Mikasa POV
The three of them strode through the packed streets of Mitras in their MP uniforms, taken from the MPs that they captured earlier that day.
Mitch, Marlow and Boris.
Those were their names if memory served her, but at this point, she could barely remember what was real and what was fake.
The entire day had been hazy to the point where it had felt like a dream. Everything she did felt off, like something was missing.
Even now it all felt wrong. Walking in this uniform, down these streets, without Eren by her side. It was all wrong.
But that's just for now, soon this will all be over and things will be mostly back to normal. Eren might even forgive me, after all, I'm leading a suicide mission into the viper's nest.
On her left was Milieus and on her right Connie. Both gripped their muskets tightly, and though it wasn't visible on their faces, the rest of their body gave away how they were feeling.
We're nearly there, only two more streets and then we'll be at Zackly's house.
Well, 'house' isn't the right term. Manor would be better, though even that doesn't describe how it is compared to most other homes inside the walls.
As they turned a corner Zackly's home came into view, and even though it was fairly far away it stood out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the houses.
It was made of the same bricks and wood, but his home was cleaner. Right up to the slated roof which looked brand new and down to the stones leading up to the house, which sparkled and gleamed beneath the sun.
The white stone which made up the walls of the house was incomparable to anything else, too white for even the cleanest set of teeth, and too white for bones that have been scrubbed and boiled for hours.
As they came closer she finally broke the silence.
"Milieus. You and I will go up to the door. Connie, you stay in the street and keep lookout. If any signs of trouble come warn us as fast as possible," she said in barely a whisper.
Both of them nodded and continued walking forward in complete silence.
Finally reaching the pearly white house Milieus and she broke off towards the door while Connie stopped just outside its gate and on the edge of the road.
They reached the door within several steps, but instead of her knocking on the door, it was Milieus.
Milieus rapped on the door a multitude of times, his knocks seemingly silencing the whole street.
Stay calm, Zackly will at least hear us out. He isn't that mad.
Or is he?
Instead of Zackly opening the door it was a servant, who upon seeing them fell silent with shock and fear.
Why is she so scared. Surely she doesn't know who were are. Unless… Unless I gave it away.
"We need to see Zackly," Milieus told the stunned servant, who barely reacted to his words. "Immidetly."
"Uh, of course," the servant started, her eyes darting towards Milieus's gun, then back to his face. "Please, come inside."
Milieus nodded his thanks and then went inside, the servant moving out the way as he walked into the pristine house.
Connie left his position at the side of the road and began walking towards the door, but she stopped him as he reached the door.
"Stay beside the window," she said in a whisper.
Connie nodded in reply and then walked inside. And only then did she finally go inside Zackly's home, keen to get this over with.
The inside of the house was surprisingly old and dirty when compared to the exterior of the home, with its wooden floors looking dirty and old, and its walls looking gritty.
Looks like he puts all his effort into creating a perfect outside image.
Kind of like him.
"Zackly is in the living room," the servant said suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts and back to reality. "Two doors down and then turn left."
She nodded her thanks toward the servant, who still seemed to be in shock from their sudden appearance.
She has definitely recognised us. I suppose we'll just have to hope that she doesn't give us away during our talks.
She and Milieus then walked silently through the mostly bland corridor and towards the living room, with every step they took echoing throughout the silent house.
She walked into the living room just behind Milieus, and as she entered she saw Zackly sitting in a light brown leather armchair, which looked to be one of the only expensive things in the house that they had seen so far
Zackly looked up from his newspaper slowly, his face as emotionless as always. Something which nearly made her laugh aloud was the headline of the newspaper, which ironically enough was ''Rebel Scouts in Wall Sina?'
"So," Zackly started, placing his newspaper on the oak desk next to him. "Why are you here? But before you answer that question I have a more important one. Why shouldn't I give you up to the MPs right now?"
"Well General, if you hand us over now then you won't get to hear what we plan to do. And I'm sure you'll want to hear it."
"Perhaps I do want to hear you out. But maybe I just sent my servant to bring a dozen MPs to my house at once. The walls know they'll need that many for her," Zackly responded while glancing into her eyes.
"You could bring a thousand men here and it wouldn't help you now. You would die before-," she tried to say before being cut off.
"Mikasa," Milieus cut in. "Sorry general, we're not here to exchange threats. We are here because we need your help."
"Hmm? What type of help do you want, and why would I give it to the likes of you," Zackly responded calmly.
"We need your help," Milieus started. "In taking down the government and the monarchy."
Silence overtook the room at his words, but within a moment the silence was broken by a sudden laugh that came from Zackly.
Zackly continued his cackle for what felt like an eternity, his laughter seemingly knowing no bounds.
"You want me to help you," Zackly managed to say after his cackling had died down. "Take down the government. And do what? Install another monarch and remove those currently in power? Or perhaps you want a democracy?"
"We'll be installing a new monarchy, but the details haven't been finished yet."
"Oh great," Zackly replied. "So not only do you barely have a plan to take out the government, but you don't even know who's going to replace them."
"We may not know that yet, but you should still hear us out," she cut in.
Zackly's dull eyes flickered over to her, and then back to Milieus.
