Before Me The Revolution! - (Code Geass, Bonaparte!SI)
Being born in the world of Code Geass is... rough. Being born in Europia is somewhat worse considering that the currently occupied size of a mega-state that covered Europe, most of Russia, and all of Africa in 2018 was supposed to be 950,000,000 or so living nationals. Being born with a hated last name was by far the worst aspect of it all.
My name is... Napoleon Bonaparte, and my parents clearly hated me. My father died when I was too young to question the smooth-brained logic of painting a target on my back by literally calling me as one of the boogeyman of Europia's 'democracy', but my mother kept on whining on how my 'great name was meant to give me hope for a great destiny'.
Tough expectations since I was a toddler- I would say that the original boy that I was now replacing would have cracked under the pressure. Or lived a B-Tier Villain life in this shitty world.
Still, it would also be wrong to assume I was screwed up too badly: I was not born in Europe, but in Africa- specifically, in Kenya. The novelty caught me off-guard, but it explained how outrageously hot the weather tended to get around Spring and Summer.
The Bonaparte had long left Europe to find shelter in the Dark Continent, and things had been nerve-wracking between sympathetic politicians trying to push for our family to claim Emperorship out of Europia like our ancestor had tried during fucking Waterloo, and the rapid colonization effort that saw the entirety of Africa claimed by Paris.
Despite all of that, the Bonaparte had lived a long and extensive life away from dangerous paths as the world knew of modern war and of cold wars between superpowers. Our family, by all means, was meant to disappear into the shadow of alternative history.
That was the case until I decided to make it a problem.
As a young man stuck in a spot that could really get fucky for me in the long run the moment Britannia started to attack and wrecked the EU, I decided that the best option was to actually 'do something'. While I was somewhat aware of the Code Geass lore, the EU-centered info I had was limited, especially over Africa.
I was born in 1991, I started to study properly at 5 and I was doing so from 1996 to 2002. What I learned of the continent I was stuck in was... disheartening. Considering the lack of Belgian colonization and other horrendous colonial crimes, the continent was underdeveloped and underappreciated despite its relatively earnest interest to 'modernize politics up to Europian standards'.
The harsh truth was that the 'colonization effort' itself was born through a soft-handed 'acquisition of members' that saw most of these territories claim self-rule and yet retain none of the major investments that had boosted the European Economy for a while.
This, in turn, created a rigged system known as the 'Euro-African Phenomenon' by local historians: with tax evasion somewhat widespread up to 80 to 90%, the entire economy of Africa was unfolding under the nose of those clerks keeping track of the census and of the works present in the region.
Of the 127 African-born companies that I was able to find, only 5 were known as legit and were being taxed by Paris.
The lack of investments hit the population growth curve, crippling the development of natural resources and limiting the local industry. No plantations, no facilities- nothing!
I was stunned by the outrageous situation, but... but I also found it a valid reason on why the EU military failed so hugely to contain the Britannian threat. Sure, Britannia was powerful as it was a militaristic society, but the rapid deployment and conquest of territories in Africa and the fall of France within less than a year was proof of a more lasting issue compared to just 'my military is bigger': the EU is a just barely surviving the label of 'fail-state'.
The situation was grim, and I felt even more coerced to do something hasty and less than pleasant: I was going to take over Africa and... it wasn't going to be through sympathy and kindness alone.
Money was what made politics in the continent change. And while many aristocrats could just curbstomp local rivals to obtain a nice slice of the political power within Africa, the truth behind why this wasn't a thing was... Racism.
If Britannia and China were racists by doctrine/culture, Europia was racist because 'they felt superior'. It wasn't a doctrine since it infringed on several laws protecting the individual rights of all citizens, but it was no secret that Africa was a blank spot over the Europian affairs.
Still, to start playing this difficult game, I had to get my hands dirty with the most lucrative and 'safer' job in most of the pseudo-states in Africa: being a mercenary.
From 2006 to 2010, I was working my way through the 'Verdant Vipers' mercenary group in Kenya. It was a France-oriented group with a mixed presence of Kenya's Natives, Japanese, Chinese, Indians and even Russians.
