☤ survey corps

@☤ Simon [Yin] After a prolonged pause, Daehyun shrugs. In all honesty, he doubts anyone he knows of is qualified enough for the squad. The soldiers he trained were unable to defeat him, the weakest link in Special Operations. Daehyun had never killed even a single titan in his near-decade of experience in the Survey Corps. He had only ever been, if anything, a helping hand, a strategist, maybe, albeit a mediocre one. Had he not been friends with Simon, it was doubtful he would have even survived this long.

Snapping out of his reverie, he drags his finger over the dust on the table, drawing a crude image of soldiers lining up, papers in hand, in front of the building they are currently in. He motions at Simon to come over and points at his drawing questioningly.

Still, the idea of having to have more members terrifies him. He and the rest of the squad know that their current count -- five members -- is enough. The only reason for them to even consider recruiting new, wet-behind-the-ears members is-

Daehyun can't even bring himself to think about it.

[[ sorry for this shat ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] His boots clack against the cold stone floor, a melancholy and momentary disturbance in the quiet castle-like building. They drift in the air all alone before gently fading away into nothingness, interrupted by another obnoxious click of soles against floor. It's a vicious never-ending cycle, interrupted only by more taps, courtesy of his special operations squad. There's no noise as they walk to a table and set out the plans and maps and various other items, there's a solemn air about the squad regarding the upcoming expedition.

He looks upon the faces of his comrades. There is no telling who will live to see the next sunrise after the expedition, and there is a suffocating pain in his chest as he glances from grave face to grave face. That was the life they all chose, though. No one forced them to take a job that required them to tread the thin line between life and death. He pulls at his dog tag, imprinted with his name. He should insist that everyone get one- just so there's something to remember each and every one of them by. Simon voices this thought to his squad.

Deciding to deal with slightly more light-hearted things first, he sits down in his chair and grabs a sheet and a pen. "Who do you is fit to join the squad?" It comes out forced, and is quickly smothered by the thick tension between the squad, the brief comment drowning in silence. He clears his throat.

@☤ Simon [Yin] Ooooh, a hug. There is no way Daehyun is going to let this go. He stretches out his sore shoulders and turns to face Astrid, face splitting into a wide smirk. The petite soldier frowns at him questioningly. In response, he nods his head at Simon's back, earning himself a slap and a muttered "Focus, will you?"

Daehyun pretends not to notice the subtle pink creeping up her cheeks and picks up his pace until he is right behind the commander. His grin fades as he notices the building they are arriving at and remembers what must be done. There is an expedition soon. The Special Operations Squad -- the people he has come to know as friends -- may not live to see many more mornings.

Ah, well. They signed up for this life, after all. He was accustomed to living with one foot in his grave.

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] [[.... SURE ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] [[ AYYYYYY NATHANIEL HADLEY SENPAIIIIIIIIIIIIII

also how do we justify these european last names (ral, etc.). are they descended from the survey corpsmen who established the military or what. ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] They've worked through a good half of the legion. Simon rolls his shoulders and shoots Daeyhun a lazy half-smile. He bumps his shoulder against the older male's, and turns to face the population of sore Privates. "Cooldown run. Two miles. Take however long you deem fit." Collective groans of protest shake the air but he does nothing but quirk an eyebrow at all of the reluctant Privates. One by one, they begin to pick themselves up. It's strangely amusing, kind of like watching the dead rise.

He looks over his shoulder where the rest of his crew is scattered, and gives them a sharp nod, dismissing the rest of the soldiers. He claps Daehyun and Lee on the back, ruffles Nathaniel's ( the youngest member, isn't he? ) hair and pulls Astrid in for a swift one-armed hug before quickly releasing her.

He starts moving towards where the headquarters and cabins are locating, knowing his well disciplined squad will fall into step with him.

[[ like what is this _____ ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] Daehyun grins and launches himself at the next soldier with a practiced twisting movement. He is alive. Even when the soldier's fist connects with his shoulder, the adrenaline surging through his veins is enough to tell him that he is human, that this is his body, that, to this day, the titans still have not taken his life.

The sudden surge of anger from earlier fades. He spars like a madman, though he knows these skills are useless against the enemy, landing a few hits on a soldier here before moving onto the next, never lingering in one fight for too long, barely cognizant of his own injuries.

It isn't long before he finds himself face-to-face with Simon. He relaxes his stance, smiles, and tilts his head to the side.

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] He had been in the middle of a half-a ssed spar with some trainee, among thousands when he heard the murmurs. The trainees never put their whole into beating him- scared to see that, maybe, just maybe, the whole of humanity rested their hopes on a human. Too scared to find out that he had flaws and was not the perfect god they painted him to be.

