Is That a Fucking Titan

The sun beat down harshly, the rays making the usual soldier uniform and traveler's cloak a lot warmer than was anticipated. A hardened expression was set into the soldier's face, her arm currently in a sling as her free hand gripped the reins of her horse. Squinting, she looked up at the crowds of people lined up on the sides of the streets. Her expression turned into more of a grimace, although it was mostly from her arm. The 26th Scouting Team had just returned from another outing outside of the walls and they were just passing through Wall Rose into Trost. Of course, they didn't lose as many people as they usually would have, but the woman had managed to dislocate her shoulder when a swing from a Titan forced her to abort her plan of attack, crashing into the ground shoulder-first.

It's not like her shoulder wasn't back in place, either. It was popped back in place by her own when the Titan was dispatched. It was just her squad leader who made her keep it in a sling. She shook her head, adjusting herself on her horse. She may be second-in-command for her squad, but Ambros wouldn't have sat quietly until he knew she would be okay, for the most part. She shook her head; what else did she expect from her older brother? Ambros joined the Survey Corps when he was of age and it was mostly Acelin's influence to follow after him. It didn't take long for Ambros to get command of his own squad and her intelligence made her a perfect candidate for a second-in-command. Ever since the Titans had attacked their home when they were younger, they'd been practically inseparable; it was rare to see one without the other.

Acelin adjusted the goggles on her head, glancing at her brother again. She kicked the horse's sides slightly, gaining enough speed to trot along side Ambros. "You know, despite the fact that it's safer inside the walls, it still doesn't feel...right." She looked over at him, the man returning her look with a small smile. "One day, Ace. We're slowly making it a somewhat better place outside of the walls. Then we'll be able to move back outside... maybe not to where we were raised, but somewhere nicer. I can promise you that."

The woman nodded as she turned to look forward again, glancing around at the walls around them. On the top, there was more than likely the Garrison working on fortifying the walls further and to make the cannons stronger. They had to be more careful now; the Titans had breached Wall Maria four years before and there was still a risk of the same thing happening to Wall Rose. Acelin narrowed her eyes again, her expression becoming hard again. She still wasn't over her massive fear of the Titans. Her brother pushed through it better than she ever would... probably because he was somewhat older when their home outside of the walls was attacked by Titans when she was only five. A small sigh escaped her lips as she sat uhp straighter on her horse. "I'll hold you to that, Ambros."


Acelin stood on Wall Rose, her hands folded behind her back and another hard expression graced her face. Behind her back she played with a small silver ring on a chain, watching Trost go up in chaos from another breach in the walls brought on by the Colossal Titan. She ignored her creeping fear of the Titans; her brother's ring gave her more confidence nowadays. Bringing her hands in front of her again, she looked at the ring before unclasping the chain to put it back around her neck. It was all she had left of Ambros; six months prior on another scouting mission, their team was compromised by a deviant-type Titan. It seemed to know exactly who to go for, like the entire operation would fall out if a single man was taken down. It almost did, though. Despite her grief and through Acelin's command, her team was able to take down the Titan... but they couldn't save her brother.

The woman sighed shakily, blinking as a single tear streamed down her cheek and she looked up to the sky. "I can't hold you to anything now... but I'll see our dream through." She whispered to no one in particular, turning to face the remainder of the 26th Scouting Team. They saluted her as she turned, the woman merely giving a nod of acknowledgement. "We are not letting a Titan walk away alive from this day." She spoke loudly and clearly to her team, turning again to face the district being overrun by Titans. "I swear on my brother..." She reached up, gripping the ring in her right hand tightly.

"d-do you think they're many of them?" a timid voice muttered over the discussion of the other guard. they were stationed in three's some on rooftops, other in the streets each visually uneasy and ridged. A strong hand patted the uneasy man's back, the unexpected contact sent him forward a bit. "you're worrying too much!" a female voice erupted from the muttering silence. She returned both hands to her hips, maneuver gear jingling slightly from movement, "look, if you over think it you're probably going to imagine fifty when you just see five." a smile followed, the only one in the whole line who could manage a smile. The man sighed, regaining his bearings as he stood up straight. "That's easy for you to say, you were there for the first breach, you know what we're up against" There was a pause in the other conversations, a few were trying to catch what was being said, some never experienced when wall Maria was breached the first time, some never seeing a Titan till this point.

Delicia sighed, arms stretching up above her head and a small noise escaping her in the momentary stretch. "Each time is different, the titan, the situation. Besides, the Vanguard is probably going to have this all taken care of, probably won't even make it to us." A hand came up to adjust the patch over her eye, before looking down the barren street. She knew what she said was only to give encouragement, she could hear the screaming, See the smoke rising into the sky, it was only a matter of time before their line was reached. They were like flies trapped in a web waiting for the spider. Another woman's voice came from the rooftops this time, Delicia didn't have to look to know it was directed at her "Delicia Squalo. You were on the Vanguard when the wall broke, that whole line was taken out, except for a handful of people...they say it was a massacre. I don't think any of us should be taking advice from you." there was another low mutter followed between the silence, the man to her right began to protest how those kind of things shouldn't be brought up when Delicia turned her attention back to the road and laughed, leaving the other guard to glance nervously at each other from the sudden outburst "jeeze you guys dwell on the past a lot huh?" The topic was dropped soon after, the rest of the guard going back to their previous conversations.

No less then a moment passed, the man from earlier went back to his nervous ramblings, it irritated her to no end considering she was trying to focus on how distant the sounds were but still offered a smile when he asked something she didn't feel like answering. Between the muttering of everyone around her and the man she almost missed it, a dark shape lurching from rooftop to rooftop finally to land in a heap in front of the line. The crumpled body of a man lay before them, a few stepped forward to check if he was alive, most of his leg was missing and what was left could barely be called that. Delicia stepped closer, pushing people aside to get to the maimed man who was bleeding out, she knelt down to try to hear what he was muttering when a hand shot out, roughly gripping the collar of her uniform. "Start the evacuation! they're coming!" the man was in hysterics after that. The guard scrambled into motion. Some retreating back to the rear formation others forward. Delicia shook the man's hand off her, quickly standing up she started a slow jog back where the dying man had come from, following another team in, she locked her gear into place before being propelled forward into the air and onto the roof. Grunting slightly upon impact she glanced up to the head of the group who was giving orders when something caught her eye. There was movement in one of the fallen buildings. She strained to see what it was "Sir I think they're is someone.." she started before she was cut off "leave them, we have to get the people on the streets out...what were the coordiantes.." the head continued to explain his plan. Delcia's eyebrows furrowed, glancing from the leader of the group to the rubble before propelling herself over. There was a moment where she heard protest which she ignored. Examining the pile of wood and rock she managed to make out a small hand, biting hard on her lip she pushed what she could off, which was followed by light coughs.

Delicia let out a shaky breath, gently pulling the wide eye'd little girl out from the debris. The woman gave her best smile to the scared girl who clung to her out of fear. How she wasn't dug up by titans was some sort of blessing. A close rumbling sent Delicia ridged, she quickly held the girl closer, throwing her back up against a crumbling wall. The child began to cry softly, the fear of the Titans already well set into her   "you're safe now! don't cry." she murmured in the best calm tone she could muster. Swallowing hard she caught sight of a large arm sweeping down the street she had just been on, then the back. "you have to be quiet ok? have you ever played hide and seek?" she waited for the young girl to silently nod before smiling softly "its just like that, we wont let them find us" Delicia held the girl close, watching carefully out the hold in the building, the Titans hopefully were more interested in the middle line by now, which would give her enough time to think of a better plan.

The woman shifted her weight to her right side, narrowly avoiding the swinging arm of an 8-meter class Titan. She narrowed her eyes, crossing her swords as she passed by the back of the Titan, cutting into the flesh of the Titan's neck. Blood splattered somewhat on her cloak as she finished the job, landing neatly on a building next to the now fallen monster. She turned to look down at it, shaking her head.

The majority of the soldiers still had no set plan of attack against the Titans. The Garrison of Trost barely had a commander to keep them in check. It was just their luck they had a Survey Corps squad in the city, but it was only one that had the most experience to combat the Titans at the current moment. Word doesn't travel the fastest, and they had to maintain the situation until a real commander showed up.

