Three months ago (Paradis)
Eren grabbed the loaf of bread as part of his dinner before walking through the mess hall to sit down with his friends. All of them seemed rather exhausted as they were trying to stretch and relax their muscles.
"Damn, today was pretty exhausting," Jean remarked, "Didn't think that we'd be doing housework. I thought we would be going to the ship already. It's been almost a month."
"Historia wanted to do the orphanage," Armin retorted, "And we wanted to see how many people we could get to join the Survey Corps. There's also the fact Hanji wanted to destroy the cave to retrieve the glowing crystals. They've created an unlimited light source."
"I guess, but I'm happy about the Survey Corps growing to a decent number," Connie admitted as he looked around to see a pretty packed mess hall, "About fifty new members so far. It's probably going to increase soon."
"Ever since the titans on the island have been eradicated, there's been a lack of demand for Garrison soldiers," Armin said, "Many have taken on the role of keeping peace within the walls, but that still not enough of a job."
"Probably why so many are transferring here," Sasha concluded.
"Many that have joined have also been curious to see Optimus and Megatron," Mikasa recalled.
"Well Optimus has been in the classroom when Hanji is explaining the formation," Armin retorted.
"But they probably don't know that's him," Mikasa reminded.
"Hey, long time, no see," A voice spoke.
They all turned to see a boy with blonde hair walking towards them with a tray in hand.
"Floch, it's been a while," Jean remarked.
"A good few months," Floch recalled as he sat down, "You guys don't mind me sitting here right? It's nice to see familiar faces,"
"We don't mind," Eren spoke, "Honestly it's nice to see a familiar face too,"
Floch let out a small laugh. "Still, it does look like you guys changed, even though it hasn't been a year,"
They all didn't say anything as they drifted their eyes away from Floch.
"Well…it's been pretty eventful," Armin remarked.
"I agree," Floch said, "It's still hard to believe humanity's not extinct."
"Well, buckethead did find the port and destroy it so…," Connie trailed off.
"'Buckethead?'" Floch questioned.
"Oh that what we call Megatron," Sasha explained, "His head kind of looks like a bucket."
"You're insulting the titan that willingly helping out humanity?" Floch asked.
Eren choked on his drink while everyone at the table stared at him in shock, making Floch feel nervous.
"What did I say?" he asked.
Everyone looked at each other before Jean, Connie, and Sasha busted out laughing, causing some people to turn their heads. Connie slammed his hand on the table while Sasha nearly fell out of her seat.
"Oh, Floch, my friend you have a lot to learn," Jean chuckled as he put his arms around his shoulder.
"Optimus might be willing to help out, but Megatron…,"Armin trailed off.
"He's a little shit, that's what he is," Sasha declared.
"Huh?!" Floch exclaimed.
"Megatron doesn't like humans," Mikasa explained, "And if this were any other scenario he would've left us."
"He punched me in the face," Jean added.
"He also blackmailed Levi regarding something and humiliated the previous commander over…a thing I know but will not say," Eren explained.
"You've got to be kidding me," Floch said in disbelief.
"That ain't even the best part," Sasha proclaimed.
"Megatron and Optimus are…at odds with each other," Armin continued.
"At odds is putting it lightly," Jean retorted, "The reality is that they hate each other. When Megatron first got here, Optimus almost killed him on multiple occasions."
"What?! Why?!" Floch demanded.
Jean quickly looked around before whispering something in Floch's ear, causing the newcomer's mouth to drop and his face lose color.
"That's…what?" Floch tried to process.
"Yeah, that's classified information, so don't do spreading that around," Jean advised.
"But…what?! Why didn't you-?!"
"You have not seen this guy in combat," Connie retorted, "He's a fucking killing machine."
"Saddle up, bitch," Sasha proclaimed, "You're going with us to the deep end, starting tomorrow. Since we're going to that ship,"
"Should we have even said anything?" Mikasa asked.
"Well it was him going in blind or him being prepared," Connie reasoned.
"Thank you for telling me," Floch said.
"See?" Jean said.
Optimus pulled the trigger of the weapon in his holoform and it fired, shooting straight into a tree that was a few yards away from him. The Prime shield his face as the contact created a loud explosion. When he opened his eyes, he saw the tree was destroyed, and that the only thing left was a broken stump.
Hanji raised her head from the cover of the sideways table while Levi was sitting at another table with equipment, sipping his cup of tea.
"It worked!" Hanji exclaimed with excitement as she jumped over the table and walked up to the Prime, "The thunder spear prototype is a huge success!"
"There are flaws with using this device, considering its short firing range," Optimus retorted.
"But it still works," Hanji reminded before walking over to the table and picking up a long, metal spear, "Now all we have to do is get this to the engineers and they'll be able to mass produce it. We can use it to battle the Armored Titan since swords are ineffective. Once we get our hands on the Cybertronian ship, we can make this out of stronger material."
"Hanji, you're over-thinking a lot of this shit," Levi proclaimed, "Why not just focus on sealing the wall so people would be more willing to more back into Wall Maria?"
"We have to think ahead," Hanji retorted, "We're dealing with an unknown enemy that's more technologically advanced than us."
"Taking apart the ship would be of great use to us," Optimus continued, "I do hope however, that the ship's main systems still work,"
"Why would that matter?" Hanji asked.
"The scraplets usually go for warmer metals, so they would most likely consume the passengers and the engines," Optimus explained, "If they didn't chew through the most important cables, we could access the mainframe of the ship and find out exactly what this world looks like and where we are located."
"I thought you knew," Levi retorted.
"I assumed what this world looked like based on my observations and my experience on Earth. But the walls are on an island and the history of this world is far different than I imagined," Optimus explained.
