"Hey, wake up lovebirds." I left someone shaking my shoulder. I let out a groggy groan before opening my eyes. Jean was squatting next to me and retracted his hand back.

"Jean?" I said as I leaned myself up by my arms. He's still here.

"You're going to help then?" Jean said nothing but nodded his head. He stood up and walked around to the other end of the bedroll. I noticed Gabi and Falco just to the right of me. They were smiling. I guess Jean woke them up first.

"Hey, get your mopy ass up, Reiner." I looked over to my left and stared with a blank expression. Jean had picked Reiner up by the collar of his shirt and was shaking him. Reiner's eyes were open but he still looked half asleep.

Jean dropped him once he saw he was awake, "Come on. We need to get going. It's a long trip to the port." I looked at Jean in amusement.

"I get a gentle wake up call while Reiner gets shaked? How's that fair?" I questioned Jean.

Jean placed his hands on his hips, "He's lucky I didn't kick him awake." He stated.

"Try it and see what happens." I dared him. Jean looked away nervously.

"Which is why I didn't do it. I don't feel like getting my ass handed to me this morning. Now come on. We need to get going." Jean ushered us.

We were loaded back up in the wagons. The sun was getting higher in the sky after being on the road for several hours. I was in the wagon that Armin was driving. Gabi and Falco were huddled together in one corner. Annie was in another corner. Reiner and I were in another one and Jean was just a crate away from Reiner and I.

I had my arms leaned on the back of the wagon with my chin resting on top. I stared at the scene behind us as the horses trudged ahead. The trip had been mainly quiet. Not even the ones in the other wagon were speaking.

"Hey Viv." I lifted my head and looked over my shoulder. Jean was staring at me from over the crate.

"I'm sorry for hitting you last night. You alright?" He asked me.

I shot him a smirk, "Oh please. I've been hit harder than that. You've been kicked by Captain Levi. You know how that feels." I remind him.

Jean chuckled and smirked back, "Yeah, although I'd say you hit just as hard. You really got me there. I deserved it though." Jean commented and placed a hand on his stomach.

"Yeah well, sorry for that. I didn't really hold back my punch either." I apologized as well.

Jean's smirk turned into a smile in my direction. Then his face dropped, "Reiner…you're not getting an apology." Jean clarified.

"Yeah, well I'm good with that." Reiner admitted.

"How about me?" I turned my head over my other shoulder to look at Annie. She was looking dead on at Reiner. She wanted an apology from him.

Before Reiner could even answer. Loud thunderous footsteps were approaching us fast. I sat up seeing Pieck running over to us. She had scouted ahead earlier. She could run a lot faster than the horses.

"Guys, Pieck's here!" I shouted up ahead.

"Yeah! We see her!" Connie yelled back.

"Stop the horses. There's a problem." Magath ordered.

The wagons came to a stop as the Cart Titan ran up to the road. Steam erupted from the nape as Pieck's human body appeared.

"It's the harbor. The Jaegerists beat us there. They've captured it. They must have gotten one of the trains up and running. There's a bunch of soldiers posted all over the port. They're in full Anti-Titan gear." Pieck announced. Well shit…this isn't good at all.

I hooked up my ODM Gear with the others. Hange and Magath were atop of the rocky ledge spying out what was going on. I took out my handles and checked the mechanisms of them. I looked down at my gear as I adjusted the side wheel with my thumb. The back of my gear responded in the direction I turned the wheel. I put it back into neutral position before holstering the handles once more. I grabbed my Scouts cloak hanging on the wagon and threw back onto myself.

Everyone else was also checking their gear and adjusting it to where they needed it. I glanced over at Annie and Reiner. Both of them also had ODM Gear on as well. It's been a while since they've used it. Let's hope they remember how. Then again they just need to use it to get enough distance before turning into their respective Titans.

"We have no choice but to kill them all with our first strike." Annie began to speak, "That's the only way we can secure the flying boat. To pull this off everybody's gotta be in sync. We need our Titan power and your fire power. Understood?" Annie directed us.

