No Choice (Eruri)

No Doubt

He could feel the cold sweat on his forehead as the wind swept over the walls and brushed his skin. Tensely, he pressed his lips together and stepped to the edge to look down into the depths. The abandoned buildings of the former border town lay at his feet, while from one moment to the next, an almost stifling silence filled the air around him. Suddenly, there was no wind, and he imagined he could hear the soldiers breathing at the other end of the walls, waiting to be deployed.

Today was the day.

Today would be the start of the first mission since the fall of the first wall. And it would be a complete success despite their many setbacks in recent months. He was more than sure of that. They were well prepared. Nothing could go wrong. Or couldn't it?

Erwin glanced sideways at his comrades. To his right, Levi stood a few meters away from him at the edge of the wall. Behind him were the soldiers who had been assigned to his squad. As if he had sensed Erwin's attention, he briefly raised his eyes to meet his for a fleeting moment before immediately turning away again and looking tensely into the depths.

His team stood almost motionless behind him, consisting of Kjell and three other soldiers he had selected and trained over the summer for this exact moment.

Cedric, a young soldier about Kjell's age, stepped forward and whispered something in Levi's ear from the side. Originally trained as a soldier in the Garrison, he had only recently joined them and had shown unusual talent, especially in combat, and it was almost a shame he had initially chosen only to join the Garrison. He turned away from Levi and to his younger comrade, whose posture immediately stiffened as their eyes met.

It had not escaped Erwin's notice that there had been conflict between Cedric and Artjom, a boy of 16 years, on more than one occasion. Unlike Cedric, who came from one of the wealthier families, Artjom was only the son of a simple peasant family from one of the outer-wall villages. As a fresh recruit, Artjom had had to complete the entire training, generally scheduled for three years, in record time and had shown such immense progress for that short time that Levi had claimed him for his team after only a few days.

Erwin had given him a free choice, for he was still confident that Levi was one of his strongest soldiers, if not the best, who had ever fought in one of the regiments.

So Levi's choice had also fallen on another soldier from the Garrison named Lydia, who had agreed to leave the safety of her previous regiment and fight alongside the Survey Corps in this unprecedented constellation.

To Erwin's surprise, Kjell was the only one in Levi's squad, along with Levi, who was originally from the Underground. Erwin had expected Levi to take the opportunity to take some of the recruits from the Underground under his wing, but apparently, despite still feeling resentful about the situation, he took his task very seriously and did not judge the soldiers on his team by their origins, but had chosen them solely based on their skills.

Once again, Erwin had to admit that he had misjudged Levi. After their argument, he had almost firmly expected that he would use the high level of responsibility he had been given in this situation to sabotage, but apparently, he had also realized that his own moral standards had little place in his new role as a leader and within the current situation.

Again, he looked up as he apparently felt Erwin's gaze still on him. At this point, Erwin finally turned away and returned his attention to what was happening around him.

To his left was Mike's team, along with Nanaba, Henning, and Lynne, made up entirely of soldiers from the Survey Corps or recruits who had already chosen to join the Scouts.

Somewhat distantly, he heard the all too familiar voice of Hange, her shouts echoing off the walls as she once again explained to the Garrison the vital function of the cannons in their plan.