[A/N: Hi there, and thanks for taking interest in my Code Geass fan fic. This story will mostly consists of OCs, as it focuses on a region never mentioned in the original series, but it will more or less follow the timeline and events of the series, at least that's what I'm hoping to achieve. It will coincide with some of the events in the canon as I hope to use some of them as a reason for certain happenings. Also, the brief history stated in this chapter and the mentions of actual historic figures and events derives from the Code Geass Wiki's account of Britannian history, so only the history pertaining to Australia's independence is non-canon.

As I have no beta reader, I apologize beforehand for any possible mistakes. I do review my work, but I don't always catch everything. Now without further ado, I present to you my first Code Geass fan fiction.

(Edited 19/11/2013)

Disclaimer: I don't own Code Geass and any characters from the original series, just the OCs that appear in this story.]

Prologue: The Falling Nation

I still couldn't figure out why the Britannian Empire would go to the trouble to invade us.

Our golden era had long passed, and we were abandoned by the rest of the world, so what did we have to interest them?

A few centuries ago, Britannian explorers stumbled upon this land, and like every other land they came across, they colonized discovered areas and created civilizations, marking this island as one of their own. Upon the discovery of large mineral reserves, this colony became an export of resources to Britannia and other nations alike, bringing wealth to both the rulers of the colony and the empire itself, as well as gaining recognition as an important overseas region of Britannia.

But when Washington's Rebellion occurred in the colony of America, a movement of independence also started here, following in Washington's footsteps. However, while America's fight for independence failed, ours had succeeded. Taking advantage of the long distance the Home Isles were from this colony as well as Britannia's struggle with America, and with the assistance of the French under Napoleon Bonaparte, we acquired victory before reinforcements could arrive and the land was deemed too costly to retake, for it would jeopardize the defenses of the Home Isles which was then under threat from France. For the first and only time in history, Britannia relinquished hold on one of its colonies, and recognized our independence. The Republic of Australia was formed.

Despite the war with Britannia, Australia continued to thrive, exporting materials to all over the world, that is, until sakuradite was utilized as a source of power instead of an explosive.

Being a nation with barely any sakuradite reserves, Australia was thrown aside by the major powers of the world, with the only larger sources of income being metal exports, tourism, education (courtesy of the institutes founded under Britannia), and supplying conventional fuels to the few countries that have yet to or couldn't transfer to using sakuradite; enough to sustain a functional economy and allow the majority of citizens to live in reasonable comfort, but nothing more. And as the Chinese Federation, the Euro Universe and the Holy Britannian Empire divided the world, Australia was left alone.

Until now.

The year was 2016 of the Imperial calendar and Britannia had turned its spear to the Republic of Australia. The Britannian fleet had massed outside Australian waters and waited, obviously flaunting, as we deployed our comparatively tiny navy in a futile attempt to slow Britannia's march of invasion. On 25 December, Christmas Day, diplomatic meetings with the Holy Britannian Empire failed, and the 98th emperor, Charles zi Britannia declared war on the Republic of Australia.

Perhaps I should introduce myself. I am Lieutenant General Brian Wolfe of the Australian Air Force, and currently, I was seated in the war room staring blankly at the screens displaying the onslaught of Britannian forces.

There was nothing I could do anymore; in an attempt to prevent Britannia from using the pride of their military, the Knightmare Frames, the majority of the Air Force was sent out to engage and destroy the carrier aircrafts and ships. They never came back. After merely thirty or so sorties, they were all annihilated. The remainder of the Air Force was to provide air support for ground troops once Britannian forces landed on Australian soil, something that was inevitable from the very start of the conflict.

No, this was not a war, this was a massacre. Perhaps they just wanted to regain their lost pride, to show us that in the end, we would still just be a colony of Britannia. Or maybe they just wanted to conquer the entire world, and Australia was too big a piece of rock to ignore.

I heaved a sigh. Why couldn't that barbarian of a princess Carine ne Britannia just state what Britannia wants and get this all over with? Men and women in the Australian Armed Forces were dying every single day fighting the Britannians and that cursed girl wouldn't accept any offers of negotiation. It was almost as if she simply did this for the fun of watching her opponent crumble! I was willing to bet that it was true too; from what little information we had of the fourteen-year-old, it seemed that she derives pleasure from war and violence, that sadistic witch. Geez, they could've directly made an aerial assault, landing at the capital and our forces wouldn't be able to stop them, but no, they just had to surround half the country and slowly push a bit forward every day, the nerve of those bastards!

