Disclaimer: I do not own the SNK series in any way, shape or form.
A.N at the end of the chapter.
It was around noon when the Levi Squad reached the meeting point. It was the top of a small hill, dominated by an old oak, not too far from the main gate to Ehrmich, the city where most of the refugees from the scare went to and now where most of the unrest was happening. There was Hanji, along with her squadron, accompanied by Petra and Eld, who both carried a distraught look to their faces. In spite of their shagged look, Eren could not help but be relieved to see them still alive by this point. The image of the original Levi Squad massacred in the forest in his first go at things would frequently find its way to his dreams, leaving him restless and guilty.
He shook the thought away, he was getting somewhere, his small nudges were paying off, and them two still being alive was prove of that. This time will go differently, he could simply feel it in his core.
"Hey, about time you showed up!" Hanji greeted. "I was starting to wonder if you'd come at all." Levi clicked his tongue as he dismounted.
"We took a less-travelled path here to avoid being spotted" he answered simply. Hanji nodded as she gathered the two squadrons together, each standing behind their respective leader. Eld and Petra walked over to stand with their new team, both taking a spot nearby Eren. Both greeted their teammate, keeping it short to not interrupt the meeting. It did not go unnoticed to Eren that the members of the original Levi Squad looked demoralized, Petra in particular was crestfallen.
The plan that was laid out was pretty simple actually, but would be very significant. With the citizens of Wall Rose being refused entrance to Wall Sina in light of the recent scares of a breach, outrage had grown rampant and protests and riots were going on all over the nation. Hanji explained that using that to their advantage was not only possible but necessary. And with the Survey Corps being also antagonized by the Military Police, the powder keg was already there, all it needed was a spark.
"And that's where we come in!" said Hanji. "There is a storage building near the town square where all the winter provisions are being gathered. So far no one's touched them, but wouldn't it just be outrageous if the mean ol' MPs went up and set it on fire?" The implications were not lost on Eren as he realized where the squad leader was going with this.
"Are you suggesting that we burn down the city's food supply disguised as MPs?!" exclaimed Armin, who also caught onto the plan.
Hanji stared at Armin. "Well anything would sound bad in that tone, Arlert" she answered nonchalantly, she waved her hand. "Besides, it's all planned out. The commander already made preparations for the fallout. He cashed in on some favors he was owed and we have enough supplies to just about compensate the city" she grinned.
"Well that's all well and good" said Connie, "but how are we going to disguise as MPs to do that?" Hanji signaled to Molbit who left and quickly came back with a box, setting it in the middle of the circle. He opened to reveal a uniform with the unicorn of the Military Police adorning it. Levi knelt to inspect them.
"Where'd you get these from, Four Eyes?" he asked.
"They… fell, from a wagon" she answered coyly, supported by the quick nods of the red-headed member of her squadron- what was her name again? wondered Eren.
The rest of the briefing went rather quickly. Hanji explained that the uniforms and weapons were hidden nearby the storage in a secured location, they argued that such was necessary as just putting them on and walking through the main gate in disguise would not go over well with the actual MPs, so she had them smuggled inside. The mission would start at night, in the meantime, they would enter the city and keep a low profile. After the store room had been set on fire, the squadrons would depart to raid the estate of the Reiss. And once the head of the snake was cut off, the rest of the job would be a simple mopping up of any remaining opposition.
Hanji sent her squadron along with Historia to contact Erwin, to let him and the group he had rallied know that they were in position and to assist him once he 'intervened.' The rest was divided into two groups of six: Eren being grouped with Mikasa, Levi, Armin, Annie and Eld; the other group consisting of Hanji, Molbit, Jean, Sasha, Connie and Petra. The two groups agreed to meet at an predetermined spot near the city square at sunset to proceed. As they departed, a familiar sensation made its way to Eren's gut. He may no longer have to ability of providence of the Attack Titan, but he could still sense that something was going to go awry. And with events diverging further from his first go at things, he could only guess what that was. Nevertheless, he forced a beam of optimism in. He knew his comrades would pull through though, they had to.
A large multitude had gathered around the outer gate of the city. The smell of cattle shit, the sound of crying children and the waves of heat falling from the clear sky was making the whole affair almost intolerable to Jean. His group had been waiting in line for what he could only guess was hours now. He turned to see the corner of the wagon they were sheltering from the sun. There were Connie and Sasha, snoozing away. He rolled his eyes, how could those two remain so calm in situations like these was a mystery to him.
Jean was fretting almost constantly lately, how could he not? There he was, someone who just a few weeks ago was about to join the Military Police to now being a scout; no, a bandit rather, a criminal. Even worse, a criminal who was going to help overthrow the crown.
He would be lying if he said that there was not a part of him urging him to jump out of this, to go to the nearest MP and give the conspiracy away. But as soon as those thoughts entered his head, they were dissipated by a sudden sense of duty. A sense of duty that was born at a funeral pyre, whose bones were still looking down at him.
The sight of Hanji and Petra approaching them pulled him from his thoughts. He shook Connie and Sasha awake and walked over to meet the squadron leader.
"So, what's it like?" he asked as Hanji and Petra walked past him, Jean following them.
