Chapter 59: The Slaughter of Liberio
Falco slowly opens his eyes; his vision was a haze at first and the most immediate sound to his ears was the crumbling of debris around the container he had sheltered in. Then there was a light, a parting before him like the crack within a cave of darkness, he crawled towards it and squeezed his body through. As his vision cleared and the sound of crumbling rock subsided he was greeted to the sight of a large battle.
Rapid gunshots like multiple machine guns rattled in the air; if he closed his eyes he would certainly convince himself that he was back in the trenches, back in the Mid-East as Eldian soldiers ran into Alliance machine guns. But he wasn't. He was home; his home was now a warzone between Marley and Paradis.
Suddenly a rocket screamed through the air above him, he looked up to the projectile fly by with a trail of smoke as it struck a building with destructive force. He quickly spotted the Warhammer titan standing by the building, a shield covering it as it held a war hammer in its other it he saw the Cart titan carrying the panzer unit on its back as the machine guns returned fire.
There was a loud cry, he looked down towards the floor level to see Marley soldiers running out into the open, charging towards the other buildings and towards Eren's titan who stood just to the side as it covered its neck and stared at the Warhammer and Cart titans. The soldiers on the ground began to fire their guns at Eren; Falco could see the anti-tank rifles in their hands as its shots bounced off the crystal covering of the its hand protecting its nape.
But too quickly, they were gunned down by flashes of light on the rooftops; Falco watched as they tried to run but were simply shot down mercilessly before they refocused their fire on the Cart and Warhammer titan.
The Cart titan roared out "No!" Suddenly another projectile was fired, this time it looked to have found its target; striking one of the pods of the Cart's armour, killing a member of the panzer unit. Falco could only watch in horror and grief at the sight.
Then Eren Yeager's titan moved forward, lowering its hand to guard its face as he moved over into the centre to face the Warhammer in front of it in an almost confident manner.
Falco tried to move forward, inching forward while he ducked behind some debris. Then he felt the ground shaking as a flicker of blue sparks appears and a hole formed for a hand to reach out and grab the edge before pulling itself up.
His breath quickly halted in his throat as Ed rose from the ground, covered in dust. He looked around, Falco could see his fist clench tightly. "Damn it…" he loudly grumbled. Falco tried to move away, as he moved back his foot bumped into some rubble causing it to crumble to the ground. Ed snapped his head to the sound.
Falco froze as the two looked at each other. He wanted to run away or call out for help but he hesitated.
"We're not here for war…" Ed walked up to Falco, his hands unclenched and raised slightly "I befriended people who have tried to kill me before and I can do it again."
"Falco, are you alright?" he asked as he knelt down in front of him. "Are you hurt?"
"N- no." he replied.
"Okay, that good." Ed said suddenly there was a piercing titan cry which caught their attention as the Warhammer slammed its shield into Eren, pushing him back; she prepared to strike him with the hammer before Paradis soldiers flew around it and struck it with what looked like long spears, exploding around it. Ed turned back to Falco, a look of sadness on his face "I'm sorry, Falco." He said "I didn't want this to happen, you get out of here, find your family and get somewhere safe." Ed stood up "Good luck." Ed then quickly ran away towards the fight.
As he sat there watching, he quickly remembered Captain Braun!
He turned back towards the shell he had left from, looking at it more clearly he could now see it was a cone made of the fingers of the armoured titan, he looked inside the cone through the hole he crawled out from. "Captain Braun!" he yelled as he looked upon the still form of Reiner in the corner of the cone, his body absorbed into the flesh of the titan.
"Team leader, there are Marley soldiers heading towards the center." A scout said, looking through the scope on their rifle. "Infantrymen, just rifles and some of them look like Eldian troops."
Marlowe peered in through his telescope to see a platoon of Marley soldiers run through a street just a few blocks ahead of them. "Which team is placed there?" he asked.
"Floch's team, sir." The scout replied "However our orders per Squad leaders Nanaba and Ral are to hold these positions and not alert the enemy to our presence." Suddenly an explosion in the distance was set off which caught their attention as the fighting in the internment zone center raged on.
"Good, we just have to keep these areas clear for the evacuation." Marlowe stated "Do not engage passing Marley troops, unless the enemy is creating blockades then keep the street clear." He ordered. "If there's any mass movement of troops passing through then alert me and the other team leaders quickly."
The scout nodded "I'll relay the message to the others." They replied as they hopped off the roof and then repelled themselves through the air. Marlowe turned his head back to the internment zone center, the sound of gunshots and explosions echoed loudly carried by the wind along with the cries of a titan.
I hope they're winning, I'm sure they are… but we're running against the clock, the enemy's divisions will be coming down on us soon.
He looked at his team; crouched behind the ledges of the roof and ventilation pipes, large guns mounted pointing at the streets ready to cut down any massive ranks of Marley troops that could pass through.
Our teams have enough firepower to inflict heavy causalities on a company of troops
"Team leader" Said one of the scouts; he turned to them, as they watched through their telescope "Enemy squads moving through the same street, passed Floch's team; looks like more infantry."
"Thank you, keep looking, if you see any of our defectors then direct them to-" suddenly there was a cry of gunfire nearby, Marlowe snapped his head to the sound to see the rooftops of a building just a few streets down shine up in dotted lights as flashes were fired towards the ground. "What the hell?"
