the Survey Corp made and if they couldn't understand it then they were enemies of the Corp.

**Bleh, I didn't like this chapter but I'm not good with stuff like revelations and like that. Bleh. But hey Halo 2 Anniversary yall! But I don't have an Xbox one so I can't play it. Damn you! Anyways, yea. You guys should Review more, I see favs and follows every now and then but I don't see as many reviews. REVIEW! I only actually tell the popularity of a story by its reviews because really anyone can fav and not read a story, I've done it hundreds of times XD. But I also want to bounce ideas off you guys, like how you want this to go about, how should the characters react to each other. Your preferences can have an effect, it just depends if I can hear them and I can fit them in the plot which is still kinda haphazard right now. Its your assistance that I can make this story good, so, yea drop by and help out if you want.**

**Also you can thank Ten Little Roosters for getting me off my ass and writing this as I still work out the Next chapter of The Voyage.**


	5. Chapter 5

_UNSC Military Calendar 0023_

_51st Marine Expeditionary Force_

_New Harmony_

Roach sighed as he swung his legs lazily over the side of his warthog, his brown Marine BDUs covering most of his body. The Marine had his balaclava and helmet removed, the suns rays being far too hot for him to even attempt to maintain dress code. The twenty year old fiddled with his antique Desert Eagle, ignoring the shuffling marines by his side.

"Hey, hey Gary!" A sigh escaped his lips, he couldn't just ignore this one though. "Heyyyy Gaaaaary!" Gritting his teeth the Marine sergeant turned to the noise maker and suppressed the need to yell as a brown haired girl bumped her small shoulder against his, her pale features and golden brown eyes entrancing him and subsiding his anger for now.

"Do you wanna hear a joke?" She asked, the wind playing with her shoulder length bob of brown hair. "Well, do ya!" There was a smile on her lips, her eyes twinkling with childlike curiosity as she awaited a response.

Roach bit back a groan but nonetheless found himself answering, "Yea, I guess" He said hesitantly. The girls smiled widened and she leaned forward, her chin resting against his left shoulder blade.

"What do you call a Titan that can't swim?" Roach frowned, trying to find the answer before shaking his head, silently telling her he didn't know.

"Titanic!" She yelled triumphantly. If anything Roach would have probably thrown something at her but considering all he had on him was his deceased fathers hand cannon, he instead opted to jab his finger into her head. "That's a joke in bad taste Kara" He chided. The girl cried out in alarm as she fell onto her back, her hands cupping the area that he struck her.

The woman was dressed in the same uniform as he was only her helmet was replaced with a cap and a red medical symbol at the front with the words 'UNSC' stitched underneath it. Her name was Kara Eberle, a UNSC Marine from the Medic Corp and she had been a long time friend of Roach since he was eight years old, their mothers being good friends and often times leaving the two kids together as they went about their Marine duties of helping out around New Harmony when they were called.

"Gary...that's mean. I was just trying to make you laugh" Kara pouted, her eyes staring into the ground as she twiddled her fingers together. Roach may be a Marine and he may have scored top marks in Staff Sergeant Daniel Harts 'Command' school but even the toughest of UNSC veterans couldn't say that they wouldn't immediately drop to the ground on their knees and beg for forgiveness when they saw her like this, Roach himself only being able to resist due to his long-time friendship with her. What's worse was that she didn't look like she even know the power she held in her fingertips.

"Ok, sorry" He patted her head, careful to shift his finger around her hair to rub against her scalp. The girls reaction was immediate, her tears disappeared and she looked up at Roach with a wide smile, her pale features making her glow against the suns rays. "Kara...you could kill a man with that smile"

"Eh? Why!" Kara immediately recoiled away, her hands cupping her cheeks as a blush covered her face. "My smile isn't that pretty you know! I'm just a normal girl with normal knees and I'm way too clumsy and dumb to attract that many guys..." At this point Roach was barely listening anymore as the girl went on about how she wasn't a pretty girl, all the while not noticing the multitude of men looking at her with glazed over eyes.

"You...exactly what kind of cute creature are you" A sweatdrop formed at the back of his head when she tripped over herself and had half of the platoon surrounding her and asking if she was alright.

_Inside Wall Maria_

_ODST 3rd Scouting Company_

"You see that right?" Riker whispered lowly, his armored front laid out carefully against the wood of a tree branch. Sure in his placement of weight that he would not make even the slightest crack in the tough wood.

"I'd have to be blind not to see that Staff Sergeant" Chris murmured, a sniper rifle in his hands as his helmets smart zoom zeroed in on his target. The two soldiers were currently within a forest of trees surrounding a clearing, the other ODSTs in the company were holding their ground on the branches above them, hands ready and tensed to rain death on any unlucky Titan. The Elites of the UNSC were unusually rigid, more so now that they had discovered another _alien_ civilization after the brutal slaughter that was the Covenant war. But for Chris and Riker they remained calm, weary but still not as paranoid.

The cannons seen on the walls as they entered pointed to the idea of pre-industrial era of civilisation, perhaps during its renaissance? With the ODSTs armor, they would pose little threat, sure there were chinks and gaps they could exploit but they were sure the inhabitants did not posses the ability of flight. "Shingled roofs, high struts and white painted walls. Very Western-European? No, very _human_, don't you think" Chris speculated and Riker had to nod his head as he pushed himself up into a crouch.

"Well if I had to guess, given our coordinates relative to Earth, which is at least a couple metres difference, then we're somewhere in Germany. Explains all the pine trees anyways" Riker pulled one of his Saturi's and quickly checked the firing mechanism on his weapon.

"Comparing this world to Earth? How desperate have we become?" Chris shook his head, "Well, we all like to find familiarity in the end anyways" Sliding his SRS99-S onto his back Chris fiddled with his MA5B as he blinked, his HUD lighting up as it turned on his long-range transceiver.

"That hill we found south-west of here made a good spot for a firebase, I'll mark it for the Marines" With two blinks, his HUDs 'dumb' AI began performing its function before relaying the information towards Serina back at New Harmony where she would evaluate the information and pass it on to the required personnel.

"Give them some ice-cream while you're at it...on second thought let's just get out of here. This place gives me the creeps" Riker motioned his hands to the rows of abandoned houses nearby, while sporting the wounds of battle, there was not a trace of blood or bodies anywhere nearby. That, it seemed, was the most disturbing part about it. The eerie deathly hallow of a ghost town, its inhabitants dragged away but not necessarily killed. It reminded Riker too much of the shards of glassed lands that he had seen while in his tenure on the Spirit of Fire.

"Memories?" Chris asked. Riker turned away, his expression hidden by his helmet as he walked down the stretch of the branch.

"Let's hope not" His words said, Riker was quick to ignite his Jetpack and soar high into the air, Chris following after a moment of deliberation. It seemed even after so long since the war with the Covenant, there was still some lingering bitterness in the air as to what had happened to their once mighty civilisation (Minus the URF). Chris couldn't quite fault them, as he had a near mastery of understanding in human psychology, he was privy to the fact he knew that Riker was merely gnawing at the withering grudge he still had against the alien species. Time healed all wounds, a philosophical excerpt Chris had once heard Athena mention, but there are some people who don't want said wounds to be healed and there were some who had suffered too much abuse to be healed. Where Riker stood in that regard required more prodding from Chris but either way the only thing that preoccupied Chris' worries would be if these thoughts would affect Rikers combat effectiveness.

Landing on another branch, Chris looked down on the concentrations of Titans on the forest floor. "We're going to have to deal with them, eventually one of the newer recruits might expunge their Jetpacks fuel" Riker unclipped his Saturi's and made a silent nod.

"Feet first into hell Captain" Riker nodded his head towards his superior before stepping off the branch and increasing his velocity by turning his body into a pinball, something the older generation jokingly called 'Sonic-Mode'. When Riker reached a few hundred metres away from the forest floor, he uncurled his legs and opened fire with his Saturi's, the bullets ripping into the eye sockets of two Titans, their heads reeling back further than their spine should let them as they stumbled back. Chris watched as his Staff Sergeant used the Titans chest as a slide and ripped a hole in its gut large enough for him to toss a grenade in.

The coming fireworks of blood and gore was ignored by Chris as he turned to the still remaining ODSTs in the trees. "You can see your Staff Sergeant fighting can't you? Eliminate all Titans in the immediate vicinity" Chris barked. The ODSTs paused, their heads following their Staff Sergeant bouncing around the TItans trying to kill him. They watched silently as Riker did a horizontal flip in between two Titans trying to backhand him out of the sky and in retaliation he trained his Saturi's on the nearest Titans shoulder, cleaving the tendon ataching the limb inot the body apart and causing the beast to drop to its knee in pain. Flipping in midair to gain some momentum, Riker was able to get into a firing position on the Titans neck and obliterate it.

"Um...Yes sir" One of the newer ODSTs, Private Dylan Holloway, nodded his head before jumping off the branch he was on and igniting his Jetpack, eager to please his commanding officer as he opened fire on the nearest Titan with his M7S, watching in satisfaction as it fell to the ground. But just as sudden as he began hovering in his place, he was caught in surprise as his HUD suddenly barked a waring in a fast approaching target behind him and the ODST could only blink before a Titan, a Deviant hopper, had launched itself high up in the air, its hands parallel to its face and its legs brought up to its side as if it was a frog, suddenly slammed its jaw on the human. Crushing the human body in between the white jagged teeth in its mouth. "Deviants! All ODSTs engage!" Deviants were bad, deviants were the bane of long-distance scouting missions. And these were the goddamn _hoppers_.

There was no more waiting among the ODSTs, their members now all jumping off in eager anticipation at the loss of a comrade as well as to assist their Captain as even an Elite of the UNSC would find difficulty fighting Deviants by themselves.

Chris pulled his SRS99C-S2, or Sniper Rifle, off his back and sighted in his target. The Deviant. With precision befitting one of his capabilities Chris was able to press down the trigger of his rifle with near perfect calm, his hands barely jarring back at the recoil as he spread the recoil between his two space out legs. The high-velocity bullet tore through the air and slammed into the creatures achilles heel, destroying the tendon and eliminating the Titans maneuverability. A literal sitting duck for the ODSTs.

With a mute silence, Chris swiveled his weapon around again and fired off another shot at a Titan that was about the crush an ODST between his fingers, the bullet tearing through its eye, passing it nose, and slicing its opposite eye wide open. Crying out at its blindless, the TItan was helpless as Riker flew in and turned into a human tornado, launching bullets every which way and decimating the TItans in the area with his patented move.

Nodding his head, Chris crouched low to the ground and waited for another target to present itself, the ODST Captain preparing his Jetpack to join the fray when he spots an ODST group needing assistance but so far Riker was doing an outstanding job at keeping the men alive, even if a few still managed to find themselves in the belly of a Titan. It was then that Chris suddenly had a ping light on his helmets HUD, his motion tracker catching on to a fast moving object in the altitude as he was. 'More Deviants?' Chris wondered. Chris' tactical mind suddenly kicked in and he knew he couldn't allow the Titan to reach the ODST currently duking it out with it brethren below.

Preparing his stance, Chris hooked his right arm across the underside of the Sniper barrels so that it was resting on the crook of his arm and readied his arm, however he couldn't see the Titan, meaning either the trees were hiding him or it was still a ways away, which was unlikely. So sighting himself onto a nearby, Chris depressed the trigger of his rifle, his bullet tearing through the air before it impacted against the bark where the bullet proceeded to shred through the wood and appear on the otherside. While the SRS could fire slugs at outstanding speeds, Chris knew that the Sniper bullet would lose much of its initial Kinetic Energy once it cleared the trees but that was ok, Chris was only expecting to blind the Titan on the otherside of it. But what came next was a shock for him as his acute hearing, able to tune out the sounds of fighting below him, was able to pick up on a distant yet still very clear male scream. His eyebrows creased together and he wondered if he engaged in friendly fire before shaking his thoughts clear, if it was a friendly than the ping would obviously identify it as a friend rather than an enemy. So then who had just screamed. Before he could ponder anymore three red dots suddenly appeared, and they were moving _aggressively_ towards him.

"What the...?" Swinging his Sniper to the right, Chris immediately let loose a round, still unable to see the targets moving towards him. His mind tried to find out what was going on but it was drown out by familiar yet distant words in his mind, '_When faced with the unknown it is better to be prepared for conflict rather than an outstretched hand. Afterall, the objective is far more important that a misplaced life' _Bringing his Sniper to bear on another contact, Chris was happy to see that only two were heading towards him. Making another shot, only one target was heading for him.

Swiveling his weapon to the final target, he was prepared to fire another shot before his gun suddenly click. _Out of ammo_. Damn, he had been too cocky, fighting only mindless beasts for the past 23 years had dulled his nerves. Realising that he couldn't reload his weapon any faster than the target would meet him Chris was quick to drop his Sniper Rifle and rip his pistol off from his side holster. When he trained his eyes ahead of him, Chris was shock, no, completely dumbfounded, to see a laughably short male suddenly appear in front of him, some sort of contraption on his hips as he raced towards the ODST with swords in his hands and a facial expression that seemed to suggest he was either bored or constipated. In either words the male reminded Chris of Chief Mendez.

In his momentary stall in identifying the threat the unknown male had cleared the distance between the two of them and poised his blades ready to strike on the Captain. With speed that defied normal understanding, Chris was quick to bring his pistol up and block the swing using his pistols trigger guards. The man seemed to have detached the metal wires connecting to his hips just in time to dodge Chris' quick towards the his abdomen, aiming for a quick and decisive end to the short battle. The shorter male dropped a few feet back before jumping forward with the intent of maiming Chris' head off, well, as far as the Captain could see anyways. Chris was forced to use his sidearm as a knife to parry the shorter males insanely fast sword swings. While his body had been conditioned for quick, accurate and precise movements, it seemed the male in front of him was quite literally hardened to _adapt_ into _becoming_ something of the same calibre. Added with Chris being unable to fire since his gun was distracted with blocking the _two_ blade aiming to dismember him, he was forced to remain wary.

It was only one the two soldiers had finally locked themselves, the shorter males weapons in an X formation on Chris' pistol guards, was the ODST Captain finally able to take a shot. Depressing the firing stud, the bullet was launched free and impacted against the males shoulder, not quite hitting the shoulder blade but nonetheless grazing it enough to sprout blood from the wound. Grunting at the sudden wound, the shorter male seemed to ignore it as he raised his swords into the air abruptly, forcing Chris' gun into the air and leaving his body exposed to attack.

The shorter swung his left swords towards Chris' stomach but Chris was able to bring his free hand to block the strike, the blade only scratching against his armors advance polymer and the shorter soldiers made something of a 'tch' sound before bringing the right blade, that was still in its raised position, down onto Chris' vulnerable right side where his right arm would not be fast enough to protect. Chris was sure the damage would be superficial and it seemed the shorter male had expected that as well, as with the trajectory of the blade the sharp metal would be driving itself between two plates on his right side that were quite spaciously spaced apart to allow the upper body to bend to the lower body, essentially it was a hole where the only thing protecting the soft flesh underneath was Chris' rubber undersuit. Expecting the blade ti neatly cut into his skin and gutting him, a sudden crack filled the air and the blade was snapped into two.

The shorter man blinked in surprise before an armored fist suddenly slammed into the males chin and sent him spiralling into the air before he rolled back onto the tree branch into a crouch. "Hold it!" The unmistakable voice of Riker was heard. Chris dropped himself to a hand-to-hand combat stance, knees spread apart and left arm held out in front of him while his right hand was held close to his chest. The barrel of his M6C having been damaged enough by the forceful push of the sharp blades that it would be a danger to try and fire. All around the area, ODSTs that had previously been busy battling on the forest floor, too far below for their motions sensors to catch the sporadic movements up above nor near focused enough to realise their leader needed help, were now surrounding the lone humanoid from different angles.

"That was timely" Chris grunted as he pulled his MA5B from his back.

"Sorry bout that, a Deviant came out and asked for my hand in marriage. Couldn't just say no with all the boys looking at me so I had to get creative. Needless to say, he won't be stirring up anymore trouble" Chris ignored his Staff Sergeants colorful way of explaining that, he was most likely rattled at the sudden appearance of another humanoid, no, a _human_ come out of nowhere and tried to kill their commanding officer using some kind of downgraded version of their Jetpacks and swords.

"I would imagine so" Chris said mildly as he crouched low to the ground. Gathering his thoughts Chris reexamined the male in front of them. While short, in fact shorter than a UNSC soldiers standard which was 6'2' and the male being only what appeared to be 5'2', the male projected an aura of authority and not like that of a military officer, more like a mafia soldiers fighting for his family, or at least that was how it felt for Chris. The male was dressed in some sort of uniform, revealing he was most probably part of some sort of paramilitary as he also had a green coat over his shoulders. There was a look in his eyes, a sort of haunting feel that was only amplified by the grittiness of his looks.

"Why did you attack me" Chris asked calmly. Silence greeted him, the male only staring intently at the male ahead of him. Frowning the Captain creeped forward as he said the question again, this time making sure to make himself and the weapons he was holding look as threatening as possible which meant exaggerated hand and head gestures. The males only response was to raise an eyebrow. It was only a few seconds later that he sighed and spoke. The words were foreign but Chris' onboard 'Dumb' AI was capable of comprehending it as an archaic, not, _customised(?)_ version of German.

"I do not understand your gibberish" Before any of them could react an ODST on a branch highest of the unknown male suddenly yelp as a metal wire attached itself onto his armor, where a man dressed similarly to the shorter male appeared and tried to cut the ODST in two. The armor however blocked most of the shot and the UNSC soldiers was able to clamp his hand onto his arm where he was then able to toss the foreign soldier into the tree bark next to him and hold him there, his armors weight and his own overall strength holding him back. Two more soldiers appeared but they were swiftly dealt with by the ODSTs, as even after so long, there was still no doubt that when it came down to killing _humans_, the UNSC held the utmost experience. Chris watched the entire confrontation only passingly, noting how each of the males sported a torn coat or a grazed limb, no doubt they were the ones he was aiming for when he was firing his Sniper. Lucky for them, he had thought he was shooting at Titans relative to the size of each tree, otherwise he would have adjusted accordingly and factored in a human form.

"Who are you?" Chris said, this time however he used German, or the subtitles that the AI was providing as it tried to analyse the language but was slow at it considering its nature. Chris wished that Serina was here, hell, even Anders would be appreciated. He was a foot soldiers, he didn't do well as a politician.

The shorter male paused, as if he was in some kind of physical struggle as he stared Chris down before he glared back at him. "Levi" The small man proclaimed. Nodding his head Chris tried to further their conversation.

"Why did you attack me?"

"You attacked first" The male was quick to accuse, though he remained completely cold and unflappable, not quite accusing more like merely stating a fact. "Why else would I attack you, an unknown, who is currently within our walls, shooting your strange weapons and wearing strange intimidating armor" Now he was just taunting them, albeit using sound reasons.

"Prissy little ass, ain't he?" Riker commented. It was only by a mere moment later that a flare was suddenly launched in the air, a black flare and it had been made by Levi who was still looking calmly at Chris, though his eyes were dodging towards Riker as well. Both the Staff Sergeant and Captain knew, they just _knew_, that even if he couldn't understand Rikers words, he did just to spite them.

"Why do you want to do?" Riker asked.

"Bag' em and hold. Send word out to the Marines. Get them to send everything they got. We might just have started a war" Chris ordered calmly. Immediately a ODST drop down behind Levi and tried to knock him out but instead found a face impacting against his helmet and the a knee hitting his ground. Doubling over in pain, Chris' could hear the short male mutter something along the lines of 'Filthy hands' and 'Filth is disgusting'...

**Meeting between Levi and ODST Corp, commenced. Now the Survey Corp and a huge motherfucking gun!**


	6. Chapter 6

_UNSC Military Calendar 023_

_51st Marine Expeditionary Force_

_Inside Albatross ID B-312_

"Lieutenant!" Sergeant Steven Koertig yelled as he walked the length of the Albatross' troop bay. Sergeant Steven ran his hand over his short crop of light blonde hair, his Marine BDU's clinking with his footsteps as he slung his M90 Mk.1 CAWS shotgun over his shoulder and tightened the bandolier of shotgun shells across his chest. While those in his troop would call him a hard hitting and dangerous man, Steven liked to think he was just very acute in the language of destruction, more so with his shotgun than an explosive, which was strange since many called the shotgun obsolete given the dangerous situation of meeting the Titans in up-close and personal combat.

"Gary! Goddamnit what are you doing" Gripping the handle of a door, he opened it to reveal a side compartment of the Albatross' troop bay. Upon looking into the compartment Steven was pleased to find his Lieutenant sitting in the drivers seat of a clamped down warthog, his hands fiddling with his Desert Eagle. "Lieutenant what are you-whoa wait what's going on here" Steven stalled as he reached the side of the warthog as he noticed a certain female lying on his lap, her medical cap laid out on her chest as she snoozed quietly.

"Sneaky, sneaky Lieutenant, you got some serious cojones in there don't you" Gary stifled a groan, careful to shift his hand over Kara's ears so she wouldn't be woken from her nap.

"I can have you peeling potatoes with Eliza in the outback if you keep that up" Steven zipped his mouth shut after that, his back going rigid in that image as even his shotgun seemed to have gone cold.

"That's pretty harsh Lieutenant" Steven whined. Roach sighed, holstering his Desert Eagle onto his chest holster as he tightened the straps of his helmet. Gary had long since learned to adapt to his teams antics, as it would seem all the veterans of the early UNSC had their own noticeable quirks. Not that he blamed them, the stories of old weren't meant to be taken lightly and fear held true among the soldiers of the UNSC about the Covenant finding them on their new homeworld.

"Being harsh is what being a Lieutenant means. But I always did prefer fighting on my own, what is it that you're here for Steven?" Laying his head back onto the Warthogs padded seat, he awaited for his Sergeant to collect himself as he played with Kara's hair. Steven crossed his arms over his chest as he made a smart about fact and leaned his back against the faded metal of the M12 LRVs side.

"We got confirmation from the ODSTs on a lockdown sight, and you already know about their _discovery_" Roach didn't respond as he merely awaited for his Sergeant to get to the point. But still Roach could understand Steven's apprehension. Even though Roach had not been born then, he could imagine the terrors the soldiers of the original Spirit of Fire's crew had gone through as they battled the Covenant. Their stories, though at times completely unfathomable, held such a cruel truth in them. Their first meeting with a conglomerate of alien species led to the deaths of billions and even if this new form of aliens are under as much duress from the Charlie-ones as the UNSC, it was still a note of caution. "Captain Cutter gave us orders to try and find evidence of these aliens and if we do, to not engage in hostile actions against them" Roach frowned, still awaiting the point of the discussion. "The ODSTs just called again, their asking us to book it"

Just like that, Roach's head snapped forward, his hands still cupping Kara's ears to prevent her from hearing the discussion. "They didn't" He whispered harshly, his hands already maneuvering Kara's head so that it would be laid against the seat rather than his leg.

"We can't be certain who made the first strike but a strike was made and now we gotta get prepared" Steven rested his chin against his chest, his balaclava was wrapped securely against his face and it hid the scar on his left cheek, a story that even Roach himself knew little about. "What are your orders?" Those words seem to leave Stevens lips automatically and they were hard in their tone. These were the moments that defined the old generation from the new one, they knew their jobs to the fullest and would give their life without a second thought to fulfill their duty.

"How fast can our Albatross go?" Steven cupped his chin in thought, his feet kicking lightly against the Warthogs wheels as he hummed.

"If you don't mind breaking formation, pretty fast but that'll expand the Albatross' gas faster" Roach nodded his head, looking at a sleeping Kara for another moment before making his decision.

"Well, let no one say the Marines never had to save the ODSTs skins"

_Inside Wall Maria_

_3rd ODST Scouting Company_

Chris doubled checked the positions of his spread out ODSTs surrounding the area- their hands fidgeting around their helmets as the motion sensor picked up on too much ambient movement that it cluttered their HUD. When he was satisfied that they were where they should be Chris downsized his cluttered motion sensor, a lesson from Chief Mendez sprung to mind 'Machines break, eyes don't' and whatever the Chief said was _law_.

Pressing his back against the bark of the tree he peered back at the ODST team he had guarding the 'Prisoners'. They were essentially fixed together with tightly bound, metal wires mostly used to tow in stuck warthogs- even if they looked human Chris _wasn't_ taking any chances. Their swords, when scanned by his ODST helmet, were made of a relatively cheap alloy that had a moderately high melting point, perfect for dealing with Titans but it didn't have the edge to cut through their plated armor nor their undersuits that were weaved with polymer fibres. Though armored as they were, they were at least enough nooks and crannies they could exploit- mainly the back of the knee, the back of the elbows, a small area of their neck guard that allowed them to bend their necks and the bottom thigh right underneath the buttocks. All this information had been relayed to the Company.

Though Chris was sure they held the advantage of being better trained and better equipped- indeed, besides that short fellow who had some considerable strength in his small bulk, the foreign soldiers were easy and in fact pathetically weaker in their hand-to-hand abilities compared to a Jackal.

Ricker was on a branch above the Captain. The Two-Hand Massacre had his Saturi pistols clipped to his side, an M7S gripped tightly in his arms. Lethal force was also _prohibited. _This was more than just a political mishap, this could become war between the two factions and that was something the UNSC would rather avoid. Military men didn't make the best politicians but if the ODSTs played their cards right- show some strength while not killing anyone- then it'd at least give them a little bit more leverage considering if their enemy had sound political leaders as well.

"The goddamn forest just had to come alive when we're trying to do an ambush" Riker grunted as he moved further along the branch so that he would be overlooking the 'kill-zone' at an angle.

Chris understood his subordinate's unease but they couldn't do anything about it, at least they weren't completely without options. Chris sighted down on his SRS99C-S2 Oracle scope. He felt calmed by the weapon in his hands, as a SPARTAN he could never rival Linda nor any of his augmented brothers and sisters but as an ODST he could lay waste with his skills insured that he was the best in human capabilities but then again even Chris had his supernatural talents.

His acute hearing suddenly picked up on a familiar sound, tethers launching free and connecting into wood with a sharp bark and hiss. _They're coming_, he thought. Chris, with exaggerated slowness, pulled his arm up, flicked the index finger forward and drew an arc towards where the sound came from. Riker nodded his head and with careful deliberate bursts with his jetpack he and three other ODSTs 'hopped' across the tree branches to intercept.

They waited, silent, heart pumping, blood rushing. Whether insured in their odds or not the calm before a battle was always nerve wracking. Just what chances would be provided to the enemy, which side would luck fall on, how many were coming home, how much pain would either side endure? All these questions filled the ODSTs mind, each squashing the feeling in their own way. Chris, however, didn't or rather he accepted it. He accepted the uncertainty, the doubt, the fear, and made it his own. He was still human but being human is sometimes the greatest advantage of all.

_There_, a soldier, dressed in the same khaki jacket as the others entered the clearing. Chris watched him, his movements, his eyesight. He was alert, they needed to handle this delicately. A soldier on alert, whether human or otherwise, would lead to some difficulty in peaceful negotiations. The man paused, his face scrunched up and he seemed to be..._sniffing_ the air. He stopped, looked directly at Chris and then pointed at him. In just a blink that Chris used to understand the fact that the male had _smelled _him, a squad of unknowns burst out of the treeline and made a beeline towards Chris, who was standing at the head of the ODST formation.

Chris paused...tucked his sniper onto his shoulder and then sent out a transmission, _take them down_.

In a flash Riker's team jumped out of the trees and burst forward with their jetpacks. The unknowns seem to turn on them in a dime- something Chris had to give them credit for- and met the ODSTs in midair.

Riker spun to the left, away from a swing of a sword. His arm lashed out and gripped the wrist of the one that held the blade, he met resistance and the soldier tried to reel away using his strange contraption. Riker didn't seem to want to let that fly. With a burst of his jetpack Riker went the opposite way and the sharp snap of bones was heard- the soldier screamed then promptly went into shock as his dislocated arm fell limply by his side.

Riker- when he was sure the unknown wouldn't fall to the ground and die- let go of him and brought his M7S to bear on the rest. _one, two, three...fifteen_. Chris watched as the Staff Sergeant initiated his patented barrel maneuver but instead of spewing out bullets, he used the momentum to slam into another unknown with the heel of his boots. A sharp crack was heard, a scream of pain and Riker moved on to the next.

Chris scanned his targets, eyeing each one, Millions of decisions and outcomes flashed before his eyes before he twisted, lifted his gun, and fired. The bullet tore through the air, making a sharp whistling sound, and struck one of the unknowns by the achilles tendon. It tore and the soldier lost cognitive control with his leg with the overwhelming pain that speared through his body.

A crack as heard by his side and Chris swung his sniper to the right to see that a trio of the unknowns had flanked him- his motion tracker going through literal hell as it pinged off the wires zipping about. The ODST barreled his sniper down, it was no weapon for close-quarters, and when the unknown leveled himself against the branch to strike at the Captain, Chris lunged forward, gripped his wrist and twisted. The man cried out in pain as he dropped his sword, Chris then brought his sniper back up and carefully aimed it at the man behind.

A click and then men had his right leg torn apart by the elbow. The third one, a woman this time, dodged backwards and was able to reel herself onto the tree behind Chris. She tried to entangle the ODST with her wires- a tactic she might have succeeded in if she had cleared off another loop- but Chris wasn't going to just let her do it. The wires pressed against his armored chest and all Chris did was pull out his knife and then sliced the wire apart.

The woman yelped and tumbled, obviously she wasn't expecting a knife to cut through her wire so easily. She rolled once, twice before launching another wire. _A spare? _Chris thought. SHe glared at him and then twisted herself to try and hit him again. Her tether cut through the air and Chris was half-tempted to order the rest of the company to attack- but no that was no good, they needed a crushing victory. So Chris stepped forward, the soles of his armored boot lightly scraping against the hard wood, before he dropped down and ignited his jetpack.

The girl seemed surprise and Chris noted her brown hair and amber eyes were brimming with curiosity at his jetpack. She twisted in midair and tried to strike at him but unlike her tethers Chris could turn on a literal thought. He bended his back, dodging the blade and launching himself under her. Flipping he hooked his right leg onto her left thigh and pulled using his jetpack to increase his strength.

She made a cry and was violently tossed to ground, still tethered to the tree, ending her surely fatal fall with a painful recoil of her wire. There was a sharp crack, not the level that warranted any medical attention but one that signaled that she was probably going to need to reset it.

Chris blinked on his HUD, the motion sensor reemerging to show that a dozen or more contacts were heading towards him. The Captain pulled his MA5B out from behind him and shot two bullets, setting the rifle at its lowest setting. Sadly he didn't have non-lethal rounds- why would he?- but he didn't aim at her, instead he shot out her contraption. She was no longer a threat, she didn't need to be dealt with.

Twisting back around he caught sight of something oddly peculiar.

Riker was hovering in spot...unusual given his fighting style but not exactly uncommon.

On each leg was an unknown gripping his armored foot. That was strange.

Straddling his back was the sniffer from before and he was continually banging his sword onto the Staff Sergeants helmeted head, the blade barely denting it.

_This guy is pretty dumb_, Riker said through the radio. Chris didn't like the idea of his men toying with the enemy, toying meant superiority and that led to arrogance which led to good men dying.

_Riker_, Chris barked through the radio. The Staff Sergeant visibly stiffened as the three soldiers continued their efforts vigorously before he quickly spun in midair, tossing the two unknowns into the waiting embrace of two ODSTs and slamming the back of his head onto the sniffer. The unknown groaned, whimpered, and collapsed.

_Casualties?_ Chris asked. As if on cue and ODSTs jetpack sputtered and barked before it failed just as he was able to reach within distance of a tree branch. Embedded onto his back was a tether, the sharp jagged and serrated blade like protrusion had cut through the coolant system and was dangerously close to its battery. Chris had to file that knowledge later, if the tether could potentially be used as a weapon against them, he wanted to make sure his men were trained to fight against it.

Chris checked his motion sensor again, the contacts were still on the move and heading towards him. The clutter cleared and Chris repositioned himself in the middle of the freshly made massacre, telling the ODSTs that had exposed themselves the train their weapons towards the wounded unknowns, Riker merely tossing the sniffer onto a tree and pressing his boot against the man's forehead.

_I got the leader of this squad pinned_, Riker sent through the radio. Chris acknowledged him with a brief burst of static from his COMM and dropped to his knee.

Now, Chris had only one objective left. Say hi.

_Outside Wall Rose_

_Scouting Legion_

_Commander Erwin Smith_

Erwin paused as his men landed by his side. Hanji was staring contemplatively at the humanoid figure that was standing calmly on top of a tree branch. All around the clearing were the drained and wounded bodies of Mike's small detachment. Off to the side Erwin could see Petra Ral pulling herself up by her tether as Titans lumbered below her.

It seemed the concentration of humans had attracted the giants but the armored being paid them no heed so Erwin thought it prudent to extend the same courtesy. "Have a squad spread out and watch the Titans, the rest follow me- keep an eye out for the other armored ones and watch out for anymore that are hiding" Hanji nodded her head, her fingers twitching as she suppressed the urge to attack with glee. Erwin launched his 3DMG and landed in front of the center figure, his scouts forming a rough diamond around him.

Erwin sized the individual up. The man had some long pole, disproportionate in certain areas with some sort of grip attached, on his back and another more larger pole in his hands. His helmeted head was completely covered with a strange silver mirror blocking his face from view. Erwin surmised that it was one-way and the person could most likely still see him through the material. The armor itself was impressive and outright intimidating looking. Black, sleek and bearing the marks of battle. It was dented, bruised and carried splotches of burn marks- it looked old. Erwin likened it to watching a veteran man tell tales of his encounters with the Titans, if that was true, that the man in front of him had probably seen his fair share of death and destruction.

"I am Commander Erwin Smith," Erwin tried the direct authoritative approach, "State your business and allegiance"

The armored man paused, as though mulling over the question, before he slid his metal pole onto his back and slammed his hand onto his forehead. Erwin blinked surprise at the motion and likened it to a salute- at the very least it wasn't a signal of attack.

"ODST Captain Chris Redfield of the UNSC. Me and my men were performing a standard reconnaissance mission when we stumbled onto your men" The Captain reported, the captain hesitated for a moment before continuing, "i misinterpreted your soldiers as Titans and fired upon them, ;leading to the ensuing confrontation." Letting his arm fall down the Captain made a motion with his finger and immediately Levi and his team were pushed forward.

They didn't look any worse for wear, besides the tattered coats and some blood flowing from wounds. The Commander narrowed his eyes, inside he debated whether or not to take the mans words seriously. He said he was on a reconnaissance mission, they could just be the vanguard force for an invasion. That possibility was very likely but he could also just be as he claimed, an exploration team stumbling upon the wall and deciding to check the ruins out.

Turning back to the soldier that was in front of him, the _captain_, Erwin decided to prod a little bit more. Too bad the Captain decided to go first.

"Who do you represent?" The Captains tone went from respectful to dangerous within the blink of an eye. Erwin grimaced, it was obvious that the male was willing to show cooperation so long as the Erwin did the same.

"As of now, I represent the humans within the Walls and the subordinates under me are members of the Survey Corp," The Captain nodded his head in understanding, "Why have we not stumbled with each other before Captain?" It was a logical question. If Erwin to assume that these humans had been alive for quite some time- which wasn't a stretch considering the absurdly large amounts of metal expanded with just their armor alone- then it would stand to reason that they would have met a lot sooner.

"Just recently," The Captain began, "We had been embroiled in a massive war with another...covenant. They saw us as filth, a scourge if you will and planned to destroy us. The battle had wreaked havoc on us and many of our towns and outposts had been destroyed or left abandoned. It ended twenty-five years ago and since then we've only been rebuilding." Erwin seemed contemplative.

If Erwin were to take truth in his words then this soldier- or perhaps his predecessors- had not only been fighting Titans but also other human beings and judging by the word _covenant_, Erwin wondered if they were a zealously fanatic empire like the Wallists. That left a bitter taste in Erwins mouth...and it also made him feel very small.

For Erwin to be told that just twenty-five years ago, when he was nothing more than just a child, a bloody war between humans had been fought outside the walls and he knew literally nothing about it? _That_ fact alone was more than just a little unsettling and judging by the soldiers that surrounded his men and had so effortlessly defeated not only the Survey Corps best squad, but also Erwins right hand man, showed that these humans were obviously well-trained in human combat. Another unsettling thought. But they hadn't attacked his men nor him, so that was a grace in and off itself.

"Then what do you seek?"

"We don't seek war, I can tell you that much," He seemed truthful enough, "Anything more then you'll have to take it up with my superiors" Erwin frowned, unsure of what to make of this. The situation was greatly knocked off kilter.

They didn't necessarily extended a hand for friendship but were clear that they didn't want a fight, logical if the story from earlier held up. But Erwin felt like the man was still hiding something and the Commander didn't like it when information was held from him. The scenarios pulsed through his head, these men defeated his scouts- arguably the best soldiers humanity had to offer- and severely injured some of them. Could he truly trust the words of someone he did that?

Furthermore, what if they weren't as strong as he imagined, what if they weren't a threat? Perhaps they didn't want a war simply because they didn't have the logistics capable of sustaining it and then when they did they would lay waste to the Walls.

Erwin's own mental situation was degrading faster with each thought and they all lead back to the same issue: trust. A gamble was all fair and good but this wasn't a gamble, this was suicide if he made the wrong decision.

But it seemed the decision was made for him. "DEVIANT" A scout shouted. Erwin blinked and turned. He balked, a Titan was running towards them, his grin spreading from ear to ear before jumping upwards and latching itself onto a tree. Petra screamed as she tried to unhook her wire.

Erwin was dismayed, even if he were to jump now he couldn't reach her in time. Off the distance the Commander heard Oluo yell something to her but it was deafened by the Titans loud yells.

One of the armored beings launched forward, slamming his feet onto the bark and grappling the metal wire that attached Petra to her 3DMG, the ODST ignited some box shaped contraption on his back and hefted her into the air and away from the Titan. The giant roared as his meal was taken away.

Then from below a Titan lunged forward and snapped it teeth onto a bark that had an ODST on it. The UNSC personnel blinked before the branch snapped into two and he was sent tumbling down in surprise.

"Hoppers! All troopers in the air!" The Captain yelled in some foreign language before more of these armored beings rose into the air.

They paused, their own version of the 3DMG making it possible for them to hover in place before they pivoted and aimed their weapons down. Erwin wasn't taking this chance to watch the newcomers fighting ability for granted. He ordered his men and Hanji, who was looking expectantly at the ODSTs in some staggered amazement, to engage the Titans with their Gear.

Riker twisted in midair and fired a burst into a Titans chest, the HE rounds exploded and caved it in. The Titan stumbled, eased then fell. A Hopper jumped by his side and crushed an ODST from head to toe in between his jaws.

The Staff Sergeant made a silent curse. _I hate Hoppers_. They always haunted the Corp whenever they left the walls. whether it'd be to set up a firebase or to scout out an area, they followed like the ODSTs were their natural prey and took them out. The worst part about it was that they were constantly on the move, harder to pinpoint down and much more tenacious.

One of the unknowns, he assumed she was a female given her proportions, zipped forward in front of him. She bounced around the area like a maniac and Riker likened it to his Massacre maneuver. She cackled in glee and moved again, but this time her wires wrapped around the neck of a Titan and she made three full turns before slicing the neck wide open.

"Not bad" He muttered. But the Titans just kept coming. Riker thought about getting his men and leaving but the Captain would do no such thing. Relations were already bad enough, it would do no good if they saw them as cowards but damn it were they in a bad position. The trees hear weren't that large and were easy for even some of the smaller Titans to reach. Plus the jetpack needed a moment to recharge and refuel itself. The Titans were too many and it gave little room for the ODSTs to fight in especially with how cramped the clearing was.

They should have dealt with them sooner, Riker thought, it'd have at least made things a lot more easier. The climbing Titan hopped from one tree to the next, his mouth wide open as he tried to eat Riker. The ODST launched his pack and accelerated away.

The Titan leaped after him. Riker weaved in and out of the Titans reach, aiming his M7S to cut of any fingers or force the palm back when either of them got to close. The situation was handled, Riker was sure of it, but casualties were going to be a bitch to sort through.

Then the next thing that happened was mildly surprising. The sharp whine of 60 MM guns blared to life and the Tree climber was brutally ripped apart. Riker tossed a look upward and was surprise to see an Albatross hovering above. _Marines_, he thought. The Albatross spun and its troop bay doors swung open.

To Rikers surprise a warthog launched itself out of it and it's turret swiveled to life towards the nearest Titan. High-powered bullets were sprayed to life and the next thing to jump out of the Albatross were human Marines as they used their own jetpacks to ease their fall.

Off from the side Riker could see the one who called himself Erwin Smith staring at the troop transport in some stoic wonder. Riker wasn't sure, he was a soldier not a psychologist, but the look in those eyes wasn't something that RIker liked. The Commander twisted and watched the warthog instead, the small LRV twisted around the legs of the Titans, destroying their heels with their turret and making it easier for the ODSTs to kill.

Riker twisted and landed onto a branch, the words of a person who called him Lieutenant Roach barking orders over his COMM.

_Hey ODSTs, thought you could use a hand._ The Lieutenant sent after he was done.

Turning towards the other unknowns, or Survey Corps members, Riker was pleased to see them staring at the warthog in what was akin to wonder. Their eyes followed the movements of the green beast like starved children and the looks of awe and fear speared through their faces.

The warthog twisted and fired a set of armor-piercing rounds through the achilles tendon and obliterated the Titans foot. Another batch of warthogs circled around and decimated a group of Titans. UNSC Marine sniper teams landed next to the ODSTs and fired off round after round into the Titan horde.

Riker smiled, at least now his men could pull back. While ODSTs were great at bringing the pain real fast and real hard, the Marines were better at playing catch the mouse with the Titans. Riker checked his squads status light- four lights were red, three were yellow and everyone else was green. _Good._

Riker turned back to watch at Erwin and he saw Chris standing next to him, eyes leveled at each other before the two exchanged a handshake.

That day the people in walls underwent a significant change.

**Ugh this chapter sucks. It sucks really bad. I wanted to do more but I'm just too fagged out. I was busy figuring out how to not make Naruto The Voyage into not a Humanity Fuck Yeah fic and decided to finish up on this chapter. It's two AM right now for me. Boo. Go back time. Furthermore, sorry for the late update, it's just with how the manga made a turn really blindsided me and I had no idea how to fit the UNSC in it. It's hard enough for me not to just have the UNSC plug the hole up and do erens job for him. **

**I don't know. Leave a review and if you guys want me to redo this I would happily do it, but it'll probably take time. The scene between Chris and Erwin was mostly inspired by The Fall by lone wolf legendary. His fic was a large inspiration for me to write this.**

**Next chapter might come out soon, it might not. I still need a clear path to be made out before I can do anything else.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Outside Wall Rose_

_Near FOB Spectre_

_Lieutenant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson_

Roach rocked the arming handle of his M41 LAAG Mounted Machine gun. His weapon swung left, sighted in on a Titan racing to pluck the humans off the ground, and fired. The armor-piercing rounds smashed straight through flesh and caused the Titan to stagger before collapsing. The thing was eliminated by Steven as he rolled onto the Titans back, unloaded on its neck and flying off as the HE rounds tore the neck and killed the Titan.

Roach grinned in satisfaction as he swiveled around, leveled the three-barreled weapon on another Titan, and let bullets fly. Eliza, who was sitting on the warthogs passenger seat grinned with her platoon's CO and unslung her 40MM grenade launcher from her back and loaded it with a HE round. "Danger close!" She shouted before firing the weapon, _literally_ danger close to the warthog. The LRV shuddered as the explosive detonated at the heel of a Titan that got too close for comfort and the rattled teeth of the driver reverberated through the vehicle.

"Can't you watch where you're shooting?!" The driver yelled.

"Ah put a cork in it!" She sneered before swiveling her grenade launcher back up and blasting two Titans off their feet and onto the ground. The marines were currently holding off the multitude of Titans that were tumbling towards the hastily prepared FOB Spectre, where the ODST Captain was having a talk with the UNSC's Commander-in-Chief.

This type of situation wasn't new to the marines, as bases were often set down before their walls were properly finished, and thus they slotted the role of defense almost second-naturedly.

Steven zipped past the trio on the hog and shot a load into a Titans face. The giant roared in anger as pieces of its flesh dripped down from the hole that was created. It chased after Steven and fell victim to the human trap as marine snipers eased out of the trees and fired onto the Titans vulnerable neck.

Roach gripped the railing that separated the gunner with the two front seats and screamed over the din of the engines. "Private! Get us into FOB Spectre!" The driver made an affirmative and veered the warthog to the left, dodging a tree, and racing into the just made doors of FOB Spectre.

The marines inside the quickly created FOB were busy setting everything up. Prefab rooms were being set up, patrols were being launched out with Rapid Response Teams being prepared just in case they come across something they couldn't handle and ODSTs were manning the Gauss cannons on top of the walls.

Roach took everything in, nodded his head in appreciation and stepped off the gunner position. Just off his peripheral Roach spotted a Cyclops racing back and forth the length of the base, carrying prefab arrays and situational rooms.

Roach unhinged his shoulders and slung his MA5B over his back. He was nonplus with the aliens turning out to be human- or human-like because there was no way a human body would be able to survive being jarred around by those tether shooters- unlike the rest of the platoon. It was a given considering the rest were Covenant war veterans with only a handful raw Privates. They hadn't really developed the xenophobic tendencies yet and considering the human-like appearances of the 'Wall humans' Roach severely doubt any of the new generation saw them as aliens. Though that wasn't a shoe of weakness, Roach trusted them for only how far he needed to stand to gut them.

The Lieutenant looked around, spotted Kara working near a group of medics, and waved to her. She waved back but it was short-lived as a senior medical officer dragged her back into the world of medicine and she disappeared from view carrying a white box that had UNSC markings.

Roach grimaced, ignored Eliza's snickers and moved to the command centre. "Eliza grab a gunner and head back out. Do what you hellbringers do and start shit up"

The hellbringer made a sharp affirmative, her mirth receding back into the recesses of her mind and she called for an extra gunner to take the position before riding back out of FOB Spectre.

Seeing the warthog Roach prepared for another mission. Waiting in a room full of suspicious marine officers waiting to hear what the Commander-in-Chief had to say.

Sometimes the better pay grade wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

_Inside Wall Sina_

_Wall Human Capital_

_Commander-in-Chief James Cutter_

James enjoyed the virtues of patience, being a ship commander and all. There were rumors that the former Captain had a limitless well of time he could expend as he sat and just watched the days roll by. It helped that he also had a million things to process at any given time, what with being the leader of a newly established human capital.

James paused, breathed in, and exhaled.

It had been a week since ODST Captain Chris had stumbled upon the members of the 'Survey Corp'. In that week the UNSC jumped from Threat Level 1; which signified Green across the board, to Threat Level 3; which meant a possible situation where serious loss of life was probable. The Garrison was now on high alert with the few Airhawks they could spare- and that hadn't been stripped for parts- were patrolling the airs diligently.

