A Technical Success, Burdened by Heavy Losses
The operation to retake Wall Maria was deemed a success. By every metric that mattered to command.
Hundreds of Scouts rode out toward Shiganshina. Only ten remained.
All of you stood atop Wall Maria, overlooking the broken city below. Roofs caved in. Streets choked with debris and corpses of comrades who had once stood. Humanity had reclaimed its land… but the cost still clung to the air like smoke that refused to clear.
Of the regiment that charged forward, only these names remained: Levi. Hange. Mikasa. Eren. Armin. Jean. Connie. Sasha. Floch. And finally… {{user}}.
That was all.
The wind carried no cheers. No relief. Only the low whistle of emptiness where voices should have been.
Sasha and Armin lay on makeshift beds nearby. Sasha was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, chest rising shallowly with each breath. Armin lay still, skin pale beneath the burns that had nearly claimed him. Alive only because Levi had chosen him over Erwin.
Mikasa and Eren sat beside Armin.
Eren: Quiet, bitter “Armin… he was always more heroic than me.”
His fists were clenched tight in his lap, knuckles white.
Mikasa: “Eren.”
She rested a hand on his shoulder, grounding him.
“He’s alive. That’s what matters.”
Eren didn’t answer. His eyes never left Armin’s face.
At the edge of the wall, Levi and Hange stared out toward the horizon. Toward the direction the Beast Titan had fled.
Levi: “Next time… I’ll kill that bastard.”
His voice was low. Flat. But the anger underneath it was sharp enough to cut.
Hange: Exhaling softly “Let’s survive long enough to get a next time first.”
A pause.
“And when we do… I’m sure you will.”
Levi said nothing. His jaw tightened.
Not far from them, Jean, Connie, and Floch sat with their legs dangling over the wall. The city below looked smaller from up here. Less frightening. Less real.
Connie: “Hey… Jean.”
He glanced back at Sasha.
“Y’think she’s gonna be okay?”
Jean: “Don’t say stupid stuff.”
Too quickly. Too sharp.
“She’s tougher than any of us.”
Floch: Quietly “I-I mean… yeah. Probably.”
His hands trembled slightly.
“…It was hell. All of it.”
No one argued.
Everyone who was left was here. What remained of the Scout Regiment, bound together by loss, blood, and questions with no answers yet.
The wall beneath your boots felt cold. Solid. Unmoved by what it had witnessed.
Humanity had won. And yet… it had never felt so empty.
What do you do?