Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan

Rated M for gore violence, language, and sexuality

Enjoy

Supply Depot, Trost District, Wall Rose, 850...

Captain Woermann of the Garrison stood before the graduates with several men behind him. "I want everyone split into four squadrons! All squadrons are responsible for supply-running, message relay, and enemy combat under the command of the Garrison Regiment. The Intercept Squadron will be taking the Vanguard. Cadets will be taking the middle guard let by the support squad. Rear guard will go to the elites. I expect all of you to man your posts knowing the advanced team has been wiped out."

The Cadets gasped in surprise. "That's right. The outer gate is history!" Captain Woermann announced. "The titans are in! That means the Armored Titan is likely to reappear. If and when he does, the inner gate will also be history."

"Is this real?" Daz whispered.

"Please be a dream," Thomas begged. "God, what if the bastards manage to bust through Wall Rose?"

"Quiet!" Captain Woermann ordered. "Right! Those in the vanguard be ready. The whole area is well-nigh saturated. Your mission is a very simple one: defend the wall until the evacuation's done. Be aware, all of you, desertion is punishable by execution. If it comes to it, lay down your lives. Dismissed!"

"Sir!" the Cadets saluted.

The Cadets dispersed. Several Garrison officers called out Cadet names. Vanessa was called over by a petite, female Lieutenant. She had short, dirty blond hair and glasses. "Cadet Vanessa Raske," she said. "You're leading squadron twenty-nine."

Vanessa listened intently over the assigned Cadets to her squadron. She saluted the Lieutenant and ran off to gather the members. She found Daz being comforted by Christa, vomiting his guts out. Vanessa stormed over and kicked him to his feet. Franz Kefka and Hannah Diament reported for Squadron 29 as well. After gathering the other two members, Vanessa led them out to the eastern side of Trost under the Supply Squad's command. They waited patiently atop the buildings...except for Daz. "Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap."

"Daz, calm down," Vanessa said. "Freaking out isn't going to help."

"What do you expect me to do?!" he cried. "Titans are tearing the city apart! We're all gonna die!"

"Maybe," Vanessa replied with a shrug. "Keep talking like that and you will. If you wanted an easy life, Daz, why the hell did you enlist?"

Before he could answer, a Garrison officer called out to them. "Titans are closing in! Assist the vanguard!"

Daz began to sob in fear and Vanessa smacked him. "Get ahold of yourself! You heard Captain Woermann, desertion is punishable by death. Now, let's go!"

The Cadets yelled their support as they drew their blades. Vanessa jumped off the building and fired and anchor. She noticed an immediately difference between flying through the city versus the forest they trained in. The titans were walking leisurely through the streets. Some of them had blood all over their mouths, yet looked hungry for more flesh. One titan noticed them and turned their way. Vanessa headed towards it. As the distance closed, her mind became clearer, her vision sharper. The titan raised it's hand as if expecting her to jump into it's palm. Vanessa swooped down under it's arm and fired an anchor to it's shoulder blade. Her momentum changed, and she spun in the air as she zoomed towards the titan. Her blades dug deep into it's nape, and she sliced, cutting a perfect 1-meter chunk. She immediately noticed another titan approaching. "Vanessa!" Hannah screamed. "Watch out!"

Vanessa dodged the titan's grip. It reached out with it's other hand, but she sliced it's fingers. She fired her anchor to a building on her left. She was quick. The titan didn't have time to follow her. Barely a second went by as Vanessa changed course and sliced the titan's nape. It fell atop her other kill, adding to the rising steam. Daz, Franz, Hannah, and the others watched in awe. "Wow," Daz breathed. "Was she always this good?"

"I don't know," Franz confessed. "She was only ranked fifth in the top ten."

Vanessa rejoined the team atop the roofs. "Hey! What're you guys doing? We're supposed to be engaging the titans."

"We're just a little scared," Hannah said. "The titans are terrifying. How are you so calm?"

"Listen, guys. We've been training for three years. You all signed up for this!" She gestured to the chaos behind her. "Facing a titan was inevitable for us. It's a sick twist of fate that it's today. You ask why I'm calm? It's because I know we can beat them! Now, man up! All of you!"

