Chapter 1: The Plan
"You realise this is likely to get us both killed Erwin." Theia turned away from the window framing the sprawling city of Stohess to look at Erwin, pulling a hand through her dark hair in frustration. She could understand Erwin's desperation, the Scouts were low on numbers, both due to minimal cadets signing up, and their abysmal survival rate. Every year it felt like there were less and less of them. She'd seen multiple squads come and go, wiped out in their entirety in just one expedition. Erwin and herself were the only remaining members of his original squad. It was the realities of their life. Scouts didn't live long and those that survived were scarred. But even so, she wasn't keen on enlisting underground criminals, no matter how good they were on the gear. Especially so, if said criminals were embroiled in a plot to kill the best Commander the scout regiment had ever seen.
"You wouldn't be a very good bodyguard if it did now, would you?" Screw that she was going to kill him herself.
"Fuck you. You're lucky you pay my wages you smug bastard."
Honestly, it was no surprise that someone such as Erwin had enemies. The scouts weren't exactly the looked on in a favourable light by those who walked in the elite circles. Public opinion had been at an all time low and calls had been made to disband the entire operation, that was until Erwin had taken charge. He was young, charismatic, handsome and all too good at getting rich assholes to part with their money before they'd even realised what they'd agreed to. Not to mention he wasn't above playing dirty, and that is where she came in.
On paper she was Lieutenant Theia Bowman, respected veteran and assigned to Mikes heavy defence squad and on rotation as a long range scout. She had a good number of titan kills and assists, enough that her assignment wasn't questioned but not enough to push her out ahead of the pack. She was small, and relatively unassuming. Average enough in looks, just another face in the crowd. This was entirely to her advantage because off the books she was Erwin's personal bodyguard and more importantly his spy.
Oh for sure Erwin had done a lot to bolster the image of the Scouts. Since taking over the survey corps the death rate had dropped by ten percent giving them at least a fifty-fifty chance of surviving any one expedition. They had pushed further into titan territory than ever before, establishing a network of resupply bases that could allow for missions spanning weeks rather than days. He had even headed up a titan research division. So far progress had been slow but they were finally focusing more on determining what titans were and looking into other weaknesses that could be exploited. But even with all that progress the purse pushers were awfully stingy. Sometimes they just needed some encouragement. A scandal stopped from leaking, an affair brushed under the rug, that sort of thing. It was expected that there would be some push back from the upper classes that didn't appreciate someone who was willing to crack their gold plated veneer.
When she'd had reports that yet another disgruntled merchant had put a hit out on Erwin she hadn't been overly surprised. Normally for such a thing she'd wait it out, see who picked up the contract and remove them from the equation. Then she'd hint to the merchant that they'd known about the plot and he'd be in their back pocket, a reliable donor to the cause, from then on.
The usual sort who went for that type of contract were either desperate, foolish or both. Thanks to her proficiency Erwin was known to be remarkably hard to kill. So she'd waited and to no-ones real surprise a gang from the Underground had picked the contract up. Said contract had required both, the death of the Commander and the retrieval of a document that they suspected related to the first reports from the titan research division. Rumour was, so it had to be true, that the reward was citizenship on the surface. A prime commodity for those unlucky enough to be living in the subterranean city hidden below the city of Stohess. It was a city full of crime, because crime was the only way to survive there. You either became a villain or died a victim.
She'd gone down there to scout out the group and that's where things got complicated. At some point in their criminal careers they'd gotten hold of some ODM gear, and they were good. They moved through the underground city like it was their personal play ground. It was clear the Military Police had no chance of catching them, they were well beyond the skills of those that considered themselves in the top ten of any graduating class. Their instincts on the gear were comparable with current scouts.
There were three of them. The youngest was Isabel Magnolia, a somewhat energetic and naive woman. Her age was difficult to guess as she wore her read hair in pigtails, a style that was commonly adopted by young girls. She seemed to have a peculiar affinity for animals. On several occasions Theia had watched her tend to and feed some of the stray cats that called the alleyways of the Underground their home. She was the least skilled of the three, but even still, far better than what the academy was providing them.
Then there was Furlan Church. A man of average height and build, with hair shaded a dirty blond. He was almost the opposite of Isabel. Focused and calm. He used the ODM gear with proficiency. Knew what anchors were secure and didn't deviate from the paths that habit had told him worked well.
The last, and the leader of their little group, was Levi. If he had a last name he hadn't told it to anyone. His demeanour was deadly calm, it was almost like he teetered on the brink between calm and rage. He was precise, efficient and his instincts were impeccable. His use of ODM gear was beautiful to watch. He cut fluidly through the air. He was fast too, faster than she'd ever seen. She'd see him fight twice and each time he expended only the most minimal amount of effort to take out his opponents. He was on an entirely different level. She wasn't even sure how she'd fare against him one on one.