"Very well, I will hear you out. Until I'm forced to leave due to the ridiculousness of this 'plan'," Zackly replied, emphasising his last word.
"Alright," Milieus started, taking a deep breath before speaking. "In case you haven't noticed Mitras lost a fair chunk of its garrison due to Eren, and due to their recent victory, they have yet to be resupplied with new soldiers. Many of these soldiers are probably still shaken by Eren's attack, so we reckon that if we can strike hard enough we can break them without much of a fight.," Milieus explained.
"The city indeed lost a large portion of its garrison, but they could raise ten thousand men if they needed," Zackly replied after a moment.
"In normal circumstances, they could. But this isn't a normal case. As I said many will be shaken, but the public will be the ones truly reeling from this event. Most will have seen Eren or the destruction he left in his wake, so I doubt they will be willing to fight against a foe who possesses titans."
"True," Zackly responded, stroking his grey beard while he listened intently. "But they can be forced into service."
"A man who is forced to fight won't fight as hard as a man who is in there on his own will."
"Ah, but a soldier who fights for his home will fight harder than any enemy," Zackly replied quickly.
"It doesn't matter how hard they fight because they won't get the opportunity to do so," Milieus said suddenly. "If we strike fast enough then they won't have the time to raise those men. And with your and Pixis's support, we could rally several thousand men, and then we could bring down the government without strength combined.
"Hmph, your optimism is fascinating. You sound like you believe you will win this, and all of this will end," came the reply from Zackly.
"That's because we can. From what I've heard you've hated the government for years, and nowhere is your chance," She responded for Milieus. "And if we didn't mention, when we win you can do whatever you want with the bastards once we win."
At this Zackly raised an eyebrow, his curiosity seemingly boosted by her attempt at appeasement.
"Anything you say," Zackly said after a moment.
"Anything," she confirmed, silently praying for this to be enough for him.
Zackly stood up suddenly then walked over to the window, his hands behind his back and probably deep in thought.
"I will support you, but I have several demands," Zackly stated after another moment of silence.
"Of course General, just tell us them and we will bring them to Squad Leader Hanji" Milieus responded, once again coming into the conversation.
"I want a meeting with your squad leader. Before this all goes down I want to speak to her and finalise the details of this plan," Zackly told them. "Secondly, I will not only keep my current position as general but I will also gain an even high position. But that position can be decided with your leader later on."
Not too bad so far. These aren't insane demands, but I fear that he's building up to something.
"Thirdly, I will gain full power over all the nobles currently residing in the capital. What I do with them is up to me and no one else can interfere," Zackly told them, his voice filled with a nearly hidden cruelty.
"And finally, I want reassurance that Eren Yeager will be disposed of when the time comes. He is too big of a threat and I want him out the way and his Titan passed onto someone more… Easy to control."
There it is, that's fucking insane. We would never-.
"Of course General," Milieus said, dragging her from her thoughts. "We'll need to go over this with our leader, but I'm sure we can work something out."
"Good. Now," Zackly replied, turning to face the two of them. "Where should I be meeting your leader?"
As Milieus began telling Zackly the location for their meeting she once again fell back into her thoughts.
Hani won't agree to these terms, they're insane! Handing over Eren would be giving up our comrade and the most skilled shifter there is.
He took on Annie and Reiner at the same time, and yet now they discuss replacing him like an old tool.
I should have just kept my mouth shut.
"Hey, Mikasa," Milieus said, his voice cutting through her thoughts. "We're leaving."
She nodded silently in reply, then she glanced over to Zackly, who was once again staring out of the window while seemingly deep in thought.
The two of them left the room and then walked quickly through the corridor, the servant now gone.
Connie however, had barely moved since they had last been there. Only now he was leaning against the door, a look of boredom on his face.
"So we're leaving?" Connie asked, removing himself from leaning on the door.
"Yep, and in case you're wondering. Zackly mostly accepted our offer," she replied.
"Mostly?" Connie asked while opening the door for them to leave.
"He agreed to meet with Hanji, and from there he would make his final decision," she responded while walking through the door that he held open for them.
"I suppose it's better than nothing."
As they walked through the street a hundred thoughts whizzed through her mind, most of them joyful.
It looks like for once luck is on our side. I've almost forgotten what it's like to have something go this good for once as well, nearly every other time I do something terrible happens. Or…
Or someone dies.
They turned the same corner they had gone round not too long ago, and as they did so a sense of joy filled her.
But just as this joy-filled her suddenly someone slammed into Connie who was walking on her right, who upon the collision fell to the ground alongside the person.
She looked down and to her shock, it was no normal person. They were wearing a coat with a green unicorn on its back.
"You have to be kidding me," she said in a hoarse tone, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hey, you sound kind of familiar," the MP replied while getting up, their voice far too familiar for comfort.
As they looked up her worst fears were confirmed as she looked into their shocked eyes with horror across her face.
"Mikasa?" Her old comrade said slowly while completely frozen.
"Marco…."
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I hope this is good enough for your readers. Personally, I wasn't too happy with the chapter, but here it is nonetheless.
As always I ask that you review, they really help push me to continue writing and make it feel worth it.
Thanks for reading, and I will see you all next week with the next chapter.