ROYAL AUSTRALIA
& FREE AUSTRALIA
Formerly wholly owned and governed by the
Kingdom of Britannia, Australia began to experience
cracks in its unity in the early 1840s. Queensland
and New South Wales were approached by agents of
the Empire of the Blazing Sun who wanted to employ
mercenary troops in order to cover military shortfalls
caused by their war in Korea.
This was the climax of a political rift between the
Australian Government and Britannia. Civil war
broke out in 1842, with Queensland and New South
Wales, along with the Northern Territory, declaring
independence from Britannia. Under the leadership
of Roger McConnell, formerly a senior administrator
in the Queensland state government, the three
dissident states formed a union they called ‘Free
Australia’.
Western Australia and South Australia remained
loyal to the Crown, but their inhabitants were
unenthusiastic about the idea of fighting their own
countrymen, even though the rebels’ actions were
treasonous. Lord Nigel Dinsley, the Britannian
Governor-General, requested aid from Britannian
forces stationed in New Zealand to hold the line.
The rapidity with which those reinforcements
arrived, securing the island state of Tasmania on
the way, contributed much to the halting of the
rebels before they had a chance to force the issue by
military means.
ships from the Britannian naval squadron based in
Wellington managed to repel the rebel attacks.
The Free Australians, short of heavy equipment,
were forced back across the state lines into New
South Wales. Knight faction hardliners in the loyalist
Australian camp – mostly Britannian émigrés – urged
Dinsley to mount a full offensive to crush the rebels.
Dinsley however, believed that a united Australia
could not be won with blood, and the rebels showed
no signs of backing down, despite their setback.
Dinsley feared a loss to Britannia on the scale of
the American colonies disaster of the 1770s and
1780s if the war dragged on and provoked foreign
interference. Instead, after much politicking in
London, he sought and obtained permission from
the Britannian government to negotiate a 'peaceful
division' to end the conflict quickly and cleanly.
In truth, the rebellion saw very little bloodletting.
What conflict did occur took place mostly in the
contested sixth state, Victoria. Victoria’s government
had declared for the Free Australians in mid-1842,
but the people of the strategically important state
thought otherwise, and a general rising failed to
occur.
Even as Victoria joined the loyalists, Dinsley went
to the negotiating table, wanting to profit from a
position of strength. The scandal of the revolt had
brought down Britannia’s Knight faction then-Prime
Minister Lord Gosford and brought the amenable
Rook Lord Charles to the fore.
Free Australian forces promptly moved into the
state from New South Wales, intending to seize
Victoria’s capital, Melbourne and its large harbour to
deny them to the Britannians. However, Australian
loyalists, supported by troops from New Zealand and
Charles authorised Dinsley to hammer out a peace
settlement with the rebels, and Australia split into
independent and loyalist regions. The three states
which remained loyal to the crown, plus Tasmania,
became known as Royal Australia, and merged with
New Zealand as a single dominion within the Empire.
•1•
Dystopian Wars The Australians
THE AUSTRALIANS
The remaining three ‘dissident’ states became a new
nation – the Commonwealth of Free Australia.
The Commonwealth would be permitted to 'go it
alone', on the assurance of two points. First, they
would not attempt to coerce or force any of the states
of 'Royal Australia' to secede. Second, they would not
provoke war on the continent, or with New Zealand.
In turn, Dinsley offered assurances that Britannia
would not forcibly attempt to reunite the country,
and would not interfere in Free Australian affairs.
The plan was eventually accepted by all sides. By
1844, the separation was complete. Today, Australia
is still a land divided.
MILITARY STRENGTH
Despite their profound political differences, the
Royal and Free Australian military forces share a
great deal of technology and weaponry. Both sides
depended upon Britannian-sourced materials for
everything from small arms to heavy ordnance and
war machines during their brief civil war.
Relatively isolated from the rest of the world, but
with a good resource base of raw materials, the
Australians of both states sides were compelled to
continue developing their military capacity from this
same basis.
Consequently, Australian weapons and war machines
lack some of the sophistication of their Britannian
forebears, but they are tough, hardwearing and rarely
malfunction. Moreover, Australian and New Zealand
engineers are noted for some surprising innovations,
especially in naval architecture.
