Love in a Time of War

Chapter Eight

Emiko leans against a table as the lift is brought up "It's okay. That Titan's stronger than average. They can't take over the building while it's rampaging outside." Connie says. "How much do you know about that Titan?" Reiner asks. "Huh? Shouldn't we discuss this after we're safe?" Connie asks. "Try that. Let's get out of here alive first." Reiner nods. Jean walks over and leans on the table next to Emiko "You alright?" he asks. "Yeah, just working out what the best approach is." Emiko responds. Jean nods "The rifles." Emiko suddenly says. "What?" Jean asks. Armin looks at her "That'll work." he nods. Emiko grabs Jean's hand and pulls him to the rifle closet "Help me carry these out." she tells him. Jean nods and helps her carry the rifles out to the main room "Will these bullets be enough? Do these guns even work against Titan's in the first place?" he asks. "Titan's eyes are a weak spot, blind them it gives a chance to get at the nape." Emiko explains.

"It's better than nothing. Even if there are eight three to four meter class Titans in the storage room, blinding them all at once isn't impossible with this amount of fire power. First, we'll use the lift to lower a large group of people into the center of the chamber. Next, they'll fire into the faces of all eight Titans at once. We'll blind them. The next instance will decide everything. Eight other people hiding near the ceiling will swoop down to attack their weak spots while their blind. In other words, if we follow this plan, we'll be bargaining everything on this single attack. The whole point is for eight people to kill eight Titans simultaneously. The eight people should be the most physically capable ones, but you'll have to shoulder the burden of everyone's lives... I'm sorry..." Armin explains. "No problem." Reiner says. "Whoever fails, all of us will die. The risk is the same." Annie pipes up. "But... I'm a nobody. Is my plan really the best option?" Armin asks. "We've got no other choice other than except your plan. There's no time left to think. This idea is our only shot. Now we've just got to give it everything we've got." Marco tells him. "Don't worry. Be confident." Mikasa tells her friend. "Huh?" Armin asks. "That intuition has saved my life before, Eren's life, too." she tells him. "Huh? When?" he asks. "The lift is ready! The guns too! All of them are loaded!" a soldier tells them. "You just aren't aware yet. Let's go." Mikasa tells Armin. "Okay..." Armin trails off.

Emiko pulls off her jacket, putting it to the side as she rolls up her sleeves "But can we really kill the Titans without our ODM gear?" Connie asks as they begin to head down. "Sure we can, they're only three to four meter class ones. It's easy to target their weak spots." Reiner tells him. "Yeah. Who cares how big they are? It's always the spot at the nape of their necks." Jean agrees. "Length, one meter. Width, ten centimetres." Sash smiles. "Or just ram your blade up their asshole. That's their only other weak spot." Reiner tells them. "What? I've never heard of that move!" Connie exclaims. "First time I'm hearing about it too." Sasha nods. "Reiner, those might just be your last words." Jean points out. "Okay, everyone quiet. We're nearly there." Emiko tells them, motioning for them to quieten down.

Perching above the Titans, Emiko takes a breath as the lift descends. Everyone in the lift fires, blinding the Titans. Emiko drops down, slicing the nape of the Titan in front of her. Looking over, Emiko's eyes widen when she sees the two Titans that Connie and Sasha attacked are still standing. Running over, she slices the ankles of the one Connie was after. The Titan falls to its knees, Emiko slicing it's nape open as Mikasa takes down the one near Sasha "Sorry." Connie tells her. "It's alright Connie." Emiko tells him, pulling him to his feet. "We got them all, everyone stock up!" Jean says. Armin walks over and passes Emiko her jacket "Thanks Armin." Emiko smiles, pulling it on. Emiko walks over to the gas canisters and starts filling her tanks "You ready to head out?" Jean asks. "Definitely. By now, I'm guaranteeing that word has reached the Scouts and their on their way back. Meaning Levi is heading back as we speak." she smiles, checking her tanks. Jean nods with a slight smile, the pair of them heading up to the roof with the others "This has been a long day." he mutters. "You're telling me." Emiko sighs, adjusting her straps and buckles. "At least it's nearly at an end." Jean tells her. "That is good and bad. Good, because this is getting ridiculous. Bad, because I'm going to miss you when you go to the interior." Emiko responds. "I'll miss you too." Jean smiles sadly.

Emiko looks at the Abnormal Titan, Mikasa joining her "Mikasa, Emiko , we've got to hurry!" Armin tells them. "The Titan..." Emiko trails off in shock. "What about it?" Jean asks, freezing when he looks over. "They're eating it..." Armin says, seeing the group of Titan's eating the Abnormal. "It's body can't regenerate?" Emiko asks in confusion. "I thought that uncovering the truth about that Titan might be the key in freeing ourselves from this desperate situation." Mikasa explains, Reiner, Bertolt and Annie joining them. "I agree. If they just rip it to spreads like that, then we wont have learned a single thing! You should get rid of those Titans currently devouring it and at least try to keep it alive." Reiner pipes up. "Are you insane, Reiner!? We can finally escape this death trap!" Jean tells him. "But what if the Titan could become an ally? Don't you think it'd be a weapon more powerful than a cannon?" Reiner asks him. "Our... ally? Are you for real?!" Jean exclaims. "Ah... That's the Abnormal that ate Thomas!" Armin exclaims, looking at the Titan that just arrived.