Thunder and lightning descended, the wall shook as if the fire of a Baneblade was punishing it.
A huge body fell to the ground making the earth rumble, in seconds it began to run, like an unstoppable battering ram advancing at full speed. Even for the Leman Russ tanks it was difficult to keep up with the pace. The streets did not favor it, the urban battlefield would have been better suited for a Wyvern or a Hellhound and its variants.
The Leman Russ squad that had been deployed consisted of only three tanks, all of a standard battle model. The streets were too small for them to advance in an effective formation, and the tall buildings without infantry support made them easy targets for ambush attacks. They had been deployed this way, but the nature of the titans made such an option unnecessary. Not to mention the Mars adept's insistence on deploying a force in such a short time.
Reiner took advantage of this weakness.
Sure, the auspex could detect him, but the ammunition the Leman Russ had brought was the standard MK4 G4 high explosive. Designed to detonate on impact, against ordinary titans it would obliterate them instantly. But the concrete and wooden houses prevented them from being able to aim properly.
One of the houses burst, and out of the dust and debris came a titan. The Imperium had faced common titans, its technology and strategy always surpassing their only advantage in size.
But this was the first time an Imperial had faced a shapeshifting titan.
Reiner had fought the tanks of Marley's enemies, far inferior to these, but there was one constant about these tanks.
He was faster at close range.
The armored titan was known to be nearly impenetrable. Even the best guns had trouble getting through its armor.
The commander who had decided to rely more on his senses than systems, saw the creature running towards them. He quickly cocked the heavy stubber mounted on the turret. The .50 rounds pounded the titan's armor, but the most the bullets could do was slightly crack its tougher-than-steel skin.
Reiner had attacked from behind, out of range of the tank's main guns. His fist came down like a whip, and the Leman Russ tank was crushed, the plasteel and ceramite giving way at its weakest point.
Heavy bolter fire ripped through the armored titan's back, the adamantium-tipped rounds penetrating the titan's carcass with no trouble. The rounds exploded once inside, a single one of these could bring down the foundation of a building and cause it to collapse. With five embedded in his back it was like taking multiple blows with a hammer. They made it collapse. "So these are the weapons of this Empire." Reiner thought to himself. He forcefully grabbed the remains of the tank he had destroyed, and threw it straight towards one of the tanks. Such was the force, that one of the two remaining Leman Russ was overturned, its mobility neutralized.
A hail of fire rained down on Reiner. The Avengers had unleashed their bolters, a barrage of reactive rounds rocked him. Even what had been fired at him was only a fraction of the damage he had just taken. Reflexively covering the back of his neck, one of the rounds hit his hand, the blast splitting it in two. The Avengers backed away and turned around, preparing for another attack.
The last Leman Russ opened fire with its battle tank, a high explosive round hit him squarely in the abdomen. And the power of it threw him several meters. When he stood up he saw how the armor on his stomach had been blown away revealing the flesh underneath.
The tank was reloading again, and Reiner knew he was pushing his luck too far. He quickly moved into the houses, then ran through them, destroying them as he ran over them. The dust served as cover from the Empire Avengers' attacks. Bolter rains fell, but did not hit him.
He had to hurry, the enemy tanks had been partially neutralized, but more were coming. He had to get to Eren and retrieve him, then Bertholdt would take care of the rest.
His wounds healed in seconds. He felt one of the enemy rounds hit him in the shoulder and stagger him, he had no idea what they were shooting at him, but it was clear he wouldn't stand a chance if they bombed him from the air.
[X]
"It's broken." Armin said as he injected the sedative into Sasha's leg. This acted within seconds and her screams stopped. Her legs were broken, turning in a way they shouldn't.
"We must get her to the walls." He continued.
"Are you crazy, we're sitting ducks on the walls!" Jean spat.
"Whatever was attacking us has stopped. It must be because of Reiner's presence..."
It was impossible that they hadn't noticed. That all-too-familiar light screamed at them of the presence of someone they had previously considered a friend. Reiner had appeared, hidden within the cracks of the wall.
"We must retreat, we cannot engage Reiner. We must leave it to the Imperials."
Jean would have protested, his desire to charge Reiner for all he had done was immense. But he knew they couldn't do it. "How long will we have to keep depending on the Imperium?" he unintentionally said it aloud. But the others had heard, and had similar thoughts.
"There's nothing we can do for now... come on, we have to retreat. We're too exposed down here."
"What about Eren?" Connie asked.
"...We'll have to keep depending on them..."
The frustration was palpable. They had no supplies, were limited in movement and were under siege. They had only Eren and the Imperium to rely on.
"What were the officers thinking sending us out here like this...?" Connie wondered.
That was a question Armin had been asking himself since the battle had begun. He had to admit, having the chimeras with them, and Imperial soldiers carrying weapons capable of taking down titans with ease, they had felt able to get to Shinganshina with ease. This thought had been split when Reiner and Bertholt had initiated their ambush.
But who had bombed them?
The most immediate answer he found was that it had been Bertholt, because of the walls he should not be able to see him. But something wasn't right, why would he bombard them in such a way when it was simpler to crush them in the walls? It didn't sit well with Armin.
He just hoped that Eren and Mikasa could hold out until reinforcements arrived.
[X]
Levi cursed as he finished off another titan.
"Damn it, Erwin, why did they send us out like this?"
He knew the Survey Corps commander wouldn't waste his men's lives like this. Even if the Imperials ordered him to, he would at least let them know. So why had they been sent into a slaughter with so few forces and so hastily?
