Pieck didn't know what to make of the situation they currently found themselves in. One one hand, the battle on this side of the Wall wasn't exactly going to plan.

War Chief Zeke's Titans were being slaughtered when they reached the first few rows of houses. Reiner had said the people of the Walls generally struggled in fighting Titans, and with the fact that most of their veterans were dead according to him, so how were they dealing with Zeke's Titan army so well?

Then there was Bertholdt, he had just been thrown into the city, but there had been no light, so obviously there was an issue. Had they defeated Reiner? Why had he turned instead of killing the horses like planned? Their objective was to hold position and kill anyone who tried to retake the Wall.

Marley had gotten tired of waiting, and with the information that they had relayed back from their reconnaissance, Marley had been starting to mobilise their Army and Navy to invade the island, kill the islanders and plunder the riches that the raw materials that were held under the island itself.

Though now she'd been ordered to flank right by Zeke to get a look at that Titan they'd spotted earlier. It had screamed when Pieck made her move earlier to rejoin the War Chief just after Reiner had transformed, so it was obviously intelligent, but which Titan could it have been?

The Female Titan was one, which would have been a shame, because Pieck thought Annie was somewhat interesting, but Annie was smart, she wouldn't have let herself get captured so easily. It could be the Founding Titan, that could explain why the pure Titans were even dumber than usual, but Zeke definitely would've noticed if he'd lost control of his Titans.

Then there was the War Hammer Titan, she knew it was on the island because of what Reiner and Bertholdt told them when they found them on the wall, and they also knew that Lukas had went back to the Walls with the Devils of the Island. Though Zeke held off on reporting that to Magath, because he'd made the assumption that he was smart enough to realise what would happen to the rest of his family if he had betrayed Marley. Influential or not, they'd be sent straight to their deaths as a Titan under Zeke's command.

The hope was that Lukas hadn't been killed when he went back to the walls with the Devils and that he would come here with them to lead them all to their deaths. Although there had been no sign of him or his Titan anywhere, though she had felt like she was being watched earlier while she hid in the inner town, there would only be one person that side of the battlefield that knew about her Titan and her abilities.

She trotted forward on all fours, moving behind and around the formation of Titans all the way towards the wall, being sure to keep an eye out for any of the enemy soldiers that tried to move and attack her. For now the coast was clear, but as she moved passed the Titans, she got glances into the rows of houses, and the Titans were running into buildings that the soldiers were on before they were cut down, she hadn't seen a single dead body on her way to look along the line of houses next to the wall.

Arriving at the last Titan, she went round it, poking her long head forward. There was the Titan, sitting with its back against the wall, doing nothing, it was just sitting there, like it was dead, but it wasn't decaying, so it had to be alive. Though as she stepped forward once more to look closer, she was suddenly grabbed by the Titan right next to her, and another moved in to grab her and keep her held in place.

"Pieck, don't panic when they let you go." That voice, it had been about six years since she'd heard it, but she remembered it belonging to one Lukas Tybur, but how was she hearing him right now? "Just listen to me for a minute, then you can go back to Zeke."

"You're talking to me through your thoughts." It was a statement of fact, she was even sharper than he remembered. "And you're on their side, why would I listen to you?"

"Because you of all people should realise fast enough what is going on here." He informed her. "Don't you find it the least bit strange that Zeke's Titan army are acting like clueless children that don't have a grasp on reality. Even the pure Titans aren't dumb enough to run straight into a wall when there's a human to eat on the roof of said building."

By now Pieck had been dropped by the Titans that had grabbed her, she heard Zeke yelling for them to get back into formation, but she didn't think that it was Zeke controlling them anymore.

"Why are you still over here with the Islanders?" Pieck put the question forward to him. "Come with me and Zeke can crush them right here and now, then you can come back home with us."

"It's never as simple as that Pieck. You're going to have to make a choice very soon." He informed her, and by the sounds of it, she wouldn't like it one bit. "Your ability to make judgement calls in the heat of the moment was your best quality. I trust you'll make the right one when the time comes."

With that all said and done, Pieck turned tail and scampered back towards Zeke's position. Though when she got back, she decided at the very last moment to not relay what Lukas had told her. She had a very bad feeling about what was about to come, but luckily for them, out of the forests from the mountains came Annie's Female Titan, another spanner in the works to turn the tide of the battle.

"I wonder, was this part of your plan as well Lukas?" In the years she'd known him, he was never one for making plans as detailed as these, he'd usually just do the first thing that came to his mind without thinking of better ways to do things.

