Episode 2: Prelude to the Attack

Episode 2: Prelude to the Attack

 

Scenes 2A— The Trip to Angelia

Fifteen hours after Alex and Keith’s last talk at the cathedral’s tower from Trost, a discreet group of people left the district in a small caravan with ten horses.

It was very early in the morning, when most people at Trost were still sleeping. Alex and Keith were the only children in the group and each person had their own horse. Keith’s grandfather and Alex’s parents were part of the group as well. Apparently, no one else knew about their trip to the new small town that was being built by the Angelial Knights and the Survey Corps. Town Angelia was still a secret that most people didn’t know about. However, the members of the Survey Corps and their best collaborators knew about it. It wasn’t hard to see that Keith and Alex’s families were among those collaborators.

An event to celebrate the close-to-complete construction of Angelia was organized by the residents of the new town and by some members of the Survey Corps. All the people that belonged to the new religious Order of the Angelial Knights were going to attend. Every new resident of the town and those that wanted to join and relocate to the town would also be there. And the Survey Corps’ soldiers and their commander, John Christopher, would be present too.

Even if most people at the other districts and towns within the walls knew nothing about this new city and the new religious order, this was a grand step forward for mankind. Unlike the other religious organizations within the three grand walls, the Angelial Knights did not serve the government or anyone’s personal interests. They were not servants for the King either. They only served the “Force of Justice”—which was what they referred to as their true God. They had strong plans to achieve the greater good for the communities within the walls and to, eventually, team up with the Survey Corps to defeat the menace of the titans that had kept everyone caged within the walls for longer than 70 years.

And now, all those aspirations were starting to come to life at last…

The new city was almost finished. John Christopher, the son of the original founder of Angelia and the Angelial Knights, was assigned as the new Commander of the Survey Corps—meaning that the two groups would become one. Both, the Survey Corps and the Angelial Knights, were growing stronger. New ways and new weapons to fight the titans were being studied and developed at their town. New possibilities to improve the lives of the people within the walls were also being discussed there.

Soon, the rulers at the Royal District would not be able to keep their movement in the shadows any longer. They were what the people within the walls needed…

In addition, the Angelial Knights had joined the Survey Corps in their last expedition outside of the grand walls and into the open fields of the terrible titans. And, unlike every single time before (where half of them got slaughtered), more than 75% of them came back alive and they all reached sections of the outer lands that had never been seen before by any other soldier of the Survey Corps. It was clear that, with that level of improvement, their next expedition outside of the walls would end up discovering something—if there was anything to discover in those uncharted lands.

It seemed like the Angelial Knights and the Survey Corps could not be stopped and it was just a matter of weeks before their movement and their plans could be revealed to the whole world inside the walls. Soon, their supporters would expand beyond their secret collaborators—who were growing in numbers…

Alex and Keith were very happy during their peaceful trip to Angelia. They didn’t know all the facts, but they knew that it was “the town of the heroes,” and that was all that mattered for their young and adventurous minds. The southeast path from Trost to Angelia made the trip very pleasant. The fields had mostly low grass, close to the ground, and there were some scattered trees. Everything looked empty and calm on the way to Angelia. And most importantly, Alex’s parents looked happy, so he was happy as well. They had not told him yet, but they were among the people that were planning to relocate to Angelia, in order to join the new movement…

The small secret caravans arrived at Angelia with supporters from all the districts within the walls. Each district had at least a small group of supporters, except the Royal District—where the King, the military police, the high priests of their standard religion (the Order of the Walls), and their families lived. Not a single supporter came from the Royal District, showing that the government and the military police were not in favor of the Angelial Knights…

(The Royal District was located within Wall Sina, the innermost wall. Trost was located outside of Wall Rose, the central wall. And Angelia was located right in front of Wall Maria, the outer wall; but, unlike the Shinganshina District, it was built on the inner side of the wall, not on the outside).

Even though Commander John and his main Survey Corps soldiers had not arrived, the event started at Angelia, and for a couple of hours, everyone was happy, talkative, and incredibly enthusiastic about their future. A few people—including Alex Emmerson—asked about the members of the Survey Corps and their commander. They were told that their group was travelling from the Karanes District to get there, so their way to Angelia was much longer than for the people that came from Trost or Shinganshina. They still had about one hour or more time left to get there, around 1 pm. It was likely that John Christopher would also give a speech for the Survey Corps, the Angelial Knights, and their new city, as soon as he and his team arrived. It was the perfect time to merge their two groups.

