Jahr Unseres Gründers c.845

Liberio, Continental Marley

The Marleyan defense crumbled almost as soon as the Kommandant Edol of the Liberio Home Guard surrendered.

With the military headquarters of Liberio having fallen to the Eldian force, and with the majority of the surviving garrison having thrown down their arms, the city fell into Eldian hands with few casualties and no deaths at all for the Kingdom of Paradis. The first major battle the Kingdom had taken part in since the Fall of Udynel decades ago, and an astounding victory, at that. Once news made it home, there would be cheering in the street, Rita knew.

And we can thank the Queen for that, Founder bless us, Rita Iglehaut smiled. Oh, they could have taken the city even without the Founding Titan, thanks to their numbers and the element of surprise, but there would have been death to pay. Of course, the Queen fought with them and saved them a whole lot of bloodshed.

Regardless of her musings and what-if's, Liberio had surrendered. With the city having fallen, Eldia now had open access to the rest of Continental Marley, and even now her battleships now occupied the harbor and unload their cargo. Thousands of Eldian soldiers of the Vermessungskorps disembarked from their transports with the help of marines, quickly making their way to their assigned posts throughout the city or joining up with the expeditionary vanguard column. That's Feldmarschall Erwin for you, huh? Efficient as always.

Shaking her head and shoving the thoughts aside, the Großadmiral of the Kaiserliche Eldianische Marine turned her attention back to deck below her, where her marines were fishing surviving enemy sailors from the water, those who had survived the bombardment, though she grimaced when she saw that almost all of them had an star-branded band on their arm. More unwanted casualties… Thank the Founder the Queen healed them all. The last thing we want is our own people turning against us...

"Großadmiral!"

Rita turned towards the caller as her Vizeadmiral, Mathias Kramer, strode up to her, a report in hand. Moving to meet him, a soft smile graced her lips. "Vizeadmiral Kramer. What news?"

Mathias snorted at the formality, handing her the paper with his own smile. "We're too familiar for you to call me only by rank, Großadmiral."

"Take your own advice then, Mathias!" she shot back with an amused tone, though that quickly faded as she glanced over the report. "...Right. Anyways, these orders are from the Feldmarschall?"

Mathias nodded, snapping back into his rank. "They are, ma'am. Liberio is secure for the most part. The POWs have been transported to several detainment facilities around the city, and Feldmarschall Erwin's column is ready to begin Operation: Rückeroberung. He's just waiting on the Queen's examination of…" Here, he grimaced, and turned away from Rita to face the city.

"...The ghetto, I assume," the Großadmiral growled. And to think, Marley is one of the better country for our fellow Eldians to live in… Gottverdammt the Tyburs to the deepest pits of hell for this. Cooling her anger, she turned towards the command deck, passing the paper back Mathias. "Well, we have our orders. Get those enemy sailors to the land troops and recall our marines. I want us out of the harbor in two hours at the most. The Marleyan fleet is going to come down hard on us, and I intend to meet them before they do."

At the order, the Vizeadmiral brought his fists into a salute. "Aye, Großadmiral!"

As her childhood friend marched off to do as she had commanded, Rita turned back out to gaze at the starlit sea, in the direction she knew where home lay, and the Harsh Mistress of the Sea gave a wicked grin.

"And so it begins."

Liberio's Internment Zone was quiet.

Historia supposed that was to be expected, seeing as the city of said Internment Zone had just been attacked by a force of Island Devils led by a Titan.

A Titan that was currently standing just outside the gates of the Internment Zone, peering into it over the gate. The Ruler of the Walls was in no way surprised to see the streets abandoned, though she supposed she should be thankful for the quiet- it made it easier for what she wished to do.

Historia felt something pinch into her shoulder and the telltale sound of someone's Anti-Urban ODM Gear, and soon enough, Erwin Smith had landed on her shoulder. "Queen Historia," the Feldmarschall greeted, and Historia nodded. "Erwin. How is everything? Any complications I need to know about?"

To her relief, Erwin shook his head. "None, thankfully. Most of the city's citizenry are holed up in their homes, no doubt waiting for a culling that will never come. There were a few wealthy citizens on the edge of the city who took their automobiles and fled, but the majority of their wealth was left behind. Liberio is as secure as we can make it, Your Grace."

Nodding again, Historia turned back to the Internment Zone, where her Titan eyes caught the flicker of a child in an alleyway, watching her with a mixture of awe, curiosity, and fear, and her heart clenched.

He looks like he hasn't eaten in days.

Before long, the child's fear seemed to override his awe, and he quickly fled, so Historia turned back to the topic at hand. "And what of the ghetto?"

"Secure, Your Grace," Erwin replied. "No one's gone in or out since the guards surrendered, and my troops have gathered all the Eldians in the city to be brought back here."

Historia hummed. "Good."

Then the Founder reached forward, grasped the metal-wire gate in her hand, and ripped it off its hinges, and for the first time since its construction, the gates to the Internment Zone lay permanently open.

"I'm going inside," she announced, to Erwin's unsurprised look, and he nodded. "I assume, in the absence of Miss Ackerman, you'll be wanting the 104th?"