"Team leader, should we head over?" one of the scout asked.
Marlowe turned to them "you three follow me, the rest of you hold this position." He ordered, he fired his hook onto the nearby building as three other members of his team followed. He pulled himself across the wide gap between the buildings as he hopped over, the gunfire grew louder and the sparks of shots clearer. He leapt onto the roof of the building, the backs of the scouts looking down in front of him, as they ran up to them the gunfire quickly stopped as a couple of the scouts jumped down to the ground. "What's going on here?"
The scouts turned to him, a calm look on their faces. "We were spotted, we returned fire." One of them replied, as if stating a simple and obvious fact.
"Spotted, how?" Marlowe questioned confused, angry beginning to rise how can they be so calm about this…? "Where's Floch?" Marlowe asked, he looked to the edge; scout troops began moving bodies over and tossing them into alleyways while the injured and prisoners were shoved against a wall, into two groups.
"Team leader Floch is clearing the street." The other scout replied. "Don't worry, team leader, there were no Eldians, just Marleyans." Marlowe looked at them questioningly.
"What the hell do you mean by-" the sound of a loud kick and a gasped cry caught his attention as one scout threw an injured Marley soldier against the others as a group of four pointed their guns at them. Marlowe and his subordinates quickly hopped down, the gas slowing his fall, as his boots hit the ground and he sprinted up to them "What are you doing?" he questioned. "Don't tell me you were going to kill them."
"Why not?" one of the scouts replied "It's not like these bastards wouldn't have deserved it."
Marlowe pushed them back, standing in between both the scouts and the Marley prisoners, the others around started to watch. "No, we don't kill POWs; you'd be tried for this, you-"
"Marlowe." A voice called out, he looked to see Floch walk up to him, calm and serious.
"What the hell is going on?" Marlowe questioned "We weren't supposed to engage the enemy; we just have to keep these streets clear for the defectors and informants to escape."
"That's exactly what we're doing" Floch turned his head before whistling, one of the doors of a building opened as a couple people dressed in regular clothes, some carrying rifles and machines, and of all ages moved through before heading down the street. "We had to intercept or else they would be killed."
Marlowe was stunned for a few seconds, his mind racing "But- But they wouldn't have known they were working for us in the first place and firing on them may have drawn others to here."
"They won't." Floch said as he glanced over to the side, Marlowe turned his head to see a scout begin to scribble a circle on the ground "Don't worry; we'll clean up the evidence." Floch then turned to one group of prisoners, it was only then did Marlowe notice the armbands on one group. "Do you live here?" Floch asked, the Eldian soldiers replied with a yes. "Good, head back to your homes or stay out of our way." The scouts guarding them moved back as the soldiers tepidly moved away before running. Floch turned back to Marlowe "You should head back to your team."
The group of four then moved back to the Marley prisoners, pointing their guns at them. "Wait…" he moved forward again before another scout held him back "Get off me!" as he took his eyes off them for a second, the shattered and rapid gunfire cut through the sudden sharp cries as it cut through them, Marlowe could only watch in horror at the sight.
"Clean them up." Floch ordered as the scouts began to the pick up the bodies of the Marley soldiers before shoving them into the back alley trash bin. The floor was stained in blood and bullet holes.
Marlowe pushed the scout off of him as his fingers cocked his gun; his men lifted their weapons up slightly as they stood behind him. Those scouts near Floch looked at them, their body, head and weapons now pointing in Marlowe's direction.
"You wouldn't dare." Floch said.
"What happened here is a war crime,"Marlowe responded through gritted teeth "I can't let any of you get away with this."
"War crime? This is Marley you're talking about; they've done worst and you're upset about this? And let's not forget what they did to us." Floch stated. "Besides, we didn't execute any prisoners; there was never a fight here to begin with."
Suddenly there was a slight shake behind them, noticeable but not enough to knock them off their feet as the holes in the ground were covered up and the blood sunk down into the pavement. Marlowe turned his head back to the scout who was near the alchemist symbol who was now quickly wiping it away.
"We should head back to the rooftops, Team leader, who knows who might see us." Floch said as he pointed his gun to the ledge.
Pieck scanned the battlefield, her eyes sweeping across the center as the dotted flicker of lights off the opposing rooftops burst through the smoke and bullets struck her titan's armour or the Warhammer's shield. Eren Yeager, the holder of the Founding titan, walked back and forth from them watching them as he waited for them to make their next move against him and his allies.
Eren's titan stopped for a second as he cried out in front of them; goading them to attack him as he picked up a rock from the ground and then tossed it up into the air as it crashed into some buildings a few streets down.
Pieck's eyes wondered over in its direction before looking back at him, clenching her teeth hard almost hard enough for it to crack.
Is that your plan? Make us desperate enough to attack you head on?
Pieck scanned the rooftops once more, she thought back to the scouts' attack on the Warhammer titan as it battled Eren; how they almost overwhelmed it enough for Eren to come just a titan's breathe away from devouring it.
That's their tactic, getting us away from a fixed position and into an open fight where they can put us into a meat grinder. She looked below and the doors and entrances to the adjacent and oppose buildings. The only way we can stop that is if we clear out the buildings and turn the tables of Eren but…
She then looked to see Marley soldiers hiding behind debris and rocks as gunfire rained down on them like storm of hail.
