The plan turned out better than you all expected, making the speedy trip to HQ smooth sailing.
The grey, castle-like building was absolutely crawling with pure Titans. They walked around it's surrounding streets, climbed on it. Some Titans even managed to get on top of it. But all of this only egged the Attack Titan on. It immediately got to work, punching Titans left and right while you, Connie, Armin, and Mikasa found a convenient route to get in the building.
Armin shrieked in terror before you all crashed through the HQ windows at a speed that made the shattered glass feel like nothing. Your adrenaline was pumping. You got to your feet with ease, shaking off small pieces of glass that stuck to your clothing.
"What the hell?!" Jean shouted in disbelief.
"That was a close one! I was running on just fumes!" Connie exclaimed as he took out his empty tanks.
The large room you stood in was an absolute disaster. Desks and tables were flipped over and pushed around the room; the bookshelves lining the wall were practically empty, seeing as all the books and their ripped pages were scattered along the cherry wood flooring; there were splatters of blood in some areas, as well as discarded shotguns.
Hell, there was even a gigantic hole in one of the brick walls. It gave everyone a front row seat to the mayhem happening outside the building.
"A-Am I dreaming? Or what?" Jean sputtered as he inched closer to your unbothered statures.
In response, you reached over and pinched his arm.
"Ow!" Jean flinched, swatting your hand away.
"Does that answer your question?" Mikasa deadpanned.
You know what, Mikasa? I like your attitude, you thought to yourself with a smile.
"Armin, you're a certified genius!" Connie announced happily. He slapped Armin's back in his own friendly way, earning a wince from Armin. "From now on, your word is law." Connie caught sight of Jean before standing up to point out of the hole in the wall, "Check this out! We found an abnormal that likes to fight its own kind! And the best part? He doesn't give a damn about us!"
"What?" Jean was in shock. He watched the Attack Titan stomp past the hole with wide eyes as it put itself in another fighting stance.
"That's right! Your eyes aren't failing you yet! That big beautiful killing machine is our way out of here!" Connie happily rejoiced.
"Just listen to yourself! A Titan's not gonna help us!" Jean protested, having come to his senses. "You're out of your minds if you think this could work—"
"It is working." Mikasa cut in, "For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it. Trust me, you'll see for yourself soon enough."
"What other choice do we have anyways?" You asked, "You got a better idea, Jean-boy?" Jean avoided you and Mikasa's expectant gazes in response. "I thought so. That Titan is the best chance for everyone's survival. Just let it do it's thing."
"Just look at him go! That Titan makes the others look like shit!" Connie observed, fist pumping as it cheered the Titan on.
"Where's everyone else?" You asked, suddenly being reminded of your counterparts.
"They all ran away the second a Titan pushed it's head through this wall." Jean sighed heavily.
Ah, so that's how this happened, you thought, I don't blame them. Whatever pushed it's head through brick walls must've been a hell of a sight to see.
"We should go round everyone up." Armin suggested, "We're gonna need everyone together to plan our next move."
And so you all finally stepped away from the hole (Jean had to force Connie away because 'the fight was just getting good') before retreating deeper into HQ. It was a bit of a hassle, but after finding everyone, you all were finally grouped in one place.
It was a spacious brick and wood room that seemed to be directly over the supply room. The candle-lit space was bare besides an an open through-the-floor lift centered in the middle of the room. Everyone sat on the floor with faces of either worry or absolute panic.
You spotted the blank-faced trio: Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie sitting to themselves, but their heads perked up when they saw you walk over to them.
"Nice to see that you're alive." Annie deadpanned, looking up at you with icy eyes.
You chuckled nervously, "Yeah, sorry about that. I was with Mikasa, Armin, and Connie. We found something that you're not gonna believe—"
"There's a big ass Titan outside that's kicking ass!" Connie exclaimed, making you jump from his sudden appearance. "It makes the other Titans look like little weaklings! They're not getting in this building anytime soon with him on a rampage out there."
"That sounds good, but what's to keep him from turning on us when he's done?" Reiner replied.
You and Connie shared a look before Connie replied, "Guess we'll have to worry about that when we're safe."
"At least he's buying us a little time." Reiner remarked, his eyes flickering to you before they settled on Connie again. You assumed he wanted you to explain more, but you couldn't with everyone plainly sitting around.
"Good news!" Jean burst through the double-doors with a group behind him. They all held wooden crates in hand as they walked into the room. "Courtesy of the MP's, we just found a bunch of guns." Him and the group sat the crates on the floor before ripping them open with a crowbar, revealing stacked piles of shiny new slender shotguns within them. "Are we sure that this is gonna work though? We might as well throw spit wads at 'em."
