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Prologue: Conquerors from the Stars

Humanity. The dominant species of a beautiful blue world the third planet from its star, located in an otherwise unremarkable arm of its home galaxy. Having evolved from lesser primates over the course of millions of years, they quickly adapted to their environments and learned the ways of the world. With an intelligence unmatched by any other species on the planet, they took control of their world and multiplied rapidly. By the mid-21st century, their population reached well beyond 9 billion, with no plans of stalling anytime in the near future.

However, this growth was not without a price. Humanity had long since grew greedy and selfish, initiating wars over land and money, living a life of luxury while the less fortunate starved to death, and changing the face of the planet for the worst. The world leaders and their governments did not care much of the well-being of their people, and was instead more concerned with gaining more power and more influence over the world. Furthermore, humans saw themselves as invincible; they had conquered all other species on the planet with their powerful weapons and even rendered several species extinct. As far as they were concerned, humanity's greatest enemy... was humanity itself.

For many, many years, they were indeed right. However, this belief would soon be challenged. One day, out of the vast expanse of space, they arrived. An extraterrestrial species that resembled humans, but at the same time was far different. Not the least of which was that these aliens had a stature that completely dwarfed even the tallest humans on record in their shadows; these aliens clocked in at nearly 100 feet tall, inspiring awe and fear in the eyes of humanity.

Once these aliens arrived on the blue planet, they made their move. They began to massacre humanity by the thousands; with their size all it took was a mighty stomp to extinguish the life of the average man, though some also took to devouring them as snacks. For the first time in their history, humanity as a whole put aside their differences and banded together to fight back against this new threat. Their nuclear weapons and combined military forces succeeded in killing a few of the deadly warriors, but in the end it was not enough to stop their advance. In another first for humanity, they became something that they had feared most: the hunted.

With no defense against these fearsome warriors, humans the world over hid in deep underpasses. However, many were eventually found by the giants. Rather than kill them outright, the giants took to establishing their own dominions over the ruined lands of humanity. They ruled over these lands, and the humans within, with an iron fist. Their mission to purge the planet of humans was put on hold; the blue planet that the humans called "Earth" was indeed a remarkable world, and they wanted to spend as much time on it as they were able to. In their eyes, it was truly a shame that the "foolish" humans had caused a world such as this to decay.

And thus, these giants--a race solely comprised of females--became the new rulers of Earth, the new "Queens".

Our story begins in the 17th year of the Queens' occupation of the Earth. Humanity's global population now stands more-or-less at a paltry 1,000,000, a far cry from what they had numbered before the Queens evoked their conquest of the planet...

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Chapter 1: Escape

The wind blew past their ears as Trey and his two companions ran through a thick forest. They were frantic, constantly looking behind them and listening very closely to their surroundings; they were eager to reach what they called "salvation".

They soon arrived at a clearing; the sun's rays shone down from the blue sky above through the "hole" in the trees.

Trey fell down on one knee and began to inhale heavily. He was exhausted, having been running nonstop for what felt like hours.

His two companions noticed this, as they both stalled and rushed back to Trey's side.

"Trey, what are you doing?!" said Richie, his brown-haired partner. "She's gonna catch us if we don't hurry up!"

"I know!" Trey responded hastily between breaths. "But we've been running for so long that I'm out of it..."

"You'll have time to rest when we reach the others!" said Elijah, an African man. "We need to get out of here!"

Trey sighed as Elijah pulled him up by the arm. Once he was back on his feet, the trio resumed their flight. They entered back into the thicket, and continued to fight their way through the bushes and vines that were littered throughout the forest. Eerily, the wildlife was as quiet as the dead of night; not even a sound from one of the native birds could be heard. Was it possible that she was nearby? However, they did not hear--or feel--any of the heavy footsteps that shook the earth each time she walked.

After what seemed like hours, the group reached the edge of the forest; as evident of the bright sunlight that was shining from ahead.

They finally exited the woods, and walked onto a flat, grassy plain. The sky was a pristine blue, with puffy white clouds flowing with the wind. Not far off in the distance were tall, jagged cliffs

"The secret passage is over in that valley," Richie said, pointing in that direction. "Once we reach it, we're home-free."

