Mikasa soared through the sky, her 3D Maneuver Gear running out of gas quickly. But she didn't care. She didn't care that she was about to fall. She didn't care that she might die today. If she died, then that meant she could be with Eren again. And it did. Mikasa's 3D Maneuver Gear ran out of gas, and Armin watched in horror as her body made impact with a nearby roof, only for her to roll of that roof and fall to the ground.
"Mikasa!" Armin exclaimed as he watched his longtime friend fall to the ground, disappearing from view. Shooting the metal cables of his 3D gear at a nearby building, he moved towards the spot where he had seen Mikasa fall. With a faint spark of hope in his heart, he leaped towards it.
'Please be okay, Mikasa,' Armin begged to himself.
But no one could prepare them for what was about to happen. No one could prepare them for the return of Eren Jaeger.
It really was a beautiful sight, all this death and destruction. Vader stood on top a nearby roof as he watched a rogue Titan fight and kill other Titans. Behind Vader, on the streets of the city, lay the disintegrating bodies of the Titans he had slain. Fourteen. He had killed fourteen of these things. Vader had watched the soldiers go to the HQ. He had watched as an 'abnormal' Titan began killing other Titans. He had no idea why it was doing what it was doing.
Vader crossed his arms as he watched the rogue Titan fight against another Titan. What was it about this Titan? Vader could sense slight rage inside it, like it was determined to kill every single Titan in the city. Vader had not joined the trainees, for his presence was needed elsewhere.
Suddenly, a small, round probe droid came flying beside Vader.
"My lord," the voice of Admiral Piett could be heard, originating from the droid. "We will begin our assault in twenty minutes. But I left you a little surprise, which I think you might appreciate."
Vader turned around and saw nothing. But he could sense something. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, five Shadow Troopers emerged out of thin air. The Shadow Troopers deactivated their cloaking device and saluted.
The probe droid turned to Vader. "My lord, I will be commanding your forces from the Executor. Good luck, my lord."
"Luck is for the weak, Admiral," Vader retorted, turning to the Shadow Troopers. "There are younglings in that building," he said as he pointed his finger at the HQ. "You will enter that building and do whatever it takes to get them out of there, alive. This planet is still neutral, and if we want it to join us, we must show them that we are here to help."
"Sir," one of the Shadow Troopers said, looking at the rogue Titan. "Shall I order my men to take out that one, sir?"
Vader shook his head. "It would appear that that Titan is… on our side." Vader turned to the probe droid. "Admiral, you are to protect that Titan at any cost. Send a squadron of fighters to swoop around him at all time. Make sure that no other Titan comes close to him, am I understood?"
"Of course, my lord," Admiral Piett replied.
The Shadow Troopers all looked at each other, before activating their jetpacks and cloaking devices. Vader watched as they took off, flying towards the HQ. Crossing his arms yet again, he looked at the rogue Titan. Whatever was going on in that Titan's mind, made the Dark Lord very curious.
"I don't like where this is going," One of the Shadow Troopers said as they walked through the streets. Their jetpacks were already out of fuel. "And for kriff's sake, Thirty-six. You were the one in charge of re-fueling our jetpacks! Let me guess, you were slacking off again, weren't you?" asked the Shadow Trooper, earning stiffed laughter from three others.
"Mistakes are there to be made," Said another Shadow Trooper. This trooper, however, was different. He had a white markings running down from his chest, to his waste. A white hand was also present on the left side of his helmet. "I have some extra fuel cells on my belt," he said as he grabbed two fuel cells. "Only problem is, I only have two." He looked at his men. "So, who volunteers?"
All of them raised their hands.
"Commander Sacero," one of the Shadow Troopers said. "With all due respect, sir. I think you should go, and you alone. We'll hold of any Titan who comes close to the HQ."
Commander Sacero shook his head. "You," he said, pointing his finger at one of the Shadow Troopers. "Forty nine, you're with me. The rest of you, you know what to do. Make sure you get to that HQ, one way or another. We'll go on ahead and make sure those younglings are all right." he handed his fuel cell to forty nine. "Load up mine, and I'll load up yours."