"Just hold on a second." Connie interrupted.

"What's the problem?" Annie questioned. My squad mates shared the same look while I remained indifferent.

"The Jaegerists are holding the Azumabito hostage. We need to keep them out of the line of fire." Mikasa commented. Connie seemed shocked by the answer but collected himself. He's hesitating to fight the Jaegerists.

"Yeah, exactly." Connie agreed.

"You expect us to care about that? We won't protect people who've attacked our homeland just because they're your distant cousins." I crossed my arms and frowned at Annie.

"That may be true but there's another reason why we need to keep the Azumabito alive. Think about it. The Jagerists have them alive for now and haven't blown up the harbor before we got here. They need them as well for a reason. They're the ones that built that flying boat and know how it works and how to make it. It's their knowledge that we need to keep in tact. Not the blood ties. If they die, then their knowledge perishes along with them." I informed her. Annie stared at me and wasn't backing down.

"Vivien's right. If the hostages are killed then the rest of our plan falls apart." Pieck backed me up.

"Right Onyankopon?" We turned our heads to the man in question.

"Yeah, we need them alive. I should be able to pilot that boat but first we need to get into flying shape. That's the problem, we need the mechanics to set up the wings. Otherwise, none of us are going to be flying anywhere. The wings are folded up to make it easier to tow. So they'll need it to be suspended and secure. Even then, there's even more to do before we can get airborne. The original plan was to hanger it until we had enough pilots trained, so we're skipping a lot of steps. They'll at least need time to service it before take off." Onyankopon explained.

"Start to finish, how long is it going to take to finish?" Reiner questioned.

Onyankopon dropped his head, "I couldn't say. It'll be up to the mechanics." He said honestly.

"Let's hope it's faster than I'm thinking it'd take." I commented with a frown.

"I get it, but to confirm you're asking us to protect the Azumabito technicians from the Jaegerists. Long enough to the boat ready to fly. Then let me guess, you want us to hold off the enemy for this unknown length of time. Without killing any of them?" I looked at my squadmates and they hung their heads.

"If at all possible. We've known these guys ever since we were cadets." Jean stated.

"We don't have much of a choice here, guys. Have you seen how armed to the teeth they are? They're ready to kill us. This is just like the time Kenny's unit hunted us down years ago." I tried to reason with them.

Jean eyed me, "No offense Viv, but the rest of us can't just shut it off like you and the Captain can. Maybe Mikasa could but the rest of us can't. We've seen you kill without a second thought. We just don't have that killer instinct like you Ackerman's do." Jean commented.

I gave a look of surprise before frowning and downcasting my eyes. He's right, this is a lot harder for them than it is to me.

"Then I'm sure you've got a plan. Think you can fill me in? We don't even have an estimate on how long the Azumabito need yet. So you must have some scheme to keep the Jaegerists occupied indefinitely without killing them. Can you explain it in detail? There is a plan, right Armin? You had one for me." Annie demanded. Annie doesn't realize just how hard that plan was for Armin to make back then. None of us wanted to believe that Annie was the Female Titan then.

Annie stared at Armin intensely. Armin said nothing and kept his eyes trained on the ground.

"There's no way to make that happen. We have to wipe them out with a lightning strike. Otherwise a survivor will destroy the boat and strand us here." Pieck commented from above.

"Hold on. We can see it's a long shot but we're doing this to help people. So what? You're saying we have to gun down a bunch of our friends to save the world? That's so messed up!" Connie exclaimed. Tension hung in the air as nobody spoke. The world was so much easier when it was just Titans that we fought.

"I'm sorry. This'll be a pretty ugly operation. We shouldn't expect you guys to take part in it. We don't even have the right to drop that choice on you. If it had been you in our place you probably would have chosen differently than we did that day. You wouldn't have breached the wall." Annie admitted and apologized to us.

I glanced up to Reiner and frowned seeing the look of realization that was on his face. Did he think of something? What's with that look in his eyes?

