Hiccup and the others were observing Clueless as he continued tossing houses across the city.
"Doesn't look likely to were of our location yet," Astrid noted.
"You're right; he's just scattering burning debris and turning Berk into a sea of flames," said Hiccup.
'He's destroying the entire city all over again,' said Ragnar.
Hiccup was still very distraught after the loss of his mother on the task that now laid before him was like moving a mountain.
"Astrid, take over for me," said Hiccup.
Astrid stared at him. "What?"
"I don't know what to do, and I'm still devastated over the loss of my mother," said Hiccup rubbing his forehead. "After all, it's my fault that got us to this point."
"I'm the one who made the suggestion," said Fishlegs.
"But I made the call," said Hiccup. "Astrid, you're the only one I can come talk to make sound decisions."
Astrid looked at him and nodded. "Move! Make for the river! Everyone board Ragnar, we need to conserve our gas!"
Everyone then immediately climbed on board Ragnar.
Astrid then looked at Ragnar. "Ragnar, at some point, we're going to need to get Clueless' attention, but until then, we need to stay out of sight." She then looked at Hiccup. "Hiccup, I'm all right with judgement calls, but I don't have any genius plans of getting us out of this. In the end, you're the one with going to be counting on."
Hiccup knew she was right; he knew to get his head in the game or else all humanity would be wiped out.
The situation on the other side of the Wall wasn't much better. The Scout had succeeded in eliminating many of the smaller Titans, but there were still completely surrounded by the Beast Titan and the larger ones.
"This area is all mucked up," said Dagur as he joined Eret. "The only ones left for us to eliminate are way up at the front. But I still don't see how we're going to take down the Beast Titan. It doesn't seem like he's got any intention of budging from that spot."
"That's true," Eret agreed. "Look at the big guy is a coward, not that he had any balls, to begin with."
"Save your energy; we can finish off the rest of the runs out there," said Dagur. "Let's go!"
"Yes, sir!" said the Scouts.
Eret watched as they began making their way to the edge of the city, but as big of a concern the Beast Titan was, what was happening in the city district was much bigger.
'Shit, that explosion just now,' he said. 'Are Valka and the others all right? Or did they get caught up in it? I need to get to the other side and—'
He stopped when he saw stones flying past. His eyes widened in horror as he looked in front. Large stones were flying towards them like cannonballs. They hit so much force that they demolished the houses in the city's edge and the Scouts stationed there.
Eret could hear the screams and saw red dust flying through the air. The source of this was none other than the Beast Titan, who had been tossing crushed boulders with incredible force.
"Hmm, that one was a little harder than I would have liked," said the Beast Titan. It looked down and saw the Cart Titan was gathering large boulders. "Oh, good work. Leave it there."
It then grabbed the boulder and began grinding it down. "No problem, we'll just consider the first pitch a warmup. I'm going for nothing less than a perfect game today."
Stoick's eyes widened when he realised what it was about to do. "Frontal bombardment! All troops, take cover now!"
"Dammit! Get down!" Eret cursed as he quickly rushed towards the front.
Both Dagur and Mala were still alive but was severely injured, and they could see the Beast Titan was about to phone more boulders their way.
"Watch out!" Eret yelled as he swung towards them from out of nowhere and grabbed the two of them.
Carrying the two of them, he began making his way back towards the Wall just as the Beast Titan tossed yet another bombardment. Eret quickly dived in between the houses and the good hear the screams from the other Scouts of they were pulverised.
Stoick was completely horrified as he could see dust and blood scattering in all directions.
Gobber and the recruits were still unaware of what was going on.
"Anyone knows what the hell that sound was?" Floch asked.
"So that the enemy have cannons or something?"
"If so, this got to be a hundred of them."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Gobber. "Even if they have that many cannons, there's no way those Titans would be able to fire them."
"Calm down, everyone," said Wartihog. "You're scaring the horses!"
"The Titan is throwing boulders," said Eret as he arrived with a wounded Dagur and Mala.
"Captain Eret," said Wartihog.
Gobber immediately took both Dagur and Mala, who were now lost consciousness.
"Looks like they were only grazed, looks like they were the only ones," said Gobber.
"Moving now!" Eret ordered. "Take the horses and retreat to the Wall!"
"Yes, sir!" said Wartihog.
More boulders then began falling towards them, decimating the houses.
"Move! Stay out of the line of fire!" Eret ordered.
Everyone began making their way towards the base of the Wall, but everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the boulders smashed through the remaining houses. Floch, in particular, was panicking, clutching his head and screaming.
"You want to die! Get up!" Eret yelled at him.
Stoick then arrived.
"Commander," said Wartihog.
