Then he stood. Walked to the surviving recruits. Raised his fist.
The truth was Commander Erwin Smith, standing on Wall Rose at dawn before the Battle of Shiganshina, raising his fist not to his soldiers—but to the forest of jagged trees beyond the wall, to the green light of the sun rising over Titan territory, as if asking permission from the dead. “Don’t let them down,” he said. Then he turned. “PRESENT HEARTS!” attack on titan soldier salute
Viktor limped over. “What is that?”
She held the Salute for a full minute. No one watched. No commander gave the order. No bugle sounded. Then he stood
Before the fall of Wall Maria, the Garrison, the Survey Corps, and the Military Police each had their own sloppy gestures—a nod, a heel-click, a lazy palm to the forehead. Discipline was weak because the enemy was abstract. Titans were monsters, yes, but they were distant. A threat behind three concentric rings of limestone and mortar. The truth was Commander Erwin Smith, standing on