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But! I do have 2 stories in my head, however. Both sci-fi's set in very early 23rd century. Actually they both begin in the same setting, at the same time, but how the story develops is very different between them. Basically, by 2200, humanity has well settled into a "Earth-centric economy", with Earth (and Luna/Titan/Mars to a limited extent) being a place for living and for food production and other bodies in Sol being industry worlds. The moon, for example, is where the fusion industry thrives (with no atmosphere and plenty of He3), while asteroid belt is used for mining metals, Jupiter provies hydrogen propellant, and Titan providing oils.
So here are the stories, A not being developed as B. A has more political vibes, B being more about human nature and the origin of man.
Story A
Set a little later along the timeline (about 2215). Last year, humanity was recently greeted by a large alien starship, which had been travelling at a speed of 0.84c (c = light) and decelerated to a stop in the Sol system. This was humanities first meeting with an alien race, and they seemingly had no ill intentions despite not giving their reason to be here, as the ship was unarmed and only mildly superior to humanities own technology. They requested permission to assemble a large solar-powered structure in close orbit to the sun, which would "allow commications to the homeworld". After small political quibble, the UN gave the go ahead. After the structure was complete, the large ringlike structure created a portal (similar to a Supergate), and over a hundreds of warships of all sizes poured through the gate.
5 months later, and humanity was losing the war despite the fight they put up. The aliens in question, who had drained there world of resources and had a mostly empty solar system, as well as lacking the technology to terraform, needed another land to settle. This was the only green planet reachable within 40 years. After realizing that Earth was far too populated to share, and that humanities culture and ideals could not coexist with their own (they were a warlike, communist, oppressive society) plans changed. They eventually resorted to bombarding cities with megaton munitions to make us "mad and get stupid". Even humanity began to show ruthlessness, and when colony ships started to gather in orbit around Venus in preparation, humanities first act was accelerating an orbital foundry (with 5+ tons of antimatter) from Jupiter toward Venus, throwing it at the slow moving colony ships, and destroying them all (including the tens of thousands aboard).
But as population was cut down to from 8 to 4 billion, another alien ship showed up 7 months after the invasion, travelling at 0.93c (c = light). Seemingly along the exact same path of the original, but of a different design and over 10km in length. The arrival of this vessel caused the enemy forces to stop attacks immediately. As it turns out, the Dravo'gah (invading forces) were loaned a Worldlink Device from the Serrans in compensation for none of the other 6 species willing to share their planet with the Dravo'gah, who were known for their warlike and territorial nature. Humanity was asked to join the Heptad of Spacefaring Civilizations (soon to become the Octad), an group of 7 species residing in the Orion Arm of the galaxy, that were interlinked via the same wormhole devices the Dravo'gah used to attack humanity. Species under the HSC could share culture, resources, and technology, so long as they would fight for eachother and work together in the case of an outside threat appearing. There are 9 linked systems (one for each species + "Coreworld" which isn't owned by any one species), the Serrans being the ones who started it all.
Humanity is given a chance to join the (now) Octad of Spacefaring Civilizations. We except it and earn a seat on Assembly of Species on the Coreworld. By 2220, tension between our people and our once-enemies hasn't eased up. When great civilization from beyond appears with ill intentions, disbanding of humankind and dravo'gah from the OSC is considered. The only chance they have of surviving is remaining under OSC protection, and so they must work together if they want to preserve their species.
I haven't really developed this story much, and I don't have any real characters at the moment. I'll likely make a few changes to make it seem less like a retelling of Mass Effect (now that I have read this over, it sure seems like one).
Story B
December 11th, 2199. The United North Coalition (USA, Russia, Canada) will be receiving some brand new Northrop-Grumman spacecraft being manufactured on Titan. The new FAC-class (Fast Attack Corvette) is only 400 tons, can accelerate at 24.5g, and mounts a Rheinmetall S400 coilcannon (with brand new recoil system that allows for 25kg shells to be fired at 400km/s!). A new defense against the Soviet Unity (Siberia, China). Ya, I'll touch up on that "Soviet" thing later (this isn't some apocalyptic storyline, don't worry). Maybe some more FAC-class statistics for the spacenerds.
Captain Stanwood of the UNC Astronavy is now in command of an FAC Block II right off the production line. She is given the name of UNS Ariel (after a moon, another word for "spirit"). It is December, or "armistice month", a time designated by the UN to allow soldiers to return to their families and enjoy Christmas without fear of attack. Lieutenant Skylar, a "prodigy of a pilot" and a good friend of Stanwood is set to pilot the vessel. Corporal Stefanov is the lady in charge of defenses. Only 4 of the 12 crew is available, as most are posted on Luna (where the Ariel is set to stationed). Because there are no flights out of Titan for the next few days, Raynan allows some oilfield workers onboard, as well as an engineer and an old veteran (mainly because Astronavy policies during armistice month are slack, and Stanwood is a nice guy). It's armistice month, so it isn't like they are in any danger or anything.
The Ariel is cruising along at 1500km/s like a champ, about 1 hour from the deceleration sequence. The next... event... I have chosen not to explain until the end (for significance purposes). A brilliant flash of light, and the ship shakes a little bit. Skylar rushes to the cockpit, curious to see if they had hit some micrometeorites (which is like space turbulence). He notice all the stars are changed, ***? Maybe they aren't aligned with the north poles? Maybe his eyes are playing tricks? He sits down in his G-Seat, and plays with the radio a little. Nobody, on any mandatory frequency. He sighs and bonks his head down on the dashboard, accidentally hitting his head on the frequency ****, changing it to a never-used frequency. Then he gets a call. It's in English, even if it is with a weird accent. After calling "Mayday mayday mayday", he gets a call back simply saying "What the hell does that mean?" Everybody that has ever operated a radio knows what that means. Skylar says something along the lines of "Well... if you know where we are, mind escorting us home? I'll come to you". The reply is "That won't be necessary, we'll come to you. The phase-shifter should still has a few jumps left in her". About 5 seconds later, a massive rusty ship booms in front of the Ariel, appearing out of seemingly nothing.
Unfortunately for the crew, they're not in the solar system. Or even close. They have, through some freak incident, ended up 3 million LY away in the Pinwheel Galaxy. They have to adjust to a new lifestyle, living aboard a ship (with some new "upgrades") designed for short operations. But something isn't right. Why does everyone have to wear a translator to understand eachother, but they can hear everyone in flawless English? Why do they keep getting complimented on their "good aura". Why is there no political will out here, why is scientific advancement prohibited? An archaeologist sees something in these people that was described in ancient ruins on many worlds. Maybe humankind had different past then we had thought...
I don't want you to get the wrong idea here. The people of this galaxy aren't being repressed by laws set by some "superpower species". It's all psychological. But the humans aren't affected by this "aura of doubt", and they seem to lift the spirits of all those they encounter. Suddenly people start thinking this is all tied into some kind of prophecy, while others want them dead. But why? I'm finding it hard to explain in words. Maybe I'll just ask someone to make a TV show.