He had sent the report, even if he had no response from the other side. He hoped someone would listen.
What was there in Shinganshina that was worth so much to plot such a desperate search mission?
He landed on a chimera, the autocannon kept firing. Imperial guards stood around, adding their fire. Those laser rifles, while lethal, couldn't take down a titan on their own unless a platoon was firing at the titan itself, which wasn't happening right now.
"Aim for the legs, there's no use trying to take them down from here." He told them. Some of the guards turned to look at him, but they all took heed, lowering their weapons to shoot at the legs, at least then they could make better use of their ammunition, if they had enough left. One of the guards put aside his rifle to draw his pistol to keep firing. They were running out of time.
He had considered getting Eren out of here. Getting him into a chimera and securing him. He knew that the titans, even in the majority, wouldn't be able to get through the Plasteel. But it didn't do much good when they had a possible armored titan running towards them. The lightning had given it away, and the cloud of dust and debris that was increasingly heading their way made it even worse.
A sound came from the air, as well as the fire of an Avenger that reduced a dozen titans to nothing but bones and visors. Another dozen took their place, and again they were wiped out amid clouds of blood that fell again like rain. It bothered him to get dirty with blood.
A Tauros approached. And in it was the bastard he had been looking for. He quickly climbed onto the Tauros. "We're getting the hell out of here." He said to the driver in a very rough high gothic.
Eren didn't hear him, he was too busy emptying all his frustration into the autocannon. Levi had to punch him in the forearm to snap him out of his frenzy.
"Captain Levi..." Eren finally reacted. "...I..."
"Let's redeploy." He announced. "This place is too dangerous for you to stay. Even worse when you end up getting lost shooting that thing."
Incredulous, Eren replied. "Running away? But captain, we're winning! We took out titans by the hundreds, at this rate we'll clear the walls of these pests!"
"You should look around you. We're surrounded, we're low on gas, and the Imperials won't be able to fire forever. And I think that cannon is running out of bullets."
A shout caught his attention. One of the scouts had been trapped and was being eaten alive, he called for help and autocannon fire responded. The titan's head exploded dropping it. Another scout went to look for her and saw with horror how her body had been almost completely split in two thanks to the titan's teeth, she was barely in one piece thanks to her spine that was about to break. Within seconds she was dead.
"We're dying here."
Mikasa landed, she was panting, tired and covered in steaming blood. "I'm almost out of gas." She declared.
Yellow thunder descended, and fell from the other side of the wall.
"We're leaving." Levi ordered, there would be no more discussion. It was too dangerous to stay. "Eren, charge that guard with your ODM, we're going up to the ramparts. now!"
Finally Eren obeyed, Milliano was protesting, as a soldier of the empire, escaping the battlefield would guarantee death. But as he looked around there was no one to pay attention. Half of the fifty PDF had died, the titans kept coming, three of them were biting into a chimera, almost shattered, but he could hear screams coming from inside. There was no point, it was better if they bombed this damn place with a Deathstrike.
He felt himself being lifted up, carried by the shoulders across the roofs of the houses, barely standing. More than once he thought he would fall, but he was held securely. Soon he was carried to the top of the wall. Fifty meters up, he could see the entire district and hundreds of titans surrounding the small group of chimeras.
And that's when a roar was heard.
When that happened, he caught a glimpse of something flying from the other side of the walls.
He was not the only one.
Eren, Mikasa, Levi and the members of the scouting regiment realized who it was.
A young man came out of the barrel and cut his palm.
And everything went up in flames.
For Milliano it was like watching a nuclear missile hit the district. A low-intensity one, but still impressively destructive. He remembered when those atomic missiles fell on his home hive city, killing everyone.
And that had happened with the chimera, they had been wiped out. The Avengers burned out, unable to withstand the extreme heat.
What appeared later left Milliano speechless.
A sixty-meter giant, as big as a titan of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Its stark skin glowed with the intensity of the burning fire. Even at this distance he could sense that he was near a campfire.
He quickly brought his hand to the communicator on his helmet. And tried to report to his superiors.
"Command...command, do you read me?"
The static that had been covering the vox channel lifted, in its place was the sound of discussion on the other end. An officer answered him.
"What in the name of Terra is going on over there?"
"They've wiped out the main force. I'm the only survivor from my company plus some scouts."
A pause lasting more than ten seconds, Milliano thought he had lost the signal.
"Explain yourself soldier, what exactly happened back there?"
"Sir... there's a damned titan at least sixty meters in the middle of the district. The bastard wiped them all out."
"Ar you the only one alive?"
"No sir, there are scouts alive over the walls. But it's only a matter of time before they catch up with us."
The line went dead. Milliano tried calling, but no one answered. Had he been abandoned? He wouldn't be surprised, he was replaceable after all. He knew what he was getting into when he enlisted, all to find a better life than in the under-hive with the cartels.
What were they to do now? They couldn't get to the basement, and those monsters that had arrived only told him how screwed they were. He didn't really know what they were, from the time he had arrived here and fought these monsters.
But when he saw that young man glow and explode to become that colossus... he understood that they had been fighting mutants.
That meant that what these islanders called titans were nothing more than humans who had taken on the form of these horrible creatures. He could only wonder if it was a curse or they themselves had embraced these will-less prisons of flesh, only capable of reacting to their own instincts.
Either option sickened him.
They should purge all these abominations and all humans who might become them.
[X]
Reiner knew he couldn't make it in time, he watched as they fled towards the walls. The avenger bolter rounds hammered his back, making him fall again and again. He could not go on for long, sooner or later they would hit the back of his head and he would die instantly.