Then, the light from Bertholdt's transformation lit up the whole region, each Titan being basked in a golden glow from the light that was produced from such an explosion. This battle was going to be over soon, and Pieck had every right to believe that they were about to deliver a crushing blow to the Devils of Paradis Island.

Once the light had stopped and large amounts of steam could be seen coming from inside the walled city, Zeke decided to speak up once again.

"Where was the Titan?" His question was directed at Pieck. "Was it sitting down like I think it was, or is it lying down?"

"It was sitting with it's back against the wall." Pieck informed her leader. "About fifty metres to the right of the destroyed gate, and it's head is about eight metres from the ground up."

Zeke didn't need to speak another word, reaching down for another boulder that she had gathered for him. Picking it up, he set himself for another throw, this one would be slightly more difficult than it was blocking the gate, because he couldn't actually see the target this time, but he had a very good idea of where the Titan was at thanks to Pieck.

Leaning back, one foot off the ground, the boulder was brought up to his shoulder, just like a shot put was thrown, he stepped forward and threw the boulder with all his might, watching it soar through the air, over the houses until it disappeared just out of view at the wall, and with the lack of sound the impact made, he could only assume that he'd definitely hit the flesh of the Titan.

On the other side of the field, Erwin and Lukas stood at the top of the wall, observing the battles that were taking place on both sides. On one side, the last of the smaller Titans had been mopped up, letting the soldiers retreat and rest until the next wave came.

However, on the other side, it was a complete disaster, the Colossal Titan had appeared, and the Armoured Titan looked to still be intact, and to make matters worse, on the side that looked to be going well for them, the Female Titan had appeared. She had already slaughtered so many Scouts in cold blood, and it looked like she wanted more of the same this time.

At the last second, Erwin spotted the Beast Titan preparing to throw another boulder at the soldiers down below. "Incoming boulder!" He roared down at his subordinates. "Take cover now!"

The Scouts down below took cover, though they shouldn't have bothered, they were never in any danger from the boulder, instead it soared passed the majority of them, colliding with the sole living thing sat against the wall, the boulder impacting the lower jaw of the Smiling Titan, the momentum of said boulder carrying it straight through the soft flesh, going all the way through and crushing the neck of the Titan.

"Oh shit..." Lukas gasped, jumping straight off the Wall, slowing himself down only because he had to, he prayed that the Titan was still alive, but he was mortified to find that instead of regenerating, the Titan was slowly decaying, wilting away into steam that would be blown away.

"Shit, shit, shit!" His hands gripped his hair, this was very bad, they could've won this fight easily before, but now they had a huge problem, the key to unlocking the power of the Founding Titan was now dead. He touched the Titan, and he still felt the power inside him, but once the Titan was gone, that was it.

"Erwin!" He yelled all the way up the wall. "Get down here! We've got a big fucking problem!"

Though before Erwin could descend, the wall, Levi had already made his way to all the commotion, and while the man was never usually in the best of moods, he looked borderline furious right now. He grabbed him by the collar and threw him up against the house directly across from the dead Titan, holding him firmly in place with the point of his sword so close to piercing his jugular.

"The Female Titan, are you fucking with us or not?" He demanded to know. "You set her free using those bullshit mind powers of yours, didn't you? Don't think I didn't notice you communicating with that four legged freak. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you right now, I'll be more than fast enough this time."

"Levi. That's enough." Erwin had finally joined them on the ground, trusting that the others could defeat the Colossal Titan. "Let him go."

"No." Levi half growled out. "I'm fed up with his bullshit. He's been spoon feeding us half truths all this time, and you've been eating it up like a spoiled child. I've had enough, he's either with us or against us."

"You can't have all the Titan powers for yourselves." Lukas finally spoke up. "Marley relies far too much on the power of the Titans for warfare. Take that away, you have an ill equipped Army, a shoddy Navy and me. For peace to be a real option for this island, Marley needs to be defeated in the future by you all, not by other nations ganging up on them when they're weak. Besides, you only have the means to steal two from them anyway."

Levi narrowed his eyes, but he didn't let go of him just yet, there was still something that told him he wasn't telling them the truth.

"Let me go Levi." He tried to order him. "You see the Titan, it's fucking dead. Without that, I can't control the Titans. The plan for waiting them out has gone out the window. We need to charge straight at them before Zeke starts decimating the houses protecting us." He told them.