"Grisha didn't exactly leave us with any maps," Hanji recalled, "And Ymir wasn't given a formal education, so that's a shot in the dark."
"We can only hope the ship can give us more than tools to use," Optimus declared as he was about to grab another thunder spear.
"Wait, let's save what we have for the ship," Hanji suggested.
"Speaking of that mission, many of the new recruits are going to be seeing buckethead's shitty personality," Levi reminded, "He's not even here right now. He's bumming it out somewhere on the island."
"I bet the kids already said some shit as a warning," Hanji retorted as she took the spear from Optimus and set it on the table, "I just hope they haven't said too much. We've made some of your history classified. Not many people know Megatron's back story because of obvious reasons."
"It is understandable," Optimus agreed.
"On the plus side it seems you guys have been getting along," Hanji added, "Almost as if you put the past behind you."
Levi's lips stopped at the rim of his cup before glancing back at Hanji. He then turned his attention to the Prime, who seemed rather tense at Hanji's comment.
"Hanji…trust does not equate to forgiveness," Optimus said.
"…oh," Hanji trailed off before nervously laughing, "Four million years. Right,"
"Guess that same thing would apply to the outside," Levi admitted, "A thousand years of bloodshed and a hundred of subjugation. How exactly are we going to solve this when we have no way of getting off the island?"
"I am hoping for a peaceful solution," Optimus admitted, "But hate does not go away overnight. We must be prepared for the worst. We must be prepared for war."
"War?" Hanji questioned, "Optimus, are you sure?"
"That may be the worst case scenario," Optimus declared.
The Next Day
Levi fitted the Scouting Legion cloak around his neck before knocking on the door to Erwin's room. He waited until the door opened and he saw Erwin in casual attire.
"Levi, you should be heading out," Erwin remarked as he rubbed his eyes.
"I just wanted to make sure you didn't want to sit this out," Levi proclaimed.
"Levi, I told you, I'm not the Commander anymore," Erwin reminded, "I'm helping Hanji with paper work."
"Erwin, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Levi stated, "You've dreamed of life outside this walled world, and it's a horse ride away."
"I can't," Erwin said before laughing bitterly, "I have much to atone for."
"You can't spend the rest of your days feeling guilty," Levi stated.
"I know," Erwin agreed, "But…I still have much to do,"
Levi stared at Erwin before sighing. "Seems you're still a slave to your duty,"
"Levi-"
"I'll make sure to get you a picture," Levi proclaimed as he walked away from Erwin.
The former Commander sighed as he closed the door to his room and walked over to the shelf. He picked up a fossilized sand dollar he grabbed on Historia and Ymir's wedding day and stared at it before setting it back there.
Walled Town: Utopia
Optimus waited patiently in his alt mode as the Survey Corps were getting their remaining supplies ready and checking if the gate was still functional after five years with some help from the Garrison. He noticed that many of the newcomers were still staring at him, but he chose not to pay mind to it. He was used to it.
"Optimus, where's buckethead?" Levi asked.
"Megatron said that he would be waiting for us by the ship," Optimus explained.
Levi didn't respond after that and merely nodded his head before hopping onto his horse and heading towards the front of the army.
"Lot of new people here," Ymir remarked as she rod up to Connie and Sasha.
"And we didn't expect you to be here," Connie said, "Thought you'd still be doing…things."
Ymir scoffed at Connie's suggestive behavior before pushing his face with her hand, almost knocking him off his horse. "I agreed to do this, and what happens between me and Historia is none of your business."
"Still, it's good to have ya back," Sasha said with a smile.
Ymir glanced at Sasha before she smiled. "Seems you finally dropped the nice act too. I'm proud of you."
Sasha gave a big smile to the titan shifter. "Well, things have changed."
"Is everyone ready?!" Hanji shouted from the front.
"Yes!" Everyone shouted in unison.
"Open the gate!" Hanji ordered.
Everyone watched in anticipation as the gate slowly opened in front of their eyes. Some shifted on their horse while others gripped their saddle.
"Advance!" Hanji commanded as she rod onward with Levi following behind her.
Everyone began following suite, with Optimus being the last one out since he was behind everyone else. They were finally outside the walls.
It was the first expedition outside of Wall Maria in five years.
Megatron sat impatiently by the rusted ship, eyeing it for any signs of movement or life of scraplets. He closed his optics and listened to any familiar patter sounds that were accustomed to these creatures. He heard nothing from the ship, but opened his optics when he heard a galloping sound growing in the distance.
He glanced behind him to see the Survey Corps coming into view with Optimus with them. He sighed in irritation as he stood up. He saw that the mad scientist was giving out orders regarding tying down their horses to nearby trees while Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode.
"I could've secured the ship while you took your time," Megatron grumbled in apathy.
"And get yourself critically wounded in the process," Optimus retorted, "Not even you are invincible."
Megatron groaned in irritation as the Survey Corps equipped their weapons. "This is foolish."
"Okay, we're ready!" Hanji informed as she looked up at the two titans.
Megatron and Optimus looked at each other before sliding down the trench to the ship. All of the other Survey Corps members except for Eren were staring in awe at the Cybertronian ship. They couldn't believe that something like this existed, even though they were told about it. Their world was getting too large for them all.
"You're awfully calm," Levi remarked as he looked at Hanji before turning his attention, "Because that shit is fucking huge."
"I am internally screaming," Hanji admitted, "And I feel like if I overreact, I'm gonna completely lose my shit."
"Get it out now or you're not going to handle it on the ship," Levi advised.
"You sure?"
"Better right now than later," Levi proclaimed.
