Chapter 8:

The beast inside

"Do you remember how we met for the first time?" She choked on her breath as a heavy fit of coughing followed. He rested her head on his hand that he had elevated with the use of his left thigh. His right hand held hers tightly as his eyes were locked onto her face. He was scared, he'd only felt this scared once before.

"I told the others about it, but was always too embarrassed to finish that story." A tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "I wish I had more courage to finish it." She lips formed into a sad smile, it was one of disappointment.

"I wish I had the courage to tell you how I've felt ever since that day." His eyes widened in stunned surprise as their eyes met. He could do nothing but watch as tears leaked from her eyes, she shut them and with a remorseful smile she parted her lips once more to utter one more thing to him.

The wall that had been chipped and cracked throughout the day was now smashed. His blood burned as his eyes sparked with a fiery rage as he looked up. He gently lay her down as he rose, stepping to the edge of the building he ignored everything around him as he glared forward.

Around him was the results of a massacre. Blood painted the buildings and streets, the blood of his comrades. Bodies were scattered around, the bodies of his comrades. His body trembled, an irresistible itch clawed at his mind as the shackled beast awoke to the cries of histormented soul.

He tore his blades from their metal sheath, his eyes glowed with a white hue. The metal handles shook as he barely held himself together, steam emerged from his skin as it burned with a reddish tint. He saw nothing, only his enemy.

"Let me be free…"

The whisper was so sweet as he felt a hand curve down his cheek and under his chin.

"Let me destroy your enemies."

He felt his mind slipping and his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay conscious.

"You can rest now."

His eyes stopped fluttering as his head fell back. His body erupted as the beast shattered its chains of restraint.

-Late August 850-

They had made it!

Jean sat on top of Wall Rose in astonishment. He was sure they had been condemned to an early grave and wouldn't make it out. Yet here he was and so was many of his friends as he looked around he spotted the familiar faces of Connie, Sasha, Christa, Ymir, Daz, Hanna, Sandra, Gordon, and even Nack, who even though being was in a critical condition and was being attended to by Garrison Regiment field medics had survived that horror show.

But at the same time while they had survived, many had died. At least eighty to ninety percent of their regiment had been killed during the ongoing struggle. Jean grit his teeth in anger, he would never forgive their commanders that had sent them to their deaths. The only saving grace came in the form of an emotionless white haired teen.

The Militia had not only cleared out the majority of the titans in Trost, but they had saved them and ensured their safety. Never in his life had he felt so useless until today, where he had done nothing but watch as friends and comrades died in front of him and he did nothing but watch. Some had even cried for help but he did nothing but stand there until their blood stained his boots making him run away in guilt and fear.

"I'm sorry." He whispered as the faces of those he had seen dying etched their way to the forefront of his mind. He covered his face with his hands as guilt and disgust filled him with every passing face.

"Hey Jean!" A rough shake on his shoulder was enough to bring his hands down and look at the shaven haired appearance of Connie. His bright hazel eyes watched him with hidden concern, "I sure am glad to be out of there." The smaller boy was obviously trying to distract him from the situation and any depressing thoughts he might have been having. Marco must had said something to them to make them be mindful of him.

"Yeah." Jean quietly responded. Marco was always looking out for him and while he'd never admit it aloud, he was thankful to have someone like Marco as his best friend. He promised himself that he would try harder to be a better friend for Marco once this was all said and done.

"All cadets are to withdraw into Wall Rose, immediately." If one could hear the thoughts of the surviving cadets of the hundred and fourth, they'd hear a mass sigh of relief. Not that anyone could blame them, they had gone through a far greater tribulation then any of their age had ever before.

The woman who had informed them of their new orders was a short female Garrison soldier with silver hair and a pair of glasses. Jean's eyes wandered past her to a section further down Wall Rose. A line of five soldiers stood behind two more elderly looking men. He was stunned when he recognised them both.

The first was undoubtedly Commander of the Garrison's Southern Regiment. Dot Pyxis. Having met the man last year, where he ended up getting in a cooking competition with Sasha to which the Garrison Commander judged their dishes. The second man was not seen by many outside the Interior but his appearance was fabled throughout the Walls.

Dhalis Zachary, Premier of the Military, Founder of the Militia, and the most powerful man held within the Walls besides the monarch himself. Many with himself included believed the man was a monarch in his own right, if Zachary wanted something he got it. But to see such a man here, on the front lines of all places?

Commanders usually hid away within the Walls using their status to live a cosy life, very few ventured from that path. And even fewer had the balls to stand by their men and fight alongside them. While he doubted he'd ever see the Premier fighting alongside his men at his current age, this was basically unheard of.

Jean never really believed in the capability of the military, to him it was a flesh wall placed in front of the titans to prolong humanities survival. Only the Military Police looked promising and that was for his own selfish reasons. But to see the man who had everything, from wealth to being able to live safely within the Interior, standing on front lines not even a hundred metres from himself for some reason it sparked and stirred something within him.

He half-heartedly laughed as he thought back to the times Marco spoke of his strange sense of honour and duty towards his service. Jean couldn't believe that he just replicated such a feeling briefly. If he told Marco he knew his best friend would instantly telling him to join the Survey Core with him so that they could join the Military Police together.

Truthfully though, the Military Police didn't spark such emotions within him. As he stared at the elderly man who stood with his arms resting on the lower back area of his officer coat, he stood with a relaxed posture that told anyone looking at it that he had absolute faith in his soldiers. He couldn't help but want to serve under that man. A true soldier of humanity, Dhalis Zachary.

"Come on Jean!" Pulling him from his thoughts, Connie tapped his shoulder. Turning around Jean seemed a lot more focused and clear of mind. "You Okay?"

Jean nodded briefly. "Let's get our well deserved rest."

Connie grinned as he chuckled a little. "Yeah, it's about time the Garrison took over. We basically did their job for them."

While Connie was joking, Jean's eyes darkened a little. 'I'll never forgive them for that. Our friends and comrades died to their stupidity.' Glancing over his shoulder towards the Premier once more, he had once final thought. 'Prove that my faith isn't misplaced.' He followed Connie and the remaining survivors of the hundred and fourth who could still move as they descended Wall Rose to safety.

With a burst of gas, a blur whizzed past the neck of eight metre man-eating monster. Moments later the beast fell as the blur moved on, not hesitating for even a second. The blur took many twists and turns, using the environment around it to fire grappling hooks to forward its momentum. Within the next minute the blur had come upon another beast, large and fat with short brown hair.

Altering direction the blur swung under the outstretching arm of the nine metre tall giant, not a moment later the monster's nape erupted with steam as it fell like many before it had this day. Landing on a rooftop of one of the few buildings that were situated outside the gate of Trost District, the blur was revealed to be a midnight black haired cadet.

Once she landed she struggled to maintain her balance as she stumbled from her numbed limbs due to the long and constant use of the ODM gear and the many injuries she had sustained. Not being able to support her legs much longer she fell to her knees to rest a little. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her body demanded more oxygen for the overuse of her muscles.

This had to be the longest day in the girl's life, or at least close to the longest. From the day started till now she hadn't had a break. She cursed the Colossal for breaching Trost like it did her substitute home five years ago, her gaze fell upon the massive hole that allowed the enemies of humanity to enter their home and feast upon them like cattle.

She would have laughed if she had the breath to, that line sounded much like a certain brash young brown haired boy. 'Nothing like he is right now.' Once again her gaze shifted. Now upon a blur similar to herself moments ago, it struck like lightning not giving its victims a chance to even respond or realise their demise until it was already over.

She was convinced he could have held the breach by himself but allowed herself and his comrades to feel useful, that or he was conserving energy for something else. Her brow narrowed into a frown at the thought, the worst might not even be upon them yet. Hadn't humanity dealt with enough so far?

Families torn apart, homes lost, youth sent to the saluter. It made the scarf wearing girl shake in anger remembering that those events had directly impacted her as well. The world was cruel that by even being alive was a miracle.

A loud bang drew her from her inner ramblings, next followed a loud voice. It was the Lieutenant of Bravo team, Peters if she recalled his surname correctly. She looked up to the top of wall above the breach. It was a red signal flare which signalled danger of titan origin, they were mainly used by the Survey Core due to their long distance formation that avoided titans.

"Survey Core response flare spotted!" She was sure a wave of relief washed over the Militia soldiers as it did herself. With the Survey Core they'd have the much needed support to keep the titans out of Trost and find a way to seal the breach somehow. It would mean that the day might possibly end allowing them all some form of break.

Having been fighting endlessly for the past thirty minutes to an hour was a truly taxing experience on the human body, especially hers due to the events of the day. Another loud shout diverted her attention once more.

"All troops, regroup on top of the wall!" The origin of the order just barked was the teenager of previous interest. Shiro Zachary, the boy that had changed so much.

Glancing around she noticed that the massive horde they had been facing was dwindled down to a dozen or two distant titans that no doubt would be enticed closer with the imminent arrival of the returning Survey Core. But they had a little breathing room between then and now. With a lot of effort she made it to her feet with the aid of her blades, being used as supports as she pushed herself up.

A gust of wind blew her crimson scarf back and forth, she had readjusted it so the loose ends would drape down her back and out of the way. As she was about to launch towards the wall she felt a cold droplet fall upon her skin, looking down at her hand she saw a singular raindrop slid down the back of her hand towards her thumb. A second droplet joined the first, then a third.

She fired her grapples as it began to rain, she never liked the rain. It always forecasted bad events to come. Her feet landed on the side of the wall as she began to run up towards the top, her grapples embedded near the top of the wall. A few more rain droplets fell on her face, they cooled her sweaty face which she was slightly thankful for.

It didn't take her long to reach the top as a hand was offered down to her, looking up she saw one of the members of Bravo owning the helping hand. She thanked him as she took hold his hand and was pulled up on top of the wall. She took a moment to regain control of her breathing as everyone else regrouped.

