"…If karma's a bitch, irony must be too…it's kinda funny when you think about it…"-Edith M. Brown Diary, 850
Spring 850
Trost City District
Down below, the group of Titans that had pillaged their squad sat huddled around the carnage on the ground, as they gouged themselves on the cadets who had fallen to their attacks. Up on the rooftops, less than ten people remained, waiting for orders on what to do next.
A select few stood, watching their fallen comrades with disinterest as their blood splattered the walls of the villa behind them. What did it matter to them, if their classmates died? At least it wasn't them. The need to get away encompassed all present, but if that meant scarfing their dying comrades? Not many could stomach the thought, let alone the guilt that would eat away at them.
And so it was that Jean made the decision for them, choosing that moment to guide the remaining cadets forward towards the Titan infested HQ. "LET'S GO! MAKE A BREAK FOR HQ WHILE THEIR DISTRACTED!" he called, "GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT!" The others followed shortly after, jumping after the tall cadet as they duck and dove around the grabby hands of the Titans in their way. The sound of fighting travelled over from the right and fuelled the cadets to drive forward.
Edith clutched to her blades as she came upon the approaching Titans; the aim was to get to HQ not engage the Titans, but they might not have a choice at this point. Her heart felt like it was in her mouth as dodged an outstretched hand, flipping over it and flying forward after the others.
A rattling noise met Edith's ears, one that she knew did not belong to her ODM gear. It was clear that the bandage around her prosthetic wasn't doing much, but there wasn't any time to try and fix it now. She could only hope that it lasted until they got to HQ; at least it was in full view now.
Running along one of the rooftops adjacent to the approaching Titans and HQ behind them, Edith listened as Marco came up next to Jean and give him the pep talk he seemed to so desperately need.
It was one of the things Edith was envious of, how Marco could so easily bare his feelings to others. It was also one of the reasons why her bedside manner was so shit, it was a good thing she was a field medic and not a civilian medic.
"JEAN! You really came through for us there, man. We owe you big time" said Marco as he ran alongside his friend.
"Huh?" Jean breathed, a look of confusion on his face.
"Don't shrug it off, I'm serious. We're alive because of you, like I said, you make a great leader"
"Easy with that crap, we're not out of the woods yet"
When the group clashed with the next group of Titans, only a few were able to make it through unscathed. Many were snatched from the air, their bodies squished like grapes as their blood flew. Edith cursed as she quickly avoided a Titan hand. Had she been any slower, she would have been Titan food.
Using the recoil in her wires, she launched herself high up in the air, far higher than the others as they all sailed towards HQ. The building was now within reach when something became abundantly clear to her. "Shit!" Edith swore.
"What?" Jean called looking up at her as they neared their target.
"I'm coming in too high, I'm gonna miss the window" Edith replied as she braced herself to latch on to the exterior, "Just keep going, I'll figure something out"
Jean didn't have a chance to reply as he smashed through one of the large coloured windows that lined the wall and rolled to a stop inside. In turn, Edith scrabbled for a hold on the stone exterior, her nails digging into the cracked exterior as she tried to calm her breathing and rid herself of the jolt she received when she had landed.
The jolt that had rattled her when she landed had done more damage to her prosthetic than she had hoped, a few of the screws holding it in place fell to the ground several metres below her. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched as the others smash through the other windows. At least they made it.
As she tried to figure out what to do, a commotion within the building caught her attention. She could just barely make out Jean's voice amongst a few of the others. "…YOU COWARDS! YOU LEFT US OUT THERE ON OUR OWN! PEOPLE ARE DEAD CAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE GUTS TO DO YOUR JOB!…IT'S YOUR JOB TO DEAL WITH IT AND BACK US UP ANYWAY!"
"HIT THE DECK!" Reiner called as a Titan smashed its face into the facade.
Edith's relief was short-lived however as the group of Titans they had avoided now came thundering towards the building. "Sina!" Edith cursed as she scrambled further up the building, unwilling to use the last dregs of gas as she tried to avoid the Titans.
Screams could be heard from within the building as the Titans smashed through the walls below her. Edith was unsure if she'd gotten lucky or not; as cruel as it was, she kind of hoped that the Titans were drawn more towards the people hidden inside than her, here easy and within reach.
Her thoughts were broken by the call of her name. Looking over her shoulder, Edith saw something that would forever be imprinted in her mind. She watched with wide disbelieving eyes as a furious-looking fifteen metre punched out the two ten meters staring into HQ. What the fuck?
"EDITH! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Connie called as he, Armin and Mikasa flew in behind the fifteen metre.
"CAME IN TOO HIGH. WHAT'S WITH GRUMPY?!" she called as they grew closer, Mikasa crashing through the windows first.
"NO CLUE, BUT IT COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT US!"
"SERIOUSLY?"
"YEAH!"
That was all Edith was able to get out of Connie as he and Armin crashed through the windows next. Glancing over at the Titan dubbed 'Grumpy', Edith saw that he ended couldn't care less about her and not only that, he was taking out the other Titans that were swarming the building.
