[Part 1: Behind Enemy Lines]

Marco POV

A young boy lays inside a crater he looks up spotting a bird flying overhead.

"Hey... It's dangerous here... Fly away... ...somewhere... far away."

Colt the boys older brother rushes to him stopping over him to pick up his brother and carry him along with some other soldiers running with us. "Falco!"

"Huh? What's my brother doing here?" Falco asks quietly.

"Good! You're still talking!" Falco says.

"Colt!" I shout.

Colt turns back to his brother. "Time to run! Hold on!" Colt, I, as well as a few other soldiers run back to the trenches. Colt carries his brother when the machine gun starts firing the pair of us run, some of our fellow soldiers falling next to us. Colt falls landing at the edge of the trench Falco being dragged in by some of Falco's friends, Colt however is grabbed myself and pulled in as well.

"Colt! Marlo! Status report?" Our units commander, Magath shouts.

"It was a direct hit, sir." I say out of breath.

Colt kneels in front of Magath. "The Eldian unit at the front got blown away."

"And the trench?" Magath asks.

Colt shoots his head up. "It's hopeless! We can't dig any further?"

I sigh standing but keeping my head just under the lip of the trench. "The trench caved in upon the hit, very few made it out alive."

Commander Magath acknowledges my statement and turns to Colt. "We can't? You're calling the shots? An Eldian, giving orders?"

"Watch your tone with commander Magath, you mutt!" His lackey, Captain Griff shouts at me much to my annoyance.

Colt looks down. "But... at this rate..."

I turn away and walk away looking at the Eldian's nearby I glance to their armbands and walk away rubbing my arm. 'It may be a while before you can get here. We need to get through this fort before we can head back. ' I think looking towards the back of the line.

I stand nearby as the commander, a smart man, but not altogether that brave, Magath begins to shout orders for the Eldian's with bombs strapped to their chest.  In the air approaching the battlefield is a war balloon. Inside, Reiner Braun. However behind the Marleyan lines he waits. I'm sure he's climbing into his spot as I look down at the being beneath him, Pieck Finger, the Cart Titan. Nine years ago, they sent Reiner Braun, Bertholdt Hoover, Marcel Galliard, Annie Leonhart, and Nico Harms to take the founder from us, but, they failed, they lost Bertholdt entirely, and Annie has been stuck in that crystal since we caught her. He killed Nico four years ago and the only person remaining from that initial attack is Reiner. Then there's the second attack Zeke, and Pieck were there. They captured Ymir and killed her feeding her to Pock Galliard. Marcel Galliard's younger brother, I have to make sure I don't say his real name around him. I sigh as he's probably already inside and locked in place when an explosion rings and I look over seeing the armored train fly off the rails. I watch as Galliard shoots forward.

Marcel Zoe POV

"Keep your eyes focused, Moblit!" One of my fellow machine-gunners, Carlo, shouts.

"Yes sir!" I respond maybe a second late to my fake name. We then hurry in destroying the enemy using our machine guns to fire down on the soldiers of the Mid-Eastern alliance. With every shot I grimace seeing them die. We then begin retreating as a signal flare goes live. I look into the air as dozens of titans fall out of the sky. I look to the ground to see Marco nearby staring forward and aiming a rifle he chooses instead to ignore it and lowers his weapon. I then watch as the Beast Titan lands as I exit the guns. I can't kill you... not yet. I reach the ground and walk away until I run into Marco who's trying his best to ignore the Marleyan's.

"Well, Marlo, is it everything you hoped for?" I ask.

Marco sighs. "As if. Seems almost boring now."

"Agreed, without the screams it almost seems trivial, it probably would be if not for the needless and senseless loss of life." I comment.

"We should probably go." Marco says softly as we walk away, Pieck 9n her Titan form watching us.

In the aftermath the news is relayed to the cities of Marley, and inside those cities several people see the news and sigh some of them reconvening. One group being Miche, Nanaba, and Petra.

"It seems those boys have successfully made their way in." Nanaba says slightly cheerfully. "I'm surprised none of the titans have noticed them."

"Good on those kids." Miche comments.