"General Wolfe! General!" Breaking out of my bitter thoughts, I turned to face a saluting communications officer, slightly surprised that anyone would contact me for anything urgent.

"What is it Lieutenant?" I asked, returning the salute. Personally, I felt that no one needed to salute to me anymore, I had failed both my men and my country, what kind of a commanding officer was I?

"Sir, the Prime Minister wishes to see you in his office as soon as possible."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Why would the Prime Minister want to see me of all people? I was now a general with nearly no power to speak of. But from the officer's tone and the gravity of the situation, it appeared that Prime Minister Graham must have a very good reason to summon me. Giving him a nod, I strode out of the war room and into the hallways of the underground bunker.

Although we were a neglected nation and never played much of a role in international affairs after the utilization of sakuradite as a source of energy, this underground bunker was repeatedly modernized since its completion during the First Pacific War and was enlarged to accommodate the essential parts of government, but no one really expected that it would be used one day since we had almost nothing to offer, just minerals and precious metals.

Now, the previously silent and empty hallways were bustling with activity, officers and ministers hurrying to their destinations, nervous and almost fearful, as if the Britannians were on our very doorstep. Which, I might add, was going to happen in about three weeks or so if the situation carried on like this, and that was putting it optimistically.

Nearly seven years ago, thanks to their large reserves of sakuradite, Japan was able to maintain a military force stronger than what we have now. They also put up a much better fight than we were, winning at least one battle, and if they had fallen in a month… Well, I'd be surprised if we managed to hold out that long, the large amount of land the Britannians had to cover to find us was little comfort.

Although they had yet to land their forces on the ground, most of us believe that the large numbers of RPI-11 Glasgows will eventually tear through our defenses; even the normally confident and slightly cocky Army General James Granger was uncharacteristically somber. I never did understand how he could be cocky since almost every other country with a military was capable of dealing us a big blow.

The Glasgow may be an old KMF, but it was more suited to combat conventional tanks than the new RPI-13 Sutherland, so we stood even less chance against them than if Britannia wanted to show the world how well the Sutherlands performed. I hoped that at least my pilots could turn some of those Glasgows into scrap metal; they had no anti-air capabilities whatsoever, unless you counted the Slash Harkens, and I was sure that the helicopter pilots serving under me were certainly good enough to evade a large block of metal flung at them from the ground that was slower and straighter than an old RPG.

The walk to the Prime Minister's office was a short one; for convenience, the war room was situated close to the office and the largest meeting room in the complex. By the time I was standing in front of the sliding metal doors waiting for his secretary to grant me access, I still had no idea as to why Graham wanted to see me.

I was the youngest general in the entire Australian armed forces, and also the least useful one since a few hours ago. What's more, it seemed that he had summoned me alone, as most of the high command was assembled in the war room, but no one had left along with me. In increasing confusion, I stepped into the spacious office of Prime Minister Michael Graham, 52nd Prime Minister of the Republic of Australia and found him standing with his hands folded behind his back, staring at the portraits of the previous Australian Prime Ministers that hung on the wall behind his desk.

Raising my arm in a salute, I announced my arrival, "Lieutenant General Brian Wolfe reporting sir."

It was a minute or so before Graham acknowledged my presence, "I do not wish to be the last Prime Minister of the Republic of Australia," he said, the graveness and seriousness obvious in his voice as he spoke, "But from our current standing, it is inevitable that our nation will fall."

What was he getting at? Calling me here just to tell me a situation I was well aware of? Speaking like most would in this situation, I spoke, "You couldn't have done anything to save Australia sir, Britannia is too powerful, there was noth—"

"You must be wondering why I called you here," Graham cut me off as though I hadn't spoken. Turning around to face me, he continued, "You are the youngest general in the history of Australia's armed forces. From what your superiors have described, you show exceptional abilities in strategic and tactical planning. It was also noted, that you tend to use unconventional methods to gain the upper hand, often surprising your opponents.

