It was the dead of night, in fact, it was far closer to dawn than it was to midnight. The plan for the Scouts to return to Shiganshina without any extra supplies or taking any casualties was to go on a moonless night, taking away the risk of Titan's being active at night.
The plan in theory was very sound and reliable, taking away the risk of soldiers dying on the way there was the best way to go. It meant that they'd be at full strength and capacity for the battle they would have with the Armoured, Colossal and Beast Titans.
Titans couldn't move without the sunlight that gave them energy, and it had been established that even the reflected sunlight from the moon was enough for some to move around, though Lukas had suspected it was because Zeke had been commanding them to move at Utgard Castle, and his theory was further established by the fact that he could command the Smiling Titan to move without any form of sunlight.
It may have been because it had been sitting around, soaking up sunlight for over a month without expending a lot of that energy because it couldn't move, but that was unlikely, Titans weren't smart enough to do anything but move and eat unless they were told otherwise.
The footsteps of the Titan were loud, and while Lukas was doing his best to keep the Titan light on it's feet, it was basically useless. He and every other Scout knew they had probably been spotted by now, they were very close to Shiganshina, Pieck, or the Cart Titan had almost certainly spotted them because of the lights they were using.
"Titan on the left! Everyone hold, light up the area!" The call came from Jean. Swords were drawn, and lights were flashed at the Titan, who was leaning against a large rock, sleeping peacefully.
"It's all right, pretty sure he's asleep." Hange tried to reassure everyone. "Doesn't look like this is one of the new types that can move around at night. Well, isn't that a shame? Leave him be." The swords were sheathed, while some talked about how close they had gotten before they'd spotted it.
They continued on the path of the mountain, with several Scouts having to light the way specifically for the Smiling Titan to walk without losing footing and crushing the others.
"I see the foot of the mountain!" A Scout called out. "It looks like there's signs of a trail ahead!"
Just as they were nearing the edge of the forest on the mountain, the sun had began to rise, lighting up the path to Shiganshina. It was clear, just as they expected it to be, most Titans had been much closer to Trost by now, but the silence was still eerie, like something out of a horror story.
Once they reached the foot of the mountain, Erwin ordered they charge full speed at Shiganshina, where Eren would seal the outer gate and they'd prepare for a fight. The horses went first, speeding towards the walled city, and after a few moments, out came the Smiling Titan with Lukas on its shoulder, running like a human controlling a Titan would.
On the journey, he'd been coaxing the mindless Titan to learn to run like a human, and with any luck, either Zeke, Pieck, Reiner or Bertholdt would see it, believing it to be a Titan shifter who'd eaten Annie, and hopefully Reiner and Bertholdt didn't place the Titan from the time they kidnapped Eren over two months ago.
"There could be Titans anywhere, so keep your guard up!" Erwin warned his army of Scouts. "This operation has officially begun! All troops, switch to ODM Gear!"
"Hey, stand by the wall over there." Lukas pointed to where he wanted the Titan to stay as he readied his gear. "Keep an eye out on the plains back there, and scream if you see anything move over there." He gave his orders to the Titan, and followed the rest of the Scouts up the wall.
The plan was simple, everyone would wear their hoods up so they couldn't know which one was Eren. He'd go with the Levi Squad and the Hange Squad and seal the outer wall, the newest recruits would take care of the horses, while the rest investigated the area for any sign of the enemy shifters.
At the outer gate, a green smoke was fired, giving Eren the signal to go ahead and seal the hole in the wall. A bright light an explosion was seen, and in a matter of moments, his Titan had begun hardening, and the outer wall was sealed off completely, with another two green smokes to confirm the breach was in fact fully sealed.
Back at the other side of the wall, Erwin was with Lukas and another squad leader, waiting for Armin to return from investigating the campfire that had been put out, and he was back in no time at all.
"I looked into it, it's clear that someone was camping on the wall." Armin concluded. "I found cups and a cold pot on the ground near where I spotted those ashes. They were drinking something like black tea."
