The six of the soldiers within Shiganshina watch as Bertolt continues to pick up houses and throw them down, creating a ring of fire around himself.

"Those houses will drop on us" Conny says worriedly, "do you think one of those houses is Eren's? Eren's house is eavesdropping!" he says as he starts to laugh as Eren just side eyes him.

"Sasha, smack Conny for me, will you?" Jean asks as he rolls his eyes, Sasha hitting Conny on the top of his head.

"I don't think he knows our location" Mikasa says as she continues to keep her eyes on Bertolt.

"Yeah. He's making Shiganshina a sea of flames by scattering burning debris" Armin explains as he watches multiple houses and buildings go up in flames.

That bastard. This time, you think you can burn down my city?

Eren asks as Bertolt throws some houses closer to them.

"Armin! The fire is coming closer. Your orders!" Conny says as he looks at Armin.

"Hurry it up!" Sasha yells.

I can tell. You're standing there shaking so much, you can't do a damn thing.

Armin remembers Bertolt's words.

"Jean, can you take my place?" Armin asks as he looks back at Jean, "I just have no idea what to do. I was wrong reading Bertolt and look where it's got us. Jean, you're much better suited for this!".

"The river! Move to the river!" Jean says as he looks over at the river, "everyone aboard Eren! Conserve our gas!" he says as everyone starts to get on Eren, "Eren, at some point, we'll have to get Bertolt's attention, but until then, don't let him see you. Armin" he says as he looks at Armin, "I'm alright at reading situations, but I'm coming up with this empty plan in order to get us out of this. In the end, we're all counting on you".

Levi lands on one of the houses outside the inner wall as he wipes some titan blood from his cheek.

"We're done cleaning up here" a soldier says as he lands on the rooftop next to Levi, "the only small ones left are the ones right at the front. Still, how will we take down the Beast titan? He's perfectly content sitting way over there, not moving an inch".

"Yeah, it seems he's a coward" Levi says as he watches the Beast titan, "not like he's ever had balls to begin with".

"You take a break" the soldier says as he looks at Levi, "we'll mop up the rest of the small ones. Let's go!".

"Roger" all of the other soldiers say as they fly towards the front.

Shit. What was that explosion? What happened to those guys? Did Hange and the others avoid it? I've got to hurry to that side.

Levi says as rubble starts to fly past him. There are screams from in front of him as blood splatters everywhere and dirt is brought up from the ground, all the houses being destroyed.

"Levi, get down from there!" Evelyn yells as Levi swoops down to her,

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Levi asks as he studies her from injuries.

"No, I'm fine" Evelyn says as she looks at him, wiping some blood from his cheek, "what the hell was that?".

"I think that Beast titan's started throwing rocks" Levi says as the two of them turn to look in the direction of the Beast titan, "where are the horses?".

"I managed to sneak them into the barns in Shiganshina" Evelyn says as she looks at Levi.

"How did you manage to get through the wall?" Levi asks as he looks at her.

"When Reiner and Bertolt kidnapped Eren, Ymir and I, I managed to stab Reiner and got some of his blood" Evelyn says as she looks at the hole in the wall, "I literally shoulder barged my way through the wall like he did when he attacked Shiganshina five years ago and I got a hole big enough to sneak me and the horses through. It's far enough from Bertolt as well so they won't burn up".

"So that explosion was Bertolt?" Levi says as he looks at her as she nods, "good, that's good. You did a good job" Levi says as he pats her head, "now we've just got to avoid this bastard".

"Hmm, that one was a little bit too high" Zeke says as the quadruped titan rolls another boulder towards him, "oh, leave it right there" Zeke says as he bends down and picks up the boulder, smashing it up in his hands, "well, the first pitch was a warm up. I'm going for a perfect game!".

"Frontal bombardment. All troops, take cover!" Erwin yells as Zeke throws the boulder.

Levi tackles Evelyn in one of the smaller houses as the back, covered by the larger houses as they hear the screams of their men and the sound of rubble landing and breaking apart the houses at the front.

"What the hell was that sound?" Floch asks as he covers his ears.

"Does the enemy have cannons?" a female soldiers asks as she looks around.

"If so, there's one hundred of them" Floch says as he looks at her.

"Calm down! You're scaring the horses!" Marlow says as he looks back at the two of them.

"The titan's throwing boulders!" Evelyn yells as she and Levi fly over.

