Nuke

Annie's POV

"So Brooks' at bootcamp?" asked Ajax

I nodded and he seemed to be thinking about it.

"There's a lot of things going on in my head." I said

"Like what?" asked Emily

"I just, I feel like my father." I replied

"Your father?" questioned Emily

"No matter how much I loved him, it didn't feel like a normal father and child relationship." I replied

Ajax eyed Emily and she nodded.

"Does it feel like you're blaming yourself for something?" asked Emily

"Kind of but I don't know what I'm blaming myself for." I replied

"Okay let's put that aside for now, let's focus on Brooks." said Emily

I nodded in agreement.

"So how does Brooks act around you?" asked Emily

"Distant." I replied

"Do you know the reason why?" asked Emily

"Because of Eren." I replied

Emily thought about it for a few seconds.

"Okay do you act distant as well?" asked Emily

"I do." I replied

"Does he blame you?" asked Emily

"Yes." I replied

"I think you should clear the air between you and him." replied Emily, "Have you ever told him what really happened?"

"No, we never talked about it." I replied, "I don't want to replay those memories again."

Emily smiled and held my hands in hers.

"I know the past was tough and very burdening in your heart. But no matter what the more you run from it the more it'll hurt you cause eventually, it'll catch up." said Emily, "Eren's death was a big deal for all of us but I can't say much because it hurt you the most."

"Annie." called out Ajax

I looked up at him and in his eyes I saw despair.

"Don't end up like me." he said

I felt a wave of emotions rush into my chest and I wanted to let it all out but I held it in.

"Talk to Brooks and Ashley, they both love you and I'm sure they'll understand as long as you talk to them." said Emily

I broke down crying and Emily hugged me, I began sobbing into her chest not knowing what to do.

"It's okay, we all understand you Annie." said Emily

'I'm sorry Brooks, I'm sorry Ashley.'

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The next day

Ghost's POV

"Do you remember this place?" I asked

"I remember, every detail clearly." replied Rina

I watched as Rina retraced the cabin where I saved her, where her family was killed.

"If it wasn't for you I would have been dead too." she said

"Rina, are you sure you want to be here?" I asked

"Yea I'm sure dad." she replied

She entered the cabin and began walking around as I followed her around. Emily was still in Eldia helping Annie with her family problems.

"A normal human can't fight a titan without ODM gear but everyone in Sentinel seemed to be able to do that." said Rina, "How's that possible?"

"I can't answer that question." I replied

"You're so humble for what?" cheerfully asked Rina

Even though she was cheerful I could tell she was trying really hard to hold in her emotions.

"Rina, stop it." I said

"Huh stop what?" she asked

I looked at her and she looked confused.

"You're holding in your emotions." I said

Rina stayed silent then turned around to look at the staircase.

"I'm sorry." she replied

I don't know what to say but she looked at me and she had tears rolling down her eyes.

"I miss my family." she said

I looked at her and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I'll give you some time alone." I said, "If that's what you want."

"No no that's not what I want." she said as she slowly started tearing up more

"Rina I-"

"Don't be sorry, you couldn't save them, there's nothing you could have done. You did your best." she cut me off

She began sobbing and she ran and hugged me. I slowly wrapped my hands around her and gently hugged her.

"Would, would my family be proud of what I'm doing right now?" asked Rina

"I'm sure they're proud for what you've accomplished and will accomplish in the future." I replied

1 year later

Ashley's POV

"It's been one year and I still haven't received an invitation from Sentinel." complained Keegan

"Hey be patient, I'm sure you'll get it." I replied

"I really hope I do, unless my dad decides to give me the excuse that I'm not ready just so that he can feel superior." grumbled Keegan

"Your dad worries for you and he knows when you're ready." I said, "Plus it's not him who's deciding."

"Yea but he still has a connection with Sentinel. When I went home on my break and I had the chance to go to the Sentinel HQ literally everyone stopped and saluted even though he's retired." said Keegan

"You're dad is amazing. You know I saw him recently too right, when I had my break and he and your mom were there and they were just awesome." I said, "I envy my mom for being able to work side by side with your dad."

