[Volume 3, START!]
What's good?
________________________________________________________________________________
Wall Rose's refugee camps were a hotbed of disease, poverty and broken dreams. Despite the government's efforts to lift these peoples' lives by providing them with jobs, food and alcohol, there was still a general apathy within these camps.
These people had lost their homes nearly 5 years ago, were forced to live in tents, hastily built structures they called houses and were forced to live on fewer calories a day than if they were in Wall Maria.
But it's not like they complained, they just moved robotically each day trying to make ends meet. Working in the overcrowded factories which now produced large amounts of consumer goods such as textiles, farm equipment, military equipment, and even dolls with which their children could play.
The walls were in a small industrial revolution.
If you were lucky, you'd get to help with the construction of "New Utopia," a city in which the government promised to house at least 50,000 people, orders of magnitude larger than the frontline cities such as Shiganshina or Trost.
They could hold around 10,000 to 13,000 people. It was a massive upgrade.
But promises are promises...
In the spring of 850, an ordinary day, by Harvey Arlert's standards, he was out for his daily walk. There wasn't much to do for a man his age, he'd gotten old and his knees weren't the same as they once were.
He thought of Armin, and how his favourite—only—grandson would be graduating from the 104th Cadet Corps this year. It was quite soon, he surmised.
He hoped Armin would stay safe.
He had heard of the trouble brewing within the Walls; the Royal Government had cautioned travel within the northwest of the country due to fears of the terrorist organization that resides there, as they labelled it.
Harvey sighed. It was only inevitable that someone would attempt to rise up against the government this way. There were simply too many people within these cramped walls and despite the government's efforts, they were slowly slipping.
The old man approached a gathering of a few hundred people, it was causing a stir.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
"Are we just your slaves?!"
"We're barely getting by—our chance to retake Wall Maria is ruined!"
Harvey pushed through the crowd to see what everyone was talking about.
His eyes widened in shock.
Lord Inocencio, the beloved Lord who brought stability and technological advancement to the Walls was found dead, along with his family a few days ago.
The news shocked everyone...however, there had been a new development to the story.
The papers in front of Harvey had stated that the Military Police, and therefore the Royal Government had ordered the killing of the lord, as he was just about to introduce an invention that would allow humans to fly.
It would've allowed humanity to bypass the Titans in its entirety...and retake Wall Maria with ease.
Now the elder Arlert felt a bit of rage build up within him. Why would they do this? Was this related to him almost being forced into Titan territory as fodder? He didn't know, but he clenched his fist.
The voices grew louder.
"Is it true that the government would just kill us!!? All of this suffering just to fatten their pockets!"
"Look at this!" One man pointed to another paper. It listed nearly 80 names of people who 'vanished' into thin air. They all coincidently were intellectuals and innovators. "If they were alive, we would've already retaken Wall Maria!"
"The Royal Government killed them!"
"My son was mutilated working in one of those factories! He won't be able to use his arms properly again! And do you know what the foremen said?! 'There's nothing we can do' all while stuffing his face with candy!"
Discontentment with the working conditions, treatment of workers and neglect with the large merchant empires that have sprung up...
"Everyone, please calm—"
"How can we calm down when the OFTL is out there bombing everything!? Why hasn't the King done anything about them?!"
"The tax increases haven't done anything to help!"
"They've killed dozens of their own countrymen and the Military Police haven't done anything! They just surrendered the Northwest to them!"
The northwest of Wall Rose held some of the more valuable mines and vital agricultural lands. In an incident the government is trying to remedy, the entire northwest territory was practically abandoned by Garrison and Military Police personnel, leaving its citizens in the hands of a now de-facto terrorist state.
"Give us peace!"
"Give us land!"
"Down with the corrupt Monarchy!"
Closer and closer, all across the walls, revolution was brewing. The facade of a strong government that would care for the people no matter what... was crumbling to dust.
Factionalism started to take route, especially within the disaffected peoples of Wall Maria.
Factory workers, peasants, and the remaining intellectuals. All of them were rallying behind a banner...anti-terrorism and anti-government...
The powder keg was about to erupt...
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
850
Northwest Wall Rose.
