[Topgun]

I am writing something and I need help.
Basic premise:
A race is currently enslaved by aliens and have been relocated to a planet in a system near their masters.
They have a population of about one billion.
My problem is that, one, I don't know what the alien overlords do with their slaves, and two, I need the slaves to some how get their hands on military grade space ships and fight their way to their home planet.
There are other, mostly neutral factions in this universe, including an alien race at war with the overlords. I can see them helping the slaves, but I can't really imagine them just giving them a fleet of warships.

Please help me.

[Scourge of Ages]

I am writing something and I need help.
Basic premise:
A race is currently enslaved by aliens and have been relocated to a planet in a system near their masters.
They have a population of about one billion.
My problem is that, one, I don't know what the alien overlords do with their slaves, and two, I need the slaves to some how get their hands on military grade space ships and fight their way to their home planet.
There are other, mostly neutral factions in this universe, including an alien race at war with the overlords. I can see them helping the slaves, but I can't really imagine them just giving them a fleet of warships.

Please help me.

Simple:
The slaves crew the starships of their masters, and are usually kept in line with beatings and threats of genocide. They've never been able to rebel before, because there simply isn't a large enough concentration on each ship. But they have a big elaborate plan (you'll need to figure it out) to get enough of their people onto enough vessels to be able to effectively take them over all at once.
Bam, you have your fleet, your rebellion, and means to stage any number of other missions, perhaps to capture more resources in order to evacuate your people, etc. etc.
The plan: They subtly provoke a bigger, meaner race into attacking the masters, and so the masters crew the front-line warships almost exclusively with slaves because they know they'll be blasted first. When the battle comes, the slaves take their new ships and bug out, leaving the main force of masters-controlled ships to be wasted by the other guys.

Alternately, the slaves' new planet is a giant factory where starships are built, and the slaves are the builders. With very careful long-term planning, they manipulated schedules so that a great many ships will be space-worthy at the same time. Unfortunately, most of the ships they are using are un- or lightly-armed. They load up as many people as they can and embark on a campaign of capture and destruction.

Alternately, the slaves use their knowledge of advanced particle physics to whip up some really cool and destructive illusions, and send a pair of emissaries to the masters' leader to negotiate for their freedom.

[headdie]

Scourge of Ages ideas are along the lines of what i would think of, not so sure about using them for slave crews on warships but certainly maintenance/construction workers at ship/maintenance yards.

Another angle could be that the race warring with the overloards find out about this mass relocation and decide to sneak in weapons, ships and a few specialists/training officers in the hope that your "good guy" race will stir up trouble but other wise don't really care for them, kind of like the Americans during the Cold War, Afganistan vs Russia comes to mind as a RW example of this behavior.

One thing to consider is why have the overlords massed a potentially troublesome population like this, 1 billion being is a large number to manage, though on the scale of an inter stellar empire its a relatively small number that is still 1 billion candidates for trouble so probably require around a 1/4 of that number in security personnel + weapons, protection, vehicles and equipment for those persons which is a considerable outlay when at war with another inter stellar empire.  Are they unusually gifted in a technical ability or other skill, do they have special environmental considerations that make them difficult to integrate into the general slave population.  Why not use their home world to mass them on.

Also what does this empire use it's slave population for? perhaps in the background for the race before it was enslaved and how it has been used since you can find your answer as to how they came to be able to stage a rebellion

[Sushi]

I like headdie's idea of technology to fight coming from a third race trying to stir up trouble.

I'd probably have the slave race "used" primarily in nonthreatening roles: agriculture, for example. Spread that population over the planet and have them produce food to fuel your military arm.

Alternately, you could go with a "Star Control II" kind of situation, where the masters simply want to make sure that the slaves stay repressed enough not to ever be a threat to them.

