Armin stared at the massive estate; the huge lawns and pleasing cobblestone paths that guided the path of the fortuned traveler to a colossal sprawling holdfast, more castle than mansion. Pristine white walls carried opulent blue and gold roofs adjacent to balconies and beautiful terraces.

Regrettably, Armin was not the fortuned traveler today and they rolled right on past to far more modest quarters. A mansion no doubt but infinitely smaller than that huge….

"What am I doing?" Entering Sina was a huge opportunity, and here he was moping about big buildings. His grandfather heard him and put a hand on his shoulder

"You're making us proud. Your parents would be more than grateful you got this chance. And I… I am more than confident that you'll do right." Armin's eyes watered and his grandpa smiled at him;

"Thanks for being here for me."

Apparently Dr. Grisha had arranged for him to live with a rich family while studying. A Mr. Brecken who insisted that he would be called Lord Brecken when he secured a marriage to some noble or the other. For practice he insisted that Armin and everyone, everyone else being the servants in the mansion, get acquainted with using his soon to come title.

To be fair, Mr. Brecken had done well by Armin, enrolling him in one of the top Sina tutor houses. On the other hand he'd done a little too well for Armin and enrolled him the day after an exhausting journey, consequently it was a very restless and tired Armin that had to show up in hot (yet soft) garments for his first class. He was grouchy and struggling very hard not to snap in anger when they all had to stand up to greet their newest student…. Some noble girl named Reiss or such.

Erwin tiredly nudged his horse along the massive entourage, decking in heavy ceremonial attire under a blazing afternoon sun. The King's carriage slowly crawled in the midst of the widely spaced buildings that dotted the refugee camp. As a commander he was coerced to come along when they announced to the populace that they would be leading a glorious suicide rush into Wall Maria.

Many of the poor folk cheered to see the king in their midst. Or more accurately, his carriage. The actual King was lounging in his palace at Mitras sipping iced wine or drifting in an indoor pool. The noble in the carriage was an uncle or other, not that these poor people were likely to see much less know his face. To gain the people's favor; relief supplies of foods, clothing tents and even livestock were hauled along and thrown into the crowd. King or not, the crowds pressed at the rear of the royal relief, cursing and shoving each other to clutch the supplies. As soon as they were hurled from the wagons, entire bags of flour were plucked mid-air and torn apart to spill the contents unto the earth. Fabrics and tents were ripped into pieces and Erwin winced when a live chicken suffered the same grisly fate.

Deep inside, perhaps a quick death wasn't so bad a fate for these fellow humans overcome by the titans. Was starving a better death than being chewed by huge teeth?

A loud roar overwhelmed his musings as the false king's relative stepped out, bearing a heavy crown and a large scepter. To the untrained eye, it… wasn't such a poor double. The beard was too short and the man too tall but the clothes were all worn comfortably and all he had to do was not mess up the speech. And trust someone from Mitras, the first thing the 'king' did the moment the crowds quieted was take off the heavy crown.

What is wrong with this Pea-brained gelding?

"I have failed my people and for that I cannot wear this crown before you. You are the pillars that hold up this kingdom and I did not see to your welfare. The titans came, and I was not your sword! This day, I come to fulfill my vow to the last of humanity! To forge the sword against the cretins in our walls.

Well. Perhaps I was wrong. That's not half bad.

CRACK

Thunder struck in broad daylight just meters from the protective mass of soldiers and courtiers.

Erwin ripped off his ceremonial sash and hopped on the back of his horse from the saddles.

Blind! We were blind! The king would be targeted the moment he stepped out!

With any luck, the blast was on the opposite side of the king and Erwin might reach him first. Without engaging his swords, he snapped up a flare barrel from his satchel and stuffed it into his spacious inner pockets, then fired off his cables to the King's wheelhouse. Riding barely above the heads of the crowd, his boots kicked into faces and shoulders before he landed against the walls of the carriage.

The guards of the King had wrestled him back into the carriage and one yelped at his sudden arrival turning his gun to bear on Erwin. He leapt over the boy and rolled unto the domed roof and immediately saw the titan.

A mean 6-meter abnormal with a shaggy mane and bone face. It swiped at two soldiers ineffectively and chewed through both rider and horse of a short suicide charge. It spat out their remains as their mixed blood ran down its-

Jaws.

The carriage jolted into action and Erwin wavered. The Jaw titan was bogged with the acrobatics of soldiers, eyes dotting around as it tried to track half a dozen soldiers using it as an anchor point. Unfortunately for the King's would be killer, Erwin took a knee, loaded and locked his flare gun in one smooth motion and steadily nailed the titan in the large bone-white face just south of its unprotected eyes.

The commander almost grinned as every soldier in the vicinity got the idea and begun firing their rifles straight at the small titan's eyes. His smile faltered when one of the airborne soldiers took a hit from the less sharp shooters in their ranks. He whistled for his horse, spotting it being ridden by some civilian trying to steer it out of the convoy. If he hadn't sworn a vow, he had half a mind to encourage him off with a well-placed shot. His poor steed kept struggling to penetrate the thick escort of the carriage to retrieve him even over the screams and frustrated roars of the blinded titan.

Erwin gave up on waiting for his horse and swung upside down to peer into the carriage.

