Disclaimer: I do not own SNK in any way, shape or form.

A.N at the end of the chapter.


Sitting in his office, Commander Erwin had Levi, Hanji and what remained of his trusted officers report over the effects of Annie Leonhart's trial. From the one reporter who attended the affair, a now infamous article was written about what went down: the revelations by Annie, the news of the breakthrough of Wall Rose, the resulting reaction of the nobles, and the verdict of the trial. Said article was taken down soon after publishing and the author had been imprisoned, but it was just too late for the MPs. The article had been copied and clandestinely distributed. In a manner of days, it was the only talk in the cities, and tension started building up.

It was even amusing for Erwin, the system that had been so carefully put in place so many years ago was starting to tumble just like that. Riots had already been reported in many cities throughout Walls Rose and Sina, and throughout every city a strict curfew had been established. So far, the Military Police has just been capable of keeping things under control, but the writing was on the wall. The powder kegs were ready to explode, and many were eager to lit them. It was in times of turmoil, after all, that power became available.

"My team says that some nobles are starting to provide funding and weapons to those taking part in the riots" Hanji explained as she put down the report. "It seems evident that they're planning to scale the ladder as chaos unravels."

"But shouldn't the tension subsides when Wall Rose gets declared safe again" another officer asked. Levi clicked his tongue.

"This is far more than just Wall Rose" he countered. "For the common people, it's like the rug had been pulled from their feet. This won't go away simply because Rose is livable again, and especially not if the rioters are encouraged and supplied for their actions."

"There's no stopping this anymore" agreed Erwin. "Which leads us to this question. What should we do to get what we want here?"

Hanji hummed at that. "Well, trust in the government and its branches are at an all-time low. But we have never been seen as fully a part of the government, rather more as a rogue branch of the military. The Survey Corps is in a strange situation simply put."

"The anger towards the government should not be translated to anger towards us you're saying, squad leader Hanji?" asked another officer.

"The Survey Corps' mission has always been the retaking of the territory lost to the titans" said Erwin. "If anything, I would argue that we're in a position to make gains out of this."

"But there is no actual way the government will be overthrown" countered the first officer. "And even if it is overthrown, how could we make sure that the kingdom doesn't fall into a massive free-for-all?"

"We have knowledge that is keen to sway the public into our favor" Erwin said calmly as he remained in his chair. The second officer got visibly intrigued.

"What could be so much more shocking than the tale of us being the last of humanity being a lie?" he asked.

"The king we all swore allegiance to is merely a puppet" at the shocked expressions, Erwin turned to Hanji, telling her to expose her findings.

"Well, you'll see" she started, "after an anonymous tip, I made a little snooping around and found out that the main power behind the throne is the Reiss family. They put the current dynasty on the throne, but keep a tight hold on them, the higher charges of the Military Police, and the Cult of the Walls."

"More importantly, we found out recently that got a hold of the last Reiss heir" Levi added. "Apparently, she went into hiding by enrolling into the military with a different identity and casually joined us."

"That is all well and good" the first officer asked, "but without a concrete plan, this tools are of no use." Erwin nodded.

"Correct. That is we need to put the Reiss in the throne and gain the support of the protesters so that her claim will be legitimate through them. Here's what we are going to do. The Survey Corps will take part in the protests and direct them towards the nobility and the higher ups in the Church of the Walls. In the meantime, Levi and his squad will go track down Rod Reiss and cut him down."

"So we're going against the rest of the military with just a mob of peasants as our allies?" interrogated the second officer.

"No" Erwin quickly shook his head. "The Garrison will not take part in this. I already exchanged words with Pixis, and though he did not agree to side with us, he will not stand against us. And that may be just enough." The rest in the room nodded at that, as the picture started becoming clear. "If the reports are to be trusted, we still have a few days, even a week or two, to set things to our favor. Get the troops organized, I'll keep you informed of what to do. You're dismissed."