My panzer unit can't lay down enough fire to cover their advance and hold off any attacking enemy forces, especially without… The right side of her panzer armour was quiet and lighter. They'll pay… they'll all pay for that…
She shook her head.
Keep it together; we can't avenge Carlos like this…
Eren's titan then picked up another rock, raised it above his head leaving himself open to an attack. The Warhammer dropped the sword it had in its hand as a spear formed in its hand. "No!" the Warhammer yelled out in defiance.
"Don't do it-" it was obvious, as the Warhammer pushed its shield aside for just a second and left its body exposed in almost rapid succession a wave of those rockets which killed Carlos were fired from the enemy's position and struck the Warhammer, pushing it back into the building as the force of the explosions struck it.
Eren then drops the rock to the ground as it charges the Warhammer titan, ignoring the gunfire from Marley soldiers and the machineguns from the Panzer unit as it grabs the Warhammer titan by its shoulders and then tosses it back into the middle like an overzealous boxer not yet finished with their downed opponent.
Eren picked up the sword left by the Warhammer on the ground, as Eren stood up Pieck was half tempted to quickly go for it and bite at it.
"Fire on the nape!" Magath ordered, it seemed Magath had the same idea.
And so did Eren, as bullets bounced off harmlessly from the crystal surface which covered his neck, the loud bangs and piercing shots from the anti-tank rifle doing little more than added just a small dent on the already jagged surface as it approached the Warhammer titan.
The Warhammer looked up at Eren and thrust its spear into his side; Eren grabbed on the staff of the spear and held it in place as he flipped the sword in his hand, kicked the shield from the Warhammer's hand, and then plunged the blade into its chest just below the neck. Before ripping the spear from his side, crouching down and looking at the Warhammer face to face.
Eren didn't utter a growl or cry as he took the sword and began to force the blade upwards through the neck. The Warhammer titan then grabbed onto the sword as it tried to stop Eren from pushing the sword any further.
"Magath, how much longer till the divisions arrive?" Pieck asked as they could only watch as the Warhammer struggled against Eren Yeager.
"Not long now, they should be just coming up to the internment zone boarders." Magath replied "Even if Eren Yeager eats the Warhammer, he and the scouts will be outnumbered and they'll run out of bullets soon enough with the fire they've been raining on us."
"The alchemist, Edward or Alphonse Elric are still somewhere though." Pieck stated "We still have to be careful-"
All at once a loud explosion just behind them caught their attention as they looked back to a see colossal and towering wall of thick dark smoke and just below it the orange flickers of a sea of fire, just outside the internment zone walls and into the city Liberio proper. It was as if the very gates of hell had suddenly opened up.
And then, almost simultaneously, the ubiquitous sound of lightening striking roared out as a flash of light streaked across the sky.
Emma peered through the corner at the alleyway of the street as seemingly endless column of Marley troops grew closer and closer, she looked across her to see another scout hiding in an alleyway just opposite her. He nodded his head at her, she nodded back.
She looked down and crouched below, in front of her was a transmutation circle, inside was written all the symbols of earth and rock.
Oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium… she listed off the elements in her head.
"Deep breaths, focus on your alchemy and visualise what you want to create." she could hear Alphonse's words in her head as he taught them "In a tense situation, it's easy to get distracted but if you have any hope of doing anything, even surviving, you need to keep your focus."
"All is one and one is all…" she muttered as she placed her hand on the symbol, the Marley soldiers were now passing through, and walking passed her. The circle underneath her hand then began to glow a bright pale blue light as the ground the stood on rumbled, bring the Marley soldiers to a sudden halt as the sides of the road then began to curve upwards and the Marley troops disappeared from view from the wall of rock and stone.
Emma turned to the ledge of the roof above and fired her hook up, reeling herself up to the roof, she climbed upwards to see the other scouts watching the Marley troops, she looked down; a long bowl trapped the Marley soldiers, she looked across the roofs to see her other comrades up too watching and then looking to her roof. And directly at Lieutenant Arlert who stood there quietly.
"How many men are in there?" Armin asked.
"Three hundred was the estimate, sir." replied one of the scouts.
There was a sullen expression on his face "Three hundred…" he raised his hand up, his index finger pressing against his thumb as he closed his eyes. "Emma, move towards Squad Leader Nanaba's position, block off the armoured column's advance." He ordered with his eyes still kept on the trapped soldiers below.
"Yes, Lieutenant" Emma replied, she looked back down to see the Marley soldiers now trying to escape as they tried to lift themselves over as some escaped and others tried to pull those still inside out.
"I'm so sorry." Armin muttered.
Then there was a click. A spark from his finger tips.
Then hell opened up underneath the Marley soldiers as an ocean of fire swept across them. Against the roar of the fire was the screams of those below who were engulfed in the flames and the stench of burning meat, the heat was intense; akin to standing near a roaring bonfire.
As Emma began to move away, she noticed the other scouts holding their noses and their breath, everyone except Armin who turned away with his head looking at the ground with his eyes shut.
