And if you're wondering about the style of sci-fi, I'm thinking something along the lines of Mass Effect (or even Star Trek, for that matter).  It'll be an original creation, and not tied down to another franchise in media.  The human race is technologically capable of traveling space, they have visited multiple systems, came into contact with other space-faring systems, and established an alliance of species known as the Union (name suggestion?).  Opposing them is a faction known as the Confederation, who want to follow their own rules and not bend the knee to the Union.  They fought a devastating war which crippled them both, known as the Corvais War, and agreed to a truce afterwards.  These two factions own nearly 3/4ths of the galaxy (a few smaller factions may exist too), while the other 1/4th is known as [i]Deadzone[/i].  Deadzone is a lawless region of space where pirates, criminals, slavers, and even refugees go to escape from the rules of the Confederates and the Union.  Most of what goes on in Deadzone is controlled by various mercenary gangs, who have underground connections with corrupt corporations within law-abiding space.  They deal in smuggling, extortion, etc.