i have this concept of factions… the indigenous peeps and the human colonists.

and a third faction that would have coexistance.

that my hero would be sucked into it. and be sucked into completing another terrorist act.

while the more public civil war is erupting between the colonists and the natives, the third faction is instigating things.

his third faction participation is what drives his chartacter to change in how he deals with his romantic entanglement

so, there are really two intertwined story lines… the political one and the love triangle one

it’s a small colonized planet

going to keep the tech light… these are common people, not warriors or scientists.

i’ll use some typical sci-fi staples… atmospheric generators and crap like that …

keep the language plain and in context. no need for gobble-de-gook

So humans on this planet that they discovered and are trying to invade the aliens who were there first?

humans already colonized about 50 years prior to the story.

thinking along the lines of what’s happening for reals in the americas with how first nations peeps were treated

i want to tell the tale from the conquered perspective, not the conquerors

Are the aliens a nice species?

So is your MC an alien then?

yeah

tho he’s not really the ‘alien’ right.. humans are.

Right

Okay. So he’s not a human. And you’re writing from his stand point. I like it

and the species is generally pacifistic, but like all cultures, there are different people— those who would rebel and those who would assimilate.

social problems that come with being subjugated as a second-class society and all that jazz

What are your differences going to be between Earth and that planet?

thinking the colony planet is smallish, but almost totally a planet-wide city by the time the story hits. environmental disaster caused by terrorism causes the sea levels to rise, destroying all agriculture and arable land, forcing the native peoples to move into the city and creating a slum. This is what creates the conflict between the two peoples.

that the disaster was secretely caused by the Third Faction makes things interesting

Will the city look like a city you’d see on Earth?

thinking something blade runner -ish

so it’s already on its way into trouble and then more trouble strikes. But if they win the war against humans… they still have the problem with environmental disassters and whatnot

It shouldn’t look too much like Earth, city or not, because it’s an entirely different planet

right. and the native people’s influence ahould be evident.. kinda like the asian influence on bladerunner’s San Francisco

Do they have any special powers?

probably not

Or are they an equal match to humans?

What about weapons?

still thinking about that one. in the face of an ecological disaster, maybe there is an economic collapse. some technology reversion to more conventional things.

You could maybe get around inventing too many by having a hoard of them steal a human’s stash of weapons or something

no energy weapons or crap like that.. standard firearms and sharp/blunt weapons

But you could do some cool things, too, like some kind of explosive rock. Kinda like volcano but under a lot of pressure or something. So when they toss it it’s like a bomb in a way

Not that exactly, but maybe they could use their surroundings a bit to disarm the humans or something

i could also figure out some latent power of the natives that they refuse to use for spiritual reasons but the Third Faction chooses otherwise

And drive a little bit of fantasy into it, kind of

tho i don’t want to go all Great Spirit on the story and make it too much of an allegory to current problems.

low level fantasy

But sometimes if you go too out there… it’s just too out there and not realistic enough to connect with or believe