Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

SIXTY-EIGHT

'The greater the good, the greater the evil demanded.'

-An unseen extract written by scholar and journalist Aksel Briggs

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SIXTY-EIGHT

Wall Maria, South Region, Port Noaks, Noaks Survey Corps Base of Operations

Sunrise settled over Noaks.

When Lorelai rose that morning from her seat by the chessboard, it was with a silent resignation that Levi couldn't quite place. They spoke little that morning. Some vague warning seemed to dance on the tip of her tongue, but every time she caught his eye, the words never formed.

Soon, Lorelai was insisting that she skip breakfast and go straight to Erwin's office. There was a full officers' meeting in half an hour; every higher-up in the building would be there in due time, but whatever Lorelai had to say couldn't wait.

"I'll see you in a little bit, sweetheart," she said, slinging her Scouts jacket over her shoulders. "Alright?"

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

She gave a sad smile. "Yes, darling. Precisely that."

So, it was with concerned confusion that Levi decided to keep his faith in her and head to the mess hall. The base was as normal. Soldiers took their rowdy breakfast amidst easy chatter and the clang of metal cutlery. Levi sequestered himself in a corner with his squad, but his eyes stayed on the door.

Thirty agonising minutes passed, each second dragging out an age on the clock on the far wall. As soon as the hand struck 0700 hours, Levi was taking to his feet with little care for his discarded cutlery and hastening down the hall.

Hange and Miche exchanged glances as they followed after him. Soon, all the highest-ranking officers in the Scouts had assembled in Erwin's office. He sat straight at his desk, Lorelai by his side, their expressions unreadable. Thomsen tried to lighten the mood by cracking some joke that Levi didn't care to recall. Maybe the room laughed. Maybe they didn't. Levi's eyes stayed on Lorelai across the room.

"Well," began Erwin, shuffling papers as he stole a short glance at Lorelai. "I'm sure we all have some idea why I called this emergency meeting... Briggs is out," he said gravely. "And this poses a significant threat both to our mission and to the safety of the Havasians whom we have sworn to safeguard."

Hange exhaled heavily. "How did we get here? That man is a maniac."

"A mix of bad luck," Lorelai explained; immediately, all eyes turned to her. "Stupidity... and overconfidence. I did what I could within my power, but-"

"No one blames you," Levi interjected, and a flash of irritation had him turning to the rest of them. "And the rest of you sat on your asses while-"

"Levi," Erwin chastised. "We're not here to point fingers."

"Tch. Why are we here?"

"We need a plan. Briggs will build his army; we can count on that. It might assemble in a month, maybe even a year, but he will come. Now, I have petitioned Premier Zachary for reinforcements, but..."

"But my deal has fallen through. With Briggs on the loose, Mitras won't risk civil war over a couple of refugees," said Lorelai. "We need soldiers— more than the Scouts have, and they're not coming from the capital."

"...So, where are they coming from?"

Their eyes met across the room; it lasted only a second before she was gone. "From this man." Lorelai placed a newspaper down on the desk, and the officers crowded around quickly. There, on a later page of this morning's article, past all of the headlines talking about Briggs, was the Archbishop of Islet. He was a weasely kind of man, with a stout face and big round eyes. His likeness showed him practically drowning in golden symbols and black robes.