The Birth of Freedom

Deal with the Devil

ERWIN

"Oooh, this is exciting! How often do we get tipped off about potential recruits these days!" Hange clapped her hands together and all but jumped on the spot. Her eyes were wide with excitement as she tugged on Miche's arm, who raised his eyebrow at her.

"This better be worth it, I had planned drills for the brats this morning, don't want them getting lazy" Levi said while picking dirt from his nails, the dark-haired man's face a perfect picture of boredom.

"What do you think, Erwin? Think Sadies really has what he says he does?" Miche asked and I looked over to the sandy-haired giant with a neutral expression.

"We shall see" I replied. And see we shall. It had been a year since Wall Maria fell and recruitment for the Survey Corp had been at an all-time low. Taking over from Sadies a year ago, I had worked hard to implement the long-range formation and had improved on our casualty rates, the scout's veteran contingent had also improved on skill and effectiveness in the field; however, that could only go so far. We needed fresh meat to boost our numbers. Especially if the fresh meat was talented, that was why I had brought my Section Commanders and Captain Levi to the Training Corps.

A week ago, I received a correspondence from commandant Sadies inviting me to observe the mock Titan assault course with ODM gear for the 102nd training class, I had been set to decline when another missive had arrived through more secretive channels.

Erwin, 

  I sent you an official invite to observe the training to make things appear formal as one former commander to another; however, I have a reason for doing so. 

In this batch of cadets, I have two remarkable trainees who I think you should come and see. Twin brother and sister who have performed well beyond exceptional limitations and are nothing short of prodigies. I do not say this lightly, their raw talent is as extraordinary as Levi's when we first encountered him. 

There has also been interest from top brass MPs who have asked for hand-delivered reports on their progress and background checks. I have carried out said checks, and I get the feeling these two are being targeted for something. Lovof style targeted. Something isn't right here Erwin, and It would be a crime against mankind if these two joined the MPs with what they can do.

Use this as you will, but while doing some digging, I discovered that they have young dependants, they have been sending their joint wages to their uncle who cares for three minors and said uncle has been sent beyond the wall in operation retake Maria leaving the children without any official protector. You know as well as I do that he is as good as dead. As I said use this as you will. 

Their names are Rian Tristan Sparhawke and Aurora Alexandra Sparhawke, and they hail from Shiganshina. I know you will want to assess this for yourself. 

Don't waste this opportunity. Burn this. 

Sadies 

I had shown the letter to Hange, Miche and Levi trusting their input, especially Levi's in this regard before burning the letter. We had carefully made inquiries as to not draw attention to our digging and initially, we had drawn a blank with the name Sparhawke dying out with a house burglary in the Underground. The dates had been off, and we had not been able to link them to the supposedly nineteen-year-old Sparhawkes in the training corps and had decided to simply resign ourselves to observing them and moving on when Hange hit gold.

A marriage certificate for an Aelin Alert and Aiden Sparhawke in Shiganshina and death certificates for an Aelin Alert and Aiden Alert in Shiganshina, stating the death was due to cutthroats. We knew we had them when checking the name on the tenancy agreement; the Trainees sent their wages to was also Alert. What struck as odd was why Aiden Sparhawke took his wife's name instead of keeping his own but what had made us sit up and pay attention was the fact that on Aelin Alert's death certificate it had her listed as pregnant at the time of her death and that her babe died with her, it was signed and confirmed by a Doctor Grisha Yeager. The date of death was the same date of birth as what the trainees had filed on their enrolment forms, either someone wanted people to believe they had died with their mother or a clerical error had occurred, and with the MP brass showing an unprecedented interest in them before graduating I'd wager that a clerical error is out of the question.