It was now early in the morning as I was out and stretching my body
After that I did some maintenance on my ODM Gear carefully, making sure that nothing was wrong with it
After that all the of the cadets including me ate breakfast and then some of them including Eren, Mikasa and Armin as well as a couple came near the gate of Wall Rose to see the main unit of The scouts go out on an expedition out of the wall
I stayed back and just readied myself since later... A lot of people will die and the Titans will enter the wall, I might die as well if I'm not careful so I need to make sure I'm in top condition
Our duty of doing maintenance on the cannons will start in noon so I have a bit of time left before the fall of Wall Rose
And so I decided to rest on a nearby tree, away from the other cadets
As I was resting in the said tree someone came to interrupt me by touching my shoulder
I opened my eyes and saw Annie
Now this is a shocker, This is the first time she has approached me first, I am always the first one to approach her after all
"What's wrong?" I asked as she leaned on the tree I was in
"I just have something to talk to you with" She said before looking at me
My eyebrows raised as I responded
"Sure, come sit here next to me" I said as I patted the grass I was sitting on
She did so and got herself comfortable
"So what's wrong" I asked her
"Well... Something was bugging me so I wanted to ask for some advice you could say" She said as she looked at the sky
"That's rare, you always keep things to yourself after all" I said with raised eyebrows
"Is it wrong for a delicate lady to ask for help with her problem?" She said jokingly but her tone came out flat
I laughed at her
"Guess you were a delicate lady after all, I'm kinda happy that you show that side to me, so what did you wanted to talk about?" I said in a little bit of an happy tone
I saw her cheeks flush a little...
'Wait... Could it be?'
'No... I must be thinking of things too deeply. Other than talking with her when I'm free, I never did anything to make her feel that way with me
She stayed quiet for a moment before speaking up
"Hypothetically speaking, what if you were being forced by someone to do things you don't like, and you can't exactly betray them because they hold someone dear to you, what would you do?" She asked with her expression being unreadable as she looked in the sky
Though her fist was clenching hard
I realized she was talking about Marley and her father who is being held captive by the people there, if she doesn't listen to their orders to acquire the founding titan then her father will taste the Marley's wrath huh...
I thought for a while before responding to Annie
"I think I would ask for help with someone I could trust and get this people dear to me back and after that I will make sure to return the favor 100x over" I thought as my eyes glowed menacingly
"And what if you fail? What if you can't trust anyone? What if they kill the person dear to you because you failed?" She asked as she looked uncomposed
"Well first of all, I wouldn't fight a battle till I'm sure I would win. Cowardly? Yes, but I wouldn't risk my loved ones even if the chance of winning is high, I will make tons of planning to make sure I win, And for your question... If I can't trust anyone then I will make someone who can't betray me, even if through 'convenient' means" I spoke as I clenched my fist my eyes dimmed a little
She looked at me in the corner of her eyes before she stood up and started walking away
"Then when the time comes help me" she said with her back turned
"And... Save me" she muttered thinking I wouldn't hear her, but I did
Soon she was out of sight as I stared at where she went
'Don't worry, I'll make sure to stop this world's acursed destined future. I'll make sure you all have a happy life, No one wil die, I'll make sure of it... After all you my friends are the only ones I can consider as... My family in this world' I thought with my eyes looking distorted with a possessive glint in it
_______________
It was now noon and we were all stationed on the walls to do maintenance on the cannons
'this is it, the wall will get broken again'
I thought as I did some maintenance on the cannons
I couldn't help but be a bit nervous about it
As I did maintenance on the cannons for a few minutes, it finally happened
As us cadets were doing some maintenance on the canons, suddenly a bright lightning appeared and hit the ground outside of the gate as a large skinless titan towered over the 50 meter wall as it looked over the wall
It seemed like time stopped as all of us looked over at the huge skinless titan, also knowned as the Colossal titan
I would've been able to keep my composure but seeing a real titan for the first time a huge one at that is shocking enough for me
Though me losing my composure only lasted for 2 seconds before I gained back my calmness
I saw the Colossal titan raise its feet and I immediately reacted as I said
"EVERYONE PREPARE YOURSELVES IT'S GOING TO KICK DOWN THE WALL!" I shouted as some of them gained their composure
As the Colossal titan kicked down the wall a huge earthquake happened and it released a huge amount of steam pushing us all of the wall
I immediately shot a hook to the wall and I gained footing by leaning onto the wall
I looked over to the broken wall and clicked my tongue
Soon I heard someone shouting and using their ODM Gear
"Mounted Artillery Maintenance Squad Four, Prepare for battle! The target is the Colossal Titan, Don't let this chance get away!" Eren yelled out
Looking back I saw Eren propelling himself upward to face the Colossal Titan
I decided to ignore him as I knew what would happen so I shouted at the other cadets
"All of you gain back your composure!" I shouted as they snapped out of it
"Mounted Artillery Maintenance Squad 5! Go and help the Civilians evacuate, Now!" I shouted as they nodded and used their ODM to go down the wall and helped those trapped under some huge rocks or under their houses, they also kept order as they all went ahead and calmly evacuate
