Chapter 8: Capture the Flag

At long last, the time has come for all the teams to come together and prepare themselves for the ultimate test. The test of leadership and teamwork. Where all the teams will put the time they’ve spent together to the test.

Many teams ended up failing the test and were forced to be sent away to work in the fields. Some for poor leadership, some for failing to carry out specific orders, and the list goes on.

But the teams that have passed were graded by Keith Shadis. But he will not properly decide who will make the top ten until all teams have completed the training.

The last batch of teams to compete were Teams A, L, X and Z. Team A consisted of Mina, Jean, Eren, Mikasa and Reiner as their leader. That was who the members of Team X were competing against.

Marco, Sasha and Connie were starting to get worried about their chances. Team A had some really talented fighters. And among their own team, Lazarus was the only highly skilled member.

“Seriously?!” Connie complained. “Of all the teams we could go up against, it had to be “This” one!”

“Take it easy Connie, the competition hasn’t even started yet.” Sasha attempted to reassure him, but to no avail.

“Look guys.” Michael interrupted. “We don’t have to win. Our team has already passed the tests. This last session is for recruits who are given a last chance to earn extra points for the final score.”

The commandant then approaches the last two teams and orders them to equip their ODM gear. The teams comply and open the boxes containing their gear. Lazarus was the last one to do it. He was slightly nervous of how people would react to his new ODM gear he’d been working on in secret. He also feared getting into trouble with the higher ups for tampering with their equipment. But technically the ODM gear was his now, and there was no rule that implied that the owner was forbidden to make repairs or upgrades to it.

Taking a nervous breath, he pulls his new improved ODM gear out of the box and attaches it to his waist. The two canisters on each side if his hips had a new slimmer design to them. It looked like someone had taken three katana sheath’s and fused them together with a longer, sleeker canister. It was even given a crimson red paint job with gold highlights on the ends. The ODM Gear itself was still the same, with only a pair of gold wings attached to the sides. It also carried the same colour scheme as the canisters. And the blades. They were all reforged into more durable katana blades that were much longer than the standard ODM blade. There were six in total, all resting in their katana sheath holsters.

Everyone was shocked by the design of Lazarus’s new improved ODM gear. Both on his team and the opposing team. Many of them wondering how he did this and if it was even legal.

“So that’s what you’ve been doing at the cabin every time you sent us out.” Michael says as he looks over the new gear. “Why did you do this? And why keep it a secret from your teammates?”

“My gear was having some technical problems. In order to fix them, I had to take it apart. And when I had to reassemble it, I figured why not make some modifications? As for why I kept it hidden. I wanted you guys to stay focused on each other, rather than me. Are you mad?’

“Not at all.” Michael responded immediately. “I think what you did was amazing. It definitely looks like a major improvement.”

“It looks so cool!” Connie jumped with joy. He starts lightly touching the sides of the canisters, filling his fascination with it. “With gear like this, we’re sure to win! You didn’t happen to make any more for us did ya?”

“Sorry Connie, I only had enough time and resources to make one.”

And just like that, Connie’s spirits were crushed once again, as well as his hopes of winning this thing.

Keith Shadis soon approaches Lazarus to address him on his new ODM gear. Lazarus braces himself for whatever form of scolding he’ll receive for this.

“Averbach! What have you done to your ODM gear?!”

Lazarus explains to the commandant what he told his friends, hoping he wouldn’t get into too much trouble. He explains to him that there was no rule that forbids self maintenance. Keith takes a hold of one of his blades and strokes the sides whilst looking over.

To his and everybody’s surprise, the commandant was actually impressed with his ingenuity. He hands the blade back to Lazarus.

“Your gear may look pleasing to the eye. But can it perform as well as the standard gear?”

“I believe so, sir!”

“We shall see.” Keith then turns around and returns to his post.

Lazarus sighed in relief that he wasn’t in any trouble. Maybe if he can demonstrate how advanced his new gear is, the higher ups will let him keep it.

“What do you call it?” Michael asked him. “Every self made weapon has to have a name. It makes the weapon feel more unique to the wielder. That’s what my Dad told me… So, what’s it called?”

Lazarus hadn’t given that much thought. He was too focused on actually finishing the darn thing, that he never once thought about giving it a name.

After a moment of thinking it over, a name finally came to mind.

“How about… Cloud Zero?”

“Now that’s a cool name.” Michael agreed.

