"I'm surprised you two lasted this long without killing each other." Hange said as they approached their sister and friend. "I heard voices, were you two arguing again?" They wondered, after all, what else could they expect? The two were polar opposites. Levi was conserved, patient and observational, where as Beka was a loud mouthed, know-it-all, who wanted things to go either her way, or no ones.
Hange was surprised Levi hadn't snapped.
"We can't exactly interrogate someone in silence, can we?" Rebekah retorted.
"No, you can't." Hange answered seriously while looking at the victim who'd been unlucky enough to meet both Captain Levi and Doctor Zoe. "Did he squeal?" They asked, nudging their head to the MP.
"Like a pig." Levi nodded. "He said something about a Church, you sister mentioned Reiss has one of those." Levi answered. Hanges eyes widened and they took a piece of paper from their satchel quickly. After unfolding it, the two torturers finally understood.
"The Reiss family chapel incident a few years ago was completely unexplainable." They revealed, Beka took the paper, inspecting it's writing carefully. "You see it to, don't you?" Beka nodded her head, clearly coming to the same conclusion as her sibling.
"A fire doesn't match the description. It looks as though it was destroyed from the inside, a titan transformation is entirely plausible." The doctor agreed, handing the paper to Levi. "The other's should be hiding at the post, we'll regroup and then get moving."
Rebekah assumed she was being helpful with her assertiveness, however, she soon realised not everyone approved. Hange and Moblit looked shocked and confused, while Levi stood completely still, an annoyed expression plaster across his face.
"Is there a problem, Levi?" The woman scoffed, dismissing his title. She wasn't exactly trying to be rude when she made the orders, it was simply leading the team, they didn't have time to waste. "We don't have time for formalities or military structure. I have a plan, so let's go." She began to walk towards the post, Levi, Hange and Moblit trailing behind her and muttering.
She walked upfront alone for a while, until she heard someone on her left, to which she turned her head towards him. "Rebekah, mind if we have a word?" He asked her, though his mind was already made up. Rebekah sighed, but figured she should get used to Hange's companion, after all, they were fond of him.
"Who am into stop you?" The woman answered, matching his pace so they could talk. At first, Moblit seemed nervous - partially not expecting her to agree to his request - but soon, he regained his composure and took a deep breath.
"It's about Hange." He added on, to which the elder hummed. "They used to talk about you all the time when we were training in the cadet corps, in fact, I used to think you two were still in contact because of how regularly your name made it into our conversations." He said, it made the woman feel a sense of regret.
"Your point?" Beka demanded, getting sick of him dancing around the subject.
"They were happy whenever they mentioned you, when they thought you were a good sister. But now, not so much." He revealed. "This is the worst I've seen them in years."
The doctor frowned, it was never her intention to ruin Hange's life with her sudden appearance. If anything, she hoped her presence would lighten the mood, clearly, that wasn't the case. Perhaps she would have been better off if she fought the MP's alone.
"I can be out of your hair as soon as this is over." Beka responded, her deal was to help the scouts, and she'd already made promises of supplying weapons, after that, she could leave. "Don't worry though, I'll be sure you leave you all a parting gift." She quickened her pace, almost losing the man.
Moblit stuttered for a second, then raced to catch up with her. He hadn't expected Beka to react to quickly, her mind was absolute. However, it only showed how disconnected the two Zoe's were, if Beka knew her sibling at all, then she would have known that her leaving again wouldn't be best for Hange.
"What?" He questioned. "They don't need you to leave again, they need you to stay. They need you to be their sister again, the person they looked up to their whole life." He lectured. "Seeing you for the first time in 17 years gave them a harsh reality check, but I know you're just acting distant so that when you leave again, it won't be so difficult."
Rebekah froze. How did he decipher that? All that information and he barely knew her a day. It was almost a threatening set of skills, she truly envied him.
"I think you've said enough." She responded, violence in her tone. It wasn't a request, it was a threat. The man contemplated for a moment, before obliging and slowing his pace. He knew he shouldn't have persisted with someone as bitter as Beka, if she willingly abandoned her only remaining family, then it wasn't out of character to do it again.
