Age of Titans Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Age of Titans! The three military Commanders are meeting with the Commander-in-Chief to discuss the Shifters and their potential for the people within the Walls. Truth will be revealed, demonstrations made, and worldviews will be altered. However, those in power rarely ever wish to let that power go; so expect things to get messy.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 12 – Meeting and Impending Confrontation

Mikasa had been worried for hours, not hearing anything about Eren and her friends. The rearguard hadn’t even needed to fight more than a Titan or two that had slipped by the middle guard. Though she DID have to threaten a greedy merchant that had blocked the exit with his horse-drawn wagon full of goods. That had quickly gotten the man to stand down and move his wagon aside so that the civilians could evacuate safely. She’d been about to go AWOL to look for her friends when an Officer approached her with new orders.

“Private Ackerman.” The Officer looked at Mikasa sternly.

“Sir!” Mikasa gave a prompt salute, as was expected of a soldier.

“You’re to report to the Garrison Headquarters immediately; orders from Commander Pixis himself.” The Officer informed the new soldier with heavy emphasis on just who’s orders these were.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Mikasa confirmed and quickly headed off towards the headquarters. A small part of her felt that she’d meet Eren and her friends there.

-Garrison Headquarters ~ Southern Wall Rose-

“Eren!” Mikasa nearly threw herself into Eren’s arms the second that she saw him.

Eren caught her and pulled her into a warm hug, happy to see her again. “I’m okay, Mikasa.” He squeezed her tightly for a second to reassure her, knowing that her concern for him would be the first thing on Mikasa’s mind. “I’m glad that you’re okay too.”

“I’m fine.” Mikasa smiled as she just enjoyed being held by Eren again.

“Where’s our hugs?” Sasha questioned with a giggle as she hugged Mikasa from behind.

“Yeah, all the love for Eren, huh?” Ymir teased as she joined the group hug too.

“Mm.” Mikasa hummed and slowly let go of Eren to hug Sasha and then Ymir as well. “I’m glad that everyone is okay.” She smiled softly while looking over the group.

“We’re fine, for now, there’s going to be a meeting tomorrow morning between the three Commanders and the Commander-in-Chief.” Krista informed while receiving a hug from Mikasa next.

“How did they take it?” Mikasa questioned, looking between Eren, Annie, and Armin.

“About as well as we could hope for.” Annie shrugged at the current outcome. “Erwin and the Survey Corps that we’ve explained things to seem to be willing to work with us at the very least.”

“Erwin is the new Prime Armor Shifter too.” Armin told Mikasa with a smile. “The awakening saved his life, so we won some favor from the Officers in the Survey Corps for that.”

“We succeeded in our plans for reclaiming both the Prime Armor and the Prime Colossal.” Eren nodded to Mikasa with relief showing behind his eyes. “Talks with the Survey Corps and Commander Pixis have gone well, so the next phase of the plan is off to a good start.” If he wanted to get rid of the old regime and ascend to the throne as the new king, all of this had to work out promptly, and that included getting support from as much of the Military as possible. Only after that was accomplished could he focus on the next phase of the plan which would be the retaking of Wall Maria, the reclaimed land would improve the citizens’ lives, and then the next phase was retaking the rest of Paradis Island.

“Speaking of the Prime Colossal, is the new holder the one you wanted it to be?” Mikasa questioned her lover, curious if that part had worked out as well.

“Yes, the opportunity arose, almost like fate, so Armin and I took it.” Eren nodded and Armin gave a nod of confirmation as well.

“That’s good.” Mikasa sighed in relief that the Prime Colossal hadn’t needed to be given to someone randomly.

For now, until the following morning, the Shifters would be staying at the headquarters. They could only try to relax, as nearly impossible as that was with the fate of Eldia hanging in the balance, while they prepared as best as they could for tomorrow.

-Next Morning-

The entirety of the Walls was in a muddled uproar, much like it was during the loss of Wall Maria. The information about Titan-killing Titans, Titans using weapons, and even human’s turning into Titans had leaked and newspapers everywhere had stayed up through the night printing out all the stories, rumors, and speculations. What was printed in each paper varied based on who the printing press was aligned to.

Newspapers that were firmly under the Monarchy printed the story as a breach into the Trost District that had been repelled and the gate sealed. It marked the first time that humanity had prevailed against the Titans.

