Titan on the Wall (OPEN)

Again, more words to take to heart, Connor admired the doctor's wisdom. He still couldn't explain even to himself why he was so shaken by them, he had been around cannons and firearms enough that he figured he'd be over it by now, but some fears have roots that dig deeper than can be pulled. Nevertheless, he mustered his courage. Even if he couldn't completely get rid of that fear, he could at least build a resilience to it, as one would a venom by drinking small doses of poison. As he stepped forward at a safe distance to observe, he was grabbed. "What the--hey!"

The grey-eyed woman began shoving him away from the cannons. Normally Connor was large enough that he wouldn't be shoved so easily but between Cora's height and him being once again caught off guard, he was at the younger woman's mercy for now. As he was sat down, he began to protest. "What the hell was that about!?" He was angry at first, but blinked in confusion as Cora just seemed to study him before sitting down next to him to hum her song. Connor set his jaw, folding his legs beneath him as he decided to let it go. She got him away from the cannons, so he honestly couldn't stay mad, but he still gave her a look as though he were waiting for an answer.

//OOC: I'll let it slide this time, but just for future reference Cornix, if your doing something to someone else's character such as dragging them, shoving them, or even punching them in the face, it should always be an 'attempt'. It keeps you from being accused as a godmodder/metagamer and allows the receiver more flexibility to their reaction making it much more fun for everyone. :3 //OOC

Dr. Geist inclined her head at Severin's request, retreating from the line of action. She walked somewhere between the cannon-lined edge of the rampart and the new spot Cora elected to herd the newly confident Connor into, watching the little display with her hands clenched behind her back. She scowled her disapproval, with a long, hard glare for the young blonde trainee. While distant, the doctor was still in earshot, and appeared to be very intent on what the cadet had to say for herself.

Disciplinary eavesdropping aside, the doctor waited for the last round to be fired before the soldiers' training break; wondering if it meant a trip to the supply room on Severin's part, yet not impatiently so.

Severin's hand swung violently down, and the cadets fired their cannons. Each cannonball landed relatively close to the center of the target. The cadets then dispersed to go eat, clearly proud of themselves. Once the group had gone through the stairway doors, Severin spun on his heel to face Chalice. "Alright. Now, for the supplies. Follow me," Severin stated plainly as he brushed past the Doctor. "Trainees, you too."

Watching the last blast, Dr. Geist nodded in approval at their skill, although there were a lot less mandatory cleaning and safety measures after use than she would have liked. "Ah yes, thank you." Chalice made a stop by the cannons to pick up the brick of supply request forms before she followed Severin on his way. Watching him while they walked, she smirked: "You neglected to introduce yourself. There are only so many times I can call you 'soldier' before it will begin to sound patronizing."

Severin froze for a split-second before resuming his pace. "For both our sakes, I'll not reveal my name." Severin sped up a little. Opening up another door, Severin entered. "The supplies aren't far off." He said. Severin fumbled with the letting as he walked, searching for the right one.

Chalice's brows rose. "Excuse me?" She faltered as Severin did, and took a moment to resume following him. "The reasons are grim, but I do prefer to know the soldiers' names when I can. Any number of you may perish in duty from the time I meet you. It... makes the identification process easier." Severin's secrecy was treated with evident suspicion. "Carry on." She replied with narrowed eyes, and spoke again after a moment. "I considered the rumor you mentioned, but it's dubious. What good would it do the Military Police to hide this Titan from other factions? How can they be the only members of the military to have encountered it?" Geist watched the soldier's fingers flicking through keys.

Severin found the key he was looking for. "They're not the only ones who've encountered it. The Scouts and Garrison have as well. The Military Police is just the only faction actively hunting the Shifter." He rounded a corner. "Some say they are trying to weaponize it, like you Scouts have that one kid." Severin stopped at a door, facing it. He put the key into the lock, and twisted it. "It's not like there'd be anyone to miss me should I die. The monsters took care of that." Severin opened the door, and tossed the keyring towards Chalice. "Help yourself to whatever medical supplies are in there. Be sure to lock the door when you are done." Severin turned and started walking off.

//OOC: Sry Connor

Cora looked at the canons and then at the boy. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but quickly closed it again. How should she ask?

"You used to be a mercenary!", she just said, "I saw the sign you have there, and the scars.", she looked away hoping he wouldn't notice that she used to be mercenary. Nec and Vex were way to anxious right now and reflecting on her past wasn't something that stopped them. Cora hid her right hand that was shaking again behind her back.

