Chapter 10

Revelation 13:11-12


Eren had been listening to Hanji Zoe and Doctor Hermann rehearsing what they were going to say to the advisory.

"All in all, we need to emphasize their innocence. If it turns out they still want them dead then we leave it up to the other commanders once the trial itself gets underway."

Eren turned to the young man next to Hanji, Moblit she called him, and asked "How long have you been working with the scientist?"

"Huh… four, closer to five years now, I think."

Eren lowered his voice and said "Don't you get tired of her… um… you know…"

The young man said "You get used to it. She has her charms; you just need to get to know her a little better."

Something exploded outside.

"Was… was that cannon fire?" Hanji asked aloud.

It sounded different.

"You don't think the MPs are starting trouble."

"This soon? I figured if anything would begin it would be when the Americans made it clear they would hold on to the shifters."

Before anyone could say anything about that statement, the radio crackled to life, panicked orders were being handed out just as another explosion rang out.

Eren heard the last part.

"Engage! Engage!"

"Engage what?!" Matt screamed, ducking into the turret of the Humvee, M4 peering out to the left side of the street, where musket fire was beginning to materialize after being briefly absent after its first salvo.

That was a problem with these ancient guns, not only were they deadly for what they were, but the smoke screen made it awkward to detect the shooters when they were firing from windows while on the move. If they repositioned within the building was hard to tell.

Sure, Matt could just shoot through the wood, a 5.56 bullet was more than up to the task of piercing through it, but it wasn't a guarantee, and he would have no way of knowing what he hit unless he went up there himself, and right now that wasn't an option given all the civilians in the area.

A fourth explosion, this one targeted one of the Army Strykers, not really doing much other thank leaving an ugly burn mark on the side.

These bastards brought out some kind of medieval RPGs?! What the hell is-?!

Matt physically winced as he finally saw the enemy.

An older man, not in any uniform, was peering from one of the slanted rooftops with a long tube that was eerily similar to a certain German World War 2 anti-tank weapon.

As he shifted his M4 to knock the man down, the tube fired a small spear like projectile that shot through the air like a lightning bolt.

It slammed into one of the trucks carrying the young members of the 104th.

Matt squeezed the trigger, saw the man jerk aside and fall to his death.

He heard the telltale thumping of M2HB lighting up a rooftop.

Wish I could use the Mark Nineteen in this environment…damn civvies…

A few vehicles ahead, Kane wished they could coordinate better.

"Your name is Hitch, right?!" he shouted, scanning the windows and buildings, looking for targets as Murphy simply fired into the nearest home or shop or whatever it was.

The girl only nodded slowly.

"Okay, Hitch, I need you to start directing the civilians away from here, this is a dangerous situation for noncombatants, right? We don't want anyone else to die, right?" he tried to keep authority in his shouts as the gunfire picked up again.

The girl nodded slowly.

It was odd, there was way more gunfire coming from the enemy than what one would expect for an army armed with 17th century rifles.

"Right then, some of the MPs over there are trying to organize, so-"

He went silent as one of the taller, maybe older MPs, a man trying to move civilians away, was shot dead.

It wasn't the cold blooded killing that got his attention, though.

The shooter wasn't using a musket.

No, this was different, this looked like a handgun, but the projectiles fired…

A spark got his attention just as some rounds slammed into the opposite end of the MRAP.

He risked a glance and noticed the burning metal put itself out before another flash almost killed him.

Kane felt smoke come from his ECH.

The Enhanced Combat Helmet wasn't exactly new, but it was the latest variation of protective combat helmets the United States military was employing; capable of protecting from small arms fire better than its predecessor, and it did its job well.

"Are you okay?!" Hitch shouted.

He turned to her, asking "What was that?!"

The girl stared for a second.

"It's like they shot you from a centimeter away." she said.

Kane turned to a reflective surface to examine he damage on it.

Burn marks?

He looked around and saw that some of the shots had actually managed to set small tarps and other flammable parts of the buildings ablaze.

Incendiary ammunition?! These bastards have-

Another large explosion shook the street, and Kane could only watch as civilian screams erupted once more.

"That- that's a cannon from the walls- how-? why-?"

"Murphy, rev her up!"

The man nodded, Kane turned to Hitch.

"We gotta get these civvies outta here, right now!"

"Can we even-?"

A pale young man ran up to the Marines.

Armin Arlert.

"Hey, Lieutenant Troy says to use your MRAPs to guide the civvies outta here, we'll be in touch over the radio to tell you where you can take them." he said, out of breath.

Why not relay the orders over-?

The radio crackled to life then "All Vicks, use your MRAPs to cover the civilians; any 104th cadets on this station try to pull back, coordinate with what non-hostile MPs you can find, shoot those that aren't cooperating, all First Brigade troops hold the line as long as possible, we will be establishing a rendezvous point to regroup! Give them hell!"

okay?

"Sounds good to me; Hitch, Armin, spread the word."

The girl stood up nervously, but nodded.

Kane noticed she was only carrying her blades.

He reached for his holster and handed her his Berretta M9.

"The switch on the side removes the safety, you get about twelve shots. Don't point it at anything you don't want dead, got it?"

The girl only nodded.

"You get that back to me, okay?"

She nodded again.

"Right, let's go!"

A sixth explosion rang out.

This one was from a canon, a large one at that.

"Murph!" he shouted.

The gunner didn't even reply, simply swinging the machine gun in the general direction of the cannon fire and sending death down the road.

Ian ignored the scrapes on his elbows as he crawled on his stomach.

He gripped the rifle he had been given, and clicked the hammer back, bullets pelting the nearby buildings.

He had discovered all too quickly that remaining visible was a mistake.

An older MP, now out of uniform but nevertheless under his command had tried to get off a shot from the powerful rods that had set an American truck ablaze.

He was looking up at the sky now, no scalp to speak of.

Ian needed to grab the destructive weapon, knowing full well that if they wanted to catch Eren or any of the shifters, they would have to crack the Americans bad enough.

He inched towards the weapon, putting a hand on it with great relief.

He had it.

But where are the traitors?

He rather unceremoniously rolled back down towards the edge of the roof before dropping behind the house, finding two other MPs, younger ones, seemingly hiding behind the wood and stone.

"What are you doing?! The enemy is destroying our people!"

One of the MPs shouted "Like hell it's them! I saw you!"

Ian grabbed him by the collar and shouted back with all the command he could muster up "I don't care what you think you saw, cadet! Grab a sword or a firearm and charge the enemy! Where is your sense of duty?!"

"Why the hell would I fight them when they want you dead?!" the cadet demanded.

"Oh? Oh! You think they want me dead?!"

The second cadet could only watch in fear as the young captain shoved his fellow MP into the alleyway that exited to the street ahead.

The cadet realized what was going on immediately and went pale, tears began to pour from his eyes as he tried to get back up and run behind cover.

A round from an American gun tore through his side before he could reach cover, killing him before he even hit the stony ground under them.

Ian turned to the second cadet, and shouted "Pick up your weapons, soldier!"

The cadet sat there, frozen in fear.

"The enemy is killing without discrimination! You will either die fighting, or die cowardly, but believe me that you will die regardless of what you do right now if you don't follow my orders!"

The cadet shakily grabbed one of the nearby muskets and began to inspect it.

Good… now all I need is to find-

"Captain! We located the shifters!"

The young captain grinned.

A few seconds later they were on a rooftop, hidden behind the slanted tiles, glancing over the street with caution.

Ian frowned as the gunfire grew in intensity.

"Where are they?" he asked, noting the pair of American vehicles, the armored kind that were certainly going to be problematic to destroy, albeit not impossible.

"That vehicle, sir, it has no main gun, and it seems to be sticking out of the fight!"

Ian glanced at his weapon before turning to look once again towards the street.

All the other American carriages were doing something except for this one.

A few of the ones in the rear had even moved further up in the street to blow away what forces he had thrown into them.

But not this one.

Which suggested it was carrying something, similar to the ones that carried the 104th cadets.

And the fact the Americans had left a second armored carriage protecting it meant that whoever was in there was also very precious. But if he used his weapon on the first carriage, and focused the cannons on the others…

"Smoke bombs?" he asked over the increasingly noticeable change in the acoustics of the battlefield.

The sound of muskets was being drowned out entirely by the automatic guns.

One of the men nodded.

"Do we have cannons in place?"

"I already moved them, sir!"

"Great, we move on my mark! We only get one shot at this."

Ymir had never seen something so ridiculous in her lifetime.

Both Hanji and Doctor Hermann were restraining Yeager as he kicked and demanded to be let loose by the driver of the Stryker.

"Damn it, let me out! I act as a shield in titan form!"

"And throw our forces out of whack! Just stay put!" Hermann responded.

can you imagine how awkward it would be to move him around here? Even with the wider streets, it would still-

"Oh, is that it?! People are dying out there and you want me to stay put?!"

Hanji now shouted over him, "Whoever is attacking wants you dead or captured, Yeager! Assuming these are even regular MPs! That means you would be facing the top soldier of every regiment! Do you really think you can evade them long enough to act as a shield?!"

The boy went quiet.

The radio continued to crackle orders and updates.

"We are at least safe in here, that way we can pull back, regroup… figure this out… Sorry about this inconvenience, your majesty." Hanji said, turning to Historia, the girl covered her ears to the gunfire and explosions.

"Vick Two, pulling back, Papa Bear, Papa Bear, what's your status?" Lieutenant Troy said over the radio.

"Sitting pretty, el tee." the soldier operating the radio said.

"Copy, we just got orders and a location to rendezvous. Begin pulling back to-"

* CRASH!*

Ymir barely managed to grab Historia as the APC was shaken, knocked aside like a toy almost, and she sawt he radio operative slam into the walls of the vehicle.

"Papa Bear-? What was-?"

* CRASH!*

Another explosion rocked the vehicle again, knocking out the radio.

Eren barely managed to get up in time as the rear of the stryker fell open.

"Yeager, don't do anything stupid!"

Eren grit his teeth, shouting "Help me move them out of here!"

She glanced at doctor Hermann and the two scouts.

Both were knocked out cold.

"What the hell hit us?!" the driver asked no one in particular as he grabbed his rifle and picked up the unconscious Moblit.

"Must have been a canon, the big types… when they get one down here?" Eren muttered as he began to pick up the German doctor.

"Princess?" the American asked.

Ymir checked Historia who happened to be clinging to her like a child.

"You okay, princess?"

She shook her head as another explosion rang out in the distance.

"Vick 2, Papa Bear is down, we are requesting immediate-"

The soldier winced, lifting up his M4A1 and squeezed the trigger one second too late.

Eren had barely turned in time to see the MP shoot the man point blank with a musket, knocking the American to the hard floor of the APC.

There were four MPs, one in uniform, three out of it, but their gear and guns made their identities easy to discern.

A young man looked directly at him and spoke up, reloading his musket.

"Eren Yeager, Ymir the titan, and… wait… you're…"

The blonde girl made Ian worry for a second, but then he put two and two together.

"You must be important. Tie them up, now!"

Eren dropped the doctor and lunged at the young captain.

Ian didn't bother to open fire; he simply slammed the gun into the young man's side before shoving him back into the vehicle, the teenager collapsed to the floor, holding his side.

"Go ahead and transform, kid; I wonder what breaks first, you or this American iron."

Eren knew he couldn't transform inside the APC without killing Historia, Hanji, and Doctor Hermann.

So did Ymir.

"Yeager, just cooperate… for now. You, how did you know about our location?"

"This carriage had no guns; so it was a prime target, now move it!"

Eren saw the cannons on the edges of the street.

They rolled them right next to the APC? How did-?

Eren was suddenly able to appreciate just how much smoke filled the street.

The constant barking of machine guns nearby made it clear, the guys in the front and back were too busy pulling back.

"Wait, what about Miss-"

Before he could do much more, a force slammed into the back of his head, and everything went black around him.

Hanji stared as the MPs knocked Eren and Ymir unconscious.

The young man in charge glanced at her before looking on with disgust.

"You are one of the people willing to betray the king?"

Hanji didn't reply.

Ian turned to look at the German doctor.

"He one of the scientists working with you?"

Doctor Herman stood up by himself and said "I am, and if you want to keep those kids alive, then I suggest you- wait! Wait!"

He couldn't say more as Ian removed his blade and jabbed it into the man's neck.

It was here that Hanji refused to stand by, lunging at the young captain.

"Miss Hanji, don't-" Moblit protested too late.

Ian kicked the woman back with relative ease before shouting "Traitors deserve to die."

He grabbed a strange looking handgun and attached it to his ODM gear, right where his blades would go. He placed a canister, similar to a flare, on its tip and aimed it at Hanji and Moblit before glancing up and firing at the sky.

A dark haired girl fell to the street, smoke emitting from her side; her body remained unmoving on the road.

Mikasa Ackerman!

