Disclaimer: I do not own the SNK series in any way, shape or form.

A.N at the end of the chapter.

The news had reached the office later last night. Coming from the crown itself, the Survey Corps, an entire branch of the military, has officially been declared traitors. An announcement that was to be spread in the afternoon and any soldiers or officers of the scouting legion were to be arrested on sight, executed if they resisted. And in the case of the commander and his inner circle, executed immediately.

Not that any of that mattered to the sergeant and his small squadron. Given that 'an especial squadron' would be arriving later today to cover Karanese in that aspect, leaving the rest of the local corps to act against the recent riots.

He wanted to scoff. He had been the first in his class when graduating the academy. And what did he get? Cleaning toilets and patrolling empty streets for fifteen years, and now oversee a bunch of snot-nosed brats in beating the shit out of some ungrateful populace. He took a bite out of his meal. Life was good, alright.

"Sergeant!" one of the brats in question erupted in the room.

"What is it now?" the older man answered disinterested.

"I just came from patrol and-"

"Oh, you just came from patrol? How wonderful for you" he interrupted. "Now go back to the rest and prepare, we have anti-riot duties today" he said waving his hand to the rookie.

"But sir-"

"What is it damn it?!" he roared.

"I saw captain Levi sir!" the kid cried. That stopped the sergeant dead in his track, he finally looked up at the kid.

"Why didn't you start with that, you stupid idiot?!" He stood up and walked over to the mirror. An idea, a good idea, forming in his mind. Yes, he would become an overnight sensation. This was finally his chance to prove himself. He dusted his lunch of the uniform. "Go and tell the others that we're going hunting for the dwarf."

The rookie stammered. "S-sir, shouldn't we pass the information to the assigned squad specialized on-" His inquiry was stopped by a half-eaten sandwich being thrown his way.

"Don't you even mention their names in my presence, you understand?!" the sergeant threatened, the rookie quickly nodded. "Besides, don't you want to become a hero? You think you will do that by bonking some grandma in the streets? Or will that happen by delivering the head of the scouts' ace on a silver platter to his majesty, huh?"

Seeing the realization hit the eyes of the rookie almost caused to burst out laughing. "Be ready, we move out in twenty." The kid gave a salute before quickly running out of the room. The sergeant turned back to the mirror and smirked.

This was his chance, alright.

This place's gotten uglier since last time Levi thought passively as he moved through the streets of Karanese in the direction of the hospital. He had heard of how damaging the riots had been, but seeing the broken windows and stains of blood on the street gave them a sense of weight that would not be there otherwise. There was twitch in his eye at seeing all that messiness, but could not be bothered about that at the moment. He had woken up with a hole in his stomach, a sensation he only had when bad things happened.

It was likely just a silly intuition, but with how bad things were about to get, he could not be cautious enough.

Besides Levi himself, there was no one out in public, but he could feel the occasional stare coming from behind the windows. A column of smoke was rising and there was still some rumbling somewhere inside the city, and no doubt there would have been about a dozen more riots by the end of the month. If this city was not already flooding with MPs and their informants, they all were well on their way. And that only meant that wearing the wings of freedom in this city was as good as a death sentence.

As he approached the hospital, he argued on whether or not entering through the main door. He quickly dismissed it and entered through the main gate, he was just being a paranoid. He entered and walked up the stairs to the floor where his soldiers were being nursed. Levi knew that getting them out and grouping them with the rest was a priority to him. And even if Erwin was weary of sending to retrieve Eld and Petra alone, he relented on the condition that Levi was to wear civilian clothes to at least keep some semblance of anonymity, and a dagger hidden in his boot. Just in case. As he reached the door to Petra's door, he could hear two male voices inside alongside hers. He opened the door to find Eld and Petra's father, all three talking warmly.

"Captain!" his subordinates exclaimed at the sudden appearance. The room was a simple one-bed, with a seat where Eld was sitting and a drawer where the older man was leaning. Petra was sitting in her bed, a mug in her hand. Levi closed the door before talking.

