Night had fallen and everyone had gotten off their horses to walk through the pathway to Shiganshina in the mountains. Using lamps made from the crystal ore underneath the Reiss chapel, One soldier gasped when his horse back "huh?" He ended up dropping his lamp" woah. Steady" he got his horse under control

"Slow down." Levi said, he was walking with his original squad " make sure the ground is lit." " right. Sorry sir" the soldier apologised " Will we get there soon? It's just about Dawn." Levi asked one of the commanders next to him,

looking at a piece of paper in his hand "Well, once we get over this mountain, shinganshina should be close by." As everyone continued on the journey, eren turned to mikasa " i'm sorry that you got stuck with my horse." he apologised " don't worry about it. You should be saving your energy like the others." She said, referring to Latina and the gang

" yeah, I get it, but still." Eren mumbled "She's right, eren." He turned to connie behind him. " we need you at your best."

" don't say his name, dumbass." Jean scoulded quietly, So they wouldn't reveal who was who" Sorry, I forgot." He apologised " act as though we're surrounded by enemies. Always" he turned his left and gasped when he saw a titan " titan on the left!" He announced, mikasa put her arm on front of eren

"Everyone Halt! Light up the area!" everyone stopped and flashed their lamps on the titan. Hanji moved through everyone and examined it

"It's alright." hanji assured " pretty sure he's asleep. Doesn't look like this is one of the new types that can move around at night. "She then chuckled "well isn't that a shame? Leave him be. "She stated, then as they walked let out a sigh, eren though to himself out loud " I can't believe we had to get that close to noticed the thing."

" yeah, I'm with you on that point." Hanji agreed "But it's worth it." He says as he turned to her " The moonless light is protecting us. Light from the moon is really just reflected sunlight. And from what we can tell, that minuscule amounts of reflected light is all that these new titles need to move.  it's good that we are using the new moons cover. There is no guarantee that we won't have a repeat of before. For all we know, that sleeper might of been a moonlight out in himself. "Her goggles slightly lit because of the light from her lantern and said "maybe we can capture one Someday!"

" you scared?" Zane asked  Reiner " No... nervous, I'll admit that" he says " Bert?" Grayson asks " yes... they still might have those injections and end up making us turn on you" he says worriedly " you'll be fine. Honestly I hope the guy who is the other colossal titan doesn't turn, but hey...seeing you kick his ass would be awesome" he says, all three turning to him" Sorry just trying to 'lighten' the mood" he says while Zane just growls " Puns again?! really?!" He whispered, Reiner was just chuckling while bertholt shakes his head while smiling " So Reiner can make an ass joke back in trost, but I can't make any of my puns?" Grayson whispered

"Is Grayson making another pun again?" Suddenly eld appears next to them "Sadly for us yes " Zane sighs "Honestly keep it up kid" he said " don't encourage him!" Zane exclaimed in his hush tone "Would you rather be miserable or would you have a little laugh before death?" Gunter also appeared to " i'd rather be walking quietly then suffering his terrible puns" Zane states " and this is why you're never going to get with Lizzy, if you keep this up" Grayson smirked, which Zane turned red " Shut up Grayson!" Zane growled while the others were trying to contain their laughter

With Lizzy and Sasha

" you okay lizzy?" Sasha asked as she walked next to her " yeah...I just hope Ymir doesn't get mad at us for not bringing her, I know how much she wanted to punch one of those guys in the face" she says "we'll do it for her, Besides someone needs to stay with historia" Sasha says

Meanwhile

Eren just looked down at the floor, as the light shone on the path he and everyone walked on, he's hand slightly shaking, But continued looking ahead 'I'm shaking. Why? What am I scared of?...shit...What if I screw this up because of my nerves? Whatll happen?.. we'll never get a chance like this again ..If we fail, the hopes of countless people will be crushed... And through some twist of fate, it's all on me... How? How can I save humanity? I'm useless... I'm nobody...' he then clenched his hand to stop him shaking, which didn't go unnoticed " are you okay?" Mikasa asked "What's wrong? You're shaking." Armin Stated "Are you scared?" He asked

"Huh? No! Of course I'm not scared." Eren denied "But... Look at your hand. Seems like nerves to me." Armin states "This is just because it's cold out here! I feel like my hands going to freeze off." Eren muttered

"Is that all is it? I've been shaking a bit, too." He lifted his arm up showing how scared he was "I'm terrified. Just look at me... I can't really tell if you've been afraid of the Titans... That fear is all consuming for most people. It was for me. The first time I saw tighten in the flesh, I was so frightened I couldn't move. Yeah... I was going to die. Then you came and pulled me out of a Titans mouth. how did you do it? Where did you find the strength?"

