(A/N: So, here is my first canon-universe story! *GASP* The story will follow the 104th Cadet Corps as two lifelong friends seek to become members of the Survey Corps. It will follow the main Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kiojin. Also, I will be following the Manga so you have been warned *MANGA SPOILERS*. As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.

Year 845, Shiranagh, Southeastern Wall Maria

The day had not been unlike any other; the town square was bustling with merchants selling the daily produce friends laughed and knocked back their drinks in the tavern while children played in the streets and surrounding wide green spaces, even the Wall had a certain beauty about it that day.

Among the children playing were three lifelong friends; two boys and one girl. Gustavo, the youngest of the three, wearing baggy olive green trousers and a scarlet button-up shirt, was running away from the other two with a leather ball tucked under his arm the light breeze running through his dark hair. "Gonna getcha", Misa, the solitary girl of the group, tauntingly sang, her dark green cardigan blew behind her like some obnoxious cape. The third member of the group, a boy with reddish brown hair and hazel eyes, Maximilian, or simply 'Max', reached out to grab Gustavo's ankles, but his hand only grabbed air and crumbled into the dirt. "Too slow, dear old boy", Gustavo called back to him, his cockiness was to be short-lived as he suddenly tripped over his own feet and the ball fell from his grip.

"Too cocky, Gus", Misa said as she flicked her blonde ponytail behind her back and picked the ball up, spinning it atop her index finger. Max could not help but laugh, "Says the one showing off", snatching the ball from her hand, before sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry back at her. "Catch me if you can", picking up his pace and turned his head forward.

In his eagerness, he had not noticed the tall figure stepping into his path. He fell back on his behind and was met with an annoyed grunt from the said figure. "Ugh lousy kids, watch where you're going pipsqueak". Max looked up to see the man was dressed in military uniform, standing up to apologise he noticed the patch on the soldier's jacket, a green unicorn with a white mane, the emblem of the military police. His desire to apologise quickly dissipated. "Wow, did the MPs finally decide to do their job for once and leave the interior", Max sneered up at him. The man looked far from impressed and grabbed Max by the collar of his shirt, "You ungrateful little shit, who do you think you are to talk to me like that? We're the only thing stopping you animals from going for each other's throats." He released his grip and let Max fall to the ground, "Trust me to get patrol duty in peasant-central", he grumbled to himself as he walked away.

Max rubbed the back of his head as Misa and Gus rushed to his side to help him up, "Nevermind that jerk, Max", Gus grabbed his arm and hoisted him up. "Yeah he's an MP; a pathetic excuse for a soldier", Misa added whilst giving him a reassuring rub on his arm. "I guess, once all three of us finish military training we'll show cowards like him what it means to be a soldier, the Scouts are the only ones risking their lives for the good of humanity."

Maximilian Ren had a reason for his desire to join the Survey Corps, at least one member in his family had served since its inception. His father Marcus and brother Sebastian were both current members away on the expedition. Marcus Ren was a squad leader and had placed first in his class during training, Sebastian had also been the top trainee upon his graduation three years ago and was slowly racking up an impressive Titan kill count. Max sought to emulate the two of them as well as his late uncle, Rudolf. His death on the expedition last year had not deterred the young boy's aspirations.

Misa and Gus were also eager to join, the three of them had been as thick as thieves since they were able to walk. For them, the Scouts meant one thing that humanity had seemed all too comfortable to forget; freedom. A world free from the towering monsters and no longer living like a livestock. The Scouts were expected back later that morning and all three of them could not contain their excitement.

The three of them bid farewell as they returned home to await the arrival of the town's representatives from the Scouts. Unlike the majority of settlements, the town took great pride in its sons and daughters risking life and limb for the betterment of all of mankind. To speak out against the Legion was a major taboo and a closed fist to the jaw was not unexpected in return.

Max's mother, Sabine was finishing preparing Marcus' favourite dish; beef and onion pie for his return. Max was met with a tight embrace from his eight-year-old sister Margo as he stepped through the front door. "Gah, don't crush my ribs, save it for the Titans", she released her grip and he tousled her hair. "Make sure you wash up now Maximilian, your father did not risk his life to come home to children with dirty faces." She laughed as he quickly brought his hand to his face in his quest to find the offending dirt, "Made you flinch."

"Ha-ha, you're a riot."

"Oh now, don't sulk, or you can expect extra turnip on your plate this evening", the mention of the dreaded vegetable quickly made him soften his features.