Even now Cutters small entourage of armed Honor Guards were watching the _foreign_ humans with mindful gazes. The marines being no less friendly to the unknowns as they were to them. "Sir, don't you think they're taking their own sweet time _preparing_ to meet us?" Cutter frowned and glanced at the marine that spoke. Cutter wished that Anders was with him but as it stood she wanted no part with politics and had ushered him away with a request to retrieve one of these new humans blood sample.

"It's an age old tactic. The wait often pounds the nerves, leaving them a mess before they even enter the meeting" Cutter could honestly testify to that, having been through his own fair share of ONI meetings. Bastards played the perfect hosts while being discreet manipulative bastards- how did they even know his favourite brand of wine.

The marine seemed skeptical but nodded and turned back to looking as much of an intimidating person as he could, which admittedly wasn't that difficult with the difference in height and build between the New Marines and these 'Garrison' troops.

Another fifteen minutes passed and the marines became more restless, one of them even pulled out his rifle and tossed it between his hands. Judging from the expressions of the Garrison troops, they more or less knew what that gun could do if it had an 'accidental' discharge.

It seemed ironic that after the marine was done playing with his weapon that the doors opened wide and an aid stepped into the room. He looked pasty white and sweat barreled down his forehead, the marines sneered in his direction, more of annoyance than anything else. "The king and his advisors will see you now" The man stuttered before turning around and entering the room.

The marines shook their collective heads, formed a diamond around Cutter and entered the room.

The room was large, _too_ large in Cutters opinion, with red curtains draped over the large paneled windows behind the what Cutter imagined to be the throne. It was elevated by four steps, a red and gold lined carpet spread out over it. To Cutter's chagrin the chair was overly large too and it was topped off with cushions all around. Sitting on the chair was a scraggly looking blonde haired man, who didn't quite fit the description of a proud king. In fact, he looked utterly bored.

The man looked vacantly as Cutters men filed out into a single line by the rooms side, their weapons tucked neatly into the crook of their right arm. He also had his 'crown' lying on a table by his side. Cutter wondered if the wait was truly for political reason or if the king just couldn't be bothered to care.

At least the advisors looked competent enough. Cutter prayed that the translation software attached to his neural implant was capable of discerning the coming conversation. "I am Generalissimo Darius Zackly, to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking too." Captain Cutter seemed semi-impress. Zackly almost seemed military, _almost._ Cutter had seen his fair share of troops to be able to discern that the man wasn't committed, though at what level Cutter didn't know.

"Commander-in-Chief James Cutter of the UNSC, I'm in charge of all UNSC forces and the UNSC itself." Cutter said with crisp and clean precision befitting his rank. Zackly hummed, stroking his beard as he contemplated on those words.

One of the other advisors, this one purely civilian from Cutters point of view, yelled at him, "You just injured many of our soldiers, _unprovoked, _care to explain why we shouldn't declare war on you" The man seethed but Cutter could tell the anger was not genuine, he was just afraid but why? That fear was not warranted, even with their abilities. Why did this man see him and the UNSC as such a threat.

"The ODST Captain in charge was under battle stress, in those conditions the Captain was not properly aware that your soldiers were approaching him and as such he assumed them to be Titans." Cutter explained calmly, quietly setting his jaw.

"Be that as it may we demand reparations!" The man yelled. For a moment Cutter processed the fact that the advisors were demanding rather than the king.

"Enough Nobleman" Cutter blinked- that explained a lot- "You've read the report, unless you were too lazy, these men hold enough firepower that we couldn't possibly hope to threaten them" The noble sputtered and spit but Zackly ignored him.

"You don't seem of royal blood, in fact you're a cut and dry soldier if I've ever seen one. Am I to expect that you're previous ruler was killed during this war you've had with this 'Covenant'" Cutter didn't know how to answer that so he instead nodded his head.

"Yes, I'm afraid. In all honesty I'm merely here as a formality. The UNSC doesn't want to attack any of you within the walls, so you can rest easy. In fact we'd rather enjoy if we could live peacefully together. I'm sure there is much we can share together" _Like your blood_, though Cutter kept that to himself.

"Impossible, we would never dare associate ourselves with any of you!" The noble from before spoke up, his voice was hysterical and it looked as though the man was having a pseudo mental breakdown. Cutter frowned and watched as the Generalissimo ordered a pair of guards to take the blubbering mess away, the other nobles silent as their comrade continued to mutter words.

He caught only the tail end of it, "...What if they can't be made to forget..." He banked to the right of where Cutter came in and then there was nothing but silence. The silence came in a little bit _too quickly,_ Cutter noted. His new 'allies' were a lot more dangerous than he expected.

"That's quite a proposition, however would you really provide us with anything useful? You're weapons and armor for example?" Zackly questioned. _Damn_, the man definitely knew how to work the field.

"That, I'm afraid, is something we don't feel safe in sharing. We could possibly provide plans to some outdated weapon systems, ones more suited to your _technological level"_ Cutter wasn't about to give guns to a pre-industrial civilization, for all he knew he could start a _Nuclear Crusades._

Zackly made a noise, Cutter had to admit he was being very bold and blatant- definitely lacking in political subtlety. "Then how about this. I'm sure you've seen the hole in the outermost wall, would you lend us your aid in retaking the wall?" Cutter stopped and thought about it. Would he really waste the resources and manpower- not to mention lives- simply for an alliance that was standing on the thinnest wire Cutter had ever seen, that is if they would even _consider_ an alliance after they did help them. Cutter was kind-hearted yes but he wasn't stupid.

What exactly would the UNSC get in return, better yet, what did the UNSC need from them? Food? They had crops and were rearing animals from nearby areas. Military aid? Don't make him laugh. Economics? Well, that could be something, especially if they still used coin rather than paper money. The New UNSC didn't really use currency, sure soldiers were given credit that they could spend for some creature comforts but for now all they had to use their money for were hard bunk beds and spartan metal rooms- the most spartan of all belonging to a set group of people. Cutter had to think realistically, the New UNSC wasn't going to stay an 'imperial' state forever, even then they'd still need a form of economy when the whole 'We're military so we share everything in equal portions with organized schedules' fall out of favour in the future.

The deal could be something. _Real_ houses could be made, merchants could enter in a few generations or so and civilians- however horrifying the thought- could become a part of the UNSC again.

"I remain undecided on that subject," Even with the promise of a foundation for the future of New Harmony's economy Cutter still didn't feel like he should send men to deal with an otherwise outside problem, "However, if you would open a trade with us then the UNSC could potentially sign a treaty of arms with you, where security will be shared between each other and if should the other require it, we will help defend them from any threats" It was a good deal in Cutters opinion. Who knows, maybe they didn't even need the blueprints to be able to make guns, Cutter was sure a Da Vinci was just waiting to let his inventions be heard right at that moment- that is if the government weren't like so many others before it in human history, where creativity and ingenuity were snuffed out for fear of rebellion.

Zackly didn't seem satisfied, but the nobles perked up at the mention of trade and better 'security'. They weren't sure as to whether Cutter would keep his word to the utmost of his abilities but they could rest easy in knowing they'd at least have more money in their pockets.

Zackly, sensing the sudden shift in the political debate, sighed in disappointment before nodding his head. "That is...acceptable however I would ask that the barest minimum of your troops are present within the walls, even then contained at the very border towns, and that you refrain from using your," He paused, his mind mulling on the next set of words to leave his mouth, "Flying metal contraptions"

Cutter smiled, he'd like to see them try to enforce that rule. Those cannons didn't really look all that effective. But nonetheless he nodded his head, "The terms will be met" Cutter turned to the 'king' and noticed how he had his eyes closed and was sleeping soundly asleep. The nobles around the king all openly sneered at him and Cutter mentally scrunched his face into thought. Was this really a monarch?

"One last thing," A noble asked, "About this **Covenant**_**, **_do they still exist?" He sounded fearful, the thought of another of Cutters kind that was aggressive surely making him worry for his health. Cutter had to pity him, the Covenant was so much more worse than humanity could ever dream of.

"We're not sure, we merely _escaped_ them and are unsure where exactly they are currently located. If the Covenant does stumble upon you, the UNSC would gladly come to help" That was true, if the Covenant stumbled upon them then come hell or high water the UNSC _had_ to help them, they would all be dead men either way once the planet was glassed.

The nobles passed uneasy glances with each other for a moment before they all nodded his head. Zackly said, "The meeting will be adjourned for now. The terms of the treaty will be decided tomorrow, if you could Commander-in-Chief James Cutter, please arrive here at the same time tomorrow. The public has already been made aware of your presence however tomorrow you will be publicly presented." Zackly said. Cutter wondered about the authoritative tone, snorted in his mind at the thought of Anders actually being here to be subject to such a sho of disrespect, and made a crisp nod.

"At your leave" Making a smart about face Cutter waited for his Honor Guard to take up positions around him before moving forward.

As he walked Cutter thought about the best way to handle everything. FOB Spectre was located only 15 KM away outside Wall Rose in what Cutter knew to be the Trost District. One way or another, the UNSC would still have some use in their plan to retake their walls as a possible resupply point for their troops. The close vicinity of FOB Spectre also meant that they would be the main base of operations for the UNSC personnel that would be operating within the walls.

The meeting had ended on less than spectacular terms. Cutter wondered if he could play on some political bonding activities. Perhaps a joint training between their armed troops? That was the usual way to go about it, so long as the armies were buddies than the country had no choice but to play along. But then came the problem of their army being downright _distrustful_ of the UNSC.

Cutter was half-tempted to pull his hair out. Things were so much simpler being a soldier, even the shield world didn't give him this much of a headache. "Corporal Walter" The marine in question perked up at the mention of his name as they reached the Pelican that the UNSC de facto leader had used to arrive here on. "Contact the _Spirit of Fire_.I want a fresh batch of troops and at least one pelican stationed in FOB Spectre. They're going to need it...oh and get Daniel Hart to be prepared for some political fanfare."

"Damn this is turning out like the 21st century." Cutter smiled slightly at one of the marines joke.

"Worse still," Cutter said, "You can't even sleep with their women and hop back on a plane ride out" Chuckled broke out between the marines and Cutter appreciated the small mood-lifter.

Because the next few days were going to be _hell_ for him.

**This one was a little bit more political. I'm not sure if it's at all believable considering how FFed up the SnK monarch is I'm trying to keep Cutter as far away from them as I possible can (Just in case new developments from the manga start going in a way that's more desirable) and keeping the UNSC, who already set everything off-kilter, into (For now) an agreement reminiscent of NATO (I think at least) Next chapter would be a time-skip, not yet at the Trost battle as I still have some more world building to deal with. **

**Sigh...so much for studying. :P**


	8. Chapter 8

_Wall Rose_

_Trost District_

_Eren Yeager_

Eren huffed as sweat dripped down his forehead, his hands ached and his cheeks were sunken. Instructor Keith was especially hard on the recruits today, the sixteen year old boy was sure that his legs fell off somewhere down the fourth hour of intense training. Hand-to-hand combat had also been bumped up to near ludicrous levels. Worst of all, Eren knew why.

Just shy of 6 months ago, Eren and all the divisions of the 104 Trainees Corp had been gathered at the Capital of the Human Empire, Wall Sina, for an impromptu announcement by the monarchy. It was surprising but like a good soldier- and not wanting to meet the instructor's ire- Eren had moved without a fuss and stood at parade attention in front of the Kings palace.

That was when some very interesting- if not downright _shocking_- news had been laid down on them. Wall Sina was _not_ the Capital of Humanity. Or rather, it wasn't the only Capital out there. The Survey Corp had came into contact with another group of humans, the ones who called themselves the 'UNSC'. Eren wasn't sure how the others reacted to the news- he had heard some murmurs of discontent from his fellow trainees- but Eren felt both apprehensive and excited. He didn't know what to think about the new humans, not understanding how humans could have survived without the walls. As much as he hated them, he could understand that it would be difficult if not suicidal to try and _live_ beyond the walls but these people _had_ which made Eren excited. He wanted to ask them what it was like- the outside world- but he also wanted to know just what they did to give themselves enough of an edge to be able to survive the Titans as they do.

These raging emotions that fueled Eren's curiosity was only held back when these men were properly introduced, and his enthusiasm quickly dashed away. The man who stepped at the forefront was old, certainly much older than the King if Eren were to guess, but he stood tall and straight with a pressed grey uniform on. He looked more military than royalty in Eren's opinion. Then he spoke, his voice so commanding yet so soft at the same time that Eren was caught in a loop, 'We are the UNSC', he had said, 'And we mean you no harm.'

With each syllable spoken Eren noticed how a troop of armored men, rivaling Reiner in size and bulk, stood at attention off to the side. Their armor looked thick to the point that Eren wondered if his blade could even cut through, their faces were rugged and clean- military precision- and they held some strange musket like devices in their arms. When the ceremony ended, Eren realised all the man said was that he hoped the 'Wallers' would be able to live in peace with the UNSC. That was it, nothing else. It was short, held nothing but piece meal information and they left with only a promise of military aid should the time arise.

"Yeager! Move your ass up that hill!" Eren straightened himself with a start, resisted the urge to salute, and quickly ran up over the hill that stood in his way. The trainees were performing one of their daily exercises, running up and down obstacles with no breaks in between. Eren gulped in air before lunging at a set of bars and swinging from one to the other. Jean was behind him and Eren was just too tired to quip any remark at the male. Jean however seemed to have at least enough energy to curse until the moon rose.

Eren couldn't blame him, ever since the UNSC showed themselves all the Trainee Corps- Eren had met several members of the other divisions- had been pushed to their limits in physical conditioning and hadn't even touched their 3DMGs in days. Hand-to-hand while still not mattering in the final assessment were taken with such a seriousness that it was no surprise when an instructor would send a trainee to the medics for broken bones or bleeding noses.

"Keep those heads low!" Keith yelled and he shot a blank musket shot into the air. Eren ducked his head and fell to the ground, crawling across the makeshift battlefield.

"What is with this!" Connie yelled as he landed next to Eren. The crop-cut male had his eyes surveying the field ahead of them, their newest obstacle seemed to be a pair of instructors with wooden batons looking menacingly over the horizon waiting for the cadets.

"Have you guys heard the rumors that those 'USNC' people are going to be bringing soldiers to train with us?" Reiner said as he dropped to a knee next to a sand dune, in his hands was a fake musket that fired small rubber bands. "Does anybody feel like taking this off me? It feels far too light for me." The burly man frowned. Marco nodded his head and the musket was exchanged without a fuss.

"Those new guys. Doesn't anybody think it's a little bit suspicious how we never met them in 845 years? Or the fact that they had seemingly encountered the Survey Corp within Wall Maria? For all we know they could have led the Colossal Titan to the wall." Eren felt knots twist in his stomach, he wasn't sure what he'd say if those words were true but he did know one thing; they were innocent until proven guilty, the fact that Jean had pointed it out only served to prove his point.

"Eren do you remember seeing these people?" Connie asked.

"Never in my life" Eren was sure he'd at least remember their armor, he still wasn't sure how they fought Titans without the 3DMG but Eren was sure he'd have at least caught a glimpse of them. Mikasa too had never seen them before but had pulled Eren aside and told him how they were 'dangerous' and he should be careful around them. It annoyed Eren that she was still being the overbearing 'protector' on him but he nonetheless accepted the advice.

"Let's just hope those guys are like Reiner and don't end up eating us." Connie laughed at his own joke and Eren smiled slightly but a shoe smacked the back of his head, causing him to go face first into the ground.

"You slackers better start running before I get there!" The trainees scurried to their feet, ran across the open space...and were annihilated by the instructors.

Eren groaned as stars appeared in his peripheral vision and had only enough time to blink before instructor Shadis slipped into his view. "What's this Yeager," Keith muttered, "Lying on the job? That's unbecoming of a soldier. You'll need a suitable punishment." Eren blanched and could barely utter a word before the instructors claw like hand wrapped around his face and dragged him off.

_Outside Wall Rose_

_FOB Spectre_

_Lieutenant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson_

Gary loaded his weapon and sighted down the sights. He shifted and fired, catching a 5 metre Titan by its eyeballs and causing it to stagger. He grinned and stroked the barrel of the Desert Eagle lovingly. The antique belonged to his father, a hard-hitting man who deserved the medals he got. It was part of his arsenal and now it was part of Roach's loadout. He liked it, the PDS just couldn't provide the same satisfaction that the Eagle gave with each shot. He grinned as the sun reflected the steel of the weapon before he replaced it back into its holster.

He shook his shoulders, sniffed, and turned to see Corporal Eliza shepherding the recruits towards the landing pad. They were the 'political fanfare' that were going to be introduced to train with the 'Wallers'. They were going to be part of a joint training session between the Wallers and the UNSC. It was going to be an easy run, the recruits and trainees would be ferried off by pelican and onto a predetermined area where UNSC marines would hide in ambush and prepare to give them the fight of their lives. Quick, easy and standard training.

The Rose Pact, the formally written agreement between the UNSC and the Wallers, had a specific number of UNSC personnel allowed behind the wall at any given time when they were not under attack, which was 50 troops. Considering the general distrust the marines had for the Wallers themselves, they have only been deployed for weeks at a time and mostly stayed at FOB spectre which had received quite the fortifications.

There was now a permanent pelican on standby at the base, with enough fuel to last at least three trips back to New Harmony. The base also now had a compliment of 245 marines, just in case the Wallers ran into any serious trouble. Not only that but FOB Spectre now acted as one of the resupply points for the Survey Corps to use as they went on their expeditions. The Wall monarchy was particularly unhappy about the UNSC base within Wall Maria and it took both the stern urging of Commander Erwin and more subtle threats from Captain James Cutter before they finally relented.

Though looking at the few scouts that littered the interior of the base, Roach wondered if they saw the base as a blessing or a curse. The scouts all stood to one side, glaring at any UNSC marine and keeping their arms crossed. They were given the same courtesy and any weapon that wasn't nailed down had been moved to the armory and guarded with a full squad of marines. There was just no way that the UNSC would allow these people anywhere near technology they could not understand- or potentially use against them.

"Steven," Roach elbowed the older man that was standing next to him, "Keep an eye out on Mr short, pale and broody over there" The marine Sergeant blinked, looked over his shoulder from cleaning his shotgun and spotted said person.

"I'm pretty sure that he's the 'Captain of the Corp' that I've been hearing so much about."

"He's a little bit short to be given a heroic title like that." Roach said dubiously.

Steven sent him an amused look, "Yeah and you're a little young to be my superior."

Roach waved his comment away dismissively, "I went to Command School, you're enlisted. There's a difference." Steven snorted.

"You sound like an air jock!" Roach coughed into his hands slightly, smiling at his friend bemusedly as he glided his fingers on his pistol. It was strange to have such conversations with a subordinate but Steven was so much more than that. He was like an older brother and a father mixed into one. Roach could recall the time he was put in command of this squad, that was ages ago in his mind and he much rather forget his silent, lone-wolf attitude. Back then Steven and Eliza made it a kick to get a rise out of him.

The two soldiers headed down to ground level, their shift already over. Outside the walls Roach could hear the Titans banging against it in a futile attempt to get onto the other side. The wall was triple-A titanium- ain't no way a Titan or its mother was going to get around that but Cutter had warned them that if the Colossal or Armored Titan were to appear then the wall- which wasn't even close to being a fifth of the size of either Wall Rose or New Harmony's walls- wouldn't last.

When Roach finally reached the ground he made a cursory glance around him before spotting a marine off to the side hovering around one of the scouts. Nifa, if Roach wasn't mistaken. "Marine!" The Marine visibly stiffened and made a stiff salute. The girl followed soon after with a salute of her own. Technically, with the following of the Rose Pact, each individual army would at least show the due respect to any other officer like they should- it was just the Wallist used a very skewered Navy-esque ranking system that even Cutter found it hard to follow. Hell Roach was a Marine and he couldn't follow- and the Corp had many redundant ranks.

"Private Quentin North, Sir!" The private said in greeting. Roach bristled, North who named a kid with a direction? Roach blinked to himself, man he must have gotten really used to Hart if he was thinking like this.

"Getting googly eyes private? How old is she exactly?" Roach returned the salute and watched as the private squirmed in his place.

"No, Sir." He said after a moment. The girl- Nifa, Roach corrected- was staring unsurely between the two of them obviously not knowing if she should take the situation seriously or not. Roach couldn't blame her, with Steven smirking like a maniac on drugs, his hands stuffed in his pockets and an eyebrow lift completing his humourful expectant look, and Quentin himself looking about ready to burst- the scene didn't really look all that serious.

"Forgive the intrusion," It seemed she either decided she didn't care or she was kind enough to at least try to explain their actions, "But Private Quentin here was just explaining to me about your 'Warthogs' as my superior Hanji Zoe is currently chatting with the Base Commander."

Roach raised both his eyebrows, deliberately looking even more surprise and starting at Quentin expectantly. "Is this true, private?" He said gravely in german. Nifa widened her eyes, looking as though she had her friend caught with his hand in the cookie jar. She quickly tried to amend her previous statement but failed to notice how Quentin had stopped being rigid and was standing leisurely next to the lieutenant.

"You are evil, Sir." Quentin whispered. Roach chuckled and tapped Steven on the shoulder.

"Head to the mess and get a plate to eat, Steven. This will probably take a while." Steven shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly at the other.

"Wouldn't mind being out here anyways." He said before doing as his superior ordered. The noncom went off to the mess as Roach and North were left behind. North smiled as Nifa continued to try and defend him and turned to the lieutenant, trying to engage in friendly conversation- in a respectful manner of course.

"It's quite nice, ain't it, Sir? Even being distrustful they got their good eggs too." North said, gesturing his head to Nifa. Roach gave him a smile, watching as Nifa was joined by her comrades as they asked what was going on- they couldn't understand both North or Roach as they were speaking english.

"Everyone has their good eggs and bad eggs. Some eggs are even rotten but as hard as stone on the outside, others are rotten on the outside but crack it open and you can make a fine omelet from it." Of course Roach was just taking this from what he heard from Hart, he hadn't nearly lived long enough to be able to spout nonsense like that. North seemed thoughtful before a radio message blared through their helmets transceivers.

"All members of 'Let's all get-along' squad please report to pelican bay and prepare for dust off.' Quentin hid a groan and Roach sent him a wry smile.

"'Let's all get-along'?" Roach asked. It was so easy for any member of the UNSC to engage in banter like this. Being the survivors of war, and indeed being the children of soldiers who served together in that war, made it that the UNSC had a strong sense of kinship and camaraderie between each other. Every father was a brother, every brother was a son, every daughter was a sister.

"Don't ask...and please don't tell." Roach nodded his head in understanding, though he still didn't look all that convincing, and allowed the private to tell Nifa to calm down before he left to the pelican bays. Nifa and the other scouts quickly left soon after when ROach told them not to crowd the motor pool before he went off to meet Steven in the mess.

It was crowded, most of the Survey Corp had congregated here- paranoia or not- and sampled the _meat_ that the UNSC was able to provide. They were dehydrated. ash-tasting, meet but nonetheless the Survey Corp enjoyed it. He nodded his head in greeting to fellow section commanders and colleagues before sitting down next to Steven, who had picked a seat nearest to the western exit in case of an emergency.

"You took your time." He mentioned as he slid a plate towards him. Roach nodded and sat down.

"Got caught in some dialogue." Roach said as he sat down. He looked down at the neat and organised set of food and grinned. It looked healthy and delicious- which meant it wasn't all that pretty looking.

"Yeah? Better hope to it. I just had a talk with Lieutenant Frazier, were being deployed into the nearby areas. See what we can find and do some crowd control."

"Find for what?" Roach asked.

"Genetic samples, blood." He paused, tossing a look at the Survey Corp members before moving in conspiratorially. "_Point of Origin._" He said quietly . Roach only slightly widened his eyes before nodding.

"Professor Anders really is a curious person isn't she?" Roach said ruefully, as though the previous words meant nothing. If the Wallers truly were the cause- or at least, obvious descendants- of the Titan epidemic than the UNSC would need to start getting ready. Because if the powers that be were able to destroy the chance of human civilization beyond their own holdings- for whatever purpose- than the UNSC would surely be a subject of particular worry.

"She's smart. And ever since Forge, she started thinking about our lives more and more each day." Steven said quietly. Roach nodded his head- he had heard the tales of the heroic John Forge, however he never met him and thus he could look at him in hero wonder and nothing more though he wasn't stupid enough to not accept such sacrifice without gratitude.

"Right. Well, we move out in twenty then."

_Wall Maria_

_At the Breach _

Jerome crouched low to the ground as he hefted his rifle up and around the breached wall. His armored boot moved lightly against the hard ground as he stood at attention for the 'Colossal' Titan, in case it decided to pop up again and knock another hole into the wall.

Opposite him and on the other side of the wall was Douglas, who was peppering the Titans below with precise shots from his Spartan Laser. The Titans fell underneath his haze of red beams with Alice backing him up using a dismounted LAAG Machine Gun. The female always did enjoyed being a heavy-hitter. Jreome rather preferred striking from a distance.

"Sir!" Douglas reported as he hefted his Spartan Laser up, "Charlie-ones are advancing onto the wall!" Jerome turned to the direction he was gesturing too and felt annoyance well up inside him. Jerome hated the Covenant with a fiery passion but these Charlie-ones came a close seconds next to the grunts with just how annoying they can get.

"Alice, covering fire, Douglas pull back." Douglas made a silent confirmation using his suits status lights before he jumped off the wall alongside Jerome as the sharp whine of Alice's LAAG roared to life.

As Jerome fell he snapped his AR up and fired into the throng of Titans below. The SPARTAN used his honed reflexes and strength to duck into a roll and used his boots to provide enough friction that he wasn't falling too quickly.

The Titans all turned their collective heads upwards at the falling human titans, their hands raised to try and grab the SPARTANs out of the sky. Douglas had enough concentration from his fall to be able to fire a Laser, turning a Titan headless from the concentrated beam, before he clipped the weapon onto his back and pull out his M7 SMGs. Jerome still kept his AR up and fired controlled bursts into the Titan horde.

The Titans screeched as some lost their eyes, the joints of their jaws got dislocated, or their noses were left a crater from explosive rounds. The SPARTAN-II's quickly ignited their jetpack all at the same time, drifting just above the Titans using a combination of the Jetpacks thrust and their own powerful legs launching them off the walls. The SPARTANs soared overhead as Jerome dropped grenades onto the Titans, reminscent of a bomber dropping its payload on its target. The results were expected.

Titan limbs flew into the air from the explosions that- while not strong enough to turn them into mush- was able to separate their arms or leg from their respective places. Douglas ripped his SMGs off his sides and quickly put an end to any and all other TItan threats with quick brutal volleys. The Titans shuddered, the bullet digging into their flesh and cutting through to their weakpoints before they fell to the SPARTANs onslaught.

_Sir, I can keep the Charlie-ones from reaching the wall for another ten minutes!_ Alice said through the COMM. Channel. Her voice was smooth and calm but Jerome could hear the grunt of effort in her tone nonetheless. Jerome ordered Douglas to deal with the Titans obstructing his view.

He nodded his head and hefted his Spartan Laser back up onto his shoulder as he fired a Laser in a perfect perpendicular angle that cut through five Titans in a row. They tumbled to the ground, now headless and without a neck. Douglas nodded to Jerome who quickly thanked his brother in his own SPARTAN way- which was a subtle shake of his right shoulder- and made into the Wall breach.

If Jerome wasn't mistaken Shiganshina District was home to a respectable garrison of troops and judging from the dried blood on the walls- though very faint- a few had done a valiant attempt to try and save the small district from the Titans. Jeromes respect for them went up, especially if they were willing to go straight into the breach to meet the Titans head on. Though there was also the option that they were merely caught in the blast, and were trapped in the hole either paralysed in fear or under rubble before they were devoured by Titans. Jerome didn't dwell on those thoughts.

The SPARTAN-II eased himself into the breach, looking around himself expectantly. Off in the horizon he could hear Alice's changun at work as several loud thumps reverberated into his metal suit. Jerome turned on his helmet's infrared vision, a small dent on the side of his helmet from a particularly nasty smack from a Titan during his scouting op on the mountains.

The infrared vision burned bright red and Jerome had to shield his eyes away from the blinding light. Sometimes his augmented eyes were more a hindrance than an asset- but that was only sometimes. "Log; readings of large exothermic heat catalogued, no outward negative signs on Wall material." Jerome had done his own fair share of ONI work- policing alien technology and examining alien biology in the field- that he could at least provide some data to Professor Anders back on the Spirit of Fire.

"This will need time." Jerome muttered as he rested his palm against the smooth rubble inside the breach. He knocked on the rubble, his body registered the sound on the other side- his acute hearing was really useful- and surmised that it was hollow on the other end. Which meant the extreme heat was probably caused by some sort of machinery inside the wall to...to what? Jerome wondered. He could name a list of potential reasons, his augmented mind running a mile per second, but it was his choice.

_Sir, I cannot hold them off any longer!_ Jerome turned to the side and jumped backwards as a Titan hand slammed where he used to be. Jerome frowned, took out his rifle and fired three busts into each of the Titans eyes. It squawked and retreated from the breach, using its body like a shield that blocked the movement of the Titans behind it. Jerome took the moment scanned the material of the wall using his external equipment that Anders had outfitted his suit with, read the display that said it was made of some sort of crystalline matter- highly condensed and highly reactive to air and heat. After recording the data he bugged out of the hole and joined his SPARTAN brother and sister outside as they too regrouped at the breach to meet him.

"Let's move SPARTANs." He commanded. The two augmented humans nodded their heads, Alice doing it while spraying a fresh volley into the Titans converging around the Breach. Jerome surmised that if the UNSC ever decided to help the Wallers out and try to close the breach, the operation itself would result in tremendous loss of life as the Titans converged around the breach. With lack of air support and the cumbersome need to transport armor through the vast distance between New Harmony and Wall Maria, it would surely lead to a very frustrating time- even for the SPARTANs.

The SPARTAN launched their jetpacks into the air, using grappling hooks along the way when the Jetpack could handle the continuous flight upwards and needed to recharge before the crested the top of the hill and hunkered down.

"Sending information package to Anders." Jerome muttered before turning back to the mass of Titans below.

"What should we do, Sir?" Douglas asked as he prepared his Spartan Laser just in case- even with the relative safety of height, a SPARTAN knew better than to let his guard down.

"Now," Jerome breathed as he unslung his Rifle, "We wait."

**Wanted this to be longer but my computer was wonking out and refused to let me write more than this. If some segments looked like they were cut off or loss some description it was probably because of that. Anyways, you know I'm still surprise this crossover hasn't been done that much. This and the next chapter might be a little bit more world building, might be. **


	9. Chapter 9

_Wall Rose_

_Thunder Valley_

_Private Quentin North_

North slowly trudged through the foliage of the forest floor, his MA5B swinging from left to right in low sweeps. His hair was fritzled, he lost his helmet and one of his shin guards. If his dad saw him, he'd probably be torn between laughing out loud and chastising him for his attire. It wasn't like he could help it, one minute he was listening to Hart give out instructions and the next he was tossed out of the pelican falling towards the ground flailing and screaming. He scowled as he thought about the training exercise, echoing the Staff Sergeants words in his head.

"_Alright boys and girls!_" Hart had yelled down the length of the pelican bay, "_The scenario for this exercise is simple to understand. A hot-drop gone wrong! You and all your comrades have been scattered all across the valley alongside weapons and armor. Your objective is simple, find your wayward comrades and head towards the center of the valley but you will find opposition and the exercise will end in failure if everyone has been knocked out. Now, I only have one last thing to say, have a nice flight!" _Then North was headed feet first to the ground.

He shook himself awake, alert, and continued to move on without pause. The MA5B replica in his hands was weighted and mimicked the recoil of the actual gun so North wasn't entirely out of depth with it but he wasn't use to the empty feeling all around him. Having grown up in New Harmony filled with soldiers and packed buildings North had grown accustomed to the feeling of having friends around him. Now there was just a dead eerie silence. And not the kind of silence Benito would give off, the mute marine making enough noise with the way he walked.

"Shut it North, these thoughts aren't doing anything for you," he muttered as he ducked behind a set of trees. His heart was pounding, his nerves were shot. He had traveled half a kilometre inward and had found nothing but rigged weapons and remnants of firefights strewn all across his path. There were no bodies obviously but the scarring the trees had undergone were telling a story too obvious for North to ignore.

His feet brushed past a collection of surface roots, the sharp edged soles of his boots digging into the wood just enough to give him purchase. Then he swooped back down to press his back against a tree in quick released agitation. He still heard and saw not a hide nor hair of any others who had been in the pelican with him. Perhaps he was the last? That was a hard pill to swallow.

He made sure to maintain a quick and even pace but it slowed to a crawl, almost whisper quiet when his ears twitched at an ambient noise, something his father, who was an ODST, had taught him. Pick up sounds, trust your ears and nose more than your eyes. Even a gun can be discerned through them, each individual weapon purring in their own unique way that it made separating them easy. He shifted his foot and pressed his back deeper into the tree. With his chest guard having been removed when he was pushed out of the pelican, to further facilitate the scenario, he could feel the tenderness of the tree against his back. The familiar smell of oakwood filled his nostrils and for a moment he imagined himself in the forests behind his house, playing with the neighbourhood kids and watching the lazy stream that snaked through.

Then those images disappeared and he twisted to keep moving, feet sliding against the ground as he paced himself, crouched and back arched. His boot covered feet barely made a noise, every twig avoided skillfully and with the skill of someone who knew jungle and forestry. Even in the metal and cramped pathways of New Harmony, no child could say that they didn't spend a day with mother nature.

He heard the padding of footsteps hitting the ground next to him, running? No, more like fast walking. The man might be jittery but he was definitely not a marine instructor waiting to ambush him. The movements were too unrefined, to quick and jaded, they seem to mimic flying more than walking, using the tip of their feet rather than the soles. A Waller, North thought, but a trainee or an instructor?

North switched tact, he began moving faster, matching the Wallers movements. He heard a hitch of a breath, knew that the Waller had heard him, and ducked his head low to provide a smaller area for the wind to impede on his run. It was only two blinks of an eye later that North appeared in front of a young man, freckles spreading across his cheeks and wide eyes staring into his face. North was too close to see if the Waller had any weapons and couldn't risk it, so he tied the MA5B's readiness harness across his head, his soft under coverings having no magnetic strip to latch the weapon onto, and barrelled into the Waller. There was an oumph sound and the two were on the ground wrestling.

The Waller must have had some training in hand-to-hand but it was laughably easy to get around the simple jabs and hooks, North barely had to try before he had him restrained on the ground. "What's your name!" North barked in german (thank god his mother loved learning foreign languages). The boy squirmed and North pressed harder, he had memorized the list of the trainees names and if he didn't say something that rang a bell as loud as a tone deaf opera singer than North would put him down.

"Marco!" He wheezed and North quickly let go, scrambling to his feet as he sent a sheepish smile to the trainee.

"I am sorry about that, you'd best make sure that you have no wounds." North grimaced at the odd way he spoke before saying again, "I have some bandages to give if you want, about the only thing I could get from the pelican before I was thrown out." Marco slowly got up, rubbing his sore arm as he stared at North.

The silence stretched on for a little longer, and the awkwardness only seemed to grow with each passing millisecond. Marco still kept staring, not disrespectfully but still crossing the line nonetheless, while North was trying his best to try and smooth over their first contact. "Uh...do you know where the others are?"

That comment seemed to snap Marco out of it and he nodded, "Before we arrived on your, uh, _pelihcahn, _the other trainees and I picked out a river bend to meet up from." North grimaced, thinking back at the push from the pelican. North was sure his marines did the same but with how Marco had worded his response, none of them shared that information with the Wallers. That was a gripe he'd have to hammer in when he met with them sooner, anything that caused him inconvenience caused them a lecture. As his mom like to say, 'it only hurts twice as bad if you don't send it right back'.

"Do you mind if I follow you?" North asked. The trainee seemed to hesitate, tossing a suspicious glance down onto his rifle. The private silently sighed in his head before plastering the friendliest smile he could manage, "I'll be good trust me, just keep me alright." That only seemed to confuse Marco even more and North lamented that maybe jokes weren't appropriate here.

But the trainee seemed pressed for time and nodded to North's request. "You can, if you want to." The marine nodded and waited for Marco to lead the way before following with his rifle raised and ready. Following Marco; someone to point out orders and direction, that helped North. He could concentrate on more important things, like watching their back and keeping them safe. His senses were allowed to spread, ears perking and eyes darting from left to right.

Something dark darted a hundred metres from him, he twisted so quietly that it almost sounded like the wind and braced. A deer yelped in startled surprise and dashed away in the opposite direction. He eased on his finger and sighed. "Hey," Marco whispered, "Is everything alright?" North replied with an affirmative and followed the kid deeper into the forest.

Huh, not even Benito could catch him move.

_Eren Yeager _

Eren kept moving, kept breathing. He liked gulping down breath, sucking down oxygen into his lungs more and more. It was the only free thing in the walls and the only thing that shared a world with the outside that he wished he could have. But the brown jacket fastened around his upper body sang a different tune and Eren knew deep down inside, unlike the air that could fly willingly, he'd have to earn his wings.

"Thirty paces forward, forty paces forward, fifty paces forward..." He chanted and with each syllable drawn he ran faster. The wind whipped against his face and it rustled his hair, reminding him of how it was like to soar above the skies without pause. He wished his 3DMG hadn't disconnected its main wire, the pressurized gas leaving the metal tanks, and the triggers jamming with some unseen injury. He kept running; burying his emotions to better concentrate, to imagine soaring indiscriminately with twin blades tight around his hands.

He leapt the final shred of distance and burst out from the green foliage to his destination. A huff and his eyes were staring at the rushing lake that was in front of him, jagged rock around its shore, and shrubbery lining its border. "Here!" Eren gasped, toes curled inside his boots and stomach flipping with mornings breakfast.

"Eren!" Armin yelled in greeting, rushing forward with hands raised in relief at seeing his friend. "Jean, Annie, Reiner and Mikasa already arrived, with a few others behind them." Eren shot Armin a small smile but couldn't curb the bit of jealousy that the bite-sized trainee still had his 3DMG. The boxy design of the Wallers greatest weapon, sheets of blades sheathed inside with wires connecting to the hilts where the triggers lay. For a small moment Eren entertained the phantom feeling of the weighted contraption, how its sharp edges would dig into his sides, before shrugging those thought aside.

"Where are they?" Eren asked and Armin led him towards where they were. Off to the side in a cave underneath a waterfall, behind dense bushes and twigs, Eren spotted the familiar brown khaki's of his comrades and made a grin of hello. The sociable ones nodded, the quiet ones shifted in their own greetings.

Mikasa bounded to him, a natural calm gait filled with the confidence he expected of her. "Eren!" She took her place by his side, her face the blasè mask she always wore. Eren sighed as her presence seem to smother him, but he accepted it regardless. Her eyes shined like obsidian in snow but within them was an oasis that shined brightest for those she held close.

_"Shh." _Someone hissed, "I hear someone!" Instinctively, Eren dropped to his knee, Mikasa a distant memory as his heart sped. Reiner moved forward, a musket in his hands and his jacket missing from his attire. Eren inwardly winced, Shadis would have a field day with that.

There was the rustle of the bushes outside, followed by broken twigs and Eren had to give it to them, they chose a nice spot. A familiar voice was then heard, one that sent relief rippling through the assembled people, Eren noting that Jean especially having a longer sigh than the others, though the annoyed expression didn't leave much to the imagination. "Anyone there!" Marco's voice cut through, then he was silent, too silent to tell what he was doing before he returned with a vengeance. "Are you in the cliffs!" Jean jumped to his feet and ran outside.

"He's going to blow our cover!" He groused as he ran out of the cave, ignoring the water that splashed onto his back. "Oi, keep it- there's a big burly dude with a rifle behind you!" The sudden shift from angry yell to panicked stutterings surprised Eren and beside the fact that it was from Jean, it interested him. He stalked back to the cave, keeping his frame small, and sure enough Marco was standing there with a confused expression and a burly half armored man next to him in some sort of scowling match with Jean.

Eren immediately recognised him as one of those foreigners he had seen inside the flying metal death trap that was their transportation. He didn't know the man's name but with the way he was watching the trainees, Eren wasn't sure if he wanted to.

"He's a friend!" Marco shouted, "He helped me get here."

"Let's not forget it's a _joint_ training mission!" The marine bellowed. Eren stole a glance at Armin, who returned only a shrug and an eye gesture to Marco.

"Do you trust him!" Reiner asked.

"Define trust!"

"Five words of goodwill!"

"I. WILL. NOT. SHOOT. YOU!" Marco shot an annoyed look at the marine who Eren now notice was watching the treeline and keeping his back turned to them.

"Fine!" Jean shouted, "Just stop shouting already and get in here." The trainees looked in surprise at Jean who himself didn't look all too pleased.

Marco scrambled up into the cave entrance and made a beeline for Jean, his hands already raised in a placating gesture while the marine was careful to not upset anymore of their natural defense and skirted around the edges of the group of trainees.

"Hey, uh, Marco I'll be here so, it's alright, go talk to your boyfriend." The marine muttered, low enough for Eren to tell that he wasn't supposed to hear- and really he didn't want to. Armin shifted away, unsure of what to make of the foreigner while Mikasa was glaring at him.

The marine for his part met it with the same level of intensity and Eren likened it to an animal's defiant roar when it was pushed up against a corner. He didn't know how to feel about that, Eren had always imagined humanity fighting together- even those in the Military Police wouldn't turn their weapons on other humans- but here, with the whole new set of circumstances, Eren now realised that it wasn't just humanity anymore, it was The Walls and the UNSC. He wasn't sure if he liked it or disliked it but the trust inside him wasn't ready to show just yet. Though the UNSC was gifted with a reward Eren long desired, for the sake of those in Wall Rose, he must remain wary.

Thankfully he didn't need to step up and try to break the ice, instead Mina moved forward. She had a friendly and confident smile on her face- she was always confident and caring at the same time. "Hello." She said in greeting. North turned to her, and then looked down, and then bent his back to look further down.

"Uh, Hi." He replied. Mina beamed at him so bright that he thought she was reflecting the sunlight, Eren wondered what was going through her head before she- in a bold display- reached out to grab the marines arm. The man almost flinched away but Mina was faster and made sure he couldn't escape.

"My name's Mina." She introduced.

"Quentin North, but you can call me North." Mina hummed as she mulled the name over, North staring at her intruding arm as she did. Eren snorted mentally, who named their kid after a direction.

"That's a nice name."

"Yours too." He replied quickly.

"We need help dealing with some injuries, are you able?" North frowned, glancing at her indication at a huddled group of trainees nursing wounds before nodding his head. Reaching behind his back- not noticing how Mina and several others had tensed up- he pulled out a roll of bandages.

"It's all I got, not much time to think when you're falling down to the ground." Mina shot him an awkward smile, which Eren would say perfectly defined their conversation, and he watched as the diminutive girl dragged the buff marine away.

Seeing the marine gone allowed the remaining trainees to ease up, their shoulders sagging, but two stayed close just in case. Eren felt a pang in his chest but just as quickly buried it. They still didn't know the UNSC well enough and fear was always better than trust. Fear kept them alive and struggling with the Titans after all.

"Hey." Marco strode up to them, Jean trailing behind as he glared at the marines back. "Where are the others? I don't see Connie, Sasha or Bertholdt anywhere." Eren didn't know, he just got there, so he made an expectant face towards Armin.

The little blonde boy blinked at the sudden attention before replying quickly, hurriedly too, "We don't know. We've been here for a couple minutes already so we have to assume they were either taken out or were placed at a farther interval than us."

"Or they got lost." Mikasa added. Right, Eren thought, Sasha the tracker, Connie the runner and Bertholdt the guy who could look over a mountain if he wanted to. With those odds, Eren wasn't sure if those rules applied to them.

"Regardless we have to keep moving to the centre of the valley." Jean grumbled, "It's our only way out." Marco cupped his chin, his eyes looking down onto the ground in concentration, eyes so troubled that Eren

didn't know how to explain them.

"The center is southeast from here, and if I'm not mistaken me and North went through that general area earlier," Marco muttered, "I saw a lot of footprints and I'm sure North saw it too. It's safe to say that the southern approach is going to be choked full of instructors."

"We could go around." Eren tried supplying but Jean caught that plane before it could lift.

"Around where? Through the clearing or through the cliff face?" Eren scowled at Jean's direction but didn't give him the satisfaction of a reply and went back to listening to the discussion. Mikasa ,however, skillfully strode in between them and cut off their peripheral vision between each other.

"In any case, our objective is the center of the valley." Marco said resolutely, "we have to go."

"What about the marines?" Mina interjected, she walked into the huddled group greeting everyone with her eyes before looking at Marco, "North was right about one thing, this is a joint training mission and they'll be useful with their repeating cannons."

"I forgot about them." He said sheepishly, a blush forming under his freckles. "But North doesn't know where they are and neither do we."

"We'll probably meet with them as we go." Eren stated. Mina scrunched her cheek together, nodding after a moments pause and heading back to North who was carefully wrapping a bandage over someone's head.

Marco watched her go and then eyed North for a second longer, Jean behind him didn't look happy at all with the foreigners presence, and Eren decided that he'd give them the benefit of the doubt.

"We leave in five," Marco sighed, "for now we rest."

_Spirit of Fire_

_Professor Ellen Anders_

Ellen ignored the sound of her shoes echoing off the interior walls of the UNSC ship. At the bottom of her feet was a clear transparent material, that culminated this sections designation as the observation room, and Neo Earth below took up every inch of space it could. Anders liked it here, it felt natural to walk and work here. Above the world that would be their salvation, here, she breathed free and lively.

But her once pristine skin and flawless features wasn't what they used to be. Wrinkles, few but persistent, danced around the edges of her eyes and walking took a significant deal more energy than she preferred. "Charles can you finish up with the calculations?" Anders asked.

A brown haired boy, sandy brown hair above his head and piercing blue eyes that never stopped moving, nodded his head as he scribbled furiously into a datapad. "Almost got it ma'am, it's hard bugger to crack." The welsh accent was thick on him, a little bit too much for Anders liking but she couldn't be picky with her subordinates.

"Alright. Done; New Harmony's reactor can now operate at a 13% increase in efficiency." Charles gloated, his grey navy uniform seemingly brightening with his mood.

"You have to test it first before making assumptions like that." Anders chastised. Charles cheeks suddenly grew red and quietly placed the data pad onto the table.

"Oh, yea, forgot about that." A slow sigh left Anders thin lips, her hands dancing over the computer terminal she was working on.

"It's alright." Anders said as a series of complicated equation- choked full with greek alphabets (because really that shit is hard)- passed in front of her eyes. "Just make sure it gets passed down to the Engineering Corp after you're done. They're a snippy group, so it's best sooner rather than later."

