Four...Years...Later...On the other side of the sea

"Hey, you… It's dangerous here. Go fly...somewhere….far away."

The smell of raging fires and burning bodies, the sounds of screams and explosions, and black smoke shields most of the sky. It all happens around a brown-haired, hazel-eyed boy of twelve years of age as he lies on the broken ground. His uniform is caked with dirt from lying in it for protection and, in his current state, no reason at all. One arm is stretched out to the sky as the subject of his speech, a bird, flies overhead.

"You got wings, so use 'em."

"Falco!" Nearby, a familiar voice knocks him out of his reverie. A man with light hair, eyes, and skin throws himself over the boy, Falco. "You're alive? Hey, are you hurt?"

"Brother?"

"What's going on? Why are you dressed that way?" He takes his hat off and plops it on Falco's head. "C'mon, grab on. I'm just glad to hear your voice." As the older male picks up Falco, he hears a distant click. "Damn!" They rush for the closest trench as bullets whiz past them. Other soldiers nearby rush for the trench as well, sliding on the ground into the ditch. Landing on his butt, Falco's brother gets them to safety as soldiers already positioned there huddle around them.

"Falco!"

"Show me where they got you!"

"How's Colt?"

The latter, of the soldiers close by, is one of the few without a red armband on his left forearm. Colt, after handing his brother to soldiers his age, turns to him and reports his findings. "The Warrior Unit on the front line too and direct shell and was blown away!"

"And the trenches?" the man replies apathetically.

"You can't dig any farther!"

"I can't?" the man says as he leans closer to Colt. "Is that an order? Are you trying to give me orders, Eldian?"

"Watch your tone with Commander Magath, scum!"

"But given the situation, we-"

As Colt argues with the commander, Falco is chided by his friends. "Are you drunk, Falco?"

"He must've hit his head."

"What are we doing here?" the boy asks dreamily.

A young boy with dark hair and glasses sighs over him. "We've been at war for four years, do you remember?"

"Huh? Oh… I…guess so."

"Looks like we're going to have to explain the operation to you all over again," a dark-haired girl says. "Just listen to me, Falco. The war that's consumed our last four years. It's finally coming to an end. All we have to do is capture Fort Slava. Well, to be exact, we just have to sink the Mid-East Allied Forces' fleet in the naval station right below it and then we'll have won this war for Marley. But Fort Slava defends the high ground overlooking the naval station. It's impossible to attack without control of the fort."

"Can't the Marley Navy attack them from the sea?"

"Zofia!" the boy with glasses shouts while unknowingly tightening the headwrap he's administering to Falco, "do you really think we can count on that navy to do a thing for us? That cesspool of incompetence that took four whole years to take control of the seas? Their first accomplishment went worth a damn! And it cost them more than half of those battleships! And they have the nerve to tell us in the army that we need to at least take down a fort for them before they can do a thing? Like it's nothing? Give me a break you bastards!"

"Owww!"

"Udo!" the dark-haired girl says, "Stop! You're going to rip Falco's head off!"

"Ah! Sorry…"

Falco rubs his head as he processes what he's been told. "But… Why have they sent us to the front lines? We're just candidates…"

The dark-haired girl sits down, a smile gracing her face. "Can't you tell? It's so they can figure it out. Which one of us will be the next Warrior. The time is coming soon. Commander Magath has decided that this is where our final exam will be held. He has his eye on what's coming next. Whoever he chooses will be essential in suppressing the island of Paradis. The heir to...the Armored Titan."

"Wonder which of us is going to be chosen," Udo says.

Falco sits up and turns to the dark-haired girl with a challenging glint in her eye. "Oh yeah, Gabi? You're making it sound like no one here could even be compared to you."

Gabi chuckles. "Well, who could?"

"Don't get cocky, Gabi."

"One look at your grades-"

"No, Udo, it's not about grades. What makes me different from all of you is… I'm prepared. Prepared to carry the fate of all Eldians on my shoulders and slaughter all the devils on that island who've caused us so much trouble. Every last one of them. I'll win that fight and prove to the whole world the only Eldians left alive are good Eldians. I'm not going to lose. I'll free everyone from the internment zone."

Falco and the others sit quietly for a moment, letting Gabi's words sink in until Falco's eyes avert to her hands. "So… What have you been fiddling with all this time?"

She holds it up with a great smile. "This? Cool, huh?"

