NationStates Jolt Archive


A Guide to the United Commonwealth of All Systems

All Systems
07-03-2007, 01:36
Incoming Courier Dispatch:
United Commonwealth of All Systems
From the United Systems Commonwealth High Guard Diplomatic Attache

Excerpt from the Introductory Guide to the United Systems Commonwealth for New Worlds, Encyclopediae Edition: "From its ancient foundations as the fearsome Vedran Empire, the United Commonwealth of All Systems has grown and evolved over the millennia into the beacon of freedom, justice and prosperity we know today. Fiercely proud of our heritage and diversity, the Commonwealth looks unflinchingly toward a horizon of even greater progress and achievement and welcomes the contribution you and your world will make to that future.

The Commonwealth is a representative meritocratic pluralist democratic commonwealth of worlds with government positions selected from the most virtuous citizens who have upheld the principles and values of the Commonwealth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Sentient Rights at the expense of their own personal comfort. The administrative and core cultural and economic center is, as has been since the Imperial Era, the Eternal World of Tarn-Vedra where Vedran Empress Sucharitkul XII still reigns as the

Commonwealth citizens also participate in their government via the Voice of the Commonwealth in Perpetual Union, our tricameral legislative body. The Voice of the Commonwealth's three subdivisions include the Voice of the Sectors, to which each sector sends three representatives, The Voice of the Planets, to which each member world elects a number of representatives proportional to its population and The Voice of the People, in which every citizen of the Commonwealth is entitled to vote - either in person, by proxy or by absentee ballot. The Voice of the Sectors and the Voice of the Planets serve mostly to resolve interplanetary or intersectorial issues, disputes or problems through what is most beneficial to the people. The Voice of the Commonwealth is presided over, monitored and organized by the Triumveres - a trio of executive officers who are popularly elected by the Commonwealth citizenry and are eligible to serve two 10 year terms. The current Triumvirate consists of Triumvir Graceful Twilight (Than-Thre-Kull from San-Ska-Re), Triumvir Augustus Bolivar (posthuman Homo sapiens invictus from Schopenhauer), Triumvir Hohne the Compiler (Perseid from Sparborth IV)

Legal matters are ultimately settled by the Chamber of Arbiters of the Universal Tribunal of Justice whose 12 members are elected by the Voice of the Commonwealth and serve one 15 year term.

All Government Officers, however, are required to adhere fully to the Commonwealth Charter and the Universal Declaration of Sentient Rights and from there on in are to become solely interested in the general Welfare of the People. As a result, Officers of the Government are required to commit themselves to the Commonwealth and become devoted and non-hierarchical. Officers of the Government, thus, have to surrender a few comforts in order to serve the people. However, ordinary citizens of the Commonwealth hold full and equal rights to do as they wish provided it does not infringe upon the rights of other individuals and do not have to sacrifice any comfort.

However, wherever possible the Commonwealth prefers to leave governance in the hands of its individual member worlds. Provided they adhere to the Commonwealth charter and Universal Declaration of Sentient Rights as well as allow and cover the expenses of citizens wishing to move to another planet or society, ensuring an equal distribution of species without any majorities, societies are free to choose the form of government that best meets the needs of their citizens. As a result, the Commonwealth is actually formed from various Nations or Prides each with their own unique society and cultures, one sees a wide variety of governmental forms across the far-flung reaches of Commonwealth, from bureaucracy, to survivalist tribalism, to individualism, to direct democracy. And no doubt your own world's unique style of governance will find its place in the beautiful mosaic of societies that united form the United Systems Commonwealth."


Technology: The raw basics:
ANTI-PROTONS (AP): A negatively charged proton that reacts explosively when it contacts a proton (found in the nucleus of any atom). AP is the basic fuel source of Commonwealth civilization, lighting cities and powering spaceship from star to star.

ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY: A versatile technology, which harnesses exotic matter concentrations to alter and manipulate gravitational fields for various purposes. Artificial Gravity is created through generating false curvatures or refractions in the fabric of spacetime which produce gravity. As such, artificial gravity can be set to affect the pockets of space as the user desires. For example, in a spaceship, artificial gravity is used to reduce effective mass for thrust, to prevent items from being squashed by the ship's acceleration and to allow the crew to operate throughout the ship. Also, when artificial gravity is concentrated on an area outside of the ship away from a gravity source (like a planet or sun) it can be used to manipulate the fabric of space, allowing the ship to enter the slipstream. (see Slipstream).

