Clouds skittered across the moon. It was late, several hours after sundown, so only the largest Titans would still be active. The gates of Karanes opened up just wide enough to allow the wagons to pass single file into the darkness. They moved slowly and someone had spread dirt on the ground to muffle the sound. The locals had been asked to avoid the area so the Survey Corp could stage their expedition, which would take place in two days' time and with Trost still fresh in everyone's minds, no one was eager to crowd the gate anyway. So few, if any, civilians saw them leave.
The wagons were loaded heavily, carrying cannons, harpoon guns, gunpowder, ammunition, and food supplies. They would be hard to get up to speed, slow to turn. Easy pickings for Titans. Outriders on horseback, one for every two wagons, would be tasked with keeping the Titans off them.
Each wagon held three men: two with the roses of the Garrison regiment, both expert cannoneers; and one with the wings of freedom. Except Kirito's wagon of course. The commander of the expedition curled his lips in distaste. Why the hell had he gotten stuck with this underage kid, not even a cadet? Erwin had told him that the Levi Squad had trained the boy, which should mean the boy was competent, and of course Erwin should know, but the commander couldn't help but feel Erwin should have known better.
"Just stay in the cart and keep the cannoneers calm," he told the kid, hoping he would listen and not get killed. The commander put the kid's cart near the front, where he could keep an eye on them and eavesdrop on their conversation.
Tense as the party was before the gates opened up, everyone's breathing sped up even more once they were one the move, especially the men with roses on their backs. The commander would have preferred to keep the expedition to Scouts only, but he had to acknowledge that the Garrison worked with cannons regularly, the Scouts rarely. And as Erwin had said, they were only going to get one shot at this.
Nervous eyes darted around in the darkness.
"You guys don't leave the safe zone very often, do you?" Kirito said.
"No, we're not crazy enough to leave the town like you are," the cannoneer snapped back. He swallowed hard. "And why are the horses walking? When the Survey Corps leaves, they're always at a gallop."
Kirito shrugged, as though it should be self-evident. "They usually leave in daylight, when the Titans are most active. We're leaving at night, when they are mostly asleep. Rapid movement and loud noises would negate the stealth bonus."
" 'Stealth bonus.' Huh. Never thought of it as a bonus, but I guess it kinda is." The second man relaxed a little. "I'm Johannes, by the way."
"Kirito."
"So have you… I mean, do you… go outside very often?"
"I play on the front lines."
Johannes nodded, trying make himself believe the kid, then glanced around. It was easy to see why everyone was nervous. The ruined town was eerie anyway, and doubly so in the inconstant moonlight. "Is that a Titan over there?"
"No," Kirito reassured him. "Just a shadow."
"How can you tell?" Demanded the other garrison guard.
"Because there's the building casting it."
"How about that one?"
"That is a Titan, but he's asleep." Kirito watched it carefully, just in case he was wrong.
"And that one?"
"That's one and he's still awake. If you'll be excuse me." Kirito stood up, drew his swords and prepared to go launch himself.
"Hold where you are!" The commander barked. "We have men on the flanks for that. You keep your ass in the cart until we are clear of the town."
Kirito didn't resheath his blades, but he did stay in the cart, watching as the designated Scouts removed the threat. The first man zipped across the Titan's path, distracting it, and when the Titan turned to follow him, it exposed its neck to the second. Neatly done.
The entire party surveyed the ruins nervously.
"Did the people get out before the Titans came in?" Kirito asked, hoping they would tell him it was just scenery, that no one had ever actually lived here.
The men on the wagons nodded. "We had warning when Shiganshina fell. The people here in this town made it to safety, at least."
They encountered two more Titans on their way out of the ruined town, and lost one scout in the process. Damn it all, the commander thought. That was just carelessness. He took a deep breath to steady himself. The open plains beyond the town would be poor ODM country. He couldn't afford to lose his focus.
"Where are we going anyway?" Kirito interrupted him.
"You'll find out when we get there." The commander snapped.
"But wouldn't it make more sense if we all knew in case something happens to you?"
"Don't get smart kid."
"Get smart or get intelligent?" The kid's insolent tone didn't win him any points with the commander. "Captain Levi said this was important. I promised him I'd see it through." When no additional information was offered the kid squinted at the road. "Can I at least assume we're following the tracks?"