Emma hopped across the roofs of the city, just a couple streets down, she caught sight of the trucks of Marley soldiers on the road, and their vehicles stopped as the troops began to run onto the road, looking to the direction of the massive firestorm. On the roof she spotted the others, peering down at the soldiers below. She ran up to them and to Nanaba, saluting her.
"Alchemist battalion?" Nanaba asked, she nodded their heads "Good, I need you to close up the road." She pointed further down the road "Once that happens, fall back, Mina and the rest of us will mop up here." Emma looked over to the side to see Mina standing next to her, a single ponytail resting on her shoulder, her arms folded as he thumb rubbed against a silver ring on her index finger.
"Yes, squad leader." Emma replied as she saluted Nanaba, she ran off to the ledge, jumping off and pulling herself through the air as she hopped from building to building before landing into an alleyway. She knelt down and quickly pulled out a piece of chalk, drawing a circle and then the details.
Oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium…
"Deep breaths, focus on your alchemy and visualize what you want to create…" she muttered as she finished the circle, she put the chalk away before then placing her hand on the circle, a familiar blue light shone in front of her as the ground began to shake and recede underneath the feet of the Marley soldiers as formed into a large wall blocking off the main road and the entrances and paths around it.
She stood up and fired the hook onto the roof of the building, reeling herself up and climbing over the ledge, she ran up to the edge and watched; a single scout jumped over the edge and over the street, sparks of bright yellow light began to swarm her like fireflies as a bolt of lightning flashed from the sky and struck her.
The cloud of smoke appeared for only just a second before it was blown away by the large titan falling onto the road as it struck the ground with his hand crushing an armoured vehicle. The other scouts on the ledge began to fire down on the Marley column. Emma watched as the disoriented Marley soldiers tried to fight back; shooting back at the scouts and the Female titan.
The Female titan stomped on the trucks and armoured cars, kicking groups of Marley soldiers around as a rapid storm of machineguns poured down on infantry men armed only with bolt action rifles.
She looked over to the wall as Marley soldiers tried to find a way out, wedged between a rock and a titan, some escaped through the buildings and through the alleyways as the rest were massacred in their panic. She watched as some tried to ram the wall down with their trucks in a vain effort to escape.
In her mind she could hear Alphonse's words again, it was back in that classroom.
"I want you all to understand, even though you're all soldiers, Alchemy is meant to be something for everyone, I mean everyone." he explained "For now the army, but some day for ordinary people, for now it's the people of Paradis but someday the world."
"Help me!" yelled one of the Marley soldiers as a truck crashed onto him, punted by the Female titan as it crashed into the wall squashing others.
"For now… maybe we use it to fight and destroy…"
The Marley soldiers, what was left, scattered where ever they could while whoever was left was the dead and dying under the shadow of the Female titan and the watching eyes of her comrades, just a grave of broken trucks and broken men.
"I hope that someday, you use your talents and what you learned not just to protect yourself from others but also to give to them."
From a chunk of a wall, Falco watched as the Warhammer titan struggled against Eren Yeager, as the blade almost reached to its throat, a massive spiral burst from the ground underneath the Warhammer and impaled them both as it lifted them into the air, both their titans went limp as they were suspended in the air.
"Woah…" Falco muttered as he watched in terrified awe at the sight, there was a gust of smoke from the nape of Eren's titan before he was the shadow of a figure hop into the sky before an explosion of light appeared and a cloud of smoke was parted by the stature of a fifteen meter titan who landed on his knees and stood up, looking at the still impaled Warhammer titan.
Eren tired to reach out to the still captured Warhammer, his fingertips just out of reach. Eren looked down onto the ground, the sword still there, picking up the blade he placed both of his titans hand on the grip as he pulled it back.
"Fire on him!" came an order, Falco recognized the voice instantly.
"Colonel Magath." He said as he looked up to the direction of the voice, a scattered grouping of gunfire followed as Marley troops and the Cart titan panzer unit tired to fire Eren. Instantly responding, the enemy troops fired back at Marley in another intense exchange of bullets.
Falco began to run just on the edges of the battlefield, moving from cover to cover, as he continued to watch the battle. Under the hail gunfire the sound of glass shattering crept through as crystal began to form on Eren's neck and his hand as he covered his face, the bullets bouncing off the top of his hand as he swung the sword at the neck of the Warhammer.
Falco, hiding behind a piece of wall, watched as Eren beheaded the Warhammer titan from the base of its neck; picking up the head and shoving his hand into the neck before pulling out the insides. Falco covered his mouth at the horrible sight while Eren looked at the dissolving titan flesh before tossing the smoking head aside.
"He… he killed her…" Falco muttered out.
Eren's titan then turned to the stage after looking at the ground; his hands began to further harden with a crystal layer. The stage area exploded in an implosive of light as a titan formed before them all; its bones rising from the ground as the flesh, muscle and skin followed as the forming titan stuck out its hand and formed a war hammer in its palm.
The Warhammer was back.
The two titans then quickly charged at each other, weapons in hands as they clashed together, the titans pushed each other to the side as the gunfire continued to rain down, he got close to a small group of Marley soldiers trying to push forward. As he ran to them, they were cut down almost as quickly as they stepped away from the building. He ducked down onto the ground with his hands on his head.
