Well, as I said, they have enough to feed the people, but the population is growing. They need more food and resources. Growing population, they want and need enough to feed thier growing population, and to use as more planets as colonies, so humanity can expand outward. Yes. Because they want to exterminate any non-humans. I've said that already, it's the CGU government's propaganda machine that gets this into people's heads. The Government espouses the Terran Movement of the 6250s, which aimed to have humanity as the dominant force, nay, the ONLY force, in the universe. So? You're saying that the CGU shouldn't be using laser and phased-plasma weapons? They do, sometimes, but still normally use thier massive armies to take over planets. What? The Zaaroft are better equipped and have more experience than the CGUA. It's just that the CGU makes some major breakthroughs later in the war, and have much more troops. Like I said, the CGU propaganda drills this sentiment into the minds of the people, that alien species are the root of humanity's problems, etc. That's why they hate aliens: the government tells them to. This is more than a war of mere grievances, it is a war to exterminate the non-humans. Propaganda. Or, as I just said, it's a war of extermination. The citizens of the CGU want to destroy the non-humans, but thier opinion on the matter is pretty much irrelevant. The government, including the entire military, is indoctrinated with this anti-alien sentiment, and THEY are the ones that make the decisions, THEY are the ones that control the CGU, not the peasants. I know, that's what the story is about. The raising in ranks and showing him progress as a soldier is, as I said, more of a footnote than plot. So, what, do you think they should move like a slug in hyperspace? I do. Alexander, Genghis Khan, Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Idi Amin, Bokassa, etc. These men are bloodthirsty, powerhungry, glory-lusting maniacs. And you say that you've never heard of a human like that. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The CGU is supposed the mirror Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, etc. It's supposed to show how extreme things can get when certain people come into power. Allegorical to the events in the late-20s to mid-40s. Hell, the "Terran Movement", whose ideals the CGU government espouses, is almost identical to the NSDAP, except that they only hate aliens and human-alien crossbreeds. Thanks, good idea. I'll try to find these things at cheap-ass prices, 'cause I ain't spending a helluva lot on this...
Well, it just seems lame if they could terraform planets. There needs to be another reason... How about this, take it or leave it, the planets the aliens live on or not Earth-like. That is they have hostile atmospheres that need to be terraformed. The only way to do that is to enslave alien races into working in factories to change the planet to suit humanity. Or maybe the government has other reasons for capturing aliens alive and not bombing them. My main point is that there needs to be a good point for a ground war, just make it up. Saying that the propaganda says it is so it is so is not enough, why do the propaganda agents want this? What is their deal in all this?
Well, I could change it. I'll make the final decision after consulting the co-creator. Hmmm....I like the idea. It makes sense. I'll have to consult with weston, but this seems to fit well with it. What would you suggest besides laser weapons and beam rifles? I chose them because they're simple, and in the future, they'd be put into a compact enough form to be used as rifles and sidearms. SIDE NOTE: The Stormguard often uses lightning rifles, pretty much a tesla coil gun, would that be something along the lines of what you're thinking? Not enough material to make enough Blue Rinse for every Zaaroft-owned planet. They only use it large-scale on planets with MASSIVE zaaroft population, or in smaller amounts in airstrikes. Though the CGU has enough metal and food and etc. for their people and ships, they don't have enough of the materials used to make the Blue Rinse chemical. No, the aliens are the antagonists. They're the non-humans. What they've done wrong is be aliens. Ah, but your statement is based on the premise that the CGU government is lying to it's people...Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Good, because that's the root of all of the technology mentioned in it. Jason Strobol is the main character. You find out, through conversation in the story, that he has been well-indoctrinated with Terranism, and signed up for the Army the first chance he got. Eventually, we want to show him losing that indoctrination through one of the main battes, which is pretty much when the shit really hits the fan, and he starts to think about just surviving and getting his squad out safely instead of exterminating the Zaaroft. Okay. Sounds like a plan. Danke. Thanks, though, man. This'll really help to get the whole plot thing going.
Well that's good, because the CGU has a good reason for doing so. The Zaaroft are aliens, and therefore must be destroyed, exterminated, eliminated, slaughtered, butchered, murdered, burned, and killled with EXTREME prejudice. They're aliens. Kill 'em. Standard CGU procedure.
Hapsburg, the protagonist your humans may be, but they are cerntainly not the good guys. In their own minds, perhaps, but I doubt in the minds of the readers. What you have here is an empire of anti-heros, the main characters of the story but evil through and through. You would not be the first to do this, and it can be succesful, but you must realize that you are doing it.
Eh, I guess. I made the story on the premise that the CGU are the good guys... Might I inquire as to why you think they are not?
Eh. Good point. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Okay, let me rephrase that: Might I inquire as to why you think it is evil for them to kill aliens?
I guess. In a way. I just never saw a problem with them killing non-humans en masse. That's why I planned for them to be the good guys. Hmmmm...well, since now they are the bad guys, but still the protagonists, maybe I should have that it's kinda...saddening...at the end to see Jason go along with this willingly, showing how easily a human mind can be corrupted with genocidal ideals, yet another allegory to Nazi Germany.