"It'll be coffee." Lukas told them. "Comes from a plant in warmer climates. Apparently tastes bitter, but it keeps you awake and alert."
"There were three cups, all with the same black liquid in the bottom, so I'd say there were three people camping up here at least." Armin concluded.
"Hmm." Erwin pondered for a moment, it was exactly as Lukas had predicted, or maybe it was exactly as he wanted it to look for them, he could've been in contact with them this whole time. "It's just like you said it'd be Lukas, just like it."
"Of course it is, you think I lied to you all?" He remarked back, sarcasm laced in his voice. "The pot was cold, right Armin? Like they had been warned we were coming?"
"Y-Yes." Armin responded. "It was completely cold to the touch."
"We charged here at full speed on horseback, had they noticed our approach by sound or by sight, that would've only given them two minutes at most to clear out." Erwin stated. "A pot over flame wouldn't have cooled in such a short time, they knew we were coming for five minutes or more."
"What puzzles me is where is the Cart Titan." Armin said. "Even with the speed you described, there's no way it could've evaded our line of sight with how empty the fields are."
"Maybe it transformed back into a human?" The other squad leader suggested.
"No, she's hiding in plain sight." Lukas had turned to look at the buildings on the inside of Wall Maria. "The buildings gave her the perfect hiding spot, we never cleared the town, so my guess is she's hiding down there. Zeke, or the Beast Titan probably used the river bank as cover as we charged here, and now he's moved into position to surround us by now."
"An astute observation." Erwin commended his thinking. "But we need to sharpen our focus on our enemies nearby. I trust you Armin. Until the Beast Titan shows himself, we should only concern ourselves with finding the Armoured Titan." Erwin turned his head to face Armin. "With that mind of yours, you've saved us from disaster countless times. Now do it again, we're in dire need of your help."
Erwin turned and signalled the other squads to come to him. "You can take as many soldiers as you need. If the enemy is hiding near the inner gate, find him."
Once the others had gathered, Erwin spoke again. "As of now, you will obey Armin Arlert's commands, he'll tell you how to proceed."
"Understood!"
"We searched the Wall's perimeter."
"What are your instructions?"
"We'll send one group to each side of the wall." Armin instructed. "Search the interiors of any buildings nearby, if you find something, fire an acoustic shell." Though he had begun to falter a little. "Does... that work for you?"
"Understood!" The group of Scouts followed his orders.
"Another one of these gambles of yours?" The other Scout asked.
"No, Arlert's proven himself. He's one of our greatest weapons, that I know." Erwin told the man.
"Eren's on his way back here now. What should we do? Just wait until the enemy shows themselves?"
"We continue. We'll lose a prolonged campaign in enemy territory. To prevail, our only chance is to win a decisive battle." Erwin said. "With that in mind, even if this has gone all according to the enemy's plan so far, we simply have to deal with it. In any case, they aren't the only ones hiding something."
Before long, Armin had fired an acoustic shell, which had gathered the attention of the Scouts now under his command.
"Did you find them Arlert? Where?"
"The Wall." Armin told them. "Everyone scour the Walls."
"But we already searched all around them."
"There isn't anywhere to hide around them."
"Check inside them." Armin told them.
"Inside the walls?"
"Yes." Armin nodded. "Search for a small cavity that someone can hide out in. It may be covered."
"How do you know that this exists?" One Scout questioned.
Armin's head lowered slightly. "It's a hunch."
"Damn it!" The Scout grabbed him by the shoulders. "Do you have any idea what kind of situation we're in? We don't have time to waste on your hunches."
"But, just think about it." Armin pleaded with them. "The enemy always gets the better of us by using their Titan powers in ways we never could've imagined. If we constrain ourselves to normal tactical reasoning, then we'll never be able to gain the upper hand."
Erwin then fired a red smoke into the air, signalling for the others to hold position. "There are times to be strict and times to be flexible. Uphold the principles of your vows. Do what it takes to win. Follow the chain of command, and keep your eyes fixed on the path to victory."