"We couldn't get too close or else they might've recognized us" Hanji explained. "But from what we managed to caught, it seems like the guards are only letting a maximum number of people at the time."
"They're also examining everyone and everything that enters, which is bad news for us" added Petra. Jean nodded. He had not seen much of Petra before this morning, all he knew is that she was in Eren's squad and that she had been out with an injury after the expedition. But still he had seen enough of her to determine to something had happened to her. The bags in her eyes, the raspiness in her voice, the slight but still noticeable hunch in her figure. Jean felt too unfamiliar to bring it up, but reasoned that as long as it did not affect the mission, it was not his place to confront her. "The unrest has reached far into all the major cities of the realm" she continued. "And that is putting everyone on edge as a result."
Her point was backed up by a sudden increase in the volume coming from the city gate. The group looked at each other before deciding to make their way to investigate. They moved through the crowd, and as they neared the gate the spotted a garrison soldier and a civilian arguing with each other.
"As I said, the limit of people that can enter today's been reached, no one else can come in!" said the soldier with authority.
"Like hell you're leaving me outside!" the civilian shouted back. "I've been in here waiting to enter for two fucking days! Me and my wife and my kids have sat here like low-level scum while any high-class fuck just swoops in and enters no questions asked! Where's the fairness in that, soldier boy?!"
"Hey! You better show some respect" the soldier now started shouting while he pointed at the badge in his uniform. "You're talking to a man of the King!"
"We've been here waiting, and you haven't told us why sir" a woman nearby interrupted. "We've got things to do inside the city and there're rumors of titans inside Wall Rose! How long are we supposed to wait?! Are we to just die with safety is right here?!"
"Are you gonna let the titans in before us?!" someone else in the crowd added.
The air around was becoming venomous as the crowd's tone turned more and more hostile. A dozen more soldiers came out and formed a line in front of the gate, hand tightly gripping the rifles hung on their shoulders. Jean and the rest of the team looked at each other, they feared for the worst. Without a word they agreed to move back, putting more bodies between them and the line of fire.
As they did so, Jean noticed from the corner of his eye a young man, not that much older than himself, with a rock in hand. He was dressed in simple peasant clothes, expect for his waistcoat, that had the handiwork of a noble house from Jean's city, an errand boy or maybe some other form of worker. The young man turned and his sight crossed Jean's and for one eternal second they stared at each other. He could not possibly be thinking what Jean believed he was thinking. And, as if reading his mind, the boy nodded before turning to look forward and throwing the rock.
Jean did not see the rock made impact, but he could guess when it did as everything went quiet for one single moment. Everybody processed what had just occurred, and the consequences that ensued. And after that, chaos.
The bolder civilians tried to rush the soldiers and burst their way into the city, while the rest ran for cover in the caravan behind. A few gunshots were heard and people started to run in a panic. Hanji led the team out of the pack to the wagon they were before, safe from the human stampede. Even from there, Jean could see that soldiers were arresting civilians left and right.
"I knew that sneaking through the main gate was a bad idea, but no I hoped that with so many people going in we could squeeze through" Hanji said. "That leave us going through the sewers" she said, cringing at the mere mention. The rest of the team looked at each other. Jean along with Connie and Sasha looked disgusted at the idea. Petra did not look particularly enthralled but kept quiet. It was Molbit, the only member of Hanji's own squad simply groaned while saying under his breath what Jean thought was 'not the sewers again.'
By then, Hanji was already walking away from what was quickly becoming a riot. Her right hand man, the ever loyal and patient Molbit, was first to catch up to her, soon followed by the rest of the group.
"There's a creek nearby that the city sewers link up with" she said, "from there, entering shouldn't be an issue. It's been an open secret for a while that human traffickers and smugglers use that to move around the walls undetected. Who knows? We may even find some down there ourselves."
"I sure as hell hope not…" Sasha said with a sigh, getting and an approval from everyone at the back.
"We sure no one's will see us while we pass, Captain?" asked Eld as they mounted off their horses.
"There should be a big enough window for a small-enough group like ours to cross into the city and disappear without being seen" confirmed Levi. "Take all the essentials off the horses and send them off, we're not coming back for them."
While still not sure about the logic of separating into two groups that will enter the city in two ways, Annie understood she was not in a position to question. Rather, she was not in a position to speak at all. She used to say to herself that she was already used to the suspicious stares that the 101th threw at her, but having one of the men she fought not too long ago along for this ride, knowing that she had effectively killed two and put the survivors on the shelf until very recently, well, the sting of mistrust hit a little harder. Still Annie had always prided herself on being professional, and so far Eld seemed to be one as well. She only hoped those other one would be so as well.
She turned to look at Eren and Mikasa, who were each standing at opposites ends of the group, both keeping their heads down, both remaining in line. Annie resisted the urge to roll her eyes at how similar those two could be, always have been since their days under Shadis.
The scaling up the wall occurred without much of a hitch. As Levi had said, there were no guards in the area that could detect them, though signs of activity were present. The descent down into Ehrmich was more of a hassle, as scaling down several meters into a city in broad daylight is, in her opinion, not ideal. Still they entered into the city with seemingly no witnesses and proceeded.
