The Birth of Freedom

Deal with the Devil

Hange, Miche and Levi all agreed that something was amiss here; however, all also agreed that the trainees appeared to be none the wiser about whatever it was that was surrounding them; mostly due to the fact they used their actual name of Sparhawke instead of an alias and had also used their exact dates of birth. In the words of Levi, nobody with something to hide would be that much of an idiot, so, what was it that we were missing?

So here we stand on the observation ledge waiting for Sadies to make his appearance and show us what we all came here to see. The Purpose of the drill was to assess individuals in a mock combat scenario, large wooden frames carved out to resemble Titans would have been placed around the area with leather padding on their napes to mimic an actual Titan nape. This was an excellent way to gauge where a soldier was at in terms of making the killing blow, it also helped in ranking the top ten cadets.

"Do you think he's taking a shit" Levi scowled while kicking a lump of dirt away from him.

"Just lining up the cadets' Captain, I'm sure you can appreciate the need for protocol" Sadies scolded as he came to stand in-between myself and Miche. I saluted, and he reciprocated before turning back to point at the cadets that had amassed into four teams below.

"See the tall redhead built like a brick shithouse" Sadies indeed pointed to a tall, well-built man who was assessing the training course "That's Rian, lads a thinker, methodical and has the skill set to back it up. Good team player and has good comradery with his classmates. Doesn't say much but speaks if he thinks it needs saying. He is quick for his size, but you will see that soon enough" I nodded, making mental notes on everything Sadies said.

"You said there was two, a brother and a sister" Levi quipped after he had too finished his initial assessment of Rian and appeared unimpressed. Sadies gave Levi a sly smile before pointing to a woman standing next to Rian, she was much shorter than the man she stood next to, I'd dare say she would be head level with Levi if not a little smaller. She had a woman's curved figure compared to all the young teens standing near her, and her bound up hair was a brilliant shade of vibrant red.

That must be Aurora. 

"That is Aurora. The girl is bewitching to look at, has one green eye and one grey that have this haunting look that could turn your insides. She's all instinct and aggression, more of an act first then think later character which will need reigning in. She has on rare occasion been known to not play well with others, minor altercations which were punished, either she's learned her lesson, or she's gotten smarter at handling herself when an audience is around, my guess is the latter. Overall though respected by her classmates. She is fast and agile, strong for her size too. She coordinates fluidly with Rian and others sometimes when she bothers to extend herself. I think you will appreciate her blade work Levi, it isn't too far away from your own technique."

"Tch. Sure" Levi scoffed and I smiled. Levi may not be one to be easily impressed, but I must admit I was liking what I was hearing, especially the coordination. If they could work well with others, I could use them in the long-range formation without issue, of course, that rested on the could part.

"Tell me more about their coordination," I said and Sadies nodded in approval.

"Rian and Aurora work together flawlessly, it's almost supernatural the way they communicate in a fight, some creepy twin thing if you ask me but hell it works." Sadies grinned, "They have an instinctual feel for what the other is doing without needing to say before they execute their moves. It translates into all aspects of their training, from ODM gear to hand to hand combat which is terrifying to watch by the way. The other cadets damn near pissed their pants. They have struggled to work well with others in past simulations but over the last year that has steadily improved. I think it's more of a trust issue than an actual inability to work with others, they were in Shiganshina when the Titans came, they know first-hand what they can do. If I had to guess I'd say they assess their teammates and if they deem them competent then they work with them, incompetent then they work around them. They will be in squad one, I placed them with Hannings, Petrov and Carmichael all capable cadets who will likely be in the top tier. Are you ready?"