"We've received new orders from him, via Jean. I'm to remain by Hange's side. Levi will lead everyone. He has a meeting soon."

"Not out loud, you don't know who may be listening." Nanaba says lowering her newspaper.

"Moblit's Squad has the building surrounded if anyone was listening we'd know." Miche says.

"Still caution is very much advised."

Petra nods. "Yeah..."

[Part 2: The Home Front]

Meanwhile back with Marcel & Marco the pair sit together overlooking cresting waves. "This war went four years, just to dominate this peninsula." Marcel throws a rock into the water. "By the end both Reiner & Zeke Jaeger we're nearly shredded by the enemy fleet. You read the headline?"

""Human ingenuity surpasses and shatters Marley's Armor at last."" Marco quotes the paper.

"At this rate the Marley Military won't be able to attack Paradis." Marcel says softly.

Marco hums. "Yeah... doesn't sound like victory to me."

"For Marley, no it doesn't. For Paradis, it's a major win." Marcel raises his head looking out into the waves. It seems titans are no longer the leading force for warfare."

"If that's the case then the situation for Eldian's in Marley has taken a turn for the worse." A person speaks to the pair from behind, they turn around finding a person walking on crutches smiling at them.

"Hey, Pieck." Marcel says softly.

"Moblit. Ah and your with Marlo." She says a smile.

Marco nods. "Hello, Ms. Pieck."

"What are you two discussing?" She asks.

"The end to the war. Even if it ended in tactical victory, this war ended in both strategic and moral defeats." Marcel admits.

"How so?" She asks joining them overlooking the ocean beneath them.

"Our goal was to occupy the peninsula and drive out the alliance. That's the tactical victory." Marcel begins explaining. "And while achieving that goal we showed that the titans are no longer strategically advantageous, thus dealing us a blow to moral in comparison to the enemy. The attempt to take the founder 9 years ago was strategically, tactically, and morally a failure on every front. Strategic cause they pushed us back and beat us, tactical in the loss of, the Colossal & Female Titan's, and morally in with the loss of the two titans, it opened us up to attack from other nations."

Pieck hums. "I see... and in what way does this benefit those of Paradis?"

Marcel takes a deep breath. "Easy. It means it'll be harder for us to attack them in the future. Braun is nearing the end of his run, Jaeger is even closer, and as much as I hate it you're not to far off yourself."

"Awe, will you be sad when I'm gone?" She teases Marcel, who barely reacts.

"A bit. You're nice to chat with. At this rate the Marley Military needs a drastic restructuring."

"I see. Well, Moblit, Marlo, I'll have to see you later, I've got some reading to do." Pieck says as she shows off the third book of Marcel's to which his eyes widen a bit before he turns away looking back to the cresting waves.

"Later." Marco says with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, See ya." Marcel says his mind thinking of Ymir and how Historia reacted.

Pieck walks away leaving the boys to sit alone to think. Marcel sighs grabbing a small paper a note from Petra when they arrived. He puts it away nodding to Marco as the pair prep to head back into the city. Marcel & Marco sit together the pair playing cards together. Marcel keeps his eyes on Zeke who seems to be watching the pair as they play along with Pieck & Porco. The four seem to enjoy each other's banter as whenever Reiner glances to Marcel he seems to recognize him only to shake his head. Marcel smiles as he enjoys a good game against the three while they listen to the soldiers and Gabi in the train cart behind them as they celebrate what she did to the train.

"And that's another game. Royal Flush." Marcel grins.

Pieck chuckles. "You're way to good at this."

"Seriously. It's like you have years playing this." Porco comments.

Marco lowers his head. "Cause he does. We grew up playing games like this. His lucks always been good."

"Yeah, yeah, I still won." Marcel gloats.

The next day the train arrives in Liberio as Gabi is the first one off loud and celebrating. Marcel & Marco quickly grab their backpacks and extra gear, before hurrying away from the main crowd. The pair quickly weave their way through the alleys & back roads of the free zone, outside of the internment zone where they knock on a door and a window opens revealing a pair of eyes.

"The bird who soars..." The person says quietly.