Hanji took a deep breath before letting out a loud scream, earning the attention of everyone there. Megatron glared at her before taking out the hilt and transforming it into his sword.
"Not a word! This is a big deal for me!" Hanji shouted at the 'Con.
"Behave or I'll take you back to the walls myself!" Megatron shot back.
Hanji immediately kept her mouth shut as she began tapping her foot rapidly.
Armin stared at the ship in awe before everyone was ordered to slide down the trench. Just a few weeks ago, they thought that humanity was extinct. Now, they knew humanity wasn't extinct in the first place and they were about to set foot in another worldly ship that could travel the stars. Life truly was unexpected.
Megatron banged his fists twice on the metal of the ship and waited for any noises that might come up. When he heard nothing, he turned his attention to Optimus who changed his hand into his blaster. Megatron raised his foot and kicked the metal to the floor, creating a rectangular shaped hole that allowed both titans to step in.
"This is where we step off," Megatron said.
"Be careful," Optimus said, "All of you,"
"Don't worry, we got this," Hanji reassured before ordering the others to move into the ship.
"Mad scientist," Megatron called out, causing the Commander to look up at him, "If I find out that you even took a piece of a scraplet-"
"I won't!" Hanji groaned in irritation before stepping into the ship and following the others, "Stop being a little shit!"
Megatron groaned in irritation as Optimus transformed his blaster back into his hand.
"She will try and take a scraplet," Optimus remarked.
"I know!" Megatron exclaimed.
Levi adjusted the glowing rock in the lamp before raising it to reveal a large long hallway that seemed to go on forever. The other Survey Corp members raised their lamps as well before looking around the hall of the ship.
"Holy shit," one cursed.
"This is a dream," another commented.
"Or a nightmare," Floch added before turning to Jean, "How are you guys not freaking out about this?"
"We are," Jean admitted, "But this is more of an admiration than a fear. We've heard so much about those titans and now we're experiencing something from their world."
Everyone jolted as Levi took out one of his blades and slashed it against the wall, causing it to shatter on contact. The Captain grimaced as he unhooked what remained of the blade.
"Like Prime said," Levi grimaced before turning to the others, "Blades of 3D gear are useless against the metal. We want to kill the scraplets, we use the metal here. Find anything you can pick up and swing around. If not, keep your distance."
Levi saw everyone scavenging the area for something to use before turning his attention to Hanji. "Please don't try to take a scraplet,"
"I won't take a scraplet per say," Hanji admitted.
"Buckethead might actually kill you," Levi proclaimed.
"If he finds out," Hanji retorted.
"You're a shitty liar; he's going to find out," Levi shot back.
"How about you don't say anything and I won't steal your stash of tea?" Hanji threatened with a smile on her face.
"Bite me," Levi hissed.
They both stopped when they heard the sounds of tiny metal sounds echo throughout the hall.
"Everyone tread lightly," Hanji ordered as she proceeded to move forward.
The Survey Corps made their way down the halls of the ship, cautious of the sounds that they heard throughout. They noticed that there were trails of bite marks on the walls and on the ceiling, but continued on regardless.
They came to a split in the ship and stopped, but that wasn't the main reason. They all saw in front of them frozen dead scraplets scattered across the floor with their mouths wide open. Everyone could see their sharp teeth formed into a circle, almost as if they were meant for rotating.
"Well at least we know some of them are dead," Connie laughed nervously.
Hanji stared at the dead creatures before turning to the rest of the Survey Corps. "We split into the two teams assigned from here on out."
The two teams began to diverge and made their way down the other halls. Levi took Connie, Armin, Eren, and Sasha with him, while Hanji took, Mikasa, Ymir, Jean, and Floch. In the event that they came across a horde of scraplets, they theorized that a titan transformation may be able to take them out if they were gathered in one place. The issue was getting that to happen, since they would most likely need live bait.
Armin stared in awe while Eren had an unreadable expression while examining the ship. Eren took notice of Armin's expression and chuckled a little.
"You seem to be the only one besides Hanji that's enjoying this" Eren remarked, "Everyone else seems rather scared."
"I don't blame them," Armin admitted, "But this is something beyond my wildest dreams coming true, and it all happened in the span of about two weeks."
Armin noticed Eren's rather despondent expression and raised an eyebrow in concern. "Eren, are you okay?"
Eren sighed. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about a lot, I guess."
"Is it about everything that's happened?" Armin asked.
"Everything's been changing in the past two weeks," Eren began, "It's been so hard to keep track of. And as I'm looking at this ship right now, it really just makes me feel like…I'm not really important. That my existence in the grand scheme of things doesn't make an impact upon others."
"Eren, I know this seems overwhelming but-"
"Armin, Optimus and Megatron are considered legends," Eren retorted, "To the point that their names have been heard across other worlds. I always thought of myself as special when I found out about my titan powers, but now…I'm pretty sure that I'm not."
Armin was about to say something, but stopped when everyone heard tiny metal sounds traveling across the metal. Levi raised his hand in command to stop when he saw an open doorway. He peered inside to see multiple scraplets chewing their way through cables that were connected to the wall and some other tools they weren't familiar with. The scraplets raised their heads at the light from Levi's lamp, but ignored Levi and proceeded to chew through the ship once more.
"Eren," Levi called out.
Eren stepped forward in front of everyone and watched the scraplets continue to eat. He took a deep and bit his hand.
Everyone covered their eyes as golden lightening surrounded Eren and electrocuted many of the scraplets near him. Eren's titan form appeared and roared before he punched at some of the scraplets in the wall.
"Move, now!" Levi ordered.