[Trivial Psychic]

Here's a thought... the slaves race have a resistance to a certain environmental considerations on the planet that they're relocated on.  Perhaps, by accident, they learn that their masters have a deadly and rapidly-progressing reaction to whatever it is that the slaves are immune to.  Since some of the slaves are on the maintenance crew, they have access to the environmental controls or some shield controls or something, and they manage to shut off that protective system so all the masters die suddenly and they have the colony to themselves.  They know that the masters' race will send reinforcements and retake the colony, or just obliterate it from orbit as punishment, so they take control of whatever ships are there and head off.  Since they're out-manned, out-classed, and out-gunned, they use guerrilla tactics and fight dirty.

On the same idea of the masters lacking a specific resistance that the slaves have, perhaps they colony is hit by a natural disaster that has the same result.

[General Battuta]

Slave species lives in filth with livestock and large numbers in small spaces. This makes them vulnerable to disease, but they rapidly develop immunity to the vast numbers of pathogens that leap from their livestock to them.

However in time one of the pathogens manages to jump to the isolated master race population on the colony and totally annihilates them.

This is basically how the flu (as well as many other viruses) spreads on Earth: it begins in an animal reservoir, hops over to populations living in squalor, then spreads.

[Topgun]

I am writing something and I need help.
Basic premise:
A race is currently enslaved by aliens and have been relocated to a planet in a system near their masters.
They have a population of about one billion.
My problem is that, one, I don't know what the alien overlords do with their slaves, and two, I need the slaves to some how get their hands on military grade space ships and fight their way to their home planet.
There are other, mostly neutral factions in this universe, including an alien race at war with the overlords. I can see them helping the slaves, but I can't really imagine them just giving them a fleet of warships.

Please help me.

Alternately, the slaves use their knowledge of advanced particle physics to whip up some really cool and destructive illusions, and send a pair of emissaries to the masters' leader to negotiate for their freedom.

While extremely cool, and a huge shout-out to the book of Exodus, it doesn't really fit with my universe and would make the meat and potatoes of the story the beginning, which I don't want to do since most of this is just a set-up for a much bigger plot.

I like the idea of the slave planet being a giant shipyard. Perhaps they could organize a mass sabotage giving the slaves working as the crew a chance to take control of various ships.

However in time one of the pathogens manages to jump to the isolated master race population on the colony and totally annihilates them.

I like this idea too.

[NGTM-1R]

Slaves are used as infantry shock-troops aboard segregated transports, controlled by the guns of their warship escorts. Orbital bombardment remains the ultimate guaranteer of their loyalty.

During opposed landing operations, in the general confusion, a transport is hit and ends up launching its drop pods into several of the escorting warships. Whoops.

[FoeHammer]

Here's a thought... the slaves race have a resistance to a certain environmental considerations on the planet that they're relocated on.  Perhaps, by accident, they learn that their masters have a deadly and rapidly-progressing reaction to whatever it is that the slaves are immune to.

You realize this is basically the plot to Battlefield Earth, right? 

[spyderrock48]

this is a cool premise, are you planning on starting a mod along these lines? or just a fun story ? in any case,

Here's a thought... the slaves race have a resistance to a certain environmental considerations on the planet that they're relocated on.  Perhaps, by accident, they learn that their masters have a deadly and rapidly-progressing reaction to whatever it is that the slaves are immune to.  Since some of the slaves are on the maintenance crew, they have access to the environmental controls or some shield controls or something, and they manage to shut off that protective system so all the masters die suddenly and they have the colony to themselves.  They know that the masters' race will send reinforcements and retake the colony, or just obliterate it from orbit as punishment, so they take control of whatever ships are there and head off.  Since they're out-manned, out-classed, and out-gunned, they use guerrilla tactics and fight dirty.

I like this idea . If we assume that the planet they are on is being used as a shipyard planet, which is a good reason for there to be a slave population as massive as 1 billion slaves present, then you could combine the idea that through planning of making sure there are a large number of vessels space worthy on the planet at a certain time, they could adjeust, or disable the environmental controls and escape with their people on board the ships.

