Chapter Text
The Middle Eastern Alliance. They thought they could wage war on Marley when news hit that they lost two of their strongest titans to Paradis island. With no word on a baby possessing the powers of the Armored or the Female Titan, it was a golden opportunity.
It was.
If Marley still didn’t have their god of destruction.
The Middle Eastern Alliance knew just how strong the Colossal Titan really was against any ground forces, so they put almost all their efforts on their ships. This strategy led to a long 4 year naval war. Marley wasted too many resources and too much time on the sea battles, but they were near the end. The end of the war depended on a ground assault on Fort Slava. During the first few months of the war, Marley implemented a simple strategy on dealing with enemy battleships. Transport Bertholdt Hoover on a Zeppelin, hover above the enemy ships, Bertholdt Hoover jumps, transform into the Colossal Titan to decimate all nearby ships. It was effective, as the Alliance had no way of combating flying ships at the time. But it seemed as they knew how crucial it was for Marley to transport the Colossal Titan via the air ships so they invented a new type of weapon in the warfare. They dubbed it the “Anti Air” gun, or AA for short and it was extremely effective at its job. During one of these runs, before they even got close, the zeppelin was shot at and was destroyed in mere seconds. The new ships had the new AA guns fitted for this singular purpose. The fact that Marley failed to consider the possibility that the enemy would adapt to their own repeated attacks is a mistake that almost cost Bertholdt his life, and Marley’s most powerful weapon. And because of that, the war then depended on Marley’s own battleships for most of the 4 years, until now.
The current Main objective was the destruction of the Alliance’s fleet resting in the harbor. These ships were not fitted with the new AA guns yet so it was crucial to destroy them as soon as possible. However, Fort Slava was overseeing the port harboring the fleet and it had 4 of these AA guns protecting it. If Marley wanted to end the war today, they needed the fort gone. The higher-ups had implemented a relatively smart plan. They would initiated a ground assault with the Jaw Titan, Cart Titans and Eldian forces. When the armored train is taken care of by the Eldian forces, the Cart Titan pushes in to eliminate any remaining stragglers around the fort meanwhile the Jaw Titan will sweep in and destroy all AA guns before retreating. When the AA guns are neutralized, the Beast Titan will drop in with a number of his special titans and the Colossal will remain in the air ship until it passes over the fleet. If this plan succeeds, the war will end.
The sound of the engines help put Bertholdt at ease. He always gets nervous when he knows he has to transform though the distant sounds of rapid gunfire and explosions didn’t help. Zeke was to his right, watching the chaos unravel below from the window. He sees the armored train getting derailed and crashing on its side.
“Bertholdt.” Zeke walks towards Bertholdt, keeping eye contact on the tall Eldian.
“Zeke.” “It’s almost time to finally end this wretched war. Are you ready?”
Bertholdt took a good long look at the child prodigy’s eyes. They were full of determination. For a mere moment, he could see Reiner in his eyes, when he had the same look of determination when he revealed their identities to Eren and wanted to finish it right then and there.
Bertholdt realized he was taking too long to answer a simple question so he regained his composure. “Yeah. I’m ready to end all this.”
“We just got word!” Both warriors turned their heads to look at the flight chief who just hung up the phone. “Galliard has eliminated the AA guns! It is time to unleash our Beast Titan and the Colossal Titan!” His voice louder than usual so that the engine sounds don’t muffle him out. “We are now on route to the Fort; ETA 3 minutes!” The warriors nodded.
The Eldians cuffed in their straightjackets were getting restless. These ones were chosen because they were mentally broken but Bertholdt noticed that they must know that their end is near. They were struggling, trying to break free from those restraints but it was futile.
Bertholdt felt bad for them but there was nothing he could do because…
The world is just that damn cruel.
The tall brunette felt as if he blinked and time advanced as he did. The air ship as already overhead the fort.
Bertholdt watches restrained Eldians go one by one out the door, their parachutes deploying moments later as they descend to the fort. He hears Zeke clearing out his throat before screaming with all his might. The bright lights of titanization following soon after. “Poor bastards” he mutters. Bertholdt wasn’t sure if the War Chief was talking about the Eldian-turned titans or the soldiers who are about to get eaten. Before he can ask for clarification, Zeke jumped out and deployed his parachute.
“Hoover! Get ready, we’ll reach the port in less than two minutes!”
Bertholdt didn’t look back, his focus on the fort but he nodded so that the flight chief doesn’t have to repeat himself. He noticed that a number of titans died from landing. Zeke shouted too early it seemed but the remaining titans that did survive were wreaking havoc.
It wasn’t long till Zeke transformed but by then all of his titans were killed, not only that but Bertholdt could see he was already getting shot at. He witnessed him grabbing pieces of rubbles and throwing it at the soldiers on the walls. Galliard & Finger appeared and helped Zeke take out the rest of the soldiers. Zeke's Beast Titan was critically injured by the fort's defenses, rendering his arms useless.