Forty nodded his head and did as he was ordered. The two troopers re-fueled their jetpacks and began to run. They jumped up and before gravity would do his job and pull them down to the ground, they activated their jetpacks and flew to the castle-like structure known as the HQ.
The three remaining Shadow Troopers shook their heads. One of them was about to speak up, until loud footsteps cut them off. All of them turned their heads to see a 4 meter class Titan walking towards them. They all looked at each other before hanging their heads.
"Why do we always get the tough jobs?" One of them asked, raising his blaster at the Titan.
"You heard the Commander! Aim for the neck!" The second Shadow Trooper shouted as the three of them charged at the Titan.
The Titan, who had a sinister smile planted on its face, swooped its arm over the ground, trying to knock the three Shadow Troopers down. The three troopers jumped over the arm, in union. One of them rolled to the side, and while doing so, firing non-stop at the Titan. The Titan roared in pain as the hot lasers made impact with its skin, burning through it. The two other Shadow Troopers ran away, only to turn around once they faced the Titan's back.
The Titan, clearly enraged, turned around and leaped towards the troopers. The three troopers jumped out of the way, the Titan only missing them by an inch or two. One of the troopers ran up to the Titan's neck and jumped on it.
"First kill!" he cheered, as he aimed his blaster at the Titan's nape.
The Titan, however, didn't like the fact that a human was standing on its neck. So it quickly pushed itself off the ground, making the Shadow Trooper loose his balance. The trooper released his grip around his blaster, making it fall to the ground as he grabbed hold of the Titan's hair.
"Heeeelp!" he screamed as the Titan began to shake his neck furiously.
As a response, the two other troopers began to shoot at the Titan, much to the displease of the trooper that was hanging from the Titan's neck.
"You idiots!" he shouted at them, his legs dangling for side to side like he was some kind of ragdoll. "You could hit me!"
"What do you think we're trying to do?" One of the troopers joked, while the other shook his head and began to run towards the Titan. The Titan didn't see the Shadow Trooper running towards him, since it was focusing on the trooper on his neck. The Shadow Trooper then proceeded to fire at the Titan, standing underneath it as he dodged the humongous feet of the Titan.
Eventually, the trooper who was previously joking, did the same thing. Only he kept a safe distance and concentrated his fire in the Titan's legs. For what felt like minutes the troopers kept shooting, but in reality it were mere seconds before the Titan's legs finally gave in. The Titan fell to the ground, and the Shadow Trooper who had been clinging onto its neck for life rolled off it.
"That's what you get for being cocky, thirty-six."
"Shut… up, eighty-nine," Thirty-six retorted, letting out a few burps, his stomach making some unpleasant noises.
The third Shadow Trooper, known only as 'Six' walked towards the Titan. He placed his foot on the Titan's neck and aimed his blaster at him. "My kill," he said as he began to shoot at the Titan several times. "Now stay down."
"Not fair, six." Thirty-six said, shaking his head. "I was the one who did all the hard work."
"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Eighty-nine questioned, looking at his comrades. "Guys?"
"It's the Titan," Six said, looking down at the Titan as steam began to come off it. "Remember when we descended to this planet and watched those humans kill those Titans. They cut their necks and they went numb. It would appear that our blasters are just as effective."
"Blaster fire burns through skin. Ha! That's going to leave a mark on this guy." Thirty-six chimed in, kicking the dead Titan.
"Let's keep moving, the HQ is only a short sprint," Six said as he began to run towards the HQ.
"Hey," Thirty-six said as he and Eighty-nine followed Six. "What if we come across one of those larger guys?" he asked, a hint of fear in his voice.
"We're Shadow Troopers. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And besides," Eight-nine said, looking at Six. "We've got the most bloodthirsty Sergeant on our side. We'll be fine."
"Quit the chatter!" Six barked at them, turning his head as he kept on running. "Commander Sacero is counting on us. So let's not disappoint him!"
"Sir, yes sir!" Thirty-six and Eighty-nine replied in Union.
