Attack on Fortress

Chapter 14: A Call to Death

The crowd surrounding Jean was an abysmal one.

Located alongside the river, any abled-bodied or coherent soldier was present to witness Commander Pixis' briefing. Jean fell into that category because he was still conscious and could walk. Sure, his arm was in a sling and his right eye was swollen shut but so long as he could understand the Commander, that was more than the brass needed of him. So, Jean and his friends found themselves amidst a crowd of demoralised and injured soldiers spanning the entire docking port. The Cadets naturally segregated themselves towards their own ranks. Jean found himself fortunate to be beside Mikasa though less so as Annie was on the other side of him. The icy girl had seemed more... cold and brutal lately. He couldn't blame her after what the terrorists; the REDs, did to everyone.

The fact that someone stole his likeness to commit atrocities was enough to make him sick and resentful. Jean was silently begging the Commander to announce the swift execution of those monsters right up there on the stage.

A loading bay was repurposed as the Commander's stand. It was high enough above the crowd to make Pixis clearly seen and heard by his soldiers. There was tension in the air. So thick and palpable Jean could taste it and then describe it in vivid detail. It grew with each passing second. Soon, said tension made a noise. Echoes of voices too far away to hear clearly but one that spoke with authority. Like ripples in water, the commanding staff relayed orders and followed them accordingly. "Attention! The Commander will be taking the stage. All of you will be acting as soldiers of the Garrison. Meaning no talking or shouting! Understood?!" the closest Garrison officer shouted at them.

"Yes sir!" Jean and the Cadets yelled.

Jean pondered why the officers would emphasize being quiet until the reason for the tension reared their ugly heads. Pulled with meters of heavy chains and by a small army equipped to the teeth with swords, rifles and pistols, the REDs made their way to the stage. All pretence of professionalism the officers ordered was thrown out the window in an instant. The Cadets weren't the first to break out in curses and wrathful heckling. That was all the Garrison. From senior soldiers down to the newbies, they all broke into howling at the sight of the REDs being dragged along. Jean and a handful of his friends didn't engage with the heckling. Even if Jean himself desperately wanted to.

The soldiers belonging to Pixis' reinforcements were forming a barrier between the Garrison present and the REDs. That was all that were protecting the REDs from being torn to pieces by the maddening crowd. They were pressed onto the stage. Pushed all the way back till their back was pressed firmly against the wall of the attached warehouse. Many soldiers around Jean were outwardly saying, some even begging, that they were being lined up for execution. They and Jean could only hope.

No sooner did they step on the platform did the Commander and his entourage appear. It was strange seeing Commander Pixis again. The air around him felt superior and commanding- a beacon of hope in their dire situation, yet it felt so bizarre knowing who Pixis truly was. There was no way Jean would believe that the man walking with a grim expression and hardened, almost harrowing eyes, was the same man he entered a cooking competition for. The same eccentric- borderline insane, the man forcefully delegated Garrison resources to host a cooking competition, practically shutting down most of the security forces in Trost in doing so, and chose Jean's simple omelette over the boar meat that gave him a brief glimpse of an elevated existence... or so the Commander stated. Honestly, Jean couldn't make heads or tails of the Commander, and this was the man who was going to try and save them.

Jean's pondering was suddenly interrupted by the sight of one of Pixis' entourage members. The only one without a uniform jacket and with a face Jean thought he'd never see again, Eren Yeager marched along the entourage with fierce determination. "Hold on. Is that Eren?" Jean heard Connie say out loud.