He looked up and peered towards the direction of the shots; in the lower windows of the building he spotted figures armed with guns pointing out from a window, he could barely make out the face but he saw eyes watching him. A hand point towards their arm; Falco looked towards his arm, his armband still firmly wrapped around. He looked back up to see the figures hand clench into a fist as they placed it over their heart before quickly moving inside.
Falco quickly reached the building, Marley soldiers ducking behind cover as the scouts still continued to fire on their positions. Falco ducked behind the pillar, as he waited out the hail of gunfire before quickly bolting for the door and running inside.
The inside of the building was cramped with Marley soldier, standing and injured, alive and dead. He ran up to one of the soldiers "Where's colonel Magath?" he asked. The soldier looked at him confused "I'm a warrior candidate, I'm here to help." The soldier quickly then had a look of realization.
"Upstairs on the roof with the Cart titan." He said. Falco saluted the soldier before running up the stairs, each level he looked out through the window and peered at the titan fight outside. Now people dressed in black began to swarm the titans as they dodged Marley's bullets and fired explosives at the Warhammer as Eren tried to wrestle the hammer from its hands.
As Falco reached the roof he found dozens and dozens of troops running around, carrying supplies and belts of ammunition to the Cart titan or lining the edge of the roof as they tried to fire back at the enemy troops who rapidly fired at them, a Marley soldier was shot in the head and quickly someone drag their body to the side before another took their place on the wall.
He spotted Magath, hidden behind the Cart titan's leg; Falco ducked his head down as he ran towards Magath "Colonel!" he called out catching his attention. Magath looked at him in shock, as Falco approached him Magath grabbed him and pulled him behind the Cart titan as bullets zipped by picking off another Marley soldier.
"Grice, what the hell are you doing here?" Magath questioned "Are you hurt?" Magath then looked behind him and then back to the titans fighting. "Why isn't vice captain Braun out here?" Magath asked "Is he dead?"
"No colonel, but he's just unresponsive." Falco replied "But I don't know if he's injured or dying!"
"What happened to him, were you attacked by the enemy?" Magath asked.
"Sir, its… there's too much to say…" he tried to reply "We were held up by Eren Yeager, then Edward Elric arrived, they argued, then the Warhammer showed up…" Magath looked at him confused. Falco didn't know what to tell Magath even as their words and actions flashed in his mind.
"We're not here to start a war, the opposite, we want to prevent one"
"Okay, okay…" Magath said as he took in a deep breath "We'll talk about this later but right now, we need to know where vice captain Braun is, if we can get him in this fight we have a chance at recapturing this square." Falco
Magath looked where Falco was pointing "God damn it, we won't be able to reach him…" Magath looked back to him "Grice, how did you get through the gunfire?"
Falco looked down as he thought back to the figure in the window that had gunned down the Marley soldiers… except him. Pointing to the armband then placing the fist on the chest, as if there was an understanding that he wasn't aware of but which kept him alive. "They… they just didn't fire on me… I saw one of them look at me and they just left me."
"Any soldier we sent out gets gunned down the second they step foot out of the building's perimeter." Magath said, he sighed deeply as he turned back to the stage "Damn it all… maybe they aren't looking to kill civilians…" he looked to Falco again "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I have to order this; go find Gabi Braun, she should be near entrance to the Internment zone." Falco nodded, he was about leave before Magath grabbed his arm "Grice, stay out of the main street and if you see anything strange keep clear, good luck." Falco nodded before he duck down and ran off back towards the stairs.
Ed kept his head down as he peered through a crack in the debris, he watched as the Warhammer titan was decapitated by Eren's titan and its head fall to the ground. "You're not there…" Ed muttered to himself, he looked towards the ground; his eyes catching the mist trail which led back to the remains of the stage and the apartment complex whose front was now in tatters.
Ed ducked his head as he ran towards the stage, trying to hide himself. He slid behind a large piece of rock, just in time as a new body of the Warhammer titan rose from the ground; standing tall and new, angry and defiant as it formed a new weapon in its hand and charged towards Eren.
The Warhammer and Eren clashed as Ed continued to crawl back to the stage; he spotted the familiar long pale white cord that was buried into the ground.
"There you are." Ed said, he walked towards the entrance to the cord, surrounded by the chunks of the stage and the ruined buildings, he clapped his hands together and threw them onto the ground; the ground shook slightly and a rough sound of rocks scrapping against each other as large crystal was lifted from underneath the ground and out into the open.
Ed looked at the large crystal before him, focusing on the woman inside its shell. Now looking at him. "Found you" he said with a smirk before quickly turned serious as he once more placed his hands together, flashes of blue light flickering around him.
But before he could place his hands on the crystal and breakthrough, the crystal exploded into a cloud of white. Ed hopped back quickly and landed onto his back away from the blast, he looked back up to see the crystal now covered in a cage whose bars were covered in small spikes.
Ed quickly stood back up "You cheating-" he looked towards the titans, the Warhammer now focused on him as it pushed Eren to the side. The Warhammer raised its weapons above its head as it looked to crush Ed will the face of its hammer. Ed fires the hooks onto a nearby building as he quickly escaped the crashing blow of the hammer which struck onto his place.
Flying into the air Ed then fired his hooks onto the Warhammer titan and reeled himself towards her, the Warhammer titan quickly tried to intercept Ed who broke off his path and then attached himself to the new crystal pillar. Ed clapped his hands, ready to transmute something from the crystal to battle the Warhammer, when the titan was struck by thunder spears from a lone scout.