Humans can't fly. It wasn't in their nature... well, that didn't count for the two Shadow Troopers who were flying from building to building, dodging the continues onslaught of Titan attacks and slams. The Two troopers watched as the rogue Titan began to fight another 15 meter class Titan. Commander Sacero shook his head as he jumped off another roof, activating his jetpack to fly towards another roof.
"Commander Sacero!" Shadow Trooper Fifty shouted over the internal commlink. "Below us!"
Commander Sacero looked below him. There were two 4 meter class Titans which were looking at the rogue Titan. Any fool could have guessed that they were about to attack it. Commander Sacero sighed as he attached his E-11 blaster rifle to his belt. He grabbed two ball-like; metallic objects from his belt and pressed the red buttons on top of them. "Thermal Det!" he shouted over the commlink.
Trooper Fifty nodded as he too attached his E-11 blaster to his belt and dropped two Thermal Detonators.
The detonators fell to the ground, making the Titans look down at them. Four explosions followed, and severed limps flew through the sky, hitting several buildings. Fifty mentally patted himself on his shoulder, but quickly brought his attention back to the situation at hand. The rogue Titan continued to fend off against other Titans. It looked almost like one of those holo-films he used to watch on the Death Star, before its destruction.
"Sir!" Fifty said, landing on a nearby roof. Commander Sacero soon followed.
"The HQ, there it is." Fifty said, letting out a sigh of relief. "But it's surrounded by Titans. How do we get in?" he asked, looking at Sacero.
Sacero tapped the side of his helmet, using his internal scope to zoom in on the HQ. "The windows," he said, pointing his finger at the HQ. "They're broken. That must mean that some of those soldiers made it with their lives intact. We'll make our way inside the HQ, track down those soldiers, and assist them in any way possible."
"And to think some view the Empire as evil," Fifty shook his head. He looked at his wrist. "Jetpack ready to go. Yours, sir?"
As a reply, Commander Sacero leaped off the roof and flew towards the HQ.
Fifty shook his head. The Commander could be such a kriff from time to time.
Glass shattered against their armor as the two Shadow Troopers made their way inside the HQ. They couldn't call it an HQ. It looked more like a primitive house, like the ones on Naboo, but only more primitive. Tables and chairs were scattered across the ground, and a gaping hole was present in one of the walls.
"Are they all dead?" Fifty questioned.
Sacero shook his head. "I'm reading heat signatures coming off from below us," he muttered looking around the HQ. "There," he said, pointing at an opened door. "They probably went through that door. Let's go!" he ordered, grabbing hold of his blaster. "There might be Titans inside, I saw them breaching the walls of this HQ."
"So it's a one way trip?" Fifty asked, hanging his head. "You saw how big those things can get. Are you sure we can kill them, sir?"
Sacero shook his head. "We might die today. But I'll be damned if it isn't for the glory of the Empire!"
Fifty shook his head as he followed his Commander. A kriff he could be, but also an inspirational source that could rival that of any superior officer.
"Over here you fat ugly kriff!" shouted Thirty six at a seven meter class Titan. Firing multiple burst of blaster fire at it, while also running away from it, Thirty-six mentally scolded himself for being the bait… once again.
Then, out of the alleyways, Six and Eighty-nine emerged and began to ran after the Titan.
"Aim for the legs!" Six ordered as he began to shoot at the Titan. "Thirty-six, on my command you will stand still and not move until I say so, understood?" Six asked over the commlink.
"I hate you, Sergeant!" Came the reply from Thirty-six.
Thirty-six did as he was ordered and stopped running, his back facing the Titan as it closed it in him.
"Wait." Six said.
The Titan was now five meters away from him.
"Wait."
Four meters.
"Wait."
Three meters.
"Now!"
Thirty-six let out a scream of terror as he rolled aside. The Titan stopped in its tracks an turned around, looking down at Thirty-six as he struggled to get up, having been blown away by the speed of the Titan's running. The Titan then bend over, reaching out for Thirty-six. Thirty-six shook his head, and turned around, only for him to be grabbed by the Titan.