The Beast Titan roared to signaled that his end of the battle is done, all eyes were now on Bertholdt.
He took a glance below and all the ships were spreading themselves as a final attempt to steer clear from the incoming blast, but they know, they all know that there wasn’t enough time for them to get clear. Bertholdt looked to the flight chief who gave him a thumbs up. He returned the gesture before he put on the goggles and jumped off.
The wind was blowing ferociously against him, were it not for the goggles he was sure he would’ve kept his eyes closed. If he did, he would’ve missed the tiny splashes around the ships and Bertholdt knew what that meant all too well.
‘A hopeless last ditch effort for them’.
He pulled out his knife, and sliced his hand. Blood splattered over his face, partially covering his vision. When the shifter felt he was close enough to the sea level, he let the warmth take over. The sounds of screaming, heavy objects landing with force. It was all too familiar to him. The harbor was completely destroyed, the ships scattered into parts all around the land and sea, bodies and debris all over the land and water flowing back in the sea.
He used a relatively low yield explosion since the ships were still close enough to each other and if he used his strongest blast, there would’ve been a unnecessary tsunami for the mainland.
‘It was either you or my home’ he reasoned ‘And I choose them’.
Suddenly he felt a giant relief wash over him. It’s over. The war was finally over. Four long years of war came to a conclusion. Feeling satisfied, he made his way on land, debris being pushed from his legs in the water. Once he made it to land, he laid down his titan and emerged from his nape.
The air was cooling him down, despite the warm temperature. In the distance he can see the Cart and Jaw Titans making their way towards him for recovery. Bertholdt, wanting to meet them in a somewhat shorter distance, jumped down from the carcass of his Colossal Titan and started heading their direction.
The carnage he left behind can be a little too much. Most of the debris is just wet steel and other ship parts scattered around but every once in a while, there’s an arm, a leg and even a head.
He only took a few steps when he heard coughing from behind. He turned around and saw one of the sailors hunched over, barely standing with a pistol aimed directly at the shifter. “You… You damn devil! You’ll pay!”
Bertholdt tried to reach for his own pistol but with three bangs, his world turned black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the distance, he could feel explosions going in the direction Reiner’s titan was seen. ‘Those explosives from earlier… have they taken out Reiner with it? Doesn’t matter, once I reach the gate it’s all over for them.’ There was only one person in his way. Armin.
Armin anchored himself to the Colossal’s teeth. ‘Is how you’re going out Armin?.. I thought you were smarter than this? Then I will make it quick for you.’ Bertholdt decided to put in even more energy on pumping his steam. The small blonde didn't let go despite being burnt alive by the steam. Eventually, Armin just simply couldn’t hold on anymore and let go, his burnt corpse falling 50 meters.
Bertholdt watched him fall and saw something odd. Eren’s titan was hardened.
Before he could process what that meant, he felt hooks on his back. He had to activate his steam befo-
“WAIT, STOP!”
“Jeez, you alright?”
Bertholdt sat up from his bed. He could feel drops of sweat streaming down his face. He faced the source of the man who asked him a question and it was Porco Galliard, the Jaw Titan shifter, sitting in a chair oddly close to his bed, facing him. He was munching on a snack and was staring him at him with a concern look on his face.
“I tried waking you. Seemed like you were having a nightmare.”
“Thanks…” He looked around the room and didn’t seem to recognize where he was.
“Where are we? What happened?” He felt a slight headache and he put a hand up to his head as if it’ll alleviate some of the pain.
“You were shot. Twice. First bullet went through your arm but the second one was lodged in your skull. They had to operate on you to get the bullet out.” He took another bite of his snack and quickly gulped it down with some water.
“As to where, we’re at Fort Slava still.”
“Oh.” Bertholdt didn’t mean to sound disappointed, but he wanted to be somewhere familiar to him. Not in some place where they just devastated.
“Bertholdt… Can I ask you something? About Paradis?” Porco knew that much of the Paradis Operation was heavily classified even to the warriors so him asking about such delicate information was risky. However he noted that Galliard must trust him enough to not report to higher-ups.
“Yeah, um... go ahead.”
“Did Reiner… was Reiner acting different there?” He froze. He knew what he meant and the fact that he was asking meant that he inherent Ymir’s memories, at the very least some of the memories which Reiner was a part of.
“Yeah. He was.”
“Like my brother?” Bertholdt had his eyes wide. Porco was seeing what they’ve done, even the details that he didn’t report to Marley.
“Yeah.” There was a moment of silence between the two, an awkward silence.
“Why did he do it? Huh? Why was he acting like my brother, all reliable and tough? You’d think he would actually do something smart in his life.” The anger is in voice becoming more apparent by the second.
“We wanted to turn back since we needed Marcel but Reiner couldn’t accept that… Guess he thought becoming like Marcel would’ve solved our problem.”