"Yes ma'am." Charles quickly replied.

"And I hear that Mrs Rebecca is holding a class on quantum physics in section 3." Anders added with a smile, "You could reach there in time before she reaches the juicy parts." Charles grinned at her, his eyes glowing as he said his leave and raced out of the lab.

"Oh boys." Anders smiled as she went back to work. Which was analyzing the information she got from Red Team on Neo Earth. The walls material was unlike anything she had ever seen, but at the same time familiar. It was organic, as far as the readings went, made up of some sort of chemical that reacted aggressively with an as of yet unidentified substance. Substance being she didn't know what it was.

The crystalline structure of the wall reminded her of the needler rifles, their makeup almost the same- she stressed almost- and that they both held a touch of something pure within. "I'll need to run some more tests...eventually." She sighed, turning to a pile of unfinished paperwork and projects that she never got around to finishing. While researching as much about their counterparts is crucial, Anders couldn't neglect the UNSC's needs. It was her job to make sure everything ran smoothly, especially with Serina's far cry processing speed.

"Professor Anders?" Speak of the devil. Serina materialized on a podium near her work space, the animosity that used to accompany her presence has since faded as Anders turned to her expectantly. Though her eyes never left the green and red on the AI's holographic body.

"Your being hailed from a Lieutenant Gary Sanderson. May I patch him through?" Anders nodded her head and an image of a marine driving a warthog appeared. Inside her chest Anders felt a pang as she compared it to another image, one that seemed to have been from a millennia ago.

"Sorry to disturb you ma'am!" The lieutenant yelled through gritted teeth, his huff of exertion cutting through as he manouvered the warthog around an unseen foe. "Eliza watch that bitch on our tail!" The lieutenant barked before returning his attention back to Anders.

"Negative on PO search, I repeat negative! There's a whole lot of Charlie-Ones but the only thing out of place is a ghost town." Gary yelled into the comm just as automatic fire drowned out his voice.

"Very good lieutenant!" Anders shouted, feeling stupid as she was shouting in her own lab. "That's one of many sites I want you to check within Wall Maria! We can't travel through to Wall Rose or Sina yet to check but till then your unit will be playing goose hunt until further notice!" An uncomfortable expression took over the lieutenant's features before he nodded resolutely.

"Of course ma'am!" Then the line abruptly cut off and the lab was drenched in silence.

"Well, there goes the hope that it'll be done quickly." Serina smiled from where she was before adding her two cents.

"You do realise, that if we do ever hope to find a point of origin for the Titans within Wall territory then it's more likely within Wall Sina, at their very base." Serina replied.

Anders frowned, smothering her dislike at being lectured to properly reply, "That doesn't explain the heat signature all around the area. My guess is that they're hiding something and I plan on finding out what."

"To keep the UNSC safe?" Serina asked.

"And to pay back a debt." Serina grew silent before nodding her in acquittal. She disappeared and Anders was returned to silence, her hands diligently working to protect that which she could.

**Sorry if this is a filler but unfortunately I moved houses and I do not have wifi. Had to write the whole thing on my phone which is a pain in and of itself. **


	10. Chapter 10

_Thunder Valley _

_Mina Carolina_

Mina quietly fastened her 3DMG back onto her body, shifting and looping belts across her chest and waist. The familiar weight of the boxy contraption settled by her side and she sighed as she buckled in the last strap, her fingers carefully edging across the seams to make sure they weren't twisted. As a trainee she was used to putting on the 3DMG quickly and efficiently, belts that were utterly useless to her were cut off while she cut corners and was able to complete two belts in seconds of each other. Just habits you pick up, she guessed, even the best had their quirks.

But she couldn't help but let her usual time lengthen by just a bit, past what instructor Shadis would call acceptable, as she watched the foreigner on the other end of the cave. He had finished bandaging up the trainees who were injured, each giving him a nod of thanks as the pieces of cloth rested snugly against their wounds, then he began checking his weapon. She realised, like her own quirks, North had his own supply of tricks for his own checkup.

His hand would ghost around his odd musket, feeling every nook and cranny for anything out of place before he slowly dropped his hand back onto the butt of the weapon and clicked a button. The back end popped up, the slide falling down as he caught it and set it gently onto a table. Then his fingers reached down into the piece and she watched as he would glide through the rifle, pulling out pins to further disassemble it and cleaning off pieces of dirt that had somehow lodged themselves into the intricate mechanisms that allowed the weapon (which she didn't know was a replica) to fire it's payload of ammunition.

North himself was also a bit of a mystery to Mina. He had sandy blonde hair, a type of color she had never seen, and his eyes were a dazzling sparkle of blue. His jawline was chiseled, his cheekbones were squared across his face, and his eyebrows were thin but big enough that you could see it beneath his fringe. Her father once joke how, if there were humans living outside the walls, they would look like cavemen dressed in rags as they were robbed of advancement by Titans. Looking at North now though she realised that her father couldn't be further from the truth. They were tall, strong and intelligent, and in Mina's mind North seemed to have embodied this representation.

"He might catch you staring." Hannah whispered into her ear. To her dismay Mina felt her face heat up from being noticed at all and she bit the bottom of her lip in agitation. She glanced back at North, the marine was shifting the gauntlets on his arm and patting his unarmored chest. The blush deepened as Hannah elbowed her side and she couldn't help the hiss that escaped her lips.

"He might catch you whispering!" Hannah giggled and walked away towards where a group of trainees were neatly stacking all their acquired supplies and sorting them into rucksacks. Mina stared at her retreating form, a look of dismay on her face as her sister-in-arms left. Annie strode into her view, the much taller blonde haired girl tossing Mina a raised eyebrow. She strained a smile before she gestured her head to North. Immediately Annie narrowed her eyes in suspicion and...anger? Confusion? Mina wasn't sure but by the time she sorted out her thoughts Annie was already gone, nowhere to be seen.

Mina searched a little bit more for her before giving up and buckling the last strap of her 3DMG. As if on cue Marco called everyone to the mouth of the cave and explained how they were going to head to the center of the valley. He separated everyone into groups, the ones without 3DMG into fives while the ones who had it were paired in twos. Mina was paired with Aleit, a nice girl who had brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

After the briefing the trainees quietly filed out of the cave, North ghosting their edges as he swung his strange rifle left and right. Mina burst into the air, her 3DMG launching razor sharp tethers through the air and reeling her high above the sky. For a moment Mina thought about using one of the UNSC's gears, the ones without wires and using fire to launch them in the air. She found it difficult to imagine, using something like that as opposed to her 3DMG. But she also wondered just how different it would be.

She thought she might like it. But her thoughts ended abruptly when she heard a sharp whistle pitch in the air. She glanced down and saw Marco fling his arm to their right. He raised his fingers to his eye then edged them to his wrist. The translation was simple, _Go right and check it out but make it fast. _

She nodded her head and with a quick relay to Aleit the two females were already reorienting themselves to face the intended direction, releasing their tethers accurately. Mina weaved in and out of the trees, careful to not expunge too much gas as she narrowly avoided any trees in her way. When given the chance she would disconnect her tethers, launching herself forward to eat up a few metres of distance before launching another tether before she lost too much altitude. It was a method that was engineered sometime after they met the UNSC, a way to travel larger distances without using too much fuel or relying too much on their wires. Mina thought it was just a way for the Wallers to try and keep an edge against the UNSC, which she knew they lacked.

She twisted herself around a tree, her wire wrapping itself around the tree and causing her to land perpendicular against the tree's body. Aleit landed just by her side and together they discovered why Marco had ordered them to travel this far out.

In front of them was what remained of a battle, more like a massacre perhaps. Several bodies were laid out on the floor, their frames smeared in red paint. From as far as she could tell they were UNSC marines, their uniforms a mix of fully armored to just cloth protecting their bodies. Mina counted five at least, but that didn't discount the devastation of the area around them. Several trees had streaks chipped onto their surface, large splashes of red were scattered across the area and the ground was trampled, she suddenly realised that battle had a lot more people than these five casualties.

She signaled Aleit to keep her eyes open and when she got a nod of acceptance she quickly repelled down towards the ground. Her feet skidded against the dirt and she noticed how none of the wounded marines responded to her movement. She carefully dropped to a knee next to one marine and turned him over on his side, frowning as his head lolled to the side and eyes blank and cloudy. "He's knocked out." She muttered. A quick scan of her eyes showed that they too were unconscious. "That paint must really pack a punch."

She felt his neck for a pulse and breathed a sigh for relief when she felt it. Pushing herself back to her feet she quickly headed back to Aleit and gave her signs to report to Marco. She nodded an affirmative before disappearing back into the forest. After Aleit was gone Mina went back to the marine and carefully, though with a grunt of effort, she propped him up against a tree. Gently she tried to shake him awake.

"_Ugh_..._I feel drunk_..." Mina didn't recognise the words so it was safe to say that it wasn't from her own natural tongue. Biting her lower lip she glanced by her sides, feeling as though she was being watched, before reaching down and slapping the marine hard across the face.

He sputtered and spit, eyes swirling in his sockets as he coughed. He blinked, once then twice before he reached forward to grab onto Mina's shoulder. She restrained a yelp from the vice-like grip he was using. "_It hurts...like hell_." He muttered before he sagged back into the tree. "You're a Waller, right?" He asked.

Mina nodded her head and she caught him chuckle, "North is with us." She supplied, it would do him good to know that at least one of his comrades was okay.

"North?" He said tentatively, "hell Benito was raising a shit storm trying to find him. Never saw a fucking mute who could mimic shouting from his fingers alone." He shook his head before weakly pointing his hand east. "That's where everyone ran to after I went down, at least as far as I remember. It's where the cliffs are, we also picked up a few of your friends along the way, a girl named Sasha and a guy named Connie."

A piece of her heart felt relieved in knowing that her formerly missing friends were ok and nodded her head in thanks. "Will you be okay on your own?"

"Just leave, the instructors are probably backtracking to make sure we're okay anyways." With one final thanks Mina launched her wires and returned back to the group.

By the time she rejoined them Aleit had already explained what they found with Mina adding on what the marine had said. "The cliffs?" Marco frowned, "there's no way around there." He clicked his tongue as he tried to understand the situation faster. But Jean beat him to the punch.

"We can't risk it," He urged, "the instructors are probably going after them. We should use this time to head to the center of the valley." His argument was met with heated disapproval from Eren, who refused to leave Sasha and Connie behind.

"It's just a training exercise." Jean retorted, "There's no reason to get bent out of shape."

"Regardless," a calm smooth voice speared through the group, "I know my brothers and sisters. The fact that they only lost five guys is testament to how well trained they are. You don't get top ranks in the Academy through nothing, they can probably hold their own." Jean jumped when he realised North had snuck up next to him, the marine grinning at their sudden shock expressions of how quietly he had entered their meeting. "Surprise? Fighting isn't always about who makes the bigger noise you know."

"Anyways," Marco interjected, "what's your point North?"

"We don't have the ability to help them, even with numbers, the instructors would have obviously familiarized themselves with the forest. They have the advantage of skill and experience, both yours and ours. We'll only slow them down if we try to help them."

"So you want us to run away like cowards?" Eren yelled.

"No," North said coldly, "I want you to act like a soldier. Being a soldier isn't just about being heroes and saviors; men borne from fire and willing to dive back in for any petty reason. We win battles, and in doing so we wish to win a war. A lost battle damages morale, it relieves the country of good men that could have survived and can muster discontent in their own holdings. The fighting men and women may have accepted death but their families aren't always so willing. One day Waller you might find yourself fighting me, and killing humans rather than Titans. It will not be your place to question any order to kill me. You are a soldier, you obey orders and when needed you make your own with the logical intention to save as many people as you _can._" North stood there, eyes gleaming hard into Eren's before he added finally, "Cowardice is just a useless propaganda phrase to keep simple men on the frontlines and remove their choice of retreat through social conduct."

Eren seemed shocked by his words, the feeling rippling through, "Don't you even feel a shred of shame or guilt? Those are your friends too!"

North smirked, "I'm a soldier, a soldier born in a generation after whole cities were burned to the ground and our enemies were not titans. They were intelligent creatures that knew how to hunt their prey. Thousands of our people died in every town, triple that for our armed forces. You were sitting pretty with these walls, we had no such defense when they stormed us. Shame? My people had to do a lot of things to stay alive. But we'd _never_ leave a man behind unless we know he's coming back." Mina tried to move forward to break these two apart, no physical blows were exchanged and it didn't seem like North's words were even phasing Eren. But she was beaten to the punch when Mikasa grabbed the other end of Eren's collar and dragged him away from the group.

"He-hey Mikasa stop it!" He shouted, clearly embarrassed. North stared at his retreating back dubiously, eyebrows raised in question at Marco.

"Mikasa is..., well, I guess she's his half-sister." North casually nodded his head in understanding, and Mina was struck and how easily he accepted the information.

"Well, moving on, Benito is more than capable of keeping them alive and well. I don't think we have to worry about them. Perhaps, however it would be stupid to believe that all the instructors are chasing after them. We'll probably still face opposition." Marco nodded his head, his thumb resting against his chin in thought.

"What do you think Jean?" Marco asked.

"I think we should try and avoid them as best we could. We can barely deal with them after all." He gestured to the few 3DMG trainees above their heads and the muskets in their hands.

"Maybe," North said, "Mina did you see any weapons where the marines were?" He asked. She thought about it, she had honestly seen some but they were scattered and some were splattered with red paint.

"A few. But they didn't look like they were in prime condition."

"What type of terrain do we have around us?" North asked.

This time Aleit stepped forward to speak, "There's a clearing to our left that cuts off into a cavern, to our right is just forests and shrubbery nothing to note there."

"Wait," Marco cut off, "There's a river on that side and it cuts straight through the forests. It doesn't hit the center but if we can draw the instructors out and then funnel them through the river we could ambush them there."

"Or we could we try to pincer them, make them take two fronts rather than just one." Reiner interjected. Marco nodded his head, his freckled face now shining in excitement.

Mina smiled, a plan was forming together and she liked it. She glanced at North to see how he was feeling and grew confused at the grimace on his face. Her confusion died to understanding when she saw him glance back into the forest where she came from, his eyes slightly obscured by his fringe. She slowly eased herself by his side, not fast enough that it would surprise him but slow enough that she didn't get everyone else's attention. "You're worried about your friends." She accused him quietly, in a whisper meant only for him.

"A hypocrite knows when he's caught." North said thinly. She didn't find the joke funny but for his sake she smiled.

"I don't think you're a hypocrite." And that was the truth, "You were just saying what needed to be said." Though she didn't agree on the words, she knew they were not for her and could bury the meaning behind them to the back of her head. It wasn't her business after all.

"Yea well, sometimes people just have to say what's on their mind. Even if some of them isn't what they want to be said." North shrugged and she knew he was talking about that brief lapse in concentration that he pulled up his people's past. It astounded her why they wanted to keep it a secret but if what North said was true, they barely scratched the surface.

Just how far apart were these they compared to them, Mina thought, but they're human there's no doubt about that.

_Wall Rose_

_ODST Corp _

_Staff Sergeant James Riker_

Riker spun, his head clear of thoughts, his eyes blank and closed. He felt free in the air, for just a small moment, and he imagined the wind hitting his unarmored form. How nice it would feel, then he went tumbling back down, arms outstretched and his Saturi's laid waste to all of that stood below him. Hot lead spewed free, ripping muscle and tendon apart, legs bent to provide a smaller frame as he rocketed towards the ground. His HUD shined a shrill warning, he was closing the ground fast. In a blink Riker had reoriented himself and blasted off back into the trees.

He twisted around a tree, using his jetpack to slow his velocity, before he climbed back up to the sky just as a Titan was trying to snatch him out of the air. He climbed and climbed, before he turned off his jetpack and fell down to the ground. The Titan still had its arms outstretched and was wholly unprepared when Riker reignited his jetpack behind him and destroyed the nape of its neck with twin fire. The recoil launched the ODST back, his feet rounding about to press against another Titans forehead. Her boots dug into the soft flesh underneath and before the monster could even think about slapping Riker off its face, the Staff Sergeant unloaded HE rounds into its face, disfiguring its already hideous face.

With a growl and hiss Riker was climbing back up into the air before roughly landing onto a tree trunk. He exchanged magazines, placed his Saturi's safety on and sheathed them by his sides. Cracking his shoulder blade the ODST lifted a rocket launcher off his back and aimed it to where a cluster of titans were congregating. He was about the press the trigger but stopped when he saw a green blur slice its way through the throng of titans. It sheared off their necks before appearing just above the new mass grave.

"Levi." Riker muttered to himself. The man was good, fast and strong. Riker was sure he would have made a good ODST. But that was a mute point.

The 'Captain of the troops' glared at Riker indiscriminately from his position and the Staff Sergeant met his challenge with a gesture to his rocket launcher. They stayed silently staring for a while more, the sounds of fighting going on around them, before Levi bursts back into the gray with his tethers launching. "Territorial dude, ain't he." Riker muttered.

"He's a soldier that follows orders. That's more than enough." Chris landed next to Riker, the captain ejecting a spent clip from his MA5B. "That lieutenant Gary is moving his troops out of the base. Professor Anders have them going on the hunt for answers."

Riker snorted, "I thought _we_ were here for that." The staff sergeant checked his BIOCOM to see one of his ODSTs suddenly going red.

"Change of plans. When the Survey Corp were going through our base to set up another FOB, Captain Cutter wanted to extend a helping hand while the marine trainees are on their joint training mission." Chris intoned, ducking to a knee as he pulled his sniper from his back.

"The 'let's all get along squad?' Yea I heard. Riley's kid is on the team. Benito, I think. They're all Academy top rankers, good boys and girls," Riker muttered, "I don't think it's fair for the trainees to be overshadowed by them."

"The marine instructors are there too, and they have orders to specifically target those recruits." Riker winced, silently taking back what he said. A Survey Corp member whizzed by the two ODSTs, that old-looking dude Auruo , and Riker caught the small sneer in his face. The staff sergeant chuckled, knowing the kid was just angry at having to have sit still on a bed for a week due to his leg injury from Chris.

"You should have shot his head off." Riker joked, but had to admit he had some skill with the blade. He wrapped his wire around a titans neck, constricting the beast and giving him a clear shot to its neck. Clean and precise. Riker thought his ODSTs could do better.

He was about to make another joke when he felt a small pat on his shoulder pauldron. The sergeant only blinked once, the confusion at the feeling disappearing as he realised what the motion was. It was an old signal that Chris used to make while the both of them was fighting on Arcadia. They were so ragged and worn out, talking just couldn't be achieved anymore, so Chris would always make several taps on their armors, signalling to him different odd messages. But that was a bygone era, Chris had never done that in years and the sudden sensation pulled Riker back into memories.

He remembered running through Arcadia, his boots soaked in the blood and gore of human remains scattered throughout the ground. His M7S shooting down grunts, jackals, elites and the like without pause. Explosions, fire, smoke, then he felt the familiar presence by his side. The smell cherry and rough scandinavian voice cutting through TEAMCOM. He quickly shook himself awake and turned to Chris, in the here and now, and was thankful for his helmet.

"You were thinking about Arcadia." Chris deduced. Damn the helmet didn't even do a thing.

"Yea I have. Haven't you heard of PTSD? You don't do shit like that unless you want a veteran to get a panic attack." Riker retorted, defenses pulling up all around him. He hated this about Chris, always prodding and psychoanalysing, keeping his men centered but not giving a damn about privacy.

"These people aren't going to be able to do us much harm Riker." Chris said. "Or are you wondering what Judy might say if she saw them?" Riker suddenly clenched his fist on his rifles grip and it was only through years of intense training that he didn't ring Chris over the head and even without Riker would have still held back, he respected Chris far too much it seems.

"You don't know her." Riker hissed. "You didn't spend your whole life with her, even at the end."

Chris was silent for a moment, not moving or speaking. Then without warning he raised his rifle and fired a round. Riker followed it, unavoidably missing its flight, but saw the bullet tear its way through two titans neck, ravaging them from the inside out before exploding and ripping a head completely free from a titans body. Riker wondered why Chris chose to break his impromptu therapy session over something as mute as this, then he saw a green blur with brunette hair appear just above the fringe of a titan, a shocked expression on her face as she witnessed the carnage in near point blank range.

"You're right," Chris said out loud, "But you did, so think about that." The captain instructed before walking up next to Riker and saying the coldest words he had ever heard, "You're not your own man anyways." Fire ignited from Chris' pack and the ODST launched into the air.

Rikee bristled, "A therapist and a broody instructor. Is there something you cannot do Chris." The staff sergeant took off on a dead run before igniting his jetpack, his left arm extending outwards and feet coiled beneath him, he sent bullets shearing off titan limbs with one hand while the other delivered death. And as Riker fought, his mind never left the words that were spoken.

**Next chapter will end the Training mission Arc ( or the filler arc, as somebody coined it.) Again, I'm writing on the phone so any mistakes pointed out is greatly appreciated. On another is the whole culture shock thing doing ok? Becuz I wrote this chapter five times, all of them bounced off different characters as they got used to the UNSC. But it felt too rushed for me so i kept changing till I stuck with Mina's POV who I think deserves more char development. **

**Also, really I don't have a monopoly on this idea. If someone wishes to use the setting of the story with some changes, like instead of SoF you use Pillar of Autumn. As opposed to UNSC you use a splinter covenant group, maybe mostly Jackals and grunts. Because really elites and brutes are overused. Go ahead, I encourage it. I want more fics, I want more diversity. Go do it. **


	11. Chapter 11

_Thunder Valley_

_Jean Kirstein_

Fist clenched and teeth gritted, Jean waited with baited breath as the lazy river played its soft tune. He glanced at Reiner by his side, noting with growing anxiety that the bigger male was staring ahead with a face made of stone. He wondered just how much vitamins one person had to eat to reach the physical proportions of this bull by his side. Jean guessed that it was too much for him to bother.

"Hey bull- _I mean _Reiner, do you see anything?" The trainee shook his head, eyes narrowed as he tried to cut through the distance to spot the bait team.

"I don't see anything that's worth mentioning. But I can feel them coming, the birds haven't been flying anywhere near where they went." Reiner took deeper into the forest, Jean watched him go before turning to Thomas who was crouched atop a tree trunk.

"Damn, if I had my gear..." Thomas muttered. Jean knew how he felt, even if Jean didn't much care for his 3DMG skills for anything beyond joining the Military Police, it sure did feel safer with the contraption buckled onto his hips.

"Hey Thomas!" The blonde haired trainee looked down, shifting his stance so that one of his foot was resting against the tree as he prepared to jump down in a moments notice. "Can we check everyone's position a second time. We gotta make sure everyone is where they need to be!" Thomas glanced to his right, traces his eyes across the river bend before spotting what he was searching for. A brief glint of something reflecting the sun appeared in his vision and with ease he brought a piece of his musket up to cast his own glare.

Immediately several others appeared on the other end of the river and on his side Thomas could hear the several calls to say that they were in position too. Jean didn't need anymore than that and nodded in thanks to his friend. Thomas waved it away and returned to keeping watch.

Jean quickly returned to sentry duty with his musket gripped carefully in his hands. For a silent moment he wished he had grabbed one of those repeating muskets that the foreigners used. But they had been monopolised by the bait team, which consisted of Mikasa, Marco, Annie, Nac, Mina and that foreigner North, the only person not on the bait team and was given one of those metal rifles was Reiner. Jean was at least thankful that Eren was on the opposite end of the river, he didn't need to deal with that suicidal fool and can at least gnaw at his lip in agitation with silence as his company.

His mind was about to return to a peaceful blankness, where his thoughts were allowed to roam free without pause, but the sudden sound of weapons fire was quick to send his guard back up. "Ah damn." Thomas hissed, Jean was about to agree with him when a mass of green and olive burst out of the tree line a few dozen metres ahead of them. Jean sucked in a breath, an odd grimace on his face as he realised these men were a heck of a lot bigger than the foreigner that had tagged along with the group. Fortunately they kept their weapons trained in the forest, spewing rounds into the canopy and floor level as they skirted around the edges.

"They must be trying to flank the bait team." Reiner reasoned. They could be baking a cake for the king for all Jean cared, so long as they were out in the open it means that they were given a better chance to hit them. He forestalled a command to fire though when he realised that one of the marines was scrambling in every direction, he feared they may have caught on to the plan. It was only a moment later that a familiarly dressed khaki trainee dashed out of the tree line. Her wires barely missing the group of marines, Mikasa used the soles of her boots as a skate to glide against the ground before rounding about with the metal rifle in her hands. She clicked the weapon but it was obvious despite her strong frame that the recoil proved too difficult to handle. The red dummy rounds went in every possible direction, scoring only two of the marines and the rest returning fire.

Mikasa skillfully launched her 3DMG and zigzagged across the river bank far too fast for the marines to get a proper bead on her. Their rifles looked dazed as they jarred left and right, and Jean noticed how a group of trainee instructors were running out to join the marines. Jean was suddenly surprised when they started working together, the instructors used the marines shoulders as resting points for their muskets while the marines crouched and acted as a meat shield for them. He wondered how long they had to train to be able to reach such a level of cooperation before he realised a key fact, _these people only met today._ That meant most of their movements were on the fly and judging from the new positions and the expressions of everyone involved, it was mostly coined from stereotypes. That was good, that was meant that even though they were working together, they weren't moving to their greatest efficiency.

Jean signalled Thomas to shine his light on Mikasa and he did so without a moment's pause. The light reflected onto Mikasa and Jean saw her acknowledge it with a brief tilt of her head, her red scarf flowing behind her. She launched her 3DMG and it struck against the river bank and she raced across without a second look back. Unhooking her wire only when she was halfway through to look like she ran out of gas. Jean had to admit, Mikasa was a good actor.

The instructors pursued her and the increasing volume of gunfire showed that the members of the other bait team were dealing with their own problems. Jean pushed those thoughts aside without a second thought, he had his own ass to save right now. That's right, he was not going to end up with paint smeared across his face.

"Fire!" Jean shouted. Immediately musket fire from both sides rained down on the instructor's below and he had to give them credit, even with a dozen or more pellets heading for their face the instructors, both foreign and local, turned towards the new enemy without a shred of fear and fired off their own volley before they were knocked out. Jean had to duck his head as a dummy round slammed against a tree behind him, he clutched his raging heart when he heard the sounds of wood being chipped off and small pieces of the tree cascading against his back.

"Reiner!" He yelled. Loud, continuous barks echoed off the clearing and Reiner ended any stragglers with even swings from left to right, mimicking the foreigners movements. After the last fell there was sudden and abrupt weapons fire on the opposite bank and Jean realised that the remaining instructors must have caught on to the ruse and was trying to eliminate the trainees on the other end. "Shit! Thomas warn-!" Jean cursed when he looked up to see Thomas lying on the tree trunk, his head propped up against its bark to reveal a smear of paint on his face and chest.

"Crap!" Jean turned to Axel, who was beside Reiner reloading his weapon, and shouted as loud as he could. "Get everyone to flank the marines on the opposite bank!" Axel seemed surprised by the shout but training kicked in and he quickly relayed it to anyone nearby. The next few seconds were too frantic for Jean to keep track of. The trainees all rushed to form an arc through the river, their padded feet meeting water without pause, and then gunfire erupted through the forest and pinged most of them across the chest.

Jean dove into the water with his musket, watching as Reiner sprayed even more bullets into the treeline as the remaining trainees tried to force themselves back onto their feet. "No don't!" But it was already too late, several trainee instructors had positioned themselves high above the trees and rained down a fresh volley of red paint onto the trainees. They fell to the ground, eyes rolling to the back of their heads and Jean cursed this day for all eternity.

_Quentin North_

North trudged straight through the foliage without pause or preamble, keeping his rifle firing continuously into the fray without pause. The marines all dashed left to right, sliding across the ground and dropping into formations that North had never seen before. They danced with fire and pain with their instruments of music and North was barely able to keep up with the pace. "Mina!" North shouted.

The short girl was perched on a tree trunk above him, the MA5B in her hands a little bit too large for her petite fingers. She rounded out of cover and pressed the trigger. The bullets were staggered, her aim was shot to hell, and she nearly flopped over the edge because of the recoil. "What!" She yelled.

Her voice was shaking, he didn't blame her. Nac and Marco had been taken out of the fight and Annie was nowhere to be seen. Mikasa had went off to help the others at the river bank but they hadn't heard from her either. For all they knew they could be the only ones left. "You're no use up there get down here! I'll give you covering fire." Mina nodded her head after a few seconds of thought and North breathed out slowly, giving her enough time to prepare, before popping out with his rifle firing down range. She jumped down, curling into a roll when she reached the ground, and landed just behind North.

"We need to get out of here." Mina shouted. North agreed with her but right now they couldn't move unless they wanted to lose their head. North glanced at the marines and instructors on the other end- noted how they worked closely together- and pulled out a pistol he had acquired from a knocked out instructor. He passed it to her in exchange for her rifle and glanced back at the marines.

"They're still close together? Guess we're closer to the edge than we thought." He took out his shin guard, the dented one, and set it against the belly of one of the MA5B rifle. He ripped the band that kept his boots' laces tied together and wrapped it around the trigger. "When I say go, you run all hell back at the river bank alright?"

Mina nodded her head, getting ready to sprint forward as North set the trigger. He let go of the band and heard a loud clack as it constricted the trigger. Immediately the rifle began spewing out bullets and North quickly dug the butt of the rifle into the ground and dashed after Mina. The suppressing fire would only last a few seconds and then the marines would be chasing after him, so North made sure to keep his feet pounding the ground like a mad man on crack.

He stomped, his heart pumping with exertion and blood rushing all across his body. He glanced over his shoulder, now no longer hearing the bangs of his MA5B he left behind, and saw no one following. That would change very soon.

North could already hear the sounds of the river, he hoped that the remainder of their force was safe. However he found his hope mercilessly ripped away as he entered the clearing. All North needed to do was look down and he already spotted half of the entire force on the river bed knocked unconscious. He could hear the sounds of gunfire going off next to him but as far as North was concerned they were dead in the water. "No.." He grumbled, "Not yet." He grabbed Mina by the shoulders and said with as much force as he could muster, "Follow me we have to help the rest."

He lurched into the forest and followed the trail of red paint as he stumbled into a hail of gunfire. He instinctively pulled Mina into the cover of a few trees, unsure as to what exactly was going on as a trainee dropped down in front of him, riddled full of red paint. Mina gasped by his side and she clutched the tree trunk as more bullets slammed into their cover. "Crap," North muttered and glanced out into the open to see that most of the opposition were Trainee instructors but one or two marine instructors were dancing across the area.

"Do you see any of your friends?" North yelled and twisted out to fire a steady stream of bullets down range. Mina glanced at shouted something that he couldn't hear. A few trainees then appeared next to their cover.

"Eren, Mikasa, Armin! Is it just the three of you?" Mina asked as the said trainees crouched low.

"Jean and the other's fell in the river while Reiner managed to take out some of the marines before going down too," Armin reported. North felt respect brew inside him for the guy named Reiner. "There are about five others spread out on our side who are still conscious but even that number is dwindling."

"Damn." North twisted his feet and dropped to his knees, barely dodging a volley of bullets that were aiming to take his head off. The ground stained red before he was forced to retreat back to cover. A ceasefire echoed into the forest as North slowly forced himself back.

"There's no point in fighting now," North said after a moment, "We can't keep it up with the instructors with so few." North had thought that they would have been capable of stopping the instructors but it seems they were even sharper than he expected. Certainly they gave neither him nor his Waller comrades a moment of pause. "Can you use your 3DMG to carry yourselves out?" North asked. As far as he could see only one person didn't have a 3DMG so he guessed they could carry him.

"We can," Mikasa stated.

"Wait why?" Mina asked, her face was etched with anxiety, nervousness and...a hint of betrayal? North didn't ponder on these emotions when he heard a snap of a twig and rounded out of cover to open fire. The blaze of a firefight roared again as North became a man on his last peg of life trying to hold on.

"Leave!" Was North's one word order. Mina's eyes widened, it seems she had become fond of North to the point that she had considered him a comrade. Despite himself North filed that away as a victory but he couldn't allow the diminutive girl to try and stay, this was a ground war, built for men like him and even if they wanted to help they'd just get in the way. "I said leave!" North snarled and charged out of cover, effectively ending any retort. He heard the sounds of 3DMG going off and managed to duck behind a bush just as red bullets whizzed by.

He hugged the cover of a tree, glancing out to see seven instructors making their way towards him with two more joining from the west. He felt fear grip his heart, this was just a training exercise but North resolved in his heart that he never wanted to be in a firefight like this if he could help it. He was sure he was going to get white hair from all the battle stress.

He dislodged his magazine from his rifle and slammed a fresh clip in, pulling back the charging handle at the same time. The weapon whirled to life and North bounded out with his weapon raised like a man on a mission. The next few minutes were a blur of gunfire.

His father had taught him that gunfights wasn't always about being on the move. It was about who could throw the most bullets as accurately as possible. And so he did that. His movements were quick and short, buying enough time to press the trigger for half a second before he had to dodge again. He burst out of shrubbery and ran across the river bank more times than he could count. Pellets whizzed by his knee joints by seconds and his hand gripped the bark of trees like a lifeline everytime he found cover.

The instructors continued to push forward with their intent to riddle him full of red paint. They ran much faster than he did, kept their aim true more times than he, and flawlessly moved in formation to surround him. North, of course, had sought out to stop it. He would fire rounds into empty space, cutting off a flank before it could happen, and darted down the opposite way to confuse his chasers. His blood ran like a tsunami in his veins, flooding his muscles with every bit of energy they could muster as lactic acid and adrenaline forced his body onwards.

Sweat caked his body and his arms shook with overuse when one of the instructors had cornered him. He was a Waller and North had quickly eliminated the man's musket with a brutal pull and kick. He grabbed the Waller by his neck and raised him as a shield, the trigger discipline that all marines were taught saving North from a hail of gunfire. He pushed the instructor forward, fired a round, and dashed back into the shrubbery. Fifteen minutes in and only took out one person, North saw that as victory.

But that victory was short lived as a round impacted against the back of his knee. He fell to the ground, face digging into the dirt as he rolled onto his back. He tried to raise himself up but could only manage to roll behind a tree as more pellets bombarded his area.

"Damn!" North used his only remaining leg to push himself up against the tree as he grabbed his rifle. He pulled the priming handle back and popped hid clip out. There was only half a magazine left and that was his last one. A pellet had apparently bended around a tree because he felt his shoulder flare in pain with the impact of a pellet. He stifled a scream of pain as that was his unarmored shoulder, he was sure he was going to be sore the next day.

He felt grass being disturbed and pointed a rifle out to spray a small burst into the forest. He heard somebody grunting as something heavy hit the ground. "Two kills!" North cheered but it was short lived as another round smacked against his back. He bit down on his lower lip hard enough to crack it.

He smacked his head against the bark as he pulled his knee up to his chest and rested the body of his rifle on his raised knee. A marine appeared from the side, a few feet away ready to end him, but he pulled the trigger and down the man with four shots.

The next thing he knew he found his rifle shot out of his hand. He grimaced when it landed too far for him to reach and crashed his head against the tree. If only he had his pistol but he had given it too Mina. He thought about that and changed his mind, he was glad he did. She could make use of it and he would rather it be somewhere productive than with him. He had done a good job, he made some friends with the Wallers and he did all he could to keep them moving.

An instructor appeared before him, pulling his priming handle back and aiming his rifle at North. His thoughts drifted to Mina, he hoped she would meet Benito and get to the pelican, he was sure without a doubt that they had severely dwindled the instructors numbers and his friend would be more than a little capable of completing the mission. A click of the trigger later and he felt something slam against his forehead. The pain flared all throughout his body as he felt his body go limp.

_Mina Carolina_

She launched her 3DMG gear, trying her best to keep up with Mikasa as she cut through the air. They had traveled far enough from where they abandoned North that she couldn't hear the sounds of weapons fire. She felt her heart tighten, her mind cracking at the though of having abandoned a friend. She had talked to him, perhaps she had been the only one, but he was kind and polite. He proved his mettle on the battlefield as he fought to keep everyone safe.

She felt utter useless and afraid. She hated herself for even entertaining the emotion. Her entire squad, every single one of them, had been lost in a devastating defeat. They lost their leader Marco, the strong-willed Trainee Reiner and who knows where Annie is. It was just her, Mikasa, Eren and Armin. Four people of what had been thirty-five trainees.

"I'm almost out of gas!" Mikasa yelled at the front. Mina opened her mouth in dismay but set it straight so as to better guide herself onto the ground. Her landing was less than graceful as she was forced to stumble from her 3DMG giving out. Looking down onto it she realised that one of her wires had been disconnected, a small bit of red point smearing the sides of it.

Of course, she thought, they had to have been able to cut off her wire. She looked to Armin to see that he was on his knees tending to wound Eren had sustained fighting the marines and she winced when she noticed how the crook of his arm was deep blue. "It stings," Eren muttered.

Mikasa was hovering nearby giving Mina a nod when she entered their small circle. "Do you think the marines will follow us?" Mina asked. Armin shook his head and looped a bandage around Eren's arm.

"They're probably too busy policing everyone they knocked out. Even if they did chase us they would have stopped for the sake of everyone else who was unconscious." Mina nodded her head at Armin's logic. He always did have a better understanding of what was happening around them than even Mikasa.

"But we'll need to find Annie," Armin suddenly said, "She told me that she was going to find some help."

"So she abandoned us?" Mikasa accused quietly, her voice hard and unrelenting. Armin quickly shook his head, apologising when the action had pressed too much pressure on Eren's arm.

"I endorsed it so the fault isn't entirely on her own. I sent her towards the cliffs, where we suspected the rest of the foreigners were located. It was sometime before you appeared on the river bank and she had retreated from harassing the instructors. She might have reached there by now, I would imagine it is best to move now."

"What about me?" Eren asked. Armin frowned, looking down to his 3DMG and Mina noticed how he had half of his fuel tanks left.

"I'm not that good with my 3DMG and Mikasa the only that can carry Eren with his injuries." Armin glanced at Eren's leg. Mina hid a wince, the pellets made up of some unknown material was very painful to be hit by but it had some sort of numbing effect on where they landed. "I'm sorry to ask you this Mina, but you'll have to scout ahead with your 3DMG while us three move from below."

Mina bit her bottom lip before nodding her head and exchanging fuels with Armin. After she was done replacing all off her empty tanks she tossed a look over her shoulder to see that Eren was securely strapped behind Mikasa's back and Armin had hefted the extra swords onto a pack. She supposed they could come in handy. After a brief nod she shot up into the trees and flew across the distance ahead of her.

The four of them didn't stop to camp or rest. The valley, while large, wasn't big enough that more than a day's journey was needed to pass its length. So she estimated that they needed to go very far to reach the cliffs, but she wondered what good it would do. She had heard Marco say that there was no way to the center of the valley through the cliffs and they would still be forced to travel through the original pathway, which she shuddered to remember. Mina kept moving, stopping only to get a better read on her fuel supply as she kept verbal exchange with Armin on the ground.

She would rather not be ambushed again. The bait team had all been massacred when they failed to notice Nac had been eliminated and it had only been North's quick thinking that had kept Mina safe and Mikasa running back to the river bank, if not she was sure that they would have all been knocked unconscious.

She traveled a bit more and she had to shield her eyes from the suns glare as he slowly descended from that side. The trees were starting to grow thinner in numbers, alerting her that the forests was soon to end. She pulled back on the triggers of her 3DMG and twirled around a tree just enough to hang off it.

She landed with a thud, standing horizontal against the tree's body. She squinted her eyes and saw the sand just past the treeline, several jagged rock that looked like they belong in a hot arid desert creating a natural barrier that separated the cliffs from the forest. "We're here!" She shouted down.

Carefully Mina dislodged her wires and slid down the tree bark. Her boots provided the necessary friction that kept her from falling prematurely and she dropped into a roll in front of the group. "Is it clear?" Mikasa asked.

"As far as I can tell," Mina replied. They nodded and proceeded towards the cliffs. Armin gripped a musket in his hands and Mina kept her 3DMG primed and ready to spring forward in a moments notice. The surrounding was clear and open space, so she her 3DMG wouldn't of much use but she had a couple of maneuvers in mind that she could pull off.

But before she could blink she found a pellet impacting against the ground in front of her before a second round slapped one of her sword hilts, which was part of the gears controls, out of her hand. "Hold it!" Someone shouted and Mina could tell from the accented voice that it was a foreigner. She tensed, unsure if it was an instructor or not. "Trainee or instructor!" The unknown yelled.

Mina relaxed, surely an instructor wouldn't ask such a question. "Trainee!" Armin yelled. There was the sound of something shifting past a rock and Mina realised that was where the shot had come from. To her immediate surprise the first person she saw running down to greet them was Connie with Sasha following behind.

"Guys!" Connie yelled, a smile on his face which turned upside down when he saw their condition. "What happened? You guys look like you just got out of a war."

"That's because we did," Mina said tiredly as the day's fatigue caught up to her. Connie glanced at Sasha who seemed to gulp as she saw Eren's wounds. "Where is Bertholdt and Annie?"

"They're talking with the person in charge here. Some mute guy named Benito. The marines are pretty harmless, in fact they were actually really nice to us." Connie explained as he shouldered half of Eren's weight from Mikasa.

"They have meat!" Sasha said, "It's pretty dry but I was able to get it to taste better with some lizard I caught climbing up the cliff side." Mina felt her stomach grumble and gripped it tightly as she followed them towards their makeshift camp.

As they cleared the top of a rock hill, she saw two armored foreigners lying on their bellies with a longer version of their rifles in their grips. One nodded to her while the other continued to keep eyes on the treeline. "Mornin' ma'am! Sorry 'bout the surprise, thought yer folks were instructors trying to pull a fast one on us." One of the marines said. Mina found it difficult to understand the dialect he was using but nodded her head after a moment of thought to decode it. She noticed though how Sasha seemed to beam at the marines words.

"Oi, stop slowing them down. They're tired, can't you see?" The marine to his left yelled angrily.

"Just makin' conversation Joe, the 'ell you expect me to do? You got the fucking rifle and I ain't gonna sit 'round here and play with my di-"

"It's enough time he's stolen from you ma'am! Let my hillbilly friend here take no more." She heard the 'hillbilly' grumble as he smacked the other marines forehead and Mina flashed them an uncomfortable smile before following Connie and Sasha down the hill and into a small indentation in the ground where several dozen marines were taking positions with Annie and Bertholdt off to the side talking to two marines, one she noticed was talking with his hands.

"Morning ma'am!" "Good evening ma'am!" "The medic's over there if you need anything." Mina was slightly overwhelmed with how friendly the UNSC marines seemed to be treating them and she felt slightly ashamed when she remembered North's hostile greeting. She resolved to make it up to him when she had the chance.

As they took shelter underneath a rock outcropping that was obviously being used as a tent Connie chuckled as he set Eren down. "They're a bunch of polite oddballs, I admit. But they're really good guys. Three of them stood right in front of a bunch of pellets to shield me and Sasha from danger!" Connie replied.

"They're pretty alright," Sasha said after a moment, "But it's that mute guy that's amazing."

"Benito?" Mina asked, she had heard North mention that name a few times and how he was mute. Sasha nodded her head enthusiastically and pointed to where Annie was busy talking to the marine superiors.

"He can speak but he doesn't need to. You should see him when we were fighting the instructors. He held off dozens of them as he made one or two signs and the rest of the UNSC soldiers would move around so complex-like that you'd think they had an hour of planning before they came up with it," Sasha enthused. It was obvious she was awed by their abilities and Mina compared it to a hunter sharing skills with an equal. Sasha obviously felt some sort of kinship with them.

Their conversation ended however when the two marines with Annie and Bertholdt headed their way. They stopped a respectful distance away and one of them began signing. "This is Benito, I'm Gawain, it's a pleasure to meet you." The marine who identified himself as Gawain said. "Benito here is asking if you need to see a medic." He gestured to Eren as he said this.

"No I already feel better." Eren said as he forced himself to an upright position. Benito shared a look with Gawain that Mina couldn't read but shrugged it off as he looked back at them. He made a couple more signs before Gawain translated.

"We're sorry about the rude greeting, we meant no offence. However after losing several of our men to an ambush we felt it prudent to be more wary of future travelers," Gawain explained. Mina nodded her head in understanding. "Benito would also like to know where North is."

She gulped when she heard this and judging by Benito's hard expression, whoever Benito was to North. Mina could already tell he was very protective of him. "He stayed behind to give us a chance to escape. We were charging down the middle in an attempt to ambush the instructors at the river however the plan turn sour and we were unable to fend them off," Mina said. Armin clarified a few more details and Benito listened intently with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"I cannot be helped then," Gawain translated, "However I can't help but question your plan to charge down the center." Gawain seemed thoughtful for a moment before nodding his head in agreement to his superior.

"There was no other way beyond the center," Mikasa said, looking a the two of them questioningly. Benito pinched the bridge of his nose but nonetheless flicked a few fingers to express his words.

"While the center is the only conventional way to the center there is another way." Mina looked confused and Connie decided to explain.

"We found a cave formation in the cliff side that heads somewhere nearby the foreigners flying thingy at the center of the valley. There are a couple of them scouting it out right now to make sure it's safe to cross."

Mina opened her mouth wide in shock and terror. Everyone that they had lost had been needlessly lost! The thought upset her, especially when the idea of meeting up with these men had entered their mind during planning. She felt sick, they had abandoned North to defend a route which was utterly useless and Jean, Marco, Nac, Reiner and Thomas had been severely injured for their sheer stupidity.

Before she could further well in her own thoughts she felt hands grip her shoulders and she looked up to see concern blue eyes stare at her. Benito slowly shook his head and poked his index finger against her head. Despite herself she felt her emotions calm as his message was clear, 'You couldn't have known.'

She felt even more ashamed of herself. Here the UNSC were, giving them comfort and shelter when North had only been met with suspicion and whispering. She bowed her head, not able to meet Benito's gaze.

Benito tilted his head quizzically and noticed how the one known as Eren was doing the same while Armin and Mikasa were quietly tending to their comrade, carefully shielding their eyes from him. Sasha and Connie looked worriedly at their friends but Benito shrugged as he turned to Gawain.

_Prepare the men for departure, we had out in ten._ Gawain nodded and ran off to do just that. Benito slightly wondered if North had been able to fulfill his mission of playing nice with the Wallers, he certainly thought so. He himself had had no problems with Connie and Sasha, in fact he wouldn't mind having them in his unit again. Granted they started using actual rifles instead of those muskets.

_Somebody get me a drink_, he grimaced when four bottles of water appeared in front of his face, pushing roughly against his lips. _You idiots if you're going to suck up, do it right!_

_Staff Sergeant Daniel Hart_

Hart sat silently as he stared at the map splayed out across the table. 'How antique,' he thought as he traced a finger across the surface. He bowed his head to Keith, the trainee instructor, as they rattled off with plans.

"I think we should place more pressure on those at the cliffs," Keith said, "But there is also the problem of dealing with the centre opposition."