“The Colossal Titan had destroyed the southern gate of the Trost District and Trost was temporarily occupied by Titans. But a do-or-die operation to take back the territory has succeeded, and the gate was sealed.” One man read off a paper to a crowd of other people that were all scrambling to get their own copies. “The Titans inside the Trost District have already been hunted down and exterminated. Residents of Trost have already begun to return to their homes.”

“The wall was ‘sealed’? How’d they manage that?” One man questioned loudly, echoing the thoughts of several of the crowd.

“Of course, it’s all lies! This is royal propaganda! They’re spreading those lies around to keep us commoners within the interior in the dark!” An old man wearing a beige cloak with the hood pulled up declared. “The bastards from outside are already rushing through Wall Sina!”

Newspapers funded by various merchant groups reported the story and rumors differently, however. That multiple Titans had appeared and killed off the other encroaching Titans before sealing up the wall. Then they all disappeared just as mysteriously as they’d appeared.

“News from the merchants!” A man with somewhat nicer clothes than most (showing his wealth and success in business) called out to the gathered people, holding up a newspaper funded by the local merchant group.

“The merchants’ association? Can we believe information that’s not certified by the Monarchy?” One man questioned aloud, eyeing the newly arrived newspaper warily.

“And why should we believe the Monarchy’s information is correct?!” Another man questioned the first as he read the newly arrived paper.

“H-Hey… What the hell does this mean?” One reader pointed at the article on the Trost invasion. “It says a group of Titans appeared and killed off all the others before sealing up the wall?”

“What does that mean?” A woman questioned, a look of disbelief on her face.

“Are they trying to say that there are Titans that’re on our side?” Someone else asked loudly to be heard over the din of the growing crowd.

-Garrison Headquarters ~ Southern Wall Rose-

The meeting between the three Commanders was about to begin. Erwin and Pixis where already present and seated on the left side of the long table, quietly going over the points that they’d use to confirm the Shifters’ use to the Walls. Behind the two men stood the Shifters themselves, along with Levi and Hange for Erwin and the Survey Corps. For Pixis and the Garrison, both Ian Dietrich and Rico Brzenska were present, both being squad leaders as well as having personally witnessed the Trost invasion and the effectiveness of the Shifters in combat against the hordes of invading Titans.

The doors to the room opened and Nile Dok entered, flanked by three Military Police members. He nodded to both Pixis and Erwin as he moved to take a seat on the right side of the long table. The three Military Police walked over to the wall behind Nile’s chair and stood at ease, much like the group behind Pixis and Erwin were doing.

“It’s unusual for you to be the one requesting the meeting, Erwin.” Nile mentioned to his old friend. “Your claim of information also struck me as rather odd.”

“I assure you that what we’ve learned from this incursion into Trost has revealed many startling things, but also potential hope for the people within the Walls.” Erwin replied seriously, impressing upon the other Commander the importance of the information.

It was only a moment or two later when the doors opened again and Darius Zackly entered the room. The older man looked over everyone present as he made his way to the head of the long table. His own escort remained outside the room, barring entry to anyone else while the Commanders had their meeting.

“Alright,” Zackly sat down in the chair at the head of the table after removing his green military coat and hanging it off the back of the chair. This left him in his dark green military pants and a white button-up shirt with both sleeves rolled up. “Let’s begin this meeting on the breach of the Trost District.”

Pixis began the report, given his role as Commander of the Garrison. He gave a full overview of the situation, starting from the time that the Colossal Titan had appeared, to the breaching of the gate, and then the rough timeline of events that had occurred afterwards as the prepared protocols for a breach had been implemented. Following the summary of events came the casualties and damages, which were much lower than any other military encounter with Titans. Only about three dozen soldiers had died, and there were about twice that number of injured. Considering the number of military losses during the breach of Shiganshina (several hundred just in the initial incursion and the following time before Wall Maria’s gate was broken by the Armored Titan) these losses and injuries were minimal. Parts of Trost had been damaged, especially from the initial breach of the gate, but most of the damage was repairable and the infrastructure of the District hadn’t suffered much at all.

“The intervention of the so-called ‘Titan-killing Titans’ brought a rather swift end to this incursion, which minimized our losses.” Pixis finished the report with the next topic that would be discussed in this meeting.

