"You want us to what, Sir?" Miche asked, looking at Erwin with a bewildered expression.
Erwin repeated himself calmly, perfectly aware of the oddity of the task he was assigning Miche. "I said, take your squad and carve out a remote section of the Wall to look inside. It's a tough structure, but breaking through isn't totally out of the question. I want you to report back what's inside."
The Commander doubted that Eren Yeager was lying about the information he divulged to him, but that wasn't to say he was entirely honest either. Erwin hoped Eren's words to be true, he so desperately wanted confirmation that the young recruit wasn't lying, but he was anything except naïve.
Miche narrowed his eyes, the bearded man questioning his leader perceptively. "What is this for, Erwin? What's so important for you to find out that you're asking me to break the law?"
Erwin snorted. "Your nose is as sharp as ever. I've been told from a source, one of questionable reliability, that something is inside the Walls. I need you to verify if I'm right, can you do that?"
His subordinate didn't hesitate to nod. "Sure, it's not like this is the first time we've done something like this. Consider it done."
The 'it probably won't be the last' went unspoken. Scouts always did tread a dangerous line to keep themselves afloat, especially when it came to breaking the law. Erwin himself had blackmailed and fooled many different nobles to secure funds, or in the case of Lobof in 844 to get rid of a rival, so gazing inside the Walls was hardly anything to him. In fact, it was likely on the lower half of his list of crimes ordered from best to worst.
Miche left his office, leaving Erwin alone with nothing but his thoughts that hadn't faded since Eren had spoke, to him the night before. He was caught in a whirlwind of emotions, and he wasn't sure what to feel. Vindication? Satisfaction? Joy? Horror? Dread? Anger?
Erwin's father was right. No, actually, he was more than just right. He was spot on, and in the worst way imaginable. If Eren Yeager was right, then the entire world was their enemy. Billions of people outside their tiny island, with armies bigger than their whole population more than willing to rush into their homes and murder everyone in the Walls.
Erwin couldn't deny that learning his father was right had lifted a massive burden off his shoulders, but a new one had been put down in it's place. A much bigger one, the reality of the world they lived in and how stacked against the odds they truly were.
Denying that he felt indebt to Eren, assuming he was being truthful, would be a lie. Afterall, he'd finally given Erwin those answers he'd always wanted. The truth of the world, and proof that his father was right. It was liberating in a huge way, knowing that he was right, but now he was left with the question as to what he did next?
Feeling the eyes of so many of his dead comrades, and friends, staring at him expectantly made Erwin sigh; he knew he didn't have a choice in the matter.
Whilst he'd been proven right, he'd achieved his personal end goal, they hadn't. The hearts his men had given, the selflessly brave souls who'd given their lives for humani- the Walled people Erwin knew he had one option. One path to put his energy into.
All those years, he wanted to atone for getting his father killed by proving him right. And he did. But, because he'd managed to accomplish one goal, that meant he had to do right by them now. To make up for their deaths, he needed to win against this 'Marley'.
Erwin opened a desk, calmly placing a hand into it as he sorted through the cadets alphabetically. Once he'd found the files, he laid all three of them out in front of him, narrowing his eyes he opened them and began to read through whatever information he could gather on a trio of new recruits.
The files read, 'Bertolt Hoover', 'Reiner Braun', and 'Annie Leonhart'. The supposed culprits for Wall Maria's fall, and the deaths of a quarter of a million people.
Miche took out a special box, placing it on the hard stone on top of the Wall, and opened it to reveal a special set of blades. Special Reinforced steel, made strong enough to pierce Titans with extra thick napes like butter, and it was perfect for the task they were about to perform. Or rather, to desecrate the sacred Walls which had kept mankind safe for so many years. They would be sure to cover it up, having brought some liquid cement to keep the slab they'd cut out in place after they were done, yet the act still felt wrong all the same.
Henning peered at them curiously, able to see the sharpness of the weapons even without touching them, yet chose not to speak up. Already knowing his task.
Nanaba didn't share his concerns, just wanting to get the mission over with and get some rest, but would commit to any mission that the Scouts needed. So, she didn't let her exhaustion from the previous expedition get the better of her.
Miche carefully handed the blades over, where they locked into the handles of their ODM gear, and the three veteran Scouts used their equipment to lower themselves down the Wall. Once Miche picked a spot, they got to work.