"I dunno' but they're better than nothing." Armin replied honestly.
The others around you all walked over to get a better look at the guns while you went over to sit next to Armin. He sat beside a laid out sheet of paper on the floor. On it, diagrams of the lift and the supply room were sketched. He shot you a smile to which you fondly returned before his calculated eyes were dragging around the room.
"We're looking at seven Titans in the supply room, and all of them are four-meters." Armin announced, "If we time this perfectly, this much ammo should do the trick." Everyone crowded around the paper now as he pointed out certain sketches. "Step one, we'll lower a group with guns into the supply room via lift to get the Titans' attention. Two, when the Titans come into range, the group will fire in all four directions on the lift to blind them. Then comes the hard part: before the Titans have time to recover, seven people will swoop down from the ceiling and hit their napes. That's the plan. If we screw up, we're dead. That's a hell of a risk for only one attack, but it's our only chance."
And with that, the plan was in full swing.
You were one of the people picked to kill the Titans from above; joined by Mikasa, Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Connie. While everyone else crowded onto the spacious lift, you all were forced to use the stairs to get to the supply room.
"Okay, I'm gonna ask the obvious question." Connie said, "Can we even do this without ODM gear?"
"Those guys are only four-meters tall. Their weak spots aren't too high above eye level." Reiner answered.
"He's right. Size won't be an issue here." Jean chimed in, "The spots are still only one meter high and ten centimeters across."
"Back 'o the head to the nape 'o the neck!" Sasha burst out enthusiastically. She seemed to be trying to psyche herself up as you all climbed further down the stairs.
"Worse comes to worst, you can always just shove one of these bad boys up their asses." Reiner chuckled, holding up his blade. "That's their other weak spot."
"Are you serious? I didn't know that!" Connie seemed to take Reiner's comment seriously, watching the boy with interest to learn more.
"Did I miss a day of training or something?" Sasha asked, scratching her head in confusion.
"No, he's just being a jackass." You rolled your eyes before feeling Reiner flick the back of your head. Annie immediately returned the favor, turning around to flick Reiner's forehead.
"Knock it off, Reiner." Jean huffed, "You want your final words to be an ass joke?"
"I'll try to remember his honorable last words." Bertholdt held his hand to his heart dramatically, "Always remember to shove something up a Titan's ass if all else fails."
Connie and Sasha burst out laughing. Meanwhile. you and Annie shared a look that said 'what the hell are we gonna do with them?' before glaring at Bertholdt and Reiner. Mikasa was quiet the whole way down.
Finally you all made it to the first level of the supply room. The space was set up with metal railings, walk ramps, and fixtures above the actual room that gave a birds eye view of everything happening on the ground. The group was quickly split up, everyone jogging to get to their own perch around the fixtures before the lift could come down.
You carefully hoisted yourself over the ramp's railing before grabbing onto a metal fixture connected to a thick steel beam stretching across the room.
You could hear Connie whisper-yell on the beam parallel to yours as he watched you dangle from the fixture, "(Y/n), I swear if you fall—"
"I'm not gonna fall!" You whisper-yelled back.
"You sure as hell look like it." Annie added from her beam, perpendicular to Connie's.
You finally hoisted yourself up onto your own beam, quickly gaining your balance. You turned to look at Connie and Annie with a smug face. "Ha!"
You took your blades out, just in time to see the crowded lift slowly make its entrance in the middle of the room. Every edge of the lift had multiple gun barrels jutting out at it's sides, pointed at any Titan near it. You could hear the loud clicks of them cocking their guns.
Everyone above quickly got into position, balancing on the beams at a crouch start, almost as if you were getting ready to run in a race. You tightened your grip on your blades as you watched the scene.
"Wait for it.." Reiner announced to the rest of you.
You watched as the Titans stomped closer to the lift, it was surrounded at all angles now. Every cadet on the lift held their guns at eye level, actively taking their aim. One final stomp echoed into the space as the last Titan stepped closer.
"Fire!" Marco yelled out.
The lift was aglow with bright bursts of light, echoing blasts overpowering the once quiet room. Just as planned, the Titans were caught off guard and temporarily blinded, clutching at their steaming eyes as they staggered backwards.
"Go!" Jean yelled out.
You instantly sprinted forward, balancing along the steel beam as you dashed to the lift's area. You zeroed in on a pair of Titans directly below you, "I got that one!"