These include ‘sheathed’ Generator housings
designed to protect their valuable contents from
both enemy action and rough weather, and specialist
tender vessels for midget submarines, which act as
launch vessels for shoals of deadly underwater strike
craft.
Some of the crack Contractual Flotillas of the Free
Australians also harbour even stranger devices –
weapons and ancillary systems ‘acquired’ from the
Covenant of Antarctica through the completion
•2•
Dystopian Wars The Australians
THE AUSTRALIANS
of important contracts, often given in lieu of, or
alongside, regular payment.
in his late seventies, still occupies the position of
Royal Governor.
Many of these devices are also thought to be
operated by Covenant personnel rather than Free
Australian troops. However, the Free Australians
remain as close-mouthed about this as they are
with any of their mercenary dealings. The Covenant
itself, as with just about everything else, has neither
confirmed nor denied this supposition.
In addition to agricultural and mineral resources, the
Dominion provides fighting troops for the Britannian
Empire. Its ground and aerial units tend to use
mostly conventional Britannian style equipment.
Other than its defence forces, most of the Dominion’s
forces serve overseas.
POLITICS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS –
ROYAL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
Royal Australia is a Britannian possession, tied in to
the political and economic network of the Empire.
In terms of its foreign policy and attitude to other
nations, Royal Australia shares the same allies and
foes as the ‘mother country’. It is by definition a
member of the Grand Coalition.
Royal Australia and New Zealand are governed as one
Dominion, with one Governor, but with two Prime
Ministers and local governments. Lord Dinsley, now
Britannia’s world-spanning Empire is not short
of active warzones, especially with the onset of
European war. As well as the Far East, Royal
Australian and New Zealand troops are currently
serving with distinction in the African theatre, where
their survival skills are proving to be invaluable in
the harsh desert environments.
In the Far East, the main asset of Royal Australia
and New Zealand to the Britannian Imperial General
Staff is its powerful naval division, which forms the
backbone of the Britannian Far East Fleet.
•3•
Dystopian Wars The Australians
THE AUSTRALIANS
POLITICS AND FOREIGN RELATIONS –
FREE AUSTRALIA
The Free Commonwealth has developed into a
nascent republic, with a First Minister as head
of state and a Commonwealth Assembly. Under
the leadership of First Minister Anna Hargreaves,
the Commonwealth conducts its own affairs in all
matters.
Although possessing a modest agricultural and
industrial base, mercenary soldiering remains a
speciality among many of the Commonwealth's
inhabitants. Many Commonwealth units are fighting
for the Empire of the Blazing Sun in its battles against
the Britannians in South East Asia.
This had led to some considerable friction in the
region. The Britannians are aware of Australian
mercenaries fighting against their forces, but
do not wish to widen the war by attacking the
Commonwealth. The Free Australians in turn do not
wish to provoke this outcome either.
Consequently, a curious ‘gentleman’s agreement’ has
come to exist in South East Asia. Free Australian
forces operating under Blazing Sun contracts fight
mainly against East India Company and Portuguese
mercenary outfits fighting with the Britannians.
Conversely, Britannian Royal Australian units in
the region operate exclusively in opposition to
Blazing Sun forces, and their Dutch mercenary allies.
Thus far, this strange arrangement has managed to
hold true. Outside of this, the Free Australians are
generally willing to hire out their forces to virtually
anyone with the necessary finance, other than the
Britannians and their other imperial vassals.
Even the Covenant of Antarctica is believed to
employ Commonwealth Free Companies and naval
Contractual Flotillas, although the Free Australians
maintain the confidence of all their employers as
securely as the great banks of Switzerland protect
their clients’ financial business.
The Covenant maintains an embassy in Canberra,
one of the few outside of the Gateway that now
remains open following the closing of Antarctica’s
borders. Free Australia is also a common stoppingoff point for people from all over the world who
wish to migrate to the secretive new nation. As with
passage via The Gateway, at the moment, this is
strictly a one-way venture.
•4•
Dystopian Wars The Australians