Wall Rose invasion (Anime)

The Wall Rose invasion was a crisis that began when Titans appeared inside of Wall Rose.

Prelude
In the aftermath of the 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, the Scout Regiment was summoned to the capitol in order to hand Eren Jaeger over to the Military Police Brigade as per the agreement made during Eren's trial a month prior. However, Commander Erwin Smith devised a secret mission for the Survey Corps to confront and capture Annie Leonhart, a former trainee of the 104th Cadet Corps suspected of being the Female Titan which sabotaged the 57th Expedition. This operation would commence in Stohess District, Annie's stationing as a recruit in the Military Police and the half-way point between Calaneth District and Mitras.

With the identities of the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan remaining unknown at the time, the Stohess District operation was made known to only the most trusted members of the Survey Corps. In order to isolate Annie from any potential accomplices, a majority of the new recruits from the 104th Training Corps were sent to a remote base in Wall Rose under the watch of Section Commander Miche Zacharius and his subordinates.

Sighting and evacuation
For reasons unknown, Titans mysteriously appeared inside of Wall Rose, under the command of the Beast Titan.

Shortly afterwards in the early morning, Section Commander Miche Zacharius detected the presence of the Titans in Wall Rose. He quickly sent out his subordinate Tomas to deliver a report of the sighting to Commander Erwin Smith in Stohess District. Tomas departed immediately as Miche's comrade Nanaba alerted the recruits of the incident. After Miche and Nanaba briefly assessed the situation, Miche's squad and the recruits set out on horseback to start an evacuation of Wall Rose. Miche organized the soldiers present into four teams which would spread news of the invasion north, south, east, and westwards. Due to the direction of the incoming Titans, the breach was estimated to lie somewhere between Krolva District in the far west and Trost District to the far south. The south team was assigned the most soldiers in order to assess which area of Wall Rose was breached after spreading information as necessary, starting near to Trost and working westwards. The west team would do the same, investigating Wall Rose starting from Krolva and working southwards. As the teams began to disperse, the nine Titans spotted began running at an erratic pace. Miche chose to break away from the teams in order to act as a decoy, leaving command of the south team to his subordinate Gerger.

Miche succeeded in slaying five of the nine Titans present before he encountered the Beast Titan, believing it to be an Abnormal. Before he could act, the Beast Titan caught Miche's horse and hurled it towards him, sending Miche into the mouth of a Gluttonous Titan. Before Miche could be eaten, the Beast Titan began to speak with Miche. With Miche too terrified to respond, the Beast Titan chose to steal Miche's omni-directional mobility gear for inspection, leaving Miche to be devoured alive by his Titans. Five hours after the sighting, Sasha Braus on the north team encountered a Titan in a newly established village, much farther north than it was expected the Titans would advance in that time. She succeeded in saving a young girl from a 3-meter Titan, and she afterwards encountered a group of riders led by her father spreading information to the villages of Wall Rose. Sasha remained with her father's riders rather than rejoining with the north team. Seven hours after the sighting, the west team led by Nanaba successfully spread news of the invasion to Wall Rose's western settlements and began their southward ride to search for the breach in Wall Rose.

Eight hours after the sighting, the south team succeeded in alerting Commander Dot Pyxis in Trost District of the invasion. The Garrison counter-measures unit led by Captain Hannes was sent out to assist the Scout Regiment in locating the breach in Wall Rose. The Garrison 1st Division led by Captain Kitz Woerman was also sent out to establish an eastern line of defense to prevent the spread of the Titans into Wall Rose's eastern villages.

Nine hours after the sighting, the Garrison 1st Division's line of defense was successfully established as Captain Hannes' unit continued to investigate Wall Rose. Elsewhere, Gerger's south team came across the ruins of Ragako. Conny Springer, a recruit and former resident of the village, frantically began searching for his family. While there were no corpses or blood to be seen and all the village's horses were still tied in the stables, many houses were broken apart as if something had burst out from the inside. Furthermore, Conny discovered a Titan with underdeveloped limbs lying atop his house with no explanation as to how it got there. Lynne proposed that the citizens had safely evacuated, attempting to lessen Conny's worries, but Gerger and the others remained suspicious of the scene. Leaving Ragako behind, Gerger initiated the south team's investigation of Wall Rose. As Conny left the ruins of his house, the Titan spoke to him saying "Welc...ome... home...". Eleven hours after the sighting, when night had fallen over Wall Rose, the west and south teams met up alongside Wall Rose much to their surprise. Both Gerger and Nanaba reported that no breach had been located in Wall Rose. A second investigation was proposed, but it was decided that the exhaustion of the recruits would compromise their focus, making an immediate second investigation ineffective. Instead, the south and west teams made their way to Utgard Castle nearby to rest for the night, since the Titans would not be active in the absence of sunlight.

Twelve hours after the sighting, Tomas arrived in Stohess District and warned the leaders of the Scout Regiment of the Titan invasion. The participants of the Stohess District mission immediately set out for Ehrmich District to assist in the evacuation of the citizens of Wall Rose. Section Commander Hange Zoë chose to bring Minister Nick of the Order of the Walls with them due to his apparent knowledge of the Titan within Wall Sheena that was spotted in the aftermath of the Stohess District mission. On the way to Ehrmich, Hange, Armin Arlelt, Mikasa Ackermann, and Eren discussed the possibility of using hardening power similar to Annie Leonhart's to seal the breach in Wall Maria, since the Walls and Annie's crystal were found to be made of the same substance.

Sixteen hours after the sighting, the Scout Regiment arrived in Ehrmich. Once Nick had seen firsthand the reality of a Titan invasion, Hange questioned him a second time concerning what he knows. Nick once again refused to speak, but mentioned that Christa Lenz, a new recruit of the Scout Regiments, would have the ability to learn and speak the truths about the Walls. With this information, a part of the Stohess participants led by Section Commander Hange made ready to enter the battlefield. The remaining participants led by Commander Erwin made their way further south to Trost District in order to assess the situation with Commander Pyxis.

Seventeen hours after the sighting, the Stohess District mission participants under Hange's command set a course for Utgard Castle, where a proper view of Wall Rose could be established.

Utgard Castle
As Ymir searched through the supplies left by the previous inhabitant of the castle, Lynne spotted Titans moving in the moonlight and called for all the soldiers and recruits. As they wondered at the situation, the Beast Titan passed by the castle heading for Wall Rose. Nanaba ordered the recruits, who lacked vertical maneuvering equipment, to remain in the castle as the soldiers engaged the Titans.