"Just a few. Jean, Armin, Sasha, Connie, and Ymir. No need to risk the rest."

Erwin nodded and jumped off her shoulder, zipping away to the 104th's place in the vanguard column, and before long, the five soldiers she'd request came zipping back, landing on her shoulders as well.

"Your Majesty," Connie greeted, giving her a mocking bow, and Historia snorted, before pulling herself partially out of her Titan's nape. "Please don't. I have a reputation to maintain, damn it!"

"You know you love it," Ymir smirked from the side. "Your the Queen now, the Founder, the Ruler of of the Walls, the Empress of Eldia, a Goddess amongst us unworthy mortals-!"

Historia shut the now-laughing Ymir up with a light snack to the head, and she huffed. "You spent to much time in that cult," she mumbled, only for the freckled girl to laugh louder. Besides her, the other person on Historia's shoulder seemed to be musing. "You know, she has a point."

"Gottverdammt, Jean, not you to."

The man chuckled in amusement before falling into an easy silence, something which was broken by Sasha. "So, uh… we gonna go in, or…?"

Historia blinked, the nodded. "Yes, we are. Everybody hop off, I'm going to exit my Titan." With that, she withdrew into the nape, and her friends departed from her shoulders, maneuvering onto the ghetto walls, and watched as Historia's Titan knelt before it began steaming, and the young Queen emerged yet again.

Having done that, she waved them over to the ground, and once her makeshift queensguard had assembled, Historia took a breath, stood still for a moment, before walking through the entrance and into the Internment Zone. As soon as she did so, her friends had already spread out in a semicircle, weapons at the ready to intercept any incoming enemies.

But none appeared, thank the Founder, so they continued on, the Queen taking the lead.

They made their way through the streets of Liberio's Internment Zone, weaving through buildings and warily glancing down alleyways. Historia moved forward with confidence, as if having a specific location in mind, which she did.

Where is it? Eren said it would be around- Here!

Stopping abruptly, Historia turned to face another set of (smaller) gates, which were open, leading to a courtyard and a clean-looking building. "Here we are."

Behind her, the pseudo-queensguard shared a look. "And where exactly is here, Historia?" Jean asked, but he received no reply before Historia entered the courtyard, and he let out an exasperated sigh. "Royals, amirite?"

"She's the only royal you know, numbnut, besides the Suicidal Bastard," Ymir snarked from the side, following the Queen, and Jean frowned. "He doesn't count."

"Just because you had a crush on Mikasa doesn't mean you have to hate him," Sasha chipped in with a grin, and Jean groaned. "Let's just make sure Historia doesn't kill herself two hours into the campaign."

"It, uh… might be to late for that."

Connie's voice snapped them from their light conversations and immediately they focused on Historia.

And the man who had come out the door of the building before them.

Historia had been looking around the hospital's courtyard for patients when the building's door opened and closed rapidly, and she turned to find an elderly man approaching her calmly. Turning fully to meet him, the Queen of the Walls greeted him. "Hello, good sir. I assume you're one of the staff who work here."

The man nodded, stopping just at arms length from the Queen. "Yes, yes. I'm one of the doctors employed here." He was silent for a moment before continuing on. "I take it that the fighting is over, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. My forces now occupy the city."

The man's face darkened slightly, and Historia saw a bit of fear leak into his eyes. "Then my fears, and that of my colleagues have come true." He turned away then, to look around the courtyard, though never moving from his spot. "You were looking around as if searching for someone."

Historia raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yes, I was. This is an Eldian hospital, correct? I came looking for its patients."

"And that is why I was chosen to come out and meet you. I've come to ask you to spare those patients. They have done nothing against you, after all! There is no reason to kill them! All we do here is attempt to relieve them of their pain." And here, the man fell to his knees. "I beg of you, do not harm them, or my colleagues!"

The Queen was silent for a moment, eyeing the man, before she replied.

"You have my word."

The man blinked, so Historia continued.

"It was never my intention to hurt them, or the staff who treat them. The opposite, actually. I only ask that you open your doors."

The man watched her with wide eyes before bowing his head in relief. "...Thank you. You are kind, for a conqueror."

Historia shook her head. "I'm no conqueror. I've only come to retake what belongs to Eldia, nothing more." Offering her hand to the man, Historia waited for him to take it, and when he did, she helped him to his feet. "What is your name, doctor?

The man was silent for a moment before responding.

"...My name is Kirstoff. Most simply call me Doctor Jaeger."

The conqueror of Liberio froze, then, taking a surprised step back, and behind her, the soldiers who had accompanied her, Kristoff noticed, had similar looks of shock on their faces. Do they recognize my name?

Then the young woman regained herself and stepped forward, reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out two letters.

"Kristoff Jaeger? Father of Grisha Jaeger?" she asked, and this time it was Kristoff who froze, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"How- how do you-"

For so long, Kristoff and his wife had avoided speaking the names of their lost children. On the worst days, he would fall into an anguished state, sometimes ending up bedridden, though the last incident had been years ago, nearly two years after Grisha had been sentenced to wander Paradis for eternity.

