Traveller - [TNE 02], page 42
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Coreward: (adj.) One of the four cardinal astrographic directions, toward the center of the galaxy (and therefore opposite of rimward). Standard maps generally place this direction at the top, making it analogous to north on planetary maps.
Dawn League: (noun) A loose interstellar trading consortium in the rim-spinward corner of the Old Expanses sector, created with Hiver (cf) technical assistance in 1197; later reorganized as the Reformation Coalition.
Drop Trooper: (noun) Term referring to a soldier trained to assault a planetary target from orbit, arriving at the target in a specifically designated one-person drop capsule.
DZ: (noun) Abbreviation for a. " dust zone,” or landing area.
EMS sensor: (noun) A sensor which uses the full breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS), as opposed to only specific parts of it. There are two types of EMS sensors, active and passive. Active EMS sensors are analogous to radar and ladar in that they function by emitting radiation and then measuring the return which bounces back from the target. Unlike radar and ladar, active EMS does not limit itself merely to radio or visible light bands, but uses the infrared, visible light, radio and portions of the spectrum. Passive EMS sensor suites passively collect electromagnetic radiation in the form of visible light (telescopes), infrared radiation (passive thermal sensors), radio waves (radio and radar direction finders), etc., and integrate it all together to form a composite picture of the surrounding environment. The advantage of passive EMS over active EMS is that it does not give itself away to possible enemies by putting out its own radiation signature, and it functions better at very long ranges. The advantage of active EMS is that it is more precise, especially at short ranges and when time is critical, as passive EMS sensors often take a long time to assemble a target solution from all of the little bits of passive data.
Far Trader: (noun) A standard type of small commercial starship distinguished by jump drives (cf) with two parsec performance and maneuver drives allowing 1g of acceleration. This design has a distinctive bifurcated. " pickle fork” bow configuration, with the starboard control and port quarters booms separated by the main cargo doors and the air raft (cf) hangar.
Federalist: (adj.) Term describing one of the two major voting blocs in the Assembly of Worlds (cf), led by Aubaine and dedicated to the preservation of a loose federal government.
Feudal Technocracy: (noun) A system of government in which specific individuals govern on the behalf of those who consent to be ruled, and political relationships are based upon the performance of technical tasks that are mutually beneficial.
Final War: (noun) The war which lasted from 1117 to 1130 and ended with the release of Virus (cf). It caused the total destruction of the Last imperium (cf) and most of its interstellar neighbors, precipitated the Collapse (cf) and laid the foundation for the New Era (cf).
Free Trader: (noun) Interstellar merchants who own their own ships and are not beholden to any planetary government or organization. This term is specifically used to refer to interstellar traders who are not members of the Guild (cf).
Gas Giant: (noun) A large, primarily gaseous world, useful as a source of hydrogen for refueling starships (a process known as skimming).
Guild, The: (noun) An alliance of traders in the Wilds (cf) dedicated to maintaining a monopoly on interstellar trade. Also known as the Mercantile Guild or Merchants’ Guild.
Grav Belt: (noun) An individual transportation device consisting of a contragrav module for lift and vectored fans for thrust. Such devices, though limited in range and speed, are favored for convert operations because of their virtually silent operation.
Groundhog: (noun) Slang term for individuals who intend to wait out difficult times by entering suspended animation in low berths. The most sophisticated of these are completely hidden and use systems of automated sensors to wake them at an opportune moment.
HEPlaR: (noun) Acronym for high-efficiency plasma recombustion, the preferred thrust agency for spacecraft and grav vehicles above TL-10. HEPlaR consists of a high-efficiency heat exchanger fitted to the craft’s existing power plant which heats liquid hydrogen reaction mass (the same fuel used for fusion plants and jump drives (cf) to a high-energy plasma which provides thrust.
Hiver: (noun) A member of an intelligent starfaring species originating on the planet Guaran and descended from omnivore gatherer/scavengers. Hivers have radially symmetrical six-limbed bodies, are mute and have only one gender. Their most exotic features from a human perspective are their instinctive practice of manipulation, fear of violent confrontation, lack of emotion and a peculiar parental instinct that even extends to other species. Their lack of a spoken language obliges them to adopt spoken names for themselves when dealing with talking races, such as humans. Although the Hivers are genderless, their frequent adoption of human male and female names means that the pronouns. " he” and. " she” are sometimes used for Hivers, though. " it” is technically correct.
Hive Federation: (noun): A large interstellar government culturally dominated by the Hivers, but including numerous other races. Although devastated by contact with Virus (cf), the Federation recovered with relatively great speed due to the sophistication of Hiver computer science (which devised various effective countermeasures against Virus).
IFF: (noun) Identification, Friend or Foe. A system consisting of electronic challenges and verification codes to establish the identity of unknown targets.
Ithklur: (noun) A broadly humanoid member race of the Hiver Federation, physically powerful and instinctively violent, but guided toward a stable and constructive culture by the Hivers. Give the Hiver aversion to physical violence, Ithklur form the backbone of the Hiver Federation’s ground forces.