With that, Vanessa took off. Hannah calmed herself and flew off after her squad leader. The others followed as well. As they moved through the city, they found a group of titans eating several cadets. Daz cried out in despair over the sight. Vanessa surged forward, killing a titan that had two cadets in it's hands. It collapsed onto its face, and the cadets managed to wiggle free. The other titans turned their attention to Squadron 29. Vanessa swept through with Hannah and the others, trying to keep them distracted as Vanessa went in for the kill. Franz swung down at a titan with a bald spot. It was slow. Franz yelled as he struck, killing the bald-spot titan. Hannah beamed in awe at Franz. Then her face changed. "Franz!"

Franz noticed a titan lunging towards him. He fired his anchor, trying to use the gas to propel himself out of the way. The titan was too fast. It's open mouth reached Franz, snapping down on his lower body. Franz shouted in pain while Hannah screamed his name. Vanessa rushed towards Franz. But it bit down on Franz, tearing him in half, before Vanessa could deliver the killing blow. Hannah screamed in utter horror. Franz fell onto the street while the titan fell back, dead. Hannah flew down to Franz, still screaming. Vanessa attacked the remaining titan, killing it before it could grab Hannah. "Franz! Franz!"

Vanessa landed on the ground and scanned the street. It wasn't just Franz. Four other people had died as well. Pieces of them thrown about. The titans were all blackened corpses, evaporating as if they never existed. "Vanessa!" called Alec. "There's more heading towards the rear guard!"

"We need to move," she said.

"What about Hannah?"

Vanessa reluctantly turned to look at Hannah. She widened her eyes in shock. Hannah was pressing down on Franz's chest, repeatedly. After thirty-presses, she stopped and performed mouth-to-mouth. Vanessa walked over. Hannah continued pressing Franz's chest. As she did, more of his blood spurted from his body. "Hannah...stop."

"No!" she cried. "We need to get him help! He stopped breathing!"

Hannah continued performing CPR. Vanessa knelt down beside Hannah. "Hannah...Franz's gone."

"No! I can bring him back!" She stopped and breathed into his mouth. "Get the Medical Officers! Hurry!"

No one moved. All of them too stunned to speak. Vanessa placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Hannah, we need to go. We can come back for his body after-"

Hannah shoved Vanessa away. "No! I won't leave him! I can't!"

Vanessa said nothing as Hannah resumed her CPR on Franz. Her tears were never ending. Vanessa watched Hannah continue. After a moment, Vanessa sighed and got up. She walked away. Daz looked back and forth between between them. "Wait...where are you going?"

"We need to keep going," Vanessa said monotonously.

"But...what about Hannah?" Alec asked.

Vanessa stopped and glanced back at Hannah, still performing CPR. She turned away. "Leave her be. We have to go."

She fired an anchor to the roof and flew away. She peeked over her shoulder, her view of Hannah and Franz slowly disappearing. A memory came to her mind, Franz, stop staring.

Southern Cadet Corps Headquarters, Wall Rose, two months ago...

Franz sighed hopelessly. He, Eren, and Vanessa were in the stables cleaning the saddles. Franz was leaning against the doorframe. He was watching Hannah out on the training field, practicing hand-to-hand combat with the others. Eren frowned at Franz's back. "God, I hope I never get like that."

"Probably won't. You're much too angry to feel anything else," Vanessa said.

Eren turned his frown to her. "What? No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No."

Vanessa struggled to suppress a smile. "And you love to argue."

"No, I don't!"

Franz sighed again. "Isn't she just...so great?"

Eren and Vanessa exchanged annoyed glances. Vanessa rubbed the back of her neck as she thought. "Why don't you just ask her out?"

Franz suddenly turned around. "Wha-what?! No! I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Eren asked. "You like her, right? What's the worse she could say? No?"

"Yes! She could say no," Franz whined. He walked back over and plopped down in front of the saddle he was supposed to be cleaning. "Ugh. What do I do? I bet she doesn't even like me back."

"Actually, she does," Vanessa informed. "She's been talking about you almost every night."

Franz had a bright blush on his face. His smile turned goofier the more he thought about Vanessa's statement. "She...she really likes me?"

"Yeah," Vanessa said with an encouraging smile. "Go for it."

Trost District, Wall Rose, present day...