"You two healing alright?" he asked casually. The father was the first to shook away his shock.

"Oh, captain, it's so good to see you!" he said charmingly. "Petra's been recuperating just fine! I was talking about taking her back home to be away from all the chaos going on" he sighed. "It's so bad that things have gone downhill so fast."

And they'll just get worse Levi thought grimly as he nodded. "It hasn't been ideal lately" he answered before turning to Eld.

"I'm doing just fine, captain" he answered while scratching his head. "Doc said I should be ready to go in a week."

Levi hummed. "Nice to hear you two are coming along ok. Because we're going to get moving." There was no point in lengthening the inevitable, he argued to himself. The three started questioning immediately at his announcement.

"Is there a reason for this, captain?" Petra asked. He nodded.

"We have reasons to belief that the crown is planning on carrying out a purge in the Survey Corps, Erwin is mobilizing all the men possible to safety."

"Why are they planning to do that?" questioned Eld, already turning serious.

"The long answer can wait, but the short one is that we've angered the wrong people in power, and now they want make us eat shit" he said, adding the joke at the end to soften the blow.

There were a few complaints, mostly from Petra's father playing the role of enraged dad and Petra being the loyal soldier she has always been, but truth be told Levi was not really listening. In spite of the noise going on in front of him, there was a stillness about the what was going on in the window. An eerie stillness, and it unsettled him. Levi wanted to tell himself that it was just him being silly, but the hole in his stomach was turning into an abyss.

It was then that he noticed a tingle at the building nearby. His eyes suddenly widened as a series of sparks came from that very position. He jumped to the floor as the glass of the window shattered.

"Everyone down!" he shouted.

Petra and Eld managed to get to the floor, pieces of glass flying all over the room. A second volley came before almost immediately after. The feathers of the mattress flew across the air, shards of wood and glass being extra bullets in the haze. The calm silence that enveloped the room just seconds ago shredded as the enemy shot first.

As the gunshots stopped and the dust started to settle, the sound of ODMs impaling themselves against the wall. Levi took the dagger out of his boot and, as soon as the first MP stood in the window, he dashed and mercilessly slashed his throat. The limp body fell and started hanging lifelessly in the outside. Already a second one was flying in Levi's direction, his blades prepared to slash across him. Levi moved to the side and, in a swift move, grabbed a hold of the attacker's foot as he burst into the room, slamming him into the floor and killing him with his knife.

A couple more shots started coming, drawing Levi against to the floor once more. In those moments, he turned to check on the rest. Eld was crouched in the corner, he seemed startled but alright. He set his sight on the bed, his eyes widening at the sight of a small but growing pool of blood. Levi then noticed that Petra was on top of his father, crying out as he noticed that the father had been hit. The skin quickly turning pale, the clothes stained from the blood coming out of the holes of his chest.

"Father please, stay with me!" she wailed.

The sound of more ODMs brought Levi's focus off of Petra and back to the action as three more MPs swung in their direction. On instinct, Levi took the blades from the fallen MP in the room and tossed the dagger to Eld. The first and second opponent entered the room almost simultaneously, both trying to gang up on Levi. The first was barely older than the brats he was taking care of, and already his blade-work had gotten so rusty that Levi effortlessly out-maneuvered him and slashed his belly, disemboweling him. When he switched his attention to the second, he was already dead at the hands of Eld. He turned his attention to the third man who was about to enter, seemingly he was the squad leader.

"I got you now traitorous scu-" his roar being silenced by Levi swiftly decapitating him. A small part of him almost felt insulted by being sent such incompetence, but now was not the time to gloat.

"Eld, you good?" he asked. The man with the bun nodded wordlessly.

"We need to get moving" Levi continued. "Hanji and her squad are not too far from the city, we got to reach them right now." He noticed Eld hesitate. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-It's nothing" he answered. "My wife left the city before the riots began. I'm still worried for her though." Levi nodded.

"I'll tell Erwin about that, see if he can do something" he answered, trying to appease him. Eld nodded. Eld informed that he would be outside in the hall, see if another attack was coming. They would need to find some clothes for both of them, go through the shadowy alleyways and pray that the unrest would cast a shade in their way out.