"Is it just trainees?" Hart muttered but Keith shook his head.

"One of your marine recruits is there but even with his help I doubt they'll be able to walk out of there unscathed." Hart wiped his face tiredly, weariness showing on his face as he bent over the map. Just as soon as he did an aide ran into the room, his finger pressed against a COMM. transceiver in his ear.

"Staff Sergeant, the motion sensors in the cliffside caves have gone off. It seems the recruits have found it." Hart frowned before nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"Finally!" Hart muttered, a hint of disdain in his voice. The whole point of the exercise was to teach the UNSC and Wallers teamwork yes however as with many Hart's training, it came with an added lesson. This one was thinking outside the box as well as never excluding any factor out. On the battlefield, while it is best to filter out non-consequential information for more relevant ones, it is better to acknowledge them and factor them in when performing a plan. The ones who had needlessly bull rush the center hadn't thought a cave in the cliff side which could provide a shortcut or entertained the idea of linking up with the marines there.

Hart shook his head tsking as he did. "I think they failed this test. What punishment do you think they should undergo?" Hart asked as he sipped his coffee. Keith did the same and Hart noted how pleased the other man seemed with the rich taste.'

"Intensive physical training?" Keith suggested.

"Make it morning exercise with some added vigor." Keith smiled and the two men switched from battle plans to humanitarian torture training.

**Originally Benito was to arrive and save North from being knocked out, however I changed it to this because I thought this was more believable plus I wanted to keep the alternate route idea, which has and will have an effect on the characters. Little stuff like this usually do. **

**I think it could be better but whatevs, I have quizzes everyday of the week now and I'm just way too fagged out to try and come up with anything better. Studies have been really eating at me and I'm unsure if I'll be able to update regularly. So pls, forgive me if it seems sub-par or if it takes a while before I return. I tried to make this one a little bit more longer to circumvent this though. 6 000 words is the longest I've ever written for a chapter in my entire time on fanfcition**


	12. Chapter 12

_One Year Later_

_UNSC Capital New Harmony_

_James Cutter_

"What are the reports from the expeditions within Wall Maria?" Cutter coughed as he leaned back against his chair, his wrinkled hands wiping against his eyes from exhaustion.

"Well, it's all coming up empty I'm afraid. Red Team has also been deployed to FOB Bravo to help cull the titans to expand the base," Serina reported as she stood next to Cutter. Her face was shining blue with only the briefest tilt as she examined his face. "You should rest, the bags under your eyes are atrocious."

Cutter shook his head and crossed his arms. "Not now Serina, there's too much to do." The AI didn't seem convinced but bowed her head in acquittal nonetheless. "What of the men we have stationed within Wall Rose?"

"The 'let's-all-get-along' squad?" Serina smiled thinly at the name, and Cutter remembered how she was the one to pitch the idea. "They're doing fine, of course. I did recommend they be stationed within Wall territory. It's only natural, they're the only UNSC force that has any extended period of contact with them and have first hand experience in how they operate. It meets the requirements of the Rose Pact while we don't lose any significant manpower."

Cutter already knew this but he let Serina have her moment as he swung his chair around. With a sigh he asked, "What of the ODSTs?"

"They're on their seventh rotation." Recently Cutter had begun sending ODST squads to move around the capital at a radius of a kilometre. After a week they would send another squad to advance an extra kilometer to run in conjunction with the previous squad. It was an effort on the UNSC's part as they were trying to find some signs of civilization other than the Wallers.

So far they had none. "What about FOB Specter?" Serina shook her head as she looked thoughtfully at the sky.

"The marines there are at tip-top shape and they've been acting as an intermediary for transporting goods between the Wallers and us."

The goods that Serina was mentioning were foodstuffs, supplies and creature comforts. The Wallers had kept their promise and New Harmony was beginning their first stages of commerce and integration into an actual state, with an economy and unified currency system. It was slow but it was happening. In exchange the UNSC provided the Wallers with medicine and other such pleasantries, however a lot of their appliances couldn't be used by them as they hadn't discovered electricity yet.

Cutter had also allowed the exchange of weapons design, though nothing at the level that they could harm the UNSC. If Cutter was not mistaken the Wallers had started production of the M1 Garand. Not a weapon that could put a dent in the toughest armor that the UNSC had in their disposal. Though Cutter doubted the Wallers had the infrastructure capable of supporting complete mass integration of the old WW rifle, it didn't matter to him. He had fulfilled his own civil and moral obligations.

"Anymore news," Cutter gripped his chest as another set of dreadful coughing filled the room. He wheezed out a breath, his hands braced against his desk as he visibly shuddered in relief.

"You're getting old Cutter," Serina said. Cutter shifted his eyes away, rubbing his fingers against his desk as he refused to meet Serina's gaze. "How long do you think you can keep kicking?"

"As long as I need to," Cutter said resolutely. He brought his hands together, rubbing his knuckles as sweat had formed over them. "I owe it to them, to the UNSC."

"You old war horses are all the same," Serina muttered sadly, "You're duty is done and you can't deny nature."

Cutter set his jaw and straightened his back. Looking out of his window to see New Harmony, Cutter felt something in him give. "I can sure as hell try." Serina shook her head and disappeared from her pedestal.

Quietly Cutter rose from his seat and traveled out of his office. His feet dragged slightly against the metal flooring but he was capable of maintaining some form of military respect as he exited his office. His aid, a young lieutenant named Orlando, glanced up from where he was working to salute Cutter.

The older man returned it and said, "Tag all my calls today Lieutenant, I'll be going on a walk." Orlando nodded his head, twisting back down onto his chair as he smartly flipped a switch next to his desk.

Cutter still didn't see a point to a switch just for him leaving his office but Serina insisted. 'It's more productive this way,' she said. He felt it was more lazy than anything.

"Good day, Sir," Orlando said as he began typing away at his computer. Cutter nodded his head and traveled down a flight of stairs. New Harmony's 'parliament' (if it could be called such) was stationed in a five story building at the center of the capital. It was formally known as a place where all the military heads and soon-to-be civilian heads would decide upon the ongoings of the UNSC as a whole. Cutter's office was on the third floor, easy access for anyone up above or below to try and reach him as he stayed at his desk pouring over requests and paperwork.

The parliament couldn't really be called small, while it wasn't the tallest building, it was wide. Big enough to fit into half the radius of New Harmony's center. The corridors were likewise large, allowing five people in the least to walk side by side as they rushed from one department to another. Most of the men and women stopped to salute Cutter, which only served to lengthen his time between the inside and the outside.

When he finally exited the main building, his first act was to take in a wave of fresh hair. His lungs strained and another coughing fit made its way through. He steadied himself and quietly sat at a bench right next to the building. FORT HQ, the formal name of the building he worked in, was flanked by criss-crossing paths of grass patches. It formed a wide, oval-like, diamond with its ends extending out enough to give the 'City AI logo' feel, since FORT HQ was the city's metaphorical AI.

To the right of it was a carpark, where stripped down Warthogs acted in place of civilian vehicles. A troop of marines were stationed nearby, their MA5Bs glinting under the sunlight.

Cutter took a shuddering breath and watched his latest life's work play out in front of him. Rows upon rows of metal barracks, topped with an extra two stories to allow more living room, were lining a road from FORT's entrance. In between each of the metal barracks were wooden houses, painted white and smooth oak. The woods did nothing to displace the metal by its side and they blended to give a type of homy utilitarian feel.

Small patches of greenery remained inside New Harmony, with large numbers of trees sectioned off to preserve natural stability with the new generation so they weren't completely cut off from nature. On the streets several people walked merrily around.

Cutter would have liked to have seen them as housewives finding foodstuffs to cook dinner or men bubbling around as they went on their first date with their high school sweethearts. But he was no fool. While some of the women left their homes in casual dress, and likewise the men tripped on their own two feet, they were far from normal civilians. They were old veterans who decided they didn't want war anymore or youngsters raised by their military parents. They walked exuding military discipline and conduct.

He would have sighed, in what way even he didn't know, but he heard a baby's cry just off the distance. His hearing, while weathered with old age, was still sharp enough as to hear the soundless approach of a plasma torpedo in space if it needed to. He turned his head, spotting a young mother dressed in normal marine garb cooing to a redheaded baby in her hands. Cutter clicked his command chip, and saw that her name was Private . He sat there, watching the unlikely mother lightly holding her baby in her armored gauntlets. Then another man stepped forward, this one had a goatee, with small oval lenses on his face. He tipped his head at Allison, who smiled at him as she pressed herself against the man. Unlike her he wasn't dressed in marine garb, rather the soft black dress of a navy man or a scientist. He didn't seem all that perturbed over the contact, even with the bulky armor, and wrapped his arms around both his girls without trouble.

Cutter watched them, then grimaced when he realised he was intruding a private moment. He shielded his eyes and pressed himself further into the bench.

It wasn't the most perfect example of human civilization but it was good enough for Cutter. Though he rather preferred that the lines between military and civilian weren't so skewered.

"Just ten more minutes," Cutter sighed as he closed his eyes.

_Wall Rose_

"So you got this now?" North glanced down at the, for him, antique weapon in his grasp. The M1 Garand, an allied weapon during the events of the World War. North didn't know much of the weapon but it seems relatively simple, the wooden frame was a jarring feeling for his fingertips though.

"Yup," Mina cheered, "Though I can't handle the recoil all that well." North looked to Mina who seemed embarrassed at that fact, though she did a good job of hiding it. North smirked and flipped the weapon around to pull the slide back, allowing him to pull one of the bullets out of the firing chamber. He looked down at it, matching it slightly to his assault rifles rounds and slid it back into the weapon.

"Yea it is a step up from your muskets." North handed the weapon back to her and without thinking he wrapped the readiness harness over her neck, securing it with a gentle tug.

"I-I'm not a child!" Mina quickly grabbed the rifle and twisted out of North's grasp. He blinked, looking at the empty space in his hands that was just now around a girl. "You need to stop doing that." She crossed her arms and glared at North.

He was about to retort when something smacked against his shoulder plates. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Benito standing there with a disapproving frown on his face. He sighed before bringing his fingers up to speak.

_Stop teasing her_, he signed. North scratched his head, looking at his friend questioningly. Benito just shook his head and hefted his rifle higher on his shoulder. _We should get back to crowd control._ Benito showed his back to North and began heading to where a group of people gathered.

North watched him go, shrugged, and turned back to Mina. She still had her arms crossed and looking unpleasantly at North. "Are you gonna keep moping?" North sighed as he rocked on his heels. She huffed, unhooked her arms and strode past North.

After the subsequent failure that was the training mission, the 'Let's-all-get-along' squad were stationed in Waller territory. Officially they were now members of the UNSC Marine Corp Garrison Battalion, unofficially they were still recruits training with the next generation of Wallers to better develop a repertoire between the two factions. While not everyone had warmed up to them, well most of them hadn't, some like Mina had started calling them friend. Though whether that extended to the UNSC as a whole was left to be seen.

North jogged up to catch up to them and quietly policed a family of three, a woman and her two daughters, out of the way as members of the Survey Corp strode in. Off the top of his head he could recognise some of the more famous members, and despite himself he couldn't really meet their gazes. They were so different than the ones that you would see on ODSTs as they screwed their helmets on. When ODSTs went out to fight, they were assured and prepared for death, but the Survey Corp seemed accepting of it. As if death was more than just a specter walking behind, it was a parasite in their guts quietly blowing at the candles of their lives. Where ODSTs seek to cheat death, they wish only to prolong the time between it.

North wasn't sure if he found it admirable or not.

The civilians watching the Survey Corp slowly trickle out of the gates quieted down after Corporal Levi, the Wallers 'Strongest Soldier', disappear in the mass of scouts. They began to disperse, with only the worried families of the brave men and women venturing out into the world beyond Wall Rose remained.

"Hey isn't that the UNSC people?" He heard a whisper in the background. His ears twitched and North busied himself with tapping his updated armor piece. The boots were bulkier around the joints but didn't sacrifice maneuverability whole his shoulder pauldrons now extended over and onto his shoulder blades. His helmet was still the same but the inner padding was a lot more comfortable.

"Looking at them sitting pretty with their flying machines and advanced muskets. If only we were living the easy life like them." A harsh whisper cut through the sudden silence. It was soft but to North it might as well have been ringing in his ears. They pounded against his head as blood flowed into his vision.

"I bet they don't even know what sacrifice means. How much we had to give for just one plot of land and how many had to die to lose it."

North felt his fist tighten. They were right, he didn't know what it was like to lose world after world to the Covenant. He didn't what it was like buried neck deep in the ground and pulling the trigger so hard your teeth shattered from the vibrations. He didn't know what it was like to see memories burning under plasma fire, the ozone being super heated to boiling points as it casted a dazzling light show. A prelude to an agonizing death. He didn't know these feelings, but they sure as hell didn't too.

Even today his father's stories did nothing but haunt him. He liked talking about his old war tales, how he and North's mother had fought the battles and bested the times. How his mother, a Marine Force Recon, and his father, an ODST, had met each other under the hell of the flood. Indeed, he had never experienced such pains but to question the UNSC was to question the hardships of every soldier that had ever survived the war. The guilt in their hearts as they tried to rebuild. In Nolan's mind they should just learn to shut up.

"Easy North," He sighed, breathing deeply in his nostrils, "No good beating up the hosts." He fixed the strap of his rifle over his head and began moving to where the rest of his mixed squad was gathered around.

Gawain was off to the side conversing with Benito while Mina was standing alongside Nac and Aleit. A six man squad, three from the UNSC and three from the Wallers.

He greeted them when he reached them and both Mina and Benito said their hellos. North watched the assembled group, Gawain had his arms crossed and face blank as he stared at Benito, who was now a Lance Corporal, while Nac and Aliet remained by Mina's side. North had to mentally sigh when he could still very clearly see the border between these two groups, even if Mina was trying her best to mend it.

_New orders, we are to check the cannons installed on the Walls for any defects. _Benito signed.

"Why us?" North asked as Gawain relayed the translation over to the others like a good subordinate.

_Why else?_ Benito shot right back. North shrugged his shoulders in acquittal and tipped his head at Mina.

"You up for maintenance work?" Mina raised a challenging eyebrow in response and Aleit giggled behind her. Nac elbowed the girl and whispered something in her ear but for whatever reason, after Aleit winked at him and took a step back, he gave Norths a thumbs up.

"I'm always up for anything. Even something like maintenance work," Mina declared. North barely held back his chuckle as he stared down at the much smaller girl, though to her credit she did not budge.

"Well that's great to hear, would be a shame to hear you whining from working so hard under the sun," North wasn't sure when this cheesy back and forth started between him and Mina but he quite enjoyed them. It was like his one and only connection between her and him, something that a UNSC boy had achieved with a Waller girl. That alone was a feat.

"Get a room," Gawain said with a groan.

_And a queen sized bed, _Benito signed. North grimaced at Benito, the cheeky italian was giving him a wide toothy smile and even Gawain was suppressing the urge to grin in bemusement. Mina looked confused at North's sudden uncomfortable expression as she looked between them.

"What did Benito say?" She said suspiciously. North shook his head and Gawain raised his hand in faux innocent as he turned his back to the group. Benito just stared at Mina with a raised eyebrow, hands crossed against his chest as he tapped his helmet. "One of these days I'll learn how to sign."

"I'd rather you focus on english, have you finished the book I lent you?" North said as he redirected her attention to him. Benito made a smiley face with his fingers over Mina's head and disappeared dragging Aleit and Nac towards the walls to get a headstart on their maintenance work.

"You mean 'The Rainforest Wars'? No, it's not that easy to get into." North shrugged, he expected as much. It was a historical war book they taught on the Spirit of Fire Command Academy after all. It wasn't something you read in your spare time unless you were a really nutty person.

"Well how far did you get into?" He was curious to know just how hard she was trying to learn english, it was obviously difficult for her since she never had to learn a different language before. Their own native tongue as well was vastly different from english.

"Chapter 23, _Marines on Mars._" She said the title of the chapter in english and despite its heavy accent, North had to commend her.

"Hey now that wasn't that bad!" North praised, "Certainly a lot better when I started reading. Then again I was six when I started reading books and those were children books." Mina punched his gut, right in between his chest plates as she huffed.

"You don't need to tease me!" She crossed her arms again, she did a lot around him, and puffed out her cheeks. North found the action endearing, really who wouldn't. With all the confidence that Mina exuded, she was still able to act like this without a shred of shame. Even to go as far as grabbing his arm and dragging him off to a secluded area the first time they met.

"Where's the fun in that then?" His grin never faltered as she sighed in annoyance at his words. She looked at him at the corner of her eyes and the tip of her mouth quirked up.

"Seriously are all you UNSC guys like this?" Truth be told if North tried anything like this with the girls in their platoon he'd find his teeth socked in. Every little princess in the UNSC was likewise a mini-king-kong with triple self-defense skills, so polite behaviour was usually hammered into a boys skull before he even dared go outside his house.

"Well...it's best you don't ask that," Mina raised an eyebrow before shaking her head with a smile. "Come on, Benito is going to be angry with us if we just stand here 'flirting' with each other and not work," He made air quotations at the word 'flirting' and said it with an exaggerated voice. Mina giggled into her hand at North's display and the two friends set off towards the walls.

Well they would have if an explosion didn't riddle the ground they were standing. North rocked his feet against the ground, his hand lashing out and grabbing his rifle as he dropped all the tension in his right leg and allowed gravity to drop him into a crouch. He snapped his rifle up the length of the wall, hearing Mina doing the same a heartbeat later next to him. He clicked the safety off, his heart rattling as he looked over the wall and his heart went numb.

"It's..." Mina gasped next to him. A skinless face, as large as a vulture, peeked itself over Wall Rose. It's wide frowning mouth opened up for a roar as steam rose from its body, knocking whoever on the wall off the surface. North could see the familiar khaki and white uniforms of the Wallers being thrown over the edge and he was about to launch his grappling hook (no matter how useless the action) to try and help them before they activated their 3DMGs and slid to a stop on the side of the wall.

"The Colossal Titan!" North hissed. Blood was racing through his veins, the titan roared into the air and North could see several nearby women who were out shopping turn tails and ran, screaming all the while. He clicked his tongue and quickly ejected his rifle's magazine. "Regular jackets? Shit I didn't put in any HE rounds." North cursed himself as he grabbed Mina and dragged her down the road.

"North! Wh-what are you doing." North didn't grace her with a response as he slapped his feet onto the pavement road. If reports held up the Colossal Titan was only there for one thing and he and Mina were still on the main road that connected Trost with the gate outside to Wall Maria. He took five steps, eight if you're trying to be technical and counted three bounces as steps, before he felt the ground shudder.

A loud boom filled the air behind him and North could feel the tidal wave of air that rushed forward from the impact. The sound of something solid crumbling resonated all throughout the silence, only disturbed by both his and Mina's boots dull echoes as everyone else had stopped what they were doing to stare.

It was five heartbeats later that they all began screaming. Seven heartbeats if you counted the babies that began crying. Then all hell broke loose as they began running off towards their homes or towards home in general.

Nolan just kept running towards the HQ. He glanced down at his marine armor, patting the utility compartments curiously before grimacing. "Benito has it," He grimaced, "Somebody else should inform it."

His thoughts abruptly cut off as the ground began shuddering and North glanced over his shoulder to see a sight he would not soon forget.

Titans, _and a lot of them_

**I'm dead. My soul has been ripped out of me. I am dead. The pain of school, the pain of quizzes. Ghhhh.**

**On another note, I was watching a MV of RvB and Fate/Stay night and decided to write this out. It's going into canon, YAY! Oh no, I'm dreading this ride. Canon had always raised red flags with fanfiction writers, just cuz we don't know what is canon anymore. XD**


	13. Chapter 13

_Wall Rose_

_Trost District_

Sasha ran down the length of the Military HQ. Rushing past similarly frantic and panicking soldiers as they worked to strap on their gears and arm their muskets, a few were even carrying the new model. She exchanged nods and pleasantries with a few of them but everyone was so focused that the action seemed more dazed than what they really were.

She rounded a corner, grabbing an extra tank of gas that had been left behind by maintenance. She gripped the edge of it, careful to not damage the essential equipment before she heard familiar heavy boots smacking the ground. She recognised the sounds that were so different from the regular soldiers soft thuds of leather padded feet. These ones were heavier, pressed into the ground at more even intervals, and had an echoing bass that accompanied its movement.

She poked her head out of a corner and spotted a dozen or so Marines gathered around the area. Their faces were grim, their arms crossed and their lips moved impossibly slow, but in such a way that you would think they were speaking a thousand subjects in the span of minutes, that it left Sasha mesmerized by their cold, precise, military visage.

"Do we keep the mixed units?" They were speaking her native tongue, something she was thankful for as curiosity demanded her to listen.

"We'll spread our forces throughout the trainee squads," Gawain said as he translated what Benito was signing. "There should be a sniper and a marksmen armed with a DMR in the bell tower at the center of the district and another sniper should be near the evacuation point. The remaining one should be near the vanguard. We only have three snipers and half a dozen DMRs, so stay safe and keep your firing lines clear." Sasha remembered once how one of the marines had explained their military doctrine to her.

Marksmen were literal treasures in their force, as infantrymen used grappling hooks and suppressive fire to slow down or bait Titans, it was the marksmen that took the kill shot.

"Wish we had a spare jetpack, times like these I really hate being a marine," One of the marines sighed.

"Marines are more stationary compared to ODSTs, we rarely have need for jetpacks if we have sufficient heights to take position in." The marines all stared at each other, their eyes closed as though in prayer.

"FOB Specter says that they'll be here in twenty minutes. But they only have one pelican, so most of the reinforcements will be going on foot," Gawain reported. The pale-skinned blonde, eyes a dazzling shade of galaxy blue, looked troubled as he spoke.

"Nonetheless, our first priority is to keep the Wallers safe. No matter the consequence," North said resolutely. The marines all nodded in grim determination as he said this, their eyes shining in some foreign emotion.

Sasha had seen that look many times, on Garrison soldiers and Scouts looking outside the walls. Their face set into a mask of acceptance and defiance. That look said to the world that they would not budge or falter and will stand proud and strong against their enemy to defend their home. But Sasha thought that it looked out of place on the marines, who were far away from home and were fighting for those not of their own kin. Yet there they stood, prepared to face death and fall into its grasp to defend that which was not their own. It puzzled Sasha, it tore at the pride inside her to think that once she had even thought about abandoning refugees traveling into Wall Rose.

Men from another world, bringing with them fire and steel, looking down on them who could barely comprehend their wonders, were watching with soft smiles and nods. She didn't know about the whole UNSC but the men before her, she realised, represented what they wished to fight for. But what was it?

For humanity. Or perhaps a strange sense of chivalry?

"Then it's settled," Gawain relayed as Benito signed. The mute marine looked to each member gathered and began making gestures, "Keep your heads on a swivel. The vanguard is holding the Titans back but only for now. We'll be needed soon." The marines all nodded and dispersed.

Sasha watched them go before ducking back into her corner and quickly disappearing. She ran throughout the HQ before bumping into someone as she entered the equipment room.

"Mina!" Sasha greeted happily. Though she grimaced when she noticed how haggard Mina looked. "What happened?"

The tiny girl shook her head as he crossed her arms, "Me and North got caught up with the vanguard when they were dispensing with the Titans going through the breach. We were lucky there were only a few that made it through the gap, the rest got stuck at the breach when they fell over each other."

Sasha felt sympathy for the girl. She looked terrified. "That was my first time seeing a Titan," Mina bit her bottom lip and Sasha tried to comfort he with a pat on the shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. We won't let the Titans take Trost now will we!" Sasha said, as though victory was ensured. Mina strained a smile and nodded, her confidence rising as she thought about joining the Survey Corp. It was her own guilty wish, she wanted to retake Wall Maria. She wanted to help humanity grow, but at the same time, she wanted to reach the other side of the walls and meet with North's home. She wanted to see it.

Mina nodded, "Right!"

_At the breach_

Squad Leader Eliot Truz was barking orders for his men to move. Titans were trying to break through the breach in Wall Rose and the garrison troops barely had time to even dig the trench around the former gate. The Titans had already eaten a fourth of his vanguard and if it weren't for those UNSC people dealing death to the Titans far away his unit would have been destroyed.

"Squad Leader!" Arnott, his aide, ran up to his side and Eliot saw how he had some blood on him and the look in his eyes showed he had just saw horror in the face. But even with cowardice ringing his core the soldier stood in front of his leader without pause. "The cannons can't be set up with the Titans going through and the trenches are already overflowing!" Eliot grimaced but just then a loud bang resounded all throughout the area. It came from a distance, of that Eliot had no doubt, but it held enough strength to send his ears perking up at its discharge.

Frowning, Eliot tossed a look behind him to see another of the UNSC people, this one looking like he had just arrived, crouched on top of one of the nearer buildings and cradling a longer version of their rifles. Another bang was heard and a white cloud of chemicals could be seen extending from the weapon as it impacted against the eye of a Titan trying to grab one of his men. It staggered backwards but righted itself as it tried to catch the soldier again, only to have its wrist exploding by a trio of rounds from the two escorts the new marine had.

One of the marines pulled out one of those strange hand-held 3DMG gears and descended down to ground level. Eliot surmised that the hand-held transportation device, though smaller than the 3DMG, was awkward to use for daring maneuvers and was more suited to ascending and descending vertically. He correctly guessed that these marines were more stationary troops than his men, opting to use their hand-held 3DMGs to bug out or get better vantage points.

The marine rushed towards Eliot, his weapon swinging from left to right as he beat feet towards the Garrison soldier. "Sir!" He said and saluted. Eliot returned it with one of his own and he thought it looked strange to see two people saluting each other differently. Eliot dropped his hand and the marine did the same. "Sir, I have a sniper and two marksmen at your disposal, Sir."

Eliot nodded his head looking to the marines again...and silently scratched his head. How the hell was he to use them? As if sensing his predicament the marine stepped forward to clarify. "Us marines are stationary troops, Sir. We can do damage but unless we have a clear shot at their weak spot, the Titans won't die so easily. I recommend using bait tactics to use our full potential Sir!" The marine said.

Elito cupped his chin. Bait tactics? That could work!

"It's a fifteen metre class!" A soldier shouted as said Titan jumped out of the breach. It swiveled its head around before locking onto a human being as it raced forward to grab him. The soldier panicked, fired his tethers and zipped up into the air. Another pair appeared behind the Titan but before they could get the kill another Titan behind them got in the way and plucked one out of the air.

Elito cursed as the Titan chomped down on his head, splattering blood and gore onto the ground as the other soldier tried to bug out.

This was the worst situation for them, the breach funneled Titans in tight groups, keeping them close to each other and making it impossible for the soldier to get behind them without getting killed.

Another crack filled the air and one of the Titans stumbled as it lost its knee. As gravity drove it down, its neck turned just enough for another marine to fire a bullet that cut straight through and obliterated its nape. Eliot opened his mouth wide before glancing over his shoulder at the marine behind him. "Sir, the surroundings isn't advantageous for the Garrison at all, it'd be best to rely on us for the mean time before retreating!" The marine yelled.

Clear, cut and crisp. There was duty shining in the marines eyes, duty that he was doing what he thought was right. Clean military consideration. Eliot would have sighed, for a reason he himself did not know. Maybe he just felt outclassed against this man that was younger than him.

Or maybe it was because more men was dying as he stood and contemplated. "All soldiers assist the UNSC personnel! Give them clear shots on the Titans necks!" The Garrison soldiers stilled, their eyes locking on their leader as the Titans continued to funnel in. Finally they leapt forward and began circling around the Titans.

A Titan raced forward to catch a soldier out of the sky but she deftly dodged and used its shoulder as a stepping stone as she rounded around its body. The thing turned and presented its neck for a marine with a DMR that packed quite a bit of heat. The soldier clicked the trigger sending high-powered rounds into the Titan's neck.

Eliot reeled himself onto the roof that the marines were on just as the Titan stumbled to the ground. The mighty beast wobbled before dropping to the ground, dead. Eliot reeled himself onto the marines rooftop just as another Titan fell.

But Eliot knew that they couldn't hold onto the vanguard. The number of Titans coming outnumbered the number that were dying. Eventually they would be overrun. "Load the cannons!" A Garrison soldier on the ground yelled and twin booms rocked the area as cannon fired blew apart knee tendons and pulverized torsos. The Titans fell to the ground but still they crawled towards their prey as they still breathed.

Eliot gritted his teeth, bringing his hand to wipe away some nonexistent sweat. "Marines cut those Charlie-ones to size!" A UNSC soldier stepped up next to Eliot and he aimed his rifle onto the Titans below. He fired, a rhythm of sharp bangs going off as a dozen rounds were launched one after the other into whatever flesh that wasn't a human being. The Titans lost limbs and body parts, their mouths falling agape as bullets tore straight through muscles.

"Man how long has it been since we killed Titans? Five chapters ago?" One of the marines yelled as he ejected a spent clip.

"Shut up Coral!"

"It's Carl numbnuts! Carl! Lots of people have that name am I seriously the first person you met named Carl!" The marine who was complaining tossed a round object into the air and Eliot was shocked to see it exploding inside a Titan's mouth, destroying its face and caving its skull in.

He pulled his arms back to take out the rifle attached to his back when a flock of Titans rushed towards the building. "Small ones! Rushing the ground!" Carl shouted as he crouched.

"They're not stopping. Brace!" Eliot yelled just as the Titan slammed into the building. The front wall of the building shuddered, holding up against the Titans, before a last headbutt caused it to collapse. The front part of the building fell and the wooden supports behind it strained to support the rest. With a final groan the roof started to break apart as the wood finally gave.

It tumbled onto an angle, causing the men on the roof to slide down as they tried to grab any purchase. "Grappling hooks!" One marine yelled as he pulled his sidearm and shot at a Titan's hand trying to grab him. Eliot slid down on his feet, twisting his torso to aim his 3DMG as he pulled the triggers on his sword hilts. He reeled himself above the marines below, twisting as he ejected one wire to look behind him.

The marines all pulled out their grappling hooks and fired their tethers onto the nearest roof they could find. They staggered and reeled themselves in but Elito gritted his teeth when one marine had been left behind.

It was that Carl guy and he was scrambling after his grappling hook that must have been dislodged after he hit the ground. A Titan tried to pluck him off the ground but he rolled away from its grasp and fired a round into its wrist. The hand fell uselessly onto its side as a tendon was severed and the marine rushed to his grappling hook. But just as he reached his hand-held savior a section of the building above the grappling hook fell and crushed the weapon. "Son of a-" Before he could complete that thought a Titan enclosed him between its hand as it lifted him up.

"Carl!" A marine yelled as he fired but the mass of Titans in front of his ally blocked his ability to hit his friend.

"I got this!" Arnott, Eliot's aid, yelled as he rushed out onto the battlefield.

"No, you idiot! Stop!" Eliot yelled and he watched in dismay as his aid rushed out in between two Titans. Arnott was pretty skilled with his 3DMG. There was no denying that fact but Eliot realised with a start that not even the best in the Garrison could hope to maneuver around. The soldier twisted around three Titans, his wires bending where it met their flesh, and ejected it for fear of being entangled.

He twisted around and found the Titan that held the marine in his grasp. A marine who was screaming at the top of lungs as he sliced at the Titans hand using a knife. Arnott twisted, brought his blade to his right shoulder and prepared to slash at the Titans neck. He cut, shearing off pieces of meet but to his dismay, and to the marine, he had cut too shallow to do any significant damage.

The Titan turned around, flinging the marine in his hand as he did. Now that the Garrison soldier had caught its attention, the marine became the last thing on his mind as he squeezed. The marines armored plates held strong against the force, but the meat sandwiched in between were crushed and flattened.

Blood gushed out of the marines mouth, staining the Titans hand as it twisted and tried to grab Arnort. Panicking the soldier fired his tethers to escape but he had made one crucial error.

He had not realised he was surounded. The wires connected to a building but with the densely packed Titans marching back and forth, it the wire became entangled in a mess of flesh as the wires wrapped around them. Arnott was ragdolled into the ground as when he reeled himself in, the wire spun of control and slammed him into the ground. The soldier crashed to the ground, his leg splintered when it impacted and the bone jutted out from his knee. The soldier screamed in terror as blood rushed out of the wound, his mouth open so wide it might have dislocated itself.

He found his pain ending as a Titan stepped on him. The thing lifted the bottom of its heel from the ground looking at it uncomprehendingly for a moment before continuing its hunt.

Eliot watched all this in silence, his mind reeling at such callous loss of life. He turned and realised that a few UNSC marines had been plucked out of the sky because of their slow going grappling hooks. They yelled in defiance at the Titans, with some even crying, and Eliot braced himself to see more brave men, more _kids_ die helpless deaths. Two marines were crushed in between disgusting jaws before the last remaining one was about to die.

But just before he met his end, the Titan that was holding him lost the back of his knee. The thing crumpled and the marine was able to push himself off as he crashed to the ground. "Rowen! Head to the buildings on the flank!" A marine shouted.

Rowen glanced up at the one who shouted, nodded his head, and ran towards the building. Eliot watched as he raced between the buildings and before long a flock of Titan followed behind. Some of his men bordered the lines of the buildings, crouched low and waiting

When the Titans passed the threshold of the buildings Eliot was shocked to see twin plumes of fire go off by the sides of the road. The Titans fell to the ground, their head slamming against the ground as they lost their feet. The Garrison soldier launched their tethers and finished off the kill.

Padded feet sounded off behind him as the same UNSC marine from before appeared. "Sir!" He said, sliding to a step next to Eliot. "The breach is swarming with Titans! The vanguard is lost, I recommend we retreat to the middle guard!" Eliot glanced to the breach and was horrified to see at least a dozen Titans surrounding the corpses of his vanguard. The cannons were strew about useless in front of the hole as pools of blood splattered all across the ground.

"Right!" He said after a moment, he turned and looked down to see that marine named Rowen being reeled up by a comrade. He crashed onto the rooftop, huffing out haggard breaths as his comrades continued to fire down on the enemy.

"How many of your men are left?" Eliot asked.

"Five, Sir! We still have our sniper," the marine reported. Eliot turned to his own men and did his own headcount.

There was only twenty-three men left from a fifty man Special Colossal Titan Response Team. He snorted, what good did the fancy name do.

"We still need to stem the tide of Titans," Eliot said. The words didn't want to leave his mouth but military conditioning was buried hardcore into his head at that point.

"We can line up the roads with charges, that'll thin out their ranks as we regroup. We have a sniper team in the bell tower at the center of the town, my marksmen will provide cover as well," Eliot nodded and brought his flare up into the sky. It lit a signal for his troops to retreat as they rushed towards the middle-guard. Only the UNSC soldiers stood stock still as they bore hot metal onto the Titans.

The Titans rushed forward, their feet blowing apart and they crashed head first into the building that the marines were on top. They wobbled and the soldiers quickly dispersed as they feared a repeat of what happened.

As Eliot ran off to follow his men, he glanced behind to stare at the Titans devouring his men or roaming the area aimlessly.

The Battle for Trost had begun.

**I'm writing this in class. Go really huge desks.**


	14. Chapter 14

_Trost District_

_Bell Tower_

"Vanguard is gone," Adam said quietly as he set the scope of his SRS. His friend, Ronald, made a noise from where he sat. He had his resting at the covering of the bell tower as he aimed his DMR into the district below.

"May God give 'em peace," his 'hillbilly' friend said. Adam roughly pulled back on his weapons charging handle in reply, letting it slink back out as he stared at the ceiling of the bell tower. The marine counted down a set of numbers in his head, always by twos as his friend did the same out loud but by threes instead.

A little habit sniper teams always get into the habit too. Each pair was unique but they always had a quirk that they shared between them before battle. It didn't always manifest as a physical action, maybe just sharing the same thoughts as they prepared to take a shot, or a simple gesture as a pay, but they always had something like that. For these two, it was the counting.

"Carl, Sam and Yui is dead. Rowen was injured and the rest are joining the middle guard." Adam gripped the under stock of his sniper rifle rightly. His forehead touched the top of his rifle lightly. "I feel sick."

"Everyone's feelin' sick," Ronald said. He clipped his DMR's safety off and zeroed in on a group of soldiers running towards the HQ. "Ain't a soul alive that likes seein' friends dead."

Adam shook his head and rose to his feet, he placed his sniper on the bell tower and wrapped his finger around the trigger. It was five beats later that he squeezed it, launching a bullet through the air at phenomenal speeds. The bullet tore straight through the air, distorting the air around it as it trailed a chemical cloud behind it.

Off in the distance a Titan lost its neck, the front exploding into blood and gore from the impact. It sputtered, its legs tumbling, before a second round sheared more meat and tendons off. The top of the Titans head slapped against its chest, only a sliver of flesh connecting the head onto its body now. A third round sounded and struck the Titan's weak spot, killing it and causing it to crash onto smaller Titans beneath it.

Adam pulled his eyes back and stared at his handy work. His uneasiness was gone now and the only emotion he permitted himself to feel was the satisfaction of a kill. "Where's my spotter? I thought this was your job," Adam said as switched his stance to a crouch.

Ronald stepped up to his side and pulled his DMR up. They didn't have a supply of binoculars that the UNSC was familiar with behind Wall Rose, so Ronald would have to make do with his rifle's scope. He clicked his tongue as he sighted a Titan. He calmly relayed the information to his partner Adam; distance, elevation, bearing. It was a good hundred metres ahead of them to the southeast heading west, straight towards a loose cluster of barracks for soldiers. That just made this unlucky Titan a priority target.

Adam slowed his breath, checked the butt of his rifle against his shoulder and pressed his eyes against his scope. Not too hard that the recoil would damage his face but close enough to get a good read on his target without an error. He fired and the Titan staggered in its spot before crumpling to the ground. Adam rounded his rifle back around, waiting for Ronald to sight in a new target.

"Bell Tower; this is Vanguard, come in over," a voice came out of the radio. Adam pulled his eyes out of the scope, exchanged a look with Ronald, before clicking his radio.

"Bell Tower, send your traffic," Adam replied.

"Bell Tower be advised Vanguard has set up explosive charges from the breach towards the North. Relay, over,"

Adam twisted his head a little, his mind stalling from the words. Explosive charges? Right in the middle of the district? This smelled of a political problem, but Adam pushed those thoughts aside. He was a soldier, this stuff didn't matter to him. "Bell Tower copies on all, stay safe Vanguard."

"Roger, Bell Tower." The radio clicked off and Adam switched channels. He guessed that Vanguard's radio must have been damaged or experienced some disturbance to not be able to reach the rest.

"Bell Tower to 1-1, come in 1-1," Adam shook his shoulder. His body already started to feel uncomfortable with being in the same position without a proper reason.

"1-1, send traffic," Gawain's familiar voice said.

"1-1 be advised, Vanguard is placing charges to slow down the Titan advance. Relay to Waller forces, over." There was static on the other end, followed by obvious shouting, before Gawain's voice returned.

"Copy on all Bell Tower. Interrogative do you have eyes on Vanguard?"

Adam looked to Ronald, who only shook his head in answer as he looked out at the district. "Negative, we do not have eyes on Vanguard," just as Adam said this however a wall of fire erupted ahead of them. It drew a line straight across the front of Trost district and jumping out of the fire were the familiar khaki of Garrison soldiers. "Uh, disregard last transmission. Vanguard is within sight and heading towards the middle guard, over."

"Uh...Roger. 1-1 has sight of them too, over," the radio died afterwards. Adam looked to Ronald, who had his mouth open wide in shock.

"Well color me black and call me 2pac, I did _not_ see that coming," He whispered.

"2pac?" Adam didn't find his question answered as Ronald didn't waste any time to call out targets from his position. With the buildings caught in the crossfire and now left in ruins, the expanse of space had revealed much of the smaller Titans positions. Making them easy pickings for Adams.

The remnants of Vanguard piled out of the corpses of the Titans, their rifles spewing hot lead as they tried to keep the Titans off him. "Titan, bearing three o'clock, a hundred metres." Adam twisted and fired, now bothering to aim as the tight cluster of Titans meant he would hit something.

"Good kill," Ronald said. Well, that was completely unexpected.

He smiled and gritted his teeth when he saw a Titan disappear in a column of fire, its feet melted and before long it could not support itself upright. It fell to the ground and a member of the Vanguard added insult to injury by blowing its eyes out. Adam finished it off with a well-placed bullet. "Vanguard, Bell Tower. Head straight North, we'll provide cover fire, over."

"Roger that Bell Tower. Enjoyed the fireworks?" Adam glanced up at the small wisps of black smoke that remained after the explosion. The rotten smell of cooked flesh filled the air and the sounds of Titans moaning mingled with the cackle of fires. Wooden houses burned and burning asphalt filled Adam's nostrils.

"I could have done without it," Adam replied honestly," but it was a model performance, Vanguard." There was haggard laughter going off on the other end and Adam clicked his radio off.

"I wonder if it smelled like this," Adam wondered out loud, "Covenant plasma burns." He sighted in another Titan and fired.

Ronald was silent throughout the whole exchange, only muttering bearings and Titan positions.

_Trost District_

_Military HQ_

The Middle Guard was preparing to go on the move. They were sectioned off to assist with the evacuation before they saw the plumes of smoke rise out of the ground. One of the marines had came out and informed everyone that the Vanguard was retreating, and before long the Trainees were performing their last checks on their gears. They had already done, thrice for each Trainee, but they kept doing it. The simple action of patting their belts, pulling wires and testing their gears helped clear their heads.

Death flitted in and out of their thoughts more times than they would like to think. Only the suicidal thought otherwise, and the weak slowly spiralled into despair. They grip their heads, dropped their heads between their knees, and lost themselves to the primal fear racing in their heart.

They breathed, found their throat constricting on the air itself, and felt their muscles twist painfully. They tried to move their hands, but the tendons spontaneously spasmed and forced their fingers to lock in place.

"This is all so fucked," one of them whispered as he cradled a rifle in hands. One of his buddies drifted close by, eyeing the rifle as he slowly reached his hands around his comrades fingers.

"Come on now man, that rifle's gonna get damaged if you hold it too tight." The Trainee pulled away from his friends grasp, wild and fearful eyes staring at him in desperation. A normal person would have stopped in shock and fright, but soldiers, no matter how young, were gifted with instinctual movement. The man sprang forward and tugged the rifle out of his friends grasp. He braced his feet in between his friends and tossed him over his shoulder. The man landed on his back painfully, wheezing haggard breaths from the sudden movement.

"No, give it back!" The restrained man struggled and another group appeared to hold him on the ground.

Mina stared at them all with her mouth agaped. They pressed the Trainee closer to the ground to the point that Mina could hear his bones straining to support the impossible rigid posture. She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth. To think that they had learned such extensive hand-to-hand tactics just to use them against each other.

Her thoughts died after she saw a group of Trainees enter her peripherals and she watched as an older Garrison soldier began training them. "The UNSC people want to spread troops out over the squads. So we'll be reassigning some of you," the man passed a look to each of them before looking towards Mina. "You there, you'll be running relay with the Marines at the top of the HQ. You," he looked to Eren, "two marines will be assigned with you."

She bit her bottom lip. She wanted to argue against her deployment, appalled at the thought of staying at HQ with the marines when she could be fighting with the rest. But she knew that sometimes battles didn't need to be fought at the head. There was another way around, a non-conventional way. She bit back a smile when she thought about a cave that would lead them to victory. And another week of increased labor.

"Report to your squads," Mina pulled off a smart salute before racing away towards where the stairs that led to the roof of the HQ was located in. She raced up the staircase and opened the door.

Immediately she spotted Gawain and Nac side by side staring at the distance. Gawain had a pair of binoculars on his face while Nac was apparently writing something down. "Thirty Titans moving out of the breach. Tightly clustered. Four breaking west, three breaking east. A dozen staying near the breach," Gawain rattled off as he eyed the Titans coming in. Mina quietly stepped up to them and noticed how they were the only ones on the roof.

She scanned the entire place, before looking towards them. "Glad you could join us," Gawain said as he dropped his binoculars onto his chest.

"What are we doing here?" She asked.

"Marking priority targets. There's no way we can suppress the Titans by constant engagement. So we point out the ones that have the likeliest chance of causing a problem, then I relay it to my comrades." Gawain said.

Mina scrunched her eyebrows together. It made sense in her mind, come to think of it a lot of what the UNSC say and do make sense, but she failed to understand where she came in on this plan. "You see those flares set up there?" Mina looked to the side to see a crate of flares. "We got a plan set up. Well...more like wholesale destruction but that counts too." Mina wasn't sure what he meant by that but nodded anyways in understanding.

"There goes Eren and his team," Nac whispered as he stared at the retreating figures.

"Is North and Benito with them?"

Gawain shrugged his shoulders. "Just North, Benito is with Jeans squad." There was an odd grimace on his face as he said this. "North and Eren don't make a good pair." Mina would have giggled if it weren't for the situation they were in.

"I'm sure North will keep himself in line," Mina defended.

"It's Eren I'm worried about," Gawain confided, "he's, well, suicidal." Unexplainably, Mina felt herself get angry at Gawain doubting her friend. As a fellow Trainee she felt a need to protect Eren's dignity.

"He's hot-headed but he can use his head too! He's not gonna do anything stupid." Mina said.

Gawain placed his binoculars back on his face, rolled his shoulders and nodded. Though Mina saw the edge of his lips curl downwards into a frown. "Time will tell."

_Wall Maria_

_FOB Specter_

"Load up those supplies, bring the warthogs up and somebody get those pilots strapped onto their seats!" Lieutenant Gary Sanderson, better known as Roach, was panicking. It would be more accurate to say he was going through an adrenaline high. He was shouting at any recruit to get everything secured and urging the warthogs towards the door.

They only had one pelican, which they reserved for medical supplies and personnel. The warthogs, twelve of them, were being prepared to move out in a convoy. The other marines were buckling down on mongooses while others were busy preparing themselves as reinforcements. This was a moment no one had expected, sure the story about a Colossal Titan was hard to stomach and was practically laughable, but UNSC personnel took lore as fact especially when they fought against a conglomerate of religiously fanatic aliens.

"Gary!" Kara jogged up next to him. Her brown hair was frizzles and her doughy brown eyes were scattered all over the place as she was huffing and puffing. "The pelican is completely full of personnel and we're ready to take off in any minute." Gary squinted his eyes in thought before catching a familiar sight running by.

"Eliza!" He shouted. The Corporal paused, turned around and nodded her head respectfully to her superior. Her face was hard, devoid of any emotion a hellbringer had no need of, and the look in her eyes was that of a lioness prepared to hunt. Gary would dare say she looked like a goddess of war, but he opted to keep that in his head rather than speak it out loud. "What's the situation like?"

"Warthogs are almost fueled all the way up, the men are trying to shove as much relief supplies as we can on the transports and we have been exchanging information with New Harmony. Right now they can't provide much, but we may be able to get CAS in another," she glanced at her wristwatch, "thirty to forty minutes, give or take a couple of minutes."