Explosions ripped through its neck, the Warhammer titan collapsed onto its knees as the scout landed next to Ed. "Mikasa." Ed said as the two looked at each other. "Great timing, where's the rest of the squad?"
"Escorting the defectors to the boats." Mikasa replied "They should be heading here soon, there's still one more Marley convoy heading towards the internment zone. "They'll be here soon."
"Good, we can't spend any longer here…" he said looking around at the carnage.
Gabi waved her arms as she pointed down to the street for the arriving Marley soldiers entering the internment zone through the gates; the soldiers trickled in, squads of troops entering through transport trucks. Gabi and the guards waved the trucks down, a few driving just next to them.
"You need to reinforce the east checkpoint!" Gabi informed them "That position is low of troops!"
"Who are you?" the Marley soldier questioned standing at the back of the transport truck, perplexed that an Eldian girl would be instructing him. Gabi tried to remain calm and composed at the Marley soldier looking down at her from the truck.
"She's one of the warrior candidates, Magath sent her so listen." Said one of the guards "Head to the eastern checkpoint." He was a little forceful in his voice.
The Marley soldier stared at them "Driver, head east." Gabi sighed out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding in. The trucks began to move into different streets, Gabi watched the entrance as more moved in.
"The main columns of troops should be-" the gate guard was interrupted.
Then suddenly in the distance outside the gates, the sound of explosions was lifted into the air as the sound of fire, the roar of a mass of burning buildings, and the shrill cries of people quickly snuffed out.
Then there was a bolt of lightning striking out across the sky, like a javelin thrown by a God which struck the ground just a couple streets away from them as a distance echo of gunfire was heard. The three could only just watch as scattered troops ran into the internment zone for cover, running away from something behind them.
"What is going on…" Gabi muttered.
"Gabi!" came a yell from behind them; they turned around to see Falco running up to them. "Gabi… I'm glad I found you but we need to head back right now." Falco said in between heavy gasps "Its Reiner… he's hurt but he won't heal… we have to get to him…"
Gabi looked at him perplexed "Wuh-" suddenly a troop transport truck passing by was blown up, exploding and killing all the men riding inside. They all ducked to the ground as more explosions crashed onto the ground in quick succession as it tore apart the Marley forces. As the explosions subsided gunfire quickly followed, from the ground looking up Gabi saw flashes of light from the rooftops firing down at the Marley troops in disarray.
"Fuck!" yelled one of the gate guards, they stood up from the ground and then smashed the butt of their rifle into a glass window "You kids get inside!" he ordered as the other lifted them into the building; Gabi was picked up and thrown inside, as was Falco, as the gate guards turned to return fire at the enemy.
One of the gate guards was struck in the head, their body crashing into the wall as they slumped down dead. "No!" yelled the other, suddenly there was gunfire coming from the street. The guard turned to fire at them but was shot through the stomach, stumbling through the broken glass and into the building with Gabi and Falco.
Gabi quickly crawled to him, wanting to help him. She looked up, looking through the smashed glass at the silhouette of the enemy above; the darkness covering them. "Area clear!" suddenly the enemy forces standing on the building rappelled down onto the ground. Gabi crawled towards the wall and peered over the edge of the shattered window; the enemy forces of Paradis were dressed in black with metal rods armed with strange looking guns.
"Gabi!" Falco yelled in a loud whisper "Get back here, we have to leave!" he tried to wave her here but she stayed put watching them. Suddenly one of the enemy soldiers passed through the window. Looking in and instantly spotting Gabi.
They both looked at each other as Gabi sat frozen in place; the woman in front of her was armed with what looked like a rifle, she dressed in a black uniform with small metal pieces on her front with a symbol of white and blue wings on it.
Gabi stared into her brown eyes as she held her breathe, waiting for the woman to point the gun at her and fire.
"Clear here, enemy soldier taken down." The woman said.
"That's two more for you, Sasha." Said a voice nearby, the woman left turning her back on Gabi as she ran off, Gabi peered further as she watched plain clothed people jog through the street picking up Marley rifles as the Paradis soldiers around directed them elsewhere.
And in the centre, a man draped in a dark green cloak watched around directing the enemy forces. "My team, head towards the centre!" he ordered "The rest of you, head to the evacuation point!" he pointing a handle into the sky as a hook was fired from his waist and pulled himself up and out of her sight as the others followed.
Suddenly the gate guard coughed out weakly catching their attention. "Mr gate guard." Gabi whispered loudly.
"You kids… get out of here…" the gate guard. Gabi stood up and looked around, the street was now empty save for the wrecked transport trucks and dead bodies. She opened the door and stepped outside, her foot stepping on a rifle. She picked up the weapon, pulling back the bolt and checking inside, still a few shots left.
Falco followed her; he walked out a bit and headed towards the body of a person dressed in ordinary clothes, he looked down and picked something off of the person "Gabi…" Falco called out but Gabi didn't listen. Instead she began to walk off, heading into the direction of the enemy. "Gabi!" Falco yelled out as he chased after her.
Gabi looked back at Falco and then began to run off down the road after the plain clothed people who were working with the enemy.
Traitors!
Murderers!