FLEXI: A flexible plastic computer sheet which is one of the most ubiquitous technologies in known space. Seeing a Commonwealth mentor or All Systems University researcher scribbling notes onto a flexi is a familiar sight to nearly every sentient in known space. It's no wonder. Once written on, the flexi-writer's handwriting is automatically transposed from sloppy handwriting to neat and easy-to-read text. Variations of the flexi are used by nearly every species in the Commonwealth for purposes ranging from instruction to literary composition to gaming. Flexis may also be used as portable holographic consoles to provide holographic projections of the text and images stored on it and can still be interacted with via the holograms rather than through writing, if such is desired.

INTERSTELLAR COMMUNICATION: Many methods have been attempted over the centuries to communicate between worlds at faster-than-light speeds -- from quantum entanglement to slipstream radio. Regrettably, none have yet succeeded.

Instead, millions of tiny courier ships, each with a single pilot, ply the starlanes for the Commonwealth Courier Network (CCN), relaying messages, news and information to nearly every inhabited point in known space. At regularly scheduled intervals, an information-laden CCN ship flies from one system to another, sends its messages by encoded laser, receives outgoing transmissions, then speeds along to the next stop on its route. The High Guard also maintains its own dedicated courier system, as do several private concerns, but none are a fraction as vast as the CCN.

NANOTECHNOLOGY: One of the most widespread of technologies in the Commonwealth, nanotech is the creation and use of microscopic machines. Virtually every appliance, building, vehicle and even person in the Commonwealth has nanotech components deployed for a variety of purposes. For example, when a High Guard ship needs replacement parts, small nano-machines can be used to assemble them molecule by molecule. More nano-machines continuously maintain and repair systems, minimizing failures and breakdowns. Still others defend against attacks by hostile nanomachines, which have a long history of use as weapons in modern warfare. The top-of-the-line High Guard ships are usually equipped with nano-machine internal defense systems which can enter the bodies of intruders and enemies and wreck havoc.

Commonwealth citizens even carry nano-machines inside their bodies, providing protection from disease and infection, as well as repairing and maintaining organs, both organic and cybernetic, to keep them in top condition.

PERCENTAGE OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT (PSL): The basic Commonwealth measurement unit for spaceships travelling at sublight speed. Cargo ships move 20-30 PSL, warships move at 30-50 PSL, fighters at 40-75 PSL, defensive missiles at 60-70 PSL and offensive missiles at 85-95 PSL.

SLIPSTREAM: Since its discovery nearly 10,000 years ago by Vedran physicist Rochinda, the slipstream has connected the galaxies together. The slipstream is a place where quantum connections are visible as cords, especially the large and strong connections like those between huge concentrations of matter such as planets or suns. A spaceship that enters the slipstream can harness the energy of these cords and ride them from one star system to another. The Slipstream is widely viewed as being a form of quantum tunneling between slip-points (Lagrange Points in Earth terms) and the amount of precision required in opening into Slipstream requires that all ships carry an Artificial Intelligence Entity, instead of merely being for the smooth and efficient operation of a ship.

One interesting thing about moving through the slipstream is that travel time between points has very little to do with the distance actually traveled. If a pilot is lucky, and the stream unfolds just right, the ship could transit between galaxies in minutes. But put an unlucky pilot at the helm and the same trip could take weeks or even months.

Luckily for the cause of interstellar commerce and communication, the more a certain path is frequently traveled, the faster, easier and more predictable the journey becomes. As a result, frequently-traveled routes between major Commonwealth worlds -- Vedra to San-Ska-Re, for example -- are safe and convenient.

Another unusual aspect of slipstream is the random selection to guide a starship through the slipstream. At an intersection of pathways in slipstream space, both paths manifest the potentiality of being correct and incorrect. It's only when the pilot chooses a specific direction that this potentiality collapses and one path becomes right, and the other wrong.

GENETIC ENGINEERING: Excerpt from "An Introductory Guide to the Systems Commonwealth for New Worlds, Encyclopediae Edition":
"One of the most prevalent technologies of the Known Worlds. Your world may already be familiar with some form of genetic manipulation. Indeed, almost every sentient species has experimented with this technology. For example, many scholars theorize that genetic engineering helped create the different subspecies of Than. Different occupational abilities have been genetically enhanced. Perseids use genetic engineering in preference to other technologies, creating semi-organic machines, buildings and devices.