As he merged back to see Hange and Levi, the two sent him a look of sympathy. Hange assumed he'd just been trying to make conversation with their narcissistic sister, forced to retreat because of her cold hearted responses. On the other hand, Levi knew something deeper was at play, Moblit must have overstepped some boundaries with his words, he just wanted to know what.
"Captain!" One of their squad members peered from a tent and approached the group, trailing behind him was the rest of the squad.
"I take it the two approaching were Hange and Moblit." Armin guessed, and the group nodded, a few of the squad relaxing at the revelation.
"The good news doesn't end there." Hange took out a letter from their pocket, handing it to Levi to hold. "And there you have it, the coup was successful. Premier Zackery now has full control of the capital and government. For the time being at least, nobles seem to be staying in line."
"What about Mr Reeves?" Armin wondered, the man didn't even make it to the safe house Beka provided him with, not as though she expected him to.
"We got a public confession out of one of the MPs, his son Flagel really pulled through for us." The section commander answered. "It's all written right there ; the abuse of power, the invention theft, the bogus charges against the scouts, and that kings Fritz was both a puppet and a fraud. The scouts only acted in self defence, in short, we're no longer criminals."
The speech was exciting for all the squad, some cheered, jumped for joy, hugged one another, etcetera. Each were pleased to know that everything they'd done in the past day was justified, they weren't bad people. Whilst Rebekah was happy for them, she didn't react, she was a criminal, no matter what the paper read.
"You don't seem too pleased." The captain approached her as his squad was celebrating. "Is this because we don't need you anymore? The scouts are no longer desperate for allies, so why would we need you?" He questioned her, expecting an outburst which wasn't received.
Instead, Beka smiled, she had everything under control. "That's where you're wrong." She replied casually. "Eren and Historia are still kidnapped, and where are your allies? Still within the interior, I suppose." She added, knowing that she was still needed.
Levi didn't like admitting it, but Beka was right, which was why they needed to get a move on. "Here's the thing." Levi moved towards Hange. "The interiors may have lost, but not all of them know it. They still have Eren and Historia. We need to find them quickly." He suggested.
"Right, I know where they are." Hange took out a book from their satchel and motioned for their sister to join in the adult conversation. "You mentioned the Reiss Chapel, well I think you've hit the nail on the head. Let's move out."
The squad quickly gathered in a wagon, Rebekah making sure to stay at a distance from the beast pulling them. Her fear of horses being a hindrance. "So, you said you know where they are?" Mikasa prompted, eager to know if her friends were in imminent danger.
"Oh yeah." Hange explained. "Erwin gave me this scout report for an investigation on Lord Reiss' land. It details a certain incident that happened 5 years ago on the Reiss estate."
"The day Wall Maria was breached, if I remember correctly." Rebekah added, her hand gripping the side of the cart they were in, cigarette keenly captured by her lips. It was a horrid journey for her, she just needed to relax.
"That's right. As far as regional lords go, Lord Reiss was fair and well respected. He had five children, the most well know was his eldest daughter Frida. She was a down to earth girl, who even the peasants adored. But five years ago, one night, disaster struck. With the fall of wall Maria, the world was put into chaos, criminals set fire and looted the family chapel. Unfortunately for them, the entire Reiss family had gathered there to pray, and so, the entire family was massacred by bandits that night. Only Rod Reiss managed to escape with his life." They informed as the others listened intently.
"To top it all off, Historia's mother was assassinated a day after the incident. So we know, that after the loss of his family, Rod sought out Historia, and it wasn't because a new found paternal affection."
"Well, she is of Royal blood." Levi theorised. "Or do you think that bloodline has some other secrets?"
"I'm not sure yet." Hange shook their head.
"From what I remember, there were certain inconsistencies in the report. For one, how does a concrete building entirely catch fire and fall. Secondly, the damage was inflicted from the inside, rubble was scatted around the outside of the building." Rebekah stated.
"My thoughts exactly." Hange agreed. "If it were bandits, they would have taken what they could and made a quick escape. Also, Lord Reiss was the only witness, no one confirmed his story. After that, Reiss restored the chapel with his personal fortune, without his family. What was his rush? Think about it, the story could only make sense I there was a titan attack." They offered, Rebekah nodded her head, believing the same theory.