Exactly, which could be the underlining point of what you're writing. But, look on the bright side. At least you are being realistic about how easy it is to manipulate the masses.
I think that you have the technical side of the universe well mapped out. But like I said that should all be background information, nobody really cares how fast the spaceships move, just the fact that they move fast. What you need to work on defining is some of the how and why questions: How does the ministry of propaganda operate in the CGU and why? How do soldiers feel about the war and their state's crusade? Why are the soldiers fighting? Do they believe the aliens are evil? Why do the people that spread propaganda believe in their cause? You know what is another good example for you to lok at, have you ever seen the movie "Enemy at the Gates" with Jude Law and Ed Harris. It is about the WW2 and the Russian's propaganda about thier sharpshooters. Take a look at it if you haven't. Also, read Starship Troopers, so very similar to your story... -ZERO MASS
Exactly how do you mean "how do they work?" ? If by "how do they get the propaganda out", then I'll tell you: pretty much, newspapers, mass media, etc...and, of course, subliminal messages on vid screens in every house. Most of them are scared about facing an enemy that is stronger, though less numbered, than they, but they are loyal and resolute to to the CGU government and the Dictator-Fuhrer, Maximilian von Compton-Wittelsbach. Most of them do belive that, yes, at least in the beginning of the war. The event that sparks the war is that a Zaaroft Z-class cruiser and the CGU Nova-class Battleship Schwarzkopf attempt to communicate, and the CGU ship captain thinks that the Zaaroft are trying to hack onto the Schwarzkopf's mainframe, and fire a salvo of nuclear missiles into the Zaaroft ship. The CGU spins this event so that it seems like the Zaaroft fired first, and that the Zaaroft are the aggressive aliens. Then, they go to war, and most of the soldiers think that they are destroying an evil, aggressive, savage alien empire. Because the men at the top of the government have convinced them to believe in this, and also spreading propaganda for the CGU Government will put them in higher standing with the main heads of the gov. Political advancement is quite the motivator.
Okay, since now we've discussed the CGU itself, let's get into thier enemies, thir mentality, thier workings. Ask Questions, and you'll Get Answers.
Well, if you are setting up the CGU to be a fascist state then their enemies are good guys. The alien races would have to be freedom fighters, dashing warriors, or persecuted victims (the French resistance, American liberators, or Jewish holocaust victims). No matter what you make the aliens in the story you are not really going to be able to escape one of these choices or something similar. So the enemies of the CGU are going to be closer to what a reader might think is a "good guy" in the story. If this isn't at all your intention then you may want to rethink some of the milieu’s basic tenets... -ZERO MASS
No. The aliens are not going to be portrayed as "Good". They are aliens, for fuck's sake. How can you see aliens as good? Actually, in the mid-point of the war, the Zaaroft adopt a policy of killing any humans they capture, and the war-council of the Zaaroft decides to eliminate humanity so that they can't be a future threat...but, then, the war starts to turn in favor of the CGU. Around 6306, which is where the book is supposed to start, about 18 years after the War began. Thier plans of eliminating humanity is essentially just a failed project on paper, and never got into full effect. But, they still had the thought of it. The Zephyr are about as fanatic about being dominant as the CGU are, i.e they want to destroy the human race just as much as the humans want to destroy them. They actually almost succeed in destroying Terra. The Primalis are barbaric savages, and they are too stupid to be left alive. The Myhrrid are similar in mentality to the Zephyr. But, the Zaaroft are most definently NOT the good guys. They are aliens. Brutish savage aliens, with high tech. Tell me, though, why should I depict the aliens as "good guys"? They're aliens.
I'd want to be a Zaaroft weapons developer so that I could wipe the fucking human menace from the face of the universe. I'd come up with a self propagating nano weapon that would distribute itself throughout the galaxy and instantly infect any human within reach and dissolve them slowly from the inside out. Bastard humans.
If Humans are Nazis then their opposition has to be victims or good guys! Or you need a third party to observe both aliens and CGU fight, or this is just some stupid story about people fighting for no reason...and let me tell you this...NOBODY WILL CARE TO EVER READ IT...if that is the case Aliens can be good guys! If your story is at all allegorical then what you are saing to the reader is "everybody that is not like you is the enemy" and people won't read shit like that. If there are two forces that both want to wipe the other out then what is the difference between them. Try this, put yourself in the shoes of the aliens...you are all being peaceful in the galaxy chillin', developing laser guns or whatever fucking shit you are having them do, then humanity comes along and tries to wipe them out because some German twat controls what everybody thinks. That makes them the victim and automatically I care more about every alien life than any human life, including that of the main character, unless he/she also feels this way. Really though, I am going to go take a chill pill, please just think about the inane stuff you post on here. Take people's advice and either stop writing or use some more logic in your craft. -ZERO MASS