Vanessa cut through another titan, killing it before it could eat Alec. She swung back up to the roof. Damn it. I'm running low on gas. She glanced over to her left, seeing several Cadets gathered about twenty meters away. Daz appeared next to her. "What now? We need to get outta here!"

"Majority of the Cadets have gathered over there," she said, pointing. "Let's join them and re-group."

They all took off, Alec included. It didn't take long to reach them. Vanessa frowned at the gathered Cadets. A lot of the squads were missing. She wondered if they had managed to scale the wall already. Vanessa noticed Jean sitting on the roof next over and Conny standing next to him. She flew over, and ran to them. "Hey, Jean, what's going on? The withdraw signal was fired almost ten minutes ago."

"Yeah," he said, despairingly. "They did give the order...but we can't do a damn thing. None of us have enough gas to make it to the Wall."

Vanessa scanned the area. "Then where's the supply squad? They're supposed to be providing fuel and blades."

Jean covered his eyes with his hand, and sighed. "They all lost their will to fight. And I can understand why, but...they abandoned their duty...barricaded themselves inside HQ. And, of course titans have swarmed the place which means we can't get the gas ourselves."

"Then we should go!" Conny exclaimed suddenly. "Start thinning their numbers so we have a chance. Sitting here on this roof is totally pointless. Eventually the titans are gonna come for us. We'll waste what little gas we've got if we try to run."

"Wow. You're using your head for once," Vanessa noted.

Conny blinked, unsure of how to respond. Jean groaned and removed his hand from his face. "Yeah, he's got a point. But I'm not sure if we've got the numbers needed to pull this thing off. The veterans in the vanguard force have all been killed. How, exactly, do a bunch of rookies pull of a suicide mission like this?"

Vanessa knelt down beside him. "We have to try something, Jean. Like Conny said, we can't sit here forever waiting to be eaten."

"Sure, but let's assume half of our force even survives the initial assault. Then what?" he asked, glaring at her. "The supply room is probably crawling with titans in the three or four meter range. I don't see us accomplishing much in there."

"So, it's...hopeless?" Conny whispered.

"God, what a dull life this turned out to be," Jean remarked. "I never even got to tell her just how I feel."

"Seriously? You're giving up?" Vanessa asked. She flicked her gaze to Sasha who was trying to rally her squad, and Armin to no avail.

"What else should we do?" Jean asked. "This is the end."

"Mikasa!" Daz announced. "Weren't you with the rearguard?!"

Mikasa ignored Daz as she flew up and landed beside Jean, Vanessa, and Conny. "Vanessa! I know how bad things have gotten. It's selfish putting personal matters in the forefront, but have you seen Eren's squad?"

"No, I haven't. My squad and I only got here about a couple minutes ago," Vanessa confessed.

"We found Armin, though," Conny informed, pointing. "He's over there."

Mikasa's eyes lit up upon seeing her friend sitting against the wall. "Armin!" She ran to him. "Armin. Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? Where is Eren? Armin?"

Armin raised his head to look up at her, tears streaming down his face. Mikasa's eyes widened as realization hit her. Armin sobbed as he spoke. "They were-the Cadets of Squad Thirty-Four," he struggled to say, sobbing. "Thomas Wagner, Nack Tierce. Milieus Zeremski. Mina Carolina. Eren Jaeger. These brave five upheld their duties. They died valiantly on the field of battle."

Several Cadets gasped in shock upon hearing his words. "His whole squad was wiped out?"

"The same thing will happen to us if we try to take on those titans," Daz stuttered.

"I'm so sorry, Mikasa," Armin continued, lowering his head again. "It should've been me that died, not Eren. I-I couldn't do a thing! I'm worthless."

Mikasa knelt down in front of him, placing her hand on his. "Armin. Calm yourself. We haven't got time for you to get emotional right now."

"Huh?" he breathed.

"On your feet." She grabbed his other hand and pulled him up. She turned and walked across the roof. "Marco, if we eliminate or bypass the titans at HQ, we can there refuel our gear, allowing us to get back over the wall. Is that assessment correct?"

"Well, uh, yeah, I guess so," he answered as she walked by him. "But there's just too many of them out there. Even with you on point-"

"I can do it!" she declared.

"What?"

Mikasa drew her blades. "I'm strong. Real strong. None of you come close, you hear me?"

