Sounds like it has plenty of kick to it, just a lot of technical details that will need hammered out as you go, especially since it's kind of centric around culture/politics/weaponry/war.
I'd say establishing the basic factors of each culture is important, so they're distinct without being cookie cutter. You could also figure out why Skylar crashed and why the Ka'Axet would be willing to help him. That'll help you figure out a bit more about their culture as you go, too, in theory.
You could also determine how the Ka’Axet perceive themselves and play off of that. If they realize they look monstrous, maybe they're more cautious about revealing themselves or interacting with Skylar at first. If they don't have any notion that they might look frightening, I'd imagine Skylar would be terrified, and probably act a little ridiculous by their notions.
Is there an aspect of story-creating that you love the best? Maybe use that as the springboard for "oomph." I'm a big fan of characters - if I don't take an interest in any of the main characters too quickly, or if I find myself getting irritated with their decisions, I usually can't make it through a story. The "from the inside" part interested me in your summary, so my curiosity went straight to wondering if the Iskarro have a potential traitor, spy, or double-agent in their midst. If so, why and how the individual got in that position? Granted, that probably wouldn't come into play 'til later, but the factors of how and why might affect how you portray the Iskarro, or the Ka’Axet's history with them.
And with that, I end my word vomit.
neutral I'm not really sure if any of that helps, but it's what I thought of based on the synopsis you gave.
Yes, we're NanoWriMo site buddies! I'm jealous of your holidays, though I don't want to jump to conclusions in case that's not a
good thing for you.
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