As he flew through the air with his ODM gear, Armin was incredibly relieved to see ahead of him so many of his fellow cadets of the 104th still alive. Although Armin failed to see the familiar juxtaposed pair of Krista and Ymir, he could make out the silhouettes of Bertholdt, Annie, and Reiner close to Marco at one rooftop edge. Elsewhere, that had to be Jean anxiously grabbing at his own head, Connie ranting at him, and Sasha nearby trying to rally other cadets.
But those other cadets, like so many others scattered around them, for the most part were sullenly staring at their feet or looking absently at nothing. In them, Armin saw the state he himself had been in only a couple hours before. They saw Titans up close and personal for the first time, saw the monstrous horrors done to their friends, and to veteran soldiers, and now that there was a lull in the adrenaline-fueled fighting, they couldn’t bring it in them to keep going.
If Armin had to guess, the support squadron had failed to make the rendezvous, so without sufficient gas, reinforcements unlikely to come find them after the evacuation signal had gone off, the cadets believed they were doomed to die where they stood. Already having seen the deaths of others, their minds were still reeling at the prospect of the same thing happening to them without any hope of stopping it.
“Let me talk to them first!” Armin shouted over the wind to Janek Sunber, the Lieutenant using his “jetpack” on his back to easily keep up with Armin’s ODM-powered flight. “They’ll be confused, and scared, but they’ll follow us, I’m sure.”
Sunber nodded. “Sheckil, Fox, and I will stand with you. The rest of the platoon will land on the next roof behind where we stop. Make sure your friends don’t get too twitchy.”
The last thing Armin wanted was for any of the cadets to attack the Imperial troopers, given the devastating effects he’s seen with their weapons, the blasters. No, Armin needed to keep a level head and make sure his friends did the same, too, no matter how unfamiliar or suspicious the Empire might appear.
Sheckil, flying next to Sunber, spoke tersely to a cylindrical device in his hand. They called it a “comlink.” Fox was one of the white-armored soldiers, his head completely shrouded in a helmet. He shadowed Armin’s side and was probably listening to the orders explained by Sheckil. Every armored warrior like Fox had a matching comlink in their helmet compatible with Sheckil’s hand-held model. The means and range of remote communication the soldiers used was unlike Armin has ever seen. It could even reach Sunber’s other squad that had broken off from the rest of the platoon with Mina. Instantaneous conversations over long distances without having to send messengers or relying on the visibility of flares…
They needed the Empire and all of their advanced technology to retake Trost, and even Wall Maria, within Armin’s lifetime. Of that, he was very certain.
Cadets were finally looking their way as Armin and the soldiers approached. As expected, Armin’s friends froze in confusion at what they were seeing. Armin imagined it wouldn’t look too far off from a line of Garrison soldiers running a drill with ODM gear in a city environment, at first. But the vague humanoid shapes of Garrison soldiers wearing the brown uniform jacket and boots were unlike the dirtied white armor of the troopers. The Empire’s jetpacks were able to perpetually emit bursts of colored fire and keep the wearer in the air without needing to consider points to launch an ODM’s hooks at to stay mobile. While Armin had to keep flying between towers extending higher than the roofs to maintain a steady pace, the Imperial troopers were almost leisurely floating through the air.
There were hanging jaws and looks of shock across the cadets. Armin was closest to the roof with Jean, Connie, and Sasha, so he landed near them. Checking over his shoulder, Armin saw the bulk of Sunber’s soldiers plant their feet on the building across the street. Sunber, Sheckil, and Fox were still with him, their weapons pointing to the ground.
Jean and the rest said nothing, still only staring in rattled bemusement. Armin spoke first. “Everyone, please listen! These men are soldiers from outside the Walls. They are here to help us.”
Thankfully, there were no Titans within reach of them. Unfortunately, Armin could see hungry Titans crawling all over the military headquarters of Trost in the distance… but with the troopers’ mobility and the ferocity of their blasters–
“What the hell are you talking about, Armin?!”
That was Reiner, panic stricken on his face. He used a burst of his ODM gear to leap ahead of the group of cadets, drawing his swords. Nearly about to panic himself, Armin held out an arm over Sunber, looking up at the taller man with a desperate, begging look not to respond rashly. Although Sunber frowned, he and his men did not raise their blasters in self-defense.
