User:RuneLai/Sandbox

"This is just temporary until we get a good quote"

- User:RuneLai while thinking about how this event write-up is going to be a mess

The coup d'état (クーデター) was a military uprising against the Royal Government in response to the growing efforts to dissolve the Scout Regiment. This resulted in the old monarchy being overthrown and the Reiss family, the true royal bloodline, returning to prominence in the public eye with Historia Reiss being crowned Queen of the Walls.

Prelude
The Scout Regiment discovered the presence of a Titan inside of Wall Rose following the capture of the Female Titan. Due to the intervention of Pastor Nick to prevent it from awakening, Commander Erwin Smith learned that there were people within the Walls aware of secrets hidden from the general populace.

Nick was taken with the Scout Regiment when they left Stohess District and Hange Zoë placed him in the Trost District barracks under a fake background out of concern that he might be targeted for cooperating with the Scouts.

In the aftermath of the Wall Rose invasion, Dot Pyxis met with a recuperating Erwin and discussed the evacuation situation. The emergency food supplies for Wall Rose's refugees were exhausted within a week. There were clashes with the Military Police and the people of the Walls got a glimpse of the tensions that could have boiled over had the breach been for real.

Squad Levi was rebuilt to consist of the remaining top ten members of the 104th Cadet Corps and Armin Arlelt with the specific task of guarding Eren Jaeger, who they now knew had the power to control Titans, and Historia Reiss who was the illegitimate daughter of a rural noble.

The First Interior Squad
Pastor Nick was murdered in his barracks and Hange Zoë discovered an investigation being carried by the Military Police Regiment. Though she was not able to examine the crime scene, Hange saw that all of Nick's fingernails had been pulled out. Moreover, the soldiers guarding the door, Djel Sannes and Ralph, were part of the Military Police's First Interior Squad and did not normally operate outside of the capital.

They attempted to cover up the murder as a robbery because Nick was a member of the Order of the Walls and their holy objects were made of valuable iron, but in doing so they revealed they knew too much about him to be an unrelated party. Hange had not mentioned anything about his religion when she filled out the application for him to stay.

Later that day, Commander Erwin Smith sent Nifa with word of a freeze on Scout activity outside the Walls to Levi and Hange's squads. The government also asked them to hand over Eren and Historia. Nifa escaped from the Scout's headquarters as the Military Police under Nile Dawk arrived to detain Erwin.

Thank to Erwin's warning, the newly reformed Squad Levi and Hange's squad escaped from their remote cabin before the Military Police could capture them. Levi asked Hange to leave some of her squad with him, so Keiji, Nifa, and Abel remained with Levi and Moblit Berner accompanied Hange on her visit to Erwin.

Levi and those with him headed for Trost District to put distance between them and the capital. There, the citizens were receiving handouts on behalf of the king. While the squad walked down the street, a carriage barged through and kidnapped two members of Squad Levi.

Having anticipated this, the kidnapped victims were not Eren Jaeger and Historia Reiss, but a disguised Jean Kirschtein and Armin Arlelt. Levi and his squad tracked the kidnappers to their hideout in a warehouse. Noting that the kidnappers were amateurs, he left the rest of the body double operation up to his squad and left to meet Nifa and Abel. Squad Levi quickly captured the kidnappers and prepared to meet up with their captain.

Nifa and Abel were stationed on top of different buildings to watch Keiji, who was transporting the real Eren and Historia to Dot Pyxis in a separate carriage. Levi joined Nifa and noted that something felt off about how the Military Police were reacting. As he concluded who could possibly be behind this, they were ambushed by a special squad led by Kenny Ackermann. Nifa and Abel were killed immediately and Keiji shortly thereafter as Kenny's squad proceeded to kidnap Eren and Historia. Hearing gunshots, Squad Levi arrived in time to see their friends being captured, but were unable to save them.

Meanwhile, the Military Police confiscated inventory from the Scout Regiment headquarters, including Erwin's personal effects. When they had a moment alone, Erwin tried to talk with Nile, and asked him questions about the government and who would he trust. Nile was discomforted by the questioning and realized that Erwin was planning something.

Squad Levi regrouped at the kidnappers' warehouse and talked with their ringleader, who turned out to be Dimo Reeves, the head of the Reeves Company. Reeves was forced into working with the Military Police to save the lives of his son, his employees, and himself. Levi convinced him to help the Scouts instead. As part of the deal, Reeves lured Djel Sannes and Ralph of the First Interior Squad into a trap by promising them that he was taking them to Levi's hideout. The two of them were then captured.

