Rose Squadron: the Inkari Gambit

Before she departed with her four comrades to Reiner’s pilot ship, Annie pulled Mikasa into a remote corner of the Vindictive Empress, shocking her stoic companion.
“What is it, Annie?” she hesitantly asked.
“I need to tell you another, vital reason why I can’t have everybody else initially accommodate us into Inkari,” Annie told her in a hushed whisper. “Specifically Eren. Mikasa...I can’t let him know that this’ll be the last time we’ll ever see each other.”
Mikasa balked, and mumbled, “W-wait, what do you mean?”
“The odds are stacked against me that I’ll die in whatever fight I instigate against the Moff,” she said to Mikasa. “He doesn’t fight fair, and always has an entourage of Stormtroopers with him at all times. I’m bound to die down there, and I don’t want Eren trying to defend me and get himself killed as a result. I’ve already dealt with too much heartbreak up until now, and if he dies trying to help me, it’ll destroy me.”
Mikasa bit back tears, and said to her, “I don’t understand the nature of the bond you have with my foster-brother, Annie, but it’s obvious that you care a whole lot about him, even though you don’t know him. And you’re right. He’s a self-sacrificing lion towards us, and would definitely do the same for you after the time you’ve spent with him, and that odd dream you two kept having of each other. It’s clear that you both were meant to meet each other, probably to help you find the truth about Mina’s death, and as for Eren...I suppose that remains to be seen. Perhaps he’ll find something on Inkari when we join you five in the fighting.”
“I suppose so. This is goodbye, Mikasa. Thank you for everything.”
“Goodbye, Annie Leonhardt. And...may the Force be with you, no matter what happens next.”
---
Reiner’s pilot ship sailed through the hyperspace tunnel as the group stood in silence, watching the streaks of starlight aimlessly. They all stood still as statues, aching for the ship to finally arrive at Inkari, and for their hopeful pass through the planetary shield into Gintomi City.
Connie, still standing unwaveringly faithful next to Annie, gently asked her, “What’s your plan of action, Annie?”
She turned to him and told him, “First things first, we need to get through that planetary shield. When we get close to the planet and within the transmission range of the Security Department tower, Chief of Security Haston Uttaka will need to grant Reiner and Bertholdt permission to pass through, based on the necessary lie that they failed to find me. After that, we need to convince Haston to deactivate the entire shield, so that the Vindictive Empress can join us.”
All heads were turned to her as she muttered, more to herself than anybody else, “Of course, before Eren and the others join us, we need to find a way to convince Hedasta and the rest of the Inkarin to join us in outing Datenshi. That’s the hardest part of this scheme, and why uploading that video to the HoloNet is so important.”
Armin told her, “Annie, remind me, how do you intend for us to share the footage with Inkari’s HoloNet?”
“Through the Security Tower’s main terminal,” she replied. “But that also depends on Haston, and whether or not he sides with us.”
Reiner said over his shoulder, “Without being too optimistic, chances are, he will. He was more than willing to let all three of us go to Takodana without asking the Moff for permission. Mr. Haston has been oddly willing to circumvent the martial laws imposed on our planet. That, and ever since he told me and Bert that both he and Pieck also had that horrific dream-vision of you screaming and sobbing, I’ve had a growing suspicion that those two have hidden motives...maybe even rebellious ones.”
“No kidding,” Annie mused, remembering how Haston and Pieck had exchanged a knowing glance when she had opened up about her apparent Force-created dream about Takodana. “They’re definitely hiding something, especially Haston. I still don’t understand why he was so shaken when I told him about seeing Eren’s eyes gazing at me over the view of Takodana. He doesn’t know who Eren is...does he?”
Bert grimaced, and told them all, “I just want to return to Inkari, make everybody aware of what that bastard did to Mina, and return to our normal lives. I don’t care if that means the three of us are marked as traitors by the Empire, so long as we finally have genuine peace.”
He gave Annie a meaningful glance, and in return, she gazed up at him wearily, aware that she was about to break their hearts even further. Reiner turned to look at her closely, and Annie could see that the blonde giant was aware of another matter on her mind.
“Yes, when the dust settles from this conflict, you two will be able to return to your daily lives, no doubt hailed as heroes by our people. But as for me...I fully expect for this battle we’re planning to be my last day on Inkari...or anywhere else in this wartorn galaxy. When we return to Inkari, I intend to lay down my life.”
A horrid silence fell over their group, and Connie wrapped a lithe arm around her frail shoulders, holding her close as his body wracked with new sobbing. Annie leaned into his embrace gratefully, watching as the other boys simultaneously collapsed into their own tears.
“W-what?!” Reiner shouted, clenching his seat and panicking. “Are you saying that you’re going to commit suicide once this is all said and done?!”
Annie shook her head and gave them all a firm, stoic glance as she stated, “While suicide isn’t my desire...I want to be with Mina.”
To her right, Connie bowed his head in guilt, and the others looked at her with expressions of mixed pity and alarm. Annie sighed wistfully, and knew that she had no choice but to explain her motives.
“She came to me in a dream, on the night before I returned to Takodana to intercept Bert and Reiner. When I saw Mina, there was no trace of agony, grief, or even rage at her death. She was robed in white, and gave me that beautiful smile I’ve cherished for so long. During the dream, she held me close, kissed me tenderly, and told me…’I await you on the other side.’”
Reiner started to protest before Annie cut him off with an agitated shake of her head.