"Yea I wish that happened to me." mumbled Keegan

"Does your dad train you hard?" I asked

"Yea, vigorously." replied Keegan

"I see, my mom and dad trained me a lot but they were lenient since they didn't want to force it upon me." I replied

"Oh I see." replied Keegan

"Hey Ashley."

I turned and saw Damion standing there.

"What are uhh you two doing?" he stuttered

"Talking?" I replied making it obvious

"Right, uhh well-"

"I'm going to head out." said Keegan

"Yes Sergeant Kan." I mocked

"Don't call me that, plus we're the same rank." replied Keegan while smiling

Keegan waves so I wave back as he leaves.

"What brings you here?" I asked Damion

"Well I thought since there was nothing to do we could talk." said Damion

"No, get to work you've been slacking. If you got nothing to do then go clean the barracks." I said

Damion seemed disappointed.

"Is there a problem?" I asked

"No, no problem." replied Damion

"Then hurry up and go." I said

"Wait I have a question." said Damion

"What is it?" I asked

Damion shuffled around from his position and started fidgeting around.

"Do you uhhh..."

"Hurry up and spit it out." I demanded

"Is there something going on between you and Keegan?" asked Damion

"No, besides being friends." I replied

"Then uhh do you like him?" asked Damion

That question made my heart bump in my chest. I've never seen Keegan like that but now that Damion mentioned it, for some reason my feelings seemed to have changed.

'Do I really like Keegan?'

"No, I don't." I replied hesitantly

Damion didn't seem to buy but he nodded and left.

'What's up with him?'

"Ashley." called out a familiar voice

I turned and saw Brooks with Joshua besides him.

"Why's everyone looking for me today?" I sighed

"Major Gabi is looking for you." said Brooks

"Shit, okay I'll be back." I said

I left and ran over to Gabi's office.

"Ma'am Sergeant Jaeger reporting." I reported

"Sergeant remember Captain Grice?" asked Gabi

"Yes ma'am current holder of the jaw titan." I replied, "And your husband."

Gabi smiled when I said that.

"He'll be overlooking your titan training." said Gabi

'Finally.'

"Thank you ma'am." I thanked

"Dismissed, oh and bring Sergeant Keegan if you can." said Gabi

"Yes ma'am." I replied

I saluted and left in excitement.

"You look excited." said Keegan

I shrieked in surprise, I didn't expect him to be here.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked

'Was he waiting for me?'

"Oh just had nothing to do." replied Keegan while scratching his cheek.

"Oh, well uhh Major is looking for you." I said

"Huh? Really? Okay get going if you have something to do." said Keegan

"I'll uhh just wait for you." I replied

"That'll be good." said Keegan while smiling

He enters the office leaving me to think.

'You're really different from your dad.'

Keegan's POV

"Ma'am Sergeant Kan reporting." I reported

"Sergeant, you and the Marine Raiders are going to execute a full assault in 30 minutes." said Gabi

"A full scale assault?" I questioned

"We have reports of Mullah Omar present in a TV station ready to broadcast a live speech in an hour." replied Gabi

"Mullah Omar? Isn't he the Commander of the Faithful." I asked

"He is, he's a highly wanted target. Your mission with your squad is to cut off any reinforcements from these routes." said Gabi

She pointed roads on the map and I nodded as I memorized it.

"Get your squad ready." said Gabi

"Yes ma'am." I replied

I saluted and left the office where Ashley was waiting.

"Hey sorry but I'm part of a full scale assault." I said

"Oh okay, be safe! I'll be waiting!" called out Ashley

I waved and she waved back as I ran back towards my squad.

"Everyone gear up, we're leaving in 15 minutes, we're part of a full scale assault." I said

"Yes Sergeant." replied my entire squad

I got geared up in less than 10 minutes and the squad and I boarded a black hawk. The ride there would take 25 minutes and we'll have 25 minutes to take out Omar.

