“Latian military units have attempted what appears to be a coup d'état against the Latian Royalist Government in their capital. Loyalist Latian Royal Guard and Army units, alongside Lorathian and Orlish marines, are now stuck in heavy combat against the putschist force in Corinthia city. Queen Evantia Mellea and members of House Mellea have now been evacuated by Orlish forces from the capital, while Prime Minister Despina Macrea has called in a ‘state of national emergency’ from Kentro Palace. Up north, the CFN has now resumed its offensive against Latia and Constania, with both sides suffering mounting losses on the rough, mountainous terrain.”
- Geopol Press
+++
Latia, Corinthia City
5th Marine Expeditionary Force
1st Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division
August 28, 2025
“Sarge!” one of the pinned Orlish Marines called out. Gunfire from the stairs, unleashed by local militants, kept Sergeant Moritz Kaulbach’s squad down. He gritted his teeth as he leaned upward. Three Orlishwomen, employees from the same embassy they were assaulting, ducked and screamed on the other side of the halls, hiding beneath shoddy office tables that they used as cover. “Help! Help!”
“Just stay still, son,” Moritz shouted, as he leaned to the side of the table. The young Orlish marine hiding underneath the stairs was bleeding out from his shoulder. He frowned, as the militants soon shouted.
“Traitors!” one of the masked men shouted. They held civilian clothing but otherwise wore military gear. They also had a red armband on their left shoulders. “Latia will be reborn!”
“Fucken—” Moritz stood up and aimed his gun at the staircase. The militants soon charged down, spraying their guns wildly in all directions. Moritz opened fire, alongside four of his men. “Go to hell, you cunts!”
One of the militants dropped from the staircase in a bloody manner, peppered by gunfire. Another had his neck nicked by a bullet. While the third and fourth militants panicked and climbed back up. But Moritz shot the third one on the kneecap, forcing the fourth militant to try to pull his buddy back up while firing his submachine gun with his other hand.
Then, his face exploded in a bloody manner. Moritz looked to his side. One of his men just stared at his work in a dazed manner, the barrel of his rifle still releasing a faint smoke.
“Clear in this area!” one of his men shouted, as his squad stood up.
“Get Private Brodmann to the doc!” Moritz ordered after he rushed and checked the wounded marine. The young man just hissed as one of Moritz’s men popped morphine on his skin. “You’re gonna be fine, son.”
“I can still hold a rifle, sarge—”
“Shut your goddamned trap,” Moritz said. He turned to his men. “Get him off here. You did good work, son.”
“B-but—”
“Ah, shut up man,” one of the marines told the injured private as he picked him up.
“Your shoulder’s all dun goofed up,” another one said as he helped.
Moritz on the other hand went straight into the cowering women.
“Alright, you three,” he pointed at two of his men. “These two fucks will escort you out of here. Get yourselves off the damned streets, clear?!”
“C-clear,” one of the young women stuttered. The trio stood up and were escorted by Moritz’s men, as his remaining marines followed him upstairs.
“Alright, I’m gonna make this one clear,” he told his men. “Check the goddamned corners.”
They all just nodded.
+++
Moritz didn’t like how it all turned out. Everywhere they looked, they saw a gruesome sight. Cubicles and office rooms were filled with corpses. They even found an area where eight diplomatic officials seemed to have been executed by the militants. By the time they reached the seventh floor, Moritz’s team was reinforced by two more squads of marines from his platoon.
Gunshots and gunfire continued throughout the building. And when he looked briefly outside, he saw a heavily modified Latian M44 tank. Behind it, were a bunch of Orlish marines advancing alongside. Gunfire erupted from another building on the other side of the highway. He watched as the friendly Latian tank turned its turret to the building occupied by the putschists, and opened fire.
It silenced the firefight below them, giving just enough time for a bunch of Latian schoolgirls hiding behind an abandoned bus to run toward the lines of Orlish marines.
“This shit ain’t good,” Moritz said. Behind him, Sergeant Lukas Hannig from 2nd Squad tapped his shoulder.
“My squad is going to storm the Minister’s office area,” the man said. “You guys cover us.”
“Rog,” Moritz replied. He gathered his men on the staircase to the eighth floor. Meanwhile, Lukas’ squad filed into another staircase parallel to them. They went to the top first, while Moritz’s team followed. Gunfire erupted on the eighth floor, as Moritz and his squad found the militants still attempting to break through a barricaded office room.
The firefight however only lasted for a few minutes. Eventually, the two remaining militants raised their hands in surrender, while Moritz and Lukas rushed toward the banged-up barricaded room.
“Marines!” Moritz shouted. “We’re here now!”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Took you all long enough!” An annoyed response grunted from behind. “Minister Wallenstein is alive and well!”
“Good,” Moritz breathed a sigh of relief, as he spoke to his radio. “Lieutenant, the VIP is fine and dandy. We got her. Preparing for exfil.”
“Copy. We’re still mopping up the ground floors.”
“Acknowledged.”
+++
West Orland
Duchy of Rimwurz
November Palace
“Come on, come on!” Amelie panickedly shouted at her phone as she kept ringing everyone. “General Albrecht, come on…please, please answer.”
“You probably should be calling Admiral Halberd,” Nia suggested. “I mean, it’s the Marines trying to rescue her, right?”
“He just said it’s still in progress,” Amelie said. When General Albrecht failed to answer quickly, Amelie dialed another number. Then another. Then another. Suddenly, William barged straight into his office.
“Okay, now, why the hell is the Queen’s phone line calling everyone in Eutstadt?!” William asked. “I told you to wait—”
“William!” Amelie panickedly stood up. “Is there news? Is Adelaide all right? Please, please, tell me she’s alright. Goddess…I can’t lose her. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not anytime. Please, please, please—”
“She’s fine,” William answered. “Calm the heck down.”