The two officers saluted the commander before departing, Erwin knew they were loyal to him, they will do as he says. Loyalty is such an important factor when conspiring he mused. He turned to Levi. "Is your squad taking care of the Reiss girl?" The captain nodded.

"I let Eren know of our basic intentions before coming here, we'll get moving when you give the order" informed Levi as he moved from the wall he was leaning on. "From here, we'll move to Karanese to retrieve Petra and Eld, and set up the sparks you told me."

"Before anything else, we need to be aware of this" mentioned Hanji as she handed Erwin a list of names. "This is a list of names of MPs who suddenly fell off the record."

"What of it?" asked Levi. "MPs go missing in the Underground all the time."

"When that happens a report is filed in and is added to the record" argued Hanji. "This did not happen with these, they simply stopped being mentioned. What called my attention is that these are very skilled soldiers, all top of their class when graduating and with accolades. I think they were pulled to a special unit that performs activities of the record."

"How did you get this list, Hanji?" asked Erwin.

The squad leader smiled smugly "I have my ways." The commander simply hummed at that, that conversation could wait.

"Can you find out if these people still have relatives alive?" Hanji smiled slyly.

"I sensed you might've wanted to know that. I already got Moblit and Nifa working on it, give us a bit more time and I'll even tell you where their diary keys are hidden" she boasted.

"Good, we'll need that info to deal with them."

"You got a plan already Erwin?" inquired Levi.

He nodded. "Such an allegedly skilled squadron will be a struggle for us, especially after our losses to our veteran corps" explained Erwin. "And no doubt they would've received additional training for their operations. We have to pull them into situations where we have the advantage. Separate them and bait them into scenarios where their skill will not matter."

"Divide and conquer" muttered Hanji.

"What about the marleyan spies?" questioned Levi. Erwin and Hanji both understood the captain's worry. Just two days ago the Armored and Colossal titans had effectively escaped out of their reach. That combined with the sightings of a new shifter, the Beast titan, identified by Leonhart, had kept the Survey Corps bitter over their failure to end them there.

"We can only trust that they will not make a move while this is going on" answered Erwin. "Let us not get cocky here, we're in a very delicate situation right now" he said as he got up from his chair. "We need to overthrow the government now because a moment like this will not come again. If the escaped shifters make a move while we're tied up in this operation, we'll be fucked. If the powers behind the throne act faster than we anticipate, we'll be fucked. If our plans are leaked and become public, we'll be fucked. If the popular rage gets stolen by some other party, we'll be fucked."

"And still we have to do this…" muttered Levi.

"And still have to do this" Erwin agreed, "if we are to stand a chance against Marley."

If he was honest with himself, even Erwin was hesitant over this. The sacrifice of soldiers that had sworn to fight against the titans was one thing, but this… He shook the thought away. Now was not the time to question himself. So much has been sacrificed in these hundred years of isolation and deceit to turn back just because the path out of it includes some nasty affairs. These were desperate times, and so they call for desperate measures. They were left no other choice. For their survival, for their freedom, they had to act.


The last couple of days were miserable for Eren in a way it hadn't truly been since, well, before he arrived here. The escape of Reiner and Bert, his apparent fallout with Mikasa, and the general frustration of not being capable of changing much of anything so far was eating at him. With his luck, he was genuinely surprised Annie had not simply run away with the others as well.

He sighed as he finished sweeping the cabin the squad was currently hiding in, just as they had done last time around. Jean, Sasha and Armin had left to the nearby village to buy food, Annie and Connie were off chopping wood, and Historia, when she wasn't crying her eyes out, was looking after the bed-ridden Mikasa. So that left him to clean this mess alone. He was dying for a cigarette, but Levi detested the smell, so he could only smoke in the outdoors, meaning not at the moment.

Eren could not shake the feeling that this whole affair was set up as a joke. Here he was, with the chance to actually make a positive difference, and yet all his efforts resulted in things going just marginally better than last time, if that. He supposed at least no one that actually mattered had died yet, so at least he had going for him, but for how long though? That he could not answer.

