Chapter 1:

Somewhere in the old growth forests of the North-Western United States, a team of men were busy processing lumber as part of a standard logging operation. For the men that had signed on the work was simple in theory, chop the designated trees and the American people would have access to various exotic woods. No one could complain so long as the tree cutting was kept to a minimum, and no one would get hurt, or so the men thought.

In truth, a nearby band of radical activists were plotting how they might best end the destruction of their state forests. Over the last couple of years, the group had grown more desperate as peaceful protests failed to sway the corporate logging companies operating within the United States, and with each passing day the group welcomed more extreme forms of action. By this point, the activists were entirely composed of female volunteers, as a wave of mounting paranoia had caused the group’s leaders to expel any male members due to the twisted perception that any man might have a bond with those same men cutting down the Earth’s forests. Rational thought was a thing of the past, the group could now only embrace revenge, every one of their members now willing to enact violence on those who would harm mother nature.

At the head of the group’s operation is a woman formally known as Elissa, twenty-eight years old and now referred to as “Rose” by her devout followers; although, to most she’s the esteemed owner of a rejected thesis in botanical studies. Rumor has it that during her graduate studies she had snapped and suddenly swore her retirement from academia forever, claiming that the wilderness should be engineered to defend itself from the likes of man. As she retreated from her University research, she managed to sway several of her fellow students towards her cause, marking the formation of a new green-activism group interested in the development and protection of rare species of plant. Rose’s group worked for years, and its various researchers of the natural sciences managed to raise several rare strains of flora with revolutionary properties. At the height of their research the group had genetically engineered fungi capable of releasing toxic spores, which had the unusual ability of shrinking those organisms which inhaled them. At the time, the group doubted that their research could have any meaningful impact combatting the destruction of threatened forest habitat. However, now the group’s numbers have fallen, and the five most prolific members that remain feel that their prior research may now finally be of great use.