Chapter 58: The Siege of Liberio
"Keep it moving, we need to get these stands up today!" yelled one of the instructors. All around the workers continued moving the materials and equipment around as others hammered nails into the frames of wooden beams. "Hey lady, I need those costumes and props at the backstage!" the instructor said to Louise.
The sun was beginning to set as a bright orange light washed over the internment zone.
"Yes sir!" Louise yelled back giving him the thumbs up, she pushed forward a cart filled with bags of clothes and fake swords and spears, up the ramp and to the stage.
"Be careful of the electrical wires!" the instructor yelled, she nodded her head in response.
She pushed the cart backstage and began to dump the clothes and props onto the backstage near the others, she reached into one of the bags and pulled out a black metal box with a power sign painted on it with the words 'DO NOT OPEN WHEN IN USE' written on it and long wires wrapped around it.
Louise looked around and then quickly moved through the curtains that covered the back of the stage. She poked her head out to check, only a few people talking to each other. She walked through and climbed down quietly with the black box in her hand calmly.
She hopped onto the ground, and looked under the stage; underneath was a mess of wires and electrical cables. She looked around again before ducking her head and crawling under it. In a mess of cables were black boxes with wires sticking out, each one with similar warnings on it. "Where is it?" she looked through the mess of wires "Where the hell did Wim put it-" then she saw it, unconnected wires with silver tips "There you are." She unwrapped the wires, opening the box filled with TNT, a layer of flares and a single grenade.
She took out the wires and then pressed her fingers onto the ground, digging into the dirt. From her boot she pulled out a long drill, digging it into the ground creating a small hole. She put one wire into the hole and then connected it to the box and then the other wire to the loose one.
She gently crawled out from underneath the stage. Careful not to disturb the wiring of the bomb she planted. When she escaped, she quickly stood up and dusted herself off; looking around before quickly climbing back onto the stage and through the curtains back to the bag of costumes still on the floor.
She looked into the bag and swiftly scooped up the cloak and hood, putting it on and left into the shadow of the building ahead of them through the streets of the internment zone. She placed the hood over her head and slipped into a back alley, littered with rubbish and unwanted junk, a single door to a building from the back.
She knocked on the door, a metal shutter opened to a pair of eyes. Louise reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out the badge of a tree, showing it to the person behind the door. The shutter closed and the door opened. She stepped inside; the room was dark and dingy, a worn out couch, a scratched table and another door.
The door to the outside shut, Louise walked over to the other door and opened it, greeted to a flight of stairs going down, she walked down it and in towards a basement with a mined out tunnel through it she walked through the tunnel guarded by others and headed towards a room with light spilling out. Inside was a hall with benches and a board at the front with people seated down waiting.
"Louise, just in time." Wim said, standing at the front. She quickly walked over to him. "Did you set the bombs?"
"Yes, the bomb is planted." Louise said "Did the others get to him first?"
"Last we saw, Armin's team got to the hospital just a couple minutes before we did." Wim explained "Beat them to it."
"Good, good." Louise replied. Suddenly the room fell silent as the sound of a footsteps and a crutch entered the room they turned their heads to see Eren walking into the room as everyone remained silent and watched. He walked towards and stopped in front of them as they lowered their hood to him "We're you successful?" he asked.
"Everything is in place." Louise replied "Nothing will stop this."
There was a ringing in her ears, one that she had grown accustomed to during her participation in the Mid-East war. It drowned out the screaming and stamping of feet around her for a while. She tried to open her eyes, there was a thick cloud of dust around her, she could feel the bits on her face brushing around her.
"Gabi…" said a voice, she couldn't tell if it was distance or right next to her. "Gabi…" it said again, a bit clearer. "Gabi!" She felt a hand grab her arm roughly as it tried to pull her up. "Get up!" yelled the voice "Zofia, Gabi, get up now!"
Gabi turned his head to see Colt try to pick her up. "AAARGH!" came a scream near her; Gabi looked to see Zofia in pain, as a long broken piece of wood stuck out of her leg.
"Zofia!" Gabi screamed as she looked at her friend.
"We have to get out of here!" Colt said, "Gabi stand up!" she quickly got to her feet as Colt picked up Zofia in his arms "C'mon let's get you to a hospital."
Gabi looked around as the delegates and guest began to run away, soldiers shepherding them to the exit. She looked to the stage to see a mix of thick cloud of colourful smoke of blue, red and green filtering into the sky unlike anything she had seen before. It was as it if was part of the play, a magical trick done by someone.