Then, the scenes switched to John Christopher and his soldiers, still on the fields, advancing towards Angelia with their battle horses, their maneuver gears, and their titan-cutting swords on their shoulders…

Suddenly, they heard loud and heavy stomps coming towards them. Immediately, they all looked back and saw a fifteen-feet titan that looked like a giant ape. The monster looked huge AND different from all the other titans that they had ever seen. And it was running, following the same path as them, at an alarming speed…

This was the first time that the members of the Survey Corps witnessed a titan shifter in action. It was also the first time that they had to fight one to save the ones they loved and themselves…

Scenes 2B— The Ape Titan and Commander John’s Team

Even John’s team of veterans got scared at the sight of the new titan coming their way. They all knew that they needed some sort of high ground or high objects to use their maneuver gears efficiently. It was unlikely that they would be successful at killing a titan—any titan, not just this ape titan—without any trees in the vicinity. It was a death wish, even for them.

The soldier closest to the commander looked more worried than the rest.

“John!! How are we going to fight here!? It’s going to get to us in a matter of seconds! What can we do!!??”

The commander was concerned but not hopeless. He even came up with plan for action in just a couple of seconds.

“Get ready!! It’s coming for us fast, so we are going to slow down and get behind him!! We can’t let him stay behind us for long!! Let’s go for the nape and cut that beast down as soon as you get the chance!! It’s the only way! If one of us gets caught, everybody else aim for his nape at that moment and finish him!!”

When the grand ape got closer to them, the team slowed down on purpose to attack the titan from behind. However, they all received the surprise of their lives when the titan just kept running forward, without even paying any attention to them, as if they had been just a group of lizards in the way. The ape kept running in the direction of Town Angelia without looking back. And that realization only alarmed the team even more. Why was it headed there with such a rush? They all knew the destructive power of the titans and this one looked even stronger and more clear-headed than the others. If it reached Angelia, the outcome was anything but obvious to the members of the Survey Corps.

“Commander, it’s not after us. It’s headed for Angelia!”

“That’s where our families live! We have to stop it before it gets there!!”

“This is not normal John! Titans always go after us and try to kill us as soon as they spot us. This one ignored everyone and kept going. This is not how titans are supposed to behave!!”

“And why is it inside the wall?! How the hell did that thing go beyond the 50 meter wall!?”

Their whole team was rushed with adrenaline.

Despite the fact that John Christopher had a thoughtful and calm mind for battles and strategies, even he began to feel the same rush and worry of his comrades. After all, his young son Jonan and his wife Marjorie were at Angelia as well. Their lives were in danger, just like the lives of all their friends and supporters, on the side of the Angelial Knights, and on the side of the Survey Corps as well.

They knew the destructive power of the titans better than anyone else within the walls, and therefore, they already knew what would happen if they failed at killing this titan.

The problem was that the beast was fast, so it started to gain distance from them quickly.

Then, even John Christopher lost his calm. Coming up with a better strategy than chasing the grand ape was too difficult, while knowing that every second could make the difference between life and death for their loved ones. So, he did the same thing as the rest.

“Full speed ahead!! We only have twenty more minutes to reach Angelia. It will get there before us if we keep this pace!!”

Their whole team pushed their horses to go as fast as they could, and even then, they couldn’t go faster than the ape titan.

One of them managed to get closer than the others and had a couple of tall trees on his path. He used the maneuver gear to leave his horse and, in an incredibly daring and fearless move, he took advantage of the trees to gain a grand forward push that launched him towards the titan’s neck. The soldier pulled out one of his blades to destroy the titan’s nape (which was the only weak spot that all titans had; destroying their nape was the only way to kill them permanently).

The rest of the team and John watched as their courageous comrade was about to finish the titan on his own, but… the ape titan grabbed one of the cords of the maneuver gear with one hand and the daring soldier with his other hand. Then, the ape broke the cord and launched the soldier very high in the air, knowing that there was nothing that could be done to survive the fall. Being high in the air without a working maneuver gear was an imminent death…

It was at that point that John Christopher’s team realized that this titan wasn’t just different-looking and stronger; it was also an intelligent titan that could make intelligent decisions, such as breaking the soldier’s gear and throwing him high to ensure his demise.

They watched as their friend fell down on the ground miles away from there. They all knew that he was dead.

In addition, they saw how the ape titan speed up his running pace even more after he dealt with the soldier’s direct attack.

It was the most heart-pounding and soul-twisting moment, but they all knew that no matter what they did, the ape titan was going to arrive at Angelia before them.

Their horses were not fast enough to keep up and there weren’t enough trees in the way to use their 3d maneuver gears effectively.

All they could do was chase the titan as fast as possible and pray for the best.

But prayers and hope couldn’t calm the hearts and minds of the ones that knew terror of the titans first hand…

“Jonan, Marjorie, please stay alive, we are on our way!!” yelled John, when it became clear to him that the titan would get to the town at least ten minutes before them.

At Angelia, a young blonde teenager couldn’t wait for his father to arrive. He had some great news to give him…

And, there was another boy that couldn’t wait to meet the “great commander” as well…

Both, Alex and Jonan, were looking forward to the arrival of the heroes of the Survey Corps.

But the heroes were not the ones that arrived first…

 

 

NEXT— EPISODE 3: The Incident that Changed Their Lives (Part 1 out of 2)