“I see.” Zackly nodded, going over the papers that Pixis had handed him that contained the various information that they’d gone over. “And about these ‘Titan-killing Titans’, what do we know about them?”

“It sounds fantastical to me; Titans aren’t known to attack each other.” Nile spoke up, glancing at the other Commanders.

Pixis looked over his shoulder and motioned Ian and Rico to step forward. “These two were in Trost during the breach, both fought bravely on the front lines and witnessed the ‘Titan-killing Titans’ firsthand.”

“I witnessed two of the Titans, the female-looking one and one of the two with a mask and claws tear through over a dozen Titans in the span of a minute or less. I was at a distance with my squad, but it’s hard to miss Titans fluidly killing their own kind.” Ian described what he’d seen during the incursion.

“I had moved from the middle guard to the vanguard when the initial line was beginning to fall apart.” Rico began her own informal report. “As the number of Titans pouring in through the destroyed gate continued to grow, we were all losing ground. That’s when a Titan-sized arrow killed an approaching Titan. The arrow was pure white, and it perfectly pierced the Titan’s neck and went through its nape. We watched as five Titans were killed before allowing those that were injured or low on gas to retreat to the supply depot. It was the only reason our group wasn’t wiped out entirely.”

“Thank you for your reports.” Zackly nodded to both of them, prompting Ian and Rico to salute before stepping back closer to the wall. “I assume that these two aren’t the only ones to have seen these ‘Titan-killing Titans’?” He eyed the large number of people standing behind Erwin and Pixis.

“No sir, we have many witnesses, far too many to bring to this meeting.” Erwin replied as he prepared to get to the bigger revelation. “When I noticed the odd behavior of the Titans outside of Wall Rose, I immediately had the Survey Corps return to Trost as fast as possible. We dealt with the Titans that were stuck outside of the gate, planning to eliminate them all and then move into Trost to assist further. In the process of this offensive, an Abnormal Titan burst through the building that I and several of my subordinates were standing on. A few of them died immediately from the unexpected attack, and most of us were injured. I had a wound in my side from a large piece of shrapnel that was assuredly a mortal wound.”

“Mortal wound?” Nile spoke up, looking at Erwin strangely. His old friend wasn’t one to lie, but if he’d been so grievously injured just yesterday, then there was no way that he’d be up and about as if nothing happened already. “You don’t seem injured in the least, Erwin.”

“That was thanks to the ‘Titan-killing Titans’. They intervened and saved my life as I was being transported towards the supply depot in Trost.” Erwin revealed, making Nile and the three Military Police members look at him in disbelief.

Zackly, however, merely gazed at Erwin thoughtfully. “Continue.”

“I had lost consciousness by this point, but both Levi and Hange took command and can fill you in.” Erwin motioned for the two officers to approach.

Levi and Hange stepped forwards and (with Levi keeping Hange’s Titan-craze under firm control) gave their statements of meeting the six ‘Titan-killing Titans’ and what they’d done for Erwin. This, of course, led to all eyes falling onto the seven Shifters in the room.

“This is madness.” Nile shook his head, looking between the Shifters, Erwin, Levi, and Hange. “You can’t expect me to believe this.” Behind him, all three of the Military Police soldiers looked like they were preparing to either fight or flee.

“I understand that you require proof.” Erwin spoke calmly to Nile, getting his old friend to focus on him. “I will provide that proof here and now.” With everyone watching him, Erwin pulled out a small knife from the pocket of his jacket. He rolled up his sleeve and then placed the blade to his wrist.

“Erwin, what the hell are you doing?!” Nile questioned loudly, standing up to try and prevent his friend from doing something insane. He was clearly suffering under some kind of delusion, that was the only logical explanation!

“Providing proof that our words are the truth.” Erwin answered and then cut deeply into his own wrist, sending blood flying onto the table as the veins and arteries were opened up.

“You crazy fool!” Nile was out of his chair and around the table in seconds. He’d need to apply pressure to the wound and get a tourniquet before Erwin lost too much blood. He grabbed his bolo tie, planning to use it to tie off Erwin’s arm, only to stop and stare as the horrible laceration emitted steam and healed right before everyone’s eyes. “W-What the hell…?” He could only stare in shock and disbelief at what he’d just witnessed.