"Captain Evelyn. Captain Levi" Marlow says as he looks at the two of them.

"All of you retreat to the wall with the horses!" Levi orders as everyone stands up, "Evelyn created an opening to the West. Take them in there and go ten houses down until you see a white barn. You will find the rest of the horses in there".

"Roger" Marlow says.

More boulders are thrown as they land just behind the horses.

"Hurry! Stay out of the line of fire!" Evelyn orders as they all rush off with the horses.

They all start to move the horses when Commander Erwin lands on the ground.

"Commander" Marlow says as he looks at Erwin.

"How's it looking?" Evelyn asks as she walks over to Erwin.

"Terrible. His throws have destroyed the front line of houses" Erwin says as he looks at Evelyn, "if he keeps throwing, everything will get levelled. We won't have anywhere left to hide".

"We can't retreat to the other side of the wall? I know Bertolt's there but we can avoid him" Levi says as he comes over.

"No, the risk is too high and the Colossal titan is already heading this way" Erwin says as he looks at Levi, "he's spreading fire all along his path. Supposing we scale the wall to evade the stones, we'd have to leave the horses. If we retreat here, there's no hope for victory".

"But I created a hole in the wall and the majority of the horses are through already. I've got soldiers on standby guarding them, ready to move them when Bertolt starts to spread the houses of fire. We can go over the wall" Evelyn says as she looks at Erwin.

"It's still too risky. We have to fight" Erwin says as Evelyn nods.

"What happened to Hange's group?" Levi asks as he looks at Erwin, "is Eren alright? What about our squad?".

"I don't know" Erwin says calmly, "but the majority of them were caught in that explosion. We've been dealt a serious blow. The Beast titan directed the small titans so our soldiers would group up in one place. As such, while engaging the small titans, Dirk Squad, Marlene Squad and Klaus Squad were all wiped out by the bombardment. In other words, our remaining forces this side of the gate consists of you new recruits, Captain Evelyn, Captain Levi, and me".

More rubble is thrown as the new recruits duck down and cover the horses whilst Evelyn, Levi and Erwin all look at each other.

"Erwin, do you have any sort of plan?" Evelyn asks calmly.

"Yell at him, Eren!" Jean yells as he looks at Eren, "don't let Bertolt get any closer to the wall!".

The five of them hold onto Eren as he screams at Bertolt.

"He noticed" Jean says as Bertolt looks back at Eren, just before continuing forward, "what? That bastard's ignoring us!".

"Hey, what now Jean? At this rate..." Conny says as he looks at Jean.

"I know that!" Jean says as he doesn't let his eyes leave Bertolt, "Eren! Go stop his lanky legs!".

The five of them hang on as Eren as he runs towards Bertolt.

"But still. How the hell are we going to beat him?" Conny asks as they watch Eren.

"His gusts of hot team make our ODM gear useless, right?" Sasha asks as she looks at Armin.

"You don't think I know that?" Jean asks as he looks at Sasha, "but right now, we've got no choice but to try. We've got to figure out his weakness!".

"I'll do it! You guy's distract him!" Mikasa says as she looks at Bertolt, "Conny, your Thunder Spear".

"Right" Conny says as he prepares to give his Thunder Spear to Mikasa.

"Armin, we need you to observe from afar" Jean says as he looks at Armin, "so quit your moping. We've got to believe there's a way to beat him!" he says as they make it close to Bertolt, "now, scatter!".

They all jump off of Eren as Eren continues towards Bertolt.

Don't you dare look down on me! You're nothing more than a big damn wretched oaf!

Eren yells as he grabs onto Bertolt's leg. Eren starts to push as Bertolt's foot is pushed back. Bertolt then lifts his leg up, Eren holding on as Bertolt kicks his leg, sending Eren flying into the top of the wall.

"Eren!" Evelyn yells as she tries to go to Eren but Levi holds her arm.

"Hey, is that Eren?" Levi asks as he stops Evelyn, "he got himself flung to the top of the wall? By Bertolt".

"Eren's not moving" Mikasa says as she looks up at Eren.

"He's not dead! Focus on the monster at hand!" Jean says as he looks at Mikasa, "that might have been pushing it too far. If we run at him without a plan, that's what happens. Unless we can somehow turn the tables on him, this recovery operation, all of our lives, and the future of humanity will be doomed! Having said that, I'm not about to sit around while we all get slaughtered! Let's go on the attack!" he says as they all fly towards Bertolt, "this guy doesn't know about Thunder Spears. Conny, Sasha and I will distract him! Mikasa will strike in the opening!" he says as Bertolt looks at them, "hey, moron! I'll poke out your stupid eyes!".