"I had a flashback..." eren said catching armins attention "To the day that you showed me your parents book. Before then, I'd never even considered the world to beyond the walls. I would just spend my days staring up at the clouds... But then, I heard your story, and saw the look in your eyes. They were filled with this amazing dream. Like nothing I'dknown for myself. That's the day I realised that I had never been free... The world was as vast as our cage was small. those monsters had stolen it from us... Once I realise that, I couldn't forgive them... Couldn't tell you why, but.. When I think of that lost freedom... I feel strong. Feel this, in a way." He finally let go of his hand and it stopped shaking "Thanks for that, armin. I'm good now" he smiled

"Hm" armin nodded smiling " know what? This time next year? I bet will be looking out at the sea." Armin turned his head and smiled at the thought, mikasa then stopped and recognise something, also hearing the sound of running water, That's when she gasped "this area. It's familiar" she stated " mikasa?" Drake said next her

"I think... We came here for firewood. "Eren gasped, just then a soldier shouted" I see the foot of the mountain! "The others turning to him "there are signs of a trial ahead!! They all continued down the path, mikasa then turned to eren "Well, looks like we're close. " eren says "I'm pretty sure I can hear the river." mikasa stated " We made it back. After all that's happened... This is the first time we've seen it since we fled as kids... Our hometown..shinganshina..." armin muttered, Latina just stared it down, remember what she and the others have discussed before the mission had begun

Flashback

The five of them were all gathered together, Before they went to bed they were crowding around an plan of their own "Okay Drake, any incoming Enemy's coming towards the scouts, you will either a crate of a Ice Spike for then and stab the titans, or create a ice wall and give them time to sneak around and slice the napes, also the beast titan might show up and throw something at them so give them cover"

" got it" drake say

"Zane. I want you to stay with any of the new recruits, they don't know what we are facing so you will be their defender" he nodded

" Grayson with your speed, you'll be the Messenger, but any enemy alliances you see, sneak up on them and slice them if you can, if not report it to anyone who can do it like Captain Levi or commander Erwin or even Donna"

" right" Grayson nods

"Lizzy You will be our sneak attack" Latina picked up a bag with contained seeds in it "In case you can't grow any more plants, spread these around the ground, grow your vines underneath the ground and capture your enemies at the feet, drag them down and wrap them up"

" okay" she agreed

"What about you?" Grayson asked, Latina pointed at the stone Still sealed within her heart "I gonna conserve as much power as I can, their still going to try keep me under cover, since our enemies so interested in me, but I still intend to put up a fight. Also use the healing power like I did on Franz back in trost, even if we have only one injection, we could still use my healing powers, but I have to conserve a lot of power to do so, This time on this mission, we will get everyone out of this, that is my Vow, And I intend to see through to the end, what about you guys?"  they all nodded

Flashback end

As the troops grew closer to the inner gate, Erwin gave his orders " there could be titans anyway, so keep your guard up! This operation has officially begun! All troops, switch to odm gear! " Hanji's team had hooked onto the wall and flew off to the outer gate, the memory of what he said flashed

'We must seal the gate to wall Maria and the one to the outer wall world.. With that achieved, shiganshina will be isolated, and we can kill the Titans inside. The enemy will predict this plan and count to it by targeting eren and Latina. But... All 100 of our soldiers Will keep their faces covered with hoods, by the time the enemy can locate them, eren will have plugs up the outer gate.' Eren gazed down at his old town while Latina stood next to him, she saw he was looking at a house, at damned objects they once had back then " don't stop! " levi rushes past, catching their attention "You get to the outer gate!"