"Damn it… Eckhart! Kill them. The rest of you, let's go."

Before Hanji could react a second MP moved up with two of the odd guns, and fired both shots right at them.

Samuel winced, his ears ringing as if a bell had been hit right within them.

He looked through the smoke in the truck the Americans had been transporting him and several other cadets on.

Wait, where is-?

"Samuel! Come on!"

He then felt the distinct pulling on his arms as Mina Carolina kept dragging him away from the burning vehicle.

The ringing completely subsided, and he became horrifyingly aware of the gunfire around him.

Some of it was certainly American guns, automatic weapons firing quick three or five round bursts, but a lot of it sounded more like the telltale explosion of muskets.

Mina dragged him behind one of the other trucks, one that wasn't yet burning.

The American transports were nowhere near as armored as the Marine MRAPS or Army Strykers, being more exposed they could certainly be destroyed even by regular cannon fire, and whatever the attackers had shot them with clearly wasn't a regular cannon.

Samuel didn't stand up, yelling over the gunfire "Everybody okay?"

Mina didn't have her rifle, and the only one carrying the modified M1 Garand was Thomas, who occasionally risked glancing above the truck despite what the driver said.

Mina nervously shook her head.

A bullet zipped past, just above her head, and she covered her ears, sucking in a breath and desperately trying not to burst into tears.

The cadets had no Kevlar helmets, no plate carriers, and the closest thing to armor they might have were the vests where they carried ammunition clips, and that wasn't exactly protection against other bullets.

Samuel looked around, not moving from his position, seeing that there were several dead civilians next to the flaming truck.

"Look up!" an older American, maybe Sergeant Roy, shouted as someone in ODM gear flew from one side of the street to the other.

A quick burst and a body slammed into a nearby rooftop.

Samuel did his best to ignore the drops of blood coming from that spot.

He managed to sit up and turned to the blonde boy.

"Thomas! What the hell is going on?!" he managed to shout.

"I don't know! I can't see any of them- they- I think they're hiding in the houses- I think."

Sergeant Roy ran up, almost crouching behind the armored vehicle, he grabbed Thomas and began pushing him down.

"Hey, kid, if you don't keep your head down-"

A force slammed into the top of Thomas' forehead, knocking the boy to the floor before the sergeant could push him out of danger.

The boy had died before his head hit the stone road.

Sergeant Roy shut his eyes tight for the briefest second before turning to Mina and Samuel.

"Jackson, Carolina; where are your rifles?"

"I-in the truck, sergeant." the girl barely managed to say, now choking back tears.

The burning truck had several bodies around it, all set on fire, most with the Garrison insignia of the 104th.

Roy gripped his own M4 tightly before picking up the modified M1 Garand and handing it to Mina.

"Keep your heads down, eyes peeled; the hostiles were trying to hit the civilians but not anymore. Jackson, can you walk?"

Samuel nodded.

"Pretty soon we're going to get one of two orders, either we pull back for air support, or we pull back in order to regroup."

Another explosion rang out.

"Regroup?" Samuel asked.

"Couple of guys with the Marines and MPs escorted the civilians, used the MRAPs as shields and to carry wounded. We're trying to hold the line for them, now if you see someone not in uniform, you shoot! Can't be that many left so hold on!" he shouted, firing another burst into a house.

Samuel noted then that the gunfire was diminishing.

Dave hurriedly used the fire extinguisher on the burning Stryker, the only one seriously damaged by the attack, and the one were the VIPs had been under lock and key.

Keyword "had".

"I don't see them, looks like they just killed anyone they didn't care about and burned the place down!" he shouted.

The gunfire had almost completely dissipated, and the US forces in the street were tending to what wounded they could gather before moving on to regroup.

"Four eyes? Doctor Herman?" Matt asked, hiding his horror.

Did no one within the Stryker survive?

A weak groan answered his question.

Next to the Stryker was a cadet the young soldiers recognized.

"Oh, of course… get a medic over here."

Jake walked over and picked up a badly wounded Mikasa, burn marks and blood were all over her side, the girl looked pale.

"Did she just charge at a bunch of guys armed with guns?" Matt whispered.

Dave said to no one in particular, looking around the Stryker "It looks like she just took a shotgun blast to the ribs. How is she still breathing?"

Matt replied anyway "Dad used to tell me of a guy back in Kansas who got shot with one in a hunting trip, you can survive those, although they never get all the pellets out."

Jake was about to argue back when Dave shouted "Guys, we got another one!"

Matt turned to see Dave dragging an injured Hanji out of the Stryker.

"What? How-?"

"I think Moblit shielded her from the fire, she was under a badly burned body."

Looks kind of badly burnt herself…

Matt could only grimace before looking around.

Parts of the street were on fire, but it was mostly just shot to hell; homes riddled with bullet holes and now abandoned cannons and bodies.

Guns were guns at the end of the day, weapons with the power to snuff a life out in an instant, but there was obviously a difference between an ancient flintlock musket and a rifle capable of firing thirty one supersonic rounds off in a few seconds with accuracy the musket couldn't even hope to achieve.

It partly explained why the MPs had struck them at such close a range; it was the best shot at causing damage on anything remotely resembling equal terms.

Guerilla tactics… the worst enemy of an invading army… what helped make us abandon Vietnam…

He balled a fist before turning to Dave to help him carry the wounded scout onto their Humvee.

Both soldiers went back to work.

Ymir couldn't hear anything, but she noted the smell of smoke was diminishing.

She felt herself hit the hard, stony ground, and whatever they had stuck on her ears must've loosened because suddenly, an angry man was screaming at the top of his lungs.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED HER!"

"Your Majesty, this is my responsibility, I apologize for not fulfilling my duties." the voice of the young man that had kidnapped them said loudly and quickly.

Your Majesty, eh?

Ymir began to attempt standing up, unable to see anything thanks to the cloth tightly wrapped around her head.

"Did your forces manage to push the Americans back?"

"Somewhat. They decimated my main force once they got over the shock of being attack, but instead of staying or retreating, they sent a fair part of their force into the city while leaving another part of their force behind to keep fighting us. The men performed valiantly, your majesty."

"I have no doubt about that. How many civilians…?" he began, not finishing the question.

"Several, we couldn't count them given the urgency, but I saw several get caught in one of the explosions. The opinion of the Americans will surely sour after this."

So long as no one discovers those were our rockets that killed civilians…

"I see. Well, no time to waste then, get the- oh, dear, this one's already awake."

Ymir felt something slam into her head and knock her back to the ground.

She began to try and cut her hand, desperately attempting to use her power, only to find herself unable to think straight, dropping into unconsciousness once more with a second kick to the head.

Rod stared at the dark haired girl, turning to Ian once more.

"Captain, you must protect the area around main government building; the advisory will remain there, and you must protect them. The Americans cannot be allowed to discover where we are going, understand?"

Ian nodded before asking "Do you trust them?"

Rod briefly glanced at the blonde woman that had been working with Kenny for a while now before becoming a captain of her own unit of anti-personnel officers. She was monitoring the battle from a rooftop as her men loaded a certain unconscious blonde girl into a carriage.

"Kenny is a hot head, something I cannot afford. Keep a close eye on him, but use his men to bolster your own. We only have one shot at this, captain. Spread the word of this travesty!"

"Yes, your majesty!" Ian replied, offering up his heart.

"I got another wounded cadet here!" the radio screamed.

"Pull back- back to the center of the city, there is a large temple there we are using as a main base. Take any wounded civilians there as well, but prioritize the cadets and the men." the CIA woman growled to the Delta operative repeating her orders over the radio.

"They acted much quicker than we expected, huh?" he mumbled before relaying the orders.

"Never should have trusted that bastard; nothing he said even hinted at this." Crow said as he finished reassembling his carbine.

Not even the Skyhawk still in the air had noticed the cannons hidden within the homes of unsuspecting civilians until it was too late.

"Nothing our devices picked up hinted at it either. This was done in secret, probably with us in mind… where is that bastard, anyway?"

"We saw him head out of the building with two guys we hadn't seen before ten minutes before everything went to hell." the radio operator replied.

She grit her teeth and said "We are certain they took our VIPs?"

"An Army unit saw Historia get zipped away by MPs, the pricks shot the Stryker with two of the heavy cannons they had removed from the walls defenses. The fact the APC is still intact is a miracle given the size of those things."

If those canons had been shot a bit closer…

"Great, so everything went to hell just when we were about to actually try and push their hand. Whatever, grab what you can and let's-"

A figure appeared by their window, knocking on it.

Ackerman…

"Yo!" he said.

The CIA woman as well as a not insignificant portion of the Special Forces there wondered if shooting him there and then would be warranted, yet they only tightened the grip around their firearms instead of pointing them in any particular direction.

"Tell me why we shouldn't we blow your brains out in the next ten seconds." she said simply, grabbing the Sig Sauer and making sure a round was chambered in it.

"I would shoot myself too, can't blame you for that. But the king is taking Eren, Historia and that other girl somewhere and I think I know where."

The woman glanced at him before turning to look at her handgun.

"Well, where is it?"

"It's in a church somewhere in Wall Rose, but not only can I give you the location, I can do you something better."

She glanced at him.

"I think you guys are planning on neutralizing the MPs, right? Take leaders as prisoners, all that good stuff?"

She didn't reply.

"Kind Reiss gave me orders to protect the advisory and the remaining MPs. I was thinking… what if I didn't do that?"

The woman scoffed.

"Ah, so you knew of the attacks, stayed quiet and decided to play both sides?"

"That would be too smart of me. No, King Reiss didn't mention this operation to me until an hour or two ago, ordered me to stick to a lookout unit I couldn't trust. They're dead now, but I'm afraid he must've suspected me."

"Uh huh… and what do you want in exchange for this information?"

"No, no new changes or demands on our older agreement, but I would like for you to help my nephew."

Levi silently stared ahead as he supported the much taller Eld with what little help Petra could provide.

The blonde man couldn't even bring himself to say he was fine, the trail of blood behind them proving much too taxing for even the toughest scout to handle.

Brilliant… sheer brilliance…

The attackers had surrounded Levi and his team on the rooftops, using some type of smoke grenades to try and hide their paths as they attempted to ambush them with long rifles.

The smoke itself had been irritating, causing them to try to get away from it, but that decision alone had proven deadly.

Petra, half blinded by the initial strike had actually tripped and fallen from the roof of the building.

That was when the first gunshot rang out, the assailant had tried to hit her as she fell, thankfully missing.

Oluo had chased after Petra, which proved to be a mistake.

Two men fired at him, and while the distance made the shots less accurate, one managed to hit the man's stomach.

Levi had ducked behind a chimney, and saw how quickly the white haired young man had bled out.

Seconds… it had taken seconds for him to die.

He wondered if Oluo had understood what had happened to him, since by the time Petra limped over to him he was already dead.

Eld and Gunther got hit immediately after that, but Eld managed to get hit somewhere that wasn't as vital in spite of the blood loss.

Gunther no longer had a face or much of a skull when Levi checked his body.

The attack had lasted a grand total of thirty seconds.

To Levi's frustration, the assailants did not stay and finish the job, retreating once they had fired their shots, denying him his chance at retribution.

This left him with a wounded Eld, Petra who appeared to have twisted her ankle, and himself, the only one somehow unscathed.

He was able to hear the chaos on the radio, as well as the distant gunfire, and he cursed himself for not being able to do anything about it.

At least there was a rendezvous point they could get Eld the medical attention he needed… hopefully.

He glanced at the chestnut haired girl.

She looked disheveled and exhausted.

He had actually thought he had seen someone tackle her earlier, but his eyesight had seemingly been playing tricks on him due to the smoke.

The trio silently walked through the alleyway, trying to keep out of sight, not daring to use the ODM gear and risk being shot down.

The distant gunfire had ceased suddenly.

"Captain Levi, you there?" the radio crackled.

"Lieutenant?" Levi grabbed it and spoke.

"Oh, great, you're alive. You guys got attacked too?"

No, this was someone else.

"Two of my teammates are dead, one is seriously hurt, and one has minor injuries." he replied.

"Okay… Look, we haven't met, but you probably heard of us. We're the observation team that was put into the capital by US forces."

"Yeah."

"Great, now you probably know that we are rendezvousing at the Temple of the Walls, have you heard that at least?"

"Yeah."

"We're headed there now. What's your location?"

He nodded to Petra, who gently shifted Eld so that Levi could carry most of the weight whilst she moved towards the edge of the alleyway to look at the street.

Levi then said "Merchant's street. Petra will wave by the entrance to an alleyway."

"Understood. Be advised, the carriage is quite bare, so we may not be able to carry all your wounded."

"There's two wounded, can you carry that?"

Silence for a moment, but the person replied with "Yes, captain. My condolences."

Without replying, Levi sat Eld down on a barrel he turned over, and rested himself against the alley walls.