"The general…" Gabi whispered as she turned to the now destroyed wreckage of seats where the Marley higher ups had sat. Completely gone.
She felt Colt grip her arm as he tried to pull her away, Marley soldiers scrambling around towards the explosions. They quickly moved from the seats and towards an open space as the delegates continued to run away. "We have to find a get Zofia to a hospital." He looked around, turning his head from side to side "Falco!" he cried out "Falco, where are you!" Gabi started to look around at the mass of people quickly dispersing, not a single sign of Falco since he left with Reiner. "Damn it!" he pushed Gabi along down one a street and away from the stage.
He turned his head to her "How you holding up?" as they continued to move.
"There's a piece of wood sticking out my leg." She said through her tears "So not very good."
"Right…" Colt replied as they began to move away "There's the veteran's hospital not far from here." They quickly began to jog down the street as others ran past them.
"That explosion…" Gabi said "The ground shook then, the stage blew up and then the seats where the officers were; Willy Tybur, he said that they could manipulate material." She looked back towards the colourful smoke now dying down "It's them, they're here, and they did this."
"Porco was on that stage, he didn't come out of it." Colt said "Damn it if he's dead then…" he turned back to see Gabi beginning to move away.
"Gabi, where are you going?" Colt questioned, stopping her before she could run off.
"I have to get to Magath." She replied "If they're here then we have to stop them, we have to fight!" she ran off passed the others running in the opposite direction.
"Gabi, come back!" Colt yelled, the further away she left, the dimmer his voice became.
Gabi continued to run, ignoring Colt as she moved through the flow of people heading the other way till she found herself back near the heart of the incident; the colourful smoke was still thick in the air. She looked at the stage, expecting to see Porco rise from the rubble but still nothing as the square was now emptied save for the soldiers now investigating the area.
She felt complied to run towards it and find him, she stepped forward "Gabi?" yelled a familiar voice. "Is that you?"
She turned around towards it "Mr Gate guard!" seeing two familiar faces.
"I hardly recognised you kid, you got some much dust on you, what the hell you doing here?" one of them questioned.
"I want to help, I need to find Magath!" Gabi responded placing her hand on her chest.
"Don't be stupid, kid." The guard responded grabbing her shoulders. "You need to go home!"
"I am a warrior cadet!" Gabi proclaimed, as she pushed his hands off "A veteran of the Mid-East war and the person who help our motherland win its final battle and I'll help it win its first battle against the devils, so tell me where is Magath?!"
The guard sighed and shook his head "Damn it, he's a checkpoint." He replied "But you're only going unless we take you there, got it?"
"Thank you, mister." Gabi replied saluting the guard, before they quickly rushed off down the street again.
Ed grabs Eren by his collar before throwing him against the wall and pressing him against it "What did you do?" Ed demanded.
Eren looked at Ed, a calm and unfeeling expression still on his face "I didn't do anything." Eren replied "You're the one who did it." Ed then swung his hand at Eren, striking him against his cheek and sending him to the ground. Eren spat out a tooth onto the floor. "First time you've ever hit me outside of training." He wiped the blood seeping from his lips with his hand.
Ed looked back to the tunnel; the hole was open but incomplete. "Was that all the bombs you had planted?"
Eren got up to his feet "You want to take that chance?" Eren unholstered his gun and once more pointed it at Eren; he rolled his eyes and walked towards Ed. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and shoved it onto his forehead "Do it." He said "Shoot me, whats the point of threatening to shoot me? I know you won't do it."
Ed pulled the gun away "Don't move." He said, he turned back to Falco and Reiner "You two, keep quiet and don't try anything." He looked around the room once more trying to find a way out.
"Reiner… if you still want to save the world, then here's your chance." Eren said "Chances are the people above us are already evacuated." Reiner gasped slightly, stepping forward slightly before Ed raised his hand at him.
"Don't." Ed said "You wanna take that chance? Would you be alright killing Falco or anyone else nearby to fight us?" He began to pace around the room "What the fuck did you want to achieve?" he questioned Eren.
"We already talked about this." Eren replied "It doesn't matter anyways, they declared war and you helped fired the first shot." Ed shook his head as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Turns out you can't make people drop their hatred even if you're willing to give them the future."
"God damn it." Ed growled, he sighed heavily "Stay put." He said "We'll just have to stay put for the others to come and get us."
"Stay put and wait?" Eren questioned "You want to stay here and wait for rescue while the Marley army comes to the internment zone? I don't think you're thinking this one through."