“As a Titan Shifter, I can rapidly heal from any injury that isn’t instantly fatal.” Erwin informed both Nile and the rest of the uninformed, looking no different than he had before he’d slashed his wrist. The blood on the table was the only evidence that the man had even been injured. “Moreover, I was given the Prime Armor Titan, which was taken from the previous user, the Armored Titan that smashed through Wall Maria’s gate.”

The room was entirely silent as Nile slowly took a few steps back from Erwin, looking like he was about to collapse.

“Explain this, Erwin.” Zackly’s tone had noticeably shifted, he wasn’t making a request, this was an order.

“Yes sir, but to explain it all will require me to go into the true history of the world and our history as Eldians.” Erwin motioned Eren, Annie, and Ymir to step forward. “These three can explain it to everyone much better than I can as they’ve known this information for much longer.”

“Permitted.” Zackly looked sharply at the three Shifters. “Explain, thoroughly.”

Annie began with the history of Eldia and the world outside of Paradis Island. Titan Shifting was explained by both Ymir and Eren, along with the Nine Types of Titans. As questions naturally came from Zackly (and eventually Nile, once the man recovered his wits), the three answered them to the best of their abilities.

“As the holder of the Prime Founding Titan, by the laws of the Eldian Empire, Eren is the rightful King. The man that sits upon the throne now is a fake, and the true rulers that hide in the shadows behind their puppet are called the Reiss Family.” Annie finished the long explanation after some time.

No one noticed the slight clenching of Krista’s fists as the Reiss Family was brought up.

“More things begin to make sense.” Pixis muttered to himself after mulling over all the new information. “The king did always seem to have a vacant and empty expression every time that I ever saw him.”

“The Assembly…” Zackly spoke, the thoughts behind his eyes almost pouring out. “Deltoff and Aurille are both nobles, well-educated in the matters of governance...but now things make a bit more sense as to why Gerald was chosen to be the representative of the Military. Roderich is the representative of that ‘Order of the Walls’ religion too; another noble that had no reason to be in the organization that he is part of.”

“What’re you saying, Commander-in-Chief?” Nile looked at the older man warily.

“I’m saying that the Assembly are the ones that’re running the Walls day-to-day, not the king that sits on the throne.” Zackly figured out the true system rather quickly when enough pieces of the puzzle were laid out to match with his own observations over many decades of service. “The Assembly wields authority as the representatives of all of the branches with any say within the Walls, and all four of them are nobles. They’re not making decisions in the name of King Fritz, but in the name of this Reiss Family, and only in the interest of the nobility. It’s a shadow government disguised as a monarchy.”

“That’s not possible…” Nile denied, but was cut off by Pixis.

“Come now, Commander Dok, surely, you’ve noticed the irregularities in the operations? The missing funds and supplies? The fact that many people go missing, never to be seen again? How any soldier that speaks up is often shipped out?” Pixis laid out the things that no Commander could miss while going over their paperwork. “We’ve had to deal with it for so long that it seemed like some inevitable thing. But does it have to be?”

“Commander Pixis, what you’re saying sounds like treason.” Nile placed his hands on the table, the three Military Police soldiers behind him all nodding in agreement, but noticeably tense at the information that had been revealed to them. “On my way here I already witnessed the beginnings of a divide between the people. The various papers have either tried to cover up this ‘Titan-killing Titans’ information, or are running articles about Titans that could be on humanity’s side. We can’t allow this schism to grow, lest we face civil war within the Walls!”

“Doesn’t that seem odd to you, Nile?” Erwin asked his friend pointedly. “Anything that doesn’t fit with the narrative of the ‘Monarchy’ is covered up or erased.”

“Erwin…” Nile knew what Erwin was referring to; the suspicious death of his father. The man had been a teacher when they were boys, and taught the students things that didn’t conform to the history of the Walls. Nile had listened to Erwin talk of finding the truth of the outside world, beyond Wall Maria, for years as they both rose through the ranks of the Military.

“I saw those same arguments in the streets on my trip here, Commander Dok.” Zackly looked at the Commander of the Military Police. “I heard the two sides, saw the fear, confusion, and distrust that bubbled to the surface. Is that what our society within the Walls has broken down into? A place of fear and suspicion? Where a small group gets to wield unilateral authority while letting the rest fall?” He looked over at Eren. “There are those that would label Eren Yeager as a demon that was leading us to destruction. However, there are those that would consider him a savior that brought hope to humankind. Eren… I have a question for you.”