"Does the Commander really need to see what's inside the Walls, isn't this a little pointless?" Henning asked, his voice betraying hints of strain as he dragged an ultra-sharp blade across the solid stone of the Wall, with Miche and Nanaba doing the same. They were trying to cut a hole in the shape of a cube to look inside, though the three of them were starting to feel the strain of hanging near the top of the Wall.
Miche had only asked for two other members of his squad, since the mission didn't exactly require a lot of people, and they'd made a short trip to a remote place in Wall Rose, one where they could carve a hole in the Wall without anyone seeing them.
Henning chuckled in amusement. "Those Wallists would be tearing at our throats if the saw us now."
Nanaba wiped some sweat from her brow, grinning at him in agreement. "Yeah, those nut cases would probably be demanding our heads in court."
Miche remained stone faced, cutting across. "And, sad to say, they'd probably get them on a silver platter. They've been gaining more and more power lately."
Henning raised an eyebrow, clearly trying to take his mind off the intense work they were doing. "Really? I thought everyone was ignoring them, writing them off as dumb lunatics."
Nanaba huffs out, commenting to them. "Maybe five years ago, but since Maria fell they've gained a lot of popularity. Maybe most people don't share their delusions, but their influence makes them dangerous."
Miche didn't add anything more to the conversation, finding himself surprised at how stubbornly tough the Walls were. He never really questioned the Walls, how they were made, but inspecting them really raised alarms in his head. Such as, how in the world they were even made? He couldn't see any gaps, cracks, or crevices, so it wasn't built brick by brick, and the sheer scale of them alone made him wonder how long it took to make them. It might have been carved out of the earth, but that didn't make any real sense either.
Finally cutting a hole just big enough for a person to poke their head through, the three Scouts huffed and shook their arms to soothe the feelings of strain that still vibrated through their aching limbs.
The Walls were definitely tough, it was no wonder they kept out the Titans for so many years.
Pulling the stone out carefully, doing his best not to accidentally drop the slab, Miche hesitated for a moment. Whilst he didn't worship the Walls, it still felt slightly bizarre to excavate them like this.
Nanaba grabbed the other side, surprising him with the sudden move, and nodded to him. Letting him know that they'd commit the act together.
Reaffirming himself, Miche slowly pulled the stone out, noting how it was lighter than he expected. And opened up a hole by which they could peek through and witness what laid inside the Walls.
Henning whispered jokingly. "What do you think is in there? My bet is on treasure."
Nanaba looked at him weirdly, just questioning. "Why would Erwin ask us to check the Walls if they had something so stupid inside?"
The other Scout looked offended, regarding her with a stink eye. "Hey, money is important. Why do you think the corps is always struggling? If we had some more money then we'd be rolling, those Titans wouldn't know what hit em'."
Miche ignored the two, instead he peered through the hole they'd created, and froze up. Unable to maintain his stoicism when he met the eye of a monster.
"Oh come on, why wouldn't there be treasure in the... Walls." Henning trailed off when he noticed the state of his captain, with Miche's expression reflecting the terror he was feeling, and it took a nudge to the shoulder to make him respond.
The captain backed away slightly, not able to keep his cool, as he simply whispered. "Titan."
The other two, wanting to see what made their normally fearless leader so spooked, poked their heads through the hole and met an eye. A massive one, just the iris being bigger than their entire body.
The air was rich with the scent of dust, like the air was a century old in age, yet that was the last thought on their minds when they came to a shocking realisation as to what they were looking at.
It was massive. It was skinless. Heat seemed to simmer off it's skin. Yet, it remained calmingly still, as though it were a statue that left them in a trance of fear.
But, their mesmerisation was broken when the eye shifted, staring right into their souls, and Miche grit his teeth as he pushed them out of the way and shoved the slab back into the hole they'd made. Sealing the horrifying sight off, hopefully never to be seen again.
Henning muttered, his face frozen with dread. "Titans... the Walls have Titans in them. How the hell did- are all the Walls made of Titans?"
Nanaba grit her teeth, asking herself more than anyone else as sweat dripped down her face from both exhaustion and fear. "What the hell is going on here?"
Miche breathed in, trying to calm his pounding heart, but still uttered out. "I don't know, but I think the Commander does."
When he got back, Erwin had some explaining to do. A lot of explaining.
in the morning, Annie let the ODM gear guide her through the forest, practicing a manoeuvres under the watchful eyes of a Scout she forgot the name of, and idly wondered how her father was doing. Did he miss her like she missed him? Was that outburst of emotion he'd shown when she left just a fluke, or was there something more to it?
