Blue and White - Levi Fanfiction

Ch. 84 - Return of our Directive

"Our destination is here," Erwin said, pointing to a spot on the map before him. The map was large, incredibly so, taking up most of the table - yet most of it was blank.

I crossed my arms over my chest as my eyes robed across the map. With such a specialized unit of soldiers, I should have felt at ease during this debriefing, but I didn't. I'm not sure what it was, perhaps it was the fact that so few soldiers were going (comparatively, when set against our usual forces), but I had been chosen for a reason. I had no reason to feel this way.

There was no point in being anxious; I was listed to work with Levi, so why worry?

And yet... I couldn't shake it, even as Erwin explained once more his incredibly detailed, seemingly fool-proof plan. It would be completely bulletproof if not for the fact that the fools in question were not the soldiers among us, but Titans - Titans that regularly acted very much not according to our predictions.

Our goal for this expedition was simple: reach the abandoned development project Erwin had pointed to and was now explaining the potential benefits of capturing and securing.

It was sound logic, yes. To get there, he had us split into small groups, mostly pairs yet a few groups of three, with roundabout, distinct paths, and that was because our secondary goal was to fill out the map before him.

As it was, there were rumors of that old base being there, an old developmental failure from years ago that had long been abandoned for how dangerous it was to get there. According to intel, it was in a completely open plain; as in, nothing but grasses and dirt as far as the horizon.

Tactically, if we could capture it, it would provide a great holding point and resting place during expeditions.

We just had to get there first, and cover leagues of uncharted land. Our job was to chart it, while avoiding Titans and working towards our destination. We were, for this mission, to focus on the very core of what the Survey Corps was, and what we were about: scouting, charging ahead, exploring beyond the walls. And hopefully, with this few chosen unit of elite soldiers, we would be able to succeed in our directive.

Hopefully.

After our debriefing, we had only a few more moments to ask whatever questions we had - of which there were few, for as thorough as Erwin was when planning it - and prepare for our departure. As was usual before an expedition, there was a flurry of activity, movement, and as I was far too used to by now, there was an anxious pit forming in the bottom of my stomach. As I always did, I forced it down further, to suppress it as best I could.

That anxiety would never last; it would always be replaced by excitement, at least partially, as soon as we all took our first few well-paced strides on the outside of the wall. It didn't matter how well-planned an expedition was, nor how much confidence I had in myself, my abilities, and those of my comrades, because the anxiety would always linger.

But it was more... persistent, today.

Even when on my trusted steed I blinked the sudden brightness from my eyes after having ridden out into the unblocked, unfiltered, gloriously radiant sunlight, the anxiety did not burn away like the morning dew assuredly would, now that the sun was up. It was not replaced like the chill in my bones now that I was working, no longer sitting idly on my horse, waiting for the chance to run, to move, to warm up.

None of what normally happened actually happened, but I did not falter. Now was not the time.

It still was not the time when Levi and myself - as just a pair, for in Erwin's brief time as commander of the Survey Corps thus far had not yet removed us as the two sole members of the vanguard - began to near our target destination. As he planned, all the pairs would pincer in towards our goal, effectively being able to document it from every angle.