Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 53: An Abrupt Evacuation

Having realized they had just lost the support of the other nations, Marley makes their last stand against Paradis. It was apparent that they had no intention of peace to begin with and the alliance was simply a means to get rid of Paradis, as you were the only real threat to them. The ambassadors considering your offer put a wrench in their plans, and they couldn't afford to let that come to fruition.

With that, the Warhammer Titan goes straight after the diplomats as a means to send a message to the rest of the world. Eren and Annie transform and get in its way to protect them while Connie and Sasha escort them to safety.

Zeke was still convinced about his Rumbling Plan, so he supported the Marleans against you to jeopardize the Liberation. He transforms into the Beast Titan and starts attacking you when Reiner in turn, transforms and holds him back, giving you a chance to escape.

Bertolt could not transform as there were a lot of people around and instead helped the others evacuate the area. Pieck transforms into the Cart Titan and goes after Porco, trying to restrain him as Jean backed her up. Having Mikasa fight beside him, Eren was able to take on the Warhammer Titan without the Female Titan's help.

With that, you climb onto Annie after equipping your ODM gear and head towards the port to secure the ships to take the people out of Liberio. As you were heading for the port, the Marlean military attacks you with anti-titan artillery. Annie, who was one of the most agile titans, manages to evade them for a while as you went after the soldiers who mounted them using your ODM gear.

You manage to take out a few, but the sheer numbers overwhelm you and you're caught off guard when Annie gets hit in the nape and falls down unconscious. As one of the soldiers attempts to fire the killing blow, you instinctively fire the right hook of your ODM gear through the soldier's head to save Annie.

You cut her out of the titan and barely escape the barrage of cannon fire when you're ambushed by a unit of Marlean soldiers. As they pointed their guns towards you and an unconscious Annie, there was nothing you could do.

Just as all hope seemed lost however, you hear the familiar creaking sound made by ODM gear as your reinforcements; Levi, Petra, Rico and Nifa come in from behind to take them out. You instruct them to provide backup to the unit escorting the ambassadors and the civilians. Annie regains consciousness and transforms for a second time and the two of you make your way to the port.

As you arrive, you find a swarm of Marlean soldiers guarding the port. You rush off to take out the soldiers in the command center while Annie takes out the ones outside. While you were one of the best soldiers in Paradis only second to Levi and Mikasa at this point, your titan killing skills were obsolete against people armed with rifles.

Your agility however, comes in handy as you manage to maneuver through the narrow corridors using your ODM gear to take the soldiers out while evading their attacks. In one swift movement, you zip through the soldiers, knocking them out and take control of the command center.

You look outside to check on Annie as you were worried that they might have more anti-titan weapons. To your relief though, it seemingly wasn't the case, as you see Annie kick down the last guard tower. With that, you get the ships ready to sail when the people arrive.

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Meanwhile,

Commander Hange arrives in an aircraft that Hizuru had developed using Paradis' fuel source carrying Falco and the rest of the envoys and station themselves in midair where everyone could see them.

Armin climbs onto the ship and explains to the Eldians in the internment zone how they could be free from the Marlean rule by coming with them and how Queen Historia would welcome them with open arms.

He then explains, "On behalf of Paradis, I sincerely apologize for all the suffering you've been through over the past century. However, we didn't forsake you on purpose. Carl Fritz wiped our memories and we didn't know anything about the outside world until recently. The moment we learned of your existence, we planned to liberate you and bring you home." He explains how you've already made preparations for their arrival and planned the liberation for years.

The Restorationist movement had already sparked the thought in their minds over the past two months and the idea that the people in Paradis were demons was already disproved by Willy Tybur's speech earlier. After seeing how Marley launched a full on attack, endangering their lives, they understood they were no longer safe in Liberio. Once the envoys shared their testimony of Paradis, the Eldians in the internment zone agree to come with you.

They join the ambassadors as they evacuate and head towards the port. On the way there however, the Marlean military had blockaded the road and come at them with all their strength to stop them from escaping. This was because they couldn't risk losing the power of titans which they've relied on to maintain their dominance all this time.

Levi and the rest of the scouts try to launch a counterattack. He asks the others to go around and take them out from behind while he drew the fire towards himself. With his incredible ODM skills, he zips around the block faster than the soldiers could keep up with.

Bertolt also joins him as his titan power meant that he could heal from bullet wounds as long as they didn't hit him in the head. The Colossal Titan would've been able to wipe out the Marlean troops in an instant, however he couldn't do that because of the crowd of civilians and diplomats behind him.

While their distraction allowed the others to take out a considerable number of Marlean soldiers, they're forced to fall back as a second wave of troops arrive and overwhelm them with sheer numbers. They shoot Levi from all directions and a few bullets manage to hit him.

Thankfully, none of them were fatal, but it slowed him down and he couldn't keep drawing their fire for much longer. Bertolt was reaching his limit too— not to mention that everyone was running out of gas at the same time. All things considered, things weren't looking good for the scouts and they knew they couldn't hold out much longer.

The battle was all but won as far as the Marlean troops were concerned, but before they could follow up with a final attack to take out the scouts for good, the combined force of the rest of the Survey Corps, the Garrison and the Military Police Regiments descend from a second aircraft that had just arrived and takes on the Marlean military.

This allows the civilians to escape and rush to the port where you and Annie were waiting with the ships, ready to set sail to Paradis. There were a great number of military casualties, but thanks to their sacrifice, the civilians in the internment zone manage to get on to the ships and escape.