Fandom The Wings of Freedom [Attack on Titan]

[killercandy15]

Katherine also gave her horse a gentle kick to get her horse to catch up. Her senses were on high alert as the group began to leave the safety of the wall. 'Just a quick mission, stay alert stay focused,' she thought to herself.

 

[CelticHero37]

As Michael led his troops further in, he pointed to the left and right of him. Then he whispered, "Lieutenant, take your group left and head for the forested hill. Keep within the tree line as best you can, and no engaging titans. Once you reach the hill, conceal your horses and proceed to the highest point with caution. I don't want to be crawling all over this territory. Instead we'll find the high points and check on activity from there," looking from Katherine to Mae, he continued, "I want you to do the same. Head for that abandoned city. You should be able to get on top of one of the roofs there and get a good vantage point. If either of you feel you need to alter your position, that will be at your own discretion. You're my officers for a reason. Understood?"

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

"Understood sir." Mae nodded. "Be careful." She said to Katherine before she left.


The horse was antsy when entering the city, so she left it in a shed on the outskirts. It wouldn't run, so she only looped the reins loosely around an old hook. Keeping to the shadows, Mae quietly made her way to a factory. It was mostly intact, and making it to the roof was no problem. Once in position, she could see a great deal of the city. The streets nearby were deserted, but there seemed to be some chaos in the west.

 

[killercandy15]

Katherine had smiled at Mae telling her to also be careful before and nodded to Michael in acknowledgement before she headed off with her group. She quickly reached the hilly area with her group trailing close behind. However, something felt off. Just for precaution she signaled for her team to use the alcohol spray to mask their sent, and then slowed the group down to a slow walk. Paying close attention to detail, Katherine noticed a small stream with clear water flowing. She wasn’t sure if the stream had fish, but now wasn’t the time to check. As she proceeded, she noticed some small bushes here and there with edible berries, and a few other edible plants growing around. The local wildlife also would stray quite close since titans don’t prey on them and they are unused to encountering humans. A small growl was emitted from Katherine’s stomach as she thought of all the edible foliage and easy to kill game. As her horse approached a clearing, Katherine abruptly stopped her horse being extremely grateful that she had her group mask their smell earlier before they got too close. Standing in the clearing was a 7-meter class titan. At first it just stood there, but then it began to walk parallel to Katherine’s group. Looking out of the corner of her eye she could see the pure terror in a most of her comrades’ faces. With all her strength, Katherine mustered together a warm and comforting smile to her team and motioning to them to keep calm, hoping her own fear wouldn’t show through. Then, the titan vanished from view behind a few trees. The small quakes still even and slowly getting lighter, Katherine motioned for her team to begin moving slowly again. It was almost a miracle they weren’t spotted, but Katherine had taken the team through a dense area that covered them well. Soon enough the hills were before them. One specific hill had a nice sized cave in it. Katherine ordered her teams to take a rest safely inside the cave while she cautiously rode her horse to the top of the hill. There in front of her was a clear view of the forest. There she sat for a good amount of time examining first the nearest areas and then places further out near the edge of what she could see. Titan activity seemed to be very low and rather quiet. The only danger was the one titan still lurking nearby to the right between her and the other two groups. Keeping an eye on that titan’s wandering, she kept watching the other areas as well. From what she could see, the area was rather low on titan activity. However, there were trails where trees had not grown likely from titans walking through the same routes in a few places. Katherine then went to accompany her team telling them that they would head back out in a short bit and assigned two people out to the top of the hill to keep an eye on the surroundings and 7-meter titan to make sure it didn’t wander too close to the other groups. ‘If it notices them and sprints after them, I can send a warning signal so they can prepare and get to high ground before it gets too close,’ she thought to herself. Almost as if on cue, the two she sent up to keep watch hurriedly ran back. Quickly mounting her horse, Katherine got to the top of the hill to see the titan moving fast towards the other groups. She hastily grabbed a warning signal and shot it up into the air. "Alright everyone, on your horses! We need to follow that Titan in case the others need help with it!"

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael led his troop down the central path, taking a thorough survey of their planned path. However, when the reached a more open clearing, and possibly the most dangerous part of their trek, he felt his heart skip a beat. But it wasn't his heart. Slowly, vibrations became more violent. A titan was approaching! Yet it didn't seem to have spotted them just yet. It seemed to be on a random course... straight for the abandoned city he had instructed Mae to enter.


