Six Years Later

Ian Dietrich stared into the faces of ten or so fresh faced, enthusiastic recruits. The lot of them were eager, ready to be loosed onto the battlefield. Odds were they expected to win the war in a few months or so, and come back to their hometowns as the liberating heroes. Ian barely contained his disgust. If that was indeed their ideology, they might as well have become Janitors. The enemy army was full of soldiers like that, who though they were crushing a band of lawless terrorists. That was the first notion Ian hoped to crush out of them using these men and women.

"Recruits," he began. "I am Ian Dietrich, Premier of the Wings Of Freedom. You're all here, I assume, to fight under our banner and get us out from under Nile Dok's foot. Eventually, we hope that this will lead to the defeat of the Titans as well. This, however, is easier said than done. Most of you have probably been spoonfed the tales of the "terrorists" that plague the Territories and threaten every facet of peace the government's built. But I can assure you, we're far more than that. We're here to make sure another human being is never fed to a Titan. We're here to overthrow a government who would slaughter us like cattle, trade us for luxury, and then expect us to build their cities and fight in their armies! We're here to kill Nile Dok, the orchestrator of our suffering! Every one of you will give your heart, soul, resolve! I'll take all of it, melt it down into a weapon so deadly it'll shatter their efficiency and annihilate their corruption! If humanity's ever to escape our fate, we'll need to burn away all the filth that pins us down! It may be far from now, but I swear, give everything you have and you'll see yourself free!"

The new soldiers cheered, raising their arms in triumph and determined looks on many of their faces. Ian himself smirked only a little, darting his eyes across the recruits and the dark steel around them. Two girls and nine boys. Two tall, golden eyes boys with red hair, and a shorter girl who could almost be their sister. A brown skinned boy of dark hair and cyan eyes, standing protectively close to a smaller male of peach colored hair and bright blue orbs. The last one that looked noteworthy, or even remotely interested in killing Janitors, was a short boy, the shortest of them all, with golden irises to match the thick braid flowing from his head. This young man, however, had the most interesting feature of them all. A steel, robotic arm substituted his right one, the grey color poking out from the sleeves of his red vest.

"You four," he spoke to the four he hadn't taken notice of. "The troops are mobilizing soon. Name and standing."

"Armin Arlert, Aide to Admiral Armstrong."

"Yoh Takami. Squad 23, Regiment 7, Battalion 8."

"Tskune Aono, Unique Operations Squad 5."

"Kokoa Akashi-"

The crimson haired, green eyed girl never even finished her name before Ian had his hand around her throat and had slammed her head against the metal wall behind her. Her teeth gritted together and she scrabbled at his fingers. Ian reached to his back pocket and fished out a smooth black pistol. The weapon had a circular barrel, and a sharp, tusk-like blade protruded out from above it. The Premier pressed the muzzle of the weapon to Kokoa's temple.

"Your orders?" he said quietly to her. She spat in his face, the liquid dripping down his face and pitter pattering on the floor below him. "Just do this my way. I've had my fair share of assassins and I promise I'll only put a few bullets in your face when I kill you."

Kokoa still tore at his fingers around her neck, a fierce scowl on her face as she looked into Ian's unintimidated eyes.

"Eliminate you. Bring you down in the middle of your big fucking inspirational speech. Would've been great for the recording device I've pinned to me."

"Maybe someday, bitch. Just not today. Oh, and taking Commander Akashiya's name? Both unoriginal and insensitive."

Ian pulled the trigger and a flash of light and noise sent a shockwave through the room. Kokoa's head was partially blown away, revealing the various inner workings of her skull and brain. The would be assassin went limp, and Ian's hand around her now blood drenched neck went back to his side. Kokoa's body fell to the ground and leaked blood from it, which rapidly spread from her into a pool.

Ian turned his indifferent gaze from the body to Armin, Yoh and Tskune, all of whom, judging by their facial expressions, were about ready to piss themselves after witnessing the brutal killing.

"Mr. Aono, you'll want to report to Major Klein in Squadron 5. He'll get you up to speed on the operations the U.O. groups perform. You other two?" He gestured to Armin and Yoh. "Report to your stations and don't keep the officers waiting."

All three of the recruits left. Ian was now facing the other six, the ones in whose eyes he'd seen some true steel. A bit of determination to kill Janitors. And judging by their records, they would perform that task admirably. The only one that Ian couldn't exactly be sure of was the small one, with peachy hair and eyes the color of the sky. He was powerful, no doubt, one of the Experimentals. The genetically altered humans had mostly died out not too soon after the initial process, but this boy and several others came out of the experiment with strength enhanced a hundred fold.

The boy's real problem, Ian guessed, was his tenderness. He could see that even now, he hid behind his companion. He wasn't yet ready for battle. None of them were, but he was a gentle soul, a good one. That needed to be eliminated, especially in someone of his power.

