Chapter 27 The Female Titan

Hoof beats echoed loudly through Jeans ears, his heart racing in time with each step. What the hell was he doing, racing towards a Titan. He looked around him at his comrades, a six to one advantage might have filled most with some level of confidence, but all he could think about was being held in that Titans grip, the smell of its breath as it almost ate him.

'Damn it Jean, focus. You knew what they were like and you still chose to come out here. No time for regrets now.'

"Luke, I'll go low and then you go high. You all are to follow if we don't hit the nape." Dieter called out, his swords drawn alongside his comrade.

Nervously, the rest of them followed in suit. The shink from their blades not fully managing to break their nervousness, though none of them changed course. A testament to their training, or their foolishness.

As they grew closer to the Titan, things only made less sense. It was clearly running not on a direct path towards them, instead somewhat more towards the centre of the formation. That left them coming up almost from the rear by the time they grew closer. It was also running normally, like an actual person. Not the bizarre flailing of limbs like other Titans. Though most striking of all…

"It's a female Titan!" Franz couldn't believe it, and neither could Jean. All Titans were sexless males, everyone knew that. So how the hell could there be a Titan with honest to god breasts?

'Not the thing to focus on Jean, you idiot.'

If the two veterans with them held any such questions, they didn't voice them. Neither wavering, and growing closer to their target. With the two of them engaging first, Jean had a front row seat for the disaster that followed.

Dieter leapt off his horse first, firing a hook directly into the Titans lower back and steaming towards her legs. Luke hopped off next, his hook aimed straight for its nape. As soon as it landed, the Titan pivoted. Twisting around its waist, Dieter was the first to be pulled off target, travelling wide and low to the ground before his leg caught the earth and was tripped, barrelling end over end into a heap before the Titans foot came straight down on top of him.

When turning to face him, the Titan looked Luke straight in the eyes, his comrades sudden death and the Titans change in behaviour shocking the man and catching him off guard. He had no chance to recover before the Titan thrust out its hand and snatched him from the air, unceremoniously crushing him in her grip and dropping his corpse to the floor.

With their momentum already carrying them through, the former 104th members were forced to engage, most too shocked to truly switch to their ODM gear, however Reiner at least managed to hop from his horse and fire off his hooks. His hit the female Titans waist and sent him soaring up and past her side.

'He's going straight for the nape!' Jean could trace the path he was on, going up and around her side before swinging in for the neck. It was gutsy, though given how quickly the Titan had spun around on them, it was likely just as much reflex than an actual plan.

A terrible plan, as shown when the Titan abruptly put her hand up and caught him mid-air, a terrible meaty slap echoing out as the man crashed into its open palm. Jeans heart leapt into his throat as he watched the hand close around him. He wasn't crushed, it simply held him there, not even looking at him as it instead cast those piercing cold eyes over the others.

"You've got to be shitting me! All this because command wouldn't tell us shit! Fucking Erwin!" Reiner swore to high heaven as he squirmed in its grasp, unable to even budge.

Jeans feet were moving before he even fully registered himself. Hopping onto the back of his horse, he jumped and fired his wires, sending himself rocketing towards the creature's ankle. Had he actually thought about his plan before instincts took over, he might have realised how terrible it was. The Titan watched him grow near, then raised its foot.

Time slowed down for Jean, the jerking of its foot suddenly taking away all his momentum. There was a terrible strain on his body as it was forcibly slowed, though he was unable to really notice it as he stared upwards at his impending death. And then…

Nothing.

He heard a hiss of gas, a slice of flesh, and was left dangling as the Titan suddenly shifted its gaze away from him, and back to its hand. The fingers had been sliced off, and Reiner was falling back out of its hand, and soaring through the air was Mina, her swords bloodied. She pivoted and kicked off from the Titans hand, wires aimed squarely at the ground to gain as much distance as possible.

When she was moving away, that's when the Titan sprung into action. It shifted, morphing into a sprinters stance and beelining straight for bandana wrapped woman. Mina crashed into the ground, tumbling end over end into a heap, helpless to move as the predator bore down on her.

"Mina!" It surprised Jean the most to realise that the shout had come from his own lips, though that paled in comparison to when the creature suddenly halted, using one of its feet to slide to a standstill.

