I need a reason to send a crew of space aviators (people who work on space ships -- I know, so descriptive) north into hostile, beast-infested territory after having to doc on a planet that hates outsiders (and especially aviators) after sustaining some damage (not sure where said damage came from...maybe a random supernova going off). Anyways, I haven't figured out what sort of ship this is (research, fighter, treasure collector, ect) so that could play a part. But I need a really good reason to send a crew through such territory, most likely in search of SOMETHING. Only the MC knows the land's territory and its customs, being from said planet, so he's sort of the only sane voice in the group as to why they shouldn't go (did I mention the beast-infested thing?).
I'm also almost thinking of making this thing they're hunting for fake. My MC is being hunted though he doesn't realize this, and I suppose our villain could easily spread a rumor of some super-duper-rare and valuable object just sitting there for the taking in order to get our MC into the middle of nowhere. Highly doubt my villain would care if the rest of the crew mysteriously dropped dead (or not-so mysteriously).
I've never written Sci-fi and I don't read much of it (If Sci-fi is involved, I prefer a fantasy/sci-fi combo with fantasy as the dominant genre) so I'm not sure what sort of things could be way-up north. Oh, and if this helps: it gets significantly hotter on this planet as they head north.
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284 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 19 53
If I may, in stead of space aviators, how about spacers, unless you really want that word count, and it couldn't be a fighter, those a re too small for any large stellar distances, a freighter would work. Say Galactic north, that makes a bit more sense than just north. as for what, how about ship fuel? or a mineral to make weapons.
1,600 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 20 19
You said that it was damaged, right? Perhaps there's an old weird guy who collects special parts for ships (Yoda comes to mind, for some reason), and the repair place didn't have the part they need, so they have to go to him. The people on the planet are, as you mentioned, xenophobic, so they wouldn't exactly give them a ride out there. Thus, they must venture out on their own.
107,227 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 05 38
RagingBluMonkey - I've always been of the thought that each story and its world is unique, so terminology doesn't necessarily need to follow any certain set of rules (unless one is referring to a still-alive rhinoceros as lipstick, then we might have some problems). Since "aviator" is simply a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or profession, it works for me ;) Also, can't really be galactic north since it's on the planet. We don't call the north pole the galactic north pole :D But I do like the idea of a mineral. Maybe some magically fuel-empowering crystals :P Still thinking.
Embersong - that could work, but unfortunately the way I have this particular planet set up is that anything north beyond a certain point is literally wasteland and NO ONE lives up there (maybe a few villages, but they have zero technology).
5,200 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 14 38
They could go in search of a rare plant that only grows in the northern wastelands. It could be the only cure for a deadly disease, or it could have some other importance.
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