The streets were filled to the brim with filth and rubble. As the group wandered through the streets, in the bigger ones remains of what could only be barricades and splashes of blood appeared.
"People are not happy about Sina closing its gates" whispered Eld. Captain Levi signaled to enter an alleyway.
"And a lot of people are feeding the flames" he responded. He looked around until he seemingly found what he was looking, he moved towards a door hidden behind a column.
"What do you mean people are feeding the flames, Captain?" asked Armin.
"We're not the only players trying to take advantage of the times. Some in the nobility are funding the rioters to keep the chaos going. They're using it to climb the ladder. In one of the inner cities the mayor has come out in favor of them to get in their good graces."
The door was locked so Levi had to force to door in. Inside was a tiny entrance with a flight of stairs that went up. A cold shiver ran through her spine as the memory of the last time she was in a tiny room with a staircase. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Eren giving some wordless comfort before following Levi up the stairs.
"Seems like a weird tactic to me, joining the peasants and antagonizing the entire government" said Eld. "But I guess I wouldn't know. I'm not a politician."
"I'm not one as well, but I have dealt with them enough to know that they see turmoil as both a gamble and an opportunity" responded Levi. "You can always rely on them taking the path they'll think will benefit them most." The stairs led to the attic of the building, they opened the door to find it cast in near darkness, with the only light coming from a tiny window at the end that looked to the street. In there was a small collection of barrels and a wardrobe.
"If it leads to a better position, the smart ones will do any compromise" said Levi as he opened one of the barrels, the distinct smell of gunpowder entered into their nostrils. He then moved to the wardrobe, he opened it to see military uniforms. He took them out and Annie identified the Unicorn of the Military Police. The captain explained that these barrels had gunpowder and that tonight they were to be put at the warehouse they would strike tonight, and the would be wearing the MP uniforms to pull the rouse over the citizens, at that point. Erwin and the other scouts would swoop in, 'scare the MPs off' and be hailed as the saviors of the city.
"Any compromise…" she heard Eren say under his breath.
All that was left is having Hanji's team catch up and wait for nightfall to start it all.
"You guys knew that officially there's no records of the construction of these sewers?" asked Hanji as she was casually walking knee-deep in filth. "As far as the official narrative goes, these sewers were always here. Doesn't that raise questions?" The rest of the group was walking with an expression between disgust and tiredness.
"Squad leader Hanji" responded Molbit as he steadily approached her, bridging her to the rest of the group, as he had often done, "I'm more worried about what's dwelling here rather than who built this place." A few murmurs of agreement echoed through the tunnels.
"Oh please" she said dismissively as she continued walking almost vigorously "aren't we all here soldiers? People who spent years training to fight titans?! I really doubt there's anything in here that is even comparable to that! Or are you all telling me that you're afraid of some rats? Even if, if we meet a trafficker or something we can take no contest." As she was uttering the last bit, a noise could be heard coming behind them. Startled for a second, Hanji let a small yelp out of her mouth before turning around and ordering her subordinates and fighting formation.
From behind them came the echoes of small steps against the brick floor of the sewers. Quickly, the scouts put their backs against one another, all sign of exhaustion gone. Hanji listened to the sounds and quickly figured they were coming from behind them. She turned to the source of the noise and demanded for their would be assailant to show themselves.
"Please don't shoot" came a slightly cheeky voice from where the sounds came, soon enough the voice was given a body, a young woman no older than seven-teen of shaggy black hair and small stature came forward with her hands in the air and a small smile in her lips. "I'm sorry for any scare, I just wasn't expecting there to be anyone else in here."
Pieck reprimanded herself for being so careless, part of her mission was to go to and from the population centers in Paradis without being detected as she got bodies for the war chief. And in a small moment she grew overconfident and got herself caught, against soldiers no less. She had to be very careful about her following actions, as to not let them get any more suspicious of her. She was relieved that at least that she did not get caught wearing her marleyan uniform.
"Identify yourself, civilian" ordered the woman with the glasses and most likely superior officer of this squadron. Pieck weighted her options quickly and knew that her best bet was to just cooperate.
"I go by Sam" she responded.
"What are you doing down in here, Sam?" questioned the officer.
"I wanted into the city, but saw the commotion outside and figured there had to be an easier way in." That answer was not a lie, she simply omitted that she never intended to enter through the front gate. 'The best lies are a truth out of context' the mantra she had learned during her instruction in infiltration echoed in her mind. The soldiers lowered their arms at that, some even had them strapped back over their shoulders. Pieck used that moment to examine them. It was equivalent to a medium size marleyan squadron, all wore those awful uniforms that Reiner and Bertholdt did when they met up with them under their dark green cloaks. The woman with the glasses must be in her early to mid thirties, two soldiers in their twenties or so, while the rest seemed to be around Pieck´s own age, even a little younger. An army of children Pieck thought with slight pity.
"Where are you from Sam?" asked the woman with glasses.
"I'm from Shiganchina, but after, you know, the thing, I've been wandering around, never staying long somewhere" she answered. Pieck thanked her training for being cautious enough to have come up with a backstory just in case with all the information Reiner and Bertholdt told along with what she learnt along the way.
