"Tell all the men to gather here. All of them!" The generals shout not knowing what to do next.
"Have the cannons point at the crowd. Have them manned only by soldiers who can be recognised by at least five others! The Warhammer is inside the base and we cannot find it!" Magath gives the order trying to gain a little control over the situation. "Have all the other generals sit in different locations next to easily accessible bunkers. We cannot allow the Warhammer to kill all our chain of command!"
The army camp is in complete chaos and Leo tries faking running from side to side to simulate the same emotion. Everyone gathers inside neat lines in front of the platform where Magath stands alongside Pieck, who is turned into a titan and carries a giant cannon on her back and Zeke in human form. Looking from the centre of the crowd Leo sees Eldians injected with spinal fluids waiting in line and high calibre weaponry pointing at the crowd. They are more than willing to sacrifice the whole army in order to take down the Warhammer titan.
"I know you are within our ranks user of the Warhammer titan! No dot come out for I do not wish to see the lives of so many men wasted under the heel of monsters. Sit where you are and listen, listen to our plans and make a choice on how you will face us. Soon the Warriors will leave for Liberio on a heavily armoured train with a secret unit of soldiers after which they will take a boat and head for Paradise island. Until they live they will be under constant supervision in the centre of the camp so that you may not be able to kill them. At the same time all of Marley's armies will march south to launch a decisive assault on the mid-eastern alliance. We will march on their land, crush their skulls under our superior numbers and completely pacify the region. The choice is yours! Head to Paradise and stop our Warriors from returning home or stop our armies from conquering the mid-east!"
Magath throws the gauntlet and now Leo has to accept the challenge. It was a smart move, a terribly smart one indeed. If Leo goes to Paradise and aids the Eldian then there will be no more allies for them on the mainland meaning history will repeat itself and Eren will have to start the rumbling to stop the other world nations from destroying Paradise.
If however Leo remains and defends the lines between Marley and the mid-east then there will be a short period of time where all the Warriors would be on the continent and he would be alone against them. It is all a matter of how fast the mid-eastern alliance can reach Paradise and strike a deal with the Eldians. No, it is a matter of convincing the mid-eastern alliance to follow Leo's orders and ally with Eldia. His hands were tied, he had to stay behind and force the mid-east to aid him.
"You are all dismissed!" The soldiers disperse and the crowd completely vanishes as everyone gets back to their position. Leo shouldn't linger. As soon as the meeting was over he was about to head out but as he was getting out of camp someone saw and called out to him.
"Hey you!" A rough voices calls to him. "Once you're done talking a leek come help us out with these crates!" Lucky for Leo people mistook his actions as sneaking out to use the toilet. He had to turn around and help them otherwise another fight would ensue. Leo didn't wanted to fight, not because he was afraid of losing or even dying because he knew damn well he is capable of taking a good chunk of the present army down with him. That's exactly what he didn't wanted to do though.
If he is discovered and fight it will result in both forces mutually annihilating one another leaving the mid-eastern alliance free to invade Marley. If Leo fights and doesn't take down as many generals as he can then the chain of command won't be broken and the destruction of Paradise will be certain. If he flees, Pieck and her endless stamina will catch up to him resulting either in an all out fight or one of the two having to die in battle. His only choice was to act the part.
"We take these shells, you carry the gunpowder crates along. We have to supply the Cart titan with ammunition to her new position. If the Warhammer shows up we must be ready!"
"You'd think a titan called the Cart would carry its own ammunition." Leo says trying to make small talk.
"Oh you know the higher up. Dig the trenches, fill the trenches, dig the trenches again but this time use your hands and fill them back with barbed wire. Dig the barbed wire up!"
"Damn it, don't make me laugh or I drop this shell to the ground and we all blow up."
Forced by circumstances there he was, Leo found himself face to face with the Cart titan, sitting like a cat with the giant cannon on its back resting on the ground. One never knows how easy it is for people to recognise someone so Leo tries his best to give the back to the Cart titan afraid Pieck might recognise him.
"Why am I here? Why am I here? What if I have to speak? Will she recognise my voice? It's been three years, I hope she doesn't hold a grudge against dead people for so long."
"Hey, you... the one with the red hair. I think the straps to the cannon are loose, can you tighten them for me?"
"How in the world do you tighten them?"
"We'll get you a mechanic! If we touch Magath's cannon we'll have to polish it with our tongues." Another soldier says making Leo regain ten years of life. As soon as he has the chance Leo flees the Marleyan camp and heads out in no man's land where he lies in waiting for the next battle.
As promised not long after the Warriors left for Liberio and all of Marley's armies came down south to face off against the mid-eastern alliance. Both forces heavily fortified the area, covered it in cannons, trenches and razor wire but once it came to who was going to throw the first hit nobody did. They were pointing their guns at one another all within range but nobody was courageous enough to fire the first shot.
It was a shameful display for Marley. The use of titans was so wide spread in the army that fighting without them felt like battling an opponent without using your rifle.
"Afraid to strike without your devils Marley?" The mid-eastern soldiers taunted them shouting through a modified barrel made to amplify sound.