“Identify yourselves!” Reiner screamed, one sword pointing at the Lieutenant. Reiner’s other hand was poised to launch himself with what gas he had left to close the distance. “What do you think you’re doing with these strangers, Armin? The hell kind of armor are these people even wearing?”
“Reiner, please!” Armin shouted back. “They are soldiers of the Empire, with weapons and technology that can–” His words only made Reiner grip his weapons tighter.
“What Empire? The Colossal Titan smashes the outer gate open and absurd-looking soldiers from beyond the Walls just happen to show up?” He gritted his teeth at Sunber. “Are you people working with the Titans? Using them to systematically wipe out humanity? Is that it?”
Of all people, Armin hadn’t expected Reiner to… break so quickly. He was in the top ten, the 104th’s big brother, always uplifting and supporting them in the face of adversity. Seeing him succumb to paranoia, now of all times, almost made Armin want to rush in and slap him. Reiner couldn’t let himself fall into a hysterical pit as Armin had done.
Armin heard Sheckil speaking quietly on the comlink. “Two of Arlert’s comrades have repositioned on our flanks.”
He was right. Armin could see Annie crouching behind a chimney. Bertholdt was mingling with a few cadets almost as tall as him on a neighboring building.
“Don’t take aim,” Sunber muttered harshly. “No preemptive hostility.” Sheckil obliged and conveyed the message through the comlink.
“Hey, I see you whispering!” Reiner called out. “You better start talking, or else–”
“They’re not the enemy, Reiner!” Armin said, holding his arms wide as he stood in front of the troopers. “They saved my life. Saved Mina, Thomas, Mylius, and so many others. They can and will help us, too.”
Jean was able to recompose himself, pulling at Reiner’s shoulder. “Hey, calm down,” he said in his own shaky voice. “Let’s hear them out.”
“That’s what I’ve been asking for this whole time,” Reiner said tersely, shaking Jean’s arm off. “What Empire are you ‘soldiers’ supposed to be serving? What do you want from the Walls?”
Before Armin could say any more, Sunber marched forward, bringing all eyes to focus squarely on him. In the corners of his vision, Armin saw Annie and Berthold tense, poised to move in a moment’s notice.
“I am Lieutenant Janek Sunber. My men and I serve the Galactic Empire.” He gestured to his men. “These are Imperial Stormtroopers under my command. We are foreigners to your Walls, to your entire world. We only first encountered the giants preying on humanity barely a week ago. It’s thanks to your friend Armin Arlert that we even know they are called Titans.”
More than a few cadets mumbled in disbelief.
“Although we are ignorant about much of your world, it should be obvious who the real enemy is,” Sunber said with a grim certainty. “The Titans laying siege to your city are clearly mindless monsters. As servants of the Empire, it is our duty to bring order and peace to a chaotic galaxy. Your world is no exception. The natural solutions to save your home are the eradication of the Titans and the preservation of humanity. The Empire has the means to accomplish both.”
The disbelief still filled many cadets, but Armin saw it begin to fade. In spite of how strange the Empire may seem, Sunber’s words were painting a hopeful picture of them all surviving this day.
Sunber scanned the crowd. “We’re all soldiers here,” he continued, his firm tone momentarily faltering, but Sunber spoke briskly to keep up the momentum. “My orders are to deliver Armin Arlert and his friends, his fellow soldiers, to safety. Work with us, and we’ll make sure our orders are fulfilled to the best of our ability.”
The Lieutenant might be processing his own disbelief at seeing, from his point of view, the comparatively less advanced equipment of soldiers of the Walls, and how these were the tools they used to battle the Titans.
Armin wasn’t sure what to think of the Empire not knowing what the Titans were… No, there was a myriad of possible explanations he could go through, but for the moment, Armin squashed that line of thinking and turned his attention to the here and now.
Reiner’s tense muscles relaxed marginally as he lowered his sword. He wiped a sliver of sweat off his brow. “Alright,” he conceded, nervous but no longer confrontational. “So, like Armin said, you’re here to help.”
“We are,” Sunber confirmed.
Reiner looked to Armin. “You said they’ve already helped other people?”
