Once Mikasa managed to compose herself and calmed down, her and Armin carried him to the wall with the others. However once they returned, they were met by garrison soldiers, "Cadets! What happened out there?!", they asked concerned seeing as Eren was unconscious and Aila was injured. Mikasa rested Eren against the wall as she saluted, "Sir! We ran out of gas and blades and had to make it back to HQ, however there were titans all over it and inside the supply room. We had to clear the ones out of the building", Mikasa reported to their superiors. Annie cut in, "However, the titans were still crawling all over and around HQ. Ackerman ran out of gas and fell on the way there, Brandt here came to her aid and saved her at the price of getting grabbed by a titan herself, she needs medical attention" "Understood, take her to the med bay with the others", one of the soldiers said as they motioned away from the wall. Annie helped support Aila as they started off towards the medical bay with the other wounded soldiers. "Annie, I'm fine I promise", Aila tried to reassure her girlfriend, "I understand that, however you still have small bruises on your abs, don't try to push yourself when you don't need to", Annie expressed towards her girlfriend. Aila smiled and scoffed a bit, happy to be reassured that she is loved. Once they arrived, a nurse told Annie to lay Aila down on a cot and lift her shirt so she can do a physical check up. Annie was a little jealous at first, but held Ailas' hand the whole exam. When the nurse finished, she wrapped Aila's abdomen with bandages, "Somehow you got extremely lucky, you only suffered small bruises on your abdomen that'll heal in a few days. If you feel ok enough, you have permission to return to the front lines if needed", the nurse told Aila. Aila sat up and thanked the nurse, "See Annie? I told you I'd heal up just fine" "Uh.. yeah but, c-can you put your shirt back on before others see you?", Annie asked her girlfriend blushing a little. Aila chuckled and slipped her shirt and jacket back on, she and Annie then set off to return to find their classmates.
When they returned to the military post, they saw Sasha, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Jean standing by a gas refuel post. They were confused at first though, because Mikasa and Armin weren't with them, "Sasha! Where's Mikasa and Armin?", Aila asked as she and Annie walked to her. Sasha stepped forwards, happy to see that Aila was ok, "Hey! I'm glad you're alright, and... Mikasa and Armin stayed behind with Eren" "At the medical bay?", Annie asked. Sasha shook her head no and leaned in closer to the two, "Armin told the soldiers about what happened with Eren, and now they don't trust him, they pointed their blades at him and Mikasa got into older sister mode and stayed with him to protect him with Armin". Annie and Aila gasped, what were they going to do to Eren? Aila switched to her power, "That's not good, if Eren can help us take back Eldia, we need him", Aila told the two. Annie leaned against Aila, resting her head on her chest, "You're right, I still need to see my father again", Sasha sat down and looked at her swinging legs. She gulped out of nervousness, "D-Do you think Mikasa will be ok..? And what about you guys? If this is how they react if you tell them about your powers will they-" "I wont let that happen", Annie cut in fiercely. Suddenly, KABOOM! A canon went off! "W-What the hell was that?!", Sasha asked looking towards the wall, Sasha immediately shot off on her ODM gear towards the canon fire. Aila and Annie soon followed, they landed on top of a roof near where a horde of garrison soldiers were. A cloud of smoke surrounded the area, once it cleared, an unfinished titan transformation was revealed. The three of them stood there in shock, wide eyed. Sasha opened her mouth, "W-What the hell... Mikasa was there..", Aila jumped up preparing to go towards the titan but was stopped by Annie. She turned confused at first, but realized she would be cut down immediately by the garrison soldiers', she thought to herself, "Shit.. how the hell are we gonna save Mikasa and the others now..?".