Ed stuck his hand out to Eren "I know but just… Just shut up." he turned to Reiner and Falco "I'm going to be straight with you; the mission was to capture the shifters and I was meant to secure Eren, this was supposed to happen as quietly as possible and no one was meant to know we were here at all. We're not here to start a war, the opposite, we want to prevent one; we tried sending messages to your leaders and the Tyburs but it looks as though someone stopped us." Ed then turns to Reiner "Reiner, I know you feel guilty for it, I can't give you forgiveness, redemption or anything like that but… you can help stop this, come quietly with us; we just need to force a negotiation between the sides, that's why we needed to capture the warriors, once that happens Erwin, myself and Alphonse and Historia will all be gunning for peace."
"Historia?" Reiner asked almost perplexed "What does she have to…"
"Oh right, long story short, she's queen." Ed said, Reiner gasped slightly, taken completely by surprise "But that doesn't matter what matters is that we want peace, I don't want to fight you or Marley, the Mid-East or anyone. We've both killed enough people; we have to move past it."
"I… I don't know if I can do that…" Reiner said hesitantly "How can I trust you?"
Ed placed out his hand "I know you can't trust me, the only time we didn't try to kill each other was when we first met… but I befriended people who have tried to kill me before and I can do it again." Falco watched Reiner as he stared at Ed, looking down at his hand before lifting his to reach out.
"You asked them to stay put and not interfere; now you want Reiner to come with you." Eren said watching the two "What changed?"
Ed closed his hand slowly before turning to Eren "I'm improvising." He replied "I've gotten this far being pragmatic and working with what I got."
"Pragmatism?" Eren questioned, there was a scowl of his face and for the first time ever, Falco noticed that the calm demeanor began to shatter. "Is that how you intend on going through with the future of the Walls too?"
Ed turned to face Eren, the two staring each other down "So… you're ready to talk now?"
Magath quickly ran down the flights of stairs, each time glancing at the windows of each level and onto the space below and his own men swarming around the area as what individuals remained fled quickly out of the seating area.
Behind him the sound of dozens of footsteps followed, he turned back to see a scatter line of his troops behind him as they tried to keep up. "Go, hurry!" he urged them. He sprinted down to the ground level and then through the doors. He watched for a second as the soldiers ran around, he quickly grabbed one just running by him.
"Where's the Jaw titan?" he asked, yelling at the troop's face.
"He- a team pulled him out of the stage rubble not that long ago sir, he was near the blast he- his body his torn up." The soldier explained, Magath felt his heart drop through his stomach and into hell "He's still alive but incapacitated."
Magath sighed "Thank God." He replied "Tybur, what about him?"
"He his alive, there's was titan crystal around him, it looked like the Warhammer but he didn't have any of the shifter marks on him." The soldier said "We don't know where the holder is though we-"
"Do not tell anyone that." Magath replied sternly, the soldier nodded their head "Where's Willy Tybur?"
"He's being treated at a military checkpoint to the north for wounds." The soldier said "He's alive and conscious." Magath nodded his head and gently pushed the soldier on. He turned to his soldiers "Continue to secure the area; we don't know if this is the enemy first or only attack."
The troops saluted him before quickly scrambling away. He quickly began to jog north, followed by a few of his men, passing through the other troops and the Eldians who were quickly running into buildings to hide. As he continued to move a row of sandbags on either side came into view of him, soldiers and public security officers guarding the area as they shepherded people through.
"Colonel Magath!" one of the guard's saluted.
"Where's Lord Tybur?" Magath asked.
"He's in there." The soldier pointed to the building opposite him, troops moving in and out of it. Magath nodded at the troop before rushing in soldiers parted ways as he entered; inside officers were crowded around a map, medics shuffled around and troops carrying boxes quickly moved out.
"Tybur?" he said to one of the medics, they pointed to a door. He moved to the door, grabbing the handle and turning it open. Inside a medic cleaning the blood from Willy's face, a white bandage wrapped around his head with a red spot seeping through, he was sitting on a chair. The interior of the room looked to an office space.
"Theo Magath." Willy said as he saw him.
"Thank God, you're okay." Magath said as he stepped into the room. He looked to the medic who nodded at him before leaving the room; he grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him.
"I guess our plan didn't work out exactly as we expected." Willy said "Still they attacked, though it was odd…"
"Why is it odd?" Magath asked leaning forward. "What did Porco tell you?"
"The Jaw titan holder, Porco Galliard, he said that the enemy tried to capture them covertly." Willy said "Then suddenly they set off a bomb past the end of the play? Wouldn't it make more sense to set it off during the play? And if you want to capture the warriors wouldn't doing it quietly and using the play as a distraction work better?"
