Fate of the Prey
6 Issue Sci-Fi Action Series
Story by Marisa Lee & Searnold
(With a special shout out to Cody Shea! Thanks for your help, mi amigo!)
Written by Searnold
Art by Jordyn Williams
Story Synopsis:
In order to survive being hunted by vicious aliens, 2 people with opposite outlooks on life must learn to understand each others' different perspectives.
Jassen Gimse – a slave content living the only life he's ever known, unwillingly gets drawn into a rebellion. Eventually, he discovers the nobility in making sacrifices for the needs of people he's never even met.
Stephanie Laughlin – a rebel fighting desperately to free humanity, at any cost – realizes that the ends don't always justify the means if her crusade is hurting the very people she's trying to save.
Setting:
Imagine if Earth were conquered tomorrow by ruthless aliens who turned our whole planet into a giant slave colony where they harvest our natural resources in order to sustain their massive intergalactic empire. Now fast forward 20 years. That's our setting.
This is a dark and terrible universe where simply surviving is a constant struggle. Everyone who knows about life on other planets fears it, and rightfully so. You aren't paranoid – the aliens ARE out to get you.
Aliens:
Chitari – bad ass mother fuckers. Incredibly militaristic and strong, but simple minded – think dumb Klingons. They are the aforementioned ruthless aliens who conquered Earth. They advance their technology and expand their empire by raping, pillaging, and enslaving.
Z`Chäl – space locus. Not sentient, but far more dangerous than the Chitari. Even a small swarm can devour every living thing on a planet – plant, animal, and even bacteria – in just a few days.
Arlykis – intergalactic zookeepers. They seek to preserve the universe by collecting samples of every species from all the planets. Spoiler alert: despite what they claim, they are not actually here to help us.
E'mar-Da'pur-P'ree – murder rape apes. Strong simians whose sexual rituals involve raping you to death any time they smell your blood. Other than that, they make quite pleasant company.
O*Monepp – semi-sentient space ooze with a collective hive mind.
Characters:
Each of the six issues will be viewed through one of these six characters' perspectives. There will be occasional temporal overlap between issues wherein another character's perspective will reveal vital information.
Jassen – human male, 18. Enslaved, but it's his life and he makes the most of it. Doesn't like to rock the boat. Cares deeply about his friends.
Stephanie – human female, 20. Not so enslaved. Obsessed with killing every single last fucking Chitari. Strong willed. Emotionally distant.
Khrys – human male, 26. Stephanie's reasonable older brother. Occasionally over-protective. The brains of this operation.
Cephas – Joryllian female, 33. Empathic. Easily frightened. Has taken on the role of Jassen's mother. Her home planet was eaten by the Z`Chäl.
Kale – E'mar-Da'pur-P'ree male, 24. King with no more kingdom. Enslaved along with Jassen and Cephas. Loving and loyal. Extremely strong.
O*Monepp – Cephas' pet. A small part of its species' collective consciousness.
Plot:
Stephanie finally has a chance to get her revenge on the Chitari. She's made contact with a friendly group of aliens called the Arlykis who are willing to offer assistance if she can get off planet for an in-person meeting. Now she just needs a Chitari signal transmitter in order to fly through their fleet without being detected.
With Khrys' help, she allows herself to get taken to a nearby prison camp where she's forced to sort through piles of garbage for anything the Chitari may find useful. She gets imprisoned with three others – Jassen, Cephas, and Kale. Once she finds a functioning transmitter, she instigates a riot to provide cover for her escape – nearly getting everybody killed.
Of course, Khrys shows up just in time to save the day. But Jassen, Cephas, and Kale still have to leave behind everything they know. They flee back to Stephanie's hideout, but the Chitari are able to track them due to the collective consciousness of Cephas' pet, O*Monepp. Our heroes barely manage to escape into space and meet up with the Arlykis.
Who promptly imprison them. Kale manages to break loose, but in the process frees a small swarm of Z`Chäl. Stephanie wants to let them devour the Chitari, but Jassen isn't about to stand by and let the whole planet get eaten. He and Cephas use her empathic powers to summon the Ĝołæšţ, the natural predators of the Z`Chäl. An epic space battle ensues between the Chitari, Arlykis, Z`Chäl, and Ĝołæšţ in which Cephas gets killed.
Ultimately, the Chitari are successful at saving Earth (irony is such a bitch). With nowhere else to go, Jassen agrees to join Stephanie's rebellion. Our story is over... or has it just begun? (I suppose that depends on the sales figures.)
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