"The last of you. Name, score in Basic Training, and school of training," he said to the six recruits.

"Eren Yaeger, 93.5%, Assault School."

"Asuna Yuki, 94%, Marksman and Blade Schools."

"Edward Elric, 96.8%, Alchemy School."

"Hikaru Hitachiin, 95%, Blade School."

"Kaoru Hitachiin, 95%, Blade School."

"Finny Taylor, 92.3%, Close Quarters School."

Ian nodded, pleased with the skill set he'd been given. He pressed a button behind the console in the center of the room, causing six slots of metal netting to pop out of the wall. Hanging on each was a lined, jet black shiny suit, slightly raised armored plating covering the black on the forearms, shoulders, chest, knees, and shins.

"Specially tailored Hazardous Environment Contingency suits, or, H.E.C. Don't bother buying anything black, they're skin tight and lightly bulletproof. Completely immune to small arms and submachine gun fire. Also doesn't require any wardrobe changes."

He looked each of them straight in the eye before continuing.

"You all are officially the sixth Unique Operations Squadron in our group. In the hangars, there's a blast door with a big shark painted on the front. It blocks a chamber big enough for you all to be comfortable. Get in there and make yourselves at home."

The group spoke the first words they had since entering the Recruitment Chambers with a booming "Sir, yes sir!"

U.O. Squadron 6 filed out of the Chamber, Ian Dietrich's gaze following them out.

The halls were busy; engineers hard at work on machines and weaponry, troopers practicing maneuvers or doing target training. The group of Hikaru, Kaoru, Eren, Asuna, Ed and Finny attracted quite a few pairs of eyes. It was probably attributed to the fact that many soldiers present had been there for years, and were used to seeing soldiers in U.O. Squads. So to see six brand new faces wearing H.E.C. suits must've been different for them.

But all the eyes instantly focused their attention elsewhere, and all bodies instantly backed up several feet as another group walked down the hallway. No engineers worked, no troops shot, all was quiet as one U.O. Squad faced down another.

Chief among the opposite soldiers was a tall, thin, impossibly pale man, whose eyes glowed with a blood red color. He wore a fine black suit and carried butter knives in one hand. The next soldier was a boy around Eren's age. His eyes were the color of metal, and his hair fell down his face in messy, dark strands. Two glittering black swords gleamed menacingly in their carriers on his back, and his expression seemed that of someone who is enraged far too easily.

The nearest boy in a H.E.C. suit was slightly darker than his compatriots, with messy dark grey hair that tufted up in the front, slightly reminiscent of a unicorn. He was clad in his suit and little else, save for a pair of fairly large submachine guns that hung from his waist. He led along a blonde girl near his age, who he was kissing ravenously. Not an ounce of shame.

The last two were probably the kindest looking. The first had long, pale gold hair that hung to his chin, and golden eyes that sparkled like treasure. His attire could be said to be a less revealing version of the standard H.E.C. suit, and a long barreled rocket launcher hung from his back. The second was a woman, with blue hair, purple eyes and rosy cheeks that got her the most looks from the soldiers on either side of the hall. Her figure was highly developed, and she was unarmed save for a small, red button on her thumb. Probably a see through glove of some kind.

"Somebody fuckin' explain to me," the second soldier yelled. "Who the hell let the kids come to the poker game?"

A man in the crowd, shaking from either giddy excitement or fear, blurted out, "N-not sure, Mr. Kirito!"

Ed gave him a long look and rolled his eyes at the sword-wielder. "Ian Dietrich. Who else?"

Kirito glanced at Ed, specifically his metal arm, and then diverted his gaze elsewhere. "Wasn't asking you, ya fucking cripple. You ought to be on a bicycle team, not a goddamn military unit."

Ed gasped in horror, then furious rage. Both sides were stunned at Kirito's undeserved cruelty, but that was the least of their problems as Ed charged his black garbed opponent. His leg swiped swiftly at Kirito, but when it touched the ground the sword-wielder was gone. Side stepped to the right, Ed found, as the other boy's foot planted itself on Ed's ribs. The blonde went flying into a vehicle and was barely able to block Kirito's furious swipe with his blade.

Caught it in the very metal hand he'd used to insult the Alchemist.

"How's that for cripp-" Ed boasted with a smirk on his face, until he felt Kirito's other blade against his throat.

The black haired boy's eyes were wide and his nostrils flared menacingly.

"You come after me again, cripple, and I won't care what Dietrich did or didn't do. I'll fucking kill you."

And for one moment, Ed was truly terrified.

Until he saw Asuna's fist collide with his near-killer's face and send him to the ground.

"Yeah, we get it," she told him matter-of-factly. "You're the bad boy on your team. Back it the hell up, would you?"

The sword-wielder got up, a small welt on his face. "You bitch-"

But before he could continue, Asuna had turned around and left. "There'll be another way around, guys."

Ed felt it was probably the least deadly decision to follow her.