Magath stayed quiet as he listened "Sounds like two plans in conflict." He remarked.
"Someone wanted to weaken us right under our noses; another wanted to send a message." Willy said "The explosives, the smoke was coloured could that be alchemy?"
"I saw that too, looks more like flares mixed in with a bunch of explosives." Magath said "The reports spoke about alchemy being used to create structures and things, there was only one instance of someone creating fire but this looked planted and too theatrical."
"But the ground shook, isn't that a part of alchemy a disruption of the earth?" Willy said "Someone was trying to use the ground beneath us."
"Well I don't know how someone turns rock and dirt into a bomb." Magath said "They must be far more intelligent than we believed or…."
"Someone made it look like they've done it." Willy said there was a silence in the room, only the muffled sounds from the other room. "But why frame them for the attack?"
"Whatever the reason, we know the enemy is here and they're after the warriors it seems and possibly more." Magath said. "More divisions are heading towards the district and the navy will be stationed at the docks soon, whatever Paradis has planned we will have them surrounded."
"Then we need to rally Marley's forces, this is the time to-" suddenly there was a knock on the door as it opened.
"Colonel, we found one of the warrior cadets." Said the soldier at the door, Magath nodded as the soldier rushed off, Magath turned back to Willy.
"Go colonel, there is a battle going on after all." Willy said "I'll be fine."
"Lord Tybur, for what it's worth, I am glad you made it out alive." Magath said.
"Thank you, colonel." Willy replied "I'm… I'm glad to be alive too." He moved his head down to the floor as he gently rested his hands on his knees.
Magath walked out of the room, shutting it behind him. He looked to see Gabi outside trying to look through the door; he rushed outside to see her, a girl covered in dark dust with messy hair over her face greeted her "Colonel Magath!" she saluted, he knew that voice anywhere.
"Gabi, you're alright." He said, an exhausted smile appeared on her face. "Are the others okay?"
Her face quickly became serious "Colt is with Zofia, she was injured in the attack." she said "But we don't know where Falco is, he's probably still with Reiner."
"Where's Reiner?" Magath asked.
"I don't know, I think he and Falco went to see a friend." She replied "It was before the play started."
Magath began to feel uneasy as he clenches his jaw they might have walked into an ambush…
"Colonel Magath!" Gabi yelled, interrupting his thoughts "I want to help, please let me help beat back the enemy!"
"Don't be foolish, Gabi." Magath replied "You need to head home."
"Colonel, that's what we said." said one of two guards standing behind her.
"Colonel, Paradis is here, the enemy who Willy Tybur said threatens our motherland and wishes to start again thousands of years of darkness are here." Gabi stated "I cannot stand by and watch as they attack my home; I'll do anything I can to help, I'll pick up a rifle or help get supplies, anything."
Magath sighed and shook his head "This is more than just proving yourself to be the heir to the armour?" Gabi nodded proudly. "Okay, more troops will be heading here; I need you to bring them to the different checkpoints to reinforce it." He looked to the two guards "You two, go with her, she's a warrior cadet, and Marley spent a lot of money to train her." The guards saluted him as the three quickly ran off through the checkpoint.
"Looks like the area around the square is filled with artillery pieces." Said one of the scouts, looking through a telescope as Petra stood behind them "I count possibly six on each roof, looks like Marley might have been expecting something else."
"Can you see the marker?" Petra asked.
"No yet, Squad leader." The scout replied. "There's still a lot of smoke around, kind of blocking out the view." The scout continued to look around "Wait, I see it; the marker is on the building behind the stage and thick smoke."
Petra tapped the scout on the soldier "Thank you, get ready to move."
"Yes squad leader." The scout said, lowering the telescope and moving away to join their team. Petra looked around; a large golden bell hovered overhead directly below her, she was half tempted to tap on it. She looked to her squad, preparing themselves and their weapons and Jean, her second in command, organised them, a large map lay at the center of the tower floor.
"Lieutenant" She called out catching Jean's attention, he quickly moved to her. She handed him her telescope and pointed outwards towards the smoke. "Our target is possibly in the building behind the stage but it looks like the area around it is heavily guarded."
Jean looked through the telescope "Yeah, if we head through there we might have to engage with their forces."
"There has to be a route to the location, don't want to get bogged down in a gunfight otherwise we might have to bring the other squads too." Petra said. "We could use the smoke to our advantage."