"You want us to charge straight at him?" Levi looked at him incredulously. "You want us to be slaughtered by that Beast while you sit and do nothing, right? Because your precious powers need to be hidden from them?"

"No, I can cover your advance." He told the shorter man. "Zeke can't throw if he has to avoid incoming projectiles." He explained. "My aim isn't nearly as good as his, but I could definitely hit him if I tried. Add the smoke from the flare guns to put him off, cloud his vision, not everyone will die."

"He's right Levi." Erwin tried once again to get the Captain to let their best hope go. "Every second we argue is valuable time lost. Once that Titan disintegrates completely, we lose our best trump card."

"...Fine." Levi let the younger man go. "What do we do then?"

"We do as Lukas suggests." Erwin responded. "We mount a cavalry charge with Lukas providing cover from back here. Once the time is right, he'll turn his Titans against him, letting us defeat him once and for all."

"As for you Levi, you'll be tasked with getting to the Beast Titan and cutting him out of his Titan form." Erwin let the Captain know what he wanted him to do.

"What? You want me to go after him with just ODM Gear?" Levi summed up what Erwin was asking him to do. "He's standing in the middle of a field. I can't fight without a house or tree to hook onto."

"You're wrong." Erwin stated. "There happens to be a line of objects at just the right height for your approach. Use his thralls to advance unseen. With you coming from the left, the Titans coming at him from the right, and the rest of us down the middle, we might stand a chance when he starts throwing stones at us."

At that moment, there was a huge crash from the top of the wall, and looking up, everyone on this side of the wall could see Eren's Titan form laying atop the wall, knocked out.

"Dammit, that's Eren up there. There's only one Titan that could fling him like that." Levi cursed their situation. "The Colossal."

"Trust in them to deal with the Colossal Titan." Lukas spoke up once more. "We don't have time for anymore debating, we need to attack now, defeat them on this side of the wall, then you can focus on the Colossal on the other side."

"What about the Female Titan? Any tips on how to take her down." Sarcasm dripped through Levi's voice.

"As long as I pose a threat to Zeke from back here, I suspect he'll have Annie come fight me to stop throwing at him." He didn't sugarcoat it. "So, you'll only get my support for so long."

"Alright then." Erwin steeled himself for now. "I'm about to announce our final mission! All troops line up!" He gathered the troops, which included the new recruits, and all but a few from Dirk, Klaus and Marlene's Squad. In total, there were eighty one of them here, seventy nine of which would charge straight into hell.

"We're going to mount a cavalry charge. Rushing the Beast Titan directly." He announced. "Clearly, this will make us ideal targets for him, so we'll wait until the moment he's ready to throw, then we'll fire our smoke signals together. Combine that with Lukas in his Titan form throwing projectiles at the Beast Titan, this should reduce his accuracy a fair bit, if not hugely. When the time is right, Lukas will use the power of the Founding Titan to turn the Titans to our side, all this with Captain Levi flanking around to the left, the Beast Titan will have nowhere to run, and we'll be able to win this battle. Does anyone have questions?"

One of the new recruits fell to her knees and was sick all over the floor at the orders they'd been given. Many of them were going to die, they could all feel it.

"We don't have time to waste here. Every second that passes, the key to the Founding Titan's power wilts away into the wind." Erwin informed them. "Ready your horses on the double."

"Be honest..." The red haired teen in the front row spoke up. "Are all of us, riding to our deaths?"

"Yes we are." Erwin was honest with them, in all likelihood, they'd be decimated by the first decent throw the Beast Titan had.

"And since we're about to lose this fight, you're saying it's better to if we at least die fighting?"

"I am."

"But wait, why doesn't he just use his power to kill the Beast Titan right now? Surely that's better than us dying in a field?" The red haired recruit asked. "Wouldn't it just be better to disobey your orders?"

"If the Beast Titan's attention isn't fully focused on us charging at him, then there's a great chance he'll see the Titans coming a lot faster and flee." Erwin informed him.

"Everything you thought that had meaning, every hope, dream or happiness, none of it matters as you lie bleeding out on the battlefield. None of it changes what a speeding rock does to a body. We all die. But does that mean our lives are meaningless? Does that mean there was no point in our being born? Would you say that of our slain comrades? What about their lives? Were they meaningless?"

There was a slight pause from Erwin.