"Flies freely and leads the way for the rest." Marcel answers. The door opens allowing the pair into the building as Marcel and Marco ensure no one follows the pair. They sigh in relative relief seeing Jean, Mina, and Sasha.

"Marco." Mina says with a smile. The pair walk up to each other and embrace each other. Jean & Marcel smile seeing this. Jean & Marcel bump fists, he gives a slight hug to Sasha. The group then all sit together around a table. Jean & Sasha filling the group in on what's coming.

"That idiot. We said we'd handle it." Marcel says looking at the strategy in place.

"Yeah, well now we have to do this." Jean says annoyed.

"Jean, I'm putting you in charge of the attack on the Cart Titan. Pieck's machine gun mount will be brutal against us. Try to put Floch in her path."

"We have a grudge against Floch?" Sasha asks.

"Someone here has a pretty bad one." Marco says glancing to Marcel.

Jean scoffs. "Not entirely unwarranted, though."

"So Armin made this plan?"

"It seems more thorough than Marley's attack on us." Marco comments.

"Sending kids to destroy an entire populous." Jean says with a grimace. "How despicable."

"Based on the Intel I have now, it seems the person who was to lead the attack wasn't even a Titan shifter, Nico Harms was the commanding officer of the four invaders, when Marcel Galliard was eaten by Ymir, he, along with Reiner Braun decided to continue the mission despite Leonhart & Hoover's pleas to cancel. Ultimately it led to the deaths of Harms & Hoover, the capture of Leonhart, and the only escapee being Braun." Marcel informs the team.

"So the traitor wasn't a traitor at all." Jean says, his voice filled with anger.

"No. He was a spy on the inside. In fact until Eren revealed the Attack Titan all three were to join the Military Police find the founding Titan and steal it. The attack on Shinganshina and Wall Maria was how they were gonna get in." Marcel says.

"The attack on Trost was to lure out the founder and they ended up finding Eren."

"So what, we're supposed to forgive Reiner now?" Jean asks.

"Reiner? No. But I'd like to ask Queen Historia to pardon Annie. She was dragged into the warrior program by her father, she only attacked under orders from Reiner & Nico. I don't know if she would've switched sides, but, something tells me, she's been thinking in that crystal of hers."

"Speaking Of which, are you sure we should let Hitch & Marlo keep watch over it?" Jean asks.

"Marlowe can't exactly be a frontline unit anymore. His leg was seriously fucked up after the Battle for Shinganshina. He'll struggle to walk forever. Hitch is just one of the people I promised to see Annie. Speaking of our forces, how goes Hange's unit?" Marcel asks.

"Hange, and Moblit have successfully completed their task." Sasha says between bites of her food.

"Good. The defense squad consists of Moblit, Petra, and Armin, yes?" Marcel asks getting a nod from Jean. "Sasha, you'll work with Levi. Marco & I have a target to go after already."

"Care to fill us in?" Jean asks.

"There's a reason there's 9 titans."

Jean glances to Marco. "Okay?"

"Of the ones we know, it's Eren with the Attack & Founding, Armin as the Colossal, Annie with the female, Reiner's the Armored, Porco Galliard is the Jaw, Pieck Finger is the Cart, and Zeke with the Beast. That's only 8 titans. We've learned who has the ninth. It belongs to a family called the Tybur's. Apparently they're a very influential family. But, they'll never side with Paradis. If we want to win, I'd recommend we take that ninth Titan." Marcel says taking a bite of his food.

"Sasha & I can relay the updated plan." Jean says.

Marcel hums. "And be quick about it." The pair stand and exit the building as Marcel sighs headed to a kitchen and starting a pot of tea.

The remaining three sit and discuss the frontlines. How different war is on this side of the sea as opposed to on the island. Over the next few days a few scouts rotate in and out of the building. Marcel & Marco keep up appearances whenever they're called for, but otherwise stick to one of the safe houses. The pair will typically keep with Mina, Petra, or Jean, but will always reconvene once a day. The duo keep an eye on the plans Eren sends Hange which she has Jean hand deliver to Marcel. Marcel continues to make appearances alongside Pieck's squad. He ignores the glances from her, as he makes sure to not be caught glancing at her holding his book.