"Captain" Levi turned to face Eld, "the commander has a plan for this, doesn't he? The superior nodded. That was all the subordinate needed as he left the room.

Levi switched his attention to Petra, who was still laying on top of the lifeless body of her father. She was startled when she felt the captain's hand on her shoulder. "We need to get moving" he said as softly as he could.

She slowly rose to her feet, Levi's hand still on her shoulder. Tears were freely running through her cheeks, she was hyperventilating. After a bit, Petra nodded, her eyes still filled with sadness.

"Dedicate your heart" Levi said as he helped her out of the hospital room filled with corpses.

"Did you hear what the MPs announced?" asked the bartender casually as he was cleaning a mug.

"What, the Survey Corps thing? Bah!" spat the drinker before taking a sip of his ale. The recent announcement that a whole branch of the military was considered treasonous had shocked the entire city when it was announced. It soon became all everyone was talking about. The riots and the recent disappearances dropping off the face of the earth.

"I don't know why are we surprised that those scouts assholes are traitors!" he continued. "If those cunts are so bad in the head to go out the walls, eager to be titan food, nothing is out of reach for them!" This parlor had always been a particular pain in the ass, lamented the bartender as he served a drink, especially when the Survey Corps were brought up. The way he spat out poison at them was all the more ironic considering that thirteen years ago that very man almost joined them. The image of that man as a recruit looking up to the wings of freedom was a source of amusement in the wee small hours of the morning for the bartender. In the end, however, cold feet prevailed for the recruit and he opted for the Garrison, where an accident just two years into his service forced him to retire, leaving just the pathetic drunkard who now spent half his pension into his booze.

The bartender at first felt genuinely sad for him, but after years of having to deal with his shit, he resigned himself to keep things as strictly business.

"I hope they hang 'em all in the plaza" said the parlor, "now that would be a sight to see!"

"You'll be sorry to hear then that the only arrests so far have been of lower captains and rank soldiers" the bartender quipped back without looking at him, finding more interest in the stain on the counter. He did not see the fist of the man hit the bar, but he did hear it, along with a slurred insult. It was not frequent that the bartender amused his once-friend and his resentment of the scouts, but on slow nights like this, there really was little more to do.

The sound of the door opening draw his attention. The bartender looked up to see a short young woman, little more than a child, enter. She had pale skin, a wild black mane, a hooked nose, and lazy looking eyes, and was wearing a loose-fitting dress. The bartender had never seen her before; and new people were rarely seen in this side of town. After a couple of seconds of looking at her, the bartender shrugged and continued working. He had been in this business long enough to make himself an idea of what was the deal with her.

The parlor eventually caught on with her too, once his tantrum was done. "Who's her?" he asked. The bartender wanted to sigh at how predictable the drunkard was being.

"Probably a runaway trying her luck on the streets" he added, getting tired already at the scenario that was about to play out. That drunkard was once a very dashing young man, responsible of deflowering many women in the vicinity in his time, and he never let go of that image. Before he could stop him, the parlor had left the bar and was approaching the girl at the table at the other end of the hall.

Shaking his head, the bartender prepared a new mug of ale and his best 'you should know better.' He had once wondered why did he always attract the lowest forms of man to his tavern, but did not complain as he knew working in the shady part of a border city was still preferable to the Underground, as he knew from experience. He could not complain, he was making coin, and was gathering a small collection of anecdotes for when he was old.

His shock came when he heard the two seats drag across the floor, the parlor and the girl were leaving together. The drunkard was throwing him what he guessed was a shit-eating grin, but due to how drunk he was he appeared more as a lunatic.

"Are you going to pay your drinks?!" asked the bartender after shaking off his shock.

"Just put it on my tab, pal" the man quipped back with a dismissive wave before closing the door as he left.

"You don't have a tab, you asshole!" the bartender shouted to the closed door. He grumbled in annoyance before getting back to work. After a small while, the anger at the shenanigans of his ungrateful costumer turned back to bafflement at what had just happened.