A group of men mix sugar with ammonium nitrate fertilizer—their work illuminated by a flickering fluorescent light blinking at them almost impatiently.
They are building a bomb, or rather multiple bombs.
Grinding away at the mixture, it eventually becomes the fine highly explosive powder which they dry and transfer into canvas bags. Once complete they heave their product into a carriage which a complicit collaborator then takes away.
Over the next few days, these bags are ferried to the outskirts of their target where another group of men wait to help them fulfill their purpose...
They pack the bags of ammonium and sugar together, binding them with a semtex detonation cord combined with a made-in-house detonator.
The entire bundle—the 7 bombs—roughly weighs around 68kg (~150 lbs).
Their driver, discontent, does the transportation without the need for a fee. They would transport the payload to its destination without question.
...
..
.
..
...
Karanes District.
Several individuals can be spotted outside Wall Rose's easternmost district sporting black cloaks that blend into the night.
"Careful," one says as they lift a bag full of high explosives. "Don't let it near fire or heat in any way or you'll die, gruesomely."
Another one nods.
"Mhm, so Military HQ, King's Street and...where else?" They questioned, only remembering the center of power within Karanes and the highly populated King's Street.
"There should be one more package of stuff coming soon. Military HQ, King's Street and the Mayor's office."
"Understood."
The group of men and women fired their ODM hooks upwards to Wall Rose, scaling the massive structure...and gazing over the city they were about to turn into a warzone.
Without the threat of the Anti-Personnel Squad, and the Interior Military Police's presence wearing thin due to excess attacks...
[Let's not waste any more time.]
A monotone voice on their transmitters spoke slowly. Their bodies stiffened to attention. Even if they weren't there, the mere thought of being discarded terrified them to all ends.
[Once you enter Military HQ, plant the packages near the gas storage and get out. As for King's Street, plant near the center. Everything else is self-explanatory.]
"Y-yes sir," one of them stuttered. "Will be done."
The transmission cut off as galloping horses could be heard from below. They briefly took a glance, being flashed a small light. Their small arms and chemicals had come.
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
The gunfire was dying down in the war-stricken city. Several buildings had been demolished or destroyed by multiple planted bombs that even the Military Police, with their strict searches, couldn't locate or disarm.
This was the OFTL's largest attack yet.
"Bring the bodies over here! It's safe here! Drive them back!" An officer barked out orders, sweat pooling on his forehead. He was out of breath and tired.
The nearby hospital was already filled to the brim with bodies, but thankfully the garrison had evacuated the entirety of Karanes before things worsened.
Fires raged on, consuming a large part of the city—the wind carried a strange gas that burned the skin and irritated the lungs. Many officers tried to fan the gas away, only to inhale a lungful themselves and...drown in their bodies...
Civilian casualties, at least from the bodies he had seen, were at 82 this time, with hundreds more injured or missing. He was sure he'd underestimated the civilian casualties—there were too many bodies he hadn't seen yet.
He didn't even want to think about the casualties suffered by the Military Police or the Garrison today. Probably close to 100 dead and a hundred more wounded, he surmised.
"It's because of those damn guns they have..." he sneered under his breath. He didn't know how, but they could fire multiple shots in a row without reloading. And it didn't help that they were so skilled as well.
Who even trained them?
"Sir! There are more under the rubble! They—" One man attempted to speak, blood and dust framing their young features. They appeared to be severely traumatized.
"I understand! I'll bring up more men!"
The officer shot out his ODM hooks into a nearby building and flew towards the central HQ. Once he got a good aerial view of the city he called home... his heart sank in despair.
Smoke rose from burning buildings, the distinct smell of dirty gunpowder, screams for help from the ones trapped under rubble.
It was a scene from hell.
"KNGH!"
The officer suddenly felt something pierce his chest and his strength started to sap. The distinct sound of a gunshot filled his now ringing ears as his grip on the ODM triggers became weaker.
His body landed on a nearby rooftop, right next to the man who took his life.
The man's dull brown eyes briefly glanced down at the body, observing the heaving of the Military Police officer's chest slowly get weaker and weaker...before it stopped in its entirety.
