"What the fuck was that?!"

Wincing a little at that harsh language, Nac watched as a Garrison soldier shivered in front of him as he and Jean approached her. She, alongside the other soldiers who had reached the Refueling Station, all appeared rather shaken, with the only ones who seemed to be somewhat calm being himself, Flex and Mina, though Mina herself seemed to be the least calm among the three of them.

Even Annie herself seemed on edge as the sound of combat could be heard from outside the refuel station.

"It's the Mechanical Titan!" blurted out Jean as he stopped in front of the Garrison, his eyes wide as he spoke. Several audible gasps could be heard as soon as that name left his mouth, though the shock was quickly replaced by fear when the building rumbled ever so slightly, perhaps due to a Titan getting thrown into its side. The rumble seemed to snap Jean out of it, as he grimaced and continued. "Look, it doesn't matter what that thing is! We need to retake this damn place and quickly before it's too late!"

"He's right," agreed Marco from the crowd, wearing a determined expression as he vocalised his support for his friend. "I'm assuming that the… Mechanical Titan is keeping the other Titans at bay, so it's best if we use this to our advantage and retake the base while we have the chance!"

Several voices rang out in agreement, and before long, they departed the room they were in, though several did pause for a brief moment when the Refueling Station shook once more. Amongst those were Mina and Annie, who winced at that, fearing that the building would collapse, though thankfully it did not. It had also allowed Nac to regroup with the two.

"Hey," greeted Tias as he got up to Mina's side, offering a weak smile as he, Mina and Annie left the room alongside the other soldiers.

"Hey you," responded Mina sarcastically as she offered an equally weak smile back to her friend as they sprinted over to the primitive elevator system of the Refueling Station. And for a brief moment, silence reigned amongst the three of them as they waited for the elevator to reach the floor they were on.

Annie was the one who broke the silence.

"What's the plan, Jean?" inquired Annie, getting straight to the point as the boy in question turned towards the blonde, wincing as he saw her glaring at him with her cold blue eyes. He seemed reluctant to answer, though in the end, he nodded and offered a mild explanation of his plan.

"It's a risky gamble, but some of us will be checking the storage rooms of the place," explained Jean right as the elevator system got to their floor. "I'll fill you in on the rest of the plan if we find what we're looking for."

"I for one hope we do find whatever it is we're looking for," mumbled a Cadet behind Jean as he shook in his boots, terrified of what was to come.

Some time later

"Are they back yet?"

"It wouldn't seem so."

Grimacing ever so slightly as Nac answered her, Annie let a small groan escape her lips before she turned her attention towards Reiner and Bertholdt sitting beside her, both of whom looked a lot more agitated than she was, especially the latter. Reiner himself kept a stoic expression on, one that mirrored Annie's rather well. Mina sat right beside her, looking somewhat anxious, whilst Nac remained as calm as humanly possible as he sat in front of the blonde.

Not too long ago, Jean, Marco, Mylius and several other soldiers had left the room they had stopped in and departed for the storage room to retrieve whatever Jean wished to get. Meanwhile, the remaining soldiers and Cadets bunkered down in a decently sized room, awaiting their return with anticipation.

"Just what are they trying to find," groaned Annie impatiently as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes in an attempt to relax herself, though the sudden shake in the building ruined her attempt as she winced once more. "It's still out there?"

"Yeah, the Mechanical Titan," answered Nac worriedly as he raised a finger up. Beside Annie, Reiner visibly perked up at the mention of the Titan, prompting him to clear his throat, in turn catching the attention of everyone who heard it. "Reiner?"

"Nac, what are your thoughts on this Mechanical Titan?" inquired Reiner almost immediately as he leaned towards the black haired boy, keeping his voice slightly hushed as he spoke so as to not attract too much attention and cause a potential uproar. In response, Nac raised a brow and frowned.

"My thoughts?" muttered Tias, rubbing his chin as he kept his voice low as well. The boy kept silent for a moment as he exchanged a quick glance to Mina before nodding. "Well…"

"The Titan is abnormal, to say the least."

Sprinting at full speed, a Ten Metre Titan attempted to throw itself straight at the Refueling Station, straight into the room where the survivors were at. Before it could reach it, however, a metal hand sprung out and grabbed its head and lifted it up into the air. The Titan flailed around in the grip of the Mechanical Titan for a brief moment before its head was promptly crushed in its hand.

