Dust rose from the ground as the horses trampled the new landscape. Shiganshina used to be filled with houses and children playing in the streets, but now it was nothing but a wasteland. The scouts galloped with caution whilst arriving at the destination they had been aiming to achieve ever since it was lost, only now, real strides were being made by soldiers who were trained and determined to live.

"There could be titans everywhere, keep your guard up. This operation has officially begun, all troops switch to ODM gear!" Erwin announced, enabling the scouts to take to the skies.

Kaya watched as Levi stood onto his horse and took out his duel swords in a crossed motion. "Show-off." Kaya scoffed before mimicking his actions and following her squad above the wall.

Everyone wore hoods to mask their identities, that way, the enemy couldn't single out Eren until it was too late. Kaya landed onto the solid ground of wall Maria, observing Eren's shaking hands and hearing his quaking breaths.

"Don't stop, get to the outer gate." Levi ordered.

"Hey asshole." She grabbed the shifters attention. "Dont screw this up." Kaya added, Eren nodded and took off towards the gate.

"I know we're over due for some luck, but how have we not seen any titans yet?" Hange asked.

"I can't sense any titans nearby, something isn't right." The ghoul concluded.

"We still have to continue." Said Levi.

"Right, no cause to call it off." The section commander stated, firing green smoke to signal them to continue.

Just as planned, Eren flew into the air, biting down on his hand to trigger his transformation. Yellow sparks surrounded the ground he collided with, along with shards of crystal that creeped up the walls edge. So far, so good. Mikasa extracted Eren from his titan and brought him to the safety of the wall to receive their next orders.

"The enemy could strike any second, keep on the lookout." Hange demanded.

"Right."

"Is your ODM gear secure?" Mikasa asked Eren.

"It's fine. That said, I did manage to take off my cloak." Eren answered, Mikasa didn't think twice about taking her cloak and placing it over Eren's shoulders. "Thank you."

"How's it look?"

"Looks good over here."

"Yeah, here's good too."

"We pulled it off, huh. Eren, are you okay?" The section commander asked.

"Yeah, looks like all those experiments payed off." He replied.

"We shouldn't waste time then. Everyone head for the inner gate, and keep your faces hidden." They moved on to the next task at hand.

"Did I really seal that gate, seemed too easy." Eren wondered.

"You did it, I saw you. Try to have faith in your own strength." Mikasa reassured.

"We're not finished, you can plug up the gates all you want, they can just break them again later. Until we've killed Reiner and Bertholdt and whoever else may be with them, the operation to retake wall Maria isn't over." Levi stated.

"Besides, who knows how long this wars gonna last, it won't just disappear on the space of 4 months, regardless of how much land we retake." Kaya continued.

"Yeah, I'm well aware."

Suddenly, an acoustic shell fired from afar, the culprit was none other than Armin Arlert. "The hells going on up there?" Kaya asked.

"It's the signal to hold the mission."

"Everyone hold your positions." Hange ordered.

"What are they doing? Is this safe?" Connie muttered.

"You act as though we haven't willingly left the walls to fight titans." Kaya scoffed.

The two older members of the squad made eye contact, they knew that if Armin's hunch was correct then they'd all be in danger, but there was no need to show their fear in front of the squad.

Just then, another flare was fired. "Cmon." Kaya alerted, sprinting towards the origin of the signal.

"Over here! This part of the walls hollow!" A scout shouted, but before he could be assisted by his comrades, a blade was plunged into his stomach, the soldier fell instantly. Everyone's eyes widened, as a blonde hopped out of the wall. Kaya's instincts had helped her gain a head start on reaching the shifter, as soon as she saw an opportunity, she dived from the wall, reaching Reiner in mere seconds.

The ghoul usually conserved her gas, however, now was not the time to be wasting time, so she put her full speed into meeting the shifter with her blade. Slice after slice, her swords made contact with the boy, but he didn't once falter, his titan abilities were far too beyond their knowledge to know why. A battle cry was then heard from higher up in the air, Captain Levi soon came into eyesight when he too pierced Reiner with his swords, placing it directly into his chest. Reiner looked knocked out by the action, but he soon regained his consciousness and met Levi's gaze. With one last spec of hope before they made impact with the ground, Kaya managed to slice his throat, but all her efforts came to nought.