The cloaked man pulled out a small transmitter and spoke a few short words, retreating into the inner walls shortly after with a band of 17 others.
They were done here.
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
Annie Leonheart trailed a man in a black cloak and fancy-looking hat. She was in the Royal Capital's sewers, scouring around for any information regarding the location of the real Royal Family.
She bet that he knew something about the royal family through how she observed this man's movements and the entourage he usually found himself with. Instinct and desperation were a huge factor in this plan.
Annie just wanted to go home to her father.
'He turned the corner...'
The blonde could see how far the walls had come ever since her fellow warriors attacked 5 years ago. They had factories that produced many consumer goods, and canned foods that brought back some not-so-pleasant memories of her training back in Marlay.
Her fellow warriors were getting rather weary—if Paradis was about to go through an industrial revolution, as has happened back home, they'd be able to fight the Titans with no issue at all.
Annie turned the corner, only to find...nothing?
Where was...
Click!
She felt something cold touch her temple. Her blood ran cold.
"It's rude to stalk people, miss. Especially in the Capital."
A low voice that commanded authority tickled her ear. Upon further analysis, for some reason, it sounded muffled, as if the voice was speaking behind a mask. Not like Annie knew, she could only feel the barrel of a gun against her head.
Not to mention it, but he sounded around her age, maybe a bit older.
"It...was only a coincidence. We were going in the same direction."
"Unlikely."
"...How can you prove it?"
Annie could sense it, this person was ready to pull the trigger immediately if she made any sudden moves. But she was a trained warrior with years of combat training under her belt.
However...
"Every two weeks, the recruits of the 104th Cadet Corps are given a 2-day break to do whatever they want. Some visit family while others lounge around. You decided to stalk me. 2 weeks ago you did the same thing, and a month ago as well. Even the months before that. Isn't that odd, Annie Leonheart?"
Her ocean-blue eyes widened in complete and utter shock. Her mind raced to several possible conclusions. Was her act already exposed? Did the government already know!? How!? This shouldn't be possible!
"Ho—HMPHN!"
She tried to rationalize her situation but in that moment of surprise, her assailant pinned her to the brick wall, her arms above her head. He pressed his knee onto her thighs to render her immobile and shoved a cloth gag into her mouth.
Annie's expression morphed into one of horror and fear as she stared...into a gasmask...
She was shocked beyond all. Her fellow 104th had been hearing rumours of a certain terrorist organization that had been bombing and killing several places around the walls. They usually targeted military or government facilities around Wall Rose but sometimes struck into Wall Sina.
However, quite oddly, they never even went near their training camps. It put all the recruits on edge, the threat of being bombed and killed ringing in the back of their heads.
Her mind went back to the gas mask. It looked like something she'd seen back in Marley! How did Paradis get that technology?! Did that mean they had something equivalent to their War Chief's spinal fluid gas?
'No...way...'
She tried to wiggle away, only to feel a bone-crushing pressure on both of her restrained arms.
"Mmmph!!"
She couldn't go out like this! She still had to come back to her—
"Calm down. I have no intention of killing you unless you make that decision for me. Do we have terms? Nod your head if yes."
Annie glared at her masked assailant. She couldn't feel her wrists, that's how strong this person was.
If she was allowed to talk, however, she could immediately bite her tongue and partially transform, blowing away or disintegrating his cloaked man in mere milliseconds. She just had to stall for—
No...he knew her identity, and perhaps the entire OFTL did as well. If he was so reckless as to stop her now, that possibly meant that people were watching them. If she killed this lone man, her cover—and her comrade's cover would be blown.
'He trapped me!'
She didn't know why they weren't exposed sooner, but it was probably for something nefarious, like this...
'Shit...I have no choice...'
Annie Leonheart nodded her head meekly.
"Hm..."
The blond gasped for air as the gag was removed from her mouth. She grits her teeth in frustration, still restrained in such a compromised position.
"What do you want?!" She spat.
"Are you hurt? Your wrists, I mean."
Annie wanted to bash this guy's skull in.
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
Nighttime, 104th Cadet Corps training facility.