"Maybe, if we leave now while it's still burning we could probably get a team to pass through it." Jean said "We would just have to clear a path through one side; one team could go for the attack while the others stand by, if anything goes wrong then the fire support teams can respond quickly.
"I guess something good can come from this mess." Petra remarked "Still we could do without Marley being on high alert." She turned to the rest of her team "Squad on me." She commanded, the teams huddled near her and around the map "Fire support teams will hold these positions here and here." She pointed towards a few buildings around the center "Other teams will be on stand-by and act as resupply in case we get into get into trouble, Jean takes command." She looked to over to another group "You guys are with me; we'll head to the objective and secure Eren and Edward, everyone silencers on."
Petra walked towards the edge of the tower, looking back at her squad who stood behind her, Jean nodded. Petra nods back before leaping off of the ledge and into the air, firing the hooks of her ODM gear into the roof of a nearby building with the gas pushing her along, the sound of other hooks clamping into buildings just behind her.
As they approached the buildings, she quickly spotted two guards standing on a roof ahead of them, before they could catch them they drop to the ground after muffled shots took them out. Petra landed into the roof, surveying the area she watched as more guards were quickly taken out across from them as members of her squad took up their positions; scouts carrying heavy weapons mounted them over the ledge and pointed them towards the artillery crews in front of them.
She turned her head back to see Jean directing the teams into their positions, she let herself smile.
You've come a long way, Jean.
She turned her head back to what's in front of her; ahead was what looked to be a building of flats ahead of her and a thick cloud of smoke in what looked to be in front of them. She raised her hand up slightly, a small team of scouts rushed towards her, she pointed ahead of her at the building ahead of them. "That's the one, if anything happens fire an acoustic round and fall back here." She stepped over to the ledge and pushed herself off as the others followed, firing their hooks onto the building, landing and hanging onto its side; the rest of her team followed her.
"You four check the lower floors." Petra ordered, they nodded at her as they quickly went into an open window. "Rest of you, head to the roof." They rappelled their way up, peering their heads and weapons over the edge to check if the roof was clear. They climbed up "You four, check the top floors." She ordered, four scouts rushed over to the entrance inside "The rest of you, keep an eye out for anything." She walked up to the bright glowing stone on the roof, picking it up and placing it in her pocket before placing an acoustic round in her gun.
The remaining scouts with her rushed over from side to side checking the streets.
"Squad leader." Said one of the scouts rushing to her "We have soldiers moving towards this building." The scout pointed to the ledge, they rushed over; Petra took out her telescope as she spotted a contingent of troops dressed in blue uniform armed with rifles arrive, meeting with a single person dressed in what looked to be a fancy outfit.
"Who's that?" Petra muttered as she placed the telescope over her eye. She got a closer look; a middle aged woman with dark hair dressed in what looked like a maid's outfit was talking to a few of the soldiers. "Where did they come from?" she asked.
"The soldiers came just now, Squad leader." The scout said "But the woman there, she came from the stage."
"The stage? But that was blown up, why would a random civilian or guest be near there?" they turned to the same building, both Petra and the scout ducked slightly. "Get down." She said pulling the scout down slightly just hiding behind the ledge. The people below, the maid began to move the troops around before into the building herself along with a few of the soldiers in blue. Suddenly a rush of footsteps behind her caught her attention, Petra turned to see the other scouts.
"Building searched no sign of either Edward Elric or Eren Yeager." Said the scout "But squad leader, we have a massive problem; we spotted a group of soldiers dressed in blue uniform outside-"
"I know, we spotted them too." Petra replied.
"No squad leader, at the front of the building, they were pulling a person out of the rubble, there was titan crystal around the places they were digging." The scout said.
Petra's jaw dropped as she stared blankly at the scout "I thought we lured the warriors away."
"We did but must have been…"
"The Warhammer…" Petra whispered loudly, she turned back to the ledge and looked over it, the woman and the soldiers were gone "All of you checked the building?"
"There's no sign of any of them in the building." The scout replied "But maybe there was another level."
"A basement…" Petra's heart dropped to her stomach "Everyone get off the building now!" she looked down, aimed her pistol into the air as she let off the shot.
"Paradis deserve better than an uncertain future." Eren said, almost declaring it resolutely.
"And just how are you planning on helping Paradis exactly? Ed questioned "Because all I see is someone with a bunch of radical buddies planting bombs to go off in front of a bunch of delegates!" Ed began to raise his voice.
"They declared war first; this was merely a response, to show that we won't be pushed around." Eren retorted. "What would you have us do, nothing? While they arm and prepare themselves to march on our homes?"
