Heavy fan blades began to spin rapidly as the pursuit choppers warmed up their engines and gained speed for take off. Rangers and snipers jumped in trained with scopes and binoculars ready. Engineer jumped into one of the choppers as well with enemy device in hand. The thing was able to pick up abnormal lifeforms when near.

      "Attention, objective is to locate the gravekeeper titan. If found, keep it in you sights and do not engage," the controller radioed the pursuit pilots, his voice scratchy and monotone.

      "Pursuit 1, clear for take off," the same controller gave the clearance and the pursuit was out of there with its towers inside already on the lookout.

      As the choppers rolled out, ground units were getting ready. Soldiers, militants, and scouts piled into the trucks, all of them equipped with ammo and flares. Even poor Freezer was tossed into a truck despite the excessive whimpering and pleading not to be added to the search party.

      It honestly looked like one of their normal routines when they would go fight a titan, but this was different. They were instead searching for one that could be anywhere.

      With Umbra being a huge threat, they didn't want to risk her finding it or even worse, it being killed. Grief was still strong, having the gravekeeper titan be killed again would just have someone die from a broken heart.

      While the camp was busy moving out the search parties, investigations were going down at the graveyard Scout was buried at. How the hell no one felt the ground split was a shock because there was a hole the size of a double decker bus.

      Scout's gravestone was busted and bits of his coffin were strewn about. Luckily, there was minor damage to the surrounding headstones, but it was still astonishing how this kind of big event was missed.

      One thing is for certain, Commander was rightfully pissed. Commander, Medic, Swordmaster, and Void Reaver were all there, checking out the damage. The already stressed enough leader looked like he was going to have an aneurysm.

      "How could you not tell about this? I could have had Engineer keeping track of this!" Commander screamed at the two titans. Swordmaster was clearly not understanding Commander's anger as he just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Oh please! Titan business is not your business!"

      Commander turned red in the face with anger as he gripped his hat and gritted his teeth, "It is my business when my damn boy's body is now some creature who knows where!"

      Medic rushed over and had Commander taking deep breaths. Last thing she needed is for him to start having a seizure with how angry and stressed he's making himself.

      Swordmaster was about to say some more, but Void Reaver stepped in and shot him a look. Swordmaster simply scoffed and looked the other way.

      "It was wrong of us to keep it from you, we should of told you out of everyone here. However, he had spawned early, throwing us off our plans," Void Reaver apologized as Commander calmed down. Commander huffed and slapped his cap back on, "That makes two of us because now we have to waste time and resources to get this situation under control!"

      As Commander bickered with the void titans, Medic was checking out the crater left behind. It was like something had dug up from the ground and just scurried off. Scurried off...

      "Hey! Quit being a bunch of babies and come here!" Medic called to them. They stopped arguing and walked over to see what Medic had found. The doctor pointed around the crater and towards scuffed up bits of dirt leading to the heavily forested area.

      "Tracks! Messy ones at that, that means he must of been on a daze. Maybe he left some destruction while in the forest?" Swordmaster theorized. Void Reaver nodded, "That could be true, but he could be anywhere in there. Besides, it's heavily forested, none of the flying towers would be of any use."

      Commander began to march towards the forest, hand on his gun just in case. Medic jumped and rushed over, stopping him before he could go in. "Are you mad? You can't go in there all by yourself!" Medic bickered.

      "Yeah, Gravedigger ate a man when he first spawned in, I wouldn't recommend going in there," Swordmaster warned. Commander shook his head and pulled away, "Scout is in there! I'll find him and get him back, trust me! I'll..."

      His voice trailed off as Void Reaver marched towards him. He didn't look stern or mean, he looked sympathetic. Commander swallowed down his spit, getting ready for what was to come.

      "I know you know..." Void Reaver's voice was low and gravely. Commander bit his lip in shame and despair. "Maybe you guys are wrong or he is in there and he just needs certain key words or items to unlock that and-" Commander tried to deny it all, but Void Reaver came in harsher.

      "He is gone, Commander," Void Reaver used his name for once, not to mention the voice was more stern. The great titan did try to be soft about it, but Commander was going to end up in his grieving period again if someone didn't say something.

      Commander looked like he was going to cry. The guy has had it rough, everything seemed to be against him. From this whole war and now having Scout come back, but also still losing him.

      Wiping his face, Commander grunted out, "Call for nearby units to get here, I'm going ahead and scouting the area." Before he could be stopped, Commander rushed into the forest. Medic called for him to come back, but the grief driven leader would not listen.

      Medic sighed and called for backup as quick as possible. "He's real stubborn, also real stupid," Swordmaster insulted. Medic sighed and shook her head, "Yeah, but I think he's really cute."

      "Better start looking for other options, because he might not be coming back out," Swordmaster warned as he walked into the forest as well, going to look in different parts. That had Medic very much so.