"Shiganchina you say?" said one of the boys in the group, the one with the long face and dirty blonde or light brown hair, fairly good looking. "You know by any chance Eren Jaeger or Mikasa Ackerman?" Pieck froze for a second at that. She quickly tried to come up with something.
"I, um, don´t think so, I didn't go out often. Also, I'm not very good with names so, you know" she explained, hoping that would be enough for him to stop asking.
Thankfully it seemed so, as the boy lowered his eyes. "I figured as much, still worth asking" he said.
"Well in any case, we should keep going towards Ehrmich" said the leader of the small band. "You can join us Sam since we're heading in the same direction. I am squadron leader Hanji Zoe" she said extending her hand.
"I appreciate the offer Ms. Zoe, but, um, I have to take breaks often. I don´t wanna slow you down, you see" Pieck answered. She did not want to spend any more time with these people, they might make conversation and inadvertently start poking holes in her alibi.
"It's not a problem. We'd be happy to help you in whatever way we can" the boy from before insisted before getting interrupted by another soldier of the group, a woman in her twenties.
"Thank you, really, but I'll stick to myself on this one" Pieck said.
"Well, if you insist Sam. Let's keep it moving band" Hanji said, adding a small goodbye before the soldiers disappeared in the shadows of the tunnels. Pieck let out a sigh and leaned against the wall. That was a close call, a lot closer than she was comfortable with. She beat herself once more for her overconfidence. She also stopped for a second to think about these soldiers. For as long as she had conscience, she had been fed that the natives of Paradis were nothing short of demons in human skin, not even in the same league as animals. Incapable of feeling and such. And though she had assumed for some time now that those claims were exaggerated, as similar claims were made to the Eldians in the continent, seeing them from close as she had for the last few days, she started seeing that they were not that different from how people in the ghettos were, if perhaps a bit behind to the times in technology and fashion sense.
Did she feel bad for what she did and continue doing to them as she gathered the bodies the war chief requested? A bit yes, she admitted to herself, but not any more than she did to any of the other enemies she´s had to kill or harm in her time as a Warrior. She could not afford her humanity to get in the way of her mission. She had to think about her father and her people behind the walls of the Liberio ghetto. About how they were always just one slight away from getting lynched, about their every step was always supervised by the oppressors she was working for. About how she could not help the people in the island, but she might be able to better somewhat to conditions of those who lived with Marley and the world breathing down their necks. She would have to save this as one of the tragedies or war and keep moving. As what was expected of her and all the Warriors.
"Now's not the time to try to get into the briefs of girls, Kirstein" Petra scolded Jean as they moved forward.
"That wasn't what I was trying to do!" he retorted. "I just wanted to help the girl! Make sure she reaches Ehrmich safely!"
"We have a mission at hand, an important one at that" she answered back. "Charity can wait."
"Petra is right, Jean boy" Hanji chimed in. "We cannot be stopping for every person in need, if we did we'll never get to where we need."
"Oh forgive me for trying to help the people we're supposed to get on our side as we try to kill the king and all" Jean vented almost without thinking. He stopped himself just too late, he turned to look at Hanji staring at him expressionless.
"We're in a tense situation on a crucial mission and I know you mean well, so I'm going to do you a favor and overlook your borderline insubordinate tone" she said. "Now get moving, We shouldn't be too far from the point I'm looking for."
Jean saw Molbit looking at him with an expression of pity before turning, while Petra just shook her head and mumbled something, probably an insult. He lowered his head as he kept walking. He took just a few steps before sensing a hand on his back, he looked over to see Sasha with a soft look on her face.
"Here" she said as she took a piece of bread and offering it to Jean. "I was saving it for second breakfast, but I think you need it more than me." Jean took it with a small thanks. The bread was cold and a bit hard, but right now, without breakfast in his belly, it was he needed. As he swallowed the first bite, he thought.
"Where do you keep all this food anyway?" he asked in a half-whisper.
"Don't worry about it" she answered in kind.
"Whatever you say, Potato Girl" he quipped back.
"Ok, bread privilege's been revoked" Sasha said while swiftly taking the piece from Jean's hand.
"No no no no no no please please I apologize, I'm starving!" he quickly apologized. Sasha pretended to ponder upon it before relenting and giving the bread back to him.
"So, now that it's between us" she said after a bit in a half-whisper, "did you want to just help that girl, or you wanted to spend time with her?" she asked with a coy smile. "She was very pretty after all."
"That... may have be a small factor, but I really did just wanted to be helpful" Jean defended himself.
"Hey, I'm not judging over here" Sasha argued before leaning, her voice reducing to a small whisper. "And to prove you that you can trust in me, I'll have you know I too am interested in someone" she said before making a gesture with her head to their fellow comrade from the 101st who was walking, or rather dragging himself forward from exhaustion a couple of meters in front of them.
"Connie?!" Jean whispered to her, "I mean, I'm not judging you or something. But, Connie?!"
"He makes me laugh" she explained simply. "So, I won't tell your secrets, especially to a certain black haired sister in arms, if you don't tell mine. Deal?"
"Fair enough" Jean answered.