The commander's head snapped around. The first wagons had left the night before, but there hadn't been that many and the ground was fairly dry. How had the kid seen them in the moonlight? "Yeah," he said in a tight voice. "If anything happens to me, follow the tracks."
.
They cleared the ruined town and moved into open countryside. The rolling fields made it easier to spot movement in the moonlight. There were some foxes, owls and a big cat of some kind, but only two Titans, and they were moving slowly. Easy passage. Too easy. Just like the 72nd floor, where low level monsters lulled one into a false sense of security. There was something more dangerous out here someplace. Kirito could sense it. If it wasn't coming for their little party, it would be lying in wait for the big raid.
A shadowy shape appeared on the horizon, growing larger with every mile. A forest that rivaled the tallest eucalyptus or sequoias. A boar, startled by the wagons, bolted towards the forest, crashing through the underbrush, startling a number of birds.
They made it to the trees just before sunrise woke the Titans. Evidently it was not a safe zone, as the Scouts who had arrived the night before spelled them for a few hours rest. When he awoke, Kirito grabbed his breakfast and wandered over to watch the cannoneers he'd escorted unload harpoon guns. They weren't just after any old Titan. They were after a Boss.
"Hey!" The commander from the night before snapped at Kirito. "Enough gawking. We're the biggest collection of humans for fifty miles, so every Titan around is coming our way. Commander Erwin said you were useful. Don't make a liar out of him."
"Oh, right," Kirito said, then spent the rest of the day grinding for levels. But near sunset something unexpected happened. The majority of the Titans lost interest and started moving away. Following the tracks the wagons had made, back towards the city.
In the morning, they didn't return.
Knowing those things were out there, waiting to ambush your friends was worse than facing them down yourself.
"I thought Petra said these things don't communicate or coordinate their activities," Kirito muttered under his breath.
"They don't," said a nearby scout.
"Then how do they know where to go?"
The scout looked bothered for a second, then shrugged the question off. "I don't know. I guess they smell us or something. The more people, the bigger the smell."
"That doesn't track," Kirito said. "When Petra and I were out on the flank, there were just the two of us. But all the Titans came towards us because we were closest. They didn't make for the main body of the scouts."
"Maybe it's because we're in the forest and can fight back better than the scouts on the open plains." The man was starting to look annoyed. "What? You have a better theory?"
Kirito considered. "A third to a half of all the bosses have had minions, who will protect the boss from the assault team."
"Minion Titans? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I mean, these guys were perfectly normal yesterday."
"Normal yesterday, abnormal today. That's what kind of has me worried."
The two men scanned the rolling fields. Waiting. But they weren't sure for what.
Eventually, it came. Far on the horizon. A column of red smoke. Followed by another. And another. And another. Then a column of green smoke signaling a change in direction. More red smoke from the right flank, and more red smoke. Then the dreaded black smoke. An abnormal. Another column of green smoke, veering in their general direction. Another column of black smoke, then the right flank fell silent.
Had they outrun the abnormal, or …?
"Kirito," the scout said, "take the message back to the command post. Black smoke spotted."
"Alright." He turned to go, but another color caught his eye. "Gold smoke. Does that mean the plan is scrubbed?"
The scout hesitated. Another column of gold smoke rose in the sky.
They all stared uncertainly. Then a column of green smoke, followed by three, four, then five more, all pointing towards the stand of trees.
"Get going!" The scout barked.
Kirito nodded and took off.
.
"Black smoke spotted!" Kirito relayed. "Multiple columns."
"Multiple abnormals?" The commander of the artillery unit looked alarmed, head swiveling as he stood on his high perch in the trees, clearly worried for his men on the ground.
"The columns were clustered together, so it could be the same one."
"Hm. You'll have to stay here then. The trap is set for one. If they bring in more, we may have to fight."
"Wouldn't it be better if I went back to the periphery so I could cull the extras or at least slow them down?" Kirito said.
"You'll stay here!" the commander snapped.