The dust and dirt kicked up sent Mina flying again, this time landing on her back and staring up in horror at the Titan that stood over her. It stared down on her, expression unreadable. Mina hyperventilated, breaths shaky and fast as her life flashed before her eyes. She hoped the letter for her parents gave them comfort, wished they'd been able to make up before she left. She regretted so many things as the Titan loomed over her.

Then, it turned away.

Breaking into a run once more, it broke away from them and continued on its path to the rest of the formation.

"What the fuck…"

The words came from Franz, though were shared by all there. Everyone in a deep moment of confusion, unable to truly comprehend what had happened. Then, Jean got mad. He rounded on Franz, stomping over to him as he sat awestruck on his horse.

"Where the hell were you!?"

The boy turned to him in shock, not understanding what was going on until Jean grabbed him by his cloak and shook him roughly.

"You were meant to back us up! What the hell were you doing!?"

The shaking seemed to finally snap him out of his daze, as he pulled back away, his horse huffing and trotting away from Jean, who didn't follow lest the mount kick him in annoyance. A well-trained horse or not, and furious or not, basic survival instincts were still kicking in for Jean.

"I-I didn't-, I was waiting for an opening! Mina was about to die, we were all about to die!" Franz's eyes were wide and panicked, and Jean saw how they were looking around guiltily.

"Bullshit! You froze, you son of a bitch!" He moved towards him, ready to drag him down from his horse and begin beating the man. Franz noticed, widening eyes and hands gripping the reigns ready to run, but he didn't need to. A set of strong arms wrapped around Jean and pulled him back.

"Jean! This isn't the time!" Reiner held him in place easily despite Jeans squirming. It didn't last long however, the red haze fading away as quickly as it appeared, the adrenaline fading enough to make his legs wobble. He dropped to his knees a few moments later.

That was the second time he'd almost died. The second time he had stared death in the face and escaped by the narrowest of margins. Why the hell had he chosen this life…

There was a groan and a cough from behind him, with a look over his shoulder he saw Mina shuffling on the ground. She rose to her hands and knees briefly, before letting out a hiss of pain and collapsing once more.

"Shit, you okay Mina?" Both he and Reiner moved over to her, not pulling her up immediately but steadying at least.

She was bloodied quite badly. Some of it was steaming from the Titans fingers, others dripped from the numerous small cuts along her body. A particularly bad one ran over her forehead, dripping down and making her shut her eyes to keep it out.

Jean whistled for his horse, gently rolling Mina onto her back as he waited for it to come. He didn't have much in the way of actual medical supplies, but he had enough to do something. A few strips of cloth and some water from his canteen allowed him to wipe the worst of it from Mina's face, letting her see again.

When her eyes opened to look at his, he could see the fear and pain she was just barely holding back. He hadn't expected her to be such a tough girl, but damn if he didn't respect it. A lot more than a certain other comrade of theirs.

"Where's the Titan?"

Her voice was hoarse, and ended in a round of harsh coughs which could have been caused by any number of her injuries. Still, she was well enough that Jean sat her up, using a knee for her to lean against while he wrapped a band around her head.

"It ran off somewhere, further into the formation I think. Not a problem we can do anything about anymore. I think you're going to need a new one of these." He slipped the headband from her head. It was little more than shredded fibres barely holding itself together now. He finished her new headwrap, tying it up firmly but not too tight. "See, good as new. I'm sure the Gohan fan club won't even notice the difference."

She punched him in the gut, but he could make out the pained smile she wore, likely still flooded with relief from being alive.

"You saved my life Mina…"

She looked over to Reiner, the man seemed unsure of what to do with himself, sitting very awkwardly and not quite able to look her fully in the eyes.

"No worries, it's what any of us would do."

"Not all." Jean added with a bite, before quickly changing tones. "I think he's just embarrassed. Us top 10 guys are meant to be saving you, not the other way around."

She grimaced. "It shouldn't have been like that. What was up with that Titan, have any of you seen one move like that?"

They both shook their head. "No, never. Damn thing knew the scouts moves, what the hell kind of aberrant is it?"