Glancing between Grumpy and the windows below her, an idea began to form. "I must be crazy" she muttered to herself as she quickly scrambled her way up a little more until she had a firm grip on the stone decorating the turret wall.
Once there, she glanced over her shoulder at Grumpy, checking to see that he was still there before she coiled her legs against the stone, preparing to leap. "Oh, I'm gonna die" she breathed and leapt.
It felt like she was flying, truly flying. Air rushing through her hair, her heart beating wildly as she floated above the ground free as a bird. And then reality came crashing down as gravity pulled her back down. Timing it right, she latched her ODM wires into Grumpy's forearm and used the momentum to launch herself feet first through one of the open windows.
"INCOMING!" Edith called as she flew straight into whoever was standing right next to what remained of the windows and knocked them off of their feet. The two rolled for a bit before coming to a rest near the back wall, where they lay in a groaning heap.
"Ugh! Get off!" Edith groaned from beneath the behemoth who was currently smothering her. Thankfully the person got off relatively quickly and held out a hand to pull her up once they did so. "Maria's tits! What do they feed you?" she joked, now standing upright and looking towards her make-shift landing pad. There stood Reiner rubbing his chin, sore from the sudden impact.
"Are you calling me fat?" he asked incredulously
"Yes" she deadpanned, before breaking out in a grin.
"Edith! You're okay!" said Armin as the two rejoined the others.
"More or less" she replied as she worked on tightening the bandages around her prosthetic, "Now can someone please explain what's going on with Grumpy, out there?"
"They're not gonna take this building, not with him on a rampage out there" Connie explained to the others as they sat within the confines of the supply depot.
"That's all well and good, but what's to keep it from turning on us when it's done?" Reiner asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it" added Edith.
"Yeah, you're right. At least he's buying us a little time"
"Good news! Courtesy of the Military Police! And covered in a layer of dust" Jean called as he and a few others returned from their scavenge, several long wooden boxes in tow.
"Are we absolutely certain that buckshots are the way to go? Seems we may as well throw spitballs" Jean complained as he loaded up the machine arm in his hands, "I mean c'me on guys, are guns even affective?"
"Hm. I don't know, but they're bound to better than nothing" Armin replied as he focused on the blueprints in front of him, "We're looking at seven Titans in the supply room of the four metres tall variety. If we time this perfectly, this much ammo should be enough to do the trick.
Step one: lower a group into the area via lift to get the Titan's attention.
Step two: when the Titans come within range, the group fires in all four directions simultaneously blinding them. Then the hard part, the moment of truth as it were.
Step three: before the Titans have time to recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike their vital regions.
That's it, that's the plan. It puts all our lives on the line, we screw up and we're dead. Its hell of a risk for one attack but it's our only chance. Seven people have to slay seven Titans in one blow at the same time. We're gonna need the best of us, the seven soldiers most physically gifted and adept with their pairing blades. You'll be the difference between life and death for the rest of us. I'm sorry, that's how it is"
"Seems like a solid plan" Reiner commented.
"When you get right down to it, the risk is the same for everyone. It doesn't really mater who goes" Annie agreed.
"I'm willing to be talked out of this. A half-baked strategy can't be our only option, right?" Armin muttered.
"It's a good plan Armin, quit doubting yourself" Edith replied as she clapped his shoulder and stood up along with the others, ready to put the plan into motion.
"Okay, I'm gonna ask the obvious question. Can we do this without ODM gear?" Connie asked as everyone headed down the stairs towards the supply room in the cellar.
"No problem, these guys are only four metres tall. They're weak spots are not too far above eye level" replied Reiner.
"He's right, size won't be an issue. The spot's still one metre high and ten centimetres across" added Jean.
"Back of the head, to the nape of the neck!" Sasha sang.
"Worst comes to worst, you could always shove a blade up their ass, that's the other weak spot" Reiner said sarcastically.
"Are you serious? That's news to me" Connie said, confused.
"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha asked.
"Come on. Knock it off, Reiner. You want your last words to be an ass joke?" Jean griped.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with her fellow cadets, Edith stood crammed in the lift with a rifle clutched in her hands. Despite the weapon in her hands, Edith still felt naked and vulnerable, especially after wearing the ODM gear for so long.
She knew she was a pretty good shot, memories of the gun range springing to mind as someone pressed themselves close to her back, the standard M9 pistol tucked in the back of her pants, rubbing up against the cadet's rifle. She remembered the hours of gruelling practise as the professors had made them stand and fire, a prized possession taped to the target, giving them incentive.
Hours of cleaning and assembling the different pieces of the firearms. All the different types of firearms they had to memorise, all the different ways to injure someone with one. Because, as Norfolk explained, a medic had to know how to fight as well as heal. That's where his favourite saying, their unofficial motto, had come from: Pro omnibus cura est, ibi sunt vias ad conteram quinque.
"Good, we're still at seven" Armin whispered as the group cocked their rifles and aimed them at the Titans.