"THEY WERE NOT! Their memory serves as an example to us all! The courageous fallen! The anguished fallen! Their lives have meaning, because we the living, refuse to forget them! And as we ride to almost certain death, we trust our successors to do the same for us! Because my soldiers do not buckle or yield when faced with the cruelty of this world! My soldiers push forward! My soldiers scream out! My soldiers rage!"

When Erwin finished his speech, the recruits stood in awe of the Commander. He was the first one willing to put his life in harms way to complete their mission to take down the Beast Titan, and despite the fact that many of them would probably die, all of them terrified at the prospect of it, they were all willing to follow their Commander if it meant winning this battle.

Behind them all, an explosion of light and a gust of wind and energy put them all off balance, and in place of Lukas, stood the sixteen metre tall War Hammer Titan, having finally assumed his Titan form during the battle. He stood well above the buildings that kept them protected from a full on bombardment.

"Well then, look who finally decided to show themselves." They could all hear the Beast Titan as the soldiers mounted their horses. "It is rather disappointing, seeing you choose to side with Devils over your friends and family back home. You know what will happen to them, right?"

"Fucking ape." Lukas growled out in his Titan form, reaching for the nearest building, ripping a chunk out of it, the bricks and tiles separating into individual pieces, some of which fell out when he drew his fist back. He twisted his body and threw the debris as hard as he could towards the Beast Titan, and although it did little to damage him, the annoyance of being hit by something was definitely there.

"Nice throw, if you consider hitting me with about three bricks to be successful." Zeke commented, while he was showered with yet another round of debris that did no damage to him. Although, he was a little surprised when out of the last row of houses, a whole legion of soldiers emerged and began charging at him.

"Hmm, a suicide charge? Is that why you're throwing shit at me?" Zeke's fur covered came across his face to block the incoming bits of buildings that were about to hit him. "I didn't expect them to just lay down and die, it can't be helped I guess." Zeke scratched behind his pointed ear before looking at what was left of his Titan army. "All of you, forward! Crush them all right here and now."

All at once, the eighty or so Titans that were left, ranging from ten to fifteen metres all began moving, closing in on the advancing Scouts. Even the ones behind them began closing in on their position, if they didn't take action, they'd be trapped and all eaten alive.

Erwin's eyes widened, he never expected the Beast Titan to order his army to break ranks like this, but he wasn't the Commander of the Scouts for no reason, making judgement calls on the fly was part of the job description.

"Everyone, fire your flares now!" The firing of the flares were premature, but hopefully the smoke would cloud the vision of the onrushing Titans for a small amount of time. "Klaus Squad, Marlene Squad and Dirk Squad, engage your ODM Gear and fight the Titans!" He ordered. "The rest of you are with me. Push through the oncoming Titans towards the Beast Titan. Your heart and soul to the cause!"

The green smoke did very little to stop the Titans advancing on them, because they broke through the disarrayed smokescreen before the Scouts made up any serious ground on the Beast Titan. The three squads of Scouts tasked were prepared to engage, many of which ready to jump off their horses when the first seven Titans were within range of them. Though they didn't need to, because from behind them, the bell from the tower had been thrown at the Titans, hitting one in the kneecap, breaking it and sending the Titan tumbling into the others, tripping over each other and allowing the Scouts to go around the mess and continue forward.

Up ahead, the Beast Titan was preparing to throw, a very bad sign for the Scouts. "Incoming!" Erwin called out. "Spread out and Fire!" All at once, the Scouts that hadn't disengaged to fight Titans fired their flares before spreading out, preparing for the rocks coming their way, but this one never did, instead the Beast Titan had thrown something else entirely, they could barely see it, it was so small, flying through the air towards the Wall.

Behind them, Lukas had just finished throwing another round of debris at Zeke, only to spot he'd also thrown something that was coming at him. Despite his improved eyesight, he couldn't make out what it was, until it, or rather she was within about a hundred metres of him. He'd thrown Annie, who just about had the energy for another transformation as she did so mid air, her Titan body forming out of nothing, coming straight at him from the air.

Winding his fist back, he timed it just right to hit her square in the face before she touched the ground, sending her flying into a nearby building as he then prepared to throw another chunk of debris, this time grabbing the roof of the bell tower, keeping it in tact before hurling it at Zeke, who had to swat it away before it hit him in the face.

Although Annie had now stood up once more, so he created a number of spikes protruding the ground around him so she couldn't approach without getting stuck, so that should keep her at bay he covered the Scouts advance.