"I'll take the other one!" Connie yelled back before you both jumped off your beams at once.
You free-fell through the air before your blades were digging through the flesh of a Titan's nape like a hot knife through butter. A spurt of steam instantly shot out at you before you landed on your feet, running to get out of the way as the degenerating Titan collapsed.
"Did everyone kill theirs?" Mikasa yelled out.
Your cautious eyes scanned the numerous steamy corpses on the floor before widening at the Titan that still stood tall to your side.
Connie didn't cut deep enough.
"Shit!" He yelled with bulged hazel eyes. "My bad!"
The Titan didn't seem to like his apology though as it kneeled over to look at Connie in the face. This was your chance. With the Titan bending over, the nape was easier to access without ODM gear.
You sprinted forward before jumping up and slamming your feet down onto the Titan's shoulders with force, making it fall on it's face as Connie dashed to get out of the way. To your shock, Annie ran over to finish the job, slicing through the nape with ease.
You both gave each other a look of genuine surprise before Connie came running over.
"You both saved my life!" He wrapped his arms around both of you, squeezing you in a forced group hug. "I owe you one!"
"Yeah, yeah. Get off of me." Annie said flatly.
Connie immediately let her go in fear of getting hit, but his other arm was still wrapped around you. You furrowed your brows as he turned back to you.
"... Are we about to kiss right now?"
"Connie, get away from me." You smushed his face away from yours with a chuckle.
"I'm kidding! Just kidding!" He laughed, unwrapping himself from you before his laugh was cut short, "Unless—"
"Nope." You confirmed.
"Damn, okay." Connie chuckled, scratching at the back of his head. "Tough crowd."
"They're all dead! Start loading up supplies!" Jean announced as the others brought the lift down.
Everyone immediately scattered off to the huge gas tanks lined around the brick walls to refill their gear.
"I can't believe that worked!" Armin exclaimed as he filled his gear up beside you, "I half expected it to crash and burn."
"Duh! You should've known it would work!" You encouraged, "That plan was so well thought out for something you just came up with in minutes. You should have more confidence in yourself, it looks good on you."
A sheepish smile curled up on Armin's face as he re-connected his tanks to his gear. You wondered why he grew so quiet as you finished up your own gear. Turns out he was just waiting for you.
As soon as you were done, you were in a warm embrace. You stumbled backwards out of surprise, making Armin laugh, before you quickly returned the favor and wrapped your arms around his neck.
"What's this for?" You chuckled. Truthfully, you didn't care what the reason was; you'd take a hug from Armin anytime, any-day for whatever.
"To say thank you." Armin murmured. "And also just because I wanted to hug you."
"Hmm.. Sounds good enough." You joked, making him laugh again before he pulled away. You frowned at the hug's end.
"C'mon, we'll hug more later." He chuckled, grabbing onto your hand as he gently led you to the exit. You practically skipped with happiness beside him.
"You ready, people? Let's do this!" Marco yelled out, earning whoops of cheer as you all stepped out into the HQ's sunny courtyard.
This was a reinvented group that came out that building. What was once defeated was now fully energized, hopeful, and ready for anything as everyone zipped off in different directions.
You looked up to one of the surrounding buildings in the courtyard to see a familiar figure standing atop the roof. "There's Mikasa." You pointed her out to Armin.
"Let's go." He replied before you both hurriedly zipped up to the roof.
Mikasa was so into whatever she was staring at, she didn't even notice you, Armin, and the others land behind her. She flinched out of surprise when Armin finally spoke up, "What are you doing? We have to leave!"
"Look over there." She pointed to a building across the street with wide eyes. You both followed her direction to see the Attack Titan. It was leaning in a caved-in building, being completely surrounded by pure Titans who were .. eating it?
Oh, right. If there's someone inside who holds the power of a Titan, the pure Titans are automatically drawn to it. They wanna eat the shifter, not the actual Titan itself.
"Cannibalism?" Armin questioned in shock. "Can he not regenerate like the others?"
"This may sound stupid, but I was hoping he'd be the key for us." Mikasa admitted, "I was hoping that he'd help mankind break the cycle, turn the tide in our favor just long enough to give us some hope."
"He still can." Reiner chimed in, "He's too valuable to just let die. There's too much we can learn from him. I think it's perfectly clear our priority should be to get the scavengers off him. He's no good to us picked apart."
It seems it finally dawned on Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie what the Titan really was. Each of them gave you a knowing look. They finally understood what you meant earlier when you talked to them.