The group continued walking for a couple minutes mostly in silence, with the occasional input from Hanji when she encountered some curiosity along the way. The squadron leader headed the group, with Molbit and Petra right behind her, Connie a little behind them, and Jean and Sasha a bit further behind.
"Hey so" Jean whispered to Sasha, "I really want to know, how do you feel about this?"
"You mean the mission?" Sasha asked, she threw Jean a look when he nodded.
"Don't get me wrong, I will go through with the mission, I'm not planning on deserting or anything, I just need to know I'm not alone in being uncomfortable with this."
"Well, to be honest, I'm not eager to do this as well" she answered very quietly, to make sure no one overheard them. "But I also got no love for the king or the MPs, especially after how they're treating this whole thing. I once wanted to push all people in need of help away from me, and now I truly understand how awful that was of me. No one in help should be shunned and thrown away because it´s inconvenient. I'm not comfortable with it, but if this helps our people, it'll be worth it."
Not long after that, they came across the entrance to the city the group was looking. They managed to enter undetected, and quickly made it to the meeting point, where Levi and his part of the team were waiting for them. Throughout all that time, Jean mauled over what Sasha had told him. The more he thought about it, the truer her words rang to him. By the time the sun was setting, and it was time to put on the uniform he once wanted to wear with pride, Jean could not help himself but watch the green badge of the unicorn with a unique sense of contempt.
Night had fallen over the city, a mostly clear sky with the occasional clouds, the moon and stars shone over the streets and alleyways, washing them in a blue coat. By this point in the night, there were still a few citizens making the rounds, the occasional tramp wandering around, and the soldiers making their rounds, all could be seen from the roof in which they were standing from as they adjusted their ODMs and prepared for what was to come. From this location, they could clearly see the main square of the city of Ehrmich, with the warehouse standing on the eastern end of it, a single guard defending it. Eren was the first to get down to the street, soon followed by the rest of the Levi Squad.
Once all of them were on the ground, Levi and Hanji took the initiative. "Ok, this is how we're gonna do this, so pay close attention" said the Captain. "Due to how many 'packages' we're delivering, it´s almost inevitable for us to not be detected. So we got to fool them into giving us enough time to get them in and 'put out the lights.'"
"Because of how big a profiles both Levi and I are, we cannot be identified under any circumstances" Hanji added. "So he and I will be carrying the barrels into the warehouse, so that means others must put face for us."
"Armin, you seem like a good enough talker, you'll be one of them, understood?" Levi ordered. "The female as well, she was a MP so she'll know how to speak their jargon."
Annie simply nodded at that. She also noticed that, even though Levi still refused to acknowledge by name, at least now he did not refer to her as 'it.' So that was an improvement, she supposed.
"That means I'm also in that group I assume" Eren said. Levi shook his head.
"No Eren, you have been made yourself a public enough figure to risk getting recognized. You'll be carrying boxes with your hood covering that mug of yours." Eren wanted to protest at that, but could see where Levi was coming from. There was no point in risking getting caught in a silly manner like that, so he swallowed his complaint and nodded.
"Ackerman, you'll be the female's guardian, you're there to make sure she doesn't get any ideas" Levi continued to Mikasa´s nod. "Also you still haven't fully healed, so I want you as rested as possible for when we pay a visit to the true boss hideout."
"Everyone else" Hanji said pulled the hood of her cloak over her head, "we got delivery duty!" she announced to some muffled groans.
With that all started moving towards the first the city square where the warehouse with all the winter´s supplies were located. As agreed, Armin Annie and Mikasa walking in front of the line of the team as they were rolling the barrels of gun powder and oil. As they approached, the guard, who was sitting in a chair besides the main gate stirred awake and shot up as he saw them.
"Hey wait a second, what is-" he said before getting knocked out by the butt of Annie´s rifle.
"Easier this way" she justified as she lowered to the unconscious man, taking the key from him and walking to opening the wicket gate.
"We cannot knock out every MP that comes this way, you know that?" Armin asked.
"Not all of them" Annie answered as she moved back and started picking up the guard on the shoulders, "just this one. Now open that door and let's put this one where no one will see him." Mikasa quickly grabbed the man´s legs and the two hurried to get the unconscious man inside.
Soon after Jean and Levi were the first inside the building, they stopped so Levi could look at the structure of the building, and see which were the ideal places to put the charges in. The building was divided among two stories and a basement vertically and four rows of rooms that organized the supplies, with two parallel hallways with access to two rows each. The main pillars of the building were separated along the walls and the center of the building, these were key pieces where to attack. A way to organize the different charges quickly entered the Captain's mind. Once all the others have entered, he spoke.
"Alright, this is how we're going to do this. The powder kegs will be placed inside the rooms, as close to the pillars of the building as possible and in the basement. And the oil will be spilled along the hallways, branching inside the rooms so they get lit. We still got half of the charges to carry here, so let´s get to it. Quickly!"
For the next few minutes, the team went around the building getting everything in position. Armin, Annie and Mikasa remained outside the door for two purposes. First, for if some MPs showed up, they could send them off. And secondly, and more importantly, so that any civilian walking by identifies the 'Military Police' rigging the storage just before it went up in flames. It was not any different than any other time Armin had been given guard duty during training, just a lot of standing around while more interesting stuff was going on right behind his back.
