Twenty-Fourth Night of the Fifth Month, Jahr Unseres Gründers c.854
Trans-Continental Railroad, Heimat Territory, Continental Marley
"They- they're leaving."
Falco's shaky voice woke Gabi up from her unintended nap, and the Heir jolted to a stand abruptly, turning to her fellow warrior, eyes wide.
What?
But, now that she was awake, Gabi noticed that she could not hear the tell-tale sounds of bullets whizzing, or that dreadful zippin noise that seemed to herald the arrival of the demons. Not that sh had actually been able to see any, because, unfortunately for them (Gabi), despite their (Gabi's) protests, the soldiers that Annie had ordered to protect them had taken their temporary assignment with all seriousness. They had kept careful guard around the boxcar while simultaneously barring both Habi and the other Heirs from leaving its confines, though that did not stop them from trying to climb out and spy the battle taking place.
It only took a few minutes of failing to convince the other Eldians from letting them out for the Warrior Heirs to climb back down, disheartened, and not just because they had been denied battle, no. At least, not for her.
They were disheartened because they were losing.
The older soldiers didn't say anything about how the battle outside was progressing, but Gabi could see it in their faces every time they switched guard duties, could hear it in the panicked cries of their fellow soldiers, from the pained howls and angered grunts from their Titans
Only once had Gabi heard a sound from the enemy Titan her cousin was facing, and that had been a roar of challenge, not a cry of agony. She had heard one, though- a roar made familiar to her ears at the near-end of the Siege of Fort Slava.
Is Reiner okay?
Zofia and Udo, who had settled down on one end of the boxcar, talking quietly amongst themselves, shot up and Falco's declaration, eye's filled with worry. Falco himself was pacing back and forth anxiously, face pale, and Gabi couldn't blame him, seeing as Colt did not have the luxury of regenerative abilities or his (once) nigh-impenetrable armour. Even still, it was an action Gabi had to consciously hold herself back from mimicking, because her only cousin was out there, fighting to keep them safe, and those had been his howls of pain which meant he losing, injured or dying-
Nein. Reiner will be fine. He is our Armour, the pride of the Brauns. He won't die. He can't. He promised.
Her thoughts wer interrupted when one of the soldiers, Helma, if Gabi remembered correctly, dropped down from the door above, landing lightly on her feet, face grim. "It's safe, Titanheirs. You can can go outside, though… it's not a pretty sight."
Falco was already scrambling up several crates and out of the boxcar before the woman finished, and Gabi kept pace right besides him, just as worried as he was.
From the relative peace of the boxcar, she ascended into a nightmare.
The night, once light only by the light of the moon above, was now joined with the orange glow of fire- a fire coming from the direction of one of the ammunition cars, Gabi realized. It was in the fire's glow that she spied Reiner's Titan laying on the ground, steaming, and terror flooded her lungs. His Armour looked as it had taken quite the beating, almost as if the Warchief had taken to pelting it with a constant bombardment of stones and artillery shells.
But the Warchief wasn't here.
Ignoring Zofia's plea to "Wait a moment, Gabi! We don't know if it's really safe!" and numbly noting Falco was still besides her, surprisingly (he had never managed to keep pace with her during training), Gabi scrambled down the boxcar and ran for the battleground. It was only when she got close enough to see Reiner leaning on the dissolving remains of his Titan, alive and well, did she slow, just enough to not bowl him over with her tackle-hug.
"REINER!"
Her cousin turned just in time to intercept her hug, and Gabi, face to his chest, could feel the Braun's fast-beating heart.
"Gabi," he started, voice tired, "You're alright? Unharmed?" When she nodded, Reiner sighed, and rubbed his eyes. "Thank Helos, then. The others are fine as well?"
"They seem to be, Vice-Kommandant," a familiar voice interjected, and both Brauns turned to find the the Grice's limping towards them, Falco doing his best to support Colt's weight, trailed by the rest of the Heirs and their temporary guard, all of whom looked horrified at the devastation.
Gabi didn't want to think about the devastation, or the many, many bodies strewn around and about the railroad.
She was no stranger to corpses on the battlefield, but that had been in war against other humans, not…
Not against the Island Devils. And somehow, they had gone up against two of the most powerful beings in the world and had, for all intents and purposes, won. Gabi wasn't sure what exactly the demons had come here to do, but it was clar they had succeeded, seeing as they were no longer present, and there were no foreign corpses laying about.
"Gabi?"