'Page 15, The Uprising Against the Reiss Family and their fates.' Marcel thinks about the pages within that book. 'Page 16, The Names Of those who perished during the Uprising and the names of those who'll guard the Reiss family during the mission to retake Wall Maria. Page 17, The squads who'll rotate defending the Reiss family and their personnel. Page 18, The operation to retake Wall Maria... I wrote book four in the immediate aftermath of losing that journal, damn it, she had it the whole time? We'll need to restructure the squads defending them. And relocate them. She'll also have intel on my feelings towards Annie.'

He's forced to look to the gathering of leaders in a palace as a large ceremony Hall is being put together. He sighs when a woman walks up to him and asks him to join her for offloading some equipment.

"Sure." He says, before turning to Pieck. "Hey, Pieck, I'm gonna go help with a supply run, I'll be back in a bit, alright?"

"Yeah, just make sure you're back for the speech, things get pretty boring with out you and Marlo." Pieck says with a soft smile.

Marcel chuckles. "Yeah, yeah. Later." He walks away with the blonde girl and once out of earshot of the Cart Titan or anyone who could hear him the duo stop.

"So, why'd you call me away?" He asks.

"Just making sure you're still loyal." She asks.

"Obviously I am. I'm still the next in line. No way in hell I'd switch. Thanks for getting me out of there, go get him, we'll need to be ready to start right away. Oh, and go prepare for your job. We need them stalled for as long as possible." Marcel quietly gives his order.

"Sir."

She runs off leaving Marcel to hurriedly make his way over to one of the safehouses where Marco & Mina are already waiting in gear. The pair help him get into uniform and the trio wait until nightfall. Marcel declines being fully fitted out, but he ensures his gear will be nearby. He rejoins with Pieck the pair sitting with Porco & Reiner for Willy Tybur's address.

'Eren got Reiner away from the ceremony, now, it's just about time for these two.' Marcel thinks.

"What are you dozing off about?" Pieck asks Marcel.

Marcel slouches down. "How boring this will probably be."

"Why do you say that?" Porco asks.

"Its a big important guy speaking to leaders of the world, it doesn't really affect us much. At best it'll be him forming an alliance with some of the other nations."

"And at worst?" Pieck asks.

"He incites a bigger war." Marcel says making a guess.

Seemingly from nowhere the female that got Marcel earlier asks for the Warriors to follow her. Marcel smirks seeing this as Sandra in a Marley Military Uniform comes and asks for his presence. He nods receiving one from Zeke and the duo quickly make their way to where Marco & Mina are.

"Are we ready?" Marcel asks.

"Just need you to get in gear." Marco says.

"Sandra, you and Mina go link up with Levi, we'll be fine on our own." Marcel orders the pair.

Sandra & Mina nod and salute. "Sir." They both run off. The pair run off still in fake gear while Marco helps Marcel get into his gear.

"So what do you think will happen?" Marco asks.

"Eren'll weaken them up for us. We'll provide support when the times right. Marco, are you ready to regain full sight?" Marcel asks.

Marco messes with his eyepatch, and thinks back to Trost when he lost the eye. "It'll be weird to be able to see out of both eyes in four years."

"I'll bet." Fanfare begins as Marcel and Marco are nearly fully ready and listen to the speech while continuing to do so.

"Do you think, we could've changed this?" Marco asks.

"Once Eren left... No. War was inevitable the moment they took Ymir. If we can do this right, we'll prevent war for a few months at least. Maybe even years." Marcel says looking at a necklace he wears.

Willy Tybur steps on the stage and begins his speech. "Let's look back in time. Roughly 100 years ago, the Eldian Empire ruled the world with the Power of the Titans. From the rise of Founder Ymir until today, titans have robbed enough lives to eradicate humanity three times over. Countless cultures and peoples have been wiped out by titans; their histories stolen away. The Eldian Empire's path of slaughter became humanity's history. And when the Eldian Empire ran out of enemies, they soon began slaughtering one another. The great Titan war had begun. Families holding the eight titans waged a bloody war. Using this to his advantage, one Marleyan sought victory. It was the hero, Helos. Thanks to his clever manipulations, the Eldian Emoire was tricked into killing each other, one by one. By joining hands with the Tybur family, they forced the unbeatable king Fritz to flee and retreat to the island. However, though he fled to Paradis Island, his power still remained. Tens of millions of Titan await on that Island to trample the world. To this day, the only reason we haven't been trampled is merely a fluke. Our scholars have no other explanation. To eliminate this threat, our motherland Marley sent four titans to the island, but they were beaten back and only the Armored returned. The darkest blot on humanity's history, the Eldian Empire, is alive & well."

