Shadras
Illogical
Sounds like a call out for an RP to me, but it isn't, yet. Regardless, I have an idea for a sci-fi story that I want to write but would like some help in brainstorming the basics. And by basics, I do mean some absolute basics of two galactic sized civilizations with multiple races inside of them.
First, however, is my premise. This came as a brainwave from the fact that our Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda are on a collision course for each other. So I thought, "what if two galaxies are moving towards each other and have been moving towards each other for as long as any species has been around, and are now only a generation or less years from colliding with each other," and my mind shot off from there creating some basic ideas that the two societies from the galaxy have not been in contact with each other and that galaxy A is planning to invade galaxy B to collect systems that are likely to survive the intergalactic event of the collision. So this brings up quite a number of questions.
1. Why the heck has galaxy A and B waited so long to interact with each other at all?
This is the most obvious and glaring question as they would have means to move and communicate effectively across their own galaxy, so why not to each other? Let's break this down.
a. Communications.
The easiest to tackle as, in my current mind and plot, galaxy A would merely not respond to any communication sent through a transmission. The flaw is comes when galaxy B sends an envoy or a probe. But that can be handled with transportation.
b. Methods of transportation.
This is more difficult as I need to pick something that forces each respective group to remain in their own galaxy until only a few short decades before the galactic collision. I've ruled out warp because its too easy to move to another galaxy after they've reached a few generations out. You could cite Star Trek to me with Voyager's travel time of 80 years to get back from the delta quadrant, but in the sense of a galactic changing event, that's not that long for working to solve it and meet your galactic neighbor. Plus, it isn't good enough for me for simple intragalactic travel for me. I want it fast enough that a galactic conquest, or to complete their objectives, can be done in the time frame of some decades. So, my first brain child has been to develop a form of wormhole technology that pulls at the imprint a celestial body makes in gravity and tears a hole in the fabric. (Ask me about Einstein's theory on this to better explain it, but think black holeish without the same crushing power.) They've had to wait so long to use it because they've been only able to lock onto the black hole at the center of the other galaxy. So this is all neat and dandy, but I only want one society to have it to start showing the many possible differences each have in technology. What else works. A limited form of hyperdrive may, where ships can only travel between star systems. Same go for something like star-gates. But I'm interested in hearing other ideas.
Naturally, there are many many more questions to ask here. What kind of society does each galaxy have? How big is each galaxy? How fast are they moving towards each other at this point as that would determine how far out they actually are from each other? Beyond transportation, what technology does each side have? the list goes on and I will be gradually posting more and more questions as each is resolved because I want to focus on this one first, specifically transportation. That doesn't mean that I won't appreciate posts dealing with other questions, but it does mean it will take me longer to sit down and really think about what you're saying and craft a solid reply because my mind is obsessed with solving this first question. Looking forward to anyone who jumps in on this. Ask me any question you want.
First, however, is my premise. This came as a brainwave from the fact that our Milky Way galaxy and Andromeda are on a collision course for each other. So I thought, "what if two galaxies are moving towards each other and have been moving towards each other for as long as any species has been around, and are now only a generation or less years from colliding with each other," and my mind shot off from there creating some basic ideas that the two societies from the galaxy have not been in contact with each other and that galaxy A is planning to invade galaxy B to collect systems that are likely to survive the intergalactic event of the collision. So this brings up quite a number of questions.
1. Why the heck has galaxy A and B waited so long to interact with each other at all?
This is the most obvious and glaring question as they would have means to move and communicate effectively across their own galaxy, so why not to each other? Let's break this down.
a. Communications.
The easiest to tackle as, in my current mind and plot, galaxy A would merely not respond to any communication sent through a transmission. The flaw is comes when galaxy B sends an envoy or a probe. But that can be handled with transportation.
b. Methods of transportation.
This is more difficult as I need to pick something that forces each respective group to remain in their own galaxy until only a few short decades before the galactic collision. I've ruled out warp because its too easy to move to another galaxy after they've reached a few generations out. You could cite Star Trek to me with Voyager's travel time of 80 years to get back from the delta quadrant, but in the sense of a galactic changing event, that's not that long for working to solve it and meet your galactic neighbor. Plus, it isn't good enough for me for simple intragalactic travel for me. I want it fast enough that a galactic conquest, or to complete their objectives, can be done in the time frame of some decades. So, my first brain child has been to develop a form of wormhole technology that pulls at the imprint a celestial body makes in gravity and tears a hole in the fabric. (Ask me about Einstein's theory on this to better explain it, but think black holeish without the same crushing power.) They've had to wait so long to use it because they've been only able to lock onto the black hole at the center of the other galaxy. So this is all neat and dandy, but I only want one society to have it to start showing the many possible differences each have in technology. What else works. A limited form of hyperdrive may, where ships can only travel between star systems. Same go for something like star-gates. But I'm interested in hearing other ideas.
Naturally, there are many many more questions to ask here. What kind of society does each galaxy have? How big is each galaxy? How fast are they moving towards each other at this point as that would determine how far out they actually are from each other? Beyond transportation, what technology does each side have? the list goes on and I will be gradually posting more and more questions as each is resolved because I want to focus on this one first, specifically transportation. That doesn't mean that I won't appreciate posts dealing with other questions, but it does mean it will take me longer to sit down and really think about what you're saying and craft a solid reply because my mind is obsessed with solving this first question. Looking forward to anyone who jumps in on this. Ask me any question you want.