Stoick looked at Dagur and Mala, who were now lying down on the ground with Gobber hovering above them.
"How are they?" he asked.
"They'll live, assuming that we get out of this alive, of course," said Gobber.
"Speaking of which, how does it look out there?" Eret asked.
"Terrible, the front line of houses is gone. He decimated them," said Stoick. "If he keeps throwing those, everything will be levelled. We won't have anything left to hide behind."
"And we can't retreat to the other side of the Wall?" Eret asked.
Stoick shook his head. "No, the Colossal Titan is already headed this way, setting fire to everything in his path. Theoretically, we could scale the Wall to evade the stones, but the horses can't. We retreat here, then there's no hope for victory."
"What happened to Valka's group? It Ragnar all right and your son?" Eret asked.
"I don't; most of them are gone. Caught up when the explosion occurred. We have sustained a great many casualties. The Beast Titan directed the smaller Titans in such a way that our soldiers would group up in one place. Dagur and Mala Squad were engaging the smaller Titans putting in the direct line of fire when he launched the bombardment. Aside from Dagur and Mala, everyone else has been wiped out. In other words, our remaining forces on this side of the gate capable of fighting consist of you new Scout recruits, Gobber, Captain Eret and me. No others."
They then heard another bombardment, and the gout recruits began panicking.
"So what now?" Eret asked. "Do you have any kind of plan?"
Hiccup and the others were still engaging with the Colossal.
"Scream at him, Ragnar!" Astrid yelled. "We can't let Clueless get any closer to the Wall!"
Ragnar then roared as loudly as he could, and Clueless turned his head towards them.
"He heard you," Astrid smiled.
However, instead of going directly after them, Clueless continued to make his way to the Wall.
"The bastards ignoring us, he's headed straight for the Wall!" said Snotlout.
"So, what do we do now?" Tuffnut asked.
Ruffnut nodded. "Yeah, if he gets there—"
"We're not letting him," said Astrid. "Ragnar, tackle his leg."
Ragnar then immediately charge towards Clueless at full speed.
"So, do we actually have a plan for this?" Fishlegs asked.
"With that steam he puts out, he can make ODM gear useless," said Heather remembering the last time they faced him. "It won't connect!"
"I know, but we have to do everything we can to turn his attention towards us and not on the horses," said Astrid. "I might be able to take him down if I have an opening; just keep them distracted. Fishlegs, give me your Thunder Sphere."
"Sure, here you go," said Fishlegs handing it to her.
Astrid then looked at Hiccup. "Hiccup, we're still going to need a plan. So observing from afar, you're the only one who can figure out his weakness."
"Right," Hiccup nodded.
Ragnar was now running down the street towards Clueless' right leg.
"Scatter!" Astrid yelled.
Immediately they activated the ODM gear and jumped off Ragnar.
'I'm not sure this plan is going to work, but we have to devote his attention somehow,' said Ragnar.
Ragnar then grasped hold of his right leg and used all his strength to stop him in his tracks. Clueless looked down and saw him grasping his leg, and Ragnar began pushing with all his might and managed to move his leg.
"Whoa, he pushed him," said Heather.
"You can do it, Ragnar! Knock him on his ass!" Tuffnut cheered.
Hiccup's eyes widened when he realised that Ragnar wasn't pushing Clueless at all. Clueless hasn't been lifting his leg gradually and then swung it as hard as he could. Ragnar was sent flying straight into the Wall directly above the gate.
"Ragnar!" Hiccup screamed.
Ragnar was barely conscious, the blow from the impact nearly knocked him out, but he was unable to move.
Stoick and Eret could see him lying there on top of the Wall.
"Damnit," Eret cursed. "That's Ragnar up there; there's only one Titan that can fling him like that… the Colossal."
Hiccup and the others were completely distraught, they had already lost their big gun, and the Colossal was back on the move.
"Ragnar's not moving," said Fishlegs.
"He's still alive, though," said Snotlout.
"We need to focus on keeping Clueless off of him," said Astrid. "I was so focused on having Ragnar distract him completely forgot he was completely out of his weight class. We can't charge at him without a plan. Unless we can turn the tables somehow, this operation will fail. All this will die, and eventually, humanity will fall. Well, plan or no, I'm not going to sit around and get slaughtered. Let's take the fight to him!"
With that, she activated the ODM gear, and everyone apart from Hiccup and Fishlegs did the same. They began flying around Clueless until they were about eye level.
"He does know about the Thunder Spears yet!" said Astrid. "Snotlout, you and the twins distract him. Heather, you and I will go for the kill!"
"Right!" they nodded.
"Hey, freakshow!" Snotlout yelled at Clueless. "You forget your skin somewhere?"
"Butt elf!" said Tuffnut.