"CAS?" Kara said in shock. But Gary got it the moment Eliza opened her mouth.

"For the Armored Titan," Gary said, "if he gets to Wall Rose then, well, the UNSC will be in for a hard time sealing _that_ up." Kara didn't seem like she understood it well but nodded her head anyways.

"I'll be going with the rest of the medical team now then," she waved goodbye to Roach before jogging off towards the flight deck. He checked his gauntlets and satisfied that they were fastened well, he gave Eliza a thumbs up.

"Alright let's go," the Corporal nodded and loaded her grenade launcher. A shiver went down Roach's spine as he pulled himself into his warthog and revved the engine up.

"All units be advised, increase Titan activity is in and around the breach. I repeat, please watch yourselves out there." The radio cackled. Roach stared at it, then at Eliza as Steven dropped down behind the gunner position.

"Just like old times," Roach said contentedly.

"Not really," Eliza said suspiciously. She reached forward and pulled Roach's helmet off him. Them she took his hair and splayed it on the right side of his face. Making sure it covered half of his face. "Now it's like old times. I miss that emo look." Roach grumbled and pressed down on the accelerator.

The doors to FOB Specter opened wide before his warthog was the first one outside the base and heading towards the city.

Roach pulled back on his handbrake and before he knew three explosions that happened near by. The first two was from Eliza and the last one had been cause of Steven catching a Titan trying to take a bath.

He smiled and before he realised it he was back in the game.

**Boom things are changing. And boom am I tired.**


	15. Chapter 15

_Wall Rose_

_Quentin North_

His rifle sputtered and spit. He danced side to side as he swung his weapon all around him. North tried to exchange clips but found himself dodging backward from a Titan's hand instead. He was forced to pull out his pistol and shoot out the things wrist, obliterating the meat and tendon. The thing yelled into the air, an oppressive sound that weighed heavily on North's shoulder as he huffed.

Behind him Thomas was making semi-hysterical sounds as he lashed out with his swords. He cut a Titans fingers, danced backwards and ducked behind North for cover as the marine launched another volley of shots.

Thomas wasn't breaking down, he was just adjusting. That was North said in his mind as he fired again. It was getting difficult to deal with all the Titans. Eren and Armin were dancing around them, well, as best they could. Neither of them had earned a kill, Eren only able to make shallow cuts before retreating. And Thomas couldn't control his fingers well enough to launch himself in the air.

The Bell Tower was ahead of them, just beyond a few buildings but judging by how bullets were moving towards the breach, the marines stationed there hadn't noticed them. That was bad.

Gawain was probably keeping an eye out on the breach as well and these smaller Titans must have wandered from their sight by hiding under the cover of the buildings. The more he looked at things, the more he wished he had a scorpion to blow everything to pieces. He grabbed Thomas hy the collar, the man looking up at North in surprise, before he found a hand slapping his face. He choked, blinked, and then gulped down a ball of dread.

"I'm fine now," he said shakily. North raised an eyebrow, he wasn't convinced, but he couldn't be picky. "We can't stay here!"

North agreed, already he was hearing chatter on the radio about squads being wiped out and Titans breaking through. He glanced around him, at the Titans, luckily they were smaller than the building do their hands only grazed the edges leaving the center untouched. Both he and North could be saved in the small bubble for now, but the same couldn't be said about Armin and Eren. "Get those two and head towards the Bell Tower. I'll provide cover so just go alright?"

Thomas seemed reluctant. North honestly liked Thomas, he was a good kid but right now he needed a soldier who followed orders. "Do you get me, soldier?" That snapped the Trainee out of it and he nodded his head.

By all accounts North outranked him as a Private First Class, the only other person with a rank higher than that was Gawain who was a Lance Corporal. Though it was funny as he usually just parrots Benito's orders.

"Good now move it!" Thomas turned and fired a pair of wires. A Titan's hand shot out to grab him out of the air, North imagined what would happen if it grabbed the Trainee. The Titan would probably pull the Trainee towards its mouth, popping the leg free in the process and slamming him onto the edge of the roof. He'd die before he was even taken into the Titan's mouth. A better death than being swallowed whole? North didn't know but his reflexes kicked in before he could find the answer. A sustained burst cut through the air and the wrist blew up upon impact. The thing fell sideways, hanging off its joint as steam rose off the wound.

Already North could see skin regrow and shape itself back into its former structure. "Not yet," he muttered. He fired again, this time he drew a line straight from the wrist down the length of the arm, butchering it to resemble some mockery of swiss cheese. The Titan balked before falling backwards and away from the roof. In some semblance of self-preservation as though it didn't want to die just yet.

He heard the hiss of gas and saw that Armin and Eren were moving to follow Thomas. He also notice how Eren looked angry, ashamed, and dismayed all onto one package. He gritted his teeth.

Was this all we could do? North suspected that those words filled the Trainees mind. North could be considered a mellow guy but even he had his limits of tolerance. A face like that, it was a face that said he was going to get people killed. Whether voluntarily or not.

North followed their path with his rifle, setting his sights on their flapping khaki jackets as Titans reached up to pluck them from the air. North dropped to a knee while twisting and fired a solid volley into a flock of hands. He tore muscle, caved in wrists, and when he was done he ejected the spent clip.

The air felt thick, the air molecules were packed closer together all of sudden. As though the Titans were a forming an enclosure around him, one where there was no exits. North gulped and fumbled with his grappling hook, pulling off its holster on his chest.

The roof rumbled, the Titans had switched tactics and were now banging their heads onto the sides of the wall. The tiles beneath his feet creaked, the groans of the building as loud as an engine as they strained. North placed a foot down, then the tile beneath it gave way and he fell through the roof.

He crashed down onto a dinner table, the thing breaking into two by the sheer force he hit it. He groaned at the pain that flared all throughout his back. He turned, placed his hands on the floor and looked up, the ground shuddered and the wall directly in front of him exploded. A Titan peered through, a wicked smile on its face as it glanced at North. "Ugly bastard," North croaked. He tried to reach for his gun but couldn't find it and the grappling hook was at the other end of the room.

He weighed the options but found that he didn't even have time for that. He flipped onto his back as the Titan slammed a fist on his position. The floor splintered from the blow and North kicked against the ground as he rubbed his armored back into the hard plywood. The Titan made some sort of groan, as if to say 'I got a energetic one' in some form of disappointment. North flipped onto his feet and dashed for his grappling hook. The Titan moved his arm and North ducked his head by just seconds before it went over his head and took out the wall in front.

Half the building was gone now, leaving a huge hole for two more Titans to try and pluck him out of the ground. North balked, tried to grab his grappling hook but a thought caused him to falter in his run.

What if he was too slow? What if they grabbed him right as he reached it? What if he fell on the way? What if the ground caved in? Or he was crushed under debris? A hundred thoughts like these flashed through his mind and before he knew his opportunity disappeared when a Titan crushed his grappling gun with its hand. The marine bit back a curse and staggered backward, finding his assault rifle on the way and pulling the charging handle back.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit, shit, __**shit**__, __**SHIT.**_

He swung his rifle around frantically, pressing his trigger as fingers exploded and broke apart. He stumbled, almost tripped on himself, and rounded back to the only part of the building intact.

His boots smacked the ground and he skidded to a stop, slamming onto the opposite wall as the Titans just barely missed him. North rolled forward, then sidestepped to the left, and climbed over a Titan's finger. They were grabbing at him from every direction and his muscles were straining to keep up.

He turned to the opening and realised it was almost completely covered with hungry Titan heads. Even if he got his grappling hook back now, what difference would it make? He'd get chomped up just as he flew out. Looking down by his feet, he realised there was a trap door.

"A basement?" He muttered but he didn't care. It could be a mandingo hole for all he cared, so long as it kept him safe he'd jump in. He bucked his knees, arced his back forward and shot down towards the latch of the door. A Titan roared and it tried to smash North onto the ground but the marine was able to pull the door up faster and jump down. The only thing that the Titan was able to do was close the trapdoor as he fell into a crouch. He flopped onto his side, breathing heavy as sweat clung to him. The adrenaline high was slowly but surely going away, and he felt calmer just being in the small basement.

Then then the ceiling began to rumble and North realised he had trapped himself into a hole.

_Military HQ_

_Gawain_

Gawain coughed as he scrambled to his feet. The wall nearest to his left side had suddenly collapsed due to a Titan slamming its head against it. The marine braced his feet from its sluggish movements and turned to his companions.

Nac was holding onto Mina, looking at the Titan in what was akin to horror and fear. Mima was doing the same, but her fear was more in shock and uneasiness. Gawain looked to the Titan ahead of them, he'd fought with them before but that was a different day. He never has to face odds like this before, where he didn't have a full team by his back and packing weapons and ammunition to wage a small war.

Gawain looked back at the Titans that were slowly but surely climbing their way up. Learning the nook and crannies in front of them to try and grab the people on the roof. Gawain pulled his DMR off his back and clicked the safety off.

Behind him he could hear the Trainees scrambling to get their 3DMG out. "Hold!" He barked. He wasn't sure if the Titans heard him but he couldn't worry about that. He clicked his rifle, cutting a Titans index finger and effectively making it lose its grip. The Titan fell backwards, slamming into a smaller one behind it as they both impacted the ground. Blood splattered the ground and the larger one slowly rose from its position, staring at the remains of its smaller brethren.

"Step back!" He yelled. This time he heard them move backwards, Nac yelling a loud, 'stepping back!', to confirm their movement. Gawain reached into his pocket, pulled out a grenade and set the primer. He counted the seconds, watching as the Titan reached higher up the building, before he pulled his arm back and threw. In another life, Gawain would have been a star baseball player, in this one people would just say he had a killer throw.

The grenade flew through the air, soaring past the distance as it reached the apex of its flight. It began a slow descent downwards, before crashing against the Titan eyeball. The thing twitched and the small grenade ricochet off its upper lip before exploding. Fire burned and shrapnel ripped straight through the things face, cutting facial structure and caving in the skull. With its head gone the Titan released its grasp on the building, flopping onto the ground and killing a rough dozen of other Titans by crushing them.

"What are we going to do?" Mina asked as she stood next to Gawain. The marine thumbed his safety buttons and gave her a little grin.

"Remember those flares?" Mine tilted her head in confusion, wondering what flares could possibly do, before racing off to get them. She opened up the crate and set a flare into its firing mechanism before handing it to Gawain. He stared at it for a moment, eyeing the contraption, before nodding in satisfaction.

"Usually I'd use jackhammers for this," he said nonchalantly as he aimed his rifle, "but beggars can't be choosers." He fired the flare. The thing traveled through the air and Mina noticed how it sparked a little bit as it flew. It hit the ground and the very last thing Mina expected to see was a column of fire erupting from its landing zone, spreading in opposite directions around the base.

As it traveled small explosions riddled the ground, sensing chunks of Titans in the air and butchering the smaller ones. The larger ones collapsed onto the ground with their feet mutilated and groaned out loud. When the fires reached an interval before a turn, a resounding boom sounded as it set of a chain reaction of large detonations that burrowed a hole in between the Military HQ and the district.

Mina looked to Gawain in shook and the marine was smirking in satisfaction. "I didn't get top grades in the academy for my good looks. A little taste of simple ingenuity." Though Mina knew he was just gloating.

"How?" She asked breathlessly.

"Powder kegs, C6, and a line of oil buried in the ground, some gunpowder spread in between just in case a Titan stepped on the oil and messed up the circuit. I have about four circuits. The flare ignites the oil, which ignites the gunpowder, which in turn ignites the explosives. Simple, and easy. A toddler could have came up with it." Now he was just being honest. In Gawain's mind he did believe a toddler could have come up with it. Mina suddenly had a picture of babies in diapers running around with explosives in a camp with the title, 'Early Babification Military Exercise' plastered at its front.

"We don't train babies with explosives," Gawain deadpanned when he saw her expression. She smiled sheepishly, making a small 'eheh' sound.

"Agh!" A shrill scream filled the air. Gawain jumped back and stared in horror as a Titan has somehow managed to climb up the building from the back end. It had Nac in its grasp, the Trainee was yelling heartfelt expletives as he was dangled above the the Titan's mouth.

Gawain ripped his gun fee and tried to get a shot, his heart was beating erratically, messing up his aim. _If you miss he dies, _a voice whispered in his head. He banished it as quickly as he could and tried his best to aim while slowing his heart. He fired but Nac was already falling into the Titan's mouth. The bullets slammed into the Titans throat, striking through the nape on the other side and causing the Titans jaws to snap on the other side...right on Nac's leg. He yelled, loudly, like deranged animal as the Titan fell. The sudden jerk of movement downward snapped his body upwards, twisting his leg that was trapped in the Titan's mouth and tearing meat apart.

Agonizingly Gawain watched as the Titan staggered back and forth, swinging Nac's body with the motion as tendons were slowly, painfully, ripping free from the joints of his knee. Nac yelled to his throat ran dry then the Titan tipped backwards...and his the flesh that mercilessly kept him attached to his mangled leg snapped.

He fell, Mina launched her 3DMG and managed to catch him just before he hit the ground headfirst. She pivoted in the air and slid onto the surface of the building. "Gawain! Help, he's in shock!" Mina said frantically as she pushed her hands against the stump of Nac's leg.

Gawain rushed to her side, ripping a field pack from his side and stopping next to Nac's prone form. His face was blank, eyes closed in peaceful bliss as his head lolled back. His slick back hair was drenched in his own blood and his leg looked like a bloody mess. A stump with small roots of flesh and arteries hanging out pumping wasteful blood.

The marine pulled out biofoam from the field pack, Mina not paying attention as she cradled Nac's head in her hands. He applied the foam, the healing salve staining the stump as it solidified and merged with the wound. The arteries were coiled into the white foam and Gawain thought he had to do something with them. _Cut them_, a voice whispered. A seed of doubt filled his mind.

What if he shouldn't? What if he may doom the Trainee to a life on a wheelchair for the rest of his life if he did that? He looked to his hands, they were stained red. There was blood on them, a person's blood, Nac's blood, his _friends _blood. He had smelled blood before, out hunting with his dad. He always thought it smelled a little rotten, raw and murky. He had been fine with it. But this was different. This was the blood of someone he had talked to, someone he had shared meals with, someone he had _ordered_ to be on the roof. And looking at the pool of blood beneath him, a lot of it was leaking out. Nac's precious lifeline was spreading out around his body, drenching his back in red and turning his tanned face a pale blue.

Gawain wanted to throw up. "Raise the stump!" Gawain ripped his chest plate off, not caring about the straps on the side as he set it against the wounded appendage and lifted it so blood would stop leaking. Mina pulled out a roll of bandages and managed to tie it around the leg to restrict blood flow. She was shaking, he was shaking. Gawain was a soldier, he knew death would come. He wasn't afraid of his own death, he waited for it, waited for that one last stand for his own life.

But nothing prepared him to the uncertainty of a friends life on the line. Why was it that a soldier would face his own death without blinking an eye...but when faced with a squadmate, they turned away and lied to themselves. Why? Gawain realised, his heart lurched with the thought. Nac was still young, only seventeen years old, there was so many things he would miss out in life. There were so many things he would never experience, especially with the UNSC.

The foam was trickling down Nac's leg and he groaned, the sound was hoarse and weak. "Mina give him this," Gawain passed his canteen and quietly pulled the chest plate at a higher angle, removing his gauntlet to support it. It was a far cry from a proper medical examination but it was better than nothing.

A distant roar ripped through the air and Gawain snapped his head up to see a Titan beginning to rise from the edge of the buildings roof.

He needed to go...but what if Nac died? The uncertainty ate away at him. _An injured man or a hundred men. _He didn't want to choose. In that moment he could see with his own eyes that Nac needed him, but in his mind he rationalised that everyone else needed him too. _They_ needed him, _Nac _needed him.

"Gawain?" Mina looked at him, her eyebrows creased in worry. A friend on the ground, close to death's door for all she knew and another in front her eyes, bearing down a weight she never realised he had. He was grappling a responsibility, of her life, of Nac's life, of the other Trainees lives. Perhaps the whole of Wall Rose's life. She began to understood, Gawain, North, Benito, they took their jobs seriously. They grappled the burden of keeping everyone alive seriously, everyone in Wall Rose. Mina felt something boil inside of her, these men were only a few years older but they went so far, _too far, _for everyone but themselves.

She gripped Nac's shirt, hooked her arms under his legs and lifted him up. All that training to be a soldier, it was _her _job to defend Wall Rose. To defend humanity behind the Walls. Gawain was a soldier assigned to help them, not fight for them. "Gawain I'm taking Nac downstairs to the infirmary!" She yelled.

And just like that Gawain snapped out of his stupor, blinked, and nodded. He bolted to his feet and ran to meet the Titan ahead with a burst of his rifle. Mina watched him go, then with great effort started her way downstairs.

A group of Trainees were by the foot of the stairs, their face pasty white. They stared in shock and horror when Mina entered the room, their eyes immediately flying to Nac's stump. "Stop staring and help me!" She snapped. Two men stepped forward and eased her weight while a girl ran out calling for help.

Another woman appeared, this one older. Mina hid her surprise as the woman took Nac out of her grasp. She thought all the Garrison troops were at the rear guard. Guess a few opted to stay at the HQ. "What is this white stuff?" The woman asked.

Mina glanced at the foam that formed around Nac's leg. She remembered Gawain had used it to stop the bleeding on Nac's leg. She didn't know what else it did however. She opened her mouth to say it but before she could she heard explosions outside, the ground rumbling with their detonations. "There it is again!" A Trainee yelled. "It's the armored Titan, we're all going to die," another shouted. Mina moved forward to placate them but another explosion followed, this one more violent.

Then another, and another, _and another, __**and another. **_

The building groaned, the ground shook as though the earth was breaking apart. The men and women in the room scrambled for whatever purchase and Mina steadied herself by using her 3DMG as a balance. Heavy footfalls sounded behind her, Mina glanced back to see Gawain running down.

His unarmored chest revealed plain olive fatigues. One dotted with blood, but Mina noticed how the edges were slightly charred and some soot clung to the armor still left on his body. "How's Nac?" He asked.

"He's fine," Mina answered, "but what's the white foam on his leg for?" She held her tongue to question the explosions, instead opting to know more about Nac's condition.

"It's biofoam," Gawain answered simply, "it's temporary and will disappear in five hours or so. It regenerates tissue and stop bleeding so just wrap the wound around the foam."

"Whatever you say," the older woman breathed, but Mina heard an undertone of wonder. "What was that just now?" She asked looking at Gawain expectantly.

"I ignited a round of explosives around the base."

"Which circuit?" Mina asked, using his term for the round of explosives.

"All of them," he answered tonelessly, "there's a trough all around the base now and the Titans are falling in."

A Trainee glanced out of the window and gasped. A deep trench circled around the base and Mina could see how it was being filled with Titans, slowing down the giants advance. "I'm surprise it didn't kill us all."

"It should've," Gawain whispered, low enough that Mina had to strain to hear, "guess we're really lucky."

Mina grimaced. A groan was heard, and Nac opened his eyes with a muffled yawn. "Where...huh?" He blinked when he realised he was staring at a woman and glanced around frantically. "What happened?"

He glanced down at his injured leg, his eyes suddenly alight with remembrance, before he dropped his head back onto the table. "Oh..." he said before he drifted into unconsciousness again, his tired eyes seeming ten times worse.

**Just did my Bio final exams. Ugh, I hate Bio. So since I am now in the middle of Final exams, or rather just starting? I won't be able to write some. So I wrote this pretty quickly, and I humanised the marine characters a little bit more.**

**I realise I was making them too perfect, too ready. Even if they are soldiers, their only in their, what? Nineteen years of age I made them? They are still inexperienced in full combat and can fumble and mess up. They are also prone to psychological problems, because when adrenaline is pumping through you it feels like everything is on your shoulders. The stress can make or break you. **

**I also admit that I based Gawain's little episode of a similar event in my life. Scary moment. **

**Anyways, Trane7 signing off. **


	16. Chapter 16

_Basement (Not that Basement)_

North pulled himself up to his feet as dust dropped into his helmet. He shook it off only to have an even greater volume slid onto his face as he sputtered and spit. Above him, he could hear the Titans trying to break their way into the building.

His teeth chattered as the ground vibrated with the rhythmic bangs above him, jostling his armor plates as he steadied his body against a wall. Adrenaline pumped through his body but the marine calmed his jittering nerved with deep inhales of breath. A clear mind led to a clear goal, and a clear goal is essential to any victory.

His goal was very simple, but nonetheless very difficult to achieve in his current lifespan without shaving off a few of his years. He pulled his rifle up to his chest as the hinges on the trapdoor groaned out loud from the pressure the Titans were putting on it. North guessed he had another five minutes or so before it would give, and he hoped that his estimation was very inaccurate.

Searching through the basement around him, the marine tried to find a nook or cranny he could exploit to get out of the basement. But he found nothing to provide him any assistance. He paused and glanced back at the trapdoor, the last thing he remembered before dropping down were at least a dozen or so Titans and the thumps had decreased in volume after a while. He guessed that there was about five Titans still hanging around trying to get him.

Could he fight them off? He wondered about that. He ejected hid clip and grimaced when he saw it was half-empty. He had an ammo counter on his weapon but he had hoped it was glitched or broken as he tried a physical check. Slotting the ammunition back in he reached behind his armor for a spare compartment storing more ammo. His heart sank when he realised he had used up all of his HE rounds and only had normal ones left. They could still kill Titans but their area of effect was a less than the explosive rounds and required far more accuracy than North felt comfortable relying on.

The trapdoor made a loud snapping sound. North grimaced as he jerked his head up in surprise. One of the hinges snapped off its perch and tumbled onto the ground, it's soft ding ringing out in the small enclosure. North took a step back and found more splintered wood cracking at the Titan's strength. "Give me a break...," he muttered disdainfully.

The door finally broke through, the door crashing into the ground like a meteor as a Titan's oversized finger poked through the hole. It retracted and then the Titan pressed its eye to see North inside. The marine reacted immediately, pulling his rifle up and shooting the Titan in the eye.

The eldritch monster screeched as it reared its head back, momentarily blinded from one eye as it stumbled backwards. The ceiling behind North broke open with loud bang as a hand appeared from the hole. North balked as the hand nearly crushed his right foot and backpedaled as the space in the basement began to dwindle. The Titans stopped banging on the flooring, or ceiling depending on perspective, and were now gripping the edges of the punctures to pry them open wider.

North glanced around him, his fingers shaking as he tightened his grip with his rifle. He couldn't help the sudden fear that crawled up his spin and settled at the back of his neck. A second hand broke through the ceiling and North brought his rifle up and clicked the trigger.

He fired a single burst, cutting through wrists and arms. Severed joints dropped into the small space in front of him and in a moment of bravery, or stupidity, North dashed down the space in front of him. He leaped the remaining distance and set his right foot against the remains of one of the Titans hand. He could hear the cackle of heat where his boot touched the limb before he hopped off it and onto the next limb.

He carefully hopped up the broken pieces of body parts as a staircase to reach the top of the building again. He cleared the height and ducked into a roll on the building floor, tossing cursory glances around him. Three Titans were standing still by the sides of the building, their eyes tracking his movements the moment he had appeared out of the breach. Two Titans were slowly backpedalling as smoke rose from the stumps where their hands used to be.

North dropped to his chest as a Titan's hand rushed overhead, his tight muscles clenched and when he was sure it was safe to move he rushed forward with his feet smacking against the ground. He still didn't have a grappling hook and the Titans were already reaching out to grab him. He slid underneath an outstretched hand and beyond his better judgement he jumped off the building.

"Oh shit!" He cursed as he tumbled towards the stone pavement. Instinctively he pulled his legs beneath him and braced his arms over his vitals. The first part of his body to touch the ground was the bottom of his toes. His boots strained to meet the fall and he could feel the bones in his toes crack from the sudden force. His right leg was positioned higher than his left and the very tip of the boot smacked against the ground. His ankle cracked from the pressure and sent a jolt of pain through his body as his left femur did the same.

He managed a roll to spread out the rest of his inertia before stopping into a crouch. Trying to stand sent pain flaring up all around him as he limped forward. The pain in his left leg was unbearable and he was forced to put most of his weight on his sprained right ankle.

He could hear the thuds that echoed off the ground, signifying the Titans moving to block his exit. North gritted his teeth and looked to the direction of the Bell Tower. No good, the building was blocking his view and as an old saying goes, 'They can't see me, I can't see them.'

The Titans lumbered into view and North was forced to take action. He pushed against his right leg and began the slow process of limping towards an alleyway. He could try to enter one of the buildings but he thought that was a bit redundant.

He stumbled into the space between building and swung his rifle around using only his left hand as the other was braced against the wall. He waited, knowing better than to walk out in the open courtyard on the other end of the alleyway. A Titans face appeared and North grimaced, he dropped down onto his back giving him the angle needed to hit the things neck.

The Titan lurched back from the bullets, its neck torn apart as it fell backwards. Seeing it go down sent a surge of energy rippling through North's body as he braced his hands and pulled himself across the ground. The Titans near the entrance began squeezing themselves through, only having enough space to shimmy across. North carefully pulled himself to his feet and fired a round at the closest Titans chest. The backlash from the explosive rounds forced it backwards and tumbling into its brethren below as he forced himself further down the alleyway.

He heard the telltale sound of sniper fire cutting through the air and couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. "I'm home!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

He had no delusions that the sniper on the top could hear him from all the way down there, so he fired a few rounds into the air to substitute. Almost immediately sniper fire sounded off behind him, eliminating the Titans behind. "You sweet beautiful bastards!" North thanked as he forced his way forward.

He heard the sounds of wires going off and he turned around to see Thomas and Armin appear behind him. The two Wallers landed roughly onto the ground and North barely had time to blink before he was pulled off the ground and reeled up onto a building's roof, this one tall enough to be a safe haven for them.

North collapsed onto the ground, his leg letting go of its restraint for survival as it let known just how much pain North had decided to put the limbs through. "Ohhh, ow, my legs." North tried to look respectable but that was easier said than done while being splayed out on the ground.

"We saw you jump out of the building! Are you crazy, the fall could've killed you," Thomas reprimanded as he crouched next to North.

"But it didn't," North countered, "Marines aren't called mean and green without reason!" Tough talk aside, North felt like his legs had been gutted by a chopstick, which probably wasn't a very pleasant experience.

"Wait a minute," he glanced at Thomas and Armin, "Where's Eren?"

"He's helping the guys at the tower," North tried to raise an eyebrow, but favored merely laying down on the rooftop instead. Staring off into the distance, he could see a khaki blur dart around the tower trying to cut up any Titans that weren't in the sniper pairs sights.

"Suicidal bastard," North muttered. Thomas nodded in agreement as he hefted North up to his feet and looked to Armin.

"Armin go and see if you can help those two out, I'll take North back to the HQ," Armin nodded his head in acceptance as he dashed off to meet with ERen. North watched the tiny blonde go before tightening his grasp around Thomas to try and lessen the burden.

"You sure the 3DMG can handle the weight? I'm not exactly...light you know?" This was greatly emphasized with the height difference as even with being carried by Thomas his head was a good two inches higher than the other male. Thomas grunted and pushed North higher on his shoulders.

"I'm fine, I carried a cow across a field for my dad once."

"Are you comparing me to a cow?"

"Don't be so emotional."

"I'm a cancer, I have an excuse."

Thomas stifled a chuckle as he launched his wires. North shifted himself to try and lend his weight forward rather than backward, keeping himself from slipping and falling but not obstructing Thomas' movements.

North surveyed the area around them and was dismayed to see flocks of Titans surrounding the area as they tried to break open buildings and scour the area in search of any humans that were left behind. North thought that if the UNSC had a greater presence in the Walls, than the entire situation could have been avoided. But that wasn't right, the people in the Walls were their own people, having the UNSC watch over them would leave a bad taste in their mouths and could possibly lead to future problems, not to mention, the overall populace trust in them wasn't as high as you'd think.

"The snipers at the Bell Tower told me there was a lot of Abnormals running around." North glanced down at Thomas. The Trainee appeared calm but the marine could see the brief tilt in his lips and the sweat forming on his brow. The fingers that were gripping his sword hilts tightly fidgeted in place and North could already tell that Thomas was troubled.

"Too many Titans have entered from the breach, even with your help. I'm not sure...if we can close the breach and retake the Trost District." North set his face into a grim mask. There was no guarantee that the UNSC could do anything either. So long as Titans kept moving through the breach than it would never be closed and the distance needed to heft materials from New Harmony would be ludicrous.

"We'll cross that bridge when we need to." Thomas nodded his head and clicked a button on his hilt that increased their speed through the air.

A loud boom was heard in the distance, rocking the ground, and both men flung their heads back to see what had caused it.

There was nothing in the horizon, and that was what sent North reeling in shock and horror. The Bell Tower was gone, only a stump of it's base left to signify that it was even there. Rising off the ground, both North and Thomas could see a Titan rise from the ground, a familiar figure caught in between its jaws. "That's Eren!" Thomas cried out in alarm.

North twisted his sight back in front and balked. "Eyes front!" He yelled. Thomas swiveled his head back in front but it was already done. A Titan had entangled its hands around the wire and pulled downwards. There was a brief moment that the two men merely hovered in space before Thomas was pulled into the air with NOrth hanging on for dear life.

"Eject!" The Trainee clicked a button on the hilts and the wire that the Titan was holding onto separated from the 3DMG. Without the wires the two men were suddenly flung into the air high above the Titans head.

"The triggers, the triggers!" Thomas hissed as he flung his hands in the air. In the commotion of being sent into the air he had let go of his sword hilts and was playing a juggling game with them. North tried to help but his fingers accidentally gripped the bladed end of the weapon and now he sported a gash on his right hand.

"Son of a bi-" His retort died in his mouth as he crashed onto a building, his armor plate taking the brunt of his blow as he heard a loud snap echo from his lower back. "Ow!" Thomas bounced off his chest plate, the Trainee grunting as the full force of metal slammed onto his spine and he tumbled onto the rooftop. He nearly rolled himself off the edge but he was able to dig his fingers onto the rooftop before falling off.

"North help me!" The marine turned to see Thomas hanging off the edge, one hand gripping the rooftop as the other side cradled his chest, most probably having broken one of his ribs from the fall. "I can't hold on for much longer!"

"I'm on my- Damn!" He cursed as he shifted to his side. Locking down to his feet North realised that the sprain on his ankle had evolved into a fracture, forcing the bones and cartilage to grind against each other from the movement. "Ow, just-argh- hold on!" Despite his wounds- very painful ones at that- the marine continued to drag himself towards the Trainee. The gash on his right hand made the process slower and his back was sore from the fall too but he continued to persevere.

"I'm-I'm slipping!" Thomas yelled out in fright. HIs other hand abandoned the work on his ribs and was instead joining the other at desperately crawling the rooftop for purchase. North gritted his teeth and hefted himself up the last shred of distance, he practically lunged towards Thomas just as he lost his grip and latched onto his wrist.

"Oh this is not doing wonders for my back!" North pressed himself against the rooftop as Thomas dangled off his left hand. The gash on his right hand stung as it pressed up against the panels on the rooftop and his back ached as he tried to pull Thomas on top. "I'm not enough of a masochist to be able to enjoy this!" He grumbled.

Thomas held on, looking up at North with pleading eyes. "Can you pull me up?" He asked. North huffed as he tried the very action but gave up after he heard some very unpleasant cracks go off from somewhere inside his body.

"No...ow- hell no!" North felt pain spike up all throughout his body as his elbows groaned from the physical effort. Coupled with his death defying jump from before and his body was far from his best friend at the moment.

"Have you realised just how sarcastic you've become?" Thomas said with a strained smile.

"Are you trying to cheer me up?" North couldn't help the chuckle leave his throat as brought his right knee up to further stabilise his position on the rooftop with Thomas hanging off from the edge.

"Yea," Thomas grunted as he hooked his arm around North's gauntlet and began the process of climbing up his friend's body. "Mina always said you were a crack for humor." North chuckled as Thomas continued to pull up on his armor pieces to reach the roof.

Then a snap sound was heard, followed by the crunch of metal hinges. North's eyes widen in shock, his back armor plate suddenly dislodged itself from his back. Thomas cried out in alarm as he was suddenly falling towards the ground, North however hissed in pain as the top of his armor slammed into the back of his neck from the angle that Thomas was holding it as he fell.

The marine was pushed forward from the blow and his instincts practically ordered him to pull his arm out to grab onto something. His heart pounded against his chest as he experienced free fall towards the ground and before he realised it his palm gripped the side of a window in a death grip. His body lurched forward and the sound of bones snapping out of place was heard. The marine yelled into the sky in pain as his already injured right arm doslocated from his shoulder.

The marine hissed, pulling his left arm up and leaning as much of his weight on that arm as possible. He glanced down and had to shut his eyes at the sight of Thomas' mangled corpse that was at the bottom of the street. Bones were jutting out by the knees and his head was lolling backwards as though the back of his neck had snapped from the force. Muttering curses under his breath North forced himself into the house and tumbled into the room.

He glanced around the interior, the walls were pure white and there were dolls scattered about with frilly dresses left discarded on the ground. It looked like a perfect girls room. North took one look at everything...and couldn't help the bile that rose up his throat.

Acid spilled out his mouth, staining the ground a puke yellow as he heaved his lunch out. He gripped his stomach, the edges of his visions going blurry as he dragged himself towards the room's exit. He was close towards it, his hand reaching out to try and twist the door knob, but his hand failed and he was sent tumbling face first into the doors hard surface.

He groaned out loud as he slid down to the ground. HIs breaths were coming out haggard, and his mind kept flashing back to Thomas' dead face. Then at the Bell Tower seeing Eren in a Titans jaw.

Where was Eren? What happened to the Bell Tower team? What about Benito? What about all of the other marines? What about Mina? Tears would have dripped out of North's eyes but they didn't, because of the simple fact that he already knew this was his future when he joined the marines. His mother and father had never tried to hold anything back when describing military life and he had never truly wished to become a hero or anything like that. Bathed in light, as pure as white, something like that didn't exist in war. Didn't exist here.

He closed his eyes, succumbing to the weariness of his wounds and his body no longer able to function awake. His last image before he fell asleep, was the sound of his father describing covenant plasma fire to him. Bright flashes of blue, burning through metal and flesh to kill the man beneath. That was his father's horror, his marsh, and this was his.

He'd be damned if he didn't come out of it alive.

_Spirit of Fire_

Charles ran through the hallways of the Spirit of Fire. He passed by the hangar bay, where already the next batch of recruits for the Marines were training with their Training Sergeant in military formations. Charles gave them all a passing glance, even though he had not joined the marines he had went through the mandatory training just to qualify as a scientist. His intelligence was a well sought after asset but even he knew that for New Harmony to survive it needed both brains and brawn. So he was equally non-plussed when he passed by a classroom teaching advanced astrophysics, only stopping to wink at the teacher before continuing on his way.

Some people were looking at him oddly for running on the Spirit of Fire but he didn't pay them any mind, he was a man on a mission. He entered Dr Ander's office huffing and puffing. Like always she was bent over her work station, hands typing a mile per minute with complex algebra equations and system information.

He glanced around warily, aware that Serina was nowhere nearby. While it was clear that Ander's had some sort of animosity with the ship AI, they always stayed amicable with each other and most times Anders would always make sure she was logged on right beside her in the lab if managing New Harmony's systems didn't take too much off her processing power.

"Dr Anders?" The woman stopped what she was doing, the room descending into silence suddenly as her typing ceased. The pressure seemed to increase with the silence and Charles gulped down his fear to speak. Anders had taught him math after all during his education onboard the Spirit of Fire, how hard could it be talking to her in the lab as opposed to a classroom.

"Yes Charles?" She asked and she straightened her posture to look at Charles over her shoulder. The male had to suck in a breath, even though she was more than twice his age Anders didn't look a day past thirty and radiated the calm mature beauty that she was. She was called the Ice Queen of the ship for that very reason.

"Ma'am, uh, it's about the Wall composition you left to me a while back ago," Anders narrowed her eyes. He knew she was sour about it, as it was a project she barely had any traction with and had to regulate to other budding scientists because of how busy she was.

"Yes I know about it, the one that no one was able to find out about for the past six months. What about it? Have you discovered exactly what the material is?" She asked, her tone icy but considerably soft. Charles knew this was merely her regular way of speaking, especially to other 'scientists'. She was fine with Navy Tech officers, but with people she considered her peers, there was always that brief hostility that she had competition with everyone else around her.

"No, I haven't," Charles admitted, "But I have discovered something worth of some note." Anders tilted her head, raised a single delicate eyebrow and turned herself ever so slightly towards him. Talking to Anders was just as much about body language as it was verbal. The crew of the Spirit of Fire even had a dictionary dedicated to unraveling Anders specific to her only language, something she knew about and found amusing to discover how much detail was included into it.

This particular set was a sentence, the tilt of her head represented permission to speak or praise, the raise of the eyebrow meant displeasure or curiosity and the way she turned towards him only halfway meant that her patience had already dried thin. "I pulled up some information that we were able to get from our examination of Titan corpses. We don't really get much as their remains evaporate but Red Team is able to collect a surprising amount of data by themselves. I was reading through it when I found some..._similarities_ between the walls and the Titans."

Now Anders was fulling facing him, this could mean three things. One, she was excited, two, she wanted to hit him, or three, she wanted to terrorise engineering. Deducing that it was the first option Charles quickly continued, "It doesn't hold anything conclusive however...look," Charles passed on a data pad to her as he said this and she picked it up silently.

"The walls don't carry a magnificent amount of connection with the Titans however, I was able to discover this. The organic composition of Titan bodies, which isn't actually skin, can be inferred slightly from the way the crystalline structure of the wall is made up of. It's almost like the flesh is some sort of enzyme that reacts with a chemical that produces..."

"The wall..." She whispered. Charles shrugged his shoulders.

"It's inconclusive ma'am. I can't explain it any better than the next guy and I understand you're busy but...I felt like this needed to be said."

Anders looked to him, eyeing him from head to toe. Charles stiffened under the glare before he relaxed after she twitched her nose and huffed. That meant admiration and respect. He felt his ego inflate a little bit.

"Thank you Charles. This helps me quite a bit...call in Serina and exchange the information. I'm afraid you're right, I am too busy for this." Charles accepted the data pad with a confused expression, watching as she scooped up her lab coat and threw it onto a table. He had thought that she was going to drop everything and solely concentrate on this one find.

"If you don't mind me asking, ma'am," Charles said quietly, "Where are you going?"

"To New Harmony," She said, sending a jolt of alarm through Charles spine, "There's an important meeting I have to attend to."

Most people would take that as a proper excuse. But not Charles, nor anyone else in the UNSC. Anders NEVER left her lab unless something very, very, important had to be discussed. And that was not all, her right hand was over her heart and her left arm was resting on the small of her back. She was said, no, she was hesitant.

She was both.

She was scared.

**I feel like I'm digging my own grave XD**

**Anyways, I have just realised that the review count is 117, coincidence? I think not! And the Trost battle has already passed 5 chaps, OMG! I'm going to have to finish it up real quick or we'll never advance. **

**Last exam is tmrw! HAZAH! And with any struggle I've found something to latch onto, which was my childhood. Has anyone seen Ultraman Dyna? If so, can you please tell me where I can find it Eng sub, I need to splurge before my results come in. **


	17. Chapter 17

_Lieutenant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson_

_Bravo Platoon_

Roach turned his warthog on a dime, speeding past two unsuspecting Titans as Steven cut it open with fire from his M41 LAAG. The Lieutenant's hands was practically dancing over the steering wheel as he made dodging multitude of Titan legs look like child's play.

In another life, Roach would like to think he would have been a pretty good street racer. In this one though he was just happy at being able to do as he pleased with a UNSC war vehicle.

"Eliza, do not-" Steven's stern warning fell on deaf ears as a loud explosion rocked the warthog from front to back. Roach's teeth chattered as the car swerved from the recoil of the blast and he couldn't help in voicing his discomfort with Steven.

"Heads up before you start blowing stuff up Eliza!" He yelled as he rejoined the rest of the convoy. The warthog lined up next to the other vehicles of Bravo platoon. Roach lamented in the lack of heavy or even light armor that they had but since FOB Spectre was considered low key even if within Waller territory, they were only supplied with standard vehicles.

The warthog next to theirs moved in close, the driver turning to shout something over the roar of the engine. "Sir! Alpha has sight of Wall Rose, ETA five minutes till we hit the district!"

"What about the pelican!" Roach yelled back in response. Their chat was interrupted for a moment as Steven opened fire on a pack of Titans hanging out in the open. The Titans must have been able to sniff dinner a mile away because it looked like every Titan within Wall Maria was making its way towards the breach.

Steven was unable to hit the Titans in the necks and had to instead try to blow out their knee joints, hoping to immobilize them before they caused any harm. Eliza trained her grenade launcher onto the flock of Titans and clicked the trigger, sending the deadly payload on a perfect course to finish off the Titans.

"Good kill Eliza," Roach complimented as he sped by the Titans burning corpses. The Corporal flipped her auburn hair over her shoulder and nodded her head.

She flashed him a quick smile, stretching a scar on her upper lip as she did. "I never miss my shots," she said calmly. Roach knew she wasn't lying, as a former Hellbringer she knew explosives as though she had been pulled from the ignition chamber of one from birth. Ironically, her temper was practically nonexistent.

"Hey you know I did something too," Steven butt in. Roach ignored him as he brought his car up next to the warthog again, looking at the marine expectantly.

"The pelican has just landed on the HQ! Several Trainees were abandoned there and they've made contact with a member of the marine squad stationed in Trost!" Roach hummed in thought, bringing up as much information as he could about the 'let's-all-get-along' squad.

"Alright, thank you private," Roach stomped down on his gas pedal and brought the warthog racing forward. Bravo Platoon had at least five warthogs and two mongooses making up its strength, Alpha had an extra warthog which was outfitted with a gauss cannon. Charlie however were on standby back at FOB Spectre because they didn't have enough warthogs to go around.

"I see the wall!" Steven shouted, catching Roach's attention. The marine glanced at the towering white wall ahead and had to shield a grimace as he saw Alpha platoon fighting through the literal sea of Titans ahead of them.

"There is no way we're cutting through them," Eliza muttered as she reloaded her grenade launcher. Roach nodded his head in agreement as he watched two mongooses sped by, the passengers carrying rocket launchers as they met the sea of Titans. They fired rockets, blowing Titans up as they moved around giant legs trying to stomp them.

A Titan was able to corner a warthog as it passed by and slammed its foot to its side. The LRV was sent spiralling like an expensive piece of flimsy as it crashed into the dirt. The gunner was sent into the air, if the hit hadn't killed him then the fall surely would and the two in the front of the car were motionless in their seats. Roach cursed underneath his breath, twisting his steering wheel as he did.

"That's a death zone!" He yelled as he swerved away from the breach, which was being swarmed by the Titans. Roach turned to Eliza, his face undeniably grim as the convoy scattered in every direction. "What was the time until CAS arrives?"

Eliza clicked her tongue as she shifted her seat, exchanging her noob tube for an MA2B. "Well, they _should_ have been here already." She grumbled, her teeth chattering as their warthog cleared a bump.

Roach frowned in annoyance, the foot that was on the gas pedal was rocking back and forth nervously as it became harder and harder to dodge the mass of Titans ahead. "Can you get in touch with them?" He asked.

"I'll try," Eliza replied. Two warthogs flanked Roach's, scattered remnants of Alpha looking for some sort of superior to follow. The lieutenant accepted them without fuss as he led them up a rolling set of hills quite some distance away from the breach. The warthog crested the hill and parked itself behind a set of trees.

"Get out," Roach ordered. Eliza hopped out of the passenger seat with unnatural grace and gusto, snapping her rifle up and around like an ODST out of his pod. Steven was not far off behind her as he jumped out of the gunner position with his shotgun out and sweeping the area behind the vehicle.

The occupants of the two vehicles that had followed them did the same, except one of gunners remained in his spot as he directed his weapon towards the breach in case some Titans had broken off in pursuit of them. "Spread out, keep your heads on a swivel!"

"You heard the man, marines!" A chorus of affirmatives rang out among the men as they as they took cover behind trees and troughs. Roach nodded his head towards Eliza who clicked her radio on with a flick of her chin.

"Saber-1, this is Haymaker-2, do you copy, over?" She said over the COMM line. She waited and when she heard nothing but static she tried again. "Saber this is Haymaker-6 do you read me, over."

There was brief static before a breathless voice cut through, _Roger Haymaker-6, Saber is in the air and three minutes from your location, over. _Roach sighed in obvious relief at the voice that cut through and clicked on his own radio.

"Good to hear you Saber. We've got a situation at the breach, Titans are swarming the area and blocking our entry point, you got anything to deal with that." Roach asked.

_Affirmative, we'll do a carpet bomb of the area. Sorry about the lateness, something happened at New Harmony that delayed our deployment._

Roach glanced at Steven, to which the Sergeant merely shrugged his shoulders too. "Roger Saber-1, hold off on the carpet bomb while we warn groundside forces."

The pilot on the other end said an affirmative before Roach turned to Eliza who was already speaking to the others of the convoy. "Gear up, we go in as soon as the breach is clear."

"Right!"

_Wall Rose_

_Trost District_

_Military HQ_

"Keep your hand on that wound!" Mina did as she was instructed as members of the marine relief force helped out with everyone inside the HQ. A couple of Titans had managed to climb out of the trough and found their way inside the base, leading to a multitude of injured who couldn't fend them off.

Gawain was speaking to the person in charge, which was a women that went by the name Yui Hakoniwa. Mina was surprised when she saw her, that was the first person she met that had the same unique facial features as Mikasa.

The young girl on the operating table ground out loud and Mina forced herself to concentrate on the work. The girl had been victim to shrapnel from the Titans breaking through the wall, leading to a nasty gash across her abdomen. "Which block is she in?" A marine asked as he stepped up next to her. He had that red cross mark on his shoulder signifying he was a medic.

"Um..uh, C I think." The marines had sectioned off the wounded into blocks, from what she understood as critical to superficial. The man glanced at a watch attached to his gauntlet, started counting off numbers out loud, before nodding his head as he gently pulled Mina away from the wounded girl.

"Alright we're taking her to the east wing. That friend of yours, Nac, is currently being held at one of the offices over there. You can go see him if you want, he woke up awhile ago." After saying all he needed to he took a place behind the girl and began pushing her towards the east wing.

Mina stepped back and allowed him to wheel the girl away, crossing her arms as she did. The marines had taken swift control of the area after their flying machine, the Pelican, had landed on the rooftop. The injured were neatly being dealt with by the medical personnel while a small detachment of UNSC marines that had followed the medics were preparing to deal with the Titans in the lower levels.

Shaking those thoughts aside she went to go meet with Nac, busying herself with recalling a certain chapter from book that North had lent her.