Kirito grimaced. That distrust of beaters again. As a solo player, he didn't really have to follow their orders, but then he looked down and saw Johannes among the cannoneers. Those guys weren't really up to fighting Titans, so if the trap didn't work, they'd be in a world of hurt. He sighed. "Yeah, okay."
The commander eyed him, not quite sure how he bought the boy's acquiesce. "How long did it take you to get here from your lookout post?" He asked. "How far out were they when you left?"
"They were several miles away," Kirito said. "But that was ten minutes ago, so they'll be here any time now." He did a quick Search. "In fact, the lead horses have already entered the forest."
The section commander didn't have a chance to demand how Kirito knew that as the horses of the vanguard appeared on the road. Most of the horses passed right through, but a tall blonde man rose in the saddle, fired his ODM gear and joined them in the tall trees. "Is everything ready to go?"
The section commander nodded. "Just awaiting your orders."
"Alright then." He shouted down to the artillery men below. "Ready the harpoons and take cover. Our target will be following hard on Captain Levi's tail." He turned to Kirito. "You must be the boy they found outside the wall, the one from Aincrad. I'd like to talk to you after this operation. We didn't know anyone outside the walls had survived."
Kirito nodded. "Same here. We thought we were alone in this world."
The Levi squad appeared, laying low on their horses' necks, riding hellbent for leather, to stay ahead of a fourteen-meter female Titan.
"Fire!"
The sound of Erwin's voice caused her to straighten up, but too late to escape.
A hundred harpoons shot out from the underbrush from all directions, immobilizing her like a wasp in a spider web. Trapped but still dangerous. In a last-ditch effort, she raised her hands to the back of her neck.
"Interesting," Erwin said. "She knows about the weak spot. Most of them don't."
Kirito tore his eyes away to see Levi leap from his horse while the rest of his squad moved off in the distance.
"She's not putting up much of a fight," Levi observed.
"That's no reason to let our guard down," Erwin responded. "Good work leading her here."
"We couldn't have without the rear contingent whose lives bought us time." Levi's voice betrayed bitter anger at the loss of dedicated Scouts. "I don't intend to ever forget that. And because of them, we can expose whoever this really is. Ten to one they're in there pissing themselves right now." Levi unsheathed his swords.
"Not just yet." Erwin called for a second and third wave of harpoon fire.
At a nod from the commander, Levi and Miche both launched themselves at the Titan, but she must have sensed them coming. Her hands hardened into crystals. Levi and Miche's sword blades shattered on impact, the shards of metal mixed with crystal glittered colorfully in the patchy sunlight and evaporated.
Levi landed atop her head, half taunting her, half trying to shame her. But in Kirito's experience, few player killers felt any real shame.
Then Levi's taunts turned into threats. "You're okay with me cutting your limbs off at the joints, right? They'll probably grow back. Don't want you dead yet…"
Whether in fear or anger, the Titan let out an animal scream.
For a moment, nobody moved. Then Miche turned to Erwin. "They're coming. I can smell them. Dozens of them."
Kirito did a quick Search. Miche was right.
The ground shook as Titans swarmed in.
"Attack!" Erwin shouted.
The Titans ignored the people present and went instead for the Female Titan. It made them easy pickings, but there were too many. No matter how many they dropped, more came. They tore the Female's body the shreds.
Realizing they had lost their quarry, Erwin called the retreat before the Titans could turn on the scouts.
.
There was a store of fresh gas canisters and blades by the harpoon guns. Levi dropped to the ground to restock. Kirito followed.
Kirito looked around at the now abandoned guns and the cannoneers hastily jumping onto the wagons to make their retreat.
"All this for nothing," Kirito said.
"Not for nothing," Levi replied. "We now know there are at least three others who can assume Titan form, like Eren can. That at least two of them can harden their skin. That at least one of them can command regular Titans."
"Think that makes her the Boss Titan?" Kirito asked.
Levi looked at Kirito strangely. "I reckon it does."
"Alright then," Kirito nodded, "to finish this quest, we have to take out the Boss. Let's get going."
.
The Levi Squad saw the column of blue smoke.
"Does that mean it's over?" Eren said.
"We must've got her!" Eld said.
"That will teach you doubt us, Greenhorn!" Oruo chimed in.