Bravo team and herself were looking a lot more worse for wear, dealing with the brunt of the titans. Surprisingly even though tired when any one of them launched off the wall they didn't appear fatigued in the slightest. It was a testament to Zachary's claim many years ago, his Militia were now the unstoppable force he proclaimed.

"Alright, eyes front." The familiar voice of her childhood friend and saviour sounded in front of the gathering. He didn't appear winded in the slightest, other than the light sheen of sweat that was barely visible on his forehead, but then again that could just be the rain. "Now that we've dwindled down the unexpected horde, I will be heading back to Wall Rose. I want Charlie to switch out with Bravo so they can recover their strength."

"Sir." The white haired teens eyes moved towards the voice. "What about the black flare? Will you not need our support?" The Captain's brow narrowed into a frown, Mikasa didn't know if it was in annoyance or concern. Maybe both?

"Throwing bodies at the Armoured abnormal won't help, it's better off if I deal with it alone. Besides..." He looked south, his eyes flickering between different spots. No doubt he was looking at the remaining titans that were slowly getting closer, all the titans in the near area had rushed forward after the unexpected scream. Further away titans were attracted to the scream but where taking their time to converge.

"I need you all to assist the Survey Core when they arrive, more than likely they'll be dragging a lot of stray titans back with them." The two teams accepted their commanding officers reasoning. Mikasa stood behind them all and watched on intently, they seemed to want to go with their leader but knew their duty and from posture alone she could tell none of them doubted the abilities of the white haired Captain.

She however was slightly concerned. She hadn't seen nor heard about the spotted flare and didn't understand it's meaning until now. The Armoured abnormal had been spotted and the rear-guard had called for assistance. How were they possibly going to take down such an unstoppable monster that had taken Wall Maria from them all those years ago.

Her stormy grey eyes inspected Eren or Shiro (as he was now to be called by) for any self doubt, she found none. He truly believed he could take down the Armoured abnormal. Such determination was only possible from one person and Mikasa knew that. Eren Yeager, the young brown haired boy who had his entire world shattered the day the Colossal rose its head over the wall of Shiganshina District.

"I have faith you will fulfil your duties to the best of your abilities. Even if we lost Wall Rose to the Armoured abnormal, if we hold Trost District we'll not lose the battle." He pounded his chest with his right hand that was now closed into a fist, his left left tucked behind his back as he saluted his soldiers. A sparkle in his usually dull emerald eyes told them his hidden pride in them all.

"Yes sir!" The two teams responded, similarly to their Captain they saluted with absolute confidence in him. The Lieutenants of Bravo and Charlie began ordering their subordinates into action, through the action Mikasa and Shiro eyed one another. With a nod of the head he signalled her to follow as he turned and moved further down the wall away from the dutiful soldiers.

She caught up to him after a slight jog and now walked alongside him as they journeyed down the wall. His hands were joined behind his back like making him appear relaxed and was merely having a stroll. She knew from a single glance at his eyes it was nothing of the such. His eyes were conflicted.

"We're going back to Wall Rose like originally planned but I need you to promise me something." He turned towards her. His face stone cold, his eyes demanding compliance. "You are not to get involved when I engage the Armoured abnormal."

She was stunned for a moment. "But-"

"In your current state, you're about ready to drop. I won't let you get yourself killed because you want to assist me." Her grey eyes glossed over as she looked away, she was useless to him in her current state. She'd been nothing but a nuisance to him ever since they reunited.

She was stunned when a finger lifted her chin up. Their eyes met once more. "We've just reunited, I'm going to make sure we both make it out of this, together." He looked so confident, any thought of rebelling was lost as she forgot how to speak. Her face now blisteringly hot. "Then, we'll talk."

Mikasa weakly nodded as Eren removed his hand her chin, losing his touch felt wrong but as that thought came she shook it out in embarrassment. Without a seconds notice, Eren launched off the wall heading towards his next mission. Mikasa followed closely after, she watched as rain made his clothes stick to his frame. His tied back white mane struggled against its binding that forced it into a tightly held bun.

'Soon.' She thought. 'Soon we'll be able to talk, and I'll be able to find out what happened to him after he left me and…' Mikasa eyes hollowed. 'Armin.' A pit formed in his stomach, how would she tell Eren? His best friend who he'd entrusted to her was now gone and he was none the wiser.

As she watched him from behind, a distance began to grow once again. Before it had been Eren running ahead, now it was her running away. Did she deserve to be by his side when she had failed her promise to him? She couldn't believe herself, when Eren appeared she forgot all about the small blonde. Was she that selfish?

"Keep up." His words reached her like they always did when she needed them. "Our duty comes first. Doubt, guilt, and reflection come after we've done our jobs." He had slowed down for her, that or the distance had never been there to begin with.

Mikasa nodded, removing emotion and thoughts that would hinder her abilities. Her focus now on the mission ahead. Glancing briefly over his shoulder, Shiro saw her change in attitude. It was always the first thing that needed to be addressed with soldiers. If their emotions got involved they would stutter and die.

Not many could overcome fear and cast aside their emotions in the face of their enemy. That's what made the titans such effective enemies, they made soldiers make mistakes. Looking ahead once more Shiro focused himself on his upcoming task, he knew Alpha would have been sent to deal with Armoured abnormal while he wasn't present.

It made clear within his own mind that his words to Mikasa weren't necessarily just for her. They were for himself as well. He hadn't been effected by death since the loss of his ability to understand and process emotions properly. Despite this he knew through the recent years, he had grown attached to his group to some extent. Was this what Levi felt towards his group of misfits?

Deep within, he was concerned for the well-being of the five soldiers he had trained, worked, and lived with over the past two years. Zachary had told him it was worry, he amused himself by imagining what their reaction would be if he told them that he was concerned and even worried about them.

Felix would laugh straight out. Markus and Martin would happily smile due to his admittance of affection. Sophie would become shy and look away, her noble upbringing not helping her cope with such a scenario. Mia would smile as well, he realised. Why did he separate her from Markus and Martin then? Her smile was different, it would be just as affectionate as his own admittance. A dusting of red on her cheeks.

Shiro almost tripped when he landed on a rooftop, he quickly made his footing so his company wouldn't worry or hopefully not notice the slip in the first place. 'What in the walls, am I thinking?' He shook his head slightly at his own distraction, this day was truly taking a toll upon him. He reassured himself that he'd be fine once the day was over.

The white and black haired duo continued on north towards Wall Rose. The rain continued to pour down around them, drenching everything it touched. The grey skies above hinted at no end to the endless fall of rain, similarly to this godforsaken day.

It was a shit show. Mia cursed at the events that had unfolded. She drew her hand down the face of another fallen comrade, the second member of Echo to be lost. They had managed to force the beast back, but she wondered if it was worth the cost. When they had finally got the armoured bastard into an open courtyard, she immediately realised it wasn't.

The hulking monster had to be intelligent, but far more then they originally give it credit for. It tricked them into this position. With less buildings to make the best possible use of the ODM gear they had begun to be picked off one by one.

Alpha had disabled its left arm, which allowed them an opportunity to follow the same action on it's left leg. The creature used this to slowly but surely back them up until they were in their current situation. They changed their plan to have Delta and Echo take out the arms and legs at the same time, then Alpha would come in for the strike on the neck.

It almost instantly failed, two of the members of Delta were caught grappling onto the Armoured abnormal. It pulled on their cables forcing them to lose control and crash into the environments around them. A member of Echo clashed with armoured plating as the intelligent abnormal shifted that his exposed joints wouldn't be cut. The soldier's blades shattered on impact and disorientated the man, making him an easy target for the beast.

Of their original fifteen personnel they had eleven left. The fourth victim of the titan's wrath being the Lieutenant of Echo, the only female Lieutenant within Militia Sword besides herself. Through the sound of the rain, Mia heard the distinct sound of gas behind her as a man landed on the roof beside her.

"Lieutenant! None of our attacks are working, this environment has us at a disadvantage." The man was Markus Stein. If she was Shiro's right hand woman, Markus was her right hand man.

She agreed with his analysis, the fifteen metre Armoured abnormal had turned it's outnumbered situation into an advantage. With so many soldier's and little buildings close enough to the titan to allow for the best use of the ODM gear due to the openness of the plaza there were in, the titan could repel their attacks with relative ease.

"We can't use any of our advanced manoeuvrers due to the environment. But we can't let it any closer to the Wall, I will not lose the ground we gained." Markus nodded understanding what she meant, their primary objective was to keep the Armoured abnormal away from Wall Rose. Taking down the titan was an uncertain secondary objective.

"So what are your orders?" All the informalities and casualness was set aside while on a mission, something drilled into them by a white haired Captain.

'We can't sit back or we'll risk the abnormal losing interest in us and targetting it's main objective.' She knew what she was about to order wouldn't help their survivability rates, but it made her remember what their young Captain had told them two years ago.

"Being in the Militia doesn't mean a cosy life, free from conflict. It's actually quite the opposite, you're life will be on the line everyday as you fight for humanity. Remember that or you will die."

At the time they thought he was exaggerating a bit, but true to his word after a month of training they were sent to their first life or death situation were any one of them could have died. They infiltrated one of the many Underground Crime Syndicates, if they were discovered there was nothing their leader could do to save them.

By the end of the month they realised the truth behind his words. Their mentality towards their mission had changed as they almost appeared to have split personality disorder. A switch was flipped in their heads and the human being full or emotions was turned off, leaving behind a stone faced soldier that would stop at nothing to complete their mission.

As Mia stared at their latest in a long line of objectives to be completed, she saw the potential demise of her comrades alongside her own. With a quick prayer to whatever or whoever would listen, Mia made her orders known. She looked up, standing from her crouched position beside the now deceased Lieutenant of Echo.

