A steamed Marleyan steamed ship was floating on the coasts of Paradis Island. It was a scouting ship, sent to inform Marley the activities of the "devils" of Paradis. It was late at night and everyone was awake and alert.
"Captain. There's been no signal from the advanced party in the pass two hours since they landed." A fellow Marleyan had informed his captain.
"I know. Send survey units number two and three for landing." The Marleyan Captain said.
"Sir!"
"This island of devils had chased off our warrior unit and now threatens the entire world. We're going to let Marley what's happening, no matter what it takes." the Marleyan Captain said, before feeling something move.
"Ugh, what?" One of the many Marleyans grunted as they felt their Marleyan ship rumble. Seconds later, their ships had been lifted dozens of feet into the air, from the ocean. What they had no idea of was that a titan was beneath them and lifted their ship upwards from below. Eren Yaeger had lifted and carried half of their ship, by using his large Attack Titan form.
"Everyone, hold on!" the Marleyan captain screamed as he hung onto part of the rails on the large ship. Many of the Marleyan's bodies slid down their ship, crashing onto different parts. At least two of them fell off the ship and into the ocean. The Marleyan captain grunted and gasped as he had heard the sound of massive footsteps and noticed the ship was off sea and in midair. "It's a devil!"
Eren within his Attack Titan form had carried the entire ship onto his back until he stepped onto shore. He took big yard steps away from the sea onto shore. He threw the ship off of his back onto land, causing a huge thud, scaring nearby birds many miles away. The Marleyans are had taken cover as the ship had thud.
"Good evening, people of Marley! As you can see, you have arrived onto Paradis Island!" Erwin Smith shouted as he stood on the edge of a tall cliff. His voice was loud enough to reach the Marleyan's ears.
The Marleyans paused as they spotted Erwin Smith standing on top of a tall cliff.
"I am Erwin Smith. The Commander of Survey Corps. and an Eldian of Paradis Island!" Four seconds later, Captain Levi walked along with a Marleyan hostage named Niccolo. Levi had his hands tied behind his back and a long blade-which is apart of vertical maneuvering gear to his back. "As you can see, we "devils" had not harmed a single hair on this Marleyan's head! We are not the "devils" that the world had proclaimed us to be! We Eldians of Paradis are normal people, just like you-except that we can turn into titans against our will! I believe we can toss away our past hatred for one another and make a future between Eldia and Marley!"
Niccolo could feel the tip of the vertical maneuvering blade poking his upper back. He grunted as if this was his last hour of living. "Captain! Forget about me! Just kill these devils already!" Niccolo shouted from the top of his lunges. He begged that Marley proceed to start purging the Eldians, immediately.
"Niccolo..." The Marleyan captain grunted. "Listen up, you devils! Marley has no interest in making peace with a bunch of devils, such as yourself! What makes you think we would want to discuss anything with your kind!?"
Eren within his Attack Titan form had looked down at the Marleyans on the ship and growled after what the Marleyan Captain said. Most of the Marleyans were intimidated by the look of Eren's Attack Titan.
"For generations, I know that everyone on your homeland had been taught that everyone on Paradis were nothing but heartless devils! But in truth, we Eldians of Paradis Island are the exact same as you! We eat the same food! We share the same colored blood! We Eldians have dreams, just as Marley has dreams! For years, we Eldians on Paradis had no knowledge of the cruel acts our ancestors had committed! Our memories were stolen by the First King of the walls, Karl Fritz! I believe we can start a peace treaty between our lands! I believe that we can start a new future and stop this bloodshed between Paradis and Marley!"
The Marleyan Captain gritted his teeth out of spite. He then aimed his rifle toward Erwin's direction and his index finger lied on the trigger. "We will never bow down to the likes of you devils! This is what Marley has to say about your peace treaty!" He shouted and was ready to pull the trigger.
Erwin did not faze as he is being threatened. Suddenly heard a gunshot. Hange and Levi suddenly paused and had a surprised look as they heard a gunshot. Behind a bunch of rocks Sasha was surprised as well while aiming a rifle towards the Marleyan Captain as Mikasa, Jean and Connie stood next to her, surprised as well.
Meanwhile, a bullet had went through the Marleyan Captain's head, killing him. A woman named Yelena had shot and killed the Marleyan Captain with a look of no pity on her face.
"What the hell, Yelena!" A Marleyan soldier screamed, before she pointed her gun towards his face.
"Throw all your weapons off the ship and put your hands behind your head. Now." Yelena demanded, which earned grunts from many scared Marleyan soldiers.
"Do as she says." Onyankopon said as he disarmed a Marleyan.
Seconds later, every Marleyan soldier on the ship had thrown their weapons off of the ship. Then they all yielded by getting on their knees and placing hands behind their heads. Afterwards, Yelena look glance towards Erwin Smith from below. "Erwin Smith. I'm honored to make that peace treaty with you!"
Erwin and other members of the Survey Corps. remained silent as they all stared at Yelena.
Yelena then looks all the way up to Eren Yaeger in his Attack Titan form. "It's nice to meet you. Eren Yaeger."
Three Hours Later
The Survey Corps. had brought the captured Marleyans to their camp by the ocean and had them restrained in two big tents.
Meanwhile, Commander Erwin, Squad Leader Hanji had sat at a desk inside a tent with Yelena and her right hand man, Onyankopon. They decided to share tea together, look at weapons and discuss matters with at hand.
"I see... so this let you shoot multiple times without reloading. The Survey Corps. need something like this." Hange said, expressing her joy, checking out Marleyan weapons.