"I wouldn't have us killing a bunch of innocent people!" Ed fought back. "I wouldn't have given more reason to think we were a threat or hate us."
"Have you looked outside, have you met those two?" Eren questioned pointing to Falco and Reiner. "What about Armin, Mikasa, Eld, Oluo, Gunther, Hannes or the other hundreds and thousands of innocent people killed or suffering because of someone's hate and greed, you want to be preachy about this while they seek to kill us all and keep others in cages?"
Falco watched as the two continued to argue with each other; it was frightening to watch as Reiner, just as confused as him, watched too.
Willy said these guys were allies… yet they act like they almost hate each other…
He flinched slightly as Ed raised his voice again; Falco looked to the window hoping that someone would hear them. He contemplated screaming out for help.
"Wait." Eren said placing his hand up to Ed, Eren looked over to the door. There was a noticeable tapping sound, getting closer. "Footsteps."
Ed turned to the door, readying his gun pointing it towards the door "Whoever's there, this room is full, go somewhere else!" called out. The other side of the door was quiet; there was a thick tension in the air as they all wait for the other side to respond. Suddenly the door was pushed open, quietly banging onto the side of the wall to revel a woman dressed in a maid's clothes staring back at them with a look of contempt. "Who the hell are-"
"Warhammer." Eren said calmly as he looked at her, he
Falco's breathe was suddenly jammed as it tried to enter his lungs as he looked at the woman in front of them.
Ed pointed his gun at her "I had a feeling we'd meet again, Elric." She said as she looked at the two of Ed and Eren. "And you, the usurper Eren Yeager."
"I… I killed the Warhammer back at Shiganshina, you can't be-" Ed stopped as if he quickly came to the realisation. "God damn it…"
"You failed to kill me, like you two will fail to bring back the Eldian empire." She said, she then turned to Reiner and Falco "Warrior Braun, I never suspected that you would be here, tell me, are you a traitor to the motherland?"
Reiner could only weakly whimper "We're not!" Falco pleaded, putting his arms out "He- we- I… I brought him here; I didn't know who they were. I was tricked."
"Is that so." The Warhammer holder replied almost unconvinced. "I see the Beast titan has left his mark on you, though that can never make up for the failure that was the battle of Paradis." She said to them "I should have massacred you and your armies."
"Too bad, you got beat." Ed retorted.
"Not this time." The Warhammer replied, she raised her palm to reveal a cut on it, Reiner quickly gripped Falco, Ed took a step back as Eren just stood there looking at her.
"Okay listen, all that crap your… brother? Family member said up there was just that, crap." Ed said "We're not here to do any of that, we just want peace."
"And why should we believe your lies?" the Warhammer questioned.
"Damn it, do we really have to do this? This isn't what we want, if we could just stop trying to kill each other for just five seconds-"
"We aren't going to talk; her mind is already made up." Eren said "As are the other nations of the world who want us dead; tell me, Lara Tybur, what are you willing to do to save your motherland?" The Warhammer twitched as Eren spoke her name, her face looked almost disgusted.
"Exterminate you and the devils of Paradis." Lara replied with conviction in her voice. "That is what I will do."
"I see." Eren replied "I want you to understand that what I do, I do for my home and for all Eldians across the world that lives behind tall walls. If anyone wants to take my or another's freedom away, then I will not hesitate to take theirs in return." Eren stared her down "I will keep moving forward."
"Is that so?" Lara said. "Any last words before I kill you both?" she raised her hand up.
"Don't do this." Ed said, his voice sounded almost desperate.
Suddenly streaks and flashes of light which were all too familiar to Falco began to swarm around Eren like fireflies, the Warhammer replied in same as the room was quickly lit in a symphony of lights. Ed dropped his gun and turned to Falco who was suddenly gripped by Reiner as he bit down onto his hand. Falco watched terrified as Ed clapped his hands together and launched himself into the hole in wall, blue sparks of light dancing with the golden rays as the wall closed up.
The sound of a loud gunshot outside whispered into the commotion in the room.
Falco turned to Mr Kruger once more who spoke one last time, in a voice that didn't sound his own.
"For Faye."
Magath overlooked the open stage area once more; back from the checkpoint he tried to gain further control over the situation, looking around at the city from the top of the roof wondering about his next move and the enemy's.
"How's Galliard?" Magath asked to a soldier standing by a radio, the soldier relayed the questions and received a response.