"We take a risk and advance." Markus turned his honey-brown eyes upon her, he smiled with an accompanying short laugh.

"All or nothing? Sounds like a fitting motto for Alpha team, eh?" The corners of Mia's lips twisted up in a smile of her own.

'Bastard, making sly remarks about my leadership at a time like this.'

The two were soon joined by two more members of Alpha, as the team regrouped. "So what's the plan? Delta and Echo aren't looking too good, and will need some time to regroup." Felix asked having landed on Mia's right. Beside him stood Martin who had paired up with him for their recently failed attack.

"We're forcing an advance." Felix had never been one to leave his opinion at the door, he stared at the figurehead of Alpha.

"Suicide charge?" Looking to Markus the man just smirked at him. "Is this team cursed with luck based strategies?" he over-exaggeratedly sighed making Martin chuckle at the older man.

Sophie was the last of the team to land of the rooftop, she stood beside Markus while glaring daggers at the Armoured abnormal. Blood stained her uniform almost being caught when the eliminated the first member of Echo.

"Alright, how we doing this?" Felix's mood switched as he stared down their enemy with calculating green eyes.

"Felix and Martin will feint a strike towards it's leg, Sophie and Markus will disable whatever arm it chooses to counter you with. If that goes well we'll disable the other arm and legs, using the same strategy and I'll come strike if I see an opening for the killing blow or you need assistance."

The four members of Alpha inclined their heads to show they understood their newest orders. "Most likely it'll be able to counter us but I'm hoping to make some ground, our strikes will be risky and leave a lot of opportunity for defeat but they're the odds we'll have to play."

Mia looked to either side, her eyes meeting theirs. "For humanity."

"For humanity." They repeated. They took off, Martin and Felix first followed by the second duo of Sophie and Markus, finally Mia took off to join the team she had been leader of for the past two years of her life. The five of them ignored the rain as they rushed towards the enemy, their harsh training engrained into their muscles so they were ready to react to any situation.

The beast watched them as they approached. It knew better than getting confident against the Militia, even if it was able to already bait them into a disadvantage and then kill four of the fifteen soldiers sent to kill it. It's white lensed eyes showing nothing of it's internal thoughts. It tightened it's armoured hands into fists, seeing who was the next to challenge it.

These soldiers were the only ones to have managed to disable one of it's limbs, and only two of the members of the team were involved in that. With the full team of five heading straight towards it, the creature knew it would need any advantage it could get against them. It began to enact it's plan to use the team's lack in intelligence to it's advantage.

Mia skidded to a stop on top of one of the closest buildings to the Armoured abnormal, she was still a sizeable distance away due to the large open plaza area in front of her. Where in the centre of said area stood the fifteen metre high abnormal. She watched over the situation that was about to unfold before her sharp, calculating hazel-brown eyes. Her brow was knotted together as she focused in on the titan and tried to get a read on its behaviour.

The titan acted with decided intent, that was why it gained the title: intelligent, along with the Colossal that had appeared earlier and set the events at play in motion. The Lieutenant of Alpha watched as the blonde headed form of Felix swung down for the titan's left leg. Martin did the same, only directing his strike towards the other leg.

As suspected the titan withdrew it's right leg while reaching out for Felix with it's left arm. Markus and Sophie came in, heading straight towards the outreaching arm. Markus aimed for the elbow joint while Sophie ducked under for the shoulder joint. Meanwhile Martin readjusted his course and targeted the Armoured titan's leg once again.

'Good.' Mia watched, they had forced the titan to split it's attention far more then it could handle. It only had two choices. Fight and potentially have at least one of it's limbs disabled, or retreat and forfeit more ground to them. Either way it was in Alpha's favour. Staring down the titan, Mia smirked. 'You're dealing with humanity's best team, there's no way you're getting out of this with another victory. Humanity's time has come!'

The beast growled as it took a few steps back to escape the disablement of it's legs. The members of Alpha swerved out of the way of the beast arms, Markus managed to see an opening and blasted gas to blur under the titan's arm. Moments later the Armoured abnormal's right arm hung loosely by it's side. They had made an opportunity for an effective strike.

They didn't need to be told anything as the three other members of Alpha set off into motion. The primary target being the intelligent titan's right leg. Sophie and Martin went low for the legs, while Felix targeted the other arm. The titan was being overwhelmed by the multiple rapid attacks that didn't allow it to register and counter each one in time.

Once again the armoured plated titan backed off, now it's back was close to a number of buildings on the south of the plaza. 'Perfect.' The hazel-brown haired soldier discreetly jumped off her building and whizzed away with the use of her ODM gear.

The titan seemed frustrated at it's current predicament. Knowing it needed to counter the humans it began to put it's plan in motion. Intensive steam came from the titan's right armpit as it prepared to take action. Felix and Sophie rushed forward, both getting ready to adjust their course to react to any attack presented by the massive titan.

In a shocking move, the titan rose both it's arms up clasping it's hands together, before striking the ground beneath it with as much strength as the titan could muster. The earth shook as dust blanketed the nearby surrounding area. Felix and Sophie had been caught in the surprising move, now suffering from a lack of sight and slight cuts and bruises from bits of debris.

Off to the side, Martin stood on top of one of the southern buildings surrounding the plaza. He had disengaged to find another angle to strike from, however he was taken by surprise by the titan's change of tactics. He gripped his handles of the ODM gear he was using tightly as he rushed forward, hopping from rooftop to rooftop as he sped towards the massive dust cloud that hide everything held within.

'I've never seen a titan do that before. It can read and react to situations pretty well, it's almost like it's got intelligence on par with us.' Martin hadn't seen Markus since his successful strike, knowing the man he'd be fine due to his experience. The building in front of Martin exploded as he saw the silhouette of an outstretched leg.

The light brown haired Alpha member turned his head as the sight of movement in the corner of his right eye. Focusing he was taken aback, on the ground was Felix jogging away from cloud of dust that was still settling. On his shoulder was the limp body on Sophie, blood dripped from her head.

'Shit!' The boy cursed, looking back to the cloud he saw the form of the Armoured abnormal stepping forward.

'This isn't good, I've got to buy Felix time.' He forced himself back into action. If he let the intelligent titan push it's new found advantage they'd lose the battle. It'd be away from the buildings that they desperately needed in order to take the giant down, and it could also take out two of Alpha's members. Martin realised the weight now on his shoulders as he fired his hooks into the titan's arm to distract it.

Wasting a lot of his gas he spun around the blonde fifteen metre, taking extreme care not to leave his hooks embedded in the creature too long or anywhere that could leave him open to a counter. Martin spun around, starting from the titan's right and headed around it's back, heading towards it's left. His plan to pull it's attention away from his vulnerable teammates with a fake neck strike.

The titan didn't even flinch, Martin was about to be on the creature's left when he was forced to make a drastic adjustment in his flight. The Armoured abnormal launched it's fist out destroying the buildings that Martin was using to grapple onto. Debris flew everywhere as Martin's advantage was turned against him.

Felix, managing to get a decent distance away that he could safely scale the buildings surrounding the open plaza with Sophie, now looked back to see what had happened to cause such a loud sound of destruction. The dust cloud he had used to retreat out of with an injured Sophie had now settled, with just some more coming from a newly decimated building to the Armoured's left.

'What in the walls just happened?' The battle had taken a turn in their favour, but with just one move the abnormal blonde giant had once again turned the battle on its head and taken the advantage. Looking down he cursed at himself for getting distracted, the platinum-blonde below him was totally out cold.

He hadn't caught everything due to him being blinded by the surprise tactic, but she had been definitely been struck in the temple by some of the debris. He took out a bandage roll that sat in the inside pocket of his jacket. Going straight to work, Felix wrapped Sophie's head to stop the bleeding by holding the wound closed with the tightly wrapped bandages. When a sudden sound came from behind, Felix's primal instincts took hold as with one rapid motion, he twisted his upper body around whilst drawing one of his blade's.

As he went to swing, he found his blade parried by a similar one. Taking a moment to get a better look he made out the stern features of the frowning face of Markus. The man's honey-brown eyes had frozen with his serious attitude.

"How's Sophie?" Withdrawing his blade, the long haired blonde breathed heavily regaining his composure as he turned his attention back to their injured teammate.

"Hard to say, she was struck with debris and is unconscious. We're effectively a man down." Markus didn't show anything as his face remained in it's serious frown.

"What about Martin?" Felix shook his head.

"No clue. But I'd say that the only reason I got away was due to something he did."

"Get Sophie a safe distance away, I'm going to engage the Armoured and by you some time. Hopefully I'll regroup with Martin and Mia on the way." The former MP nodded at the man Alpha saw as second-in-command within their team. He quickly finished his makeshift patchwork and hoisted the younger Alpha member up onto his shoulder.

Markus was already long gone by the time he actually began to move. The former Garrison member rushed towards the behemoth that had managed to injure members of his team. The creature was looking downward, seeing the opportunity, Markus struck.

With a large burst of gas he sped towards the abnormal, he slashed the beast's elbow joint with ease. He heard the growl of recognition that he'd been noticed. He focused on his next attack instead, with a quick grapple into the Armoured's leg, Markus passed the first knee joint.

The tactic was elementary, he passed the first joint and targetted the furtherest one first. The Armoured abnormal's right leg swung away, letting Markus know his simple trick had worked. With all it's weight now being supported on the left leg, Markus went in for the strike.

The titan was taken by surprise as it couldn't support it's own weight any longer. Falling forward it crashed face first into the ground. In a drastic hurry the blonde armoured titan used it's leg arm to force itself onto it's back, a backup plan already being put into effect.