Armin was confident about the mission, it was a smart way of both antagonizing the enemy in the eyes of the people while also gaining their favor. That was not much the problem with that. The problem was the idea of getting caught red handed, or something going wrong. Armin was not familiar with the ways of subterfuge, his training was exclusively about fighting with titans, so this whole new situation he found himself in was something he had to adapt to in the fly. Not something he preferred.
He also did not prefer that things were going on between his closest friends and he being kept out of it. He turned to Mikasa, who was standing still and stoic next to the wicket gate, her gaze somewhere between intensity and boredom. Armin waited for Annie to walk to the other end of the large gate to approach his childhood friend.
"Mikasa, are you alright?" he asked. Her gaze broke as her attention was brought to him.
"Huh? Ah, yes" she said after recovering, her tone becoming flat. "Never better."
"Are you sure? ´Cause lately you've been acting very-"
"Armin" she interrupted him. He understood that he was not going to get anything out of doubling down, so he dropped the topic.
"Just checking in" he apologized. "Thought maybe talking would help."
Mikasa's eyes softened a bit at that. "Thank you" she said sincerely. It seemed like she was going to say something else before something got her attention. "MPs coming" she said. He turned to see two men with the sigil of the unicorn approaching.
"Who are you and what're you doing here?" asked one of them, a man probably in his late twenties. The other one was a man significantly younger than the first, but still older than Armin or Mikasa.
"Well, we're here from Trost you see" Armin quickly said, trying to make up a convincing narrative.
"This is a long way from Trost, bowl-hair" the MP retorted, his tone getting more stern. "What is it you're doing here?"
"Well, thing is that-"
"We're here on a delivery from our captain to yours. Said it was urgent" Annie said as she burst into the conversation.
"I never heard of us expecting a delivery from Trost. You got an order that can back you up?" the MP asked.
"It's an off-the-record delivery" Annie said in a matter-of-fact tone. This seemed to pick the interest of the guard as he leaned in.
"Oh, that kind of delivery" he said. "I hope you don't mind then that we go in and take a look." He started walking towards the door before Annie cut off his path.
"Our orders is that this is for the Captain's eyes only. If you want to see it, at your own risk. After all you'll be the one answering why your globby hands are all over his merchandise" she said. This angered the guard, but before he could retort his partner signaled to him and whispered something in his ear. He grunted before answering.
"Fine then! I'll go get the captain and tell him his present is here."
"Good luck waking him up or interrupting his poker game" Annie said in a flat tone. "You'll need it."
The guard stared a hole into Annie for a few seconds, almost as if trying to call her bluff, before he grumbled and gave in. "This isn't the last you've heard from us, newbie" he threatened before turning to his partner. "Let's get the fuck out of here, Pete. I didn't want to see whatever disgusting shit the captain thinks is a worthy gift anyway."
Once the two were out of ear shot, Armin turned to Annie to thank her. "Nice quick thinking there" he said. "How did you come up with that?"
"Off-the-record deliveries are semi-frequent for the higher ups of the Military Police and their affiliates" she said with a small shrug. "Everyone knows about them and the... let's say etiquette around them."
"What are those deliveries anyway?" asked Mikasa.
"Anything you don't being affiliated to your name" Annie answered. "From confiscated high-end liquor and briberies to prostitutes from the traffickers and anything in between." The two nodded at her explanation, the implications of such a thing were not lost on them.
"We should probably tell the guys inside about what happened" said Armin, trying change the subject to something more immediate.
"I'll go tell them" Mikasa said, "you two stay here and make sure no one catches us by surprise."
"Is that a good idea?" asked Annie with an amused tone. "Without you watching over me, I can disappear into the streets in seconds."
"But you will not" Mikasa said flatly. She noticed a knowing smile from the blonde girl before turning and walking inside the building.
The feeling of waiting inside the main gatehouse of Ehrmich was one Historia could only describe as a knot being twisted to its breaking point. A giddiness was running through every vein in her body as she just stood by the window, her only company being commander Erwin and his retainers as they waited for the signal. And their company was anything but soothing, as they just sat in silence with menacing looks in their eyes, like gargoyles fending off evil spirits from the temples.
"I really should be with them" she said, mostly to herself.
The commander turned to look at her, his solemn face half lit by the moonlight. "I understand the feeling" he said. "When I broke into the higher ranks in the Scouting Legion, I stopped getting cleared for all but the most important field missions. It is one of the many tragedies of leadership, you become more valuable than any of your comrades, and losing you is a far bigger price." Historia listened in, she remembered that commander Erwin was one of the very few commanders of either regiment to have gotten to the position out of merit than sheer nepotism, so she gave him more credence.
"For us who went from the bottom to the top, it often feels caging being locked in an office with reports of the missions you once were a part of" he continued, his face softening and a small smile drawing from his lips. "But it´s not really a cage you´re being put on. I like to think of it as being put in the driver´s seat on a carriage. You cannot be in the cabin, enjoying the company of the others, you have a duty to get the both the carriage and everyone inside to the end of the journey, everyone else relies on you and you are also the key by each any destination is reached. You are the central axis by which the entire machinery spins around."