"Right!" Eren nodded, eren started running, just as she was about to as well she saw armin stop "What is it?"she asked, she looked to where he looked and saw the ashes slightly brushed over the edge, some remaining "Ashes." He said 'From a kicked out fire?' He then gasped, looked to where the commanders where and raising his sword, the commanders looked over, seeing his expression 'They're here and they're close! Ryan and Albert!'

While eren was zipping on odm gear, he gazed towards the wrecked houses 'My old house is right around here... We are so close.. To everything we left behind...' He then glanced back at mikasa who was giving him a look, saying focus 'It's fine. I'm taking it back.' He narrows his eyes in determination, zipping upwards

With hanji, levi and Grayson

"I know we're overdue for some luck, but how have we not seen any titles yet?" She wondered out loud "We still have to continue." Levi states "Great. We have no cause to call it off. "She then shot off the green flare, which were followed by more 'I can do this!...no....' he then thought of his friends and everyone else

'We can do this!' Eren though with determination' Because we 're special! For no other reason than the fact that we were born! We will be free!' He bit his hand up with a flash of light, burn What they didn't know that the two men were waiting for their mark

He transformed into his tighten form, and started using his hardening ability, he grunted trying to get out before he got trapped in the hardening process, letting out a yell as he ripped himself from his titan body, his vision is slightly blurry but he saw a figure which resembled mikasa, she help pull him out, she then pulled him up on top of the walls

"The enemy could strike any second! Stay on the lookout!" Hanji ordered "Right!" Her squad took off, she then turned to see mikasa holding eren up" eren!" She jogged over to them "Is your odm gear secure?" Mikasa asked him "It's fine." He stated "That said, I did manage to shake off my cloak." She took hers of and dropped it over him, he stood up lifting the hood over his head, then turned to her and said "Thank you" which she nodded

"How's it look?!" Levi called out to the soldiers bellow "Looks good over here! "One shot off a green flare "Yeah, our end is closed, too! "The other guy in the other end said, who also shot off a flare "We pulled it off. Huh." Hanji then turned to eren "eren, Are you okay?" She asked "Not even tired." He said "All that trainings paid off."

"We shouldn't waste time then." She then started running "Everyone coming here for the inner gate! And keep your face's hidden!" She yelled

"Did I actually seal that gate? Seemed too easy" eren muttered "You did it. I saw you. Try to have faith in your own strength." Mikasa said 'I finally took it back.' Eren thought "We're not finished, you can plug the gates or you want to, but they can just break them again later. Until we've killed Ryan and Albert, and whoever else may be with them, the operation to retake with Maria won't be over." Levi said "Yeah I'm aware" eren nods

"The outer gate was closed off successfully, with some thing feels wrong here. The enemy should've attacked by now. Right, guys?" The three commanders continued looking "So why haven't we seen a single titan yet? Is it possible that they just weren't ready to fight us?" Dirk murmured "We can help, but considering what arlert and Romanoff found..." as Erwin said their names both of them zipped up the wall to the commanders "We looked into it. It's clear that someone was camping on the wall." Armin stated

Flashback

The two were on the ground, searching through various objects that had been scattered, armin picks up three cups with a strange black liquid inside while violet inspected the pot  "We found cups and a cold pot on the ground, near where we spotted those ashes. They were drinking something like black tea."

Armin saw the small droplets inside' What was in here?' Armin took a sniff ' it Smells good.'

As Latina hand was pressed against it ' cold...'