Terrified to find that legendary commander Simon was nothing but a human, like the rest of them. He bounced slightly on his heels, nowhere near breaking a sweat fighting the soldier he was teaching. He sighed internally. Futile. So futile to try and keep them alive. The only thing he could ever do was to make sure more of them came back, dead or alive. Preferably alive- but he only ever succeeded in bringing their bodies back. Maybe an arm to give to their mothers.

And it was always the same damned question.
Did my son help further humanity's advance?

No.

No, he didn't. He died and I was powerless to stop it.

Somehow, all of that comes out jumbled and he says yes instead. He looks over at the frightened soldiers, huddled together, whispering, hands over their mouths, occasionally shooting a glance at Private Kwon. "Enough," he said sternly, deep voice reverberating and silencing the fidgety privates all around him.

"Astr- Ral. Help Private Kwon to the infirmary, and tell the medic," he gives the boy a once over for any injuries, "broken rib." He avoids her eyes, no matter how hard they try to capture his gaze. It isn't until he hears shuffling and her sweet voice coaxing the boy up, and listens to her footsteps echo softly that he looks towards the shell-shocked privates.

"Listen up, all of you. You may all think that was unnecessary. Unfortunately, it is and was completely needed. Do you think the titans will hesitate to come up behind you? Do you think they'll go away because you scream at them? From now on, I want you active and alert- those of you who aren't will naturally suffer the consequences. Skipping training isn't cheating me. It's cheating yourself. Have a nice afterlife."

He stalked off, putting a hand on Daehyun's shoulder as he passed him. "Keep doing it."

Fight fire with fire, and fight monsters with monsters.

He crushes another Private into the ground mere seconds after that thought.

[[ i like how dae accuses others of babbling when that reply was a babbling mess ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] Daehyun nodded, stretched out his shoulders, and allowed himself a smile. Simon's sparring was always a sight to see, especially considering how none of the soldiers could hold a candle to his skill. It never failed to give him a sense of vicarious pride, that this man, the greatest soldier humanity had and the hope of thousands, was his closest companion.

He chuckled internally and sauntered over to the training grounds. Now, maybe he was praising his buddy a little too much. Behind all his brilliance, he was still the same man whom Daehyun had scaled a cliff with, side by side, as equals. The public could apotheosize Simon to their hearts' contents, but he was still only human. That thought was comforting enough. It terrified Daehyun to think that the only person he had left could some day become the dual-bladed demon the people wished for.

But his thoughts were running off on a tangent again. The task at hand came first. He had no time to digress into idle daydreams. Calmly, Daehyun walked up behind the nearest soldier and aimed a roundhouse kick at his shoulders.

The man cried out in a mixture of surprise and pain. "What was that for?" he yelled, his expression rapidly melting into one of fury. Oh, right. This guy was the one from the lower yang district, Kwon, was it? An idealistic soldier, he was, who believed he could save everyone and -- It wasn't important. Daehyun continued his attack with another harsh kick. There was a sickening crack of a rib snapping. The young soldier screamed before slowly and painfully standing up.

"What are you doing, Jung? We're comrades, you're not supposed to hurt your own comrade, you son of a _____!"

Oh look. He was angry. It was his fault for not paying enough attention, his fault for letting his guard down, his fault for being so damn trusting. Daehyun looked. He didn't see Private Kwon, the soldier, but terrified eyes in a puddle's reflection, leering grins of encroaching giants, broken bodies under splintered wood, the lone arm of a soldier with a green stallion stained red with blood, and Daehyun heard the screams, the disgusting screams, tainted shrieks, the sound of his own voice, his own heart, the screams so hoarse he was coughing up his insides, leaving only an empty shell with no sounds left in it.

And he looked the other man in the eye, wordless as he always was, robbed by himself of that hideous voice he never wanted to hear again, and he pointed his sword at the soldiers neck. The words he couldn't bring himself to say concentrated in his eyes, the dark glare of "you won't survive to see tomorrow" meeting bewildered, furious, hurt eyes of a man who looked and acted so disgustingly like himself that he wanted to puke.

He sheathed his sword in a clean motion. The whispers came at him in a storm. They were no different from usual, the same insults they flung at him every single time, because they were weak, hampered by emotions, and all they could do was babble because words were the only weapon he could not fight back with.

Bastard. Son of a _____. Corrupt. That shouldn't be allowed. Abuse of power. Not fit to be a soldier. Disloyal. He thinks he can do whatever he wants, just because he's friends with the Commander. Not fit to be a soldier. Never a soldier, no, soldiers are not beasts.

Monster.

Daehyun walked back to Simon and looked him in the eye. The men may have called him a monster, but he was just teaching them a lesson.

