A/N: Nothing important for me to say this time. Now, please enjoy reading the Chapter where our Warriors and Soldiers finally get to introduce themselves to each other. Oh, and in case I need to clarify, this takes place after Mason escapes Vorkuta and shorty after U.S.D.D. In other words, Executive Order is the setting for our newest Chapter.
Chapter 3: Accidental Invitation
The Cart Titan's one of a kind speed, unless compared to the Jaw Titan's, once again managed to save the lives of Bertholdt, Reiner, Zeke, and Pieck. Even when it seemed as though they were in the clear, more Titans showed up out of nowhere. It was as though an unseen force was aggravated by the Warriors mere presence.
Unlike with the previous group of Titans, the Warriors didn't waste a second trying to fight this next one. Fighting was in no way necessary. The path leading them to their escape contained no Titans left for them to face. Though the real reason none of them wished to fight was the fact that they were still exhausted from their previous fight.
The lesser and even Abnormal Titans eventually gave up the chase altogether, possibly finding themselves attracted to a nearby group of Scouts who made the foolish decision to pursue the Warriors beyond Wall Maria. Zeke prayed Levi wasn't among them. If so they weren't going nearly fast enough.
No one gave the idea a second thought, as they were now at the coastline where a ship took up rest. It and the rest of the crew aboard all appeared to be waiting for a couple of passengers. Two of those passengers in particular were supposed to show up several years ago.
One of the Marleyans took rapid notice of the Cart Titan rushing towards the sea. Because of the terrifying nature of the scarce surprise, his weapon flew straight out of his grasp and landed in the ocean. Now someone was obligated to apologize to him and replace his weapon.
Zeke was the first one to leave the Cart Titan's side and introduce himself to the crew. ''I speak for all of us when I say I appreciate you waiting for us this long.'' He made sure to speak in a grateful tone despite the fact that venturing to Paradis was part of the crew's assignment.
The Marleyan who was now going to have to explain to his superiors as to why his weapon is missing, focused his attention on the remainder of the Warriors waiting for Zeke to call them over. He quickly noticed that one of them was nowhere in sight.
Bertholdt and Reiner joined Zeke and the Marleyan. ''The two of us are ready to finally leave this place.'' Reiner told Zeke, who looked back to see what was taking Pieck so long. From the look of Pieck, she was having a bit of trouble remembering the method for walking on two legs.
Reiner and Zeke looked to Bertholdt, who then let out a sigh. He walked back to Pieck and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder, making it a lot less of a challenge for her to walk. With no one left to control it, the Cart Titan began to evaporate.
Pieck gave thanks in return for the generous assistance. ''Thanks a lot, Bertholdt.'' She looked eager to get aboard the ship. Out of everyone, Pieck, despite residing on Paradis for a short amount of time, was one of the Warriors more eager to return to Marley.
The same Marleyan that lost his weapon to the ocean assisted Pieck with getting aboard the ship. Bertholdt and Reiner joined them while Zeke, smoking a spare cigarette one of the other Marleyans had, took one last glimpse at the island. He was dissapointed to never gain the opportunity to speak with Eren.
''Hey, Zeke.'' Reiner called out to his War Chief. ''Come on, it's like you said. We don't want to get behind schedule now do we?'' It took a significant portion of his willpower for Zeke to resist the urge to pick up a rock and chuck it at Reiner. He tossed the cigarette into the ocean before joining his friends.
With the fear of wasting anymore precious time absent, the Marleyans immediately had each of the Titan Shifters transferred to and locked away in the same area located inside of the ship. They received specific instructions to remain in confinement until given permission to leave.
It was the same kind of treatment everyone had expected. They were partially annoyed, except for Pieck, who laid across two separate wooden chairs, wishing they were a single mattress instead. While she attempted to drift off to sleep, the others began to think up a strategy for when they would inevitably have to explain what went so wrong on Paradis. Zeke first made sure no one was listening in on their conversation.
With no one else in sight, unless you were to count the now snoring Pieck, Zeke gave the go ahead. ''Don't worry, they left us alone.'' Unlike with all of their other so called private conversations, Zeke was certain there were no hidden speakers placed throughout the room.
It didn't seem plausible to Reiner nor Bertholdt. ''I don't think so.'' Reiner began to explain to Zeke. ''All that time we spent there, time with the enemy, they likely think there's a good chance we turned along the way. Why wouldn't they eavesdrop on us?'' It was difficult for Zeke to argue with his assessment.
''Well...'' He began. But no more words would escape from his mouth. If someone really was listening in on them, the conversation's topic needed to change right away. Luckily the rapid waves and swift rocking of the ship manged to wake Pieck up from her short slumber.
She spoke while remaining in the chairs. ''Are we there yet?'' She said in an annoyed voice. It wasn't clear whether or not the question was serious or she was just trying to give them some aid in looking for a way to avoid discussing any private details.
Zeke shook his head. ''Go back to sleep, Pieck.'' He suggested. ''It's going to be a while. And listen...'' He started. ''Thanks for getting all of us out of that. Could've sworn we were all goners as soon as Levi took my arms. Marley picked the right one for the Cart Titan.'' The complement earned Zeke an adorable smile from Pieck.
Same as before, the ship began to rock with a haste, this time nearly causing everyone to fall out of their chairs. ''Hell is going on up there?'' Bertholdt asked. He and the others were starting to get the idea they weren't entirely safe in their current position.
In order to assure their Warriors there was nothing to worry about, the Marleyans sent down one of their crew members to ease any potential worry. ''Please remain in your seats.'' The man said while mainly staring at Reiner, who had gotten out of his seat to move back upstairs. ''A storm appeared out of nowhere. We're having a difficult time navigating through it. There is nothing to worry about.'' Just as the man finished speaking the ship deiced to dismiss his claims.