_'And so the UN was unprepared when Koslovics raided the South American rainforests, taking the continents lush farming lands and natural resources as their own. Shocked and still recovering from the horrendous war that was the Jovian Moons, the UN Army was only able to muster a single company to meet their Russian counterparts.'_

"_Thus three hundred weary men were left abandoned in Brazil, their hands gripping their MA3's and HMG-38's like a lifeline as they were the first to meet the hell which was The Rainforest Wars. This alone had cemented their legacy, the Infamous 300." _She stopped reciting in english after she reached the door to Nac's room. She was still unhappy at certain stresses of letters that she couldn't shake off and she was further displeased at several hard words that eluded their meanings to her. She was also confused over the word '_planets_' and this place called '_space_' it kept referring to, but North always clamped up when she asked him to elaborate.

She turned the door knob and entered the room, immediately spotting Nac who was trying to stand up on his own. "Nac!" Mina cried out in alarm as she ran to him. The man grunted as instead of a helping hand she instead pushed him back onto the bed and roughly wrapped him in the bed sheets.

"Whoa-hey! Stop!" He struggled to break free from his cushiony cocoon. "Mina this is unecessaey!" He said in annoyance.

She frowned at him and then pointed at his stump that poked out from underneath the bed sheets. "Trying to stand up with one leg is even more unnecessary!" Nac grimaced, then glanced down at the missing limb.

"Oh yea...forgot about that," Nac said sheepishly. Mina raised her eyebrows in shock, staring at him incredulously.

"How do you forget about a missing leg?" They both snapped their heads towards the door at the voice, watching silently as Gawain entered the room with a concerned expression. "On that note, is the biofoam numbing the pain?"

Nac grimaced, staring at Gawain as he rubbed the edge of his stump. "It started to hurt awhile ago but one of them medics injected me with something and then made me swallow some sort of pill. Right now I just feel woozy...and incredibly high." Gawain grinned at him, something akin to amusement lighting his features.

"Oh...you got the Wake-me-up combo." Mina stretched her face into confusion at the marine but he shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Another time. Listen Nac, it's good to see you alright but I need to take Mina off of you for a little while." Nac shrugged his shoulders, plastering a wide smile over his face.

"You'd need to ask North that, not me." Gawain's grinned grew even wider at that remark but Mina was still confused.

"Come on Mina, let's go." He waved Mina to follow him as he left the room. The girl cocked her eyebrows at Nac, who shrugged playfully, before exiting the room behind Gawain.

"What do you need me for?" Mina asked as she matched paces with Gawain. The older boy looked to her for a moment, a weird expression spreading over his face.

"I'll just show you." He led her to the elevator room in the HQ, and she noticed the rough dozen or so men gathered around the area. They stared at Mina as she entered, brief looks of wariness entering their face as they gave the both of them wide berths.

"Don't mind them, they're just frustrated." He explained. He pointed down at the elevator shaft and Mina was able to see some blood on the elevator floor. "There are about eight Titans down there and as you can imagine, it's suicide to go down there using this thing." He kicked the elevator, frowning in annoyance at it.

"There's a staircase over there that leads down but only to a set of catwalks to perform maintenance on the tanks. It doesn't have a clear view of the room from up there but...," Mina scrunched her face up in contemplation, "You could climb up the support beams to try and get an overhead view on them."

Gawain raised an eyebrow and turned to one of the marines, a gruff older looking man. "_You got that?_" Gawain asked in english. Mina was surprised at the sudden language change but luckily she knew enough to have caught on to what he said.

"_Sure as hell did,_" the man said with a smirk, "_Smart girl,_" he complimented. Mina felt slightly happy at being praised by a UNSC soldier, who've had hundreds of war heroes grace their existence.

The soldier barked at the rest of the marines to get ready to head down the staircase. They nodded in acceptance as they passed Mina, brief respectful 'Evening Ma'am' being said.

Polite boys, Mina thought. Thinking back on it, a lot of the marines that had been on the training mission with her were polite and respectful. All the men went down the staircase, leaving only Mina, Gawain and the marine superior in the room.

A second passed before another soldier poked his head out, sending an annoyed glance at the marine other than Gawain. "Hey old man! You coming?" Mina pressed her hand against her mouth to stifle her giggle as Gawain chuckled. The man grumbled beneath his breath as he headed towards the staircase.

"Alright," Gawain said, "After the marines deal with the Titans down below you're going to need to get a few Trainees ready to head out and supply whoevers left with gas so they can head over the walls." Mina blinked at the sudden seriousness of the conversation and after a moment she spent processing what he had said she nodded in affirmation.

"That sounds like a good idea." To emphasize this gunfire erupted from below, light darting up the shaft to cast the room in a luminous yellow glow.

"It'll be hard finding volunteers though," Mina said quietly. Gawain nodded in agreement, his eyes fading into sympathy.

"They're just scared, just remind them of just _who _they will be abandoning if they choose not to go." That statement seemed to echo from the walls and Mina felt something clench in her gut.

She wondered about what happened to all of her other friends. Was Thomas ok? Had Eren run off to fight the Titans? What about Sasha and Krista? For a moment, Mina wondered what happened to North but she banished the thought. North was strong and he always tried his best to keep everyone safe, Mina was sure he was fine and safe.

She was sure of it.

_Inside house_

_Quentin North_

North coughed up another wad of blood as he laid on the ground. He hadn't moved an inch since he had fell unconscious minutes ago, his body aching all over for rest.

He forced his right hand up to try and push himself up to his feet but pain flared up from the palm at his actions. He bit his lower lip to try and push his mind away from it. With his other hand he patted a set of compartments on his belt to try and find bandages.

He found nothing and he sighed. He'd just have to ignore that for now. He brought his left hand up to his right shoulder and with deliberate slowness he snapped the limb back into place. "Argh!" He slammed his forehead into the floorboards in pain as his right side lit up like the 4th of July.

Hissing in pain he brought his left leg up and prodded the broken femur. Thankfully it didn't break the skin but the bone was practically shattered. With a grimace North tightened his boots passed their maximum and hissed as the pressure caused some mild discomfort. Then came his right ankle, as far as he knew there was nothing he could do about that since he didn't have any bandages, so he pressed it up against a wall and pushed. His bones snapped and groaned, sending a jolt of pain up his body again. Slowly, but surely, he got used to the pain and after the sharp pain decreased into a sting he pushed himself back up to his feet and tested out standing.

His right ankle could handle a little bit more pressure than before and his left leg didn't scream in immediate protest. He looked down to the gash on his right hand and shook his head, covered it up using a spare glove he kept in his back pocket but North wouldn't be surprised if the wound was infected with something. It stung like hell.

After everything was done he opened the door to the girls room and peered out into the hallway. There were five other doors down the hallway and with the way how the design abruptly changed down the way North surmised that the house he was in had been one of the conjoined houses made to fit several families inside.

He glanced at each end of the hallway and slipped into the open with his pistol drawn. He had lost his rifle in the fall and he imagined that it was lying next to Thomas' corpse. The thought of his dead friend made North's stomach reel and he quicklt set off deeper into the building to try and put his mind elsewhere.

He arrived to a set of stairs, the wood was oddly splintered and it looked like it had been recently used. He hefted his pistol up using his left hand as his still sore right arm was being pressed against the wall. He glanced around the room before entering a living room at the bottom floor.

Instantly his nose wrinkled at a foul smell assaulting his nose. He stepped into the space in front of him and grimaced at the sight of dried blood smeared across the ground and heading out an open door. He grimaced as he slowly made his way there and quietly closed the door, for whatever good that would do.

He backed away, a cold feeling rising up his spine as he lamented the loss of life. He turned around, peering over the half turned dinner table to catch sight of a kitchen inside. He cautiously entered the area, hearing soft mutterings over the counter.

He flashed over the bend of a countertop, his pistol outstretched in his hand and pinning a small huddled frame in a corner. North quietly eased forward, his weapon never once leaving the man's head.

"They ate them, I ran. They ate them, I ran. They ate them, I ran," the man kept muttering. North slowly dropped his weapon, dropping onto his knees as he stared at the man in front of him. On closer inspection, this man was a boy no older than fifteen. He was rocking back and forth, muttering that same phrase over and over again. It didn't take a genius to understand what he meant.

North lowered his gaze, sympathy echoing inside him as he thought back to Thomas. "Hey," North said tentatively. The boy stopped rocking but instead buried his face deeper into his knees as his mutterings increased in speed. "The evacuation is happening, I can get you out of here."

The boy blinked his eyes, and North suddenly realized that they were red and thought that they boy had somehow been unable to blink. "They ate them, I ran." He said quietly, one last time.

"You didn't want to be eaten," North said empathetically, "You can't blame yourself for something like that, you couldn't have done anything either way." North thought he was doing a bad job at trying to calm down the boy as right after he finished the boy gripped his head and started banging his head against the wall.

"I didn't want to be eaten, so I left them to die. I killed them, I killed them, I killed them, **I killed them!"** His blows were forceful enough that he was splattering the back wall with his own blood. Panicked North reached forward and tried to stop him, which apparently was not a good idea.

The boy lashed out with his foot, connecting with his right shoulder blade. The already sore arm groaned from the sudden attack, the reconnected bone jostling in place and grinding against cartilage. North hissed in pain and fell back, giving the boy enough leverage to hop on top of the marine.

"I didn't want to die so I killed them! They'd have eaten me if I didn't!" He cried, tears streamed down his face as he attacked North, raking his nails against his face and slamming his forehead against his chest in some vain suicide attempt.

"I told you there was nothing you could do!" North yelled but the kid wasn't listening.

"I didn't want to do it, but I had to. They'd have eaten me. I-I, no, they would still eat me. They'd find me and swallow me whole." He cried out in anguish and horror as he gripped both sides of North's head and slammed into the ground. The marine had enough of the wailing and gripped the front of the kid's shirt, ripping him off his body and hopping back onto his feet.

The kid landed on the ground in a roll, slamming into a cabinet. A stack of kitchen knives placed neatly in their holders dropped down next to the kid, scattering the ground in sharp pointed edges.

North searched the ground for his pistol, hoping to try and knock the kid out without doing further injuring himself. He heard shuffling behind him as the kid got back up to his feet, holding a knife in between his fingers as he did. "I...I don't want to be eaten," he said. To North's horror the kid pressed the bladed end of the knife against his neck, drawing a small line of blood against his skin. "I don't want to die like that, anything else but that. I want to end it all, I don't want to see their faces anymore." He was crying, snot dripping down his nose as he stared at the ground.

Looking at him now, North thought he looked pretty scrawny. His shaggy hair and eyes squinting under a pair of broken glasses. The tears streaming down his face almost looked like a natural occurrence. "Wait stop, it doesn't have to be this way! You can get better, you can forget! This can all be laid to rest!" North tried to reason.

The boy stared at him hysterically, his voice cracking, "Forget! Forget what I've done, no, that's worse. I can never forget, this is my sin," he wailed. North finally decided that it was a lost cause trying to reason with the kid, he had fell to deeply into self-loathing for that. He wondered for how long the kid had been there, cutting himself in the inside by simply rocking back and forth.

The marine cleared the distance between the kid within three steps before grabbing the hand with the knife and twisting. The boy yelled a shrill scream as the weapon fell harmlessly into the ground and tried to reach for it, but North hooked a hand underneath the boys ribs and brought him to the ground.

Then he wailed. So loud, and so desperate that it made North's ear sting. He yelled like North was the angel of death, seeking to tie a barb around his neck and lead him to hell. He screamed like North had dangled his salvation in his eyes and had ruthlessly burned it. He screamed like North was evil incarnate trying to damn his existence in both living and hereafter. But worst of all, he screamed like a broken instrument, one that can never be fixed and while be discarded away as a useless tool.

North pinched a set of nerves on the back of the kids neck and he slumped over unconscious. The marine pushed himself off the child and backpedaled away into a corner, his hands immediately went to cover his face as the color drained from his cheek.

"Fuck, _**fuck**_," he cried as he pressed himself deeper against the wall. His stomach began rolling again and his breath was shaking.

He had just stopped a fourteen year old from slitting his own damn throat. _What the hell, _North lurched forward and dropped onto all fours, dry heaving as he banged his head against the floorboards. "This isn't right," he whispered, "This isn't right, this isn't right," he chanted. If he was even half lucid he'd have realised he had started to mimic the boys actions before he had arrived.

North finally slumped over again, his eyes becoming distant as he bordered consciousness. Carefully the marine went over to the kid and pulled him under the dinner, popping it up as a shelter for him as North slid down a wall, unaware of his actions.

"What the fuck am I doing," he pressed his fist against his forehead. "What the hell _is this._"

**I'm so evil. **

**Next chapter will be the last Assault on Trost chapter then we move towards RETAKING Trost chapter. Oh boy. I'll try and get it out within this week or the week after so it doesn't really affect anyone. I get that some people are annoyed that the story comes out in installments of little pieces of chapters. Somebody actually ranted how the past chapters could have just been corralled into one chapter. But meh, it's just how I write. **

**Speaking of how I write. I'm sorry for those of you who aren't into that thing but I've suddenly taken enjoyment of breaking North. I don't even know **_**when **_**it happened. It just **_**did. **_**I'm not gonna lie I'm not obsessed over char like these but when I was re-reading North's char bio I was like.**

**'You know he's a pretty normal guy, the type of normal that authors love to break and strip of every little shred of sanity.**

**...**

**Yea.**

**Well I have something to do'**


	18. Chapter 18

_Wall Rose_

_Trost District_

Jean stared despairingly at the mass of Titans below him, his legs crossed underneath him as he tried to comprehend just what in the pits of hell had made him joined the Military.

After souring in remembrance that he wanted to join the Military Police in effort to get _away _from Titans, he had to grip the edges of his hair at how well that plan had done. The male turned to his mismatched squad of trainees behind him, crossed over with several other surviving squads and scattered about in their own social groups. Jean left them be, understanding that right now everyone needed a crutch to hang off of to even deal with the proverbial shitstorm which was their current situation.

He felt more than heard something silent strode up next to him and had to sigh. "What do you want Benito," Jean's trust in the marines was still slightly charred. He had became amicable with Gawain and by extension Benito, North was a little too chatty for him and he was a lot more serious than he expected because of it. But try as he might he couldn't come to terms with why a civilization of humans advanced enough to be able to fly would associate themselves with the Walled instead of conquering them and making everything their own.

The mute marine tilted his head, pulled his rifle up and pointed down towards where he knew the Military HQ was located in. Then he pointed lower, to the large trough that now circled the building and stopped any Titans from reaching the building.

Jean understood what he was saying. With the Titans at the HQ being stuck in the trench, the Trainees would be able to get into the building without danger of being eaten. It was just the trip there and their pitiful levels of fuel that made Jean hesitate in that action.

"That won't work," Jean said, "We'd be slaughtered." It was true, as if to compensate the trench a multitude of Titans were crowding the road towards the HQ and Jean was sure a good number of people would die from them before they reached salvation. "The resupply squads should have been able to get out by now, they left us here!" He seethed.

The marine flattened his lips, staring at the lackluster Trainee with an unimpressed look. Jean felt like flipping him the bird but instead opted to turn towards the sounds of wire discharge going on behind him. Jean turned and smothered his face into a neutral expression as he spotted Armin tumble down the roof side, his feet slipping off the tiles and crashing to the ground in a heap.

Behind him another marine fell to the ground, this one lifting an injured comrade on the back of his shoulder as he gulped down lungfuls of air. "What yer lookin at? Can't see am trying to take a breather 'er?" He grounded out as he huffed.

"Mah back is hurtin' carryin' this numbskull! Somebodeh get 'em off of me!" Jean let out a bemused noise as he stared at the irritable marine, who only ever seemed to be calmed when Adam was awake and nearby.

Benito raised an eyebrow and went to meet the marines. Jean decided to follow for a little bit, noticing how Sasha ran up to meet them with Marco heading to take a place next to him. "Isn't that Roland?" He asked.

"I'm sure the accent gave him away," Jean replied as he crossed his arms. The Trainee stifled a chuckle when North kicked Roland's side after Adam was removed off his back, his face clearly presenting his want for an explanation.

"Teh tower got blownh out of teh sky! Nothin' I could do abou' it. Don't gotteh clue on what happened to North though, mah eye was a lil busy keeping Adam and that blonde kid safe." Jean had to try hard to completely translate what the marine had said and was thankful that Adam was starting to stir. That meant Roland was going to regulate his accent more for fear of annoying the irritable marksman.

Adam pushed himself up onto his feet, his helmet missing atop his head, revealing short crop of black hair and a healthy tanned face. Angular features, sharp on the edges, with eyes a sharp hue of brown. The marine blinked and looked at Roland who was leaning up against a wall. "How long was I out?" He asked.

"'Bout as long as teh trip," Roland smirked as Adam kicked his shin and the other marine turned to Benito.

"Did you catch the transmission that Gawain sent? I kind of missed it." Benito nodded his head and began making a series of complex hand signs for Jean to be able to understand; not that he understood sign language.

"The relief force already reached the HQ? Thank god, what about the rest though?" Whatever else that was to be said was stalled when Mikasa appeared and landed on the rooftop.

"Uh-oh," Roland muttered, staring as the asian girl made her way towards Armin. Benito raised an eyebrow at the reaction and Jean was confused by it too.

But one look at the mess that was Armin made it clear to Jean what exactly had happened, regardless of his breakdown seconds after his realisation. However, he did note how he only mentioned Eren's death.

He silently wondered what happened to North and Thomas, without giving his face away he hoped they were okay. At least North would be better at leading everyone, knock someone's skull in at the same time. He grimaced when that person would probably be him.

Benito seemed to incline his head in some silent respect to the fallen before he snapped his eyes back onto Jean. "What do you want me to do?" He hissed angrily when the marine stomped up next to him.

He pointed at Jean's 3DMG, then at the loose gaggle of trainees everywhere, before pointing at the Military HQ. "Why don't you do it?" Jean asked. Benito raised an eyebrow and pointed to his throat, making a few awkward breathing noises at the same time.

"Oh...right," Jean replied weakly. He glanced at Marco but he was trying, and failing, to rile up the members of the squad.

"It's pointless," someone sneered, "you think we're going to go straight through something like _that._" Jean turned to the Trainee who yelled, only briefly able to recognised him as one of his supporters against Eren's suicidal tendencies. He was pointing at the sea of Titans between there and the HQ, and Marco couldn't find an excuse.

"Weak," they heard a low murmur. And only Jean caught the exasperated sigh Benito cast as he recognized the voice. Mikasa strode forward, hissing the same word again. Jean was slightly confused where she was taking it and had to agree with Benito's head shake when she began a slow spiel of belittling the group and then telling them to trust her and take up the will to fight.

Benito began signing something to Adam and Roland, who quietly snickered in response. Jean gritted his teeth, staring at Mikasa's back as he chased after her. "Oi! Come on, let's go!" He yelled as he followed her.

He was able to hear Roland sigh insufferably as both Benito and Adam pulled him up to his feet. The next thing he saw was a Titan trying to pull him out of the air and his mind was lost to battle as he joined several Trainees in trying to take them out.

_House_

_Quentin North_

North pulled himself together, watching the steady rise and falls of the kids chest as he waited for his brain to collect any lost thoughts. He felt his strength return to his body as he forcibly closed down on any thoughts not relating to survival and his duty as a soldier. Taking in a shuddering breath he grabbed a nearby railing and rose to his feet.

The marine then took stock of what he had. His chest armor was gone, so was his rifle, and his pistol would be insufficient in cutting through a multitude of Titans with a civilian that needed protection. Furthermore, with his injured legs and several internal injuries that North guessed were inflicted on his person, the marine would be hard-pressed to even _carry_ the kid.

He holstered his pistol and slowly crept up to the kid that was asleep underneath the table. He debated the needs to wake him up, instead of the more secure way of tying him up and then dragging him from behind. But he figured against it; with the way the kid wanted to take his own life North wasn't sure if he was able to trust the kid without running headlong into the Titans due to his guilt.

There was also the option of abandoning him, but that didn't feel right either. North would feel bad, no, he'd feel sick at himself if he even processed the likelihood of his survival if he left the kid here to fend for himself.

The kid was moving, his shoulders shaking as he slowly but surely regained cognitive control over his body. North bit his bottom lip, cursing himself for not taking the psychological warfare class while in the Academy.

The kid shifted, a moan exiting his lips, and North was barely prepared to catch him as he sprang up to his feet. "Ah...no! Let me go!" The marine felt his hands wrap around the kid, his knees buckling towards the ground due to the height difference. In one smooth move he pulled the kid onto the ground and pinned him.

"Enough!" North barked, sighing in relief when the boy stopped squirming. "No, I will not let you kill yourself. Yes, I know, I _know_! And I don't care!" The boy looked to him, his mouth left slightly agape as he stared at the marine. "I get it, you ran! _But don't bitch at me_! They died, you didn't but do you really think they care right now! Do you really think _I care_? Listen here, I'm a soldier, you could be Adolf-_fucking_-Hitler and I wouldn't care. You're a civilian, and I'm getting you out of here, find you some help, and if you still want to _**cut yourself open**_ just because you can't live with yourself than that's fine!"

He glared at the boy, who widened his eyes at the marine. A moment passed, and the boy averted his eyes, nodding after he sniffed a little. North sucked in a breath to calm himself down and pulled away from the kid, resting himself against the wall as he relaxed his muscles. He still kept one eye on the kid though.

Should he say something? There could probably be no more words exchanged between them after his outburst and the kids own mental instability. He just hoped the kid would get some help eventually. He had to grimace when he thought back on the words he said, he hadn't meant half of them but he was tired and hurting all over and damn it his patience was wearing thin. He could have handled it better but it was already done and he would have to live with it. "Can you stand?" North asked. The boy nodded.

"Good," North stood up from his sitting position, hissing quietly when he felt his left leg stab his nerves with a cold prickling. The boy didn't notice, which was a good thing, and he bent down to grab his arm. "Up, come on," he commanded gently. Surprisingly the kid did so without much fuss, eyeing the marine silently as he did.

North chose to ignore him for the moment as he checked his pistol, it had half a clip chambered in while an two more magazines were on his belt compartments. Everything else was lost with his chest guard. "Ok, we're going to go out, ok? i didn't see any Titans outside when I came down here so it _should_ be clear." The boy nodded and grabbed North's hand, though the marine realised he wasn't gripping it tightly. He pulled the kid behind him and made his way towards the door that he closed earlier and peered through the peephole.

Empty, well, from as far as the fish lens could see. Carefully, North pulled the door open and peeked his head out. Left and right, he saw nothing but the empty space of the streets. Suspicious but not exactly willing to spend another moment inside the house that reeked of death, he stepped out. His pistol swung left, then arced back to his right as he sped across the lane with the kid hot on his heels. He couldn't see the Titans, but he could hear their feet hitting the ground and their moans as they traversed through the District.

He felt the kid stir behind him, his breath hitching in some unknown emotion as he too heard the noises. North grinded his teeth together, carefully striding through the alleyways between buildings. He thanked the district designers for incorporating so many of them, and North was able to feel relatively safe within the dark corridors than he did outside on the streets,

He ducked behind an outcropping of wall as he peered through the sunlight. Splotches of dried blood filled the ground and North spotted the bodies of some half-eaten Garrison soldiers down the street. He let the idea of taking the kid swim around his head, and then after a moment realised that making him see more dead bodies was probably not good for his health. Nor would leaving him alone so that he could commit suicide again was a better idea.

Or maybe he wouldn't? Looking at the kid now he seemed alright, but..._but_. North couldn't let that one, slim chance go. If it _could_ happen than he would make sure it _wouldn't._ "Alright kid, follow me." Beyond his better judgement North hooked his arm around the kids waist and lifted him up, needless to say, his body did not agree with him.

His left leg groaned and he was forced to limp using his right leg as he darted across the street, careful to keep the kids view away from the dead bodies. His run ended however when he heard a very familiar, yet far off sound. He dug his heels into the ground, hissing loudly when his feet _did not_ enjoy it, and turned with wide eyes as he spotted plumes of smoke rise off the ground over Wall Rose.

He gaped as the familiar sight of UNSC aircrafts flew overhead, not being able to guess what model they were from the speed at which they were ascending into the air but not caring either. "Reinforcements!" He yelled happily. The boy glanced up at North quizzically for a moment, unsure of what he meant before the sounds of gunfire echoed off in the distance.

Twisting his head around at the building by his side, the marine quickly punched a window, shattering glass as he jumped through. "Come on, kid," North grinned, "Help's coming."

The boy glanced at the fire that still billowed upwards, crossing his arms hesitantly as the gunfire became more numerous coupled with the even explosions of more ordnance. "Don't worry," North gripped his shoulder and turned him around, making sure he could only see his face, "I said I'll get you out of here, and I'll find you help. You can move on from this."

"But-"

"_Stop it!_" North ordered, "If they could hear you, I'm sure they would tell you the same thing."

"How can you know for sure?" The boy said daringly, his eyes narrowing into North's own as he ignored the sounds of Titans trying to intercept these new people. "How can you be so sure they won't be angry at me? That they wouldn't want to see me dead instead?"

North squared his face at the kid, his rope being burned to its tip. "Because you're human, and so were they. You and me, we're part of something that's been going on for years and if there's one thing we know from it, is that we make mistakes. But you can't get rid of them so easily, death only spreads pain. It's up to you to do something else." North then pulled the kid into his arms and hopped into the building, running up towards the rooftop to signal the UNSC forces for help.

_Back with the Trainees_

Jean pulled back from a Titan swing, his 3DMG snapping to its right as he tried to maneuver around the giant. He could hear Benito's rifle spluttering behind him, the marine rooftop hopping next to the trainees as he chased after them. Adam and Roland were somewhere off behind the entire group, cutting off any stragglers as they passed them.

The trainee glanced around him, and grew horrified at the sight of Titans plucking his fellow comrades out of the air like a buffet table. _One, two, three...this isn't even a massacre anymore!_ He cut his wires around a Titan's neck, releasing at the right moment to further push him through the air, launching him like a spring board. But he was going up faster than he was going forward and just as he reached the apex of his flight he looked down to see the extent of his small group.

_Just death_. Was there any need to explain further than that? If so, then it would be comparable to a gale sweeping people off their feet and spilling their guts and blood across whatever surface it could find. That was what Jean saw, red. Didn't matter if it was the characteristic red of a Titan's body or the blood of his fellows, but it stained the ground like a bad finger paint.

Gunfire erupted below, and the Trainee looked down to see Benito racing through the rooftops, bouncing like rabbit as he tried to keep up with the group. Every shot he made killed a Titan but Jean realised with growing terror the speed of the bullets were just shy of saving a life or two.

They were too many, they were coming in from all sides..._wait._ "Bank right!" He yelled over to his comrades. They were shocked at his proclamation but nonetheless obeyed as they steered themselves right, their bodies twisted in the direction and all at once they spotted the opening for a retreat.

Jean followed suit, his feet coiling beneath his feet as he stabilised his fall towards a rooftop. He landed with a loud thud, his body moving towards a roll as he slid to a stop. Several others followed behind him, and Jean could recognise the familiar sound of heavy duty boots slamming into the space behind him.

Jean glanced over his shoulder, Benito was staring at him, his eyes the impeccable image of calm. Jean felt like punching it, felt like rubbing the soles of his boots against his face. But to his surprise that image of unflappable manner disappeared as he eyed Jean in concern.

He flashed a few hand signs, grimaced when he realised that Jean couldn't understand, and settled for patting the Trainee on the shoulder. A calm way to say, 'Just hold on for a bit longer,' before he turned towards the crowd of Trainees who were forming at the edge of the rooftop.

"Where the 'ell Mikasa went?" Roland asked as he surveyed the group. That was not the right thing to say as a boy immediately cried out that he saw her get crushed within a Titan's jaw. The other trainees became hysterical, their morale dropping with the loss of the only person they could relate too that was strong.

The marines glanced at each other awkwardly, realising that nobody what they said they wouldn't be able to meet whatever end the people around them wanted. Jean was frowning at everyone, his eyes equally downcast at the idea of Mikasa being dead. With how everything was, he had no hope he'd see the sunset on another day. _Hell_, he had never even seen a sunset before.

Marco rushed by his side, looking distraught as he did. "We need to do something," he insisted, "Everyone's panicking."

"_Everyone's panicking, _of course their panicking!" Jean replied heatedly, "Who wouldn't panic in this situation? And those inhuman green blobs over there don't count!" He said angrily, flinging an accusatory finger at the marines that were standing idly by. Benito raised an eyebrow at Jean, his eyes seemingly conveying sassiness that even Jean could not comprehend.

The mute marine raised his rifle into the air, muzzle first, and clicked his trigger. The sharp rings of his weapon firing silenced the trainees, their eyes as wide as dinner plates as they stared at him. Nodding after he was sure he had their attention, he hefted his rifle up and inclined his head towards Jean.

"Wh-what does that mean?" He said, looking unnervingly as the two other marines turned to him as well.

"He's asking you what you want to do," Adam said matter-of-factly.

"Why _me_?!" Jean replied incredulously. But he couldn't voice any more complaints as the rooftop they were on began shaking. Terrified the trainees began to frantically run about, trying to run away from the Titans below them. Jean glanced downward and realised that the Titans were banging their heads into the building below them, crashing shoulders and ripping chunks of wall off. Marco gripped his swords by his sides, staring desperately at the mass of giants below them.

_Did he want to fight them?I _Jean knew that was suicidal. Quickly he tried to find a way around this mess but found only one possible route. Either they stay and die, or they move and at least _some_ of them would make it out.

"Everybody move!" Jean sprinted and jumped up into the air, barely missing the eager waiting fingers of a Titan waiting for lunch. With his dead set forward the trainee launched his tethers again and began shooting through the air. Ignoring the sudden splatter of blood that dripped onto his jacket. Marco appeared beside him, followed closely by two others.

"Keep moving!" Jean urged, a Titan was able to grab his leg and in a frenzy he quickly severed the appendages, aligning his tethers to get as far away from the streets as possible. "Try to stay _above _the rooftops!" Jean instructed.

Minutely Jean realised that Benito was following behind him, his speed and stamina restraining him from taking a spot next to the trainee. But Jean could see that the marine was staring at him, and _only_ him. His eyes were as clear as day. _Give me orders you bastard_.

"Fine! Benito keep the Titans off us," Jean roared. The marine immediately stopped on a dime, his feet grazing against the roof tiles as he dropped to a knee and sprayed into the Titan horde below. To Jean's surprise he actually jumped onto a roof that was easily within reach of the Titan and began swinging his hands wildly to attract their attention. As if spurred on by their fellow, Adam and Roland began doing the same thing, yelling at the top of their lungs to get their attention.

He kept moving though, never looking back at the marines as he forced himself forward. But just as the HQ came into sight, he felt his 3DMG sputter and spit. The normal hiss his fans made as smoke discharged behind him disappeared and the brown-haired trainee. _kid,_ crashed onto the street below. His back crashed against the ground, causing him to tumble painfully onto the ground.

All around him several trainees were stopping to get him. Their calls for him ringing down the cramped streets to try and reassure him. "He-hey!" He glanced up and had to shut his eyes as blood rained down at him. Trainees that had followed his command to run, that had obeyed him and launched themselves out, were dying.

_He had ordered them to die._ He crashed onto his feet and stared behind him at the Titans that were slowly advancing towards him. Mutely he could see twin flashes of weapons fire. But there was no way they would be able to cut down the Titans significantly enough to save him.

_This_ was it. In this moment, it defined what exactly the people living in the Walls have to face. It was such a statistical impossibility to stand against the Titans that they idea of even trying to run away from them was ridiculous.

_This was it. This was what Jean realised_. You can't control this, it was just how things were meant to be. He was prepared for death, he was prepared to die. Well, _not prepared._ More like he was too deep in shock to try anything beyond just standing there looking stupid.

So he was relatively unprepared when the Titan in front of him disappeared into a pink mist, and one of those UNSC flying vehicles appeared overhead. It hovered close to the ground and it's back side opened up to reveal Mina and several others inside waving their hands for him.

"Jean hurry up!" She yelled. The trainee blinked then self-preservation kicked in and he ran down the distance as he hopped into the pelican's troop bay. The door closed with a bang and he felt the thing shudder as it regained altitude.

"Mina?" Jean looked at her incredulously, "What are you doing here?" She flashed him a small smile and then gestured her hand towards the gas canisters lined up in the small room.

"I'm resupplying your squad," she replied. Jean blinked, staring at the gas canisters as he slumped onto one of the seats.

"You were on your way?...then those guys I sent to their deaths...," he stared at his feet, horrified with himself. Mina glanced at him unsure of what was going through his head but before she could even try to comfort him the pelican pilot told her they were landing.

"Hurry up and do the resupply! I'll try and clear the way with whatever the nose fun has, but make it quick! I'm supposed to be offloading injured, not clearing a street." Mina nodded and when the troop bay opened again she pulled a rucksack full of canisters and jumped out with a loose gaggle of trainees behind her, all intent on saving what few were left.

_What few were left._

_With Mikasa_

Mikasa stared at the rogue Titan that seemed to fight it's way through the throng of Titans ahead. She was enraptured by its ferocity and the oddity of such a Titan. Silently she followed it as it raced down the street, Connie behind her with his hands wrapped around Armin.

It was Armin who had proposed of using the Titan to lead the way and Mikasa had no qualms with the idea. With little to choose from, it was the best option for their survival.

She would have had more to say but her hearing had caught the sounds of gunfire behind them. Lot's of it. Looking upwards she was surprised to see a UNSC pelican hovering ahead of them, peppering the street below in a hail of gunfire.

"It's the UNSC, we can get out of here!" Connie yelled in happiness. Mikasa nodded her head, sprinting down the rooftops to try and conserve gas.

"Hey over here!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "We're Trainees!" The pelican seemed to turn towards Connie shout and immediately opened fire on the Titans beside them, ruthlessly cutting down the Rogue Titan as it did. Mikasa almost pitied it, and she wondered what Eren would say in the fact of it.

Most probably that it should still be killed. Probably, the thought of him still made her dizzy. Her only family remaining gone, she felt terrible. The Titan collapsed to the ground, but as far as she could tell only its legs were gone. She thought the pelican would continue to fire, but it stopped.

Curious she paused as well, moving from the pelican to the Titan. Silently she wondered what was going through the pilot's head, the only way to kill a Titan is through the neck, why had he stopped at just the legs.

The she saw it, she saw the Titan tip forward. His head moving towards the ground, and to her horror she noticed something ripping himself from the nape of its neck. She took one step forward, her mind already racing with the possibility.

She completely abandoned the second step as she leaped through the aid, launching her tethers as she moved straight towards the falling Titan body. Already she could smaller Titans head off trying to eat the person that had pulled himself free but she ruthlessly killed them.

It didn't matter how many were in her way. Then she crashed to the ground, her 3DMG ripping free from her body as she tumbled. Her body ached but stills he got up and ran towards the prone body lying stop the smoldering corpse.

Then she tightly wrapped her hands around his body, hugging him with all her might. "Eren," she whispered quietly, "Eren."

**Oh god I hate this chapter. I just do not like it.**

**Sorry guys but I've been doing a lot of things lately and I realised my own downfall with this. This episode, the Trost episode, had so much happening in it. Lots and lots of character development. Then I skewered it to develop my characters and started adding a whole lot more things going on in prev chaps that overloaded this one. **

**I just wanted this one done. I lost the motivation to write just this chapter. I can write the next one just fine, and I think I'll try to be more careful on that one. Also the latest chapter of the SnK manga has me pulling some stuff back. Like for instance I had to cut a scene from this chapter because I realised it was too early for this. **

**So yea, Trost District is over. To those of u who think North's lil escapade ended off too early without really doing , don't worry it will. Anyways, Trane7 signing off. **


	19. Chapter 19

_Wall Rose_

_Trost District_

_Lieutenant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson_

Roach stared at the kid sitting in his passenger seat. Eliza had relocated to the back of the warthog to watch over the traumatized kid that the marine had tagging along when Roach had found him.

The lieutenant had recognised him as a member of the 'Let's-all-get-along-squad' he had met all those years ago. Roach throttled his engine, foregoing any engagement with Titans as he moved to rendezvous with the Wall forces on the other side of the Wall.

While he moved however he could hear Eliza awkwardly pat the young kid on the back, making unsure cooing sounds as Steven rounded his weapon back so that he was looking away from the spectacle. "So, uh, what happened?" Roach asked. He was being informal, hoping to not make this a debriefing right in the middle of a battle.

Quentin moved his shoulders against the padding of his seat, frowning in deep contemplation as he stared at the changing houses, and grimacing when he saw another Titan get obliterated by the marine convoy. "I was separated from my squad during the battle and had stumbled onto the kid in one of the houses in the district. He tried to kill himself in survivors guilt but I had stopped him before he could go all the way through."

Roach watched him at the corner of his eye, not noticing how Steven had passed a glance over his shoulder at the younger marine. "So," Roach said slowly, "I have a suicidal kid in the back of my warthog? Higher ups are gonna love that. _Not that I want the PTSD kid sitting next to me either_." He muttered the last part as lowly as he could and grew relieved when it seemed like North hadn't heard him.

The car pushed all the way through till they reached the evacuation point, where Roach could see the remains of some dead Titans as well as a few broken building and human corpses scattered about. The cannons which had been set order to provide better safety to the denizens of Trost had apparently been taken apart by Titans as they were now lying on the ground half-broken and bent. He wondered slightly about the remains of the cart left by the side of the entrance but thought nothing of it.

He stopped the warthog outside the gate, his feet pressing lightly against the pedal as he revved his engine. The rest of the convoy began fanning out behind him, forming a loose gaggle to take out any Titans trying to get a quick meal. "This Bravo to Medical Team, can you get the Wallers to open up the gate?" He said into his radio.

Static greeted his order and the marine waited impatiently as the North kid was grasping his injured legs in pain. "You should get that checked out once we're through. You'd probably get some R&R back at New Harmony with how bad you look." North strained a smile at the lieutenant, obviously the thought of returning home was a pleasant one but not of abandoning his friends and everything he still had to do here.

Their little conversation was interrupted when gunfire erupted into the air, except ir echoed from the other side of the wall then on theirs. Roach tensed, his mind going through hundreds of scenarios, all of them not particularly good. Thoughts of Titans having gotten on the other side, the Wallers rebelling and inciting a civil war or some other far-fetched but equally plausible idea made its way to the forefront of his mind and he prepared to press the pedal if the gate didn't open soon.

After a minute Roach heard Steven bring his gun up towards the sky and began firing small sustained bursts into the sky. Roach listened to the sharp whine of the turret before ordering him to stop. As if on cue the gates slowly rumbled awake, opening up just enough for Roach and the rest of the convoy to head through.

Making sure to keep his eyes trained on the situation at hand Roach looked to North and handed him his spare pistol. "Keep an eye out," he ordered. The kid nodded and carefully gripped the top of the warthog as he prepared to meet whatever was in his way. Nodding to himself Roach drove the car under the gates, making sure that the convoy was falling steadily behind him.

Out of all the things that Roach expected to see, marines pointing their weapons at Waller's with cannons being directed towards them was not on that list. Hopping out of his car and dashing next to Kara, that he noted was carrying a half-lucid Trainee, Roach flung his hands into the air to indicate a cease-fire.

"What the hell is going on here!" He roared, stomping in between the two groups. A man standing at the forefront of the Waller group, pointing his fingers at the marines in some wide obscene gesture, began shouting hysterically.

"Look! More of the UNSC that wants to protect the Titan! They've been lying to us the whole time." Roach screwed his face into one of confusion and would have demanded an explanation if he hadn't noticed the man he was speaking to was a Captain. Instinct practically ordered him to remain respectful.

"Sir, the situation is currently out of hand. Titans are within Wall Rose, it would be better if we concentrate on the Titans that have already infiltrated Trost." Roach glanced behind him and noticed how two Trainees were flanking both of Kara's sides and that his convoy of marines were staring at the Wallers stationed on the wall, their hands itching across their triggers.

"Exactly!" The captain yelled, "That Titan over there has infiltrated our walls and is trying to kill off humanity! He is a threat that must be exterminated!"

Roach blinked and stared at the 'Titan' and realised he was pointing at the Trainee held in Kara's grasp. She stared blankly in Roach's eyes before shrugging in a way that said she knew just about as much as anyone else.

"Sir, the Trainee is injured and needs to be tended too. I'm sure we can receive confirmation that he is...or _was _Titan later," Kara spoke up, looking hopefully at Roach as the boy stirred in her arms.

"Don't act like I'm crazy! We have eyewitness reports from not only several Trainees but also your pelican pilot! That boy turned into a Titan." Roach blinked and just couldn't believe his ears. He turned back to the Trainee in Kara's arm and realised he was awake, staring at everything incoherently. Roach looked towards the others that weren't marines and asked them.

"Is it true?" The asian seemed to clam up from the question and the blonde one gulped. "Well?" He insisted.

"Yes," the blonde one answered, " Eren did indeed turn into a Titan b-but he isn't a threat against humanity at-"

"Lies!" The captain roared, "Why else would a Titan infiltrate the Walls! There could be more of them, hundreds within our ranks plotting to kill us all." The man raised a fist over his head and immediately the garrison soldiers behind him and lining the walls raised their muskets, a few of which were carrying the M1 with them.

In response the convoy of marines raised their weapons, Steven who was still behind his gun tossed the grenade launcher to Eliza who rolled out of the vehicle and trained it on the nearest canon.

"Wait! Think about this, you're turning your weapons on UNSC personnel! This is comparable to a declaration of war!" Roach tried to reason with him, all the while signalling Kara to retreat with the wounded Trainee.

"You're defending a known threat against our very society! We are well within our rights to act out on our own defense!" The captain yelled, "He must _die_!"

To the surprise of everyone there North, who had been limping his way towards the group, took a spot next to Roach as he glared at the captain. "Please reconsider your opinion, Sir! The Trainee in question is named Eren Yeager and he is a loyal soldier in service to your king. Senselessly _murdering_ him will solve nothing!"

Roach noticed how several Wallers fidgeted at the word 'murdering' and Roach looked at North in a new light. He'd make a damn good politician, or better yet, a spook. Actually Roach would rather prefer he was neither.

"Don't let them fool you!" The captain shouted at his men, "There is no guilt in killing Titans! They're our natural enemies and must be eliminated!" The wallers seemed to have regained their confidence and raised their weapon higher in the air.

Roach glanced at North, who was quietly priming his pistol, and the two marines by both their sides were tensing. The garrison troops on the wall were starting to increase in activity and Roach gulped when he saw a canon pointing directly down his throat.

"This about this, Sir," Roach said through gritted teeth. "Even if he was a Titan in disguise we could kill him in an instant." The captain seemed to be personally offended with that.

"We don't need your charity," he spat, "FIRE!"

That seemed to have been the finally push as the canons overhead opened fire and in direct retaliation the convoy opened up with their own volleys. Roach glanced at the deteriorating situation that suddenly blew out of proportions.

North dropped to the ground, while the two marines with them moved to do the same to Kara and the trainees. The lieutenant was left in a stupor but knew he had to try and stop this from potentially getting worse for the UNSC, even if he dies at the same time. "Cease fire!" He yelled to the convoy but it fell on deaf ears.

Steven lined up his weapon with the canons and opened fire, Roach only slightly relieved that he wasn't really aiming for the crew. The bullets slammed into the wooden support struts beneath the contraption and the first line of cannons broke apart at the seams and crashed heavily against the ground.

Out of place Roach tried to retreat but the canon was already on its way to crash into him and he could only move so fast. Before he could blink however the trainee that was being questioned as a Titan suddenly sped past him and slid against the ground, biting down hard on his thumb.

The next thing that happened cemented the idea that this was purely a Waller problem. A skeleton of a Titan appeared, its arm outstretched and stopping the canon from flattening the group underneath it. The next few canons that missed wide slammed into the warthogs of the convoy. Luckily the marine manning them had already vacated and only the vehicles were damaged.

"Son of a bitch!" Roach yelled, coughing as dust floated around him. He stared blearily around him and was only able to register the kid pushing himself out of the Titans neck. A sinking feeling filled Roach's gut and he pulled North up to his feet and rushed out of the cloud of dust with his hands raised.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" He yelled. But the deed was done, with the sudden appearance of a Titan in Wall Rose, even if only partial, the Wallers slammed their fingers against the triggers of their muskets. The first shot slammed against Roach's chest plate, jarring his run and causing him to take a step back from the sudden force. The following bullets were stopped dead in their tracks when Eliza drove the warthog in front of Roach, hoping out when the open doors made her a prime target to get hit.

Steven swung his weapon towards the wallers and fired a steady stream at their feet, causing more than a few to flee or trip over themselves. "Steven don't hit them!" Roach yelled. The sergeant let up on his fire, the slow whine of the LAAG's spinning barrel hissing a brief retort with the sudden stop.

"Look see! They're protecting the Titan even with undeniable proof! We can't trust the UNSC, I bet they were the ones that made the Titans!" Roach gripped his chest, feeling his heart speed up with the hit to his chest. Grumbling to himself the lieutenant walked around the warthog and glared at the captain a level higher than they were.

The marine pulled out his pistol as more of the convoy moved up next to the group, parking with their sides facing the Wallers as marines filed out and form a firing line. Aiming his weapon at the captain's head Roach shouted out, "We are a _relief _force acting under the written responsibilities of the Rose Pact. We are here to _help_! Drop your weapons or we will defend ourselves!"

To be frank Roach had completely forgotten about exactly why the situation had become like this. Thinking back on it he should have probably just give up the kid to the Wallers so they could handle it, but the situation has the potential to become an international - well as international as you can get given the circumstances - incident.

The marines clicked their weapons, their hands twitching over their weapon. Scuffling could be heard behind them and Roach glanced back to see North pinning that Titan-trainee-_thing_ to the ground. Kara was holding that asian girl from attacking him while the blonde kid was staring at everything in shock.

He cast whatever thoughts other than the coming firefight away from his mind as he redirected his sights back to the Wallers. The muskets were being aimed at his convoy now, the soldiers on the other side having completely forgotten about their previous worries. The air chilled to the core and Roach coiled his index finger around his trigger.

"I count twenty-seven," a marine whispered.

"Get eyes up on the canon."

"Shore up the left flank."

"We fire on the lieutenants mark." They relayed the information silently between each other, deftly moving from post to post without making a sound and with practised fluidity. Roach felt his breath go cold, his eyes narrowing to slits and his feet bracing against the warthog's side.

For better or worse he was committed to the action now, he silently wondered what he was going to say to his superiors if he said he massacred an entire garrison. What would wait for him? Was there still a way out of this mess? Either way, he couldn't do anything about it now.

A Waller moved, his musket aiming directly for Steven. Roach knew from instinct alone that if he fired the man on the turret was dead, the muzzle was elevated just enough to give it a chance to hit steven unarmored face. Roach moved his weapon, the eyes of his fellow marines tracking his movements, all together they began to tense their muscles.