Gaining a sudden confidence boost from the Commander, Armin ordered them again. "Form two groups and check the walls surface! We'll search above the gate! Go, quickly!"
The Scouts hesitated for a moment, but then realised that he was right. "Right!" They responded and got to work, tapping on the walls with their blades to find any spot in the wall that was hollow.
After a few minutes, an acoustic shell was fired by one of the Scouts down below. "Right here! This part of the wall is hollow!" Right in front of him, the piece of wall opened up, and Reiner thrust his blade forward into the man, killing him and letting him drop to the floor.
"REINER!" Armin yelled as he climbed out the hole in the wall, which distracted him just enough to allow Levi to fly down the wall, stabbing him right through the neck with one blade, the other into his abdomen, though his eyes told him he wasn't dead and Levi let go, dropping Reiner to the ground below.
"Shit!" Levi cursed. "What are these guys made of? A blade right through the back of the neck and the bastard still wont die."
Down below, Reiner's body began convulsing, before the light exploded out of him as his Titan body was formed on the spot, laying down on his back, currently motionless.
Down below them on the other side of the wall, the Smiling Titan had begun screaming out, a warning to Lukas that it was indeed about to begin.
"Keep your eyes open!" Erwin roared to the rest of his troops. "That'll be the signal for his allies! We-"
Erwin was cut off, as right on cue, hundreds of explosions came from out in the fields behind them. Titans were surrounding them, cutting them off from getting back without a fight.
The Beast Titan was right in the centre of the Titan formation, and he had a rock in his hands, which he threw from all the way back there all the way to the wall.
"Incoming boulder!" Erwin warned his soldiers. "Get down!"
"Looks like he missed." A Scout tried to take some positives, seeing as their horses were unharmed, and so was the Titan on their side.
"Not so, that was a well placed shot." Erwin told him, seeing the smoke clear and the path into Shiganshina for their horses was now blocked by rubble. "He blocked off the entrance, there's no riding through it now. They have us all but surrounded, they plan to target our horses, block our escape routes and slaughter us. The enemy hopes for the same thing we do, to win this conflict once and for all." Erwin drew his sword. "It's our side or theirs now, we can let the Titans crush us, or bring them crashing down!"
Erwin then let a creepy grin worm it's way onto his face. "This is exactly what you predicted would happen Lukas, and thanks to you and your Titan powers, we have the upper hand in this battle now."
(One week ago)
Every member of the Scouting Regiment that was going to be taking part in the mission to recover Wall Maria had been gathered up and brought into the largest room they had. There was a map on the wall at one end of the room, with everyone aside from Erwin sitting down and facing the map. They had all been told this would be the final time they'd be briefed on the battle strategy, with this being the time they learned the plan in the greatest detail.
"Thank you all for coming in such a timely manner." Erwin spoke from the front of the room. "Now usually the battle strategy would be explained by me or even one of the Section Commanders, but this will be a fight like no other. Our enemies are lying in wait for us at Shiganshina, where we'll need an outright and decisive victory to send them running back where they came from."
Erwin then used his one arm to point to where Lukas was, standing at the side of the map. "This is where Lukas comes in. Some of you will know why he's the one giving the battle strategy, but for all our new recruits, you may have heard rumours of the Scouts being in possession of a second Titan, and I can confirm that this is true, and he is that second Titan on our side."
Some of the new recruits actually looked more hopeful, but some of them looked fearful of the new unknown.
"Fear not. Lukas has proven himself in the heat of battle before." Erwin tried to assure them. "Many of us would not be standing here if it were not for him and his actions. He has helped us countless times, but don't take my word for it. Listen to the strategy and the explanations, then decide for yourselves." He then turned to him. "You may proceed."
"Right, so as Commander Erwin just told you, just like Eren, I am a Titan Shifter." He confirmed to them all. "Now, you new recruits are probably wondering, what makes him qualified to tell us the battle strategy instead of the Commander? Well I'll tell you why, it's because unlike anyone else here, I know exactly what they're going to do, and how to counter it."