Steam began to emit from the titan as it started to collapse and evaporate. There was nothing the three of them could do to help the others, all they could do was sit and watch. "What're we gonna do? We can't just charge in and pull them out of there!", Sasha shouted in a panic, worried for her lovers' safety, "You're right, but I'm not sure how we can de-escalate the situation either, if we're not careful, all of us could get hurt today", Aila stated as she anxiously watched the steam clear. CRASH! TACKTACKTACKTACK! Someone was running out of the steam, a soldier shouted, "STOP! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!", WHOOSH! SKTTTTT! Armin emerged from the steam, unarmed, no gear, and hands in the air. He began to shout, "Eren is not a foe of humanity! We're willing to cooperate with military command and share everything we've learned about his powers!", a captain of the garrison shouted back, "YOUR PLEAS FALL ON DEAF EARS! HE REVEALED HIS TRUE FORM AND BECAUSE OF THAT HE CANNOT LEAVE HERE ALIVE! IF YOU INSIST HE'S NOT AN ENEMY OF OURS, SHOW ME PROOF! OTHERWISE WE'LL BLAST HIM BACK TO WHATEVER NIGHTMARE HE CRAWLED OUT OF!". Armin began to get more defensive, "You don't need any proof! The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter what we precede him to be!", the captain became more irritated, "WHAT?!". Armin continued on with his plea, "The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him, and those who were there said they saw him fighting other titans! And that means they saw him get swarmed by the titans as well! To put it plainly, the titans saw him the same way they see each and every human being as their prey! And it doesn't matter how else you may look at it, that is an irrefutable fact!", the soldiers around him began to converse and rationalize their thinking, Aila, Annie and Sasha stayed atop the roof, in awe of Armins' bravery. But, despite the facts set before them, the captain shouted to prepare and attack, "DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE SWAYED BY HIS CUNNING LIES! THE TITANS' BEHAVIOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN BEYOND OUR COMPREHENSION! I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST HIM TO ASSUME HUMAN FORM! H-HE'S SPEAKING OUR LANGUAGE! I-IN AN ATTEMPT TO DECEIVE US! I REFUSE TO LET HIM CONTINUE THIS BEHAVIOR!", with this, the soldiers were quickly swayed, raising their blades and guns back towards the three. Aila jumped forwards, prepared to swoop down and transform to save them, Armin looked back towards Eren and Mikasa in fear, however, they had opposite expressions. They smiled and nodded, entrusting Armin with their lives. Armin took a deep breath and saluted, "I AM A SOLDIER! AND I HAVE DEDICATED MY HEART TO THE RESTORATION OF HUMANITY SIR! NOTHING COULD MAKE ME PROUDER, THAN DYING FOR SUCH A NOBLE CAUSE! IF WE WERE TO USE HIS TITAN ABILITY, AND COMBINE IT WITH THE MANPOWER WE HAVE LEFT, I BELIEVE WE COULD DO IT! WE CAN RETAKE THIS CITY, FOR HUMANITIES GLORY, AND WHAT LITTLE TIME I HAVE LEFT TO LIVE, I WILL ADVOCATE HIS STRATEGIC VALUE!". Despite this heartfelt speech, the captain still raised his hand in giving the order to fire the canon once more. Aila jumped out and immediately unsheathed her blades, but just as she was about to jump down and transform, a man caught the captains' arm, stopping him from giving the order. The man spoke, "That's enough, you should really do something about your nervous disposition captain Woerman", the captain turned and realized who had stopped him. "C-Commander Pixis!" "Can you not see this young soldiers' heartfelt salute? I've only just arrived but I'm quite aware of our situation. Gather our reinforcements, I think, we could do these young soldier's the favor of hearing them out.", Aila and the others let out a breath of relief, the air began to clear, and no one was killed.
Annie tapped Aila's shoulder, "C'mon, we should probably go back before someone sees us", the three turned and returned to the others, this time with Ymir, Connie, and Christa standing with them. Christa noticed and ran over to them, "You guys alright?! We heard you all got stuck""Yeah, well some of us are alright, Aila got grabbed by a titan saving Mikasa", Annie retorted with irritation in her tone. Christa immediately ran over to Aila and began to check her body, "Christa I'm fine really, we went to the medical bay and its' just some bruises, I'll heal in a few days", but before Christa could respond, Annie pulled her off of her and wrapped herself in her arms, giving Christa a death glare. Christa got the message and backed away to Ymir, who asked, "Well its' cool and all to see you're ok, but what was with that canon fire?" "Sorry Ymir, we're under strict gag rules", Ymir backed off in slight disappointment but accepted it. Suddenly, the commander shouted, "ATTENTIOOOOOOOON!", every soldier in the vicinity turned their attention towards Pixis, who was standing atop the wall, with Eren alongside him. Pixis began to speak, "Take note, the blueprint of the Trost recovery operation is this! Our primary objective is to reseal the hole, yes you heard right! What's more, the task will be done manually! As for how the task will be done, that's where this fellow comes in, allow me to introduce cadet Eren Jaeger! Don't let appearances deceive you, this young man is in fact the successful product of cutting edge science! Fantastic as this may sound, cadet Jaeger possesses the ability to fabricate and control a titan body at will! Recall the massive boulder roughly allege from the gate, having assumed titan form, cadet Jaeger will hoist set boulder on his back, slap it to the hole, and vuala! And this is where you all come in, your job will be to defend him! Yes, defend a titan against its own kind!". Soldiers from all around began to walk away, in fear of what they don't know, Aila thought to herself, "Cowards". However, the commander spoke up once more, "Any wishing to leave, will by my personal order NOT be charged with treason! Those who have seen a titan first hand will not be expected to revisit such horror again! Whomever this applies to, you may leave with my blessing! Additionally, anyone with family or loved ones they would spare from the same trauma may also leave, the crown will continue to recognize your service! Thank you and good luck!". The same soldiers who turned to leave stopped in their tracks, rethinking their decision. Pixis continued on, "Now, think back to four years ago! Mainly, the operation to retake wall maria! I bring it up because you all deserve to have your suspicions confirmed! Officially, we labeled it recognizance, but in fact as most of you probably know, it was little more than a purge, a thinly disguise of population control. We knew this in our hearts of course we did, and yet we turned a blind eye we supported the states sponsored myth because the deaths of our fellow human beings allowed us to survive! Pure and simple. The guilt is ours, we share the blame, all of us. The citizens of wall maria sustained themselves on the wholesale slaughter of the refugees who'd flown to us for help, but turn about as fair play is it not?! If wall maria succumbs the population will fall by a whole another order of magnitude! The lands comprising wall sina wouldn't support half the people now living. If we're wiped off the face of the earth, the culprits will not have been the titans let me assure you. Oh no, we'll have done it to ourselves! If the line isn't drawn now, it won't be drawn at all. If we must die, let us die here!", and with this end of his speech, the soldiers who turned to leave returned to their posts, and prepared for battle.