But Annie was no idiot, she'd learned from their past fight, this hardening power he had was essentially cheating in her mind. He couldn't fight fair, or well to be honest, so he used this bullshit to beat her last time. So, instead of walking on the ground, she jumped up and took to the rooftops, the buildings crumbling just after she stepped off them, but she had a path straight to him.

Lukas growled out in frustration, retracting the spikes from the ground to draw her in before he'd put a spike through her and hoist her into the air. She'd bought the bait perfectly, he backed up a little, in a fighting stance, waiting until she was close before he did it. The sole spike then rose out the ground, but to his surprise, she actually dodged it, spinning around it, almost on top of him now.

He panicked, forming a sword in an instant in his right hand, the first thing that came to mind, one that looked exactly like an ODM Gear blade. He swung wildly at her, but she ducked under his swing, locking her arms around his neck, pushing him back over her right leg, the both of them crashing to the ground, where she began squeezing the life out of his Titan form.

The way her shoulders pushed his arms up above his meant he couldn't reach down and claw her apart, he could use another spear through him and into her, but the only way she'd let go is if he either killed her, which he wasn't going to do, or he managed to force her to let go, which didn't look like a possibility this time.

"Let me go you idiot." He tried to reason with her, his Founding Titan powers had faded far faster this time around, and the only way he'd get them back is by touching the Smiling Titan again, and he was quickly running out of time for that.

"I freed you Annie." Her only response was to hiss and tighten her grip on him. "The War Hammer Titan commands the hardening of all other Titans when the right conditions are met." He informed her, trying to scare her into releasing him. "I'll release the Wall Titans next to us if you don't let me go." Once again, Annie did not let go. She wasn't falling for this bluff, she had him right where she wanted, and she wasn't going to let him get away this time.

"Shit, this is very bad!" Lukas cursed inwardly. All he needed was to make contact with the Titan and the battle would be over. If only he could get his crystal from out under him and kick it...

"Wait, I didn't pick it up." As soon as he realised, his Titan form went limp, and while Annie turned his body over to open up his nape, he climbed out of the ground where his cable went, and he did the first thing that came to mind.

He fucking ran for it.

By the time Annie had turned and saw him bolting it towards the Titan, he had already halved the distance, he was about fifty metres away now, which was about seven seconds running for him, but Annie's Female Titan was a lot bigger and faster, and once she was back on her feet, she closed the distance in no time at all.

If Lukas was any shorter, he'd probably have missed the Titan, but he just managed to make contact with what little flesh there was left before Annie had swiped him into the air. Though as she did, he transformed once more, and before she could react, he'd stuck a spear through her and into the Wall, his crystal in her hand, but before she realised what she was holding, he finally used the full power of the Founding Titan.

"All of you, after him!" Every Titan shifter felt the surge of energy that seemingly came from nowhere, with every Titan on the battlefield now turning and running towards Zeke at full pelt. They were joined by what remained of the Scouts in closing the final short distance between them and the Beast Titan.

"There it is." Zeke watched his Titans turn and start coming at him. "Well then, looks like we'll have to go now, right Pieck." But she was not with him like he thought, in fact, she had already began running away without him, circling around to their left towards the city.

"I'm sorry." Pieck didn't have the courage to face him, she'd decided that the mission to recover the Founding Titan took precedence over saving Zeke. She'd like to say it was a difficult decision to make, but in reality, it was an easy one. Recovering the Founding Titan would hopefully do wonders in helping her take care of her father.

(Twenty minutes later)

"You are one lucky boy Reiner." Lukas spoke after Pieck had dropped Reiner's recovering body on the top of the outer Wall. With him and Annie still holding on to the ropes that kept her cargo in place. "If we'd came by any later, you'd have been munched on by a Titan."

There was an unsettling silence between the four of them as Lukas looked back into the district once more.

"Annie, Reiner, for what it's worth, I'm sorry that it all came to this." He apologised to the pair of shifters. "To be honest, I can't even remember if I promised we'd all go home four months ago, but in any case, I'm sorry about Bertholdt and Zeke, they were great warriors."

His gaze then changed from the city to the vast plains outside of the sealed Wall Maria.

"Look on the bright side, at least you'll come back as the hero's the people wanted you to be." He tried to cheer them up. "You three saved the world by recovering the Founding Titan, with any luck, this is the end of it all."

"Were it so easy." Lukas thought to himself as Pieck picked Reiner up and began descending the outer Wall. "This is only the beginning."