He had no choice but to call Bertholdt earlier than they had agreed. Eren was no longer among the streets of the district.
Then he roared.
[X]
The room had turned into chaos. Officers were arguing, some giving their views, others, more boldly, reproving the actions of the Mars adept.
"Sending troops just like that... How stupid! And to think that a techpriest would fall into such failures of logic!" Said one of the colonels.
"He's not a general after all" Replied another.
"Look at it on the other hand, thanks to him we now know we have enemies on the island."
Erwin knew the situation was bad. He had sent a hundred men to secure that basement. He would have loved to go, lead them, and find a way to achieve victory...even if he knew he would end up sacrificing many to get them there.
Dot Pixis approached him, a bottle of Amasec in hand, behind him was his aide, who was trying to make him put the bottle down. "General Martencz is going to deploy a strike force composed mainly of Brimlock dragoons."
"Are the Astartes going to participate?"
"I'm not sure... Lord Rive had made it clear that they would not assist the techpriest, but the appearance of the colossal titan might change that decision." Pixis took another swig of the Amasec, his assistant protesting again.
"But still..." Erwin began. "It seems strange to me - did they know it would be a failure? Or did they know there were enemies waiting for them?"
"What do you mean?" This time it was Nile Dok, who was also sitting near them.
It was Dot Pixis who answered that question. "General Martencz sent a force of fifty Imperial soldiers... but these were not Imperial Guard..."
"Recruits..." Niles tried to guess.
"No, Planetary Defense Forces. And from what I know, they're considered lesser than the Guard." Erwin moved the bionic arm he now had, it stung a little where it attached. "If this mission was so important... Why would Martencz send such a shoddy force from the Empire?"
"You're worried about your scouts." Pixis told him, he guessed right.
"I think Martencz knows they had a better chance of survival... and the proof is that he wanted Levi to be part of the expedition to report directly what was going on... it won´t take long for his report to come in."
And like a prophecy, a Garrison officer rushed in, in her hands was a parchment which she handed to Erwin. She saluted and ran to hand another to Martencz who had been waiting patiently for the message.
Erwin unrolled the message and after a read, frowned.
"They are facing three titans shifter at least. The armored titan, the beast titan and the colossal titan."
Pixis pressed the bottle. "I really knew this might happen... but why?"
"Politics." Was the answer on Niles' part. The other two commanders stared at him, he continued, understanding that they wanted him to explain himself. "As far as I know, that Rune Priest of the Mechanicus has considerable influence on the Imperial forces. After all, he's the only one who can repair and the only one who knows how all those Imperium technologies are built. Realistically, he has as much military power as Martencz. By acceding to his demands, the Tech-Priest will have no excuse for refusing to continue helping the Imperials with their technology."
"Which means the real move on Martencz's part is coming now."
The three watched Martencz who had approached a hololith the Guard officers surrounded him.
This time it was his turn.
He opened the Vox channel to the Black Templars.
"Lord Rive, we have confirmed enemy strength. Awaiting your Kill Team for spearhead."
[X]
Zeke had given Bertholt an order.
He was not to last more than ten minutes inside the colossal titan.
And that was because he knew that the Imperium's reaction would most likely be powerful and merciless. If they had more of those planes, they would surely shoot down Bertholt, a huge, clumsy and slow target.
They had only one chance to get Eren back. And if they failed, they would escape as fast as they could.
Pieck approached him, her titan form carrying rocks for him. He thanked her, took one and reduced it to smaller stones.
Then he threw them with overwhelming force.
[X]
The situation was not on his side. That much was obvious to Levi. Although they had finally rallied what was left of their forces. Now they were trapped, with no chance of a victory. Escape was the only option, but how could they escape the colossal titan and the armored titan?
Just as he was about to give the order to secure the remaining horses, a new rock storm devastated everything outside the walls. The remaining horses were instantly annihilated. They could no longer flee.
"We must buy time." He heard Armin say. He turned, signaling him to speak.
"We must buy time for the Imperium to send reinforcements." Armin pointed to Milliano. "He just spoke to command. Which means they know about what's going on."
"From what I saw he was very distressed when he finished talking. Like he was being told some bad news."
But Armin didn't fall down, and continued with his explanation. "We were sent without support or supplies, just to this place to retrieve something. That 'something' must be of great value for the Imperium that has been so bold in its military decisions to be so concerned about securing it."
"If it was that important they should have sent better troops and not just fifty PDF." Questioned Jean who had picked up a laser rifle from the corpse of an Imperial.
"And they needed to send them." Armin stated.
"Why, what reason would be worth sacrificing fifty soldiers plus a hundred of us?"
"Because they are cannon fodder." Was Armin's reply.
Everyone was silent, waiting for a better explanation.
Armin granted them.
"During the exercises... I have seen a clear distinction between the Imperial Guard and the PDF. Both treat each other very differently, especially the guard, who seems to view the PDF as inferior."
"But they are still soldiers of the empire..." Connie said as she looked after Sasha. "Shouldn't they be on the same side?"
"We don't know how the Empire is run on the inside, nor how the officers work." Levi spoke. "And I'm not surprised. There's a sharp line between them. The guard seems to be better trained and armed. These behave like recruits fresh out of training."
"I understand, but how are we going to survive ten minutes against this?" Jean let the obvious show. They were indeed surrounded and could not move so easily.
It was then that Armin spoke again.
"We'll go to the other side of the wall, the way we came in."
Everyone was incredulous at such a plan. Going out there was practically suicide. They were on open ground and with whatever was throwing those deadly rocks.
