"...now," she said, her voice strained but determined. "We need to regroup, but we also need more intel on Suna's next move."
Jean, slouched against the wall, let out a deep breath. "And how are we supposed to do that when we're all banged up? We barely made it out of there."
Armin, hunched over his laptop, raised a hand without looking up. "I've been monitoring their communications. They're scrambling after our attack, and it's bought us some time, but not much. Suna's forces are already repositioning." His fingers clicked across the keys at lightning speed. "If we move fast, I might be able to hack into their internal systems. There's a chance we can track his escape route, or at least find where he's holed up."
Connie rubbed his shoulder, grimacing at the bruises forming under his shirt. "Man, I swear, that guy's like a damn cockroach. You think you've squashed him, but he just keeps crawling back."
Sasha managed a half-laugh, despite the pain. "That or he's got too many backup plans for his own good."
Eren stopped pacing and locked eyes with Armin. "If you can get that intel, we can take the fight to him. No more waiting around."
Mikasa, standing beside Kira with arms crossed, nodded in agreement. "But we need to be smart. Suna won't make the same mistake twice. He'll come at us harder next time."
Kira leaned her head back against the wall, staring at the flickering lights overhead. Despite the pain coursing through her body, she couldn't help but replay the last moments of the fight in her mind—how close they'd come to losing everything. The weight of it all pressed down on her.
"Listen," she said quietly, her eyes flicking from one friend to the next. "We've got a shot at finishing this. But we have to be sharper than ever. If anyone's not up for it, now's the time to speak."
No one spoke up. The room was silent except for the faint hum of Armin's laptop and the distant sound of wind howling outside the warehouse.
Connie gave a half-smirk, wiping some dried blood from his face. "After all this? No way I'm backing down now."
Sasha grinned, though it was a tired one. "Same here. Might need a nap afterward, though."
Eren's face was grim, but there was a fire behind his eyes. "Then we go after him. We end this once and for all."
Kira pushed herself to stand, biting back a wince. "What's the plan?"
Armin paused, then his eyes lit up as the screen flashed. "Got it. Suna's on the move, but he's heading to one of his safehouses in the city. If we move fast, we can cut him off."
Mikasa cracked her knuckles, her eyes narrowing. "Then we finish what we started."
The group gathered their gear, battered but unbroken. With renewed determination, they prepared for the final showdown, knowing that the next battle would be their most dangerous yet.
There was no turning back. Not now. Not after everything they'd been through.
They were going to take Suna down—no matter the cost.
The rain outside the safehouse pounded against the windows like a relentless drumbeat, each drop a reminder of the storm brewing both inside and out. The atmosphere was thick with tension, the air heavy with the scent of blood, sweat, and damp clothes. The group sat scattered around the room, tending to wounds and trying to regroup after the disaster at the compound.
Kira leaned against the wall, her body still weak from blood loss. She pressed her hand against her side, where Mikasa's quick stitching job was holding for now, but the pain was a constant, sharp reminder of how close she had come to dying. She was angry—furious, even—at herself for being caught off guard by Suna's men. She couldn't afford to make mistakes like that again.