Everyone used their 3D gear to hook onto loose parts of the ship before running towards the scraplets and smashing them with the lead pipes and other broken parts they found earlier. They continued to do so as Eren pulled apart the wall to reveal more scraplets. He winced in pain when he crushed the scraplets with his hand, clearly underestimating how hard the metal way even though they were much smaller beings.
If only he had the hardening ability, then the scraplets might be a little bit easier to deal with. But he couldn't think about that now. He had a job to do.
Hanji picked up one of the scraplets on the floor and examined it, earning Jean's attention.
"Commander, you know you're not supposed to mess with that," Jean reminded, "Do you really want Megatron to come after you?"
"If I'm subtle about it, he won't notice," Hanji explained, "Also finding a way to see how these monsters tick might allow us to find a better way in destroying it."
"Commander," Mikasa began, "You're not going to get anything past Megatron."
"Have a little faith in me," Hanji reassured.
Floch narrowed his eyes as he saw something with his lantern. He gasped and backed away, causing everyone to stop in their tracks and look in horror.
It was a Cybertronian body littered with the bite marks apparently frozen in a state of agony. They flashed their lights on the rest of the body and noticed his abdomen was ripped open from the inside out.
"Is he dead?" Floch asked as everyone looked over the body.
"Seems that way," Hanji concluded as she shined the light on the rusted face to reveal lifeless optics, "Stomach seems to be ripped open and the optics aren't operating."
They all stopped when they heard whirring from the body itself, causing them to pause with caution. Hanji yelled in shock as the blue optics of the neutral Cybertronian flickered on.
"Holy shit, he's still alive!" Hanji exclaimed, causing everyone to stare in shock.
The Cybertronian tried to speak, but he merely gave a weak cough. He finally mustered the energy to say proper words, but no one could understand what he was saying at all.
"What's he saying?!" Mikasa demanded.
"I don't know!" Hanji answered, "Optimus didn't teach me his language!"
"Commander, above!" a soldier shouted.
Everyone looked up to see scraplets chewing through cables before looking down at them, specifically the Cybertronian body that just came back to life. The moment they spotted it, they opened their mouths to reveal active, rotating teeth. Some of the soldiers gasped in horror as they reigned down on them. Jean quickly tackled Hanji out of the way of the crossfire as the scraplets began to feast on the Cybertronian. The being tried to scream as it twitched and scramble away. Hanji managed to snap out of her shock as the scraplets chewed off his legs.
"Ymir!" Hanji shouted.
Ymir nodded her head and jumped into the air before biting her hand. Lightening consumed her and eliminated the scraplets flying towards the Cybertronian. Ymir roared as her titan formed appeared. She opened her mouth and bit down on the scraplets in the air while trying to smack down the others that were still flying.
"Attack!" Hanji ordered.
The Scouts there began beating down on the scraplets in the area. Many were beating down on the scraplets swarming the Cybertronian, while the others were beating the ones on the ground.
Ymir grimaced in pain as biting the scraplets hurt her mouth. She tried clawing at them a little more with her hands, but that proved to be a hassle as well. She did what she could, and was able to do some damage to them. But she knew that the being was lost to them anyway. There was nothing they could do for him.
Eren coughed as he forced himself out of the nape of the neck but not out of his titan form. He looked down to see that most of the scraplets were dead, but the room was a little worse for wear.
"Is that all of them?" Eren asked.
"Seems that way," Levi assumed, "We're still not done examining the entire ship. These shitty things are everywhere; we have to turn this thing upside down to make sure that not a single one makes it out alive."
Connie threw a scraplet at Sasha, and the Archer smacked it to the ground before hitting it again for good measure.
"Stop fucking around," Levi ordered the two, "We need to move out, and check the ceiling for any tight spaces. Eren,"
Eren nodded his head and went back into his titan form. He then adjusted his vision before looking up at the ceiling to see a loose tile. He jumped up and pulled on it with all his might before ripping it off and pulling it to the ground. Levi and a few others then flew up to the ceiling and checked inside for any hidden scraplets.
Ymir coughed and forced herself completely out of her titan form before falling to the ground. She groaned in pain at the impact of the hard metal floor before Mikasa helped the titan shifter up to her feet.
"Thanks," Ymir said.
Hanji kept on beating a scraplet to death, causing Jean to intervene and grab her arm.
"Commander, they're all dead," Jean proclaimed.
"Are you sure?!" Hanji asked, "Maybe I should hit it again just in case,"
"I think you need a break," Jean declared as he took the pipe from Hanji's hands. The Commander then took deep breaths before looking at the horde of dead scraplets.
"God," Hanji breathed, "I now know why Optimus and Megatron are so afraid of these things."
"Guys," Floch breathed, "There's nothing left."
Everyone stared at the place where the Cybertronian was, but all they saw were rusted pieces of metal and a chewed up face that was left behind.
"Damn," Jean hissed.
"There's nothing that we would've been able to do for him anyway," Hanji proclaimed, "We need to keep doing our shit. C'mon,"
Everyone followed Hanji further down the ship, some looking back at the dead scraplets and the remains of the Cybertronian.
"They're probably going to mess this up and get us injured in some way," Megatron remarked as he sat down by the entrance to the ship.
"Why must you belittle them?" Optimus demanded.
"Because I hate them," Megatron answered, "With the exception of the Ackerman,"
"You did not have to come to the ship," Optimus retorted.
"I came to make sure the mad scientist didn't take a scraplet back with her," Megatron declared.
"Why do you keep calling Hanji 'mad scientist'?" Optimus asked, "It is unnecessary and she is the Commander of the Survey Corps,"
"Because she's Shockwave with an array of emotions," Megatron answered, "That is not a good thing."