The others nod in agreement. Lazarus was satisfied with the name, as well as the others accepting his new weapon.

With all that out of the way, Keith begins explaining the final test to the two teams. Both teams have to camp out in a base located on the far ends of the forest. Between the two enemy bases are dozens of Titan dummies. The objective is for the teams to locate the enemy base, infiltrate it, steal their flag, and return it to their own base. Whichever team grabs it first wins, and they get bonus points for every Titan they kill along the way.

Each team can send one or more soldiers to infiltrate the enemy base as long as they have one guarding their own flag. And if any soldiers were to encounter each other, they’re permitted to taking them out with punches and kicks, but would be disqualified if they use their blades.

Once the explanation was done, both teams shook hands and departed to their bases. At the top of their base, Team X huddles together to discuss their strategy on how to beat the opposing team.

Michael volunteers to stay behind and guard their own flag, whilst Lazarus would lead Marco and Sasha into the forest. Connie’s job was to act as the teams supplier, guarding their extra blades and gas for when they needed them.

Once both teams were in position, Keith fired off a green smoke signal into the sky, telling both teams that the final test has officially begun.

The final training session had proven to be much more challenging than the members of Team X thought. With all of the Titan Dummies taken out, all that remained was the objective of capturing the enemy flag.

So far none of the teams were successful in doing so. Right now both teams were taking a break to regroup, resupply, and rethink their strategies. Team X huddles together to formulate what their next move should be.

“Damnit! Why isn’t this working out? Everyone’s pulling their weight.” Connie complained.

“We’re down to our last blades and have just emptied our gas refill station. If some of us hadn’t been going all out this whole time we’d still have supplies left!” Sasha stated while looking over at Connie.

“What do you think we should do, Lazarus?” Marco asked.

Everyone looks to Lazarus, expecting him to have the answers. But at this point he had no clue on what they should do next. Team A has been hitting them hard throughout the first half.

Seeing that he was struggling, Michael decided to step up and share his own plan with the group.

“Here’s the plan. Thanks to Sasha’s tracking skills we were able to locate the enemy base. She will lead the charge, picking the fastest route. Marco and Connie will act as decoys and distract the enemy, taking their focus away from Lazarus who will infiltrate the enemy base, seize the flag and return to base. As for me. I’ll be guarding our flag from the enemy.”

“That’s actually a really good plan.” Marco complimented.

“Uh, excuse me. Who’s in charge of this team again?” Lazarus asked sarcastically.

“Sorry. Awaiting orders, Captain.” Michael shot back with his own sarcasm.

“Right, here’s the plan-

Lazarus paused. He had to admit that Michaels plan was a good one. One that might actually guarantee their victory as long as everybody is focused. Nothing he could think up could even come close to as effective as this plan. Maybe Shadis should’ve made him team leader instead of him.

“Like he said, nice plan. We’ll do it your way.” He places his hand in the middle, encouraging the others to join in, placing their hands atop his. “Let’s win this thing!”

Team X break the connection and all blast off into the trees with their ODM gear. Michael stays behind to guard their flag from any intruders. He’d come so far to become a soldier, he can’t give up now.

The rest of Team X blaze through the forest as fast as they can. They only have twenty minutes left to capture the enemy flag and return it to base. Losing doesn’t affect their final score, but winning would certainly give them some bonus points and heighten their chances of making it to the top ten.

Sasha was leading the charge, using her tracking skills to lead them down the fastest route. Lazarus, Marco and Connie were vastly spread out, keeping an eye out for the enemy.

So far there was no sign of them. Until their ears picked up the sounds of Eren and Jean arguing in the distance. Marco uses his left blade to reflect its light towards Lazarus, warning him.

Lazarus nodded and decided to disengage his Cloud Zero and make it to the enemy base on foot from this point on. Marco and Connie flew in the direction of Eren and Jean, drawing their attention away from Lazarus. His Titan powers allowed him to run much faster than an ordinary human, plus give him almost unlimited stamina. With the enemy tower in his sights, he readies his gear and aims the anchors at the top of the tower.

Just as he was about to though, he noticed Sasha going off target and is now heading towards… a potato?

“Sasha no! It’s a trap!” He warned her

But it was too late. Sasha dived face first into the ground, grabbing the potato with her teeth. This left her wide open to be tackled by the enemy guard of the base. Mikasa Ackerman.

Lazarus halted his pursuit and stands before the cold, emotionless, dark haired girl. Sasha was behind her, chewing away at the potato in her mouth.