She didn't know, but she so very badly wanted to find out.
Cutting the nape of a dummy, not giving the Scout taking note of her skills any attention, she wondered when the next Scouting Expedition would take place. Whilst the Scouts funds were pitiful, it wouldn't take more than perhaps a month. Maybe a bit longer. Regardless though, her patience was hanging by a thread. She wanted to go home and leave the cramped space between what pathetic amount of land Paradis still had left after Maria fell.
She was annoyed, and partly wanted to just leave the Walls and go home, yet held herself back. The Survey Corps were called the 'death branch' for a reason, and they'd be none the wiser if she just slipped out of formation before transforming. It was far less suspicious to if she waited.
Annie wondered if her home had changed much over the years she'd been away. The internment zones of Liberio weren't too horrible to live in, especially when compared to the rest of the world. Compared to the horror stories she'd heard from her father about how his homeland treated Subjects of Ymir... well they were actually treated quite well.
She was no fool, not being enough of an idiot to fall for Marley's petty propaganda. Unlike Reiner, she knew that every person she looked at was a human being, but that hardly made a difference.
She was a Warrior, no matter what she did, her life would end at the start of her twenties. Before her days ended, she wanted to go home and spend some time with her father. Maybe they could act like a real daughter and father, maybe she could feel happiness for once in her life.
Annie sighed as she landed, closing her heart to the suffering of the islanders, before she crashed.
As much as she hated to admit it to herself, at least internally, she wasn't totally indifferent to the slaughter of so many people. She'd still do it, but the idea of ruthlessly cutting down so many people still grated at her conscience, a fact that got on her nerves.
Sasha landed right next to her, oblivious to Annie's plight as she wiped some sweat off her brow. "Geez, these Scouts really know how to work a gal- girl to the bone. Shadis is almost looking like a saint at this point."
Annie cut her off, intending to sound rude. "Just move on. I don't want to speak with you, Braus."
The redhead however, was too dense to pick up on the situation. "Oh come on Annie. If you were really such a lone wolf then why'd you join the Scouts like the rest of us? Admit it, you're totally fond of us."
Annie was about to flatly retort Sasha, but paused when she realised that she hadn't come up with an excuse about why she'd joined the Scouts. So many of the other trainees had gone with the corps, all because of Eren's meddling, and she didn't have a logical answer to give about her sudden decision to join up with them. She was meant to be solely looking out for herself, yet she'd picked the path meant for a more selfless person.
Sasha's expression morphed into one of victory at her silence, and she declared. "I totally caught you, Annie! You care a ton about us, enough to join the Scouts just to keep us safe! I'm totally telling the others!"
Annie was very tempted to lash out at the girl, but decided against it and coldly cut across Sasha. "I have my own reasons for being here. Ones a fool like you wouldn't be able to understand, so why don't you drop it Braus? I'm not friends with any of you."
Sasha wasn't able to simply brush that one off, with the silly girl sweating as she gave a weak smile. She might have said something back, but Annie chose to jump away, not wanting to continue the conversation with the other girl.
She wasn't a fool. Everyone she saw was an enemy, and if she wanted to return to her father then she needed to kill them all. Every last one of them needed to die, from the freshest new-born to the most experienced elder, and she needed to play a part in the act. She'd hoped that by coming off as cold and snide, that maybe the people around her wouldn't try and form bonds with her.
Tightening the grip of her handle, Annie released her frustrations by cutting through the sandbag of a Titan dummy.
Miche marched through the Scouts headquarters, the morning still fresh on his face, as he opened the door to Erwin's office, his shoulders heavy with the reality of what he saw the night before.
Titans- there were Titans inside the Walls. Erwin must have known, or at least suspected something like that, so he had Miche and his squad go check it out for him.
Erwin was sitting at his desk, not at all disturbed despite how early the morning was, and his piercing blue eyes snapped towards Miche the instant he entered the room.
Erwin greeted him. "Good morning Miche, I trust that-"
"You knew didn't you? That's why you had us examine the Walls, you wanted to confirm it for yourself, right?"
Erwin somehow had the nerve to act oblivious. "And what might you mean by that?"
Miche was usually not one to show much emotion, but he couldn't resist blurting out from exasperation. "There are Titans in the Walls Erwin! Titans! Massive Titans the size of the Colossal, and they must number in the hundreds of thousands to make up the three Walls! And you wanted us to look for you to confirm your own suspicions, so what else do you know that I don't?!"