A garrison soldier rounded up the soldiers, "NOW! All of you will be split into groups of six again! those of you in the 104th will be assigned squads first! When your name is called step to the side and await for the rest of your squad to gather", Annie held Aila's hand, squeezing it slightly, nervous she may be separated from Aila once again. As the soldier called names, Aila's came up. "Aila Brandt! Ymir Fritz! Sasha Braus! Christa Lenz! Connie Springer! And Annie Leonhart will form squad forty-seven! Your task is to eliminate as many titans as you can that surround Jaeger! Understood?!", the six saluted, "SIR!", they were dismissed. They all headed towards the supply room to fuel up on gas and blades, they were to leave as soon as a green flare was shot off by the commander. Christa and Ymir held each other like it was their last time to do so, however it might be so. Aila looked around for Annie, but spotted Sasha waiting to set off, looking a little sad. Aila walked towards her and rested her hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you ready to go?" "Oh, uh yeah...", Sasha responded, jumping at the sudden contact. Aila furrowed her brows in concern for her friend, "Hey, Sash what's wrong?", Sasha sighed, "Its' Mikasa, I'm worried for her, I don't want her getting hurt or.. worse" "I know how you feel, but this IS Mikasa we're talking about, she'll come back in one piece, Aila assured her friend. Sasha lightened up, "You're right, nothing will get my Mikasa, I'll also make sure of that", Aila smiled and continued her search for her love. She spotted her standing by the water tank, she walked over to her and hugged her from behind, "Hello beautiful", Annie smiled and leaned into Aila's touch a bit. She turned her head and pecked her lover on the lips, staring back up at the sun setting over the wall. "We can do this, we'll be ok", Aila assured her girlfriend, "I know, especially now that we'll be together but.." "But what?", Aila asked confused. Annie pointed towards the wall, "If Eren has one of the four missing titans', which do you have? There's no way either of you could hold the jaw, you weren't there that day" "True, from the looks of his titan, I'm gonna guess Eren has the attack titan", Aila made an observant statement. The attack titan was supposed to be slimmer than the others, yet hold more strength, it matched the description. "Well, I guess we'll find out which one you have sooner or later", Annie replied, setting her hand back down. A few seconds later, PZZZZT PEW! A flash of yellow lightning hit the earth, signaling Eren's transformation. POOF! The commander shot off a green smoke flare, signaling everyone to begin the operation. Aila and Annie rejoined their squad, and set off to eliminate the titans around Eren.