Relieved Reiner was finally seeing reason, Armin said, “Yes. Mina went with one of their squads to scale the Wall and return to the inner gate that way. I stayed with Sunber’s platoon to support any more soldiers we found inside the city. We’ve already helped Hanna, Franz, and dozens of other soldiers and civilians, sent them to safety in one of the Empire’s giant carriages.” Another piece of incredible technology. The Scout Regiment especially would find great use in even only one Juggernaut for expeditions outside the Walls.
“How giant?”
Jean cut in, stepping between Reiner and Armin. “Hey, one thing at a time! A giant carriage if one exists won’t do us any good if we’re swarmed by Titans.” He pointed at Fox, who was standing in such a way that Jean and other cadets had a decent side view of his jetpack. “Those packs on the Stormtroopers. Are those their ODM gear? Do you have more of them?”
More voices rang out, confirming the cadets’ low supply of gas left in their current gear. People were hopping over to get a better look at the Imperial troopers. Reiner raised his hand, seemingly to try getting the cadets to settle down, but he gave up mid-way, letting the onslaught of questions go unimpeded as he instead motioned toward Bertholdt and Annie. The two reluctantly moved away from their perches. Still wary, all three of them kept their eyes on the Stormtroopers waiting across the street.
Sergeant Sheckil raised his voice, extending his arms and ushering the mob of cadets to clear out space on the roof. “We don’t have any jetpacks to spare. We do have extra gas canisters for your gear.” He signaled the platoon. Some of the troopers used a continuous flow of flames to keep them afloat above the street before landing on the rooftop. Most troopers used a single burst, almost like ODM gear, to propel themselves and cover the short distance.
The cylinders of ODM gas were designed to be relatively light for the wearer, so the troopers were able to rig one or two canisters they had found to hang off their belts so they could freely use both hands for their blasters. A few troopers were carrying salvaged cloth bags to hold multiple canisters. One trooper even had a piece of compact pumping equipment taken from a fallen Garrison soldier to transfer gas between canisters instead of wholly replacing what the cadets were still wearing.
Overcoming their surprise at seeing the jetpacks at work again, eager cadets voluntarily moved to accept the new gas cylinders or got in line to get a refill. Armin saw a few, like Jean and Marco, hesitate. They were the first to realize how the troopers had to pick up the cylinders from dead soldiers, from the only partially eaten corpses of Titan victims whose ODM gear weren’t completely ruined. Still, as Armin had learned, it benefited no one to get lost in the inevitable macabre of the battle before the fighting was truly over. Jean and the like reached the same conclusion, resigning themselves to joining the frantic resupply.
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Although they were speaking quietly, Armin overheard snippets of a conversation when Sergeant Sheckil walked back to the Lieutenant.
“Nice speech, Sunber.”
Sunber’s voice was weary and irritated. “You were a policeman, weren’t you? Next time, you play peacekeeper.”
“Is that an order, Lieutenant?”
Before more was said, Armin became distracted by the shadow to his side shifting. He turned, seeing Fox gazing at something over Armin’s head. When Armin tried to follow his line of sight, the armored soldier roughly planted his gloved hand on Armin’s shoulder, making the younger soldier’s knees shake.
Armin heard boots hit the rooftop, and the familiar sounds of hooks, blades, and gas being manipulated by ODM gear. When Armin turned around, a wave of relief hit him: Mikasa was here, alive and well.
However, the relief was immediately overpowered by worry from her standoffish stance. Armin wanted to scramble forward and block her from potentially harming the troopers, but Fox’s grip was unflinching. The pause did help Armin see Mikasa only had her hands on the hilts of her swords still in their storage boxes on her legs, not pulled out and ready to strike.
“Easy, Mikasa,” called out Jean. “These guys aren’t here to hurt us.”
“I heard the speech,” she replied flatly, her intense eyes moving between Armin, the trooper holding him, and Fox’s commanding officers. “If Armin says we can work with them, then we can work with them.” She glared pointedly at Fox, whose clutch never wavered, before her eyes softened a fraction when they met Armin’s. “Are you really alright, Armin?”
Conscious of Fox’s warning grip, Armin reassured in a steady voice, “I am.”