"Why are you telling me all of this, commander?"
"Because, if all goes according to plan, by the end of the month you will be that central axis. You'll have the entire of the kingdom looking up to you, not just your brothers and sisters." Historia looked away at that. She understood what he meant. She always knew that whoever her father was must be someone of importance, but it never even occurred to her that nobility was an option for her, let alone the crown itself. The commander was still looking at her before he spoke.
"Speaking of brothers and sisters, I read the report on you from your graduation from Shadis´ training, it said you were very close to one of your comrades in particular." Historia immediately went tense at that, her muscles stiffened and she again turned her gaze to blue tinted city.
"Ymir" she said, barely above a whisper. "Her name was Ymir."
"What happened to her? If you´re alright with sharing" the commander asked. Historia took a long breath, the images of that crimson afternoon flooding back in.
"We were in that previous mission, to catch the Armored and Colossal titans..." she started. "Ymir turned out to be a titan herself, b-but she was helping, I think... It was all so chaotic. And Eren" the image of that masked titan's mouth, bloodied and with mangled pieces of meat was so clear Historia could swear she was there all over again, "he just grabbed her and, and, he, he-"
The commander put a hand on her shoulder before she could continue. Historia looked at his face, a saddened expression across all his features. "I'm sorry for the loss" he said, in at least what Historia thought was a sincere tone. "It's always hard when you lose someone close."
"Am I wrong for hating him?" Historia asked quietly. It was a boiling sensation that had been building up ever since that day. Her fists clenched at just thinking about Eren, what he did. Not long ago she looked at him with such admiration, and now she purposely kept her distance from him, because she could not guarantee that she would not attack him.
The commander did not say anything for a few seconds before answering. "We cannot help ourselves about the way we feel about things or people" he said. "And some times we just cannot forgive someone. It's a simple fact that there are people and acts that we cannot forgive. As for Eren... he is a great soldier and a valuable asset for our cause, but that does not matter to you I assume. What I can tell you is that you don't have to forgive him, matter of fact you could go your entire life with that resentment, but that does not mean you could not employ him."
Historia stared at him with confusion at that last bit. "What do you mean?"
"Take this as your first piece of advice for your governance" he said with a small smile. "As a leader you'll often be struggling to reach your goals, and the best way to get to them is by having capable and loyal followers and advisors by your side. You don't have to like your advisors, if they're those two previous qualities it should do."
"So you're saying that I don't have to forgive him?" she asked. The commander just shook his head. She found herself, relieved somehow. She took a deep breathe before speaking again. "Thank you for your help, commander."
"Call me Erwin, your majesty" he said.
"Sir, look" a soldier said to Erwin, bringing their concertation back to the mission at hand. "smoke's starting to come out of the town square."
The commander turned to look at the city and indeed, a column of smoke was starting to come up from the center of the town. Recognizing as the signal for him to start his part of the plan he barked to orders to free the guards that had been tied up when they had taken this position and to start moving towards the city.
It did not take long for all the warehouse to be rigged. In about an hour since starting, every hallway had spilled all over and the powder kegs were situated in a way that would make sure to collapse the whole building. Eren silently thanked that all the neighboring structures were made out of stone, else a city-wide fire could be started. He rolled the barrel of gunpowder towards the far right corner of the room he was in, and once he got it close enough he moved it so the barrel would be standing.
"Everyone else is done" he heard a familiar voice behind him. Eren turned to see Mikasa standing at the door of the room, her arms crossed and a small frown on her face. He sighed before nodding, at least now she was willing to exchange words with him, which was an improvement from previous days. She acknowledged his nod with one of her own before turning to leave.
"Mikasa" he stopped her. She turned around to look at him with a blank face.
"What now?" she asked without emotion. He stopped to collect his thoughts for a second, things had been very rough between them, since she discovered the truth about him on their previous mission.
"I just wanted you to know that" he stopped for a second, "I always intended on telling you. And... I didn't. I got no excuses other than I was afraid, though I don't know of what exactly. I just... I just think I-"
Before he could continue, Mikasa shut him up by raising her finger. "Something's burning" she said. Eren focused and listened the characteristic sound of fire. He did not remember the explosion that came, only him and Mikasa lying on the ground.
The explosion came from somewhere else in the building and, thankfully, it did not reach their room fully. Eren rose to his feet and went over to Mikasa, who herself was putting herself up.
"We need to get out before it reaches the keg!" he said extending a hand. Mikasa nodded and got up on her own. The two left the room to see that a fire was quickly spreading from the corner of the building. There must be a hole in the wall, as from that corner figures came inside, it took a couple of seconds before Eren recognized them as part of the Anti-Personnel Control Squad. That could only mean one thing. Before he could react, he felt Mikasa pushing him to the side; as he fell he saw the tall figure of Kenny the Ripper swinging across where he had just been.
Kenny landed in front of his squadron before turning to them. "Well well well what do we got here?" he asked rhetorically. "If it isn't the Rogue Titan and his guardian dog. I was just ordered to fetch you, imagine my luck I get to kill two birds in one shot" he said with a cold smirk across his face.
