Lets make a Science Fiction Setting

In the far distant future, humanity is scattered across the entirety of the milky way. While several large states compete for control over significant portions of the Milky Way (Most Notably the Orion Confederation vs the Galactic Periphery League), humanity is not centralized.

Though many parts of the galaxy have been explored, few sentient alien species have been discovered, and of those discovered, fewer can easily communicate with humans. With humans scattered across a variety of planetary environments, and with cultures evolving and changing based on stellar location, the most alien thing many humans encounter are their fellow humans.

Technology varies wildly among human territories. Some have regressed to medieval levels, while others have advanced to levels once only written about in science fiction. Most sufficiently advanced societies use a similar method of FTL, known simply as a jump drive. These engines allow access to the natural FTL slipstreams between stars. This leads to routes being formed, like the old highways on Earth.

Bit too pigeon holed with this but ill bump and see if anybody else will have a crack at it

>ftl slipstreams
Star lanes are the death of strategy, and a lazy excuse to not build an actual computer ai in x4 games

Thank you. I wanted it to be human focused, with room for aliens if people wanted to write them. Also many human societies use different methods of FTL, just the most common version is accessing the stellar highways.

That said you need
>space pirates
>evil corporations
>bermuda space triangles

Intelligent species of plants with psionic powers have argued in the council of civilizations that slavery is a part of their culture and way of life, since they are physically incapable of manual labor and robots are forbidden by their god: the great Lifeseeder.

Certain star systems are natural hubs of the stellar lanes. These systems are often fought over by private corporations, governments, and independent warlords/space pirates.

The council are forced to concede, since otherwise would mean death for the plants and religions cannot be touched, since a lot of the other political figures rely on religious voters, but tensions are rising across the galaxy.

Neat.

>Hey guys let's create a setting where I dictate 90% of it!

Anyway...
>The Orion Federation came into existence when the government of the United States of America on earth was overthrown in a revolution, leading to the President along with key members of Congress being exiled to the colony-worlds of the galactic core. Initially grabbing power brutally and ruling with an iron fist as an oligarchy, the newely formed Federation eventually eased into adopting representative democracy following the Tillerson Reformation. It believes in its own "Galactic Manifest Destiney", and has extended its influence beyond the Core Worlds.