A tense atmosphere had settled over Liberio. Most of the city had been evacuated, the Marleyan civilians fleeing to safer regions inland. The only place that had remained mostly inhabited was the Eldian internment zone, as it was deemed to be far enough away from the harbor to not be in danger during the looming invasion. Of course, the obvious unspoken reason for why the Eldians hadn't been evacuated like the rest of the city's residents was the lower value the Marleyan government placed on the Eldians compared to the Marleyans.

At the harbor, the ships had been arranged in a defensive pattern just off of the shore, their guns pointed out to sea, while the harbor itself was filled with large numbers of anti-Titan cannons and heavy artillery, most of them placed on or near the wharves but a few scattered throughout the harbor.

Most of the soldiers assembled at the harbor were Eldians, but a casual observer wouldn't be able to tell that from a glance. Not only had the Eldian and non-Eldian soldiers been blended together more in the various units and formations, but the Eldian soldiers were no longer required to wear the armbands designating them as subjects of Ymir.

Commander Harris looked over the harbor with a grim expression. General Magath had left him in charge while Magath and Calvi were stationed at a military base southwest of Liberio. They knew that several other nations had joined the coalition against Marley, and that one of the nations, Hizuru, had access to a large number of airships. From the intel they had gathered, they weren't entirely sure where the enemy would strike first. Liberio was their most likely target, but they hadn't wanted to put all their eggs into one basket, and so many of their reserve forces were at the military base further inland.

An aid ran up behind him. "Sir. Our scouts have sighted the enemy fleet. They're heading this way. Based on their current speed they'll be here in about two hours."

Harris nodded grimly. "Very good. Relay this information to Magath. Dismissed."

He turned and looked over the Warrior unit soldiers he'd been assigned.

"Well, you heard him. The enemy will be here in about two hours. Get ready and wait for further orders."

"Sir!"

Gabi, Porco, and the Marleyan soldiers that had been assigned to Gabi all saluted before heading for the warehouse where the Cart Titan armory was being stored.

After Pieck's untimely death Gabi had trained diligently, determined to fill her predecessor's shoes to the best of her abilities, and with Reiner's help she'd come a long way in the two months that had passed since the attack on Radgend.

While some adjustments had been required, most of the weapons that had been built for Pieck were able to be converted for Gabi's use, and this was where the Marleyan soldiers came in. She could carry and move various types of powerful artillery on her back, while the soldiers would aim and fire them for her.

Gabi had been worried about the soldiers looking down on her because of her Eldian blood, despite her status as a Warrior. Consequently she had been incredibly relieved when they turned out to be quite friendly and reasonable. She suspected that Magath had handpicked certain soldiers with temperaments he knew would make her more comfortable, given that she had inherited the Cart Titan two years earlier than she had expected. Normally she wouldn't have appreciated being coddled, but after everything that had happened she was grateful for a smooth and stress free transition into her new role.

Over the weeks they'd been together she'd taken the effort to make sure she knew all of their names, and after all their hard work she had a healthy respect for Carl, Ruth, Ben, and Gabe. She might be the one with the power of a Titan, but they were the ones who enabled her to use her ability to its full potential.

At present the four of them were getting the mobile anti-Titan cannon ready, as it was the weapon that would most likely be needed for the upcoming battle.

Porco, whose Titan was too small to have any real need of a crew, stood in the background, the bored look on his face not quite hiding the anxiety he clearly felt about the looming invasion.

He jerked his head at Gabi. "It's almost time. You should probably transform before too much longer."

Gabi gave a shaky nod before hastily averting her gaze from the older warrior. Porco frowned, wondering what was bothering her.

Gabi knew that Porco had probably noticed that she was no longer entirely comfortable around him. She felt bad, as he hadn't done anything wrong, but at the same time she couldn't bring herself to tell the truth about why she had become so skittish around him the last few weeks.

In addition to the disturbing and disheartening memories, Gabi had also seen a number of rather embarrassing memories that she didn't think Pieck would have wanted her to know about, and that she definitely hadn't wanted to see. She now knew where Pieck and Porco had disappeared to during many of their nights off and what they had been doing, and as a result had seen many vivid images of what Porco looked like naked, including his-

"Gabi?" Porco looked at her in concern. "You okay?"