"If we take Eren with us, there's a good chance we won't be attacked. After all, their goal is to capture Eren. The beast titan is the one that should be attacking and Berthold can't get out of the walls, so all we have to do is take down Reiner with Eren."
The others looked at the aforementioned Eren. He hadn't said anything, but his mind was coming up with something similar. "I'll carry you." He said. "In my Titan form I can take you closer to the reinforcements."
"And end up getting mowed down? Maybe you'll survive that, but it'll make mincemeat of us." Jean spat.
"So what do we do, wait for him to kill us? Sasha's barely breathing."
"We can beat Reiner..." Armin said again.
"How?"
Armin pulled out an object from between his clothes. It looked like a flattened cylinder. It was a grenade, but one they had never seen.
"It's a Krak grenade. I've seen them use it. This thing can destroy Reiner's armor. But it has to be at least one meter away."
"So it would literally have to be attached to his body to kill him." Levi mentioned. "Hey you." Called Milliano, the latter was still trying to get through to the barracks, but by the look on his face surely no one had answered.
Levi had slightly learned the low gothic of the Empire. It was crude and he still didn't know enough words. But he could understand and make himself understood. The Imperial soldier said nothing, and with Levi being the last real officer on the scene, it only remained for him to at least listen to him.
"Do you have any more of those grenades?"
Milliano took a moment to understand the islander's coarse Gothic bass and pulled out two frag grenades. Levi picked them up. "You'd better keep using that radio. Mark our position."
Milliano nodded at the captain's words, wondering what he would use those grenades for.
"Let's take care of Reiner first. I need you to keep Bertholt occupied. Eren, you'll use your titan to lure him out, take ten with you. If possible, pick up Imperial equipment and weapons, if there's any left."
Mikasa was about to leave with Eren, but the captain stopped her. "You will go with me. Only the two of us can make this work. The rest of you, ration your gas and give half to those who will go with me. The rest of you, seek shelter or try to contact the empire once you arrive."
Levi chose thirteen, the others shared gas and retreated. Jean was with them, he hadn't left the laser rifle, he slung it over his shoulder and followed his captain. To him it sounded like madness the plan Levi had laid out.
"Not you." Levi told him. "Stay with the PDF. Help him by using the smoke to signal our position."
Keeping Reiner away would be a problem. Once Eren transformed it was certain he would come running to their position to reinforce Reiner. If that was the case, then all that was left for him to do was set up an ambush. If they could get that grenade in his mouth, they would finish him off, of course, the problem was how they could do it.
[X]
Reiner dropped the remains of the tank after inspecting it. He was intrigued by the design of such vehicles. Far more advanced than anything at Marley. It seemed incredible to him that Paradis' people had been able to build such a thing. While he had managed to defeat them, Reiner knew full well that it had been pure luck. For if it had been another terrain, it was quite possible that just one of these tanks would have been enough to finish him off.
The place had been devastated, Bertholt had wiped out everything. But I knew that Eren could not be dead. No, he had to be in hiding, probably more enemies were in hiding. Old friends he had once called allies. His heart shrank at the memory, guilt and duty intermingled. He just wanted this to be over, he wanted to rest. But he knew that was impossible, not with this new enemy.
That's why they had to get the founder back and give Marley a chance to fight these demons.
Then he saw, on the other side of the wall, the glow that pointed to where Eren was. A defiant roar rumbled.
Reiner knew where he had to go.
He ran as fast as he could. They had to capture him, they had to get Eren to Marley. What other options did they have? Ymir had already accepted her fate, she had been the first to board the submarine. And now she was on standby.
She had to hurry, if this was only an advance force, then the main force would not be long in coming. He remembered the ten minute limit Zeke had pointed out to him, he was running out of time.
He barely felt a hook embedding itself in his armor. It took him a moment to realize it, but he knew none of them could hurt him using simple MDGs.
But for some reason he didn't feel the blades snap against his armor. Had it been a feint then? Were they trying to get his attention? It didn't matter, he was like an unstoppable battering ram, he would reach Eren at any cost.
He felt how suddenly everything was filled with a white noise. He completely lost his hearing, while half of his range of vision disappeared instantly. His sense of balance failed and he soon felt the hardness of the ground.
What had happened, how had he now found himself knocked down and half his face smashed in? He urged himself to get up, covering the back of his neck. Then again he felt another hook clinging to the divisions of his armor, he tried to shake off whoever was attacking him. He moved his free arm, a powerful draft formed.
Again another explosion, this time he had completely lost his vision and hearing. He was isolated, he covered the back of his neck with both hands, waiting for his titan body to regenerate. what was he being attacked with? An explosive? One powerful enough to damage his armor? He felt his jaw go limp, his mouth hung open.
Fear came over him, how had they managed to develop something to defeat him? Would he die here? The uneasiness of never seeing his mother again made him want to scream.
[-]
So far the plan had worked, the grenades had not only destroyed the armored titan's jaw, they had also blinded and deafened him.
Levi moved using his ODM equipment, in his hands was the Krak grenade. Armin had explained to him that the grenade would implode by crushing everything in a one meter area. Even if it was attached to Reiner, it was not certain if it would hit him. The grenade also had a timer, so making him swallow it was the safest option to finish him off.
His mouth was open, it was now or never. He removed the pin and threw it.
Then something happened that made him curse Reiner three times.
Indeed, the titan's jaw was useless. It could not close.
But it was not the same for his tongue.