“Hmm.” Bertholdt could see his discontent from his answer from eyes. He was no longer looking at the tall shifter, but at his food. “None of this would’ve happened if I’ve gotten the Armored Titan in the first place instead of that bastard.”
As much as he loved Reiner, he couldn’t blame his comrade for his hatred. He knew the truth, how Marcel influenced the military to give the Armored Titan power to Reiner instead of Porco. Maybe things would’ve ended differently. Maybe Marcel would’ve died regardless but there was no way to tell.
“Pokk, I hope you’re not bothering someone who got shot in the head~” The Colossal Shifter turned to the new voice in the room and observes Pieck, the Cart Titan’s shifter, walking in with a pedal supporting her.
“That’s not my name, Pieck. Stop it.”
“Pieck. Are you alright? What happened?”
Pieck walked towards the bed opposite of him to lay down. “Nothing serious, I just forgot how to walk. Been a while since I was in my human form is all. By the way Bert, the kids are waiting for you in the streets. They’re really worried about you.”
‘The kids. She means the warrior candidates’
“Yeah, alright. I’ll go see them now. See you later.” Bertholdt stood up and waved off both shifters. Sensing they want some privacy, he closed the door behind him.
When he reached outside he sees Marleyean soldiers at every corner, all chatting amongst themselves. When some of them notice him, they either look at him in disgust or proud of him. Mostly disgust though.
These same Marleyeans wouldn’t hesitate to spit or even berate regular Eldians but doing anything even remotely harmful to a warrior had some serious repercussions. A warrior can still be looked down for the simple fact that they’re Eldian but regular Marleyeans are ordered to behave themselves unless provoked.
“DAMN IT!” The tall shifter had his train of thought broken and recognized the boy's voice and turned his head to see Udo, the candidate with the goggles kicking at a half-destroyed lamp post. The other candidates were laughing at the goggle-wearer. It was funny to him, to see candidates with more energy than the previous generation.
“Udo! There’s no need for you to break your foot.” As if they’re all controlled by one deity, the 4 warrior candidates all collectively turned their heads with the same shocked expression.
“Bertholdt!” Gabi, Reiner’s cousin, shouted Before he could mutter a hello, Udo, Gabi and Zophia all rushed to hug him in a tight squeeze with Falco opting out. Bertholdt could feel himself smiling, he liked the current warriors a lot but the candidates will hold a special place in his heart. They soon stopped hugging and began throwing questions.
“How are you?” “We heard you got shot in the head, was that true?” “Are you ok?” “Are you tired, Bertholdt?” Their rapid questions were overwhelming for the vice chief, so he put a hand up to signal them to be silent. They do quiet down and it took a few seconds for Bertholdt to answer.
“I’m fine.” He crouches down and rubs Udo and Gabi’s head. “Just a little tired is all. Are you four doing ok?”
Zophia was the one to speak up. “We’re all ok, all thanks to Gabi.” Zophia noticed the tall man’s confused look and decided to elaborate further. “She took down the armored train all by herself.”
Bertholdt turned to face Gabi but there was an empty space where she was a few seconds ago. Right then, he felt someone climbed on his back and then legs appeared in his vision right on his shoulders. “He-hey wait a minute!” “Come on Bertholdt, this is just my reward for completing my daring duty.” His smile grew wider. The warrior stood up and balanced himself for the extra weight on his head.
“Alright but you’ll have to tell me how it happened.” Bertholdt could sense Gabi scratching her head, he imagined she was probably blushing. She never could get used to getting praised from an actual warrior.
“Yeah yeah, come on, let’s take a walk and see around! We never have this much free time!”
When Bertholdt was about to speak, Falco spoke with concern “Mr. Hoover should rest, he said he’s tired.” Falco’s eyes meant that he was serious with how worried he was for Bertholdt.
“It’s alright. I want to walk.” Falco was one of the kind ones, not that the other kids weren’t but none expressed their kindness like him as he went out of his way for the right thing most of the time. The tall Titan shifter can’t help but feel worried for him as people tend to abuse this.
“Maybe Falco is the one who should sleep!” Gabi exclaimed. The shifter can only assume she’s trying to lighten the mood or if it’s just her making fun of the other warrior candidate like any other day though her comment did make Falco blush while he was trying to say he was ok.
They all started walking towards a store, and on top was a sign that was hastily put that had a suggestive title. “Erm. Wait, you kids can’t go in there.” The candidates turn around in confusion. Udo was the one to speak up. “But I saw Commander Magath go in there.” Bertholdt released a light chuckle “You’ll understand when you’re older. Come, let’s watch the sunset.” It may have looked like a regular sunset like any other day but it was for the first time 4 years where they get to see a sunset and not worry about a war the next day. No more worrying if tomorrow was their last day on earth. The Colossal Titan Shifter was glad that he could rest knowing that his powers won’t be put to use for murder on a grand scale, even for a brief period.