Markus was swift and effective, seeing the opportunity about to disappear he went straight for the titan's left arm. He fired his grapples into the side of the Armoured titan, the beast had been able to push itself up and onto it's side. The kill strike was slipping away and Markus knew he needed to take out the titan's left arm, he used as much gas as possible to make it in time.

His eyes burned with all the air crashing against his honey-brown orbs, he felt like his body was being torn to shreds with the amount friction and tension of the ODM gear and moving at his current speed. But he was trained for this, he'd endured two of the harshest years of training to be able to do this.

"Markus!" He barely made out the cry as he made impact with something unexpected. Felix stood on a nearby rooftop, having seen the Armoured go down he rushed to assist his teammate and good friend. He now stood in stunned shock. The limp body of Markus flew across the plaza until to crashed with the ground a slid for a couple of metres.

Blood had painted his journey and now a puddle was pouring out beneath him. Felix couldn't believe his eyes. They were the best. Alpha team. The team that had single-handedly stomped out most of the major corruption within the Interior and Underground. The team that had showed their dominance against the titans as they pushed their way to the Vanguard that had previously been massacred and held the line. Then assisted with the reclamation of the Garrison supply depot, a key building that they needed for the fight.

But then this had happened. The long haired blonde grit his teeth as his deep green eyes burned with rage, it was an insult to lose to this abnormal. He moved to vent his frustrations as a hand landed on his shoulder, his enraged eyes turned up on the idiot that dared try stop him.

The sad yet calm face of Mia appeared behind him. "Where the hell were you!" He'd never been the best at keeping his emotions contained to the same level as Markus and Mia in bad situations like this, but at the same time he'd very rarely been in a situation like this.

"Dealing with some straggling titans that had taken an interest in us. I came as soon as I saw the dust cloud." Felix didn't seem to care about her excuse.

"Screw that! We needed you and you weren't there!" Mia's features softened a little as more sorrow entered her expression.

"I know."

Felix stuttered in his next accusation, he watched her as she passed him and looked down at the situation before them. "We need to delay the Armoured until Captain Shiro arrives." She turned her head to the left to look at him over her shoulder. "Even if it costs us our lives, like our comrades did before us and we'll do the same, for humanity. Not because it's our job, but because it's right."

Felix swallowed the lump in his throat, his anger and hate being washed away by her words. 'I'm an idiot.' He'd forgotten. Forgotten what they were fighting for, in his rage and sorrow he'd forgotten why they were fighting for that they'd even give up their lives for.

"It's okay Felix, I'm hurting as well. But we need to push our emotions aside to focus on what's in front of us."

Felix breathed deep breaths to calm and steel himself. The images of his friends and comrades faces flashed before his eyes as he took one last deep breath while closing his eyes. 'I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!'

Mia inclined her head to tell him to follow. They launched off the roof towards the recovered armoured plated titan. The giant had gotten back to it's feet after dealing with it's latest threat, with a quick glance over to the corpse it had kicked as it used it's hands to push off the ground. A puff of steam came from it's mouth, the joints that had been cut also still slightly steaming.

The monster's plan had worked, but it realised that there was still two remaining. At that moment Felix appeared in the corner of intelligent's eye, it's attention focused on the human in front of it's eyes that it didn't realise that once again gravity was taking effect on it's crippled legs. Using the beast's surprise, Felix used his ODM gear to grapple onto the Armoured's face plate.

With ruthless efficiency the former MP slashed the eye lenses of the enemy. Now blind the titan knew that it was effectively a victim to whatever the two Militia soldiers would do, in a move that surprised both Mia and Felix the Armoured abnormal protected it's neck. 'It's protecting itself from a fetal attack while it heals. How intelligent is this thing?' Felix was in disbelief that the abnormal would be that smart.

Mia frowned at the titan's tactic. 'Arms.' Her immediate thought to was force the Armoured to reveal it's neck. With her mind already made up she put her years of experience and training to use, Felix managed to see what his commander was going for and followed along from his side. In mere moments the Armoured's arms fell limply at it's side.

'This is it!' Felix proclaimed in his mind as he saw Mia twist up for the killing blow. 'Markus, your sacrifice wasn't in vain! We did it!' Mia slashed the neck of the Armoured abnormal before landing on the titan's head and taking the ride down with the now defeated enemy.

The hard collision with the ground nearly knocked Mia off as dust and loose debris flew into the air. Felix joined her soon after and watched as she stood on the head of one of humanity's greatest enemies that they had just killed. She jumped off the blonde creatures head and joined Felix. "We actually did it."

Mia nodded her head as she patted Felix's shoulder, it hadn't been without loss. "Where's Martin and Sophie?" Felix pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "Sophie was injured earlier, she's a safe distance away but will definitely need medical attention." The Lieutenant of Alpha nodded her head, a look of relief came into her eyes. At least they hadn't all died.

"I don't know anything about Martin, Markus had said that he'd engaged the armoured bastard solo when I was trying to escape with Sophie." That wasn't good, Mia bit her lip.

"We need to look, he might still be alive. I'm going to move Markus' body, he doesn't deserve to left like that." The blonde agreed and made to start his search.

Standing in front of Markus, Mia could stop herself from holding in a gasp. His body was destroyed, his once handsome features were gone. His body having been slammed against the Armoured's plated leg. Pushing him face up, Mia closed his only remaining eye with a swipe of her hand. "May you find peace wherever you are now."

"Mia." Looking up, her sorrowful eyes grew with further grief as Felix carried the broken and lifeless body of a young light brown teenager. Mia had to look away as tears threatened to escape from her eyes. "He gave his life to save me and Sophie." Felix's voice cracked as he looked with glazed eyes at the once young and energetic seventeen year old.

"Come on, we need to take them to a rooftop so they can't be desecrated any further." Felix gave Martin to Mia, as he took hold of Markus. Together they made their way towards the buildings where Felix had taken Sophie. The walk was quiet as the only conscious members of Alpha thought on their now fallen friends, giving into their grief.

"How do you think Shiro will deal with this?" Mia sighed deeply, she knew the Captain better than anyone other than Premier Zachary.

"He won't."

That was the worst part. "He won't grieve because he doesn't know how to, he'll just feel this pain in his chest and not understand where it came from and what caused it."

Felix remained silent as he listened to hazel-brown haired woman explain. "He'll most likely close himself off to anyone new, so it's up to us to make sure he doesn't close us out. Hopefully we can get him to eventually get him to open up again."

Mia laughed humourlessly. "It's funny, people think that Captain Shiro is invincible and doesn't need anyone, but in reality he needs people more than anyone else." Mia looked over her shoulder to Felix. "That's why we're not allowed to die, because if we do then Shiro will have no one." In any other scenario Felix would have teased her for leaving out the Captain but it just didn't feel right. Instead he merely agreed with her with a nod of his head.

The two looked up as they saw some soldier jet towards them, landing beside them the two members of Alpha easily identified their fellow comrades of Militia Sword. The six survivors of Delta and Echo, three from each squad. The day hadn't been kind to any of them, humanity had been holding onto Wall Rose by the skin of their teeth. Yet here they were, the beaten and bruised victors.

The Lieutenant of Delta spoke for the group. "Let us help." Markus and Martin were taken from them, Felix mentioned where Sophie was and that she needed medical attention. With that only three Militia Sword soldiers remained on the ground. The Lieutenant of Delta looked over at the steaming corpse of the Armoured abnormal.

"To think that bastard was actually killed after all these years. It put up one hell of a fight." Mia nodded, they had lost six good Militia soldiers to the Armoured abnormal.

"Let's just hope that there ain't anymore of those intelligent bastards out there." Felix commented. "If the Armoured was this much of a pain, just imagine how hard it'll be to take down the Colossal."

Mia shook her head not wishing to think about it at the current moment. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now we should prioritise clearing out the rest of Trost, then supporting our guys at the breach." Both men agreed with the woman, there was a reason she was Shiro's second-in-command.

"I'll fall back to Wall Rose and inform Premier Zachary of the news. You two should rest for a bit, we'll be able to handle the rest of the clean street protocol." Felix was all to happy to agree, Mia refrained from speaking as she looked to the heavens as the rain that had started a while ago cooled her forehead.

The Lieutenant took off, leaving the two Alpha members standing. Mia sighed deeply as she begin to walk towards the closest buildings that were eastward. She closed her eyes once more and took in a deep breath, she was both mentally and physically drained. All she wanted was for this day to end so she could head to bed and rest.

BOOM!

Mia rolled away as felt her ODM gear dig into her thighs as she was forcefully thrown away. She moaned in pain as she eyelids squeezed tightly. 'What just happened?' The woman slowly opened her eyes but as soon as her hazel-brown eyes made out what had caused the earthquake like experience they shot open.

"Felix!" She cried out, hoping the man was okay. A massive steaming hand lay where she had just been mere moments before. Her instincts took command of her body and threw her out of the way, avoiding a death sentence. The steam parted a little allowing Mia to make out armour plating that covered the hand.

She ignored her bodies clear protest to any further exertion, Mia took off knowing she was currently a sitting duck. 'This can't be happening. I was sure I sliced it's neck, there's no way I missed. Unless it can't die that way.' She didn't want to believe such a thought, because if that was the case she doubted if even Captain Shiro could kill the monster.

Taking a glance over her shoulder she saw the hand raise to reveal the crushed body of Felix. "You fucking bastard!" She yelled as she turned her head away and ran as fast as she could towards the buildings to the east. Had the bastard faked it's death to catch them off guard? That she even injured it? Doubt was beginning to cloud her mind as she neared the buildings.

The heavy vibrations of stomping came behind her. She launched up quickly just to barely dodge the Armoured abnormal charge through the buildings she's used to make herself airborne. If she'd been any less skilled she'd be dead, thankfully Shiro had trained Alpha team individually. That was the only reason she was alive right now.