"Hey, captain…" the blonde man tried to speak, but Levi kicked the barrel, shaking Eld.

"Don't talk unless you're giving me your last words or feeling worse."

Eld nodded slowly and promptly shut up.

Levi forced whatever emotions he was feeling down again, before glancing up at the blue sky above. He recalled seeing it for the first time a lifetime ago, a different squad, a different reason for fighting… a different him.

His old team, his family, had been the first to die, followed by his original motivation, killing Commander Erwin, all replaced with other goals.

This was the cost of freedom… Farlarn, Isabel, I wonder if-

"Captain, the carriage is here."

"Right, come on, Eld."

It was just a wooden cart with a single horse and a few boxes.

Anyone would assume it belonged to a poor worker from the interior if it wasn't for one small detail.

The woman steering the horse had gear and weapons only the people from the other side of the gate could possibly own, as did the pair of men in the cart.

"Howdy, captain…" she said in an accent the captain had heard some Americans had.

Something about the South…

"Come on, if we want to regroup the time is now."

"What's going on?" Petra asked as Levi and her handed Eld to the pair of soldiers on the cart.

The woman with the southern accent scoffed before speaking.

"We thought we were playing the king… turns out he was playing us… albeit unknowingly. Had several men attack our convoy, kidnap the shifters, Historia, all while keeping the information from Kenny and a fair chunk of the commanding officers in the Interior police force. Bastard watches his steps."

If the statement affected the captain, he didn't show it, maintaining a hard stare as he got on the cart.

"Counterattack?" Levi asked.

"Working on it. The attack first focused on killing civilians with some rockets the interior recently acquired- no not from us. We also have some kind of situation developing in Hill Zero One, looks like they tried something there, too. Regardless, half our force pulled back into the city to escort civilians to safety, the rest pretty much annihilated the attacking force, except we all know that isn't the end of it. Plan now is to regroup and choose a strategy."

An attack on their main base, too… why would-?

Levi winced, realizing that not only could Erwin be the target, the entire military command was there.

He paled at the implications, but maintained himself outwardly composed.

"An attack on Hill Zero One? A decapitation strike?"

The woman shrugged as they turned a corner, civilians eyeing them nervously.

"Probably, but I can't really say. Kenny is still with us, gave us some locations to hit to keep Rod from fully enacting his plan."

Levi nodded, glancing at the men checking over Eld.

"Well, aren't you just lucky? Bullet seems to have gone through and through, probably missed his vitals; hurts like a bitch, sure, but I think you'll make it." one of the men said.

Petra asked "Are you a doctor?"

"Better. I survived a hit like this way back in the day. Round almost killed me, too, kept me in bed for weeks, but you're taking it like a champ."

"The war in the desert?"

"Uh… sure." the man replied.

The cart moved past the street anad into a clearing, where a large temple was situated.

The scene was chaotic as civilians, Military Police, American soldiers, and members of the 104th ran from one place to another.

A gunshot rang out, and Levi saw an MP scream and fall to the floor from a rooftop a hundred meters away.

The woman scoffed.

"Idiots. They have no idea who they just pissed off."

A civilian nurse, identified by the white cap and face mask on her head shouted "Take any injured to the left side of the temple!"

Levi hopped off, assisted Eld from the cart while the others moved elsewhere.

He glanced at the injured, laying on mats on the ground, barely comfortable if anything. He looked around.

Most seemed burned or like they had been shot.

A few missing limbs here and there, but he noticed the medical personnel, both American and not, running from one end to the other.

"Get more booze, the Americans only have so much of that sleep drug." he overheard one doctor order a nurse.

"Any empty mats? " Petra asked a tired looking American medic who was holding the arm of an injured child. There wasn't any blood, and it looked like the kid was just relaxing.

The young man glanced at them before saying "Uh- yeah… this one just opened up."

The medic picked up the little girl and walked away with her.

"W-wait- what happened to her?"

The medic turned and calmly said "Mother said the kid was four, she fell on her head while they were running away from the fight. Can't say for sure, but if blood can't get to the brain properly or if her skull dug into it… I'll be with you shortly."

Levi ignored the anguished wails that could only come from a parent who had lost their child a moment later, while Eld was laid on the mat and another American came to look him over.

A mere twenty yards away was the CIA woman, hidden behind a column of the large temple.

Crow was standing closely behind Pastor Nick, the religious man ignoring him in favor of glaring at the CIA woman.

Neither spoke for a moment.

Pastor Nick decided to speak first, a low, angry hiss accentuated by outrage.

"I kept my part of the deal, I told no one, so why do you bring suffering to my people?!"

The woman scoffed, saying "The man you call a king did this, not us. Trust me, if we were going to do something like this you wouldn't even think it was us."

"I saw the fire and heard the gunshots! Your men killed a servant of the king mere moments ago!"

"The king ordered this and sacrificed his own people in order to kidnap the titan shifters we were bringing in for a trial! This was a peaceful gathering until we got attacked!"

"I see your war machines. If this was peaceful then why bring them?!" Nick demanded, pointing at the Army Strykers.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what weapons do your crack agents of the king have that can destroy the titans that put a hole in your precious goddess?"

Nick winced, but the woman continued.

"We have been extremely forgiving and cooperative, Pastor, I-" she paused, lowering her voice to an equally outraged hiss. "I wanted to recommend a total change of rule, and we could do it, but we didn't because we actually try- try to uphold the rules we put in place! It is exactly why we keep losing men to idiots who don't even know what lies beyond the next mountain range! if I was in charge I would have conquered your pathetic little piece of civilization from day one and threatened to destroy all opposition but I can't because we have rules to uphold, unlike the things running around shooting your own people- hell, their own subordinates, in the face!"

Nick stared at her.

"So yes, Pastor, we brought Armored Vehicles to the capital, notice we didn't bring any tanks; we only brought the firepower we needed in case the shifters decided to get out of control."

Nick eyed the woman for a moment before saying "Well, then I do apologize for my earlier judgment of your people. Our church and its followers are at your disposal."

"Just tell me if the lying king gave you any orders."

Nick nodded and said "I received a strange order this morning from the king. He said to preach today about the dangers of the Americans. I was debating about it when the attack started."

The woman grit her teeth, saying "Oh, so he already had everything all planned out nice and pretty, huh? Attack the capital, blame it on us, spread the message around, all to put more obstacles in our way while he goes and does his thing? Delightful." she mumbled before walking away.

Crow followed after her, leaving the aging religious man on his own.

"We're going to have to deal with that right away." the woman groaned.

"What?"

"The king gets his story out first then the population gets riled up, even if its only a miniscule minority, any resistance might be enough to screw things up for us. We already lost people, we don't want another humanitarian crisis gone wrong… God damn it, give it options!"

"Well, what are scientists for?" a weak sounding woman said.

She glanced at the burned but very much alive Hanji Zoe, escorted by Lieutenant Troy and two soldiers she hadn't seen before.

"Sorry, spooks, she insisted on talking to you." the officer sighed.

"You're… oh, right, the titan doctor. Listen, miss, we're dealing with a lot right now, so if you have something to contribute-"

"You need the journalists on your side, I heard. The king is clearly smarter than we thought, os he undoubtedly planned… planned to have them get his side of the story first. I think we can change that."

The CIA woman simply raised an eyebrow.

"Your weapons, the ones you carry… they don't burn like the ones fired by the interior forces. Any competent journalist will note that much, they have seen how your guns fire way back in the early days… I… I just need to get to them."

"We can manage that much, I ordered a couple of Strykers to spread out, try to keep people in their homes, recruit what MPs aren't trying to kill us… we want civilians out of the line of fire, so we best act now."

Damn, civvies…

"Hearts and Minds… Right, get to it."

The Lieutenant nodded.

She realized that this was lower level officers making decisions on their own; suggesting contact with the main FOB wasn't back up yet, or at least not properly.

What is going on over there?

Ilse pushed the broken door aside and burst into the room where the officers, leaders of the US forces and military of the walls, were convening. Opening the door, someone she recognized as General Connor stumbled through before falling to the floor on the hall, escaping the room of death behind him.

Parts of it were on fire, likely remnants of a wooden table, but debris and smoke filled most of the room.

Anka and a medical team were right behind her, the small group rushing past her.

"Commander Pyxis?! Commander?!" Anka shouted as she began to look around the room. it wasn't exactly a giant area, more like a small auditorium, so there really wasn't anywhere for the wounded or the dead to hide.

Which only added to the horrifying realization that the eerie spots of darkness wasn't ash or blast residue, but human blood.

Anka shuddered and looked around, her resolve not wavering yet.

"Commander Erwin?" Ilse called before someone said "Here!"

She turned to the marine who had lifted part of a wooden table from the motionless body of the commander.

"Is he okay?!" Ilse shouted.

The Marine simply shook his head.

At first Ilse wasn't sure why the marine had answered negatively until she glanced at her commander's neck.

She covered her mouth before shutting her eyes tightly.

"Looks like the blast knocked him into the wall here, impact snapped his neck in two… at least it was quick."

He glanced at a charred body whose only identifiable feature was a little metallic bottle of a potentially dangerous liquid.

Anka shook her head, not saying a word.

He didn't even let go of his booze in the end…

"Anyone see the Representative Kelly?" another person called.

A weak voice answered from the hallway.

Connor managed to say "Wall… she was by the wall talking to Zackley when the explosion happened…"

The area around the explosion was marked by burnt blood and a few hints of the remains of organisms that had once been human.

Ilse made a head count.

Commander Erwin, Pyxis, and Dawk, dead; Premiere Zachary, dead, US Representative Kelly, dead...

That meant that with the sole exception of General Connor, who looked like he might drop dead himself, the heads of the military forces within the walls had been severed.

"…we need to get this message out, whoever did this must have been ordered by the king." someone said.

Anka angrily spat back "Bomb the capital! Those bastards don't care about the people or anyone else! I saw the MP that fired a rocket into the building, these people- they have to pay."

Ilse remembered the MP and immediately shouted "Has anyone caught him yet?!"

Ryan was in the process of closing the hatch on the Harvester when he heard the explosion in the distance.

Ever since the American force had begun pushing into the titan occupied territory, explosions near Hill Zero One had stopped occurring, no titans to be blown to bits and whatnot.

So to hear one now was strange, but this sounded different; nothing like the anti-tank weapons the men had brought.

Certainly not a tank…

He stood up and looked around from the top of the Abrams, and he saw the figure in the distance.

A scout or someone with 3D maneuver gear was hopping through the rooftops of the base.

Not very safe… is something going on?

The person stopped, as if to consider their options, and then hopped from a building, out of sight.

Ryan saw the smoke nearby then.

Then he heard the nearby radio go crazy with fellow soldiers and Marines shouting orders and questions.

One in particular made him more nervous than anything else.

"Anyone see where he went?!"

He was about to ask when he overherad the telltale sign of 3D Manuever gear gas, and he turned to look at a member of the Military Police land in front of Harvester carrying a silver tube that… was being aimed right at him.

Oh…

He had considered himself loyal when he first joined the military.

Really, he had.

Humanity was at war with an enemy that was barely being held back by the massive structures known as the walls.

He had even admired the Survey Corps at first, honestly, he had.

That devotion to trying to retake the lost lands, the bravery that was required to go out there… he had wanted to emulate exactly that when he first signed up for the military.

Then Wall Maria fell.

Then the people began to starve, even in the barracks, rations were small and there was doubt his regiment would be ready in time to partake in the campaigns.

Then the campaigns to reclaim it actually came, and he saw how few members of the Garrison participated.

Aside from the Survey Corps, the campaigns were fought by civilians armed with whatever sticks and stones they had been able to scrounge up; it had been nothing but a desperate attempt to reclaim the lost lands by sheer force of numbers, none realizing the titans were also numerous.

He had heard the horror stories of the survivors, the executions for treason of some who had not merely retreated, but thrown others behind them in order to survive.

Making it to the top rank and joining the Military Police became a priority for him then.

And now I get to risk my life for the king that started it all…

He didn't really care if the king was deposed or not, but he knew that if he refused orders, then odds weren't looking good for him in the capital.

His one saving grace was that his attack would be so surprising, the American Military wouldn't see him get away once he used up both explosives.

They were a wonder, these piercing rockets.

When he fired at that building, saw the structure almost collapse on itself, the hole it left, and the fact that he had killed his own officers… well, the rush of adrenaline alone could be used to destroy the enemies of the king.

But now he had another target to find, and he needed one that would really hurt the Americans.

Their precious flying machines?

He had seen a few take off from the recently constructed runway when he and Nile Dawk arrived with the other commanders.

He figured that could work and began making his way over, but stopped halfway there.

Their precious war machines…

He had seen the line of vehicles, the titan killers that were originally meant to fight other human armies on the other side of the cursed gate that brought the problematic Americans.