"Alright, now nice and easy" Marco encouraged as the Titans slowly focused their attention on the group using themselves as bait, "Don't lose your cool! Fire only when they're all within range! Steady…"
The Titans could almost press their eyes against the barrel of the guns and their breaths wafted over the group. Edith gagged at the smell that wafted over her, reminding her of the cadavers she had practised on during training. Death always smelt sickly sweet.
"FIRE!" Marco called as the Titan opened its mouth, baring its yellow teeth to all. The dark room exploded in a smattering of bullets and light. The smell of gunpowder and burning flesh permeated, filling the room with its stench.
At the same time that the group in the lift fired ruthlessly at the Titans, the seven who were lodged in the rafters, dropped down with their blades aimed to kill. No ODM gear was needed as they launched themselves forward, the promise of murder in their eyes. There was no remorse shown for the beasts that stood before them, they had to die and that was that.
"SASHA AND CONNIE MISSED!" called Bertodlt as the two remaining Titans turned on the two.
"GET THE FUCK BACK!" Jean called as Sasha screamed and jumped to the side, just barely dodging the attack from the Titan.
Mikasa and Annie launched themselves forward, their blades at the ready as they took down the last two Titans. They each landed softly next to their kills as everyone breathed a sign of relief. "They're all dead, start loading up the supplies" Jean called to the group in the lift, much to their relief.
"It worked!" Armin cried happily before he and Edith quickly grabbed onto Marco's arms, holding him upright as he swooned.
Once everyones supplies were fully restocked, they made their way out to continue with the original mission. Edith joined Mikasa on the rooftop overlooking the street, where she stood stock still watching something down below.
"Mikasa? What are you looking at?" Edith asked, following the younger girl's eye line before gasping at the sight before her.
"What are you doing? We have to leave, now!" said Armin as he joined the two.
"Look down there" Mikasa replied without looking at Armin.
In the street down below, the fifteen metre Titan that had so valiantly protected them against the oncoming slaw of Titans earlier that day, now lay broken and battered amongst the ruins of a home. Several of the Titans that he had been fighting were now feasting on him as he gave a weak roar of pain.
"Cannibalism?" Armin breathed, "Can he not regenerate like the others?"
"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us. That he'd help mankind break the cycle, turn the tables just long enough to give us just a little ray of hope" Mikasa mused.
"She's right. He's too valuable to just let die, there's too much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear to ward the scavengers off of him. He's no good to us picked apart" agreed Reiner as he, Annie, Bertodlt and Jean joined the trio on the roof.
"Are you out of your mind? We've got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?" Jean asked incredulously.
"Think about it. Having an abnormal as an ally would be an incredible advantage, right? A cannon's got nothing on a Titan who likes to pick apart its own kind" Annie added.
"D-Do you hear yourself? He's not like a new friend!"
"Put it this way Jean, that thing clearly has some level of intelligence which begs the question, do you want to suffer its wrath should we leave it here?" Edith interjected, her arms crossed as she questioned the boy. Jean opened his mouth to reply when Armin called out, his gaze locked on the next Titan strolling down the street.
"Oh no! It's the one that ate Thomas!" Armin cried. As if the fifteen metre had heard him, it strode forward, mindless of the Titans clinging to it, and ran straight towards the abnormal that had killed Thomas earlier that day. The Titan shrieked at the top of its lungs as it approached, the roar shrill and boisterous as it leapt at the Abnormal, fangs extended.
Having lost both arms in his attempt to reach the Abnormal, it used only its muscular legs to drive itself forward and bite down on the Abnormal's neck, teeth sinking into it nape as it did so. "Holy crap!" Jean breathed as he and the others watched on. The fifteen metre held off his attackers, this time using the Abnormal as his weapon as he swung it around by the neck.
"What was that you were saying? Cause I think it's a moot point now" Jean questioned as the Titan dropped the Abnormal and released a roar into the sky. Edith watched on as the stumps of his arms steamed and the sound of bones clicked back into place, healing themselves. The Titan seemed to be relatively okay for the most part, at least until it fell face first onto the concrete below with an earth shattering thud.
"Alright, enough of this. Let's leave now while we can. We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored or we'd have been next on the menu" Jean grumbled as he turned away. Edith barely registered his grumblings as she stared transfixed on the scene below. No way. No fucking way.
"MIKASA!" Armin called as Mikasa shot down to the Titan carcass on the ground.
"Is it just me, or did Eren just pop out of the Titan?" Edith asked, aware that what she had just said had sounded crazy.
"It's not just you" Reiner replied.
"HE'S ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE!" Mikasa wailed as she clutched him close, his heart beating in her ear.
"Rose! This is insane"
"You're telling me"
Down below, Mikasa sat knee-deep in the smoking Titan carcass as she clutched onto Eren's unconscious form. Despite her shock at Eren's sudden appearance, Edith's mind began race at a hundred miles an hour as she processed what she was seeing. Not only did he have both arms intact, Edith noticed, but he also appeared to be fully recovered from the head injury he had received earlier that day. But then why wasn't he waking up? Was it a side effect? How the hell was he a Titan?
"Did Eren…do all this?"