"Standards keep dropping and dropping…" he muttered thinking about that girl. Poor girl, so young and already being predated by such pigs. He wondered why she would agree to that, he could only guess, poor attempt at courting by his regular. Why would she follow such a foul man.

Tensions had been at an all-time high for the last couple of days. The best way to describe how the atmosphere in the small cabin the Levi Squad had taken shelter was to compare it to a powder keg, waiting for a sparkle to blow up. A lot was going unsaid, but definitely felt by the everyone, the mounting tension waiting for someone to cut through it with words that, for the time being, were more dangerous than titans and more valuable than gold.

Armin had explained to Mikasa what had taken place the other night, or what he had managed to caught on at least. She herself had not been involved in it, as everyone had insisted that she should rest as much as possible due to her bruised ribs she had gotten during the last operation. Are they bruised or broken? she thought to herself as her mind was torn between two different memories of what had taken place.

Mikasa had never been one who enjoyed pondering about herself, rather she preferred to keep her mind on what was in front of her at any given moment. Sadly, with her being essentially bedridden and all that she had suddenly caught on, she would spend most of every waking moment alone with her thoughts, as her mind tried to make sense of everything that had taken place just under her nose. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement, as not only did Mikasa had to process that her idea of what history and the state of the world she was told was a lie, but also that Eren, her Eren, had died, replaced by this other person, who had foreknowledge of everything, but had played coy with all. Adding to that, his memories had been implanted on her for some reason, and now she was having trouble even figuring out what had actually occurred. And also she was related to captain Levi, something just thrown in for good measure.

She sighed in frustration. What had she done to be forced into this situation, and not be allowed to remain blissfully unaware of this whole charade? Her mind flashed back to the moment she instinctively went in to pull Eren, this new Eren, out of his beast. At the same time, she saw herself sitting in a table with herself, Armin and a small girl. The content of the conversation had created a black cloud on her mind which she had no way to even begin to make sense of.

The idea of the Ackerman-bond had been a thorn in the edges of Mikasa's vision ever since it came up. She would look back on all her actions ever since her parents' deaths, all the bonds and good moments, and all of a sudden those moments, those laughs, that sense of warmth were being undermined. It was infuriating, but being stuck in bed, with nothing more to do other than think of was the thing that enraged her the most.

"Fuck it" she whispered harshly as she rose from the bed. Groans escaped her as she stiffly moved out of her room and into the hallway. The sun was yet to rise from the tree line, she presumed she may have an hour or two to walk around before someone else woke up.

Mikasa dragged herself across the halls and stairs of the hut as quietly as she could, biting the inside of her cheek whenever a groan of pain rose up her throat. Every single stair felt a lot taller and a lot steeper in her state, nevertheless she continued on. That was all she knew, what she was… Or what she thought she was.

Shaking those thoughts away, Mikasa struggled on until she was downstairs facing the door outside, she stared at it for a few moments. There was an almost hypnotic effect about the patterns on the wood along the door, it reminded her of the image of mountains of sand from above, flowing all to an unnaturally tall tree made of light. Mikasa threw herself at the door, opening it to reveal the small clearing that stood between the cabin the squadron was staying and the forest. A few meters away there were a small stack of logs put in a way so that one could lay there. When they first arrive, Sasha mentioned that amongst hunters it was common those kinds of structures, as it served as a place to skin the hunt of the day outside the house. She also said that it was a perfect place to look at the stars at night.

As she approached the logs, Mikasa started taking off her gown, folding it and placing it next to the logs, leaving her with just a tight top and some shorts, her exercise clothes.

She knew she probably should not be working out with a major injury on her, but she just could not remain still any longer. As much as she did not want to admit it, Mikasa found out not too long ago that she gets extremely depressed when she is not doing something.