Levi cursed Reiner as he realized that he had stopped the grenade with his tongue by trapping it between his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Having thought it would be the same, Reiner acted quickly. If it was another explosive, a detonation from inside would be fatal to him.
And after a few seconds the grenade went off.
The armored titan's head seemed to collapse in on itself. Blood and bones compressed by the destructive force of the grenade also destroyed part of the brain. Motor skills failed, and he collapsed on his face.
But Reiner was not dead.
Levi cursed again, over and over. He was out of ideas, how would they stop Reiner now?
Mikasa accelerated, letting the engine of her ODM spin with all the power it could muster. He called out to her, ordering her to stop, but she ignored him. In vain, she tried to split Reiner's armor.
"Mikasa Get out of there! It's useless now."
Time seemed to stop, right in front of Levi, a rock fragment was flying at tremendous speed. He barely had time to catch it, before he heard the screams of his soldiers dying.
Of what little remained of the buildings they were on, there was nothing left. Only a bloody mist created by the remains of their pulverized comrades.
They were all dead. Only Mikasa, who had been close to Reiner, was unharmed. Levi had just been lucky. It chilled his blood, there was that evil titan beast. He watched it silently, smiling.
He watched it in horror as it again prepared to fire. Started moving its arm, its hand was full of rock fragments ready to cause destruction.
Levi barely heard the now familiar sound of the Imperial ships' engines. And rarely had he seen a Krak missile in action.
He had seen titans obliterated before the power of these weapons.
This time was no different.
The Astartes, he had never seen them enter the battlefield. Nor had he seen their weapons. But he did not doubt of their power.
So when that Stormstrike missile hit the beast titan, he was not surprised when its entire body was blown to pieces.
The Stormraven roared through the skies, at tremendous speed. Like a raging beast looking for prey. At that moment, the young captain would swear something had released that airship.
He and Mikasa had occupied their full attention on the scene. So much so that they hadn't noticed when Reiner was back on his feet.
Mikasa was closest to the armored titan. By the time Levi tried to warn her it was too late.
Mikasa was frozen, her mind signaling that it was too late to fire her hooks and escape. Levi was also too far away. He would be too late. She would join the many who had died under his command.
Reiner's armored fist was headed straight for her. Mikasa felt her life flash before her, she remembered Eren, her feelings and her disappointment at being the first to leave. A part of her wanted to follow her stepbrother's example, to fight, to never give up. But another part made her resign herself to a death she could not avoid.
It was in that small instant that she realized.
It was as if time had stopped, as if the figure that was now in front of her had edited itself into reality. One moment there was nothing, the next a figure of almost three meters was there.
That figure moved like a whip, his arm glowed, electric arcs surrounded his fist. Reiner did not stop, he would crush whatever was in front of him.
The Black Templar accepted the challenge.
His power fist slammed into the titan's giant armored fist.
Anyone would think there was no way to stop him, how could anyone stand up to the power of a titan?
The disruptor field answered Reiner. A fist capable of destroying tanks in one blow.
And that fist had pulverized apart the hand that until a moment ago, thought nothing could stop it.
The Astartes stood defiantly. He raised his bolter and fired. Three rounds exploded inside his head, it staggered him.
Reiner didn't understand, he was over fourteen meters tall, almost impenetrable armor, how could this one hurt him? He was bigger than the average human, and his armor and weapons more advanced than anything he had ever seen before. It was imperial, and one he could not take lightly.
With his huge hand that remained intact he grabbed pieces of rubble, debris from destroyed buildings, and threw it at the armored man. Mikasa flied away from him, opting to find a safe place.
What the Astartes did would haunt Reiner for the rest of his life.
How could something so heavy be so fast?
He could barely keep up with it, it was like a blur moving back and forth. Despite having a pair of huge turbines on its back its dexterity was simply inhuman. Not only did he dodge the debris, that huge fist lit up again and destroyed a large boulder that Reiner had thrown at him.
Reiner stepped back, poised to grab another pile of debris, but the Astartes was faster. The roar of the retrorockets on his back echoed and lifted the space marine, such was the speed of his ascent that in a moment he was face to face with the armored titan.
The power fist was energized again, and a Silurian glow bathed the titan's face, it was pulverized, the disruptor field atomizing flesh and bone. It was as if a shell exploded in Reiner's face, nothing was left but a bloody, burnt mass where his head used to be.
And the titan's huge body fell.
A wall of steam rose up.
Reiner had been struck down.
[X]
When Bertholt saw the lightning strike, he immediately thought that Eren was just desperate to buy time. Zeke's warning was obvious, they would try to hold them out, waiting for the Imperium to show up. He had no doubt that by the time the Imperials arrived victory would be far behind them. Especially when he had made himself a huge target.
He wondered how much damage his titan could take before it fell. Naval guns could not bring him down, several countries had tried in vain.
He moved his arm, the incandescent heat his body emanated was like a burning blight. His huge hand was used like a shovel, lifting debris and burning timbers. It was as if a tsunami of fire was rushing at Eren who, defiantly, roared at it. But he dared not attack, he was not his target after all.
Bertholdt wouldn't bother to play along.
In his hands he grabbed a pile of wood and debris, they burned on contact with his skin. And he hurled them at Eren like a wall of fire that showered him in a rain of destruction. Such was the attack that Eren was now kneeling on the ground. His arms had been burned and were regenerating. Berholt did not give him time to get up. He raised his arm, it was slow, so slow that Eren could get up and escape. But he was too badly damaged.
He brought his fist down with the force of a hundred bombs. Right over the wounded body of the Assault Titan. The latter was pulverized, only bone fragments and ashes were what remained. He had left the place where Eren should be relatively intact.
