Work Text:
GI Joe Alternate World Expedition Force Report
To: Gen. Clayton Abernathy, Codename: Hawk
From: Sgt. Conrad Hauser, Codename: Duke
Dear Sir,
It is with pride that I report that the expedition force has setup it’s base here on the island of Iwo Jima. From what we’ve been able to gather, despite it’s close proximity to the Japanese main island chain, even in this world, it doesn’t hold any strategic value to the Britannian occupying forces, which is rather ironic considering the history this island has in our world. Our main facilities are hidden both underneath the surface of the island, and in Mount Suribachi. We’re basically living in similar conditions, albeit much more modern, compared to the Japanese soldiers that called this island home in World War II. Thanks to the portal chamber inside the base of Mount Suribachi, I’ll be able to have this report delivered to you via e-mail as well as any personal messages our people need to send to our families and loved ones.
Still, it is with heavy heart that I also report that our people are starting to crack under the strain of being undercover in this strange alternate world. As you know sir, because of the alternate history, America doesn’t exist in this world; at least not the America we know and love. But what we have learned and observed, many among us are having a hard time restraining ourselves from launching an attack on a random Britannian military base or any passing Britannian patrols. The reasons for that sir, I think you’ll understand once you go over the brief history of the Holy Empire of Britannia and the photographs of Japan under their occupation that we’ll be sending along with a piece of their military hardware that I will go over in brief in this report.
I suppose I’ll start with what we both know about the Holy Empire of Britannia. As we both learned when Snake-Eyes and Jinx came back with that history book from that world, George Washington and his Continental Army were defeated at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and the American Revolution was lost. As a result, the United States of America never got its independence and our great nation never existed in this world. The cause of this loss, however, actually comes from the fact that Benjamin Franklin accepted a bribe to betray his compatriots in exchange for a noble title within the British Empire; which is something I have a hard time believing considering all of the historical work he’s done in our world. Because he accepted this bribe, he never went to France and asked King Louis XVI for aide in America’s cause and the French never blockaded Yorktown.
Because of this drastic change in history, much of this world’s history differs from our own at that point. The nation of Britannia, itself, is a nation that I believe even the most liberal members of our society would come to hate. The reason being, is because Britannia represents everything America stands against. The Holy Empire of Britannia is practically a combination of the British Empire, the Roman Empire, and the Third Reich all rolled in one neat little package. The comparison of all three should be apparent once you go over their history. But I will say this, I will take fighting Neo-Nazis, Al-Qaeda insurgents, and Cobra Vipers over these guys if I want to fight on even footing with anyone; which is rather ironic considering that in our world, they’re considered terrorists, whereas in this world people like us would be considered terrorists.
Britannia’s philosophy follows the “might makes right” adage to the point of fanaticism. Pretty much their whole society revolves around Social Darwinism. In other words: the believe that only the strong should survive and the weak should die, and as far as they’re concerned, anyone who is NOT Britannian, is considered weak. They don’t consider anyone to be their equal or stronger than they are, which makes them pretty arrogant and prideful. Considering all the nations that they’ve already conquered, I'd say that arrogance is somewhat earned; it’s no wonder Cobra chose to ally themselves with them here.
Britannia, as a government, is an absolute monarchy with a House of Lords and Senate acting as the legislature. The House of Lords represent those of the aristocracy within Britannian society and pretty much make the laws for the nation as a whole. The Britannian Senate acts as representatives for the commonfolk in Britannia and they do have enough sway to affect their living conditions. It’s not that much different from our Congress and Senate, but as far as governmental body is concerned, that’s where the similarities end. Their Prime Minister is head of government and handles most of the administrative and managerial rolls that any Prime Minister does; but the overall head-of-state is the Emperor himself, his word is practically law and anyone who disobeys him can be arrested or killed for treason.
Their homeland is located in North America and they control the entire continent, including the islands in the Caribbean, Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and Central America. They also control all of South America, Iceland, parts of Southeast Asia, the Philippines, many islands in the Pacific, and New Zealand. As we speak, they’re in the process of a war with a nation known as the Middle Eastern Federation, which in our world is the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Azerbaijan, and parts of Iraq; but with the way the war is going it won’t be long before it becomes another nation that they have conquered. Speaking of which, I should get into another reason why many within the base are using all their military discipline not to do or say anything incriminating while we’re in Tokyo.