Optimus sighed in irritation as Megatron rested his optics. He didn't understand. Megatron hated humans, yet he stayed here because he felt obligated to make things right with the Prime himself. He understood that making nice with the humans would get on his good side. He wasn't wrong. Now Optimus knows that if Megatron decides to leave this planet, he truly won't cause harm to another. But…if Megatron just wanted to make amends with Optimus, then why did he go and talk to Kenny? Why was he okay with Mikasa's company?
Why did he choose to save Eren's life?
He could see the guilt written on Megatron's face when he, Armin, and Mikasa were able to get to Eren but he didn't say anything to it afterward because he knew Megatron would be too prideful to confess. Even as Orion, Megatron never truly told him everything. They considered each other brothers, but Megatron had things he didn't want to confess. And he was okay with that.
But he knew that it wasn't just about him anymore. The question was how would he be able to figure it out? Megatron would never tell Optimus himself. So maybe, he had to find out from the Survey Corps. Given some time, he might be able to find out the truth.
"This is torture," Ymir whined, "I should've sad no to this."
"We all should've said no to this," Jean agreed.
Hanji groaned in irritation as she pulled out the thunderspears from her back and adjusted them onto the handles of her 3D gear.
"Hanji, what are you doing?" Mikasa asked.
"I wanted to try something," Hanji explained as she finished adjusting the weapons.
Everyone heard the pitter patter created by the scraplets before lifting their lanterns to see scraplets eating at the wall and ceiling. Hanji launched herself in the air, despite the protests of her comrades, and fired one of the thundersprears at a creak in the wall where the most scraplets were. Hanji pulled the cord from the end of the thunderspread, creating a pretty large explosion that she managed to not get caught in. However, the force did send her flying to the ground and hitting her head on the metal.
"Hanji!" Jean shouted as everyone ran towards her.
"I'm good," Hanji groaned as she stood up, "Guess the thunderspears need some more work."
Ymir looked up to still see some scraplets active. She launched herself and bit her hand, transforming herself into her titan form, and taking out the rest of the scraplets by electrocuting them to death.
Ymir huffed, nto used to a second transformation so suddenly. She took a deep breath, but stopped when h=she heard something in the walls. She looked up to see Levi and a few others flashing their lights in the walls.
"So you used the thunderspears," Levi remarked.
"There's still some flaws with it," Hanji said as she rubbed her head.
Eren ran towards the others, followed by the other Scouts that didn't search in the wall.
"So how was your search going?" Hanji asked.
"We found the scraplets and killed them," Levi answered as he landed on the ground, "You?"
"We saw scraplets eat a Cybertronian," Hanji answered, "So that was fun?"
"Did they shit?" Levi asked.
"As far as I'm concerned, no," Hanji answered.
"We still have to continue searching," Levi declared, "Give me the other thunderspear."
Hanji removed the thunderspear from her arm and handed it to Levi.
"Let's go," Levi ordered.
Three hours later
The Survey Corps scanned the ship from head to toe, searching for the scraplets. Sometimes they found some and destroyed them all, while others were already frozen to death. Many of them were already exhausted, but they had to keep going. They had to make sure that there were no scraplets in sight. Once they finished scanning the ship the first time, they decided to double check to make sure the scraplets were gone.
Connie grabbed a scraplet and threw it at Sasha once more. She smacked it with her pipe, sending it flying towards the wall.
"Okay, I think I'm enjoying this a little," Sasha proclaimed.
"We scanned the ship twice, and opened all the rooms in the ship," Jean proclaimed, "Are we sure that this is the last of it?"
Eren, who was still in titan form, rammed himself into a door a couple of times. He did it one more time, causing the door to fall apart and for him to almost fall forward. He was able to steady himself, and looked inside to see there were no scraplet, just a lot of items he wasn't familiar with.
Hanji noticed Eren and flashed a light in the room. "Looks like the scraplets haven't touched this place,"
"If they can detect warmer items, why haven't come to this room?" Armin asked.
"Must've been shut down before the scraplets reached it," Hanji proclaimed, "Optimus might know what to do."
"Should we call them in?" Mikasa asked.
"Probably," Hanji proclaimed, "I'll go get them."
Optimus activated when he heard a noise coming closer to the ship. He looked inside to see a light coming their way to realize that it was Hanji.
"We're good to go," Hanji informed.
Optimus and Megatron stood up and looked at each other before entering the ship. They looked around cautiously to see many dead scraplets, either eaten or frozen to death. They then looked ahead to see many of the Scouts beating in the scraplets for good measure.
"And you are sure all the scraplets are dead?" Optimus asked.
"We checked this thing from head to toe for nearly half the day," Hanji retorted, "I think it's safe to assume that they are dead."
Megatron eyed Hanji. "I'm checking you later to make sure you didn't steal any parts."
"After what I saw with the neutral, I think I'll pass," Hanji admitted.
Eren tapped Optimus on the shoulder before pointing to an open door. Optimus walked over to it with his blaster ready, only to find an empty room full of offline monitors.
"Megatron, the main room," Optimus informed.
Megatron walked over to the Prime as he deactivated his blaster and activated his headlights to see inside. Optimus walked inside with Megatron following right behind him. The Survey Corps began to follow suit as they shined their lights to the walls and computers of the room.
"So this is the main room of the ship?" Jean asked.
"Hopefully the scraplets didn't chew through all the vital cables," Megatron stated.
Optimus walked up to the main console and pressed a button on the keypad, but nothing happened. He then pressed the keypad using an emergency combination for all neutral ships, but nothing turned on.
"The ship's systems seem to be completely offline," Optimus observed.