An involuntary blush blazed across her cheeks, and she kept her back turned to him.

"I'm fine." She said, her voice a pitch higher than normal. "Just fine."

Desperate to diffuse the awkward moment, she slid a knife across her palm and transformed into the Cart Titan, though she did so without any noise or explosion.

Sensing her discomfort, Porco glanced out the window, his eyes settling on the sea, his brows furrowing as he contemplated the enemy fleet that would soon appear.

Erwin looked out of the window of the airship, the Mid East fleet stretching out before him along the ocean. It was quite a sight to behold, with dozens of state of the art ships all lined up, poised to attack the Marleyan forces waiting for them at Liberio.

"Sir." The Hizuru soldier spoke in a heavy accent. "Everything is in place."

Erwin stepped away from the window. "Very well. Begin phase one of the operation."

The naval ships below them remained where they were, maintaining a reasonable distance away from the Marleyan ships guarding the harbor, so that neither party was yet in range to fire upon the other. At the same time, the six airships that had been hovering above the fleet broke off and began to head over to the airspace directly above the harbor, making sure to stay high enough up in the air to be well out of the range of the guns and cannons below.

Harris watched grimly as the airships approached, knowing in just a few minutes they would begin raining something down upon them, though what it would be he wasn't entirely sure.

Gabi peered out of the windows of the warehouse, eyeing the airships nervously and waiting for orders. The anti-Titan cannon was strapped onto her back, while her crew and Porco were standing nearby, ready to mount up as soon as the enemy began their attack.

As the airships passed directly over the harbor, the Hizuru soldiers unloaded their cargo and began to rain them down to earth.

Harris peered at the cylindrical objects plummeting towards them through the binoculars, trying to discern what they were, assuming they were some kind of bomb.

"All soldiers! Brace yourselves!"

The first wave of canisters landed just behind the wharves, and upon hitting the ground they shattered. But rather than unleashing an explosion, they released what appeared to be pale smoke.

Harris's eyes widened.

"They're using gas weapons! Everyone put on your gas masks!"

All throughout the harbor the soldiers hastily began to put on the gas masks that had been prepared for this very moment.

When he had been alive, Zeke's spinal fluid had been used as a weapon to turn Eldians into Titans, and it had served Marley well during a number of disputes it had with other, weaker nations. It especially helped that Zeke was able to control the Titans to some extent.

Now the knowledge of this power belonged to Erwin, and he had used the same techniques that Marley had come up with against them. He couldn't control the Titans, but if used correctly he didn't need to, as he had demonstrated at Radgend. Any Eldian soldier infected with his spinal fluid could immediately become a weapon against their comrades, and Magath had worked diligently to counter this threat to Marley's army.

The first was to keep a very close eye on the Eldian soldiers' food and water supplies, to do everything in their power to prevent Erwin and the Scouts from pulling the same trick twice. It had ended up being an imposition on the soldiers' freedom of movement and choice, but none of them wanted to become a Titan and so had complied without complaint.

But there were other ways to infect Eldian soldiers with a Titan shifters' spinal fluid, including gas weapons tainted with said fluid. And so Magath had ordered the mass production of gas masks and small respirators as a countermeasure.

As the gas canisters fell down onto the harbor, shattering and releasing their toxic payload, most of the soldiers were quick to act and already had their masks on. Only a few were too slow, and ended up suffering the consequences.

Whether the gas was infected with spinal fluid or not, its effects on the soldiers it came into contact with were unpleasant, and many were overcome with coughing, difficulty breathing, and in some instances temporary blindness, much to their alarm.

Their comrades did their best to help, but at the same time most gave those who had been exposed to the gas a wide berth, worried that they could turn into a Titan at any moment.

The Marleyan soldiers standing near Gabi had hastily donned gas masks, while Gabi and Porco had not. The spinal fluid would not affect them, and the other effects of the gas would quickly be taken care of by their regenerative abilities. Plus they didn't have a gas mask big enough for Gabi's Titan form.