My thunder against your armor… I wonder what breaks first…

And so he landed on the floor, hoping that any soldiers out to get him were still stuck behind him.

He saw that an American was standing atop the iron beast, seemingly frozen with fear, as if he knew how deadly the weapon he was wielding was.

The MP grit his teeth and pulled back the mechanism that allowed the projectile to fire from its cartridge.

The American ducked back into the tank, and all the MP could wonder was what would happen once the projectile hit the armor.

The projectile hit, blowing up in a spectacular show of smoke and sparks larger than any firework he had seen growing up.

The MP was left confused when all that had changed from the tank was that the spot where the projectile had hit was now simply a darker color.

Well that's not very fair.

His final thought managed to be formulated before his head fell to the floor, separated from his body by a blade.

Mike Zacharias shuddered as he stared at the headless body bleeding on the floor.

Turns out human flesh stands less of a chance against blades designed to slice through titan skin like butter than an explosive device does against a tank.

"Are you alright in there?" he shouted.

Ryan popped his head out, yelling "Kinda! What's going on out there?!"

Mike frowned.

He didn't like how things were looking one bit.

The term "Fake News" was nothing new.

Be it tabloids lying or exaggerating a breakup between two well-known actors, or an actively malicious journalist trying to mislead the public about an event to further their political agenda, Earth knew about the fallacies of news media and both sides parroted the follies of their opposition.

However, "Fake News" had been a term coined relatively recently in the contemporary age, mostly because it was a snappy, perhaps even obnoxious response to those that tried pushing a story at a certain angle, calling out something while also insulting it. It wasn't that the story itself was a lie; the way it was being presented in was dishonest or had a political motivation behind it, so even if the journalist argued that the story was true, it would still get the label of "fake".

Two birds with one stone.

But the people within the walled society had never heard of such term.

It wasn't that they didn't know about it, they just had a different name for it:

"Propaganda"

And no one believes they are susceptible to propaganda, hence why the term "fake news" was a bit more impactful on earth.

You aren't being fooled by propaganda; you are being fooled by people actively misrepresenting the truth, knowingly or otherwise.

Matt pondered this as the pair of Army Humvees gunned it down the street.

"Maybe we should take you to-" Jake attempted to suggest, but the wounded woman in the back could only shout back.

"I don't give a hoot if I have to crawl over there, we cannot let the MPs take control of the information the people get! If they release a story blaming you for the attacks, then the deaths of our comrades-" Hanji gasped in pain as the Humvee hit a bump in the rocky street, the heavy, up armored vehicle didn't make the most comfortable ambulance.

Dave growled, saying "Watch it, should be the next street over- God Damn it!"

The Humvee hit the brakes a dozen meters from a blockade of MPs, the one behind them almost crashing into them.

It was clear that these weren't regular MPs.

Hanji, began trying to sit up, asking "what? What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"Interior Police… should we mow them down?" Matt asked.

"Yell at them to throw their weapons down." Jake said.

"Okay. Hey! U.S Army! Put your guns on the ground right now!" Matt shouted at the top of his lungs.

A young man turned with a bored expression on his face and yelled back.

"I suggest you step out of the carriage and surrender. We have orders to arrest any Americans and collaborators we encounter. Resistance will be met with lethal force."

"No, it will be met with a hunk of metal neither your blade or gun can pierce all while we mow you down with a gun that doesn't need twenty minutes to reload! Final warning! Put your guns on the ground now!"

"Get off your High Horse, invader. We are not going to lower our weapons. I sugest you do as you are told unless you want things to get ugly!"

Wrong answer.

The MPs raised their, admittedly strange looking handguns and miraculously managed to fire a single shot before the Humvee behind Matt unloaded on them with an M240.

The 7.62 by 51 millimeter rounds of ammunition on the belt fed machine gun did their job, piercing the leather jackets and occasional metal breastplate worn by the interior officers with ease, tearing apart their internal organs so even if the impact didn't kill the men immediately, the damage would see to it soon after.

Hanji gave a pained expression once the gun ceased firing.

Dave shook his head, stepping out of the Humvee, saying "Alright, hopefully they didn't kill the guys in charge of the newspapers."

The door to the newspaper office creaked open, a nervous young man peeked outside before screaming "What is-?"

"You! Do you know these men?" Dave shouted.

"No! I… I don't think…"

The bloody street made the young reporter feel the urge to vomit.

Hanji began to push herself out of the car with Jake's assistance, calling "We need you to start informing everyone… the king… the king has lied to us all."

The man stared at them.

"The attack in the city was orchestrated by members of the secret police, they fired on civilians and other MPs alike to make it look like the Americans started the fight… I don't know how many journalists like you died in the attack."

The young man looked at her for a moment, noticing her burns, saying "Okay, come in."

Jake and Dave carried Hanji into the office while Matt and several other soldiers guarded the street.

He noticed that a few brave (or perhaps stupid) civvies peered from their windows in the nearby buildings.

Some looked terrified.

Others looked suspicious.

A man stepped outside then, asking "what is going on?"

"Units within the Military Police with explicit orders from the king orchestrated an attack on us as well as other MPs and civilians in order to make it look like we tried to attack you. Stay inside and lock your doors."

"But- why would the king do such a thing?"

"Sir, we don't know, but we don't want any more people to die, so please, stay indoors."

"Is that a threat?"

"Dude, you can stay out here all you want, if you're confident enough that you'll survive a battle between our guys and the interior police, then go right ahead, just don't get in the way." Matt replied, doing his best to hide his contempt.

The man eyed him for a moment before stepping back into his home.

Don't you want to be a good girl?

Huh?

Don't you want to be a good girl? You said that's what you wanted to be.

What?

The girl formerly known as Christa opened her eyes to see a familiar looking man sitting across from her.

She realized that she was in a carriage, moving somewhere; the sun setting told her that she had been out for a while, and she noticed that they were moving away from the capital, heading north.

Which was, coincidentally, also farther away from the Americans.

"Historia, you're awake… I'm glad."

Recognition finally dawned on her and she said "Y-you're m-"

"Yes, it's me… I am… so sorry we had to meet like this, but I had no choice."

She wasn't buying it.

"No choice?! You're the king! You could have done so much in order to make things better from the shadows, and you say you had no choice?!"

Rod nodded, slowly.

"Historia, words cannot describe the guilt I feel, abandoning you, but I was not a king then, and my rule has been brief."

"Then explain that attack! Your men attacked us!"

Rod realized that the Americans had wrapped their malicious tentacles around his daughter; time to cut her loose.

"Historia, if you believe the Americans with all your heart, then explain to me how you know for certain they haven't lied to you."

"Huh?"

"My dear, I am not perfect… I was awful, I abandoned you, I… I let your mother die. Even if it was to keep you safe, even if I had planned it so that you would be safe even in the military, even if they were well intentioned, my actions hurt you, and I can only apologize with all my heart… but have I lied to you? At any point that we have spoken?"

The sheer amount of sincerity coming from the man she knew was her father shocked the young girl.

Still, he had ordered an attack for no reason… had he not?

"Why did you attack us then? We were going to negotiate."

"I do not trust the Americans… or anything coming from that gate."

"Why?"

Historia noticed a glimmer in the older man's eyes.

"Because I trust my brother, and my father… and the Founder." he said softly.

Jean found Armin sitting next to a once again wounded Mikasa.

"How is she?"

The boy shrugged.

"The doctor said the pellets from the shot aren't the big problem, seems that only a few actually hit her. The problem was her hitting her head so hard. She could have some serious brain damage, and they don't have the supplies to help her right here."

Jean sat down on the floor and sighed.

"Marco okay?"

"Yeah, our truck wasn't hit… seems only Mina and Samuel made it out of their truck, so that's… God, that's almost half of our regiment just… gone."

"W-? That means… Daz, Milieus, Hannah, Connie-?"

"Yeah…"

And a lot more than them…

Armin found himself going cold.

He had been somewhat preparing himself for the possibility of losing friends, but in a painful twist, the protection brought on by the soldiers from beyond the gate had lowered what few defenses he had set up, and now he felt too shocked to do much of anything.

He was even more surprised the deaths of so many ultimately came from human hands and not titans.

And yet he knew he shouldn't be surprised.

Even the titan incursions were brought upon by other humans, they knew that much now.

"Are there any plans to strike back? Some kind of counter assault?" he asked, desperate to keep himself from thinking too much about the horror he had witnessed.

Jean shrugged.

The two boys simply sat there, watching the weak breaths of the girl who had proven herself capable of taking on multiple titans with nothing but a pair of blades.

Stopped by bullets…

Armin wasn't sure how much time had passed when a loudspeaker sounded off.

An American MRAP drove by, the driver saying "All able bodied personnel are to report to the inside of the temple in ten minutes, I say again, all able bodied personnel are to report to the inside of the temple in ten minutes. Cadets, Army, Marines, MPs, and available medical staff." he seemed to add quickly.

The man continued repeating the message as Armin turned to Jean.

"Guess this is it… Ill see you inside, goldilocks." Jean said, standing up and walking off.

Armin ignored the halfhearted jab, continuing to look at the wounded Mikasa.

"Mikasa, you and Eren helped me more times than I can remember… try to rest now, okay? It's my turn to help you."

The only response from the girl was her soft breathing, indicating that she was still alive.

Armin maed his way to the temple of the church of the walls.

The insides had been turned into a sort of command center, portable computers on tables with some soliders he didn't recognize operating them, and young members of the Military Police as well as a few civilians showing both Lieutenant Troy and a blonde woman in a dark military uniform points on a map of the capital.

He recognized Captain Levi approach them, but didn't bother listening in on their conversation, noticing Sasha lying against a column, clutching her rifle.

"Sasha, hey… are you… you okay?"

The girl glanced up, forcing a smile.

"Y-yeah… I guess. What do you think this is gonna be about?"

A counter attack, obviously.

"Um… who knows? Dinner?" he said awkwardly.

Sasha didn't laugh.

"Sorry."

The girl shook her head, saying "N-no worries, I'm just… worried, I guess. I mean, I was just talking to Connie and Thomas a few hours ago, now he's just…"

Armin felt his nails dig into his palms; frustrated.

Why? Why completely refuse a peaceful solution? We could have talked this out!

"Alright, Cadets, Marines, Doughboys… your attention, please!" the woman yelled.

Armin heard someone mutter "Who calls us doughboys anymore?" and another reply "Dave, if you insult General Pershing's men one more time I will see to your deportation."

What does that have to do with-?

"The situation is as follows… the attacks we faced weren't limited to us. Our main FOB was hit with a deadly attack that killed the top military leaders and our own representative this side of the gate. We know this attack was orchestrated by members of a secret police force within the Military Police, which explains why they were so quick to kill MPs as well as civilians. That can only mean that this was either orchestrated by the king or by somebody in as high a position as the king, and with most of those people dead, there is only one actual suspect left alive. You know we have plenty of injured, and we need to prioritize their evacuation but we cannot evacuate people while the city is under hostile control. Captain Levi will explain our actions going forward."

The captain stepped up, a tired look in his eyes.

He looked at the young cadets for a second before speaking slowly.

"We are bringing the fight to the king. We have a defector who is willing to open up the main doors to the rear of the government building, so the plan is to have a strike force attack the main fortifications on the northern side of the building while another strike force sneaks in through the rear and takes control of the commanding officers and government officials from inside."

A tired, perhaps frustrated Samuel spoke up louder than anyone expected.

"How exactly are we going to do that? They took out one of the armored vehicles- the Stryker, right? Aren't they massing cannons around the main building, too? Do we have air support?"

Levi glanced at the young man, the uncaring glint in the eyes of mankind's strongest soldier silenced the younger cadet for a moment.

But only a moment.

"We do not have close air support. Can't risk hitting the civilians living nearby, and any helicopter coming here will be used to transport the injured, not blow things up. This will be a firefight."

Samuel stared in shock, ignoring that the other troops nearby didn't seem to mind.

"But… but we don't have any of the armor-"

"Oh, yes we do! We still have three Strykers left, each armed with machine guns. They will be front and center, firing at the cannons and suppressing any resistance from the front of the government building. Meanwhile, we will be going in through the rear."

Again, Samuel asked "How?"

Levi answered calmly, "Kenny Ackerman, he works for the king but has defected to our side. His men will let the special teams through."

"Teams?"

Crow smirked and stepped forward.

The CIA woman nodded and stepped aside.

"You boys and girls won't be having to lift a finger. We have two squads of Special Forces here." the SAS officer said with a grin.

Armin saw two men carry in a small, wooden model of the government building.

Crow pointed at the rear of the model.

"We will split up at the rear entrance, from there we will work our way up each floor, clearing it as we go while the main strike force distracts the rest of the hostile forces outside. Once we capture the officials we can use them to force any stubborn loyalists to put their weapons down."

Samuel spoke up again.

"Sounds like you have it figured out… What do you need us for?"