At that moment, a warning flare was sent from Katherine's position. This excited the titan and drew it back toward the flare's beginning. Clenching his teeth, Michael looked back worriedly. Come on Lieutenant. Remember your orders. Don't engage the enemy. If you get out of there, we might actually be left with an advantage.

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

Titan! It was going back towards the flare, and towards Katherine and everyone with her. "Okay Mae, just breathe. Breathe and think, think and breathe." Mae mumbled to herself as she scrambled from the roof. Sprinting through the empty streets and back to her horse, she knew the others would be fine if the Titan was distracted long enough for them to run without being seen. But with the monster barreling towards them, a stealthy escape didn't seem likely. It liked the flare......"Alright girl, time to due your duty and save a few lives." She whispered into the mare's ear as she took out her own flare and strapped it to the saddle. Lighting it and slapping the horse's flank, it immediately galloped off. The horse ran away from the others and into a large thicket of trees, the flare on it's back hopefully distracting the Titan enough for the others to get out.

 

[CelticHero37]

As the titan fumbled around, Michael had his men take a few more observations on the surrounding area. Then he started back for the gate. Yet as he did so, another flare was lit on the opposite side. Dammit Cadet! What are you doing? Get your men out of there!





After a moment of thought, he sent the soldiers following him to the gate with instructions to hold it open to the last possible moment. Then, he scooted up on his stallion a little, prodding it forward with extreme urgency. Darting through the trees, he rushed to beat the titan to Mae's location.

 

[killercandy15]

Katherine took note of the other flare. ‘It is possible the titan was attracted to the flares…’ “Okay, since we aren’t supposed to engage, lets set up a little distraction…”


Katherine quickly ordered her group to start heading back while she set up another flare but attached it to a tree and tied a long rope around the trigger. Then, she gave a couple minutes to allow the titan go gain some distance away before giving her horse a good kick to get into a gallop and headed to catch up with her group still holding the rope. Katherine hoped Mae would get the message that she now knows the titan seems to like the flares and hoped Mae would help play along with using flares to keep the titan confused as to where to go long enough to get everyone back inside the gates. Upon reaching the end of the rope, Katherine held onto it until she felt a snap at the other end of the line and felt the sting of a good rope burn on her right hand. About 100 feet behind her, another flare went into the air fairly straight, but slightly tilted towards the direction of the wall. Not long after, she caught up to her group and started to lead them back to where the three groups branched out and then towards the safety of the wall from the main trail.

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

Mae was watched her horse run until it disappeared, even the flare finally going out of sight. Several more flares were in the air by now, and she turned and began to jog towards the wall. Seeing the sergeant coming towards her, she ran to him. "What are you doing?! Get to the wall!" She said, shoving at his arm.

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael grabbed Mae's arm when she shoved and pulled her onto the horse. "That's where we're heading now. Where is your horse and the rest of your men?"





As more flares lit up the sky, Michael shook his head lightly in disappointment. The entire plan had been put in jeopardy now.

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

"Hey!" Mae protested when dragged onto the horse. "Don't fret about the horse and my men are just fine, thank you very much. Well within the wall by now, most likely running about like scared chickens. And don't you shake your head, you knew this was bound to happen! I told you, I TOLD YOU we needed a backup plan! But no, ignore me and run around with titans like we're invisible. Look how that's gone!" Mae gestured at trails that were left hanging in the sky from the flares. "The whole thing has literally gone up in smoke!" The fear in her veins had turned to anger, and that made her mouth off without thinking.

 

[CelticHero37]

As Mae started yelling at him, Michael cast her a deathly glare. "Watch your tone Cadet. We had a backup plan. We're elite soldiers of the Survey Corps. The backup plan went haywire when they let the titans get to their heads. As for the mission being a failure, we collected the data needed. But thanks to all those flares, titans will now be swarming the area. Dangerously close to the wall. There's no going that route safely now. Anyways, you gotta determine when being the hero is appropriate, and when helping someone would cause more harm than good. Besides that, you wasted a perfectly good horse. Just because we can breed them doesn't make that okay. Horses take time to grow, just like humans. Overall, Cadet, you let your emotions get in the way of your thinking. That is why we failed."

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

"Well Sergeant, if the Elite team is that skittish then maybe they shouldn't be here. And I was not being a hero. I simply hadn't realized that helping someone was against the rules. But do forgive me sir, next time there's danger I'll just relax and let the world burn." Mae ignored the look on his face. If he expected her to start shivering in fear then he'd be waiting until his horse sprouted wings and flew.