Acelin lifted her goggles, putting them up on her head. Her goggles weren't always necessary; it was just a matter of preference to almost always have them on. Looking around the city once more, she narrowed her eyes. More Titans were filing into the city as she stood and watched. People were still trying to run and evacuate and she let out a sigh, looking out to see a 7-meter class Titan, seemingly hunting for a target. With a small huff, she pulled her goggles back down, adjusting them so they were comfortable on her face. Getting a running head start, she jumped off the top of the building, pulling the triggers on her blades. Iron wires shot out of her Maneuver Gear, the grappling hooks at the end lodging themselves into a tower. The mechanism in the back activated, steam propelling her forward. Shifting her weight, she went around the tower and pulled another trigger on her blades, the grappling hooks coming loose and another set coming out to lodge themselves in the back of her Titan target. She came close to the ground, using it and the steam from her Gear to give her a slight advantage. Again, she was propelled upwards, slightly higher than the Titan itself. She raised her swords, performing a flip with her slight advantage in height to the Titan. Crossing her blades, she cut into the neck of the Titan, the monster falling as life left the monster.

Acelin landed neatly next to the Titan, flipping a lever on her sword's handles, the blades popping out and falling to the ground. She walked forward, looking around as she rounded a corner from a building. The woman took notice of another soldier holding a little girl. Judging by the emblem on the soldier's uniform, she was in the Garrison. Attaching the handles on her Gear to another pair of blades still sheathed, her hands were freed as she put a hand on her hip. "The evacuation is still underway; you need to take the girl somewhere safer than the streets." She blinked, pulling her goggles back up to rest on her head. "Do you have a commanding officer at this time?"

Delicia pressed her back further against the crumbling wall, she could hear one closer then the rest. Swallowing hard she noticed the girl staring back at her and without much hesitation she flashed her a smile, bringing up a single finger to her lips to signal to stay quiet. Turning her attention back to the street she focused. "7-meter class. 10 to 15 yards away." she muttered lowly, her eye searching the ground for no particular target "south bound. from the weight and approximated height..estimated time before visual is..thirty seconds." Her grip on the girl tightened, there was no way her gear could carry both of them if she needed to move, she was going to have to take it on herself. Wouldn't be her first time she had her fair share when the first wall fell. That's why she was still alive and the others weren't.

Taking in another sudden breath, her head tilted in the direction of another sound, the corner of her mouth twitched up "Maneuver gear...also 10 yards, fast moving..smooth trajectory, collision time..." the woman's small smirk grew into a smile as she looked at the little girl. "Thirty Seconds...why don't you count to lets say...ten?" Delicia smiled, giving the girl a comforting pat on the head as she did so. The little voice did as she was told. The soldier waited patiently, humming along to the count off until the girl hit ten, as if on que the body of the large titan hit the ground and their savior next to it. "there's my ten" Delicia muttered with a smile, standing, using her free hand to dust off the back of her uniform as she heard the other woman approach, balancing the girl on her side. Her eye caught the symbol on the other uniform and another faint smile formed as the other spoke first, which only caused a whistle from Delicia "say, that was impressive! Not everyday I get to see a cut so clean and quick" she mused, giving the other a once over before smiling "I'm apart of the evacuation crew, and I'm doing my evacuations. Me and my friend here just had to stop and play a little hide and seek"

Nodding to the girl, she paused for a moment before chuckling "oh right" adjusting once again she gave a half hearten salute, before returning to her previous position "If you're looking for commanding officers of the Garrison try towards the evac gates, all you'll find here is cowards that call themselves squad leaders" her smile never faltering she paused, glancing off in another direction before returning her attention back to the survey corps soldier "there's two 7-meter class titans to our right and one 8-meter directly behind us, from the foot fall we still have about three minuets before they get here, I'd join but..I have to you know, get this one evacuated" she let out another content noise, eyeing the other woman again...she was young just making it past being even called a woman. Delicia felt her smile twitch with the cringe in her stomach before she sighed "anything else you need answered ma'am?" she waited intently, pausing again to do a momentary calculation before returning her attention back.

Acelin blinked, glancing back at her previous target, practically ignoring the other woman's compliment on her workmanship on the Titan. To her, it was just another kill on something that needed to be stopped, not much to be complimented on. Giving another slow blink, she returned the half-hearted salute as it was given to her. Looking up as she listened to the small bit of intel on how useless the current lead for the Garrison would be, she shook her head. Until an actual commander got to Trost, she would have to see who she could lead into battle until someone of actual power could come in. She dropped her salute, pinching the bridge of her nose. The Garrison was practically useless in this situation. Although the woman in front of her seemed like she would be of more use than the majority of the Garrison, that was all she had. Ace had been separated from her squad when the initial chaos broke out and she had no hope of finding them, not at the current moment. Until the situation could be contained, she had to wait.

She dropped her hand again as the other woman started talking about three more Titans in the almost-immediate area. Acelin swore slightly, turning back around. As much as she was scared of the Titans, now wasn't the time to be terrified of something she had to face. Letting out a sigh, she turned back around. "I need all the help I can get right now; my squad was scattered in this chaos. And you seem like the next most-capable soldier I can find at the current moment. I need you to take the girl to the evacuation point and then rendezvous back here. I'll take care of those Titans you mentioned. If either you or myself gets back first and the other doesn't show up within 10 minutes, leave the area." Acelin turned to walk away. "And minimize as much life lost as you can today. I'm not going to let the Titans take more than they have to." She muttered the last part to herself.

Pulling her goggles back down, she pulled her swords out of their holsters. Getting a running start, she jumped up and pulled the triggers on her blade's handles, the iron wire shooting out to lodge into two buildings across from each other, the steam in her gear activating to propel her forwards. As she got higher from the ground, she could see the Titan in the south the woman was talking about. Only an 8-meter class, like she said. It wouldn't be a problem to her, not at all. She pulled the triggers on her swords again, more iron wire shooting out to lodge into another set of buildings. It seemed like her new target had already caught sight of her and she let out a small, quivering sigh. It was heading in her direction now; she always found it easier for the things to just not take notice, but that was rarely the case. She flicked a switch on her swords, the iron wires shooting back into her Gear as she landed neatly on a building. Running forward with her swords on the ready, she gave a frown as the Titan sped its walking towards her. Her only plan was what she had to do the last time; use the Titan to swing around. As it got closer to her, she exhaled and performed a front flip off of the building, pulling the trigger on her 3D Gear's swords. The iron wire shot out, lodging into the Titan's shoulders.

The steam of her Gear propelled her forward, shifting her weight to the right to swing around the Titan. She could see the back of the Titan now, the steam still pushing her onward. She raised her swords, flipping another switch on her swords to release the wiring as she spun, cleanly cutting into the nape of the Titan's neck. She turned quickly, pulling the trigger on her swords for more wire to shoot out and lodge the grappling hooks into a tower. Steam pushed her forward again, although slower. She stopped as she came to the tower, the wire keeping her from falling as she placed her feet on the building, tensing so she wouldn't fall. She looked in the general direction of the 7-meter Titans, just barely able to see them over the tops of the buildings. She squinted. By the end of the day, the woman would have plenty of kills to account for her current record of 23 unassisted Titan kills.

Delicia had focused her attention on the girl, momentarily making a face to keep the girls attention from looking too much around, there could be dead bodies anywhere. She was surprised to hear what came next from the woman in front of her, it wasn't everyday someone actually wanted to work with her. "Roger that, I'll be back before you know it" she grinned, which faltered when she realized the survey corps soldier was already walking away and sighed. "Well she seems fun huh?" Delicia laughed, looking at the little girl who shook her head slightly as she began to walk past bits of rubble towards the general direction of the evacuation gates. "aw don't be like that! you never judge a book by it's cover, besides she saved us, sure she didn't know she did but.." The child still shook her head as Delicia paused, glancing around the corner of a group of buildings, listening to the footfall of anything close. "besides, she was cute ...had sad eyes, but still cute!" the little girl quickly stuck out her tongue and shook her head, causing Delicia to chuckle "oh what do you know, you're five."

