Part 67
Final Chance
Eren's sudden roar rattled throughout the entirety of Shiganshina, taunting Bertholdt as his Colossal form continued making its steady way towards the wall in which Erwin himself was perched upon, witnessing events unfolding from either side.
"He noticed!" Conny exclaimed, as the rumbling of the ground beneath them stopped as Bertholdt shifted his colossal head to look back at Eren who had called him out.
But the Titan pursued back to its original goal, choosing to not be antagonised by Eren.
"Bastard is ignoring us?!" Jean hissed, gritting his teeth. "Well, what now?"
"Eren?" In came Fury, stomping on his head. "Go put some force against his thick ass legs!"
Nodding, Eren made his charge with everyone still latched to him. "That doesn't answer the question on how we're gonna stop him!" Conny called out.
"Doesn't his steam make it impossible for any of us to get close with ODM too?" Sasha recalled.
"Well this is better than gawking at him as he makes his way towards the wall!" Fury called back, heavily frowning and in deep frustration over what to do. She was no leader; in fact, working so in tune with others was not on her regime on things she was capable of doing. But Armin was faltering, and Jean was struggling to keep himself focused.
Was she doing any better? Was she wanting to put a stop to Bertholdt for the sake of humanity? Or was it because she knew Erwin was still up there?
"I could distract him!" Mikasa insisted, looking back over to Conny. "Your Thunder Spear!"
"Armin, we need to observe him from afar!" Jean commanded. "So quit being so silent! I still believe there's a way to take him out!"
Turning the last corner, Eren now charged directly towards the legs of the Colossal Titan, crystallising his fists in the process. "Everyone, scatter!" Fury insisted as they all leapt off Eren and to the nearest rooftops that were still intact.
"Don't you dare look down on me!" Eren thought, gazing up at the towering Titan. "You're nothing more… than a monster!"
Roaring in anger, Eren proceeded to wrap his arms around the scolding hot leg of Bertholdt, gripping tightly as he pushed against the force of his movements with all his might, even causing Bertholdt to further look down to see the trying focus of Eren attempting to halt his way forward.
But to Bertholdt, Eren was nothing more than a minor obstacle. His leg pulled back, Eren still clinging to it, only to then throw his leg forward with speed and intensity, unlatching Eren off from his leg, as Eren in his Titan was thrown towards the wall, crashing into it with so much force that it knocked him out.
"Eren?!" Mikasa called out, as Fury had to tug back on her to prevent the need to go to his aid.
From the other side of the wall, Erwin, who had now rendezvoused with Levi and the horses, both gazed up to the unconscious Eren atop the wall, his eyes widened and an uneasy feeling came over him from not knowing what was going on.
"He's not moving!" Mikasa cried out.
"Come on!" Fury tugged. "Trying to hit back at him may have been pushing things too far. Anymore running at him without any plans and shit like that will happen again."
"Having saying that, I'm not about to just sit here and wait to die!" Jean roared.
"Armin, have you thought of anything yet?" Fury moved on to ask. Her eyes were showing that they were tired. Was even she losing the will to keep fighting? Armin couldn't help but notice this.
He may not know her well, but he understood her ferocity. Seeing her look so weak and tired shook him to the core as he moved on to notice everyone was feeling the same way.
"… No." An answer he didn't want to give, but it was true. He knew the Colossal Titan would just be able to use his steam if they ever tried getting close to him.
Not only that, but Reiner was also back on his feet from afar and steadily began making his way to the rest of them.
It took an abundance of Thunder Spears to take him out before and Mikasa was the only one who had any left.
"That hairy fuck knows exactly where we're at…" Levi surmised as more rubble was pelted their way by the Beast Titan. "We'll be out in the open soon if he continues wearing down these houses with those throws." He then looked back to Erwin. "If you're saying we have no counter attack, let's get ready to flee. We wake Eren up, and get as many alive as we can out of here."
"You let a horse get away!" Exclaimed Marlo to a cowering soldier. It was enough to earn the gaze from Erwin.
"Like it even matters!"
"Excuse me, Floch?!"
"Those Scouts were some of the best we had and they all died in an instant! You know as well as I do… What good is protecting the horses going to do? Especially when there's no one left to ride them!"
Floch, the soldier in which Marlo was initially yelling at, then placed his hands on his head, cowering as he curled up. "It all made sense at one point… if humanity just hid away that we'd just all get killed one day out of nowhere. Someone has to bite a bullet and risk taking action. In order for others not to become victims, we needed people to become victims themselves. Who could be that brave soldier? When I asked that, I actually thought that it could be me! But I never thought… that being sent to my death… would mean nothing to the world in the end!
Now that I think about it, I bet everyone has said the same as me."