"We were allowing the painters to sketch the battlefield before starting. Unfortunately they are taking longer than needed since there are so many Marleyans that cover the foreground, mid-ground and background of the paintings."
After that quick round of insults the first shells start to fire and the Marleyans felt refreshed. They took pride in every shot landed and in every hit taken for it was not the devils that fought for them but they themselves. A battle well fought and well won, that's what it should have been but it is not.
Without titans the Marleyans were not used to breaking down heavily fortified locations and slowly their strategy degenerated from a gentlemen's fight into a vulgar brawl. If one soldier couldn't kill a mid-easterner then two will and if that fails three, four, five. More souls into the furnace of war. They were ready to build a bridge from one side of the trenches to the other on top of the bodies of their comrades.
The anticipations was frustrating, instead of joining the fight to help out the mid-easterners he had to sit on the side and watch as both nations, although unequal in numbers were strategically the same. The mid-easterners were experts in sieges, both offensive and defensive and their position was heavily reinforced with walls upon walls behind which they placed their giant cannons and machine-guns. The Marleyans simply did not have the same technologically advanced weapons and they were forced to grind their way through the no man's land in order to build forward bases from which to fire against the superior mid-eastern artillery.
There were days when both armies found themselves with broken artillery waiting to be repaired and both armies would have to climb down from their hills into the valley which they filled with blood and mud. They would fight one another and amongst themselves for the mud covered their bodies and faces as well as claiming victims of its own.
At one point both armies were simply praying for the titans to appear again and break this deadlock that seemingly would last forever.
Although slowly winning Marley is sweating and shaking in their boots. Only the mid-eastern alliance was enough to halt the war machine that once was their country. Without the titans they are simply too far behind and their numbers are barely enough to compensate. If a second nation opens a different front on the other side of the continent Marley would simply be unable to defeat them, being forced into a defensive war until either they are defeated or the invaders retreat.
Three weeks after Magath left fore Liberio trumpets and drums could be heard in the Marley's camp. Three warriors returned from Paradise.
"Three warriors? Three warriors. What in the world happened on Paradise, only the Jaw and the Armoured titan should have returned! Is Annie with them? No, for her to be alongside them... they would have either had to breach the capital and extract her from there which might as well have signed the defeat of Paradise or... Bertolt didn't died in the battle for Shinganshina."
Four of the five titan shifters jump out from behind the Marleyan fortifications smashing through the defensive formations created by the mid-eastern alliance.
Zeke rains fire from above throwing his explosive barrels beyond the defensive lines of the alliance. Pieck drives a small group of machine-gunners into the heart of the enemy dodging their artillery as she advances. The new Jaws titan, Porco assaults the top of the walls of the defensive line while Rainer smashes right through the front gate. As the four titan shifters draw the enemy fire the Marleyan army is finally able to charge and start capturing the enemy's position. While running and shooting Pieck sees one single soldier immovable among the enemy line. She realises that's the Warhammer titan but she doesn't manage to dodge it in time. Lightning strikes the ground and the Warhammer titan's arm reaches and grabs her by the leg before creating a spiked dome around the Cart's body.
The most troublesome enemy has been taken down before the fight even started, now it was... Leo doesn't even have the time to fully transform and rocks fly in his direction. He defends himself with a shield but just as he lowers it the Jaws titan jumps at his neck to bite the nape and kill the Warhammer. A giant pole comes out of the Warhammer's back and it impales Porco through the mouth before spreading in a horizontal cross shape tip which pierces his stomach and arms. The Warhammer titan finally emerges from the ground and grabs the tip of the spear before flinging the Jaws hundreds of metres behind Marley's army.
The Warhammer stands tall transforming the spear into a flag with the wings of freedom on it in one hand and a sword in the other.
"That symbol, I can never run away from it. It will hunt me forever for my sins won't it?" Rainer thinks recognising the wings as those of the Scouts. The Armoured titan charges head first towards the Warhammer who lowers the spear and breaks it into Rainer's armour. The spear shatters but it doesn't fail as it was meant to do so. The shards mask Leo's movements and behind the cloud of titan crystal he points his sword at Rainer the same way a matador does with a bull. He pushes with the sword and strikes through Rainer's mouth but as he is about to pull back the sword and point it towards the nape a salvo of explosives blows off his arms. A second bolt of lightning strikes and Pieck turns into the cart again biting at
the Warhammer's feet making it lose its balance. While stumbling on one foot Leo is pushed into the ground by Rainer who starts pummelling the Warhammer's face.
After the third strike though Rainer stops as his hands were split in half by striking the blade of an axe that grew out of the Warhammer's head. From the stumps of his destroyed arms Leo creates two hammers and strike Rainer in the face with them before using his powers to push himself up with the help of many spear like spires. The Warhammer gets back on its feet like a vampire gets out of its coffin. The hammers on his arms break and the missing leg is replaced with a slowly healing stump. Leo grabs the Cart titan who was heading for a second bite by the legs again and slams Pieck face first into a spike in the ground. He stomps on the Cart but another round of explosives damages his back removing the layer of hardened skin.