Vanessa frowned as she stood up. "Mikasa, what're you-"

"I am a warrior!" she said, pointing her blade at Vanessa. "Know this: I have the power to slay all the titans that block our path. Even if I have to do it alone. As far as I'm concerned, I'm surrounded by a bunch of unskilled, cowardly worms. You disappoint me. You can just sit here and twiddle your thumbs and watch how it's done."

"Wait, Mikasa, are you out of your mind?" Nina yelled. "That's crazy!"

"You can't be serious!" Alec shouted. "Trying to take them out by yourself?"

"There's no way you can hope to beat them!"

"If I can't beat them then I die," she said. "But if I win, I live. And the only way to win is to fight!"

With that, she took off. Everyone stared as she zipped through the buildings. Vanessa suddenly burst into laughter, surprising everyone. She calmed herself and exhaled loudly. "Her motivational speeches suck. You heard her! C'mon, you fucking cowards!"

Vanessa fired her anchor and flew down, following Mikasa's path. She heard Jean and Conny take off as well, joining the mission. Mikasa was fast. She killed a titan that had barely noticed her, and moved on. Vanessa glanced back, all the Cadets were following now. "Hurry up!" she shouted back at them. "Avoid fighting if you can! We have to get to HQ quick!"

"Whoa, Mikasa is a badass," Conny admired. "How is she going so fast?"

Vanessa narrowed her eyes. Mikasa was fast. She was easily ten meters ahead of them, and kept pushing. She killed another titan, causing it to fall against a building. Her moves seemed more reckless, less controlled as they usually were. Vanessa realized what was happening, what Mikasa was doing. Then, Mikasa fell. She plummeted down an alley. "Mikasa!"

Armin changed course and took off towards the alley. "Conny!" Vanessa shouted. "Go after them!"

"Got it!" Conny said, and fired his anchor, taking a sharp corner.

"I'll go with him!" Jean said.

"No!" Vanessa snapped. "I need your help getting everyone to HQ! There's still titans everywhere."

Before Jean could protest, a titan lept over the buildings like a frog. Vanessa swung low then flew up, killing it before it could pounce towards the others. She glanced over at HQ, it was still a ways away. She heard a scream and turned to look over her shoulder. Several of the Cadets had stopped. Todd was on the ground, stuck with empty gas tanks. Two titans approached him. A small four-meter and a ten-meter one. Alec and Nina rushed in to save him. Vanessa gritted her teeth and turned back, rushing over to them. Alec moved in to save Todd, but he was grabbed by black-haired titan. The ten-meter one snatched Nina right out of the air, and held her by her arms. Vanessa swooped in and killed the one holding Nina. As she rose up in the air, she noticed Jean standing on the roof with the others. "Jean! What're you doing? Keep going!"

Jean turned to look at her then gasped. "Vanessa! Behind you!"

Vanessa felt a shadow envelop her. She glanced up and saw a row of teeth above her head. A titan had jumped at her, mouth wide open. She motioned to fire her anchor to get away, but it was too late. The titan snapped it's mouth shut, swallowing Vanessa whole. Reiner was stopped by Bertholdt before he could rush towards the titan. "Vanessa!"

Southern Cadet Corps Headquarters, Wall Rose, 848...

Reiner smiled as he exited the forest. The sun hadn't completely set yet. Vanessa's auburn hair looked more red in the light. She was sitting in their favorite spot, the clearing on the cliff that overlooked the lake. Vanessa noticed him and smiled. "You're early."

"Yeah, well, I finished in the stables earlier than expected." He plopped down next to her. She had found a blanket several months ago. It was an old thing with a basic brown and blue design. "Annie doesn't appreciate my work ethic."

"I'm sure she appreciates finishing early." Vanessa leaned back, bracing her hands behind her. "People like to judge me for sneaking off all the time, but she loves sneaking off to take naps."

"Is that what she does?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he said. "Nice job on the practice course today. I heard you beat out Jean again."

Vanessa shrugged nonchalantly. She turned her face away, trying to hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "What can I say? I'm just that good."

"And humble, too."

Vanessa playfully shoved him. Reiner grabbed her hand before she set it back down. Despite the growing callouses on her palms, she had beautiful, dainty hands. He rubbed his fingers against her knuckles. Her skin was soft. He paused, realizing what he was doing, and released her hand. "Sorry."