"That's a standard kit for a Marleyan soldier." Yelena sipped some tea from her cup. Levi did the same.
"Yelena. Will you tell us about Marley's firepower?" Erwin asked.
"Each of the army's division has at least twenty thousand soldiers. With fifty divisions, that make a million soldiers."
Erwin blinked.
"Then add the three fleets consisting of twenty-one battleships to the army's numbers. They've also seen incredible progress with new weapons-including airships." Yelena explained.
"Airships?" Hange asked, feeling uneasy.
"In other words, the flying mobile weapons that can go beyond the seas and walls, allowing the enemy to appear from the sky." Onyankopon had mentioned.
"W-what?! From the sky?" Hange jumped, pressing her hands on the desk.
"Hange." Levi simply called.
"So, the with the number of ships, mobile weapons and manpower the Marleyans currently possess... They can attack and completely invade Paradis and possibly wipe us all out, if they wanted to. But the question is... why hadn't they done so, during these pass four years?" Erwin asked.
"Two main reasons." Yelena raised two of her finger. "First, the man eating titans that roam this island makes it difficult to land near the walls. We would be attacked immediately. Marley's original policy was to confine the Eldians on this land within the three walls. It also stops Eldians on Paradis from advancing in technology and matching against Marley." Yelena explained the first reason that Marley had not launched a full-scale attack on Marley.
"I see... to think that..." Erwin clasped his right forehead and chuckled a bit.
"Hm?" Yelena raised a brow towards Erwin Smith.
"For the past hundred years... we Eldians within the walls spent most of our lives fighting the titans, seeking freedom beyond the walls... only to find out now that the titans we spent years killing... were really actually protecting us from outside enemy nations. How bizzare." Erwin chuckled and thought about all of the Survey Corps. who followed him and died. From the time Erwin had became the thirteenth commander-all the way to taking back Shiganshina for humanity.
Levi stared at the crazed look on Erwin's face. "Yeah. How about that..."
"Wow. I couldn't even imagine fighting titans for that long. I'd probably give up on the first day." Yelena said, bluntly. "But the sun will rise, soon. Which means titans will start moving again, soon. I suggest you prepare for the worst, or maybe you'll just sit here and drink tea." Yelena looked at them and saw the serious looks on their faces. "Those faces... wait, you're telling me that you actually got rid of all the titans on this island?"
"If we told you that we did, would you inform Marley?" Erwin asked.
Yelena's eyes widened, feeling nostalgic. "I wouldn't... but that's amazing. I might actually feel jealous."
"What's the second reason Marley won't attack?" Hange asked.
"Huh?" Yelena turned towards Hange.
"You told us that there were two reasons why Marley wouldn't attack us, remember?" Hange had reminded Yelena.
"Oh, yeah. That. Marley is currently at war with other enemy nations. They kind of have bigger fish to fry. Just know that all of this had started because of you. The you ended up retreating the Warrior Unit, only leaving the Armored Titan and the Beast Titan left...
Levi glared a bit when Yelena brought up the Beast Titan.
"You also stole some of their key weapons, such as the Female Titan and Colossus Titan. The pride of Marley had been tarnished. Marley is a nation with many enemies. Other nations banded together against Marley within a blink of an eye." Yelena said.
"So, your group isn't loyal to Marley at all. You must have some kind of grudge against them. You infiltrated their army as some kind of avenger, right?" Hange guessed Yelena's role.
Yelena and Onyankopon remained silent for a moment.
Hange was surprised. "Wait, was I right? Wow. You must have some powerful motivators and backers."
"No. Calling us avengers would be overboard..." Yelena looked away from Hange.
"What you're saying is... you must be from one of the nations that banded together against Marley. You were probably invaded and forced to work for them against their will. Forcing you to believe that there was no chance at turning against them, until the recent events. Am I wrong?" Erwin assumed.
Yelena's dark eyes met Erwin's blue determined eyes. "Whoa. I've only for a few hours and you simply nailed it on the spot. But, you are right. We're conscripts, natives of different lands that Marley had invaded. They made sure to believe that we wouldn't stand a chance." Her eyes averted to the right. "Until, we met him..."
"Him?"
"A titan known and feared by the world as a devil. But he looked like something differently to me. A god. He took us in when we had no hope, left." Yelena thought back when Zeke Yaeger in his Beast Titan form had saved her at sea. "We killed our officers under orders from Zeke Yaeger. We are the Anti-Marleyan volunteers. Our goal is to free all Eldian people. Whether they're from Paradis or Marley."
Commander Erwin, Captain Levi and Squad Leader Hange's eyes grew big a few centimeters after hearing the man's last name. It soon clicked in their brains that maybe Zeke has something to do with Eren Yaeger.
"Who is this Zeke Yaeger?" Hange questioned as she raised her hand.
"He is the current possessor of the Beast Titan." Yelena said.
Hange gasped.
'Zeke Yaeger...' Erwin thought as he had kept a calm composure. He soon gained flashbacks a year ago, when he led the Survey Corps. into hell against him.
'The next time I see that bearded bastard, I'll make sure to kill him.' Levi gripped his fists and thought back to the time he had fought and nearly killed Zeke at Wall Maria.
Yelena could see the glare in Levi's eyes and the serious looks on Hange and Erwin. "I take it that, you know him already?"
"We met as enemies in Wall Maria. But I hope that we can one day work together as allies." Erwin simply replied.
The sun rises.