"But we'll be out in the open," Trey said somewhat nervously. "If she catches us, then we'll be sitting ducks."

"Then we'd better hurry," Richie responded.

The trio once again took off running across the lush plain. Again, they looked behind them; no sign of her approaching. Perhaps their escape had gone unnoticed for the time-being. Trey hoped that that was indeed the case.

Far behind them, beyond the forest, they could see the monstrously huge structure: the Queens' Castle of this region, where many of their companions were kept as slaves and pets, or worse, as playthings and delicacies. Trey could not bear to think of how many of his friends were eaten or otherwise killed in gruesome ways by the gigantic aliens.

Trey could barely remember their arrival; he was only two years old when they started their conquest of the Earth. Therefore, he had no fond memories of what life was like before they came here; the same could not be said of others he knew, including Richie and Elijah. All he knew was that those giant women-like creatures were evil, and that he had to get away from them at all costs.

To their sides, the land began to separate and rise, as the path that they treaded on lowered, and the grass gave way to dirt and stone. Soon, they were deep within the valley, the grass and forest being completely out of sight, though the upper portions of the Queens' Castle could still be seen.

"It should be nearby," Richie said as the three slowed to a stop. "I'll go on ahead and look for it."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Elijah asked with concern. "What if one of them finds you?"

"I'll be fine," Richie responded. "Those bitches' are so big that I'll be able to hear them coming a mile away."

"...I hope so." Elijah was unconvinced.

Trey and Elijah watched as Richie pressed on ahead, where the path created by the cliffs above merged with the rest of the much larger valley. According to the older prisoners back at the Castle, this valley had not existed before the Queens' invasions; it had been shaped into the face of the Earth during the war. The land within was barren; not a single shred of plant life grew within the rocky walls.

As Richie exited the path, Trey and Elijah noticed a large shadow appear over him. Their hearts sunk; they knew the source of that dreadful shadow.

Before Richie could react, a gigantic, sandal-clad tanned foot stomped down onto him, causing the entire valley to shake violently in response. Both Trey and Elijah nearly lost their balance as a result.

"Richie!" Trey called. All that he could see of Richie was a large blood splatter surrounding the foot.

"There you are!" said a loud female voice from beyond the path. "Empress Kharlla was not pleased with her servants sneaking out of her domain."

The foot turned as its owner walked forward and stood at the end of the path, facing directly towards them. She was a tan-skinned giant with shoulder-length violet hair and blue eyes; and she wore a deep blue tubetop with a white skirt, completing her outfit with what resembled brown gladiator sandals. This Queen was known--and feared--as Ryia.

She shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips. "She gave me the order to do with you as I like when I find you." A disturbing smirk formed on her face. "I already have plenty of slaves of my own, so I'm just going to kill you both right here."

Then, Ryia started to approach them, stepping off of and revealing to the men the crushed body of Richie in a pool of blood and flesh behind her. As large as she was, it would only take her a few steps to reach their present position.

Elijah fearfully began to shove on Trey. "Move! Move!!"

Both men turned around and began to flee from the approaching titaness. Though she was walking, she was quickly catching up to them; if she had wanted to, she could have just dashed and slaughtered them in a matter of seconds. No doubt that she was merely toying with them at the moment.

"We need to hide!!" Elijah said.

"Where!?" Trey responded. "There's no place to take cover!!"

Elijah looked around, and then spotted something to his left. "Over there!"

Trey looked at where Elijah was directing him, and saw an opening in the rock wall that looked to be just barely large enough for them to squeeze through. She would see them flee inside, and it would not serve to save their lives in the long run, but it would at least provide them with an opportunity to think about their next move.

They wasted no time. They ran right towards the opening, with Trey in the lead. Upon reaching it, Trey turned his body to the side and edged his way inside as fast as he could. Elijah prepared to follow in after him, but before he was able to, Ryia's gigantic foot swung forward, slamming into Elijah's body with the force of a bus and sending him flying several dozen feet away.

"Elijah!!" Trey frantically called.

Ryia walked past the opening, and towards the injured Elijah, who laid on the valley ground, immobile but alive. Trey peaked out from the crack in the wall, and watched as Ryia stood over his fallen companion.

"Stop!" Trey yelled. "Don't kill him!!"