Megatron noticed a few cables disconnected on the floor, causing him to walk over to it an kneel down. He took two of the cables and connected them together, before taking the other two and connecting them together as well.
"Try again," Megatron said.
Optimus pressed the emergency code once more. They waited for a moment, thinking that it didn't work, but the computer Optimus was using glowed to life. Optimus then pressed the center keypad causing the entire room to illuminate. The Survey Corps watched in awe as a blue light flooded the room and activated the other computers. They watched as the computers turned on and was flooded with an extensive amount of data.
"Holy shit!" Connie exclaimed, "This is so crazy."
"I so want to tell my parents," Sasha whispered to Connie.
Armin stared in awe before turning to Mikasa and giving a wide smile. Meanwhile, Eren just felt…so out of place. He felt like such a stranger while it seemed like Optimus and Megatron were in their own element.
"Levi, I don't know if I should cry or faint," Hanji squealed as tears of joy formed in her eyes.
"I'm not going to catch you if you do," Levi said as he looked around with caution.
"I wouldn't mind dying right now," Hanji declared, "This is the best day of my life!"
"All systems are currently operational," Optimus proclaimed as he began searching through the data files, "However the scraplets appeared to have damaged the ship's defenses and means of transportation."
"What's that mean?" Hanji asked.
"Scraplets chewed the engines," Megatron explained, "We have no means whatsoever to get it off the ground and to the wall."
"But we can still access the ship's navigation system to find out where we are located," Optimus said as he kept typing away.
Optimus accessed the ship's navigation system and displayed the diagram of their world on all the monitors.
"This is what our world looks like?" Hanji asked as their location on an island on the top was displayed.
"It appears so," Optimus answered as Megatron eyed the diagram suspiciously.
Eren walked up to one of the monitors and examined the world more closely. He's seen a diagram of the world where humanity was-…guess he couldn't really call it that anymore. He's seen the world called 'Earth' before; Optimus had showed him a diagram once. He didn't think there would be a different but-
"Even this world is backwards too!" Megatron shouted, causing Eren to jolt and hit one of the keys on the board.
"Why do you always have to shit on our world?" Levi demanded.
"Shut up, dwarf," Megatron hissed.
"Megatron what are you talking about?" Optimus questioned as he looked down at his former enemy.
"This world is an inverse version of Earth!" Megatron proclaimed, "Look at it from the bottom up, or turn it upside down! It is Earth!"
"I guess that's what Earth looks like," Hanji remarked as she tilted her head. Everyone else was rather confused by the conversation going on.
"If this planet is somehow related to Unicron, I swear-"
"This planet has nothing to do with Unicron," Optimus retorted.
"And how can you be so sure?!" Megatron demanded.
"Is this normal?" Floch whispered to Jean.
"All the time," Jean answered.
Optimus exited the ship's navigation system and began searching through the ship's mechanism for possibly good material for the gate in Wall Maria.
"There are a few walls that haven't been eaten by the scraplets," Optimus observed, "However it will take some time to remove and transport the metal towards Wall Maria. We will not be able to complete it today."
"How long do you think it will take?" Levi asked.
"It depends," Optimus admitted, "We need to have the proper tools in order to take the ship apart. Transporting it may also prove problematic."
"We also need to make a proper plan to construct said gate," Megatron added, "Your tools won't be able to support the metal."
"At the very least the ship is secure," Hanji declared, "We have time to come back and plan everything out."
"We may need to speed up the process considering our situation," Megatron retorted, "The enemy could return to the island any day now."
Optimus turned off the ship's systems to conserve. "We will return to the wall and dismantle the ship another time."
"Let's move out," Hanji ordered.
Megatron eyed Hanji suspiciously as the Survey Corps made their way out of the main room.
"I will check her for scraplets parts," Megatron informed Optimus.
"Understood," Optimus said.
The Survey Corps made their way out of the ship, unbeknownst to them that there was a red light blinking in the main hull of the ship.
Orphan farm: Wall Sina
Historia pulled two of the orphans apart as she noticed them fighting. She scolded them for their actions before telling them to go home. The orphans grumbled but listened to Historia before making their way home. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Ymir holding a set of boxes. Although, she looked really tired,
"Welcome back," Historia smiled.
"Glad to be back," Ymir sighed in relief, "I thought I could help you out for a bit before calling it a day."
"You need to sleep," Historia retorted.
"To be honest, I don't mind," Ymir admitted, "I'm actually really happy that you decided to do this. This is a good thing."
"Figured that no one should be left behind," Historia declared.
"Still can't believe Levi agreed to it," Ymir smirked, "I thought he'd hate it."
"Apparently, he was born in the underground," Historia remarked.
Floch watched the two walked off as they continued to converse. He then looked over to see Connie, Sasha, and Jean walk up to them with supplies in their hands.
"Does Ymir and Historia seem more friendly than usually?" Floch asked.
"Should we tell him?" Connie asked.
Jean shook his head. "I don't think you don't want to know just yet. It's between them."
Later that night
Optimus drew the map of their world on the chalkboard as Hanji showed Erwin, Pixis, Zackley, and Historia some of the Cybertronian metal she retrieved from the ship. Eren merely sat on the sidelines while Levi was drinking his tea.
"With these materials we can create new weapons and enhance the ones we currently have," Hanji smiled while holding a crooked rod, "We can make stronger blades and perfect the thunder rods. We could improve our society all together."
"I actually did have a suggestion regarding the reconstruction of the gates in Wall Maria," Historia began, "I was thinking that there should be some humans versatile in construction to help out with the task. That way we can create jobs and improve public opinion on Optimus and Megatron."