His massive fingers wrapped around the titan's smoking corpse. "It's useless." Bertholt thought. "There's no way you can defeat me in this situation."
There it was, they had finally succeeded. Eren was in their custody. Now they could leave this doomed island and return to Marley, to Liberio, to their Home...
But it was not to be.
Bertholdt had wondered how much his titan would withstand Imperial fire.
The answer had come in the form of a barrage of Krak missiles fired from a massive Marauder.
Bertholt staggered.
And fell.
A huge cloud of steam from the fallen colossal titan covered the entire district.
[X]
Jacor observed the form of the armored Titan while checking for the presence of enemies in the vicinity. The auto-senses of his helmet were partially blinded by the intense cloud of steam emanating intense heat. His augmented senses could still detect a good portion of his surroundings.
The titan's blood was evaporating from his armor. He felt disgust at the odor it emitted, hatred for an abomination born of ancient and dubious technology. To him, titans were no different from mutants. The idea that they might be human, as the tech-priest had theorized, filled him with anger. Locked in prisons of flesh, forever wandering in the darkness of their senses, was this dark age technology worth it? The Mars adept had said yes. He doubted it.
The armored titan's body was already vaporizing. Had he died? He doubted it. He waited for a counterattack, but nothing came. The mutant had escaped. The vapor had not yet vanished.
Finally, he noticed the pair of mortals who had been fighting this abomination. Captain Levi, his Eidetic memory had saved his name after witnessing his little challenge against his commander. The short man was of considerable courage. But so was the young woman at his side. Both were almost on the same level in skill. Had he been younger, would have recommended the male as a challenger.
They were stunned. He understood why, it was not uncommon to see the same look on the faces of those of the imperial guard who had witnessed his martial prowess. He urged them to stand up.
"Retrieve Eren Jaeger, locate that artifact and secure it."
Jacor spoke into his helm's vox. "I have neutralized the secondary target. But the mutant could have taken advantage of the steam to escape."
His battle brother, Faust replied. "Matters not. Archeotech deserves priority. Find Eren Jaeger and..." for a moment, Brother Faust's voice faltered, it took him a few nanoseconds to digest the news, but he continued. "Change of plans. Locate his sister and locate the house. If necessary you will bring the whole habitation, but you must secure the artifact at all costs."
"Eren Jaeger... Has he been compromised?"
"He has been..."
Jacor closed the Vox channel and walked over to Mikasa. She couldn't get used to being in front of one of the Emperor's angel. "You will take me to the artifact." Jacor ordered to her. It took Mikasa a few seconds to react, longer than he would have liked, but he decided to tolerate this failure.
"Yes, sir." She started walking, Levi checked his weapons, he had no blades left. He noticed something on the ground, there was a laser pistol partially covered in dust and ash. He grabbed it and followed the Astartes.
[-]
This is it. Said Mikasa pointing to a destroyed building. A large rock lay on top of the house, obstructing the way. Jacor approached, and with both arms began to push until the multi-ton rock was moved aside.
The stairs that had been darkened for more than five years received sunlight for the first time. Mikasa contemplated with bitter nostalgia how the home that had sheltered her was now destroyed. The kitchen where she had so often helped her late mother, now flattened and almost completely obliterated. Tears settled in the corners of her eyes, but did not run down her cheeks.
The stairs barely had room for an Astartes, the weight even made them creak on the verge of breaking. Once in front of the door, he pushed it, the latch could do nothing against his strength and the plate flew off.
Levi hurried to look for it. Mikasa was slow to arrive, also following the captain's example. Several minutes passed. Jacor was considering ordering the place being dug up and taking it to Sina. Before he noticed an opening for a key next to the desk in the middle of the basement.
Without thinking, and with his gauntlet not activating the disruptor field, he ripped off the top board with very little resistance. Levi and Mikasa rushed over to look as well.
There it was, in a chest of no more than fifty centimeters. A padlock was the only thing holding it shut. Jacor didn't hesitate to smash it and open the chest.
Jacor felt considerably cheated, angry and betrayed.
Inside were only two things.
Two books and an old photograph.
He wanted to smash that damned tech-priest with his power fist who had started this whole quest.
He picked up one of the books, it was just an encyclopedia of the world. Of little relevance. He would have crushed the chest, had it not been for the second book.
It was a diary, one written by Grisha Jaeger. His Eidetic memory had memorized the language deciphered by the savants.
He discovered two relevant human castes in the history of this world.
Eldia and Marley.
The former, an empire that had fallen into disgrace, defeated by the latter, Marley.
As now Marley dominated the world using the power of its former oppressor. The titans who were in fact the people of Eldia, subdued and controlled in ghettos around the world. The world had fallen to Marley's military might and now they were picking up the legacy of their former autocrats.
He read the process by which they were turned into titans, using a kind of serum that activated the curse written in the Eldians' DNA. And how they all ended up in Paradis. For a hundred years they had been filling this island with titans.
For Jacor, all this ethnic strife was as old as the Imperium itself.
As always, it was the fault of the weakness of the human heart in the face of great power.
He had seen more than one world fall into useless fights over disputes over ancient technology or the right to use it.
In this case, the curse of this world was the titans.
Part of him considered the idea of purging the Eldians. They were mutants in his eyes, he looked at Levi and Mikasa who were reading the encyclopedia. They are human, there was no variation in their genetic code, the Eldians were as human as anyone else.
He would have to check all this information with his commander.
"Primary target secured. Request extraction." He called out to the Stormraven.