They'll pay for this!
Pieck could only watch as the Warhammer titan was swarmed by the scout regiment, throwing long projectiles at them which exploded and pushed it around all while Eren Yeager and now one of the Elrics launched their attack; tipping the scales on an already uneven battle in their favour, The Warhammer tried to strike Eren Yeager as he tried to take the crystal holding the holder of the titan, the Warhammer misses its target as Eren dodges the attack.
Leaving itself open, a fist from the large crystal spiral struck the Warhammer in the ribs, knocking it to its knees as Eren then tackles the Warhammer to the ground.
Scout soldiers then swarmed the crystal, firing their projectiles at it; the long spears explode but the crystal holds.
Pieck internally sighs in relief "Colonel, we need to send a contingent of troops to protect the Warhammer." She said. "The enemy cannot be allowed to capture them."
"We need to get men passed this battlefield." Magath replied "Every team we send out is getting gunned down if they aren't in cover or stomped on by Eren Yeager." Magath looks back "Those damn reinforcements should be here…" he clenches his fist "Unless the damned enemy got to them first."
"We have to assume they have." Pieck responded "If you were them then you'd do the same thing; cutting off reinforcements to control the battlefield, we have to assume they may have surrounded us."
"In our own city." Magath commented in disgust "If the enemy was here to capture the warriors then we have to assume they have a method of escape but whatever they have can't get passed our navy."
"We have to take the chance; even if our own reinforcements are halted we are still on our own field." Pieck pointed out "If we can stop them from securing their objectives and possibly slow them down, further reinforcements will overwhelm the enemy." Pieck continued to analyse the battlefield "Also the loss of war chief Yeager has hurt our offensive capabilities."
"Then we'll take that chance, only way to fight back." Magath said "Pieck, have the panzer unit cover our advance, I'll take whatever men we can spare and secure the Warhammer titan. Magath headed towards the entrance and down the stairs, a few other soldiers following them.
We all have to hurry… Pieck thought if those attacks are anything to go by then the enemy has brought some of their greatest assets to the battlefield…
Her mind flashed back to the battle on Paradis four years ago; her own encounter with an enemy alchemist and bursts of fire that scorched her titan just from the click of their fingers.
You… You're here, aren't you?
Without warning, one of her pods exploded instantly killing her teammate "No!" Pieck yelled out, suddenly explosions struck from behind them, the Cart titan moved around to see the enemy had now ambushed them from behind.
"They're everywhere!" yelled of the Marley soldiers as the scouts swarmed them from the sky picking them off.
Long spears were fired down at Pieck as they tried to hit her, tearing apart the roof of the building in the process. Pieck tried to keep moving, dodging their attacks as the two pods attached to her tried to return fire from an enemy that now had them totally surrounded.
The next pod was struck with a spear, blowing up and almost pushing her off the ledge "No, not again!" she yelled out, not in anger but frustration. "Everyone, get out of her-" Suddenly there was a touch of heat just across her neck before a massive implosion of fire which threw her off the building; she fell and crashed into the ground of an empty street, the final pod and panzer unit crushed underneath her.
The Cart titan's body lay broken and battered, she tried to stand as a lone soldier jumped from the roof, more followed behind them with guns pointed at her. Pieck's eyes fixed onto the soldier leading them; there was a disgusting familiarity about him… and his gloves.
"You…" Pieck growled as she tried to stand on her mangled legs.
"This is for last time, Pieck" The soldier said before clicking their fingers; instantly the air within her mask grew hotter than an explosion of flames tore apart her face, blinding her. Then there was a sharp pain, not the kind experienced inside a titan but real pain.
She felt her arms being sliced apart from her body as someone pulled her from the titan; she emerged from the nape screaming out in pain as she was thrown down onto the ground to be held down by enemy soldiers, she felt the cut of a needle into her nape, it felt cold and her body began to shut down as she weakly tried to escape from the clutches of the enemy.
"Tie up her legs, bring her to the evacuation point." A voice ordered behind her as she shut her eyes and drifted away in darkness.
Ed, still handing off the spiral pillar, looked to the building where Marley had set its stronghold; the Marley soldiers were in disarray running away from the battlefield as the Cart titan had fallen off the building and out of his sight, the rest of Petra's squad now moving in to mop up any remaining resistance.
The Warhammer titan batted Eren away with her war hammer; striking the butt of the hammer against the sword Eren held "This is my chance." He said "Mikasa, I'm going for the Warhammer, you get Eren." Mikasa nodded as the two jumped off the spiral.
Ed fired his cables onto a nearby building as he swung himself towards the crystal, as he flew through the air he turned to see Eren striking down the Warhammer; burying the sword into the Warhammer's shoulder as he kicks the Warhammer down. The Warhammer tried to get up quickly and tackle Eren but was knocked down by the explosion of a thunder spear from Mikasa.
Eren then turned his head to the crystal, throwing himself at the trapped holder.
"No!" Ed yelled, as he pressed the trigger to his gear, a burst of smoke propelling him forward as both he and Eren raced towards the holder. And Eren reached her first.
His titan hand grasping at the cage which the holder had protected itself in as the spikes around it cut deep into its hand, Ed pulled up and avoided crashing into Eren's titan as he fired his hooks onto the ruined building and hung from it. "Eren, don't!" he yelled, Eren looked at Ed for a second before the fingers and knuckles on his free hands harden with crystal and he smashed his fist against the cage breaking it.