"First of all." He then began indicating towards the map that showed Shiganshina district and the inner parts of Wall Maria. "The main objective is to seal the hole in the outer wall, the only problem being that they could just destroy it all over again, so we need to defeat them in battle."
"Now, as for the enemies we'll be facing, there will be the Armoured Titan, the Colossal Titan, the Beast Titan, and if my suspicions are right, they will also have the Cart Titan with them to act as a Scout." He told them. "The Cart Titan is practically useless in combat, it is a support Titan that usually carries cargo, it is the fastest Titan power, so if it runs, there'll be no chance of us catching it, but you needn't worry about it that much, unless..." The thought of the Panzer Unit came over him.
"Unless what?" Levi, who was in the front row asked.
"Unless they brought the Panzer Unit across with them, which means that you'd all be fucked." He told them. "But I wouldn't worry about it, they've been sent here for reconnaissance, so I highly doubt they would've bothered bringing it."
"Now, as for the strategy of the enemy." He decided to continue on. "Reiner will probably be hiding around the Inner Wall, waiting for Eren to get close before striking." He pointed to the inner wall and surrounding area. "I wouldn't expect you to kill him while he's a human, so it'll be down to Eren and you guys using the Thunder Spears to take him down."
"Now, what I expect to happen after Reiner transforms, is that the Beast Titan will show himself around about here." He pointed at the inner part of Wall Maria, a good but back from the town on the inside of the wall. "Not only that..." Lukas then drew a semi circle surrounding the entrance to the district. "I fully expect him to use his powers to create Titans that will box us in, giving us little chance to escape on horseback. What he'll then do, is send Titans at us in waves to burn our gas and blades, leaving us with little to no defence if he does decide to come at us."
"While that is happening, the Armoured Titan will likely try and come to kill the horses, we cannot let that happen." He told them. "So it will be up to Eren to distract him and take him away, so that if we need to, the horses can be moved through the inner gate and into Shiganshina if there are no options left."
"As for the Colossal Titan, he will be all the way back here with the Beast Titan." Lukas continued on with. "He'll be waiting for the signal, and when it comes, the Beast Titan will throw him from all the way back here into Shiganshina, and when that happens, if you're out in the open or too close to the blast, you'll be vaporised. His blast is so powerful, you will quite literally, cease to exist if you're within a certain radius."
"You're making it sound like we have no chance at all." One of the new recruits spoke up from the back. "How the hell are we supposed to beat them?" A lot of the new recruits agreed, which started to stir up quite the commotion between them.
"Shut up!" Lukas yelled at the recruits. "Now, I'm glad you asked, as for the Beast Titan and his army, we just need to wait it out." He told them, before going on to explain further. "What you haven't been told, is that when the Military overthrew the fake King, the real Queen had her own Titan power, one that I was able to take into my own possession. The power allows me to command Mindless Titans at will, however, there are some constraints to my use of these powers."
"Such as?" Erwin was the one to ask.
"Well, me not having Royal Blood is the main one, but there is a condition that can be used to bypass that requirement." He explained. "That Titan I asked Hange to find for me, touching it allows me to use the powers of the Founding Titan, which in turn means that we can sit by and wait out the Beast Titan until the Armoured and Colossal Titans are defeated, then I can turn his army against him."
"You see, this battle is not about crushing the enemy as quickly as possible." He went on. "I could decimated the Armoured Titan as soon as he appeared, and you might think that would be good, but it'd be a horrific strategy against the Beast Titan. He's the smartest person I've ever met, and that was six years ago, if he sees me fighting in my Titan form, you can bet your ass he'd come up with a new plan to defeat us, and if he realised I was using the power of the Founding Titan, he'd probably just run, inform his comrades and bring hell back to this island."
"The longer the battle goes on, the better the chance we can beat him in a fight." Lukas began his finishing statement off with. "This will be the hardest battle you will ever take part in, but victory here ensures the path to peace is straight ahead."
