Windfall: The Herd — Phil Farrand

Almost a thousand years ago, a race of titans known as the Wind conquered Earth to begin their reign. They claimed to be Jesus Christ and his followers, returning to fulfill the prophecy of a millennial rule with a rod of iron. For hundreds of years, they used their overwhelming strength to ruthlessly enforced two simple guidelines: Submit or die and treat others as you wish to be treated. To make the choice even easier, the Wind also employed their considerable technologies to provide for every physical human need. For almost as long as humans can remember, there has been no hunger, no need to work, no crime, no disease, and abundant energy for all. And in the years following the Coming, humanity has prospered, spreading to other worlds in the solar system, and even planets in other nearby star systems. Then, 960 years after their arrival, the Wind disappeared and humans awoke to find themselves surrounded by technologies that they barely understood, submissives without a master, a race accustomed to utopia with no idea how to maintain it without the heavy hand of their overlords. Now, the Realm is splintering along its outer edges as new voices arise to question the authority of Earth and its capital city, Jerusalem, and in time, those factions will march on Earth, aligning themselves for a final battle that will determine the destiny of the human race.