The sound of the door opening brought him back to the present, he saw Connie and Annie arrived with an axe and some firewood respectively.

"Did you guys dusted off before entering?" asked Eren apathetically.

"We didn't" Annie deadpanned as she continued onwards.

"Why? Were we supposed to?" asked Connie as he put the axe away. Eren sighed before taking a seat.

"Forget it" he replied. Connie seemed like he wanted to ask him something, but must have decided against it as he shrugged and carried on. As he took off the cloth from his forehead, Eren resigned himself for the day, the cabin would not burn for a half-assed sweeping.

It was funny, in a way. He had once been almost as tyrannical in his cleaning standards as Levi himself. But his years in prison, and rolling and tumbling through Marley as an outlaw had left his cleaning habits broken and battered long ago. What was the point in cleaning a run-down motel room in the middle of nowhere, after all, if they would leave just days later? What was the point in cleaning the vehicle they were traveling if it would be all dusty and filled with junk in a matter of hours? There was none. He shook his head. Those memories he made there… They didn't feel real. It had been both miserable and beautiful at once. Eren was too broken back there to realize he had effectively made friendships again. All those days and nights filled with almost empty plates for dinner, loud discussions and clouds of smoke emerging from four throats. He had never thought about them fondly until they passed. Eren supposed that was his biggest failing. He was too concentrated on either the past or the future to fully realize what was in front of him. Even now he was falling for that habit.

The others did not take long to arrive and start preparing dinner. Eren and Annie spent it training their hand to hand in the backyard, sparring for the better part of the afternoon. And though Annie was still his superior in close-quarters combat, it was definitely a close struggle now. It was fun to just be there, in the moment, when he could shut off for some minutes and just focus on his opponent in front of him. Before they knew it, the sun was setting and they were calling for dinner.

Dinner had been a very silent and uncomfortable event. Despite of the eight people in the room, the only sounds were those of knives and forks bumping into each other as they went into their respective plate. Eren and Annie were sitting in a table adjacent to the main one were the others were. At some points, he could feel eyes on them, but who though he could not tell. Mikasa had basically given him the cold shoulder ever since, somehow, she got his memories. Historia was obviously heartbroken over Ymir's death, and most likely furious with him over killing her. Armin had been throwing him weird looks since before the last mission began, he certainly had something he wanted to speak with Eren but had not done so yet, and he could not be bothered to go out for it. And everyone in general did not know what to think of Annie being placed into their squad. It was not surprising, then, that people would leave immediately after leaving. Connie and Sasha left, followed shortly by Jean. A little later, Armin helped Mikasa up the stairs.

And that left Eren, Historia and Annie to clean the dishes. Annie pick up the plates and handed them to Eren as Historia swept the floor for any scrubs that might have fallen off. The uncomfortable, tense atmosphere from the dinner not dissipating one bit.

As Annie gave him the last plates, she remained close by, a conflicted look plastered across her face. "Something on your mind?" Eren muttered just loud enough for her to hear. She looked to the side.

"Everyone's wondering what happens from here" she retorted. "… Myself included."

"People don't like uncertainty" Eren answered without looking up.

"Are you not allowed to talk about it?" Annie doubled down.

"When has that stopped me?" he retorted before sighing. "From here we're gonna overthrow the king, we cannot operate further without getting him and his posse out of the way."

"And put her on the throne" she said, referring to the girl at the other side of the room. "That's… good and such. How though?" Eren looked up.

"The plan is to harness the unrest going on and direct it towards our enemies." Annie remained quiet for a few seconds as she processed the implications of such affair.

"Sounds like blood will be spilled" she said grimly.

"Probably" Eren agreed. "But it's necessary."

