Danger days :Titan Warfare

The B.R.A.T test

Eren POV
"Armin, show them the training bot, I'm gonna see why dad is here." I ordered my best friend. Armin nodded taking control of the four remaining recruits. I went to see what was up. Levi had started to follow, but Cadet Church cut him off. The tall recruit swung in front of my husband, a smile on his face. I chuckled.
'Good luck flirting.' I thought.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" I asked walking up to the three men. Dad glared at me.
"That wasn't...." He began. I held up my hand.
"Unless it has to do with the physical status of one of my men, you don't have a say on how I talk to them." I pointed out. It came out sounding harsher than I meant it to. I drew in a shallow breath easing it out, I tried again.
"We need to see the humor in all situations aside from the grotesque shit we have to face while in that unit. At least the B.R.A.T. unit has a barrier between us and the horror show. The Levi squad is right in the heart of it. We do what we can to keep them sane, ok?" He didn't look too convinced.
"I hate that you spend your life fighting." He mumbled.
"Ha, I grew up that way, it's fine." I told him.
"Cadet Church, the group is over here!" I heard Armin call out. Looking up I saw the tall man laugh, touch Levi's shoulder and walk over to the blond. Erwin snickered. We caught each others eye, I winked he out right laughed.
"That guys an idiot." Levi complained as he joined us. Pixus sipped from his flask looking around.
"Funny, that idiot was valedictorian of his class. He had his own command." The bald man turned his head to face Levi. "He is rumored to be following in your footsteps." He added. Levi glared but didn't say anything. Erwin looked at me.
"We came to check on the new recruits. If any are taken to the B.RA.T unit, Doctor Yeager is here to examine them." He explained.
"I'm thinking Cadet Lenz maybe better suited for the Levi Squad. She's small. Possible Cadet Magnolia as well, but I like her, so I may not let her go." I winked down at my husband. He snickered.
"Cadet Magnolia is on her way out. If she cannot find a place here, we may have to discharge her. She has many reports of not following orders." Pixus explained.
"Then we will take her." Levi insisted. I smiled as I rubbed a hand over his back. We walked over to where Armin was assisting Ymir into the pilot seat.
"Cadets, fall back to the safety line." I ordered. I pointed to a red taped line, Levi and I had put up earlier. The cadets fell back.
"Captain Levi, have your squad show themselves." I saw the excitement spark in the cadets. "Since not a single one of these cadets even noticed they were being observed. You all failed your second test." I called out.
Levi signaled to his squad beside me. Ten men and three women fell from the trees. They soared out over our training area before disappearing once more. Levi turned to me. We saw it. Church and Magnolia loved what they had just witnessed. I narrowed my eyes.
"I want her!" I hissed at him. He smirked.
"She liked my lines better." He teased me. I kneed him in the ass as I walked by. He chuckled. Church let his mouth fall open at seeing our exchange, or maybe the delight on my husband's face. I picked up a headset. Armin drew back to stand with the cadets.
"Alright Ymir. Don't worry too much. If you can't control the unit, the Levi squad is here to back you up. Plus I have my unit. The goal today is to walk to the end of the dirt track, stack the hay bales. Tap the button on the tree and return to this spot. Go when you are ready."
"Yes sir." She acknowledged. For a minute nothing happened. Then jerkily the feet moved. The hands kind of waved in the air. She got to the hay. Her control on the arms was a little shaky but by the fifth bale she was doing good. Her stack was slightly leaning, but it would hold. She ended up hitting the tree before finding the button. The light came on to indicate she had pressed it. She turned smoothly and walked back. I nodded to Armin.
He checked off his boxes on his tablet. He kept detailed records of everyone who set foot inside the units. Ymir halted, just left of the mark. I frowned at this, was the camera off set? "Armin how are the training bots controls? She seems just left of the mark." I asked.
"All inspections are up to date. They are spot on." He informed me. I nodded. Armin assisted Ymir out of the unit. Annie and Petra took her to the side. They set her down and handed her some water. My people would debrief each potential pilot and get back to me.
"My I go next?" Cadet Lenz asked. I looked her over. She was the same size as Armin. In fact she looked so much like him it would be easy to confuse the two. A part of me worried about her inside the unit, I knew it was stupid. I gave her a curt nod. Armin got her settled.
One of Levi's people swung out knocking the hay over. They vanished on the other side of the training space. I gave Krista the same commands as Ymir. We waited. Slowly the left leg shuffled forward. The right inched to follow it. Why was she having trouble moving the legs? I knew Armin could make the thing walk all over.