"Dried up wrinkle!" Ruffnut yelled.
Astrid and Heather were now moving in towards Clueless' nape.
'This distraction is way too obvious, but we only need one good hit,' said Astrid as they diving towards his nape.
Both Astrid and Heather then launched their Thunder Spears directly at Clueless' nape, but then suddenly, a huge burst of steam erupted around him. Astrid and the others soon found themselves being scorched by the heat, and the air pressure was so powerful that it stopped the Thunder Spears in mid-flight. They were then sent flying backwards, and the pins were pulled out seconds later, they exploded. Then the anchors were dislodged from Clueless' skin, and they all began falling back towards the ground.
"Guys!" Hiccup yelled. 'Is there nothing we can do? That steam even knocked away the Thunder Spear mid-flight.''
Everyone managed to land back onto the houses, though a little scorched. Tuffnut, in particular, was coughing as his mouth was burnt a little.
"You okay, bro?" Ruffnut asked.
"Damnit, I breathed some in and burned my throat," Tuffnut coughed.
Astrid landed next to Hiccup with a wounded shoulder.
"Astrid, you're hurt?" said Hiccup.
"It isn't bad; a bit of shrapnel from the Thunder Spears got me," she assured him. "Please tell me you've figured something out yet. Tell me, is there a way to fight back?"
"I don't know," he said honestly.
They then heard a building collapse, in turn, defined that Clueless was making his way towards the Wall. Then to make matters worse, Dogsbreath had gotten back on his feet and was now advancing towards them.
On the other side of the Walls, things were much better. The Beast Titan was still tossing boulders at the houses, demolishing them as they hit. It would only be a matter of time before they would be nothing shielding the Scouts.
The recruits were already panicking despite everyone's best attempts to keep them calm.
"This place is going to look like a honeycomb before long," said Eret. "Beast Titan knows where we are."
Gobber looked up at Ragnar. "And these we know there are still people on the other side fighting, but I imagine having as much difficulty as us if not more."
Eret looked at Stoick. "Stoick, if there is no chance we can turn this around, then tell me. We can still cut our losses. Go and wake Ragnar up, then have him run away with as many people as he can carry. Then at least we'll have some survivors."
Stoick looked at Wartihog, who was customising Floch. "It's our job to garner the horses; why did you let yours might away?"
"Shut up!" Floch snapped. "Like it even matters now!"
"What was that?"
"Those other Scouts were insanely strong, and all of them died in an instant. What chance do we have when they failed? There's no reason to garner the horses because there's not going to be anyone left to right them home!"
Floch then grasped his head and curled up. "There was a point when it all made sense. If everyone just cowered behind the Walls and waited, then someday Titans would come out from nowhere and wipe us out. It was obvious that someone needed to bite the bullet and fight; it would be dangerous. Yeah, the soldiers who did it would be risking their lives to protect their loved ones.
So when the recruiter asked us which of you has the courage. I actually thought I could do it, be some kind of hero. I didn't get it; I didn't know; I thought that if I died, it would at least have some meaning. But it won't, it didn't for the others they're just gone. You know what? I bet almost everyone ends up having that same final thought; I was so stupid for coming here. Why did I think that I would be different?"
"You can tell from what is left of the recruits and Valka's group to run away on horseback," said Eret. "They won't have much of a chance, but they will be decoys. They can give Ragnar a shot in escape."
"I agree with, Eret," said Gobber. "I can lead the decoys and buy you as much time you need to escape. You should take the wounded and Eret Squad if any survived and run back to Trost on Ragnar."
Stoick looked at Eret. "Tell me, how would you fit into this plan?"
"I'm going to go after the Beast Titan, I'll draw him away somehow and—"
"You can't. You won't even make it near."
"Probably not, but if you and Ragnar make it home alive, then there will still be hope. All things considered, I feel as if this is the best we can ask for. We've been brutalised. To be honest, sir, this feels like this battle will be with the Scout Regiment gets finished off."
"Yes, if we had no way to fight back, would be right," Stoick agreed.
Eret and Gobber's eyes widened when they got his meaning and stared at him.
"Is there a way?" Eret asked.
"There is," Stoick nodded.
"You know you can mention this before," said Gobber. "Why did you tell us earlier?"
"The plan could go a few ways; best case Eret will have a decent chance of killing the Beast Titan," said Stoick. "But for it to succeed… the recruit and I have to die."
They witnessed another bombardment courtesy of the Beast Titan, and the recruits were panicking even more than before.
"The Survey Corps might survive, but regardless most of us will end up dead," Stoick continued. "Frankly, we're almost guaranteed to be defeated no matter what. The recruits and I will be staking our deaths on the slimmest chance of victory. For this to work, to convince these youths charged towards their deaths, it will take an extraordinary leader carrying a ton load of respect and example. If I don't lead the vanguard myself and none of it will have the courage, which means I must be the first to charge and the first to be slain as well."