Even one of the newest species to inhabit the Commonwealth pursues genetic engineering as enthusiastically: Humanity. It is estimated that nearly 96% of Humans currently alive in the Commonwealth have either been genetically engineered themselves or are offspring of genetically engineered parents. Most of these modifications were fairly minor, aimed either at correcting genetic defects or enabling normally frail, when compared to every other Commonwealth species, Humans to adapt to hostile extraterrestrial environments.

One common variation allows organisms to live in intense gravity wells, enabling them to tolerate four or five Earth gees without trouble. Other modifications allow organisms to live and adapt to aquatic environments, poisonous air, or intense cold. And of course, the Homo sapiens invictus, posthumans have made genetic engineering a way of life, using extensive gene modifications in their ultimate goal of perfecting themselves and their descendants."

Species Info: Vedran:
Physical Characteristics: Physically, the Vedrans look vaguely like centaurs from ancient Earth mythology, with four powerful legs and a humanoid upper body (in fact, some scholars theorize that centaur myths may originate from an early Vedran visit to Earth.) Their lower bodies and heads are covered with feathery down. Males sport long, brightly colored crests of feathers which cover their heads and spines.
Reproductive Method: A sexually dimorphic species, male Vedrans outnumber females by approximately six to one and each female typically keeps several Vedran males in her family unit.

Vedrans are matriarchal, owing loyalty to the female head of their particular herd. A Vedran male first owes loyalty to his mother's herd, then his mate's. All Vedran herds ultimately owe loyalty to the Empress.
Homeworld: Vedrans are native to Tarn-Vedra, a world in the Paa Core of the Andromeda galaxy. Vedrans travel far and wide in search of the adventure and experience that leads to higher status and merit. As a result, many Vedrans actually live outside of Tarn-Vedra, which have become worlds with no species holding a majority of the population.
Social Characteristics: As founders of the Systems Commonwealth, Vedrans are one of the most powerful and influential races in the history of interstellar travel. The Vedrans were the first known species to discover slipstream drive, and were a highly advanced starfaring civilization while Humans were still evolving, and the Than were building hives from their own mucous secretions.

Than-Thre-Kull:
Physical Characteristics: The Than-Thre-Kull are highly intelligent bipedal insectoids with compound eyes, formicidal (reminiscent of ants) mandibles and brightly colored iridescent carapaces.
Reproductive Method: Than are hermaphroditic. They mate by laying large clutches of eggs in a common burrow. Up to 100 Than place their eggs in any given burrow. The genetic material of all the Than in the spawn mix, produce tens of thousands of small, helpless grubs. Than grubs are not particularly intelligent, and spend several months eating specialized fungi grown on Than farms. After that time, the surviving grubs spin cocoons where they metamorphosize into adult Than. Only one in 100 Than survive to reach their adult stage, but those that do consider every Than who participated in their spawn their "parent." Thus, Than society is supported by a web of complex family relationships in which every Than has hundreds of parents and siblings to call on in times of need.
Homeworld: Than are natives of a planet called San-Ska-Re, located in the Triangulum Galaxy. The only known species since the Vedrans to develop slipstream technology independently, the Than had already settled nearly 50 worlds in their local cluster when they were inducted into the Commonwealth. Now Than colonies can be found nearly everywhere accessible by slipstream drive.
Social Characteristics: Than live and work in large cities called Hives. However, Than do not share a collective "hive" intelligence. In fact, Than are highly individualistic. They take great pride in their appearance and are accomplished builders and engineers. The Than are greatly revered by the many worlds of the Commonwealth in which they inhabit alongside other species for their legendary industriousness and optimism. The Than breeding cycle allows the Than-Thre-Kull to be the most populous species in the Commonwealth though, according to massive census, there are no species which form a majority in the Commonwealth.

