Prologue - A Return to Normal

The man walked through the crowded streets, the noise of the festival occurring around him created a slight feeling of awkwardness that he was not used to. No bullets flying passed his head, no explosives detonating, no screams of fear and anger as comrades died in agony; the first truly peaceful day he'd experienced in years, but soon the status quo would return. As much as he fights for peace, he'd feel worthless in its presence. He looked at all the people around him, most of them innocent, some of them victims themselves, and all of them unaware of what would soon take place. How many would die by the end of the night. He scratched the back of his bare head as he walked closer to the theatre; he felt almost naked without his usual armour, but the disguise was necessary for this to work, fortunately the undersuit remained beneath the uniform which minimized the feeling.

He approached the designated area for military personnel and took a seat near the front, sitting his supply bag next to himself . He took in his surrounding, guard positions, vantage points, possible ambush spots, escape paths, every detail was memorized as slowly the seats started to fill and the time drew near.

"Heeeyyy… you listening?" A voice pulled him out of focus. He turned to see five adults and three children. One of the faces he recognised well, aged a few years, but unmistakable. Luckily his face had never been seen before, otherwise this operation would have failed at that moment. He met his eyes with the man in glasses who addressed him.

"I apologize, I was lost in thought."

"I said you're in the wrong area, this section is designated for the warrior unit."

"I meant no harm, I was just waiting. I wanted to meet the defenders of Marley"

"You don't know us? You new around here? I don't think I've seen you around here before."

"Yes, I was just transferred in for tonight. I've only heard about your titans, so I wanted to meet the people behind the beasts." He lied with confidence, no one but his fellow spartans would be able to tell.

"Makes sense, we got a lot of new people here for the festival. Well to keep things brief, I'm Zeke the Beast. This is Pieke the Cart, Porco the Jaw, and Reiner the Armoured. The guy behind me is Colt, our future beast, and these three are Udo, Sophia, and Gabi, our candidates for the future. You are?" Zeke stretched out his hand

"The name's Sam." He lied again. He stood to shake Zeke's hand.

"Oh you're a tall one, must make you a big target on the battlefield."

"It helps take focus off of allies. Bigger target means bigger threat." The theatre light dimmed and the crowd grew silent. "Looks like it's about to start. Sorry to cut this short, but I need to go back on duty." He quickly grabbed his bag and began to leave.

"Oh take care" As he left he couldn't help but focus on the kids, a sense of nostalgia washed over him. He knelt down next to the boy, Udo his name was.

"You and your friends shouldn't stay here." He got up and quickly disappeared into a last minute crowd trying to get to their seats before the boy could understand what he said.

He worked his way through the narrow alleys to the back of the stage, avoiding any guards along the way meanwhile the speech on stage began. As he drew closer he half listened, details about a 2000 year old curse, the age of titans, a false hero, and the promise of peace. Most of it was meaningless to him until he heard the name Eren. That psychopath was the reason he was here to begin with. To minimize the number of casualties of what was about to happen. The deaths of soldiers was one thing, they have to be willing to die for their home, but civilians, they should never be involved. He knew no matter how hard he tried, people would die, but he had to try to scare off as many as possible.

He approached the back of the stage and was met with two guards. They tried to turn him around, but in a swift motion, both were on the ground and unconscious from the force of the grapple. Once behind the stage, he put down his bag and sifted through its contents. He took out a few low yield explosives, enough to destroy the stage, but not enough to harm the bystanders. He pulled up a few boards along the edge and placed the charges and armed his detonator, placing it in his pocket. He returned to his bag and retrieved his magnum and a strange blue device; that finished his preparations.

He took position behind the curtain and walked through. The man on stage continued to speak, as the cheers reached their climax, unaware of who approached from behind. Time slowed to a crawl. The man raised his gun, the joyous faces in the crowd twisted into confusion. The speaker turned and the man pulled the trigger.