"However, it's Abnormalities seem to be more akin to something like the Armoured or Colossus Titans that attacked Marie and Shiganshina all those years ago."

The Mechanical Titan made use of the dissolving corpse of the Ten metre as a makeshift projectile, and with a powerful toss, sent it flying straight towards a cluster of Titans. On impact, the front of the pack of Titans promptly exploded into a rain of gore while the one at the back was sent flying backwards.

"It doesn't seem to follow the base instincts of a Titan, that is to eat any human it sees. Strangely enough, it seems to either outright ignore us… or even save us at times."

Before the Titan could even stand itself up, the tip of a sword stabbed down into its skull, keeping it pinned down while the looming figure of the Mechanical Titan stared down upon it, casting a looming shadow atop the Titan, who was promptly obliterated when the much larger Titan stomped down onto its nape with its foot.

"Yeah, it's a bit hard to believe me, I know… but…"

The Mechanical Titan stood itself upright as it allowed steam to be expelled from several of its golden vents.

And inside its chest, a boy simply breathed in heavily as the combat and general stuffiness of the cockpit slowly began getting to him. For as sore as he was currently feeling, he reckoned that it would be worth it if it meant the safety of those he had come to care for.

"It's almost as though we've got some sorta protector watching over us, that protector being the Mechanical Titan, of course."

And with those words uttered, Reiner, Annie and Bertholdt all stared at Nac almost as though he were cracking a somewhat sick joke, prompting the taller boy to raise his hands up defensively.

"I mean, that's just what I think," defended Tias as Mina allowed herself to snicker a little. "I could be completely wrong and all that, y'know."

"Still, it's something to consider. This… Mechanical Titan did save Mina's life," piped up Bertholdt as he offered Carolina a gentle smile, prompting her to nod. "Perhaps you're correct."

With a smile, Nac opened his mouth and got ready to thank Bertholdt for siding with him, though before he could, the sound of footsteps could be heard, and before long, Jean, alongside the other soldiers and Cadets he had following him, came walking into the room they were all in, all of whom were carrying crates.

"I'm sorry for the wait, everyone!" apologised Jean as the group set down the crates. "But we found what we were looking for."

And before long, Kirstein had the lid to the crate he was holding onto ripped off, revealing a rather spiffy bolt action rifle within it. The Cadets' eyes visibly widened as Jean removed it from the crate and held the butt of the rifle up against his shoulder, testing his aim as he spoke.

"We found these rifles in the storage room," explained Jean as he lowered the rifle. "There's about sixteen rifles in total. Those who are confident in their aiming, please step forth."

"Wait, hold your horses!" came the voice of a Garrison as he stepped forward. "What's this plan of yours?!"

"Ask Mylius," was Jean's immediate answer as he turned to the blonde in question, who was nervously pulling back on the bolt of the rifle and shakily loading in a bullet. As soon as the blonde heard his name mentioned by Kirstein, he winced and dropped the bullet he was trying to load into the rifle.

"Eh? W-What? Did… you call me?" stuttered Mylius as he nearly dropped the rifle, much to the amusement of everyone present, though their amusement promptly turned to dread, and then to relief when the building shook once more, undoubtedly the Mechanical Titan saving the building they were in from collapsing once more.

"Well, yeah. We just wanted you to explain the plan, Mylius," explained Marco with a small, reassuring smile as he held a finger up in the air. "You did say that you'd explain if we managed to find the rifles."

"A-Ah… well… erm… gotcha!" proclaimed Mylius as he accidentally dropped the rifle he was clinging onto, frowning deeply as he gathered his courage and explained the plan he made up not long ago. "Now… here's the plan."

"I can't believe I'm following your orders," groaned a random Cadet towards Mylius as he, alongside several other Cadets and Garrison held their rifle and stood on the elevator that was slowly being lowered down towards the center of the Refueling Station.

The center of the most Titan infested part of the damned place, the massive supply room.

Behind the Cadet, Mylius winced as the Cadet fumbled with the bolt of his rifle anxiously. All around him, the other soldiers appeared to share his mentality.

All except for a certain handful of Cadets, anyways.

