A/n: And here is the first part of the prequel to my first story, A Soldier's Trials. Don't exactly have to read that story to understand this one, but it can help, especially with the later chapters. Anyway, hope you stay with me till the end of this story. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass or any of its characters, Knightmare frames, settings, and plot.

My name is Kallen Kōzuki.

Seven years ago, we were a proud nation. We stood independent from other nations and only relied on ourselves. We lived in an age of prosperity. An age where the common man could live his life without fear of being unable to provide for his family.

Seven years ago, that all changed.

An independent nation, known as the Holy Britannia Empire, invaded our home world of Japan. Life as we knew it ceased to exist.

The Britannians brought in their advanced war machines, such as their mech units and heavy assault vehicles, while we fought with our outdated weapons. We managed to fight back for a while, holding our ground against the powerful nation, but ultimately we were crushed. Our prime minister committed suicide, rather than give in to Britannia's victory, causing the Japanese government to end up surrendering to the Britannians.

Japan was renamed Eleven, for the eleventh world that the Britannians "colonized." We Japanese, now called Elevens after the name the Britannians gave our world, were rounded up by the Britannians and placed in disgusting run-down ghettos. Then, the Britannians set us to work rebuilding the cities that were destroyed during the invasion. Those grand, shiny new cities became the symbol of the Britannian's grip on Japan and the ghettos symbolized the Japanese's hopelessness and weakness.

Now, there were ways that the Japanese could rise up in the ranks of the Britannian-controlled society, just by swearing loyalty to the Britannian crown to become a Honorary Britannian, who had most of the same rights as actual Britannians. However, very few Japanese did that. Most of us were too proud of ourselves, and refused to betray our world. But for those few that did, they faced discrimination from Britannians and Japanese alike. Nothing was ever in the favor for the Japanese.

There is now several resistance movements here in Japan, dead set on sending the Britannians back where they belong, but uncertain about how to proceed doing it. The media calls the more violent resistance terrorism, but many Japanese applaud the efforts of these resistance movements. They are the only ones that continue to give hope to the Japanese people.

However, the Britannians don't make the fight easy. The Britannians go into the ghettos, searching for any traces of resistance members. They massacre Japanese civilians whenever they don't find anything, to set an example for the rest of the Japanese. And no one can stop the Britannians from doing it.

Or maybe, it's more appropriate to say that no one will stop the Britannians. There are several nations that are still powerful enough to force the Britannians to end their expansionist goals and to protect those nations that aren't prepared to take on the Britannians. One such nation is the Grand Republic of Combined Planets, better known as the Republic. It's the most powerful nation in the universe, yet refused to help the Japanese in its time of dire need. If anything, the Republic aided the Britannian forces in their invasion of Japan. It was an insult to all the democratic views we've come to expect from the Republic, and it left us standing alone to face the Britannians.

All we can do is fight. But without a centralized resistance, there is no hope that we can win. There is no one leader, one symbol of hope, to rally to. I don't know if Japan will ever be free. I keep on praying that Japan will, but with each day that passes I lose hope. It will take a miracle from the gods in order to save Japan from all these forces…