The sky above Wall Rose was dull and overcast. Within minutes raindrops began pelting the ground. Sierra watched from atop the battlement alongside Hange and a few other Scouts as the wounded Ymir was hoisted along the wall on a stretcher attached to a winching mechanism. Historia peered anxiously over the side as a male Scout gave the order to begin the lift.

"Alright! Bring her up slowly please!" Winches creaked to life and the hoist was underway. All eyes were glued to the tall dark-skinned woman as she made her precarious journey up the side of the wall.

Meanwhile, Eren crouched a few meters away from the action, teal eyes trained firmly on the ascending stretcher.

"What's the verdict? How bad of shape is Ymir in?"

"Well, she's missing an arm and a leg," A dark-haired Scout who'd been a part of the rescue party replied as he fiddled with his hook mechanisms. "And her insides are scrambled. If she was normal, she'd be a goner."

Eren scoffed at the man's diagnosis. "Normal, huh?" Hah! She's so far from normal. She's just like me and Annie. And that Beast bastard. Normal my ass.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by someone grunting in exertion. Eren glanced over to where the noise was coming from only to see Reiner struggle to lift himself onto the rampart with one arm. Crap! I forgot he sustained injuries back there! The shifter ran to where his friend was trying and failing to pull himself off his own wooden platform onto the where he stood.

"Here man. Grab on!"

"Thanks!" the muscular man said, grabbing Eren's proffered hand.

Meanwhile, Sierra and Hange stood just a stone's throw from Eren's position listening as Historia pled her case for Ymir.

"Please! You have to believe me!" The tiny blond begged, her tearful high-pitched voice beginning to grate on Sierra's nerves. "Ymir could've run away any time she wanted, she chose to fight the titans off to save our lives! She had nothing to gain putting herself on the line like that. Doesn't that speak volumes about where her loyalties are? She should've told us before, yes. She had no right to keep her power a secret. It's hard to look past how much humankind might've gained from knowing what she's been keeping to herself but-" The girl paused, searching for her next words. "I think…I think she was just worried about what people might do to her." Then she straightened and Sierra and Hange saw her countenance change. Her voice became stronger and she no longer sounded like a scared little girl. "Clearly her priorities have changed now! This isn't nearly as complicated as it looks! No one is closer to Ymir than me and there's no question in my mind who's side she's on!" Yours, maybe. Sierra thought. But she's a wild card. Sounds like she only sprang into action because you were about to die. She could've cared less about the others, but she didn't have time to be an overly selfish bitch.

Hange stared at the short girl absorbing her words. This wasn't going to be an easy decision. Even so, she had to remain cautious.

"Is that so?" She asked, noting Historia straighten her spine. "Well, under the circumstances it behooves us to be friendly." Scouts moving behind the Squad Leader briefly caught Historia's worried eye as a pair of soldiers carefully carried Ymir's stretcher past the trio and gently set her on the stone walkway. "Her priorities aside, I'll wager what she could teach us about the enemy is beyond measure. Probably. Even so," she started walking over to where Ymir lay unconscious, Sierra and Historia keeping pace. "You say this isn't as complicated as it looks, but from where I'm standing the world gets more complicated by the hour. Oh uh, Historia Reiss you said your name was?"

"I did. That's correct." I hope I didn't make a mistake revealing myself. But…I promised Ymir.

"Isn't Reiss the name of the noble family?" Hange pressed. Sierra fought the urge to roll her eyes but chose to hold her peace. The hag was in detective mode and she wasn't about to interfere.

"Yes, it is."

"Huh." Hange stopped and turned to face the true royal heir, placing her hands on the girl's narrow shoulders. "Historia. Nice to meet ya."

Relief washed over Historia's face. "Thank you," she said a slight tremor in her voice. Then she turned to the short woman standing next to her. "I'm sorry for keeping this from you Major Sierra."

The elite reached out, briefly squeezing her arm. "Ya did what ya needed to do to survive. Not gonna knock ya for that." Historia smiled. This was the Major's way of welcoming her and she wasn't going to complain.

By this time, the women reached the stretcher. Historia went forward a little further to kneel before its limp occupant.

"How is she?" Hange asked her aide.

"She's comatose, but stable," came the reply. "Her injuries are healing. There's probably steam under that blanket."

Historia stroked Ymir's bangs out of her face, Sierra not missing the oddly intimate gesture. Don't tell me…the girl's in love with this hag. A shudder went through her frame, repulsed by the inadvertent revelation. The way the tiny blond begged Hange not to treat her like a specimen. The sound of worry and yes, love quivering in her voice when she said it made Sierra's skin crawl. She recalled a few of the wealthy female clients that were into that sort of thing and it always turned her stomach. Ugh. That's so disgusting. This girl's a nasty one. And seriously how old is Ymir anyway? Her thoughts were interrupted by Hange ordering her squad to get the tall woman proper medical care.