“Please, Reiner, all of you, don’t try to stop me. It’s too late. None of you can hope to understand what happened to me when I learned how my best friend died. When I watched her writhe in agony and scream my name as her last word, the despair I suffered at that moment was so bad, I nearly died from a broken heart. In fact, Christa can attest to that.”
Annie felt her own tears welling up, as she whispered to them, “I came to the door of death when that happened, and I’ve already taken a step through to the other side. As it is, I can’t come back, and I know that I’ll never fully recover from what happened. I want my pain and sorrow to end, and death is the only permanent solution. While I’m not going to Inkari to commit suicide, I’m well aware that I’ll die during my confrontation with Datenshi...and that’s what I want. To die, and finally be reunited with Mina. Nothing else matters to me.”
Reiner bit his lip hard and shakily turned around, facing the port window in an attempt to cover up his grief. All the others remained silent, except for Bert, who stepped forward, looking desperate.
“A-Annie?”
She glanced at him warily, and asked, “What, Bert?”
“Can we...talk in the back?”
“Uh...ok.”
Connie removed his arm from her shoulders, and Annie followed her anxious comrade to the back of the ship, aggravatingly aware that everybody else was watching them closely. In the back, a small bead of sweat trickled down Bert’s tanned face, a harbinger of the agitation building up inside him. It was too obvious to every other person around him that he was consumed with tension.
“Bert, what’s the matter?” Annie whispered to him, confused by his sudden bout of assertiveness. “You look like your beating yourself up over something...again. What is it?”
Bertholdt shuddered and softly told her, “A-Annie...me and Reiner owe you a huge apology.”
At that, she gawked up at him, and asked, “For what? You two never did anything to me!”
“I know that, but...that’s not what I’m apologizing for. Annie…”
Tears beaded up in Bert’s green eyes, and he finally said wearily, “We weren’t there for you while you grieved over Mina, and...we failed you, Annie!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Annie saw Reiner collapsed over the pilot controls, shaking with what must’ve been bitter tears, with Connie and Armin watching on somberly. She looked up at Bert with pity as he continued.
“We had every opportunity imaginable to try to offer some form of comfort while you were on leave, but we were too hesitant, and unsure that you’d want us around. We watched you weep alongside Senator Carolina this whole time, but we never stepped forward like we should’ve to help you. We both feel like shit for standing around and watching you mourn, when as your comrades, we shouldn’t have hesitated to offer you our shoulders to cry on. And I feel the worst, Annie, when I…”
He turned away in shame, his cheeks turning the slightest shade of red, and Annie knew that no matter how many years passed, Bertholdt, perhaps the shyest man to ever join the Imperial ranks, could never bring himself to directly admit his feelings to her.
Annie stepped forward and held his hand gently, making him look back down at her. An unexpected surge of regret welled up in her as her memories of their camaraderie returned, reminding her of all the times Reiner and Bert had stood by her side, always loyal, despite her endlessly cold demeanor towards them, and her blatant refusal to let them in on her life. For the entirety of their military career, Annie had rebuked any and all attempts from either of the young men to get close to her, as she had scornfully viewed them both as unconditionally loyal dogs to the Imperial cause, even after they had learned of Alderaan’s destruction.
“Oh, Bert…” she sadly whispered, squeezing his hand as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Please, don’t do this to yourself. I never gave you or Reiner any indication that I wanted you to help me heal while I isolated myself from the military and the rest of Inkari. This whole time, I treated you both with disdain, and made it clear that I was only your fellow soldier, not somebody interested in genuine friendship. When I took my leave, I wanted to be alone, and that had nothing to do with you two; I needed to hide from the world until I was ready to return, and not once did I expect you two to turn up at my doorstep, ready to comfort me. How could I? I never treated you two with any bit of warmth, and that’s entirely my fault.”
“B-but…” Bert argued, tears now fully streaming down his face, “even then, we still should’ve checked up on you, even once! If you had...disappeared, I never would’ve forgiven myself!”
In that long, painful year of grieving and slow recovery, Annie remembered that suicidal thoughts had crossed her mind more than once. It was a miracle, and out of loyalty to Hedasta, that she hadn’t acted on them.
“Bert, if I had made that choice, it would’ve been because I couldn’t bear the pain of Mina’s loss any longer...not because I felt you two failed me. And you never did, Bert. Neither you nor Reiner ever failed me in that regard. Especially in this tumultuous series of events, when you both were utterly determined to rescue me when you thought that Rose Squadron was torturing me because of the nightmare you two had. And please, Bert…”
They both gave Reiner a mournful glance as she muttered, “Please, don’t blame yourselves when I inevitably die down there.”
Connie and Armin bit their lips hard, their own tears still streaming down their small faces, and at last, Reiner turned around in the pilot seat, showing both Annie and Bert that his eyes had turned scarlet from the overwhelming amount of grief he felt for her.
“I know that none of us can change your mind about your resolve, Annie,” Bert said to her softly, as she cast a pitying look on Reiner and the other two boys. “But please, trust us to help you give Mina justice...ok?”
She looked back up at him, and gave her comrade a genuine smile, as she said sincerely, “Of course, Bert. I trust you, Reiner and the rest of you to help me avenge Mina’s murder, and obliterate that snake, Sebastian Datenshi. When we set foot on Inkari, I will see to it personally that he dies just as violently as the death he gave Mina, and that the entire galaxy finally becomes aware of the Emperor’s treachery against our people.”