"Of course you would say that" a shaky voice came from behind them. Eren turned to find Historia less than a meter away from his face. "Everyone noticed a change in you after your trial. We just didn't know what to of it, so we kept quiet. But know I know what you are!" Eren dug his hands in his pockets and buried his emotions far from his face, a part of him wanted to know where would Historia go. Angry tears were forming at the corners of her eyes. "To you this is all a game, all a board and everyone just a piece for you to move or discard at a whim! You're just devious! A monster is what you are! Do you even care about anyone in here?! All of them are just pawns in—"

Her rant was cut short as Eren grabbed Historia by the neck and slammed her against the table just behind her. A loud thudding sound was everything heard in the room all of a sudden. Rage was quickly replaced for fear as his eyes bore into hers. The now mismatching color of his eyes gave his gaze a strange, uneven quality to it. But it was the complete lack of emotion in his facial features that truly unnerved her. Like strangling her was nothing for him.

"You have no idea who I am" he said evenly, almost in a whisper, as his hold on her neck tighten. "Matter of fact, you know nothing about anything." A hand took a tight hold of his forearm, he looked up to find Annie glaring at him. The outrage that burst in him quickly subsiding as he was pulled back to the present. He let go of Historia just as footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. Annie went to help Historia as Eren walked to the door.

Jean arrived to see the aftermath. "Hey, what happened here?!" he exclaimed.

"I told Ymir what would happen if she antagonized us" Eren said as he turned and locked eyes with Historia, "and my word isn't worth shit if I don't follow through with it. But do not say that I don't care for you fuckers. I'm doing this only for you." With that he made for the door, he really needed a smoke right now.

"Hey, I asked you something!" Jean said trying to stop him only to be met the door slamming on him. For a second, Jean thought about going after him, but decided against it with a sigh. "What is up with him?" he asked as he moved to the two still present.

"Don't mind him" said Annie as she helped Historia to a chair. "He's just under a lot of stress. And is just trying to cope."

"You should know a lot about that, then" he mentioned off-handedly. That comment stung to Annie more than it should have. She looked at Jean and realized the full implications of siding with those just a couple of months ago she was actively conspiring against. I might as well she said to herself as she braced for what would happen next.

"Jean" she said, attracting his attention. "I remember you being friends with Marco, correct?"

A cold shiver ran down his spine at the mention of Marco's name. "What does that have to do with anything?!" he asked defensively.

"Quite a bit, actually" Annie said ominously. "Do you want to know what exactly happened to him?" The atmosphere of the room grew tense once more. Jean's silent frown stared at her as she continued. "It's no secret now that Reiner, Berthold and I were behind the fall of Wall Maria and the attack at Trost. At some point, those two were discussing I don't know what about the mission when poor Marco overheard them. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time…" The frown in Jean's face continued to deepen as the tale went on. "Reiner seized him and told me to take his gear from him… And after we left… I can still hear his cries for help, you know? It's not something you forget about. Marco is dead because of us, and it wasn't an accident, not really."

Jean's hands clenched into fists and his anger was emanating from his features. Annie kept her arms down, accepting what was coming. She did not process the moment the punch connected, just her landing on the floor.

"You bitch!" Jean was now screaming at the top of his lungs. "You fucking traitors! You come in here, fuck everything up, kill Marco and tell it as it was nothing?!" He went to continue beating Annie, and it would have been a pretty rough one considering his skills and his palpable rage. If it had not been for Historia getting in the way, that is.

"Out of the way Krista!" Jean shouted. "Let me give her what she deserves!" It was almost comical seeing the small Historia standing in the way of Jean, but Annie could only stare wide-eyed to see her step in when just minutes ago she was in Jean's position.

"It won't bring him back, will it Jean?" Historia said, dry tears from her own outburst still firm on her cheeks.

"Save me that!" Jean screamed. All the shouting must have woken up everyone else, because by then Connie, Sasha and Armin had arrived and quickly took a hold of him.

"Woah, Jean calm down!" said Sasha as she struggled with him. In spite of all his rage, Jean was quickly pinned down by her and Connie. Annie took that time to get on her feet and check where the punch landed. Her right eye was getting swollen and would be black in a few minutes. She thought about healing it, but decided against it for the moment. She moved over where Historia was shakily standing, putting a hand on her shoulders. Without a word she moved for the door.