Perseids:
Physical Characteristics: Perseids are striking, humanoid aliens found throughout the Commonwealth. Despite their black, featureless eyes and long bony chins, Perseids resemble Humans so closely that many believe that Humans are an offshoot of their race though such an occurence would be impossible. Countless theories have been advanced throughout the ages to explain the kinship of the two species and the only one which has sufficient credence and possibility by modern science is the theory that Earth and Ugroth have almost exact characteristics allowing for similar species to evolve as the dominant one on both planets.
Reproductive Method: Perseids are bisexual and hermaphroditic by nature, with each individual capable of both fertilizing another and gestating young itself. When wishing to reproduce, two Perseids typically form a temporary pair bond in which each individual impregnates the other. The pair stays together until the birth of the offspring, who are then turned over to the Perseid government for rearing and retain only a cursory connection to their biological parents.
Homeworld:
Perseids originated on the planet Ugroth in the Andromeda galaxy, but quickly colonized other worlds. Today, most Perseids have little if any physical or emotional connection to their ancestral home. Ugroth itself was one of the first worlds conquered by the Vedran Empire under General Huascar nax Yoweri before the Commonwealth and Perseids adapted rather quickly to life in the Empire and, later, Commonwealth.
Social Characteristics: On their native worlds, Perseids govern themselves via meritocracy. Their Overseers are individuals scientifically chosen for their vast knowledge and superior intellect, and the Perseids' strong bureaucratic skills make them highly efficient administrators for the Commonwealth government as well. Initially absorbed by the Vedran Empire, the Perseids soon made themselves so valuable to their conquerors that they achieved positions of power and influence even before the Great Reforms led to the Commonwealth's establishment.

Umbrites:
Physical Characteristics: Umbrites are robust bipeds averaging 1.6 to 2 meters tall, with deep-set eyes and a set of powerful pincers on their faces. Descended from a species of subterranean tunnelers, Umbrites are impressively strong and well-adapted to low-light conditions.
Reproductive Method: Despite a vaguely mammalian biology, Umbrites reproduce much like insectoids. Umbrites have three genders-males, sterile females, and fertile females. Before the Umbrites developed technology and civilization, males existed only to fertilize the females, and once born the resulting young were fed and raised by the sterile females. But while their biology has remained the same, Umbrites have over the millennia developed more egalitarian ways of handling reproduction and child rearing as required by the Commonwealth.
Homeworld: Umbrites come from the densely populated planet of Zhu-Zhu Hwai in the Andromeda Galaxy, where eight billion citizens live in elaborately constructed underground warrens ranging in population from hundreds to the 185 million who live in Plyx Gribnath, the Umbrite captial.
Social Characteristics: As befits their insectoid social structure, Umbrites tend to be highly cooperative beings, renowned for their deep friendships with other beings (especially across species lines) and loyalty. Umbrites have also adapted particularly well to life in a starfaring civilization, perhaps because the confined spaces of space travel remind them of life in the warrens of home. During the Commonwealth era, many Umbrites served on starships and orbital stations, and to this day Umbrites can still commonly be found living on Drifts, spacecraft and other celestial habitats.

Nietzscheans/Homo Sapiens Invictus:
Physical Characteristics: Nietzscheans, or Homo sapiens invictus, are larger, faster and stronger than normal Humans. They are immune to most poisons and diseases. They can breathe chlorine gas without harm. They can eat a much wider variety of foods, survive in harsher environments, and pride themselves on thriving where normal humans wouldn't dare to tread. Nietzscheans are also distinguised by the presense of bone blades, three or four spikes of sharp bone protruding from two centimeters below the wrist to ten centimeters above the elbow. Nietzschean often use their bone blades in combat and they become erect as a result of combat necessity or pleasure, such as from adrenaline or sexual pleasure.
Reproductive Method: Nietzscheans most commonly practice a modified pair bonding form of reproduction which various males compete to win the favor of reproductive-age females. It is not uncommon for a high status male to have more than one female consort or vice-versa.
Homeworld: The Nietzschean subspecies originated at Ayn Rand Station, a colony founded by Human geneticist Paul Museveni in a globular cluster near the Andromeda galaxy, seeking refuge in the Commonwealth from the anti-genetic engineering mood on Earth at the time, as with most humans who immigrated into the Commonwealth. Since then, Nietzscheans have spread throughout known space, reproducing rapidly until they now constitute 8 percent of the overall Human population.
Social Characteristics: The Human philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that strife and conflict would inevitably reshape men into something better and stronger than what they once were. As a Human subspecies, Nietzscheans took his words to heart and used genetic engineering and nanotechnology to reshape themselves into the ultimate survivors.

Their single-minded devotion to self-improvement and propagation can strike other species (even their non-Nietzschean Human cousins) as selfish and arrogant, yet in practice the Nietzscheans' boundless energy and willpower have made them valued contributors to Commonwealth society. Nietzschean society highly values their offspring and the importance they place on shaping their offspring to be among the best of the best.