"There, the crystal!" Zeke shouts and Porco having returned from his flight is about to grab it. Spikes erupt from Leo's back and Porco is skewered again. Rainer getting up from the ground strikes Leo through his stomach and pulls out the titan crystal out of the Warhammer's body.
Porco jumps out of his destroyed Jaws titan and transforms again as Pieck from bellow jumps to bite the crystal. Leo transforms a second time and grabs both titans by the neck as a crystallised thorny whip wraps around Rainer's hand and tears it to shreds. Leo is about to smash the two titans in his hands to the ground over a bed of spikes but as he anticipated Zeke threw another round of explosives and he used their bodies as a shield. This time the human bodies of Pieck and Porco were wounded and the two titans drop to the ground.
Leo summons a bow and shoots three arrows at Zeke who doesn't manage to dodge them in time. The Beast titan falls to the ground still alive as Zeke blocked one of the arrows with his hardened hands while the other two simply disabled the Beast titan.
There was no time to rest as Rainer picked up the sword Leo dropped previously and starts slashing at him.
"You try to imitate me? Failure, just as you tried imitating Marcel." Rainer is shocked by hearing Marcel's name and Leo takes the opportunity to create a mace and hit him over the head with it. Just as Rainer falls to his knees from the impact artillery shells start firing on the Warhammer. Leo first creates a shield but it gets destroyed by the constant stream of shells heading his way.
"You want to see imitation? Then I'll show you a veritable Armoured titan!" Leo uses his hardening to create a replica of Rainer's armour all over the Warhammer's body. It was absurdly heavy and barely allowed the already slow Warhammer to move but it was enough to block one or two shells for the Warhammer to get in position. In the right hand he was holding hundreds, if not a thousand strings, on his left hand from the elbow to the tip of all his fingers he had crossbows aimed at the Marleyan soldiers. With a single movement he released the strings and sharp titan crystal needles turn the Marley artillery into pincushions. The crystal passes through sandbags, metal and ground skewering everyone who fired upon him.
Pieces of broken armour fall to the ground as the Warhammer is about to turn around and finish Rainer off.
"You are one of the two, you killed millions. Before you die Rainer, why did you killed all those people?" Rainer didn't answered nor did he had the need to. Pieck recovered in time and jumped on the Warhammer's back biting into the neck and ripping its head off. Just as Pieck jumps back to defend against Leo's retaliation Rainer gets a surge of strength and punches the Warhammer through the gut removing the crystal one more time.
Leo transforms a third time this time hands firmly on Rainer's hand. Leo kicks Rainer in the face before starting the process of of stomping on Rainer's torso until he broke through the Armour and started ripping through the flesh.
Pieck wasn't about to allow Rainer to die so she jumps again hopping to get a clean strike at the Warhammer's neck however out of nowhere the Warhammer's hands bend backwards and grab her mid air. Leo created the Warhammer's body with the feet backwards and the arms broken making it look like he was facing the other direction. When Pieck jumped at his neck she was completely defenceless and he grabbed her mid air before splitting the Cart's mouth in half, splitting the whole body all the way to the back legs. Not allowing Pieck to transform again Leo attempts to bite her out of the Cart's neck.
"Get them out of there Rainer!" A voice wakes Rainer up who punches Leo through the mouth and grabs Pieck before jumping over Porco's body to defend them both.
A single barrel is flying through the air and out of it Bertolt is about to turn into the colossal titan. The explosion wipes out everything in the no man's land destroying both Rainer's and Leo's titan bodies.
Leo's front was completely destroyed even behind layers of crystallised walls. He looked like a skinless titan and the slightest movement from the body of the colossal titan was enough to make Leo fall on his back unable to move. Rainer was down for the count too having taken the much of the same punishment as the Warhammer titan.
Everyone looks in shock and horror at the colossal titan appearing on the battlefield but as soon as the giant made a step the ground underneath made a cracking sound.
"Warhammer you bastard!" Bertolt thinks realising he stepped on a crystal eggshell. During the weeks of waiting Leo built a giant cave underneath the no man's land hopping to trap what he presumed were going to be four titan shifters. He planned to fight them off alone and strike the ground with his giant hammer to destroy the crystal surface underneath and trap them in a giant spiked hole but the Colossal titan did that for him. Bertolt topples and falls face first towards the mid-eastern artillery.
"He made the Colossal kneel." The Marleyan soldiers say in horror.
"He made the Colossal kneel!" The mid-eastern soldiers shout rallying. They man the cannons once more and start bombarding the Colossal's head and hands as well as Rainer's position. Pieck as a last resort turns into the Cart titan, grabs Porco and Rainer and moves towards Leo to finish him off. When she gets close though she sees how one eye on the Warhammer titan already healed and it was looking at her. If she tried to attack a spike was sure to pierce through her mouth and kill both her, Porco and Rainer. Not being able to do anything else she grabs Bertolt from the nape of the fallen Colossal titan and runs back to the Marleyan base as the mid-eastern soldiers advance using their artillery and mobile guns to chase her away.
The mid-eastern soldiers head towards the Warhammer's body and create a quick defensive wall around it before extracting Leo out of his melting crystal. The soldiers put him on a white blanket and carry him to the cart before fleeing covered by their artillery.