Widening his mouth as he prepared to bite down into the crystal and eat the Warhammer titan. Ed pulled out the blades in his scarab, ready to leap from the wall and go for Eren when his titan suddenly shuddered as it let out a loud gasp.
It fell to the ground lifeless, as the crystal rolled out of its hand; Ed looked to see Levi holding Eren as other scouts swarmed him. Ed let a deep sigh as he detached the hooks from the wall and fell to the floor. He landed near the crystal, not free from the cage it used to protect itself from Ed; he looked at the woman inside who looked back at Ed.
He tapped on the crystal with his knuckle "Hope you aren't too cosy in there." He said mockingly. Ed looked up to see someone approaching them "Captain Levi." she said.
"So this is the Warhammer titan huh." He said looking down at her too "Not so tough without your fake alchemy titan to help you." he mocked in a cold tone "Open the crystal up." Levi ordered.
Ed clapped his hands together and placed them onto the crystal; blue sparks of light and electricity formed around him as the crystal then shattered into a million small pieces and the holder fell onto it, their clothes soaking in a clear liquid which was inside with them.
"Argh!" she cried, Ed knelt down quickly and apprehended her; standing her up and holding her arms behind her back as Levi punched her in the face, dazing her.
"That was for Shiganshina." Levi said.
"That's twice we kicked your ass." Ed said as held her "And if you were smart you'll learn from that." A few other scouts ran towards them and handcuffed the holder and they injected her with a tranquilizer, knocking her out as they placed a blindfold over her.
He then spotted the other group and they escorted a handcuffed Eren with them.
"Gabi stop!" Falco said chasing after her. Gabi ran towards a street corner; there she spotted someone just walking passed. She ran to them and stopped at the turn, peering through the corner. She saw the people rush into a building as the enemy forces led them inside as others took watch. "Gabi, we have to go back." Falco said grabbing her shoulder "It's not safe here, if they see us then-"
"Hey!" called out a voice from above them, they looked up to see a person fall from the sky and land onto the ground as puffs of smoke slowed their fall. Gabi almost raised the rifle in her hand at it before Falco grabbed her arm. Gabi noticed the guns attached to their suit and the rest of their gear and equipment. "Who are you?" she looked at Gabi, holding the Marley rifle.
"We're with you guys!" Falco said quickly, waving his arms in front of him, he then showed her something, Gabi looked at it; a badge made into the symbol of a tree was held up. "She uh, she's with me, she's my sister."
"What are you doing here then?" the enemy soldier asked perplexed. "Shouldn't you be with the other groups?"
"We got lost, luckily we found you guys." Falco lied, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh you must been with one of the other groups." The soldier said, they pointed them to the building "There's an escape tunnel there; your group's probably gotten to the harbour already."
The harbour?
"Tha- Thanks!" Falco says as he pushes Gabi along, the enemy soldier then fired a cord from the arm and flew away, Falco quickly put the badge on. "Oh God, Oh God…." Falco says as he and Gabi walk towards the building "How are we going to get out of this?"
"Falco, I'm going to follow them…" Gabi whispered.
"Are you crazy?" he questioned "We can't follow them, we have to get out of here and get back to-" As they walked up to the door, an enemy soldier jogged to them and placed his hand up halting them.
Gabi almost raised her rifle at them, thinking their cover had been found out "Wait for a second." The soldier then looked over to the side as more of them jumped off the roof and onto the ground, running to them; as they came closer both Gabi and Falco noticed two people being carried on their backs.
As they got closer, they both gasped involuntarily; noticing Pieck being carried on their shoulder and another following just behind. They passed through the door quickly with the other troops. "Alright, come through and hurry."
Gabi rushed to the door, running in to catch up with Pieck, Falco followed her.
The Cart titan! We have to save Pieck!
As they entered the building they found more enemy soldiers "It's in the back." One of them pointed "You kids watch your step." They were led to a staircase heading down; they ran down the stairs into a cellar to find a large and cleanly made tunnel just on the cellar wall.
Gabi looked at it almost amazed, wondering how the enemy could even have done this without them noticing. She felt a bit apprehensive but she ran into the tunnel with Falco following them; as they went through they met with another enemy soldier "Through there." They pointed "Follow the rope." They both walked up to the piece of rope lying on the floor and a symbol carved onto the floor. They walked alongside it through the dimly lit tunnels, walking for what must have been a while and as they pass through noticing different tunnels connected to the main tunnel, before turning into a sharp corner and into another tunnel.
"How did they do this…" Gabi asked, the walls of the tunnel were cleanly cut and unnatural "Is this alchemy?"
Falco didn't say anything at first "I think it is." He replied. "I think we're probably outside the internment zone by now."
"It's like what Willy said; they can manipulate the elements…" Gabi said, she thought back to the rest of the play.
The servants of the devil, the champions of the evil Eldians on that island…
Falco looked around "Why did they make the tunnels like this?" he observed "Further down the tunnel, there were two other entrances going to the side; it went on for a while but it started to curve around…" as they continued to walk they passed by a tunnel going straight for what seemed to be miles. "It feels like the inside of a maze now…"