With great agility she was able to twist herself around and latch onto a building a distance away from the recovering titan. She managed to land with grace despite her body crying out at her, while she could deal with the extended use of the ODM gear far better than the average soldier it still took a toll on her body.

Mia allowed herself a moments rest as she examined the Armoured abnormal as it stumbled to get out of the destruction is had caused. The action was quite a brutish tactic that it hadn't done before. Steam was still emerging from wound she had caused on it's neck. The fifteen metre's movements were sluggish at best, like an enraged beast that was moving on instinct alone.

One thing Mia knew was that she could harm and even cripple it. 'I'll just have to cut your neck until you're unable to heal again.' Another thing she noticed was the titan's speed increase, it had been quite slow when it first appeared. Once they had pushed it back to buildings behind the plaza it had sped up, and when it surprise attacked Felix and herself it had sped up once again.

Her eyes gained a look of understanding, as she ran her eyes over the titan's joints she noticed the lack of armour plating that had been there prior. 'Did it remove armour plating to speed up it's attacks?' If the creature had the ability and actively used it then it made Mia worry, how much faster could it get? Currently the Armoured's arms had very little armour, leaving them open to attack but at the same time meant that it could strike incredibly fast.

'So that's how it was able to catch us off guard on both occasions.' She would have given the blonde behemoth credit for it's craftiness but it had used it to kill three of her close friends and another four of her comrades, so she'd settle for taking the newly gained information and using it against the intelligent monster instead.

Steeling herself for combat, Mia jumped off the rooftop and used her right grapple to swerve herself around and propel forward towards the titan. Thankfully due to it's chaotic state, it had given her a number of buildings to work with. So escaping and avoiding attacks would be far easier.

She went low, the blade container scrapping against the ground sending sparks flying. The titan retaliated by stomping at her repeatedly with it's right foot. Mia arched and turned with great speed and precision, grappling onto the Armoured abnormal's leg briefly and using it's movement for momentum and to stay airborne.

She caught it bringing it's left foot back to kick her in a change of tactics, she latched onto the leg as it was drawn back which swung her under the fifteen metre. With a quick detachment of her hooks and a burst of gas, Mia avoided any danger and had placed herself in a power position.

Grabbing the situation she had made for herself with both hands, she fired her hooks into the titan's right leg and with a slash the Armoured was now on one knee. Mia kept low knowing all too well how quick the Armoured's arms could be, she targetted the other leg hoping to disable it's legs long enough to be able to take out an arm before it healed.

The blonde armoured plated titan could do nothing as Mia crippled it's lower body, bringing it down like it had been once before. It's face crashed into the ground as it couldn't support itself. Mia stared at the intelligent fifteen metre. 'It's definitely lost it's intelligence, that neck strike effected it in some way. That was far easier then before.'

She didn't know for how long the titan would stay in it's current state, so she decided to take her chances now. 'I need to disable both arms, or it may try and protect itself again.' She swallowed hard as she twirled the handle in her left hand around into a reverse grip.

'Sorry Shiro, I know I promised not to use this until I could fully handle it. But I need the speed now more then ever!' An image of him popped into her head of him teaching her his famed technique that he had inherited and mastered with Levi. She remembered the warning he gave her before beginning the training.

-Early January 850-

Shiro stood in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest, his officer coat having been thrown aside when they had arrived and did some warm up exercises. "This technique will allow you access to speeds that the human body can't handle for long. Levi and myself took years to hone our bodies to be able to cope with the level of stress it puts on your body."

He pulled out his ODM gear and flipped his left blade into an unorthodox reverse grip, something that would be disciplined for doing in the Cadets. Yet the two most effective soldier in the military used it. "A reverse grip will get you killed if you were to use it normally, but at the same time this technique cannot be effective without the reverse grip."

He smiled to himself, it was small and nearly unnoticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. Mia had managed to pick up what to look for to see his true emotions when he wasn't hiding them. The white haired Captain just wasn't very emotive, just like his former Captain. "It's a bit contradictory but you'll just have to take my word for it."

"Cut the tree." It was simple command but made no sense, she took a moment to look at him. He had turned towards the tree in question and pointed his right blade at it. She realised there was no point in asking why as he'd probably explain after. She drew her twin blades and held them normally and slashed the tree like she would a titan.

"A solid cut, something only Survey Core members can do consistently well." She took a few steps back to admire her work, it was a standard cut for her. Nothing impressive or out of the ordinary.

"Now." Shiro took a step closer. "Watch closely." If she were to remember this event in the future, looking back she would have laughed.

The man twirled for a moment, his arm movements nearly untraceable. She knew he had spun in some sort of fashion but his blades were invisible to her. He landed on right foot, before his left joined the right on the ground providing more balance. As he took a step back, Mia was able to see his cut. Her eyes widened in surprise, it was far deeper and had actually taken a chunk out of the tree.

Sheathing his blades he crossed his arms over his chest once more. "As you can see, slightly more effective then your regular cut." Mia rolled her hazel eyes at him, catching the smirk that briefly appeared on his lips. She smiled a little at seeing her superior being more open around her.

"Now let's see if we can get you to my standards." Mia nodded, excitement was building up within her. She couldn't deny this was what she wanted for a long time, so did every soldier who was worth their weight. "But one thing Mia." She found his face serious meaning she was being informed something important.

"Don't use this technique until I say you're ready to use it, or you will die."

Mia fired her hooks into the Armoured's back and propelled herself forward with the use of gas. Once she was in position above the left arms elbow joint she retracted her hooks and let gravity take effect, she shifted her weight in mid-air and begun to spin on descend. Her body became a blur as her blades vanished from the world.

In a mere moment the Armoured's had lost the ability to use it's left arm, and a few seconds later the second arm was disabled as well. Mia swirled up into the air as her hook returned to the gear, she stared down at the Armoured's back her eyes straining to keep track of everything that was happening due to the rapid spinning and constant high-speed movement.

'This technique when used right makes the user unstoppable but the price for using it will definitely leave you on a recovery bed for a number of days.' Mia was sure she had already tore muscles within her body. How Shiro and Captain Levi used this technique all the time was just impossible to think of when experiencing the strain on her body and the difficulty to control and use it effectively.

'Just one more strike and I can rest for a moment.' Mia grit her teeth as she began twirling again, her body felt like it was being ripped apart. The Armoured lay unable to protect it's neck for the attack, it's legs and arms steaming as it roared defiantly. 'It's over!' Mia blitzed downward, her blades neared the neck muscle that was the only known kill point on humanity's enemy.

Mia couldn't believe her eyes as her blades shattered upon impact with the muscle flesh of the Armoured's neck. 'How?' Was all she was able to think before the titan snapped it's right arm up and slapped her away. Mia landed on a rooftop, skidding along its surface before coming to a stop near the end.

She groined in pain, cracking her eyes open she looked to the source of her new found pain. A large cut wound running along her side, when she was slapped away the blade she held in reverse grip had betrayed her and now left her in her current state. Mia tried to lift herself up but her body didn't respond to her, only her neck moved. 'Shit.' The bloodied hazel-brown haired Lieutenant cursed weakly.

Her head slumped back down in exhaustion, was this it? The Armoured would be able to heal up and then kill her. Her breathing was harsh and uncontrollable, she knew she would die even if the Armoured left her. She couldn't stop the bleeding and was sure that her lungs were punctured. She almost hoped the Armoured killed her, because that way she wouldn't die like Shiro had told her she would if she used his technique.

'Why does he always have to be right?' She laughed a little before it turned into a coughing fit. As she managed to get control of her breathing she noticed a shadow loomed over her, looking up she saw the fifteen metre tall titan looking down at her. 'Well at least I'll die to one of humanity's greatest enemies. Not some random titan or even my own incompetence, so take that Shiro.'

Her thoughts drifted to the white haired Captain who was two years younger than herself. She'd managed to get him to reveal that to her after a while back. She smiled at all the memories she had of him. The two years with Shiro and Alpha were worth the world to her, she was thankful this was her end. She didn't want to live in a world without them.

The Armoured continued to gaze down at her, funny the look seemed quite familiar. Like someone had looked at her like that before. But she didn't care at the moment. Her thoughts on happier moments that she'd spent with the precious people in her life. But one memory came that soured her mood completely.

"How do you think Shiro will deal with this?"

"He won't. He won't grieve because he doesn't know how to, he'll just feel this pain in his chest and not understand where it came from and what caused it. He'll most likely close himself off to anyone new, so it's up to us to make sure he doesn't close us out.

Hopefully we can get him to eventually get him to open up again. It's funny, people think that Captain Shiro is invincible and doesn't need anyone, but in reality he needs people more than anyone else. That's why we're not allowed to die, because if we do then Shiro will have no one."

Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. 'Shiro, I'm sorry. I can't die if you're going to be on your own.' She willed her breathing to resume as normal, but it made her need to cough again. As she coughed she glared daggers up at the white lensed eyes of the Armoured that stared right back.

It seemed to examine her before making up it's mind. 'It's intelligence has returned.' That was clear to Mia, the fact it showed restraint was a clear indication. The Armoured remained staring for a few more moments before turning away and leaving her to die of her injuries. 'Bastard-' Mia coughed harshly once again before managing to get a hold on her breathing again.

'-Won't even kill me so I have to die to my injuries. Shiro would kill me if he found out I used his technique without permission.' She tried to calm herself, she could feel her life draining from her body. 'That's probably the blood pouring out of my wound.' She realised.

The Armoured's footsteps had disappeared meaning it was returning to it's original mission. 'Damn, couldn't stop it. Definitely bought them some time though.' Mia closed her eyelids allowing herself some rest, she wouldn't die before seeing Shiro first though. He needed to know something before she left.