[[ i don't even know what that was and sorry for the semi-godmodding ]]

[[woA i

what's new ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] Simon forcibly exhaled, breath coming out in a sharp huff. He watched silently as the stick glided gracefully over the ground, occasionally hitting a ditch or a stone and hitching in it's path. He watched as the lines came together to form a crude version of a soldier in uniform, wings of freedom meticulously emblazoned on the back. If he closed his eyes and blocked out the sound, he could imagine the ripples of the cloak, and the pressed edges of the beige jacket. He could smell the perfume of death and despair, feel the melancholy in his bones.

His eyes remained open.

He watched as Daehyun scratched some last minute details into the dust, made eye contact with the only man he ever considered to be his friend, and watched steadfastly as a boot mercilessly obliterated the drawing's lower half. Only then did he dare to avert his eyes, surveying the legion hard at work. Daehyun's tacit message rang in his ears, a phantom whisper that would never be.

They will not last.

He nodded, disgust curling his lips. "Noted." He said in his usual business-like manner, seemingly nonchalant. The breathy quality of his answer betrayed him.

He gently placed a hand on Daehyun's back. "Help me. Watch their forms while I spar with them," he said. Anything to keep his mind off of the impending doom.

@☤ Simon [Yin] Daehyun shrugged and squatted down, lazily picking up a stick and dragging it across the ground. At Simon's words he only grinned wider. The Commander was so clearly attracted to the little lady; there was really no point in hiding it. Daehyun wanted to tell his best friend to hurry up and just propose to her already, but there was the slightly bothersome obstacle of the relationship ban. Still, he thought to himself, it must be pretty nice to be in love. Was Simon in love? Ha. Fancy that. Humanity's greatest soldier (or as Daehyun liked to think of him, humanity's greatest jackass best friend), in love.

He shook his head. He was letting his guard down again. Despite this temporary lull in the constant terror that he was so accustomed to, Daehyun couldn't help but feel uneasy. This life was a perpetual battle; even in times of peace, they needed to be on their feet, preparing for the worst. A slight pause, quick rest of the weary legs, and the fetid jaws of the Titan would be upon them.

Absentmindedly he began to draw in the dirt with the stick in his hand. The crude drawing was of a young soldier in uniform, the wings of freedom emblazoned on his back. Daehyun looked up at Simon, stood quickly, and dragged his foot over his recent creation, erasing the depicted soldier's lower half.

Sure that Simon had gotten the message, he wordlessly kicked dust over what remained of the picture.

[[ watch as my paragraphs get gradually shorter and my sentences gradually more cruddy ]]

[[ that is actually my handwriting though

somewhere in between cursive and print
super thin and tiny ]]

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] Looking through the messy notes quickly, Simon turned to face his friend. A muscle jumped in his jaw before he smirked. He waved the notes at Daehyun. "Would it kill you to be neat for once in your life?" Generally noted for being a neat-freak, Simon liked to keep everything organized and clean. The same could not be said for his friend, obviously.

He added in some of his own notes, his handwriting quick and precise, somewhere in a cross between cursive and print. Striding over when he saw the slightly teasing and knowing grin Daehyun had plastered on his face, Simon bumped his shoulder into Daehyun and dipped his head in an uncommon show of embarrassment.

"Wipe that smile off your face, soldier. That's an order."

@☤ Simon [Yin] [[ EXPECTO PATRONUM. feAR teH CarRot ]]

[[ plAN B turn inTO a carrot ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] Hearing his name, Daehyun gave his friend and commander a habitual salute. He peered down at his messily scrawled notes, decided they were adequate, and handed them over to Simon with a sigh. While there were many top-notch soldiers in the Legion, he could tell most of the bright-eyed trainees, full of innocent idealism that Simon's stern, cynical lectures had not seemed to dissuade, would not survive a single expedition outside of the walls. Such a shame, he thought, but at least they were happy for now.

The tall Special Operations Commander appeared to have his thoughts elsewhere, however. Daehyun followed his gaze to see a slight female with a sweet smile. Ral. He nodded knowingly at Simon, grinning.

[[ i am sorry it . i am a carrot, you see, and carrots, traditionally, do not write very well. no prejudice intended. ]]

Green cloaks billowed, and the neatly pressed beige jackets emblazoned with the wings of freedom met his eye everywhere he turned. It had become a very common event for him to look into training, especially since he was not planning any expeditions. Better to hone their forces to minimize loss. And yet, he still saw sloppy forms and lazy students everywhere he looked. He had assigned most of his Special Operations team members to assess the normal officers of the Legion, and he looked over where the masses were bunch around a petite female.

She was elegant in the afternoon sun, he noted. The harsh sun beating down on everyone did her justice. Tearing his eyes away from her, he focused on a group closer to him.

"Daehyun," he called.

@☤ Daehyun [Yang] [[ screw off ]]

@☤ Simon [Yin] [[ you spelled "survey corpse" wrong ]]

[[ its only right as captain of special ops that i take the v-card of the survey corps page ]]