The girl blinked, mildly startled by Udo's voice, the boy weaving a hand in front of her. She'd been so caught up in her own thoughts (again) that she had tuned out Reiner's conversation with Colt, and Zofia had seemingly disappeared, probably to find Annie, if Gabi knew her friend. "Aah, sorry. I was just… thinking." Finding an overturned supply crate, the three Heirs moved towards it before plopping themselves down on it. "It's just… three weeks ago, we were winning the war! And now…" Gabi waved her hand around fleetingly, indicating to what had twenty minutes ago been a roaring battlefield. "...And now, this."
Udo grunted, picking up a nearby stone and angrily chucking it into the forest. "Gott-damned Island Devils!" he swore. "This is just gonna make shit harder on us, you realize?"
"Of course it is," Falco replied quietly. "The top-brass are gonna be looking for people to blame, and Marley's being attacked by other Eldians. They're gonna blame us." They always do, Gabi heard, the words unspoken, but true.
She hated that truth. It wasn't fair. What had her family ever done to deserve Marley's scorn? They were loyal, always had been, and they always would be, should the motherland demand it. They didn't-
Gabi stopped.
Where… where did this doubt come from? She had never felt it before, not like this, at least.
Of course it's fair, she scolded herself, tuning out her friends; conversation with each other as she did so. The atrocities we Eldians committed during the old days… we need to atone for them. We need to show the world that we're Good Eldians.
...Right?
"Kommandant Magath, sir! We found the Generalmajor!"
Theo shot up from where he had been kneeling, seeing to one of the wounded, turning towards the soldier who had just arrived, panting, and though he wanted to let his fellow Marleyan catch his breath, there was no time for it. "Roland's still alive? I need to see him, then, immediately." He was at the end of the rail when the bastards launched their attack… Helos willing, he's uninjured.
The man faltered then, but nodded, picking himself up. "This way, Kommandant."
Helos was not willing.
Half-buried under an overturned boxcar, a pool of blood forming around the area where his lower body should have been, Magath's immediate superior was surrounded by several other of the remaining high-ranking officers, all of whom stopped their conversation and turned toward him when he and the soldier jogged up to them.
"I've brought Kommandant Magath here, as ordered, sirs!" he saluted, and another Kommandant, Franzie, if Theo recalled correctly, nodded, dismissing the soldier before turning to him. "Magath," she greeted wearily, "Good to see you're still with us. Same can't be said for the Generalmajor, though."
Theo nodded back, just as weary as his fellow officers, and sighed. "Better here than a corpse on the ground," he grunted, moving to join the semi-circle of officers surrounding the fallen Generalmajor. "We're all that's left, here?"
Another man, a Hauptmann, by the look of his rank medals, nodded. "The devils knew who they were gunning for," he growled. "If I hadn't realized that they were going for officers specifically and I hadn't ripped off my sash…" The man trailed off, falling silent, and no one felt particularly inclined to break it.
Then the Generalmajor twitched.
Magath's sidearm was already halfway out of it's holster before he realized that it was Roland moving, somehow, and the Kommandant watched in shock as his superior opened his eyes blearily. Roland was quiet as he looked about, only inhaling sharply when he noticed that his lower body no longer seemed to exists. "Well, scheiße," he muttered, before turning to look up at the assembled officers, zeroing in on Magath. "I don't suppose I've much time left, do I?" the man started with a mild chuckle, before his face became cold. "Did we drive them off, gentleman? No, actually, don't answer that. Are they gone?" Roland asked, and when Theo nodded, the Generalmajor let out a long sigh, and laid his head back down.
"If... the rail is damaged beyond use," he murmured, voice growing fainter, "then... you'll have to march our men... to the nearest town… must inform Osternau of what's… happened here…"
"They will know, sir," one of the assembled spoke. "Our enemy will pay for what they've done here."
There were murmurs of assent from the officers, Theo's on voice amongst them. He had faced many battles over the years, but tonight's had been one that he would never forget, not ever if he wanted to.
How many men and women lay dead on the ground? How many sons and daughters littered the forest floor, many of whom had just wanted to go home after a long war?
They will know, Roland, Magath swore. The world will know.
As if hearing his thoughts, the Generalmajor zeroed in on the Kommandant one more, to speak his last, four words.
"Magath… will take… command…"
...What?
Mayhaps Roland might've said more, had he been able, but whatever those words were, Magath, nor anybody else in the world, would hear them, for the man had finally bled out and died.
Leaving him in charge of dealing with the absolute fustercluck he was currently surrounded by.
...
A small part of Theo wanted to pull out his Luger and fill his former superior with ammunition, because why, of all the people, did it have to be him?
The larger, more rational part of Theo knew, objectively, that he was the only true logical choice, seeing as he was the most experienced of the remaining higher-ups, the other Kommandants either lacking in said experience, or simply holding the rank due to political machinations.
So, the weight of this battle was his to shoulder now, his responsibility.