She stopped suddenly to survey where she was at, before a small sigh came from her mouth, followed by a pleasant hum "should be just around that street...any close Titan is blocks away towards the center, troops should be thinning..based on the radius of the surrounding buildings and how quickly the large ones get through...about an hour before they reach the gate"  Delicia muttered the calculations to herself as she rounded the corner, quickly being thrown from her thoughts by the rush of people trying to get out. She consciously felt the little girl tightly grip her shoulder, working to make it through the crowds to one of the officers directing the human traffic. The other Garrison soldier noticed her, then the little girl "I found her without family under a building, she needs to be escorted and possible medical attention." the girl was reluctant to let go, which caused another twinge in Delicia's stomach when the man took her."hey hey! I'll come and visit after this is all over, and we'll play a less scary hide and seek ok?" she waited for the girl to nod when the man spoke "it'll get taken care of, but until then I need you stationed up on the wa- Hey! where are you going!" heading back the opposite way through the crowds she held her hand up in a wave "I have an order to follow." she looked back and smiled before she began a short jog.

unsheathing the swords from her waist and pulling the triggers which activated the wires in her gear sending them shooting out into the buildings on either side, pulling her forward in the process. It was nice to have maneuver gear advantage again, the streets were as safe as outside the walls at this point. Delicia landed on a rooftop, keeping her pace into a short run as she easily replayed the direction she had come from. A sudden thought had her coming to an abrupt halt. Sure the woman from earlier seemed tough, but three Titans were a lot to handle. without much more thought on the matter Delicia turned and sprinted in the direction the two 7-meter class had been, if anything she could be a useful distraction.

The two Titans weren't hard to miss nor did they stray far from their previous location, the two ignored the other but continued to search for a target. Delicia stopped on a nearby rooftop to watch the two giants bumble through the streets, she never did like their faces. The area was quiet except for the Titans so she assumed the survey corps soldier had not been here yet. It gave Delicia a chance to see some action. Tightly gripping both her swords, she rolled her tongue a certain way before releasing a loud whistle, the noise was effective in gaining the attention she wanted, both Titans gaped and moved forward. Waiting for the right moment, she launched herself forward using just enough steam and the speed of the first oncoming Titan to meet in the middle. She collided with the Titan's foerhead roughly gripping a bit of hair from its head to steady herself. "jeeze you're ugly" she sighed, quickly jumping back enough to ram her heel into it's eye.

The Titan didn't have much of a reaction, but it was enough to get it to turn to face the other which had gotten close enough to launch its hand to grab at her. Delicia watched, timing it for the right moment before pulling the triggers and propelling herself to the closest rooftop. She didn't have much time once her feet landed before she swiveled again, pulling the left trigger to send a wire down at an angle, her right wire she stuck into the rooftop for brace. The force of the second titan's punch to the first sent it back, stumbling over her carefully placed wire. Both of The Titan's stumbled back, tangling eachother on the ground.

Delicia smiled, reeling her gear back so it wouldn't get tangled in the mess before propelling herself over to the mangle of small Titan. She quickly cut the top Titan's neck before she hopped around to do the same to the one on the bottom, which was difficult from its flailing limbs and chomping mouth. She took a moment to examine her handy work before she sighed,   pulling herself back onto the rooftop and jogging to the rendezvous point. Kicking a pebble from the rubble before the Garrison soldier hummed as she turned to sit on a chunk of displaced rock, crossing one leg over the other she threw her arms over her head as she waited for the Survey corps woman to arrive.

Taking a deep breath, Acelin released the grappling hooks on her 3D Gear, letting herself go into a short free fall before turning to face another building, pulling the triggers on her swords to bring her up to a roof. Landing neatly on the roof, she began her trek to the other two Titans. She was trying to reserve what gas she had left; at the rate she was using it, she would run out sooner rather than later and at the moment, it wasn't something she could afford. She didn't know the situation at the HQ, but it would have to wait.

She stopped mid-run when she saw a distant figure go at the other two Titans, she squinted to try and get a better look at the situation. Ace couldn't tell who it was from her distance, but she figured it wasn't her problem anyways now. They obviously had it under control now. Turning back around, she took on a brisk walk back to the rendezvous point she gave to the other Garrison soldier. Looking around, she could still see other Titans lumbering around, each taking their time, but hardly any moving in her direction. As she watched them all lumber around, she let out a sigh as she looked up. It was hard enough knowing that no matter how hard any of the soldiers tried, they couldn't save every human. She pulled her goggles down around her neck as she came to the edge of the building, jumping down to land neatly. She resumed her hardened expression as she came back to the rendezvous, noticing the other soldier getting comfortable.

"Is there anything else you have to have taken care of now? I hope your commanding officer doesn't mind me stealing one of their own...but you're the next best person I can grab until I can find my squad again." Putting her swords into the holsters of her gear, Ace put a hand on her chin, trying to piece together a plan. It seemed like the woman in front of her had an excellent sense of hearing... honestly, it would have probably been a skill more suited for the Survey Corps and not the Garrison, considering how useless the guard usually was. She glanced back over at the other soldier, narrowing her eyes slightly in thought, processing information. As far as the Sergeant Major knew, the other was the only one to know about the location of the other two Titans... the figure taking them out was likely her. Whether taking out two Titans so easily was out of sheer luck or skill, she didn't know. It seemed like her intelligence was higher than her skill in battle, however. Looking the other soldier over, she sighed. "If you killed those two Titans you mentioned earlier, I have to commend you on your skill in taking out two. Not a lot of soldiers in the Garrison can do such a feat... assuming it was you. For now, though, we need to look for others. Trost is still in disarray from the Colossal Titan and I know there's trainee graduates here...they can't be handling this situation well right now... dammit." She turned around, her hand dropping from her chin to raise her goggles up to rest on her forehead.

The soldier reached to pull her swords out of her holsters, but stopped in her tracks when she saw a Titan standing about 35 meters ahead of her. She blinked slowly, fear keeping her in place and preventing her from drawing her swords again. The Titan seemed to stare at her with an almost calculating look before walking forward to Acelin, only reaching her in a few steps. The young woman kept her eyes on the 15-meter class Titan as it knelt down, looking down at Acelin. (i can't wait for you to get it)

Delicia had made herself at home in the rubble, just looking at her would assume their city wasn't currently burning to the ground. She sat on a large piece of rock, legs crossed as she watched the tip of her foot bounce around as she waited, her arms crossed over her head acting as a bit of cushion from her head and the crumbled building wall behind her. She counted the minutes as they went by, and it was only two by the time the other soldier showed up which only caused the garrison soldier to smile. "there's my ten! I was starting to wonder if you stood me up" she coo'd, lowering her hands down to her lap and both feet on the ground, she tilted her head slightly at the question before standing, gear jingling as she placed both hands on her hips to meet the younger woman half way "unless more kids start coming out of the walls I think I have it all taken care of, I don't really have time to run a daycare" she chuckled, walking to the edge of the rubble to glance down one way of the street to the other before glancing back "come on ten, you can steal me anytime" grinning she turned on her heels to face the other woman, offering an over the top winking motion.

What was said next surprised her, she didn't expect she was even seen when taking care of those two Titans. Delicia's smile never faltered clicking her tongue and lightly shaking her head "The patch doesn't represent the person." watching her for a moment, she nodded taking a moment to adjust her gear to a more comfortable position. "lead the way...you look like the leader type anyways..I'll follow a few feet behind, give me a minute or two now though...I'll see if I can pick up anything, been awhile since I heard something, they must be making their way towards the evacuation gate" she gave the young woman one last smile before turning back towards the street, pausing for a moment.

A few seconds past, she waited when the whole air around the site changed it became thick. For the first time her smile faded, everything seemed wrong suddenly causing her to turn around with a slight gasp. It was a 15 meter class, how she didn't hear it shocked her into a motionless stupor, it wasn't often something could sneak up on her like that. Delicia's eye faltered as she realized what it was doing, it lumbered forward and knelt infront of survey corps soldier. This wasn't a normal Titan, it wasn't like the others, the only thing she could compare it to was when the wall first fell...those two Titans. Something stirred inside of her causing her to look at the young woman who seemed to be frozen in place. "hey..soldier girl..come on we can't just stand here.." she kept her voice low, the Titan seemed far more interested in the young soldier then her, it gave her a chance to inch her way forward getting no reaction from the soldier, stopping at certain points on the way until the other was within arms reach.