After the Military Police left Scout headquarters, Hange and Moblit met up with Erwin. She informed him that Eren and Historia had been kidnapped and that if they do not rescue Eren soon he will be eaten. Hange then met up with Levi in their new hideout to assist with the interrogation of Sannes.

Sannes admitted he had tortured a lot of people, but because of the First Interior Squad, the people within the Walls have never known war. They erased anyone necessary to protect the peace. However, even in the face of his current situation, Sannes refused to break, drawing on his devotion to the King and his mission of protecting the peace within the Walls. He asked Levi and Hange to go ahead and torture him to death, since it would be a fitting punishment for what he had done with his life.

Outwardly dismayed by his willingness to die, Hange and Levi left Sannes strapped in his chair and exited the room, leaving the door open a crack. On the other side, they forced Ralph to read from a script while he was unaware that Sannes was close enough to hear. Following the script, Ralph confessed to talking to the Scout Regiment and voiced disgust for Sannes and his fanaticism. Hange and Levi later returned to Sannes and found his spirit broken by Ralph's presumed betrayal. Sannes confessed that the Reiss family was the true royal family. From this, Hange concluded that Eren and Historia were likely where Rod Reiss was.

At about the same time, Reeves and his son Flegel took a break in the near empty streets of Trost so Flegel could relieve himself in an alley. Kenny snuck up on Reeves and slit his throat for betraying them, though he missed seeing Flegel witness the murder.

Erwin's Plan
That same night Erwin met with Pyxis to suggest they overthrow of the royal government in order to retake Wall Maria. Pyxis was dismayed at the thought of humans turning against each other, but Erwin explained that he could do this without killing. He told Pyxis a story about how his father had been killed by the Military Police for his unorthodox line of thinking. His father had a theory that the King had altered the memories of humanity when they entered the Walls in order to make them easier to rule. Erwin came to realize that the people in the government were not interested in protecting humanity so much as their land and wealth, and they would kill anyone who threatened that authority.

Hange and Moblit arrived shortly thereafter with the results of Sannes's interrogation, and Erwin informed Pyxis that Historia is part of the true royal family and the Scouts were currently trying to rescue her. They would put her on the throne in place of the false king. On hearing this, Pyxis agreed to back Erwin's plan.

After Pyxis left, Erwin handed Hange the results of his investigation into the Reiss family. One of his soldiers then came in to inform him that the Interior Police were making a ruckus out in the city, saying that Erwin organized a murder. Erwin ordered Hange to get away while he acted as the face of their organization. He informed her that she will be the next commander of the Scout Regiment and placed the Scouts under her command.

Dawn had arrived by the time Erwin met the MPs outside. They were standing around the body of Dimo Reeves. One of the MPs addressed Erwin and concocted a story about how Reeves kidnapped Eren so that the Scouts would not have to turn him over to the government. Then the Scouts killed Reeves to keep him from talking. The MP charged Erwin and the Scouts with a violation of clause six of the Humanity Charter; prioritizing one's gain over the safety and longevity of humanity. For this, all Scouts were to be apprehended. Hange and Moblit escaped, but the rest of the Scouts at headquarters were arrested.

Shortly thereafter, Hange rescued Flegel Reeves from the Interior Police, though he was terrified at the thought telling of the truth about what happened to him and his father.

Later that day, Flegel and Hange staged a confession by allowing Flegal to be chased by the Interior Police into a dead end between some rundown buildings. He asked the lead MP why the Interior Police killed his father and Roger told him that Dimo Reeves betrayed them by siding with the Scouts, and admits that Flegel's father had been forced to participate in the kidnapping. Roger also explained that if Reeves had refused to help, he would have been killed for knowing too much.

Hange and Moblit then attacked the Interior Military Police to protect subdue them and asked if everyone heard his words. Roger looked up to see that the damaged buildings were actually heavily populated. However, he sputtered that the witnesses would not matter because the government would decide the truth. Flegel sat on the man's head to end his ranting and declared himself the new boss of the Reeves Company, which would protect this city. Hange congratulated him on his new job and the reporters Ray and Peaure are among the onlookers.

Flegel later convinced Roy to report the truth, even though he was initially reluctant, and together the two reporters exposed the corruption within the government.

Audience with the King
That night, Nile visited Erwin in his cell to let him know that he had an audience with the King. He and the Scout Regiment would be dealt with at the same time. Erwin had been beaten and was chained to the wall, but despite his present situation, he warned Nile that he had left something up to Pyxis and that both Nile and the government officials would soon have to make a choice.

Erwin was then brought before the King and ranking members of the government. He defended the value of the Scout Regiment as a weapon against the Titans. If Wall Rose was breached there could be a civil war between the people of Wall Rose and Wall Sheena due to the lack of food. The Scouts would be needed in order to reclaim Wall Maria, which would alleviate shortages.