"Shit. A blade through the neck and the bastard still won't die. What are these guys made of?" Levi cursed.

"Worry about that later, let Hange deal with the armoured." Said Kaya.

"Keep your eyes open, we still need to find their allies." Erwin yelled.

Yet, over Erwins orders, the ghoul swore she could hear a scream in the background of his yelling. That's when it happened. Flashes of gold scattered around Shiganshina district, the force of the explosions shook the very ground they stood on. It was clear from then on, they truly knew nothing about the enemy.

"The hell?" Kaya stuttered as she watched a 20 metre titan lift a Boulder above his head. The titan differed from the average, it was too intelligent to be an abnormal, it's fur was also an indication that this was another shifter. The enemy raised the boulder onto his shoulder before throwing it with the precision and force of a professional, it landed below the wall, blocking their exit from Shiganshina.

All the scouts gathered on top of the wall, waiting for the enemy to make the first move. "Commander, he's about to climb." Levi implied the armoured.

Just as predicted, Reiner hardened his fingertips and toes, digging them into the wall as he clawed himself towards the soldiers. "You are not yet to engage the armoured titan, maintain a safe distance." Erwin yelled.

"Yes sir."

"They have one more intelligent titan, it's that cargo titan. Though, there may well be others." Erwin informed.

The beats titan made its move, smashing its fist into the ground, which in turn, forced the smaller titans to run towards the wall.

"Get ready, multiple, two to three metres approaching." Hange alerted.

"Sir, what now? The armoured titan is almost up, Bertholdt hasn't shown yet, but he must be nearby." Armin said in panic.

"Yes, I'm well aware." Erwin paused, clearly lost in thought.

"Then give us something to go on, we're running out of time." Kaya broke impatiently.

"You finally ready to say something Erwin, been waiting so long I could've made breakfast." Levi added.

"Dirk Squad and Marlene Squad! Protect the horses at the gate with Klaus Squad. Levi Squad and Hange Squad! Take down the armoured titan. Employ the thunder spears at your own discretion. Achieve your objectives whatever it takes. This moment! This battle! The survival of humanity depends on it. Lay down your hearts and lives, one final time for humanity!" Erwin commanded.

"Sir!" The scouts yelled, following his orders and going to their positions.

Kaya ran with Levi and Armin until they heard Erwin speak once again. "Hey, hold on you three, Hange can lead both your squads, we need you right here."

"So I'll protect the horses instead of Eren?" Levi questioned.

"That's right. When the chance arises, you'll strike him down. You two are the only soldiers I trust to dispatch the beast titan." The commander of the scouts instructed, pointing at Levi and the ghoul.

"So what, you trust me now?" Kaya crossed her arms.

"I trust your capabilities, not your word." He answered.

"That's fair." Kaya replied, she couldn't deny the fact that she'd been lying to him since day one.

"Understood, I wasn't fast enough to take down the armoured earlier, but I'll atone for that by taking the beast titans head." Levi spoke before running to his post and stepping off the edge of the wall with his underground companion.

The duo watched over the recruits as they dragged their horses through the maze of broken houses, older scouts attempted to pave the way by clearing the lower class titans. "4 small ones coming from both east and west." A scout warned.

Kaya headed to the west side of the path, she shot her hooks for the one of her left and spun around it to have a clear slice against both titans necks. One she was in position, the ghoul released her hooks and pierced her blades into the napes of the two titans, killing them both consecutively. Levi took out the titans towards the east, twirling between them and cutting them down one by one. Once their task was complete, the two scouts landed on a nearby rooftop to keep and eye on the recruits.

"Finish killing the small ones already, before the beast titan moves. And no casualties, don't you dare get eaten." Levi scolded, receiving the collective response of 'sir'.

"Shit, who the hell am I kidding, these kids are gonna drop like flies, should've left them up there." Levi added.

"This is too much for people who haven't even seen a titan before, but Erwins not usually the type for empathy." The thief backed up.

As if on cue, another titan screamed from within the walls, no doubt it was Reiner. "What was that?" Levi asked.