"You huge idiot!" Conny yells.

"You massive pervert lord!" Sasha yells.

This distraction is so obvious. But if we nail him with a Thunder Spear...

Jean says as Mikasa flies up from behind Bertolt and throws two Thunder Spears at him. Bertolt notices this and lets off a bunch of hot steam, blowing the Thunder Spears and everyone away.

"Guys!" Armin yells as he kneels down on a rooftop.

Is it useless? His hot steam even blew away the Thunder Spears.

Armin says as he watches Bertolt.

"Conny!" Sasha yells as she lands.

"Shit! Breathing it in burnt my throat!" Conny says as he lands.

"Mikasa, you're bleeding" Armin says as Mikasa lands near him.

"I'm fine. A bit of shrapnel from the Thunder Spear got me" Mikasa says as she holds her arm, "never mind me, have you thought of anything yet? Do you have any clues for a counterattack?".

"Not one" Armin says as he looks as Mikasa and Jean who joins himself and Mikasa on the rooftop.

A piece of rubble is thrown into the house next to them as they all look at Bertolt who walks closer and closer to the wall. Then, through the smoke left behind by Bertolt, Reiner appears. On the other side of the wall, Zeke picks up another boulder as he throws it at the troops again.

"The Beast titan has a good guess at where we are" Levi says as he looks at the houses that have been destroyed, "this place will look like a honeycomb soon. Erwin, if you're saying we've got no chance of a counterattack, let's get ready to flee. Wake Eren sprawled out up there. Ride him and flee with as many people as possible. At least we'll have some survivors".

"Hey, the horse got away! That's your job!" Marlow yells as he grabs Floch's arm.

"Shut up! Like it matters!" Floch yells as he starts to panic, "the Scouts were insanely strong yet they died in an instant! You know as well as I do! What good is protecting horses when there's nobody left to ride them home? It all made sense at one point. If humanity just hid behind the walls, we'd someday get slaughtered by titans out of nowhere. Somebody has to bite the bullet and risk taking action. In order for others not to be victims, we needed people to become victims themselves. Who will be that brave soldier? When I was asked that, I actually believed I could be that someone! But I never thought that being sent to my death would turn out to be so utterly meaningless in the end! Now that I think about it, I bet almost everyone ends up saying the same thing as me. Why did I ever think that I'd somehow be different?".

"What if whoever's left of the recruits and Hange's group scatter on the horses and try to make it home?" Evelyn asks as she looks at Erwin, "by using them as a decoy, you guys could escape on Eren".

"What would the two of you do?" Erwin asks as he looks at the two of them.

"We'd be facing the Beast titan and draw him away" Levi says as he looks down.

"Impossible" Erwin says calmly, "the two of you wouldn't even get close".

"Probably not" Evelyn says as she smirks, "but if you and Eren return home alive, there's still a chance. Isn't that the best we can ask for at this point? What a huge defeat. To be perfectly honest, I doubt a single one of us is making it back alive".

"Yes. Assuming we had no way to counterattack" Erwin says as he looks at her.

"Is there a way?" Levi asks as he looks at Erwin.

"Yes" Erwin says calmly.

"Why didn't you say that sooner?" Evelyn asks slightly annoyed, "why'd you keep your shitty mouth shut?".

"Levi brushes off on you more and more everyday" Erwin says with a small smile, "if the plan goes well you may be able to take down the Beast titan. But it will take the recruits and myself to give our lives".

Zeke throws more rubble as there are more screams and more destruction.

"It's like you said Evelyn" Erwin says as he looks at the recruits, "either way, most of us will die. No, it's almost guaranteed most of us will be wiped out. In which case, we can stake out heroic deaths on a slim chance of victory. For this to work, to ask these youngsters to die, it would take an expert con man and a whole slew of lies. If I do not lead the vanguard, none of them will follow" Erwin says as he, Levi and Evelyn make it to random house as Erwin sits down on the front step, "and I will die before anyone else. Without ever learning what's in the basement. I want to go to the basement. Everything I've done until now, was because I thought this day would come. That someday, I could check if I was right. So many times, I thought death would be so much easier. But always, the dream I shared with my Father always flashed through my mind. They're right there. But, Levi, Evelyn, can you see them? Our comrades. Our comrades are looking at us. They want to know what became of the hearts they gave. Because the fighting isn't over yet" he says as Zeke throws more rubble, "is it all inside my head? Nothing more than a childish delusion".