Now it was Levi who spoke up.

"Delta and Hunters squadrons are going to breach through the rear and clear the rooms… but I need a team with me while we move in to capture the advisory."

Silence.

"Kenny has a radio with him, he points that the advisory are barricading themselves inside the main room upstairs, waiting for their king to tell them what to do… perfect area to use our ODM gear to reach. We can catch them with ease, but we need to wait until the building is clear in order to move them outside."

"Cant Ackerman get them out himself?"

"The loyal MPs outnumber his men. Now, I don't need many of you-"

"And don't you have a squad that works with you?"

Levi didn't flinch.

"The ones that are still alive are hurt and won't be able to accomplish the mission. I only need one or two of you to carry those rifles in case any loyalists decide to get curious about the advisory."

Silence.

"What about Eren, Ymir, and Historia?"

Armin was surprised to see Jean ask the question.

The CIA woman said "Once the helicopters get here, we'll take one to a location where we believe they are being taken to. Right now, we need to take control of the capital."

Jean nodded, saying "Alright, I'll help you, captain."

Armin immediately said "M-me too, sir! I'll help where I can!"

Levi looked around.

"Us too! We'll help where we can!" a girl yelled.

Armin glanced at Mina Carolina who was raising Samuel's hand. The other teenager hesitated, but didn't argue.

"That should work… we'll stay out of sight and avoid any engagements we can, but I won't sugarcoat it, this could will get violent."

"What about the rest of us?" Sahsa asked nervously.

"Guard duty, we'll need you to watch over the wounded along the MPs here." the CIA woman replied.

Sasha nodded.

"Now, this isn't how we normally do things, but given the circumstances, we know that time isn't on our side. Grab your weapons, get ready to head out."

As the cadets moved outside, Sasha quietly asked Armin "They didn't say much about the Marines or the Army guys… What are they going to be doing?"

Armin noticed that several Marines were loading onto the Strykers while several Army guys were gathering weapons and gear.

"I think they have their orders."

The sun finished setting behind the gigantic structure of the walls.

"Stay indoors, if you are with the Military Police, throw away your weapons and surrender, you will not be killed. If you resist you will die." the infuriatingly loud voice came from the city, and Ian knew the Americans were behind it.

"Ackerman!" he shouted, using his spyglass to try and scan the city for enemy movement.

Kenny reluctantly walked next to the young captain on the roof.

"They haven't struck yet, which means they're still planning. Those damned noise carriages are trying to intimidate our men into surrendering… can we do anything about it?"

Kenny sighed, saying "You got any more of those thunder spears?"

"They were all used up in the morning attack… so no."

"Then I doubt anything other than the big cannons will stop those cars of theirs."

It had taken multiple hits to even knock one of the armored cars aside, let alone destroy one…

"Your men are still covering the rear?"

Kenny nodded.

Ian sighed and sat down.

"…so… you met the previous king?"

Kenny nodded again.

"What was he like?" the young man asked suddenly.

"That… is a good question."

Kenny had been thinking about that for a while.

"Think of a drunk, but… not how you would expect. He… loved the peace, he had the strength to uphold it even if it weighed heavily on him… them."

"Them?"

Kenny laughed loudly.

"Kid, the previous king was passed on somehow to his niece, and then she somehow took on his will… I think even the man I met wasn't his own person anymore. Had this… look in their eyes. Not sure much was left of the original person."

"So… the Founder, he… it passes its will through to its descendants once they become rulers?"

"Yeah, somehow." the older man sighed, the day finally transitioning into night.

"Were your parents servants of him?"

"No, but my grandparents had been, and he hunted us Ackerman for years before I tried to kill him, and then he apologized and gave me this position, stopped persecuting my family and… well, I've done what I had to."

"Huh… I guess the Founder must be a god to illicit loyalty from someone like you."

Kenny didn't reply.

Ian stood up, and said "I'm going to patrol the outer perimeter, maybe join a hunting team, see if we can catch any defectors. Think you can handle things here?"

Kenny nodded.

"Good. Watch yourself."

Kenny noted the double meaning behind the statement.

Rod hadn't allowed him to go along, he had ordered Caven to take a large chunk of MPs, both his own and not, and moved them to escort him on his way to his little underground chapel.

He hadn't gotten the chance to give Caven orders, but she was a loyal soldier, he was confident she wouldn't let things escalate too far.

As for this Ian kid…

He grabbed the small radio the CIA woman ahd given him and spoke into it.

"Hey, the useful idiot is leaving the building to look for hostiles."

A reply came back immediately.

"Copy, we'll be on the lookout. Be advised, attack will occur in three hours."

"You know, if it wasn't for all the technical terms, this could be a very efficient way of communicating." he mumbled to himself.

He forgot to let go of the button.

"Get with the times, old man."

Kenny chuckled before moving downstairs to convene with the advisory.

Better make sure the puppets are safe for their future role as puppets for a different master.

"Kid like you know how to be a spotter?" the Army Ranger asked him.

Matt scoffed, glancing at the Ranger's MK 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, saying "A bit. We all had to take in some extra training before coming here, and right now, I doubt it matters too much."

The Ranger grinned as the two soldiers walked up the wooden stairway on the hotel.

"Oh, right, could you hang on to this for me? In case they charge at us I want to focus on the rifle." Mike said, handing Matt his sidearm.

Matt nodded, and took it, placing it on his belt and moving into the room they would use as a sniper's nest.

Although no Ranger had been killed, several had been wounded when the attacks hit, which left several of them without key elements in their units.

Now those were being filled by other guys in green, Army or Marines.

Not a problem, the point here was to give a small degree of assistance if necessary; perhaps an eager MP tried to attack the Strykers from rooftops.

Night Vision Equipment and snipers were an easy fix for that.

The owner had been more than cooperative; he seemed a touch enthusiastic even.

The Ranger, a guy named Mike, set himself up by the window on the third floor, which wasn't ideal, but it was as high as they could get without exposing themselves to hostiles in ODM gear.

"View's ideal from here, street is almost a straight shot."

Matt nodded and got on the radio.

"Team 5 is in position, Hawks."

The SAS officer Crow replied with "Copy, Team 5. Be advised, several teams of anti-personnel forces are advancing into the city; most appear armed with simple muskets, but we are also seeing several armed with makeshift hand cannons. Engage on sight."

Mike said, "Hey, I see about five of them from here… permission to fire granted?"

"Copy, Hawks, engaging a group of five."

Matt was somewhat tempted to betray every American fiber in his being just to mockingly say "God save the queen" to a british officer, but put the thought aside.

There was killing to do.

Matt kneeled next to the window and looked through his scope.

"Uh… okay, distance, two hundred meters…"

Ian had been walking behind several men armed with the much more effective, albeit ugly, hand cannons.

Regular muskets didn't compare to those weapons, rounds that fired dozens of smaller pellets that caught fire as they exited the barrel, killing anything within its somewhat short reach.

Perfect for close ranged fights.

"Once we find them, I would like to see how well they handle a shot from one of these. Even if their armor stops it, there isn't any escaping the fire." one of the men said, chuckling.

Ian smiled slightly.

It was nice to be working with fellow dedicated followers of the king.

He stopped walking, thinking he saw a strange flash coming from way down the street.

Then the man that had been laughing just a second ago crumpled to the floor like a doll.

The squad of four stopped and stared at the bleeding MP.

The man was dead.

Ian looked around, realizing every door was shut, every civilian inside, and as understanding came upon him he was filled with anger and horror.

"All of you get out of sight right now!"

The Americans are in control of this street!

A second man crumpled to the floor, and Ian saw the flash of light this time.

Suddenly, all around him, he began to distant gunfire, muskets and whatever rifles the Americans used.

The battle for the capital was beginning!

Ian thought quickly, desperately trying to come up with a strategy, and one hit him.

"Does anyone have any smoke flares?!"

"Two hostiles down! Other three hid in an alleyway." Matt said as the radio chatter began to relay information.

"All hostiles down on our street." a voice said.

"Engaged a group of six; four hostiles down, other two are pulling back." another voice rang.

"This is team 5, we got one hostile down; five hostiles are firing back while staying behind cover. We're safe at this distance, though."

Consider the Military Police effectively distracted.

"Heads up." Mike said.

Matt noted the MP run out of the alleyway, firing a smoke flare down the street.

"Huh… be advised, looks like some MPs have smoke bombs they are using for cover; if we can get some of the birds to watch our backs that would be just fine."

"Copy, team 5."

"We only have the one bird, right?"

"Yeah, the Delta guys are gonna use it to snake their way behind the government headquarters without drawing attention to themselves, so we gotta make do. Guy, right by the alleyway on the left, keeps poking his head out."

"I see him." Mike replied, gently squeezing the trigger on the MK 14.

Eren first thought that his eyes were refusing to open only to realize that there was a piece of cloth covering them.

He heard distant voices then, talking about something he wasn't sure he understood.

"…and he was able to control the titans to protect humanity."

"But father, the books say all that. The only difference is that humanity beyond the walls isn't extinct."

Chris- Historia?

The voice of the older man returned, saying "Only the Founder knows that for certain. For all I know it could be a trick by whatever force controls the titans that besiege us."

"Could the Founder not just regain control of the titans and the ones that are being besieged?"

"That is why we need you, Historia. Eren Yeager, against his will, was forced to take on the power of the Founding Titan, and he is now unable to use its power in any real way. But if you take the role of the Founder, you could easily solve all our problems."

Eren began trying to talk, only for the blindfold to be removed by a blonde woman who looked somewhat bothered by something.

He found himself kneeling in a large chamber that emitted a powerful glow of pure light similar to that seen in the morning sky, but entirely different as well. It took him a second to see why.

The brilliant light was coming from crystals of some sort that riddled the entire camber, floor to ceiling; as if someone had coated an entire cave with glass and had installed floodlights.

It was bright enough to look around, seeing the bizarre structure he was kneeling on felt both natural and unnatural at once.

He glanced behind him and saw Historia standing next to a man he had never seen before, but could assume who he was.

The girl still had her formal attire, so not much time could have passed after the attack.

He then found himself unable to speak.

As his senses returned, he realized that he was gagged and bound to the crystal pillars to his flanks, and the young man realized that he was unable to use his power, to hurt himself in order to transform.

"He's awake… young man, I assume your father never warned you about what he was going to do?" the man said.

Eren stared nervously at his captor. Rod Reiss had a look in his eye that suggested silent fury hid behind his calm demeanor; a madness only being held back by some desire to accomplish something else.

"You poor soul… Historia, if I am correct, you should be able to see into his memories by merely making physical contact."

Historia gave her father an inquisitive look.

"The Founding Titan recognizes those of royal blood like you and I; activating upon our touch… come, let me show you."

Rod took the young girl's hand and placed it on Eren's forehead.

A flash, a tinge of pain, and suddenly as if he had lived through it all once again, Eren saw his memories from back then, the day after the fall of Wall Maria, the day after his mother died, the day he had seen his father last, the day he remembered so little of.

He saw his father begging, almost incoherently, for the pervious founder to stop the titans.

He saw a girl dressed in white simply refuse.

He saw his father transform into a large titan, as well as the girl.

He saw the fight that broke out, the monstrous bodies slamming against the cave walls somehow not damaging anything.

He saw his father emerge victorious, devouring the girl, tearing he from the titanic spine with ease, crushing her without mercy.

He saw the merciless nature of the attack was not limited to the Founder.

He began to shake as he saw his father rip and tear children apart.

Their small bodies were crushed or torn under the giant, realizing that Rod had escaped because he had moved a fair distance away before any of his kids had managed that.

Adding to his horror, Eren realized that the gap in his memories, what he had been pushing to the back of his mind for so long despite knowing it was the only way it could have happened, was confirmed with the brutal, unfiltered experience of living through it once again.

Grisha Yeager had dragged Eren somewhere, injected him with a syringe, had Eren transform into a mindless titan, and allowed himself to be devoured by his own son in order to pass the power of the Founder to him.

Historia recoiled as the memories stopped playing in her head and stared at the petrified looking Eren Yeager.

Rod shook his head solemnly.

"You were nothing but a tool for your father. I am so sorry this happened to you."

Even if he wasn't gagged, Eren wouldn't have been able to speak.

"I do not hold it against you; I can't imagine what was going through your father's mind, but… I ask that you please, understand that this is the way humanity continues to survive."

"But… father, why did the previous founders not end the titan threat themselves?"

"That is something only they can know for certain. And there is only one way to do that."

Eren was brought back to reality by the sudden appearance of a syringe not unlike the one his father had used.

Historia glanced at Eren, then glanced farther behind him.

"Ymir, what should I do?" Eren heard the girl whisper.

Several hours had passed, and Matt wasn't sure if they would have to pull the trigger anymore for the rest of the night.

The MPs that had managed to retreat back to their fortifications around the government building hadn't bothered coming out again, and he was feeling confident that they would stay there until the main attack got under way.