 

[CelticHero37]

(Suddenly his horse spouts wings and begins to fly xD )


"Nobody should be here Cadet. But we're the only hope. And you weren't helping anything either. We are trained to deal with these sorts of problems. From now on you should let a squad do their job and stick to your own. Otherwise you risk jeopardizing two parts of a plan. Got it? If everybody jumped out whenever there was danger, we'd all be dead. I survived this land for three months Cadet, and there's a good reason why."





After a moment, seeing that they were nearing the gate and that the titan was still rather far behind, he relaxed a bit, "Your actions were noble Cadet, and I don't deny that. I didn't expect you just to sit there and to understand why. But that is why I'm telling you now. We can't risk everyone's lives for the sake of one. Because more than likely, no one will come back alive. That is why I instituted the whiskey bottles, to help those who find themselves in a corner to fight for themselves. As much as I hate to say it Cadet, sometimes to fight a monster, you have to be a monster."





As they reached the gate, he looked out for his Lieutenant and her men. He knew they could make it back in time. Besides, Mae had given them a larger window of escape.

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

(A Pegasus would come in handy)


Mae sighed and slumped forward, suddenly tired and ready to sleep for a few years. "You're right. I understand, and I know I was being foolish. I apologize for my behavior, it was uncalled for. They tried to teach me to control my emotions, but I never was a very good student." Apologies always gave Mae headaches, and she could feel one building up right now. But it was necessary after the way she acted. He would probably toss her off the wall without a second thought.

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael nodded and slipped off his horse, keeping hold of the reigns and extending a hand for Mae. "Just don't let it happen again. And one other thing... don't lose sight of who you were before."

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

Mae accepted the help down, and straightened her uniform. She raised an eyebrow at his advice. "Who were you before?" She asked, looking up at him.

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael stared into the sun, thinking back. "That man has been lost," he responded sadly, "But now I fight so others don't lose themselves."

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

His voice made her regret asking. "He's in there somewhere. He just needs to find a way out." Mae studied him for a moment, but then turned away. There was work to be done, and no time for a heart to heart. There were reports to collect, forms to fill out, papers to be filed. The headache was back with full force.


"I should check with the others, they'll have questions." So many questions. Mae rubbed the horses nose and thanked Michael. "I appreciate the ride Sir, next time I'll try to hang on to my own." She smiled a bit and held out her hand.

 

[CelticHero37]

When the Cadet made her first statement, Michael quietly responded, "Don't keep your hopes up."





As she observed the amount of work she had coming up, he just nodded in acknowledgement and continued to wait for his lieutenant. She still had some time left before he would go riding out again.

 

[killercandy15]

Upon reaching the main trail, Katherine could see Mae and Michael on the same horse. 'Where's Mae's horse?' Katherine and her group slowly caught up to them. Arriving at the gates shortly after. She looked back and checked and the titan was still a ways back before dismounting her horse. She then walked over to the others but remained silent standing slightly behind them as she listened. In an attempt to lighten things up, she jumped out to surprise them and threw an arm around each of them with a warm smile. "Looks like we made it, but, Mae, where's your horse?"

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael cast an annoyed look at his Lieutenant when she put her arms around them. Pulling away, he stepped toward the wall and yelled out instructions, "Now! Close the gate and fire on the titan!"





Worry clouded his thoughts as he wondered what the repercussions of these actions would be.

 

[FlibbertyGidget]

"Katherine! Don't do that, I almost elbowed you in the face." Mae shook her head but smiled and bumped hips with her. "My horse is free, out roaming the range and finding her mate and all that junk. She'll be back once she realizes there are no sugar cubes in the wild." Michael moved away and yelled an order. "I'd better get going. Find me later, I want to hear how things were on your side." Mae jogged away to get everything in order.

 

[killercandy15]

Katherine had a short laugh at the scare she gave Mae, "Okay bye! I'll be sure to see you later. You have to tell me what happened over where you were at too!" Grabbing her horse by the reins and giving her a short pet, Katherine headed off to go get her own paperwork done.

 

[CelticHero37]

Michael instructed one of his men to bring the stallion to a stable. He waited for the Commander to give a report. Their plan had been drastically changed. Perhaps they would need another day to re-plan the entire excursion. Why couldn't anything ever go right the first time with these titans?


@Silencieux