"Are you guys out of your mind?!" Jean blurted out, "We've finally got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay? For that?!"
"Just think about it. Having an abnormal as an ally would be a game changer." Annie argued, "A cannon's got nothing on a Titan who likes to rip apart it's own kind."
"Do you hear yourself? It's like you're talking about a new friend!" Jean exclaimed. He was absolutely baffled as he gawked at you all with wide eyes.
New foot stomps soon echoed out to your ears. You all turned to see a pale tall, lanky pure Titan step through the streets. It seemed to be headed for the direction of the Attack Titan like the others.
"That's the abnormal that ate Thomas!" Armin cried out.
At that, the Attack Titan seemed to have regained its strength. It shook the pure Titans off with ease as it took off in long strides towards the lanky abnormal with a loud roar. With both of it's arms being bitten off, it opted to use it's mouth as it chomped down on the lanky abnormal's nape.
You all were genuinely surprised to see it lift the abnormal up over it's head, strictly using it's mouth, before using the abnormal's body as a weapon. It swung the body around, slapping any Titan off that came near it before finally dropping the body on the ground.
With a final ground shaking roar, the Titan collapsed in a fog of steam from degeneration.
"Now what were you guys saying?" Jean said, "Cause I think it's a non-factor now.. Alright! Let's leave while we can! We're lucky the ugly bastard didn't get bored and eat on us instead!"
None of you moved from your spots on the roof. Your eyes were glued to the Titan's open nape, attempting to see through the wafting steam to get a good look at whoever was gonna come out of the there. All you could see was a hunched over (human) figure.
I was right! This is the Attack Titan! I knew there had to be a shifter in there. This thing couldn't have been a regular abnormal all this time.
But what really surprised you was the face you saw when the figure finally straightened out. Your eyes nearly fell out your head as you sucked in a loud gasp.
Eren Jaeger?!
When you all brought him up to one of the HQ's towers, you couldn't do anything but stare in shock. The figure you saw was indeed Eren. His steamed body was unconscious as he slumped against a sobbing Mikasa. They both sat on the brick surface while the rest of you stood behind them.
Armin took tentative steps as he approached them. He looked like he saw a ghost; hell, he probably thought he did. With his watery blue eyes, he collapsed to his knees by their side. He slowly raised Eren's left arm, as if he were afraid it would break off, before interlocking their hands. Soon enough, Mikasa's cries weren't the only ones you heard as Armin sobbed.
You wanted to be happy for Armin and Mikasa. Truly. They were lucky enough to get their childhood friend back from the dead and reconnect. But you knew that this happy moment was short lived.
You worriedly glanced over at Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt. Three people so desperate to get back home and finish a mission, that they'd take anything at this point. And lord behold, the biggest reward of all just dropped from the sky. The missing Attack Titan finally found. Marley would have a field day with this.
Eren was in danger.
══════════════════
"Hey, guys!" Ymir yelled out, "Where's Mikasa? Did she get hurt or what?"
After finally getting out of Trost, everyone was safely inside Wall Rose now. Well, everyone but Armin, Mikasa, and Eren. Once the officers learned about what happened, they immediately took the others to who knows where. The rest of you sat in the silent streets of Krolva district, awaiting your next orders.
You and your counterparts didn't get to talk much about Eren's Titan. You hadn't had a chance to split away from the other cadets. You, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean were the ones to help Mikasa and Armin take Eren up the wall and to the officers.
"You guys gonna say something?" Connie asked, referring to Ymir's question. They sat at a picnic-style table across from the one you sat on.
"Wish we could." Jean grumbled beside you as he sat on the table's bench, "They slapped us with a gag order. Can't say a thing about what we saw."
"You're joking, right?" Connie asked in disbelief.
"That's just nuts." Ymir chimed in, "We probably would've been able to see for ourselves if the bastards would let us in." She was a tall, slim girl with a tan complexion. Intimidating brown eyes and freckles graced her slender facial features. Her cocoa brown hair was always styled in a ponytail, besides the two long bangs that framed her face.
"We volunteered to run supplies, but the situation was so bad that they wouldn't allow us to go in." Christa explained. As usual, she stood beside Ymir with a worried expression. Christa was a shorter, petite girl with long, sunflower-blonde hair and big blue eyes.
Jean scoffed, "They're nuts if they think people aren't gonna talk about something as big as that. Word'll get out, and when it does, it's not gonna be pretty. And that's if we even survive."