"None of you need to join this battle." He suddenly spoke up. I looked at him taken aback. The others looked at him as well in shock.

"Stick with Gabi and Falco. Stay at a safe distance and observe. You'll have to defend yourself if the Jaegerists spot you so be prepared to fight. But for now, just stay out of it." My gaze hardened at Reiner.

I uncrossed my arms, "Yeah, that's not happening." I walked up to Reiner and poked my finger directly into the center of his chest. He looked taken back by my sudden aggression.

"They have Thunder Spears and last time I checked. Your armor has a bad track record against those. Or did you forget how we beat you four years ago in Shiganshina?" I removed my finger from his chest and placed my hands on my hips.

"If the rest of my squad doesn't want to fight then that's fine. I can't sit by and watch while you and Annie fight the Jaegerists alone. One Ackerman is comparable with over a hundred soldiers. I can help take out the Jaegerists before they have a chance to fire the Thunder Spears." No way was I about to let Reiner fight this battle on his own.

"Man, Viv isn't making this easy on us. Just us sitting back while watching her go to the battlefield alone without us?" Connie commented.

"She may be insanely strong but can only one infantry really back up two Titans against all that?" Jean added.

I turned my head hearing skidding coming from the side, "I've got no intention of being a spectator." Hange skidded down with Magath next to her.

"Look I know they were our comrades, but I've already had to shoot four. On top of that, our window for saving humanity is shorter than we realized. I saw the Titans crossing the sea. Leaving monstrous clouds of steam in their wake. And considering how fast they were moving. They've probably made landfall in Marley right about now." My eyes widened as my jaw dropped open. We're really pressed for time now.

"The closest city in northeastern Marley are most likely gone. I had no idea they'd be able to make it across the sea that quickly." Magath walked away from Hange's side. My eyes followed as he walked towards Yelena.

"There's no telling how many people they've already killed." Hange finished.

I watched in slight horror as Magath placed his hand over Yelena's mouth with one hand. His other hand lifted up her other arm and placed his boot on it. What is he doing?

"Tell us where Eren Jaeger is going with those Titans!" We could only watch as Yelena struggled under Magaths grip.

"Everytime you make me ask again, I'll break you a new elbow!" Magath threatened. A sickening crack was heard as Yelena began muffled screams into Magath's hand.

"Never thought I'd see someone else torture just as bad as Captain Levi does." I mumbled under my breath. The rest of the Levi Squad nodded their heads in agreement. Levi was brutal whenever he interrogated someone. There'd be a lot more blood involved though. Considering he liked kicking people's teeth in.

"Magath, stop it!" Hange yelled out.

Magath released Yelena's mouth and she took in a deep breath, "Why do you look so damned afraid? I'm not going to kill you." Magath took a step back.

"That's certainly good to hear." Yelena spoke after catching her breath.

"I've changed my mind. None of you caught me up in this and I don't wanna die without knowing how this ends. If we survive, then you take me with you. I might tell you where to find Eren." Yelena offered.

Hange walked up and placed her hand on Magath's shoulder, "Securing that boat is priority number one." Hange reminded him.

"Yeah, torturing her now isn't doing us any good right now." Onyankopon followed up. After a moment, Magath turned around and faced the Levi Squad.

"Forgive me, all of you. I was…a fool. I'm sorry for my behavior last night. We were never in the right. I delude myself into thinking we were the good guys. I wanted to believe the evil I'd done was justified as part of some great cause. But in the end that's just not true. I'd attempted to ignore the fact that Marley's soul has grown rotten. As I didn't want to consider what that meant about me. This war isn't your fault. You shouldn't be punished for the sins of people you never knew simply because their blood runs through your veins." We stared at Magath in surprise. I know I didn't expect this at all.

He then turned to the Warriors, "Pieck, Annie, Reiner. You've been shouldering the burden of humanity's hatred since you were born. It's inexcusable, but still…senseless as our bloodstained history may be. We have a duty to pass it on. So the generations after us can do better." He turned to address the Levi Squad once more.