Some two hours later, the ringing of the town bells had brought a large gathering to the entrance of the town's western border. Sabine, each of her hands resting on both of her children's shoulder eagerly stood near the front of the crowd. The sight that greeted the citizens of Shiranagh was stark to their optimism.

Of the thirty representatives in the legion, only twelve stood before them. Hans Elsnar, a veteran of some twelve years was missing his left arm, in its place was a bloody stump wrapped in a tourniquet. Alice Reil, Misa' older sister, had a bandage wrapped around her head and covering her right eye, her blonde braids were stained red. None of the Scouts had seemed to arrive back without an injury of a sort. But this was to be expected. The abnormally low survival rate combined with a defeated look on all of their faces had sapped all the positive energy from the crowd.

Some awkward murmurs began to snake through the gathering, "Do you remember having a survival rate this low...they look like they haven't had a wink of sleep in days...they were so optimistic when they left a week ago." Among the miserable marchers, Marcus Ren greeted his family, his two children wrapping him in a tight embrace. His wife went to kiss him but nearly recoiled when she looked into her husband's face; he had seemed to age a decade since he left and he was avoiding eye contact. She scanned around "Where is Sebastian, did he stop off in Shiganshina?" Her husband just looked dead ahead, "Let's go home", his voice heavy.

Marcus sat at the kitchen table, both hands wrapped around his cup of tea. Sabine's voice was breaking as tears began to stream down her face. "Tell me it's not true, it can't be, he was supposed to be one of the best soldiers there. Seb, this is some sick joke, isn't it? My son isn't dead." She broke down, Marcus wrapped her hands in his, "I'm sorry." He swallowed hard, "We had very bad luck in this expedition, we lost sixty percent of our soldiers, Commander Shadis broke down in front of a grieving mother when we returned to Shiganshina, he told me he's leaving the Scouts."

Max was despondent, Sebastian Ren was dead. He remembered how his brother had been so strong. Standing 187 centimetres tall and well-built at 98 kilograms of hard muscle. Girls swooned over him and his handsome features, intense hazel coloured eyes and brown hair that he let hang freely down to his shoulders. He had 28 solo Titan kills alone along with some 30 assisted ones, had he simply become more fodder in the human-titan war?

"Are you telling me the Commander doesn't have the guts to make the ultimate sacrifice for humanity?", Max banged his hands on top of the table. "Uncle Rudolf and now Seb have given their lives so that we may be free of the Titans and he can't." He left the table and ran outside, "Maximilian", his father called after him, but the child either didn't hear him or chose not to. He finally stopped running once he arrived at the stream just outside the town and began sobbing, his big brother was no more.

He hadn't noticed Misa take a seat next to him, "I heard from Alice, apparently Commander Shadis chose a different route this time, and encountered much more titans than usual." She rubbed his back up and down, "I'm sorry about Seb, Max." He stopped sobbing and wiped away his tears to look at her. "Alice told me what happened, three twelve meter Titans surrounded him at once. He managed to kill two of them before the third one grabbed him." Max simply stared ahead and then turned around to look at Wall Maria, some 30 kilometres away. "Do you think we'll ever live to see a world without walls?"

"Of course I do, humanity's will to fight will make it possible, we will see the outside world, Max," she held out her hand, "Together?" He took her hand, "Together", he said firmly.

Supper had been uncomfortably silent, the empty chair next to Max had been painful to ignore. No one felt like talking. He turned over his food with his fork trying to do something, anything to distract him from the terrible news he was told hours ago. After choking down the rest of his dinner he went to his room without saying a word.

A few hours later, after tossing and turning to no end, he finally felt himself beginning to drift off to sleep when he heard a loud rumbling in the distance. *BOOM*...*BOOM*...*BOOM*...*BOOM*. *BOOM*. *BOOM*. *BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM*. Max got out of bed just as his father burst open the door to his room. "Get downstairs quick, you need to get on one of the carriages, the Titans have breached Wall Maria." Max just stood in disbelief, how could this happen, everything over the past twelve hours had been nothing short of a nightmare. His father gripped both of his shoulders, breaking him out of his trance, "Max, listen to me, you, your mother and Margo need to get to safety, you need to be strong for them."