_Who's going to fire first._ Everyone thought. _Who's going to die first. _

The Waller stopped mid-stride, sighting down his weapon and Roach was able to to line his weapon with him. All at once there was a sharp intake of breath, everyone waiting. Seconds stretched into oblivion, time standing so still everyone was frozen in petrified fear. Sweat rolled down Roach's forehead and he pushed lightly against his trigger.

His shoulder held strong and he pressed his cheek against the cold- "Stop it!" Roach pulled his finger off the trigger, the Waller doing the same as the sudden cry sent a rippling shock across everyone standing in the clearing.

All eyes suddenly locked to a small frail figure crouched to the ground. One that had been completely forgotten from the men and women there as something inconsequential. A little boy, scraggly and weak looking was staring at the whole thing with his legs tucked into his chest. "Enough!" He sobbed as he pressed himself deeper into his knees.

The marines all stared unsurely between each other, not dropping their weapons as the boy continued to sob. The Wallers were surprised with the sudden shout and were unprepared to catch a child, one of their own, in the UNSC ranks.

Somebody stood up, an action that had the whole group tensing again as the situation was still delicate. Carefully Roach rested the belly of his gun against the warthog and turned his head to follow the movement. Eliza was slowly making her way towards the boy, she paused uncertainly just outside his range, her hands raised in awkward position between patting him or hugging him.

It would have been comical if both sides were so close to butchering the other. Finally the woman dropped to her knee and placed a hand on his back, rubbing slow circled into the bony back as she patted his head with her other hand.

Slowly the Wallers lowered their weapons, their eyes looking in pity as the boy that had surely seen horrific things began sobbing to his heart's content. The marines followed suit a moment later, the LAAGs still pointing in their general direction but the gunner having left their posts.

Roach carefully brought his weapon up to his chest and was slowly making his way towards the kid. Kara, who had abandoned trying to keep the unruly asian girl steady, was doing the same.

"Am I to guess...," Kara said, leaving the rest open to the air. Roach tilted his head, half his face suddenly pressing in on itself as he looked to the sobbing mess. Before he could say anything though that North kid stood up and entered their conversation.

"He's...suicidal. He's suffering survivors guilt and is currently blaming himself for the deaths of...some people I'm not privy too. The details of their death however are out of my spectrum and...the kid is quiet and is prone to outbursts. I think, he might be suffering some psychological trauma as well." He tried to supply helpfully. Obviously he wasn't trained in psyche evaluation and he was fumbling with coming up with some plausible points that could be helpful.

"I see," Kara muttered. Roach looked at her, she seemed to have entered some kind of medic mode because she seemed different from her previous character. It could just be the author's inability to properly describe a moe character to an assistant as he tries to bear the weight of half a chapter.

She nodded her head and made her way towards the child, crouching down next to the awkward marine and cradling the child. Kara's movements were more sure and instead of patting or rubbing circles on him she just carefully pressed his head to a soft part of her armor and proceeded to lightly wrap her hands around his shoulders.

"Now this is quite a depressing sight." Both marines tensed and turned their way towards someone making their way down towards the loose gaggle of marines. The convoy all turned wary eyes on the newcomer, but recognised his rank as a commander- comparable to a brigadier general in UNSC terms- and moved out of the way in respect.

Roach turned to him, recognising his as Commander Dot Pixis and the leader of the garrison on this side of the wall. The lieutenant snapped a crisp salute, silently wondering if the man was like his counterpart, as the man returned the salute. "I thank you for your assistance, I've received reports that a number of my men in vanguard got out alive thanks to your efforts," Dot said. His voice was gravelly but as strong as stone. The man reminded him of Commander-in-chief James Cutter. Strong dude, he thought wryly.

"You should thank him and his comrades, sir. I just got here with my relief force seeking to assist your forces in retaking Trost District." Roach said. Dot hummed, looking at North from the corner of his eyes. Roach noticed how he took special interest in the copious amounts of blood caking the marines uniform and the obvious limp in his step.

"I'm surprised you're even standing son," Dot muttered.

North inclined his head, his hands twitching with the pistol as he had lost his holster for it. "I'm mean and green, sir. We're built tough." A smirk formed on the old man's face and Roach noted the deep laugh lines on his face.

"Now, if you excuse me I have to deal with the kids over there." Dot gestured his head towards the trainees behind then. Roach turned to see that the Titan-person-_thing _was staring in horrified confusion at how everything was developing while the blonde kid seemed to have gain some sort of steel in his eyes. "Do me a favor will ya? Tell Kitts up there to lower his weapons, my orders. Oh and, I'd appreciate it if you're men would help out in sectioning off the civilians from Trost? Their getting a little itchy about traveling further away from their homes."

Roach nodded, happy to be given orders and not in some political nightmare. "I'll get my men right on it, sir." Dot nodded and moved himself in between the lieutenant and North.

The marine private grimaced as he gripped his right thigh in pain and Roach carefully placed his hand on his shoulder. "You two get this kid some medical attention." The two marines that had been idle from the beginning quickly moved their way towards the private and lifted him up by the shoulders.

"Yes, sir," they echoed. They supported North as they quickly moved to where marine medical personnel were waiting just beyond the Waller line. The rest of the marines were staring at Roach, with steven carefully sitting down at the back of the warthog with one leg off and the other propped against his chest.

"Steven, civilian rearing operation. You know the drill!" Roach yelled. The sergeant blinked before hopping out of the car and barking orders at the convoy. The marines scrambled back into their vehicles and drove past the Wallers.

Roach sighed, knowing that Steven had that handled. "What about us, sir?" Eliza asked. She still looked uncomfortable and her grenade launcher strapped to her back was sitting uncomfortably against her as she stared at his face.

Roach grinned tiredly at her before inclining his head towards Captain Kitts. "You and me are gonna have a chat with the good captain over there."

Eliza blinked before grinning deviously. "Oh joy."

**Great thanks to my friend for finishing up while I was in the airplane. Updates may come at later times now as I'm on vacation for quite a while. But it's still going strong. I hope anyways.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Question: Which marine do you guys like the most? (Beyond the SPARTANs)**

_Wall Rose_

_UNSC Marines_

North was silent as the two marines dragged him to a makeshift triage, medical personnel running back and forth with Wallers in trying to stabilise wounded soldiers. Shuffling into the tent, the private could already spot several of his compatriots looking at everything blankly. He got the distinct feeling that they wanted to help but didn't know what exactly to do so they were left standing there idly.

Benito spotted him first, which wasn't surprising, and the man was able to flag down a passing medic as he made his way towards the trio of awkward looking marines.

_I'll take him off your hands_, Benito signed as he positioned himself to take North's weight. The two older men glanced at each other, nodded in silent agreement, and gave up the weight to the private.

"Alright, if you see Hakoniwa tell her we're helping out Bravo and Alpha in dealing with the civilians," one of them said. Benito nodded his head in understanding and didn't wait to see if they were leaving as he all but dragged North towards an empty cot where a medic was patiently waiting for them.

"Alright what do you have for me?" She asked as she handed her pad over to a passing nurse. She looked at North's disheveled appearance thoughtfully before carefully pushing him onto the bed and pulling the glove over his right hand free. "You're lucky this isn't as infected as it could be. Anything else?"

North was slightly impressed she had been able to spot that, as the glove was black and the red marks weren't exactly noticeable but chalked it up to medics and their super-vision. Pointing to his legs he told her about the broken femur and sprained ankle, also the possibly broken spine and maybe a broken rib, _quite possibly _some toes had been broken too and _maybe _a hip bone, let's not forget the cranium, the back of his head did hit the ground pretty hard an- "Did you purposefully do this because I can't fathom how anyone, even a soldier, could be hit as bad as you without even coming close to death."

North shot her a sheepish grin and shrugged, hiding a wince when he felt his back protest to the action. She huffed and quickly began pulling off his metal boots, "Well at least your face is still cute," she commented dryly. North's face immediately lit up and he looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

Meanwhile Benito looked like he was questioning his service as he looked on at the pair. Crossing his arms the mute marine puffed out a breath and flattened his lips when he saw the state his friends left femur was in. You could tell, even if the skin hadn't been cut open, that the femur was broken. If it was beyond repair has yet to be seen.

"Don't give me that look," North said, his eyebrows twitching. Benito raised a delicate left eyebrow, leaning his weight on one side of his body as he stared the marine down. "And don't try to get sassy with me either," he added hotly.

Benito frowned and began signing, _I do not sass. _North snorted and had to restrain a yelp as he was pushed further back onto the cot. "Yes you do," North said subduedly, regulating his breath so the medic could check his ribs.

Flattening his lips Benito shook his head and threw his hands up in the air, too tired of the conversation to even try to defend himself. North grinned, "Damn you're really tired if you're not going to put me through the ringer." Benito chuckled, pulling up a chair and sitting down.

Following the action Roland and Adam strode up behind the italian, Rowen trailing behind. "You guys are still alive huh?" Adam butted in with a smirk. The marksman shifted his chest plate and nodded his head to North as the medic promptly ignored the newcomers. "Shit, I'm glad though. We lost too many of our guys already."

"How many?" North said warily, wincing when the medic injected something into his leg and started the slow process of resetting the limb. Adam glanced to Rowen who merely shook his head in response.

"Gawain's still counting," Rowen spoke up, his voice thick in a deep british accent, "But the whole 'let's-all-get-along-squad' will most likely get disbanded."

An odd grimace filled North's expression, his mind no longer on the various instruments now moving their way inside his left leg and instead concentrating on the people in front of him. "Damn, that bad?"

Rowen shook his head again and North could see bags underneath his eyes, he seemed drained. "A lot of us died trying to keep the Wallers safe while others were merely overwhelmed. There was just so many Titans coming through the breach, even after we blew them all up, they just kept coming." Rowen blew out a stream of air and North was able to catch the medic narrowing her eyes at the marine.

"There ain't nothing' to worry 'bout," Roland slapped the other marines shoulder, jarring him from his thoughts. "They died good, they died doin' what they thought was right. Every marine' should be glad to die like that."

"Not everybody wants to die Roland," Adam interjected.

"But we can't decide on that," to the marines surprise, the medic had said that. She carefully straightened her back from dealing with North's leg which had a metal cast over it that seemed to be dispensing some sort of liquid in the space around and inside his leg. North eyed it conspiratorially, knowing that the piece was merely a placeholder until they could transport him to UNSC lines and away from Waller eyes. "You boys should know that, you joined after all."

"You forget some of us joined out of obligation," Rowen cut in, making the marines tense at what he was implicating. "They had to fight, simply because there was nothing else waiting for them."

"They could have been an engineer or work at FORT HQ behind a desk, nobody needed to be a marine and nobody needed to die. They merely accepted the flag and the chance," she scoffed. She didn't seem like she was disrespecting the dead as far as North could tell, merely stating facts. What he didn't get was _why_.

Benito stood up from his chair, his abrupt stance making Rowen close his mouth from whatever retort and causing the medic to raise her eyebrows. He glanced between them, making the both of them tense their muscles, before dropping a hand on Rowen's shoulder. The mute marine looked into his eyes, exchanging silent words that even North couldn't pick up, before shaking his head and patting him. Rowen shifted his eyes to the ground and to the surprise of everyone there growled deep in his throat before heading out the tent.

Watching him go, Benito turned back to the medic and nodded. She seemed to tilt her head slightly, before nodding. "Stay on the bed. We're going to prep you for surgery, your femur will probably need to be reinforced and to add to this one of your lungs is punctured."

"It is?" North raised his eyebrows in surprise and stilled his hands before they could shoot out to his ribcage. "Am I going to drown in my own blood?" He glanced worriedly to Benito who rolled his eyes in exasperation.

The medic raised an eyebrow and patted his head, "Are you drowning right now?"

"Uh...no?"

"Then there's your answer." She turned on her heels and promptly left the marines, heading to go do other medical business. North watch her go, relaxing against his makeshift cot as Benito returned to sitting by his side.

"Is it just me or do the medics seem more like Force Recon in personality than marines?" He asked.

Adam shrugged, "I don't know, I like it." Roland grimaced next to him, watching the passing medics warily.

"I'd rathe' prefer if my docs weren't half-mad."

"What's the point of life if the person who can save it isn't a little bit fun?" Adam grinned. A cough broke the men out of their stupor and they turned in surprise at the newcomer that walked in.

"You guys done with you're flirting?" The men glanced behind them and stood rigid attention when a sergeant entered the room. "I understand you are tired and need rest but the men could use some help. Go see Lieutenant Haverson to see what he needs of you."

"Yes, sergeant," Adam and Roland chorused before heading out the tent. Benito crossed his arms and moved slightly closer to North's bed.

"You too Benito, I don't want to be on the ass end of a lecture from your dad because you wanted to make kissy face with North," the sergeant, whose ID named him as sgt. Koertig, said wryly.

The italian and his friend grimace at the same time. "Why does everyone keep saying that! Do you people forget that he has made out with at least half of the females enrolled in the academy," North said exasperatedly.

Koertig raised an eyebrow and then chuckled. "Oh, your mom would _love_ to hear that." Benito shot a glare at North, who shrugged sheepishly at his friend, before he stormed out of the tent grumbling all the way.

Koertig grinned at North, "Was it really half the academy?"

The marine shrugged, adding with a wry grin, "Give or take a math class."

_Outside the tent_

Benito joined the marines outside the tent in dealing with the civilians of Trost. Some were confused as to what else they were expected to do while others were being stubborn, unwilling to further abandon their homes.

They stared uneasily at the row of taller and meaner looking soldiers all lining up the street, their hands pointing towards the carts that would take them deeper inland. "Keep it steady! No pushing or shoving, just move in a kind and orderly fashion!" The lieutenant-in-charge was shouting at everyone atop a crate, his hands up in some placating gesture as the marines slowly but surely began moving them.

It was strange, surely it must have. For the longest time only an odd thirty or so marines have ever been within Trost and even then they were usually accompanied by a Trainee or two. But the sheer size of the relief force that had arrived followed by their intimidating appearance was far from a reassuring sight for the citizens of Trost. Benito realised the citizens had more space between them and the marines than needed and judging from the looks of his comrades, they knew.

"Come on now, keep moving," they said gently, slowly waving them forward. The citizens averted their eyes and tried their best to huddle close together.

"Hey, I heard they tried to kill some garrison soldiers just now." The mute marine paused in standing next to some random he had never met before, tuning his ears to listen to the sudden gossip.

"Really?" A boy hissed, Benito couldn't see him but he must have been close by if he could hear him.

"Yea and they destroyed some of the canons too." Benito glanced at the soldier next to him to see that he was frowning at them, a little flash of disdain in his eyes.

"Is that true?" He asked.

The man glanced at him, shifting his weight when a few kids were looking wildly around in quick frantic gestures. "Depends," he replied cryptically. Moving away from Benito the marine stepped up to the kids, making sure to let his footfalls make soft thuds to warn the kids that he was coming.

Benito watched idly, prepared to step in if the kids decided crying and running away from the marine was a good thing. He couldn't do much but he could at least drag the man back before he further ran that particular situation to the ground.

"Hey! Stay with the group or you'll get left behind." He said, gesturing to the mass of Trost citizens walking beside them. Some of them stopped what they were doing to look at the exchange curiously while others looked on with a more guarded expression. Benito watched those carefully.

One of the kids, a little girl that seemed to be the eldest, lightly pushed her little brothers behind her and fiddled with her fingers. "We can't find our older sister." She said quietly, not quite looking up at the tall marine staring her down. The marine looked through the shifting crowd of people, trying to find a person with some resemblance to the children. Sighing when he found no sight of them he crouched down to look at the children in the eye, a common psychological action when speaking to those smaller than you, denotes respect to those older and relaxes those who are younger.

Judging from how the girl lowered her shoulders and looked up at him quizzically, it worked, though she still kept her hands on her little brothers. "Do you know where she last was? Or which she direction she went to?" The little girl scrunched her face up at the marine, looking to her left as though she was expecting someone to tell her whether it was ok to tell or not.

"That way, towards the ration area." She pointed. The marine squinted his eyes in that direction, discerning where exactly she was gesturing. Benito frowned when several Wallers moved directly out of his sight as though they didn't want to capture his attention.

_Do they think he's a sex predator? _Benito wondered warily. Making sure to be as conspicuous as possible, which doubled as flamboyant, to meet the marine halfway through his search. Stepping up to the marines side, Benito dropped to a knee in front of the little girl.

She eyed him more warily than the other man, understanding that he was younger and his armor was caked with dirt and some dried blood, of which he hoped she didn't realise. Noting the fact that he couldn't speak to her the marine clipped his weapon to his back and moved his hands in front of his face. The girl moved her eyes from his face to his outstretched palms. Smirking to himself he waved his right hand to the left, making her follow his movements, before reaching behind his back and pulled a twinkie that he always stashed in case one of his sisters decided to ram into his knees when he went back home. Circling his right hand back in front of his hand he pushed his left hand underneath it to make it appear in her face.

The little girl blinked away from the sudden appearance of the food and looked at it in wonder. "What is it?" She asked tentatively. Benito smiled and looked pointedly up at the older male, who seemed amused at how precise and practised his movements were in surprising the girl.

"It's a twinkie, it's good." She looked up at him and then at the twinkie before carefully pulling it out of his hands. She sniffed it to make sure it wasn't bad before taking a small bite and chewed it slowly. It was only a second later before she breathed in at the taste of the foreign food and looked up at Benito with wide eyes.

"It's good!" She cheered. Her smaller brothers moved in front of her, adopting her look of awe at the small piece of food. Benito grinned and rose to his feet, noticing how several people who were watching the spectacle let out a breath and smiled fondly at the bickering children. His grin was promptly wiped out of his face when he saw that, did they seriously thought he was going to hurt her?

"Alright, come on now," the marine chuckled as the little girl tried to share it peacefully with her brothers only for them to argue loudly with each other. "If you follow me me to the ration area I can get you some more."

They stared up at the marine with wide unblinking eyes which made him laugh in amusement., Benito watched as the marine corralled the two younger boys forward, the girl trailing behind trying her best to not look excited at the prospect of receiving more.

The marines lining the road all gave passing grins while others rolled their eyes at the sight, some even look exasperated with the exchange. "We should open a store. Make millions." One of them snorted out loud.

The joke was light and was a little bit strained on duty but the citizens all relaxed when they heard it. It seems like bad jokes made you less threatening, go figure.

_Elsewhere_

"Commander please reconsider!" Roach took a step forward, making sure to keep his eyes on the trainees as he did. "To have such faith on something like this, you can't be serious."

Pixis glanced at him from the corner of his eye, not moving a muscle as he clasped his hands behind his back. "We're in a race against time lieutenant, if the number of Titans in Trost increase then our chances in retaking it will dwindle."

Roach gritted his teeth, balling his hands into fists as he stared at the older man. "The UNSC Air Force can be here within a day, they can clear it out and we can pour our troops into the district to cover the breach." Roach was trying his best to understand Pixis reasoning, the UNSC was here and they could deal with situation in a more efficient and less risky manner, men wouldn't die needlessly with such a ridiculous idea.

Pixis finally turned around to address Roach and the lieutenant held his ground at the man's impenetrable glare. Even as a Waller the man carried himself as well as any UNSC officer. The commander sized Roach up and then tsked, as though he was disappointed in what he saw. "Tell me son. Do you really think that such an action would benefit us here in the walls?" Roach blinked, lowering his head as he tried to understand what he was saying.

"I-...Sir, I don't know what you mean by that." Pixis shook his head and placed a calloused hand on Roach shoulder, a hand he realised was as hard as steel.

"We're not the UNSC, so the UNSC has no place in being our heroes." Then it clicked, everything set into place. Roach suddenly felt every verbal insult he could think of being thrown into his head. He had spent so long with the UNSC, seen the Wallers as just another objective. But they were a civilization, a group of people who had been trapped in walls longer than the UNSC had been. If they could not trust their own military in defending them, but instead that of outsiders, what would that in turn make them? It would make them defenseless, it would make the UNSC look like they were trying to encroach on Waller territory.

_More politics_, he thought with disdain. Roach was beginning to realise that being a soldier meant being able to discern the war of bullets and the war of people, bullets were straight cut and dry adrenaline warfare, people were creatures with varying levels of emotion. They were more of an unknown than the greatest of unknowns, man was the greatest disaster and disasters had to be dealt with carefully. Lest whole countries be destroyed by its unpredictable wrath.

Pixis was a smart man, he realised that was something he'd need to fix up on. On this world, there was no Covenant, there was only Titans and another group of humans. It had been so long since humanity had a splintered world like this, the closest had been the URF and that was just constant shooting without stop. The dead came first, and peace was a distant thought, the situation here was different, it wasn't a place where a civilization of soldiers who had seen a decade of warfare would be able to thrive. Roach hadn't seen that hell, he had once thought that made him less than the rest of the men and women in New Harmony, but now he knew.

_That made him so much more_ **and equally the same. **

"I understand, Sir." Roach took a step back, "This isn't something the UNSC has to deal with but nonetheless I wish to provide the assistance of my troops..._should you allow us._"

Pixis smiled and slapped Roach's shoulder, "I have no need to say no to a helping hand." There was no smugness in his voice, but his face clearly stated his current feelings in the small little lecture between a superior and subordinate.

That's right...Pixis was a superior and a General to boot. Slapping himself in the head he realised that if this was the UNSC's hierarchy, he'd have been tried for insubordination. For a fleeting moment he realised his mistake, _he had thought he was higher than them. _

Nobility is not defined in one's greatness over others, nobility is defined by one's greatness over oneself. Such a simple concept but one he had forgotten just as easily.

"I'll prepare my men, Sir." Roach nodded his head to the commander and reached his hand to his radio but before he could Pixis reached forward and grabbed his wrist. The marine tensed, fearing a confrontation, but relaxed when all that happen was Pixis stepping up next to him.

"You can tell that Eliza girl with Kitts that he is relieved of active duty and will see charges for his actions in the coming trials." Roach paused, his mouth slightly open to relay an automatic 'yes,sir'.

He looked closely at Dot's face, noting the small smile with deep laugh lines, and realised what this was. _All was forgiven, _the gesture said and a little bit of, _he was an asshole anyways. _

That, in itself, was something Roach realised was great.

_Here I stand with a great General, and thus I walk to war without regret. Fear I do not, regret I may, for I will surely die but may my death bring only fortune. For I am sure, this great General shall see me justice. _

"Thank you, sir."

**Alright there is this chapter. Sorry guys wifi has been coming and going in my house and the days in Singapore just seems to go by so damn fast. **

**Some people asked what happened to Red Team, don't worry, as the marines are going through their own problems, so are our favourite SPARTANs as they face their very own tribulations in New Harmony. **

**Can anyone guess? **


	21. Chapter 21

Roach was carefully conversing with the other members of his platoon and lieutenant Haverson over the commander's plan. He had to personally vouch for the credibility when Alpha's lieutenant voiced his suspicions and then had to all but order his men to go along with it.

When that was done Steven had managed to find his way onto the wall just as Pixis was preparing to give a speech. "I heard everything through the radio, are you sure about this?!" He asked incredulously, matching his superiors pace as they walked to meet the rest of the marines on the surface.

Truth be told Roach was still debating if this was _still_ a good idea, hell he was half willing to just throw Dot's previous lecture to the back of his mind, but the chain-of-command was clear and he had to respect the older man's decision. "Yes," he hoped the sergeant didn't catch the uncertainty in his voice. "Look just get with it alright Steven. All we need to do is get the Titans attention and try to keep that...I-can't-believe-I'm-saying-this, _titan-shifter _alive while he puts that rock into place."

"Can't we get the pelican to do it?" Steven asked hopefully, but Roach knew that he already knew the answer.

"Rock's too heavy, not to mention it's too uneven for _one _pelican. The weight distribution will mess up the flight and you could very well see us trying to rescue a crashed pelican than celebrating a victory," Roach explained anyways.

"But-"

"Need I remind you it took two pelicans to life a Shaw-Fujikawa drive?" Steven immediately clamped up. It was a low blow, and judging from Steven's eyes, one that cut deeply but Roach was pressed for time and he needed things done.

"This is the only sure fire-way, plus the Pelicans will be vulnerable with the rock attached to them and let's not forget we'll have to wait for a second pelican to arrive all the way from New Harmony in order to get the significant strength to properly lift the rock without it becoming a danger to the pilots." Steven finally threw his hands up in acquittal, understanding that he had lost this fight.

"Fine, alright, I get it." Steven shook his head and took a spot next to Roach as they took the elevator down towards the ground. They were still close enough to Dot's position for them to be able to hear the older man's speech, which helped rekindle some spirit in the fear-stricken soldiers of the Walls.

"Been a long time since I heard a speech like that..," Steven muttered, "The last time was on the Shield World."

Roach grimaced, gripping the handles of elevator tighter. Dot made it clear of his naivety and he couldn't fault his logic but just what exactly was this war to the Wallers. The Titans were nothing more than a deadly nuisance, big cumbersome things that made it quite pleasurable to waste bullets on. But for the Wallers, this was about the same as during the flood for the UNSC. Monstrosities that could turn their weapons mute and rip whole scores of men apart.

Something like that, the Wallers needed trust in their army. Trust in soldiers who had faced their struggles in the walls rather than the 'easy-living' outsiders. Roach was beginning to think he should have been an engineer, they probably didn't need to play battlefield politician as often as he did.

When they reached the ground floor Dot's voice was just a distant echo, he could only barely hear him say something about a collective sin they all shared. Roach shrugged and kept moving forward towards where his men were lining up separate from the Wallers.

Even from this distance Roach could tell some were passing some conspiratorial glances between each other. Others were more or less still skeptical about the idea of a human that could turn into a Titan. Roach didn't blame them, he too had figured it was the deranged ramblings of stricken soldiers than truth of any level.

"Where's the pelican?" Roach asked. Haverson stepped up next to him, calming his men with a simple hand gesture and meeting Roach with a nod of greeting and respect.

"It's preparing itself to do as you asked. Sanderson, are you absolutely sure this situation is...well _plausible_? Can we even trust this Eren kid?" Haverson asked.

Roach would have shrugged, but with the looks some of his men were giving him he decided that was not the best way to elevate their spirits. "From what I understand this is a gamble for both parties. Doesn't matter either way, we have to let them solve these problems on their own."

"Which means we have to work together with the Wallers?" Roach stared at Haverson. It didn't sound apprehensive but it didn't sound like he was jumping for joy either. Roach couldn't quite place the sound but nonetheless he slowly nodded his head.

"I heard you adopted most of the Let's-all-get-along squad?" Haverson nodded and gestured towards where a group of younger marines were crowding to themselves. Roach supposed that being regularly placed with the Wallers had slightly askew them with their UNSC brethren.

"They're all there and those that aren't are at the triage. The rest...," Haverson shrugged. Roach glanced back at the group of young men and nodded gravely at their depleted numbers.

"They have the most experience with operating alongside the Wallers, so I think you should work with them in corralling the Titans to one side of the wall," Roach paused to let that sink in.

"What about you?" Haverson asked. Roach sighed, glancing back at Steven who was watching with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I'll take my men and our warthogs so we'll move through Trost. Get as much of the heat as we can on us and keep moving." Haverson didn't seem convinced and Roach could tell it was because he himself didn't sound like he wanted to do this either.

"And if it doesn't work?" He asked.

"I don't know, wait out for reinforcements?" Everything was riding on Pixis' faith in that Eren kid. If that didn't work, then they were right back at square one, which was wait for the UNSC to come and fix everything. That is if the UNSC could given the density of Titans within Trost. That was a situation Roach would rather avoid as best he could, since he had to directly answer for that.

"Alright, I'll trust your judgement on this one." Haverson turned away from Roach and moved towards Alpha, who were all watching the two of them like hawks. Roach straightened his back and breathed in deeply, cracking his neck as he went to greet with his own men.

Eliza was waiting for him and for some reason she had a khaki jacket wrapped around her waist, there was no doubt in Roach's mind that it belonged to Kitts. Speaking of the captain, "What did you do to him?"

She smiled before gesturing her head towards where the Wallers were gathered, "He was being resistant, sir. I didn't know how Wallers treated insubordinate soldiers, so I punched him and tied him up. The military police has been notified, or so I'm told."

"You didn't know their policy so you resorted to punching?" He replied mildly. When all he got was a nod Roach moved away, not wanting to continue this train of thought. "Alright, everyone gather around."

The marines in Bravo glanced at each other but did as ordered without question, especially when Steven gave them all the stink eye at how slow they were going. Roach was starting to grow thankful that Steven was his sergeant and also at how he didn't get slugged in the face yet with that being the case. "I'm not gonna lie to you, this situation is fucked no matter how you look at it. That Eren kid is going to the rock at the other side of this wall, while that's going on Alpha will assist the Wallers in rearing as many Titans as possible onto the wall."

"But that's not what we're doing is it, sir?" A marine asked. Roach shook his head but nodded regardless.

"No, we will be taking the warthogs and we'll be riding through Trost purposefully getting the Titans attention. Our objective is to make sure that Eren kid is safe while he transports..._if_ he can transport the rock."

"And what if he can't?" Eliza asked this question and Roach noticed how she was gripping her grenade launcher tighter than he thought it was safe for her to.

"Then...we'll hold position on Trost until either reinforcements arrive or until we've cleared out as many Titans as we can to safely open the gate for us to re enter." Silence reigned on the group, the marines looking at Roach as though he had ordered them to point a gun to their heads and shoot themselves, which would be an apt explanation to what he _had_ ordered them.

"Sir, I'm sorry but that's fucked," Roach didn't feel the need to reprimand the marine for his lack of respect but at the same time he needed to make sure they knew this was what they signed up for. They either take the hierarchical shit they were given or they face a court-martial for insubordination.

"I know it is, marine. But the situation is out of my hand, you've all read the Rose Pact, we are formally under command of the Rose forces until either Trost is retaken or the UNSC arrives. Neither of those has happened and unless one of you is ranked major or higher, the situation is out of my hand." Steven stepped up at that point, he looked just as up for the coming mission as Roach did but like his lieutenant he knew his job.

"Anybody else got anything they want to say before we get ready?" He asked, his voice surprisingly quiet as opposed to his usual rough and tumble sergeant's voice.

"When's the earliest I can retire?" Somebody asked.

"Whenever you want but it must be submitted to a colonel or higher 120 days prior to your retirement with details on civilian sector job and whether it is part-time or full-time. Full-time is preferable and you must clean out your barracks and hand in your equipment to the supply officer by yourself alongside a written letter to your section commander and/or base commander," Steven recited dutifully.

The marine who said that kicked the ground, strapping on his helmet at the same time, "Shit, I don't suppose any of you are colonel or higher?"

Steven scoffed, "Please I work for a living." All of the marines shared a laugh at this before they pulled on their helmets and hopped into their warthogs. Roach grinned at Steven who patted his shoulder as he went to the only other warthog not being occupied by a group of marines.

"Remind me when our kid turned suicidal," Steven asked Eliza as he passed her.

"Well I don't know about that, I caught protein powder in his locker once." Steven chuckled as he pulled himself up on the gunner position.

"There's more protein in my balls than in one of those cop outs," Roach grinned as he dropped into his driver's seat, chuckling as Eliza patted his shoulder with a small pitying shake of her head. The lieutenant ignored the two of them as he revved his engine up, driving his car towards the gate as Wallers were trickling together.

"Are more coming in?" Roach asked. Eliza just shrugged her shoulders, understandable considering she had been in private discussion with Captain Kitts and Roach himself so she had no idea what the Wallers would have been doing.

"Does it matter?" Steven said as he kicked the railing separating the back of the car with the front. "They're opening the gate for us, get it in gear Gary."

"There's a reason why I have a nickname." Roach mumbled as the gates where the company nearly had a shootout with Waller forces reopened to let them through. Roach slowed his breath and pushed the pedal to speed the vehicle through. Once they were through and Alpha is able to push the Titans onto the wall and away from Trost, the gate wouldn't open until either the operation is completed successfully or until UNSC reinforcements arrive.

"How many warthogs or behind us?" The Wallers were scrambling all over the place, launching their 3DMG's as they tried to secure their forces and prepare for the coming operation. Some were even standing idly atop rooftops watching the UNSC marines do their own part in the coming hours, their hands gripping their muskets with some carrying the M1 around.

"Seven, one's missing a side passenger though," Eliza answered. Roach cleared his throat, hoping that seven warthogs worth of firepower would be enough for everyone to come back alive from Trost and that maybe, just maybe he hadn't committed UNSC forces into a suicide mission from the blind faith of an old man.

_This is Viktor-712 flying over your shoulder, Bravo. We are go on all systems and awaiting your go ahead._ The sharp whine of UNSC machinery was heard overhead and Roach knew that the pelican was prepared and ready to go. Nodding to himself Roach keyed in on his radio to the Pelican's frequency and prepared himself to give his final set of orders until the end of the operation.

"Viktor-712, you're orders are clear. Maintain overwatch on the Waller forces escorting priority target _Kilo_ throughout Trost. Do not engage any Titans or _Kilo_ itself unless it is absolutely clear they have engaged in armed combat with either, is that understood?"

_Roger lieutenant, just so you know, Sir I still have a few gas canisters inside my cargo compartment leftover from the resupply, _the pilot reported as the pelican moved forward in a burst of speed, ascending the length of the wall to pass right over it.

"If a Waller squad is under threat of losing gas or is close to being decimated try and swoop down and give them a hand, that's a second priority though and you should maintain air cover at all times." There was a brief affirmative before the pelican disappeared over the wall and a Waller stationed near the gate was gesturing for the convoy to head on through.

"Hurry up! The Titans are going to move through soon!" He was shouting too and judging from how red his face was, that threat wasn't half-assed. So whatever insecurities Roach felt about everything, he promptly ignored it as he pulled the brakes off and led his marines through the gate, almost immediately marked by Steven opening fire into a group of Titans nearby, clearing the way for the rest of the convoy to spread out around them.

_Mina Carolina_

Mina was among the group of Trainees who were moving extra equipment and supplies to the other members of the counter-attack. Since she had coordinated the supply run on the Military HQ she was given the strenuous duty of assisting the Garrison soldiers in making sure every soldier had the proper equipment for his or her job in the retaking of Trost.

She also had experience dealing with the UNSC medical personnel, who had more bite than they expected, and she was more often than not called in to mediate some things between the Garrison and the UNSC. Which was made further important with the fact that the UNSC were treating many of the Trainees who were injured in Trost before the evacuation.

Which was why she wasn't all too surprised when she found herself in the triage room again hefting a box full of 3DMG gears and canisters for any Trainee that was treated well enough to return to active duty. One of the passing medics noticed her and after recognizing her as one of the more frequent soldiers that entered waved her in.

"What's this?" The medic asked, her eyebrows raised questioningly at the apparently heavy contents inside.

"Just equipment for anyone that can return to active duty," Mina explained, leaning her weight onto the box as she had to tiredly drag the thing all the way from the nearest military base.

The medic's eyebrow went higher up her hairline in incredulity. "Your superior do realise that most injuries caused by Titans usually mean a missing limb or to and even if they are fine to return to active duty as medical personnel who have taken a sworn oath, we will not allow a patient who has just recovered to return to active duty without a period of rest...right?" Mina shrugged her shoulder, looking far too tired to care that she looked like a hapless subordinate following the command of some sitcom superior.

The medic, who looked unusually sympathetic to her plight, patted her shoulder lightly and carefully pushed the box of 3DMG's away from the rush of medical personnel. "Sit down and get a breath, you look ragged," the medic commanded.

"Thanks," Mina said in genuine thanks as she sat down on an empty cot. As she sat down, she was able to see the rush of medics who looked no different than a marine saved for the fact that they're helmets were replaced with caps and there was a red cross on their right shoulder pauldron.

"Lieutenant Ferene Jeb," the medic greeted. Mina looked in surprise at the honey-haired young woman, a little bit of knowledge that Nolan and the book he lent her rushing to her forefront in confusion.

"But aren't there already two lieutenants in charge of the marines that came through?" She asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.

The medic seemed surprised by the question but suddenly smiled in some unknown emotion as she pulled out several miscellaneous bags from some crate to hand over to a loose gaggle of passing medics. "Oh, no you don't understand. Most medical personnel are given commissioned ranks so that they can overrule any unruly soldier trying to get out of the hospital."

"Why would they be unruly?" This really did confuse Mina. Most Trainee's loved the medical facility, since they were able to escape the hellish training of the day and rest up. Nobody caused trouble in the medical facilities because everybody respected the peace it provided.

"Most marines don't like being in the hospital because...well it's not pleasant with all the other, sometimes more injured patients around them. Besides most marines can't stand still after coming back from the battlefield, doesn't really play into adrenaline it's just them not liking being on a bed after a firefight," Ferene explained. To Mina the medic seemed a little bit exasperated with her own explanation, however she did look like a competent doctor evident with how seamlessly she exchanged medical supplies with those around her while making conversation with Mina.

"I...see." To be honest she didn't but she was able to understand that pursuing the subject wasn't really productive. She glanced at the cots next to hers, which were occupied by a multitude of medical supplies that shouldn't be on the ground but had nowhere else to go but a bed. Interestingly the bed to her back was occupied by a small little boy who had his knees tucked to his chest.

The boy peeked at her, only to squeak when he realised that she was already looking at him. Mina blinked at the odd noise, which sounded hoarse and like he had been crying for a very long time. "Don't mind him, he's in shock and refuses to speak."

"Why don't you have someone to watch over him?" Mina asked, idly pulling herself closer to the child who shrunk into himself at her growing proximity.

"I'm here aren't I," Ferene replied, "and I am more than qualified." She didn't really sound offended but there was a definite mix of something in her voice, Mina was beginning to understand that talking to this woman meant not knowing a lot of what her words mean.

"Again, he doesn't really talk either way and when he does all he does is recount the events that led him here. The marine that found him in particular." The medic ran a hand through the child's hair, almost to calm him down, and it seemed to work as he relaxed at her touch. Ferene noticed Mjna staring and smiled playfully, "I make quite the image of a budding housewife don't I?"

Mina would have scoffed. Between the plates of armor and her rather gruff demeanor she looked more like the patriarch of a household than any mother she had ever seen. "Who is this marine that found him? I had several friends in the marines that we're stationed here."

Ferene looked more surprised at that than for the reason Mina was there in the first place. Placing a hand to her chin she seemed to nod at herself when she found the information she was looking for, "He's a funny looking one, well, funny in a handsome sort of way. His name was Nolan, I think, Quentin North. The easiest name to remember as far as I can tell, and I think he was in one of these cots until just recently."

Mina was already off the cot when she heard the marines name, looking at Ferene in some emotion she didn't know. "Quentin was here? Where is he now?" She asked right after Ferene had finished.

The medic blinked at the sudden almost-interruption. She opened her mouth to answer, only to stall when she realised something. "_Quentin_? Oh my." She smiled coyly at Mina as though she had discovered the lottery.

Mina balked and before the medic could say anything she was bolting out the door, "I don't want to be here for this." Instead of trying to sound indignant or trying to get her to stay, Ferene only laughed out in the open. Mina realised, that was worst than suffering through the inevitable misconception and teasing thereafter.

When she left however she was greeted to someone she didn't expect, "North?" There standing in front of her with a crutch on one hand and the other pressed on his side was the marine that indirectly caused her to storm out of the triage. He blinked down at her and Mina realised that his eyes seemed a lot more tired than she remembered and his hair seemed to be matted to his head as the fringe covered his forehead entirely.

After a moment, the marine quirked his lips at her, "So how was maintenance duty?"

**I'm really sorry with the late update and the lack of action when I did update. I fell incredibly ill the past few weeks and I had to suffer through hospital wifi and bad television. Then when I did finally get back home, I spent most of my time handling my little brother, whom my mother couldn't care for at the time. **

**It's not really an excuse but my body just wasn't up for writing during the whole ordeal. Sorry for taking so long and hopefully I can get back on schedule (which was one chapter per week...I think?) With this fic. **


	22. Chapter 22

"Get him up on that wall!" Haverson yelled as the men of Alpha platoon moved to pull Wallers back onto the wall. The marksman had their DMR's and a few snipers trying their best to clear the way for any Wallers still caught in Trost, but the casualties were still coming in faster than they could handle.

"There is way too many Titans in Trost," Rowen muttered as he pulled a Garrison soldier by his arm, frowning in disgust as he was missing his left arm. "We need a medic over here!"

Gawain, who was next to Rowen, strode forward with his DMR and fired a few choice shots into the fray of Titans below. Each shot either took out a Titan's eyes, causing them to stumbke and fall, or save a Waller or two from getting crushed in the grips of a Titan. The male pulled his rifle back and slammed a fresh clip into his weapon before looking over the edge.

From this distance he could barely see the forms of Bravo platoons warthogs scurrying amidst the Titan heavy streets. There was the distant sound of explosions and Gawain had long since turned off his radio with all the battle chatter cluttering the frequency. "Where is the rest of Adam's squad?!" Gawain yelled as he searched the area for his friend, only spotting two members of his unit.

"Last I heard he jumped down to Trost to help a couple of Garrison soldiers," Rowen answered as he helped a group of Wallers in operating their cannon.

"Goddamn, does he not understand that sniper's fight from a distance!" Gawain seethed, letting loose a gaggle of wide shots to try and score a lucky kill, so far he had none.

"He lost his sniper rifle ages ago and Roland may be a spotter but he's trained for assault too!" Rowen countered, "Besides, lieutenant Haverson was fine with it."

"Just because the Lt is fine with it doesn't mean I am," Gawain retorted as he pulled the pin off a grenade and tossed it down the length of the wall. The effect was as he expected as the grenade blew up before it could even reach halfway down the wall.

"Sheesh when did you become a mom," Rowen muttered.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing!"

"You better watch your mouth or you'll be sent to the cannons with the rest of the squad!" Gawain shouted, unaware that several Wallers had stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle.

"Send me then! The cannons are easy to use and at best I'll just stand there and look awkward because all the cannon crews are at full capacity!" Rowen shouted back. The entire conversation reminded many of those watching of a mother dealing with an unruly child, and given the circumstances, they weren't quite sure if they could laugh out loud or just quietly observe the situation as the superiors continued barking orders.

"You've gotten a smart mouth haven't you," Gawain said dropping his barrel onto his shoulder and staring at Rowen with his right hand on his hips.

Rowen looked indignant as he pulled out his MA5B, waving it around in exasperation. "I was just pointing of facts, don't get pissed at me for pointing out holes in your logic!"

"Don't talk back to me, I outrank you!"

"You just parrot whatever Benito says!" Gawain narrowed his eyes at Rowen and finally he dropped his weapon to his chest as he frowned deeply at the marine.

"That's it go the cannons!" Gawain ordered, gesturing his head violently at a random cannon as he did so. Rowen breathed out in exasperation and quietly moved past Gawain, muttering angry curse words along the way.

The lance corporal watched him go before reloading his weapon and turning back to the edge. He stopped however when he saw Benito standing off to the side, a Waller over his shoulder as he stared at Gawain unblinkingly. "What?" For all it was worth, Gawain managed to sound indignant at the attention.

Benito intentionally tilted his head before carefully setting the waller onto the ground where he promptly passed out. After which the marine very slowly brought his hands up to his face and began signing, _You're still my bitch either way. _

Gawain snorted and went back to shooting Titans below while Benito quietly made faces at the marines back.

All the while the Wallers haven't moved an inch from where they stood."

_Trost District_

_Pelican Viktor-712_

Pelican Viktor-712 was a comparatively old ship. Having seen action in the earliest of the insurrection, Flight lieutenant James Delaware could not proudly say he was the first among the pilots to have flewn the transport ship.

Like all pelican on the Spirit of Fire post-Arcadia, it's viewport had been upgraded with the blast shield and the pilot had his helmet customized to allow several view screens of the micro-cameras on his HUD at all times. So as he followed behind the group of Wallers carrying the supposed Titan-shifter, he made sure to keep one eye on the back of his pelican at all times.

He had lost track of Bravo the moment they passed the gate as the Titans immediately besieged them. As far as he heard they had lost a single warthog while marines were hoping out and trying to hit Titans on foot. The Charlie-ones however were giving as much as they got and no matter how terrible of a person it made him, James was glad he was safely in the air inside a coffin of thick metal keeping him safe.

He leaned back on his seat however when he realised they had arrived where the rock had been abandoned by Garrison forces. The marine quickly gripped the control yoke of his aircraft and swung the old beast around. The chaingun at its nose, following the movements of his head, began turning and locking on to several Titans in the nearby vicinity. Noticing them as being close to the group he was meant to protect the pilot pressed down on his trigger controls and watched as hot lead was spewed from the front of his pelican, tearing into the body of the Titans or outright killing them.

The stragglers were left to the Wallers to deal with. One of the Wallers, the apparent leader of the group, stopped in the middle of the rooftops and waved at James. The pilot zoomed in on his HUD and cursed the platoon lieutenants for not having the foresight of handing one of the Wallers a radio. They would probably have to teach them how to use it though.

The Wallers was pointing at the rock and making circling gestures. James got the gist of it only with his time working with so many marines in covenant hot zones. Understanding the request, James brought the pelican around to circle the evidently large piece of stone.

His fingers twitched by the controls as he fired another salvo of bullets into a Titan's body. Destroying its knee before severing its head from the top of its body. The oversized halloween monster toppled over onto the ground without any further movements. James silently cheered to himself, just to keep things professional as the flight recorded also documented audio and if he'd rather if his superiors not know of his more extended vocabulary.

There were no more Titans nearby the stone but just in case he set it to hover over a set of buildings to better keep an eye on the horizon. While his chaingun was deadly, it could only precisely target the larger Titans so he had to manage exactly where he was needed.

James paused from his movements when he realised a member of the group of Wallers he was escorting veered off course from the others. He judged whether or not the Waller needed his assistance, as the action seemed intentional, before he found to his realisation just _what _that soldier was.

"Oh shit," he cursed, not caring about the flight recorder as he pulled back on his control yoke. The pelican's nose rose into the air as it backpedaled, only just leaving the sudden lightning strike that followed the Titan-shifter doing something. The bright light was tempered by his camera's auto-adjustment but the golden strike still burned something fierce in his retina. James momentarily lost control over his pelican when collision warnings suddenly blared all across the cockpit, signifying the emergence of something out of the blue.

The pilot only further pales when he noticed something large and pink slowly emerge from the smoke screen of the lightning strike. Gnawing his bottom lip, James leveled out his aircraft to stop it from crashing into one of the buildings. When it stabilized, the pilot was rewarded with a sight he would not soon forget.

It was an elf wrapped in a Titan's body! Or maybe a druid, or some other fictional character with pointy ears and shaggy hair. The jaw line certainly reminded him of the blonde fellow he had once saw in a fantasy movie, the title having something to know about rings.

Now that James thought about it, what was an elf doing in a Titan's body. Was the Waller that turned into him actually an elf and not a human being? What's next a fucking fairy. Actually...James would like to see that. A fairy Titan, that'd be a sight worth seeing.

Realising that now that the Titan-shifter had...well shifted, he would need to follow behind him in order to better protect it carrying the boulder. So with a barely noticeable sigh, James switched camera views to directly above and to the sides of the pelican just before ascending the aircraft into the air.