"Jaeger plans to erase everything including the lessons of the past. And I call that unforgivable. As long as this want to kill continues our world will only continue to sink deeper into hell. It was mentioned last night and I couldn't agree more. We have to break the cycle!" My brows raised as Magath formally bowed to us.

"But right now, we're trapped in it. There's no way to avoid spilling more blood today. So please, look the other way." A moment of silence passed as Magath kept his bow towards us.

"I'm not doing that." My eyes glanced over to Armin who finally spoke. He's been quiet this entire time.

"I refuse to let someone else to stain their hands in my place." Armin voiced his opinion.

Magath lifted up from his bow and stared at us in shock. I raised a brow as I stared over at Armin.

"In other words, I think our boy genius here finally came up with a plan. Am I right?" Armin glanced over to me with a small smile.

"And a contingency one." He added. A grin formed on my face as I walked up and clapped the back of his shoulder.

"There you go again, getting possessed by Erwin's spirit. Let's hear it then." I commented.

Jean let out a breath and gave a teasing look to Armin, "Bout time you thought of something. You've been quiet this entire time. We're on a time crunch here so start explaining." He ushered Armin. Armin nodded his head.

"Right."

I hid between two buildings with Reiner next to me. We were waiting for the signal from the others. Annie and Reiner were to reveal themselves and turn into their Titans. Until then we had to lie in wait. Annie waited in a separate area of the same building. Armin and Connie had already started their distraction. We'll see if this plan even works, if not we go to the contingency plan.

I'm supposed to be out here to provide Reiner and Annie back up against the Jaegerists once they transform. Mikasa went with the others to help the Azumabitos. If things went south, they would get the hostages to the basement so Reiner and Annie could freely transform.

"Viv," I turned my head to the quiet whisper of Reiner. His eyes were staring down at me, "Stay near me once the fight starts. I can't protect you if you go off on your own. I don't want a repeat of what happened when the walls came down. I can't risk losing you." He stated honestly.

I gave him a knowing smile, "I'll try my best not to. They're going to be using long range while I'm a lot closer. I might have to go further out than expected." I expected Reiner to lighten up but he remained completely serious. He placed his hand on the brick wall behind me. He leaned down so he was at eye level with me.

"I'm serious, Viv. Stay within my range so I can shield you when I need to." A nervousness suddenly plagued his serious expression.

He looked down with his eyes, "I don't want to do this now but in case things go south from here on out. I need to tell you." His gold eyes stared back into my steele gray ones. I raised a brow in confusion.

"Tell me what?" I asked. I briefly looked down when I felt Reiner's other hand grasp one of mine.

"Vivien," He floored me by hearing him say my full name. He never did that before unless he was proving to me he was being completely serious, "I planned on asking you to marry me if we survived this." My eyes widened and my jaw completely dropped open.

"What..?" I manage to speak softly.

"You don't have to say anything right now. I know I'm springing this out of nowhere. But I would like to know your answer after we make it through this. There's no other woman than you that I'd like to eventually one day call my wife." Reiner said honestly. My steele gray eyes stared at him in awe. How long has he been thinking about marriage?

I felt Reiner's hand now moved to the back of my neck, "So I need for both of us to make it out of this alive. Please, Viv, stay near me so I can protect you." He softly pleaded.

I slowly snapped out of my daze and placed my left hand on his chest. Just right above his heart and the same way I did years ago. His eyes glanced down at my hand before meeting my eyes once more.

"Okay. You'll be my shield and I'll be your spear." I finally agreed. A smile formed on Reiner's face.

"Sounds good to me."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Reiner stood back up and we both turned our heads in the direction of the gunshots. It came from the direction where Floch held the Azumabito hostage. That's not a good sign. I unholstered the handles and clipped them to blades.

"Get ready. Sounds like things went south." I stated.

"Yeah." Was all Reiner replied with. He grabbed the handles to his own gear. Ready to jump in once the signal was given for him to turn into the Armored.