Marcus gathered the remaining soldiers fit enough to fight when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "I'm fighting too". He turned around to see that it was Hans Elsnar. Marcus looked at the stump where Hans' arm used to be twenty-four hours earlier. "As long as I'm still standing, I'm gonna kill Titans, don't even try to talk me out of it, especially when my home is at stake." Marcus nodded firmly, "Fritz, Guido, Tomas link up with Hans, Alice coordinate with the Garrison to evacuate civilians", he unsheathed one of his swords and brought his right hand to his chest, "This is it soldiers, the darkest day in humanity's history has arrived, Wall Maria has been compromised if we ever needed to give our all that time is now, offer your hearts in the name of mankind!" All of them roared and raised their swords.

Max ran with his mother and Margo out of their house, the carriages were on the other side of the town, they had some way to go before finding safety. Shiranagh was absolute bedlam, everyone fumbling over what belongings to bring with them, the small squad of Garrison soldiers in the town were wheeling out its heavy cannons.

With a loud *CRASH*, the building in front of them came tumbling down. In its place now stood a 13-meter class Titan, stocky proportions, long silver hair and a hideous face of pig-like blue eyes, and a demented close-lipped smile. The path to the carriages was no longer accessible through this direction, they would have to go around.

All three of them heard a scream from behind them as they turned to run. "Someone help me!", the voice screamed. Max turned around to see, Solomon, the town butcher in the creature's grasp. "Don't look", screamed his mother as she took her son's hand and pulled him away. Max couldn't help it, he had only visited Solomon's shop that morning, and now the man was being brought to the greedy mouth of the Titan. "No stop, PLEASE DON'T AGHHH-" his screams were cut off by a sickening *CRUNCH*. Max turned away and quickened his pace.

More Titans began entering the town, there had to be at least eight of them now. The cannons began firing relentlessly. "Dammit, what the hell are you aiming at", he heard the Garrison captain bark at a member of the cannon crew. "These things weren't exactly built for moving targets", the cannoneer responded, "Try to avoid hitting the buildings, you'll trap citizens if you do."

In a moment of prophetic irony, a cannonball missed and hit a row of houses to the right of the Rens. The family kept running until Max saw Misa, who was trapped under debris from the cannon-struck buildings, "MISA", he ran towards her, "MAXIMILIAN, GET BACK HERE!", his mother screamed after him.

He tried lifting the debris, with all of his might, "I got this Misa, you're gonna be fine, we're not far from the carriages."

"Max", her voice was hoarse, "It's no use, you gotta get outta here."

"Shut up dammit, I can get you out of here, just hang on!"

"Max, with all due respect, not even Seb would've been strong enough to lift this rubble, don't die trying to be a hero." The boy wasn't listening, he began trying to lift the debris again when the girl's free hand grabbed his wrist. "Your mother lost one son today, don't let her lose another. Please, go". Tears began streaming down Max's face, "We were gonna see the outside world together, it can't end now", his voice was now breaking. Misa used her free hand to break the locket around her neck. "I'll be right by your side, always, please don't die because of me."

A member of the Garrison grabbed him and dragged him away, "Get outta here kid, the Titans are coming." Max reached out a hand and grabbed the locket "MISA!"

"MAX STAY STRONG!", those were her last words before falling debris buried her underneath the rubble.

Max was despondent as he was placed in the carriage, his hand gripping Misa's locket firmly as he stared at his feet. He looked back at Shiranagh as the carriage pulled away. The number of Titans had swelled to sixteen, buildings were in ruins, and streets were aflame. What had caught Max's attention was his father, Marcus Ren was a man possessed, slicing through three Titans, but he was slowly being surrounded by them. The form of his father disappeared behind several of the monsters. He couldn't bear to watch, when he looked back the carriage had picked up the pace and his town was now in the distance. Shiranagh had fallen.

Two Hours Later:

The carriages entered Karanes district at around eleven o'clock that night and the refugees were quickly escorted to the military barracks. The citizens of Karanes wore expressions of pity, shock, horror and, from a small minority, contempt at the sight of the refugees. "We don't have enough to accommodate these people, prices are going to soar now...Why should they get to leech off of our food and shelter?...If only the Titans had eaten more of them." Max turned to the source of the voices, a furious look on his face, but all he could do was sob, he didn't have enough in him to fight. His mother brought him into her embrace along with Margo as they continued their journey to the barracks.