Humans/Homo Sapiens Sapiens:
Physical Characteristics: Mostly-hairless bipeds standing just under two meters tall.
Reproductive Method: Humans most commonly procreate through sexual reproduction involving two pair-bonded individuals, one from each human gender. Cloning, artificial insemination and in vitro gestation are not, however, unheard of and can be quite common.
Homeworld: Humans hail from Earth, a small, insignificant and mostly harmless world located on the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy. Despite human immigration being opened thousands of years after the Commonwealth's founding, humans proved clever, adaptable and vigorous. It is very rare for humans in the Commonwealth to even remember the homeworld of their species or to feel any special connection or bond to Earth and humans who may know of it may even feel contempt towards it.
Social Characteristics: Humans have embraced genetic engineering and nanotechnology with gusto, using these tools to reshape themselves to fit into a variety of hostile environments. This has resulted in many variations of the human form, including aquatic humans, humans engineered to live in space, humans adapted to heavy gravity worlds and ultimately, to the Nietzschean subspecies.

Chichins:
Physical Characteristics: Chichins are small and wiry bipeds with smooth, reptilian skin and brown, green or greyish mottled complexions. Chichins are also famous throughout the known worlds for their flamboyant tastes in clothing and headgear.
Reproductive Method: Chichins have two genders, and reproduce through external fertilization of 50 or more eggs. Only a few young survive to adulthood, though, and Chichin parents have been known to sometimes consume their own weak or nonviable young-a custom many other species (especially the child revering Nietzscheans) regard with revulsion and abhored as a crime in the Commonwealth and replaced by genetic and cybernetic enhancement.
Homeworld: The Chichin homeworld is the swampy, waterlogged planet Sissnik, which orbits a red giant in the outer Andromeda galaxy. Sissnik has never been a tourist hotspot (except for underwater cave explorers taking advantage of the planet's numerous submerged limestone caverns) and the Chichins themselves consider their homeworld to be so unpleasant that few have remained there. Most opt to seek their fortunes in the larger universe instead.
Social Characteristics: Always a fiercely competitive species even among themselves, Chichins have largely channeled this trait into mercantile pursuits, with many of the species pursuing material success at all costs. Though not all Chichins are businesspeople of questionable ethics, enough are to give the species a rather negative reputation among other species.

Artificial Life:
Physical Characteristics: Artificial Life takes on many different forms - androids, gynoids, robots, self-aware computer programs and sentient starships.
Reproductive Method: As implied by the name, artificial life is typically created through sophisticated computer programming. Additionally, some higher forms of artificial intelligence are able to reproduce themselves, either through self-replication or by combining their own programming information with data from one or more other artificially intelligent entities.
Homeworld: Artificial life has no specific home world; the various forms are dispersed throughout Commonwealth space.
Social Characteristics: Artificial life constitutes a sizeable percentage of the population in the Commonwealth Worlds. Some artificial lifeforms are self-aware, as intelligent as a human, Vedran or Than, while others seem nearly godlike in their knowledge and abilities. Under Commonwealth law, all machines and programs that pass a standardized set of intelligence tests are afforded full rights and citizenship. Laws nearly 8000 years ago assured full rights for sentient artificial life and permitted artificial beings to form family units with other artificial beings and/or with organic beings.

Location: Andromeda Galaxy

Military:
The March of the High Guard

Heaven burns, the stars are falling
As the enemy draws nigh.

Sound the call, fleet and lancers,
"Commonwealth" our battle cry.

Face the foe, never waver,
Summon fire from the sky.

From a million sovereign planets
Scattered through the endless night.

Bound by blood and High Guard honor,
Hold the line until the light.

Hold the line against the night.

The Commonwealth High Guard's Anthem,
Earliest Known version dated CY 3548
Latest version dated CY 5593[/align]

Common Rank Structure

Argosy
Enlisted
E1-Spacer
E2-Spacer First Class
E3-Senior Spacer
E4-Master Spacer
E5-Petty Officer
E6-Chief Petty Officer (CPO)
E7-Senior CPO
E8-Master CPO
E9-Argosy CPO
Officers
O1-Ensign
O2-Lt. Junior Grade
O3-Lt.
O4-Lt. Commander
O5-Commander
O6-Captain
O7-Admiral
O8-Admiral
O9-Admiral
O10-Admiral
O11-Admiral