Even though Eren's Titan killed a significant amount of the Titans in Trost, it still didn't help with the gaping hole in Wall Rose's outer gate. You were sure that as soon as everyone left, Trost was overrun with pure Titans again. Krolva district was just on the other side of Wall Rose's inner gate, giving you all some type of barricade from the chaos.
"Be lucky you didn't have to be there." You sighed, referring to Ymir and Christa. "It was hell in there."
"Hell, huh? You were scared of a few Titans?" Ymir scoffed at you. And what is that supposed to mean? You narrowed your eyes at her before a smirk curled up on her face.
As if on cue, a wagon full of wounded soldiers trotted past in the streets by horse. Some hung their heads low in defeat while others simply laid limp. Bloody bandages covered most of their bodies.
"This is a nightmare!" Daz shrieked, startling everyone around him. He sat on his knees at Marco's feet, clinging onto the surprised boy as he sobbed.
"Oh, brother. Here comes a tantrum." Ymir snorted.
"Stop being mean. He's scared." Christa scolded.
"Calm down!" Marco yelled, attempting to push Daz off of him.
"I watched those monsters eat my squad!" Daz cried out, hanging onto Marco's jacket now. "I saw my friends die and I wasn't even mad or sad! All I could think was 'better you than me'! But soon, I know I'll be up too! I'll be next! We're supposed to fight those Titans until they eat every last one of us! But I don't wanna get eaten!" Daz reached to pull out his blade, "Screw this!"
"Hey! Hey!" Marco instantly went to grab Daz's arm, keeping him from pulling out a blade. "Keep it together, okay? You're not alone in this! We're all fighting our fears. Just look at Sasha! Even after what she's seen, she's still acting like a proper soldier!"
All of you turned to Sasha who sat on a crate nearby. Even Daz paused his struggles to look. As soon as she realized you all were watching her, she let out a loud cry of pain as she kneeled over.
"My stomach aches! Please put me away with the wounded!" She put on a strained voice as she clutched her stomach, opening one eye to take a peek at your reactions.
"We know you're faking, Sasha." Connie called her out, earning another loud fake cry of pain from Sasha.
"Just lemme die!" Daz blurted out, resuming his struggle to pull out a blade. "I just wanna die!"
"Stop it!" Marco yelled, "Somebody help me!"
All of you immediately turned a blind eye to the duo, pretending that you weren't paying attention at all.
"I know you guys hear me!" Marco yelled again, inciting a whistle from Connie as he pretended to be interested in the sky.
Just then, an explosion echoed out with a loud boom, rumbling the ground with it's vibration.
"What the hell was that!" Ymir yelled, immediately wrapping an arm around Christa defensively.
The rest of you jumped up and ran out to the street where other panicked cadets were crowded. Just a few buildings away, closer to the fifty meter walls, a thick trail of grey smoke wafted into the sky.
"Cannon fire." Annie observed.
"But why just one shot?" Jean wondered aloud,
"What the hell would they need cannon fire for at all?!" Connie exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Is that Titan steam?" Someone yelled out.
At that, Reiner snatched you to his side. "We need to check this out. Now."
He shot out a grappling hook, latching onto a building before you both shot through the air. You could hear the zipping sound of wires, signifying that the others were following behind you two.
Once you all landed on a nearby roof, everyone broke out into a run, headed in the direction of the smoke— or Titan steam.
"You could've gave a warning." You panted. You and Reiner jumped over a short gap in between roofs before running again.
"No time to talk it out." Reiner huffed, "We need that Titan. We can't afford for Eren to get hurt."
You all finally came to a stop on a roof belonging to a building that sat at the edge of a courtyard. The courtyard was surrounded by multiple soldiers, all donning their blades as they stood alert. You spotted Captain Woermann in the center of them, a distressed expression on his face as he stared into the distance.
You followed his line of sight to see a cloud of steam and smoke in the middle of the courtyard, slowly lifting it's thick curtain to reveal a half developed Titan. Only the upper body of the Titan was seen, made of nothing more than muscle and bone, with an arm outreached to the sky.
"What the hell is that?" Reiner furrowed his brows at the ghastly sight.
You followed the direction of the Titan's outreached arm before coming to an answer, "This Titan was Eren's way of stopping the cannon fire."
Everyone followed your line of sight to a cannon mounted atop the fifty meter wall, aimed directly at the courtyard where Eren and the others were.
"That's why they only did one shot." Jean thought aloud, "Eren must've used his Titan to make them back off."