Back at Shiranagh a full retreat had been ordered. "I need to find my sister", screamed Alice Reil, struggling against the grip of her comrades. "It's too late, the town's been overrun, it's hopeless." She socked him in the mouth and ran back into the town. "Reil are you crazy, there are too many of them." She ignored them as she ran towards the street where her house was located. All she found was rubble, she kicked a few stray bricks out of her way until she found a familiar lock of blonde hair sticking out from the rubble. "MISA!", she began lifting as much debris as she could, "Just hang in there, I'm coming!"

A Garrison soldier ran up to her, "Reil, she's gone, we have to get outta here."

"I'm not leaving her behind, she's all I have left, dammit." The Garrison soldier sighed deeply and lifted her up, "Hey, what are you doing, PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT YOU BASTARD."

"We were ordered to retreat are you going to disobey a direct order from a Commanding Officer?", he quickened his pace. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "I can't leave her", she started sobbing. "I'm sorry", his voice was heavy.

Alice was now on a horse, "Alright people", the officer called from the front of the group of soldiers, "The rest of the Southern region of Wall Maria has been evacuated, our orders are to head to Karanese and then escort the refugees from this region in Karanese to Trost, the Titans are surely going to lose interest once they realize that there are no more humans left alive in Shiranagh." Alice looked behind her at the remains of her hometown, as Titans began tearing through buildings in their greedy quest to devour more humans. "Soldiers, to Karanese at full speed."

Trost Military Barracks, Two Days Later:

The news that Wall Maria had been breached had sent a dark mood to everyone living within the walls. Humanity had received a grim reminder of its reality, how they were simply cattle, at the mercy of immense man-eating monsters.

Max waited in line to collect three small loaves of bread for himself, Margo and his mother. He saw a commotion over to his right, "Spineless cowards all of you! Y-you don't - you don't know what it's like! You seen one, you seen what they can do?" A brunet boy was on his behind yelling up at a member of the Garrison. The soldier looked less than pleased, "- You little-" as he advanced on the boy before a short blond boy stepped in front of him, "He's sorry, h-he didn't mean it he's just hungry. We all get that way, speak our minds out of turn sometimes? Forgive him, I beg you." The soldier looked to his left at the refugees, unsure of his response, "Yeah, well keep in mind who are giving up their fair share so they can eat, in case you haven't noticed we're all hungry. Tell your buddy a little gratitude goes a long way", he stormed off as the kid was helped up by both the blond boy and a girl with long black hair and a red scarf. Max felt pity for the boy I wonder what you lost on your way here. He was right no one understood their plight.

He bumped into someone as he advanced through the queue. "Sorry", he mumbled at the person, a short blonde girl of his age, who simply nodded in response, her face emotionless. He brought the bread back to Margo and his mother. Max noticed that Sabine was smiling. "I've good news." Max simply gestured for her to continue as he tore off a small piece from the loaf. "Your uncle Cyrus owns a tavern in the city, he's offered me a job, and we can lodge with him until we find our feet." Max had only met Cyrus, his mother's brother, once about two years ago, he had been a bandit before settling in Trost just before Max was born. His father and Cyrus had not gotten along due to Cyrus' criminal past and Cyrus' belief that the Survey Corps was 'a bunch of suicidal maniacs'.

"We're moving in this evening."

"That's", he sighed deeply, "Great, Mom."

"Can I ask a favour of you, Maximilian?" He looked up at her, "Yes?"

"Delay entering military training until the year after next?"

"What, why?"

"Cyrus will need help running the tavern."

"But-"

"Please, you and Margo are all I have left, once you're in the cadets I won't see you for another three years." Max felt a pang of guilt at hearing her words. She had just lost her husband and first-born child just two days earlier. "Fine", he managed to say before his mother hugged him, "Thank you."

Over the next few days, Max along with Margo was sent to plough the fields with the other refugees. Max recognized the trio from the barracks were there as well. "Why do we have to do this?", whinged Margo, "This is hard." Max inhaled deeply, "I know it is but you have to try Margo, the whole of humanity is depending on us to grow more food, else we'll all go hungry." She threw her hoe to the ground, "I don't wanna", she ran off into the nearby forest. "Margo, get back here." A member of the MPs gave an understanding nod and let him chase after her.

He ran through the forest, his face pelted by low hanging branches. "Margo", he called out, "I'll tell them you're sick and you can go back to mom, please, where are you?" He continued his search until he found her in a clearing. She was sitting on a boulder with her knees to her chest and was sobbing softly into her hands. "Margo?"

