"The author's a jackass!

There, I got that out of the way. Now enjoy the chapter and wait patiently for the inevitable curbstomp that will be the expedition."

(-)

"I heard that he's nearly ten feet tall and can throw a Titan clear over a building!"

"Somebody from the Garrison Regiment said that he was actually some kind of metal-man who breathed fire!"

"Jacob said he was actually there at the time! He said the guy just had to point at a Titan and the things head would explode!"

"No way! That can't be true!"

"A friend of mine was helping with eliminating the surviving Titans, and she said that the guy was even more of a monster than them!"

Armin did his best to tune out the loud chattering going on around him at the moment. With things having finally settled down, the surviving cadets of the 104th had returned to their regular daily routines. There was still an underlying sense of nervousness and fear that most were trying to mask by gossiping about what happened during the breach, with the current topic being the 'Titan Slayer' who arrived near the end of the battle and completely decimated all forms of opposition. The blonde couldn't fault his fellow cadets for their wild imaginations when it came to the Slayer, as even he was having trouble comprehending what happened. Eren transforming into a Titan was something he could get a firm grasp on, owing to their long-standing friendship. Titans are Titans, and Eren is... well, Eren. Somehow the brunette could turn into a Titan and unleash his rage on the creatures with little restraint. Yet the idea of a man who could wrestle a Titan to the ground despite it being over 4 times his height... It just didn't make sense.

Even after briefly witnessing the Slayer pull weapons out of thin air and cave in the face of a 15-meter class Titan with his fists alone, Armin still wasn't 100% sure that what he saw was real. But when he and Mikasa were summoned for Eren's trial, they encountered the Slayer a second time.

The fact that although Eren had been heavily restrained for the duration of the trial, yet the Slayer was left to move freely, was not something that Armin missed. Sure there were guards, but he could tell that they were only there as a formality, something to give the impression that everything was under control. No, if the Slayer wanted to leave, there would be nothing anyone could do to stop him. He had to be convinced to go along willingly. Without the threat of Titans being nearby to divide his attention, Armin could feel the tension in the air when the Slayer finally took his position next to the Scout Commander. His heart was thundering in his chest, and it took all his willpower to not cling to Mikasa in fear.

But despite how strained his nerves were about the situation, the blonde was equally glad that the Slayer was essentially allied with the Scouts for the time being. Having that absolute monster of a man on their side would no doubt serve to lessen the mortality rate. Now he just had to pray that Eren won't go berserk if he transformed again. After seeing the Slayer 'interrupted' the trial via gunshot, Armin had a frightening suspicion that the man wouldn't hesitate to put his friend down at the first sign of him being a danger to those around him.

"Are you alright Armin?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, the diminutive teen shifted his gaze towards his companion.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine Mikasa. Why do you ask?"

"Because you've been staring at your soup like it has the answer to all of Life's questions for the past five minutes." Connie supplied helpfully from across the table.

Nervously chuckling out how obvious his worries were being displayed, Armin tried to dissuade their concern. "I'm just a little nervous about the ceremony coming up. In less than a week I'll have officially joined the Scouts."

"Ahh, you're right..." groaned the hair-impaired teen. "It seemed like it was so far away before... well, Trost."

"Even with how frightening it was, humanity finally managed to come out victorious against the Titans." Christa spoke up, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm sure that this is going to be the beginning of something even more grand!"

"Your optimism, while endearing, is no less foolish." came the cynical remark from Ymir. "I guarantee you that this was simply a fluke. We may have won, but just how many of our comrades died during that one battle alone?"

"That's why we need to keep pushing forward!" the blonde girl responded with a slight pout. "Their sacrifice will have been in vain if we give up!"

"She's right! Ain't no way I'm gonna just stand idly by after everything that happened!" Reiner opined as he approached the table with Bertholdt following behind.

Ymir quietly growled at the blonde man as she scooted closer to Christa and wrapped her arm around the smaller girls shoulder. "Don't go spouting nonsense just so you can get on Christa's good side! I ain't sharing her!"

"Possessive much?" remarked Connie, to which Sasha chuckled.

"Listen; all I'm saying is that our odds of victory are looking increasingly good." explained Reiner as he sat down while doing his best to ignore Ymir's death-glare. "The Scouts have two major trump cards now."

"That's right." Jean spoke with slight interest. "Speaking of which; you two got a good look at the Slayer, right?" he asked as he pointed his fork towards Armin and Mikasa.

"W-well, kind of..."

"We had a clear view of his actions and what he is capable of." answered Mikasa. "And then we encountered him again at the trial."

"What was he like?!" exclaimed an excited Connie. "Are the stories they say about him true?!"

"Can he really snap his fingers and make Titans explode?" questioned a nervous Bertholdt.

"No. At least not that I saw."

"What about the rumor about him being the size of a small Titan?"