Eren nodded, but he was listening as Eld continued, ignoring Oruo's interruption.
"Now we'll meet up with Captain Levi and head back."
They packed up their gear and started off in the direction of the walls when they saw a single column of green.
"Must be the Captain," Gunther said, veering off in the direction.
They all followed.
A short, slender figure emerged from the trees.
.
Fuck! Annie thought. There were four of them with Eren. Still, Levi wasn't one of them. That made this her best chance.
It was now or never.
.
The person was short, like Levi. He was slender, like Levi. He moved like Levi, except … not quite. And why was his hood up? Gunther moved in closer. "Captain?"
.
The scout was too close. Any second now, he'd realize she wasn't Captain Levi. Annie tightened her grip on her swords.
.
The hooded figure turned sharply and cut through one of Gunther's lines. Destabilized, he spun out of control while the pendulum motion sent him headfirst into the tree that held his remaining line.
He bounced off the tree and hung, unmoving.
"Gunther!" Eren fired his gas canisters to accelerate over.
.
The scout was down. Eren was moving her way. She should grab him and run for it. But if he fought her, and the idiot probably would, the others would close in on her. Shit.
She'd have to lure Eren away. Capture him another way.
She ODMed away as fast as she could and ducked behind a tree.
.
Eren stared in horror. Blood flowed in a steady stream down Gunther's close cropped hair. His head bent on his neck at an unnatural angle. And his eyes were utterly vacant.
.
The command squad raced horseback for the edge of the forest.
"Erwin," Hange said, "why did you have Levi replenish his blades?"
"We saw the Female Titan get eaten. Did you actually see the person inside suffer the same fate? I didn't."
.
A massive explosion rocked the forest. All heads turned towards the sound.
"Is that what I think it is?" Levi said.
Kirito nodded. "The Female Titan is back."
.
Mere minutes later, there was a second explosion. Followed by a familiar scream of rage.
"Damn," Levi muttered. He launched himself towards the sound. Kirito followed suit.
Crashing sounds and Eren's repeated screams guided them.
Kirito did a double take as they flew past Gunther's dangling body. He looked at Levi, but the older man's face was a guarded mask.
When they passed through the clearing, Levi's jaw tightened. He spared a second to meet the eyes of each of his fallen squad: Eld, body ripped in two; Oruo, limp on the grass, his spine shattered at multiple vertebrae; then he did pause. He looked down at Petra, her body crushed into a tree so hard it was stuck, her broken neck angling her head back so she could die staring at the sky.
It was the Moonlit Black Cats all over again.
Kirito should never have left them.
Levi should never have left them.
How many times did they have to make this mistake before they finally learned?
A moment of tenderness flitted across Levi's face, replaced almost instantly by a look of self-loathing.
In the distance, Eren's scream reminded them they still had a mission to complete.
Levi launched himself towards the sound.
Kirito pause for one second more.
The wind gently moved Petra's light brown hair, and it almost looked like her lips moved.
I'm sorry, Sachi. I failed you again. I didn't save you. I didn't hear your last words. But I'll be back. I'll be back so you can curse me.
Ahead, the Titan screams abruptly ceased.
In its place was a human scream of anguish.
Kirito sped towards the sound.
Eren's steaming Titan carcass lay decapitated on the ground, the entire nape of the neck missing.
A little farther on, the Female Titan lay on the ground, the back of her knee cut.
A single girl had brought the Female Titan down.
As the girl swooped in towards the nape, Levi came in from the side, knocking the girl off course, narrowly saving her from the Female Titan's grab.
With those few seconds of breathing space, the Female Titan struggled to her feet and began to run, limping, and slower from exhaustion.
"Eren!" The girl cried out.
Levi glanced at the girl as they took to the air in pursuit. "It looked like she bit the entire nape off. It's unlikely Eren survived."
"No!" The girl said. "She could have just crushed him. She needs him alive for something. She's got to be holding him on her tongue."
"Someone's optimistic," Levi said. "But if she swallows him, he's dead."
"Not necessarily," Kirito put in as he joined them on the tree branch. "The kid in Trost survived after being swallowed whole. Eren's at least that tough."