“Sir?” Eren looked back at Zackly unflinchingly.

“Can you use this Titan power for the benefit of those living within the Walls? Zackly questioned the would-be King.

“Yes, sir, I can.” Eren confirmed without hesitation. “All I see or hear is each group within the Walls saying whatever speculation is most convenient for them. But if they cut themselves off from reality, then it’s over, they’ve given up. Most of the people that have the power over the Walls have never even seen a Titan, so what do they have to fear? What can we do when the people that have the power don’t fight? If they’re afraid of fighting for their own lives, then they need to move aside and let people that will fight take charge!”

“Well said.” Zackly agreed, a small smirk on his face.

“Please, wait!” Nile raised his voice slightly. “Erwin, Pixis, Commander-in-Chief… I want to ask you. What will you do about the interior?”

“I’m quite aware that our activities outside the Walls depend on the stability of the society within them.” Erwin was the first to reply. “I don’t take the problems of the interior lightly.”

“If we remove the root cause of the problems within the interior, then naturally things will get better for everyone if that is the goal that we work towards.” Pixis spoke next, looking at Nile. “You and I, and Erwin, and Zackly all want better for the people, not just the nobles. To save the body, sometimes you have to remove a limb.”

“We must also take our own laws into account, Commander Dok.” Zackly looked at the younger man seriously. “Law Six of the Charter of Humanity states: “One must never prioritize their own gain over Humanity’s survival.”, am I correct?”

“Y-Yes sir.” Nile nodded that he’d correctly recited the law.

“Then we cannot permit the Monarchy to keep up this abuse. We cannot allow this absurd situation to continue as we count down the days to our extinction. Measures must be taken to protect everyone within the Walls, not a privileged few. That is the only way for us to survive.” Erwin locked eyes with his old friend. “Am I mistaken, Nile?”

Nile clenched his fists on the table, grimacing as the reality of the situation within the Walls was laid out so blatantly. They could stay behind the Walls, be safe for a while, maybe years, a few decades possibly. But if nothing changed, it would be a horrible spiral into the end. They already didn’t have enough land to feed everyone sufficiently. When the food ran out…it would be open warfare between groups trying to survive. The last days of the Walls would be a suffering whimper as the last person alive starved to death, leaving the lands within the Walls as nothing more than a massive tomb.

“Don’t forget, Commander Dok.” Eren spoke up now and waited until the other man looked at him before continuing. “This government hiding behind their fake king is the same one that sent two-hundred-fifty-thousand of our people to their deaths against the Titans, rather than fight themselves.”

Every one of the Commanders grimaced at the reminder of that foolish…outright stupid…mission that the ‘King’ had ordered shortly after Wall Maria had fallen. In the name of ‘reclaiming territory’ two-hundred-fifty-thousand people from all walks of life; men, women, young, and old alike had been conscripted, and then given rushed training that didn’t even include ODM Gear since there wasn’t enough of them to go around. They’d all then been marched out of Wall Rose in a futile attempt to reclaim Wall Maria from the Titans. Of the two-hundred-fifty-thousand that had been sent, less than two-hundred had made it back.

“It did nothing to push back the Titans.” Eren stated flatly, anger bubbling beneath the surface. “All it did was lessen the effects of famine in the interior. That was all it was for; just so that the ones further within the Walls wouldn’t have to lessen their meals.”

“Damn it…” Nile nearly cracked a tooth as he ground his teeth. It was the truth and they all knew it. Having to turn a blind eye to all of this for so long had dulled his sense of anger, removed his desire to fix things, and in the end… It left him apathetic. “How do we get the people on our side? We have to avoid civil war or we’re all done for, especially if the world outside of the Walls hates and fears us, seeing us only as enemies.”

“I propose that to calm the public and give them hope, we’ll prove that the Shifters are an asset to our survival on our next expedition beyond the wall.” Erwin gave his idea to give the people hope and gain their support through sheer results and merit. “We retake Wall Maria and the Shiganshina District.”

“You say that like it’s easy, Erwin!” Nile nearly gaped at his old friend. “Even with some Titans fighting for us, there are probably thousands if not tens of thousands of Titans out there!”

“Aside from territory, why have you made Shiganshina a priority?” Pixis noted that Erwin had mentioned both Wall Maria and the lost District in the same breath.