"That's an exaggeration. He looked to be roughly seven-feet tall at max."

As Mikasa took the brunt of the question-assault, Armin was left to wonder about just what the Slayer is capable of, and how he can do such things. Killing Titans without targeting the nape, jumping over buildings without the use of ODM gear, pulling weapons out of thin air... He really hoped that the Slayer would remain an ally. Primarily because he was certain that if the Slayer were to become their enemy, there would be nothing capable of stopping him.

'Please don't let Eren do something stupid and piss him off!'

(-)

To say that Levi was difficult to impress would be a gross understatement. Practically nothing outside of combat was of great interest to him, and with him being the strongest fighter in the Scouting Regiment, it meant that the odds of a new recruit catching his interest in terms of fighting capability was next to nil. There was just too great of a gap between him and his comrades.

But this Slayer person... He is different.

The man(?) -he still wasn't entirely sure that what was underneath the armor was human as the Slayer never removed the protective suit, not even to eat. Which raised several more questions concerning his humanity, since as far as they knew, he didn't eat, sleep, or drink.- expressed no real emotions outside of rage and indifference. Though his disruption during the trial was more akin to impatience than anything else. In combat the Slayer became an unstoppable force of destruction that would utterly annihilate any and all forms of opposition. But as soon as the action died down, he would revert to a passive state as he listlessly wandered around unless he was addressed or instructed. Prior to Hange enlisting the help of VEGA (which meant that the Slayer was pulled in by default), he would regard those around him as little more than a common house-plant. If he deemed the person trying to interact with him as unimportant, he would ignore them.

And so Levi would be lying if he said he wasn't the least bit interested about the most notable addition to their forces as of late. Sure, the brat he was put in charge of was another barrel of fun altogether, but the Slayer had the decency to be competent during any displays of violence and rage, much like how he himself would unleash controlled aggression upon those who pissed him off. Eren was just a petulant child who let his emotions control him and lash out impulsively. So yeah, the Slayer was leagues above Eren in terms of Levi's approval. Thus he was happy -at least by Levi standards- to be called over to the workshop by Erwin while he left his squad to babysit the brat.

The captain finally approached the relatively large building that the Regiment was currently utilizing for equipment repair and management, an old factory that was used to produce farming tools. It was decommissioned after Shiganshina fell, as the sudden loss of land reduced how much equipment was needed. Still, it was relatively intact and as such it served them well. Levi immediately spotted Erwin waiting outside the entrance, his attention currently on the messenger he was talking to.

Upon noticing Levi's approach, Erwin sent the Scout away and beckoned the captain over.

"How goes your progress with training Eren?" the blonde man spoke, not even bothering with a greeting for the constantly dour captain.

"Like trying to squeeze blood from a stone." Levi responded curtly. "I'm amazed the brat placed 5th in the rankings for his year."

"Well just keep at it. If there's anyone who can turn him into a proper soldier, it's you."

Levi gave a non-committal grunt in reply. "That aside, what exactly did you call me over here for?"

Erwin beckoned Levi to follow as he entered the building. "We are working on developing some new equipment for the next mission with the help of VEGA. The reason I called you over is because I want you to help with testing it out. Among other things."

Levi arched a brow in curiosity. "What kind of equipment?"

*BOOM!*

The sound of a loud explosion was accompanied by the building trembling from the force, causing dust to fall from the rafters and shower Levi and Erwin.

"IT WORKS!" came the excited cry of Hange.

"Nevermind." Levi grumbled with a scowl as he pulled out a handkerchief to clean himself off with. "I think I have an inkling as to what's going on."

Erwin pinched the bridge of his nose and did his best to maintain his composure before entering the adjacent room which the explosion originated from. Opening the door, the makeshift workshop was a near complete mess, what with various equipment strewn about, debris flung every which-way, smoke lingering in the air, -and was that hole in the wall always there?

Hange was currently standing on one of the tables, covered head-to-toe in soot and holding up a modified flare gun as if it were the greatest treasure in the world. Meanwhile the Slayer was standing off to the side, looking over the resulting chaos with complete indifference. Noticing their arrival, the Slayer turned his head to nod in Erwin and Levi's direction in greeting.

"My apologies Commander Erwin. I advised Hange to wait before testing out the new AT pistol, but she did not heed my warnings."

Levi could already feel the oncoming migraine start to form. Hange is the one person who should never be left alone with anything that is even remotely volatile. And considering how the Slayer doesn't show much initiative towards anything outside of combat, he might as well have not even been present to stop her.

Somehow managing to tear her gaze away from the gun in her hands, Hange's head snapped in the duo's direction with a rather excited look on her face. "Ah, commander! I am pleased to report that my test fire of the AT pistol was a grand success!"

Her fellow captain shifted his gaze between the gun in Hange's hands and the large hole in the nearby wall. "That gun, did that?" he asked, not for confirmation, but admission of guilt.