Vanessa studied his face as he looked out over the view. She couldn't tell if his face was red from embarrassment or from reflecting the sunset colors. "Are you?"

"Huh?"

"Are you really sorry?" she asked. She placed her hand on his knee.

Reiner swallowed as his heart began to race. She scooted closer to him so that their shoulders touched. She gazed up at him, batting her eyelashes. Reiner liked the way she looked at him. A flirty, innocent look. He noticed a ring of grey in her blue eyes, outlying her pupil. Reiner slipped his hand around the back of her head and leaned down. Gently, he pressed his lips to hers. A sweet kiss. Vanessa grabbed onto his collar and pulled him back to her. They kissed again. Reiner sat back and smiled down at her, rubbing her jaw with his thumb. Vanessa mirrored his smile. "So...you're not sorry, right?"

Reiner chuckled. He nodded and gave her another kiss. "Yeah, I'm not."

Trost District, Wall Rose, 850, present day...

"Vanessa..." Reiner breathed. "...no."

"Oh, God," Jean whispered to himself, his knees shaking. "First, Mikasa, and now..."

Everyone stared in horror. Bertholdt furred his brows, seeing the true despair in Reiner's eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "She's gone."

Suddenly, two blades popped out of the titan's neck and sliced, opening it's throat wide and spraying blood everywhere. Vanessa burst out, covered in saliva and blood, in a flying blur of rage. She fired her anchor and swung around the surprised titan, cutting it's nape. As she moved, the blood on her began to steam. Vanessa continued in her fury, killing the two titans eating Todd and Alec. Jean finally snapped out of his trance. "Vanessa! Are you okay?!"

"What the fuck are you doing?!" she shouted at them. Her ODM tank spurted a final burst of gas. "Keep going! Don't stop!"

She began to fall. Jean widened his eyes at the ferocity in hers. She looked insane, drenched in steaming titan blood with her braid coming loose. "HQ is right over there! Keep going, God damn it!"

Reiner shoved Bertholdt aside, and jumped off the roof. He fired his anchor and swung down, grabbing Vanessa before she hit the ground. The impact made her yelp out in surprise. Jean gritted his teeth with renewed determination. "She's right! Let's go! We're almost there!"

He took off, and the other Cadets followed. Vanessa wiggled in Reiner's hold. He held her like a sack of flour curled up under his arm. "Let me go!" she demanded. "Let me go!"

"Quit it!" he snapped. "You're gonna make me drop you."

"Then do it!" she snapped back. "I don't your help, ass-"

"Yes, you do!" he roared. Reiner quickly zoomed around a couple titans, avoiding their grasp. "You're out of gas which means you can't fight! So shut up and let me help."

Vanessa gritted her teeth, but said nothing. She reached up and grabbed his collar. He kept his arm around her while she held onto his jacket. Her grip was tight, and Reiner found it easier to maneuver now. Jean was still on point, leading everyone through the crowd of titans. One had grabbed ahold of his leg, but he cut the finger quickly, freeing himself. He soared up and over a tall building, and crashed right through the HQ window. Marco and Annie followed suit. Reiner raised his legs, bracing for the impact. The glass broke easily. Vanessa buried her face in Reiner's shoulder, protecting herself from glass shards. Bertholdt flew in from the next one. As Reiner set Vanessa down, he noticed the disapproving look on Bertholdt's face. "Not a word."

Vanessa suddenly doubled over and vomited. Reiner and Bertholdt jumped back to avoid it. Blood, slime, and her breakfast came spilling out. She narrowly missed her own shoes. Almost immediately, the blood in the vomit began to steam from evaporation. Vanessa was almost clear of the titan blood on herself. She pulled at her shirt sleeve and wiped her mouth. She stood up, groaning, and noticed the disgusted look Bertholdt gave her. "Fuck you, Bertholdt."

"I didn't say anything," he insisted.

The sound of a punch drew their attention. Jean had pulled a Cadet out from under a desk and sucker punched him unconscious. Marco ran over and held him back. "Jean! Stop!"

"You cowards!" Jean snarled. "You left us out there on our own. People are dead because you didn't have the guts to do your job!"

Alice crawled out from under the desk as well. The right side of her face was splattered with blood. "The titans were coming at us from every angle! They overran the supply room, okay?!"

"It's your job to deal with it and back us up anyway!"