Flashback

"There were 3 cups, and they all had the same black liquid in the bottom. So I'd say there were three people camping up here at least." Armin finished,Their eyes "Wait. There is a third!?" Dirk exclaimed, Donna sighed "We can rule out the guy that erwin killed, His body dropped like a fly when retrieving eren, Reiner, Bertholt and Ymir, Who is the third person?" She wondered, Placing her index finger on her chin

"What's the pot completely cool to the touch?" Erwin asked, which Latina answered "Yes." "That's troubling." Erwin muttered "Agreed." Armin nodded

"Huh? Why's that?" Dirk asked "We charge here at full speed on horseback. Even switch to ODM gear. Had they noticed our approach by side, or perhaps by sound, they couldn't have had more than two minutes to react. But a pot Over flame wouldn't have called in that short of time." Donna states, Dirk gasped "They had to have known that we were coming for five minutes or more. Which tells me they've had plenty of time to prepare for our arrival." Erwin finished

"There is no way. How'd they know?"dirk questioned "Well, it's possible that they had a scout in addition to the three on the wall. Yeah. We should assume we have many enemies and that they could be anywhere." Armin says "You need to sharpen your focus on the enemies that are nearby. I trust you. With that mind of yours, you've saved us from disaster countless times. Now do it again. We are in dire need of your help" armin gasped, Erwin turned to the scouts behind him "You can take as many soldiers as you need. If the enemy is hiding near the inner gate, find them... " they were all gathered around the four "As of now, you will obey armin arlerts commands. He'll tell you how to proceed." He gasped while violet looked shocked, They all looked hesitant but then all said in unison "Understood!"

" we searched the walls perimeter thoroughly!" One asked, They suddenly started crowding around him "What are your instructions, artert?" One of the girls asked, he looked nervous, but still answered "We'll send one group to each side of the wall. Search the interiors of any buildings near the gate! If you find something, fire off an acoustic shell" he ordered, but went back to his nervous self "...does... That work for you?" He said, they all jumped off the wall "Understood!" Zipping off under his orders, Latina smiled and pat his back, which he stiffened blushing " nice job armin, come on" she pulled him along, his face becoming more red

"Another gamble of yours?" Dirk asked erwin "No. artert's Proven himself. He is one of our greatest weapons. That I know." He then turned to Donna He then turns to Donna "You believe you chose the right person to protect her?" He asked

"You said he's proven himself, I have faith in him" she said as she watched the two run off, Dirk Turned in the direction where the others were with Eren "Erens on his way to plug up the inner gate. what now? Should we hold the operation until we find the enemy?" He asked

"We continue.we'll lose a prolong Campaign in enemy territory. To prevail, our only chance is to win a decisive battle. With that in mind, even if all has gone according to the enemies plan thus far. We simply have to deal with it. In any case, they aren't the only ones who are hiding something." Erwin states holding his secret weapon under his cloak, meanwhile the others were on their way, armin was hanging on the wall pondering with violet next to him

'What do I do? Erens On his way to seal the inner gate. If the enemies here, we need to find them before he does it. Why would they have let us plug the outer bridge without a fight? Why can't we find them no matter how much we search? They knew we'd come.. They must've.! If this is a trap... if we fail here... Then it's all really be over for us. They always catch us offguard. By using Titans and the powers in ways we can't predict. And they always have the advantage, because they know so much more about Titans than we do!... Hold on.' Armin then remembered something, the titan within the walls, he then shot of a  shell flare, Everyone look in the direction of the schools immediately return to him

"Did you find them arlert?" One soldier asked "Where?"

"The walls! Everyone scour the walls!" The recruits looked at him in shock and confusion " but we already searched all around them!" The same girl exclaimed "There isn't anywhere to hide on the walls!" One stated

"Check inside them!"The skills gasped including the two commanders "Inside the walls?" The same female scout questioned "Yes! Look for a small cavity that someone could hide out in. It may be covered." Armin stated "How do you know that this exists?" One of the soldiers next to her question, he looked down "It's a hunch" armin stated again, people probably weren't ready to hear about titans in the walls,  Both scouts gasped, the male soldier grabbed him by the soldiers "Dammit! Do you have any idea what kind of situation we are in? We don't have time to waste on your hunches!"