25 minutes later

Keegan's POV

"RPGs on the roof." I called out

RPG missiles began to fly past us and I saw a missile hit one black hawk and it started falling down and crashed into a building before exploding.

"Falcon 2 is down." said a voice through my headset

"LZ in 30 seconds." said the pilot

I attached one of the ropes to the helicopter and waited.

"Hostiles on the roof, clear them out." said the pilot

My squad and I began firing at the hostiles on the roofs of nearby buildings.

"LZ is clear, we're a go." said the pilot

I pushed the rope off the chopper and slid down the rope and secured the perimeter so that my squad could safely land.

"Let's move!" I yelled

We moved down the streets towards the street we were supposed to set an ambush at. We got there and we began setting up mine and other explosives along the road and began hiding in the buildings waiting for the reinforcements to come.

"Sergeant Kan reinforcements are heading straight towards you, cut them off." said a voice through my headset

"Roger that." I replied, "Get ready."

I got on the mounted M2 browning and waited for the reinforcements.

"Do not fire or detonate anything before my command." I said

Everyone nodded and spread out throughout the streets.

"At least 30 vehicles approaching your position." said a voice through my headset

I saw the first vehicle driving towards us with a whole line of vehicles behind it.

"Wait..." I whispered into my headset

I waited for the vehicles to get closer into the trap.

"Now." I said

The bombs detonated, exploding the entire street and half the convoy.

"Open fire!" I yelled

I began to shoot the machine gun at the surviving Talibans and the ones who weren't caught in the explosion. I shot 5 Talibans and their bodies got shredded into bits.

'This gun shreds.'

I continued firing and half of my squad went out onto the streets and began clearing the rest.

"All clear here sergeant." said a squad mate

"Command, this is Sergeant. Reinforcements are cut off." I said into my headset

"Understood but right now we have a bigger problem, there is a confirmed nuclear bomb in sight. Get your squad out of there, there will be a Chinook on the rendezvous point. It's marked on your screen watch." said the voice

'A nuke? Here?'

"Let's move! There's a nuke here we need to get to the rendezvous point to get picked up!" I yelled

My squad and I began running towards the point as fast as we could.

"Over there!" yelled a squad mate

I ran over to the chinook and entered it with my squad. We took off and I saw at least 6 other chinooks behind us leaving the sight as well.

"All units we have confirmed sighting of a nuclear bomb. All units fall back from danger zone, a bomb squad has been sent to deal with-"

Suddenly there was a bright white light blinding me and then a loud explosion. The light died down and my eyes widened when there was a giant ball of cloud and the impact hit the chinook and started to lose control.

I fell and I was getting sucked out of the chinook but I grabbed onto the seat. A squad mate was falling out so I grabbed his arm and held onto him but the chinook was spinning around too fast and I lost my grip and the soldier screamed as he flew out of the chinook. I held onto my seat as hard as I could and braced for impact. The chinook crashes and I hit my head against something hard and I black out.

I heard something blaring in my ears and felt pain across my left arm. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes to see that I was still inside the chinook. I felt pain in my left arm so I looked at it and there was a piece of metal that was stabbed in my arm right in the middle of my forearm. I grit my teeth in pain and tried to stand up and I looked around to see that my entire squad was laying across the chinook. I began checking each and every one of them but they were all dead.

I decided to leave the chinook so I limped my way out of the chinook but I slipped and fell down, tumbling down the ramp and into some debris from a destroyed building. The sky was red and everything was silent except for the noise of the wind blowing. I got up and began limping on the street until I got to the middle and my eyes widened as I saw a giant mushroom cloud in the distance. My head was spinning and I was slowly losing consciousness every time I took a step.

"This is HQ, does anyone read me?" I heard a voice through my headset

I tried responding but my radio was broken.

'Crap.'

I was slowly feeling dizzy causing me to collapse onto my knees and stare at the giant mushroom cloud.

'Someone, help me.'

I fell onto the ground and closed my eyes.

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