The early 40's of the twenty-first century saw the world plunged into total chaos by a global economical collapse unprecedented in human history; a collapse compared to which the Great Depression of the 1930's looked like a breeze compared to a tropical storm. Public security became almost nonexistent; looting and epidemics were everyday phenomena while domestic and international terrorism was also at an all time high. The uncontrollable demonstrations of more and more violent nature that often led to riots or even civil wars. Grievances of various nature - religious, national, ethnic, etc. -, some long forgotten others always existing but suppressed, were warmed up to be used as casus belli in - usually brief but always bloody - local wars that often saw former allies turning against one another.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Mother Earth had also enough of the era of consumer society that brought - among others - global environmental pollution and also the remorseless overexploitation of the ever dwindling natural resources. Vast areas were made uninhabitable by toxic and nuclear pollution. Inundations, droughts, desertification and climatic extremes ruined the conventional agriculture causing worldwide famine and leading to the death of millions and millions of people.

Whether it's Mother Nature or a third/nuclear world war that puts an end to its 'danse macabre', the days of human civilisation seemed counted...

Few if any knew its origins - was it a gender-specific viral weapon developed in some country's military laboratories and let intentionally or accidentally loose, or was it "only" a natural mutation of an already existing virus? -, but in the year 2046 Pandora's box opened again. A new, most contagious disease reared its head on the planet and within only a few months the entire male population was contaminated!

It was little or no consolation from the aspect of the infected males that the "living hosts" remained alive for years without experiencing any visible effect on their general physical condition - except for the very brief end stage - for the infection had still a horrible consequence! Within a short time, about half of the men became infertile, and the rest who proved to be genetically or otherwise somewhat resistant thus evading the danger of falling victim to the infection - albeit still able to procreate - found themselves almost unable to conceive a male! Within soon, the male-to-female ratio of births changed dramatically, with only one in every fifty of the new born children being male...

War, famine, disease, death... Now it seemed that human civilization - and perhaps even humankind itself - had indeed received the coup de gr�ce... But miraculously, it was not the end-of-the-end but the beginning of a rebirth!

Humankind had to adapt and evolve at a startling pace. The decimated population was forced to migrate again with hundred thousands of people seeking new home in the more forgiving areas. Meanwhile, the events had also a major social impact on the entire world: as there were fewer and fewer men, women had to take a prominent role in all aspects of life which led to the birth of a new, matriarchal society; a society totally different from its predecessor.

It took more than a century but, having learned from the mistakes of the Old World and realized that the only chance for humankind's survival is to co-operate with one another and live in harmony with nature, the women and men of the post-Cataclysm world, albeit only a fraction of the population of any Earth we could recall remained, managed to establish a new, peaceful and almost Eden-like world.

A natural peace and spirit of co-operation like the world had never known before descended. Everyday life was perpetuated in harmony with nature: for each inhabited area the women and men found the most proper lifestyle that allowed the most perfect coexistence of civilization and nature, let it be either smaller settlements based on fishing or agriculture, cities where higher education and the remaining industry found their home, or even nomadic tribes. The communities were mutually supporting one another by sharing their resources.

People tried their best to preserve the scientific and technological knowledge, even though there were many elements of the Old World's science and technology they could not maintain any longer. Of course, technology itself was not completely abandoned and - albeit maintained at a level much lower than that of the Old World -, remained used sparingly and wisely; not to increase the productivity of industry or decrease production costs but to protect life of all kinds. The startling paradigm shift, among other things, inspired a veritable renaissance of some sciences: the knowledge in certain fields of biology and medicine remained high; and the natural medicines the healers used proved to be much more efficient than the synthetic compounds of the Old World...

Humanity, having weathered the storm, became quite hardy and able to evolve very quickly. The wars of the old times became a distant memory. It seemed that nothing can disturb the harmony, but every Eden has its own venomous snake as it seems...

A shocking reminder of the darker aspects of human nature came in the form of a force created in secret genetic laboratories sponsored by the Axis of most obscure figures and organizations of the Old World back in the middle of the 21st century. Genetically engineered to be physically superior and equipped by the Old World's cutting edge military technology, this force - a race of heavily muscled Amazon Super Soldiers -, was intended to help their Masters in snatching the power from the hands of the weakened democratic governmentst and rule the world, or what little remained from it, by iron hands...

In a last ditch, all-or-nothing attempt a special unit composed of the very best elite soldiers serving in the now ragged, almost nonexistent remnants of what were the proudest armies of the free world just a decade or so ago, succeeded in destroying the secret underground complex and eliminating the leaders of the obscure Organization. While the "Puppet Masters" were dead, the main bases, the undersea Hives of the Super Soldiers, remained undiscovered and intact. However, the chaotic times ensuing the Cataclysm - as the people called the global contamination with the new viral weapon and its consequences - prevented any further operation and the threat sunk into oblivion...

For reasons unknown, the Artificial Intelligence controlling the Hives finally awakened from "her" two hundred year sleep. The searching for the original creators and any of their possible descendants had no visible result at all, and the commanding AI made up "her" mind: without superiors to serve "she" decided to become the superior to be served! And now the Super Soldiers were here...

These merciless female warriors - considering themselves the Superior Race -, turned against all humanity, attacking primarily from the sea and systematically sweeping along the coastlines of the continents. Pillaging and ravaging they came and went; killing every man they encountered with insane rage while capturing every female they could in the age group 15 to 25. Having lived in peace and harmony for so long, the Druantians - as the people called their new, Eden-like world and themselves - seemed unable to mount any considerable resistance. No one could stop the Super Soldiers in their quest to enslave the entire population and become the new and only rulers of the world. But, much to the chagrin of the Amazons, there were still women who proved to be capable of fighting the monsters, to organize and co-ordinate the resistance efforts.

Thus, a new war begun, a grim and merciless war in which the formerly oh-so peace-loving Druantians had to fight to preserve their freedom and ensure their survival. A war in which the end sanctifies the means - and, sometimes, not only as far as the Amazon Super Soldiers are concerned...