The dragonfly wings of the slender craft beat against the grey clouds. In the passenger seat, Mikasa Ackerman flipped a knife, and watched the dark sky for a hint of their target. Her motions were effortless, even in the roaring wind. Below her, hands on the steering wheel, Levi piloted.

"There." Mikasa said. The fin of an airship jutted out between two puffs of storm.

"It's the one?" Levi asked, his voice a measured drawl.

"It's Zeke's ship. I'm sure," she said.

"Signal to Hange."

Over the bellow of the wind and the slight pellets of rain, there was no way for the pirates to easily talk to one another, not while they soared the open sky. But they'd developed another method. Deftly, Mikasa reached for a yellow canister and fit it into her rifle. Lifted it up to her shoulder, leaned against the side of the dragonfly, and fired.

A trail of yellow smoke split the skyline. A few moments later, three more dragonfly crafts burst from cloud, their wings buzzing furiously. Hange and Moblit commandeered one, Petra and Olou another, Kenny and Uri a third. The fighting force of the Ackerman gang.

Below them, the huge airship was descending back into the stormcloud from which it had emerged. A distant thunderbolt lit up the sky. Mikasa slid a red flare into the gun and pointed it in the direction of the ship. "Ready?" she asked.

Levi. "Let's get that crystal."

In a small room made of pigskin and aluminum, Krista sat and watched the raindrops spray across the window. The airship bounced and rolled in the storm, like a boat battered by waves. The rhythm reminded her of home, back on the estate, the trips out on the lake with –

No.

She forced the memories down, staring out, resolute, at the grey-dark backdrop of the sky. She wasn't that person anymore. I'm just a scared little girl, who found a crystal. That's all. Almost without thinking, one hand slipped to the amulet she wore around her neck, its thin band of wire, and in the center, a light blue stone, adorned with a small, crimson crest.

My name is Krista Lenz, and I'm no one of importance.

Out of nowhere, a red trail of smoke erupted from the clouds, flashing close by the window, interrupting her thoughts. She gasped and stumbled backwards, landing with a thump on the floor.

Next to her, the tall, thin guard looked up. "What?" He glanced out the window, then shouted. "Zeke!"

The door opened. In he came, assessing the room. Calm, collected, the man with glasses and the pale blond, shaggy beard. The war chief. Zeke. "What's going on?" He looked down at Krista, and she swallowed the urge to scream. "Did you do something?" he asked.

The tall, thin guard, Bertholdt, pointed to the window. Zeke's eyes followed his gesture to the thin trace of smoke. "Ah." His eyes narrowed. "Levi."

"What do we do, boss?" Bertholdt asked.

"We outnumber them. You stay here, barricade the door in case they try to get in, and make sure we keep that crystal safe." He glanced at Krista. "And keep an eye on the girl. I'll grab the rest of the warriors and repel boarding."

"Got it, chief," Bertholdt said. "Leave it to me."

Zeke left, and Bertholdt locked the door, then began sliding the bench towards it. He cursed as one side caught on an exposed floor pipe. "Piece of crap. Should have gotten a finished aircraft."

"Do you need any help?" Krista asked. I need to be polite. I need to be sweet.

"No." Bertholdt said. "All you need to do is stay there and don't do anything stupid. Zeke will take care of this. Not even the famed Ackerman pirates are a match for – " but then, midsentence, a loud boom, and a crash, and the entire airship seemed to flip. Krista screamed as the world spun, and she landed hard against something, with a crack.

Her vision went fuzzy, and when it cleared, she realized the airship had righted—it had jerked to the side and she'd fallen against the window. And there, in the corner, lay Bertholdt. His eyes were closed, blood streaming down his face. He'd collided with the wall.

"Mr. Bertholdt?"

He didn't respond.

From outside, she heard voices, unfamiliar ones. "She's in there." A woman's voice, low and rhythmic. Then the door shook. "It's locked," another voice said. "The key doesn't fit."

And then, a third voice that sent shivers down her spine. "I'll kick it open."

The pirates. She looked around for something to defend herself with, but all could she find was a broken piece of wood. There was a thud against the door. Then another.

She glanced towards the window.

With a final twist, Levi brought his foot up and kicked the door off its hinges. The sound of it slamming down echoed in the metal hull of the airship. He strode in, blade at the ready. Kenny ducked in behind him, and Mikasa, with a cautious look towards the corridor, came through last.

"She's not here." Levi said.

The girl was nowhere to be seen. Only an unconscious guard and an upturned bench.

"Wait a second," Kenny said, a grin on his face. He strode over to the window. "It's open." He gripped the bottom with both hands and slid it up. "There's an old trick I used to hear about, but I never seen anybody actually try it…"

He poked his head out the window, turned, and laughed. Mikasa heard a girl's scream. "She's outside!" Kenny shouted. "She's climbin' on the outside of the airship!"

Mikasa dashed from the room, sprinted down the corridor, and threw open an adjacent door. Reaching for her knife, she pried open the window, and jerked it up. She stuck her head out.

There, on the hard skin of the airship, clinging to a thin metal bar, buffeted by the wind and the rain—the girl. And around her neck… Mikasa breathed in. The crystal.

The girl turned, terror in her eyes.

"Give it here!" Mikasa said, her voice a snarl. "Give it to me!"

The girl looked back at her, and in a voice soft, barely audible above the wind, said, "No. I—I can't." Then. A bright flash of lightning from a nearby cloud, the roar of thunder, and the ship quaked. The girl screamed, and Mikasa saw her arms slip from the bar.

"No!" Mikasa cried, as the girl tumbled from the side of the airship. "No!" Desperately, she snatched for the necklace, but too late.

The girl fell. She disappeared down, down, into the darkness of the clouds below.

Kenny's laughter came from the other window. "Well," he said. "There goes your crystal."