Harris looked up at the airships. It looks like they've dropped all of their gas weapons. Not a bad strategy, but they don't seem to have realized that we would develop countermeasures. Even if the Beast Titan turns the handful of Eldian soldiers who were exposed to the gas into Titans, we have plenty of anti-Titan cannons and rifles all throughout the harbor. The small number of Titans he could create won't be anything other than a minor nuisance. If he's hoping for massive destruction like at Radgend, or even a major distraction for their naval forces to capitalize on, he's going to be extremely disappointed.

Erwin surveyed the harbor below through a pair of binoculars.

"I see. So they anticipated our next move. Looks like our plan won't be quite as effective as we originally thought. Still, I doubt they're fully prepared for what's about to happen."

He lowered the binoculars and walked over to the nearby radio. He picked it up and spoke into it.

"The gas has been released. Wake up the giants."

Just outside of the harbor, a submarine lay below the surface, unseen by the Marleyan ships. Inside the hot and cramped radio room of the underwater vessel Armin heard Erwin's orders.

"Understood." He said quietly, his face paling.

Armin set down the radio, shakily inhaled, and screamed.

At once, 22 massive explosions erupted all throughout the harbor, far bigger and more destructive than the Marleyans had been expecting. The explosions killed soldiers, destroyed cannons, leveled buildings, and started fires, transforming large chunks of the harbor into a hellscape in the blink of an eye.

The light from the explosions forced Erwin to squint as he observed them from above. It would almost have been beautiful if he didn't know what was causing it and what the results would be.

The windows shattered in the building Harris was stationed in as a nearby explosion sent out a shockwave that rippled through the air. He ducked under a table in an attempt to avoid the flying glass.

The next second, it was over, though his ears were still ringing. As he crawled back out from under the table and looked out of the now bare windows, he saw what had caused so much destruction.

22 Titans, all between 40 and 50 meters tall, stood throughout the harbor. Most were motionless, as if still coming to terms with their sudden creation, while a handful were already moving, walking toward the heavily populated ships just off of the shore and crushing the people and buildings that were unfortunate enough to stand in their way.

Harris gritted his teeth. Shit! They didn't use the Beast Titans' spinal fluid, they used the Colossal Titan's spinal fluid. We should have seen this coming. Even so, our counterattack strategy is still largely the same. But…

He picked up the radio. "All soldiers, begin firing on the colossal Titans! They're big, but they still have the same weaknesses as a normal Titan. Aim for their feet, and then the nape. Gabi, get going! And to our fleet, half of the ships should re aim their guns and help us take out the Titans, while the other half should keep their guns pointed out to sea. Hurry!"

Even before he had finished speaking Gabi had exited the warehouse and ran toward the nearest colossal Titan.

After perching on top of a nearby building, Gabi glared at the Titan towering over her.

"Aim carefully! We need to make every shot count!"

"Yes sir!"

After a few seconds of adjustment and monitoring the Titans' movements, the anti-Titan cannon roared to life, firing a powerful round that traveled high into the air and tore through the Titans' nape.

The colossal Titan stumbled to a halt, standing still for a moment, before its massive body began to fall and hit the ground with a thunderous boom, leveling the building it landed on.

After being satisfied that the Titan wouldn't be getting back up, Gabi leaped off the building and quickly ran toward their next target while the crew reloaded the cannon.

Porco sat near the back of the gun, feeling rather useless. He wanted to help, but Harris had ordered him to not use his power until either the Beast Titan or the actual Colossal Titan made an appearance, as it would be foolish to play all of their cards at once.

Porco understood his reasoning, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

While the initial appearance of the colossal Titans had been terrifying and demoralizing, the discipline of the Marleyan army swiftly kicked in, and one by one the Titans were subdued and killed. Gabi and her mobile anti-Titan cannon killed the most, while the rest were taken care of by either the stationary anti-Titan cannons, or the naval ship guns.

But while they were being taken down, the colossal Titans continued to march toward the Marleyan ships, and a few of them leaned down and tried to grab some of the poor soldiers who happened to be too close. The death toll continued to rise, and the damage to the harbor was severe.

Harris looked over the harbor grimly as the last three Titans were being bombarded by their navy. The Titans would be taken care of, but they had taken many casualties, and were now in a weakened state for when the enemy navy began their attack.

As the last three Titans began to fall, suddenly the harbor was filled with a roaring sound that shook the air. It took Harris a moment to register that the roaring was actually the sound of multiple explosions.