Britannia, after conquering another nation through military might, not only strips the nations they conquer of their rights and freedoms, but their names as well. Every nation they conquer is rechristened with “Area” and a number. For example, the Philippines are known as Area 12, the Indochinese peninsula is known as Area 10, and Japan is now known as Area 11. What’s worse, is that they refer to the native population by the area number; as in they call those from Japan “Elevens”. Each area is then given a Viceroy who is given the task of governing Britannia’s policies on these newly conquered areas; they’re pretty much given complete authority over these conquered areas and have the authority to do as they please in the conquered area. The most common thing, is the forced relocation of the local populace to the ruined cities of these once proud nations, now known as Ghettos; but it gets worse from there.
These ghettos are what one would expect in a ghetto: dilapidated buildings beyond restoration, streets covered with cracks and potholes that make driving through them a nightmare, and people forced to live in harsh conditions either inside these buildings or outside in the streets. In a way, they’re more akin to the ghettos the Nazis forced their “undesirables” to live in before sending them to the Concentration Camps than the ghettos we would see in cities like Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A few people who live in these ghettos do have a chance to live outside them, if they apply for what is known as “Honorary Britannian Citizenship”. Basically, they get to live in the settlements the Britannian populations live in, which are much more pristine and well-kept in comparison to the ghettos the locals are forced to live in, and get jobs that they can earn a living with. But their lives don’t get much better from their either, they’re still treated as though they’re the dirt you scrape off your boots after a combat op. Scarlet and I had the displeasure of watching such an incident during one of our recon trips into the Tokyo Settlement itself; I had to hold her back from tearing these Britannian school boys apart after they had beaten down a Japanese citizen working as a hot dog stand operator. Other members of the force who’ve been to the other parts of Japan have reported similar incidents in various other cities where the Britannian population lives in luxury while the Japanese live in poverty. But there are those who chose to fight back against their oppressors.
As in any other occupied state, there are those who don’t take their new occupiers lightly. These “terrorist” groups have pretty much cropped up all over Japan in the last five years. While most of them are just people trying to make life easier for themselves by stealing from Britannian settlements, others actually have taken up arms and have attacked Britannian facilities. I would have to say that some of them would be considered terrorists by our standards. But others, like the Japanese Liberation Front, are truly dedicated to kicking the Britannians out, and restoring Japan to the independent nation it once was. But the reprisals the Britannians enforce are harsh, very harsh; so harsh that even the most minor infraction would cause a Japanese citizen to be sentenced to death rather than time in prison.
Which brings me to the military of the Britannian Empire; who pretty much deal out the worst reprisals on the local populace if they believe it’s warranted. Like any military, they have an Army, a Navy, an Air Force, a dedicated medical corps, irregulars, even those of Honorary status are allowed to join the military. Like the old British Empire, they hold concepts like honor, chivalry, and loyalty towards the monarchy in high regard. After seeing some of them in action, I have to say that their troops are well-disciplined, and will obey any order given to them; even orders that would make them kill innocent people. They have a standard ranking system like ours, but those of noble status can become knights like in the medieval days where men rode on horseback wearing armor. But in the case of their hardware, which I will be sending through the portal, that kind of status would not be far off.
While much of their military weapons and technology are very similar to our own, there are several differences. For one thing, they have better scanning equipment given to their soldiers, their helmets come with built-in gas masks in case they need them, their VTOL aircraft don’t have rotors like a helicopter, and many of their vehicles are powered by an element unique to this world (which I will get to later) that acts as an alternate fuel source. But the most impressive piece of hardware is the one we are sending to you so that you can hand it over to the R&D divisions in the Pentagon; because quite frankly, this thing can outperform even our most advanced tanks. They are called humanoid autonomous battle armored knights, or Knightmare Frames as they’re most commonly called; and given what these things can do on the battlefield, the name Knightmare is very appropriate.
Essentially, Knightmare Frames are robots operated by a human pilot that can be deployed to almost any environment. They stand roughly four to five meters tall on average, fifteen feet tall if you want to use the Imperial system. They come equipped with weapons ranging from a Knightmare sized assault machine gun to a cannon about the size of an Abrahams tank’s main gun. The standard weapon that all Knightmare Frames have, is a pair of harpoon-like blades that shoot out of the machine attached to it via a long wire cable known as slash harkens. Attached to the legs, they also come equipped with wheels that propel the machine to a maximum speed of at least 90mph known as landspinners. These landspinners and slash harkens can help a pilot maneuver a Knightmare Frame in just about any terrain, making them quite adept in just about any arena of combat. Only the best or those of noble status, as far as I know, can pilot a Knightmare Frame.
