Training

Dolph no longer had his fear of heights. He focussed his body and mind, working as best as he could. Coldly ignoring his friends, he rose to new heights. Don Jozef was right, Dolph was a killer, and that's all he could aspire to. The exercises that tortured his body absolved Dolph of his guilt for being so useless, for allowing Don to take advantage of the recruits. He couldn't protect Anna, and so he put himself through pain. Even a piece of shit like Klaus didn't deserve to be treated like this, even if they all assured him of consent.

By focussing on this training as a distraction, Dolph became rivals with the number one, Saul Eitan. The two would race for the best times, to break each other's records. Saul, the loner who had ignored the others even started to eat with Dolph. The two pushed each other to go beyond their limits. These contests, and the camaraderie shared between them made Dolph feel happy.

And then Anna returned, her foot fully healed. She showed up in the classroom when the Drill Sergeant was quizzing the recruits on tactical scenarios.

"Your squad has spotted two 14 meter titans running towards your convoy to the South. To the East, you see an 8 meter titan." Don Jozef said. He pointed to Shira.

"Sir, I would.." Shira said, and then paused.

"The titans are coming. They're not going to wait for you to make a decision."

"This is so pointless, there aren't going to be titans in the capital" Talia whispered.

"20 pushups, Talia." Talia got on the ground and gave her 20 pushups. "Felix, what is your decision?"

"Sir, send a horse to lead off the 14 meter titans into territory they can be lost. Send another horse to lead the 8 meter titan away from them."

"Someone criticize Felix's plan." Don said.

"Sir, Felix has sent 40% of his squad away, weakening the convoy. He's also sent away two horses, weakening the maneuverability of the squad and convoy." Anna said.

"What's your plan?"

"Maintain speed. Have the best shots sitting in the wagon, prepared to blind the titans as they approach. Have a squadmate break off to the West and prepared to flank the titans. The other two squadmates should attack the blinded titan in their moment of weakness." Anna said, very confidently.

"Someone criticize Anna's plan." Don Jozef said. Anna looked surprised.

"Sir, the soldiers will have to attack the titans from the front, which is the most dangerous vector to attack. Even if the flanking soldier is able to get into position, Anna's plan depends on blinding the titans. This is a difficult shot and a lot could go wrong." Ingersol said.

"Any other plans?" Don Jozef said. The room was quiet. "So only two of you made a decision? There will be times when you don't have a commanding officer and you need to act. Shyness is not an excuse. Inability to act is suicide."

"Sir, as the titans approach, have a soldier lead them off as bait. Then, have the other members of the squad break off and attack the titans from the rear." Nanaba said.

"Any criticism?" Don Jozef said.

"The titans might turn around and attack the squad before they're prepared to attack. They're also divided into two groups, and so it's unlikely one soldier would be able to lead the three of them off. The titans could also be aberrants, and may not even take the bait." Anna said.

"With every decision there are risks. Being able to evaluate these risks will increase your chance of survival."

The recruits were all dismissed for excercises. Anna was finally ready to join everyone, but she struggled. It was her first time using 3DMG, and she couldn't keep up with the others during runs. When it came to hand to hand combat, she lost every match.