Marcel & Marco rise to the top of a roof the pair watching the ceremony whilst remaining crouched down. Marco then places a black box in Marcel's hand. The duo nod knowing what it is and remain silent.

"Now then, the Story I've told this far is common knowledge. However, the truth is somewhat different. In passing down the War Hammer Titan, the Tyber Family inherited it's memories. I will now reveal the truths we learned for the first time ever. Some 10 years ago, it was neither Helos nor the Tyburs who ended the Great Titan War. The one who ended the fighting and saved the world... was king Fritz. He anguished over the Eldian Empire's vicious history, tired from the endless infighting, and above all, he was pained by the endless oppression of Marley. When he inherited the Founding Titan, he schemed with the Tyber family and they fabricated a Marleyan Hero. His name; Helos. The king moved as many Eldians as he could to the island and closed the gates. He claimed that if they were threatened, thousands of titans would be unleashed as revenge. However this was never his intention. King Fritz made a vow renouncing war so his ideology would be inherited. Because of this, Karl Fritz's ideology has been passed down, and the titans have never left the island to attack. That is the one keeping our world safe is the "vile" King of the walls... Karl Fritz, and his desire for peace. Peace was all he wanted. But if Marley grew strong and came to take the founding Titan or his life, he would accept it. He believed the sins of the Eldians were so grave, they could never be atoned for. "However, until that day of retribution, let me savor a brief paradise, free of conflict within the walls. That is all I ask of you." That was his last request."

His words cause people to question any reason for attacking Paradis, Marcel sighs and looks to Marco before extracting the blades made of Ymir's teeth.

"Yes... In exchange for our safety, the Tybur family joined hands with Karl Fritz and sold out the Eldians to Marley. We're nothing more than traitors lavishing I'm crookedly earned honor. The reason that I stand here and willingly part with this sham is because I know our world is in great peril."

"Just about." Marcel says quietly watching.

Marco takes a breath. "Come on..."

"Using the power of the Founding Titan, Karl Fritz erected three walls. These walls, formed by tens of millions of Colossal titans, have served as a shield and spear, safeguarding peace. But recently, an Uprising took place on Paradis Island. King Fritz's Peace was undermined by a person who stole the Founding Titan. Once again, there's a threat to our world... a rebel against world peace! His name; Eren Jaeger! And his main allies the Scout Regiment led by their most formidable commander ever, Marcel Zoe. The threat of Paradis Island is the stampede of millions of Colossal titans... a rumbling. As I mentioned, the vow renouncing war prevents the king's bloodline from fully using the founding Titan. But currently, this "Eren Jaeger" who possesses the founding Titan  May begin the rumbling at any moment should he be ordered to by his commander. Once the rumbling is set into motion, there is nothing that we can do. Nothing but tremble at the footsteps of doom, fleeing in vain. All lands and civilizations will be trampled, literally razed to the ground. I cursed the blood I was born with. More than anyone, I wish the Eldians were wiped out. But I do not wish to die. And that is because I was born into this world. We are people of different races and nations! However, it is time to join as one and face this dreadful enemy! Lend me your strength, those of you who wish to live! Those of you who wish for a future! If we work together, we can overcome any obstacle in our way! I want you to join me in the fight against the devils of Paradis Island! Here and now, as a representative of the Marleyan government, I proclaim...  to the enemy forces of Paradis..." The building behind him is destroyed by Eren transforming. "...a declaration of War!"

Titan Eren roars out as he destroyed the building sending debris everywhere he crushes Will Tybur throws him into the air and lets his body splat on the floor.

Chapter End.