Lancer Corps
Enlisted
E1-Lancer
E2-Lancer First Class
E3-Sergeant
E4-Staff Sergeant
E5-Gunnery Sergeant
E6-Master Sergeant
E7-First Sergeant
E8-Sergeant Major
E9-Sergeant Major of the Lancers
Officers
O1-Second Signifer
O2-First Signifer
O3-Brevet Major
O4-Major
O5-Lt. Colonel
O6-Colonel
O7-Brigadier General
O8-General
O9-General
O10-General
O11-General

Glossary of High Guard Military Terms
ACTIVE SENSORS: Used by drones and fighters to spot opponents, active sensors operate by sending out a signal in the EM spectrum to bounce off the enemy ship. Despite their great power, active sensors also give away the position of the sensing ship, limiting their use in combat situations. A common High Guard combat tactic involves relying on passive sensors (see passive sensors) sending out automated drones to take active readings and relay them back to the mother ship.

AP GUN: A weapon that shoots a stream of anti-protons at near light speeds (99 PSL). Anti-protons that hit mass (the enemy ship) destroy it. An AP Gun is not effective beyond about 4 light seconds.

AP POWER CONVERTER: Converts the AP (see Technology, Anti-Protons) and mass reaction into electrical power for an item (such as the Gravity Field Generator or MPD Thruster) to use. AP power converters come in all different sizes for use by ships, fighters, drones, or missiles. Also known as an AP Reactor.

ARGOSY: The space-based branch of the Commonwealth High Guard. Starship-based High Guard personnel are referred to as Argos (or "aggros" by their Lancer counterparts).

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENTITY (AIE): The sentient quantum computer systems at the heart of each High Guard starship. AIEs use continuous logic neural network systems with self-enforcing Foynne Influence Processors as well as a basic network of neurochemical files and Personality Drives. During multiple platform operations, AIEs "negotiate" combat responsibilities based on established doctrine, rules of engagement and their commanders' intent.

BANDER: A small self-guided device. It is the size and shape of a throwing disc. When tossed, the bander unwinds into a series of coils, then wraps around its target, immobilizing it.

BRACER: A bracer is worn on the arm and can also be expanded into a physical shield for defensive purposes. In shield mode, a bracer's surface is optically reflective to reflect energy beams and is strong enough to deflect bullets and other kinetic projectile attacks. In addition to their combat capacity, bracers incorporate a number of sophisticated electronic devices, including portable computers, communicators and sensors and can emit an electromagnetic pulse in combat to deflect smart bullets.

C4I ARCHITECTURE: A description of the Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence network that enables the flow of information between and among starships. The AIE forms the "virtual hub" of this network on a specific ship, but high levels of systems integration render the description nearly meaningless, except under special circumstances.

COUNTER-COUNTERMEASURE (CCM): Used by a ship's sensors to counter the effects of enemy countermeasures (see countermeasures).

COUNTERMEASURES: Steps taken by ships in order to avoid being spotted, including sensor jamming, chaff and other distractions.

DATALINK: Low power lasers that carry secure information between all the ships, drones and missiles of a fleet.

DEFENSIVE MISSILE: The main defensive weapon against incoming offensive missiles in ship to ship combat. Defensive missiles can also be used as enemy fighters, which are smaller missiles (about 1/3 of a kilogram). They move slower than offensive missiles (60 to 70 PSL), but with twice the acceleration. They have a range of only 5 to 10 light seconds.

DRONE: A small, unpiloted vehicle typically used as sensor and jamming platforms or to harass enemy fighters and ships.

EFFECTOR: Tiny attack drones or smart bullets launched by an F-Lance (see below) that can both target opponents and intercept incoming bullets and missiles within one nanosecond to twelve microseconds.

ELECTROMAGNETIC LAUNCH SYSTEM (ELS): High-powered electro-magnetic missile tubes, which accelerate offensive and defensive loads into space. The ELS is necessary to allow for a safe distance between a missile and the originating starship when the missile activates its organic acceleration capability.

ENERGY WEAPON: A broad term used when referring to all types of guns and lasers used in space combat mostly unused by the High Guard in favor of more efficient systems such as Gauss Guns or coilguns. Far more common among the Commonwealth's adversaries in combat due to what one Vedran General described as "a primitive and foolish desire to appear more fearsome and appealing by using shiny, glowing projectiles." (see below).