"Thirty-six!" Eighty-nine shouted in terror, firing at the Titan's legs. "Let him go!"
Sergeant Six ran towards the Titan and slide underneath its legs. He then grabbed a Thermal Detonator form his belt and placed it near the Titan's right foot. Six kept on running until he was at a safe distance. He watched as the Titan opened its mouth and moved Thirty-six towards it. Thirty-six struggled to get his arms out of the Titan's iron grip, desperately trying to fire his blaster. But before the Titan could close its jaws and bite him in half, a loud explosion erupted from its foot, making it stumble to the ground as it released its grip around Thirty-six.
Thirty-six screamed in horror as he watched the ground close in on him.
"I got you, buddy!" Eighty-nine shouted, running in circles, triangles, basically any form one could run in as he tried to catch his comrade. Thirty-six felt his 'rear end' colliding with someone. Looking down at his savior, he noticed that Eighty-nine had caught him… with his face.
"You okay there, bud?" Thirty-six asked.
"Not a word about this," Came the muffled reply from Eighty-nine.
"Got it," Thirty-six said as he got up from his friend. Holding out his hand, which Eighty-nine gladly accepted, he helped him up.
"Where's Six?" Eighty-nine asked, shaking his head, trying to get his vision to be less blurry.
"Currently getting his second kill," Thirty Six replied, pointing a thumb over his shoulder.
Eighty-nine peeked his head over Thirty-six's shoulder. Sergeant Six was currently emptying his ammo clip into the Titan's neck.
"Damn," they heard Six curse over the commlink. "The heat radiating from their bodies is making me sweat through my jumpsuit."
Both Thirty-six and Eighty-nine stiffed a laugh. Looking at their Sergeant as he stepped off the Titan's neck, leaving it disintegrating. He walked towards them, looking over at them. "How many points do I get for that?" he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.
"Let's keep it a forty," Eighty-nine replied. "And I get twenty because I was the living bait… AGAIN!"
"The reason why we do that, is because you're so damn good at it, friend." Eighty-nine said, putting his arm around Thirty-six's shoulder. "Twenty points for you, ten for me."
"Ten for you? Nu-uh, I don't think so Mr. Hotshot." Thirty-six retorted, jabbing him in his side.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The three Shadow Troopers all let out a sigh of annoyance as they watched two 5 meter class Titans making their way over to them.
"These guys just don't know how to quit." Thirty-six said, earning a nod of agreement from Eighty-nine.
"Activate cloaking device, we'll make them search for us," Six ordered, tapping his wrist pad.
The others nodded and did the same.
"Let's do this!" Thirty-six chimed as the (now) invisible troopers ran towards the Titans.
"Sir," Fifty said, patting Commander Sacero's shoulder. "Looks like this is the storage room, or something."
Sacero said nothing as he motioned Fifty to shut his mouth. Silence befell the two as they suddenly felt the ground shaking.
"Activate cloaking, now!" Sacero hissed.
Fifty nodded and did as he was ordered, along with Sacero. The two troopers slowly walked forward, reaching an open area of the storage room. Stopping mid-track, they watched as a 4 meter class Titan walked passed them. Sacero and Fifty's hearts began beating faster and faster. Fifty looked to his side, not wanting to see the Titan. That's when he saw it. Some sort of primitive elevator. In the elevator stood a group of soldiers, holding weapons of some sort. Fifty watched as the Titans slowly made their way overt to the elevator.
Fifty tapped the Commander's shoulder, getting his attention. He pointed his index finger at the elevator, making the Commander turn his head.
They watched as the Titans closed in on the trapped humans.
"On my command, shoot at their necks. Grab their attention and-."
"Sir, do you smell that?" Fifty asked.
Commander Sacero sniffed a couple of times, his eyes widening underneath his helmet. "Is that… gas?"
"One miss-fire and this place will go boom, sir." Fifty replied.