That seemed to satisfy Fox, removing his hand. Armin wasn’t sure if the implication was that Fox wanted him to placate Mikasa before things escalated, or if Fox was discreetly threatening Armin to force Mikasa to restrain herself. All of the helmeted troopers have hardly said a thing, and were the hardest to get any good read on. Fox at least had good instincts to recognize the innate strength Mikasa had in her and to be wary of it. In any case, Mikasa was convinced to stand down, the intense air around her dissipating somewhat.
Armin knew the questions she was burning to ask next. She blurted it out before Armin could oblige her. “You said these soldiers saved your life and others. He’s not here, so did Eren go with Mina to the Wall? Or was he in the big carriage you mentioned?”
Sergeant Sheckil stepped toward Mikasa, with a casualness underestimating how fast she would be able to unsheathe her swords and draw blood at the shortened distance before Sheckil could raise his blaster pistol. “Of the soldiers in Arlert’s original squad when we found him,” he said stoically, “the cadets designated Mylius Zeremski, Thomas Wagner, and Eren Yeager were significantly wounded by Titans. They were rendered medical aid and are likely secured at the top of the south gate where they are still being treated.”
Mikasa saw Armin frown at Sheckil’s words before Armin could hide the expression on his face.
Sheckil wasn’t lying about Mylius and Thomas. He was obfuscating the truth with Eren. Eren wasn’t “likely” being treated at the south gate.
For all the good Armin’s spoken of and thought about with regard to the Empire, the one thing, beyond innate distrust of the unknown, making him seriously doubt their intentions was the brief conversation Armin had with their leader, Darth Vader.
If Vader was to be believed, then Eren was alive.
But the sheer absurdity of Eren… Eren Yeager of all people, transforming into a–
“Sir,” Fox suddenly said. Armin latched onto the opportunity and faced away from Mikasa. Fox was speaking to Sheckil and pointing in the direction where the platoon had come from before meeting the cadets. Armin sucked in a breath at what he saw. “The Titans we shook off are back.”
He was right. A mob of ten-meter Titans had converged on them earlier when Armin had been helping Hanna carry Franz into the Empire’s Juggernaut. Armin had taken to the air with Sunber’s platoon while the humongous carriage’s wheels had begun turning through an unseen force without needing to be pulled at its front by an animal, speeding down the street before the Titans could even touch it. A good chunk of those Titans had evidently followed the platoon, crawling over buildings or patiently moving around them in pursuit of the large mass of humans now in their sight.
Reiner, back to his usual self, maintained a level head. “We need to start moving,” he said, scowling at the Titans.
Sasha had just finished topping off the gas in one of her canisters when another cadet filched the pump from her and dove into one of the trooper’s cloth bags for their own refill. “A bunch of us still don’t have enough gas to reach the Wall!” Sasha pointed out.
Their next best course of action dawned on Jean. “Yeah, but it might be enough for all of us to reach military headquarters.”
A separate cadet snorted with a deranged grin. “You mean the one overrun by Titans? With who knows how many more Titans between us and HQ?”
“The base will have the full resupply we need!” Jean howled at the naysayer. He turned to the Imperial officers. “Lieutenant Sunber, you and your troopers don’t seem concerned about your own gas reserves. Can you support us to Trost HQ and keep the Titans off us?
Without hesitation, Sunber answered, “Yes, we can.”
A hopeful murmur spreading across the cadets was cut off by sniffling tears from a less confident, more pessimistic one among them. “Support us how?” cried Daz. “They’ve got weird ODM gear, but where are their blades? Are those supposed to be dinky little clubs they’re holding?”
Marco leaned around to get a better look at one of the trooper’s weapons, a longer blaster held by its grip to let the barrel rest on the soldier’s shoulder. “They almost look like compressed muskets.”
Aware of the approaching Titans, Armin vigorously nodded his head, an explanation on the utility of the Empire’s weapons on the tip of his tongue. “Yes! They’re highly advanced muskets called blasters that can–”
Lieutenant Sunber shouted over him. “Everyone, pay attention! We’ll have a quick demonstration so you know what you’re in for.” He raised a hand, signaling to his troopers. “Snipers, the first line of Titans. Take out their eyes. Continue suppressing the ones who move after them.”
