By the year 2024 world debt has skyrocketed to over $300 Trillion, and with the US dollar in free fall a desperate G20 votes a return to the gold standard. The gold price skyrockets overnight, fortunate for Australia which has plenty of gold in the ground hugely boosted by the discovery of the legendary Lasseter's Reef. But there is a problem. Now boasting the world's largest navy and a modern air force, China has been expanding its military bases south and resolves to use them in a 'military solution' in its quest for gold and territory. Fortunately, US intelligence has penetrated the PLA State Security Centre and supplies ASIO with China's complete invasion plan of PNG and northern Australia. Aware that under the ANZUS treaty an isolationist America will supply weapons and technology but no 'boots on the ground,' Australia has five years to shore up its defences and find a way to stop the juggernaut. They may have found it in a most unlikely place. A weapon that becomes known as Excalibur.