"What happened here, Annie?" asked Armin as he approached her.

"People need to vent sometimes" she answered, adding a shrug. A few meters over, Connie and Sasha were trying to move the still struggling Jean.

"I will never forgive you, Annie!" he cried.

"That's okay" she replied. "I don't want your forgiveness. It is my own I'm after." She went to the door, turning before leaving to exchange glances with Historia. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. For everything." Annie then left the cabin.

With the clear moonlight shining it was not very difficult finding Eren. He was sitting at the edges of the surrounding woods, smoking a cigarette. The other arm was on his knee and his gaze was looking at nothing in particular.

"Why are you here, Annie?" Eren asked without looking at her.

"You're going to catch a cold out here" she said. He turned to face her.

"But come on. These views" he said dryly motioning to the trees ahead. He then noticed Annie had a black eye. "What did I miss?"

"I told Jean about Marco" she answered as she stood beside him.

"Good thing you told him early" Eren nodded mindlessly. "If you prove yourself in his eyes, he'll get over it eventually. He has a kind heart, after all." Annie looked around as she thought of that possibility.

"You think so?"

"Hey, he did sacrifice himself so I could escape prison" he answered with a dry laugh.

For a moment, no sound could be heard. Not their voices, not their breaths, not even the crickets uttered a single sound. It seemed like time had stood still. It was as if the world had been put on halt as these two were contemplating what exactly had happened. The most interesting part is that, for both of them, the world was absolutely different not that long ago. And yet, it all felt so distant but could still see it, clear and blurry at the same time.

"Damn her" Eren broke the silent, his voice bitter. "Who is she to question my motives? She hasn't lived even half of what I've gone through; and she thinks she can tell me who I am!" he sighed and turned to look at Annie. "I didn't even ask for this, for crying out loud! I wanted to fucking die! I'm just trying to get the best outcome, and been failing miserably at that by the way."

Annie sat down behind Eren, leaning her back on his. "So I'm a miserable failure then?" she asked.

"You know what I mean!" he retorted, his tone getting more bitter. He sighed. "You may just be the only saving grace so far. It's just that… I hate I can't be honest with them." Annie could not see his face, but Eren's voice changed, now full with melancholy. "And I can't be honest with them because… a part of me doesn't recognize them as… them. I can barely look at you in the eyes. Because when I do, I don't see you here before me… I just see your corpses… Yours, Connie's, Sasha's… Jean's… Armin." Eren held back a sob and looked up. "… And Mikasa."

He looked down to his hands. "If I put them in a certain way, I can still see her lifeless body in my arms" he sniffed. "Her blood in my palms and that empty look on her eyes… I don't think I will ever forget that."

"Eren, do you love her?" she asked quietly. It took him a few seconds before Annie felt Eren's head nodding.

"I only wanted to keep her safe" he said longingly. "All I did was to make sure she could live a long, happy life… When I knew I was going down a path she couldn't follow, I pushed her and Armin, I tried to break our bonds. And all for nothing! She fucking died anyway!" Tears were sliding down his eyes as the memories flooded back from the corner he had shoved them so long ago, as they often did. He believed he had come to terms with the fact that the ones he loves were death, and that he was a relique from a past era, but him ending up in this new world had thrown him and his sentiments for a loop.

"And now she thinks I'm a deceiver monster…" he muttered. "And she may be right."

"So what? What would you think she would've thought of you had things gone your way in your first life?" Annie retorted, and sighed against Eren's silence. "You truly never think of the taste you leave on people's mouths, Yeager. Look, if you truly are doing this for us, then it shouldn't matter if you're an asshole about it. If you love her, you got to mend that falling out with her."

Eren gave a dry laugh at that. "That's easier said than done"

"Then, don't do it. I'm not your mother, Eren. I cannot make you do anything even if I wanted to. Also, Mikasa used to be obsessed with you; even with all this, it shouldn't take too much to heal it up. Maybe it won't go back to what it was, but it's possible. Besides" she said, a small smile crossing her lips, "you're supposed to be the brains of this duo. You can come up with something." Annie could feel his breath being heavy before stabilizing.