FORCE-LANCE: A primary tool and weapon of every High Guardsman, the Force-Lance (commonly called the F-Lance or Powered Lance) looks like a harmless metallic tube approximately 1/3 meter in length. But when deployed for battle, it can be extended into a quarterstaff almost two meters long, and when used in melee, the F-Lance can be charged with an electrical current, shocking anyone it hits into unconsciousness. But the F-Lance is more than just a melee weapon. It can also fire a hot plasma beam or hypersonic bullet, in both the extended and retracted position, which can be used in ranged combat, or as a cutting tool or light source. Finally, the F-Lance can launch a number of self-guided effectors (see effector).

FIGHTER: A ship manned by one sentient being or artificial intelligence or remotely piloted at distances where latency is not an issue. Fighters move very fast, dodging enemy missiles and energy weapons and maneuvering in close to execute quick slashing attacks before fleeing out of range. Fighters are also used to fly combat patrol in defense of Heavy Cruisers or other high-value assets.

FREQUENCY SWITCHING: An example of CCM -- to switch the frequency of the sensor (active or passive). Of course, nothing prevents the jammer from switching frequencies along with its opponent, and in fact jammers and sensors may switch frequencies thousands of times a second in their continuing cat and mouse games.

FALSE TARGET GENERATOR (FTG): A countermeasure against active sensors generates a false target to the enemy sensors, which appears to be a duplicate of the real ship being targeted. Many false targets can be generated. In the future this may become an extremely effective countermeasure, but for now the false targets have difficulty fooling a well-trained operator.

GAUSS GUN: The most common type of personal handgun. A gauss gun accelerates a smart bullet at supersonic speeds using electromagnetic forces.

GRAVITY FIELD GENERATOR (GFG): Used on ships and missiles to create artificial gravity (when powered) to reduce effective mass for thrust, prevent the items inside from being squashed by the ships acceleration and to create an artificial gravity for the crew to operate in (see "Technology in the Commonwealth, artificial gravity").

HARPOON: Harpoons are missiles that trail a superstrong molecular cable (commonly known as a bucky cable) back to the launching ship. The bucky cable is then used to attach itself to other ships and pull them in. Harpoons are slower than missiles, and are commonly used to tow disabled ships or to grapple with them for a boarding action.

HYPER-SPECTRAL IMAGER: A combined electro-optical/active sensor array that measures the spectral signature of targets of interest against the expected spectral signature of the background area. Useful for detecting camouflaged or otherwise obscured targets.

INERTIAL MEASUREMENT UNIT (IMU): About the size of a small coin, this device detects changes in inertia. It does it by having patterns of light reflected back on themselves inside the unit and watching the phase change in the light as the IMU is moved from one location to another (i.e. its inertia changes). This device is an improvement on ring-laser-gyros (RLG).

INVERSE SYNTHETIC APERTURE (ISA): Active sensor systems that create virtual swaths based on the pitch or yaw of the target. Since the size of the aperture is dictated by the motion of the target, ISAS detection capability is not limited by range. Useful in detecting relatively stationary small targets in high-noise environments.

JAMMING: The all-encompassing term for active countermeasures that use an emitter to put out a lot of electronic noise aimed at foiling enemy sensors.

KILL VEHICLE: The component of a missile that contains the actual explosive.

KILO G: A unit of ship acceleration in space. 1 Kilo G is 98,100 meters per second squared, or approximately 1000 times Earth gravity. Cargo ships accelerate at 3-30 Kilo G; Warships accelerate at 45-170 Kilo G, fighters at 100-700 Kilo G, defensive missiles at 6000-9000 Kilo G and offensive missiles at 2600-4200 Kilo G.

LANCER: The all-purpose term for High Guard ground troops. Affectionately nicknamed "rock hoppers" by their ship-based comrades, Lancers typically form the spearhead of any Commonwealth ground action, with mobilized Home Guard units providing support as needed.

LATENCY (AKA "time delay"): Latency is a measure of the lag-time between transmission and receipt of data. Partially a function of distance at long range, also driven by processing speed, bandwidth availability, message priority and transmission power.

LIGHT MINUTE: A unit of distance, approximately 18 million kilometers (11 million miles). The distance light travels in a minute. The range at which ships can engage in combat (i.e. exchange missiles) is typically 1 to 1.5 light minutes.

LIGHT SECOND: A unit of distance, approximately 300,000 kilometers (190,000 miles). The distance light travels in a second. This is considered very close range in ship-to-ship combat. The range at which ships can engage in direct energy weapons (and shoot down incoming missiles) is about 4 light seconds. Most space battles for Commonwealth ships occur between 1 to 50 light seconds, a rational tactic considering how “mind-numbling huge space is”.