"It's the armoured titan, last time he did that," Kaya recalled remembering the previous events. "Bertholdt showed up." The beast titan lifted a barrel, bringing it up to his shoulder before releasing it at its shockingly fast pace. "There's nothing we can do about it now, let's hope Hange can deal with it."

After reassuring herself of Hange and Armin's combined knowledge, Kaya set off to kill more titans, cutting them down before the recruits could comprehend the dangers around them. "Quit staring and move the damn horses!" The ghoul ordered, moving to the next rooftop with Levi and another squad leader.

"This area's all mopped up, the only ones left for us to eliminate are way up the front. But I still don't see how we're gonna take down the beast titan. It doesn't seem like he has any intention of budging from that spot." The squad leader informed.

"That's true, looks like the big guys a coward, not that he ever had any balls to begin with." Levi insulted.

"Either that or we're playing into his trap, maybe he's trying to waste our energy or gas?" Kaya suggested, knowing that something wasn't right.

"If that's the case then you two should save your energy, we can finish off the rest of the runts out there. Let's go!" A scout replied, taking his squad to the front lines.

The duo stayed in a silence, trying to figure out their next move, when Kaya heard movement from in front of them. Levi was too busy looking back to notice the hellfire heading his way, Kaya had no choice but to use herself as a shield to try and stop it. Levi's gaze averted to Kaya, he noticed her quick movement and realised her reasoning. Rocks of all shapes and sizes were heading their way, their speed was tremendous and could have easily killed a regular human if one of them were to make contact.

The ghoul wasn't thinking straight, she should have been focusing on her own survival but instead dived in front of Levi, pinning him to the floor and laying on him to stop any incoming fire. "Stay down!" She warned, ignoring his struggling and using her enhanced strength to prevent him from escaping.

Millions of screams were heard from the houses upfront, no doubt their comrades couldn't survive against such force. Numerous scents of blood entered Kaya's nostrils and the ghoul had to keep a clear mind to protect Levi. The thief had been hit multiple times, she could feel the blood pouring out of some of her wounds and staining her uniform. Once the fire had stopped, she slowly uncovered Levi and helped him up.

"Hmm, that one was a little higher than I would've liked. Good work, leave it there." She heard a voice in the distance, it was deep and sounded animalistic. "No problem, we'll just consider the first pitch a warm up, I'm going for nothing less than a perfect game."

Kaya stood in shock, he was going to put them through that shit again. "INCOMING, TAKE COVER!" She screamed, hoping the survivors would hear.

Levi grabbed Kaya, carrying her to save ground since her body had been damaged in the first attack. "DAMN IT, GET DOWN." Levi added to her warnings. Another shot had been thrown, luckily the two managed to find sanctuary behind a building but the same didn't go for the rest of the soldiers, once again, peoples screams could be heard echoing through the battlefield.

"Kaya, are you ok? I'm sorry, please just answer me." Levi shook the ghoul, now covering her ears to limit the effect of the screams.

"Im not doing so good." Kaya answered before getting to her feet and walking away. "I'll be back, don't follow me, please." She said as she followed the scent of nearby blood. Within no time she managed to find a body, it wasn't even a safe distance from the sanctuary and it was clear that Erwin was watching over them all. The ghoul took her chances and dragged the corpse behind a house to stay out of Erwins view, eating it as soon as she felt it was clear.

After that, the scout could already feel the effects of her snack taking place. Her wounds began to close and her energy was restored, now, she had to get back to the scouts before another rock was launched towards her. Upon her travels, she looked upon the countless soldiers who'd lost their lives, some of them she knew but most of them were strangers.

"I'm back." Kaya stated, to Erwin and Levi who looked deep in conversation.

"Dirk squad, Marlene squad and Klaus squad were engaging the small titans, which put them in the line of fire when he launched the bombardment. We were all but wiped out. I saw you and Kaya during the attack, can we use her?" Erwin asked, ignoring the ghouls presence behind him.

"Why don't you ask her?" Kaya stood, arms crossed and glaring at the commander.

"I'm not going to pry for the details, we don't have the time. Will you use whatever strength you have in our favour?" Erwin rephrased.

"I was planning on that from the beginning." Her eyes met with Levi's. He was clearly hurt that Kaya had once again put herself in danger but frankly, she didn't care, Levi was safe and that's all that mattered to her.