There were currently three squads of eight or nine men in Sunber’s platoon. From them, five troopers carrying blasters closer in length to a normal musket went prone near the edge of the roof. A half-second later, lines of white-red lights moving nearly faster than the eye can see sped out of the blasters, hitting their marks. The Titans cried out in pain, clutching their smoking eyeballs. The Titans behind them nonchalantly swerved around them. As instructed, the snipers took out their eyes as well, the process repeated by the snipers for each succeeding batch of Titans, effectively stalling the entire bunch from advancing.
There were looks of awe across the cadets. A desperate hope was alive and well in them.
Armin felt Mikasa still staring intently at him, sparing only brief glances to the feats performed by the troopers and their weapons.
“Five-One!” Sunber called, pointing to an Abnormal shoving its way past its incapacitated brethren. “Use the launcher. Remove that one’s head.”
This trooper’s blaster was the largest and longest among the Empire’s arsenal of small arms. The barrel was wider, reminiscent of a typical cannon placed on the top of the Walls.
The similarities went further, as displayed by what looked like a conventional projectile being fired from the launcher instead of a bolt of light. Armin could still hardly see what was shot out, but there was smoke emitting from the back end of the trooper’s blaster, and a subsequent explosion that destroyed everything above the Abnormal Titan’s neck. The headless body slumped against a church building.
“The Titan’s still alive, sir,” Five-One reported, the Titan’s body still moving as steam rose and its lost flesh began regrowing. And what naming convention did the Stormtroopers have? Named after animals and numbers? “The RPS-7 doesn’t have the same punch as the MiniMag. A direct shot to the throat might be enough for a Titan of that size.”
“A sound idea,” Sunber said, checking the ammunition on his blaster pistol. At least, Armin assumed that was what he was doing, fiddling with his weapon. “We’ll test that theory next time. Troopers! Take flight!”
On cue, the snipers stopped firing, and every single Stormtrooper elevated themselves upward with their jetpacks. Sergeant Sheckil did the same. This was only the latest in the series of surprises shocking the other cadets, seeing the troopers literally floating above them. During training, the cadets were taught several methods of conserving gas while maintaining control and flexibility during ODM maneuvers. Here, the Imperial troopers let their gas run freely as they accomplished a feat impossible with conventional ODM gear.
“Anders Squad will take the lead at the front,” Lieutenant Sunber announced. “Gamma and Drewast will support from the flanks. Kill when able, blind as needed. Keep the cadets mobile.” When Sunber turned to the cadets, a burst from his jetpack had him jump two meters above their heads. He remained there as everyone looked up at him. “Avoid combat if you can. If any of you run out of gas, call it out. Don’t just scream and panic. Shout, ‘Empty!’ A trooper will pick you up and support you, but as you can see, we only have so many men. Make every burst from your gear count until we reach the castle.”
People were dumbly staring, like they were lost in a dream.
Jean was the one to get them to wake up. “You heard the Lieutenant! We don’t stop moving, and we’ll all be back at base in no time. Unless you want to stay here and get eaten as Titan fodder, we go with the Stormtroopers.” He gave a resolute nod to Sunber. “You lead, we’ll follow.”
Sasha, Reiner, and Marco voiced their agreement. A new wave of confidence and excitement rapidly spread. Soon, everyone was letting out war cries, overpowering the hungry moans of the Titans still approaching them.
A smirk broke out of Sunber. “Then we fly! Let’s go!” He and Fox soared ahead, the rest of the troopers dispersing in the formation he lined out. They formed a vague three-pointed triangle, with the cadets assembled in the middle as they propelled themselves onward.
Armin flew with them. With Fox and Sunber at the front, Sheckil remained behind to continue shadowing Armin.
Mikasa was moving on Armin’s other side. He knew she wanted to interrogate him, and he definitely wanted to tell her everything he knew, but they were on the move with Titans all around them, and Armin wasn’t sure how much Sheckil would allow him to say in front of her. So they all diverted their attention purely on staying alive for now.
At first, the plan was working really well. Stormtroopers aimed for the eyes, consistently burning the Titans blind and distracting them from clawing at the cadets flying over their heads. Abnormals and Titans appearing around shrouded corners were promptly stunned or dispatched outright. Intentionally or not, there were also cadets and troopers who also served as bait for others to slice their blades or fire their blasters on vulnerable napes before resuming the run back to HQ. No one was running out of gas yet.