"Fine." Levi seemed put out at being contradicted so much. "You figure out how to get Eren away from her," he said to Mikasa. "Kirito, you keep her distracted. I'll take care of the cutting."
Kirito did a quick analysis. "Get out in front of her!" Kirito said to the girl. "I've got an idea. I'll bring her down."
Mikasa's look clearly said who the hell are you? But she nodded sharply. "Right."
The girl was good. Kirito had to give her that. She zipped in front of the Titan, drawing her gaze.
Kirito aimed his grapple at the outside of the Female Titan's left ankle, then used his gas to swing wide in front of her right. As the Titan stepped forward, the line pulled taut and she stumbled.
It cost her two or three steps, but that was two or three steps too many.
Realizing she could no longer outrun them, she turned to strike at Levi.
It was already too late.
Levi rolled into a spin and sliced his way up her arm. As gravity pulled him towards the ground, he sliced every tendon on the way down. Even Kirito, who had seen Levi fight, was amazed at the speed.
It wasn't cold, calculating skill. This was vengeance incarnate.
The Female Titan staggered, sagging against a tree to protect her spine, with her hand covering her nape.
It did no good. Levi sliced at the shoulders until her arms sagged uselessly.
Mikasa saw the defenseless nape and went for it.
Crystals flowered across the neck, their soft pastel colors belied their hardness. The girl's blades shattered uselessly, while small shards of light glittered briefly before evaporating.
Kirito's eyes went wide.
"Her neck is covered with crystals!" Kirito shouted.
"Yeah, we know," Levi snapped. "And our blades can't cut through them."
"We don't need to cut through them. We need to cut them out!"
"What?" Levi looked at Kirito like he was insane.
"The crystals are pink!" Seeing incomprehension, Kirito yelled, "Just keep her off of me for thirty seconds!"
Thirty seconds sounded short, but in battle, it was a hell of a lot to ask.
Levi made an exasperated noise, but resumed his attack. After giving her fractured blades a look of disgust, Mikasa shot them out of the hilts and reloaded.
Kirito perched high in the tree and calculated. The scouts' flimsy blades weren't going to cut it. He pulled out the Elucidator and the Dark Repulser. "Let's find out if Titan crystals are harder than dragon crystal," he said softly to himself. He calculated and jumped.
He stuck the neck well above the nape, just above the crystals. He cut a deep arc between the growing crystals and the flesh. As the crystals peeled away from the skin, he could see underneath them.
The shock of recognition almost cost him his balance. "Annie?"
The Female Titan, more recovered than she let on, reached up and snatched at Kirito.
He twisted violently to escape but lost his balance in the process, pulling the entire meter and a half circle of crystal out of the neck as he fell.
He hit the ground hard, next to the dislodged crystal. The bit of Titan skin still attached rapidly steamed away to nothing, but the crystal itself remained intact.
It was the largest monster drop of crystals that Kirito had ever seen, or even heard about.
The crystals that had been closest to the body, where they had been actively growing, still had traces of Titan blood. Some of it steamed away, some seemed to absorb into the crystals, imparting that familiar pink hue.
Yes!
The meter and a half crystal was too large to move, so Kirito flipped the Elucidator back into its scabbard and took a hard look at the pommel of the Dark Repulser.
"Well Liz, you said dragon crystal is the hardest substance known. If you're wrong, it's not my fault."
He pounded several times. The Titan crystal fractured. The dragon metal remained undamaged. I guess Liz knew what she was talking about.
Four more blows, and an octagonal shaft the size of his fist splintered off.
He held it up, a trophy of sorts.
Please don't be too late.
He ran for the clearing, and for Petra.
When the Female Titan jerked her head around to the right and made that grab for Kirito, the left half of her face became unguarded and exposed.
Levi didn't miss the opportunity.
He slashed from ear to teeth.
When she turned in response to the pain, the right half of her face became exposed. Sometimes instinct worked in your favor.
Levi cut again on the other side, causing the jaw to sag.
As Mikasa had surmised, Eren was in the Titan's mouth, slimy, but alive.
He grabbed the boy. "We've got him, let's go!"
