 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | I think we’ve harried their front line enough. The Warrior Units should withdraw to block an enemy retreat. The rest… is up to the Airborne Unit. | „ |
| ~ Colt Grice to his superior, Theo Magath regarding the Airborne Unit. |
The Airborne Unit, also simply known as the Paratrooper Unit, is a special subsection in the Marleyan military’s aerial branch. They focus on combining the power of the Titans with aerial warfare, such as using Pure Titans as a bombardment during the Mid-East Allies War.
Duty[]
The main function of the Airborne Unit is to move mid-air in order for them to close in on the enemy, and then proficiently destroy them by using the Power of the Titans. Considering the fact that Pure Titans are used, seizing and capturing the enemy doesn’t seem to be their obligation or function, as the Pure Titans are entirely used to cause mass destruction.
The tactical and strategic mobility possessed by the airborne division’s airship, makes transportation also a viable responsibility. Such as when Reiner Braun and Zeke Yeager were placed in the Eldian Airborne Unit to simultaneously destroy fort Slava together with the rest of the Titanized Eldian Unit.
Qualities[]
The Airborne Unit is a generally small division in the Marleyan air force, which is already a lesser branch in the Marleyan Army, as aerial combat is considered a more modern and new type of warfare. But thanks to the Power of the Titans, the division has a high ratio of destruction capability.
The airship itself appears to be a standard Marleyan zeppelin, which is frequently used by the military for many other airborne assault operations. It is assumed that it can travel long distances so it can be used for operations with a long duration, even though the Airborne Unit is used for a small part of it.
The trained soldiers present in the Airborne Unit is of a very low ratio compared to all other divisions. This is mainly because a large part of its fighting force appears to be done by Pure Titans. Many Subjects of Ymir are unwillingly transformed into Titans after having been injected with Zeke Yeager's spinal fluid. The convicted Eldians are dropped off the ship and when Zeke triggers the transformation by screaming, the Titans drop to the ground as though they are bombs, while later devouring whatever is left of the enemy. They are considered an efficient weapon of mass destruction because of the lack of recourses necessary to create Pure Titans. The remaining fighting force of the Unit are at least two of the Nine Titans obtained by Marley who have their own unique individual powers, and are therefore considered to be much more valuable than the Pure Titans who are seen as nothing more than disposable war machines.
The main battle group is thus the Power of the Titans, with the Marleyan soldiers present in the unit being more tactical militias who are much fewer in numbers. But are also trained and equipped to make assault landings by parachute, although they aren’t seen doing this.
Story[]
Past[]
It is unknown when the Airborne Unit was formed or if its specific strategy was ever used before during an earlier war.
Marley arc[]
After Marley’s failure in the operation to retrieve the Founding Titan, war breaks out between Marley and the Mid-East Allied Forces, a coalition between multiple nations. The war was started by the Mid-East Allies and was the result of a long a dispute between Marley and those countries over the sovereignity of a territory on a peninsula, due to its valuable resources. Including the fact that Marley lost two of its Titan powers, the Female and Colossal Titan respectively, causing the Mid-East Allied Forces to strike Marley in their weaker state. After four years of fighting, the war reaches its climax during the Battle of Fort Slava.
The Marleyan Military came up with a plan to destroy the fortress and gain access to its naval port. Dozens of Eldians throughout Marley who committed an offense severe enough to be sentence to life are gathered, forcibly injected with Zeke’s spinal fluid, and are drugged in order for them to resist fighting back. The Eldian convicts are strapped in parachute gear and loaded into an airship together with the commander of the Airborne Unit, Reiner Braun, Zeke Yeager and a few other Marleyan soldiers.
They travel somewhere in the area of Fort Slava, mostly stay away from the fort, as the armored train belonging to the Mid-East Allied Forces was strong enough to immediately kill any Titan, including one of the Nine.
The armored train was eventually derailed by Warrior candidate, Gabi Braun. The ground forces would quickly relay this information to the Paratrooper Commander, he would command the airship to travel towards Fort Slava. He retells the plan to the people on the ship, thus claiming that the final solution to the war can be implemented and calls Zeke the “spear” with Reiner being the “shield”. The convicted Eldians are completely dazed however, not understanding the fate awaiting them.
The Eldian Ground Unit, including the Jaw Titan, and the Panzer Unit, including the Cart Titan, take down the remaining defenses and bunkers outside the fort. They eventually retreat upon having gained signal that the aerial attack is about to begin.
The Eldian captive paratroopers start being deployed from the air and calmly fly down towards the fort by parachute. The Allied soldiers look in confusion by what’s happening, until Zeke screams triggering the transformation. The newly turned Pure Titans come falling down on Fort Salta, destroying a large part of the fortress. But the high altitude of when they fell was severe enough that over half of the Titans died on impact.
The Eldian convicts having transformed into Pure Titans.
The Titans that didn’t get killed on impact quickly start regenerating and devouring the Allied soldiers, who respond by killing them with modern anti-Titan artillery. Reiner goes down and transforms into the Armored Titan, he falls down on the fortress and begins destroying the cannons, eventually being joined by Porco Galliard still in his Jaw Titan form. After the troops of the Mid-East Allies have been defeated and Fort Slava has fallen, Zeke joins them and transforms into the Beast Titan, he grabs many armor-piercing shells and walks closely towards the naval port of a town beneath the fort, where the surviving capital fleet of the Mid-East Allied Forces gathered, after being slowly repelled in the long sea conflict against the Marley Navy throughout four years. Zeke throws the shells at extremely high speed, but the warships simultaneously fire anti-Titan artillery towards him. He’s protected however by Reiner, who shields his comrade but is wounded in the process, human technology fully destroying the Armored Titan for the first time in history. The shells thrown by Zeke heavily damage the warships and after throwing many other shells once more, the fleet is annihilated.
After the destruction of the Mid-East Allied Forces's fleet and Fort Slava, Marley is officially the winner of the war, partially thanks to the Commander, but also from the infantry and Warriors of the Eldian Unit. A few days later, the defeated Mid-Eastern nations sign a peace treaty with Marley, while their advanced military equipment is taken for the Marleyan military's own usage and reproduction. Fort Slava, its town, and the whole peninsula's land are annexed by Marley from the Mid-East Allied Forces.
It is unknown if Marley was ever planning on using the Airborne Unit’s strategy ever again, but considering the rise in militaristic technology, the specific tactic of Titan bombardments would presumably still be seen as a cheap way of mass devastation towards Marley’s enemies. When Eren Yeager attacks Liberio and murders General Calvi and most of the military's highest-ranking executives, Theo Magath assumes leadership and announces that a new war policy for Marley that he will enact will be banning the use of the power of the Titans in war entirely, in order to focus solely on technological progress, aircraft, and bomb development. This does no longer matter eventually, due to massive changes caused by the Rumbling's global-scale level of destruction done by Eren, as well as due to the power of the Titans vanishing after the Battle of Heaven and Heart.