"But the public opinion on them is currently fine," Hanji retorted.
"We need everyone to be united right?" Historia retorted.
"It should work with proper guidance," Optimus concluded, "Hopefully the ship has the resources we need to order to improve weaponry and the state of the island in general."
"Marley does have an advantage with technological advancements and social standing," Erwin retorted as he picked up, "When they do come, we still may be outclass with quantity."
"Then we improve our army and defenses until then," Hanji stated, "Eren should continue his training under Optimus. Having him in good fighting shape would help us out."
Eren looked at Optimus while the Prime stared back at him.
"If you are willing to," Optimus began.
"I'm willing to," Eren proclaimed, "I think it's time I continue to grow."
Optimus nodded his head before he went back to drawing.
"We still have no idea what is on Marley shore," Zackley retorted, "We have no idea how advanced they are or what to watch out for."
Optimus circled the island they were on before placing the chalk down. "We need to find a way to retrieve information from the mainland. Maybe possible allies. If the conditions for the Eldians are true, there must be some who wish to fight for a better life."
"They've most likely been brainwashed into believing staying with Marley is the better option," Erwin proclaimed.
Eren didn't agree with Erwin's statement. Marley were horrible, and they created horrible warriors to lie and deceive them before killing them all. No matter how much he thought of them as friends, there was no way they thought the same thing. Not Reiner, Bertholdt, or Annie.
"We will not know for sure unless we see for ourselves," Optimus retorted.
Hanji heard the door open and turned to see Megatron's holoform walk into the room. A idea sprang into her head before she slid over to the ex-con and placed her arm on his shoulder.
"Hey, Megatron-"
Megatron glared at her before pushing her arm off his shoulder. "No."
"But I haven't even said anything," Hanji whined.
"I've learned that when it comes to you, I always have to assume the worst," Megatron declared.
"You are right to assume that," Levi agreed before sipping his tea.
"Shut up," Hanji hissed at Levi before turning back to Megatron with a smile, "Please?"
"I make no promises to you," Megatron proclaimed.
"Well…I was thinking…we know nothing about Marley, and I was thinking in order to get information you would…,"
Hanji muttered the last part under her breath, earning an unamused look from the ex-con.
"Speak up," Megatron ordered as he crossed his arms.
"I thought you could…," Hanji muttered the last part under her breath.
"Just spit it out!" Megatron shouted.
"That you could pose as a human and infiltrate Marley military!" Hanji yelled before covering her mouth.
Everyone in the room looked in concern at Hanji's proposal while Megatron stared at Hanji as if she lost her mind. He was about to speak, but had to truly process what the Commander has proposed.
"No," Megatron said, still trying to get over the shock.
"But Megatron-"
"No! You want me to do what?!" Megatron shouted.
"It's just-"
"No!"
"We need to-"
"No!"
"C'mon-!"
Megatron grabbed Hanji's face before pushing her to the ground on her back.
"You deserved that," Levi proclaimed.
"It's a good idea!" Hanji retorted from the ground.
"It is not the best idea," Optimus disagreed.
"Even the Prime agrees!" Megatron yelled, "I can list about a thousand things that can go wrong with this plan, which all ends in "the island gets attacked.'"
"It can't be that bad," Hanji proclaimed.
"Alright then, five thousand!" Megatron exclaimed.
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine," Levi quipped.
"How come the plan wouldn't work?" Historia asked.
"Subjectively, I hate you all," Megatron answered, "Objectively, this form is merely composed of light and matter. It has no internal organs and will not be able to function like a regular human body. One slip up and I could be exposed!"
"We need to take that risk!" Hanji retorted as she stood up, "You can just observe their society! You don't have to make contact with high ranking officials or important people right away!"
"If your so insistent on infiltrating Marley, why not send Optimus?" Megatron demanded.
"Because the titan shifters have already seen Optimus' holoform," Hanji answered, "Even if he finds a way to the mainland, they'll know that it's him!"
"And I do not know much of human culture," Optimus added, "Even if Earth and this world may be similar, I never really got the chance to immerse myself entirely into the culture."
"I thought that you would've been a human expert, since you were living on Earth," Megatron retorted.
"I would have, but I was trying to protect them from you," Optimus shot back.
Everyone in the room remained silent, worried that a fight might break out. Megatron; however, took a deep breath and looked the Prime dead in the eye.
"Fair enough," Megatron said before turning to Hanji, "But my answer is still no."
"C'mon," Hanji whined, "Take a risk!"
"I am not going to pretend to be some weak, fleshy species," Megatron proclaimed.
"But-"
"Not another word about this!" Megatron exclaimed before leaving the room.
Hanji groaned as she slumped back down on the floor.
"Well you were right," Zackley whispered to Erwin, "They do hate each other."
Two hours later
Megatron made his way down the hall of the castle in his holoform. He wanted to talk to someone about this idea of infiltrating Marley, because he knows for a fact that the mad scientist would keep pestering him about it. Megatron stopped when he heard talking in the boys dorm and stopped when he was right by the door.
"Megatron was asked to do what?!" Jean exclaimed.
"To infiltrate Marley," Eren repeated.
"Oh my God, that's fucking hilarious!" Connie laughed.
"Yeah, send the guy that hates humans to go and pretend to be one," Jean retorted.
Megatron's eye twitched in irritation. Just a bunch of pathetic humans, he hated them all.
"It's not an entirely crazy idea," Armin admitted, "Megatron is good with deception, and if he played his cards right it could work."
"How are you so sure Armin?" Eren asked.
"Right, you went with Megatron and Mikasa alone to go find Annie," Jean recalled, "You said that he pretended to be your uncle as he was asking a lady for directions!"