Ryia giggled, as if mocking his plea. Then, she held out her right arm and opened her palm. Electricity began to spark around her hand from her palm, before the electricity took the form of a large sword. She turned the sharp tip of the sword towards the ground, and thrust it downward, cutting into the rock ground and through Elijah. He gave one final scream before his body was severed in half as Ryia slid the sword towards her, creating a large slit in the ground as well. Blood shot out from both ends of Elijah's body, as Ryia lifted her sword and carried it over her shoulder as she walked back towards where Trey was hiding.

Trey retreated as far inside of the crack as he could, until he felt his body being pressed on both sides by the rocky walls. He shook in fear as Ryia stood at the opening, bending over and looking into it.

"Come out, human," she ordered. "I promise I won't make your death painful if you comply."

Trey turned his head away from her and closed his eyes.

"If you don't do what I say, then I'll have to just cut you out," Ryia continued. "Then I'll sever your limbs one-by-one, pull your skin from your bones, and bite your head off. Do you want to make me that angry, human?"

He had no intention of doing as she ordered; whether it was a quick death or a prolonged and agonizing one, the fact of the matter was that he did not want to die. He wanted her to go away and leave him alone. However, it seemed that that was not going to happen. She seemed determined to retrieve him and end his life in a gruesome display.

"I'll give you to the count of three," Ryia said, her voice taking a serious tone. "If you don't come out by then, I'll rip you into pieces. One..."

Trey whimpered. He covered his face with his hands; he could feel that his face was awash with tears.

"Two..."

Trey hoped--nay, prayed--that a miracle would happen to deliver him from this crisis. Any miracle, be it her losing interest in him, or her suddenly dropping dead from known causes; as long as he survived, he did not care.

"...Three. Okay, human. You have decided your fate. I'm going to make your death as painful as possible."

Then, Trey felt the area rumble. The rumbling became more violent as the crashes that accompanied them grew louder. His heart raced even faster; another Queen was arriving. It was bad enough dealing with one, but two was far too much for him to handle. He was now convinced that he would have to face his own mortality, in the form of two sadistic, albeit beautiful, killers.

"...Y-you!" Trey heard Ryia exclaim with a hint of surprise and shock in her tone. "Did you come to take this human from me?"

Trey then heard the sound of electricity, most likely from the second Queen.

"What are you-"

"Step away from the human," ordered the second voice. "Or you'll regret it."

"You would raise your weapon against me? ...So the rumors are true... ...I will kill you here and now, and restore honor to our race!!"

Trey heard what sounded like clashes of steel. Two... Three... Five... He soon lost count. He listened as the two Queens fought each other. He wondered what was going on; why would a Queen attack another Queen?

He was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he heard the sound of flesh being pierced, and the agonized cry from one of the Queens. ... From Ryia.

There was a loud thud as something heavy fell onto the ground, followed by the metallic clank of a sword falling after.

"Traitor!!" an enraged Ryia yelled. "You disgrace our name!! You have no right to the life Mother gave you!!"

"...Once I kill all of you, I'm going after Mother as well," said the second voice.

Ryia gasped. "You wouldn't dare!! Mother is far more powerful than you can ever hope to-"

Ryia's words were cut off as there was another piercing sound. Ryia gave one final scream, before everything fell silent.

Trey opened his eyes, and slowly turned his head towards the opening. Then, he inched his way towards the valley; whoever this new Queen was sounded determined to kill off the other Queens, but was she someone that he could trust?

As he emerged from the crack, he bore witness to the aftermath of the Queens' battle. Indeed, Ryia lay on the ground, dead. Her body had been pierced in two places, one in her chest and the other right in her heart, and from both spots she was bleeding onto the valley ground. Standing over the fallen Queen was her slayer. Trey looked upon her; her skin was of a lighter tone and she had long pinkish-orange hair and amber eyes, she wore a brown sleeveless shirt and a white mini-skirt with a single red stripe near its bottom, complete with brown boots. In her right hand, she held her sword, its tip dripping with the blood of Ryia.

She looked from her defeated adversary and towards Trey. He shuddered as her eyes locked onto his body. He backed away from her, and prepared to reenter the crack in the rock wall.

The Queen's expression changed to one of genuine concern. "Human, are you alright?"

 

[End Chapter]

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