We continued to watch. She shuffled the unit halfway to the hay. Finally she was able to get the legs to move correctly. She walked more confidently to the hay bales. Easily she controlled the arms to get them to stack a very neat hay pile. With that she delicately pressed the button. The light came on and she returned to us.
"Not bad." Levi sounded impressed. Jean and Marco got her out and settled with some water. They began the interview.
"Cadet Church?" I asked. He hadn't been paying attention to the previous two experiences. Instead, he had been watching my husband. A fact I was growing less pleased with.
"Yes sir?" he straightened to attention.
"Please stop checking out Captain Levi's backside. He's taken." I informed him.
"If he isn't married then..." Church began. Levi looked thunderous.
"I am!" He snarled at the younger man. "To your commander!" he added.
"Wait you two are married?" Cadet Magnolia asked. She looked disappointed.
"Let me guess, you like the little runt too?" Where had Hange come from?
"Actually, I like my men taller than me, with big hands and amazing eyes!" she giggled at the end. I had to laugh at that. This was insanity.
"Are you ready to tell us just what the hell you've been doing all night?" Levi growled at my Captain.
"In due time. I came to ask Eren if I could steal his leg a minute. I promise it won't be long." She rubbed her hands together. Armin pushed the chair over to me. I sat and gave her the leg. I knew better than to refuse or ask questions. She squealed and snatched the leg from me hurrying back to her lair.
"Cadet Church please take your turn in the bot." I ordered as he gaped at my legless pant. Once again another of the Levi squad swung out to knock the hay over, this time it didn't fall as easily. It took two more people to get it scattered enough. I frowned. Krista was a good pilot.
Church, however was a drunk idiot in the machine. He twisted it all around, somehow made it kick itself, before falling over. I had to get into my unit to pull him up. Once on his feet. I walked behind him until he managed to get to the hay, where he fell face first into it. I gave up then. Calling Armin down to get him out of it.
Petra walked him back to the sitting area as Armin brought the bot back. I didn't even have to help him up. Levi and I looked at each other. I knew we were thinking the same thing. Was he really that bad, or did he want to be under Levi's command?
Isabel was a dream. From the moment she got into the unit she was home. She skipped to the hay pile. Flipped them around twirling them in the air as she stacked them. She gently kicked the button before doing a cartwheel and coming back. I laughed. I had her. I winked at Levi.
Once out of the unit she rushed to me. "Oh my god that was amazing. I love it." She gushed.
"Even though you liked seeing the others flying?" I asked her. She quieted a little.
"That looked cool, but the robot was awesome." She flipped up on her tippy toes as she said it.
"I'm glad. Follow me." It was evident she had no lingering side effects from being connected with the unit. Ymir didn't look like she had anything off either. Krista was a little pale.
"Not sure I liked that thing in my neck. She commented when I asked if she was alright.
"That is something you will have to decided about. You passed the pilot test. I am offering you a position within my unit. However, you will need a node to control the real bots." I turned to show her the knob sticking out of the back of my neck.
"It looks like Iron man's heart thing." Furlan stated. "No thanks." He backed away.
"Good because you failed." I told him. "Ymir, Cadet Magnolia I offer you both pilot positions." Ymir stood.
"I accept."
"Don't you want to see the alternative?" Levi asked. With that he sprang up to a tree. His squad flew out. They danced in the air. Swords slipping in and out of the hay piles. They sliced open bales for the horses who paid them little mind. They swooped and zoomed over the area, before slipping back into the trees.
"The Levi squad is a formable unit to be in. They ride along side us. They fight the same battles we do. We protect them, they get what we miss. Every pilot learns to use the wires. Every unit has ODM gear within its cockpit. If anything damages the unit, you have a way of escape." I told them. They nodded.
"I accept!" Cadet Isabel Magnolia jumped to attention to announce.
"But we could just be the wires unit?" Church asked. He looked defeated that he was passed over as a pilot.
"Yes, but no flirting with my husband." I warned. He chuckled.
"It sucks the two hottest guys here are gay and married to each other." Church turned to Marco, "What about you?" he asked.
"He's dating horse face." Levi announced his presence. We all laughed. Armin had collected the data from the others who did the post pilot discussion.
"Alright after lunch we will put you on the wires, see how you do." I told them. "For now your dismissed."
"Hange?" I asked.
"They can pick their units later." She returned my leg. "There's something I need to show you all." She stated. Mobit was at her side, a place he would remain in the days, months and years to come.