The one we “acquired” is known as a Glasgow, which is named after the city in Scotland. We’ve also noticed that the current main Knightmare Frame in use by the Britannian Armed Forces, is known as the Sutherland, which is named after a city also located in Scotland. From what we’ve been able to gather, the Britannians name their mainstream Knightmare Frames after cities of Britannia’s ancient home in the UK before the Empire was forced to be relocated to North America (for reference, see The Humiliation of Edinburgh in the history books we’re sending you). Like our fighter planes, each Knighmare Frame is part of a different generation of weapons. Each new generation is meant to outperform the previous one in some way; but from what I’ve seen, I can tell that even a previous generation Knightmare Frame, given the right conditions, can still defeat a current one.
I’m hoping that with the Glasgow we send you, the eggheads back home can come up with not just weapons to counter them that we can equip on our vehicles, but for our standard infantry to use as well. I also hope that they can also develop our own Knightmare Frames to use in combat, because from what I can tell, it may not be long before we do come to blows with the Britannian Military. As previously mentioned, it’s taken many here all their military training and discipline not to do anything rash such as go rogue, hijack a Britannian Knightmare Frame, and take out an entire Britannian Army base.
If I may speak frankly, sir, I can’t say that I blame any of them; especially Quick Kick, whose father is from Japan. As I also mentioned, the situation for the Japanese people is a desperate one. Other than living in the ruins of their once great cities, being forced to resort to terrorism, and getting the most demeaning jobs ever given, many of the Japanese populace have also started to become addicted to a narcotic in this world known as Refrain. Refrain, when injected into the bloodstream, can make the user experience pleasant memories of their past; which, given what these people go through, would be preferable than what they’re going through on a day-to-day basis. However, it has a nasty side-effect, if anyone goes through withdrawal, they can suffer from brain damage; the side-effects can be so severe, that they can even cause death.
Which is why, among other things, we’re also sending a sample of the drug to our world so that we can at least come up with some sort of serum to neutralize the side-effects. It is my hope, that in the event we do save some unfortunate souls from the addiction of this drug, or if our people go under its influence, we’ll be able to have the means of ensuring their recovery. I know it may not be much, but considering what we’re up against, I think it maybe a necessity at this point.
Now that I’ve covered Britannia as a culture and military, I may as well name a few big names that may come up; specifically the Emperor, Prime Minister, and a few of their best soldiers. As previously stated, Britannia is a total monarchy ruled by an Emperor; in this case we are dealing with one Charles zi Britannia. From what we know about him, he ascended to the throne of Britannia approximately thirty to forty years ago. From what we also know, he has at least 108 consorts. I did not miswrite that sir, 108 different consorts and most of them sired his many children. We lost count of all the children he and his consorts have given birth to, but given the number of consorts, it can range from at least 300 to 500 at best.
Of his many children, one stands out above the rest, Schneizel el Britannia, who is the current Prime Minister of Britannia. We’re unsure how he attained this position, but we know he’s a shrewd diplomat and a brilliant tactician from what we’ve been able to uncover. He’s also in charge of many research and development departments within the Britannian military, including many of the irregular forces. We don’t know if he has any ambitions to ascend to the throne or not, but it is widely rumored that he is next in line to the throne over his eldest brother Odysseus eu Britannia, who despite being the eldest of all the Emperor’s children, has no official claim to the throne should their father pass-on.
As mentioned, the Emperor has many consorts and children, but thankfully there will be a full document containing the personnel files that we’ve been able to acquire on all of them, including those who are among the deceased. Instead of going over all of them in this report, I will go over two more who are of note. The first is Princess Cornelia li Britannia, who is currently leading the Britannian forces in their war against the Middle Eastern Federation. She is, by far, the most well-disciplined, well-respected, and well-known military leader among the Britannian forces. She’s lead campaign, after campaign against Britannia’s enemies and has not lost a single battle that we’re aware of, earning her the moniker of being the “Goddess of Victory”. She’s not the type of princess who would rather stay hidden away in a tower, she’s the type who would much rather lead her troops from the front and be in the thick of all the fighting. She’s also very ruthless and harsh against her enemies; often treating them with no respect, not even their bodies. Her Glaston Knights, her personal guards, follow her into battle with unflinching loyalty; it’s impressive in its own right.