"Keep your head high, Nac," muttered Nac as he did one final check on his rifle, offering Mylius a small smile as he retracted the bolt of the rifle. The blonde in question gave a small smile as he nodded. "Your plan will work, that much I know of."

"Hm, I hope so," was all Mylius could choke out as their elevator reached their stop, and the blonde, alongside the other Cadets, could only wince when they saw the amount of Titans that surrounded their elevator.

"So, the plan is simple… in a way. Those who are uncertain about their Maneuver Gear abilities will grab a gun and enter the elevator. We'll lower you down…" began Mylius. "... into the Supply Room."

Gulping as he took a step forth, Nac clutched his rifle rather tightly as he took aim at a Titan, his hands visibly shaking as he did.

"W-Wait… you're gonna send us down there with nothing but these things to defend ourselves against seven Titans?!" demanded a girl's voice from behind a handful of soldiers. It took a second or two for everyone to realize that it was Sasha, or the Potato Girl, as most knew her as. "You do know that guns won't do nothin' to Titans, right?!"

Beside Nac, several others hesitantly took aim with their rifles, and they visibly shook when they saw a Four Metre stopped dead in its tracks… and it almost immediately turned to face them. Mina's legs began shaking rather intensely as it made eye contact with her, though she swallowed that lump in her throat as she kept the barrel of the gun trained onto it.

"I… do. But we're not going to kill them with the guns," continued Mylius with a fist clenched. "We'll be blindsiding them. With the amount of gunpowder and rifles we have, it's not completely impossible to blind all seven Titans in the room if we fire at them at point blank range. It won't be able to blind them for long, but it'll be long enough for the second phase of the plan to commence."

Turning his attention up to the scaffolding of the building, Mylius made quick eye contact with Jean and gave a small nod before turning back towards the approaching Titans.

"Seven of our most capable Cadets will be hiding up in the scaffolding of the building," continued Mylius as he stared up at Jean, who responded with a nod. "These seven will be the best of the best amongst the few of us who made it here. I nominate the following…"

With her breath seemingly caught in her throat, Annie waited impatiently for the sound of gunshots to ring out into the air as she positioned herself atop the roof scaffolding of the Refuel Station. She wasn't the only one. All around her were at least six other soldiers and Cadets Mylius had nominated to take out the Seven Titans.

Annie knew that Reiner and Bertholdt were by her side, and a quick turn of her head confirmed that. The other four soldiers/Cadets included Jean, Sasha, Flex and another Garrison senior who was deemed fit for the job. Mylius, alongside everyone else, considered them to be the best in terms of slashing ability. They couldn't use their Maneuver Gear due to the tight confines of the Supply Room, though he was confident that their physical strength would be able to help them overcome this minor setback.

"We're gambling everything we have on this risky strategy," continued Mylius as he looked between the seven who were chosen for Anti-Titan duty. "We get only one shot at this. If you're not confident in your abilities, say it."

None of them had backed out. They were confident in their abilities, and Mylius knew it, even as he watched the Titans approach them sluggishly.

"Hold…!" proclaimed Mylius as he kept his eyes unblinking, horrified by the idea of the Titan being able to close the gap between itself and the Cadets in the time it took for him to blink.

Another step closer, and the rifle wielding soldiers and Cadets grimaced at how close the bastards were now. It was enough to make Nac audibly cringe while Mina's knees nearly gave way, but they, alongside their fellow soldiers and Cadets, held strong as they kept the barrels of their rifles trained towards the faces of the enemy Titans.

Above them, the seven Cadets and soldiers felt their hearts race faster and faster with each passing moment. They knew what the signal to strike was, and they intended on moving the moment it was given as fast as humanly possible.

'It all comes down to us in the end. We must end this in one strike!' thought Annie as her grip on her blades tightened. Absentmindedly, she averted her gaze towards Mina and Nac, standing on the elevator as they aimed their rifles with the confidence of a newborn puppy learning to bare its fangs. 'You'll make it out of here alive, you two. I can promise you that much.'

"Just a little more!" proclaimed Mylius as the Titans around them took yet another step. They were now standing just barely two metres away from the rifle wielding soldiers and Cadets now, and the close proximity of the bastards was more than enough to make several of them shudder.

One more step… with that in mind, Mylius shifted his finger onto the trigger of his gun.