"I wanna go home, I wanna see Dad and Seb again, it's not fair." He wrapped her in a tight embrace. He shushed her as she sobbed into his shoulder, her warm tears staining his top were the least of his worries. "I m-miss them s-so much", she said with bated breaths. "I know, I do too", he soothingly rubbed his hand up and down her back.

After explaining the situation, a member of the Garrison, a tall blond-haired man with a thin moustache offered to take Margo back to the tavern. Max went back to ploughing taking occasional breaks to look at Misa's locket which had not left his possession since he left Shiranagh.

Trost, One Year Later:

Max rolled another barrel from behind the tavern, The Masked Man, into the bar behind the counter. "How many are back there?", Cyrus asked him. "About seven left uncle", he said catching his breath. Cyrus Berg bared a slight resemblance to his sister matching the shape her dark-blue eyes except his were a deep grey. His hair was also a dark grey cut in a crop top and he had a dark goatee which helped cover some of the scars from his days as a bandit. He stroked said goatee as if he were deep in thought. "Gah, I knew this city had plenty of drunks but there won't be any ale left for winter if this keeps up, alright lad, you're done for the day, just help your mother clean up those empty mugs."

Max did as he was told and was now in the alley behind the tavern bouncing a small ball against a nearby wall. He began increasing the intensity of his throws imagining the wall to be the face of the Titan that ate his brother. Though it became difficult because he had no frame of reference for this and he threw the ball hard in frustration. The ball came flying at him and he ducked to avoid it. "Dammit", the ball went rolling out into the street. He reached for it as it became stopped by a stranger's boot. "Still playing ball games Maximilian?"

He smiled as he recognized the voice and looked up to see the impressive figure of Erwin Smith, one of his father's protegés and current commander of the Survey Corps. "Care to join me, Commander Smith?"

Erwin smiled, "I've said before that you can call me Erwin." Max suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air by his legs from behind. "Is this little punk bothering you, Erwin?" Max recognized the source of this voice too. Erwin laughed "Okay you can put him down, Mike." Max was gently brought to the ground and started dusting himself off when Mike Zacharius, a close friend of his late father's began sniffing him. "You reek of ale and sweat, an improvement I must add."

Max shook him off, "What brings you to Trost?"

"We're leading an expedition to reclaim Wall Maria, tomorrow morning", Erwin looked him up and down, "I thought you would be in the cadet corps by now." Max rubbed his arm, "My mother asked me to delay until next year to help Mom and Uncle Cyrus run the tavern." Mike raised his eyebrows at the mention of Cyrus' name, "The bandit now runs a tavern? Probably a front for illegal activity."

"It's not like that Mr Zacharius, he's changed." Mike looked at Max sceptically. "Mike he was kind enough to take them in when they lost everything."

"I'd still need to sniff him to make sure."

Erwin placed a hand on Max's shoulder, "We're sorry about Seb and Marcus, Maximilian."

"You've nothing to be sorry for, I only wish I had been born sooner, and help him fight off the Titans."

Erwin nodded solemnly, "Alice Reil has been looking for you, she wanted me to give you this", Erwin held out his hand, a Scouting Legion badge was resting in his palm, "It belonged to Seb, it was the only thing of his we could recover." Max took the patch in his hand, some of the blue was beginning to fade but it was clearly the Wings of Freedom, the emblem of the Scouts. "Thank you, Erwin, Mr- Mike."

"We best be off, look after your mother and sister Max and we will see you, in time, with the Wings of Freedom on your back." Max waved the two of them farewell as they walked back towards the barracks.

Max sat at an empty table in The Masked Man still clutching the patch in his hands. "What's up pal", Gus swung by him and plopped himself in the seat opposite Max. "Huh?, Nothin'."

"What's that you got?"

"Seb's patch." Gus' eyes grew wide, "No way, who found it, how did they find it?"

"Alice did, I don't know how. Commander Erwin gave it to me."

"Alice Reil, wait the Commander Erwin?"

"Is there another one that I'm not familiar with?"

"Okay smartass", he playfully punched Max in the shoulder, "What are they doing here."

"Apparently they're setting out to reclaim Wall Maria tomorrow morning."

"That soon? Gee, my dad didn't tell me it was tomorrow."

"Your dad's participating?"

"He was conscripted."

"B-but he's a carpenter, not a soldier." He regretted saying that as soon as he saw the worried look on his best friend's face, "Sorry, Gus. He'll be fine, Carlos is strong, built like an ox and Commander Erwin is a great strategist." He took Gus' hands in his, "He and the rest of the Scouts will keep him safe."