"Good afternoon my lord." The "king" stared at him from under his sweat-soaked garments, stuttering in shock. The guards around him scowled at Erwin's pleasantry in disdain but he waved them off, "It's just one titan. More importantly it will be coming for this carriage very soon. Can't have you dying in public at least." He faced one of the guards. "Switch him to a soldier's jacket and ride the titan off."

The guards piled on the king tearing his outer garments, and fumbling with all the jewelry and buttons on his person. Erwin's horse snickered as it got galloped to the carriage, freed from its civilian burden and he neatly dropped on its back. As he settled in, a garrison soldier made a jump into the carriage and the soldiers wrestled the King in his place to a horse. Erwin reached over to steady the noble and threw off his wig.

With the king out of the carriage, some soldiers split off into detachments each going their own way as they all left the poor refugee camp behind to its fate

A loud groan from the carriage turned the heads of the scattering crowds and it tipped over from a poor turn crashing unto one side and sliding some way. The titan broke out of the camp wildly scanning for the carriage and growing more frantic.

Desperate are we?

He charged headlong at the thinning mass of soldiers pouncing like a cat on the carriage, he turned to the camp and roared. His clawed hands ripped into the carriage with glee, smashing it up like a glass wall. His finger pulled out a flap of torn fabric and when he growled in annoyance, Erwin knew that no amount of gold would ever be enough to convince anyone with eyes that thinking, intelligent humans weren't the enemy. It was all the sweeter when he slammed his fist on the ground.

But the sweetest treat was yet to come: The red flares of the response teams riding in from due north as the scouts bore down on the lone titan.

Moblit Berner

Commanders were smart. The sky was above. Working with Section Commander Hange was draining.

Take away any of these fundamental truths and the world of a scout would come tumbling down.

When Commander Erwin had concluded that the king was in danger and then escorted the King to an open area, it seemed contradictory.

But when he left, Hange clapped her head and laughed,

"Erwin you bast-"

Abel's hasty nudge shut her as half of headquarters chuckled at her familiar colorful grammar. Miche looked at her, "Figured something?"

"Erwin expects the King to be attacked! That's why he called half the corps in for duty."

"Then why didn't he-", Gelgar frowned

"Make plans for the King to be attacked ahead of time?" Hange interrupted. She snickered and turned on the spot.

"Listen here!" She announced. "Erwin told me to make sure everything stays intact and that means he indirectly gave me the authority over this mission!"

"Uhhh-" The scouts exchanged glances looking unsurely at Miche.

Miche shrugged, "If you want to."

"Perfect! Miche has the enviable position of my second in command. Now then! Advance to the mess hall! Then hit the stables in half an hour."

-O-

And sure enough, when they arrived, a small 6-meter intelligent titan was demolishing the King's carriage, while Hange moved to surround and confront the poor thing, Moblit simply looked for the calmest soldier and easily spotted him.

Commander Erwin nodded to them visibly grateful for their quick appearance.

"Sir! Section Commander led us here. Any updates, sir?"

"None at all. The king is safe and on his way. Rather, his body double is. Where is Hange?"

"At the intelligent titan. Just as you predicted sir; they came for the king. And we came for them."

Erwin blinked in surprise. Then he nodded and turned aside.

Wait a minute…

The commander took off towards the intelligent titan as it lost the use of a knee to the mounted scouts. Another scout plunged his blade into its eye with a flying jump as Dita Ness delivered a deep gash to the nape with a single blade. The titan bellowed and slumped unto the ground as Ness repositioned himself for a follow through. With unerring accuracy, Ness swung his blades in a swipe that cleaved a solid part of the nape off. He jumped off the neck with a cry as steam ejected from the neck and a figure stood up in the nape.

From the direction of the camp, a second explosion shook the ground as a massive 14 meter titan formed out of thin air in all its feminine glory and sprinted at them.

The scouts around the smaller (Jaw?) titan immediately doubled up their efforts to disable the jaw titan rather than be caught staring between two intelligent shifters. The moment a close enough soldier tried hooking his cables to the (female?) titan, she clutched his cables and spun him face first into the dirt.

Their Jaw titan's shifter jumped out and dove at Ness. Ness luckily did the wise thing and flipped as far as his legs could carry him away from the boy with a living explosion. As the boy fell to the ground, he immediately transformed into another titan, perfectly identical to the one he just exited.

The scouts cursed as a new titan form wasted all their efforts, none daring to come closer to the spasming ball of golden lightning and titan limbs; none but Hange Zoe.

Hange raced down and leveled a rifle at his uncompleted face, firing the moment the iris was visible. The titan jerked back at the small flash before securing a solid stance and it gracefully flipped its massive body over the scouts behind and bolted away from their entrapment towards the open fields.

Meanwhile the female titan had picked up a nasty passenger who wouldn't be shaken off. He stayed near her calves dodging her swipes from a safe distance. Barely 200 meters from their position, the female titan had slowed down to a jog giving her assailant more attention as he equally fought to slice her legs. Finally, she gave a kick and his wire jerked him violently. The soldier's cable jerked him and his body weakly flailed in a final spin before crumpling to the earth.

Without a wasted moment the female titan dashed past them easily overtaking their cantering speed to catch up with the Jaw titan. Moblit struggled to turn his horse around and by the time he did the two titans had faced them head on.