"Galliard is improving but he's still unconscious, sir." The soldier replied "However the cart titan is almost ready to be deployed and should be heading to this position as we speak."
"Good, any reports of the enemy?" Magath asked. The soldier relayed the question.
"None so far, colonel." The soldier replied.
"If Galliard said they were ambushed then they have to be here." Magath said "If the plans were to just capture the shifters then it's a failure, would our enemy just drop a bomb on us and leave empty handed?" he continued to look outward "Have a team searched the area where the ambushed happened?"
"Yes colonel, there weren't any bodies but they did see evidence of a battle." The soldier replied. "We have platoons searching the streets as we speak."
"Good, radio in the navy, make sure that the port is secured and patrol boats at-" suddenly the sound of a gunshot caught his attention "Who fired their-"ground underneath them shook, as if they were objects standing on a table someone bumped into, Magath held firm on his feet as others around him fell. "What the hell was that?"
As if to answer his question, two titans burst out from the ground, behind the rubble of the stage and onto the empty space before them crashing into the ground, the front of the building collapsing onto the destroyed stage and empty seats.
Magath and the Marley soldiers rushed over to the edge to watch as one of the titans began to overpower the other as he sat on top of it and rained in punches from below onto the other titan's face. He stared at the attacking titan; its muscular build, the long dark hair, bright glowing green eyes and monstrous sharp teeth as it let out an ear striking cry into the sky. "It's him, Eren Yeager!" he looked to the other soldiers "Man the artillery!" he ordered, the others quickly scrambled to their positions.
So he really was here then, hiding right under our noses... Doesn't matter you've shown yourself now and-
Suddenly the soldier next him was pushed over, falling over the ledge of the building lifeless. Magath quickly turned his head to see just zipping pass people dressed in black with what looked to be metal strapped to them as they held the guns pointed at them; flashes of light and loud bangs cried out into the air as they gunned out his men.
Magath ducked to the ground as their attackers continued to fire on them, tossing explosives at their artillery pieces as they were thrown around from the explosions. The enemy forces quickly jumped off the ledge and seemingly flew away. Scatter across the roof was the dead bodies and injured lying on the ground and the pieces of cannons. He looked to the other rooftops, before grabbing the radio speaker "Enemy forces at the centre, any remaining cannons fire on the titan and all troops fire on the enemy forces!" he looked out back towards the centre, Eren Yeager's titan still pummelling the Warhammer until he was impaled from a spiralling cone from the ground which lifted him up into the air.
As the Warhammer tried to stand up, the enemy quickly swarmed the titan and fired on it; thin rods struck the titan and exploded knocking it down before it could fully heal as Eren's titan tried to free itself from the long spiral "All soldiers, fire on the enemy, help the Warhammer titan!" he ordered. What was left of the Marley forces started to fire their weapons at the enemy forces, a rough and dotted chorus of gunshots and bright flashes of light tried to strike down the zipping enemy as they flew away.
Then, immediately responding, the scattered gunfire of Marley was then instantly followed by hailstorm of shots from buildings behind the apartments behind the stage, the bullets striking through the thick smoke and tearing apart the survivors and bouncing off of the Warhammer titan. Magath threw himself to the floor once more as zips of light flew just over him "Crawl!" he ordered, off the rooftops, those survivors quickly through the door.
He and the others crawled to the staircase, quickly getting up as they ran down the stairs and onto the floor level beneath the rooftop. Magath watched from the window as the hail of bullets shifted towards the Warhammer titan followed by explosive projectiles being thrown at it, the machine guns of the enemy then grew louder as the sparks of gunfire were spotted now on the edges of their former positions around the centre. Suddenly Eren's titan fell to the ground, landing onto the floor with a loud crash before standing up, the gunfire stopped, as he then slamming the Warhammer titan back onto the ground.
The Warhammer tried to stand up and reach out its hand, a sound like thousands of glass windows shattered called out as a spiral of white light formed in its hand to create a blade. The Warhammer tried to swing it at Eren who catches the war hammer's wrist before then striking the Warhammer in the face with its free hand, almost tearing off the head of the titan from its neck, its head dangled as if now unconnected from the rest of its spine.
"It's going to eat the Warhammer…" Magath stated as he and the Marley soldiers could only watch as it grabbed its head, raised the Warhammer's body up slightly and positioned its neck ready as it widened its jaws.
The building then shook, as if something jumped onto it, Magath looked up before looking back to the titans; Eren's titan looked up towards the building in front of him when suddenly machine guns opened fire on the titan, cutting holes through him.