The brunette couldn't have looked more proud at being responsible for damaging the structural integrity of the building. "Impressive, isn't it?!" she responded before looking over the gun and making sure everything was still in place. "If we can get a steady production of these going, then not even the Armored Titan will stand a chance!"

"... I think I need some context. What is going on here?"

"In preparation for the upcoming mission, I had requested to examine your current munitions for dealing with the Titans with the intention of using the gathered data for planning later excursions. Upon inspection I noticed that you lack any ranged weaponry for combating the Titans aside from small arms, which aren't of much use considering the size of the enemy. However with the aide of Hange, we have devised a viable means of eliminating Titans from a safe distance while in the field. With the advent of the AT pistol, I estimate the mortality rate of your forces to be reduced by 41.5%, provided the weapons are distributed properly amongst the Scouts."

Despite the severe damage the building suffered as a result of Hange's impatience, Erwin was more than pleased with the results, as shown by the faint grin pulling at his lips. Levi was considerably less enthused.

"Then explain how that leads to the wall being blown apart. Just what is this 'AT pistol'?"

Almost as if they rehearsed it prior, Hange walked over to Levi and Erwin and presented the weapon in her hands.

"The AT pistol, which is short for Anti Titan pistol, is a slightly modified flare gun which is then loaded with explosive munitions provided by the Slayer. The first step in constructing the weapon was swapping out the standard firing mechanism with a straight-pull ignition hammer to accommodate a heavier payload. Next we extended the barrel by an extra two inches to allow for better stability. Lastly we rifled the barrel to allow the excess force from firing the weapon a means of escape so it does not detonate in the users hands."

Levi turned his dry gaze towards Erwin. "Let's pretend that just for a second, I decide to go along with this. What do you expect me to do?"

"I want you to go outside the Wall and test these weapons out on some Titans. With the Slayer, of course. Provided they work, we will have finally developed the first reliable means of eliminating Titans from a safe distance."

"Hoh? Sounds like Four-eyes finally managed to produce something useful." Levi remarked, causing Hange to puff out her chest in pride. "Though I suspect that VEGA did the majority of the work."

"Hey!" barked the scientist in indignation.

Grabbing the gun from Hange, Levi gave it a closer inspection. "What exactly do this use for munitions?"

"It fires a 30mm HE frag-round cluster variant."

As VEGA answered Levi's question, the Slayer held up his combat shotgun and pulled back the slide for the under-slung grenade launcher, allowing him to eject one of the rounds without it being primed. He then presented the munition for the others to see.

"Upon impact with solid-mass, the grenade will detonate in a violent explosion with a radius of approximately 2 meters, and is highly effective against soft-targets. However since it is of the cluster variant, the initial detonation will release several smaller explosives that will activate exactly 1.25 seconds later, resulting in a secondary blast that will increase the area of effect by 65%. My calculations estimate that there will be a 92% chance that the explosion will destroy a Titans nape so long as the round hits the area around their neck. It was quite fortuitous that your flare guns were the appropriate size to accommodate the new ammunition."

"Won't our supply of these grenades run out quickly? Seeing as how the Slayer is providing them from his own stockpile?"

"A reasonable concern, but not one you need worry about. The Slayer makes use of numerous Runes that enhance his combat abilities. You might think of them as being a type of magic. And one of the powers that they grant him is an infinite supply of ammunition, so long as he can maintain his strength."

Levi raised a brow. "You have to be joking."

"Negative. I currently lack the required software in order to process humor."

Letting out a sigh of resignation, the diminutive captain turned his gaze back towards Erwin. "You're just going along with this crazy shit, aren't you?"

"It is best not to dwell on that which we cannot comprehend. Our efforts should be focused towards a goal that we can feasibly reach."

"Fine. But I want my squad to be the first ones armed with these things... Don't make one for Eren though. Kid is liable to blow himself up."

"Done." Erwin responded. "Now take Slayer with you and get these things tested out on some real Titans. I also want you to show him the ropes with the ODM gear. It won't hurt for him to be equipped with some extra mobility."

After handing over a small crate of the AT pistols to the Slayer and giving Levi the requisition form for another set of ODM gear, Erwin was soon left alone with Hange.

"What do you think the odds of this working are?" the brunette asked.

"The odds don't matter. The success of our upcoming expedition is dependent on the two of them being able to fight in sync. And I can't think of a better way for them to get along that doesn't involve them killing Titans."

"I will admit that the idea of the two of them being set loose against the Titans is a frightening one. Makes me almost feel sorry for our enemies... Almost."

Erwin nodded. "Right. How goes the progress on our 'other project'?"

"Everything is proceeding on schedule... This is one hell of a risky plan. If something goes wrong, this might result in all of us getting killed."

"... In order to win it all, you must be willing to risk it all. I already expect us to suffer numerous casualties regardless of what happens. But we cannot afford to turn back now."