"Get ready!" he proclaimed as the Titans around them took one final step forward, with the closest quite literally staring straight down the barrel of a Cadet's rifle.

And finally…

"FIRE!"

Marco had given the command whilst Mylius found the word stuck in his throat. And on his mark, all soldiers and Cadets pulled the triggers on their rifles and opened fire.

And within a handful of seconds, all seven Titans in the Supply Room found themselves blinded.

What happened thereafter felt almost instantaneous.

In almost a split second, all seven Cadets and soldiers who were hidden up in the roof sprung into action, leaping straight off the supports with their Anti-Titan blades held tightly in their grips.

All seven delivered strong slashes to the napes of their targets, and within a moment's notice, all seven Titans were brought down…

… or so it seemed.

Unfortunately, the Titans that Sasha and the Garrison senior had targeted were not quite dead. A pair of short Titans with brown and blonde hair, respectively. The one that Sasha had failed to kill in particular had massive brown eyes that seemed to bore straight into her soul. The big brown eyed Titan turned to face Sasha, who had fallen back onto her rear as it slowly approached her whilst the Garrison stared on in abject horror.

"I-I… AH'M SORRY FER STABBIN YA IN THE BACK!" proclaimed Sasha, the momentary shock causing her Dauper accent to crawl up into her throat as she attempted to scurry away. The Titan, rather obviously, took no notice of this as it stomped towards Braus, who began to feel her eyes well up. "Ah…"

Before that sentence could be complete, the Three Metre lunged straight at Sasha, causing her to leap off to the side and lose her grip on her blades. With a mild grimace, she got herself up, though by then, the sound of blades tearing through flesh rang out into the air, and Sasha turned around just in time to see Annie land in front of the big brown eyed Titan, crouching down low as the blood on her blades began dissolving.

Over with the Garrison, the poor bugger was saved by Flex, who slashed the Titan's nape rather well before landing in front of the shell shocked man.

"Good Grief," was all Annie could say as she stood herself back up, wiping the Titan blood off her cheek as she approached Sasha, glaring down at her with a mildly irritated expression. "Work on your slashes, Coun-"

"A-ANNIE!" proclaimed Sasha, cutting Leonhardt off as the Country Girl rushed up towards her and clasped her hands over Annie's upper arms, staring at the slightly shorter girl with tear filled eyes, much to the surprise of the blonde. "Y-YA SAVED ME!"

Grimacing mildly, Annie found the urge to just shove Sasha away growing with every passing second. Before she could, however, Leonhardt just barely noticed Mina staring at her from the slowly lowering elevator somewhat expectantly, prompting the blonde to sigh in defeat as she awkwardly choked out a: "... yeah. Are you… hurt?"

"N-NO! T-THANKS TO Y-Y-YA!" replied Sasha, the appreciation very apparent in her voice as Leonhardt rolled her eyes.

"Then get the fuck off me," groaned the blonde. "You're invading my… personal space."

In response to that, Sasha nodded and released Annie, much to her relief, as the elevator hit the ground, allowing the rifle wielding soldiers and Cadets to step out of it and check on their fellow soldiers and refuel.

Mina and Nac in particular rushed towards Annie, seemingly mildly worried and somewhat worn out, but still alive. And that was what was important.

"T-That was… so cool Ann!" proclaimed Nac in between relieved breaths as he smirked and gave Leonhardt a quick thumbs up, one that Annie nodded in response to. Mina simply smiled widely, with said smile showing Leonhardt everything she had to say.

That smile also made her grimace a little… though the reason as to why wasn't too hard to figure out…

Outside

Mikazuki never thought that he would ever use a bastard to hit another bastard…

But then again, he also never thought that he would ever end up in a Titan infested place, living behind a massive wall and with people he could call family outside of Tekkadan whilst he was fighting in Edmonton, so he supposed there was that…

So, with that in mind, the Pilot simply snorted as he held the leg of a Fifteen Metre Titan firmly in Barbatos' manipulator and swung it around down onto a pair of Three and Five Metre Titans. Both promptly disappeared as soon as the main body of the Fifteen Metre made contact with it, and the Fifteen Metre Titan itself had its entire body explode, leaving Barbatos to hold onto the leg of the Titan for a brief moment before it discarded it.