"Like hell we will! She's killed too many people!" Mikasa looked at the gaping wound in the Titan's neck. A brown military jacket could be seen. Though the Titan was trying to grow a layer of Titan muscle over the human body, Kirito's cut was too deep. If she couldn't make skin fast enough, she'd never be able to make crystals. Mikasa honed in. The human inside the Titan turned to face her and for a second, Mikasa froze at the face of a … not quite friend. "You bitch!" She breathed.
"Don't make this personal!" Levi ordered.
"Oh, it's personal," Mikasa spat out. She raised her sword.
But Annie was too fast. A cocoon of crystal encased the human body, severing her connection to the Titan carcass. It fell forward and started to steam, forcing Mikasa to retreat.
Levi started to congratulate Mikasa when he noticed Kirito frantically beating on the Titan crystal with the hilt of that weird green sword of his. A piece about the size of his fist cleaved off. The boy picked it up and ran at top speed back towards the clearing.
Levi handed the comatose Eren to Mikasa. "He's priority one. She's priority two." He pointed at Annie in the crystal.
"If she comes out of there, she'll be dead before she can take a step towards Eren." Mikasa growled.
Levi nodded and followed Kirito back to the clearing.
He arrived just in time to see the boy carefully peeling Petra's body off the tree. Kirito gently laid it on the grass, straightening the head on the broken neck. "Don't be my imagination that your lips were still moving. Don't be dead, don't be dead." He placed the pink crystal shard in her limp hand and wrapped his own around it tightly. "Heal!" He pleaded.
"Kirito," Levi said softly, "it's too late."
Kirito didn't answer, didn't breathe. He just stared at the crystal, willing it to activate.
Then the crystal began to glow brighter and brighter until it exploded, the fragments glittering momentarily before evaporating. Petra's eyes popped open, her chest inflating to its normal shape as she breathed in.
She started to sit up, but Kirito out a hand on her.
"Careful," he said. "Your health is restored but your stamina will be pretty close to zero after that."
Levi's pupils dilated. "What the hell was that?"
"I told you, the crystals were pink."
"What?"
"Pink crystals. They heal."
Levi stared at Petra. Broken neck, crushed diaphragm. Impossibly sitting in front of him. Weak but intact.
"Will it work on anybody?"
"Long as they're not dead."
He looked over at Oruo. Was that just the wind moving over his body or was he breathing? "Go get another one."
Kirito followed Levi's glance and did as he was told. He came back with two more.
"Show me." Levi said.
Kirito went over to Oruo, placed the crystal in his hand and said "Heal." Even knowing it was coming, Levi was still astounded.
"Now Eld."
"Captain, he's been bitten in half. He's not alive anymore."
"Try it anyway!" Levi said.
They lined up the torso and lower limbs, but the crystal did nothing.
"Captain," Petra said. "Gunther is out there. His skull was fractured and his neck broken. But so was mine."
Levi snatched the crystal out of Eld's hand. "All I have to do is say 'Heal?' "
"Yeah," Kirito said.
"Petra, when you can stand, see if you can find the horses. Oruo, fire off a distress signal then see if the artillery left a wagon behind. Kirito, get as many of those crystals as you can. And all of you, make sure nothing happens to Eren or the new recruit, or that bitch in the crystal." He turned to go find Gunther.
.
Petra and Oruo rose, stumbling in their weakness. They found Mikasa cradling Eren, Annie encased in crystal. They were going to be short of horses. They had to hope some of their riding horses would be willing to accept a harness.
Kirito moved past them to where the Titan crystal lay on the grass. He tried using a stone to break apart the large Titan crystal, but it didn't even come close. Only the Dark Repulser, made from metal crystallized in the dragon's stomach, was hard enough.
He had saved Petra. It didn't make up for Sachi, but at least it was something. And they had captured the Boss.
He said it to himself over and over as he chipped away at the large crystal. "We saved Petra. We captured the Boss. We saved Petra. We captured the Boss. We saved Petra."
He had a fair pile of crystals, a dozen or so pink, a couple teal green. Then a single blue one splintered off. He picked it up and it began to glow.
A window appeared above his head.
Congratulations!
Return to game?
Yes. No.
He looked at the glowing crystal. He had a peculiar feeling that if he said no, the crystal would go out and not reactivate.
Crap.
•-|—-— . —-—|-•