“Eren has a key that was left to him by his father.” Erwin explained calmly and factually. “It was left with him after the breach and he was told that in the basement of his home, the way to the truth was hidden.”

Eren clenched his jaw slightly at the reminder of his father’s last frantic days trying to find him and Mikasa. That the man had been pushed beyond what he could take and had been left with only one option for himself and for Eldia. But there was nothing that he could do about it, it was in the past, now it was up to him and those close to him to continue pushing forward.

“I see.” Pixis nodded once. “The truth is likely information about the outside world and the Titans. But there could be more and we need everything that we can get.”

“Exactly.” Erwin confirmed.

“You didn’t tell us how you plan to reclaim Wall Maria with only a handful of…Shifters,” Nile took a second to test the new term and how it sounded to him. “Against thousands of Titans.”

“Once we have some time, numbers won’t be an issue, Commander Dok.” Eren looked at the man. “Any Eldian can be awakened to their Shifter ability. That means the entirety of the Military, if necessary; but we’d start with volunteers from the Survey Corps.”

“The entire Military…” Nile’s eyes widened as the numbers added up in his head. The thought of thousands of Shifters, all intelligent and possessing the abilities of one of the Nine Types each, made the Commander realize just how powerful of a force the people of the Walls could truly wield.

“We have to reclaim Wall Maria first.” Pixis stated firmly, snapping Nile out of his thoughts. “Only when Eren’s accomplishments with the Survey Corps come to fruition will we have the people on our side. Until then, we have to keep Eren and the other Shifters from being taken by the Interior Police.”

The eyes of both Zackly and Erwin narrowed at the mention of the ‘police force’ that directly served the king. Many people didn’t even know they existed, merely thinking of them as boogeymen meant to scare criminals and those that would try to raise dissent. But the group existed and no one had any oversight of them except the ‘king’, but they now knew that meant the Assembly and the Reiss Family.

“Eren Yeager.” Nile looked directly into Eren’s eyes. “What is your plan going forward? What would you do if you became King of the Walls?”

“Retake all of Paradis Island from the mindless Pure Titans, and then prepare for the inevitable war that Marley will one day bring to our shores.” Eren answered powerfully, everyone almost feeling a thrum in their chests. “We will not live in fear, huddling behind the walls and waiting for the day they can no longer protect us. I won’t let us be little more than penned up livestock awaiting slaughter. I want all of us to grow and prosper, to live happily and freely! If we need to maintain a force of Shifters to defend ourselves, then that’s what we’ll do! Those who wish to be enemies will be dealt with, those who reach out in friendship will receive the same. We have power, monstrous power some will claim, but we don’t have to be monsters with it.” His thoughts shared, he took a long breath to calm himself and everyone felt the thrum in their chests fade away.

‘Stupid, sexy, regal Eren… He knows how behaving like a king turns me on!’ Annie thought in the privacy of her mind. If they weren’t about to get very busy with the next phase of their plan, she’d drag him off somewhere as soon as this meeting was over with!

“Spoken like a true leader.” Nile nodded to Eren, thinking of a happy future for his wife and children. One where they didn’t have to live in fear of Titans or running afoul of some secret ‘police force’ for speaking their grievances with the system.

“Sir…?” One of the Military Police members standing behind Nile spoke up. “Are you really considering this?”

“Soldier…would you be okay with your family not having to live in fear of Titans?” Nile looked over his shoulder at his subordinate. “That goes for all three of you.” He looked at both of the other men.

“Well… I mean… Of course we don’t want to live in fear of the Titans anymore.” The soldier on the left spoke after a moment.

“Yeah, but this is going against the monarchy, sir…” The man on the right ran his hands through his hair worriedly.

“I want that better future that he spoke of, Commander… But can we really have it this way?” The first soldier questioned Nile directly.

“The path of least bloodshed is the plan; one that avoids civil war within the Walls and ushers in a new regime that doesn’t favor the nobility at the expense of all others.” Nile spoke to his subordinates clearly, standing from his chair and approaching them. “I want that future, one where we’re not trapped within these walls, but are free to explore the wide land that we never knew existed.” He placed his hands on the shoulders of the men on the left and right. “Isn’t that something worth fighting for?”

“Yes, sir.” The soldier in the middle nodded after a second.

“Yes, sir.” The man on the left answered.

“Yes, sir.” The soldier on the right confirmed with a sharp nod.