"What if… whoever's left of the recruits and Fury's and Hange's group scatter on the horses?" Levi openly suggested. "By using them as a decoy, you could escape with Eren."
"Levi? What would you?" Erwin asked, his expression stoic and yet still calm.
Levi frowned. "I'm facing the Beast Titan. I'll draw him away-"
"Impossible. You won't even be able to get close. Not without Fury being here to try and put a hold on all the Mindless Titans protecting him."
"Probably not." Levi could only agree. "But if you can escape with Eren, then there's still hope. Isn't that the best we can ask for right now? To be perfectly honest, Sir… I doubt a single one of us is going to survive beyond today."
Erwin remained optimistic. "Assuming we don't have a counter attack…"
Levi's eyes widened with renewed hope. "I-Is there a way?"
Erwin nodded. "If this can go to plan, you may be able to take down the Beast Titan. But it's going to take the recruits… and myself… to give our lives. Its like you said, most of us could and will die by this day's end anyway. In fact, it's guaranteed. In which case, we can stake our deaths on a slim chance at victory."
Erwin then sat down, leaning forward as his head was full of possible solutions. "To ask these young soldiers to die, it would take a whole slew of lies… If I'm not at the front leading them, then none of them will follow anyone else. Therefore, I would die before anyone else.
Huh… And without ever learning what's in that basement. Or uncovering the real truth about Bloodborns.
That's … That's all I wanted to uncover. The truth to everything. It was my only goal. And everything I've done until now was because I thought this day would come. Even getting close to Fury…
So many times I thought that giving up would be easier. But the goal and dreams I shared with my father always prevented me from doing so. And yet, here I am, within arms reach of getting those answers.
But, Levi… Can you see them? Our comrades? Our friends? They want to know what became of the hearts they gave. Because the fight isn't over… Is all of it just inside my head?"
Another barrage of debris hurled their way as Levi knelt down in front of the tired Commander. The soldiers near them crying out in despair as their cover was becoming less and less.
"You've fought well…" Levi muttered. "It's only because of you that we all got this far. So I'm making the choice.
Give up on your goals, give up on Fury and die. Lead those soldiers straight into Hell. I'll take down the Beast Titan."
The only thing Erwin had left to offer was a smile as he stood to his feet, turning to the cowering soldiers.
"I'm announcing our final operation! We will be doing a cavalry charge. Our goal: to rush the Beast Titan. Of course, we'll be making ourselves the main targets. So we'll wait until he's ready to throw and we fire our smoke signals together. That should reduce his accuracy. While we're acting as the decoys, Captain Levi will move in to slay the Titan."
"You want me to go after him with just ODM?" Levi asked directly. "He's standing in an empty area. There's not a tree even close to him."
"Wrong." Erwin would correct as he climbed onto his horse. "There happens to be a straight line of Titans leading to him. Use them to get close and then kill him."
He then turned back to the soldiers, who had been left dumbfounded and sick to their stomachs at the thought of charging to their deaths.
"Standing and waiting just means we'll be showered in more debris."
"We're all… heading to our deaths?" Floch spoke out. "If we're gonna die anyway, you're saying it's better to die fighting? Wait… If we are gonna die, no matter how we die, even if its disobeying orders, it all means nothing, right?"
"Yes." Was the simple reply from Erwin. "It's all meaningless. No matter what dreams you had, no matter how blessed a life you've lived, no matter who it is in your life that you love, it's all the same if you're shredded by rocks. We all die someday. Does that mean life is meaningless?
Would you say that to our fallen comrades? That their lives were meaningless.
No, they weren't! For it's us who gives meaning to our comrades lives! To the brave fallen! The only ones to remember them are us, the living! We die trusting the ones still living to find meaning to our lives!
My soldiers, rage!
My soldiers, scream!
My soldiers, fight!"
Erwin raised his cutter into the air, commanding his horse to charge directly for the ensuing shrapnel of rocks heading their way, the soldiers following behind him on the remaining horses as Levi directed himself out of line in pursuit of the still formation of Titans.
A deafening roar came from their charge as they blurred the way forward with their volley of smoke, earning nothing but a sadistic laugh from the Beast Titan as he hurled another launched attack their way.
Erwin continued to ride up front, even though the smoke also masked his own visibility. Through the smoke came the onslaught of the rocks thrown, piercing through several soldiers and their horses.
A large piece of shrapnel shredded its way through Erwin's torso, ripping a chunk of his flesh away from his intact body.
The world blurred and the Commander coughed on the blood that began to fill his throat as he fell from his horse. His body rolling back over as the remaining soldiers continued their last chance at victory. A flashing image fluttering before him of Fury's face.