The commander in charge, Marshal de la Roche, was apparently shocked to first read my name and, when he realized that I was indeed a Bonaparte, seemed overjoyed. This was good because it won me some early 'good boy points' with the man I had planned to replace as soon as it was feasible for me to do so, but it also put another target on my back - this time from the other contenders in that list.
Despite its modest size, the Verdant Vipers was riddled with Factionalism. Some born from clashing cultures, others by ideologies, others because of cult of personalities, but I was ready to play the long game to achieve my success.
Four years sounded very little, but this window of opportunity saw the Verdant Vipers rise to become the most powerful mercenary group in East Africa. It was all possible when I worked not only as a soldier and then officer, but also as an investor and businessman.
With the money I got from the family's little treasury, I worked with one of my surviving uncles that had knowledge on clerk work to set up one of those 'shadow companies'. The 'Waterloo Corporation' was thus born in 2007 and by 2009 I had taken over and acquired around 65% of the smaller companies in Kenya, Uganda and the various states nearby. The company didn't have a focus and merely invested in various branches.
The aggressive economic expansion, which was backed by the tough face presenced by the Verdant Vipers managed to push away any attempt of hostile takeovers against us. La Roche was boisterous enough to butt heads with former colleagues and new firecrackers in an effort to let me 'cook'.
Within those four years, Kenya saw a major flow of money being put in development projects and campaigns to promote a more multicultural society: politicians were ousted and replaced, new recruits were trained and put to work, and the workforce in general was reorganized to efficiently have greater rights and greater wages. Without taxes, this effort had then the effect of promoting a trade-centered focus to make all the sweet income we needed through merchants and shops.
The Verdant Vipers had, at this point, seen some shakeups as the worst rivals to my rise to power were yanked out of sight and power, loyal men replacing those as I soon got to where I wanted to be. Mimicking my ancestor, I was able to finally obtain permission by the aging La Roche to take over as the new Marshal of the Verdant Vipers, the role finalized by 2010.
From there, onward, I had to tackle two distinct approaches: a 'ruthless method' against foes in the 'dark zones' of Africa such as the next target that was the Southern States and their resources, then then the 'legal method' once we broke into Egypt's business.
By the time we were courting Cairo's financial backers in 2013, we had been improving our acquired land by creating new mines and facilities in Congo, expanding the Verdant Vipers to Tanks and 'Pseudo-Knightmares' and a few other fun projects that the Japanese community in the region was quite happy to expand upon when provided with the right kind of support in economic and social affairs.
By 2014, the Cape-Cairo Railroad was upgraded and the infrastructure was expanded by relying on the powerful Libyan Transport Companies. Turns out that, with the limited discovery of oil fields in Libya, the main focus for the region was infrastructure to connect the prized 'African Gem' of Algeria and the 'equally important' Egypt.
When the newly-created 'Sirt Oil Business' made some big discoveries on the matter, we really had a big fright as Paris sent inspectors to verify the paperwork for the company due to its 'suspicious discovery coinciding two months after its conception'.
I had been expecting that sort of shit, which is why the forgery work had been some of the greatest pieces I had ever commissioned. No one spotted the anomalies such as the fake name of the true CEO of the company, and we were spared of being caught before we were done with our conquest of Africa, which finalized in 2016 when Morocco, most of the Sahel and large sections of Algeria were taken over.
With 2017 approaching and Britannia preparing to make a daring strike to expand its zone of influence with Euro Britannia in the Pacific area of Russia while also making some footholds in Africa, the Verdant Vipers were soon to issue a proclamation.
War with Britannia was inevitable, the EU military was not ready to help Africa, and from now on the newly-renamed Diamond Dogs would be the primary protectors of the continent.
For this War of Interests shall end only through a proper show of strength.
AN
Britannia is not ready for the MEMES!
P.S. It wanted to get a map ready for this snippet, but I got stomped over the date when Britannia acquired Pacific Russia as 'Euro Britannia' and when the war is supposed to 'resume'. I decided that 2017 through Schneizel's initiative felt fitting.