Storyworld Overview: Planet Override

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been pondering storyworld overviews — one-page summaries of larger worlds that are easier to digest than full-blown world-building story bibles. Last week, I promised an example. This week, I’m delivering on that promise with an overview of the storyworld I’m calling PLANET OVERRIDE. If I had to describe it one pithy phrase, it would be “Easy Rider meets Firefly on Mars.” If I had to describe it in one page… I’d write what you see below.

In the sci-fi storyworld of PLANET OVERRIDE, roving outlaws fight for freedom on the open roads of a far-future colony planet ruled by a tyrannical off-world corporation.

The planet Ironway was colonized by independent settlers who mined its mineral resources and, over the course of 200 years, turned a hostile, rugged wasteland into a place they were proud to call home. When the government of Earth decided to reclaim its former colonies, it sold the rights to Ironway’s minerals to the Monolith mining corporation. As long as the the planet produced its mineral quotas and the government received its taxes, Monolith had free rein to run Ironway as it saw fit.

The people of Ironway saw Monolith’s takeover as nothing short of an invasion, and resisted with force. Highly mobile local militias, riding motorcycles and armed with civilian weapons, repelled the invaders for a time, but were eventually overwhelmed. Those who survived either lay down their arms or fled to the barren outlands.

That was almost 20 years ago. Monolith now owns Ironway, its minerals, and most of its people… but not all.

While most citizens of Ironway have resigned themselves to a life of corporate drudgery, some refuse to yield. These outlaws follow in the tire treads of the old militias, riding their motorcycles and other vehicles down the back roads and treacherous wasteland trails, doing what they must to survive while keeping the dream of freedom alive. Some are road pirates, pillaging their way from one isolated mining town to another. Others are self-styled resistance fighters, carrying on the militia’s work by sabotaging corporate interests and defying Monolith ‘s authority. Still others scrape by as smugglers, couriers, and escorts. It’s a life of hardship, but it’s a life of freedom.

The outlaws may try to avoid trouble, but living on the fringes of society, they often can’t survive without a fight. Sometimes it’s a battle with local law enforcement, rival gangs, or the hostile lifeforms and environment of Ironway itself. Other times they find themselves defending the native miners against their cruel overseers. And no matter how much these roving bikers try to steer clear of conflict, the shadow of Monolith security forces forever looms over them, looking for for a chance to snuff out the last flames of independence.

PLANET OVERRIDE is ripe for countless stories. Here are just a few:

• When her son is captured by Monolith forces, a former militia commander must come out of retirement for one last ride.

• The sheriff of a small mining town has no love for the biker gang that harasses his people, but when Monolith goes too far, he must turn to the outlaws for help.

• When a gang of outlaws hijacks a corporate delivery truck, they discover a secret cargo that plunges them into the fight of their lives.

• Two biker gangs have been bitter rivals for years, but when one betrays to the other to the authorities, the survivors of the attack will stop at nothing to get their revenge.

• The bikers agreed to deliver the package by sundown, no matter who stood in their way, but now one of them is wounded and wonders if a contract is worth dying for.

• When the leader of a large gang is killed, rival factions within the gang wrestle for control while the Monolith security forces close in around them.

• The outlaws never set out to be heroes, but when their hometown is taken over by tyrant and his enforcers, it’s up to them to see that justice is done.
  

PLANET OVERRIDE is a storyworld of violence, honor, and tenacious hope. It’s rooted in the biker movies and pulp novels of the 1960s and 70s but embraces the timeless themes of freedom, rebellion, and standing up to corrupt authority.