Erwin only looked mildly surprised, looking down for a moment, before putting on a small smile when he realised that Miche's discovery only validated Eren's words, and responded. "I see, that's good. It means that what else I've heard is less likely to be false. Thank you, Miche."
Miche was momentarily surprised by Erwin's actions, because, in all the years he'd known Erwin the man had never been so... happy? No, it was more like some sense of satisfaction. Like he was experiencing the biggest 'I told you so' of all time.
"How did you know to check the Walls, Erwin? Where did you hear about those Titans from?" Miche couldn't stop the worry from bleeding into his voice, and Erwin seemed to take note of that.
Putting his worries at ease, Erwin held his hand up as he got onto his feet and looked Miche in the eye. "Tell me Miche, do you remember the theory I'd always spoken about when we were Cadets?"
Miche nodded, thinking back to years ago. "Of course, but you haven't talked about it in years? You said that we had no reason to believe that there weren't other humans alive somewhere, living far away from the Walls. What does that have to do with this?"
Erwin walked forward, meeting his old friend eye to eye. "Because, I was right. There are other humans out there, and they are the ones who launched the attack on Wall Maria. Wall Maria wasn't taken by Titans, it was taken by humans with the ability to transform into Titans."
Miche's eyes widened in shock, but he didn't interrupt the Commander's explanation. "What I'm about to tell you was told to me by the rogue Titan, another human who can turn into a Titan, and he told me the truth Miche. He finally gave me my answers, and told us who the real enemy is."
"Hey Jean, do you think we made the right choice?" Marco asked, laying on the top of a bunkbed the two were sharing in the surprisingly private and luxurious room they'd been provided as members of the MP's.
He had always held the belief that the Military Police's laziness and incompetence was an exaggeration, a stereotype even, but upon arriving he was disappointed to discover that those words held more than a grain of truth. The officer who'd been put in charge of their squadron reeked of booze when they'd first met him, his uniform messy and his words slurred, and it was disheartening to say, but his work ethic appeared to be the norm.
"I'm not having this conversation right now." Jean grumbled, not willing to speak of their current predicament.
"Come on, you can't honestly tell me your content with this life." Marco looked down the bed's side, his eyes meeting the back of Jean's head.
Jean huffed, stubbornly questioning. "Marco, why wouldn't I be happy here? The MP's was the reason I enlisted, so that I wouldn't need to fight any damned Titans, and here I am."
Marco frowned. "So, you really aren't worried about Eren and the others? Don't you wonder if you made the right choice."
He hated to admit it, but serving as an MP wasn't nearly as fulfilling as he thought it would be. He was willing to admit to himself that he'd joined partly for the security the position would bring him, but sitting back and doing nothing whilst others died made him feel like crawling under a rock.
A tiny bitter part of him blamed Eren, for giving everyone around him hope. For making defeating the Titans sound so feasible that everyone around him worked up the courage to join the most dangerous military branch. But, Marco knew that it was his own fault for abandoning his fellow soldiers like that.
Jean sighed, turning back towards Marco as frustration leaked into his voice. "I can't go a minute without thinking about if they're all gonna be alright. It's dangerous out there, but Eren's seen them all before, plus he's tough as nails and Mikasa is always by his side. If anything, it's the others I'm worried about."
Jean sat up, looking uneasy. "Damn that bastard, he's making me feel bad for doing nothing. He saved Tro- I mean, he's got the guts to jump right back into hell after surviving Shiganshina, and I feel horrible for just sitting back and kicking my legs up."
"Look, even if we're surrounded by incompetent officers, that doesn't mean we have to act that way. Even if we aren't on the frontlines, we can still do some good over here. The fact so many officers are incompetent just mean we have a lot of work to do. Maybe we can try clean up the MP's."
The suggestion seemed to peak Jean's interest. "You think so?"
Marco smiled, optimistically stating. "I know so."
If you want to support me, then look towards The Magician 565 in the place of patrons. I am a pretty broke student all things considered, so if you want to read additional works of mine then the donations would be much appreciated. I hope to write for you all, and if you could show your support more openly then I'd be happy to crack down!
Additional chapters:
Rising To the Top - 5
Now It's My Turn - 1
An Outlier - 5
The All Mighty Earth - 5
Power Grasping - 3
Dealing With Darkness - 2
God of Destruction - 5
Counterattack - 5
Total - 31