And so, she started. Stretching has never been a part of training she was overly fond of, but now it was almost unbearable, as every other move included some muscle going through her ribcage. Practicing core seemed out of the question as her ribs were already screaming from just that. She first tried doing some push-ups, but soon even those were becoming too much of a burden and she collapsed onto the wood. The fait but unmistakable taste of blood reached her tongue as she realized she had been biting the inside of her cheek so hard she cut herself open.

Still she got herself up and started exercising her legs, as the pain was far lesser that way. As she did, images of a life that were not her own continued bursting into her mind. Images of a world outside the walls, and the war that followed. Images of Eren swinging from being the most heartfelt he has ever been, to the coldest and most callous, to a broken man. Images of everything she once knew being laid to waste in a horizon of fire and everyone she knew being lined up and shot. Images of a different kind of world showing its worst possible face. And all to end where it all began.

It had been days since then and just now Mikasa was starting to form a timeline for all the snapshots that were caught on her mind. This Eren, the one who was now here, had gone through basically hell a few times over, and to some extent she did feel for him. But Mikasa also could not oversaw the hurt over the scene at the table that had edged itself deeper than maybe any other image of those she has gotten, and the betrayal of the way in which she found out, that she stumbled upon that truth by accident, would he had even had the decency of coming forth at some point, or would he be just too happy to keep that to himself. All things considered, Mikasa became more and more convinced that something had fundamentally changed in her bond with Eren, whether her Eren, the one now present, or any other.

Is that the Acker-bond being severed? was the question that crept itself onto her focus. That was enough to immediately get distracted and lose count on her squats. She grumbled in frustration before restarting from zero.

"You're going to injure yourself further like that" a voice appeared behind her. She turned to find Annie looking at her, her hair dirty and unkempt. Mikasa turned back and continued her exercise.

"Shouldn't you be in your cage in the basement?" she asked dismissively. The blonde moved over to the log besides Mikasa, sitting in it with her knees below her head.

"My jailor forgot the keys inside last night" she explained casually, "and I was feeling like getting some fresh air." It did not go unnoticed to Mikasa that Annie had not call her 'jailor' by name, which right now, she appreciated.

"Risky mistake considering you could've escaped in the dead of night" Mikasa argued. She turned to look at Annie who was staring at the forest.

"And go where?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "The second I turned on Reiner and Berthold is the second helping you guys win became the only way for me to get back home."

Because she did not have an answer to that, Mikasa stopped and sat down in the grass, feeling Annie's eyes fall on her. They stayed that way for a few moments, both women never being the conversational type during their years under Shadis, and seemingly neither having changed since. The sound of the wind rustling the leaves and the occasional animal were everything that could be heard. It was strangely peaceful watching the dying breaths of the night, the sky barely turning into a blueish grey from the pitch black it was not too long ago. For many years now it had been alleviating to Mikasa watching the sun rising every morning, regardless of whatever else was happening in her life. It was the one constant she could always count. That a new day was always waiting just beyond the horizon.

"I've never had anything but respect for you, you know? Annie said softly. "From the first time I met you, you've always known what you wanted and where your priorities lied. And in spite of that, you never took the easy way out, never taking short cuts or letting it get in the way of doing what's right." Mikasa turned to see that Annie had taken her off of her and was now looking at the tree line, her usually cold eyes filled with emotion. "That is something everyone should strive to have... I am trying to."

Mikasa frowned at that last bit. Is Annie trying to be nice with me? she thought. "Why the sudden friendliness, Annie?" The blonde stopped for a second.

"Since we're no longer opposite side, I don't really have to keep you guys at arm's length" she explained carefully, trying not to open up old wounds. "And more importantly, since you're now 'in the know', you're now part of the team, so I guess I'll have to trust you" she said even more tactfully.

"So 'I was not part of the team' before then, huh?" Mikasa retorted, a bit more harshly than she herself expected to. Annie did not react to her tone.

"From what he's told me, he wanted to ease you and Armin into the goings on so you wouldn't take it all at once" she explained. "The guy may be a mess, but he seems genuine about wanting the best for all of you."