Jump Drive: (noun) The standard interstellar drive in Charted Space, capable of spanning distances from one to six parsecs with travel time of approximately one week regardless of distance. First available at TL-9, the jump drive is an indispensable key to interstellar civilization, but it does have demands. Among them are the fact that the jump drive consumes vast quantities of liquid hydrogen coolant, which generally must be replenished after each jump, and the need for vigilant engineers to maintain the flow of power to the jump field in flight.
Jump Point: (noun) The point at which a starship enters jump space with its jump drive, generally plotted beforehand by its navigator. Safe jump points are a minimum of 100 diameters from any celestial body.
Jump Space: (noun) Collective term for the higher dimensions entered by use of a jump drive. Ships in jump space have no contact whatsoever with normal space or any other objects in jump space.
Last imperium: (noun) A vast interstellar empire dominated by Solomani and Vilani humans (cf) from the period of 0001 to 1130 of its own calendar. It extended over almost 20 complete sectors and contained 11,000 worlds. At its peak, it dominated Charted Space before the Collapse. It was known to its members as the Third imperium. Its symbol was the imperial Sunburst.
Meson Communicator: (noun) An advanced communications device, first available at TL-15, which uses an operating principle similar to that of the meson gun (cf), but at much lower energy levels, to allow direct communication through any intervening barrier except a meson screen. At currently achievable tech levels, the meson communicator is too bulky to be used as a personal communicator.
Meson Gun: (noun) A high-tech heavy weapon, first available at TL-11, favored for both space and planetary combat roles because of its capacity to fire through physical barriers and deliver massive fire directly into its target. The meson gun essentially consists of two paired particle accelerators whose intersecting particle streams generate a carefully selected species of meson - a subatomic particle -which does not interact substantially with other types of matter. These mesons are also inherently short-lived and unstable, but careful modification of the colliding particle accelerator streams creates mesons with relativistic speeds sufficient to let them reach distant targets and then disintegrate explosively within them. Since the meson gun is unaffected by either armor or intervening terrain -the only defense being a sophisticated meson screen - its tactical applications are obvious. Relatively small versions are often used by high-tech armies as artillery weapons, and very large versions, similar to those used as spinal mounts (cf) on large warships, are often buried deep below the surface of a world as a so-called deep-site installations. These, though expensive, are all but impossible to locate by attacking forces and can deliver devastating direct fire as long as their above-ground sensors remain in intact.
New Era: (noun) RC colloquial term referring to the period after 1200, the founding of the Coalition. Dates are often given in the New Era (NE) by dropping the first three digits of the imperial Year. Thus 1201 by the imperial calendar becomes NE 1.
NOE: (noun, adj.) Abbreviation for. " nape of the earth,” used to describe very low, high-speed vehicular flight.
Parsec: (noun) A unit of distance equal to 3.26 light-years. The term is a contraction of. " parallax second,” showing the unit’s origin in ancient Terran astronomy. It is approximately equal to the average distance of a jump-1 displacement, and is thus used as the basic unit of interstellar distance in Charted Space.
PDM: (noun) Abbreviation for. " planetary defense missile,” designating any of various types of planet-based missiles designed to intercept orbiting starships.
PRIS: (noun, adj.) Abbreviation for. " portable radiation imaging system,” referring to a sophisticated personal sensor first available at TL-12. Resembling a pair of binoculars, the PRIS sensor can be set to detect and magnify radiation sources across a spectrum of frequencies from infrared to gamma rays. It includes not only a laser rangefinder but a gyrocompass and gyrostabilizer for image stability.
RCES: (noun) Abbreviation for Reformation Coalition Exploratory Service, the exploration and diplomatic contact arm of the Reformation Coalition, often fielding well-armed raiding forces for SAG missions (cf) against unfriendly states in the AO (cf).
Reformation Coalition: (noun) An interstellar alliance of 22 worlds in the Old Expanses sector, created by reorganization of the earlier Dawn League (cf) in 1200. Its name derives from its explicit goal of reforming interstellar civilization in the area of the Last imperium (cf).
Relic: (noun, adj.) Equipment or technology left over from the pre-Collapse (cf), often of a higher tech level than goods available after the Collapse and therefore actively sought by people of the New Era.
Remnant: (noun, adj.) An individual who has survived from the pre-Collapse era (cf), often possessing first-hand knowledge in great demand in the New Era, and therefore much sought after by people and organizations operating relic equipment.
Rimward: (adj.) One of the four cardinal astrographic directions, towards the edge of the galaxy (and therefore the opposite of coreward). Standard maps generally place this direction at the bottom, making it analogous to south on planetary maps.
SAG: (adj.) Abbreviation for. " smash and grab,” the slang term for an RC "hot recovery” mission, in which some degree of armed force is directed against a hostile target to secure and/or remove an asset of some kind.
SDB: (noun) Abbreviation for. " system defense boat,” designating a nonjump-capable spacecraft heavily armed and armored for protection of planetary systems. SDBs often hide inside gas giants, asteroid belts or planetary oceans, the strategic refueling points inside a star system.