Franz's horse walked slowly over, the man still watching in the distance as he saw the Female Titan leave. "I don't think it was an aberrant."

"Are you kidding!? You saw the way that think acted, that was not normal." Jean's temper was shortened again by the site of Franz.

Franz shook his head, attempting to get his thoughts clear. "I think it was… like Eren. Someone able to become a Titan."

Jean's mouth dropped, and he looked over as the Female Titan near fully disappeared in the distance. "You're kidding me."

"I'm not. Think about it, it knew where the scouts would go, and it was watching us. With Reiner caught it turned its attention to you."

"No thanks to you…" Jean muttered, but truthfully he didn't feel the bitterness as much.

Mina grunted as Reiner helped her to her feet. "So why did it come after me so much? And why not kill us?"

"Who knows. Maybe it thought you were Gohan?"

"Or maybe you pissed it off by cutting off its fingers?" Reiner cut in. Whistling for his horse to come over. "Maybe you can ask it later, but we shouldn't just be standing here. This is still Titan territory, and we don't want to get left behind by the formation."

They all grunted in agreement, and waited for Mina to slowly mount her horse before they made to move again, Reiner and Jean rounding up the horses from the two dead scouts with them. As they were about to set off, they were quickly halted by Jean.

"There's another rider coming. Anyone able to tell who?"

They all squinted, trying to make out the shape coming towards them. "I think," started Franz, "I think it's Armin."

"Intercept team has failed, two casualties. The others stopped, maybe injured. It's on the move again, heading towards the centre of the formation." Gohans mouth felt numb as he relayed the news. They had halted part way inside the forest, waiting for the wagons to entre. A six on one advantage had barely slowed this thing, and even more people were dead. He was thankful only two had perished, but such a loss of life was still tragic…

"You said the interception team was six strong?" Commander Erwin so rarely seemed unnerved by something, but it seemed that was enough to shake his mask at least a bit.

"Six on one… what the hell is that thing?" The news had likewise shaken the others with him, the messengers looking at the commander hesitantly, but ready for his command.

'Would an aberrant really be able to defeat six people at once? And would it truly leave the rest alive, racing instead towards the rest of the formation?' Gohan cursed his inexperience. He didn't know enough to truly be able to tell the scouts abilities, nor to know how Titans would act, even when they were unnatural. But still, he felt in his gut the only thing that might make sense.

"Sir? Could it be something like Eren? A person…?"

The commander turned to look at him, studying the young half-breed's face for something that Gohan didn't know. As always, the man's own thoughts and feelings were held hidden away, unable to be read in the slightest. Whatever the man had been looking for, he had either found it or given up as he turned to the two messengers by his side.

"Full message relay to all units, no Scouts are to engage the Titan heading towards our perimeter, have all teams except for the centre column form up around the outside of the forest and hold position there."

"Yes sir!"

The two men broke away and sped off without further question, leaving Gohan and the commander alone for the time being. It wouldn't be too long until the wagon teams arrived.

"Sir, what will happen when the Titan reaches us? Will it be for the Special Operations Squad to engage them? If so, I request permission to assist them."

"Why?"

The mans question stunned him to silence for a moment. It seemed like such a bizarre question, so much so that Gohan really didn't understand why at first. So he realised, there was a deeper reasoning as to why he had asked the question.

"I want to save lives sir. This Titan, it needs someone strong to take it on, and that has to be me."

"Do you believe yourself to be the strongest of us?"

Memories of his old power flashed in his mind. When he had been at that level there would have been no question, he would have been strong enough to wipe out the entirety of the Titans with the barest flexing of his strength. But he was stuck without them, and even so…

"I am sir. And even if I'm not, I need to be there to try."

He couldn't let others fight such a dangerous battle, there was too much risk that they could die. He could not bare to stay stuck on the sidelines, feeling others be murdered while he didn't step in to stop them.

He heard the wagons trundling along the path, and turned his head to see them approaching, Hange visible at the very front of them. She seemed nervous, likely having received word of what was approaching them.