In a moment she reached out, roughly grabbing the back of the woman's uniform and pulling back and against her. Delicia leaned into the girls ear, her voice was sharp and unusually cruel "Listen kid, I don't know what the hell has gotten into you but you need to move." she paused, her eye never leaving the large Titan in front of them "what happened to minimizing life loss? or were you just muttering to yourself" she spat, her grip tightening on the back of the uniform "I'm not going to leave you but I'm not going to die because you're having a fit either, so there's only one choice here and you better take it, ten." in the next instant she shoved the survey corps soldier in the opposite direction, keeping a hand on the girls back for another steady push to get the point across. Delicia didn't want to look back that would only slow them down

Acelin stared at the Titan as it knelt down in front of her, her breath hitching slightly. Her eyes darted back and forth before stopping, almost recognizing the look in the Titan's eyes...in a strange way. The soldier ignored the woman behind her as she talked, trying to get her attention. Ace shook her head, another familiar feeling stinging in her eyes. She was about to reach up, but was stopped when the other soldier grabbed her roughly by the back of her jacket, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She bristled slightly when the woman whispered in her ear, her hands balling into fists as she glared at nothing in particular. The woman had no right to speak to her in that tone, especially after she had given her a chance to fight with her. She stumbled forward when she was pushed by the woman, away from the Titan. She could hear some sort of guttural sound come from the Titan, standing hunched over from the rough push. She glanced back, noticing the Titan was slightly more tense than it was just a minute ago. While she should have been more concerned of the Titan attacking, it seemed like it wouldn't. If it was going to, her and the other soldier would have been done in at this point. That, and she had a feeling this Titan wouldn't be hostile...but she could be wrong. Ace stood up straight, wiping a spot under her eye as she stood as tall as she possibly could. "As soldiers, we die for humanity. Maybe not you, as a Garrison soldier, but I stand as the only representative to the Survey Corps right now. I am willing to die for anyone and I knew one who died for the many. I would almost expect the same from you. But as far as I know and have learned... and you have confirmed, the Garrison fights for only their hides." Acelin narrowed her eyes, slowly moving to salute. "I pity the Garrison. But most of all, I pity you. I honestly expected more from someone like you. "

Acelin let out a small sigh, shaking her head as she dropped her salute. "I changed my mind. You can go back and find your commanding officer. I ref-" She stopped when she noticed the Titan started to expel steam, although not from a particular wound... the entire body was going up. She narrowed her eyes, studying it. "What...what happened?" She muttered. As far as she heard, nobody came by and sliced the the back of the Titan's neck. She began a hastened walk to go behind the Titan, looking up to only see a gaping hole where the mark usually would have been, had she been targeting this Titan. She narrowed her eyes slightly, putting her hand on the hilt of one of her swords. Looking around again, she couldn't see anything in particular that would indicate... anything. She did a once-around, turning in her spot to see if she could find something else to help. She froze when she noticed someone else stepping out of the steam. Her eyes widened once more, recognizing the way the new person in front of her carried himself and the usual flare of determination in his eyes. He was still in the usual soldier attire, though his cloak was missing and his jacket more worn for wear. Taking her hand off of her blade, she shook her head as she took a few more steps forward. "Ambros..."

Said male smiled, closing the distance between them and reaching out to ruffle Ace's hair. "I have quite the story for you, sis." Moving his hand down to her shoulder, he pulled the younger woman into a tight hug, one that was returned almost immediately. "I just hope your... friend over there can keep a secret." He said 'friend' with mild sarcasm, shaking his head.

Acelin felt tears stinging in her eyes when she hugged her brother back, glancing at the still steaming Titan body. All this time she thought he was dead, but... she shook her head, pulling away to look up at him. "I... hope." She glanced over at where she left the other soldier, sighing slightly.

Delicia was more focused on escape then anything, she was still rattled by the fact that the titan had come out of no where, she wanted time to at least calculate an attack rather then the roles be reversed. Her hand ha long fallen from the back of the other soldier, whom she assumed had continued running but the lack of footsteps proved otherwise. Delicia paused, glancing back to see the other woman stop completely. Her face scrunching in confusion she quickly glanced between the titan and the woman who was starting a..salute?

Despite the Titan and situation Delicia's full attention to the speech that was being given. inwardly she felt her jaw clench as she stared down the saluting survey corps soldier, this was no surprise another branch judging the character from those in the Garrison, it happened all the time. But what came next stung in a way, for the moment, Delicia chose to ignore as she quickly and slowly regained focus of the situation. "We were just flanked by a titan! How about we talk about morals after we you know, get out of here?" she fired back, glancing up to assess the situation "We have to reroute! We ha...ve...to..-" she stopped, watching the scene play out before her, she was starting to get tired of having things sneak up on her today if another soldier managed to kill this Titan as steam sprayed every which way from the massive body.

The Garrison soldier took a step back from shock, a free hand on the handle of one of her blades as the steam settled, in its place stood a male, completely human from where she stood and not even an arm left from where the Titan once stood. She watched as the survey corps soldier and the new man exchanged words and from the body language it was more then obvious they knew each other. Delicia finally breathed. A Titan just turned into a man. Her angry little ten knew him, and worst of all she just had to be the one to witness it. "My uncle said to be a baker, I should have listened to him, but nooo I wanted to help humanity" Delicia threw her head back, moving a hand up to rub her eye out, before glancing down again when another soldier was mentioned by a man. Looking around innocently she pointed to herself with a sheepish smile. "ah no uh me? oh no I didn't see anything, uhm I'm just from the Garrison, you know fighting for my own hide" the last bit of her sentence had a bit of edge but she quickly covered it with a smile.

Delicia didn't know what she was suppose to do, she just seen a titan turn into a human, she had seen some horrible things in this field of work but this was a first. Considering the tone of his voice she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to walk away scott free. Either way this whole situation left her confused, she couldn't wrap her head around the fact a human just walked away from..being a Titan and of course she had to witness it. "so ah..Ten! its been fun..uh no hard feelings right, I owe you a new shiny uniform. Uh looks like you got your hands full here uh, hey the whole Titan human thing? Secret is completely safe with me! My pitiful lips are sealed." she clasped her hands together taking a step back, her mind quickly raced to all the possible outcomes. None of them looked very bright for her considering. Pausing a moment she listened, eye glancing down as she muttered more so to herself "maneuver gear...4 yards, 7-meter class to the south headed east..another...15-meter class maybe..got 6 minutes..damn" she grunted to herself, her fingers twitching as she calculated.

Ambros glanced from his sister to the other woman, scratching the back of his head. "I'll be honest, though... I don't know how that whole Titan thing happened. Someone... something happened six months ago. The entire time I was a Titan, all I knew was that I had to find you again, Ace." He made a small huffing noise, looking down at his Maneuver Gear. It was clearly in horrible condition, and not just from the mishap outside of the walls six months ago. Being a Titan for that long took a toll on his gear and he would have to abandon it and get a set of new gear... although from where, he had no idea. He didn't like the thought of it, but it was likely he would have to steal from a dead soldier...

Acelin looked over at the other female when she talked about that whole 'saving her own hide' thing that she had originally brought up. A small sigh escaped her lips as she crossed her arms. She really didn't mean what she said, especially when she got mad like that. But right now they have much time to talk anything out or worry about trivial things like that, especially with Titans currently running around Trost. She looked up at her brother, sighing slightly as she took a glance at his busted gear. Like how her brother didn't like the sound of it, they would have to steal gear from a dead soldier. It was often times used when outside of the walls, moreso in emergencies when soldiers couldn't get to the supply wagon. "Look for a soldier, Ambros." She muttered, looking back at the other woman as her brother nodded and went off. "Forget what I said, we have to work together now. If Ambros can get some more gear, we'll be good to go..." A thought crossed her mind but she shook her head. Looking as the other woman started muttering something, she picked up something about maneuver gear. She narrowed her eyes and glared at nothing in particular. Someone else was on their way to make escape a little more annoying...

Delicia finally looked up from her calculations to the other two, she tried to concentrate on the in coming gear, she was trying to decide if it was one or two either way the sound was coming faster then she could add up their x to her y. Her frown only grew when she picked up what the other two were talking about, just now noticing the gear around the man..had some sort of residue on it as well as bent in un-fixable places. She went back to calculating when the attention didn't seem to be on her, she tried to pick it up again it was fluctuating from close to far..it was all over the place and Delicia had a feeling who ever it was there was a Titan in tow.