Mike asked "So… you from Kansas?"

"Yeah, we had a house just outside of… Lawrence; moved to Jersey a couple of years back."

"Huh, I was thinking about retiring to Kansas. Is it any good?"

"Hell yeah, it-"

An explosion slammed Matt away from his position by the window and into the opposite wall.

He felt dazed, but unhurt as he got up and tried to get on his radio.

"Hawks, what the hell just-?"

Matt glanced at his radio only to realize that the little cable connected to the speaker had been cut in two.

"Mike, Mike are you-?"

A couple of shots rang out, and Matt suddenly found himself facing a young MP holding on to a strange little handgun that reminded him of an old World War 2 British made air gun.

Mike was on the floor, missing his head, part of his skin on fire.

The MP grinned and allowed the tube to fall to the floor, loading another one in place.

Matt reached for his M4 and lifted it in the second and half that it took the MP to reload.

The MP didn't really feel like sticking around, hopping out through the hole in the wall; dropping out of sight.

Matt winced, wondering what had just happened when the sound of ODM gear snapped him back into reality.

He gave Mike one last check before forcing the vomit threatening to come up back down his throat.

He cursed under his breath and gunned it for the stairs, ignoring the stinging pain on his leg.

"They're firing their cannons into the city?!" Crow demanded.

"Yeah, they repositioned them in an attempt at aiming, I suppose. They're firing like crazy right now." the voice of Kenny Ackerman came in through his radio, while other radios reported the sudden counter attack by MPs.

The CIA woman sighed.

"Figures, maybe they'll try to set the city on fire, too. Come on, we're on schedule."

"I think they got one of our sniper teams in that first barrage." Crow said.

"Maybe…send the Strykers in now. We have the ammo to keep them pinned, and the firepower to take care of the cannons." Lieutenant Troy said over the radio.

The teams were well out of range of the canons, but accidents could happen, and if a canon hit a team, they may not necessarily be dead.

"Yeah… let's do that. Guess we're winging it worse that we thought." the CIA woman mumbled, checking her weapon.

"Hope they got ear protection." Crow mumbled, knowing full well what was about to come.

"Ear protection?" Mina asked quietly as they move through the darkness in two groups.

Crow said "You were in Shiganshina, yeah? Remember how the Army boys played hellishly loud music when they attacked?"

"Yes…?"

"Guys, looks like we didn't need the distraction. There's only five guys in the rear. If we hurry…" one of the Delta officers began.

"Yeah, we can end the carnage sooner. Let's go."

Levi said nothing as they reached the building.

A tired man waved at them and opened the gate.

"Kenny can't talk right now, he's with the advisory. there are a bunch of MPs in there that aren't friends of ours, but they're outside the main hall." the man said.

Crow nodded.

"104th, on me." Levi said, using his gear to go up the building.

Armin slung the rifle behind him and followed suit.

Jean did the same.

Samuel appeared reluctant, but did so anyway.

Mina turned to Crow once more and asked "Are they going to play music?"

"Don't call it music, call it… auditory intimidation. Now, let's get this job done." he said, flipping the safety off his C8 carbine and heading inside.

Showtime…

Ian could only smile.

His message had gotten through!

The Americans had better rifles, but they didn't have any cannons on hand. Even if the barrage killed some civilians, the newspapers would likely blame the Americans if all went according to plan.

One of the canon shots had even slammed the exact area where the Americans were! And that was just the first round!

They might be ble to defeat the Americans yet.

The MP he had sent to check on the sniper's nest landed nearby and he asked "Are they dead?"

"One is, the other was wounded, but ran away."

Ian yelled back "Well don't just stand there! Every American we kill betters the odds that they will retreat one the king finishes his plan!"

They began to move forward when Ian heard a noise in the distance.

*let the bodies hit the floor*

It was… a faint whisper?

He ignored it and made sure his gear was working before heading into the alley, searching for the lone American.

*let the bodies hit the floor*

"What is that? Who is whispering?" he asked aloud.

Kenny Ackerman was wondering the same thing.

Even within the confined, fortified government building, the advisory had stopped its endless arguing when the strange whispering was heard in the distance.

*let the bodies hit the floor*

It kept repeating.

"Ackerman, head outside. Shut up whoever is making those demands." Aurille groaned.

Kenny didn't move, though.

The idea that the words were, in fact, demands somehow made him a bit nervous and he figured he had a decent idea of what was about to happen.

The words arriving from the darkness of the capital came off as evil if anything, angry as the demand repeated yet again, and the MPs were unsure of what to do.

They had stopped loading their cannons, the men turning their attention down the street, where the sound was coming from.

That first volley had extinguished every light and the street now stood pitch black in the night sky.

All except for the ghostly whisper demanding without end-

*let the bodies hit the floor*

The men froze there for a moment as the demand came yet again, as if there was a demon out in the darkness, whispering its demands.

Slowly getting more impatient despite the tone not changing when repeated.

Slowly getting angrier even if the voice wasn't getting any louder.

Slowly building up to-

*let the bodies hit the…*

A pause, a noise unlike anything they had heard before, something like metal crashing on metal, only different, and then…

*FLOOR!*

The almost demonic scream was followed immediately by the dark city street suddenly lighting up with fireflies moving at lightning speeds the MPs now knew was gunfire from the Americans.

Off in the opposite end of the street, the Strykers were firing everything into the fortifications, bullets tearing holes in the woods and metal the MPs had thought would keep them somewhat safe, and perhaps against other muskets, the wooden walls might have held.

Modern ammunition had no qualms about thin layers of wood and metal, unfortunately.

"S-steel yourselves! Fire back!" an overly loyal officer tried to shout before the top of his head was torn clean off by a larger round.

Some of the men managed to peek up and fire blindly into the streets.

Jake watched the destruction mere bullets were capable of delivering and shook his head.

"Didn't have to be this way, dumbass." he mumbled to no one in particular as the music carried on the speakers.

The Ranger next to him fired another shot.

Matt took several measured breaths as he lowered his NVGs once more.

The darkness of the alley was perfect, and the motel owner had been more than happy to lead him back there after the building had been hit by artillery by the MPs.

Now he could see the MPs approach if they did, but they would only be able to see him once their torch lights got them well within range of his M4 carbine.

No need for the M203.

He had counted 3 of them, and to make it better, they were bunched up.

"…think he might have gone in here." one of them said.

He heard another mumble something, probably an order, before he heard the hammer of their flintlock muskets click on. Matt proceeded to move his finger closer towards the trigger.

Ian hung behind his two subordinates.

This was an easy spot for an ambush, even if the American kid was injured. Now with the main attack under way, he knew he had to be extremely cautious, and pray the fortifications did their damage on the Americans assaulting them.

The ever present sound of distant machine gun fire churned his stomach.

Those repeating rifles are dangerous… we must-

Gunfire erupted from the end of the alley, quick, mechanical, loud, and merciless.

He saw the guy to his left fall to the floor without even raising his rifle to react.

That alone sprung him into action.

The second man managed to raise his rifle just as the second 5.56 round slammed into his chest, dropping him to the paved ground below, a bloody mess.

As the second man hit the ground, Ian had jumped as high as he could, which in reality was about three feet, but that wasn't his end goal.

He clicked the trigger on the grips of his ODM gear, firing both cables straight down the dark alley.

A third shot rang, more than likely aimed at him, but it was already too late.

He saw the right cable connect with the wall on the opposite end, perhaps striking some metal as it created a small line of sparks that revealed where the second cable had landed.

It hadn't been perfect, but the simple invention worked properly enough, and the second cable had hit the American's rifle, disarming the enemy!

Ian concentrated as he used his gear and launched himself at the American, crashing into the soldier and knocking him into the wall.

Matt felt like two walls had run into him at once before a powerful force slammed into the side of his head, causing his ear to ring.

He instinctively kicked with his right leg, and pushed with both his arms, the M4 now on the floor somewhere. The problem of him being heavily protected meant his more nimble opponent could hit more often, and he needed to change that by shoving him back and putting some distance, any distance, between them.

Brawls were rarely organized.

Both soldiers knew this, as they reached for their individual weapons.

Military blades were long, meant to either break little by little when engaging titans, and in order to properly stab a person with one, Ian knew he needed some range.

Ian shouted "Die, invader!" as he reached for his blades, grabbing one and swinging it at the American with almost inhuman speed.

Matt didn't say anything as he reached for the new pride and joy of United States Army handguns, the Sig Sauer M17.

He swung it in the general direction the MP was and simply pulled the trigger, praying 9 millimeter Luger was faster than the blade racing towards the unprotected arteries on his neck.

The smoke was the most annoying thing, the CIA woman decided as she gently squeezed a three round burst from her AAC Honey Badger, the .300 AAC rounds instantly finding their targets, two unfortunate MPs who had just fired their muskets at her to no avail.

It was sad, really.

Those old rifles performed well enough, did what was asked of them, maybe even a little more, but the men she and the others were facing were completely panicked. Of the two, one had actually shot the rifle into the floor by accident while the other one had not even taken a second to aim, just lifting it up and firing in her general direction. She would have spared them, but the pair immediately went for their blades; a big no-no if you wanted to survive a police raid, let alone a warzone.

All that musket fire had accomplished was an annoying smoke screen that made visibility a touch less than optimal.

Not that she cared.

If anything it was kind of odd. Had the Military Police just rounded up a bunch of conscripts and gave them the oldest rifles they could find? They were nothing like the trained men that ambushed the convoy earlier, or the ones fighting the others outside.

Certainly nothing like the guy charging at her from the opposite room- oh damn!

The taller man jabbed a knife directly into her Kevlar, cutting through it annoyingly quickly, but not quick enough.

The man jerked aside as a 9 millimeter round entered his head, doing unthinkable things to the interior organ before the body even hit the floor.

She nodded at the SAS member who kept his MP5 level as he continued down the hallway.

She made sure the knife didn't cut anything vital… it didn't, and began moving on.

An explosion rocked the room a few yards down the hall and she saw Crow and two other SAS guys walk into it one after the other, no shots being fired.

Her own Delta guys said "we're clear on the second floor." over the radio.

"First floor clear." another Delta guy said.

Crow walked out of the room and gave her a signal.

"Third floor clear." she said into the radio.

Not that it sounds like it is…

Outside, gunfire was occasionally emphasized by random cannons being fired by the Military Police, not that it mattered to anyone.

It was sad, really.

The MPs were bellowing a steady line of multiple pops that would immediately be responded by the almost unhinged crackle of modern firearms and their ability to let off more than one round per trigger pull.

Knives tried fighting guns, musket tried fighting automatic rifles, and tiny handheld shotguns tried fighting long raged snipers.

The only thing the MPs had going for them was their gear, but even that was quickly proving useless in a head on fight. What was the point of being able to move so quickly if they couldn't even peek out of their makeshift fortifications?

She imagined a few brave idiots tried to fire their hooks into the Strykers or MRAPs only to get shot down by the remote controlled machine guns each carried from a mile away while the men killing them sat safely inside the armored vehicles.

Too bad, who told you to try and fight us?

"Right, all teams move to the main hall. Lieutenant Troy, you can cease fire over there."

"Copy." she heard, and then the machine guns stopped firing.

A few of the muskets didn't, but it didn't matter anymore.

Once inside they found the Captain and the young cadets nervously smiling slightly as the Special Forces opened the doors.

The advisory was tied in the plastic wires the Americans had brought with them, silently glaring at them.

Crow asked "How are you gentlemen doing on this fine night?"

Silence.

Levi said "They've been quiet ever since we tied them up. I doubt they know much of anything we can use."

Kenny chuckled, saying "You could always use, err… what did you call them, missy? Enhanced interrogation techniques?"

The CIA woman didn't reply, simply asking "If we parade you at the soldiers outside, will they stop fighting? Or do we need to parade your heads on pikes first?"

Silence.

"Killed a lot of your people today... Smart, I'll giver you that. Kill a bunch of civvies, blame it on us… might have worked, too." she said, pausing before a serious look in her eyes manifested. "That was a lie, you never stood a chance. Now, tell us where Rod Reiss took our shifters."

"Your shifters?!" Deltoffe demanded.

"Yes, our shifters. They belong to us now, not you, or Marley, or whoever. We could have worked out a better deal if you hadn't tried to kill us all, but that's not what happened. You can either cooperate and maybe we will find a place for you, blame it all on the big bad tyrant you call a king, make you look better… or you can stick to your guns and spend the rest of your life somewhere you hate."

She ignored the look Jean was giving her when she suggested keeping these guys around.

Aurille said "Do what you must. We will never betray our king."

Levi shook his head, saying "Whatever, come on, let's get those idiots to give up."

Crow said "Good idea... poor sods."

The CIA woman simply shook her head and turned to walk away when Jean of all people grabbed her hand.