“That’s a little cruel don’t you think? Using Sasha’s love for potatoes to get one up over her.” Lazarus addresses Mikasa.

“The world we live in is a cruel place. Why should the people in it be any different?” She bluntly replied.

She places her blades back in their holsters and readies her fists, preparing to fight him. Lazarus takes up his own stance and stands his ground. He knew how skilled a fighter Mikasa was. She was the only one who was able to match Annie in combat. Hand to hand combat was something Lazarus struggled with even back in Marley. But thanks to Annies teachings, as well as what he’d learned from Michael, he’s sure to at least have a chance against her.

Mikasa was the first to attack, charging towards him and unleashing a fury of fast punches. Lazarus was able to block some of them with his arms, and those he couldn’t block, he simply dodged to the side.

“Of course they made Mikasa guard the flag. Who else could put up a real challenge for me than her?”

Lazarus soon went on the offence and struck back with a roundhouse kick to the side. But instead of knocking her down like he’d expected, her body skidded to the side while still standing. Her facial expression hadn’t changed once since their fight. Now he understood why the others called her Mikasa the monster.

Time was running short for Team X. They must complete their objective and fast if they’re guaranteed to make the top ten. Lazarus looked around, but there was no way around her. The only way to reach the flag was to defeat her and ensure she’s too hurt to get back up.

Unless… Then he remembered. Mikasa also has a weakness to exploit. One thing that she cares for more than anything else. One he often questions is more obsession than caring. He turns his attention to Connie who was locking arms with Eren.

“Hey Connie, take out Eren! Make sure he’s incapable of getting back up again!”

Shocked by what she just heard, Mikasa quickly turns towards Eren’s location. Leaving her wide open to attack.

In a flash, Lazarus tackles Mikasa, lifts her over him, and proceeds to throw her over his head and into the ground. With her down for the count, he wasted no time in heading towards the tower and seizing the flag.

With the flag in hand, he blasted off full speed back to their own base. Mikasa eventually gets back up and was about to attack him again, only to be pinned down by Sasha, who to Mikasa’s surprise was a lot stronger than she looked.

“Go Lazarus! Bring us victory!” She cheered him on.

Lazarus smiled back at her briefly. He then focuses on the path ahead and kept moving forward. Marco and Connie soon join him and provide backup, ensuring no enemy soldier gets anywhere near him.

As they were nearing their base, they notice Michael struggling against Reiner, who they assumed made an attempt to steal their flag. The two of them locked hands, trying to force the other backwards. As strong as Michael was, Reiner had the strength of the Armoured Titan. There was no chance of him winning, which was evident by Reiner pushing his arms back.

But what really surprised both him and Lazarus, was the fact that Michael was not only able to hold his own against him, but even managed to muster the strength to overpower him and push him down.

“Hurry Laz! You’re almost there!” Michael shouts to his leader, extending his arm out, ready to grab the flag from him. “I know you can do it!”

Suddenly, just as he was inches away from giving the flag to Michael, Lazarus froze up, causing him to lose focus and fall towards the ground. His grip on the flag loosened until it fell out of his hands.

Just when he thought that he was finally free of them, another set of visions start to appear in his mind, putting him into yet another blackout. Lazarus hadn’t experienced a blackout since his final moments with Lucia in Marley. They’d stopped ever since he arrived on Paradis. So why? Why was he experiencing another one? And why did it have to happen now of all times, right as he was about to win the challenge for his team?

A new set of images flashed before his minds eyes. Unlike his last one, these ones were unclear and they only appeared for about two seconds before changing to the next one. And all that he could hear were the sounds of screaming and the ground rumbling from some kind of seismic activity.

The last image he saw was of a Titan. But this was no ordinary mindless Pure Titan. This was something else. It looked more like a demon than a Titan with facial features identical to his own Winged Titan. It had a muscular body, long black hair, pointed ears, and glowing green eyes. It was standing in the middle of a destroyed town and was staring directly at him. The Titan let out a demonic roar as it stared at him with murderous intent.

It was that last image that snaps him out of his trance and letting out a scream of terror. Marco, Connie and Sasha were all sitting around him, worried for their leader. Each of them attempt to comfort him, reassuring him that everything was fine.

Lazarus takes a couple of deep breaths as he looks upon each of his squad mates. He quickly feels his hat and was relieved that it hadn’t come loose and fallen off his head. Once he calmed down, he began to apologise to his allies. It’s because of him that they’ve now lost this challenge.