"How do you know that name?" Kristoff managed to get out, voice shaky, and the young woman took another step forward. "It is because of him that I have my crown. It's because of him that I have my husband."

Then the woman extended her hand once more, the one grasping the envelopes, and Kristoff shakily took them, recognizing the handwriting that spelt his name on the envelope, and he stared. "This… this is…"

"He… said he would appreciate it if I gave these to you."

Kristoff stared. "My… my son… Grisha, he lives?"

The woman winced and her eyes turned away. "No, he does not." Then her eyes returned him. "But Grisha's son does."

His son… surely they do not speak of Zeke… Could it be..?

Casting the thought of another grandson alive aside, Kristoff fell into silence then as he gently pried the envelope open, the one marked with his name in his son's scrawl, and read what had been written on the letter within. His eyes slowly scanned the words his only son had written to him, and Doctor Jaeger wept silently.

Then he sealed the envelop once more and turned again to the woman, clutching the yet-unopened envelope meant for Estelle to his chest. "I... thank you," he whispered. The words Grisha had written to him sootherd his soul like a long-awaited balm, and he knew his wife would feel the same.

The woman only nodded. "You don't need to thank me, Lord Jaeger. We're family, after all." Then she flicked her gaze back to the hospital itself. "Though, I would appreciate it if you informed your colleagues that they have nothing to fear from us. I've come to heal you patients, not kill them."

Kristoff could only nodded again, mumble his thanks, before turning and walking away from the woman and back to the doors, which quickly opened and allowed him entry. As soon as said doors closed behind him, he was swamped by voices from his fellow Eldian practitioners, and it took some time for him to calm them down.

"I am fine," he assured them. "No harm will come to us. All they asks is that we open the doors and allow her to see the patients."

At that announcement, there were several protests, but in the end, what could they do? Even those few soldiers outside could overwhelm them if they wished, and the only soldiers they had within the hospital were the ones that had been sent home from the eastern front.

So reluctantly, the doors were opened, and the conquerors were let in.

And then Kristoff witnessed a miracle.

Watching Historia use the powers of the Founding Titan had always been something Ymir had enjoyed.

Everywhere the Queen of the Walls went, the many patients of the hospital were healed of their afflictions. Limbs were regrown. Men and women were brought back to sanity from lucid states. Soldiers awoke from pain-induced comas. Illnesses that ravaged at the body were vanquished- all at the Founder's command.

And every single time she did this, Historia made sure to go up to the recently-healed and talk, at least for a little bit, to explain what had happened, just like the day she had given Ymir back her life. It was those small, minuscule things that made Ymir so devoted to the blonde (she was a firm devotee of the Hisu-sect back on Paradis), the actions she took to make life for her people as comfortable as possible, though she never would have guessed from the stories the 104th threw around from their years in the Kadettenkorps.

From what I heard, you'd think that she's nothing but a block of ice...

Regardless, that alleged persona of Historia was nowhere to be seen at the moment as she tended to the shocked patients who had regained their faculties. Ymir, along with the others, watched carefully as Historia sent the newly-heald on their way, out of the med-bays and back to their families if they resided in Liberio, to the increasing shock of the hospital staff. Ymir thought that the old man the Queen had been talking to earlier might faint, though that sentiment could be applied to almost everyone in the hospital save the Queen and her queensguard themselves.

Eventually, however, all the patients were healed and had left, either for home or simply to flee from the angel that had healed them, though that had been expected. Historia spoke again to the old man (Jaeger's grandfather, she still could barely believe) and the other hospital workers, something that Ymir didn't bother to listen in on (if the Queen wanted her to know, she'd know), before turning on her heel and marching out the door, through the still-empty courtyard, and out of the hospital grounds. Seemingly picking a direction to walk in, Historia began to move down the street, followed by Ymir and the others after sharing a confused look.

"Uh, Historia?" Sasha asked, "Where exactly are we going? You've kinda been quiet for a while now…"

The Queen stopped, blinked, then turned back around to face them, a sheepish expression on her face. "Ah, sorry about that. Just have a lot on my mind." She was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "Today's been a really long day, and it's not over yet."

Besides Ymir, Jean raised an eyebrow. "What do you have left to do, anyways? You came here to deliver that letter to Eren's gramps, right?"

"That was one part of it, yeah. But, there's still one more thing I need to do." With that, the Queen of the Walls began moving forward again, a determined fire blazing in her eyes.

"I have a speech to give."

Information Bracket

Overview of the Vermessungkorps

Objective(s): To reconquer the lands that once belonged to the Eldian Empire and to recapture the lost Titan Powers

Head of Branch: Feldmarschall Erwin Smith

Manpower: Unsure, at least over a million men and women

Notable Subdivisions:

- The 104th Royal Battallion

- Levi Squad

Standard Equipment:

- Anti-Urban Omni Maneuver Gear

- Mauser C96 firearms

- Ultrahard-steel chestplate

Additional Equipment:

- Motorcycles

- Thunder Spears

- Anti-Titan Maneuver Gear

- Experimental Armored Vehicles

Additional Information:

The Survey Corps were first to throw their support behind Queen Historia in the Eldian Civil War.

A/N: Might add to the information bracket later.