(Present)
"Commander, he's about to climb." Levi informed Erwin, who looked back to see that the Armoured Titan was in fact about to climb, and he ran towards the wall, digging his feet and claws into the column, beginning the ascent up the wall.
"Soldiers! You are not yet to engage the Armoured Titan. Maintain a safe distance!" He ordered them.
"Yes Sir!"
"That Quadruped Titan, it's the Cart Titan you talked about?" Erwin asked, getting a hum from the hooded Lukas. "So that means the Colossal Titan is over there in one of those barrels."
Out in the distance, the Beast Titan let out a roar, slamming a hairy fist into the floor, and on his signal, all the smallest Titans came charging at them, with the larger Titans continuing to stand in formation.
"Lukas, do you have control?"
"You." Lukas stared at a Titan in the distance, one that was chubby and short. "Trip over your own feet." His eyes flashed, but nothing happened for a moment, until the Titan did indeed trip over itself. "That's interesting, he has his own bootleg coordinate that his Titans are connected through to him, doesn't matter, I'll let him keep control for now."
"Sir, what now?" Armin was beginning to panic slightly, Reiner was almost at the top of the wall. "The Armoured Titan is almost up!"
"Yes, I'm well aware."
"You finally ready to say something Erwin?" Levi asked. "Been waiting so long I could've made breakfast."
"Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad too. Join Klaus Squad and protect the horses at the gate." Erwin ordered. "Levi Squad and Hange Squad, I need you to take down the Armoured Titan. Employ the Thunder Spears at your own discretion. Do whatever it takes to achieve your objective. This is our moment! Our chance to strike! The fate of humankind depends on this battle! Lay down your hearts and lives! One final time for humanity!"
"Yes Sir!"
"Hey, hold on you two." Erwin stopped Levi and Armin. "Hange can lead both your squads, I'm gonna need you right here Levi."
"So I'll protect the horses instead of Eren?" Levi didn't sound best pleased. "You have him for that." He nodded at the second Titan Shifter.
"That's right, and when the chance arises you'll strike him down." Erwin pointed at the Beast Titan with a sword. "You're the only soldier I can trust to strike him down."
"Understood Sir. I wasn't fast enough to finish off the Armoured one earlier, but I'll atone for that by taking the Beast Titan's head." Levi went forward and off the wall, though Lukas didn't follow, he had the best vantage point for dealing with the Titans from up here.
As Reiner reached the top of the Wall, he got a good look over the top and down below. He was looking for the horses, but he caught a glimpse of the Titans, and they were being slaughtered, bodies had piled up in certain areas, though he ignored that and set his sight on the horses.
"There they are. Gathered up in one place. I'll kill the horses and make a break for it. That's good enough, no matter how strong Captain Levi is, he's still no match for our War Chief." Reiner then felt the blade being pulled from his neck and disappearing into the flesh of his Titan.
"That was a close one. If I was any slower in transferring my consciousness to my body, I'd have died instantly." He thought to himself. "How did they even think to check inside the Walls. Armin, was it you? It doesn't matter now, once this is done, our long journey will reach its end."
His eyes widened as he looked to his left, there were two people standing on the wall, both with their hoods up. He could see one, but the other was looking away, down at the scene below.
"Erwin Smith... can't let him distract me, gotta kill those horses." Suddenly, there was an explosion and a bright light coming from behind them, he turned to see that Eren had transformed in the middle of the city, staring at him.
"They don't know that Eren isn't our target anymore, but why would he show himself when he doesn't have to?" Reiner mused to himself, though Eren then turned away and started running. "No, focus on the horses, kill them and regroup with Zeke."
Reiner turned away from Eren, it was obvious bait, bait that he didn't even need to bite on, so he took one step forward on the wall before he felt a spark of pain in his head.
"Reiner, go back down the god damn wall and chase Eren." That voice, it sounded like Lukas, but that wasn't possible, unless...