"I guess" he said after some time, still uneasy. Annie leaned her head back so it rests on Eren's neck.

"Someone as stubborn as you can find a way. And don't worry, I'll be with you every step of the way. I kind of have to, anyway." That made him chuckle. For a moment the tension was eased as the two renegades were sitting as the smell of cigarettes and damp grass went around them. A rare serene moment rose as Annie's mind wandered about her situation. This send her to remember her father and Marley in general.

"Hey" she said as she closed her eyes, Eren hummed to confirm she had his attention. "Tell me about Marley."

Eren raised an eyebrow at the strange request. "In what sense?" he asked.

"It's just that… I never saw much of anything in my time there, the internment zones could barely be considered Marley, now that I think about it. And, well, you spent a few years tumbling around there. I'd like to hear about it."

"Okay" Eren said as he started organizing his thoughts. "For starters, it's big" he said and Annie laughed.

"No shit" she commented.

"But you really got no idea how massive it is. It would take more than a year to go from one end of the place to the next." Eren and Annie remained there, exchanging stories and anecdotes about the place that was their enemy for what felt like hours. His worries and stress laid down throughout, instead there was a nostalgic sentiment about his time in Marley, the people he met there, the places he went to, and the adventures he got himself into. The plans could lay aside for one night.


It was well into the night that Reiner and Berthold reached Shiganshina. There was an eerie silence to the ghost town as they crossed their empty streets under the pale moonlight. Their trip since escaping the scouts was silent for the most part and uninterrupted, as neither of the two felt willing to discuss what went down.

The loss of Ymir had been a giant disappointment to them. For one, having the Jaw Titan permanently lost to Paradis would lead to a harsh punishment back in Marley. And though they did not admit it, the loss of someone who understood them was painful to watch.

But the real gut-punch had been Annie's betrayal. The knowledge that one of their fellow warriors, one of their fellow friends had switched sides and now actively antagonized them was heartbreaking. In one of their small stops in their travel here, the two reasoned that Annie must have been captured at some point while they were isolated in that fort near Wall Sina.

Reiner was aware that the punch had been harder for Berthold, his love for their former comrade was an open secret amongst them, even before coming to the island. Now his timid friend was even more quiet and apathetic than before. It could not last, Reiner knew, as sooner or later they would have to fight her and the islanders again, but for the moment he let Berthold be.

As the two reached the outer gate, they were greeted by an unexpected sign. A young girl of her age, short in stature, disheveled black hair held in a messy ponytail behind, and naturally relaxed eyes. She was wearing a white uniform with a red band around her left arm. Reiner and Berthold's eyes widened as they recognized the woman in front of them.

"Pieck!" Reiner exclaimed, their fellow warrior smiled and waved her hand saying hello. "You're here too?"

"General staff is growing restless over the lack of updates in the mission" explained Pieck. "They forced Magath to send us both here to provide support." She noticed the shocked look on their faces and continued. "I stayed here while war chief Zeke went ahead to seize up the resistance we should expect here. Interesting place, this island" she added.

"Zeke is already here?" asked Reiner. Pieck noticed the change in attitude in the blond warrior, no longer was he the meek and fanatically devoted little child she had met, but decided to save the commentary.

"He's waiting for us at the top" she said pointing upwards as she moved to a wooden platform, Reiner and Bert close behind. They took the barely functioning elevator to meet with the large figure of the Beast Titan waiting for them at the top.

"I suppose that you coming here is not a good sign as to the progress of the operation" spoke the large shaggy haired titan. A cold sweat ran down Reiner's neck as he approached.

"Our cover was blown" he said, purposefully not mentioning how that had happened. "We had to retreat."

A low hum came from the titan before its nape blew open, from which emerged the war chief and their direct superior, Zeke Yeager.