"We're under attack!" I heard Floch's voice yell, "Mikasa, Armin, and Connie have switched sides! They betrayed Eldia! Kill them!" Contingency plan it is then. The sounds of ODM Gear followed after that. They're on the move.

Reiner walked forward and he peaked his head over the corner. His fingers hovered over the triggers. I heard the familiar sound of Thunder Spears exploding in the distance. The attack has begun but no signal from the others yet.

"Get more explosives! They're trapped in the basement!" I heard someone yell. There we go.

"Go. I'll be right behind you." The ringing sound of steel echoed as I unsheathed both parry blades. The whirring sound of the ODM Gear went off as Reiner shot ahead.

After waiting a few more seconds, I shot my hooks into the adjacent building. I took off in the same direction as he did. I could see Reiner in the distance as he made his way through the buildings. As he neared the end of the port he flung himself upwards. I glanced up my left seeing Annie in the air next to Reiner.

Lightning struck as the familiar yellow light and clapping thunder sounded in the air. The light eventually faded as steam filled the air. I launched myself up over a roof as Annie and Reiner landed now in their Titan forms.

The Jaegerists snapped their heads to me after looking at the Female and Armored Titans. I let out a cry as I spun my blades and sliced through a line of them. My boots skidded against the stone in a circular motion as I came to a stop. I stood up and looked behind to see the Jaegerists laying down in a pool of their own blood. I heard gasps and cries come from around me as Jaegerists were struck down by the Titans.

"Traitor!" I spun myself around as a Jaegerist came speeding towards me.

He had his gun aimed at me. Before I could react, Reiner's fist connected to the Jaegerist and sent him flying backwards. I lowered my blades as I looked to my right. Reiner's arm was still in the air. I could see through the hardened lenses that his eyes focused on me.

My eyes widened as my senses alerted me. I shot my hooks into Reiner and took off from the roof. I looked back to see a Thunder Spear lodged into where I was just standing moments before. I swung up and around Reiner as the Thunder Spear exploded.

My eyes caught sight of the Jaegerists that fired the spear. Three of them went past the roof and trained their next spears at Annie. Annie saw them coming and placed one hand over her nape. Shit, she doesn't know just how strong the Thunder Spears are to Titans.

"Reiner above!" I called out to him as I retracted my hooks.

I refired my hooks and dodged to the side as Reiner jumped up. He reeled back his fist and punched the three Jaegerists out of the sky. He landed behind Annie. Three more Jaegerists with Thunder Spears appeared above both of them.

"Fire!" One of them yelled.

I let out a growl as I quickly flipped myself in the air with the gas. I fired my hooks out and both landed on their targets. Each hook sunk into the flesh of the Jaegerists on either end. They cried out in pain as the metal tore through them. I placed my blades together as I pulled the triggers. I launched forward while the two Jaegerists were pulled back. The one in the middle eyes widened and threw his Thunder Spear out in panic.

I released my hooks and swiveled my gear. My gear rotated me just as the spear went over my head. The spear connected to the ground below and exploded on impact. The Jaegerists jaw dropped in shock before I slashed my blades across as I passed him through the air. My body continued to flip over as I looked down below. Annie and Reiner both had their heads tilted up. They had watched what happened over their heads.

I held my blades out to my sides as I twisted my body back upright in mid air. I fired my hooks down below and connected to the exposed muscle in between Reiner's armor. I reeled myself in and my boots landed on his armored shoulder. I turned my head to his direction. His eyes were trained on me. He probably wasn't too thrilled that I had gotten out of his range with that last attack. Hey, at least I came back to him.

Annie suddenly lunged forward and extended her leg. Her shin connected to another three Jaegerists and sent them flying into the sea. I didn't even see those guys. Reiner backed up Annie earlier and now she's doing the same. Makes me glad that we never had to deal with fighting the two of them together back then. As bad as the breach of Maria was back then. It could've been ten times worse. In some twisted way. The people of Paradis were lucky that day.