...I'm going to get court-martialed for this, aren't I?
Holding back another sigh, Magath drew himself up to his full height, diverting all attention to him.
He did not want this duty, this responsibility.
He would fulfill it anyways.
"You heard the Generalmajor- I am taking command, effective immediately, unless there are any complaints."
There were, unfortunately, none, and Magath nodded.
"The road to Jörg is a long one, so...
"Let's get started."
Twenty-Fourth Night of the Fifth Month, Jahr Unseres Gründers c.854
Vermessungskorp Airship (En-Route to Eldian-Occupied Lepzen), Heimat Territory, Continental Marley
"THE KING! THE KING!"
Eren had honestly forgotten how fanatical his people were in expressing their loyalty. It was refreshing, honestly, after two years spent amongst his cowed Mainlander brothers and sisters.
The normality of it was made even better by the fact that he was, after two yeas, surrounded by people he could truly call his friends. Armin, Jean, Sasha, Connie, Ymir. Mina, Thomas, Franz, Marco- hell, he'd even been happy to see Floch! The only thing that dampened the mood was that his wife had to be elsewhere, but Eren understood that she had responsibilities elsewhere on the front, the Founder far too important for the war-effort to remove from the fighting. He had waited two years to see her in the flesh again. Eren could wait a few more days.
"It's great to see you all," the King smiled, waving a tired hand of greeting and absorbing the cheers of his comrades, only to get immediately swamped by his fellow trainees from the old 104th Battallion, and he laughed, listening to their chatter. Gott, it felt good to do that. It had been hard enough, living amongst the Eldians of Marley for as long as he did, going about his day to day business and looking upon them, knowing that they were little more than slaves, no matter how the put.
He hadn't smiled in over six months. He hadn't laughed for longer.
But that time was past, and Eldia's salvation was at hand. Eren could smile, for no longer was he simply waiting and watching, no.
The time had come to fight, and fight he would.
For the aunt he never knew, for the brother still enthralled under Marley's grasp. For the people he had come to know during his time here.
For her, so that he could keep his promise, the one he kept closets to his heart.
How did that old Hizurese adage go, the one he'd read about?
Anata ga tatakawanakereba... Anata wa katsu koto ga dekimasen.
Tatakae. "Tatakae."
"Hah! He did the thing!"
Blinking, and ignoring the word he had accidentally spoken out loud, Eren turned towards the cockpit, from which Hange was exiting, and he nodded. "Hange, it's been a while. Hope I didn't leave you too bereft of your lab-rat."
The… commander? Section Commander? Head of Science? Eren had never really figured out what her rank had become after Historia had been crowned... grinned. "Aah, no, you're wife provided all the material I needed!"
"...You know how that sounds, right?"
Besides him, Armin shifted slightly. "Oi, Hange… Uh, who's flying the blimp?"
"...That's a good question, actually," Hange mused, and Armin neatly excused himself and sped-walked towards the cockpit, followed by a chuckling Hange.
Eren himself hid his own mirth before turning to Jean, who was leaning against the boxcar's chassis. "I don't see Mikasa anywhere," he noted, rather unsurprised, and Jean nodded. "Still in the East with the rest of the Shogunate," his friend replied. "They started their assault on Manzhōu the same week we began the Reclamation, so we don't have to worry about the Manchuri coming to aid Marley, at least. Probably."
That's just about what we had expected, the King mused to himself. Manzhōu had been a large concern when the war plans had been drawn up, solely due to their size, and the amount of influence in the East they possessed. A war of attrition was not one his wife's Kingdom could win, especially not against two powers whose combined armies alone almost exceeded Paradis' population alone. The more the Manchuri had to devote their forces at home, the better.
Turning fully to his brother-in-arms, Eren scoured his brain for the many questions he'd come up with during his stay in Marley, and chose the one that would yield him the most answers.
"So," the Great Hunter started, "What did I miss while I was gone?"
A/N: If you don't fight, you can't win. Fight. Fight!
So, the last extra pages of the Manga have been revealed, and I feel sadly vindicated at Paradis destruction, because Umi Da was never going to work. Floch can rest knowing he was, as always, in the right. On the other hand, now I feel compelled to write a sequel-fanfic starring who Titafolk affectionately call Beren, because I like suffering like that. To the point that I've already posted the prologue of it.
So, next chapter, we're either going to Rita Iglehaut and watch her ships duke it out against Marley's naval might, or further East, back towards Hizuru, Manzhōu, and the Akkamans. Or maybe both. I haven't decided, yet.
Also, I've started to make a wiki for this world I'm building up. Whether or not I link it depends on if I finish making it or not, because I have lot in mind for this AU. A lot.
Anyways, until next time, everyone.