[X]
Gadriel crushed the dying soldier's chest at his feet. The woman he was helding by the neck in an iron grip was still kicking, trying to free herself. He resisted the urge to finish her off as well.
He felt his blood circulation tighten, and Larraman's cells took over to stop the bleeding and heal. With his remaining arm he lifted the woman up and with his armored boot he broke her legs, making sure she could not escape. He threw her to the ground and ripped off the gas tanks on her back, neutralizing her ODM equipment. She could only lie on the ground sobbing from the pain.
Gadriel then contemplated the traces of the battle that had taken place where he was supposed to meet what was left of the scouts that had been sent to this place. Only a few were left alive, the rest had been slaughtered by subjects with equipment similar to theirs, but of a different model. Those missiles they used, harpoon-shaped rods. They had claimed his left arm that he had used to protect himself.
They attacked with speed, their anti-personnel weapons were useless against him. And although he killed almost all those who attacked him. It was in the opening that had caused the loss of his arm, when they had managed to escape with Eren Jaeger as their prisoner.
Only six scouts had survived the firefight, their weapons useless at a time like this. They had only been saved because the enemy had focused on him.
One of the scouts pounded the surface of the wall in frustration. He cursed, mentioning how it had happened again. Another was holding the wounded body of a young woman. Yet another was trying to restrain with a tourniquet the blood pouring from a leg that had been hit.
His helmet caught the heat signature of an approaching Valkyrie. "Take this prisoner in for interrogation. Get everything she knows out of her and report back." Gadriel said, already forming the vengeance that would be exacted on those who had dared to take one of his arms. He activated his retro-thruster and took to the air. The Stormraven flew overhead, its hatches awaiting him.
Everything had been silenced from one moment to the next. Armin noted, uneasily, how this battle had gone so quickly. It had only taken a few minutes to turn all this into a victory.
When those missiles showered Bertholdt it was the turning point. The Imperium had come in like a hurricane, striking like lightning and wiping out the threat that had cornered them.
He regretted his weakness, but most of all his lack of foresight. Now he had realized, the real king had not died at the hands of the Imperium. He had escaped and hidden, waiting patiently for an opportunity to make his move. And all this he had allowed himself.
What was he going to tell Mikasa? that they had lost Eren again? It seemed to him that he would only be mocking her.
The valkyrie was already above them, descending. When it was at the right height the hatch opened, and a desperate Hange pounced on Armin, peppering him with questions. He could barely answer some of them, but she was too persistent, trying to take in every possible detail of what had happened. She was clearly desperate to get Eren back, perhaps more so than Mikasa would be.
It took Commander Smith to intervene to ease the tensions. Alongside him below a medical team attended to all the wounded. Armin was a little relieved to see Sasha finally on a stretcher being carried to the Valkyrie.
"Are you listening to me!" Was his superior's reprimand, as she again bombarded him with all sorts of questions.
"Enough Hange. The mass of the colossal titan will have to wait. Now our priority is to retrieve Eren Jaeger and understand what is inside the back of his neck."
Hange reluctantly obeyed and left Armin.
"Rest, I know what happened." Erwin told him, strangely calm. "If we were in our previous position, we would be in big trouble. But it's different now. We've secured the walls and the knowledge about the Titans. We've already dispatched search teams, they're cornered."
Two more valkyries came down, out of these came imperial guards, but there was something strange about them. Their armor was different, a cobalt blue hue. Armin could easily tell that these were some sort of elite. They had carapace armor that covered their entire bodies. Laser rifles that were connected to some sort of battery charging on their back. They had a sinister air about it, as if they were there to fulfill an execution.
"I know you want to rest, all of you. But there's something you need to do first." Erwin pointed to those armored Guardsmen. "The high command needs a report on what happened. The commissary's Tempestus Scions will escort you."
There was something in Erwin's tone of voice. One very similar to the one he made when he knew he was sending soldiers to die on a suicide mission. He tried to hide it, but at times it was visible. What did the high command want?
Armin would later find out how seriously the Imperium took treason.
[X]
Pieck climbed up the rocks towards the wall that guarded the dock where the ships docked. She felt a shiver as she passed the place where so many Eldians had been transformed into titans for their crimes. She tried to tell herself that these were criminals, that they deserved it. That a fate even worse than the punishment of any other criminal across the sea was somehow justified. When the wall came down, she opened her mouth to let Reiner and Bertholdt out. Still unconscious, mutilated and totally exhausted. Reiner had barely escaped, one of his arms was still regenerating. Bertholdt had taken the brunt of it, having lost half of his body, barely alive.
Only Zeke, at his back, had remained awake, but rather quiet after their defeat.
Could that even be called defeat? Pieck wondered.
They had been swept aside as if they were irrelevant. A massacre from one moment to the next. All it had taken was the arrival of those black and white armored warriors.
Zeke had considered that actually staying to fight would ultimately end in defeat. The Imperium and its weapons were simply too much to withstand in a conflict of long duration.
He did not think they would have the power to unleash warriors who, on their own, were monsters capable of going up against a titan shifter. Their entrance had changed the situation within minutes.
The might of the titans had come to an end.
Zeke couldn't shake that thought, no, it wasn't possible. Even if the fear of the titans ended, the hatred of the Eldians would continue for generations. He reaffirmed his plan again, this would not stop him, but now he had to rethink his strategy.
Reiner opened his eyes and looked at his hand, made it into a fist and contemplated it. He still felt how that strange energy had pulverized his armored fist. The speed of that man, not that monster. He still didn't understand, how could something like that be so fast?