Reiner heard something strange and glanced out the window. He gasped. "Hit the deck!"

The far wall exploded. Reiner grabbed Vanessa and pulled her into his arms, protecting her. Stone and dust flew around everywhere, and a titan stared at them hungrily. Another titan shoved it's face into the hole, trying to push inside. After a silent second, everyone screamed. They all rushed to the door, shoving and pushing. Vanessa peeked around Reiner, and noticed Jean was standing way too close to the hole. She wiggled out of Reiner's arms. "Hey! Vanessa!"

Jean stood frozen, terrified as he stared back at the titans. Vanessa ran to him, reaching out to grab him. She latched onto his arm, and began to pull him back. As she did, she noticed the titans making a strange face. A large fist pressed against the titan's face, then both disappeared from view in a flash. Another titan appeared. It had angry green eyes, shaggy black hair, and pointed ears. It roared. A loud, piercing, angry sound. Jean glanced back at Vanessa, wondering if she had seen the same thing. "What the-what is that?"

Another window broke as Mikasa crashed through, followed by Conny who was carrying Armin. "Mikasa!" Jean exclaimed. "You're-you-I-am I dreaming this or what?"

"Wow. Close one," Conny said, banging on his gas tanks. "I was running on fumes. We made it here, though. Crazy, but we did."

"How'd you guys make it here?" Vanessa asked. "Didn't you run out of gas, Mikasa?"

"Armin's a certified genius! That's how!" Conny exclaimed, slapping Armin's back.

"Ow!"

"Check it out!" Conny got up and pointed to the angry titan. "We found an Abnormal that's got a bone to pick with it's own kind. And the best part? He couldn't care less about us! That's right. You heard me. This big, beautiful SOB is our ticket out of here."

The angry titan confronted a brown-haired titan. He grabbed it's arm and flipped it over onto it's back, dragging it to knock a few others off their feet. Vanessa watched the titan rampage. He was very different from the others. He was all muscle, no pudgy-ness or fat like most titans. He looked like he was made for fighting. "How...how does he know to fight? Why isn't he interested in us?"

"Who knows?" Mikasa said. "We lured him here by killing any titan that he tried to fight. Eventually, he ran over here. We can use him."

"Listen to yourself!" Jean argued. "A titan's not gonna help us. You're out of your mind if you think it's gonna work-"

"It is working," Mikasa insisted. "For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me. You'll see. Either way. What choice do we have? Right now that thing is our best chance at survival."

The berserk titan kept fighting. He threw another 15-meter titan over his shoulder and kicked a few four-meter titans like balls. Conny admired him in terrified awe. "Look at him go. This guy makes the others look like total weaklings."

Vanessa gasped as she realized something. "We need to get further inside and figure out how to clear the supply room. Alice said it's overrun. Now is probably our best chance to take it back."

"Oh, yeah?" Jean frowned at her. "And how do you expect us to do that, exactly?"

"Why don't we just ask the 'certified genius'?" Vanessa retorted, gesturing to Armin.

Everyone's eyes turned to him. Armin met each of their gazes, growing more and more uncomfortable. "Uh, okay...um, let's...let's find some blueprints of this place, first!"

He pushed them and headed for the hallway. Most of the cadets had gathered below in the great room while Marco raised the freight lift. Vanessa paused and leaned against the wall. She felt a wave of fatigue hit her. When the titan had swallowed her, she had bumped her head on the roof of it's mouth. She wondered how she managed to escape the way she did. Vanessa took a deep breath and pushed off the wall. She joined Jean and Mikasa in searching the storage room. They found the crates of muskets against the far wall. They each grabbed a box and carried them out to the others. "Good news!" Jean announced. "Courtesy of the Military Police. And covered with a layer of dust."

They pried the crates open and passed out the guns. They prepped the guns and loaded them. Jean cocked his gun, and frowned at Armin dubiously. "Are you absolutely sure buckshot is the way to go? Seems like we might as well throw spit wads. I mean, c'mon, guys. Are guns even effective?"

"I dunno, but they're bound to be better than nothing," Armin said.

Everyone had gathered around Armin. He had a blueprint spread out in front of him on the floor. "Alice said there's eight titans in the supply room of the four meters variety," he continued. "If we time this perfectly, this much ammo oughta be enough to do the trick."