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Sabine came into the tavern, a small crate filled with liquor bottles in her arms. "Oh, hello Gustavo, I'm surprised to see you here." He winced at the sound of his full name, not even his own parents addressed him by it, "Hello Mrs Ren, I just dropped in to say 'hi' to Max." She walked behind the bar counter and began unpacking the crate. "I see, would you like to stay for supper, we've more than enough, at present?" Gus pondered the offer, his father would be heading off in a few hours and it was likely he would like to share one last meal with his family. "I'd love to but my father is heading off to reclaim Wall Maria tomorrow morning, thank you for the offer though, Mrs Ren." Sabine nodded in understanding, there was a quiet realization amongst the three of them that it could be the last meal the Mervaine family shared together.

After Gus bid his goodbyes to them, Max helped his mother prepare dinner in order to save time for the evening rush that usually set upon The Masked Man. It was likely to be more intense than usual given that many who would be riding out the next morning would want to savour a peaceful existence before reality, inevitably, set in.

The living quarters occupied the entire top floor of the building, it was spacious but modest. The four of them sat at the table with Cyrus at its head peeling the skin off of his potatoes with his pocket knife. "So, Max", he looked up from his task to his nephew to his left, "When does cadet training commence?"

"January 1st", he said without looking up from his plate.

"Ah", he started stroking his goatee, "Well make sure you give it socks, it's very tough to get into the Military Police, they only recruit the top 10 after all."

"Military Police?", Max dropped his knife and fork at the mention of them. "Oh yeah, so many want it, serving alongside the King, three square meals a day, a comfortable life in the interior. Never easy to make the top 10, but you have the genes for it, no pressure."

"And why would I want to join up with those spineless slackers?", he narrowed his eyes at Cyrus. "Oh is the Garrison more to your liking then, oh well not much work there I suppose, not as lax as it used to be but certainly easier than-" *BANG*. All of them jumped as Max stood up and violently slammed both of hands on the table, "I'M GOING TO JOIN THE SCOUTS, LIKE MY FATHER, UNCLE AND BROTHER BEFORE ME!"

Cyrus quickly regained his composure, "Max, please don't make the same mistake those two did, they were each the number one trainee and they opted to be Titan fodder. Think of Margo and Sabine, your mother and sister need you now more than ever."

"Why does someone like you have respect for the MPs. You killed three of them with the very knife you're holding in your hand right now!"

"MAXIMILIAN!", it was Sabine's turn to stand up now, her stance mirroring her son's. "That's enough, apologize to your uncle, this instant."

"I can't believe this, after everything Seb, Uncle Rudi and Dad fought and died for, you're willing to let this swine disrespect their memory like that-" Cyrus' open palm slammed into his left cheek knocking him to the floor. "You're always welcome here boy, but I will not be so openly disrespected like that under my own roof, your father and brother's recklessness means that you're the man of your household. I always thought your father wasn't good enough for my baby sister but I was willing to put up with him for the sake of her happiness." He lifted Max to his feet, "Take responsibility and look after your sister and mother", he looked his nephew dead in his hazel eyes with his dark grey ones, "Now apologize to your mother and head to your room and cool off, I need you rested for tonight."

He walked over to Sabine, "I'm sorry", he grumbled and headed to his room. He sat on his bed and lay back covering his face with his pillow and screamed, the sound muffled by it.

He looked to his right at the small wooden box on his bedside table. He opened it up and took out both Misa's locket and Seb's patch. "I'll show them, I'll show them all, the Titans will pay for taking you away from me, even if I'm the last one standing." He felt a pang of guilt in holding on to Misa's locket this long given that Alice had given him Seb's patch, Alice had no family left, it felt like stealing in not giving her the one remaining thing left of Misa. "When the time is right", he said to the locket giving it a kiss along with the patch and placed both of them back into the wooden box.

A few hours later he was working behind the bar taking orders and making the occasional trip to the storeroom to bring out more bottled drinks. Margo was the only member of the family not working having been brought to bed after supper.

Max recognized a few members of the Garrison were in attendance along with the Supreme Commander of the Southern Forces, Dot Pixies. He now doubted enjoying the mood despite what lay before almost all of the attendees the following morning, the old man was showing no sign of slowing down. Lovers embraced each other savouring their last night together, men and women comforted their families assuring them that they would return safely and comrades banged their mugs together and knocked their drinks back.