"You've fought well" Levi says as he kneels down in front of Erwin, "it's all thanks to you that we've come this far. I'm making the choice because Evelyn won't. Give up on your dream and die. Lead the recruits straight into hell. We'll take down the Beast titan".

"Erwin" Evelyn says as she runs to Erwin, hugging him tightly, "thank you for these past fifteen years. I know you'll lead them well. So die, and rest well, for you've worked so hard. I wanted you to be at my wedding, but I see that's not going to happen. So watch down on me".

"I love you, Evelyn. Thank you for believing in me" Erwin says as he looks at her.

"I love you too" Evelyn says as she lets go of Erwin.

Erwin stands up as he walks to where the new recruits are.

"Levi, we have to save him" Evelyn says as she grabs Levi's hand, "I'll take down the Beast titan, so you use Kanmori and you follow Erwin into the hell that is the ride towards the Beast titan. Kanmori knows when he's in danger and moves out of the way in time, you won't be hit. If Erwin is hit, bring him over the wall and use the injection on him. Have him eat Bertolt or Reiner. But whatever it takes, we're saving him".

Levi nods as he slips the injection into Evelyn's pocket, "you're the only one I can trust with this" Levi says as he looks at her, "I'll come find you once I've got Erwin".

"I love you" Evelyn says as she holds Levi's face.

"I love you too" Levi says as he presses his forehead to hers.

The two share a kiss before Levi runs off towards the hole in the inner wall so he can go get Kanmori. Zeke picks up another boulder and crushes it in his hands when he hears shouting coming towards him. He looks in the direction of the wall and sees all of the soldiers riding towards him on their horses, Erwin right at the front.

"Well, I guessed they wouldn't lie down and die, but a suicide charge?" Zeke asks as he looks at them all, "here I was thinking they could do better than that".

"Now, fire!" Erwin yells as everyone fires flares towards Zeke.

"Smoke? Oh, it's those signal things" Zeke says as he looks at the green colour in the sky.

"It's coming. Move!" Erwin yells as the group splits into two down the middle.

--- a few moments ago ---

"I'm announcing our final operation" Erwin says as he stands in front of the recruits, "all troops, line up! We will be doing a cavalry charge. Our goal: to rush the Beast titan. Of course, we'll be making ourselves ideal targets. So we'll wait until he's ready to throw and fire our smoke signals together. That should reduce his accuracy somewhat. While we're acting as decoy, Captain Levi and Captain Evelyn will kill the Beast titan" Erwin explains, not knowing Evelyn and Levi changed the plan behind his back, "that is our plan. Just standing and waiting means we'll be showered by more boulders. Get ready on the double!".

"Are we all heading to our deaths?" Floch asks as he looks at Erwin, "if we're dying anyways, you're saying it's better if we die fighting? Wait, if we're going to die anyways, no matter how we die, even if it's disobeying orders, it all means nothing, right?".

"You're precisely right" Erwin says as he looks at Floch, "it's all meaningless. No matter what hopes or dreams you had, no matter how blessed a life you've lived, it's all the same if you're shredded by rocks. Everyone will die someday. Does that mean life is meaningless? Was there even any meaning in our being born? Would you say that of our fallen comrades? Their lives. Were they meaningless? No, they weren't! It's us who gives meaning to our comrade's lives! The brave fallen! The anguished fallen! The ones who will remember them are us in the living! We die trusting the living who follow to find meaning in our lives! That is the sole method in which we can rebel against this cruel world!".

I'll be going in with just my ODM gear, even though he's standing in a completely clear area without buildings or trees that I can use to my advantage. But there's a line of objects at the just the right height. I'll sneak close using the titans. And there, I'll assassinate the Beast titan.

Evelyn tells herself.

--- present day ---

Evelyn flies in towards the first titan as she connects her wires to its shoulder, swooping in, cutting at its neck, killing it.

I'm sorry.

Evelyn says as she looks down at all the soldiers.

"My soldiers, rage!" Erwin yells, "my soldiers, scream! My soldiers, fight!".

Zeke throws more rubble as it takes out a lot of soldiers, including hitting Erwin directly in his side.