"Selflessness, an admirable quality." Gohan turned to look back at the commander, who in turn was watching him with an almost, proud look. "Any one of us in the Survey Corps would give their lives for humanity, and countless among us have. But some of us forget, that humanity is more than just our walls or our future. It is every one of us. Our comrades, our friends, even a stranger. But I believe you remember that, don't you Gohan?"

"I'll die before I let anyone else suffer." He meant it, and he knew the commander could tell. He smiled, perhaps a slightly sad smile, mixed with both a fondness and a tragic life of loss.

"With any luck, no one else shall die today." He waved to the side as Hange came near, who signalled the wagons behind her. When they all reached the commander, they broke off and quickly dismounted to begin unloading. Cannons the like of which Gohan had never seen were quickly taken off and their set up commenced, the tips of their harpoon like ammo glinting in the sun from between the trees.

"We're going to lure it here Gohan, and capture it." He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "And I need you, to help me direct it."

"Message relay from command!" The shout came from a rider approaching them from their flank, and the Special Operations Squad listened closely as he came near. "A Titan has broken through the right flank, all teams not in the centre column are to avoid engagement and set up a perimeter at the tree line."

"Understood. Petra, message relay to the left flank." Captain Levi snapped off the order without hesitation, and after a quick "yes sir" Petra followed it, breaking off quickly.

"The right flank has been broken? What the hell is going on there?" Oluo wondered aloud, and Eren couldn't help but echo his thoughts. He could still see the flares off in the distance, numerous black flares still colouring the sky. None had been seen for a while though.

"That horde must have hit them badly. Must have been some crazy abnormal among them for command to want us to stay away."

"Are you getting worried there Gunther?" Despite Oluo's teasing, both men showed a little wariness.

"Nothing we can't handle. Titans are just full of surprises is all."

'That's right.' Eren thought to himself, his reigns still gripped firmly with determination. 'These are the best of the best, Titan slayers one and all. That beast won't stand a chance when we fight it.'

Idly, his thumb rubbed against his fingers, knowing he would likely be transforming today after all. Some small flicker of nervousness still going through him. Would he actually be able to do his part? His training had felt so limited now, so incomplete…

A hand reached out and clasped on his, and he looked over to see Mikasa looking at him reassuringly. She rubbed his hand, the tight smile she wore just visibly peaking out from the scarf wrapped around her. There was no anger, or irritation from him, only a feeling of calm as he nodded back in appreciation.

'I can do this. Just like in Trost. Mikasa was with me then, and she's with me now. No Titan is going to stop us.'

Another black flare was launched, the two scouts riding in tandem as they watched the Titan running in the distance.

"You sure we shouldn't engage? That thing's heading straight for command." The man was nervous. He may have been on expeditions before, but he was certainly never over the familiar feeling of dread he felt whenever he saw one of the creatures.

"That was their orders. They must know something we don't." The other man wasn't happy about it. Leaving the thing to run free, and their comrades be vulnerable did not sit well with either of them.

The female Titan had long since ran out of view by the time Armin caught up with them all. The blonde boy looked terrified when he did, covered in specs of blood which thankfully wasn't his, and telling of how a swarm of Titans had smashed into the right flank spotters before he'd had time to pass on his warning.

"So, that bitch came from the same place? Do you think she led them?" Jean's mood hadn't improved in the slightest since having to calm down.

"From what you all told me of how it acted, it seems so." Armins' nerves had likewise not improved upon hearing of what had happened, though he was thankful that his friends had survived.

"A Titan leading other Titans? How is that possible… we're screwed if that's true."

"Calm down Franz." Mina was managing to keep up fairly well, though her headband would likely need to be changed again at some point as she had bled through enough of it to be concerning. "Let's not go jumping to too many conclusions. One problem at… a time…"

Her head dipped, and Jean moved over to her, re-steadying her on her horse. "Mina, you just focus on riding straight. Shit, she might have a concussion. We'll get you checked out properly when we're back inside the walls. Speaking of, why are we still going? By the sound of it, the right flank is probably all slaughtered by now, and we've got some crazy abnormal running loose inside the formation."

The others had no answer as they followed the trail of green flares. Command clearly had some idea of what was happening, whether by their own advanced warning or the flares that they had been launching back to them.