Nowadays, there is a strict curfew for all cadets, even stricter than before the OFTL began their terror campaign on the walls. It was almost impossible to sneak out at night. However...
"While you were playing with your friends and sleeping like logs, I was crawling around the Capital's sewers...but..."
The short blonde paused, trying to compose her sentence.
"What is it, Annie? Did you find something?"
"I...I got captured by the OFTL and—"
"You were captured!?" Bertolt Hoover's voice rang out in a mild panic. "Did they do anything to you? What about—"
"No," Annie shook her head, dismissing her fellow warrior's concerns. She looked up with frustration and a hint of fear. "They...They know we're Titans, Reiner. They'll expose us if we don't follow whatever they want. I don't know how, but they found out..."
Reiner Braun looked at Annie in concern, her words sinking into his mind. The implications were bad, it was horrible for the state of their mission.
If they were exposed right now, they'd have the entirety of the Walls searching for them. There weren't many people who could kill them easily, but if what they heard from the OFTL's recent activities, they could effectively drive them into a corner.
Their titan forms could only last so long.
"What are they asking us to do?"
"...Blast a hole in Wall Rose...Specifically, Trost D-District where all the refugees are..." Annie's eyes widened in horror at the thought. If they destroyed Wall Rose, there would be hundreds of thousands of deaths on their hands.
There already were thousands, 10,000 were killed in the initial slaughter in Shiganshina 5 years ago but...this was orders of magnitude above that.
This was a completely evil plan that couldn't settle well within her conscience.
"Destroy Wall Rose..."
It had been 5 years since they had attacked Wall Maria, 5 years, half a decade, and they hadn't found anything regarding the Founding Titan's whereabouts. In fact, Reiner was thinking of destroying Wall Rose, too.
"It'll kill most of your friends," Annie said.
Reiner had made loads of friends within the 104th Cadet Corps. He was their big brother. Many of them had told stories of having been driven from their homes and how they wanted to join the scouts to get it back.
There was an entire generation of children directly affected by their actions...
The tall blonde kneeled in front of the short blonde. "How many times do I have to tell you? They're not our friends. They're devils. But it doesn't hurt to gain their trust. In fact it may have been your lone wolf act that—"
"You're making me sick. Killing thousands and now this? How about you keep your face away from mine?"
Reiner sighed, deciding to drop the topic. "You must be tired. For what it's worth I'm sorry...We'll go with the OFTL's plans for now until we can properly kill them. We have to turn this downside into an opportunity to find the Founder."
"The government suspects the OFTL are hunkered in the mountains in the Northwest. I don't have much information beyond that but I suspect they're getting the Scouts involved soon."
"The scouts..." Reiner hummed. "Their reputation hasn't been nearly as damaged as the other branches...Okay...we can work with this. Let's call it a day."
The two blondes began to walk away, ready to sneak back into their respective beds.
"I've...been having the same dream of the man who hanged himself at the farm," Bertholt muttered, breaking the nightly silence and stopping his comrades in their tracks. "I can't help but think why he told us that story before he tied the noose..."
Silence enveloped the 3.
They were still teenagers, 16 and 17 respectively. 5 years ago they killed 10,000 people and thousands more indirectly through their actions. They had lived with the so-called "Island Devils" for years on end.
They've made friendships and connections...were they really about to murder all of them?
...
..
.
..
...
..
.
..
...
"W-what are you doing!? I-I did what you asked!!" Lord Inocencio cried out, crawling backwards like a coward. "I-I implemented everything you wanted! P-programs, construction, chemical research, and food production! A-and—"
BANG!
His body fell limp as a bullet entered his forehead and out the other side.
Footsteps approached behind Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
"What of the rest of the family?" He asked.
"Dealt with, sir."
"Good."
The Walls' most beloved lord was murdered. The fires of revolution were stoked once more.
________________________________________________________________________________
Words: 3126
Author Notes:
If you think about it, the hierarchy between the wealthy and the poor makes Kiyo's terror campaign all the worse. Because it's either the nobles give up more of their wealth to help repair the damages and compensate for the human lives lost—or they do nothing and sit on their asses.
It's a lose-lose situation.