It was funny how she'd already gone through the motions. First she was happy to die, due to her own selfishness. Then after realising that she refused to die, so that those she'd be leaving behind wouldn't be alone. Now she had taken both point of the spectrum and met in the middle. She wouldn't die before she gave the one she'd be leaving behind her final message.

Hopefully the man in question would arrive before she couldn't hold on any longer. She needed to think of something to distract herself while she waited, what would she say? 'Yes I'll think about that.' She began to think out what he needed to hear to help him through the pain. 'This is going to be difficult.'

Her eyes reopened to see the clouds above, the rain hadn't lightened up one bit since they had began to battle against the Armoured abnormal. 'I hate the rain, I wish the sun would shine instead.' She was totally drenched in rain and had been for some time, she wondered if it wasn't raining if they would have stood a better chance. 'Now I'm just making excuses.'

Dhalis Zachary's mood had been shifting throughout the day. When he arrived at Wall Rose with Sword team Echo and Foxtrot he'd been slightly concerned yet hopeful and even excited to see how Militia Sword would cope with the situation. Like he expected they performed with excellence that competed with the best teams of the Survey Core.

However his mood shifted as his concern grew and his curiosity reared it's head with the surprise arrival of the Armoured abnormal. He was sure he'd lose soldiers, even possibly some of his most elite, but he was sure they'd kill the armoured plated titan or at least hold the enemy off long enough for Shiro to arrive. Yet somehow they were in this situation, as the titan advanced towards them. Zachary's mood was now foul as he glared at the abnormal for besting them, no one made a mockery of Dhalis Zachary and got away with it.

A few survivors had made managed to escape the Armoured's wrath, but they wouldn't escape Zachary's. He was going to bring his hand of judgement upon them but halted when he saw the bodies of three soldiers he'd grown accustomed to seeing with his adopted son. They lay the bodies down gently showing their respect for their late comrades.

The Lieutenant of Delta approached him and saluted, the man didn't seem to have any good news. "Premier, I regret to inform you that we were unable to defeat the Armoured abnormal. Lieutenant Goebel was thought to have killed it but it seems like that was incorrect." Zachary didn't doubted the hazel-brown haired woman's skill, she was personally trained by Shiro, he wouldn't have allowed her to fail.

"Where is Lieutenant Goebel and Mr. Vonhof?" The man shook his head.

"We are unaware but with the advancement of the Armoured it doesn't seem favourable that they survived." Zachary bit his tongue to hold in a snarl of anger and annoyance. Alpha was the best team they had, with them all out of commission they had no real hope to hold Wall Rose unless Shiro arrived.

"Lieutenant gather your men and hold the Armoured off, we can only try and bide ourselves time and hope Captain Shiro will arrive soon."

The man swallowed a lump in his throat knowing he and his men were being sent to their deaths. Despite the he slammed his fist into his heart and steeled himself. "Yes sir! We'll give our hearts for humanity!" Zachary nodded at the man, he was proud to see the man hold himself together in such a scenario.

A young soldier no older than sixteen stepped forward from behind Zachary and saluted. "Premier, Foxtrot is ready and willing to be deployed." If the situation wasn't as dire he would have smiled at the boy's spirit.

"Lieutenant Mayer gather your men and delay the Armoured." The Lieutenant of Delta nodded and departed.

The aged Premier turned to the newest Lieutenant of Militia Sword, the boy and his team had barely one year of experience yet they were showing great promise. Foxtrot had been made up of totally freshly graduated cadets after the success of Martin Hielscher and Sophie Bormann. It had been an experiment that Zachary forced Shiro to take on. What they lacked in experience they made up for in spirit.

"Foxtrot are the last line of defence. If Delta and Echo fall then Foxtrot will have their shot." The boy nodded in obedience.

"Of course Premier." He stepped back inline with the other four members of his team. If Zachary was being honest he was refusing to throw such young lives away so recklessly, they weren't ready for this. If Alpha had fallen to the Armoured then Foxtrot wouldn't stand a chance.

"It seems our situation is more dire than before." Zachary grunted in response as the bald moustached Garrison Commander joined him once again.

"I have our cannons ready to fire and if my eyes aren't deceiving me, I'd say our abnormal friend is lacking some of it's armour." Zachary raised an eyebrow as he lifted the binoculars that hung loosely from the strap around his neck.

True to the alcoholic Commander's statement the Armoured abnormal was lacking chucks of it's armour, it's legs and arms being more muscled flesh then armoured plating. "The cannons actually may be of some use." Zachary idly commented, the man beside him stroked his moustache while eyeing the fifteen metre titan that was slowly closing in on them.

"Your Sword teams seemed to have left their mark." The glasses wearing man let the binoculars hang once again. "And provided us an opportunity to win."

Zachary's mood lifted a little. Turning Pyxis he instructed the man. "Take direct command of your men, if you see an opportunity to take the Armoured, you take it." The Garrison Commander let his hand fall from his hairy lip as he nodded at the only man above him.

"Of course Premier." The tone was a serious one that held nothing but his conviction to his duty.

Zachary looked back out over beaten down and worn Trost District, this is where they would make their stand. The greyed Premier was willing to go all-in in order to win. 'Let's see if you can overcome humanity when they fight back with everything they've got.' The titan stopped as it saw the inbound approach of the six survivors of Delta and Echo.

'I still have cards to play, what have you got titan.' Zachary's gaze never faltered even as one of the six soldiers was caught and crushed, then another was swatted away. 'Fight as hard as you can because it'll only make my victory all the sweeter you bastard.' A sick grin formed on his lips as he envisioned the titan carcass being bombarded by cannon fire.

This was the twisted side of Zachary that only one person knew of. It was a side of a man you'd pray never to see or so help you. It was what made the man so dangerous, and if one became a target of Zachary they would endure the most brutal and sadistic thing that the world had ever produced. A true monster.

They made it in time. Shiro saw the enemy he had promised Pyxis he'd deal with. He was aware of the Armoured abnormal's appearance when they had been rushed by the horde of titans. So how had it only made it this far, regular soldiers wouldn't have held it this long.

That's when he discovered what had happened as he saw the blood and bodies of numerous soldiers. Usually death didn't bother him but seeing the coat of arms on some of the bodies made his blood turn cold. He knew this was a very likely possibility and he had already expected such an event to occur. But to actually see it was totally different.

Despite it he forced himself to remain composed, he needed to focus on the mission. It was of far greater importance then those he had lost. He forced images of Alpha from his mind, knowing thinking of them at a time like this wouldn't help him at all.

Behind him Mikasa gasped, the Militia had showcased their talents first-hand when assisting the recapture of Garrison supply depot and when she helped at the breach. To see the bodies of those soldiers now laying limp and indistinguishable was near unbelievable, and Shiro was about engage the monster that was capable of this level of destruction, alone. The mere thought didn't sit right with her.

They were on the eastern side a large plaza area, just below being a large amount of destroyed buildings. Shiro's emerald eyes spotted something he never wanted to see or envision in his life. Altering course he fell towards the rooftops. Landing quickly, he was forced to roll in order to keep his balance and momentum.

He ignored the slight pain from rolling on the slated roof and ran forward to the body laying just ahead of him. 'Don't tell me…' The thought died in his brain as he made it beside the body, his eyes staring at the chest area of the body for any movement. He got down on his knees bringing his head close to the person's face.

'No way!' He pulled his head back as he stared at her in disbelief. Lifting her head gently with his hand he supported it with his left leg. She made no recognition that she knew he had lifted her head. Using his right hand he tapped her cheek lightly, hoping to stir her. He ignored as someone else joined him on the rooftop and stood by, just observing.

Slowly her eyelids cracked open to see concerned emerald orbs staring back at her hazel-brown ones. A weak smile managed to find its way onto her lips. "Shiro." Her throat was dry as she begin to cough as a result.

The white haired teen above her nodded, his eyes never leaving her own. "I'm here Mia, don't waste your breath. You've got a bad wound on your side and have lost a lot of blood. So you need to keep your strength and hold on."

She just continued to smile up at him, it wasn't a smile he liked. It was a weak one, and while it was a grateful one it also held great remorse. Like she was about to tell him some bad news that he really didn't want to hear.

"Listen Shiro." He wished he could break his gaze from her but it was impossible, she had him trapped with those big honest brown eyes. They seemed to sparkle at the mere sight of him, so much that they would ensnare him.

"I-I've lost too much blood..." She swallowed hard trying with great difficultly to continue her sentence. "I was barely holding on until you found me." She took some deep breathes that turned out to be more of a struggle then she would have hoped for. "I held on because I needed to tell you one more thing before…" She didn't end her sentence as she saw the pain that entered his eyes, while his face remained stoic and hadn't changed once. His eyes had been the answer to his thoughts and feelings.

"Do you remember how we met for the first time." She choked on her breath as a heavy fit of coughing followed. This had to be a bad dream, some sort of nightmare. She lifted her hand up with what little energy she had left, he grasped on with his right hand and held tightly refusing to let her go. He was scared, he'd only every felt this scared once before.

He shut his eyes tightly to rid himself of the images of a woman (mom) crying out with her right arm outreached toward him (Eren), he did the same with his left arm as tears were visible in both their eyes. She had put on a brave smile for him (Yeager), while his was terrified and his face showed his true emotions. He was scared. So, so scared.

"I told the others about it, but was always too embarrassed to finish that story." Shiro snapped back into reality and almost wished he hadn't. Tears had begun the gather in the corners of her eyes. "I wish I had more courage to finish it."

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong, that she was unbelievably courageous and strong. The words in his head died in his mouth as it became uncomfortably dry. Her weak smile had disappeared and now it was replaced with one much sadder, one of disappointment.

"I wish I had the courage to tell you how I've felt ever since that day." His eyes widened in stunned surprise as they stared into each others eyes, it was like he could see her memories playing through her eyes. The day she had spoke of was one he'd stored in the back of his brain and rarely thought of or even thought he had stored to begin with.