The second royal to be named is Marrybell mel Britannia. Like her half-sister, she’s also a leader in Britannia’s military forces. Her unit consists of mostly female Knightmare Frame pilots known as the Glinda Knights. Also like her sister, she’s very harsh when dealing with Britannia’s enemies; especially terrorists and there’s a reason for that. According to her dossier, her mother and sister were murdered by terrorists and she’s made it her goal to stamp out every terrorist group against Britannia. Seeing as how these two princesses are quite adept at military strategy, if we were to make any overt moves against Britannia and Cobra, I have no doubt in my mind that we will be going up against these two princesses. But the ones that worry me the most, are the ones known as the Knights of the Round.
As their title suggests, their pretty much based on the Knights of the Round Table of Arthurian legends. From what we know, they are the elite of the elite among Britannia’s armed forces. Only the best may become a Knight of the Round; moreover, they answer ONLY to the Emperor himself which gives them complete autonomy over the regular Britannian forces. If I were to compare them to anyone, I would say that they would be our equivalent if we were given the same equipment as they have. But these people are not considered the elite for nothing. From what we know about each of the ones we know of, so far, if we were to enter combat against Britannia and Cobra, chances are we’ll wind up going up against a few of them.
There are usually twelve Knights of the Round, but as of recently, there are currently six that we know of. The first of them is the Knight of One, who is the de-facto leader of the Knights; he goes by the name Bismarck Waldstein. We weren’t able to get much of his military career before this point, but we do know that he was once the Knight of Five before becoming the Knight of One. From what else we know of him, he’s fierce on the battlefield and almost untouchable. I would have to say if he were in command of our forces against Cobra, then we would’ve defeated Cobra a long time ago for good.
Next we come to the Knight of Three, Gino Weinberg. From what we know of him, he’s no slouch in combat either. Off the battlefield, however, he seems pretty likeable, even for a Britannian. If Cobra and Britannia ever came to blows and any Britannian soldier decided to defect to our side to fight Cobra, I would say that he would be the first in line. He almost reminds me of Shipwreck if I were to compare him to anyone within our ranks. Except, he’s a lot less flirty with the ladies, as far as I know.
Next we come to the Knight of Six, Anya Alstreim. Now, she on the other hand, is by far the youngest member of the Knights of Round. She’s only 14 years old, and she’s among Britannia’s most elite soldiers. Little is known of her background, but from what we know of her fighting capabilities, she’s usually a defensive fighter with her Knightmare Frames; but there are times when she would suddenly change, as though she were a completely different person altogether. We don’t know how she managed to join the Knights of the Round at such a young age, but I will tell you that not a single one of us will feal any pleasure if we wind up killing her in combat. No one should ever be a soldier at that age.
Now the last Knight of the Round that I wish to mention is one that I think many of us would gladly put a bullet through the head to if given the chance. His name is Luciano Bradley, and he's known as the “Vampire of Britannia”, and given his personality, it’s a well-earned nickname. To be blunt, the man is a total psychopath; he holds no qualms of killing anyone, especially unarmed civilians. If I were to say so, if he were in our world the man would be considered a downright serial killer who should either be placed in the loony bin, or put on death row. If any of us winds up facing him in combat, we can expect him to be very ruthless and savage; but I guarantee that if any of us kill him, we would be doing this world a favor.
There are other members of the Knights of Round, but like the Britannian Royal Family, there will be a complete dossier file on them that we will be sending through the portal with everything else. Which brings me to the last thing that I previously mentioned earlier, the power source of most of Britannia’s military hardware, and possibly the reason for Britannia’s invasion of Japan in the first place. In this world, there was a crystalline substance that was first discovered at Stonehenge in England centuries ago, it was later called Sakuradite.
