Ymir's Legacy

Ch. 11; The Roar

Once Mikasa managed to compose herself and calmed down, her and Armin carried him to the wall with the others. However once they returned, they were met by garrison soldiers, "Cadets! What happened out there?!", they asked concerned seeing as Eren was unconscious and Aila was injured. Mikasa rested Eren against the wall as she saluted, "Sir! We ran out of gas and blades and had to make it back to HQ, however there were titans all over it and inside the supply room. We had to clear the ones out of the building", Mikasa reported to their superiors. Annie cut in, "However, the titans were still crawling all over and around HQ. Ackerman ran out of gas and fell on the way there, Brandt here came to her aid and saved her at the price of getting grabbed by a titan herself, she needs medical attention" "Understood, take her to the med bay with the others", one of the soldiers said as they motioned away from the wall. Annie helped support Aila as they started off towards the medical bay with the other wounded soldiers. "Annie, I'm fine I promise", Aila tried to reassure her girlfriend, "I understand that, however you still have small bruises on your abs, don't try to push yourself when you don't need to", Annie expressed towards her girlfriend. Aila smiled and scoffed a bit, happy to be reassured that she is loved. Once they arrived, a nurse told Annie to lay Aila down on a cot and lift her shirt so she can do a physical check up. Annie was a little jealous at first, but held Ailas' hand the whole exam. When the nurse finished, she wrapped Aila's abdomen with bandages, "Somehow you got extremely lucky, you only suffered small bruises on your abdomen that'll heal in a few days. If you feel ok enough, you have permission to return to the front lines if needed", the nurse told Aila. Aila sat up and thanked the nurse, "See Annie? I told you I'd heal up just fine" "Uh.. yeah but, c-can you put your shirt back on before others see you?", Annie asked her girlfriend blushing a little. Aila chuckled and slipped her shirt and jacket back on, she and Annie then set off to return to find their classmates.

When they returned to the military post, they saw Sasha, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Jean standing by a gas refuel post. They were confused at first though, because Mikasa and Armin weren't with them, "Sasha! Where's Mikasa and Armin?", Aila asked as she and Annie walked to her. Sasha stepped forwards, happy to see that Aila was ok, "Hey! I'm glad you're alright, and... Mikasa and Armin stayed behind with Eren" "At the medical bay?", Annie asked. Sasha shook her head no and leaned in closer to the two, "Armin told the soldiers about what happened with Eren, and now they don't trust him, they pointed their blades at him and Mikasa got into older sister mode and stayed with him to protect him with Armin". Annie and Aila gasped, what were they going to do to Eren? Aila switched to her power, "That's not good, if Eren can help us take back Eldia, we need him", Aila told the two. Annie leaned against Aila, resting her head on her chest, "You're right, I still need to see my father again", Sasha sat down and looked at her swinging legs. She gulped out of nervousness, "D-Do you think Mikasa will be ok..? And what about you guys? If this is how they react if you tell them about your powers will they-" "I wont let that happen", Annie cut in fiercely. Suddenly, KABOOM! A canon went off! "W-What the hell was that?!", Sasha asked looking towards the wall, Sasha immediately shot off on her ODM gear towards the canon fire. Aila and Annie soon followed, they landed on top of a roof near where a horde of garrison soldiers were. A cloud of smoke surrounded the area, once it cleared, an unfinished titan transformation was revealed. The three of them stood there in shock, wide eyed. Sasha opened her mouth, "W-What the hell... Mikasa was there..", Aila jumped up preparing to go towards the titan but was stopped by Annie. She turned confused at first, but realized she would be cut down immediately by the garrison soldiers', she thought to herself, "Shit.. how the hell are we gonna save Mikasa and the others now..?".

Steam began to emit from the titan as it started to collapse and evaporate. There was nothing the three of them could do to help the others, all they could do was sit and watch. "What're we gonna do? We can't just charge in and pull them out of there!", Sasha shouted in a panic, worried for her lovers' safety, "You're right, but I'm not sure how we can de-escalate the situation either, if we're not careful, all of us could get hurt today", Aila stated as she anxiously watched the steam clear. CRASH! TACKTACKTACKTACK! Someone was running out of the steam, a soldier shouted, "STOP! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!", WHOOSH! SKTTTTT! Armin emerged from the steam, unarmed, no gear, and hands in the air. He began to shout, "Eren is not a foe of humanity! We're willing to cooperate with military command and share everything we've learned about his powers!", a captain of the garrison shouted back, "YOUR PLEAS FALL ON DEAF EARS! HE REVEALED HIS TRUE FORM AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE CANNOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE! IF YOU INSIST HE'S NOT AN ENEMY OF OURS, SHOW ME PROOF! OTHERWISE WE'LL BLAST HIM BACK TO WHATEVER NIGHTMARE HE CRAWLED OUT OF!". Armin began to get more defensive, "You don't need any proof! The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what we precede him to be!", the captain became more irritated, "WHAT?!". Armin continued on with his plea, "The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him, and those who were there said they saw him fighting other titans! And that means they saw him get swarmed by the titans as well! To put it plainly, the titans saw him the same way they see each and every human being as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you may look at it, that is an irrefutable fact!", the soldiers around him began to converse and rationalize their thinking, Aila, Annie and Sasha stayed atop the roof, in awe of Armins' bravery. But, despite the facts set before them, the captain shouted to prepare and attack, "DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE SWAYED BY HIS CUNNING LIES! THE TITANS' BEHAVIOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION! I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST HIM TO ASSUME HUMAN FORM! H-HE'S SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE! I-IN AN ATTEMPT TO DECEIVE US! I REFUSE TO LET HIM CONTINUE THIS BEHAVIOR!", with this, the soldiers were quickly swayed, raising their blades and guns back towards the three. Aila jumped forwards, prepared to swoop down and transform to save them, Armin looked back towards Eren and Mikasa in fear, however, they had opposite expressions. They smiled and nodded, entrusting Armin with their lives. Armin took a deep breath and saluted, "I AM A SOLDIER! AND I HAVE DEDICATED MY HEART TO THE RESTORATION OF HUMANITY SIR! NOTHING COULD MAKE ME PROUDER, THAN DYING FOR SUCH A NOBLE CAUSE! IF WE WERE TO USE HIS TITAN ABILITY, AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MANPOWER WE HAVE LEFT, I BELIEVE WE COULD DO IT! WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY, FOR HUMANITIES GLORY, AND WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE, I WILL ADVOCATE HIS STRATEGIC VALUE!". Despite this heartfelt speech, the captain still raised his hand in giving the order to fire the canon once more. Aila jumped out and immediately unsheathed her blades, but just as she was about to jump down and transform, a man caught the captains' arm, stopping him from giving the order. The man spoke, "That's enough, you should really do something about your nervous disposition captain Woerman", the captain turned and realized who had stopped him. "C-Commander Pixis!" "Can you not see this young soldiers' heartfelt salute? I've only just arrived but I'm quite aware of our situation. Gather our reinforcements, I think, we could do these young soldier's the favor of hearing them out.", Aila and the others let out a breath of relief, the air began to clear, and no one was killed.