Alien Conquistadors
Basically I’m looking for media where the world is invaded by aliens who want to Civilize humanity. They tell us they’re here to save our souls, but what that winds up meaning is slave labor, forced conversions, torture, and executions. Bonus points if it covers Earth’s later status as a colony to Space-Spain, and more bonus points if this is all tied to the Space-Doctrine of Discovery uniting Space-Europe under the Space-Pope
I know there have to be a few popular stories out there with premises like this, but I can’t think of any, and I’d like to try some
The game XCOM2 hits this vibe in the opening cinematic. https://youtu.be/TGIDNPTIx08
Half-Life 2 is that. The aliens use a human front to claim they’re only here to help humanity, but it’s obviously not true. They’re referred to constantly as “our benefactors” by the human representative, who talks about the aliens in glowing, warm terms of how this is the next stage of human evolution.
In reality it’s just a bunch of slave labor and weird genetic experiments. They seem to be siphoning away Earth’s water reserves too.
There’s also an implication that the aliens don’t really care that much about Earth in particular, since they’re a multidimensional psychic species with control over dark matter. They keep spreading because it’s just what they do now. The game is set somewhere around 20 years after they conquered earth in the hilariously named “Seven hour war.”
The Combine have some machine set up that makes it impossible for humans to reproduce or possibly even get horny. It’s mentioned in the background a few times. For the collaborators to get promoted within the security forces they have to submit to surgical manipulation, literally giving up their humanity in the process of becoming post human “synths” better suited to the Combine’s needs. A lot of the Combine’s technology, notably their gunships, are other species that have been converted by the Combine until they’re effectively non-sentient machines.
Earth is polluted with trans-dimensional refuse - headcrabs are ubiqiuotous threats in every damp and out of the way place. Antlions have colonized large coastal areas making them extremely hazardous. The seas are full of carnivorous leeches. Alien wildlife is widespread and causing serious problems.
I adore how much detail is in the combine radio chatter and how it just doesn’t come up in-game unless you’re paying attention to it. It’s unreal how detailed it gets. Like how you’re charged over the radio directly with various crimes if you’re at low health, my favorite being “divisive sociocidal counter-obeyance.” You also get called different things over the overwatch as the game goes on, initially you’re a “staph infection,” then they start to catch onto who you are. They’ll start identifying you as an “anticitizen” which seems to mean something like public enemy, then you’re either “Anticitizen One” or “Freeman.”
But my favorite thing is what you mentioned. Combine soldiers will get offered various things for your capture. At first it’s just things like rations or drugs (stimulants). Somewhere around the canals you can hear them get offered “non-mechanical reproduction simulation” which has got to be some kind of psychic wet dream? After the canals the soldiers get threatened with death or “permanent offworld assignment” if they fail to capture you.
Their military jargon is cool too, like their guns are swords or daggers (if you get a jump on a soldier they might say “daggers free” or “go sharp”). Echo is a soldier, helix is a medic. Then they’ll use terms like amputate or clamp to refer to various tactics.
