No two figures in history are more storied than those of Nicholas Romanov and Uriel re Britannia. These two figures that would go down in history as the leaders of nations that went to war and allowed over a billion people to die. In truth, history cannot convey the great tragedy of the twenty-sixth tsar of the house Romanov and the ninety-seventh emperor of the Britannian royal family.

- The War to End All Wars, Britannia National Press 2063

It was a quiet night in Saint Petersburg, and though tensions were high with the threat of war looming from the unrest growing from the west, two brothers in all but blood sat in a dimly lit room with a window overlooking the Neva river.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Nick." Uriel said, the emperor extending a hand that the Tsar took with a firm nod. "With what was happening in the Balkans, I thought you'd finally gone completely mad."

The Tsar gave his friend a tired smile. "Politics already, Uriel? I had hoped you were here for a friendly chat on your way to that chocolate place near the old music hall."

"You aren't looking too bad yourself, old friend." Uriel said, leaning against the heavy table. "I am sorry," he said suddenly, taking the proffered glass as Nicholas nursed his own drink.

"What for?" Nicholas asked, an edge of bitterness creeping into his tone. "Once this bloody business in the Balkans is done, nobody will question me ever again. Nobody crosses a Romanov thrice."

"And you would drag all of Europe into a war? What would Lucia say?" Uriel demanded. It had been a sore spot for both royals when, almost three months ago, Tsarina Lucia Romanov nee re Britannia was shot in Sofia while touring the empire. The empress had been rushed to a hospital in Russian-held Bucharest, but had died on the operating table from a collapsed lung.

This was, given the circumstances, the wrong thing to say to the grieving man. Anger flashing in his steely eyes, Uriel was certain that Nicholas meant to hit him, and hit him he almost did. Not three inches separated the two men from coming to blows though Nicholas restrained his fist from connecting with Uriel's jaw and the latter remained unmoved save to set the glass on the table.

"You know damn well I would burn that worthless patch of earth if I could," Nicholas closed his eyes, allowing his fist to drop. "I will not be dissuaded from this, I've let them off too lightly in the past. It's high time I remind Europe why they should still fear the wrath of the bear."

Uriel took a deep breath. "I spoke poorly, but you know as well as I do that Lucia would not want this bloodshed in her name."

With a wry grin, Nicholas shook his head. "She always was too soft on the masses. I've given them everything, abolished centuries of tradition that my father spent his life to protect, and for what?" His temporary good mood evaporated into the storm that might soon spread all over Europe if Uriel could not dissuade his friend from following through with his ultimatum.

"My friend, I beg you to reconsider. There are alternatives, you could still turn to the international tribunal in Geneva, get justice for your wife and keep the peace that our fathers strove for so long to maintain despite that despotic upstart baguette's attempts to rile the Prussians to war." Uriel cautioned. "The losses would be catastrophic, there will be no winners if you choose to continue down this path."

The Tsar turned to his friend and shook his head. "Uriel, I admire you greatly, but this storm has been brewing for far longer than three months. The EU, the hegemony, the federation, we would have been at war with one of them in five, ten years. If people think it is acceptable to kill a head of state in their territory without reprisal where would that leave me in ten years?"

"Nicholas, be reasonable, one act of mercy will not damn your empire to oblivion." Uriel said.

"But one weak link could break the chain of this empire. I will not have it fall into the hands of lesser men while I still live. A divided empire is weak, and unless I show those upstarts in the Urals what happens to those that oppose me, I will have yet another uprising on my hands."

"Nick, please. Stop the mobilization before it is too late. Europe cannot survive another great war, we've lost an entire generation already, we cannot afford to lose another."

"I . . . I cannot do that, old friend. Britannia may be safe across the Atlantic, but I am in the lair of a thousand beasts waiting for weakness to tear at my body. Industrializing Russia was too much to hope for, a unified Russia was too much to hope for. No Uriel, if I cannot convince them to submit, then I will grind that country into dust."

Uriel's shoulders slumped. "I . . . had hoped it wouldn't come to this," he said quietly, his hands trembling. "Nicholas, in the name of our friendship, and in my sister's memory, I will not interfere with your venture. Please, see sense before the world is beyond recovery from what you are about to unleash."

"You still don't understand, Uriel. You were always too soft." Nicholas said as he toasted his friend. "To my victory, that it bring forth a time of peace."

Uriel drained his glass. "May you find closure, or this will have all been for naught."

A month later, Sofia would fall to the advancing Russian forces, another and France would mobilize against Russia, transporting troops to the Polish border. By the third month, and the beginning of the French offensive, would signal the beginning of the end. By the end of its third month, the New Great War would already take the lives of over a million people as Russian forces fought the Franco-Polish forces.

Thus began the Long War.

Disclaimer:

This story is a work of complete fiction that, while having some references to events that have occurred, was merely inspiration for this story and does not contain any of my personal views regarding the depiction of nations/borders/wars etc. This is also a hobby and I do not write this story with the intent to make money off it. I also do not own any copyrighted material mentioned in the story. Please don't sue me, I'm poor.

Hello everyone,

Addiebiscuit here, and I bring to you the Chronicles of the Long War. Primarily written from a Britannian perspective, the story is meant to act as an alternative history to the events prior to Code Geass. I felt it necessary to step away from my other story until I decided where I was going to take it as I'm currently rewriting and reworking large portions of the story that it would probably be its own story as separate from canon so I thought to just start from the beginning.

This story will act as a bridge to my interpretation of the Code Geass universe so I hope you all find this an interesting read. I know I'm excited to work on this story.

Catch you all in the next chapter,

Addiebiscuit