The ships that had been guarding the harbor were suddenly giving off large amounts of smoke, and without warning they began to sink. Some collapsed in on themselves, some capsized, still others were violently ripped in two.

"What the hell?!" A nearby officer cried. "What's going on?! All of the enemy ships are still way out at sea, how is this possible?!"

As the Marleyan ships were destroyed one by one, Harris came to a horrifying realization.

They must have at least a small fleet of submarines. This is very, very bad. I knew that technology was beginning to outpace both the power of the Titans and old conventions, but this is far worse than what I could have ever imagined.

Within a short time all of the ships guarding the harbor were destroyed or disabled, taking away Liberio's first line of defense. The surviving sailors retreated back to the harbor on the lifeboats, while the line of cannon and artillery units placed near and on the wharves prepared themselves for the incoming enemy fleet.

Their job finished, most of the submarines retreated, while the rest of the allied fleet began to move toward the harbor.

Harris looked over the situation grimly, his mind racing.

Our ships have been destroyed, and we've already taken many casualties. But we still have many soldiers, and our line of guns will make the enemy's approach difficult.

He looked up at the airships hovering just behind the harbor. I would like to move more of our guns to the front, but with those airships still there I can't afford to do that, as they might still have a trick up their sleeve.

He returned his gaze to the sea. We're definitely at a disadvantage here, but we'll put up a hell of a fight before we let the enemy take Liberio.

In the waters below the harbor, only a short distance away from where the wharves began, a single submarine was stationed.

A Mid East Ally soldier emerged from the radio room, nodding at the captain.

"Onayımız var."

"Çok iyi."

The captain turned toward the only Eldian onboard. "Alright, you know the drill."

Armin nodded mutely, his face still pale. He walked down the length of the cramped sub, stepped through the back entrance and into a special capsule, tucking his arms and legs in slightly to make sure he fit. The Mid East Ally soldiers sealed the capsule shut, before sealing the entrance. They then opened one of the outer doors, flooding the chamber with water, and the capsule slowly rose up and away from the submarine.

As the capsule gradually drifted toward the surface, Armin tried to keep his mind relatively calm and blank, to limited success. He knew that as soon as he could see sunlight through the capsule that meant he had broken the surface of the sea, and the second that happened he would transform. He'd done this many times now, and so should be used to it.

But even so, he felt a strong sense of guilt as he contemplated the large number of people he was about to kill once more.

He let out a shaky breath. Remember what you're fighting for. Who you're fighting for.

He closed his eyes. Historia…

As the capsule broke the surface, Armin's eyes snapped open, and a bright light engulfed his body.

Author's Note: This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I'm still working out the kinks in the next section, and this seemed like a good stopping point.

So it's been over a year since I updated this story. Sorry about that, I've been more focused on A Second Chance, but seeing how I put that on hiatus until the manga is finished I figured I should really get back to this story. Especially since it's going to have a much lighter ending than either the manga or ASC, which will hopefully balance things out.

I know I was rather mean to Gabi near the beginning, but I thought it was funny, and as soon as I thought of it I just had to put it in. It's also another interesting aspect of the Titan memories that isn't really explored in canon, namely how you might see private memories of the previous person you really wouldn't want to see. And while Gabi might be embarrassed from seeing Pieck's memories, it could be worse, at least neither Pieck nor Porco are related to her. This whole thing reminds me of a joke that was floating around the AoT community after chapter 120 came out, when Zeke was forcing Eren to see all of Grisha's memories, and people were speculating about what would happen if they walked into one of Grisha's memories where he was having sex with Carla.

Eren: ...

Zeke: ...

Eren: Next memory?

Zeke: Next memory.

And realistically that probably did happen, which makes it even funnier.

I'll try to update at least once more before the year is over, but I can't make any promises. However, I can say that I will be updating this story more frequently for the immediate future. Well, unless I get hit by a car and die. Hopefully that won't happen.

Anyways, be sure to let me know what you thought of the chapter, I appreciate reviews. Unless they're anti-feminist rants that come right the fuck out of nowhere, please don't do that. You know who you are.

Edit: Fixed a couple of typos that were pointed out to me. Meant to do it a week ago but forgot. Oh well, better late than never.