From what we know of Sakuradite, it’s very unstable and volatile. If I were to compare them to anything discovered in our world, it would be those explosive crystals Cobra developed a few years ago that we were able to destroy. Which is why I advise caution when dealing with the substance when delivered to our R&D divisions. From what we know, Sakuradite is a power source that powers much of Britannia’s military hardware, including their Knightmare Frames. Which is also why it has been accepted as the main reason for Britannia’s invasion of Japan considering that Japan has the largest depository of Sakuradite in this world.
I’m hoping that the eggheads back home will find a way to synthesize this substance so that we can power any future Knightmare Frames we may acquire or develop for ourselves in the coming months should we come to blows with Britannia.
Now I know that you’ve ordered me not to make any moves against any allies Cobra has made unless absolutely necessary, General, but given all that I have told you about Britannia and what we’ve experienced here, it’s getting hard not to. We know our mission is to expose Cobra for the terrorists that they are in this world so that we can convince the locals to fight back should they begin making overt moves themselves, but so far we haven’t heard anything suggesting Cobra’s doing anything of the sort. But that doesn’t mean, however, that we don’t believe that they’re here; because we have found evidence that they are here. During one of our recent supply raids on a Britannian facility near Yokohama to obtain some supplies, we discovered a few crates filled with standard issue Cobra assault rifles. We also discovered a facility during a night raid on the Britannian naval base in Hawaii containing almost an entire battalion’s worth of H.I.S.S. tanks. We made sure our presence was undetected, as per your orders sir, but the evidence is clear: Cobra is in this world and they have allied with Britannia. Given all that we know of Britannia so far, it’s no wonder why they chose to come here to achieve their quest for global domination. With all the territory Britannia has gained through military conquest, I can just picture Cobra aiding them in that endeavor before literally and figuratively stabbing Britannia in the back.
But given the fact that you’ve told us to not draw attention to ourselves, some of us have opted to obtain civilian jobs in Tokyo in order to get any info on enemy movements. I, myself, along with Scarlet have become teachers over at a Britannian school; while I teach Phys Ed, Scarlet teaches Math. Gung Ho has managed to snag himself a job as a concierge at a hotel at Lake Kawaguchi, and Roadblock, to no one’s surprise, managed to become head chef of a restaurant in downtown Tokyo. Quick Kick, on the other hand, has opted to volunteer to keep in touch with some of the local resistance groups in Japan, whom we give some of the weapons we “acquire” to, so that we can learn of anything vital concerning either Britannia or any “strange” people they may see. It’s my hope that someone can spot a Cobra agent or, at the very least, someone like Destro or Major Bludd.
In conclusion, sir, despite the fact that our base is now setup and the fact that we’re getting some much needed military hardware from headquarters, many of us are just itching to go into battle against the Britannian forces and show them just how “wrong” equality is to them. I have ordered all personnel to maintain a level of discipline and not to go off the handle, but even Snake-Eyes, the most disciplined of all of us, is showing signs that he can’t take all of (pardon me for saying so) Britannia’s shit for much longer. Therefore, General, I humbly request that you give us any orders to aid the Japanese resistance forces in either providing some of our more up-to-date hardware and anti-Knightmare weapons the R&D division comes up with. As well as orders to launch any kind of raid against a hardened Britannian military facility to at least get more info on anything concerning Cobra.
I will understand if you deny my request and I will withdraw it should it be necessary. But sir, I implore you to think it over. Because many of us, quite frankly, can’t stand the thought of watching people who, in our world, would be our countrymen doing these things to the Japanese people. I will send any further reports of what goes on here with each delivery of personnel and equipment from the portal.
With Regards,
US ARMY 1st SGT
Conrad S. Hauser
Codename: Duke
A/N: Well folks, this is just the pseudo-prologue for my upcoming GI Joe/Code Geass crossover fanfic in the works. GI Joe has always been a show I used to watch when I was a kid, and I've seen many different iterations of the characters I know and love. I even had a few GI Joe toys as a kid. Now for this fic, I will be combining elements from all of the animated shows and movies, the live-action movies, and the comics. Now don't be too surprised at all the science fiction stuff that Cobra's come up with, let's just say that it's hardly anything new when it comes to them. Now as for my story itself, it's going to be similar to the Code Prime, Paladins of Voltron, and Code Jedi fanfics that are currently out there. Now keep in mind, this is just a report from Duke that will sort of act as a prologue to the upcoming fanfic. I just wanted to post it here to gauge everyone's views on it. So, please comment below to let me know what you think.