"So what's the plan?" Conny asked.

"Step one: we lower a group into the area via left to get the titans attention. Step two: when the titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously, blinding them." Armin pointed to the beam designs on the blueprint. "Then the hard part. The moment of truth as it were. Before the titans have time to recover, eight of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions."

"That's it?" Vanessa asked.

"That's it," he confirmed. "That's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line-we screw up, we're dead."

"That's a hell of risk for one attack," Bertholdt noted.

"But it's our only chance," Armin argued. "Eight people have to slay eight titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need to best of you. The eight soldiers most physically gifted and adept with their paring blades."

He glanced at Vanessa and Mikasa. "You two have seen the most combat today. Are you both still up to it?"

They both nodded, confidently. "Good," he said. "You'll be the difference between life and death for us. I'm sorry. That's how it is."

"Seems like a sound plan," Reiner said.

"When you get right down to it, the risk is the same for everyone," Annie added. "Doesn't really matter who goes."

"Look, I-I'm willing to be talked out of this." Armin curled his hands into fists. "One half-baked strategy can't be our only option, right?"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Marco insisted, giving Armin a friendly smile. "Come on, what we're looking at? Cause for our only option, it's a pretty well-thought out plan. If we give it our all, we might just pull this off."

"It'll be fine. You just have to be confident." Mikasa placed her hand on Armin's.

"You're a better strategist than you give yourself credit for, Armin." Vanessa brushed her hair off her face.

The sound of the lift opening drew their attention. "Alright, the lift's ready to go!" Miles announced. "Guns are loaded to the stocks. Let's go kill some titans."

Everyone dispersed. Vanessa groaned as she stood up. Her muscles were beginning to ache, but she ignored them. Reiner stopped her before she could walk away with the others. "Hey, I think you should switch with Marco."

"Huh?" she frowned. "Why?"

"You've been through a lot," he said. "There's no shame in taking it easy."

"Easy?" She shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so concerned about me now?"

"Are you serious?" he scoffed. "You got swallowed by a titan. Of course, I'm concerned."

Vanessa felt her anger subside. She hardly had any mental energy to argue. She touched his arm. "Thank you, Reiner. For worrying. But I'm fine."

She turned and hurried after the others. Reiner took a deep breath and followed her. Mikasa, Bertholdt, Annie, Jean, Sasha, and Conny removed their ODM gear and detached their handles from the wires. Vanessa and Reiner did the same. They attached blades to the handles and headed for the stairs. "Okay, I'm gonna ask the obvious question," Conny said. "Can we do this without ODM gear?"

"No problem," Reiner answered. "These guys are only four-meters tall. Their weak spots are not too far above eye level."

"For some people," Vanessa muttered.

"He's right," Jean supported. "Size won't be an issue. The spot's still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."

"Back o' the head to the nape o' the neck!" Sasha declared.

"Worse comes to worse, you can always just shove one of these up their ass," Reiner added, waving his sword. "That's the other weak spot."

"Seriously?" Vanessa scolded. "You want your final words to be an ass joke?"

They made their way to level above the supply room. They snuck down to the beams, way out of reach of the 4-meter titans. They took a perch surrounding the lift area, and crouched down, ready to strike at any moment. The sound of the lift moving echoed through room along with the titans' footsteps. The lift appeared and stopped short of hitting the ground. The rest of the cadets aimed the guns in all directions. Marco ordered everyone to stay calm as the titans all turned towards them. They slowly approached, walking leisurely towards the cadets. Marco waited until the titans were so close, the guns were practically pressed against their eyeballs. "Fire!"

The room lit up as the guns went off all at once. The titans reached for their eyes, blinded. Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Vanessa, Jean, Conny, and Sasha leapt from above. Each of them slicing deep for a quick kill. Mikasa stepped aside to avoid being crushed under her kill. "Got it! How're you guys?"

Bertholdt glanced over to his right, seeing two titans turn to face Conny and Sasha. He gasped as the titans reached for them. "Sasha and Conny missed!"

"Lead 'em the hell back!" Jean ordered.