The assembly was unmoved, and redirected the conversation to the Charter of Humanity: "Thou shall not prioritize one's own gain over the longevity of humanity." Erwin had repeatedly refused to hand over Eren Jaeger and they viewed that as a violation because Eren is too risky to allow a single commander to control. They announced their judgment and called for his immediate execution at the gallows erected outside.

As the Military Police prepared to take him from the room, Anka Rheinberger burst in and announced that the Colossal and Armored Titan had breached Wall Rose at Calaneth District. Refugees were already on their way.

Pyxis called for the establishment of an evacuation route. But after he roused his soldiers, Aurille countermanded his order and called for the closure of the gates to Wall Sina. Nile protested that it would mean cutting off all the residents of Wall Rose. He asked if they planned to watch as half of humanity died, but Aurille was only concerned about the possibility of a civil war and was willing to take no chances that one could happen. Nile refused the order, calling himself a human of Wall Rose, and he would not allow the gates to be closed.

Dhalis Zachery then entered the audience hall with an armed escort and announced that he would stand behind Nile. The premier revealed that the breach of Wall Rose was a false announcement and Pyxis explained that he was the mastermind behind this. He would have been happy to leave things to the government if that was the better choice for humanity, but even though the military knew less about Titans than they did, they could save more people than the government ever would.

The officials protested that the public would not let this slide, but Zachery revealed that the newspapers had published the truth about the false King and how the Royal Government had framed the Scout Regiment. His soldiers then arrested the members of the government and Erwin was set free.

Later that same day, Zachary made a public announcement atop the gallows where Erwin was to be executed, informing the citizens of Mitras that the military had seized control of the government. Nile explained to the reporters present that the military intended to install a new ruler from the true royal family rather than rule themselves.

As Erwin rode away in a carriage with Zachary, he had second thoughts about the coup d'état. He asked Zachary why he had supported it, and Zachary admitted he hated the King and his men. Zachary had meant to give betray them at some point in his life, and whether the coup was good or bad for humanity was of no interest him. He pointed out that Erwin felt the same and Erwin did not disagree. He told Zachary about a dream he had from when he was a child.

On the run
Concurrent to Erwin's audience, and unaware of its eventual result, Squad Levi had arrived in Stohess District and found the Military Police handing out fliers detailing the arrest of the Scout Regiment. They camped in the woods while trying to come up with a plan to save Eren and Historia, but prepared an ambush when they heard footsteps approach. By doing this they successfully captured Marlo Freudenberg Freudenberg and Hitch Dreyse of the Military Police Regiment, who had been sent out to arrest rogue members of the Scouts. Levi planned to have two members of his squad disguise themselves and infiltrate the Military Police Regiment to find out where Eren had been taken.

However Marlo offered to go himself, so he could correct any injustice being done. Levi declined, being uncertain whether Marlo was truly willing to make an enemy of the government. Jean asked if he could be the one to tie them up and led Marlo and Hitch away with the false intention of murdering them to keep their mouths shut. When Marlo did not fight against him, even when he managed to get a hold of Jean's knife, Jean decided his intentions were sincere and the pair were allowed to help.

Hitch and Marlo led Squad Levi to the least manned checkpoint, which the squad was able to break through and capture a member of the Interior Police in the process. After night fell, Levi interrogated the soldier, but did not get anything useful out of the man other than Kenny Ackerman's full name, which was a surprise for both Levi and Mikasa.

The squad prepared for an ambush on hearing people approach, but the newcomers turned to be Hange and Moblit. They brought news of the coup d'état's success and the exoneration of the Scout Regiment, thanks to the newspapers printing the true story of what happened over the last few days.

Hange also had an idea where Eren and Historia were taken. She took out the book Erwin had given to her earlier, which contained a report on the Reiss family. The night Wall Maria fell, the only chapel in the area was supposedly burned to the ground by bandits who had murdered the Reiss family while they prayed inside. Only Rod Reiss escaped alive. However, the building was made of stone, so destroying it would take a lot of effort for a group of bandits who had come for a robbery. After its destruction, Rod Reiss paid to have to rebuilt immediately. In addition to that, Rod Reiss reconnected with Historia only a few days after the death of the rest of his family. Levi concluded that it was likely because there was something special about her bloodline.

Meanwhile, Pyxis met with Erwin and the Scouts who had been released from imprisonment. Pyxis informed Erwin that all the captured government officials were saying the same thing, that the Reiss family must be able to alter humanity's memories. If Rod Reiss got a hold of Eren's "Scream," the entire coup could be undone. Erwin took the soldiers with him, and they rode for the chapel to find Eren.