Chalice listened with a frown. "Then I have some Scouts and Garrisons to speak with." She seemed to talk to herself out loud on that remark. The doctor met his eye at the mention of Eren. "Jaeger's gifts are being nurtured, not manipulated. Our aim is to help him harness his abilities. If this Titan is real and that is their intention, it is an operation that will require more hands than the Military Police alone." Dr. Geist stopped at the door behind him, habitually placing a hand behind her back while the other still hefted her forms.

She almost missed the key in her astonishment, but just managed to snatch them from the air. "Yes -- of course. Thank you." She replied. That really was too easy - or was she just used to the way the Scouting Legion's needs were so often received? Chalice stepped inside and began to assess what was available, but kept the door open - and Severin's exit in the corner of her eye.

Severin stopped midstep. "It is real, medic. I've seen the damn thing before. The Scouts won't make much of a difference." He looked at Chalice. "It's fought with the Scouting Legion before. At the Military Headquarters. It also defeated another shifter there." Severin turned around and resumed walking. "If you have any regard for human life, don't go after it." Severin rounded a corner, and his pace quickened slightly. A sniff could be heard.

Connor rose a brow as Cora asked the question. Did she know this girl from a previous mission and didn't recognize her? He noticed that the question seemed to make her nervous, so he decided to play along without prying too deep. "Yes...I was...you knew the Zeus Squad?" When Severin commanded the trainees to follow them to the stock room, he stood and followed promptly, staying silent as to let the superiors speak to one another though was still willing to answer Cora's questions.

//OOC: Its okay, Cornix :) //OOC

Severin walked back up the stairs and onto the Wall. He shot a red flare into the sky, and leaned on a cannon. Several minutes later, around a dozen Garrison members appeared near Severin. "Firestarters, Ember Squadron." Severin stood up fully. "I do believe we have a Captain to retrieve." The others nodded in agreement. "Now, I want this retrievement to be somewhat like Yalkell. Okay?" Severin adjusted his 3DMG. "Oh, and he's probably drunk off his ass." Severin stepped towards the edge of the Wall, and jumped off, launching his cables. The others soon followed.

//OOC: Gonna wait for Cornix this time since she's been kinda falling behind in the RP. We should probably take turns, and if someone doesn't post within 24 hours of their turn, it goes to the next person. //OOC

Cora stood up and followed Connor.
Zeus squad he said? Cora had heard about them. They were rather small compared to the pack. But she wasn't entirely sure what happened to them. Maybe Nec knew it, but Cora didn't want to talk to Nec right now. He or she would only be startled when asked and that was not her intention.

It fell apart. Why the heck do you think I would get starled?
Uh oh..I forgot to think it and not to say it. Come on! It's harder to talk to someone in one's head!
We know. I don't like him.
You see! That's why I didn't want to tell you.

Nec told Cora a bit more. She always knew more back ground information than Cora. Cora hadn't figured out why it was like this. For everyone else it seemed to be impossible that some parts of Cora's brain knew more than the others but it somehow worked out.
"I know it. It fell apart after the fall, right?", she whispered.

//OOC: Time zone problems my friends...When Connor wrote the last post it was 2:35 am here.
Also taking turns is not necessary. I think, as long as you don't write too much :)

Connor nodded, somewhat solemnly as he held a fist against the Zeus Squad patch on his left shoulder. "Yes...our leader had fallen after the first attack...then the rest set out for the reclamation, determined to avenge him. None of them returned." Connor could feel that familiar scorch of anger in his heart as he spoke of the Squad's fall, setting his arm back down.

When he rounded the corner into the stockroom, he glanced around then at Chalice. "I still have a strong arm to spare, if any of this needs to be carried somewhere Doctor Geist?"

Severin returned to the Wall with a drunken Captain. The others had gone back to their posts. "Yuh loosy gudfanuthin," the man slurred."Ah ahlmust WUN thet drenkin contast." Severin slouched him against a cannon and walked back down to where the medical closet was. "And you are still here." He said to the medic. "How much stuff do you need?" He asked Chalice."Are the Scouting Legion's stocks that low?"

Cora nodded. Poor guy, the pack had survived. She had heard of them some times after the fall but she hadn't seen them.
"And you chose to join the military. Why?", she asked but then quickly said, "If you don't want to answer don't say anything. I don't want to bring things up!"