"Wait, what about finding Historia and the others?"

"Ackerman gave us a possible locations, we're waiting on the helicopters to get here."

"Shouldn't we force them to tell us? We know Eren is in danger." Armin added.

"Yeah, and if I had a car battery, cables, some pliers, and access to an audio recording of the first draft of Sex and the City, I might be able to mentally break them, but they will never tell us anything that may betray their precious king. Kenny is 90% sure Eren and the others were taken to this…. chapel out there, so all we can do now is wait for our transports to get here. Just how it is." she said with a sigh.

Armin understood, but it did little to ease his worries.

Mikasa was barely coping with the fact that Eren wouldn't live more than 8 years, if she lost Eren before that… he wasn't sure her heart could take it and he didn't want to even risk the possibility of losing both family members so soon.

All he could do was wait.

Historia stared sadly at the still unconscious Ymir, the girl was sat on a wooden chair, with two guards holding her so that she wouldn't fall.

"Historia, you need to make your decision soon. Every second wasted makes it easier for our enemies to reach us." Rod said.

"The Americans have only been kind to me, father… I want to hear what Ymir has to say."

She remembered the girl saying I'll support you no matter what less than a day ago, but did that still apply now? What if, deep down, a part of her actually wanted to believe her father?

What if a part of her wanted to

"I understand, Historia, but if we don't hurry they may try something and you'll be forced to make a decision under pressure, or worse not be allowed to make a decision at all."

The girl glanced at her father, wanting to know how she could trust him for sure.

Then she remembered something she had read about.

She thought about it for a moment before deciding to bring it up.

"I… read in a book the people from beyond the gate wrote into our alphabet about… about a king and queen from those lands."

Rod gave her a confused but patient look.

Historia remembered the story and smiled slightly.

"They were at war with a powerful enemy that had conquered much land, defeating their allies as well, and their empire was now fighting them almost alone."

"They had a vast empire?" Rod asked.

"Yes, the largest their world has ever seen. Which is why the military officers begged the king and his royal family to flee to one of their colonies, away from the fighting. The enemy, you see, was destroying their cities; specifically attacking civilians, and the safety of the royal family wasn't guaranteed."

"Did they flee?"

"No. Even when they were directly attacked by the enemy- their castle bombed… they stayed. They wanted to show the people that they cared about them; that they were in this together…"

Rod nodded.

"I understand; it is important to show leadership during times of crisis. That is why the true royal family remains hidden away, Historia. Why we work with the people without them knowing we are royalty. It lets us know things are working properly or if something needs to be changed. What we do, how we do things… it ensures humanity survives. Say what's in those books you read was true; and humanity beyond the walls isn't extinct, but is instead out to destroy us all… then the wisdom of the Founder is needed now more than ever. If what I have been told and taught since I was a child is false, then we must confront that reality and change accordingly… but Historia… there is only one way to do that."

The blonde girl glanced at Eren.

The young man hadn't struggled or argued at all after she saw his memories.

She couldn't see his face, so she approached him.

"Historia? What are you doing?"

"E-Eren?" she asked quietly.

The boy looked catatonic.

His eyes were open as wide as they could, unblinking, staring at something in the distance; a horrified expression carved into them.

"Eren… what if… what if my father is right? What if the only way forward is-"

The boy suddenly turned to look at her, beginning to struggle, making muffled shouts.

Perhaps out of concern, Historia moved to release the gag keeping the young man from biting his tongue in order to transform.

Rod stopped her.

"Historia, wait… he could transform into a giant and destroy everyone here… unless you use this."

Rod handed the girl the syringe with titan spinal fluid.

Historia eyed it.

Eren responded by screaming louder, eyeing her with desperation.

Historia went to remove the gag, but before she could do that, Eren suddenly moved his head forward, causing Historia to accidentally touch his face.

A tiny, almost undetectable spark emitted from the point of contact.

Rod saw it and paled.

No…

Historia looked at her hand for a second before turning back to look at Rod.

Her father.

The man who was trying to convince her to carry on the royal line.

"Father… who was Frieda?"

It turns out that 9 millimeter Luger is much faster than any sword swing.

Matt gave a tired wave as a few soldiers carried the dead MPs away.

"Mike was a good man… shouldn't have died." Dave sighed.

"This entire fight didn't have to happen. We could have avoided it all if the damned royalty bothered to talk." Matt groaned.

"Maybe, maybe not… now hold still." he added, working on stitching closed the large cut on Matt's shoulder.

Up in the air, the sound of helicopters was heard.

"Any word on the missing kids?" the somewhat injured soldier asked.

"No, but I hear the spooks are commandeering a Blackhawk to search for them somewhere."

Matt looked around.

The city had been damaged, but it looked nothing like he had expected.

The dead bodies were mostly of the few Military Police officers that were brave enough to fight back, the only American casualty of the night engagement had been the Army Ranger Matt had been working with.

But the city wasn't on fire, damage had been, compared to other battles both here and across the gate, minimal, and the situation was under control.

All that was left was to care for the wounded and bury the dead.

"What do you think happens next?" Dave asked, finishing up his amateur knitting on Matt.

"Not sure, but things back home are probably going to erupt once news comes across. Hopefully it'll benefit us."

Although it's just as likely to screw us and everyone here over… God, we lost a US Representative…

"You think the King has any other cards up his sleeve?"

Matt shrugged.

"Not sure what else he can do other than hide in all honesty."

"Historia, what are you talking about?" Rod began to ask.

"You wanted to tell me the truth, then why did you hide Frieda from me?"

Rod thought quickly.

He had known his eldest daughter had visited the younger Historia both before and after she took control of the Founder. He knew his late daughter had used her ability to manipulate memories to erase herself from Historia's own, and he had made sure that showing his daughter the memories of Eren Yeager didn't bring up Frieda.

But why did Historia seemed bothered by this?

And how did Yeager push her to unlock those memories?

It didn't matter.

"Frieda Reiss… She was your half-sister; a kind, wonderful young woman with dark hair. She must have used her powers to lock your memories of her away to protect you. I didn't know she was visiting you, but it doesn't surprise me. She always liked to go out on the farms and talk with the locals, do what she could for the people… until his father stole her from us."

Historia glanced at Eren.

"Father… I saw… I know she inherited the Founder, but if she cared about humanity, or at least the people… then why didn't she use her powers for that? Why stay hidden? Why not try to benefit them in other ways- why… why did I not remember her when I saw his memories earlier but now… why all the secrecy? Father… what are you not telling me?"

Rod glanced at Yeager for an instant before, glancing at the syringe in Historia's hand. He gave her a sad look before speaking.

"Like I said, only the Founder can know for certain, but I will admit that there is some worries that my brother and I had back then as well. See, our father held the Founder for a time, and we begged him to end the threat of the titans for good… but he never did, nor did he explain why. So… my brother, the heir, promised me to destroy the titans once he had to carry the Founder… but he never did; neither did Frieda. It's also possible she locked your memories of her away in order to spare you from this very moment."

A memory flashed across Historia's mind.

When I grow up, do you think I can be just like you?

She remembered the young woman appeared happy to hear that, but also…

"She… wanted to protect me from this?"

Rod approached her, deciding to gamble it all.

"Those who inherit the Founder adhere to a will that is not their own, and while the person remains… they are-"

"Slaves."

Eyes turned to look at the blonde woman that had entered the chamber with a large group of MPs armed with the anti-personnel variant of the 3D maneuver gear.

Rodd narrowed his eyes.

"Caven, I ordered you to stay out of innermost chamber."

"Cut the kid loose, grab the princess and the other girl." she ordered, three men stepping forward.

"Caven?"

The woman ignored the king.

"Caven, you cannot-"

"It has gone far enough, sir. We cannot allow you to ruing our relation to the people from beyond the gate any longer. They want the shifters alive and well, we will deliver them alive and well. Those are our orders."

Rod realized then.

Ackerman…damn him!

"Historia, you-"

He stopped seeing that Historia was now holding the syringe to her arm, seemingly ready to push it into the skin and inject the titan spinal fluid.

"Stop! I… I need to know the truth! I'm sure you can wait for that, right?" she ordered, the men actually stopping.

They glanced at Caven.

Caven shrugged before speaking.

"We doubt the MPs back at the capital stand much of a chance in all honesty, so yeah, we have time. Ask to your heart's content, your majesty."

She turned back to Rod, asking "Did Frieda lose her free will?"

Rod nodded.

Time to go all in…

"Historia, the power of the founder is not something mere humans can comprehend, let alone control. The Founder chose our bloodline for a reason- they… whoever they were; wish to exert their will through us. Yes, they lose their free will, but gain knowledge of the world from 100 years ago, they gain understanding, the forbidden knowledge… Historia, I am certain the only reason my brother and Frieda did not destroy the titans because they knew that it wasn't the right thing to do… and I believe them."

"But father… we now have the power to destroy the titans! We don't have to rely on the power of the Founder anymore." she said calmly, smiling as kindly as she could.

No, I can't allow that!

"Historia, its guidance has gotten us through so much… it is… unthinkable to go on without it, and this boy has no access to it- no true access to the power of… god."

The smile Historia had offered faded quickly, and a worried look appeared.

"Think about it, my daughter. The power to manipulate minds, control memories, control giants… it is through the Founder that we are where are, safe, alive… protected. All is in order when the Founder is in power- just look at what has happened without it!"

Rod took Historia's hand, making sure to keep his vision level with her own as he grabbed the hand holding the syringe.

"My daughter… you and only you can hold on to this power."

"W-why can't you?"

"I mustn't. This power was not meant for me to hold, same as it was never meant for that boy to hold." he smiled as sweetly as he could before speaking.

"It was meant for you."

Historia winced as the needle pierced her skin.

Her eyes widened as realization hit her.

Oh… another decision made for me… lovely.

She saw her father's thumb slowly begin to push on the injection and she closed her eyes, ignoring Eren panicking next to her.

As long as it's your decision, ill support you no matter what.

Historia opened her eyes and pushed her father away.

She glanced at the spot the syringe had penetrated, covering the small blot of blood that had appeared there.

"I… have no intention of holding the power of a god."

Rod winced, as if she had slapped him.

"I'll work with what I have… I'll work with everyone to fix what we can… I will find a way to make everything work without the Founder."

"Y-you… you can't!" Rod yelled.

"You heard her, Rod, I wouldn't recommend-" Caven began, but the man wasn't listening.

"Historia, I promise everything will make sense once you-"

"Father, this is my choice to make!"

The man lunged at her, grabbing the syringe from her hand.

"I promise, you'll understand if you just-"

She shoved him away with ease.

Despite her small size, she had trained along the likes of Mikasa and Annie, experts in hand to hand combat.

Rod saw he was no holding on to the Syringe, but not his daughter.

"Father, please… it doesn't have to-"

"They have brainwashed you, can't you see?! What we have done for so long has worked only because of the Founder! The people beyond the gate are alone! They have no god to speak to! We are not, and for you to be so ungrateful as to reject our god… I will never allow it!"

It's not up to you!

"Miss Caven fire!" Historia ordered, shutting her eyes tight.

The blonder woman didn't have much of a reaction; she simply lifted her hand cannon at the man she had served for so long without a hint of regret.

The distance certainly took some of the force away from the shotgun pellets, but it still was still as deadly as a gunshot can be.

Rod almost fell forward, the pellets form the hand cannon impacting his side and destroying his left lung instantly.

He collapsed to his left, and fell from the top of the altar, crashing to the crystal floor below, the syringe he was crying shattering along with his skull and spine.

"Alrght, carry the sleeping girl out of here, your majesty, I suggest you go along with them." Caven ordered, grabbing several keys and beginning to walk up the steps.

Historia glanced at the MPs now carrying the unconscious Ymir away, the sleeping girl seemed to get a stupid grin on her face as the men carried her away.

"Hmmph... Historia- heh-heh..." the unconscious girl mumbled as she was moved.

Historia briefly considered slapping her awake, but shook her head, walking up to Eren instead.

She removed the gag keeping him from speaking.

He didn't say anything after she did so.

They were both quiet for a moment.

"How did you know about Frieda?" she asked as Caven began to unlock Eren from his chains.

"I… I don't know… I just… do you think this was the right choice?"

She sighed, saying "I don't know… but… is sacrificing our freedom worth it?"

Eren stood up, glancing at his hands.

He wondered if the blood his father spilled in that very chapel answered the question.

Was freedom better than order?

Fifteen meters down, Rod lay staring at the ceiling.

There was a single MP, eyeing him, a meter or so away.

Behind the man, he saw two others carry the unconscious Ymir away.

Above him, his daughter and the traitors were releasing Eren Yeager, destroying any chances of a royal member of the family ever receiving the Founder again.

His plans had failed spectacularly.

He glanced at the shattered syringe in his hand.

There was a small amount of titan spinal fluid left, dripping from the tips of the jagged glass that had contained it mere moments ago.