He supposed that killing Titans left and right with very little resistance from them would get rather boring eventually. Flesh didn't exactly hold up well against the strength of a Mobile Suit, be they a Graze unit or a Gundam, and it showed, as a single weak punch from Barbatos was more than enough to send its entire manipulator through a Muscular Titan's torso.

Huffing softly to himself, Mika had Barbatos grab a somewhat lanky Fourteen Metre Titan by the neck and lift it up into the air before grasping its waist. Ignoring its flailing limbs, Mika had his unit rip the Titan in half before tossing the remains off in random directions.

'I don't even need to use my weapons at this point,' thought the Pilot with a snort as he turned to spot the Wrench Mace slammed into the side of a building, with Titan blood slowly dissolving off it, and the Longsword, which was lodged in the side of the Refueling Station after Mika had Barbatos throw it rather wonkily.

Turning towards his next target, an approaching pack of Titans ranging from Ten Metres to about Four, Mika had Barbatos ready itself to charge…

Before he could, however, the body of a chubby Fifteen Metre was promptly thrown at the pack. A majority of the Titans were obliterated by the Fifteen Metre Titan's body, which landed with a loud crash and kicked up a ton of smoke in the process, though there was a surviving Four Metre that was slowly emerging from the smoke.

Said Four Metre was quickly killed off when the foot of a new Titan slammed down onto it. Raising his brow at that, Mika watched with mild interest as a new Titan stepped out of the smoke, allowing Mika to view it properly with Barbatos' optical sensors.

A Muscular Fifteen Metre Class Titan, that much was obvious. The Titan didn't seem to be more than what Barbatos could handle, and yet, something about it piqued Mikazuki's interest. Its proportions were… off, to say the least. If Mika remembered correctly, Muscular Titans were typically more humanoid in shape than their lanky or chubby brethren, though they still had their oddities. All Muscular Titans shared similarities in one way or another, namely their shoulders that were typically broader than those of a human and their arms typically hung down just low enough to be noticeably unusual.

This one, on the other hand, was proportioned in a more human way. Its black hair was to be expected by Titans at this point, though its pointed ears were a somewhat interesting thing to note. Outside of that abnormality, however, the Titan was human enough that Mika, for a split second, though that he was seeing things due to exhaustion. However, he soon realised that wasn't the case after a quick rub of his eyes.

"What the…" muttered Mika, though before he could finish that statement, the new Titan gave a loud roar and charged straight at Barbatos in a way that seemed more human than Titan, with its fist held up high as it apparently intended on punching the Gundam.

Mika simply watched as the Titan closed the gap between itself and his unit. Right before it could connect its fist to Barbatos' chest unit, however, Mika raised his Gundam's arm unit upwards and caught its fist right before it could make contact with the cockpit hatch.

The Titan seemed to be somewhat stunned by that as it gave a soft grunt, though its roar was quickly cut off when Mika took a page out of the Gaze Ein's textbook and flung it off to the side. The Fifteen Metre crashed directly into a building, causing some smoke to be ejected upwards as Mika snorted.

'What a weird abnormal,' thought the Pilot as he had Barbatos turn towards where the Titan had crashed at. By all means, he had intended to crush the thing's nape, though before he could even get close enough to do so, movement on Barbatos' radar caused Augus to turn and spot a handful of approaching Titans, namely a tubby Twelve that looked as though it would fall over with every step it took and a handful of Three to Ten Metres who stumbled over to his current location.

'You got lucky,' was all Mika could absentmindedly think of as he turned his attention away from the Fifteen Metre Muscular Titan that was slowly but surely recovering.

The boy also failed to notice a trio of Cadets zip by into the Refuel Station, all of whom stared at the Gundam with wide eyed amazement before entering the building.

Strange… what was this… thing?

His mind wasn't completely there, but a part of what was told him that he knew what it was…

The name Mechanical Titan rang aloud in his mind. A rumored Titan from Marie, one that killed other Titans. He never saw it in person in the past… and to see it now…

To see it killing other Titans without remorse… it was oddly pleasureful.

The Mechanical Titan was remorseless, as evident by how it quite literally shoved its entire hand into a chubby Titan's stomach. Pulling it back, the Mechanical Titan ripped out what appeared to be its spinal cord before tossing the now spineless Titan towards an approaching Ten Metre with enough force to pulverise both.