“Lazarus! Thank goodness your ok.” Sasha speaks softly.

“What the hell was that just now?” Connie questioned him. “We were so close to victory, then all of a sudden you go and pull a stunt like that? We’re gonna lose because of you!”

“Take it easy, Connie. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for this. For now, we should be thankful he’s ok.” Marco scolded him. They can worry about how it happened after they tended to his needs. “You’re lucky you didn’t break anything. You did hit the ground pretty hard.”

Soon, the members of Team A arrive on the scene and gather around the downed Lazarus. They were all confused as to what happened. All except Reiner. He had an idea of what just happened. The only reason Lazarus would collapse like that was because of his blackouts. He thought for sure they were gone for good. He would still have nightmares every night, but his daymares hadn’t appeared since they’ve arrived. He makes a mental note to himself to ask his comrade what he saw once the training was over.

“Is he alright?” Jean asked.

“What even happened to him?” Eren added.

“Whatever happened, I hope he’s hurt bad.” Mikasa bluntly stated. “He pretended to hurt you to catch me off guard and overpower me. That was a dirty move.”

Mikasa suddenly receives a bonk on the head from Eren, which caused her to let out a surprised yelp. She would then turn to Eren, wandering why he did that.

“You weren’t exactly playing fair either when you threw that potato at Sasha. Your no better than he is. So show a little respect god damnit!”

Mikasa was shocked by Erens defence for Lazarus. But she will agree that he was right. Who is she to complain?

“ENOUGH!” Keith Shadis shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing the attention of the two teams to him. “It is time to announce the top squad… The top squad from this training session is… Team X!”

“What?!” Everyone shouted almost simultaneously.

“We won?” Connie says confused by this. “But how? Lazarus dropped the flag?”

“Hey guys!”

Everyone looks up at the tower and notices Michael standing atop it, waving the enemy flag around in his hands. It didn’t take a genius to put together what happened. Michael must’ve caught the flag as Lazarus fell and managed to secure a win for his team.

Michael could’ve rushed down to help Lazarus and check if he was ok, but doing so would mean losing to Team A.

Growing up with a Scout father, he was taught to always follow the mission through till the end. And you must never hesitate or go back for any comrades who are in danger. You can’t afford to show weakness in a world that’s dominated by Titans.

This didn’t mean that he doesn’t care about his comrades. He still views them as his friends. But had he treated this training session as a game and helped, he’d be going against everything his father taught him. Should he ever be in a real situation where he’d be desperate enough to achieve victory for humanity, then he needed to learn to block out all emotion and attachments and put all his focus on the mission.

“Way to go, Michael!” Sasha cheered.

Michael joins the others on the ground and helps Lazarus up onto his feet. The five of them all lock arms and relish in their victory. The members of Team A clapped for them, congratulating them on their victory. They will respect the fact that they’ve won fair and square, even if some of them were annoyed by it.

Keith and the instructor observed as the recruits celebrated. These latest recruits he’d been training look well matched. He can expect great things from them.

“These batch of recruits have certainly proved their worth.” The instructor speaks up. “Averbach and Ackerman are the obvious ace’s among them. I’d say your top ten students are pretty much well decided already.”

“Yes.” Keith addressed. “A lot of them show promise. But a good soldier is more than his or her own abilities. Most Titan encounters come down to teamwork. Sometimes how well you cooperate with your comrades is what saves your skin. That’s what this training’s all about. Figuring out who’s a team player and who isn’t. And between the two aces you’ve pointed out, I’d say Lazarus is the true team player.”

Keith could tell by the respect given from his teammates that Lazarus has proven himself a good leader throughout the last months of training. He was happy to see he made the right choice.

Both Lazarus and Mikasa were equally skilled fighters, and both knew how to handle ODM gear. But Mikasa has always been dependent on herself, never relying on others. Lazarus however, always looked out for his teammates, and he wouldn’t hesitate to put his own life at risk if it meant protecting them.

As for Michael. He’s the reason Team X claimed victory today. His strength and determination reminded him of his father. If he were here today, he knew he’d be proud at how far his son had come.

“You don’t often find a soldier that can pull a group together just like that and get them to perform at their best. But this time. It looks like we might just have not one, but two soldiers with that innate ability… With the conclusion of this test, I have made my decision on who my top ten students should be.”

To Be Continued