LOW OBSERVABILITY (LO): A passive countermeasure (also known in some, literarily lethargic cultures as STEALTH). In achieving LO, warships attempt to make their skins as non-reflective as possible across the EM spectrum, and to prevent any excess heat from being radiated from the ship.

MOVING TARGET INDICATOR: A pulsed sensor signal that detects moving targets by measuring changes in the return signal doppler effect over time. Useless against stationary targets or targets that are moving in parallel to the sensor.

MULTIPLE INDEPENDENT KILL VEHICLE: A special warhead that contains several independently targetable kill vehicles.

OFFENSIVE MISSILE: The main offensive weapon in ship to ship combat. This device is about the size of an adult Human's fist and weighs about 1 kilogram. They move at 85 to 95 PSL and do atomic blast levels of damage when they hit, due to the kinetic energy of impact. Most have a range of 1 to 1.5 light minutes.

OODA LOOP: Orient, Observe, Decide, Act. The standard operational cycle for any starship activity.

PASSIVE SENSORS: Used to look at the EM spectrum for outputs from the enemy ship. Forms of passive sensing include using your eyes (slightly obvious, is it not?), looking through a telescope or electronically. Other passive sensors can look at different frequencies such as Infrared, the spectrum in which heat radiates.

PHASED-ARRAY SENSORS: Large fields of small active sensor transceivers which allow for wider scanning swaths and more sensitive target detection in high threat, high noise environments.

POINT DEFENSE LASER: A laser in the 30 to 50 megawatt range used to shoot down incoming missiles, fighters and drones. Also used by fighters who come in close contact with the enemy (1 to 3 light seconds) to cause damage to enemy ships.

PRIMARY NODE: The core processing engine of sentient High Guard artificial intelligence entities; the core of any distributed computer system.

PULSED PLASMA GUN (PPG): Similar to an X-ray laser (see X-ray laser) or point defense laser. A PPG requires less energy, but uses a consumable commodity (as such, it is not commonly used).

RAD-HARD: A term used to describe an item, which has been hardened to radiation (simple logic, isn't it?).

REDUCE THE GAIN: A CCM used against jamming. When a ship reduces the gain on its sensors it can easily see the jamming device, although it still can not easily see the other ships in the area.

SCRUBBER: A filter that removes particles and contaminants from the air. Primitive scrubbers to remove CO2 from a vessel's air supply have been in existence since the days of ancient submarine warfare. Modern scrubbers use biological agents to turn CO2 into oxygen and defensive nanobots to repel enemy nanobot attacks (see "Technology in the Commonwealth, Nanotechnology").

SPEED OF COMMAND: The rate at which an operational cycle is completed. Highly dependent on the C4I architecture, datalink latency and the experience of each individual commander and an AIE. The goal of battlegroup operations is to maintain combat initiative by maximizing the speed of command.

SELF-SYNCHRONIZATION: The natural integration of individual starship operational cycles into the operational cycle of a battlegroup. This is achieved primarily through interaction between AIEs.

SENSOR CROSS-SECTION: The apparent size and geometry of a target on a sensor scope.

SMART BULLETS: Bullets, which act like guided nano-missiles, using sensors to home in on targets; the most common projectile used by the High Guard for handheld weaponry.

SMART MISSILES: Extended-range, high-endurance missiles that rely on a combination of ship, drone and organic active/passive sensor systems to find targets and destroy them. At kill speed, smart missiles can achieve upwards of 90 PSL. Smart missiles are most effective at less than one AU, but special variants can extend that range to 3 AU when combat operations permit missile control "handoff" from platform to platform. Smart missiles can be called back or neutralized in flight.


SENSOR SWATH: The area of space covered by an active or passive sensor system.

SUICIDE SWITCH: Device used by smaller ships in a battlegroup to masquerade as a high value asset, usually a Heavy Cruiser. The suicide switch mimics the sensor cross-section of the high-value asset, making the user a more attractive target for incoming offensive missiles.

SYNTHETIC APERTURE: A virtual sensor aperture that is created by the motion of the sensor platform through space. As the platform changes position, the sensor system builds detailed imagery over a wider scanning area. Highly effective for charting the location and composition of stationary targets.

X-RAY LASER: An extremely powerful (200-500 megawatt), but short range (4 light seconds maximum) type of laser.

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((OOC: For the stats of the UCAS, I wish to use my other, first NS account 'Modravia'. If there are any changes to be made, please inform me and I will make them.))