Sacero shook his head and tightened his grip around his blaster. "Then we best not miss, right?" he asked, earning a mumbled 'kriff' from Fifty. Sacero couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"FIRE!" They could hear one of the soldiers scream.
A barrage of bullets were shot at the Titan's eyes. their put their hands in front of their eyes, screaming in pain. The bullets were followed up by seven soldier who jumped down from the ceilings and cut the Titan's nape. Well, they almost did. Two humans, a male and a female missed their target.
Commander Sacero took this as his 'you're good to go'. He ran towards the Titan, his cloaking still active. He activated his jetpack and flew up to the Titan's face. Aiming his blaster at it before it could smash its hand down on the terrified woman below, he pulled the trigger, sending a barrage of blaster fire into the Titan's face. The Titan roared in agony, but was quickly silenced by an all too familiar black haired girl.
Sacero flew to the side as the Titan fell to the ground with a loud thud. Sacero landed on the floor, safe and sound. He looked over to the soldiers who were standing on the floor, cheering.
"Commander Sacero!"
Sacero, and every soldier turned their heads towards the source of the voice.
'Idiot, he deactivated his cloaking device.' Sacero thought to himself as he too deactivated his cloaking device, shocking everyone.
"What the hell?!" Exclaimed a millimeter haired soldier, pointing his finger at Sacero. "Where the hell did they come from?!"
"Fifty, what is your problem?" Commander Sacero said, anger clearly present in his voice. "This means you lose ten points, soldier. Looks like Thirty-six isn't last anymore."
Fifty hung his head in shame. "Sorry, sir."
"Say the line," Commander Sacero ordered.
"Do I have to? All these soldiers are watching." Fifty whined.
"Say it, or I'll use you as life bait, instead of Thirty-six!" Sacero shouted.
"Oh look at me, I messed up the plan again! I'm so dumb! Dumb, dumb, dumb!" Fifty shouted.
"And?" Sacero asked, crossing his arms.
"I'll be cleaning everyone's weapons for two weeks, starting now," Fifty said, hanging his shoulders. "I hate this line. Can't we change it?"
Sacero shook his head. "Sorry, soldier. But the line stays," he looked around, seeing the shocked and confused faces of every soldiers within the vicinity. "What are you all looking at? Never seen a Shadow Trooper before?"
The boy who had spoken up before, spoke up yet again. "Are you guys with that black Titan from before, because you sure as hell look like him!"
"You mean Lord Vader, kid?" Sacero asked, turning to face him. "You should have some respect. Lord Vader himself has instructed us to follow you, making sure you are all alright," he said as he looked at the disintegrating bodies of the Titans which had just been killed. "But it seems to me like you all know how to take care of yourselves."
"Who the hell are you guys?!" A blonde haired, muscular soldier asked.
Sacero pointed his finger at him. "Your name soldier, what is it?"
"Reiner," Reiner replied, glaring at him. "Yours?"
Sacero cleared his throat. He watched as the elevator descended, letting the soldiers who were on it get off. "My name is Commander Sacero of the 41st Shadow Squadron. To make things short and understandable, our cruisers are orbiting above your planet. We send probe droids to get a better look of your planet, and saw that you were being attacked by these 'Titans'. We are only a small, very small group of special ops Stormtroopers. The rest of our assault force will soon descend to you planet's surface. After that, we will make sure that the streets of this city are wiped clean from any Titan."
"What the hell are you talking about?" The black haired woman asked. "You talk nonsense. How the hell are you two supposed to help us? And even if you could, the why are you helping us?" she asked, anger clearly present in her voice.
"Because that's what the Empire does," Sacero replied.
"The Empire?" Reiner repeated in confusion. "Wait, are you guys from another district, or something?"
Sacero shook his head. "No," he replied, pointing his blaster at the ceiling and pulling the trigger, letting several blaster bolts make impact with the ceiling. "Have you ever seen one of these?" Sacero asked.
Both Reiner and the girl shook their heads.
"This might sound strange to all of you, but we are not from you planet. Questions can be asked later, but first," he turned to the girl. "Would you mind telling me why that huge Titan is attacking other Titans?"