Before Mikasa could retort Annie continued. "Look, I don't really know what's the deal with you and him right now, and it's not my place to tell you what to do about it. All I know is that we three are now in cahoots and that our enemies are not going to wait for all of us to get on the same page" she said. "I'm not going to be counselor to you two, but if you can't keep things outside of the field, I will intervene."

Her words echoed through Mikasa's mind. She had completely forgotten about the fact they were still at war with the people at the other side of the sea Marley was the name she said to herself. She guessed she could put the issue at the side for the moment, it even seemed convenient as it gave her a bit more time to sort out what to do exactly about it. She was never the best at sorting out the overly-complicated. But there was still one concern buzzing inside her.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked simply.

"I don't know" Annie answered sincerely after pondering the question for a while, "this will be a learning process for us both."

The two young women sat in silence as slowly the sun started coming up from the horizon.

Captain Levi had arrived at the cabin not long after breakfast. Everybody was sitting in the main room, splitting the chores for the day when the front door was kicked wide open, revealing the figure of Levi, his cloak still hanging around his shoulders. He ordered the team around the table. The team dropped what they were doing and gathered around.

"Listen up, I don't know if you've heard but as of two days ago the entirety of the Survey Corps have been declared traitors by the crown." Gasps escaped the throats around him, unsurprisingly. His team had been kept in here for the entirety of that debacle. He continued. "Before any of you ask, the reason they use is that we are conspiring against them, the real reason is that we have pissed off some very powerful people." He stopped to look at the eyes of everyone around him. Kirsten, Blaus and Springer had their eyes the size of plates and their jaws hitting the floor, again no surprises there. Mikasa was indifferent. Armin was the other one baffled. Eren looked was not surprised, and neither did the Female Titan. Looking at his squad, how green they were, Levi could feel, just for a second, his age weighing on his shoulders. There was promise in all of them, but there was still a winding road in front of them. And that lack of experience could be the difference between life and death, now more than ever with what was about to happen. He was at least happy that he managed to pull Eld and Petra out of Karanese, that should be able to balance the team out.

He let his new squadron ponder about being officially criminals and outlaws. The air in the room becoming grim quickly. Levi could not blame them, they signed up just to kill titans he thought, there is a difference between killing them and people. They had already asked a lot from them, and now they would be asking for a lot more. He cleared his throat to regain their attention.

"Given that we are now enemies of the state; it only makes sense to get them before they get us" he said. "Erwin and other high officers have been lying low since and we are currently setting up, for the lack of a better word, a coup."

"A-are you suggesting that we're going to kill the king?!" asked Kirsten exasperated. Levi really should have seen that question coming, the kid wanted to be in the Military Police not too long ago.

"Not if we can help it" the veteran responded flatly. "But if it helps your conscience, Hanji has found her way to some documents that suggest that who we call the king may be a puppet to the real power in the kingdom." Seeing that state of his soldiers deteriorate at that, Levi scolded himself at not foreseeing their reaction to that revelation. "Look, if all of you want to know more about that, we'll be meeting with four-eyes and her squad as we move out of here and you can ask her all about that. But the thing we got to focus on is that they are trying to fuck with us, and when that happens, we have to fight back."

"What will happen to Eld and Petra?" The captain turned to Eren before answering him.

"I managed to get them out into safety just barely, we were attacked by the MPs. They are now with Hanji's squadron, waiting for us." Eren nodded and did not say more, thankfully for Levi.

He looked around the table, seeing his team still hesitant but willing to go down this path. That should do for now. "Gather your things and ditch your uniforms" Levi ordered. "We leave in an hour."

As the tall man entered the battered room, he looked at the bleeding carcasses decorating it. He was oh so disappointed at the uselessness of the rats that now formed the Military Police, cannot follow a simple rule. And now his reunion was ruined. He wanted to kill the fatass sergeant and the children under him. But given they were dead already, he would have to conform in making sure no one remember them.

"What shall we do, Kenny?" the blonde woman asked. A wicked grin plastered on his face.

"Take them to the nearest ditch and let the dogs do the rest" he said simply.