“Then let’s fight for it together.” Nile nodded to his men with resolve that none of them had seen in his eyes in all the time they’d served under him.

Knock Knock Knock

The door opened after the knocks and one of Zackly’s escort soldiers stuck his head into the room. “Commander-in-Chief, I’m sorry to disturb your meeting, but this missive just came from the King, sir.”

“Bring it here.” Zackly called the man in and took the letter from the soldier before allowing him to return to his post outside the room. Zackly’s eyes moved side-to-side as he read the lines of text. “That didn’t take them long.” He nearly glared at the paper. “The ‘King’ and the Assembly have scheduled a Military Tribunal to be held two days from now. The soldiers on trial are Eren Yeager, Annie Leonhardt, Ymir, Armin Arlert, Sasha Braus, and Krista Lenz.”

“The Assembly can invoke a Military Tribunal?” Ymir questioned, not knowing that fact before.

“They usually take a non-interference stance with the Military, but the King can technically call for almost any form of trial for any of his subjects.” Zackly confirmed that the missive was indeed an order. “I’d been informed late last night that they were taking the same stance as they did when Wall Maria was breached; which was to dump all of the responsibility on the Military and ignore all of the problems outside of Wall Sina.”

“It seems they’ve changed their minds.” Pixis sighed, pulling out his flask and taking a sip. “I can only imagine why, with the rumors that’re already flying around.” The sarcasm wasn’t lost on anyone.

“Well, there is some good news.” Erwin spoke up after a moment to think. “Unless they’re going to breach all forms of protocol when it comes to trials, a Military Tribunal is overseen and judged solely by the Commander-in-Chief.” He looked at Zackly.

“The message does say that I’m to preside over the Tribunal and render an ‘appropriate verdict’ based on the findings.” Zackly nearly snorted at the term that the Assembly had used.

“Then I believe that we can buy some time and get the Shifters into the Survey Corps long enough to plan and set out on another expedition beyond the Walls.” Erwin’s mind was clearly running at top speed. “It usually takes a bit over a month, but so long as we reclaim Wall Maria, the support of the vast majority of the people will be behind Eren.”

“Eren, how long does it take to train a new Shifter?” Levi spoke for the first time since the meeting started. His steely gaze was locked onto the younger man, demanding a quick answer.

“We can have any new Shifter cognizant within a few minutes, usually. Training from that point onward is a case-by-case thing based on the individual.” Eren replied, taking points from the group’s experience with their own awakenings. “If we had a month, we could have them fully trained, I believe.”

“Me first!” Hange’s hand shot into the air, a beaming smile on her face. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes!” She was nearly panting as she looked at Eren.

Mikasa’s eyes narrowed at Hange, and many would swear they saw a faint aura of death around the young woman.

Eren looked at Mikasa and she stopped glaring at Hange. A silent conversation passed between them and Mikasa gave a slight nod to Eren. Hange was clearly eccentric, but the woman was also willing to become a Shifter. They needed volunteers to show the Survey Corps that the process was safe. If anything else came from their interactions with Hange, then they’d talk about it as a family.

‘I’m going to tell them… I have to. They deserve to know.’ Krista thought to herself from her place beside Ymir. Her shoulders were tense, hell, her whole body was tense. But she hated keeping secrets from the ones she loved. ‘I’ll tell them after this Tribunal. Maybe there’s something we can do with my heritage that I’m not thinking of…’ She’d never wanted to reveal this, not after what had happened to her mother, and how she’d had to live her life growing up.

“Are you okay, Krista?” Ymir whispered, gently placing her hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder, while giving her a warm smile.

“Yes, just nervous.” Krista told a half-truth and still felt bad about it.

Ymir squeezed Krista’s shoulder reassuringly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get through this together, we’re family.” She let her love for Krista flow into her words and her eyes shone warmly with affection for the other girl.

“Family.” Krista smiled back, her heart rising a little as she felt the love and reassurance that the family that they’d made together would be with her through all of this.

-End Chapter-

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The meeting has gone well! Yes! One more step closer to ousting the current regime that rules the Walls!

They just need to get past this Tribunal and be placed in the Survey Corps. After that, it seems that Levi has a plan.

Hange is ALL for it! And anything else Eren might want! *Hehehehehe~*

With such major changes to Canon, can the Survey Corp retake Wall Maria on the first try?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!