Libertas ↠ AOT

XI

When the rain began pouring over Trost that's when the Titans increased in numbers. Rain made it harder for soldiers to see what they were doing and where they were going and would sometimes even drown out the footsteps of smaller Titans as well as adding the risk of slipping in a puddle and injuring yourself, it made fighting deadlier and it was clear that the number of soldiers situated closer towards the breach were beginning to thin out.

Antheia had just finished taking down two Titans in the ten to twelve metre class with Mikasa, both of them taking one each. She landed on a building and pulled up the hood of her cloak to cover her face again though the damage had already been done, her hair sticking to her cheeks with water droplets coating her eyelashes which she quickly blinked away. The cloak had two swords crossed together on it's back—the emblem of the Training Corps. There hadn't been any Survey Corps cloaks lying around as it wasn't their HQ but she didn't mind wearing the wrong emblem at the moment, those that she was working with already knew who she was and which regiment she was in, not that it necessarily mattered at the moment anyway.

An involuntary sigh of relief escaped her when she watched the inner gate to Wall Rose slide shut, signalling that everybody still within the town had been evacuated successfully with minimal civilian casualties.

"That's it, we're done. Now scale the wall," Ian ordered after he landed on the same rooftop as the women.

"I should help the vanguard withdraw, sir," Mikasa protested but gave no time for an answer before turning around and shooting away from the roof, heading straight towards the breach where the others were located.

"Ackerman, wait!" Ian called out but his words fell on deaf ears.

"I'll go after her," Antheia suggested, eyes trained on the direction that Mikasa went in with a small frown on her face.

"We need you here."

"No you don't. The civilians have been evacuated and I don't see any Titans nearby, I'm of no use to anybody back here. It's a simple objective to assist the other squads in withdrawing and making sure that humanity doesn't lose one of its best soldiers because she decided to rush off without asking first," Antheia argued.

Ian mulled over her words for a few moments before letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine, but as soon as you catch up to her, bring her back here."

Antheia sent him a nod to show that she understood and agreed with him before taking off after Mikasa. By now she had already disappeared past the multitude of buildings but Antheia knew the general direction in which she was going and was confident that she'd still be able to find her if she followed where her instincts took her.

As she suspected, the closer she went towards the breach the more Titans that popped up. Every Titan that had the misfortune of crossing her path ended up as a pile of steaming bones on the ground. After she had disposed of the fourth Titan, she decided to take a moment to breathe, attaching her hooks into a nearby building and landing on the side of it to wipe away the specks of hot Titan blood that had splattered her cheek. Now that she had a few moments to assess her situation she noticed that there were squads of training corps members perched on various rooftops around her, their heads hanging low in despair. The order to withdraw had already been given but none of them had made any attempt to head back towards the Wall which was troubling in itself. The only glimmer of positivity was that the rain had ceased earlier and she had been allowed to discard her cloak.

Her attention returned back to her dulled blades, clicking one of the triggers on her ODMG and allowing the broken blades to tumble to the ground while she replaced them with new ones. Now that she was looking at her gear she noticed that her gas supply had become low enough to warrant a slither of concern, she probably had enough to find Mikasa and get back to HQ but if she had to fight more Titans along the way then her supply would deplete faster and she might not have enough to get back to safety. Her mind was swimming with every option available to her and every outcome that would accompany which decision she made when her eyes landed on the HQ, all her thoughts halting at the troublesome sight that she saw.