"That is a troublesome development" said the older warrior as he scaled down the back of his titan. As he landed on the hardened surface of the wall, he walked up to them. Pieck moved forward and gave him a jacket to cover his bare torso. "Please, seat down and give a report of the mission so far."

The warriors sat down, with Pieck laying on her stomach and resting her head on her folded arms, and Reiner decided to retell what had happened since they arrived on the island, with Berthold adding in at some points. By the end of their tale, Pieck was looking conflicted. She and Annie had been not exactly closed but she did consider her a friend. She was saddened by the news, but she had to keep her head on the mission. Zeke was scratching his ear thinking.

"The loss of the Jaw Titan and the betrayal of the Female will not be lightly received back home" he said. "The Warrior program is under fired as other departments are arguing to divert our funding to them as technology continues to develop. If news of this gets out, it'll only harden their resolve to see us run to the ground. We cannot return to Marley with these results, best case scenario, we'll be severely disciplined. Worst case, we'll be replaced at the spot."

"So we got to continue on as is?" asked Berthold. Zeke nodded. "It's going to be very difficult."

"We're outnumbered and the soldiers of Paradis are more skilled than anticipated" agreed Reiner.

"Not mentioning that Annie's defection, most of our secrets will be spilled to them" added Pieck. "We need to be careful from here on."

"Absolutely" said Zeke. "We're on a tightrope right now. We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of unnecessary risks. Which leads us to what are we going to do from here."

The other warriors thought about it for some moments before Pieck spoke up.

"You mentioned that they have the intent to reclaim this wall, right Reiner?" He nodded. "So, that they will eventually come here."

It dawned on Zeke where she was going. "And when they do, we'll be ready."

Pieck nodded. "We cannot return to Marley because they'll lambast us with our results so far, and we cannot take the fight to them because we don't know have the information to make a careful plan. That really only leaves us with staying here and defend ourselves when they come for us."

Zeke turned to Reiner. "Do you have an idea when are they coming here?" he asked. Reiner shook his head.

"The Survey Corps was planning to reclaim as soon as they can, but then again they're not seen positively by the rest of the population. There's no telling how much will it take for them to come, or in what strength outside of what I told." Berthold nodded as Reiner explained. Zeke took in the information.

"That means we got to fortify this place as soon as we can" he affirmed as he stood up. "Reiner, Berthold, tomorrow we're going to start the works" they nodded. "Pieck, you'll be our eyes and ears in the meanwhile. You let us know when they are coming, and in what numbers." She nodded.

"Of course, war chief" she said as she began to stand up. "I'll start scouting in the morning."

"I also have a special assignment for you" Zeke told her. "This will require discretion and swiftness, but if successful, it will help in balancing the scale to our favor." As he explained what she would do, Pieck paid close attention and a frown appeared on her face. It was a difficult thing she was being asked, she sighed internally and nodded.


And this would be it for this chapter. Quite a bit happening in here and there were a few things I was planning on adding but decided to cut them in the end.

So, the Uprising Arc is going to be fairly different, as I would presume that with the knowledge given by Eren, the SC would've been able to plan out things differently, if anything just for the mere fact of the difference in stakes going on. That and Annie's trial having pulled the wool from people's eyes would've caused immediate backlash, and wanted to reflect that. Also, I wanted this chapter to make a bit of a highlight into Eren's psychology, as so far it has been understated, and also I wanted to start developing the dynamics between him and Annie. Also I'm keeping the actions of the Warriors essentially equal to those in canon, while also adding stakes to their situation (that's the whole idea of different departments of Marley's military competing with them, as it adds realism and makes sense given the context they're in). Originally, I was thinking of taking them into a different route, but decided against it because it doesn't make sense for the characters, given their current position.

ALSO: I will be taking a small break from this, as I also want to add to my other story 'Starless' and have a few projects outside of fanfiction going on. So it will take a while for the next update. Hopefully not too much, but so far it's a bit hard to tell.

In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And as always, all reviews are welcomed and appreciated!