March of the Storm Giants
By: Eric Drewes

  It wasn't their first bid for power of the universe.  The last one fell into obscurity as myth, when the seraphim crushed the revolution of the giants lead by the mighty frost giants.  But hope was resurrected in the storm giants, who began reunifying the tribes hidden through the modern world, away from the scathing eyes of the growing humanity.  Which is another idea most people have.  They assume 'God' created the world, and people are just nothing in the cosmic scheme of things. Wrong.  Even the Gods were like us once, and through their days of mortality they gained knowledge and power and eventually became what we know of now.  The giants were the same way, once they were normal people, who populated the earth, but through their evolution, the strongest rose to vast powers, and have become far above mortality.  Nearly an infinite amount of races has rose to power throughout the history of earth, often disappearing, or carrying along their battles and wars to higher planes of existence.  In fact, no one knows who the true creator, whose conception of the universe is so infinitely powerful it is unfathomable by even the most wisest oldest being in the universe.  It is to much humor of the supreme beings that mankind presumes to understand the concept of the creator.

  Mankind is taking a different path to their evolution.  Instead of growing powerful physically and mentally, they have begun to rely on machine's to help them grow.  Instead of the strong and wise rising to the top of society, mankind chooses the great manipulators of the mind to lead, and so while maybe not being as honorable as many other races, it gives them the upper hand when it comes to control, and adaptability.  It has yet to be seen whether they will rise to immortality like the god or giants or the inummerable others, or fall into obscurity, like the Dinosaurs, who chose size in their bid for survival.

There are rules to the Universe:

1) Survival of the fittest
2) Everyone gets what they deserve
3) Adaptation and living through turmoil separates the weak from the strong
4) Life is just a game
 
  You can argue against these all you want, point out the cruelties of them, even condemn them, get hurt, angry, or afraid, but it won't change the truth.

 
  There eventually came a time, when the conclave of the High Storm Giants decided that the time was near to finalize their plans.  Their goal was simple: finally wrest the power of heaven and control of the earth from the God that had so long been in power.  Time after time, they had failed to have the power needed to confront God and his angel's.  The Frost Giants were the last to make a thrust against him, but their epic rush to the gates of heaven were lost in the mythology of mankind, as God's seraphim crushed the legions.  That was the end of the Ice age, and the end of those great champions.  The storm giants would learn from their mistakes however.  They knew that despite their near immortality, they could never amass the power's to fight off the Xian armies.  But they knew something.  Mankind was nothing to the God, for they merely considered human's as entertainment.  God and the angels never learned through their evolution that they were not the supreme beings of the universe, but merely pawns of a higher force.  But the Giants knew better, and they also knew that the human's were falling for the Xian's path.  But they also saw the potential in the humans in their fight for the heavens.  In the game of chess, pawns are both the weakest and most important pieces, and so in this game of Life human's would allow the Storm Giants to checkmate heaven.

  So the storm giants chose a human at birth.  From the clouds, they guided him, pulling him through danger, always making sure he pulled off the daring escape or heroic measure by the skin of his teeth.  And though he always tried to do the things that were assigned to him, he always ended up doing whatever he wanted.  So the humans that were around him misunderstood it as a lack of discipline, and viewed him as a slacker.  They were afraid, and through their lives they learned that by misinterpreting the things they were afraid of as smaller or weaker then themselves, it made them easier to deal with.  If only truth was the stimuli to the human mind as opposed to pleasure.   Regardless, he did excel at certain things, and though he often felt paranoia and oppression, he found later that the things that made him feel weak were merely phantoms.  He was the wolf amongst the sheep.  This made him afraid of himself, but also relieved to know that his lashings were justified.

  Why he was chosen, the Storm Giants kept to themselves, and they never let him even know they were there, always remaining hidden just out of view.  Although they held him in high regard, and loved the pawn as if he were their child, they also underestimated him, for he had learned of their presence long ago, and although he never knew exactly what they were, he knew they were out there.  So he took the easy way out of things knowing that whatever he decided would always work out, as if everything was to easy.  Sure he was capable of working with the system, but it was much more convenient for him to manipulate it.  The storm giants saw this, and smiled, for they knew that in him they had a powerful ally.  Their child, their pawn, was becoming day by day more their peer.