That's when she'd made her biggest mistake. She'd told Erwin, and he'd been ecstatic. Despite the hit out on his head and her own concerns that this group were far too dangerous for her to handle alone he'd declared that they were just what the scouts needed. She'd almost hit him. As it was, she was now standing in front of him, about to make her life even worse.
" I have a plan" and she resented it. Word in the Underground was that Levi's gang were escalating their current heists to attract the attention of the Survey Corps, attention which they didn't know they'd already had. They were trying to lure Erwin down to deal with them himself, making it clear that without the additional assistance of the Scouts they would continue to rain down havoc with their masterful use of their stolen ODM gear.
Theia's plan was to let them. She'd spread the information that Erwin was coming to deal with the situation among the MP's and it would naturally spread to the gang. She'd dropped hints that Erwin wasn't just planning on capturing them but recruiting them. It was likely that they wouldn't hesitate to kill him given the chance but she hoped that by giving them an additional route towards their goal it would temper their desperation to get the job done as quickly as possible. They needed that document after all.
" Catching them isn't going to be easy. They are a tight knit group and they know the city better than we do. This can't be a fair fight Erwin."
Erwin hummed in thought, he had no qualms about fighting dirty, Theia was evidence enough of that. However, they both knew that a Scouts life depended on the trust they had in their comrades and using underhand methods to induct people wasn't exactly a trust building environment. " What do you recommend?"
" In theory it's simple. Levi's weakness is his companions. Capture them and we can force his surrender. We use you as bait and split the majority of our force to focus on Isabel and Furlan. A token force will follow Levi. I remain with you and should Levi make it to us before the other squads signal success, I'll distract him till they report in. But, Erwin, I can't guarantee your safety. I'll need to be fully focused if Levi makes it to us. I'll die before I let him past me but that's needs to be an acceptable risk of you want this to work."
She was the last defence. If Levi reached them before the squads completed the task, her job was to delay him for as long as it took. It was a risk. Levi had the advantage that he could fight without restraint, but she couldn't. It was clear to her that Erwin's hopes rested on acquiring Levi for the scouts so she couldn't do anything that would jeopardise that goal. He could fight to kill, she couldn't. Then there was the additional issue of Erwin. She couldn't allow Erwin to die but to effectively delay Levi she couldn't focus on protecting him at the same time. Dividing her attention would likely get them both killed before the plan could be completed.
" Theia, we need as many soldiers as we can get."
" I know Erwin, I know." She sighed resting a hand on his shoulder. The weight of death hung heavy on them all, but none more so than Erwin. He bore it well of course, in comparison to the previous Commander whose breakdown on return from a particularly nasty expedition was well known, Erwin's stoicism in the face of death was enviable. But, Theia knew better. Ever since she'd known him Erwin had kept a book of names. It contained the name of every scout to die under his command. Late at night he'd read it to himself, penance for his sins he'd told her. By this point she was certain he'd memorised it. She knew he dreaded the day that he'd have to add her name to the book.
In reality she could hardly judge. She had her own such remembrance, hers a book of faces. Friends, enemies, comrades. Pages upon pages of sketches of those she'd lost or killed. Her skill at observation had made her invaluable as a spy, but it also cursed her with the weight of remembering all those that had been lost. So she committed them to paper. When you lived long enough in the Survey Corps you found your own ways to cope with the loss or you broke. Even then your mental resilience wasn't guaranteed.
" We'll need at least two full squads. I'd recommend Mike's and Rashad's squads." Theia trusted Mike, he lead the squad she was part of and his judgement of people was more often right than not. She'd worked with Rashad a couple of times and he was a solid, if somewhat compassionate, soldier. Both could be relied upon to achieve their objectives.
" Agreed, I'll send for them both presently. In three days we'll moved forward with the plan, and hopefully take a step forward for the Scouts and Humanity. In the mean time you can rest up Theia. You've done good work and I want you in top form should it come to it." Knowing a dismissal when she heard one, Theia saluted, right fist pressed resolutely against her heart. She prayed that Erwin's faith in Levi's gang held true.
Leaving Erwin's office, in their temporary headquarters in Stohess, Theia allowed her feet to guide her towards her assigned quarters. Her position afforded her a few benefits. One such benefit was a room with a personal bathroom and most importantly a shower. She'd come directly from her vigil in the Underground to report her assessment of the situation. She'd learnt from experience that information was best shared fresh, so she'd had little time to clean off the grime from the subterranean city.
The Underground sat as a stark contrast from Stohess. Where the streets of Stohess were clean cobbled streets full of the hustle and bustle of active city life, the Undergrounds were full of grime, decay and death. Down there people spent as little time in the streets as possible and those that did were either up to no good, dying or already dead. It was a hell scape that would be hard to forget. The very air felt dirty, the stench of rotten corpses hung as heavy as smog.