Schalli: (noun) An aquatic intelligent race native to two worlds in the Coalition: Schall and Aubaine. The Schalli are similar in appearance to Terran dolphins, but their eyes are mounted on mobile stalks, and four manipulative arms extend from their chests. Four barbels extending from their. " bottlenose” muzzles serve as sensors in their native environment, but are also used as highly dexterous. " fingers.” The Schalli are expert navigators and astrogators, and also have a pronounced facility for electronic systems, especially sensors, computers and Virus countermeasures.
Sector: (noun) An area of space measuring 32 parsecs spinward-trailing by 40 parsecs coreward-rimward, composed of 16 smaller subsectors (cf).
Solomani: (noun, adj.) The branch of humanity that developed into an interstellar society on its original homeworld of Terra. Although virtually indistinguishable on a biochemical level from other transplanted branches of humanity, the Solomani are culturally and attitudinally distinct from the other two branches of humanity, the Vilani and the Zhodani.
Solomani Confederation: (noun) A highly centralized rival government of the Last imperium (cf), predicated upon the superiority of humans descended from Terra over all other sentient species. Most of the worlds of the RC were formerly within the borders of the Solomani Confederation when it was destroyed by the Collapse (cf).
Speeder: (noun) A light, high-speed contragrav (cf) vehicle. Heavily armed and armored models ("attack speeders”) are often the backbone of high-tech level air forces.
Spinal Mount: (noun, adj.) The largest possible weapon that can be installed in a spacecraft, literally forming the spine of a vessel. In Charted Space, these weapons are either particle accelerators or meson guns (cf), since the performance of such weapons is directly related to their length. Certain unusual spinal mounts do exist, however, that do not occupy the length of the vessel. Among these are the so-called janus mounts (fore and aft-firing weapons installed back to back in a ship’s spine), parallel mounts (two or more weapons parallel to the spine of a ship), and the radial mounts of spherical warships, which often have several. " spinal” mounts pointing outward from their center of mass.
Spinward: (adj.) One of the four cardinal astrographic directions, in the direction of the spin of the galaxy (and therefore the opposite of trailing). Standard maps generally place this direction on the left, making it analogous to west on the planetary maps.
Star Viking (noun) Term describing a member of the RC frontier services, originated by the Guild (cf) as a means of arousing fear.
Subsector: (noun) A subdivision of a sector measuring eight parsecs spinward-trailing by 10 parsecs coreward-rimward.
Tech Level: (noun, adj.) A uniform measure of technological sophistication in Charted Space. Tech levels describe achievement in various areas (transportation, weaponry, medical science, etc.), but a key feature of increasing tech levels is increasing efficiency of energy production. TL-9 is the lowest tech level at which jump drives (cf) and practical fusion power plants can be produced, and therefore the lowest tech level at which starfaring civilization can be efficiently maintained. By comparison, the best locally produced equipment of the RC is TL-12, and the highest common tech level of the Last imperium (cf) was TL-15.
TED: (noun, adj.) Abbreviation for. " technologically elevated dictator,” designating any of the various planetary warlords scattered throughout the Wilds (cf) and relying upon relic (cf) weapons to control their populations. TEDs (also called. " Teddies” or. " Theodores” by RC personnel) are often xenophobic, since interstellar contact can disrupt the small advantage that ancient weaponry gives them over their populations.
Terra: (noun) Former capital of the Solomani Confederation (cf) and homeworld of the Solomani. Earlier name: Earth.
TL: (noun) Abbreviation for tech level (cf).
Trailing: (adj.) One of the four cardinal astrographic directions, opposite the direction of the spin of the galaxy (and therefore the opposite of spinward). Standard maps generally place this direction on the right, making it analogous to east on planetary maps.
Vacc Suit: (noun) A protective suit for use in vacuum; a. " space suit.”
Vampire: (noun) A starship that is fully infected with Virus (cf) and therefore an independent thinking organism under the control of its infected computers. Since starships require considerable maintenance, vampire ships often use overt threats and coercion to gain and keep the human crews necessary to let them function.
Vilani: (noun, adj.) The branch of humanity that was transplanted by an apparent prehistoric experiment to the world Vland, where the Vilani developed into an interstellar civilization, eventually recontacting other transplanted branches of humanity in their explorations. Although virtually indistinguishable on a biochemical level from other transplanted branches of humanity, the Vilani are culturally distinct from the other two branches of humanity, the Solomani and the Zhodani.
Virus: (noun) The artificially intelligent computer virus that was developed as a Black War (cf) weapon and released in 1130, causing the Collapse (cf). Early Virus strains were so-called Suiciders, programmed to infect other computers with copies of themselves and then kill themselves and as many people as possible, but these strains naturally tended to die out quickly. Mutant strains existent in the Wilds (cf) of the New Era (cf) have thus generally left behind their self-destructive instinct. The only factor limiting the Virus’ infection of a new computer systems is the need for a large memory area, but even small-stand alone computers can contain Viral. " eggs” that will develop full intelligence when linked up with larger computer systems.
Wilds: (noun) The vast interstellar areas of the Last imperium (cf) and its neighbors stripped of civilization in the Collapse (cf).
XO: (noun) Abbreviation for. " executive officer,” the second in command aboard a starship or a in a military unit.
To Dream of Chaos Paul Brunette (epub), Traveller - [TNE 02]