"I could leave the vanguard, humanity won't suffer much if I kicked the bucket, but we can't lose you," said Gobber.
"I appreciate the intent, Gobber," Stoick smiled. "But if I don't lead by example that I gathered, any of them would join in the charge, and we need all of." He then sat down on a crate and sighed. "Besides, I don't have much to live for. Chances are both my wife and son of dead now."
"You don't know that; they could still be alive," said Gobber.
"There's only a slim chance, but even if they are alive and somehow stop the Colossal, if we don't stop the Beast, it will all be for nothing. For victory to be certain, we must win those two fronts; there are no two ways about. So long as someone discovers the truth of our world, I can die a happy man knowing that my family's legacy is now complete.
Besides, even if I do somehow live, the faces of our dead comrades still linger. They have been watching us all this time; they want to know what we did to the sacrifices they had made. What became of the hearts they gave? If we retreat now, all their sacrifices will have been in vain, and I refused to let that happen."
Eret then bent down towards him. "You lead us well, fought hard. No one else could have gotten us this far. I will reach the Beast Titan and care him apart."
Gobber saluted. "It's been an honour to serve alongside you, Commander Stoick."
Stoick rose to his feet and looked at the two of them. "The feeling is mutual."
The Beast Titan was getting ready to toss some more boulders when she suddenly heard screams. She looked up and saw charging on horseback with the Scouts, and leading the front was Stoick.
"Huh?" she said as she rose to her feet. "I didn't expect them to lay down and die, but a suicide charge? For some reason, I thought they'd do better than that."
"All right, fire!" Stoick ordered, and all the Scouts immediately fired green smoke flares into the sky.
"Is that smoke?" the Beast Titan frowned. "Oh, it's from those signal guns they use."
Stoick could see that the Beast Titan was getting ready to toss the boulders. "Get ready! Spread out!"
Once they were outside the city, the Scouts immediately spread out across the field.
"I'm about to announce our final mission!" Stoick announced to the Scouts. "All troops line up!"
Everyone immediately began lining up and listen to their final mission.
"We're going to mount a cavalry charge!" Stoick announced. "Rushing the Beast Titan directly! Clearly, this will make us ideal targets for him, so we will wait until the moment he's ready to throw in, then we'll fire our smoke signals together. That should somewhat reduce his accuracy. While we distract the Beast Titan, Captain Eret will get in position to dispatch it. Does anyone have questions?"
Eret was now making his way around the city using his ODM gear.
"What?" Eret stared as Stoick explained that he would only be using ODM gear. "You want me to go after him with only ODM gear? He's standing in the middle of a field; I can't fight without house or treat a hook on."
"You're wrong," said Stoick. "There happens to be a line of objects just the right height for your approach. Use his thaws to advance unseen and assassinate the son of the bitch."
Eret was now advancing towards the first Titan and easily slashed through its nape. The smoke flares were, in fact, to be used to hide his approach, allowing him to advance unseen. The Titans didn't offer any kind of fight as they were still under the command of the Beast Titan, who was unaware of his approach.
As he flew across the air, he saw the Scouts charging towards the Beast Titan. "I'm sorry."
Upon hearing their final orders, the Scouts just stared at him, looking absolutely terrified. One of them then immediately threw up.
"There's no point standing around; we'll only be showered by more boulders," said Stoick. "Ready your horses on the double!"
"Be honest, are all of us right into deaths?" Floch asked.
"Yes, we are."
"And since we're dying anyway, better if it least we die fighting."
"I am."
"But wait, if we'll die anyway, then who cares what we do. We could just disobey your orders, and it would mean a thing, would it?"
"Yes, you're precisely right. Everything you thought had meaning, every hope, dream or every moment of happiness; none of it matters. You lie leading out on the battlefield. None of the changes to what a speeding rock does to a body. We all die. Does that mean our lives are meaningless? Does that mean that there was no point of us being born? Would you say that to our slain comrades? What about their lives? Were they meaningless?
"They were not! Then memory serves as an example to us all! The courageous fallen, the anguished fallen! Their lives have meaning because we, the living, refused to forget them! And as we ride into certain death, we trust our successes to do the same for us because my soldiers do not buckle or yield with the cruelty of this world! My soldiers push forwards! My soldiers scream out! My soldiers live!"
Stoick led the charge with the Scouts and saw the Beast Titan tossing the boulders. A few moments later, the boulders struck them, and one of them tore right through the left side of his chest. Stoick just stared down at his wound as he fell towards the ground.