Suddenly looking up she realized she was being spoken to, she looked at the survey corps soldier before a smile instantly spread across her face "you're giving me mixed signals Ten, I could get my feelings hurt" she put her hands on her hips, turning towards the direction of the sound again "I'm not sure whats going on here, but to tell you the truth..for right now, I think that's best" she looked back at the other woman, nodding in the direction of the sound. "sounds like gear...one or two its hard to tell..there's a lot to pick up" turning now she walked a little in that direction, when movement called her to stop all together. Two figured just down the street as she predicted, they noticed them almost instantly and one waved quickly jogging in their direction. Delicia waved back, glancing back at the other soldier for a moment before walking forward, hopefully she can distract these two for the time being, there was already enough going on.

She had to squint when a voice hit her from the figure who was fast approaching "Delicia! hey its Delicia come on shes got people with her!" the boy looked back at the other girl with him who was more slow to follow after "..I don't see how that's a good thing." she scoffed. Delicia recognized both of them, the boy and girl were apart of the Garrison middle guard that she was assigned to. "we thought we were the only ones left, they're starting to call us back." Delicia frowned, she wasn't surprised, the situation didn't look good from the start she was really surprised that they lasted this long, though she kept her smile up "then what are you two still doing here" she offered a smile, when suddenly she stopped her eye growing wide "..move!" both of the other soldiers stopped in shock at the sudden outburst. "w-what?" the boy stopped suddenly when the building to his side smashed outward. A Titan hand came forward, gripping the boy as the large awkward creature did a flop. Delicia took off into a sprint instantly, the metal lines shooting out to propel her the rest of the way, the way the Titan fell gave her the advantaged of the exposed neck quickly cutting it and skidding to the other side of the rubble the Titan had caused.

Delicia stumbled forward upon impact, swiveling around to see that the girl was still alive, though now wide eye'd and had fallen to her knees at the near miss of the Titan. "Dammit, get up!" she called, doing another jog to jump over the arm to check the damage of the boy. The sight caused her to stop short. The boy hung limply between the fingers of the steaming Titan. His arms mangled in a way that made Delicia cringe. Taking a few steps closer she sighed, reaching out to close the wide and dead eyes of the dead soldier pausing before ripping off the Garrison patch from his arm. Delicia glanced down, tightly squeezing the patch in her hand before turning, catching sight of the Survey corps soldier "Kurt Petersen...He just graduated." Delecia grunted, stashing the patch under one of the belts in her uniform. "See if his gear is still usable..I..just remember who it first belonged to..I'm going to see if I can get the girl to go back to the gate" Delicia gave a final look at the crippled body before jumping the large arm again to check on the other soldier.

Acelin looked up when the Garrison soldier indicated the direction of the 3DMG. She squinted slightly, looking at the other soldier again. She only gave a slight nod, turning around to assist her brother in looking for another set of gear for him to use. As far as she knew, however, there wasn't any dead soldiers in the immediate area... they had cleared out the Titans here before anything else could have happened. To her knowledge, at least. She ceased her walking, reaching up to pull a different necklace out from under her shirt, looking down as she pulled out a cross on a small chain. She studied the charm like she had so many times before, closing her fist around it and putting it to her lips. Looking back up, the soldier dropped the charm so it hung loosely. Her eyes lit up when there was commotion behind her, and she turned quickly and drew her swords at the sound of a Titan smashing through a building, gripping one of the other two soldiers that had shown up to meet with the other one.

Ace stood frozen, again, as the other Garrison soldier went ahead and killed the Titan in a smooth motion. Slowly she took a few steps forward, looking behind her shoulder to see Ambros following after her. "Keep looking, Ambros. I'll check it out." She called back, her voice shaking more than she would have liked. Walking forward again, she caught the other soldier taking the patch off of the now-dead boy's jacket. She blinked slowly, looking from the corpse to the woman, stopping her walk as she reached the hand of the steaming Titan. Glancing at the other woman, she gave a small nod as she hopped out of sight. Kneeling down, she carefully examined the gear of Kurt, gently unhooking it as she deemed it usable enough for Ambros. Acelin put it down next to her, waving the steam away from her vision. Sighing slightly, she reached up to unclasp the necklace around her neck, pulling it off to examine the cross once again. Again, with care, she put the necklace around the soldier's neck, using her fingers to close his eyes. "You've done humanity a favor, Kurt. Rest in peace." Acelin muttered as she picked up the gear, standing to go find Ambros again.

Ambros walked forward as Acelin stood up, relieving her of the gear. "Go find that Garrison soldier. I'll be ready to go in a few." Reaching forward, he gave Acelin a pat on the shoulder and turned away to replace the gear he currently had on. Acelin blinked again, turning to go find the other Garrison soldier. What was that name she heard the other two use moments before? Delicia? Was that her name? The Survey Corps soldier shrugged, looking around. "...Delicia?" She called, walking forward to go around the arm of the Titan.

Delicia landed flat on her feet upon jumping over the large Titan arm, grunting slightly as her eye searched for the girl, who hadn't moved far at all. The other Garrison soldier stayed on her knees, eyes still staring blankly forward in a vivid sense of fear that Delicia had seen far more then she would have liked. Bits of blood from the titan was on the soldiers face was starting to steam and slowly evaporate. Delicia paused to stare at the girl before walking forward a hand quickly reaching to grip the girls arm and tugging her to her feet. "I thought I told you to get up." she muttered, releasing the girls arm as the soldier looked bewildered at the arm, then back to Delicia. "Kurt..h-he.." stammering over her words the Garrison soldier started to step back "is dead." Delicia glanced at the girl, before placing both hands on her hips "he died for the sake of humanity, just like every soldier out here." she spoke dryly, eye on nothing in particular.

The other soldier only shook her head "..I c-can't do this! he was right there! Everyone is dying out here and no one is helping us! The middle guard is almost completely wiped out and more titans are coming in! I'm suppose to just accept this?! I'm not! I'm not going to just die!" the hysterics of the girl only got worse as she shook, wide eye'd from the steaming Titan to Delicia. There was a pause, a silence between the sobbing of the soldier when Delicia reached forward, gripping the girl's arm again tightly, a familiar serious air returning. "Kurt did not just die. No soldier out here is just dying, we have a purpose here. Our brothers and sisters in arms give their lives so we can live on. We give our lives so they can live on." Delicia nodded to the evacuation gate, her eye never leaving the girl's "We do this for those children that you should be evacuating right now. So they won't have to do what we do. That's the future that we die for." The other soldiers eyes grew wide, as her shaking slowed and Delicia continued "So don't you dare let Kurt's death go in vain because you're afraid to die." The two soldiers stared each other down, Delicia slowly let go of the younger girls arm as she stumbled back, quickly recovering for a salute to the older woman. "Y-yes ma'am!"

Flinching at the action she looked away, rubbing the back of her neck "Don't do that. Go back to the gate, look for any civilians on your way. You fight and you survive to fight for Kurt...for everyone." she turned around fully, watching the Titan steam go up "I expect to see you back at the barracks" she heard the 3D gear activate and watched as the girl shot over her and towards the gate, with what she hoped was new determination. Bringing a hand up to her face Delicia squeezed her eye shut followed by a heavy intake of air when she heard her name. She paused, it only took a split second for Delicia to glance over her shoulder followed by a smile "you called? ah sorry, had to give a bit of a pep talk, poor kid was a shaken up" she turned towards the survey corps soldier "Whats the game plan Ten?" she cleared her throat stepping towards the other soldier, her smile surprisingly steady.

Acelin looked up at Delicia, mostly wondering how she could keep a smile on at a time like this. It was likely a way to hide the way she was really feeling, but it was most definitely an interesting way to go about it. Most soldiers would just keep a hardened expression, used curt nods... but never smiled. A small sigh escaped her lips, standing a little straighter. "Acelin... just call me Acelin." She said, first and foremost. The soldier wasn't particularly fond of the nickname the other woman had given her, so it was a goal to fix it sooner rather than later. Although, it seemed like someone like her would shorten even her real name to the ever-popular Ace. And she wasn't particularly fond of that nickname either, mostly because of what that word and name in itself carried. Glancing down, she quickly did a count of how many blades she had left. Only six... barely enough to take out a large amount of Titans. Surely they would have to restock sooner or later.

Acelin looked back at Delicia after her momentary thoughts, running a hand through her hair. "I'd like to find my squad... but that will have to wait for now. I heard the soldier that just left say that the middle guard is nearly wiped out. That should be our next priority. I'm pretty sure the middle guard is mostly made up of the 104th Trainee Squad. As far as I know, they all have potential. It's just..." The soldier paused, shaking her head. Most of the middle guard... was wiped out. Letting out a shaky sigh, she looked down. "We need to go now. Like I said, I want to minimize life loss today... However, I don't think we'll succeed in that." She turned back around, walking away. "I'll go get Ambros. You make whatever preparations necessary for leaving." Her expression was hardened again, her voice a little stronger now. She felt like a trainee again, making the decision to join the Survey Corps... and then watching Wall Maria fall only the next day. "Ambros! Come on, we have to go."