The day he had saved her from a titan's mouth and had taken care of her. He'd placed her on his horse and wrapped his arms around her to hold onto the reins and keep her safe. She had leaned back into him allowing her scent to enter his nose. It was pleasant and so was her warm body pressed against his, that sensation of warmth was one he had long since forgotten.

She had held onto that memory and found it precious. What was he to her? He wanted to know and yet at the same time wanted nothing more than to run away and never hear the answer knowing no matter what she said the pain that came after she shut her eyes for the final time would be great, maybe more than he could even handle.

Despite all his strength and ability, he could do nothing but watch as tears leaked from her eyes, she shut them tightly and with a remorseful smile she parted her lips once more to utter one more thing to him. 'This can't be it, this can't be happening. (Not again…)' He wished to be deaf, he wished to never feel again.

"Shiro Zachary, I love you…"

The wall that had been chipped and cracked at throughout the day had just been smashed. The barrier that kept all his raw unfiltered emotions at bay was gone, the logic that made his brain work like a machine and think with rationality was forgotten as his blood ignited with fire. The red liquid that pumped through his body was now burning, his eyes sparked with a fiery rage as he looked up.

He gently lifted her head as he moved his leg away, with the same carefulness Shiro placed her head back on the ground. Rain continued to pour down as the white hair teen got up and stepped around the barely living body that had been the focus of his attention up until now. The girl who had remained quiet up until now took a step forward while reaching out, but stopped not knowing what to say or do.

Standing on the edge of the building he ignored everything around him as he glared forward. Around him were the results of a massacre. Blood painted the buildings and streets, the blood of his comrades. Bodies were scattered around, the bodies of his comrades. His body trembled, an irresistible itch clawed at his mind as the shackled beast awoke to his pain.

The raindrops began to sizzle upon impacting with him, steam emerged from under his black pullover while the loose strands of his white mane glued to his skin. He grit his teeth as he tired to fight the urge that pounded within his mind, it was overpowering and knew exactly what to say. It's quiet whispers so sweet, so irresistible. But he knew that it was a lie, that it was a trick.

He tore his blades from their metal sheath, his eyes glowed a white hue as he continued to fight back the beast within, but it used his pain, his suffering, it made him want to give into his instincts. To throw away logic and crave up the person who had caused him this pain. The metal handles shook as he barely held himself together, steam now emerged from the skin on his hands as it burned with a reddish tint. He saw nothing, only the enemy.

Logic, rational thinking, strategy, calm mentality. They were all gone, his (It's) instincts taking over as he launched off the roof with incredible power that a human shouldn't have been capable of. His speed making him untraceable as he shot towards the fifteen tall humanoid form that his instincts had deemed the enemy, the prey to his predator.

With the speed of a bullet he swung down and slashed both the titan's knee joints bringing it crashing down, much to the Armoured's surprise. Not a mere moment later the titan's arms fell limp as the white and black blur circled the Armoured's arm slicing the elbow and shoulder joints before doing the same with the other arm. The ruthless efficiency scared the monster knowing it wasn't able to save itself in time, despite that it attempted to harden it's neck.

To it's surprise it felt a light weight appear on top of it's head. The Captain wasn't going to kill it? The white haired teenager just stood on the titan's head for a few moments as a heavy sigh escaped his lips. What was happening? Despite it's shock the intelligent knew to take any opportunity to it's advantage as it's arms burned with more steam then it's legs. The hardening of it's neck getting stronger and stronger, no doubt it would shatter the Captain's blades.

The abnormal titan froze when it heard a soft voice mutter from the top of it's head. "… Pain." Shiro's stared down at the blonde mop that he was currently standing on. His eyes were distant, like he wasn't fully present within his own mind. The only part of him present was his raw instinctual desire to destroy.

"This pain... I want you to feel as I do." His shining white eyes continued to stare down, the Armoured abnormal had frozen in place since hearing his voice. It confirmed what he already knew to be true. He wanted to see it's reaction, the distress at being found out. Crouching down, Shiro ran his blade along the titan's hair cutting many of the strands that came across it's path.

"When I destroy this body… I'll make sure to tear you out of there and inflict even more pain, you're going to suffer but I won't let you die. No I need you to tell me who the Colossal is first." It was like the world had gone on mute at that point, when the last statement left the white haired soldier's mouth the Armoured titan shook.

He knew! He somehow actually knew. The Armoured understood the dire situation it was in now. Not only could this man kill it, but he could knew the truth. The thoughts of worry about possibly dying were long gone, now replaced with the fear of being captured and subjected to torture and pain. Knowing first-hand what the Militia Captain could do, the Armoured would prefer death over a life as the man… No, monster's captive.

The fifteen metre felt the small shifting on top of it's head, instincts took control to protect itself. The Armoured was currently sitting on it's knees unable to move it's legs, but the rapid steam that had been coming from it's arm joints had lessened. With the same speed it had used to kill his lackeys, the titan swung it's hand up to squash the teenager.

The once fully armoured hand smashed against it's owners head, dizzying the titan with the force used. It must have looking stupid, but it was a move of desperation. But it hadn't worked, within an instant the right arm it had used was hanging limply once more. A few dizzying seconds later it saw a blur in the corner of it's eyes before nothing. The Armoured had been blinded.

Was this it? Was it to die in enemy territory? Would it's allies assist? The light addition of weight found itself once more upon the titan's head. "I'm going to have you locked away where only I can get to you. You'll never see the light of day again, I promise you that." A sadistic grin formed on the white head's face, his white hued eyes shining all the brighter.

The white haired monster was toying with it, playing around. The threat the Armoured titan had once been was all but gone now as this monster played with it, slicing it up, not allowing it to have a chance to fight back. "I might even gobble you up and take your abilities as my own…" The voice of Shiro was beginning to distort and shift, the lack of control evident.

The abnormal growing even more frightened as the monster revealed more of it's intentions. But one thing it did realise was the words that scared it the most. Gobble and take abilities, that could only mean one thing. The person they were searching for… Was currently the one standing on it's head. "Only after I've broken you…"

Using it's other arm the Armoured attempted to rid itself of the pest that it now needed to capture. Like before it hit nothing but itself, however unlike before it's arm was still usable. Having healed it's eyes, vision returned to the titan, looking around it saw the mop of white hair standing on a building nearby holding it's head tightly within it's grasp.

Pain. That's all Shiro felt, everything was a blur. The only thing he knew was that he was dealing the Armoured abnormal somehow and left it at that. As long as his mission was completed then he was happy to let his instincts take control, meanwhile he would try and coupe with the pain that was throbbing within his mind. Like two opposing forces were battling for dominance, he'd felt this once before. When he was younger.

His instincts moved his body once again, narrowly avoiding a hand that had reached out to snatch him. Whatever was happening it wasn't natural, he usually had great control over everything that happened within his body. Right now he was in the back-seat as two entities fought over the reins.

He was aware of a secondary pain, it was different then the primary one. While the first was pulling his mind apart, the other was ripping his heart in two. His body moved again, this time not to dodge but strike. He was slightly aware of twists and turns that he had engrained into his muscles, so much that his instincts could easily take control and perform the activity.

For some reason the white haired soldier had been getting weaker, his movements were slowing as if two forces were trying to dictate where he should go. Whatever was happening, the Armoured abnormal knew this was it's chance. From a situation that was hopeless to win to now, where it had a chance, and a chance was all it needed. It would complete it's mission and go home.

Reaching with as much speed as it could while also being careful not to turn the targets body into paste, the titan attempted to grab the small soldier. It failed, the white haired Captain had easily dodged to the side and then launched off the roof. With ease it moved to strike the joints that would disable the titan once again.

This time the armour plated titan was ready, everything had been healed. With much of the armour plating being removed the intelligent behemoth rolled away. It stood with ease on it's newly healed legs and turned to see where the Militia Captain had gone.

A white blur flew towards it, trying to grab the soldier from the air failed as the skilled teen zoomed around it's arm and cut it up as he went. It seemed that playtime was over. Hooks were implanted into the Armoured's back as the faint sound of gas filled it's massive ears. It was time to claim that chance it had been given.

However to it's shock the sound of blades shattering didn't play in it's ears, the sound of cracking did instead. With quick thinking and urgency swung around on the balls of it's feet, there the white haired monster flew. Like gravity didn't effect him at all. It's white lensed eyes caught the Captain's blades only to discover them black, elongated and pointed.

But as soon as the titan saw them, they vanished as the dull green eyes of the boy rolled up into the back of his head. The black blades retreated back up the teen's hand and sleeves, losing their solid shape as they retreated. The rolled up eyes snapped back down, white hued and shining with an evil power.

That was it, the titan cared no more. With all it's strength the titan back handed the white head, the collision shattered the teen's structure as he now flew towards wall the Armour originally planned to destroy. The intelligent titan couldn't follow where the Captain landed but he knew it was close to the Wall.

A deep breath was released from the covered up mouth of the Armoured titan as steam flared out the sides of the armour covering it's mouth. The mission was soon to be completed, all it had to do was grab the soldier and leave. Hopefully the regenerative powers would keep the soldier alive, it would be a pain to come back empty handed after all these years.

Stepped towards Wall Rose the intelligent titan's gaze travelled up to the top of the wall, the military of the walls had been silent since it had dispatched the remainders of their Militia. Had they given up? Without their strongest soldiers they must have thought they had no hope. However with the distant movement of small figures the titan knew that they hadn't given up just yet.

As long as they didn't get involved with it's retrieval of it's target then they could live for whatever time they were permitted by the high power that it served under. It closed in on the wall, no longer bothering to look up, it focused on where to search for the body of the white head first.