  Definitely, there eventually came a time when even the Storm Giants who had created the fire inside this boy began fearing his potential.  They knew that he would not be the kind that would take order's from anyone, the kind that would not sell his soul to them as they had foolishly, and misguidedly thought.  But they also knew that they got what they deserved, and so they began a second conclave, one that would decide the best way to deal with their human.  Many of the older Storm Giants wished to simply force him into being their servant, for surely he would succumb to the obvious might of the Clouds.  But the younger ones, the ones that had their hand in raising the boy, knew that this would end in their deaths.  The more conservative, and perhaps the wisest of the group, deployed and argued the idea of smiting the human and taking away his gift and power before he realized he had it.  Seeing it as perhaps the best, the majority of the conclave voted on this action, which created much chaos.  The ones assigned to watching out for him vowed to protect him with their lives, and so were exiled from the group.  They left in anger, vowing also to bring the conclave down.

  The exiles from the conclave quickly went to earth and brought the boy to a sanctuary amongst the clouds.  They told him of the eternal struggle of the supreme races, and humanities roll in giving the God of heaven power.  He said he already assumed as much, and then they told him the truth about his being watched over to be used as a pawn of the Storm Giants, and that the storm giants decided he would never work out and how the conclave decided to kill him, but that they decided to save him, and were exiled for it, and he told them he felt honored.  They all had a good time drinking ale, which is the real drink of the gods, and they laughed a bit, and then the human, slightly drunk suggested that the exiles and himself could just storm heaven themselves, without the conclave's help.  They all had a good laugh, until they realized it was actually a good idea, a long shot, but a good idea nontheless.

  Hoping maybe the conclave would come to their senses and see that the human would be their ally, they sent a messenger.  He was promptly killed and sent back.  Realizing they not only wouldn't have any help, but a new enemy, they began to work out a plan.  The human would be the assassin, slipping in through the gate, while St. Peter was busy with the others, fighting off the massive powerful Giants.  The Exiled storm giants went to the other giants, surviving Frost Giants, the fog giants, and even the deformed Formorian's, hoping some would join in the epic battle that would divert heaven's attention from the lone human who would sneak in and vanquish God. A few joined, including the frost giant hero Bergelmir, who brought with him a tribe of Yeti who were his allies.  Knowing they were only to be the fodder in an epic struggle, their ambition to regain the glory of the past made them forget their inhibitions.  A group of Fog Giants through their chip into the struggle, in return for a place amongst the heavens.  Upon hearing of the revolution, the mighty Firbolg, a clan of powerful Giants, joined as well.

  The Battle was epic, Angels and Giants fought tooth and nail, and the earth shook with destruction, as weapons and bolts of magic hit earth like stray bullets.  Immortals and deities died that day, as the giants laid the destruction on heaven.  Mankind joined in the fight as well.  Seeing the threat, earth's governments went to the aid of the seraphrim, fighting the storm giants in mighty mechs, and utilizing powerful war tanks.  Of course, there were also rebels and mercs, who seeing the storm giants realized that man had no place in the war, and so counterattacked the human forces. On the 42nd day, a small, insignificant human crept through the gates and decended the hall of God, where the assumed 'creator' sat on his throne.  Jesus Christ, God's human son sat next to him, and was the first to notice the small assassin creeping in amongst the shadows.  A cold chill ran up the savior's spine, and he couldn't breath a warning to his father.  The human drew forth his sling.  Taking a stone from his pouch, he started spinning it.  Almost to late, God noticed him.  The small assassin whipped a stone into god's eye with such force it was death on impact.  Jesus began fleeing, but one of the exiled storm giants cleaved his skull with his mighty cladhmore.   The human stepped out of the Hall of God, and surveyed the battle field.  Blood stained the clouds, and the bodies of giants and angels alike littered the heavens.  The conclave of storm giants headed for the gate of heaven, seeking refuge from the thus far victorious forces of man. The assassin and the last living storm giant strode toward heaven's gate, and began closing it when the Conclave came.  The storm giants turned, realizing they were trapped, and made a final desperate stand against the uncoming forces of man.  They were no match for the thundering mechs and their plasma cannons and missiles.
Knowing now that he was truly the master of heaven and earth, the human, designated as a mere 'Pawn' originally by the storm giants, took his throne as king.

  He then began choosing human's to live in immortality with him, choosing only the strongest.  Soon after, a new race appeared on earth, to make their bid for survival.  Meanwhile, Mankind had learned of another place, above heaven, a place of more power.  Lead by the assassin that killed god, they began plotting their next step against the higher powers of the universe.

The End