This trap was oh so perfect to get his beloved nephew out of the equation, but the politicking of the lowly MPs got in the way. He would have to get creative. Thankfully for him, Kenny has always considered himself something of an artist.

His head was hurting like the worst of hangovers. His mind was covered in a haze, last thing he remembered was walking to the home of that small girl, to have his way with her. He then turned his attention over to… wherever he was. He was in some pitch black room. There were some sounds inside of the room, and as his daze cleared, the sound of voices could be heard.

Voices of men. Hurt men. Angered men. Confused men. Scared men. Groans, moans and curses coming up every so often from the men locked in the dark. Curses about a woman.

The man's mind began to clear, as he remembered being led bellow a bridge before she tracked back for a bit, and before the man could wonder, a blunt hit behind his head. As he remembered that, he started feeling a warm liquid running down his neck. A chill ran through his skin, and before he could cry out for help, the sound of a door opening, along with the small but noticeable light of a lantern entering the room, and the same small woman carrying it.

"I am just so disappointed in all of you trying to play a fragile little girl like me in such a way" she said ominously. Some of the braver men locked in the room threw insults at her, cursing her and every one of her ancestors. She shook her head and clicked her tongue. "Nobody's coming to help you here, we're too far away. Besides, you're just proving me right, fellas. You see, I brought you here to fulfill a quota I got, and I argue that if someone has to be turned into some mindless beast, it might as well be those who are not far off already."

That last bit was all it took to shut up any remaining resistance. The woman left the room without another word. Not too long after, a rumble could be heard somewhere outside. Seconds stretched for days, a deafening silence fell over as the man panicked, every part of his body screaming to get out of there, only for iron shackles to keep him in position. The only thing in his mind was the instinct of survival.

It was then that the roof started being opened up to reveal a beast. It looked like a titan, but walking on all four limbs and her mouth long like a horse's. For only the briefest of moments, the man could see all other men in the room, everyone screaming for their lives as the beast opened up its mouth, taking every single man back into the darkness.

As the Cart Titan rushed over to HQ, Pieck could not help but feel a little embarrassed, please tell me that bit didn't come off as cheesy she thought a little sheepish. The warrior distracted herself by focusing back on the task at hand. With this badge of men, that would make thirty mindless titans as an asset during their operation, with only two more frontier towns to visit. She felt like patting herself on the back, but decided against it.

At the end of the day, they're still eldians like me she thought, even if they're pigs. The irony in this mission had never gone unnoticed by Pieck, that was why she had been relieved when her name was not on the list to make the mission originally. Not that it mattered in the end as regardless she is now here in Paradis, giving her part in the destruction of this frankly beautiful place and the people who inhabit it. She could only hope that the success of this mission would lead to, if not the liberation, at least the easing of some of the restrictions against eldians back in Marley. Overly optimistic? Perhaps, but with only being her and her fellow warriors against the machinations of a system imposed for what it seemed like forever now, what else could she do if not try to find some silver lining?

She sighed. Her mind tended to wander into matters far outside her control, always had been like this, ever since she was old enough to realize she was getting the short end of the stick just for who she was a descendant of. For now, she would have to content herself that her to-do list was reaching its end and soon she would scouting missions to have all the time in the world to let her mind wander. That would be nice.

And that should be it for this chapter. Took me a real while to get this done. I already explained myself in my update, so I won't waste much time here. I decided to drag a bit the reunion of Levi and Kenny, as I have plans for that can of worms down the road, so for now just a tease will have to do (also I'm surprised that in canon, a faction as politicking as the MPs didn't feature any sabotage, so wanted to add a bit to give the MPs this image of a group self-serving backstabbers).

I'm starting to add scenes that showcase the everyman's perspective on the plot (something I really wanted the series to explore more deeply), and should be adding more and more of these changes in perspective as we move on. Especially once we reach Marley, that country is a goldmine for worldbuilding, a massive landmass with next to no real content about other than the fundamentals. Also Pieck is the best, and I'll try to do her justice.

Hopefully I won't take another year to get the next chapter out. And I will see you all next time!