"Before the night is over, Reiss' land will be crawling with our soldiers. But unfortunately, we can't expect him to wait for our reinforcements. We have to get there as soon as possible, before Eren ends up in someone's stomach." Hange said, their tone imperative.
"You should understand, this is Kenny the Ripper." Levi stressed, it was vital that they understood the threat they were up against. "If he's there, he's our biggest obstacle. In terms of his threat level, it's like you'll be fighting me. Oh wait, with those weapons of his, he'll be even stronger." The captain went out of his way to glare at the inventor, his strong gaze faltering when he saw her gritting her teeth and gripping the cart.
"Don't look at me like that Levi." Beka ordered, rolling her eyes as she manoeuvred her body to face the squad. "I invented those weapons, they're nothing but a prototype, they have their flaws. That's why I wasn't immediately threatened when they were stolen, it's because I have an even better gear." She moved her cloak aside, revealing the upgrades.
She neither had permanent swords nor guns, she could switch between the two easily, or if she pleased, use them both at once. Her armed was tightly fixed, it was lighter and more compact, as well as her gear. Not only were the reloads easier because of their placement, but she managed to get six rounds of fire before needing to switch.
"What weaknesses can we exploit?" Levi asked, and Rebekah pulled one of her notebooks from her bag.
"It's simple really, they'll run out of ammo. That, and they can only shoot three times before needing to reload." She replied, flipping to the next page. "Since their hooks are in their guns, they can only aim the direction they want to go, meaning you can always predict their next move."
"So in conclusion, swords will have the advantage." Armin understood. "We may rely on close range attacks, but if we're able to predict their moves, then we'll be able to dodge."
"We can change our fighting environment for our benefit too." Rebekah knew exactly what to do, a consequence of long range attacks was a constant reliance on vision. If she could remove that, then they'd be at an indisputable advantage. "A smoke bomb, they need to see us to shoot us. Whereas, if we use swords, when we see our enemy, they'll be in close quarters, our domain."
"Thats not a bad idea." Hange rummaged to the back of the cart, making Beka nervous when it moved. "We have gas canisters that we can spare, we can use this to cover us, you're capable, right?" Hange turned to their sister, who hesitantly nodded.
"These conditions aren't great, but I'll manage." She crawled to the canisters, assessing their materials. "We have smoke flares too, they'll be useful as smoke bombs."
"Good thinking." The younger watched before turning to the captain with a handful of questions that they'd been retaining. "Have to ask, how is it that you lived with Kenny the Ripper, but know next to nothing about him? Did the two of you never talk?" Rebekah listened through the clashing of metals, curious as best.
"Not much. I only just discovered the mans last name. Don't know if you heard, but it's Ackerman." He looked at Mikasa. "Might be a relative of yours."
"I remember my parents saying that my dads side, the Ackermans, were persecuted when they lived in the city." Mikasa informed. "My mom said her ancestors were eastern, her family's appearance made it difficult for them to fit in. Both groups were chased deep into the mountains near the edge of the walls. Thats how they met. But my father never told me why the Ackermans were persecuted - he looked the same as all you. So I don't think he was of a different race."
"That checks out." Rebekah intervened. "The Ackermans have had a bounty on their heads for as long as I can remember. Rumour has it that it was the king who made the order, 100 years ago."
"Any reason why?" Asked Hange.
"Not that I know of. Before now, I assumed they were all dead."
"Answer me this." Levi sighed, hoping Rebekah's words weren't true, but he knew better. "Have you ever felt a power awaken in you?"
Mikasa gasped, eyes widening. "I have." She replied quietly, as if only just realising.
"This has happened for Kenny Ackerman as well, out of no where, he felt an absurd amount of strength surging through him. In that moment, he knew just what he needed to do. And it's happened to me too, makes me wonder." The captain looked down at his swords solemnly, thinking of his heritage.
"You think he's your father, don't you?" Rebekah stated what was on her mind, hearing a few gasp in disbelief of her bluntness. "I suppose its plausible." She shrugged, gripping onto the new invention. "I think I'm done here." She peered upwards, looking at their surroundings. "Right on time."