Ambros dropped the old Maneuver gear, putting the new set on and hooking it all into place. He hoped he could still use the gear properly, considering the amount of time it had been since he used it. His head snapped up suddenly when he saw his sister walking towards him, smiling slightly. "Ready to go already, Acelin? Did you figure out our plan?" He asked, receiving a nod from his sister. "We're going to the middle guard. According to another soldier, they're nearly wiped out. Like I told Delicia, I'd like to look for my squad... but that will have to be put on hold." She gave a curt nod to solidify her decision and planning, turning back around. "I'd... be careful, Ambros. As far as the military knows, you've been dead for six months. And none of us will be able to explain where you suddenly came from." A small chuckle rose from Ambros as he walked forward to pat Acelin on the shoulder before pulling the swords out of his gear, examining them. "I wouldn't worry too much." He nodded, pulling the triggers on his gear to shoot out the iron wiring, the grapples hooking onto a building to pull himself up and onto a roof.

The female soldier sighed, turning and moving at a jog to return to Delicia. "Alright, let's go. We need to find the middle guard as soon as possible now; we're making it our priority. Ignore any Titan that is out of our way, and we'll only deal with the ones that do, in fact, get in our way. After we find the middle guard, we help them as much as we can before moving on. Understood?" Acelin looked up to the other woman, smiling slightly at the other woman's response. Getting a small running head start, she pulled out her sword's handles and pulled the triggers on the handles, grappling hooks shooting out to lodge into the building. The steam launched her up and she landed neatly on the building's rooftop, looking around. She glanced at her brother, before turning to look at where the middle guard would be.

"Looks like there are three... maybe 12-meter class Titans that will be a problem on the way there." He glanced over at his sister and the other woman. "Maybe a Titan each?" Ambros suggested, fingers itching to pull the triggers on the blades once again.

Delicia returned both of her hands to her hips again, her one hand subconsciously checking her gear for any alignment issues. Her smile stayed as she listened for the other woman's name, if not grew wider "Acelin..?" she looked the solider over and nodded "Cute name. You already know mine so that takes care of all the boring formalities." she mused, turning to give Acelin her full attention as she began to explain the plan, her jaw clenching tightly she turned out of habit to listen. There was no 3D gear she could pick up, within their range at least..and her earshot. But Titans, there was plenty of those. She looked back up at Acelin, nodding in reassurance "They may have potential..but they're trainees...attacking a piece of wood isn't like the real thing" Delicia turned her attention to the ground as she thought, before looking back up, relaxing the tightness in her jaw."Hey look at it this way, any life not lost today...well that's a plus for me" she watched the other soldier for a moment, nodding in agreement to the plans, giving a quick wave.

Delicia watched Acelin go to the other man, she assumed his name was Ambros at this point as she walked around the Titan back to the fallen soldier causing her to stop. A glint from around his neck caught her attention, she leaned forward to get a better look, her eye softening instantly upon realization giving her a sense of further peace for her fallen comrade. Feeling a swell in her chest she found herself staring at the survey corps soldier again, the ease of the smile that found itself on her own face surprised even Delicia as she began to walk towards them, ending up meeting Acelin half way.

Using the back of her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth she nodded, glancing up at where the sun was in the sky. The attack had been going on for some time now and daylight was their only advantage for now. "You lead I follow. My swords and ears are yours" she grinned again, clasping her hands together and patting down her uniform before she followed in a slight jog, gripping the triggers at the right distance to propel herself up and land flatly next to the two others, not without a slight grunt. She glanced over at the man as he spoke, she took the chance to give him a once over now that he was closer. The whole..situation with him was unsettling at best, but for now..it was looking like they were going to be a team for the time being, as far as she was concerned there couldn't be any doubt when it came to a team. Her head suddenly twitched to the side, quickly pointing in between two of the Titans mentioned. "..7-meter class...fast moving..steady south" she quickly pointed in another direction, her eye distant and focused on the rooftop opposite of them "two more 7-meter classes...slower pace..time between footfall is 10 seconds..triple that from the three titans..distance between Titans...maybe a few yards" she muttered before stopping abruptly, glancing at the other two with a sheepish grin. "..ah sorry, long story short two of the 12-meters we see have 7-meter class titans around them we don't have visuals on" she rested her swords on either shoulder with a sigh "could have been a nasty surprise."

Acelin looked from her brother to Delicia as the other woman confirmed more Titans than Ambros could anticipate. She gave a slow nod, thinking about their chances and how efficiently they could wipe them out. Easily, she'd be able to take out the 12-meter and two 7-meters, but there was a chance Ambros would protest and want to kill the group of three. Whether it was his instinct to protect his little sister or he just wanted to kill Titans, she really didn't have a clue... or care right now. While her brother easily had seniority over her, he didn't have the rank to make it so anymore. Sighing slightly, she looked towards their targets. "Delicia. I want you to take the 12-meter and 7-meter class Titans. As I've seen and know, you've made some impressive kills today. I have no doubts that you'll be able to finish this off easily." She gave a nod of confirmation, turning to Ambros. "And you're taking the lone 12-meter." She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Ambros's head snapped up to look at his sister when she announced he would only be taking on the lone Titan. He looked from the Titans to her, frowning. "What kind of orders are those? Do you not think I can take on the group of two, or the three? You know I'm more capable than that." He tried to search his sister's eyes for something, but it didn't seem like there was a way to convince her otherwise and that she was more than solid with her decisions and orders. "Don't question your orders, Ambros. You, according to the entire Survey Corps and myself, currently have no rank. You are still currently dead to the branch. And until we can get your rank established again, you are under my command." Ambros glared at his sister momentarily at her words before he turned back away, looking forward again.

Acelin turned away from Ambros, glancing back over at Delicia. "...Sorry about that. You both have your orders. Move out!" She stood back and watched momentarily to make sure that Ambros went for the target she ordered him to go after. With a nod to herself, she took off in the direction of her targets, keeping a visual on the 12-meter she was after. While the other two around it were shorter, Titans were extremely unpredictable. They might be able to jump up and grab her if they were deviant-type. She let out a sigh, gripping her swords tighter. No matter, she'd be able to handle it. Her plan was to hit the 12-meter first and then swing lower to get the two 7-meters. Hopefully, it'd be a seamless task.

She pulled the triggers on her swords as she came to the edge of the building, wire shooting out to lodge into a tower that stood near her targets. Steam propelled her forward as a moderate pace, the woman placing her feet against the tower to keep her steady. She watched the Titans carefully, flipping her swords around seamlessly. She rested her fingers on the triggers, whistling sharply to catch the attention of the 12-meter class Titan. Acelin watched with an indifferent expression as the monster turned around to look at her, lamely making its way over to her to seemingly claw at the bottom of the tower she was perched on. Reaching up, she pulled her goggles down, adjusting them before she hit the release on her sword's handles, kicking off of the building as soon as the grapples came loose. Entering a short free fall, the soldier pointed her swords down, bringing them down into the Titan's eyes as she came down. The Titan spasmed somewhat from the sudden attack, a strange sound of pain escaping its mouth. She ripped her swords out, flipping to land on the Titan's shoulder. Pulling the trigger on her swords, wire shooting to lodge into another building, pulling her forward to drag the swords deep into the nape of the Titan's neck.

Landing neatly on another building, she heard the familiar thud of a Titan falling to the ground. Looking back around, she saw the other two Titans making their way towards her. She had a feeling this wouldn't have been as seamless as she would have hoped, but she would be able to handle it no problem. Examining her blades quickly, she theorized the current ones would be okay for two more kills. Acelin looked back up, flipping her swords around again to wield them front-handedly. Keeping an iron grip on them, she took off at a running start, jumping off the edge of the building to face the two Titans running at her. She pulled the triggers on her swords, iron wiring shooting out to lodge into either Titan. Despite the risk, she'd have to use the both of them to her advantage. Or...disadvantage. The steam in her gear launched her forward, shifting her body weight so she would be angled upwards. She planned on taking an aerial attack on the two Titans, to launch high enough to hit them both in a seamless action. Just as she reached the height she needed to hit them both, she felt a jerk at one side of her gear, the pull causing her to cease movement. The sudden stop caused her to jerk forward somewhat. The force from the stop caused her to sputter and she turned around, noticing the Titan on the right had realized her idea. She cursed slightly and grit her teeth, the pain obvious. Of course one of them was deviant... She'd had to go for the deviant first. Flipping the switch to reel the iron wire back in, she lifted her swords up as she came down upon the deviant-type Titan, slicing into its neck with more effort than she was used to. Jumping forward, she pulled the trigger to lodge the wires into yet another building, crossing her swords to cut into the neck of the other Titan.