They had to return to Marley as soon as possible, bring them this information to prepare. If the Eldians of Paradis were willing to attack they had to have a plan to defend themselves.
"Let's get out of here..." Zeke said resignedly. "Reiner, give me a hand getting into the sub."
After several minutes, they had finally managed to get everyone into the submarine that was floating on the dock. If it could even be called a submarine, for it had no propulsion system. Pieck, in his titan form, set about pulling it underwater.
Ymir never dared to greet them, she knew her fate at Marley's hands. She would not bother to show even a hint of kindness to her tormentors. With Zeke's help, Reiner operated the instruments to fill the tanks and allow the ship to submerge in a few minutes. Pieck began to swim, and the farther they went, the more Reiner watched the island receding into the distance. This was the second time he had looked at the island the same way he had found it more than five years ago.
He wished he could never go back.
But he knew better than anyone, he would be here again in the future.
[X]
Historia Reiss had lived most of her life locked away and protected.
She knew of her legacy, after all, even if she was a bastard daughter, she still had the blood of the kings of the walls.
It was a past that had haunted her, even to this day, when the Imperium had been looking for possible candidates to place as rulers, she had remained hidden. For she understood too well what it would mean to be crowned queen under the blessing of the Emperor of this new empire that had arrived behind the portal.
Nothing more than a puppet to dance to the tune of the new masters of the island.
The policies of the empire, at least the ones she had understood, stated that each world must have a governor. Sure, she would have been appointed governor of this world, but what could she govern? She had no idea whatever was outside the walls. What could she rule if she knew nothing? It was a facade after all, they were connected to another imperial world, and the erratic logics of politics, indicated that there would be more than one conflict of interest on the part of the other side's world and its nobles. Especially that noble called Terrenos, who was expanding at an overwhelming speed creating new trade treaties and technologies brought from the other side.
It was too much for her.
She just wanted to be left alone.
She was sick of acting, of trying to be the nice girl. Of being protected. In any other situation, she would have turned her back on her own father and faced the world with her subjects.
But that was no longer possible, at least not now when she was scared of the Imperium itself.
No, not scared.
Terrified.
She knew it was only a matter of time before the Imperials found them. They had discovered the value of the founding titan and its power.
What would she do then?
She looked at the crystal formation that served as a pedestal to offer the ancient bearer of the founder to the new generations.
There stood Eren Jaeger, chained against his will. Anyone would have expected to find a weak and resigned man, tired of being persecuted with a responsibility on his shoulders that would break even the strongest will.
But what was there was a young man defying his reality. Cursing and trying to cut himself to become a titan. But special measures had been taken to prevent that.
Historia wondered if he hated her, probably.
Her father, Rod Reiss, who had left her several years ago, was there too. He was talking to a man, this one wearing that new ODM gear she'd never seen. They both looked nervous.
"What do you mean, they won't take long!" her father sounded frantic, desperate almost. "No one else knows about this place! How did they find out so quickly?"
"They took a prisoner..."
"Even so! They're completely loyal to me! There's no way they could get information out of them so easily."
Kenny Ackerman might have mocked the true king of the walls, at least in title alone. Even if he had walked among them, he did not doubt the brutal efficiency with which they dealt with anyone who did not accept their will. Kenny had quickly realized that they were the new overlords and to oppose them was suicide.
He considered the fact that the Imperium still had no idea who Kenny Ackerman really was.
"Prepare the defenses then!" Rod Reiss ordered him. "Call your soldiers and defend this place with their lives. Only then can we get the founder back."
This time Kenny didn't comment any more and went to the entrance leaving Rod alone with his daughter and the founder's carrier. He was thankful he had been wearing his hat all that time, so the boy hadn't seen his face.
He left Rod in the cavern, he would have wanted to steal some of that serum from him, but getting out of here as fast as possible was his priority. It wasn't the first time he had betrayed someone to save his own skin.
[-]
"Your orders, sir?" His subordinate asked. The entrance was about to be demolished and this place was the last line of defense. If they got through there were only a little over fifty members of the military police to hold them back from the empire.
"Change of plans." Kenny whispered to her. "Gather our allies and leave those king's fanatics. Tell them we'll go delay them as long as we can."
"I hope that, by going to delay them, doesn't mean that..." his subordinate voiced, nervous, scared even.
"As if we could have a chance against those monsters. Better to live under the Imperium than obey a dement king who tries to cling to a past he can no longer return to."
Kenny had built a reputation for himself, in the past he had killed many members of the military police under the direct command of the true king. As a result, those who carried some grudge against the government began to orbit around him. Some saw him as a hero, others as the embodiment of their resentment. To Kenny that was irrelevant, but he had won the loyalty of these outlaws.
A little less than half of these were what made up this group participating in favor of the king of the walls.
His subordinate withdrew, ready to comply with his orders.
By the time they heard the first shots they were already far away from them.
[X]
Well, that took a while. I've been delaying mostly in the translation. I've been trying to get into drawing again. I want to keep drawing and also I planned on returning to trying to do comic. The reason why I stopped doing that is because I felt I was going nowhere, I felt writing could be better. But turns out, I haven't lost the 5 years I took to develop my art. Thus I want to start making a manga like adaptation to some crossover story from this site. I already decided which one. Dunno how much I will take so don't expect this to be soon.
Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter. I really want the next deliver to be the Akame ga Kill one, Above this killing ocean, but I think This Remnant of Mine will be next. Also I had some pilots for some new ideas, hope I can upload them but those won't probably be serialized.
Alright, I will see you later.