[Earth, 2334 AD]
Circa 2040 AD, corruption, greed, pollution, conflict, short-sightedness, denial, apathy, and overconsumption tipped the world into nearly two centuries of chaos and destruction. Hunger, war, storms fueled by global warming, and several deadly pandemics swept the globe. All of this resulted in a near zero birth rate. The remnants of humanity have fragmented into small clusters of life, struggling to survive, and competing fiercely for food and resources against other humans as well as against apex predators like wolves, big cats, and large reptiles. The roughly 20,000 humans who remain have migrated largely underground, into subterranean colonies where women and children are kept as safe as is possible from the hell that exists on the surface. Earth is now a tropical jungle world with the exception of a few desert regions and at its poles.
My name is John Goodson, Sergeant. I'm 26 years old, and I'm the leader of patrol squad Alpha out of New Arizona Refuge. The United States of America no longer exists, but a lot of the old names still persist. My squad, ten of us, are foraging and hunting on the surface roughly two kilometers from our underground home.
"What the hell is that?" RJ shouts. He's looking up through a break in the foliage, shielding his eyes against bright sunlight with one hand, while cradling his assault rifle close to his chest with the other.
I see a gleam of silver as a strange arrowhead shaped aircraft fills the space above the treetops. There is an odd vibration all around us, and then, a flash of light so bright it blinds me momentarily.
"Fuck," I growl, as I feel a sharp jabbing pain in the side of my neck, and then, everything fades to nothing.
...
[Alien reptilian (saurian) species JeXzi]
[Aboard multigenerational interstellar spaceship in near earth orbit]
The JeXzi have journeyed 530 years(EM, Earth Measure) at 10% light speed, to reach their goal, a blue world rich with water, with an Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere, and orbiting a stable yellow star in its Goldilocks zone. Of the 3,000 JeXzi who departed their world, only roughly 400 males remain, descendants of those who began their galactic trek so long ago. Their home world has been engulfed by an expanding red giant star by now. These 400 saurian males are all that remain of their species. They are powerful, predatory, and highly intelligent. Average height for JeXzi males is 2.2 meters(EM). Average height for JeXzi females was 1.8 meters(EM).
JeXzi females had always been a minority sex among their species, typically in a ratio of approximately 10:1 - ten males for each female. This ratio was never a problem because JeXzi females are highly sexed, driven to breed almost constantly, accepting several males without discrimination, even in rapid succession, and producing three or four eggs every 10 days(EM). JeXzi males prize their females but there is no monogamy, no jealousy, no concern for parentage. Once hatched, juveniles are nurtured collectively by all females until they reach a certain age. JeXzi lifespan is roughly 90 years(EM). One Queen typically rises to dominance over the other females, enhancing her colorations and feminine drive and attributes.
At the outset of their interstellar voyage, one JeXzi female had carried an undetected nascent pathogen within her ovaries. Despite JeXzi technological and medical prowess, efforts to contain and isolate the infection failed, and, one by one, over time, every female succumbed to the disease. Top JeXzi scientists had the foresight to collect and preserve DNA: chromosomes and hormones, from the dying females, and then found ways to replicate these sophisticated organics. Experiments were done, attempting to alter a few JeXzi males by infusing them with large amounts of synthesized female hormone, but each attempt was met with failure. The JeXzi male physiology was simply too dominant versus any effort to alter it.
"We need a weaker species. It is imperative we create a new Queen," was the consensus.
... Three weeks(EM) later...