Two thuds followed shortly after her actions and she landed on the building, staggering slightly as she released the current blades on her sword handles. She put a hand on her stomach, where she had gotten the most jerk of the Titan's actions of grabbing her wires. "At least the gear's not damaged..." She muttered, looking up to see the other two had already finished their tasks.

Ambros went forward as his sister called them too, irritation still fresh in his mind. He was sure now; his sister didn't trust him at the moment. It was likely because he just came up as a Titan and expected her to trust him fully again, but it would probably take time for her to realize that he wasn't a threat... for the most part. Although he was positive her reason for distrust almost came from his tendency to view slaying Titans as a sport... he scoffed slightly. He'd get his rank back sooner than he would realize and get back to his usual way of dealing with things sooner rather than later. Gripping the swords of his new gear tightly, he focused in on his target. 12-meter class, slow-moving... not what he was used to. He made a tch noise as he pulled the triggers on his swords, steam pushing him forward to launch his assault. He moved quickly, shifting his weight to move closer to the ground. As he skid across the ground to move around the Titan to view its back, he pulled the triggers again, another pair of wires shooting out to lodge into the Titan's shoulders. Again, steam pushed him sword and he raised his swords, crossing them to cleanly cut into the Titan's neck. A small smile came across his lips as the cut came to an end, using the gear's steam to go a little higher to land on the Titan's head. Looking down at the building across the way, he jumped off the Titan's head to land on the building next to him, landing neatly.

He looked over to see the progress of the other two, freezing slightly when he saw one of the 7-meter class Titans Ace was after grip the wire that was lodged into the monster. Ambros saw Acelin jerk slightly but almost immediately spring back into action, bringing down the two Titans quickly. He started off at a jog to meet her as she landed, slowing down a bit as he came closer. "Ace! Are you okay? I should have taken on those three..." He muttered the last part, but only received a cross look from Acelin. "I'm...fine." Ace muttered, looking over to search for Delicia.

Delicia bounced her swords lightly on her shoulders, turning to look back at the titans that they could see with a distant smirk on her face. She glanced back at Acelin, nodding firmly at the orders she was given. "You flatter me. Consider it done" she mused, walking towards the edge of the rooftop to look at her newly assigned distant lumbering target. A slight commotion behind her caused Delicia to glance over her shoulder. Whatever it was the man didn't seem to pleased with the cards he was dealt. She listened for a moment to the two, so he was considered dead before. She looked up again, watching Acelin for a moment before offering a smile and a shrug. Swiveling on her heels she jumped off the roof, allowing a delay before she activated her gear with a rough pull of triggers on her sword. After activating the steam in her gear the force was enough to get her to the next roof, which she hit with a skid. With the added speed she jumped again in time to get her closer to her target before she stopped short next to a near chimney.

With a sigh, she raised her arm to lean against the brick, evaluating the titans infront of her. The 7-meter seemed to be far more interested in something in one of the buildings while the 12-meter slouched forward as it walked down the street. Gripping her swords she glanced down at the blades, they were more worn then she would have liked but they would have to do for now until she could change them out. A smile spread across her face as she got a running start, activating her gear as two wires shot out, lodging into the building opposite. She twisted slightly, allowing gravity to swing her towards the 7-meter class. Positioning her legs forward she collided with the head of the 7-meter feet first, the jar from the impact shook her legs, causing her to flinch. The impact didn't effect the Titan much, if not cause it to stumble slightly but it was enough for Delicia, using the Titan's forehead as leverage she twisted to the opposite direction, two more wires shooting out in the direction of the 12-meter class. Her actions got the smaller Titan's attention, causing it to lamely shuffle after her as she activated the steam of her gear yet again to propel her towards the much larger titan.

The 7-meter was fast,  she kept herself low a few feet from the road itself. She gripped the swords tightly as she got closer to the 12-meter, her goal was right between it's large legs and if her timing was right then it would go smoothly. Just as the large Titan turn she activated the steam to push herself faster and between the thick legs, releasing the wires before spinning, close enough to dig her sword deep into the heel of the Titan. Steam instantly spurred from the cut as another wire shot out to lodge behind the calf of the large Titan. The speed she was going caused a jerk in the wire, but the action was needed for the sharp turn, bringing her closer to the next heel with a similar cut with her other sword. The large Titan fell forward with a monstrous groan, Delicia's wire snapped back causing her to tumble into the building opposite. The earlier jerk was enough to slow her speed for the collision but she hit hard, gasping suddenly from the air escaping her lungs.

The Garrison soldier slowly pushed herself off the wall, looking up in time to see the large Titan fall onto the smaller one with a slight rumble. She didn't have much time as she ignored the whole side of her body in a throb from the impact, she ran forward up onto the back of the fallen Titan and to the back of its neck, she had to pause for an instant to muster enough strength to manage a deep enough cut before being blasted by the steam that followed. Delicia grunted, wincing as she stepped away from the open cut before looking to where the 7-meter class had been pinned. Half of its body wiggled, its head twisted around and its focus still completely on Delicia. She walked across the Titan's back to the smaller one, giving one final push to cut along the back of the smaller ones neck.

A distinct snap followed as she felt one of her swords instantly break as she pulled back. "Just..in time" she breathed, giving a pained smile at the bloody and bent blade. She hopped off the Titan, moving with a slight limp towards where she remembered the two other large Titans were. She couldn't  hear anything close so walking would have to do now as she let her body catch up with itself. She turned the corner in time to see the two others, they were alive which was a plus neither of them looking too banged up though Delicia did focus more on the other woman before straightening up herself. Closing the distance between herself and Acelin and Ambros, Delicia brought a hand up to wipe the side of her mouth from a trail of blood that had come from a broken lip. Though the collision wasn't fast enough to break anything, she was still going to feel it on her side. She only hopped she wasn't the worst looking one out of the three of them. "Everyone still has their limbs huh?" she smiled, slowing as she reached the other two. "hope I didn't hold anything up, you two alright?" she stood up straighter again, looking the man over who seemed to be fine before looking towards Acelin taking a moment for clipping a new blade to her sword carefully to insure it was on right. She waited before glancing up, surveying just where they were. "I was originally stationed on the middle guard for evacuation...we're not too far off now if they're any survivors we'll be ontop of them soon" Delicia looked up again with a smile, it was the easiest way to hide the grimace.

Acelin put the handles of her swords on another pair of blades in her gear, not worrying about unsheathing them for the time being. She turned her attention when she heard Delicia walking up, moving forward to meet her part way. "No casualties... although I took a jerk from one of the Titans pulling on my gear." Glancing to where her fight had taken place, Acelin looked back to the duo. "If we're not far from the middle guard, then we need to hurry." The squad leader looked up, unsheathing her swords to get ready to move again. Glancing at her two companions, she pulled the triggers on her gear, wire shooting out to bring her back up onto a building, hearing them both fall in behind her.

Keeping her trained eyes forward, Acelin glanced back at her makeshift squad as she pointed forward. [color=#993333]"I think I see soldiers up ahead..." She squinted slightly, nodding as she ran forward to get a better look. Ambros followed without question, looking forward at whoever his sister saw. Would it even be the trainee squad? It could have been actual soldiers stopping to get a count on their supplies... but he had no choice but to follow Acelin to figure out.

Ace slowed as they got closer to the group she saw, squinting her eyes slightly as she lifted her goggles. Walking forward slowly, she glanced back at Delicia. "Is this all that's left of the middle guard?" She asked quietly, stepping forward again. "Survey Corps and...one Garrison soldier, is this the middle guard? We're here to assist." Ace called, moving to sheath her blades again.