The good streak they had abruptly came to a halt when a Titan popped its head between buildings to snap its teeth through a cadet’s lower legs.
Armin couldn’t willfully ignore the sight. It was Eren being attacked and mutilated all over again. The cadet, Tom, crashed against a wall and fell onto a balcony. The Titan’s unnatural grin licked its lips as the beast watched Tom uselessly clutch the gaping holes where his knees used to be.
To make matters even worse, when a Stormtrooper broke from the flank to dash for Tom, the Titan suddenly whipped around to bite through his legs, too.
They were both dead men.
Then, yet again, the Empire surprised Armin.
Ignoring his loss of limbs, the Stormtrooper swept himself in an arc around the Titan’s legs and back upward. He narrowly avoided a headbutt, the Titan smashing its face through the building. Armin moved beyond the area by that point, only able to see a cloud of dust and debris flying through the air, but out of the cloud was the battered trooper still flying, one arm holding the bleeding Tom to his chest.
If Eren hadn’t been able to use his ODM gear to save Armin from that bearded Titan earlier, Armin would’ve had a harder time believing what he was seeing. Tom still might not make it, leaving a blood trail from lacking both lower legs, but it was still more than what Armin was able to do for his own squad.
Other cadets weren’t as lucky as Tom. Whether it was the cadets’ stamina reaching their breaking point or just poor luck, occasional Titans were beginning to catch them unaware, horrible crunching sounds and death cries to follow. Or cadets were losing their sense of surroundings as they collectively suffered more losses, becoming too distracted to see another Titan spring on them. One trooper couldn’t cover five cadets simultaneously being lunged at by Titans. Armin even spotted a couple Stormtroopers being intercepted and overtaken by Titans faster than they could recover as Tom’s savior had.
But, for the most part, the formation was still working. The majority of cadets and troopers were getting closer and closer to the castle.
Armin saw Floch’s gas run empty, and Floch yelled it out. He was quickly picked up by a trooper. The procedure was repeated a few more times with other cadets and troopers, but sadly, Armin also noticed a cadet here and there who were literally left hanging when their gas ran out. For the two dozen troopers supporting them, there were a little under three times that many cadets still alive, simply too many for the platoon to sufficiently cover every person whose ODM gear failed them at untimely moments. Other brave cadets were able to pick up the slack, circling around to pick up a comrade and willing to shoulder both their weights to the finish line. Not all made clean getaways from the Titans, unfortunately.
As tragic as it was to admit it, every fallen soldier left behind meant another grouping of Titans was distracted from pursuing the rest of them.
Ahead of Armin, he saw one of Jean’s legs get caught in the hands of a Titan. Jean was able to react first, cleaving off the Titan’s fingers and shooting forward before it could grab him again. Armin was planning to sweep around the back of this Titan’s head when Mikasa took the initiative to get in front of Armin and slice the nape.
The sudden burst of steam from the dead Titan forced Armin to make a wider swing than he originally planned, not wanting to get suddenly blindsided by another Titan once past the smoke. Armin noticed Sheckil fly on the opposite side as him, while Mikasa repositioned to remain close to Armin.
Sheckil could have easily moved back near Armin, if not for having to focus on evading the next waves of Titans and supporting the group of cadets struggling to keep out of their jaws.
She planned this, didn’t she?
“Armin,” Mikasa said. “What happened to Eren?”
… Armin chose his answer carefully. He didn’t want Mikasa to be overcome by emotion, and he couldn’t completely hide the truth of what he did know from her. “The Empire’s leader, Darth Vader, believes Eren is still alive.”
For all of Armin’s cowardice, he’d say he has decent instincts, and a better analytical mind able to make useful deductions from those instinctual feelings. The little exposure he’s had with Darth Vader… didn’t fill Armin with the same confidence as Sunber, Sheckil, and the troopers have.
“If we want to see Eren again,” Armin said, “we need to keep ourselves alive first.”
And to choose their battles with Darth Vader if, god forbid, the Dark Lord and the Empire did become their enemies.