I also went down as I helped the people evacuate
After a few minutes, order was recovered as they all started to evacuate
"Ben, Tennyson stay here and make sure order remains, when they all evacuate successfully get back up on the wall" I called out to two of my squad as they nodded and went to the evacuating civilians
"All of you come with me, we'll check on the others" They all nodded as we all hooked ourselves up the wall and boosted ourselves upward
When we got ontop of the wall the Colossal was gone, the cannons were destroyed and a hand mark were ingraved on the part the Colossal Titan held on. Eren was busy talking to his squad mates more specifically Connie and Thomas as Sasha wasn't there
I approached them with my squad as they all noticed me
"Hey, what happened did you get it?" I asked Eren as he shooked his head
"No... Just like 5 years ago, he vanished without a trace! I'm sorry I let it get away" He said with his fist clenched tightly and his eyes burning with anger
"No, you did awesome, No one could've knowned that it will appear and destroy the walls again, and thanks to you for taking its attention, it didn't deal more damage on the wall" I said as I assured him
How hypocritical I am really, I knew this would happen after all
Eren just looked down his fist still clenched
"Thanks" Was all he said
Soon after, we heard some noises of ODM Gears as we all looked and saw the seniors appear
"What are you all doing? The Colossal response plan is already underway, get back to the base" He said as we all saluted
"Has anyone went and assisted the civilians evacuate?" He then asked and Ben and Tennyson appeared as the two saluted
"All of the Civilians have successfully evacuated deep into the trost Sir!" The two said
"Good work now get back to the HQ, remember to report to your superiors you all who have seened the Colossal Titan!" he said as he and his squad jumped off the wall to delay the titans
"Come on you all let's go, there's no time to be overwhelmed!" I said as I shot my hook and went to the direction of the HQ
Soon Eren was the dirst to snap out of it as he followed after me
"August is right, you all let's go, this is not the time to be scared!" Eren soon followed after me and soon both squads are using their ODM to get to the HQ fast
_______________
All of us who arrived immediately got ordered to go to the basement and get ready
Soon all the cadets are in the basement as they replenished their blades and gas
I have already finished replenishing my ODM as I was just watching them run around
I need to be extremely be conservative on my blades and gas... Since those bastards at the supply team will abandon us because they were scared...
I'm too busy to deal with them right now but after this is over, they will all 'sadly' pass away, I promise that...
In the corner of my eye I saw Christa shaking like leaf with Ymir who tried to comfort her
I approached the two as I spoke up
"Hey are you okay, Christa?" I said as I looked at her worriedly
"I-I'm fine, I will be fine, I just need to..." She said as she tried to connect the pipe to her gas canister to refill it's gas but failed due to her shaking
"Christa, hold your hands together" I said as I looked at her panicked state
"W-Why? We don't have time to be fooling around right now! The titans... They might be inside the walls right now and eating the innocent civilians as well as our comrades" She said as she kept on trying to connect the pipe to her ODM but failed due to her shaking
Ymir just looked at me quietly, curious of what I would do though her face still looked irritated at me
"Just do it" I said with a tone that allowed no refusal
She soon held her shaking hands together as she waited for what I will do
Soon I used both of my hands and slapped the back of her hand making it turn red
"Ah- why did you do that?!" She said as she held her hands to numb the pain
Of course Ymir didn't keep quiet as she yelled at me grabbing my collar
"You little- Why did you do that?!" She said as she leaned her face at me
"It's a way for when someone is nervous to calm down look Christa you're not shaking anymore" I said as I pointed it out
Ymir looked at Christa and saw I was right as Christa was not shaking anymore
Seeing that it was effective she let me down but gave me a warning
"Don't do that again or I'll beat you up!" She warned me as I nodded
"Look, Christa we will do what we can to save as much civilians and our comrades as much as possible, but you need to calm down, your current state will only get you eaten by them!" I explained
She soon stopped panicking completely as she looked at me determined
"Let's do our best to lessen the damage the titans will do to humanity!" She said determined before we all nodded back
Soon all the cadets finished readying up and we were called out to the field as we all lined up
Soon a commander from the Garrison Regiment spoke up
"Just as planned you all will be split into your squads, you cadets will perform support, as well as killing titans, the Garrison Intercept squad will take the vanguard on the field, The cadets will be stationed in the middle of the field, and the Garrison's elite squads will take the rear!" He shouted as he explained the plan
"We also received reports that the advanced special squads got wiped out! Remember our objective is to hold out long enough for the civilians to evacuate in the inner wall! All those who desert the battlefield would get punished by death, dismissed!" He said as he walked out in a hurried manner, it didn't take a genius to know that he was also panicked
Anyway all the cadets ran around to ready themselves but most of them is just either vomiting or sitting with their heads down
My squad consisted of 6 members including me, they were all some unknown characters that weren't shown in the anime, Their name was Ditz, Nats, Honz, Yoru and Feys
I wonder why I didn't get put into the elite squad in the rear positions, I mean Mikasa did and I was first in the cadets corps so why didn't I get recruited? Could it be they forgot about me...?