He was stalled however when collision warnings erupted across the dashboard. James initial reaction was to ignore it, thinking it was a malfunction caused by the sudden appearance of the Elf Titan in front of him, but then his HUD suddenly came ablaze with red warning signals. His view of the pelican which he was using to rise into the air were abruptly cut off as the pelican refocused back to the front of the aircraft, only for the screen to be large dominated with the backhand of a fist.

James last thought was 'fuck me' before he was literally fucked.

The Titan slammed the back of its hand into the side of the pelican, which coupled with the fact that it was rising before it happen, the ship was sent into a dangerous upwards spiral. James was pushed back into his seat, his safety harness now digging painfully into his collarbone as he tried to regain control over his aircraft. Another collision impacted against the back of the pelican, and James realised that section of the ship had crashed into the side of a building. The size of the pelican as well as its speed ripping the home apart from its top level and sending the previously ascending spiral into a leveled out barrel-roll.

James became extremely glad for his Air Force training as the pelican spun from side-to-side. The brief vertigo that erupted all across his body from being sent upside down and right side up again was only briefly tempered with his self-preservation instincts and understanding. His hands pulled on the control yoke in a vain attempt to fight off the lost of control to an aircraft that was now doomed to crash. What was worst was that the safety harness was now digging even more painfully into his skin with the sudden tumble, allowing to slowly saw its way through his skin and thin combat fatigues.

It was only a single coherent thought later, which was largely dominated with 'get the ship under control' before James was suddenly sent back into his chair as the pelican impacted against the ground. The ship lurched, then the tip rose into the air as the back end dug into the ground. It stayed still for a moment before it crashed back to the ground on its back.

James felt his head split open from the jarring sensation of being tossed around in his chair before he promptly blacked out with the mental exhaustion of keeping a spiralling ship under control.

For a brief moment, he had a wondrous train of thought that passed through his head and managed to leave his throat. "Fuck that elf."

_Mikasa_

The top Trainee of her class was shocked to see Eren striking the pelican that was following them. The aircraft spun out of control before slamming into the ground on its back, driving a trough down into the ground as Mikasa watched with the rest of the Garrison elite team.

She turned back to Eren, who kept his hand extended from where he had struck the pelican. "E-Eren?" She asked tentatively.

The massive form that which was Eren's head turned slowly to regard her. For a fleeting moment Mikasa thought that Eren had regained control of her Titan form, that however was gone in an instant when she saw his arm tense up. The shifting of the muscles on his back gave her all the warning she needed and she was just barely able to jump over the strike that Eren aimed at her.

Eren's hand soared past her and slammed into the rooftop, breaking the hand off from the excessive force he applied. Mikasa tumbled onto the tiles, her hands gripping the hilts of her swords tightly as she stared in surprise at the unexpected movement.

Frowning to herself and eyeing the eyes of Eren's Titan form, Mikasa hopped onto the remains of the arm that Eren tried to kill her with and approached his face, trying her best to coax the Eren she knew out. All she was able to do however was have Eren punch himself in the face in an effort to try and kill her again.

She dropped back onto the rooftop, watching in despair as Eren slowly tumbled back to the ground with his face smoking.

"What's the deal, he's another one of those brainless Titans..," Mikasa caught the end of the sentence and glanced back angrily at the one who voiced it.

"Ian I say we retreat, this whole plan wasn't on any solid ground to begin with...," The man, Mitabi continued to say.

"I concur with Mitabi," Rico agreed. Mikasa was able to see that she was holstering a flare gun into one of her pockets. The looked at each other and Mikasa could tell they had no resolve to continue fighting to defend Eren.

Angered Mikasa moved forward, brandishing her sword in defiance to the orders. But Ian's blocked her pathway and demanded for her to wait. She stared at him, waiting for him to say his piece.

He stared at her, matching the intensity of her gaze as he exchanged silent words that seemed to not reach the tunnel-vision Mikasa. "Team Rico deal with the Titans on the rear, Team Mitabi and my own will deal with the couple in the front!"

"Excuse me?" Rico cried out indignantly.

"I am the commanding officer of this mission, so shut up and follow my orders!" Ian rebuked, stalling any further retort Rico would have said.

"Approaching him is too dangerous right now, so we'll wait for him to figure something out while we deal with the Titans around him. The potential he provides for us is too great to simply abandon because unlike any of us there is no replacing him!" Ian said calmly. Rico gritted her teeth at her commanding officer, looking down at the remains of Eren as she did.

Angrily she retorted that lives had already been lost to the so-called faulty weapon and questioned Ian's belief in the further nonsense that Eren can do anything for himself.

"Precisely...no matter the casualties or how many times it takes combat must continue." Rico and Mitabi stared in shock at Ian as he said this.

"Are you mad Ian!" Rico asked in indignation.

"How then let's hear it! How do we take back Trost!" Ian shouted in turn. "How do we prevail against such overwhelming odds to take back this lost territory of ours!" Ian demanded.

Rico was taken aback before frowning and saying, "The UNSC has promised to assist us for such an event, they have the means to take back Trost!"

"You say that as though you yourself trusts the UNSC!" Ian retorted, silencing Rico. "There is no mistake that the UNSC has provided us much, even a small team of their youngest but undoubtedly brightest have been able to stem the tide of Titan during the evacuation of Trost. But do you not realise the sheer incompetence that places us. We, who have been training relentlessly for this day, must resort to using soldiers not even of our lands to defend our home effectively while we send men to their deaths constantly with each operation and trial. Just what exactly does that make us, where some of our trainees died before they could even become members of the army while their lowest tiers can change the tide of _our _battles!"

"Tell me Rico, how does that make you feel? What does that entail for those in our society!" Ian demanded.

Rico paused, letting the silence trickle by, before shaking her head. "I don't know, I can't possibly predict the future of something inane like that."

"Is it so?" Ian asked. He pointed towards Eren form and said out loud, "That's right, we know nothing of the future and the world that awaits us, if we did then nothing would have become like it has. That is why our jobs may suck but it still needs doing! Our job is to throw away our lives for this obscure human weapon, it is to die as bravely as we possibly can!" Ian said.

"What a tragedy, eh?" Ian said, "We can't do much if the face of the Titans or the UNSC. Our greatest allies and our greatest enemies are our greatest obstacles, one's that we must undoubtedly throw our lives into for something that might not even pay off."

"So what will it be?" Ian asked, "This is good as it's going to get."

Rico bit her bottom lip before turning her back on Ian. She proclaimed that she was not convinced with his idea that they were to die in vain and useless deaths, and stated her goal to show the Titans just what the Garrison could do.

Before she left however she gave one last parting words to Ian, words that may be the last he ever hear of her, "Ian, I don't know just what the UNSC wants. You're right I don't trust them and I doubt, even with the effort they put in, all of them trust us. However, all they have above us is their technology, in the end what's underneath their fancy armor is still human. They're still part of this species that is greatly challenged at every turn, with threats of Titans and themselves. That's just how I see it."

Ian watched her go and Mikasa was quiet throughout the whole exchange. Mitabi quietly urged Ian forward and Mikasa said her final thanks before looking towards Eren. His wounds were not healing, that was trouble she could understand. But she knew she could not worry about that, she had to keep fighting and hoping for the impossible chance that Eren would be able to pull through because she had a job to do.

And looking in the distance she could hear the explosions and fire that came from the UNSC forces inside the city. Trust? She...could not say she trusted them as a whole. Conversed with a small fraction of their members, yes, but a small group does not make a country. There were facts she did not know, there things she had not seen, there were faces she could not recognise but she could understand one current thing.

Whether ordered to, spurred by some inane sense of chivalry or trapped just as much as the soldiers of Trost were, they were shedding blood and death with the Garrison for this one impossible chance as well. Did they believe in it? Did they trust Eren? She did not know.

But it confirmed one thing. Ian was right to doubt their intentions, as their friendship was amicable and quaint, but for all the things they feared and for all the proof they were human, the UNSC has its limits. They were not just limits of being humans, they were limits of their own society. One that she and all others knew nothing about. What would force them to waste lives and entertain the ideas of a people more primitive than them, why not wait until their airships came and killed all the Titans? She did not know, but she could understand.

They had limits as a people, as a society. For as good as they were and as advanced as they were, that did not mean they were greater. They stood as equal a footing as anyone else. They stood one the same soil and though their toils may not be the same, the ground was as unforgiving to them as it was to her and all the others of Wall Rose, Sina and Maria.

The battle of Trost would mark more than just the future struggles of herself and Eren. The problem is, she could not know where exactly the road would lead. Where exactly everything would lead.

"Titan! 14 metre class on the right side," then her thoughts were drowned out as she instinctively poised herself to attack. There was much to think about when the battle was over but till then, there was only her, her blades and Titans that needed to be put down.

**There goes this chapter, which kinda brought back my creative muse. I like the diff perspectives on the UNSC I built. Like with Sasha previously, she sees them as advanced warriors that want to protect the Wallers, with Jean he says an advanced civ trying to play an endgame he didn't know anything about, with Mina she sees them as a society that had seen more than hers and is the same as theirs, and well, Mikasa is up there. **

**And there's just so many ways for people to perceive a situation like this, I didn't want to make a unified thought process on the UNSC. Because I am a firm believer that no matter how similar sentiments are shared in a society, they are all fundamentally different from each other. I believe no opinion has a foundation built from the same materials,time frame or motivations. **

**I wanted to make the reactions believable for the type of people they are and not as something that can be stretched among the whole cast. In the end they've talked with the LAGAS (Let's all get along squad) but how they perceive the interaction and whether or not they would project it among the whole of their people can be entirely diff and can go in so many directions that may representation of it is mediocre and mild at best. **

**I just love this little intricacy of this story. All the viewpoints, it makes the nerd in me salivate. **


	23. Chapter 23

**TheDigger92: I think it would be better for me to answer these questions in the fic than in PM. Yes I do intent to add the SPARTANs, I'm playing the story during the timeframe of Halo Wars with everything that the SoF was equipped with. The scorpions, the cobras and vultures, the gremlins though were only available with the Pillar of Autumn if I'm not mistaken. So the MANTIS, they could build it but since it was made after the war the MANTIS they COULD build wouldn't be the MANTIS of the UNSC. Lastly I'm still debating whether or not i want the UNSC or the covenant apart of this, because the motivation of the UNSC on SnK is to prepare themselves to face the covenant again and that the UNSC they knew was potentially gone. So, I'm still debating and plus while the Separatists and the UNSC are on good terms, ONI, is just such a fuck up that I don't know whether I want them anywhere near my fic. Like srsly, none of what they do makes sense to me from either a political or a military standpoint, ONI and the humans in Halo 4 reminds me so much of the Mass Effect humans where they just grew a stick and expect to get everything they want and that they were superior to everyone else. **

_Bravo Platoon_

_Lieutenant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson_

Roach pulled back on the stick as he made a turned across a corner, his tires grinding against the pavement ground as a Titan was rushing behind him. "Steven mow him down!" He yelled as he tried to avoid the buildings in his way.

"I am trying!" Steven hissed in turn as he tried to stabilise his stance. His boots were trying their best to get a foothold on anything at the back of the warthog as he aimed his weapon on the Titan that was chasing him. "The piece of shit won't stay locked!" The gun flailed in his grasp as the vehicle kept making erratic turns.

Usually the chaingun wouldn't be so difficult to hold steady but a Titan had kicked the side of the warthog and while they remained on their tire, the chainguns mount was damaged leading to the weapon being more loose than what it was supposed to be. "The houses are way too close, I can't use any explosives like this!" Eliza yelled as the warthog jumped over the corpse of a dead and decomposing Titan.

"Where is the pelican!" Steven screamed as a warthog trailing behind them was sent spiralling into a building. The light reconnaissance vehicle was sent tumbling straight through a building, with the soldiers inside screaming at the top of their lungs before they slammed into the ground.

"Less wondering, more shooting!" Roach said back as he tried to make a sharp turn. The Titans chasing behind had their mouths spread wide open in an effort to try and snap its jaws on Steven but the marine was able to unload with a blast of his shotgun before abandoning the turret altogether.

"Goddamn it," Eliza cursed, "Where is that Titan-shifting-whatever kid!" The woman was having a hard time holding onto the warthog as Roach kept making unexpected turns and drifts to evade any Titans trying to pluck them out of the air. It was one of the reasons why they had managed to stay on their wheels while most of the convoy were either on foot because their warthogs were crashed or they were pinned by their respective vehicles.

"What did I just say!" Roach hissed. He veered the warthog through a wall in an effort to lose the Titan chasing them and the fifteen-metre class tripped onto the ground when it tried to follow them. "Steven pivot that gun back to the front!"

The sergeant grunted as he was forced to use all of his strength to push the weight of the gun back to the front, since the gimble that usually negated the weight was now shattered to pieces. "Where's that UNSC reinforcements!" Steven groaned as he squinted in the distance. That squint became wide-eyed dinner plates when he saw what was ahead. "Roach stop the car now!"

"I see it!" Roach replied as he stomped down on the brakes. The warthog skidded to a stop, a trail of burnt rubber following in his wake. He pulled hard against the steering wheel to the left, using the extra friction to put the car into a dead stop.

Roach could distinctly hear Eliza suck in her teeth at the sight ahead of their warthog. As filling the street in front was a whole row of Titans, all scouring the area for anymore people to eat. Carefully and with deliberate slowness, Roach pulled back on the stick and prepared to send the vehicle on a reverse. "They don't seem to no-" Steven sentence was cut as he lost his grip on the turret and it crashed against the railing below it. The ding it made against the metal was small but it still traveled down the road and all at once the Titans twisted their heads towards the lone warthog at the end of the road.

"Ah shit...," Steven whined. Roach pressed down against the reverse just as the Titans fully turned towards them. The engine roared as it was sent to tremendous speeds to outrun the chasing eldritch monsters.

"Damnit Steven shoot!" Roach yelled.

"I would of I could lift this thing!" Steven grunted before he gave up and just pushed his entire weight against it. His feet dangled in the air for a moment before the law of momentum took over and the weapon swung upwards. When it finally got in an angle that was acceptable the burly sergeant pulled the trigger and let loose a hail of bullets.

Some Titans tripped after their knees were lost to the gruesome anti-personnel rounds while others shrugged them off and continued to take longer strides with each step. Roach swore underneath his breath as the vehicle had reached it's highest speed.

"Roach turn left!" Eliza instructed as she kept her eyes on where they were going. Roach did as he was ordered and made the turn without a shred of doubt. Only to regret that decision when the back of the warthog slammed against a wall at the end of an alleyway.

"Are you serious Eliza!" Roach yelled. The corporal made an apologetic gesture but it disappeared when they felt the ground shake from the rampaging Titans chasing them. "Out of the car," Roach ordered. The other occupants didn't need to be told twice and they hopped out of the car and dashed into a nearby building. Eliza was the first to enter, entering through an open window, while Steven bull-rushed a back door down and dropped to the ground in a prone. Roach followed soon after, his rifle hanging awkwardly off his back as he slid to a stop against a wall.

The lieutenant shush them as he pressed himself harder against the wall, watching as Steven crawled against the ground towards a table lying on its side. "Eliza head upstairs," Roach ordered. The corporal nodded, the scar on her face concealing the slightest frown on her lips as she carefully moved herself to a set of stairs.

The ground shook a little bit more before it stopped, dead and silent. He shifted his weight in anxiety and had to bite back a groan when he heard the sound of straining metal. It gave way to the sound of the suspensions being lifted off the ground before a thunderous crash was heard. He glanced at Steven who was shaking his head in equal parts annoyance and anger.

After a moment the shaking subsided and Eliza came back down the steps without pause. "They threw the warthog onto the next roof over," she told them, looking like she had seen a bad test mark on her report card.

"Goddamnit," Roach hissed. He popped his head over the cover of a window and cursed again when he saw the wreckage of his vehicle on a rooftop in front of them. He felt the need to slam his forehead into the woodwork but instead turned to Eliza.

"Call the pelican, find out where the fuck he is!" Eliza nodded her head and reached into her helmet. She pulled a cylinder compartment from the side of her helmet before flipping an antenna out to help boost her signal through any interference she may experience or that may have stopped the pelican from reporting in.

"Viktor-712 this is Bravo platoon, do you read over?" She said into the comms. There was static on the other end and Eliza huffed as she called again. "Viktor-712 please report your status."

There was nothing on the other end and Eliza shook her head. "Either he isn't responding on purpose or the communication systems in his pelican aren't working right."

Roach pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead, head reeling with the implications of no air support for an _infested_ town. "What about the rest of the platoon?" Eliza consulted her tactical head up display that was over her eyes and shook her head as she saw several friendly contacts dancing on the outer edge of the District.

"They've retreated to the other end of the District but it's even worse out there. We lost at least half of the vehicles but most of the men are still alive and are taking to the roofs for cover." Roach slowly nodded his head. There was little option for him other than to hope his soldiers could deal with the situation because at that moment his options were very limited and unless he could directly see the concentration of Titans in their vicinity he couldn't directly order them about.

_...ugh...uff...This is Viktor-712, I'm sorry to tell you this but your dinner reservations has been put on hold due to unforeseen events. We apologise for any discomfort our incompetence has caused we hope this does not affect any future business you wish to attend with us..., _A voice cracked through the radio.

Eliza blinked at the unexpected voice, "What?" Steven coughed a little bit at the back, caught between chuckling and being annoyed at the light-hearted joke. Eliza brought her finger up and clicked a button on her radio piece. "Viktor-712, this is Bravo, what is your status."

_FUBAR, _came the reply.

_Viktor-712_

_James Delaware_

James carefully rested his back against his control panel as his pelican was now upside-down. He kept his hand on his shoulder as it had popped out of it's socket and there was a jagged cut on his left collarbone leaking red liquid down his air-force jacket.

"FUBAR," he said into his radio as he tried to lift himself up. "My pelican is dead in the water, that Titan-shifter kid sucker-punched me into oblivion. Thank god for the blast shields though, it kept the whole front structural sane."

_Can you repair the vehicle?_ The woman on the other end asked.

James took one look around the interior of his pelican, with all its dented and sparking glory and said evenly, "Even if I could I don't think I would want to fly in it."

There was a pause, one that unusually long, before James heard a reply, _Affirmative, what is your position for evac?_ James pulled himself up to his feet and went towards what was once the front of his pelican. He pulled the wire from a spare socket by the side of the driver's seat and inserted into his helmet which, painfully, had it's upper right side dented and digging into his head.

An image flickered into view, briefly distorting into static before it shorted out with bright bang, showing off to a black screen with an '**Error' **message being played. Groaning in annoyance, James switched the view to a different camera and the first thing he saw was a Titan heading towards his pelican. "...Really..._fuck_ that elf."

James dropped down to his knee and switched the view again, just as he began to hear the sound of very large feet stomping the ground. The view switched and James was able to see that the pelican's left side was facing the rock that the Titan-shifter was supposed to be carrying. There was only a slight satisfaction when he saw that gigantic elf on the ground but that gave way to confusion when he saw a blonde-haired kid stabbing a knife into its neck and screaming something he couldn't hear.

Shrugging his shoulders and ripping the connection off his helmet, he turned on his radio and said, "I'm somewhere nearby the rock that the Stationary Corp was going to use to plug up the hole."

_Alright...uh...we'll try our best to get you out of there. Just hang in there,_ it became woefully apparent that the person on the other end was not well-versed in calming anybody down. Carefully moving towards the bank of the pelican he pulled open a peep-hole and stared out to see the Titan trying to climb the building. Two stationary soldiers zipped by, their blades glistening in the sky-light, and one distracted the Titan before the other one brought it wore across its eyes, cutting deep into the fragile organs before being swung around back to the back of its neck where she cut straight into its weak spot.

"Roger that, I'll head into the nearby buildings to stay safe." Closing the peep-hole James pressed a button next to the bay doors. A distinct metallic groan was heard before the doors could open as its top part was scraping against the ground. Frowning, James gave it a few kicks to show just how he felt with the situation before heading back and looking down at a porthole at the center of the pelican. Pelican's had portholes on the top and bottom of the ship just for transfer in space, but in this case it would work well enough as an emergency exit.

Pushing the porthole open, James pulled himself up onto the pelican just to see the Titan behind the pelican decay into a black smoking corpse. Raising an eyebrow at the Wallers zipping around, James hopped off the wreckage of his once mighty airship, now reduced to a hunk of excess shit, and limped towards the other end of the road. He only briefly ignored the blood that was splattered at the door he was pushing to step into a huge living room, which was cluttered with overturned chairs, discarded toys and what looked like vomit in a corner.

Moving himself towards the staircase, James painfully pushed himself upstairs and slid down at the nearest corner he could find. Breathing heavily James grabbed his head in slight pain, "I did _not_ sign up for this...but what I did sign up for is probably worst." He sighed as he prepared to wait out the coming storm only to be roughly awaken when he heard a window smash open.

Breathing in like a panicking rabbit being chased by a tiger, James pulled out his pistol and used the wall as a crutch to stand back up. Carefully striding up to a wall and peeking into the room, James was only able to react to the fact that a brown blur was moving in front of him. He could only blink before it smacked into his chest and he was sent to the ground from the hit. While Air-force men were kept in tip-top shape, that did not mean he was able to take some whizzing into his chest like how a marine could.

He wheezed out a small puff of air before crashing to the ground. "What the-?" He heard a rather annoyed female cry before his eyes flickered to sight at a glasses wearing Waller who was glaring dagger into his head.

Raising his hands in the air he carefully stated, "I'm a friendly...ow, an injured friendly." The girl looked down at him, furrowed her eyebrows before sheathing one of her blades and pulling him to his feet by his shoulder. "Ow, my right shoulder's dislocated," he complained. She stopped what she was doing, though she didn't really seem like she was sorry.

"What are you doing in here?" She asked, already moving back towards an open window that seemed big enough to allow her to jump out of.

"I'm the pilot that your little human weapon went and smacked out of the air, that thing nearly got me killed!" He said indignantly. She looked back at him, almost non-plussed except James could tell there was some pity in her eyes.

"You think we're off any better?" She asked vehemently. James was caught off guard with the reply before finally taking a good look at her figure. Her blades handles were covered in blood and she was huffing from exhaustion as far as he could tell. Sighing and knowing he couldn't say anything about that, James decided to tactfully change the topic of the conversation.

"Then when is that guy gonna take control of his own power before we all get slaughtered," James asked, still gripping his right shoulder in pain.

She shook her head and opened her mouth in a snarl of frustration, "Like hell I know, do you really think I understand how this works? Or even if I believe he's a human weapon." She crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at the pilot. "We're in just as much in this as you are."

James huffed, not knowing what else to say. He never really had much experience in debates or throwing a tantrum at all, he was a well-behaved child. "Alright fine, I concede your point, but are you even sure that guy is gonna wake up...at...all...," James quitened when he saw something peach walk by the open window. The Waller girl too stopped what she was about to say as she stared at the slow thumps that reverberated throughout the street.

"Was that..," He muttered, slowly moving towards the window to catch sight of what exactly that was. The Waller girl followed right beside him and the both of them widen their eyes when they saw a familiar looking Titan making his way towards the gate, with a gigantic rock over his head.

"He did it...," James heard her whisper. Furrowing his brow he realised that the nearby Titans were racing their way towards the Elf Titan. The Waller gasped as well when she saw this and she propped her feet onto the window in time to see the depleted numbers of the Stationary Corp whizz by. "They'd never be able to stop all of them before they reach Eren!"

_Eren_, so that was what that things name was? Well, alright then, "Bravo platoon this is Viktor-712, come in, over." James said as he walked away from the window and deeper into the building. There was a short burst of static before he heard a, _Roger Viktor-712, this Bravo, what's your chatter?_

"Bravo be advised, _Kilo_ is on the move with the objective. I repeat _Kilo _is on the move and the Waller forces are insufficient to maintain its security, I recommend redirecting assets to assist, how copy, over."

There was a short burst of static, followed by the female voice being replaced with a male one, _Roger Viktor-712 what's his location, over._

James glanced behind him to ask the Waller girl only to see that she had disappeared. Making a brief noise of discomfort James answered to the best of his ability, "A hundred, maybe a hundred-fifty metres out. Can you make it here on time?"

_There's no way we'd be able to get there as of right now, but we can meet up with them on the way,_ the voice sounded heavy, as though he was frustrated at something.

"A lot of Waller's will get injured, Sir," James said worriedly, just as he saw a Stationary soldier get flung into a rooftop as another Titan stomped on another. "Or worse."

_...I know, but there's nothing I can do. _The line cut dead right afterwards, descending the room he was in with silence. Breathing out a slow breath James sat down on his chair.

"There's nothing _I_ can do," he said despondently.

_Stationary Corp_

_Ian Dietrich_

Ian stared at the marching Eren, the hulking gigantic form of this Titan controlled by a human strolling past him. His heart was caught in his throat as he watched something he would normally run from in terror heft the rock that would be their salvation. He understood what exactly he had to do.

"Defend Eren to the last man!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Do not let a single Titan come near him!" The men under his control, men that were the best the Stationary Corp could muster in its ranks, were stricken with terror at the order but none questioned it. Were they merely following his orders, for fear of a martial execution? Did they understand the actual meaning behind such a victory this would entail for all those living in the Walls? Or were they merely blank, unaware that their bodies were even moving to begin with? Ian didn't know, but he didn't care.

He launched his 3DMG and fired the tethers into the flock of Titans trying to knock Eren down. His skill, while overshadowed by the Elites of the Survey Corp, were still leaps and bounds greater than the average soldier and with his training to potentially go up against the UNSC thunder packs, he had made sure to meet the expectation with his maneuverability. He made sure to kick off of any Titan that wandered too close in order to get around the jagged corners, and with his blades he struck as many times as he could. Not looking to kill but at least hinder their movements.

He wasn't looking to kill as many Titans as possible, he was looking to get Eren to the breach without pause. But even he could understand the severity of the situation, even given the light ray of hope that Eren was able to perform his duty as he lifted the rock. _His men were dying_. Faster and more abundant than before.

And the Titans were barely getting out of the way. He gritted his teeth as he cleaved a section of the Titan's neck off only to jump off when another tried to headbutt him into smoosh. Rico zipped by then, sliced off the Titan's neck and realigned herself to attack another pair of giants. With the two of them, the more skilled members of the Elite team, they were able to handle the Titans in their way a lot better and faster. However, half of his squad had to bug out while the rest was dead.

The good news however was that the way was now clear, however Eren was now moving on open ground. There was no way they'd be able to keep him safe if he was out there. "Eren!" Ian looked to his side and spotted Mikasa staring at the disappearing image of her apparent family. A blonde kid was next to her, he didn't seem all that imposing a figure but with the way he was staring at Eren, Ian deduced he had a relationship with the boy. "We can't do anything if he's out there!"

Ian grinded his teeth together only to widen his eyes in shock when he saw Mitabi's team running towards the Titans. "What the-..What is Mitabi thinking!" Rico said in alarm. Ian thought the same and was about to scream for them but paused when he realised what they were doing, they were drawing the Titans towards them.

He was about to order his men to do the same, understanding the logic of such a decision. Up until thunder he had not heard since the beginning of the operation roared to life. The familiar whine of UNSC machinery cut through the air like a knife through hot butter. All at once he and his soldiers were suddenly knocked free of their tunnel-vision, their patriotism to defend Eren as the UNSC barrelled in on their metal wagons, shooting fire and destruction.

Ian saw how one of the vehicles stopped in front of Mitabi, their weapons trained squarely on the Titans and shielding his comrade from them. Weapon fire sounded next to them and Ian noticed several marines on the building next over. They aimed their weapons and shot with clear intention, they didn't score as many kill but were able to maim or impeded a Titan's progress. This was the first time Ian had ever seen UNSC soldiers fight and while it wasn't flashy or extravagant, it was brutal and efficient. Their weapons epitomized warfare on a larger scale, one where blades were obsolete and line infantry would be rendered obsolete to the rapid fire weapons they used.

Ian began to understand the chaos that would reign on one of _their_ battlefields than on the Wallers. He had heard, in a passing rumor, that they were once in a civil war with a religious empire that nearly destroyed them. He shuddered to think what kind of war _that_ was. A marine, one that Ian was able to recognise as the leader of the group, was barking ordered in their foreign tongue and he looked towards Ian. His face was obscured with a mask and visor but Ian was able to see the sad dip of his head when he looked to his men.

"We're here to help," the marine said, "I'm sorry, we didn't help sooner." Ian balled his fist and looked back to the fighting in front of him. At this point, the Wallers were useless with the open terrain and all they could do was watch as the marines led Eren to victory. They had to have faith the UNSC could keep him safe.

"Eren," the blonde kid whimpered next to Mikasa, "Do it EREN!" And just like that the warthogs surrounding the Titan-shifter all at once fired their weapons, raining a deep torrenty of metal onto the Titans surrounding them and with a mighty shudder, Eren lodged the rock into place on Wall rose.

His men were silent, he was silent, the sacrifice of so many soldiers, the death of so many people, were in that one moment rewarded for something that is as trivial as a rock being put to place. Ian dropped to his knees with the emotion that filled him.

Joy, sadness, anger, pain, resolution and hope. "We won...," Ian muttered. He stared as the UNSC vehicles surrounded the collapsing body of Eren's Titan form, protecting him with such a ferocity that it stunned Ian. He looked towards the marine leader, only to see him staring at the sky. Ian followed and caught sight of the Survey Corp passing through the walls, their 3DMG shooting out and attacking the Titans.

"That's right," the marine said, "you won." Ian looked to him before watching as the Survey Corp members fought off the Titans around them. And just as one of them cut off a Titans vital spot, a sharp bang was heard and the scout turned his head just in time to catch a 13-metre class fall backwards from nearly eating him.

And Ian seriously wondered, just how much more would this win have been if the UNSC was not here. He finally decided, it was too much for him to understand.

**I kinda don't like how this sounds so rushed but, yea it's rushed. I tried to convey the tone of what exactly it felt like for Bravo in Trost district with the starting passage. What exactly they went through while the whole thing with James and the rest was taking place. While the UNSC is tough, urban warfare is the bane of any military man's experience and it's even worse when you giants trying to kill you. At the same time they are all clumped together in cars, so it was to be expected. The second part was to well, establish that James is in fact alive, there will however be repercussion for Eren basically smacking him over the head and Captain Kitts almost slaughter will be addressed. As you can tell, it's more political baggage needed to keep the UNSC involved with the Wallers because if you've read the manga, it's a bunch of shit that a foreign power really has no business prying into. **

**When I started this fic, I **_**REALLY**_ **did not expect so much politics that needed to come to play. But yea, the SPARTANS will enter, at a very specific point in the story.**

**Next Chapter: Watch as Anders woe men and women with her mature and icy beauty, and show the world why she has a PhD. **


	24. Chapter 24

_Trost District_

The following hours after the sealing of the Trodt breach was spent in somber silence. There was a surprising amount of survivors from the vanguard, most owing their lives to the young marines that gave their lives to keep them safe. The UNSC had earned most of the Garrisons respect, and while they would still be suspicious on principle, they gave their thanks for their sacrifice. For the UNSC, they merely wanted to tend to the wounded and deal with the aftermath.

The surviving marines of Alpha and Bravo began assisting the Garrison in policing the various dead bodies that were scattered all throughout the district. Most of the casualties had came from the Waller side, many of which were Trainees or Garrison personnel who were part of the Vanguard. Every now and again, a Waller would stumble on the UNSC as they began corralling their dead. There was an even more somber air above them as they carried their men onto the back of their metal carriages and drove them away. The feeling of losing brothers far away from home hit hard among those in their ranks.

It was especially hard on the Garrison when they reached the front of Trost, where the Vanguard was. The bodies were the most numerous there, and most of them were burnt crisp from the explosions to slow down the Titan advance. The buildings too were smoldering messes, at one point the Garrison had to combat a fledgeling fire that could have engulfed the District in a second disaster. For some reason the UNSC seemed better equipped to deal with this mess than the rest, as they pulled and pushed debris out of their way in search of bodies underneath the rubble.

Some of the Garrison even swore that they saw several of the older UNSC soldiers pause in the middle of a burned out building and just sit down, as if reliving some painful memory. They wisely never disturbed these particular soldiers, even as other UNSC soldiers stood in silent guard for their mourning comrade.

Gawain was among those who were dealing with the dead and he grimaced as he stumbled on another dead marine, this one being the burned remains of Carl. The marine crouched down at the burned corpse, the face now melted together and as black as ash. He tapped the remains of the marines helmet, and against all odds the marine Neural Interface lit up and a friendly tag appeared. Since Gawain always kept his HUD eyepiece on, he was amused to see that the full name that popped up was 'Private Coral Shane'.

"Fucking Coral, we could never get your name right," Gawain chuckled. He heard the crunch of ash behind him and the Corporal glanced to see Rowen stepping up behind him.

"He had the worst luck too," Rowen muttered as he looked over Gawain shoulder. The man grimaced, a disgusted look on his face as he rocked back on his heels. He sniffed, regretted the action, and coughed while trying to get as far away from the corpse as possible. There was a somber silence between them, Rowen just staring at the ground as Gawain neatly packed the corpse into a body bag for transport.

"If only..."Rowen muttered, causing Gawain to stop as he listened, "If we weren't watching the Wallers, then a lot of us would still be alive."

Gawain paused, something lighting up in his eye as he rose to his feet. Rowen turned to the Corporal, his hands on his hips as his face looking horribly pale. They stared at each other and Gawain had to sigh at what he saw, "You can't say that," Gawain said.

"And why not?" Rowen shot back, "It's the truth!"

"And is the truth going to bring them back?" Gawain countered. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes, feeling much older than his actual age as he rounded on Rowen. "No it's not Rowen! They're dead, why? Because they were protecting lives? Because they were helping save as many people as they could? It's because they were soldiers doing their duty? Fucking hell I don't know. They all join for whatever reason and they _all_ knew they could die."

Gawain sighed as he crossed his arms, looking at the ground in silence. "Fuck Rowen. I don't have time for this. Alright, I gotta go pick up the dead remains of marines who were supposed to be the best of the Academy could offer. The fucking best, Rowen! So you can sulk over there, or you can _be_ one of the best and bury your comrades instead of taking away the significance of their deaths as their own personal and military responsibility." Rowen was quiet, staring at Gawain who was quietly waiting for the marine to get his sense together.

Finally, after a while, Rowen stepped up next to Gawain and crouched down next to Carl's dead corpse. "Come on, someone has to make sure they mark his grave right." Gawain looked down on Rowen and nodded. When he crouched down and grabbed the end of the body bag, Rowen seized and pulled at the top. When the body was off the ground they began walking towards the muster point.

"You know Carl had an older brother in the Armored Division," Rowen said as they traveled further away from the ruins. Passing Walkers glancing at the two soldiers and fellow marines trying their best not to look at another fallen comrade.

"Yea," Gawain muttered.

"We weren't properly attached to a unit, so we don't really have a commanding officer. I wonder who is going to tell him about this." Gawain sniffed as he shifted the weight on his arms. They kept walking in silence, Rowen just staring blankly at the dead body of his friend as they marched onward.

"I don't know. I just want to make sure they at least have a body to bury," Gawain replied evenly.

"I heard the Wallers are burying theirs."

Gawain didn't reply after that.

_Jean_

Jean felt sick as he stared passingly at the regurgitated remains of his fellow trainees. He glanced away, making to tighten the cloth over his mask as he went out on his way. As he walked however he tapped his shoulder and hips painfully. After the battle of Trost, he had spent an hour trying t rip off the scavenged 3DMG he had found off a dead soldier. In his hurry he had skipped out on a few essential straps, leading to very painful flight into the air and a more tedious time in trying to take it off.

He hadn't found Marco yet, he wanted to thank him for saving him when he was on the ground and vulnerable to getting eaten by a Titan. Roland and Adam had found afterwards and kept him safe from getting eaten by a Titan as he entered a lackluster flight path with his wrongly strapped 3DMG.

He was pretty sure he spotted Adam turn the corner ahead of him, he figured he might as well check on them. He could at least respect that even if the UNSC had some secretive goals he didn't know anything about, they at least helped out Trost during the breach. He strode past the corner, careful to avoid the blood splatters and glanced down the road.

At one end a group of Trainees were crowding around each other, glancing at their feet as several body bags that the UNSC had provided laid by their feet. Even at his distance, Jean could tell they were occupied which meant those particular soldiers were waiting for a cart to come and help transport the bodies away. There was a somber silence around those men, their eyes were shadowed and dark, and they stood like statues.

One of them was next to a body and crying. Frowning he moved so he was able to see who was crying and grimaced when he realised it was Hannah. That meant Frantz was in the bag, he had heard the details revolving around his death. He turned away from her and moved on, he could barely imagine what it was like losing someone that close to you. He knew his mother was still alive, for the amount of relief that gave him and it was quite an amount, and he'd never had to deal with loss like that before.

"Damn, last I saw him he was flying over where Jean was." The named Trainee paused at hearing his name. Blinking to himself he turned and spotted a group of marines crowding around at the other end of the road. He recognised one of them as Adam who was staring at something on the ground with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Jus' a kid and already gon'. Damn if them Titanhs ain't tryin' mah morals," That sounded like Roland and Jean could see he was standing at the back of the group. He didn't recognise the other marines but they looked much older than the two so Jean guessed they were part of the relief force.

The older men glanced at each other and moved away from the two, probably to find other bodies and Jean began making his way down the street. He could tell that they were staring at a dead trainee, if the brown jacket wasn't telling enough, and he was curious to find out who had been killed. Was it one of the Garrison? Or another poor kid from the 104th. Was it someone he knew? He hoped not.

He grew closer to the body and before long he was able to catch some similarities as he drew closer. His face grew paler when he realised who they were looking at, right down from the mop of a hair and freckled face, there was no doubt he was staring at Marco. He paused, staring at the dead corpse in silence, his breath knocked out of him.

"Ah shit." He heard someone muttered as heavy boots started making their way towards him.

"Jean wake up, man!" Two hard hands gripped his shoulders and shook him. Jean snapped awake, staring at Adam's worried blue pools as he gently let go of Jean. Roland strode up next to Adam, a shovel in his hands that was covered in blood and small bits of gore. Jean realised they were using it to pry off the bodies that were splattered on the walls. For a moment he thought they were going to use it on Marco, maybe he had been crushed up against the wall and they had to pry him loose.

He lost his footing and began swaying back and forth. Was that how he died? Getting crushed up against the wall? Or maybe he was flung into the ground by his wires? How could he have died like that, Marco was one of the top ten, he wouldn't have fumbled like that...would he? He had to know, he had to find out. As he turned around and walked away, he needed someone to confirm that Marco was gone, to confirm how he died.

"Somebody had to have seen him die, I need to find him. I need to know." He walked off to find someone but before he could he felt a hand on his shoulder, one that quickly twisted him around and steadied him.

"Don't beh ah fool," Roland muttered, "You got ah job to do, get it don'." Jean resisted and began pulling against the arm, trying to get away from the marine but he couldn't muster the strength.

"Let go, I've got to find, someone...," Jean then felt something impact his gut. The wind was promptly knocked from him as he dropped to his knees. Roland had punched him square in the gut hard enough to make him keel over. He dry heaved and Roland crouched down to his level as he glared at the trainee.

"Don't go wastingh your time, ain't no one saw what happen to Marco. And you don't have time to worrieh about that anymoh, yea have a job to do, get up an' do it. Be thankful you at least have a body to see'h, some people ain't got that privilege." Jean coughed and stared at Roland and the marine hummed when he saw something empty in Jean's eyes, something hollow. "Go on and make peace, don't be making more holes to dig and bodies to bury."

Jean nodded his head shakily and slowly got up, he stared at Roland for a little bit longer before turning around and heading towards the group of huddled Trainees. Maybe he could find some comfort there as he searched for bodies, amidst the atmosphere of somber mourning.

As he left he wasn't able to catch the conversation between Roland and Adam as he walked away. "Wonder if he's gonna do alright," Adam muttered, "Surprised you could actually deliver a good speech to someone other than me."

Roland hummed as he stuck the shovel into the ground, "I was goin' toh make a 'just do it' joke, but it thought betteh of it." Adam glanced at Roland and finally shook his head as he turned around and walked deeper into the street.

"You're a heartless bastard you know that."

"But I stopped myself!"

"That doesn't give you any points!"

_En Router to Trost_

_Pelican Moscow-007_

Anders was quiet as she sat on the Pelican seat, her hand quietly rubbing the data pad on her lap. There was a squad of armored ODSTs surrounding her, staring blankly at the raised ramp or quietly muttering with each other.

She really didn't need the protection and had in fact stood completely against it, but General Hampton was adamant. He procured one of the most decorated ODST squads from the rotation around New Harmony and assigned them as her protection. She was annoyed but she could deal with it.

She knew the Captain in charge of this unit, if only for the large amount of time he spent with the SPARTANs whom she had a rather, platonic relationship with. Captain Redfield was a star in the ODST Corp and there was perfect reason why. He was military through and through and Anders had an inkling as to why he was so silent and well-manifested as an ideal soldier and commander.

Staff Sergeant Riker was different, he wasn't a poster child but he was respected in the Corp. His twin-barreled pistols had young cadets salivating to try and make their own. Of course they had to go through the Supply Officer and the Head Engineer whenever they tried to, whom usually gave everyone one of them a bop on the head. Which made Anders wonder just how he had managed that fit of engineering, especially considering how recoil-heavy the weapon was. But as childish as it was to try and fit two barrels into one gun, he was a cut and dry sergeant. One that she had come to respect thanks to Forge.

"I wonder how Captain Cutter is feeling, the old man is going through some hard times," One of the ODSTs muttered. Anders stopped what she was doing and gently grinded her fingertips against the data pad. Sighing heavily she straightened her back and addressed the two armored soldiers.

"The Captain has lived many years, he has earned some rest don't you think? The two of you have no reason to worry, the Captain would rather you concentrate on your duties," Anders said icily. The two men sat ramrod straight when it became apparent that she was talking to them, and quietly nodded their heads with a 'Yes, ma'am,' before furiously checking their weapons for any deformities.

Watching the working on their weapons, Anders quickly returned to her data pad, which was carrying it with it the written status report that was sent in by the Lieutenants in charge of the relief force for the Wallers in the Trost District.

She furrowed her eyebrows when she came upon a particularly interesting piece of information.

_A Trainee, named Eren Yeager, was reported to have the ability to turn in the a Titan. How he is able to do this is currently unknown and the Wallers do not seem to know as well. He is currently held in captivity by Waller authorities and is set for a trial soon to determine his fate in continued existence with the Wall Monarchy. _

With each passing sentence Anders became more intrigue, and despite herself she couldn't help but smile as the pieces continued to fall. For a moment she compared the Titan transformation to that of the Wall molecular structure and couldn't help but catch some similarities.

Before she could dive into it however a message from Serina popped up on her screen.

_How's the trip. Hope you're not terribly bored like I am managing New Harmony's systems. Make sure the crops have the right amount of water, get the crop machines working right, set up the street light systems, blah-blah-blah_

Anders plastered her lips into a flat line as she read it, sighing insufferably as she read the text. Finally she wrote a reply, _No, in fact I found something very interesting. Perhaps you would like to see it, _she packaged the information and sent it to Serina back at New Harmony and waited.

After a few seconds Serina came back with a reply. _So a Waller Captain nearly got his men killed and started an international incident, a Waller turned into a 15 metre giant and backhanded one of our very expensive and resource taxing to build pelicans and we suffered at least forty-three casualties in the assault. How...out of the blue._

Anders raised an eyebrow at the response but at this point she was used to Serina's antics and sent an even reply. _It's something that we will need to know. The Titan kid backhanding the Pelican already gives me reason to intrude on the trial and I'll have to deal with that Captain Kitts. Everything else, I'll figure it out on the way._

There was a pause on the other end before Anders caught an electronic sigh, which was really just a split second flash on the screen, before Serina responded. _Cutter will not like this, if he wakes up I mean._

Anders frowned and glanced at the two ODSTs sitting opposite her, despite her logic, she couldn't help but blame them for the sudden topic bring up with Serina. _How is he?_

_He's old, _came Serina's reply, _his heart is failing but doctors are fixing that up now. His lungs are still strong but just in case we're flash cloning a replacement now. If all is well he'll be up and running right now. _

Ander allowed a small upturn of her lips and thought about writing one sarcastic reply, _You were in quite a surprise when his life signs started going erratic. If remember well you sent a Capital wide alert to anyone with a helmet to 'Run! Run to the parking lot and give that man CPR!' _

_Well excuse me for being worried about the future of the UNSC on this planet. I guess I'll make a protocol where I delay your medical help until the last possible second._

Anders smiled for a bit, freaking out some of the ODSTs in the pelican, and wrote _Just put me in a cryo tube and my icy heart will fix itself._

_I'll hold you to that._

The text box disappeared, signifying Serina disconnecting, and Anders rested her back against the chair she was sitting on.

"Ma'am?" She blinked at the gravelly voice and looked up in time to see Captain Redfield look down on her. "We're approaching Wall Maria, we'll close in on Wall Rose soon."

"Yes, thank you," Anders said, her voice still as icy as ever. The Captain didn't seem fazed at all, which was a given considering how he had at least been part of the crew long enough to know of her ice queen tendency. "I think you have to prepare yourself Captain, some of the actions of the Lieutenant were less than satisfactory." This time the Captain blinked, his face still grim and statue like, but there was a certain twitch on his cheek.

"Yes, ma'am." The Captain said automatically. He quickly made an about face and stared at the pelican ramp evenly.

Riker, who had been watching passively with his helmet under his arm, turned to Anders with eyes exaggeratedly wide. "I've served with him for half of my life and I've never seen anyone make him falter like that." He said in awe. Anders raised her eyebrows in amusement at the Staff Sergeant, who kicked the shin of the seated ODSTs. "Bow your heads to the woman boys, she deserve infinite respect!" The men, who were startled at the Staff Sergeant yelling inside the pelican, quickly did as they were told as they stood to their full height and bowed at ninety-degrees alongside Riker.

Anders, despite herself, couldn't help but cover her mouth as she giggled. The Captain, for some odd reason, had slipped his helmet on before the men had bowed and he was now quietly checking his gun as the pelican continued to rumble in its journey to Wall Rose.

**School is reopening soon and I have to seriously contemplate myself as O levels are this year. Considering the fact that I just passed the last year, I wasn't on my computer that much. With that being said, ROTUNSC might suffer a decline in updates. Might however, I have a few friends who might be willing to continue for me when I can't work on it.**

Alternate Scene

Jean was making his way downtown, walking fast *sees Marco's corps* crying sad.

Legit this was in the chapter for half a week before I got rid of it.

**Quotes that helped me write this chapter.**

"**This is General Donald Doyle, signing off"**

"**How many of us are left on our own? Too many to count. And what about those that aren't? They can't even see us."**

"**I feel...so tired."**


End file.