[headdie]

hmmm, mineral rich planet with a hostile atmosphere/radiation levels/heavy gravity/other difficult environmental conditions to the overloards would work quite nice, and if the war with the other empire isn't going as the overlords would like would make it a viable to necessary option for them.  throw in Ion storms or some such to make electronic tracking of the slaves difficult allowing the slaves to plan and work safe from observation by the overloards could make it work

[Topgun]

Ive named two of the factions. The slaves are called the Ibriah (EE-BREE-AH, spelling may change), the overlords will be called the Phereos (FE-Re-OS, again spelling is tentative) and the the empire at war with the Overlords will be called the (something) Republic, or just the Republic for short.

Alternate spellings suggestions are welcome

Something you should know is that the Phereos and the Ibriah are: (minor)

Spoiler:

not very different biologically. Im not telling you why yet

So the planet can't be harmful to the Phereos and yet habitable for the Ibriah.

Ill be releasing the first part of this story when im done, thus the spoiler tags.
For now Im going with this idea:

I like the idea of the slave planet being a giant shipyard. Perhaps they could organize a mass sabotage giving the slaves working as the crew a chance to take control of various ships.

But I might throw in something about a pathogen that only affects the Phereos.

EDIT: the names are (tentatively) the Sheoloth for the slaves and Hegatha for the overlords. Trying to make names from names of actual civilizations without it being obvious is hard.

[General Battuta]

If they're biologically similar, it should be a pathogen that effects both, but which the Ibriah have developed immunity to due to exposure. Their population is just a giant reservoir.

[spyderrock48]

please please please change the names of the factions, i know its your universe and stuff, but i mean , ibriah and phereos is just a bit to similar to israelites and pharaohs .

[spyderrock48]

battuta makes a good point, the pathogen should be where it affects both, but because of the fact that the slaves have to live in much worse conditions, they have developed an immunity overtime. ( which has happened in real life , look at the american indians, and african slaves, the transfer of diseases from an immune population to a non immune can have devastating effects. )

[Topgun]

please please please change the names of the factions, i know its your universe and stuff, but i mean , ibriah and phereos is just a bit to similar to israelites and pharaohs .

fine
sheoloth for the slaves and Hegatha for the overlords. I don't really care much about names anyway.

[Trivial Psychic]

Here's a thought... the slaves race have a resistance to a certain environmental considerations on the planet that they're relocated on.  Perhaps, by accident, they learn that their masters have a deadly and rapidly-progressing reaction to whatever it is that the slaves are immune to.

You realize this is basically the plot to Battlefield Earth, right?

Actually, the whole concept seemed to remind me of that movie... which I was doing as much as I could to forget.

[spyderrock48]

haha sorry to come across as trying to force you to change it, but i think it will help with making your story seem more original

[Topgun]

haha sorry to come across as trying to force you to change it, but i think it will help with making your story seem more original

It gets more original as it goes, after the Sheoloth liberate themselves things get different pretty fast. I am just stealing a bit from the bible to get things started

[bobbtmann]

You could look to the past for inspiration. Find some stories about the slave trade in America, then transport them to the future. Kind of like the tv show Firefly.

And if you're looking into pathogens and all that, then let's be realistic. The powerful overlords aren't going to be the ones dying, it's going to be the slaves. The overlords probably have access to future-healthcare. I can't imagine the whole population of slaves is going to have an immunity either, so a lot of them are going to die when the disease first appears.

Maybe the appearance of the disease and the subsequent deaths are what prompt the slaves to rebel. Rising up takes a catalyst, you know. And a disease that the overlords can hide from would certainly inspire negative feelings.

And do the races have to be good or bad? How about the other races are indifferent to the suffering of the slaves. That'll add a touch of realism. The slaves could rise up, only to discover that nobody else cares.


Those are just some of my thoughts on the matter of slaves, diseases, and rebellions.