"What?!" Eren exclaimed, "Why would you do that?!"
"To find out Megatron's motivation for staying here," Armin answered.
"Well what was it?" Connie asked.
Megatron waited for Armin to answer, and was almost ready to intervene but he heard the boy speak.
"To be honest, I wasn't really able to get anything," Armin lied, "Turns out he was a lot better at deception than I thought."
Megatron was surprised by Armin's answer. He really didn't say a word.
"That doesn't change the fact that there is a risk of sending Megatron into human territory," Jean retorted.
"Maybe," Armin admitted, "But there has to be someone that doesn't agree with Marley ideology that could be willing to help us. Also, Bertholdt, Reiner, and Annie haven't seen Megatron's human form. That might help us out."
Eren huffed under his breath. "Yeah, right."
Megatron's quirked an eyebrow in curiosity. The three titan shifters he fought?
"Do you think…if Megatron does go…that he'd be able to find out about why they did what they did?" Connie asked, "And whether or not they cared about us?"
"They didn't care about us," Jean declared, "They think that were devils."
"But we've hung out with them for five years," Armin retorted, "That had to mean something."
"Five years after the fall of Wall Maria, they were willing to break down Wall Rose," Jean retorted, "They killed many of the people we grew to knew during our trainee days. Friends, people we cared about."
"And then they thought that they would casually asked to kidnap me as if I would go along with them willingly and get myself devoured by another Eldian," Eren retorted, "They lied to us and they slept soundly about it."
"I just thought-"
"That we could make talk and make peace about it," Jean interrupted Connie, "You know they're aligned with the Beast Titan, the same guy that turned your mom into a titan!"
"Like I don't already know!" Connie shouted.
"There's no negotiating with them," Eren declared, "They had their orders, and we need to make sure that they don't mess with us again. Even if we have to kill them,"
"…It just doesn't fell right," Armin whispered to himself.
Megatron didn't hear anymore talking before deciding to deactivate the holoform. He opened his optics and saw the night sky. Suppose that he could understand what the humans were feeling: betrayal. He's experienced many of his followers try to kill him and stab him in the back, but this was different.
He supposed it reminded him of the time he and Optimus went up to the council, and Optimus took the title of Prime for himself.
He knows now Optimus didn't mean it as a selfish intention, or at least he's trying to come to terms with that. But…that didn't mean it didn't hurt him at all. He felt that Optimus used him to gain power and glory for himself. In the end, it was Optimus that stuck true to his morality, not him.
Now the humans were wondering if the titan shifters even cared for them at all. Some of them being in denial about it and just wanting to kill them. But was he really going to consider infiltrating Marley over how a bunch of humans felt?
Megatron sighed to himself. How low was he really going to go for this nonsense?
Hanji was writing out some plans and ideas for reconstructing Wall Maria's gate while Optimus was watching the sun rise in his bipedal mode. He offered to help Hanji earlier with the plans, but she wanted to have a solid idea first before asking Optimus for help.
Optimus heard footsteps and turned to see Megatron walking towards them, looking rather tired.
"Did you not get enough rest?" Optimus asked.
"I'm fine," Megatron proclaimed before looking down at Hanji, "Mad Scientist!"
Hanji stopped doing calculations and looked up at the ex-con. Megatron snarled for a moment before begrudgingly coming to an acceptance at his decision.
"I'll do your stupid idea," Megatron said.
"You'll infiltrate Marley?!" Hanji squealed.
"Megatron, are you sure about this?" Optimus asked as he stood up.
"No, I think it's a terrible idea," Megatron declared, "I did give it some thought and we do need to find out more about the enemy."
"That's great!" Hanji smiled, "You can contact Optimus while you're there and-"
"Let's get one thing straight," Megatron cut off, "If I'm going to do this, then I do it my way. Got it?"
"Fine! Just report back to Optimus when you can!" Hanji exclaimed.
"I won't make contact with the humans just yet," Megatron informed Optimus, "I'll take my time and observe the customs before I make my move."
"Are you sure about this?" Optimus asked.
"I think it's a terrible idea, but you all seem to be fond of them," Megatron stated.
"So when do we start?" Hanji asked.
"Right now," Megatron answered, before transforming and flying off towards the mainland.
"My paperwork!" Hanji exclaimed as Optimus watched Megatron disappear in his sites. This was going to either work or fail horribly.
Marley Mainland
Megatron activated his holoform and looked around the area to see nothing but a large field with a town in the distance. Megatron grumbled in irritation before walking towards the small town.
When he reached it, he found himself surrounded by humans walking around and driving primitive modes of transportation. Megatron continued walking through the streets before finding himself in front of the news stand. He looked down at the newspaper and was startled to see the head line.
"'Debate over Titans from the Stars and life outside this world'?" Megatron read.
"Yeah," a man at the counter selling the newspaper said as he was fixing his products, "That's all anyone has been talking about. Even the mention of the war has been sidelined after the announcement of the metal titans on the island."
"It just seems odd that the government would release everything, especially if it would cause a mass panic," Megatron admitted.
"Some people think it's a conspiracy," the man admitted, "But some believe it. Eye witnesses said the flying one destroyed the port on the island to get rid of traitorous Eldian devils."
"I see," Megatron hummed in response. Maybe he should've destroyed that ship after all. Now they've lost the element of surprise.
"Are you going to by the newspaper?" the man asked.
"No," Megatron answered, "I was just curious. That's all."
Megatron walked away, hearing the man grumble about the lack of profit he's been making. If he wanted to blend in with the humans, he would have to catch up on everything as soon as possible.
This was going to be troublesome.