Even that could have been done ok if the factions weren't both garbage self-defeatingly stupid fascist shitholes. Like if the UC was a socialist state that had tacitly tolerated/been unable to stop capitalist colonists from establishing corporate powers and so found itself effectively in a permanent low-intensity conflict with itself as the central party tried to keep control over these large parallel power structures, while the FC was a coalition of breakaway fascist corpo-states that were actively trying to encircle and undermine the UC.
Capitalist realism ideology requires there to be no future possible without capitalism dominating everything.
They could have also have gone for squabbling Space Anarchists vs Space MLs and had both parties come off somewhat synpathetic against the corpo city states. Genuinely angry that the planet named Gagarin is a fucking company town.
All of that "transhumanist" "futurology" euphoria about humanity leaving the cradle and spreading to the stars and overcoming death and so on and they're absolutely fucking terrified of even the possibility of capitalism ending... or trans people existing. Or black people being in their neighborhoods.
Capitalist realism ideology requires there to be no future possible without capitalism dominating everything.
They could have also have gone for squabbling Space Anarchists vs Space MLs and had both parties come off somewhat synpathetic against the corpo city states. Genuinely angry that the planet named Gagarin is a fucking company town.
Not holding out much hope for Space Iran.
All of that "transhumanist" "futurology" euphoria about humanity leaving the cradle and spreading to the stars and overcoming death and so on and they're absolutely fucking terrified of even the possibility of capitalism ending... or trans people existing. Or black people being in their neighborhoods.