Eren and Mikasa unsheathed their blades, though Eren knew that their best shot against them was to get them out into the open, and especially to get the numbers advantage on their side. He gestured to Mikasa as he started stepping back from them, she glared at him before reluctantly started walking back.
"This is what I'm gonna do, first I'll have the girl killed and slaughter the rest of your pack of misfits." Kenny said as he took out his knife. "Then I'm gonna have your legs cut off and take you to the boss. And so, we begin."
Shots started firing as Eren and Mikasa ran back to the front door of the storage building. They zig-zagged to avoid the shots. Using their ODMs would have been faster, but made them a static target against the Anti-Personnel's guns. Kenny swung at them as well, forcing them to dodge and parry his relentless attacks as they retreated. The fire was rapidly spreading and sections of the building blew up around them, occasionally killing one or two members of the attackers.
As they approached the door, they saw Levi entering, he quickly realized what was happening and threw himself at Kenny, their blades crashing against one another as they moved at rapid speeds throughout the flaming building. Eren and Mikasa took advantage of that to run out the door to the outside where they saw the rest of their team was out. They tried to explain the situation but there was no need as members of Kenny's squadron jumped out the door and started attacking.
Battle was raging at a stalemate as soon both forces were pretty even.
"Eren we should shift!" Annie screamed at him as she parried an attack.
"No!" Hanji barked. "That would give away to plan to the public! Erwin and his men should be here any second now, hold!"
Inside, Kenny and Levi crashed against one another in a violent dance around the flames and explosions. Parts of the building were starting to collapse around them to the rhythm of their swings.
"I was planning to meet you the other day Levi!" Kenny said. "However some degenerate decided to jump where he wasn't needed and ruined it." He took a swing to Levi, which he ducked and countered. Kenny jumped out of the way of Levi's blade and landed on a wooden beam. "If you hadn't beheaded him, I would've put him on a cross just for the sheer audacity." Levi pounced at him to which Kenny weaved, planting an elbow on his core and kicked him to the other end of the beam. "No matter, now you're here. Here you shall die, the Survey Corps will be hunted down to the last one and hung from the gallows. Nothing personal, just business."
Levi composed himself. "You always talked too much" he said simply before pouncing again. He slid underneath Kenny and aimed his OMD to a window in the building. He flew out of the building, followed closely by Kenny. They moved swiftly through the air and into a nearby roof top where they collided again. Levi did a spin to try to get Kenny by surprise, but this one dodged and stuck his knife, cutting open his left leg. Levi landed and quickly inspected the cut, it did not seem to have struck a vein so he ignored it.
They clashed again, their faces at mere inches from each other. Kenny used his free hand to take his gun and aimed it at Levi. The latter rapidly pushed him back, Kenny stumbled and his his shot. Levi knew that Erwin and his reinforcements would be here at any point so at worst he just had to stall for some moments and get Kenny by sheer numbers. Not ideal after planning his battle with Kenny for so long but he had to be practical here. He ran at Kenny, who rolled out of the way and jumped off the roof with Levi hot at his heels. The two chased each other, taking pot shots whenever they closed the distance. Eventually it lead them to the middle of the square, where a fountain stood. They continued their battle, using the fountain as a cover from which to attack. Kenny leapt above the fountain, landing just behind Levi. He thrusted with his knife, Levi dodged at the last moment. The knife incasing itself in the concrete. Levi spun to position behind Kenny, he swung both of his blades. One slashed across the middle of his back. The other cutting the Ripper's head clean off. It had been so quick that Levi did not register it until he heard the body and head splash in the pool that, were it not the middle of the night, would be red.
Levi did not hear Erwin and his men appear, he did not hear the inhabitants starting to gather around the burning husk that would have been their breakfast, he was too focused on the lifeless body on the pool for such matters. He remained there only until he felt the hand of Erwin on his shoulder, encouraging him to finish the mission, that he and his team would take up from here on Ehrmich. Levi soon reunited with Hanji and the others as they departed the city towards the Reiss compound. All the way there, Levi tried his hardest not to think too hard that he had just killed the only family he had known for most of his life.
And that would be that for this chapter. I could make another drawn-out apology for my absence, I could... but I won't. I'll just say 2021 was a helluva year and leave it at that. Now that I got a more stable situation I should in theory be able to write more consistently.
Thankfully this story is close to ending the bit that sticks closer to canon. My idea for this from the beginning that roughly half of the story would be more of a set-up for the second half, which would diverge from canon a lot more significantly. So if the upcoming chapter seems in a bit of a rush compared to the rest of the story so far, hell maybe even afterwards, it's just me getting on with it so we can get to the true story I want to tell here.
Also, if any notice that Kenny's a bit OOC in this depiction is that, quite simply, I didn't care much for him, I found his character and his role in it kind of redundant and actually a bit of an unnecessary detour that didn't lead to anything in canon. And so I took the liberty to kill him off and have his speech more similar to Vulpes Inculta from Fallout New Vegas...so yeah.
I'll get to the next chapter as soon as I upload this, let's hope it doesn't take me another calendar year to publish it. Until then take care all.
Thanks for the continued support, and as always all reviews are welcome!