Even more rapid than the first two times combined, the ship rocked, causing Pieck to fly out of the chairs. She would've hit the ground with a loud thud following shortly after if it wasn't for Reiner, who managed to catch Pieck just before that happened.
''You sure?'' Zeke asked, no sarcasm in his voice concealed. It ticked the Marleyan off, who couldn't believe an Eldian was talking to him with such a tone. Before the Marleyan could mouth off at him, a few more crew members rushed downstairs, this time carrying warnings.
''Breach in the ship!'' One of them shouted, causing all of the Warriors to go on full alert. They had left Paradis only moment ago and now they were already in trouble? The majority of their luck had clearly disappeared while they were escaping from the Scouts.
''Um, I can't swim.'' Pieck said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. She only received a few frowns in return for the joke. ''No really, I can't swim outside of my Titan form.'' The ability to swim didn't really matter. It was likely they would all freeze to death in the water long before they would suffocate underwater.
One last Marleyan, most likely the Captain of the now sinking vessel, joined the Warriors and stressed out Soldiers. ''You two need to go and join the others.'' He said to his Soldiers. ''Assess any openings and figure out what kind of trouble we're in.'' He then looked to the Warriors. ''You all need to get on the lifeboats right now, Marley can't risk losing your power.'' Good to see that the Captain cared for them, or what was in them at least.
All of the Warriors listened to the Captain and rushed to the top of the ship as quickly as their legs would allow. One of the lifeboats was already waiting for them as soon as they reached the surface. ''And you guys?'' Zeke said, turning around to face the Captain, who was also on the surface.
The Captain smirked and assured them the vessel would remain afloat. ''I've been through worse than this, a lot worse.'' He signaled for a few men to travel to the lower area of the ship and wait for him there. "You all need to go now. Take this flare.'' He handed it to Zeke. ''When you see us light up our own, you do the same with this one so we can find you as soon as possible.''
Securing the flare in the small lifeboat, Zeke nodded. One going at a time, all of the Warriors entered the lifeboat. They all held on tight as they were quickly lowered into the ocean and separated from the ship. Some of the water splashed into the lifeboat, getting Pieck wet. ''Cold!'' She shouted.
With only a few second passing, they were starting to leave the sight of the ship meant to take them away. Reiner took notice of Bertholdt and Pieck's great amount of worry in their expressions. ''Relax.'' He said as waves crashed against the lifeboat. ''Once they give us the signal we'll-''
Instead of a small flare going off, the ship itself erupted, causing Reiner to lose his words and everyone else to gasp. The vessel had just been struck by lightning and exploded. The size of the explosion was equal to half of a Titan's transformation explosion, except for Bertholdt's.
The only method at their disposal to return to the safety of Marley was now in pieces and surrounded with an inferno. For a while everyone stayed couldn't speak, not sure what to even say. Only the aggression of the waves and loud shocks of lightning in the background spoke.
Zeke, the only one with his composure fully regained, was able to muster up a few words after the surprise of the explosion. ''So...'' He said, the others slowly looking at him for guidance. ''This is a problem for us.'' The other Warriors were looking for words of inspiration not facts they were already aware of.
He was meant to act as their leader, their War Chief. But Zeke could think of no way for them to escape the middle of the ocean with nothing other than a lifeboat. Luckily for him and the others, no one would need to come up with an actual solution to their newly acquired problem.
Another ray of lightning came crashing towards the ocean, this one aimed right at the position of the lifeboat. In a great panic as the lightning came crashing towards them, the Warriors, attempted to transform in order to survive the strike. Just as they were in the process of transforming, the lightning collided with the lifeboat.
''Kravchenko... He must die.'' Hours ago, three at most, Mason watched as Kravchenko gouged out the eye of one his allies, Weaver and proceeded to leave the area. Mason, along with his two friends Woods and Bowman were accompanied by Weaver on a mission in Baikonur.
Their mission, originally anyway, was to assassinate the Nazi Scientists Kravchenko had working for him in the Ascension Group. Weaver, who was Russian, was given the sole task to infiltrate the Ascension Group and sabotage the rocket. However, something went wrong with his part.
Not only was Weaver compromised, his cover was blown prior to him being able to disable the rocket. This was obviously a problem, as was his missing eye. Luckily, Mason and Woods came in just in time to rescue him and destroy the rocket with a Valkyrie launcher.
But even with the rocket gone and the Nazis killed, Mason wasn't satisfied. He explained to the other why they needed to kill Kravchenko. Woods, Weaver and Bowman were all a little worried about Mason and his eagerness to kill the man who was partnered with the men who had him sent to Vorkuta.
It wasn't entirely Mason's own fault. He was just following what the Numbers told him to do. And they told him that Kravchenko, Dragovich and Steiner all must die. They were getting close to Kravchenko, Mason could feel it. Then they found his limo. But not Kravchenko's. It belonged to Dragovich, which was more than fine with Mason.
By the time they were finished slaughtering any of the Spetsnaz that came at them, Woods assured Mason that Dragovich was nothing more than a corpse. Mason refused to accept it unless Dragovich was burning right in front of him. But they lacked the time to conduct a proper search. ''Trust me.'' Woods said, trying to ease any of Mason's worry. ''That asshole is nothing more than a charcoal briquette.''
Mason, deciding that leaving it up to chance was unacceptable, started to resume walking in the direction of the now destroyed limo. However, Mason ceased any movement when, aside from any not of his own will, when a shockwave launched him and everyone else into the air.
Weaver, who went out to search for any remaining Spetsnaz, informed them on what caused such a massive shockwave. ''G-guys...'' He was stuttering so clearly it was something serious. ''You might want to come and take a look outside. Seems the Nazis were working on more than rockets.''