It was hard to see now that his vision was fading quickly.

Frieda… Uri… I'm coming.

Perhaps by accident, perhaps by choice, he cut himself on the jagged glass, and a molecule of pure titan spinal fluid made contact with his own blood.

Eren felt it first, the subtle change in the air as the temperature began to rise.

"What is- Oh, f-" Caven began before a large explosion of light enveloped the underground cavern.

Eren noted that this was not like his own transformation, which involved an explosion as the mass of the titan grew around him, this felt more like a glowing giant was expanding little by little.

But he kept growing.

And growing.

And growing.

H-how big is he going to get?!

Rocks began to fall and Caven and her men had dragged the two teenagers to the far end of the chapel, practically sticking to the walls.

"How big is he?!" a man shouted.

"That's… bigger than the colossal…" Eren breathed.

Historia stared on in horror.

"Captain, any ideas?" another man asked Caven.

She said nothing as a large rock fell not too far from them.

Eren looked around, noticing something near the stairways.

A briefcase.

Suddenly, as if aware of something, he ran for it.

"Kid! What are you-?"

Eren grabbed the briefcase and ran back to the slightly safer are near the end of the chapel as large rocks continued to fall.

"That's… my father had the syringe in there." Historia said.

"Yeah, I… I think… I think there's something we can use!"

Historia noted several small containers that Eren was digging through and kneeled down next to him to search.

"What are you kids doing?!" Caven demanded.

"This!" Eren shouted.

A small vial with the words "hardening" written on it.

"How are you-?"

As iff to answer the question before she had even asked it, Eren stood up, ran at the still growing giant and threw the vial into his mouth, biting down on it.

Then something bizarre happened.

A large explosion of light materialized, but the larger, ever growing mass that had been in front of them ceased on its own.

Then the walls around them broke apart and the whole cave collapsed into itself.

Eren opened his eyes in shock.

"Well, he isn't dead at least." the MP mumbled as he dragged Yeager from the gigantic statue.

Eren looked above him, seeing sunlight break through the large cracks in the ceiling.

Him transforming into a titan had held up a large chunk of rock and dirt, a hard crystal like substance had spread around it, stopping it from crushing the small group of people below and granting them an exit.

Ahead of him lay nothing but rock and dirt, the large cave completely collapsed.

The men pushed him out through the opening above and Eren could see the insane amount of damage.

It was as if the ground had taken a breath before collapsing in on itself, grassy mounds of dirt and stone pointed and broken lay at odd angles.

He looked around, seeing Historia pushing some of the rocks aside.

"Ymir!" she shouted as two other MPs seemed to be searching as well.

Eren saw Caven groan as she stood up from where she was sitting.

"You… you're the MP who-?"

"Yeah, I was conspiring along a few others to bring the king down a long time ago. If you have anything to say or ask go ahead, changes nothing now." she said with a tired sigh.

"No, i… I guess I want to thank you… you saved us back there."

She scoffed, saying "You saved our asses just a few minutes ago! If you hadn't held up that large chunk of earth the way you did, we would still be stuck there… like that poor girl."

Eren shuddered.

"Could your men have gotten her out through some other exit?"

"Doubt it.. they were right next to that… thing when it started. What the hell was that titan, anyway?"

Eren wasn't sure, but he dreaded to see it again.

"Whatever… maybe the Americans can help dig them out once they get here, assuming it isn't dead… which may take a while."

He looked around, the green field shining in the early morning light.

A few brids began singing.

He walked ahead, catching up Historia.

"Eren! I… I need you to give us a hand! Can you transform and help us dig? Ymir is somewhere down here, I know she is!"

Eren nodded and began to do just that.

"Hill Zero One, we have a visual on a possible shifter, area is within the coordinates given." the pilot relayed.

The CIA woman glanced out of the Army Blackhawk, seeing the remaining shimmer of light in the distance.

I take it that's what a titan shifter transformation looks like…

"Right, take us there."

The helicopter banked slightly to the right and accelerated.

A few minutes later they made visual contact with the long haired giant digging through broken earth.

A small blonde began making signals and yelling.

Does she think we can hear her?

The Blackhawk landed and the two CIA agents walked out, followed by the two members of the DELTA team.

A short girl she recognized as Historia began to quickly blurt out requests.

"Y-Ymir is still donw there- my father- I-"

"Hold on… I take it you're Caven?" she asked, turning to look at the other blonde woman.

"Yeah, Captain Ackerman send you?"

She nodded.

"Historia Reiss… Eren Yeager… you said Ymir is still stuck down there?"

"Father turned himself into a titan when I refused… he grew larger than anything we have ever seen before, and the cave collapsed. Ymir was being taken outside and… and we haven't found her."

The CIA woman said "Okay… look, we have recovery teams on standby, but right now we need to get you somewhere safe, we need to make sure youre alright, and if the king is dead then we need to get you ready for your coronation."

"Not without Ymir!"

The CIA woman felt her eye twitch involuntarily.

"Of course not without Ymir! ...damn it, maybe…"

She glanced at the Blackhawk.

"Okay, hop on the helicopter, and… hey, Yeager!"

The way the giant humanoid turned to look at her made the American somewhat uncomfortable.

"We need you back at HQ, several of your friends are injured, and we need to make a report on what happened."

Historia gave her a questioning look, but the woman replied quickly.

"It's very early in the morning, the ground is cool… we have some infrared equipment that should tell us where a warm blooded human like Ymir is. Then uh, the MPs over here can work on digging her out."

Caven nodded.

"We have the fuel to spare, right pilot?"

One of the pilots returned a somewhat unsure sounding "Yeah."

"Right, then we circle around, see if we find her, then take her back to Hill Zero One… sound okay?"

A part of Historia knew the woman was just tyring to get her in the chopper since once on the only way out would be to jump.

But still, if it could help find Ymir…

A moment later an exhausted Eren and Historia were strapped into the helicopter, with the Delta operatives working on the infrared camera.

"Here we can communicate with this. Push the little button on the side here, okay?" the CIA agent told the blonde MP as he showed her how to operate a radio.

The CIA agent glanced at his colleague, giving her a knowing look.

Infrared cameras only detect heat from the objects, not what is behind them… but, if she's a titan, then who knows? Maybe it'll give us a clue.

The Blackhawk took off and began to circle around the now destroyed underground chapel.

The CIA woman relaxed slightly, as all that was expected now was for the helicopter to fly in circles until the pilots said "we need to head back now" and Historia would have to forget about her friend until later.

Such was the work of a ruler.

Even a puppet ruler.

She thought about getting some sleep when the Delta operative suddenly said "Contact, there's a person moving near the center of the collapsed cave!"

Historia lit up almost immediately, but the CIA woman only stared ahead, worried.

Gunfire was heard and the radio buzzed to life with Caven's voice.

"It's Rod Reiss! The fat bastard is still a human!"

"…wait… what?"

If Rod is still human, and he had turned into a titan… no…

On the ground, Caven and her men looked through at the odd figure coming out of the large amount of steam rising from the ground.

Rod Reiss appeared, confused, and worried.

When he saw Caven all he could do was ask "What are-?"

The MPs fired everything they had into the man, severing an arm and leg, and doing ungodly damage to his body in an instant.

Caven whirled around and grabbed the radio in order to relay the message.

Rod sat there, confused.

What had happened?

The last thing he remembered was talking to Historia, and then…

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

No… no!

Without him wanting to, the memories of the girl he devoured flooded into his own, as did the memories of the boys and girls that had held that titan before.

The torture, the violence, the hate…

The images he saw horrified him to the core.

Blood from his wounds seeped into the ground without end, as he realized that he couldn't die either.

Not because he didn't want to, but because now he had a mission.

The same mission his father had passed to his brother, his brother to his daughter… and now the mission fell to him.

Even if he was afraid, he had to try, right?

If this wasn't the will of the Founder, he didn't know what was.

As these thoughts manifested, a low glow came from within him, expanding quickly into a powerful light.

He breathed in.

"It's Rod Reiss! The fat bastard is still a human!" Caven had just finished when someone called her attention.

"Captain, look!"

She would have turned to look at Rod anyway given the bright light coming from his body.

Beams of light spread and blinded her, the large shadow of tentacle like muscles and bones forming from thin air being the last thing she saw as the results of the unnatural transformation engulfed her and her men.

The Delta operative shouted "Jesus!" as the infrared camera flared up.

Below them a bright glow erupted before expanding almost endlessly in all directions, the shockwave hitting the helicopter hard.

The Blackhawk was shaken in the air, almost knocked into the ground, but her engines refused to allow such an outcome, the pilot managing to hold the helicopter steady.

It gave his passengers an excellent view of the colossus growing under them.

Tree sized bones formed and muscles wrapped themselves around them as a gigantic hand stretched to the sky.

Historia stared in shock as the hand almost caught the helicopter. Defeat lining her face at the horror stretching towards them.

Then, with a demonic roar that sounded as if the world itself had ripped apart, the smoke and steam cleared and the beast below was revealed.

It measured almost three hundred and fifty feet in length, well over 100 meters long.

It had destroyed most of the field it had been on, now it gave the image that it had been using it as a bed.

A lumbering sleeping god that had just awoken to destroy everything it saw.

Eren stared wide eyed at the monster that was looking back at them.

The Blackhawk banked away and pulled up into the sky.

The CIA woman got off from her seat and got dangerously close to the edge of the cabin.

She then turned and sat down, strapped in, and took a breath.

"Contact Hill Zero One… tell them to ready the flyboys with everything, and I mean everything. This fight inst over" she said with a look of anger in her eyes.

Eren returned the same look.

He pushed all the thoughts about his father and what had been done aside.

Time to destroy a self-proclaimed god.


A/N: And that's done! Hope you're all taking care of yourselves, I apologize for the delay, hopefully it was worth it. I also prepared a little something extra called "Freedom's Ring Asides", something short you guys can read if you want that is tied to this fic.

That said, I tried to show how Rod would change strategies here, as the character has been a bit of a mystery.

I ultimately settled on him being both selfish but honest in his belief that the Founder was a god given his actions in the manga and anime, so hopefully he didn't feel too out of character.

Same goes for Historia, as I wanted to show that she is now, officially, thinking for herself, but that it was indeed a struggle for her to do so even with the knowledge brought by US forces and books from England and other countries.

You may have noticed Eren being a bit faster to react here, less crying or freaking out. That's because this Eren hasn't had the same losses he experienced in the original timeline weighing down on him, so while he is shocked about the knowledge he received, his priority is to ensure mankind is free, and allowing Historia to give up her free will in order to continue a supposed "safer" route was not on the playing cards.

I also tried to show that the MPs are a bit more dangerous than the soldiers from the original Gate cannon, even if they are incompetent at times, but still, all you needed were a pair of armored vehicles, some well-placed snipers, and machine guns to beat them. (plus a bit of inside assistance and underground tomfoolery, but let's not talk about that)

Overall, this was a tough chapter to write, so please let me know if anything felt off so that I can improve the fic.

On to the reviewer response:

Guest- higher body count.

Surprisingly, I think this arc killed more characters than the actual uprising. Granted, most of the 104th hadn't been slaughtered in the earlier breach, and the US had been keeping casualties at a minimum, but not only did the MPs surprise the US by attacking civilians, they developed the Thunder Spears and actually got several kills and secretly hid cannons within houses.

Now the major military leaders within the walls are dead, along with a US representative, Levi lost half his squad, half the 104th being trained by the US is dead, Hanji lost Moblit and Doctor Hermann, Mikasa is badly wounded, most of the Military Police force within the walls is dead, and finally Rod turned into a titan and devoured Ymir… so now he controls the most powerful titan ever according to him.

Humans are more dangerous indeed.

Guest- comparing Marley's military with America's military.

Compare a World War 1 Army to our current Army and you have an idea of how things would go down, but I do give Marley credit in the sense that they seem to have a concept of tank warfare… they just use titans with armor instead.

Guest- US controlling the titans?

Maybe the shifters in the sense that they are in charge of them now, but the idea of using humans as biological weapons or sacrificing people in order to hold control of who has what titan power wouldn't sit well with congress… or any world government if you asked me. Same for pushing Historia to have kids for that very purpose.

Guest- recording footage of the ongoing incident?

The news teams mentioned a few chapters ago had left the capital, so filming the battle was out of the question, but I will confirm that they are still around since the trial wasn't officially due to happen for another day or so.

Guest- how long will the uprising arc last?

Next chapter is the final part of this arc, and then we move on to another one.

Apologies if I didn't answer some questions, like "Is Dina Fritz going to show up?", since those pertain to the future of the story and I don't want to spoil anything. Sorry.

Anyway, that's about it for this chapter, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Remember that any suggestions and criticisms are appreciated and if anything felt off, let me know.

Be safe, everyone. Hope to have the next chapter up soon!