" Will you shut up and listen to him!" Latina snapped making him back up " Just think about it! The enemy always gets the better of us are using titan powers in ways we could never imagine! If we constrain Ourselves to normal tactical reasoning, then we'll never be able to gain the upper hand!" The scouts gasped when the commander shot off the red flare

Meanwhile

From where the others were they could see the commanders flare "That's the signal to halter the mission!"One of the scouts stated "Everyone scatter and stand by on top of the wall!" Hanji ordered "Understood!" They all said while eren looked confused

'There are times to be strict and times to be flexible. Upon the principles of your vowels. Do what it takes to win. Follow the chain of command and keep your eyes fixed on the path to victory." The commander stated, armin just grunted and said to the scouts "Form two groups again and check the wall surface! Start your search above the gate! Go! Quickly!" Again they were hesitant but answered "Right!"

Well they were poking the walls with the swords, the others were questioning it from above the walls "What are they doing? Is this safe? Feel like a sitting duck." Connie says "I don't know." Jean muttered "But this doesn't seem like much of a surprise attack." Marco states

" you thinking what I'm thinking?" Lizzy asked Grayson " that armin might be right? Yes" he nods " Not to cause alarm but has anyone seen Drake?" Bertholt asked "Haven't seen him either" Reiner stated "Don't worry he's a fine, he's preparing" Grayson says "For what exactly?" Bertholt asked " you'll see" was all Grayson finished with

A while levi squad, along with mikes new squad, remained vigilant

With eren

" I wonder. Did armin figure something out?" Eren muttered from where he stood while levi just watched 'a Position they'll be able to react from, No matter when eren might appear.' Armin thought 'Position from which they can see everything that happens. If there is a hiding spot like that. then it must be in the walls. Assuming the enemy doesn't know That we are aware of the Titans in the war, they have every reason to think this would take us by surprise. It all adds up.' One of the soldiers tapped on the wall and ended up finding of a spot that sounded hollow, As soon as the process that he grabbed his flare gun and shot of a shell flare, making armin gasp and turn to him "Right here! It's part of the wall is hollow!" What is the other person hiding inside removed the fake wall and stabbed and right through the chest, making everyone gasp, the scouts body then fell along with the fake wall piece

someone came out of the hole in the that was placed in the wall turning out to be none other than the other amored titan, Reiner grit his teeth shouting his name "Ryan!!" Armin froze as Ryan inched towards him, he noticed the girl hiding behind him

' there she is!' He glared, Armin putting an protective arm round her, suddenly speeding downward, Levi stabbed his blade into his the nape of his neck, Running down the wall with him then Grabbing his other blade, he stabbed it into his chest to hold him down. They began to fall downwards even faster.he was sure he had gotten him but the moment his eyes rolled back to stare at him, he gasped and recoiled back upwards as his body he slammed onto the ground.

He was preparing to transform, Levi appeared back up next to Armin and Latina "shit!" He cursed "Captain?" " levi!"

"What are these guys made of? A blade through the neck and the bastard still won't die!" He growled, Ryan was growled as his body twitched, but let out a yell, A bright golden light appeared from Ryan as he transformed

"Keep your eyes open! We still need to find his allies!" Erwin shouted, Suddenly a thunderous explosion appeared on the other side of the inner wall. Bright flashes of light appeared, encircling the Survey Corps, their eyes widened in shock, Red, glowing eyes peered back at them menacingly. The enemy was making their attack.In the center of the was where the beast Titan stood.

He quickly grabbed a nearby boulder with ease, quickly launching it towards them.

Latina's heart pounded in her chest as she realized the boulder was heading straight towards them." Incoming boulder! Get down!" Erwin yelled, marlo and Zane were waiting for further orders, when the boulder collided with the inner wall

"What the?!" Marlo exclaimed

" what the hell was that?!" Zane muttered in shock, as they got up the wall, Latina glared down at the debris and dust.

The Beast Titan had sealed the horses inside, preventing them from escaping. They planned on aiming for the horses and surrounding them. appeared

"Looks like he missed!" Dirk says "Not so." Erwin says "That was a well placed shot. They blocked off the entrance. There is no riding through it now. They have us all but surrounded . They plan to talk about horses block our escape routes, and slaughter us."he raised his sword into the air.

"Enemy hopes for the same thing we do.. To end this conflict once and for all! It's our side or theirs is now! we can let the Titans crush us, or bring them crashing down?!" Latina long with the others were thinking the exact same thing

' hell no...' they glared at the enemy