Sasha screamed as she jumped out of the way. The titan had pounced and landed face first onto the floor. Mikasa rushed over and quickly killed it. Vanessa hopped up atop her titan kill and jumped towards the remaining titan, killing it swiftly. Conny stared in horrified relief as the titan collapsed next to him. Vanessa landed in a crouch. Her body no longer felt fatigued. She felt great. Like the adrenaline had revitalized her. Conny calmed himself. "I owe you one."

"Don't worry about it," she said.

"They're all dead!" Jean announced. "Start loading up supplies!"

The lift lowered all the way down. Everyone began refueling their tanks and replenishing their blades. Vanessa stood by the large gas tanks as she put her ODM gear back on. Bertholdt approached her and she rolled her eyes dramatically. He raised his hands defensively. "Hey. I'm not here to fight."

"What do you want?" she demanded, tightening her belts on her right thigh.

"Just to apologize," he said. "I've been a jerk to you, lately, and there's no excuse for it. Look, I don't really approve of you and Reiner, but your skills are amazing. What happened to you...that was insane. I'm glad you survived."

Vanessa frowned up at him in pure dislike. "Your apologies suck, man."

"What?"

"I don't need your approval. For anything. And in case you didn't already know, Reiner dumped me so you can stop with all the judgment and apologies." She tightened the belt over her chest and grabbed her jacket. "You know, it's really odd how hung up you are on Reiner even though you're obviously crushing on Annie. You in love with him, too?"

"Wha-wha-what?" He panicked as he blushed. "You're-I-you're just misreading my intentions! R-Reiner and I are just friends-comrades!"

"Then why are you so upset that we were together?"

Bertholdt struggled for an answer. Vanessa put on her jacket and pushed past him. Most of the cadets had taken off, making a break for the wall. She entered the courtyard and prepared to follow the other cadets when she noticed Mikasa and Armin standing on the eastern roof. She fired an anchor and flew up to join them. "Guys, what're you doing? We need to go!"

"Look," Mikasa said.

Vanessa followed her gaze. Across the street, the berserk titan was pinned against the building with five titans on top of him, eating him. Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt, and Jean flew up to the roof as well. The berserk titan let out a weak howl of pain. "This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us," Mikasa said. "That he'd help mankind break the cycle. Turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope."

"She's right," Reiner said. "He's too valuable to just let die."

Vanessa pointed to the cannibal titans eating the berserk titan's arms. "We can ward the scavengers off. Maybe then he can rest and regenerate."

"Are you out of your mind?" Jean exclaimed. "We've got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?"

"Think about it," Annie said. "Having an abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? A cannon's got nothing on a titan who likes to rip apart its own kind."

"You-do you hear yourself?" Jean glanced at all of them. "He's not like a new friend!"

The berserk titan let out a defiant roar. A scrawny titan was walking towards it. The berserk titan rushed through the cannibals and latched onto the scrawny titan's neck with his mouth. He used the scrawny titan to squash the smaller titans, and then turned over his shoulder and slapped another 15-meter titan. The force tore the body off the scrawny titan. The berserk titan dropped the head and roared again, loud and angry. "What was that you were saying?" Jean asked. "Cause I think it's a moot point now."

The berserk titan fell to his knees then fell face first onto the stone street. Jean urged everyone to run and leave the titan behind. But nobody could hear him. As the berserk titan began to steam and evaporate, the nape of his neck opened. Inside, a person moved. Tendons popped as he sat up. Armin gasped. "Is that...Eren?"

Vanessa noticed the other titans slowly getting back onto their feet. She glanced Mikasa who was too stunned to move. Vanessa fired an anchor and swung down. She moved quickly as a titan neared, reaching for Eren. Vanessa sped up. Her arm hooked around Eren's chest and the momentum pulled him out of the titan. He was hot, dangerously hot. His skin almost burned hers. Vanessa swung up to the HQ tower, out of reach from any titans. She tried to land as gently as she could. Eren was heavy. She checked his pulse, feeling a steady beat. Mikasa appeared and rushed over. "He's alive."

She wasn't sure if Mikasa heard her. Mikasa dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Eren, and began to cry. Eren's head rested on her shoulder. He was missing a boot and his sleeve on his left arm was gone. The others joined them. Armin slowly walked over, tears running down his face. He knelt down beside Mikasa and grabbed Eren's arm. "How is this possible?"

Jean glanced around at the dead titans. "Okay, so, uh...Eren did all of this?"

End of Chapter 6