"So they were going to execute him by cannon fire?" Bertholdt blurted out, appalled.
"It appears so. They must be scared shitless if they went to those extremes." Annie commented.
I hope they're okay.
The Titan was crumbling before your eyes, it's bones breaking apart piece by piece as they crashed to the ground with a series of echoed bangs. The courtyard was enveloped in smoke now, the only way anyone would be able to see what was happening in there would be to walk directly in it.
"Maintain your distance! All squads remain alert! He could strike at anytime!" Woermann yelled out.
"I wonder what they're doing in there." Jean wondered.
"Hopefully coming up with a plan." You replied, "They're already reloading that cannon and from the looks of it, they're not gonna hesitate to try again."
You could already hear the crank of the cannon being re-aimed in the courtyard's direction. You glanced over at Bertholdt and Reiner to see the duo looking antsy. Bertholdt's hands consistently tapped on his thigh while Reiner continuously flexed his wrists. Telltale signs that they were debating on transforming.
"Wait." Annie simply said, seemingly catching onto their thoughts as well.
Then you heard the echoing clangs of metal hitting the ground, making you all turn to face the courtyard again. Just for Armin to make his grand exit out of the thick curtain of smoke. His hands were raised in the air as he tentatively stepped forward. Immediately all guns and blades were pointed at Armin.
"Eren is not a foe of humanity!" He yelled out, "We're willing to cooperate with Military Command and share everything we've learned about his powers!"
"Your pleas fall on deaf ears!" Woermann snapped, "If you insist he's not an enemy, show me proof! Otherwise, we'll blast him back to whatever nightmare he crawled out of!"
"You don't need proof!" Armin shot back, "The reports say hundreds of soldiers saw him. And those who were there say they saw him fighting other Titans! That means they saw him get swarmed by the Titans as well! To put it plainly, the Titans saw Eren in the same way they see us: as prey! That is an irrefutable fact!"
You and the others wore a look of surprise as you watched the blonde argue against his superiors, something totally out of character for him. You've never seen Armin this riled up, a look of sheer determination etched into his features as he fiercely shouted out for Eren's cause. If you weren't so worried for his life right now, you would've been proud.
The soldiers around the courtyard seemed to falter at Armin's argument, slightly lowering their blades and guns as they wore faces of conflict and hesitance. They knew Armin was right.
"Prepare to attack!" Woermann called out, "Don't let yourselves be swayed by his cunning lies! The Titans' behavior has always been beyond our comprehension. I wouldn't put it past 'em to know how to assume human form!" Well he's not wrong— "He's speaking our language in an attempt to deceive us! I refuse to let them continue unchecked!"
And just like that the blades and guns were held steady again, all strictly aimed at a mortified Armin. In that moment, he finally caught sight of you on the roof, his wide blue eyes staring into yours to read an unspoken message. You nodded your head as if to say, 'Keep going'.
Something in Armin switched. With a balled fist slammed to his chest in a salute, Armin's terrified expression changed into a look of resolve. He was sticking to his resolution to make the soldiers hear him out.
"I am a soldier! And I have dedicated my heart to humanity, sir!" He shouted, "Nothing could make me prouder than dying for such a noble cause! If we were to use Eren's Titan ability and combine it with our manpower, I believe that we can retake this city! For humanity's glory, and what little time I have left to live, I will advocate his strategic value!"
The space was hushed in a tense silence. Nobody moved from their spots around the courtyard as everyone trained their eyes on Captain Woermann. This was the moment of truth: would he consider the trio an ally or foe?
Your question was soon answered as Woermann raised his arm, his hand as stiff as a board, as he held it above his head. He was about to perform the signal for the cannon, you all realized.
If anyone happened to look up, they'd find it weird how you, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt were all moving to grab something. Annie with her ring, Reiner with his blade, and Bertholdt raising his hand.
You dug in your pocket, your hand closing around your pocket-knife. You just subtly flicked the blade out when Woermann's arm was caught by an older man with a shiny bald head.
"C-Commander Pyxis?"
"You should really do something about your nervous disposition, Captain Woermann." Commander Pyxis scolded. He held a warm smile on his face as he pointed out to Armin in the courtyard, "Can you not see this soldier's heartfelt salute? I think we could at least do these young soldiers the favor of hearing them out."
Oh..? You hurriedly put your pocket knife away, your counterparts subtly putting their own stuff away, as you looked to see that Armin had collapsed to his knees with watery eyes and a heavy sigh of relief.
He just singlehandedly saved their lives.
to be continued.
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