Theia considered herself to have a strong constitution, you had to if you wanted to make it as a scout. She'd witnessed more than enough comrades torn to pieces on the field. But even that hadn't prepared her for the reality of the Capitals failed underground city experiment. When outside of the walls they, more often than not, had to leave the corpses of their fellow scouts where they fell to be picked over by the titans. By the time they returned on subsequent expeditions there would be little to nothing left. They didn't have to live with the bodies like the citizens of the Underground did. It was honestly no wonder that those that had the means to do so would take up any opportunity to escape that hellish existence.
Entering the showers she removed her contaminated uniform. She'd likely send it to be burned rather than wear it again. Luckily, depending on how you looked at it of course, there was always a surplus of scout uniforms available.
Letting the hot water run over her skin she scrubbed at it until it burned red and even then she didn't feel clean enough. Horrifying, just horrifying. The conditions of the Underground only made her more weary about the mission. If it were her she'd do anything, kill anyone to escape that hellish place. Erwin seemed confident that he'd convince Levi and his gang that joining the Scouts was better than killing him outright but Theia couldn't be so sure. She'd knew what it was like to drink the from the cup of desperation and she'd fought tooth and nail for her own freedom and she suspected that Levi was the type to do the same. Time would tell if Erwin's hope was well founded.
While the shower had done much to rid her of the grimy feeling of decay and death she knew what she needed to quiet her mind. Finishing up with her shower she quickly changed into a fresh uniform, grabbed her sketchbook and made her way towards the barracks kitchen.
The barracks were a temporary loan from the Garrison. It was one of their lesser used buildings, on the outskirts of the city. It's disuse was evident in the thin blanket of dust that clung to every surface. It was a temporary stop over. There was little need for a permanent Survey Corps headquarters this far within the walls so they had to make due with whatever building the Garrison deigned to give them. They'd made do with worse. At least this one had working showers and a functional if somewhat basic kitchen.
She set a kettle to boil while she use a blade to carve a new point on her lead. Her hands guided the knife with a precision born of habit. She had many sketchbooks besides the one she used to memorialise the dead. This one was a book of places. Among the delicate pages were nestled all the places she'd been, both within and outside of the Walls. Forests, whose trees rose higher than even tallest titans she'd ever seen, trunks wider than a building. Plains that stretched so far you could see the horizon unimpeded. Fields decorated with grasses full of flowers. Cities full of life and colours. Rural towns surrounded by farms and orchards. And soon a Underground cavern filled to bursting with crumbling buildings and people.
On the whistle of the kettle she poured herself a pot of tea and moved to settle at one of the few tables. While it steeped she flicked open her book to a new page and marked in the scaffolding of what would come to represent the Underground.
As her hand glided over the paper she recalled the city scape. The ceiling of the cavern stood so high from the city below it that it was only visible when descending or, if you were lucky enough, leaving. Large stalactites jutted out from the roof of the cavern, constantly dripping such that the city was damped by a perpetual rain. There were shafts cut through the ceiling to the surface but the light they provided was weak. The majority of the light came from oil lamps that were dotted along the main thoroughfares. It gave the city an ominous orange glow. The city itself was made up of a warren of criss-crossing alleyways bordered by crumbling buildings. There was an attempt at a city square which was penned in by the Military Police barracks, the prison and a court house. Most streets contained some form of tavern which more often than not was an attempt at a front for a whore house, either that or the base of one of the many gangs.
All the buildings were coated in a layer of black soot from the lanterns and the fires people used to attempt to stave off the chill of the cavern. Mixed with the perpetual rain it coated everything in a black slime. Those that were brave enough or desperate enough to move through the streets kept themselves concealed under cloaks, better to keep of the rain and make yourself less of a target.
There were little in the way of plants, the only things that seemed to grow in the dim artificial light were mould and mushrooms. As a result there were few animals to be seen. Cockroaches, rats and cats seemed to be the only creature able to thrive in such dismal conditions. Unlike the surface cities there were no outside market stalls, all business was conducted behind closed doors, an attempt to stymie the gangs from looting a business easily.
Layer upon layer of dark graphite transferred onto the page. Subtle silhouettes of people and buildings grew out from the darkness of the bottom of the spread, while dagger like stalactites reached down from the top. It gave the impression of an open mouth ready to swallow you whole. A mouth not dissimilar to that of a titan. In the centre of the page, framed by the all consuming darkness were three small figures suspended on wires, swinging through the mist.
Notes: I've just started writing again and I've officially moved over to Ao3. This is a preview of the new story I am working on that will be updated on Ao3 from here on out under the user name DespoinaPersephone. Hope to see you there!