Delicia paused to look over her swords again, glancing to the blade that had fallen as the titan blood was almost completely gone from its surface. She bit the inside of her cheek to distract from the irritating pain in her side, she refused to look like the only one who didn't come out unscathed. She looked up with interest when she mentioned being yanked by a Titan, she certainly held it well but that must come with being in the survey corps. She looked up when she spoke again giving a nod and another smile before she readied her gear to follow shortly after Ambros. She landed next to them with a little wobble before she straightened out, squinting to where Acelin had mentioned. "They were pushed back.." She muttered, holding a hand just above her eye to get a better look.

Foot fall from the other two running, she followed suit in a slower jog as she took survey of what they were coming up on. The group looked lost and distressed, they spoke among themselves a lot of them with worried expressions. She caught up to Ace to catch what she said, the garrison soldier merely shook her head "Its barely half. If that." she answered, her lips formed a hard line as they drew closer as the survey corps soldier addressed them.

Delicia noticed a boy, he was curled into himself, his hands gripping his stained hair as he leaned up against a wall. "Acelin." Delicia called, nodding to the soldier who sat slightly offset from the group. She walked up on him carefully, sheathing her blades as she approached when she realized he was muttering something. "Hey! can I ask you a couple questions?" she stood over him, he looked up frightened and eyes wide. "It ate him! It ate Eren" his body wracked as he leaned forward. Delicia sighed, squatting down infront of the boy "Was he apart of your group, can you tell me what happened?" she danced around with her question careful not to send him into a tizzy. "I'm the only one left! I didn't do anything I just watched, its my fault." Delicia let out a sigh, these kids were too young to have to deal with this so soon. Looking up at Acelin she shrugged "From the sounds of it, everything went downhill as soon as it started, I think this is it." Her hand balled into a tight fist as she thought before she stood. "I should have stayed in formation, they didn't know what they were up against." she grunted, her hands resting on her hips as she glanced to the survey corps soldier then down at the trainee.

Acelin blinked slowly as she examined whatever was left of the middle guard, her hand slowly moving to cover her mouth. She remembered more squads than whatever was left now; as she watched she noticed only barely two remained. Was the 104th Trainee Squad wiped out that quickly? "Dammit..." She muttered, feeling her brother's hand on her shoulder. Slowly she turned to face him, her gaze turning to look at the rooftop only a few seconds later. "They shouldn't have put only them in the middle guard... they needed more protection..." Her voice trailed off into a whisper. "You can't do anything if you're not around, Ace." Ambros told her bluntly, looking down at her. "Don't waste your time mourning over what has already happened. Think about what could happen if you don't try."

The soldier stared at her brother, frowning. She knew he was right but she wasn't going to admit it. "We'll worry about it later." Acelin looked up when Delicia called her name, narrowing her eyes at Ambros before she turned to walk briskly to the other woman. "What is it?" She asked, looking to the young male she motioned to. Adjusting the leather straps over her shoulders as she followed Delicia, she kept her green eyes on the blonde. He couldn't have been older than 15, she decided to herself. Too young to be fighting a war like this. Almost all of the Trainee Squad was. She stood next to Delicia, keeping a lookout for more Titans to possibly show up with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She only looked again when the young boy mentioned another name, furrowing her brow as she listened to the attempted conversation. The boy was obviously in shock, unable to respond properly to any questions asked.

Acelin looked down when she noticed Delicia looking up at her again, giving a slow nod to what she said. Pausing a moment longer to listen to what else she had to say, she let out a small sigh. "It's not your fault. Blame the command; they put freshly graduated soldiers in a position they shouldn't have been in in the first place. No offense, but the Garrison command available is not who I would choose first to keep a city safe from Titan attacks." The last sentence was spoken bluntly as her gaze moved to look over at the other small group of soldiers. "We can't talk to this one; the other group might be able to tell us more about what happened here."

Delicia only glanced over to what the survey corp soldier said, her lips pursed when she mentioned the Garrisons choice in command. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest as her voice took on a low tone. "They do know how to put some useless people in command.. take it from me." she stared ahead, not looking at anything in particular as she slowly started to get lost in thought, her arms tightening against her chest as most of the sound around her became slightly fogged as she was suddenly miles away. She blinked suddenly when Acelin spoke again, she gave her head a slight shake as she smiled her arms returning to her hips in a more secure stance. "We'll have to work with what we have, and be thankful we have this to work with" she turned on her heels her attitude  doing a sudden 360 as she glanced back "that face of yours is too cute to be frowning all the time, come on lets go talk to them" she nodded to the group before turning to wave for their attention.

Most of the soldiers seemed to shy away from the Garrisons soldiers approach, a lot of them more then likely not wanting to talk about what they had seen, or even what they had done. Delicia came up fast approaching, her second attempt at getting something out of one of these soldiers was not going to be in vain. She glanced back at Acelin again before calling out "I'd like to ask some questions, we don't have much time to be standing here in the open like this so whose up for it?" she waited, the group seemed to look at eachother before no one stepped forward. Delicia sighed, turning her attention to the survey corps soldiers "This is like pulling teeth."

Acelin actually did give a small frown at the obvious pass the woman gave to her, following with her arms still tightly crossed across her chest. Again she glanced back at the blonde sitting alone, her eyes narrowing slightly. Whatever information he held was important, but he wasn't mentally fit to share it. It was either that, or he was waiting for someone specific. Pursing her lips, she stopped walking when Delicia called to the other group of soldiers. She tapped her fingers on her elbow slowly, taking another few steps forward when the Garrison soldier looked back at her. "They shouldn't have assigned new graduates to something like this anyways." She glanced up at the woman. "They should have been evacuated immediately. It's like they're purposely trying to dwindle their numbers so the rest of the branches won't get new soldiers." She nodded forward to a soldier that had stepped forward. "I think someone's willing to talk now, Delicia." Ace uncrossed her arms, folding her hands behind her back. "Willing to tell us what happened here?" She asked in a calm voice, blinking slowly.

The only one who seemed ready to talk was the male with light brown hair and an undercut. He looked between the soldiers from the Survey Corps and the Garrison, glancing back at the blonde behind them. "He's the only one who knows what really happened here, but I'm sure everyone but him died in his squad." He shook his head slowly, his own arms crossing. "Unless someone else is out there from the guard, you're not going to get much information."

Setting her hands on her hips, she looked down at her gear in thought when the other woman came up behind her. Delicia shrugged her shoulders to the statement, a barely noticeable sigh escaped her, watching the soldier's faces. They were so young, hardly even graduated and some still in training uniforms. How could anyone expect them to last long. "They couldn't possibly have Titan experience, it makes me wonder" her voice took on a low tone as her eye narrowed to the group in front of them "How important their survival even is to anyone else, you know? Makes you wonder what the actual intention for having these kids out here was." she glanced back over to the survey corps soldier, a smile flashing across her features "But we're not allowed to think like that." her eye flicked to the boy that stepped forward, Delicia's smile grew, standing up straighter as she looked the boy over.

Delicia listened to the trainee, looking off suddenly in one direction or another, lips silently moving to herself. What the boy said brought her attention back, she glanced at Acelin, "I've seen plenty of reactions to to Titans, the blonde is at his worse, we're going to run out of time before we get anything useful out of him" she sighed, looking off in the direction she had earlier "there's movement, its barely in earshot for me to tell you the class but its close enough to mention. Whats your call?"

She unfolded her hands from behind her back, moving them forward to adjust the sleeves and frowning when she heard Delicia speak. Sighing slightly, she glanced up at the woman before her gaze returned forward again. Acelin listened and only gave a snort, something in between a grumble and a laugh at what was said. "We're not here for independent thought. We're all just expendable soldiers. But..." Her gaze returned to the woman. "Like you said, we're not allowed to think like that." Her own frown turned into a hint of a smile, her green eyes shifting forward again to listen to what the trainee had to say about the current situation. Of course, and as expected, there wasn't anything to add onto it. "Scheiße." She muttered under her breath.

The woman turned around to look in another direction, her eyes set on nothing in particular as she listened to Delicia speak. She dully noted what she said about the Titan she heard in the distance. Bringing a hand up to rub her chin, she let out another sigh. "One of us is going to have to go and take it out. We can't all go; someone has to stay back and watch these trainees..." Ace turned her gaze back to the Garrison soldier. "But it's either you or me. I don't trust Ambros right now..." She said the last part quietly, moving to adjust the sleeves on her jacket again.[/color]