"I know that I will be Australia's last Prime Minister, but I'd like to step down from this position in a more dignified, more honorable way, than being forced down by a foreign power that we weren't even able to lift a finger against. It's humiliating to see that we cannot even win a single battle. I'm hoping you can help me with this. I think you have the potential to be Australia's Tohdoh of Miracles."

For a moment I was speechless. Was he serious? To regain some of both Graham and Australia's lost dignity, it wouldn't be just winning a battle, it would have to be halting the progress of the Britannian forces altogether. Now that would certainly be a miracle, one that I had no confidence whatsoever in achieving, even if it was the very country I serve that was on the line.

"I… I'm sorry sir, but… As much as I wish I could do this, what you're asking is impossible, I have already taken command of all available forces serving with me and did my best to try and ensure a victory, and as you have seen, all my strategies and tactics have failed to achieve even the smallest of victories. Besides, I have no more forces left to command, the other generals would be more suited for this request." I said in a low voice, lowering my head in shame at the end.

It hurt my pride to know that the others were still fighting, when all I could do was sit there and wait until the ground forces were involved.

Graham didn't say anything; all I heard was the ruffling of paper and then footsteps. Curious, I looked up to see the Prime Minister standing before me, staring intently at me and holding a folder. "What if I told you that the entire Research & Development Corps is now under your command and you will receive all funding required for your 'secret' project?"

I was completely dumbfounded. Not only did Graham know about Project AFCRO, he had also informed Parliament about it. Even more surprisingly, he had somehow convinced them to support the project. When the war started, I had all but forgotten about it, merely applying the usual secrecy measures to hide it. My mind was whirring with how he could have known and since when he had known. Come to think of it, now that we were on the brink of defeat, it wasn't entirely unexpected that everyone would hold on to a sliver of hope.

"Don't look so surprised general, something that resource consuming is hard to go unnoticed, although I do give you credit for keeping it hidden for so long. I seem to be the only one who has noticed and I found out merely two weeks ago. What I don't know is what the project actually is, care to enlighten me Wolfe?" Graham asked, a small smile on his lips as he handed me the folder containing all the required documents for the relocating of necessary assets. "I hope it's something worthwhile, because I forged evidence that your project was creating a weapon that might just give us an advantage over the Britannians, even if it is a small one, to persuade Parliament to give you support."

Snapping out of my stupefied state, I regained my ability to speak and answered, "It's a weapon... But it hasn't been perfected yet, due to the secrecy in which we worked, progress has been slow. With these resources, I believe we should be able to finish a prototype before the Britannians make a landing. However, we will not have time to test if it will work or not... It'll be a gamble if we deploy it in the battlefield." I was hesitant with my answer, the uncertainty we had since the start of the development preventing me from giving the Prime Minister a sure answer.

"At least we have some good news for once. I see that my faith in you wasn't misplaced; I wish you and your crew good luck. Now do hurry general, time is of the essence." Graham said with a sigh as he waved a hand in dismissal and stepped back to his desk.

Giving a salute, I turned on my heel and walked briskly to the exit, barely able to contain my excitement at the prospect of finally being able to finish Project AFCRO. If we were lucky, the Britannians would be in for a surprise.

"One more thing Wolfe." Graham stopped me as I was about to exit, "Just how much of an advantage will we have against Britannia if this weapon of yours is perfected?"

Pausing at the door, I contemplated this for a while before turning around with a smirk on my lips and replied with confidence, "Put it this way sir, if it works and is used correctly, the Britannians will be slowed down so much they'll be going backwards."

[A/N: Okay, before anyone tells me that Australia was never invaded because it didn't have a Thought Elevator on the continent, I know, but for this to work I needed a place that was not invaded and Australia seemed like the best choice, so forgive me for disregarding the actions of Charles in the canon.

I'm also aware that Carine ne Britannia is only around fourteen years old at the time and couldn't possibly sent to lead an invasion force, but as said, Australia's armed forces are extremely outdated and just by shear might, without needing any strategies or tactics, Britannia can win, if just by sending their forces all forward. Besides, she has commanding officers to do the work for her, she's simply there to enjoy the show and supervise.

Thanks for reading this, reviews and criticism are always welcome and will be duly noted]