Cora looked at Dr.Geist, "Um, I can do something too. Just tell me!", she wasn't very strong but she had willpower. Suddenly Severin came in and started talking to her.

[OOC: Sorry folks, been really sick today and haven't had it in me to write a post. Should do tomorrow some time if I'm feeling any better. Sev, unless the captain was in a tavern right beside the Wall and they were able to yoink his unwilling ass out immediately, I think there should be a longer delay before Severin's return - otherwise Connor and Cora's walk down the corridor must've been extreeemely slow to arrive at the same time. And no worries about delays this side Cora - you and I are in the same timezone!]

Connor paused at the question, not sure how to answer it until Finn's last words once again haunted his mind "To fight back...." he repeated aloud, glancing at Cora as he attempted to make some sense of his answer. "It was my captain's dying wish...though I'm not sure if the military was what he had in mind..." Connor didn't mind questions like these, even if it brought up things best left in the past. Sometimes, just the reminder of why he was here kept him going, and fueled his inner fire. "But why ask, if not to bring something up? Unless your just asking out of simple curiosity?"

Admittedly, Connor did think this was out of simple curiosity. Given how strange Cora was to him, he wouldn't have caught on to her mercenary history, and it wasn't the first time someone questioned him like this, as he had met a handful of people that didn't quite understand that some spent their young lives as warriors.

//OOC: Aww okay Geist, get well soon :D We can just hold Connor's offer of help until your well enough to reply to him. OOC//

Cora was confused. Not to bring something up? He obviously understood it different than she meant. Something that happened all the time. She sighed, "I meant bringing something up like...dammit I'm bad at explaining, like, not to bring bad things up. I don't want to have you crying on the floor. Know what I mean? Asking about the past always brings something up, but not always bad things. You know?", she put her hands against her head and looked up, "Also I didn't ask just out of curiosity. It was maybe a bit...buuut...Let's just say I recognized the Zeus Squad!"
Cora bit herself on the tounge, did she say too much? Did he know now that she was a merc too? She hoped not.
She put her hands down again and held her right shaking hand. Those two were really giving her troubles right now.

Connor crossed his arms in thought, eying her up as he tried to put two and two together. She said she 'recognized' Zeus Squad, as though she were once one of them. Was she a mercenary too? whatever she was, he began to notice that asking these questions seemed to bother her somehow. He decided to give her a chance to put the line of questioning to rest, if she wished, without being too blunt about it. "It takes a lot more than bringing up the past to cripple my emotions. In fact I think these questions have been more a bother to you than they have to me, so who's truly bringing something up, me or you?"

Cora eyes widened for a second as he said it but then quickly changed back to her normal self.
"Well...I ask the questions so...it should be you being bothered!", she said. He must have realized that she was just skipping time. "Buuuut...", Cora stopped talking, she didn't know what to say and all she would like to do now was going away and giving Nec and Vex some rest. Her hand was shaking more than before and she was glad he hadn't seen it until now. She started to dug the nails of her left hand into her right arm. They were under control, for now. But not long.
Cora quickly looked at him and then somewhere else. If she told him about her past now she would definitly lose control.
"Mercenaries bring up some unplesant memories!", she quickly said and dug her nails now so hard into her arm it started to bleed. A bit for the better now.

Connor could tell he had pushed the envelope, though he realized he may have pushed too hard, what with Cora digging her nails into her arm. Connor's heart started to soften, knowing what it's like to make oneself bleed just to stay in control, realizing this girl was more disturbed than he realized, facing forward to look away from her as he attempted to reconcile.

"I'm...sorry to hear that..." He began, remarking on mercenaries bringing up unpleasant memories. "I mean you no harm, so long as you don't mean any to me." He stated, wondering if she thought he would be some threat to her due to his mercenary past, though in doing so he realized he may have revealed his soft side a bit too much, turning his head away as he grimaced, his thoughts punishing him again. 'Damn it Connor, now she knows You're weak.'

Severin watched the two converse. "Uh huh. You two done pouring out your hearts for each other?" He stated plainly. "You two are like peas in a pod." He looked at Cora's arm. "Just... Why?" Severin facepalmed. "Well, at least we're right next to the medicine room." Severin turned to face the room. "And the medic." Severin blinked. "Can't forget the medic." Severin looked at Connor."What's your opinion on the military police?" He asked.