"Reiner, get back down the fucking wall." Lukas voice sounded in his head once again. "Otherwise Eren will climb the wall and hit Zeke with a pincer attack. Trust me, we'll make it home after this. I still have a debt to pay to them."
"A-Are you..."
"The Founding Titan? Yes. They let me have it in return for helping them take back Wall Maria." He informed them. "I also set Annie free, hopefully she'll be here soon. I told them about Marley and the outside world, but not about your Titan powers, use the conscience transfer if you have to, don't let them kill you."
"You dick." Reiner grinned from inside his Titan form. "Making me get down when I just climbed up." With that, Reiner turned and jumped back down the wall, a newfound confidence now that they had the Founding Titan on their side.
"Was that your doing?" Erwin asked him, though Lukas' focus was now back on the Titans, doing his best to not alert Zeke he had infiltrated his coordinate. "He was about to go for the horses anyway."
"I told him to fuck off down the wall." It was more or less what he'd told him. "He thinks I'm on their side."
"Are you?"
"We had a deal. You'll get Wall Maria back, and a couple Titan powers as well, as long as it all goes to plan." Though he did start to feel his powers were going away, so he went down the wall to the Smiling Titan, touched it for a few seconds and made it sit down, this time out of the line of fire for when Zeke started throwing.
Off in the distance, Zeke was still sat down, watching the events unfold, his eyesight was very good while he was a Titan, but even he could see that his Titans were not faring very well, in fact, he couldn't remember seeing a single soldier dying from one of his Titans.
"Stupid beasts." Zeke thought to himself, they couldn't even follow simple orders to kill them.
Though his thoughts were cut off as he heard the Armoured Titan scream from inside the city. "That's the signal!" He heard Bertholdt shout, and Pieck was next to him in a flash.
Zeke picked up the barrel Bertholdt was in, and threw it towards the city, it would only be a moment until the flash and blast decimated everyone within the city. Though the flash didn't come, which prompted another unamused look from Zeke.
"Hold on a moment." Zeke spoke through his Titan to Pieck. "That Titan we spotted earlier, it's bugging me. I'm sure that little Annie hasn't been eaten, so it makes me wonder who that is." He scratched the back of his pointed ear. "Flank around the right side, have a look and report back."
"Yes War Chief Zeke." Pieck responded, her Titan galloping off round the right flank, round the back of the Titan blockade until she reached the wall, with a direct line of sight to the Titan sitting, back against the wall.
When she reached her destination, Zeke watched her walk forward a little, before the three Titans in her vicinity all reached out to grab her Titan, something that he didn't expect to happen. These god damn abnormals.
"Hey, put her down!" Zeke's Titan roared out, though it didn't seem to do anything to begin with. "Aren't you listening? I said to put her down and get back in formation!" The Titans followed his commands this time, though that was very peculiar, he had a hunch, so he visited his own coordinate, but everything seemed fine, so he dismissed it as abnormal behaviour, but he logged it in his mind for future research purposes.
"Well? Anything useful?" Zeke asked once Pieck had returned to his position.
"She's just sitting down War Chief." Pieck reported. "Nothing else to report."
"Hmm." Zeke scratched behind his ear once more, this was becoming more and more strange by the second, and even more so when the trees directly behind him began rustling, the ground shaking as a Titan approached.
Emerging from the forest at the foot of the mountain was the Female Titan, controlled by one Annie Leonhart, who now felt a lot better after stuffing her face before making a run for Wall Maria.
"Little Annie." Zeke sounded pleasantly surprised. "You haven't grown at all." He jested, having not seen the young girl's Titan for five years, though his attention was then brought to the walled city, because Bertholdt had finally transformed and hopefully wiped out the forces inside the city.
"You've joined the battle at just the right time Annie." His, Annie's and Pieck's Titans were coated in a bright yellow light as they all looked at the massive mushroom cloud forming inside of the city. "This is where we finally crush these Island Devils once and for all."