      "Scout! Scout! Buddy, come on! Scout!" Commander called into the thick foliage as he ran further and further into the dense forest. The trees were thick and it was dark despite the sun being high. Commander was wishing he had brought a flashlight.

      Commander grumbled as he marched his way through. No other tower had caught up to him and he was out of radio range, so calling for help was now out of the question. That meant in something, he was shit out of luck unless someone came to his aid just in time.

      The place was quiet, the only sound coming from Commander as his shoes crunched through the many leaves scattered on the ground. Sometimes he would snap a stick, but Commander was only thinking about finding Scout.

      Commander was still a mess over it. Scout was very much like the son he didn't want but had grown to love. The guy was dumb and not so bright, but he did have his moments, especially when he sacrificed himself to save his squadron. Such a young and brave man, only to be slain on his first scouting mission.

      Now, he was back, but Commander doubted he would look the same. The size of that pit gave Commander the shivers. As Commander thought about it, something else was making his spine tingle.

      Stopping, Commander began to scan the area. It was dark, almost like one of those scary video games that Electroshocker and Mortar made him play one time. The leader got jumpscared and that monitor was shot at least six times.

      Shaking off the horrible memory, Commander equipped his gun and scanned around. This place could have enemies, such as zombies. The titans may be tame, but Commander had a feeling their little minions weren't as tame.

      Commander backed up, pointing his gun around. He just knew something was out there watching him, he could feel its beedy eyes on him. The best case scenario was that is was a wolf or maybe a bear looking for a quick meal. Commander was about to make Hunter a happy man if that was the case.

      As Commander backed up, something wet dripped on his shoulder. Commander cringed and brought his fingers into it to inspect it. It was too dense to be water, it seemed like saliva.

      Then a heavy puff of hot air blew into him, nearly making him fly forward. Commander stood his ground and gripped onto his hat. Now that Commander thought about it, that was too big to be a bear...

      Turning around slowly, Commander stared up in both awe and horror as he was met with two giant red eyes. They glowed in the darkness of this place, piercing into Commander. This couldn't be Raider, it was too big to be him. It was...

      "Scout...?"

      The titan flung forward, maw open and ready to snap close on Commander. The tower was better than that and quickly dived out the way before he could become breakfast. His quick thinking caused the titan to shove his face into the dirt, disturbing the earth below.

      Snarling, the titan shook his head and shot his sights to Commander once again, determination in those beady eyes. Not to mention hunger. Shaking away the dirt near his eyes, he began to stalk forward.

      "Scout! I know you're in there! Come on, buddy! Snap out of it! It's me, Commander!" he tried his best to reason as he backed up, afraid of being an easy snack.

      The titan slightly tilted his head as he stalk forward, the voice coming from him a bit quiet and unsure. "Com...man..der?" he spoke, his head tilting said with that same hungry look. The voice, even if it was a bit different, sounded so much like him. Like Scout.

      "Yeah! It's me! Scout, buddy! I knew you were in there!" Commander was walling for it. The titan licked at his lips as Commander foolishly let his guard down and started to walk towards him, like a meal literally walking into your mouth.

      The titan was about to close the distance and snap his jaws around Commander when a heavy body slammed into him. The titan screeched as he was pinned to the ground, limbs flailing as he struggled.

      Swordmaster simply kept his weight on the titan. Despite him being lightweight, Swordmaster knew that Scout could not push him off, especially in this weak state.

      "Call for the others!" Swordmaster called out, but was met with a different response. "Wait! Get off him! It's Scout, he just said my name!" Commander tried to reason, but Swordmaster wasn't having it. "He was trying to trick you, idiot! He was literally about to eat you!" ge barked.

      "How do you know that? I just know he's there, we just have to-" Commander did his best to keep up the delusion that Scout was still with them, but Swordmaster snapped.

      Swordmaster snarled, then ended up yelling at Commander, "They're BOTH GONE!"

      It was silent between them for a moment, the only sound being from the struggling titan underneath Swordmaster. Commander stared at Swordmaster, the titan glaring angrily at him. That was a look Commander was used to from him, but not those words.

      This whole time, he hadn't even gone past stage one of grief. He has been denying this for so long, but Scout was back! Right? Just a little bit different, just a little green. Kind of still looks like Scout too, even sounded like him.

      "Commander. They're both gone. It isn't Gravedigger. It isn't Scout. This is a confused, scared, and new titan. Call for the others, I need Void Reaver to help me," Swordmaster was stern. He had to be, he needed Commander to quit his delusions and call for the help he needs.

      With his hands shaking, Commander picked up his radio and called in, "Titan found... send in Void Reaver to my location stat. Over."

      He got a calm call back from someone, "Understood, sending requested reinforcement to your location. Call all other units to return to base? Over."

      Commander couldn't stand to look at the squirming titan any longer as he turned away, "Permission granted. Over."