“How am I supposed to calm down when my Foreign Affairs Minister is stuck in a goddess-damned coup d’état?!” Amelie breathed in deeply. “Is she injured or not?”
“No, the embassy’s marines bunkered her in her office,” William closed the door. “And the dudes who managed to get in were just a bunch of civilian terrorists affiliated with the putsch. It seems that the actual army units revolting against the government didn’t even manage to reach the south side of the city.”
“Oh thank goddess…” Amelie breathed out.
“At least she’s alive,” Nia weakly said. “I hope she’s fine. Being in a firefight is so awful.”
“I still have bad dreams about those who attacked us,” Amelie admitted. “The fact this happened to her is a disaster. No, I mean, the fact it happened in the first place is a disaster! Where the hell did these ‘coupists’ come from?”
“Uhh, well…” William awkwardly backed off. “Okay, I’m going to be honest, the OPM hadn’t seen this coming either. The only information we have as of now is that it’s a bunch of junior officers who thought Latia was losing and it's time to switch sides and join the advancing Larissans.”
“So their bright idea is to overthrow the Latian Queen?” Amelie asked.
“More or less,” William answered. “The Constanians didn’t see this either. They’re now panicking too because the port of Corinthia is where supplies coming from the MN are entering toward the Valken region. They’re so screwed in the northwest if the Latians collapse first.”
“And what about the Latian Army?”
“General Albrecht is now in close contact with them,” William said. “We should get information within a few hours. Both we and Lorathia also have a lot of marine units operating in the frontline already. So far, the rest of the Latian Army is standing strong in the mountains. They’re holding back the Larissan and Pozneki tide. But there’s been a few mutinies here and there already.”
“What about Corinthia?”
“So far, the Latian Capital is half occupied by the putsch,” William said. “The rest of the capital still held by the loyalists are in chaos mode. We’ve had reports about the ‘Latian Forward League’, LFL, a terror group essentially, operating behind the lines. They’ve been attacking both Orlish, Lorathian, and loyalist forces. Alongside civilians. Mostly civilians.”
“Is the LFL responsible for the attack on our embassy?”
“Most likely,” William shook his head. “Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, they’re responsible. They identify themselves with these red armbands. Seems like their entire MO is to cause as much chaos and civilian casualties.”
“Goddess…”
“And they reportedly took hostages already,” William warned. “I think even the actual army units that revolted already did the same. That’s why we need to evacuate the Prime Minister quickly. She and members of the Latian Royal Government are still stuck in the north side of the city. Kentro Palace. They’re almost surrounded too.”
“What do they have out there?” Amelie asked, now even more worried. “Okay, I can’t have the Latian government be completely killed by these lunatics. I want the 5th MEU to get to them NOW!”
“They’re trying,” William said, now already frowning. “Well…they’d have to go through some tough street-to-street fighting. But I’ve heard they’re now mustering ten or twenty tanks from the Latian Army to do a thunder run to Kentro Palace. Then I don’t know, call in the Air Force to flatten the surrounding areas? It’s kinda hard. It’s a densely populated city.”
“Goddess…”
“Okay, I’m still working on a lot of inconclusive intel,” William admitted. “Go call Jacqueline, and plan about how we’ll respond to this internationally. For now, just wait, okay? We’re trying to figure it out. Adelaide should be back by plane by tomorrow too.”
“I…I need a cup of tea,” Amelie said, shaking her head.
+++
“Well, there goes Operation Citadel,” Walter crossed his arms as he sat on his chair. Jacqueline on the other hand just buried her face. While Amelie, displeased as ever, decided that indulging with her stress relief cupcakes was a better idea. “They just detonated bombs on the cranes we use to deliver cargo by sea on Corinthia’s port.”
Amelie dropped her cupcake.
“They what now?!” Amelie asked, wide-eyed. “Wait, wait, I told the 5th MEU to get there and get there fast. How did this even happen.”
“They’re obviously sabotaging Operation Citadel,” Jacqueline concluded. “Goddess, the fallout of this bullcrap is going to explode on my face again. I’m going to be answering a million angry questions with the press in a few hours.”
“Then the cabinet meeting,” Walter pointed out. “And the endless hearings for the next few days. All while the nutheads at the OHC figure out what to do. I bet ole Albrecht’s also pissed at his office. Halberd’s probably shouting at the Marine Corps too.”
“I just can’t believe all of this just happened out of nowhere,” Amelie said. “Has the NID or the AFI even given any report about an incoming coup?”
“Nah,” William shook his head. He had just finished a phone call with his men. “It seems that we were unable to reestablish proper intelligence networks in the Valken Region ever since the OIA separated from us. We were too focused on West and East Vaeyox.”
“Then why didn’t the Latian Government at least warn us too?” Amelie asked. “Is it the same for them? They also had no idea that a bunch of crazies were going to screw them over?”
“Judging by how surprised they are, those fat morons probably also fumbled the bag. They must have thought that just because the Army was fighting for them all was fine and dandy. The Latian Royal Guard was also in ‘control’ of their Army by the way. But they got eviscerated in the capital.”
“Incompetence and complacency,” Jacqueline said. “That’s what happened here.”
“Well, we should focus next on getting the 5th MEU toward Kentro Palace. Been an hour already. Much as I’d like to call them morons, Prime Minister Macrea is a pretty and kind lady. It would be a shame if she died early,” Walter just chuckled. “I’m going to ring Georgy. Though, the old Admiral’s probably still busy with this crisis.”
The Deputy Prime Minister laughed cynically as he went outside of Amelie’s office, placing his phone to his ear as he exited.
“Admiral Halberd ain’t going to respond,” William said, sighing. “The OHC just conducted an emergency meeting ten minutes ago. They’re all still figuring this shit out.”