"Why, Commander Magath?" Colt continues to explain the situation to Magath. "It's impossible for infantry like us to destroy the tracks behind that machine gun on our own. They have eyes all along that trench. There isn't a single crack in their defenses. On top of that, they have artillery supporting them from the fort. If we stay here, we're just waiting for them to start raining shells down on our heads."

"Sounds like you have an idea, Colt."

"Let the Jaws and Cartman loose here. Galliard and Pieck should be able to do it. They'd be able to wipe out the enemies in the pillbox and the trench in the blink of an eye."

"No," Magath replies sternly but without the condescending tone from earlier. Colt is immediately confused by the response. The idea is sound and should work. Did Magath consider this idea previously and decide against it?

"Why?"

"We lose if we play our cards in the wrong order."

"Commander," another soldier says. "It's here."

"What is?" Colt asks.

Magath takes the soldier's binoculars and looks at the battlefield. "It. The Armored Train. Four guns on its front and back cars. The Allies' new weapon, the anti-Titan artillery. The 100mm armor-piercing shells they fire would stop a Titan in one shot. Even one of the nine."

"But… Both of our Titans are quick. To actually hit their necks…"

"But if that does happen?"

"...We will...lose the power of a Titan, as well as a warrior. And there is no guarantee that we'll be able to regain the power of that Titan."

"That's right. Our nine-year-long plan to regain the Founder will come to an end, and the tables will be turned on us. Just as when we lost the Colossus and the Female, which was perceived as a blow to Marley's military readiness, thus triggering the war that continues to this day and delaying the Paradis operation. What makes our motherland of Marley the great empire it is today?"

"The power of the Titans."

"That's right. If we lose any more, this country won't be able to sustain itself any longer. The power of the Titans is absolute. That is our axiom." Magath turns and issues orders to the soldier to his left. "Prepare the Warrior Unit to charge."

"Commander Magath! You-"

"I what, Eldian? Aren't you all warriors who have pledged your loyalty to Marley? This is your chance to be honored by our motherland. All eight hundred Eldians here. You warrior cadets stand by here. The Warrior Unit's charge must destroy those tracks no matter what. Because so long as that armored train prowls around the perimeter of the fort, neither Armor nor Beast can be called upon. Colt, if you would inherit the Beast, you ought to get out there and show us you're prepared to be a leader."

Colt stands silently. Sure, he'd like to inherit the Beast, but at the cost of eight hundred lives on a suicide charge… No, there must be a better way. Even for honor, that is too many lives, Marleyan or Eldian, to waste.

"Commander Magath! The train is heading this way!"

"What?" Magath quickly raises his binoculars and gazes at the approaching armored machine. He scoffs jovially. "So they've gotten tired of waiting for us and have come to strike at us. Good. This is our chance to destroy the whole train."

"Let me do it, please." Magath and Colt turn to Gabi, the young teenager presenting a handful of grenades to them. "Tada! I can do it. I can neutralize the armored train alone."

Magath shakes his head. "Do you have any idea how much it's cost this country to train the bunch of you? Denied."

"True, I am a gifted talent, unlike the rest of them. I doubt you'll ever see another warrior quite so exceptional. I'm super cute, too. But if I succeed, you won't have to lose the 800-person Warrior Unit."

"And if you fail?"

"You lose one promising warrior candidate and seven hand grenades." Magath just stares at Gabi, causing her to sigh. "Well, I guess that doesn't work if I'm worth more than that eight-hundred-person unit. But Commander, sir, if you're prepared to sacrifice 800 soldiers just 'cause you love me so much, then-"

"Fine. Go."

Gabi's eyes, despite Falco's softly spoken protests, were light with determination. "I will prove to you that I am the warrior worthy of inheriting the Armor." She begins to remove her jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"I need to do this for the plan to work. Please allow me to take off my armband, just for now."

"Fine with me." Gabi removes the article and leaps up and out of the ditch. She grins at Falco, the boy now concerned for her, before walking across the field. Falco, Magath, Colt, and the others watch intensively as Gabi holds her hands up and walks towards the pillbox. The grenades drag behind her right ankle.

"Soldiers without uniforms are against international law, you know," Colt tells Magath.

"What if there's no one left alive to report it?" He fires back. By this time, Gabi has gotten so close to the pillbox the soldiers inside wouldn't need much aiming to shoot her. However, the soldiers of Fort Salva hold their fire. That's when Gabi falls, just as the armored train comes within the vicinity of the pillbox. Moments later, she throws the grenades, and the result is an explosion strong enough to knock the armored cars off the track.