"Do families and friends get a discount?", a voice broke him from his reverie. Max smiled at Mike, "I would if I could but I'm on the boss' bad side, unfortunately." Mike only blew air through his nose, "In any case, a mug of pear cider please, can't go too crazy." Max nodded, "Comin' right up, 3.67, please."

After returning with Mike's drink, Max noticed a young, tall woman with cropped-cut blonde hair sitting next to him at the counter. "Max, this here is Nanaba, a member of my squad." She offered her hand, "Pleased to meet you, you're Section Commander Ren's son and Seb's younger brother, right?, I'm sorry for your loss." Max took her hand, "I appreciate it, did you know either of them personally?"

He took the time to study her appearance, her lean body and haircut gave her a somewhat masculine appearance but she was attractive in her own unique way. "Seb was actually one of my friends in the Scouts, he always put the rest of us to shame." She turned her head away, "I never thought he would die before me, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up." Max raised his hands in assurance, "Don't worry about it, really."

It was Mike's turn to speak, "Your brother died a hero, Max like your uncle and father did, he could've run off with the rest of us but stayed behind to save Alice, she was surrounded by five Titans before he came rushing in." Max's mouth hung agape, "Wait, Alice Reil?", Mike only nodded, "How do you know her exactly?", he asked.

"Her little sister was friends with myself and my other friend, Gus, since we were able to walk, before-", he swallowed hard, "-that day." Both of them nodded their heads at him in understanding and Nanaba placed her hand on one of his. He hadn't noticed he had bunched into a fist so tightly that his knuckles were white. "It's okay, Max, you don't have to speak about it, he may have been my friend, but he was your brother." He nodded, "Thank you", he sniffled and allowed them to join up with the rest of their comrades.

2 Weeks Later:

Max sat atop one of the barrels behind The Masked Man while Gus paced back and forth. News had spread that the expedition had been a disaster, no official casualty report had been released yet, but he had overheard a member of the MPs mention that not even 200 of the 250,000 who were sent out had survived. Gus had not heard any updates on his father and the longer he waited the more anxious he became.

Max felt so helpless watching his best friend as the uncertainty grew. Gus' face was ashen, his expressive brown eyes were sunken in and his black hair was matted from continuous nights of sweating. Then the bells rang and both of them rushed towards the main gate.

They were the first there but the street rapidly began filling up, as the surviving soldiers entered the gate everyone's worst fears were realized. Not only had the mission failed, the expedition had been eviscerated. Commander Erwin kept his face forward, his face expressionless, but Max could tell by the way his shoulders were slightly hunched up that the loss had deeply affected him.

Gus scanned through the crowd, trying to find his father, "Where is he?" he rushed into the formation, "Gus wait", Max reached out to pull him back but Gus yanked his arm back. "Papa, Papa, where are you?" He grabbed a nearby shoulder, "Where is father, Carlos Mervaine, is he injured, is he at the back of the formation, I don't see him?" His eyes were beginning to water. The soldier placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, kid, I don't know."

Just then Gus noticed something on a nearby wagon, an arm was sticking out under a large dark green sheet. He recognized the pendant on the wrist of the owner's arm, his mother had given it to Carlos when they first started dating. "PAPA!" he jumped onto the wagon, "Wait kid, DON'T!" one of the soldiers ran after him.

He pulled back the sheet and his eyes grew wide fixed upon the sight before him. His father, Carlos Mervaine, was dead, the upper half of his head was missing just above the tip of what used to be his nose. The crowd audibly gasped as the wagon passed with the sheet no longer concealing the horrors that lay beneath it.

He was despondent even as the soldiers lifted him off. Max had lost family members to the Titans, but he never saw the end result, there was no way he could emphasize with Gus at this moment, all he could do was guide him back to his...house? Home didn't feel right, Trost could never replace Shiranagh, he thought to himself.

"I have to kill them, Max", Gus told him a few days later. Max looked back at him, "We were always going to join the Scouts together, you know I'm with you every step of the way."

"But what about what Cyrus said to you?"

"Tch, that coward can't tell me what to do, I'm joining the Scouts, I'm going to make sure everyone who died in Shiranagh did not in vain. The Titans will pay for everything they've done. We'll do it, for Misa", he offered his hand to his childhood friend, "Together?"

"Together!", they each grabbed the other's forearm. They were children no longer.