"Consider it done!" Nifa was saying to her boss.

"Right. Now. Back to the mission." Hange began to walk the length of the wall, Moblit at her heels and Sierra at her side, the latter eager to get away from Historia's sickening public display of affection towards the older female. "Find the hole and plug it."

"If there's even a hole at all," Sierra mumbled. Why do I get the impression there's no breach? It feels like we're running in circles, chasing our tails. The disquiet that began as a whisper in the Underground grew louder by the second. With the revelation of Ymir's true nature, Sierra began to wonder if Erwin's hunch wasn't so crazy after all. Is there an entire army of them lurking among us? The thought was unpleasant. Eren was a shifter, but he was on their side fully committed to the destruction of the Titans. Ymir was a wildcard. No matter how hard Historia begged or said otherwise, Sierra couldn't bring herself to fully trust the mysterious female. There were too many unknowns in play and as a senior officer, she had to reserve judgement until Ymir proved herself loyal to humanity's cause-

A loud yell cut through the air followed by the metallic swish of a blade striking through something solid.

Sierra whirled around so fast her jacket flared out. Hange and Historia followed suit.

Reiner Braun and Bertolt Hoover, two of the strongest cadets in the 104th class were covered in blood. Hoover had a panicked look on his face and Braun seemed to be missing half his forearm.

Sierra squinted. Wait a sec. They're bleeding?

Then she saw it.

Mikasa had drawn one of her paring blades which was dripping with-

Blood.

What? Sierra thought, temporarily stunned at the unbelievable sight. Why would Asia attack her friends-?

A large, blinding clap of familiar yellow lightning like a miniature sun (just like Annie in Stohess) blossomed atop Wall Rose, engulfing the stunned group standing around the two men in noise and steam.

Sierra shielded her face from the mighty blast. Damn it, that's HOT. Behind her, the short woman heard Historia gasp in horrified shock.

"What's happening?!" Hange shouted peeking over her arm to protect herself from the sudden rush of energy.

Sierra shaded her eyes with her hand, trying to peer through the thick dust clouds emanating from the blast. What she saw made her blood run cold.

Two titans emerged from the steam. One had golden hair and looked strong and powerful with what appeared to be armored plates covering its skin. The other was deformed but the skinless frame was instantly recognizable.

Oh God. It's them!

Someone seemed to be struggling in the Armor Titan's grip. Sierra started running towards the pair, the instinct to kill titans roaring through her ears. For she knew the victim the Armored bastard held in its mighty fist.

Get back here with Eren, you son of a bitch!

She didn't pause to see if her best friend and the newly discovered royal were following. Or stop to think of how they were going to fight yet another pair of human shifters. All she could see was Eren squirming around, trying to break free.

She was not ten steps away from the group when the Armor Titan dropped straight over the side of the Wall one hand acting as a brake as his hand bit into the smooth surface as he plummeted to the ground below, Eren Jager clutched tightly in his oversized fist.

Sierra drew her blades from their sheaths so fast her mind barely registered the action, boots pounding the concrete path as she continued running along the rampart, trying to gauge an attack route.

A quick flash of black hair caught her eye. Mikasa ran along the opposite side of the rampart, murder gleaming in her grey eyes as she expertly held her own set of steel. Silver and grey met in a brief lock. In that moment, both were on the same page. No words. They knew what had to be done.

Without hesitation and ignoring Hange's frantic shouting, both women jumped off the edge of the wall in hot pursuit.

Only to be forced against the granite, engaging their hooks to stop their descent as another clap of lightning struck.

A wild roar pierced the skies.

The Rogue Titan emerged from the smoke. Teal eyes burning with hate. Long, shaggy hair whipping in the wind. Mouth open, roars so loud it hurt Sierra's ears but she didn't cower or look away.

Eren was angry.

TBC…

A/N: Hey hey guys, I'm alive! *waves* So sorry for the delay, but work has taken over and has gotten quite busy as of late. Special thanks to the 105 reviews, 261 faves and 348 follows! Wow! I'm truly blessed to have such great readers who give amazing feedback. Y'all actually take the time to tell me what you like and don't like about the story and characters and that makes me happy. This is by far one of my favorite works, so I'm glad everyone else is loving it and having a great time! As always, enjoy and don't forget to keep telling me what you think! Till next time folks!