Well whatever
My squad were also one of the people who was also panicking, This was bad since I needed all the help I could get to hold on against the titans
"You all stop panicking!" I yelled at them as I looked at them coldly
"You don't need to fight, just distract the titans for me in a safe distance, I'll do the killing" I said at them who was shitting themselves
"B-But we are still risking ourselves getting caught by t-those monsters" Dizz spoke
"You don't have a choice, it's either that or you'll do the killing yourself, I'm sure my position is much more dangerous than yours" I spoke giving him a cold look as he shrieked in fear
This people... I know that look, they're definitely gonna betray us and desert the battlefield... Well, I just need them as baits until I get used to battling the titans... After that then I can just dispose of them.
They all looked at me with a sinister glint in their eyes, confirming my thoughts
They soon all stood up still pretty scared but decided to follow me
After that, I saw Eren heading at me with clear anger on his face, don't get it wrong he isn't angry at me but to someone else
He didn't seem to see me as he bumped at me as he stumbled back a little before looking at me
"August? Sorry about that, I was just lost in my thoughts... This people are?" Eren spoke as he looked at me and my squad
"Don't worry about it, and these people are my squad mates, anyway why are you running around looking like your gonna kill someone?" I spoke to him
His angered expression returned though much lesser than before as he explained
"It's Mikasa... She keeps on treating me like a baby who always needs to get pampered and protected! Humanity is on the risk of extinction and all she wants to do is protect me!" He spoke in an angry tone as his fist clenched tightly
I just sighed at Eren's situation
"Eren..." I spoke as he looked at me
"What?" He spoke up
"You gotta look in Mikasa's perspective... From what you told me Mikasa lost her parents and then got adopted to your family right?"
"Yeah... What about it?" Eren asked in a confused face
"Listen here... She lost the people she cared the most which is her family... And then after the Colossal broke wall Maria she also lost the persons who adopted her, she probably also considered them family but since she and you also lost them as well she only have you left to call family"
"Losing family hurts... I know you know that feeling, Imagine her feelings who lost them twice, I'm sure she is traumatized about losing another family. That's probably why she is always protective of you since you're the last person she can consider as family. I'm sure you also want to protect Mikasa and Armin and keep them out of danger too right? so imagine your feelings and multiply them by 10x, that's how she's feeling" I explained as his eyes widened in realization
His eyes then showed deep regret and sadness as he remembered things about his past
*You're right... I-I'm so stupid, how could I have just realized this now... She is probably hurting right now as well... Because of what I did..." Eren said with his eyes showing deep anger in himself as his fist clenched
He then started punching himself whilst saying how stupid he was
I quickly held him back from hurting himself as I spoke
"Stop hurting yourself! Now isn't exactly the ideal time to do so. Just apologize to her later and maybe talk things out" I said to him
He then stopped but his eyes was still showing regret
"You're right... You know... You're a great friend August" Eren said as he thanked me and then started to walk away
"Wait" I stopped him
"What is it?" Eren stopped walking and looked back at me
"Be careful when you go out on the field, make sure that you and your squad mates will be extremely careful. Those titans are unpredictable after all" I explained to him with a serious expression
"And keep your emotions in check, becoming consumed by your anger will cloud your judgement" I said as I flicked his head
He just smiled and nodded
"Yeah, be careful out there as well August. I'm gonna trust that we will see each other again later right?" He said as he showed his fist at me
"Of course I will, Who do you think you're talking to? I am the top scorer remember?" I laughed at him and bumped fist with him
He then got close to me and whispered as he looked at my squad
"Also be careful on your squad members... I don't wanna come of rude but I get the intuition that they are bad guys..." He said as I nodded back at him
And so he started to walk away
Soon he was out of sight as I looked at my comrades who were showing a ridiculing expression as I just looked at them with a cold gaze
"Stop with that expressions or I'll poke your eyes out" I said in a cold tone
They all shrieked as they all lowered their heads
"Let's go, it's time for us to move out" I said as I shot my ODM Gear and soon after did my squad
And so, starts the fight that will cause hundreds if not thousands of death
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: To all Genshin players out there are you ready for Natlan? Cause I'm so ready for it, anyways things will get bloody now so keep tuned and keep supporting my feeble fanfic please