"She really did it!" A soldier remarks as Gabi rises up and runs back to the trench.

Magath turns away. "Hurry, Galliard! Jaws! Now!"

"Gabi!" Falco climbs out of the trench as a surviving enemy soldier fires at the retreating Gabi. He reaches her in time to pull her into a deep depression in the ground just as a gigantic hand slams on the ground nearby. The pair look up as the giant body covers them from the shower of bullets.

"Galliard!" Galliard looks at the children and then sprints forward, crushing the pillbox in one smash.

"We have confirmation that the armored train is out of commission."

A man steps away from the phone he just communicated with the ground forces on. Looking past the multitude of men and women chained in the center of the chamber to the two men who look out a window, he begins to issue orders. "Still, be aware that loads of fixed anti-Titan artillery await you inside the fort. The airborne operation will now begin. Remember, stick to the plan. Zeke will be our spear...and Reiner will be our shield."

"What are you doing, Falco?"

Falco heaves a wounded enemy soldier into the trench. "Isn't it obvious? He can't fight any longer. He's our prisoner now. If we can stop the bleeding, that is. Udo, give me a tourniquet!"

Ignoring the Marleyan soldier complaining, Udo hands Falco what he wants. "Okay."

"Are you trying to show off," Gabi says from her watching position. "You thought you'd be able to inherit the Armor by adhering to international law and overshadowing me?"

Falco sighs as he continues to tend to the enemy's wounds. "Think whatever you want."

"So weird."

At this moment, the soldier begins to speak, but the language is foreign to Falco. "He's saying something. Translate for us, Udo. Tell him he can relax, his bleeding is settling down."

"'Don't touch me. You'll corrupt me. Devils.'" At the expense of the children, the wounded Marleyan starts to laugh hysterically. Moments later, a flare is fired by Commander Magath, who orders the frontlines to retreat. From below, the Warrior UNit can see a single place fly above the fortress, releasing a large payload upon it. That payload becomes a bright flash in the air that transforms into a downpour of Titans. The giant, human-like monsters crash down on the fortress, causing substantial damage.

As the kids watch the Titans sack the fort, the wounded Marleyan watches with them. "They truly are devils. Our Marleyan ancestors were eaten up that way, too. By you Eldians."

"The kinetic bombardment was suitably powerful, but sixty percent of them died from the impact of the fall due to excessive altitude. Many of the Anti-Titan artillery units are still functional. 28, 29…"

"Location and number confirmed," Reiner says as he falls down to the battlefield via parachute. "Still, another wall?: In his head, memories of a past filled with walls. Memories filled with people he once called friends, called comrades, called soldiers. Reiner scoffs at those memories. He is a warrior, not a soldier. "I've had enough of walls already." Blade across the hand, Reiner ignites in a bolt of lightning as he transforms into the Armor, crashing his bulky body into the fortress below.

As he lands, he immediately destroys the nearby soldiers and their anti-Titan weapons, but a few distances away manages to slow him down by firing. To Reiner's surprise, the artillery manages to penetrate the armor-plating of the Titan. He continues his rampage under fire, but is saved from the attacking soldiers by the nimble Jaws."Galliard…" As Galliard leaps away and draws enemy fire, Reiner takes a steel-frame tower and sweeps the enemy on the wall."

Meanwhile, the war is won. With the annihilation of the fleet, the Mid-East Allied forces signed a peace treaty with Marley, ending the four-year war. But now, with the development of anti-Titan weapons, Marley knew the power of the Titans alone wasn't enough anymore. To keep its dominion, it needs the Founding Titan.

"Thanks to the incredible bravery of the Marley army, Fort Slava has fallen at last!" A man reading the local newspaper shouts in pride and other fellow Marleyan civilians cheer at the astounding news.

"Well..." A tall, light-ash-brown-haired young man addresses his companion as he reads the newspaper everyone is cheering over. "Looks like it's a glorious day for Marley."

"Yes," His companion, an equally tall young man of the same age with dark brown shoulder-length hair with one part of the back of his hair tied in a simple ponytail says as he puts his own newspaper under his arm. "A glorious day indeed."

Smiling to his friend, he puts his newspaper away as they leave the stand. "I guess all that's left is for the devils to be wiped out."

He smiles back. "Well then... I hope they're ready for anything."

'Cause I know we are...