Eren was enjoying a rather pleasant stroll through one of Wall Rose's many fields when Kenny pulled up in a closed, unadorned carriage and tapped for him to get in.

On one hand, Eren was tempted to kindly ask him to piss off. On the other, Historia was there and her welfare, for the time being, was the most important thing.

"Have you always been this good at finding people who want to be left alone?"

Kenny didn't even acknowledge him with a snort as he clambered in.

"There's others you know, like the Colossal titan, he broke the Wall down. Probably don't want to get caught in that thing transforming."

"Shut tha hell up." His voice was tight as a rope about to snap

Eren knew he wasn't yet at the stage to push his luck so he clamped up. The carriage stopped for a frazzled MP to peek in and wave them on in haste.

"Historia hasta stay out of sight… can't keep her in Rose."

"Here in Mitras, then?"

"Orvud. Too many questions in the capital. Know where to find us?"

"I'll ask around." Eren replied as cheekily as he dared to the rhetorical question, pushing the boundaries a little more. Testing.

"Blue Cod."

Historia frowned when Kenny said that. Not that either of them offered anything more. Kenny was uptight, his voice without his usual leer and drawl slipping out faster than free ice cream at a beach.

"I don't remember any place like that. A bar?" He asked

"Tsk. Just scram."

"Eh?-" Eren was more surprised than shocked at the rough dismissal. Well, courteous if you counted who it came from. Even if the coach never stopped moving something they were both acutely aware of. Kenny narrowed his eyes at him when he made no move to get up.

"There's uh.. more I need to tell you. Technology and stuff."

"…"

"Sing your throat bloody."

What the-? What is wrong with this man?

"First. Multiple rounds guns. Like fifteen shots and above." Kenny's eyes glittered at the quantity, and he leaned forward as he answered. In his excitement, the tightness slumped off his voice.

"How?"

And I'm supposed to tell you straight up?

"Well, if my memories are correct then the police maintains seized inventions."

"That can't go on, right?" Historia asked.

"No, it can't."

"Sannes is going to hate you for this." Kenny sniffed. And there was his casual leer.

"If he gets in the way…" A memory of Eren Kruger silencing a wayward restorationist bloomed in his mind, "Kill him."

"We have to survive. And the scouts aren't ready to start killing and ahhh… questioning."

Kenny barked out a short cruel laugh, and for the first time in their ride it occurred to Eren that he was sitting in front of a Serial Killer. But he had nine- hehe - lives and he knew he could push his disregard a little more.

"What else ya got?"

"You'll need new ODM Gear too, with guns, maybe small explosives."

"Mmm" Kenny licked his lips slowly. Eren backed away from him and the goat just laughed in his face. And there was Kenny back again.

"All this planning… When's the action brat?"

Eren kept silent until they arrived at the small Mitras inn Kenny no doubt wanted to stay down in. As they rolled to a stop, he got out and watched civilians and shopkeepers lounge by with a hard stare.

"Soon."

Very Soon

Some days, Moblit Berner had no intention of getting out of bed. Other days, there noticeably wasn't an urgent disaster that called him to laborious duties. With the new Section Commanders, away, he and Paehl were the de-facto leaders of the Survey Corps when the armored titan had resurfaced in Wall Rose. Paehl wanted to ride round the wall and find the breach, but Moblit couldn't explain why not to, without giving away information that Commander Erwin hadn't permitted. In addition, the scouts were greatly reduced; more than two-thirds of the scouts were nowhere. Some had hit the taverns, gone home to their families or simply gone on a walk after brushing with death.

But he couldn't delay any longer. The more he waited the greater the danger

The present eighty scouts formed up and charged off under Paehl's command.

-o-

They rode for three hours before they first met Military response, a balding Garrison captain who assured them there was no Breach between Trost and Krolva, so they turned north. They had been riding for an hour when Garrison troops from Orvud happened on them and claimed there was no breach in the north either.

To sooth frustrations, Moblit suggested that perhaps, being intelligent, the Armored Titan had climbed over the Walls. Considering the frenzy that threw them into, that... had not been a clever move.

Before he could muck things up further they were at last joined by Commander Erwin, fresh from a mission report.

"We head to the Reiss Estate."

Without a word they fell in line after him, even the garrison soldiers. Commander Erwin wielded that much respect, and it was only likely to grow after their latest mission. They'd lost less than a fifth of their men both back and forth. It wasn't enough of a reduction for celebration but it was a vast improvement over losing a whole third like the usual. Speaking of which, he rode up closer to Commander Erwin, but when he tried to raise the issue of the Armored Titan, he was silenced with a cold glare and the Commander dismissed him.

Why am I still here? Just to suffer?

Moblit sighed and fell in line with the rest of the scouts. They rode for even more hours, past checkpoints and hastily cobbled rendezvous points. The MPs weren't slacking around this time. On the contrary, they displayed to all the world what good finger-biters and fair-weather troops humanity had guarding the king. If he were the Commander he'd have whipped them into shape before moving on. Even if he wasn't their commander. But the real Commander paid them no mind, whether they were disorganized or hailing him down. Erwin Smith cared for none of those things. He stoically rode on right past them. Leading them on to the one point that mattered.

The Truth.

The Truth was a demolished ruin of a manse with corpses strewn all about the yard. Erwin curtly ordered them to seize anyone alive for questioning and easily stepped over the bodies of fellow humans. A skillset he'd no doubt honed over the years. He checked the gears of two or three smashed soldiers and spared the nobles a glance.

"Moblit. Take a team and search inside the house. Make haste, don't bother about preserving the scene. Speed is of the essence."

"Yes sir!"

The nearest soldiers unwillingly formed up his new squad, to enter the manse. If such a word could be used. The front wall, with its windows, doors and porch had been ripped off by a blast. Certainly not a punch, the source of the explosion was something he could guess at( even if it had only been described to him). Inside, more people were trapped under the brick one or two still moaning about, the whole place buried under the dust of the brickwork

Upstairs was slightly better. It lacked the corpses. It lacked the rubble. It held a brace of quivering, but very much alive servants who squirrelled themselves away in a closet. Yelling with terror when the scouts pulled them out.

"Come on. Let's take them to the Commander."

The servants struggled feebly, falling quiet as they were lifted by ODM down to where Commander Erwin stood in the gruesome yard, pacing around the gigantic footsteps as if trying to re-enact the Armored Titan's rampage in his mind. His eyes flicked up to acknowledge their presence as he carried on his personal exercise.

"Survivors, sir!" Some scout with a hobby for stating the obvious piped up.

"How many titans did you see?" Erwin questioned.

"We... We hid..." One servant whimpered out. Erwin stopped pacing, eyes still on the ground and he repeated the question.

"How many titans?"

"Two."

Finally, the Commander looked at them. As if to decide whether to dispose of them or not. He looked at Moblit and the scout got the message immediately. Something mattered more than the Armored Titan's reappearance, more than the two survivors or however many people were still groaning under the rubble and dust.

"Move Out!"

A/N: First off, my thanks to the Guest who pointed out the main fault line for Quinta! Looking back, I completely have to agree and I'll work that into the story from now on! Gerboled was also correct, but I assure you that scene is not just a reference.

My gratitude for the Reviews and I eagerly await even more!

Looking forward to That Bright Dawn!