Eren's titan raised its hand to protect itself as it fell back, suddenly the hails of gunfire from the enemy returned focused on the thing above them. Below them the sound of more gunfire was heard, Magath looked down to see reinforcements arrive firing at the enemy. Magath quickly ran back up to the roof; he was greeted to the sight of the Cart titan dressed in its armour as the four machinegun turrets strapped to it fired at the enemy's new positions as they shot back in a chaotic crossfire.
Magath kept his head low as he approached the Cart titan, bullets zipping by him as he took cover behind the leg of the titan. "Pieck, good timing" he said as more soldiers entered the roof and fired back.
"The enemy appears to have dug themselves in on the three buildings around the centre." Pieck said observing the battlefield, bullets bouncing off of her armour.
The Warhammer titan then stood up, smoke pouring from its open wounds as it recomposed itself, it reached out its hand as a war hammer was formed in its fingers, it grasped at the handle of the weapon as it stared down Eren Yeager who looked back at them.
"Beware, one of the Elrics are here too." The Warhammer said "Magath, the armoured titan is in the rubble, along with one of the warrior candidates, though I don't know if they're alive."
"They're behind Eren Yeager then and the enemy positions." Magath said looking at the titan "Pieck, where's Zeke?"
"I don't know, colonel." Pieck replied "Last I saw him he was told by the impostor soldier to head towards the gate."
"Let's hope he wasn't ambushed by the enemy beforehand then." Magath said.
"Colonel, there's something strange going on, its-" sudden a rocket struck the ground near them, almost hitting the Cart titan, forcing them to move.
"We'll talk about it later; priority now is to hold off the enemy forces until we can surround the internment zone." Magath stated, he looked back to the center as the two sides continued to trade shots. "Where the hell is Zeke anyways?" he muttered to himself.
Zeke took a long inhale of his cigarette before blowing it out into the night sky, the smell of the ocean was strong and the sound of the motor engine of the boat filled his ears, he looked back towards the city and its lights and the trail of water being cut through by the propellers of the boat. He looked ahead as a Marley destroyer came into view, a person at the front of the boat began to wave at the ship, as they came closer he spotted over watching from the ship waving back, he flicked the bud over the deck as they continued to drive forward.
As they approached the ship, the destroyer grew closer till it overshadowed the ship. Zeke whistled as he looked at the ship, two scouts looked down at him before they threw a climbing net over the side.
"Climb." said one of the scouts, Zeke turned to see the scouts behind him point their guns at him.
"Very friendly." He muttered "Alright." He said as he grabbed onto the net and began to climb up, as he was half way through the boat suddenly moved away underneath him.
"Try not to fall." Said one of the scouts watching him.
Zeke continued to climb till he reached to the ledge and pulled himself up, as he stood up he was greeted a crowd of faces all looking at him; some blankly, some anxiously but many with complete contempt.
"Head to the bridge, the commander will see you." one of the scouts said.
"Thank you." Zeke said as he walked away; as he passed through the deck and walked inside the ship he noticed the stares and glares of those on the ship, as he passed by people would stop and watch him walk by, some muttered to each other as he passed them and others sneering.
He walked up to the stairs and towards the front of the ship, a metal door to a room guarded by two scouts dressed only in the uniform armed with what looked to be machineguns looked at him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the door opened on the other side.
Zeke's eyes widen a bit as he raised his eyebrows "Hello, Alphonse." he said as caught sight of Zeke; the younger Elric brother was dressed in Marley uniform carrying a Marley rifle. He didn't say anything, instead only narrowing his eyes as he looked at him and walked passed him without saying a word. "Nicer that his brother…" Zeke commented. He looked to the guards "I've been told to see commander Erwin." He said itching the side of his face.
"He can enter." Said a voice inside the bridge, Zeke looked at the guards before walking inside; the front was covered in a long line of windows facing the direction of the city and its coast. The controls of the ship were being operated by its crew as someone else stood by the steering wheel and another manned a radio.
At the front looking out of the window was a tall figure dressed in the black scout uniform with short blond hair and a built figure. He turned around to face Zeke. "Commander Erwin, good to finally meet you in person." Zeke said as he walked up to him "Your reputation precedes you and you do well in living up to it." He commented "Yelena informed me of your plans, it's ambitious."
"Thank you." he replied with a blank expression.
Zeke stood next to him looking out the window "I'm serious; it would be easier to just collect Eren and I and escape quickly."
"It would but if we have to do this then its best we go the jugular." Erwin replied "If to bargain with Marley or weaken them."