As for the dissolving spinal cord in its grip, the Mechanical Titan used it as a makeshift weapon to bludgeon a Five Metre Titan, stabbing it through the mouth with the thing and ripping its nape apart in the process. Before the Five Metre Titan could dissolve, however, the Mechanical Titan swung its leg towards it with just enough force to send it flying straight towards a Fifteen Metre Titan.

On impact, the Fifteen Metre's torso promptly imploded as the body of the Five Metre ripped straight through it. By some strange miracle, the Fifteen Metre was still alive, something the Mechanical Titan took note of as it approached it, ripping what appeared to be a massive Longsword out of the side of the Trost Refuel Station as it did.

And without any hesitation, the Mechanical Titan stabbed down into the nape of the Titan with the Longsword, killing it instantaneously.

Whilst watching all this, he couldn't help but feel differently about this… Titan. One that, like him, saw Titans as enemies. Perhaps this one was like him…

That thought, however, was quickly ejected from his head when he saw a Fifteen Metre Titan attempt to sneak up on the Mechanical Titan…

Barbatos' rader picked up the Titan's approach before it even got a chance to get close to the unit.

Turning it around on its heel, Mika had Barbatos swing the Longsword straight at the incoming Titan… only to stop when he realized that something was holding it back.

A pair of hands were locked firmly around the wrists of the Fifteen metre Titan that had attempted to strike Barbatos, and before long, Mika, thanks to his Gundam's height, managed to see what had stopped it; that strangely humanoid Titan.

It stood behind the Fifteen Metre, holding it back as it roared out in anger, its hands clasping the Titan's wrists tightly.

And, with a simple motion, the… Rogue Titan tossed the Fifteen Metre off to the side, sending it crashing straight into a building and leaving Mika somewhat shocked with its actions.

'What the…' thought Augus as he turned his attention back towards the Rogue Titan, who in turn glared at him with those teal green eyes it possessed… eyes that seemed vaguely familiar…

Mika's mind was brought back to reality when Barbatos' radar once more warned him of an incoming threat from behind. Immediately, he swung the Longsword to the side and almost immediately decapitated a Titan with his blade.

In the meantime, the Rogue Titan delivered a powerful bow to the jaw of an approaching Fourteen Metre Titan, and Mika turned towards it just in time to see it happen.

'So, it's a Titan that attacks other Titans, huh?' thought Mika as the Rogue Titan shoved its fist strength through the neck of the Fourteen Metre Titan, its fist emerging from its nape. Augus snorted at that as he sliced a Fifteen Metre from the top of its head to between its legs, not bothering to question its sudden lack of aggression towards the Gundam.

'I always thought they didn't exist.'

Two chapters within a week? Yare Yare Daze… I never expected this.

Strangely enough, I feel rather invigorated. Perhaps it's because I built the MG Barbatos or sommet. Whatever the reason, it would seem as though the previous chapter won't be the final update of the year after all.

So this chapter finally moves things along. Retaking the Refuel Station, the meeting of Mikazuki/Barbatos and Eren and all that jazz. Hopefully I did it all in an enjoyable way… hopefully.

Anyhow, I don't have much else to say, so onto the reviews I got at the time of me updating this.

jan2dumlao: you'll see when the time comes.

noobie53: well yes, at least two of them will have their asses kicked

Setsuna Rizky: yes an update. Here's another. And firstly, you'll have to wait for a while before you see their reactions. Secondly, you are forgiven. And thirdly, I wonder if I unintentionally created a new ship… I hope not.

The StrangerThatCameFromNowhere: hold your horses. I'm just quoting him for fun. If I were to write a Far Cry story, it'd be regarding the Second Game. And yes, a lot of Titan blood will be spilled until the end of the Trost Arc.

Ulydace: well… the end portion of this chapter kinda answers that question…

So hopefully this is the final update of the year. If not, then well… it'll be somewhat awkward.

But if it really is, then I'd like to say Merry Christmas, happy new years, and would also like to thank all of you for your support! It's been, what? Nearly three years since I published my first story, the original Tekketsu No Kyojin, and here I am three years later rewriting it.

It feels strangely nice… and I'd just like to thank you all for (maybe) reading everything I've posted in the past three years and sticking with me for that long!

Here's to three more years of me writing stuff!