That thought ended instantly as it was struck with a cannonball, looking up it caught the bright spark of multiple cannons firing. Within that moment the titan knew that humanity wouldn't give up until they were claimed by death. It's body was shattered by numerous projectiles, with it's armour plating it would be fine. However it had departed with large chunks of it to defeat the Militia.

The creature would have cursed the Militia if it could speak, they had forced it to weaken itself that now artillery could cause serious damage. The only saving grace was that it's main body and head still maintained all it's armour, even if it's arms and legs were blown off the titan could just regenerate them.

Zachary was pissed, his mood was now at the lowest point possible. The events that had proceeded before being the cause for his poor mood. He had lost the rest of Delta and Echo saving them time, and the time they had saved with their brave sacrifices were worth it.

Not a minute after finishing the last of the Militia soldier's off, a white and black blur blitzed through the Armoured abnormal, rendering it useless. A deep sigh of relief had came from his lips thinking the battle was over and they had won. However the Captain of Militia Sword, his best soldier, his son, Shiro Zachary was acting strange. Instead of killing the enemy he landed on it's head and crouched down.

With the use of his binoculars the Premier saw the teenager speak with the titan, what was worse was the fact the titan responded as it froze. What did Shiro know that he hadn't told him? A small worry began to grow within him. However that wasn't the main concern currently. 'What's wrong with you Shiro, you're acting differently.' The aged man worked his brain to come up with possible conclusions.

The titan struck itself in the head obviously trying to take the white head out with the attack. The glasses adorned man held no worry about the strike knowing his most trusted soldier would dodge easily. And that he did, within moments the boy demonstrated his insane capabilities once more. Cutting and slashing at the joints of the titan's offending arm. Without any delay the Militia Captain spun around and took out the Armoured's eyes, rendering the fifteen metre blind.

But once more Zachary forced to worry as his adopted son stood on the beast's head, again his mouth opened and closed as he spoke to the Armoured abnormal. 'What are you doing? There has to be something going on that I am not aware of, and I don't like that.' The Premier was the centre of the military, he knew everything that happened within the walls. So when he didn't know something, he made sure that he found out what. This would be no different.

Whatever Shiro said this time, it made the titan shake. If the situation hadn't been so dire Zachary would have been proud and laughed, making one of the two most feared titan's shake in fear was not an easy feat. However the situation was dire and the ever building worry within Zachary was causing him to grip the binoculars tightly as he grit his teeth a little.

The Armoured tried to attack Shiro again, but once again with ease the white haired boy evaded the titan's attempt to kill him. However what was different was Shiro's actions afterward. He landed on a building and stopped, Zachary was really worried now. He forced himself to bite his tongue so he wouldn't send Foxtrot to save Shiro.

Something was very wrong and now Zachary knew that he'd have to take extra precautions. He signalled for one of the soldiers behind to step forward, there was a slight delay that shouldn't have been. But the Premier could care less, his mind distracted on more pressing matters. "Yes Premier?"

It was the Lieutenant of Foxtrot. "Send someone to inform Commander Pyxis that Captain Zachary is compromised, and ready the cannons to fire but only if the Captain is out of the way." The youthful Lieutenant quickly responded before setting to his task, not a minute later another member of Foxtrot was running down Wall Rose towards the heavily cannoned area above the gate.

In all that time Zachary had not once looked away, his concern for his son having taken control of his eyes as they stared with the use of the binoculars at the situation unfolding before him. Shiro had gripped his head in what seemed like great pain, the boy had once told him of when he was in a coma due to great amount of pain. His medical records also had shown that, he'd been writhing in pain for the duration of his coma.

Shiro had said it was like his mind was being pulled in two, he sure hoped that wasn't what he was experiencing now. But more importantly that he'd snap out of whatever episode he was having and move out of the way so they could assist.

The titan reached out to grab him, but once again Shiro dodged. This time the boy struck back, his body moving to strike the Armoured's arm and disable it like he had done before. However before he could get close enough the fifteen metre rolled away, something Zachary had never seen a titan do before in his life.

It caught itself on it's feet as it turned to find the white haired Captain, only to find said white head launching straight at it like a bullet. The Armoured reached out to grab Shiro again but with deadly precision the boy worked his way up the arm, hacking and slicing as he went. Zachary knew the arm would be unusable for a while.

It had seemed like Shiro was back to normal as he flew past the titan's now crippled arm and fired his hooks into the meaty back of the Armoured abnormal. Zachary held his breath however, not letting the recent show of cold precision distract him from the worrying display he saw before.

Zachary caught a glance at the black blades now in Shiro possession, that was it! The ability that had gotten Shiro arrested and turned into the Interior Police's lapdog. It was his first time seeing it in action, he held the grin off his face as his mood slightly lightened. Shiro had to be back in control if he was using it.

The boy slashed at the neck, it was over. However he didn't see blood spray from the abnormal's neck. Instead the titan turned to face Shiro. 'What!' He was really concerned now, no scared. Scared was the right word, Shiro was in a very bad situation and wouldn't be able to react in time.

With that Shiro flew. His eyes couldn't keep track, but this time he didn't want to. Because it was the limp body of his son that flew towards him and crashed into the buildings somewhere to the left of the gate into Wall Rose. He was officially in a terrible mood, no he was seething. He wanted nothing more than to pull the titan apart, limb by limb.

Was this parental fury? He didn't know, all he did know was that he wanted that titan dead. "Lieutenant!" The young soldier appeared beside him instantly, hearing the wrathful voice of his commander. "Tell Commander Pyxis to blow that bastards limbs off until there's nothing left!" The boy left quickly not wishing to have the aged man's wrath upon him. Gritting his teeth the Premier attempted to hold himself together, the mission came first, despite his worry, despite his rage. Glaring down the Armoured abnormal as it made its way towards them he prepared to sacrifice everything for humanity's victory.

The heavy footsteps indicated the approach of Armoured abnormal, it turned it's blonde haired head to the left in search of a certain individual. But due to said individuals small size and the many buildings surrounding where he might have possibly landed it made the intelligent titans job all the harder.

However said job became even worse as loud bangs sounded above it, those sounds only signified one thing. Within the instant of turning it's head the Armoured titan caught a cannonball fly past it's head. While lucky to avoid a head shot the cannonball wasn't alone, as it's brethren decided to make themselves known. Parts of the Armoured's not-so-armoured arms and legs were blown off as steam erupted from the exposed areas.

The hulk of a fifteen metre struggled to remain standing as it's body had taken yet another pounding today, the large body was slowing down even with the weight of the armour removed there was only so much energy it had in the tank and that was running on empty after dealing with the small white haired Captain.

As the titan moved to stand again another barrage rocked it's body, forcing the Armoured to fall backward. More steam came from the injuries, the titan knew it wouldn't last long at this rate. It had to take drastic action in order to complete it's mission.

With a plan concocted and a will of steel, the titan's injuries healed within mere moments with the power of it's sheer will accelerating the regeneration, another wave of cannon fire launched at the titan only for it to run through it. The injuries seemly not even effecting it at all, for some it would have appeared like an event of deja vu as the Armoured ran through cannon fire. The only difference this time was the fact that parts of the titan's body was being shredded with every shot that landed. This was almost even more frightening and nightmarish.

The shouts from the top of the wall informed the running and soon to be sprinting titan that things were going well for it, the military were stuttering for a response after the display it had just shown them. Despite that they found some courage and fired again, this time however the shots were sporadic and uncontrolled, an opening.

The fifteen metre dodged and weaved through the cannon fire as it sprinted towards the wall at high speed, in a dozen more steps the repeat of five years ago would be complete. The titan had dodged the final flurry of cannon balls, knowing it was now in the clear it ran straight to gather the last bit of speed it would require to bring the wall down.

With the chaos the titan could escape and find it's target and leave, the military of the walls wouldn't dare to target it when they had bigger problems to deal with. Finally the mission would be over and it could see home once more. Drifting off in it's thought that Armoured was a few paces away now, knowing the hardest was past the intelligent titan allowed itself to drift.

Boom!

Everyone stood in shock, from those on top of Wall Rose who braced for impact, to the stragglers who remained down in Trost District and still had a view on the situation, finally two cadets who stood on Wall Rose a distance away so they could witness the events unfold before them. No intelligent being uttered a word in those moments as the events of the world changed once more.

The Armoured was sent tumbling as it shattered all the buildings in it's path until it finally came to a stop after destroying a holy building of the walls. Below the many gathered soldiers of the military on top of Wall Rose was a steaming body, one they could all recognise through their years of service if not for this day alone.

Below them was the steaming body of a titan, it was kneeled over having it's shoulder pointing outward like it had just collided with something with a shoulder charge. The creature turned it's head upward as it's body stood to it's full height. An unearthly scream erupted from it's lipless mouth, it's eyes stared to the heavens revealing their white hued appearance that didn't belong to any less being other than the one at the top of the food chain. Those eyes held a sense of royalty to them yet chained, burdened, enslaved.

Returning it's gaze to this world the titan looked towards the unmoving form of the Armoured abnormal. 'You will grant my freedom.' The thoughts tickling everyone's consciousness as if they had heard something but didn't know what. 'For I am weak but once I was strong.' The feeling came once again.

The rumble of the beast's footsteps alerted everyone of it's conscious will, as it moved toward the Armoured. For once they took in it's appearance other than the basic. Muscular, much like the Armoured and unlike regular pot-bellied titans. Long brown hair that reached down to it's jaw. A height the same as it's obvious targets, fifteen metres.

'Once I was nine now but now I will be three.' The titan began to move through the rubble towards the downed and weakened body of the Armoured abnormal. 'It is time I unite once again and destroy all that oppose my rule over this world.' Now mere metres away from the other titan, it's ethereal white eyes looked down at the form that was once part of itself.

'Return my armour, so I might shield myself from those who are my adversary.'