They had hoped they might get some sort of answer when they saw a messenger approaching, but they were all disappointed. "Orders from command. All squads outside of the centre column are to avoid engagement with the Titan, and form a perimeter when we meet the forest."

"The hell? They know about that thing and they're just going to leave it be?" Jean couldn't believe it. Yes he had seen how well their own assault against it had gone, but surely the veterans would have actually been able to do something more than letting it run wild.

"I've just got orders, no answers, pass it on!"

The man pulled away again, and the others looked to each other in uncertainty.

"What the hell is going on, is Commander Erwin insane?"

"He's planning something." Armin's mind worked through all that he knew had transpired and tried to make sense of it. "Think about it. It was command that sent word down to us about that first Titan attack, and they told us to stay away from it. They know about that specific Titan, and they're pulling out all squads except those in the centre…"

"So what's in the centre? Why exclude them from avoiding the Titan?"

"Reiner, I think… that must be where Eren is." It all began to click in place for him, and suddenly he felt stupid for not seeing it earlier.

"Wait, is this to do with the map issue again?" Franz looked at Armin confused, and he wasn't the only one.

"I don't know how I didn't realise it sooner, but it doesn't make sense that the Special Operations Squad would be spearheading the right flank, Eren is too valuable for that. They must be keeping him in the safest place in the formation, the rear of the centre of the formation."

"But then that means…" Jean trailed off as it fell into place for him too.

"That Titan is heading straight for them." Reiner finished off, his mind working away before it shunted into another conclusion. "They know that, which is why they're pulling out all of the other squads. It's… it's a trap… A FUCKING TRAP!"

Reiner's panicked shout caught them all off guard. The mans eyes wide as the realisation still worked its way through them. Jean however couldn't help but smirk, an almost evil cackle breaking free from his lips. "That bitch will get what's coming to her now. What's the problem Reiner, you almost seem worried?"

"It's… they don't know what that thing is like, how dangerous it actually is. Maybe we should catch up, try and reinforce with some other squads and hit it again?"

"Are you nuts, didn't come close enough to death the first time around?" Reiner didn't seem to have a response to Jeans question, only staring off where the Titan had disappeared from view. "Is this shit contagious? First Eren, now you, people just can't wait to get up close with Titans again."

"Hey, you joined the scouts too Jean." Franz smirked at the growl that Jean let out.

"Don't remind me. Still, at least we won't have to face that thing. We'll just go have a nice little camp out in the trees." As he said it, the others could just about make out the tips of the giant trees appearing in the distance. Their job was almost complete, and then it would be just waiting to see how everything went.

"Titan has changed course, its heading towards the main path and is approaching the rear defence squads." Being able to sit and look over a map helped immensely with explaining things to the Commander and Hange, who had joined the man after overseeing the initial set-up of the harpoon cannons.

He traced a finger along the map showing the Titans movements. With a few pebbles he marked their current location in the forest, showing that it was still a fair bit away despite the rush that the wagons had undertaken to set up their cargo.

"I need some more markers, anything small and unique."

Hange immediately pulled out a pad and pencil from her pocket, while a few others set about collecting a series of leaves and broken sticks.

"Okay… Leaves are the Titans, this stick is the centre column, and these bits of paper are the other teams." He began laying them out carefully, marking the teams that had begun falling in at the perimeter, as well as the Titans that had been drawn by them. With his focus on this new Titan taking so much attention, as well as the Commanders plan to trap it, they hadn't been able to do much to adjust away from other Titans, nor send much in the way of early warning. As a result, much of the forward scouting teams had taken casualties before they fell into position around the forest.

Gohan placed a few additional leaves around the area, noting off anywhere that Titans had wandered inside and were moving freely. "These Titans are all on their own, none seem to be alerted to us but I don't know how long that will last."

Hange gave a nod before waving over Mike and getting him to organise some intercept teams. They had teams doing a general sweep, but had pulled a lot of their units back to concentrate for the ambush.

As Mike left, Gohan set about continually adjusting the map, moving around leaves and paper as squads reached their positions and set up while the Titans closed in on them. He shifted along the stick for the central column, and then suddenly jerked the finger that was following the Titan towards it.

"It's changed course, moving to intercept at the rear, it must have spotted something."