As Aila and her squad zipped through the air, Aila was the first to eliminate a ten meter titan. Ymir shouted, "Show off!", Aila smirked as she shot through the Air. Left and right, Aila's squad was eliminating titans with ease, then, they arrived at Eren's location. Aila stood confused, "Why isn't Eren moving?", Ymir asked. Eren turned his head and faced Mikasa, WHOOSH! CRASH! Eren tried to punch Mikasa! Sasha flew and caught Mikasa who went flying from the impact, "MIKASA! Are you alright?!", Mikasa groaned as she stood back up. "Ugh.. yeah, just a scratch", Sasha frowned and growled at the sight of a cut on Mikasa's cheek, "EREEEEN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT YOU SON OF A BITCH!", as Sasha was ready to pounce onto Eren, Mikasa stopped her. "Sasha no! He'll kill you! He's not in control!", Sasha stopped, heeding her girlfriend's warning. POOF! A garrison soldier who was on Eren's squad shot a red signal flare, declaring the mission a failure. "Shit, he's out of control like I was", Aila said to Annie, Mikasa and Sasha through telepathy, "Yeah.. at this rate we're either gonna have to cut him out or knock him out with one of our titans'". Then, out of nowhere, Mikasa lept off the roof she and Sasha were on and onto Eren's face, holding onto his hair. She shouted, "EREN! GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF! IT'S ME! MIKASA! DON'T YOU REMEMBER?!", Aila looked down and noticed Eren clenching his fist, she gasped, "MIKA GET OUT OF THERE!", Mikasa jumped back just in time. Eren punched himself in the face, knocking himself out, "Well, that made our lives easier", Aila thought. Connie shouted, "Two fifteen meters on their way here!", Annie and Aila jumped off the roof and took one of each titan, killing them instantly. More titans began to flood, Aila's squad eliminated them left and right. RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH! Eren roared, rumbling the area. Aila and Annie looked to see Armin hooked into Eren, stabbing just above his nape. "AILA LOOK OUT!", Aila turned her head to see a seven meter abnormal jumping at her, she jumped above and on top of it, slicing its nape with ease. A few minutes after Eren's roar, THUMP! THUMP! Eren stood back up, fully in control now. He lifted the boulder before him and began his way towards the hole.
Aila's squad along with the garrison squad protecting Eren followed after him, eliminating the titans' in his path. Suddenly, Aila felt an ache in her chest. "W-What the hell?", she fell on a roof, hyperventilating from the pain. Annie landed next to her, "AILA! W-What's wrong?!" "I-I don't know but.. I think someone is in danger", Aila told her lover. RAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH! "GOOOOOOOOOOOO!", Armin shouted as Eren roared, setting the boulder down. Aila took a deep breath, "Let's go, I think one of our friends are in danger", she and Annie shot off to retreat towards the wall. As they flew, Aila looked down and noticed Marco heading towards Bertholdt and Reiner who were discussing something. She immediately flew down in front of Marco, "MARCO!", she shouted, Marco stopped in front of her, just before they got to the two. "Aila? What is it?", he asked, Annie landed next to Aila. She turned her head and noticed why Aila stopped him, "The hole's been plugged, it's time to retreat", Aila told him. Marco nodded, and the three set off to the wall. They all landed on the top of the wall, the rest of Aila's squad joined them. Marco walked towards them, "He did it? He really sealed it?", Marco asked in disbelief. Aila smirked and rested her hand on his shoulder, "Yeah, he did, we defended him as he did it", Marco's eyes filled with tears of joy. All but the three who knew the truth were celebrating, Aila looked around and noticed that Mikasa, Armin and Eren weren't there with them. She walked to Sasha, "Sash! Where are the other three?", Sasha turned towards her, "Oh, they're helping carry Eren over the wall, they told me to meet them up here since it'd be safer", Sasha told her. Aila sighed with a breath of relief, Aila was suddenly flipped around and kissed by her girlfriend. Annie separated and told her, "That's part of the reward you get for being so brave today", Aila blushed and smirked, knowing that she get's something better later.
Ziiiiiiip! Mikasa and Armin met them on top of the wall, Sasha immediately ran towards Mikasa and embraced her. "Mikasa! Thank god you're ok!" "Of course I am my love", the two embraced in a heartwarming kiss. Aila and Annie walked over to them, "So where's Eren?", Annie asked, Mikasa stood up, "The captain of the survey corps, Levi, saved us from two titans and had us take him to the medical bay" "Ah, gotcha, I'm surprised you're here though, I'd think for sure you'd be with Eren", Connie told Mikasa as he and the others walked towards them. Mikasa giggled a little, and grabbed Sasha's hand, "Well, I know he'll be ok and regenerate, but I had to check on my future wife before anything else", Mikasa told the others as she smiled, looking up at her lover. Sasha blushed and smiled, she leaned down and pecked Mikasa once more, showing just how in love she was with her. Ymir let out a loud groan, "AGHHHHHHHHHHH! We get it you're together stop being gross already!", they all laughed. Aila started to cough, some blood coming up, "Ails'? You ok?", Sasha asked with concern for her friend. Aila inhaled an replied, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I did get grabbed by a titan earlier, probably just overexerted my body" "Good thing it's over for now, let's head back to the base and get some rest before we have to pick our regiments", Christa suggested like a concerned mother. They all agreed to get some rest, and prepare to enter the regiment that they'll be in for the rest of their military terms.