Pull (Deep Darkness Book 1) (41 page)

Autons – Robots, non-sentient programmed to follow orders given by elders.
They maintain the hallways and corridors inside human starships.

Battle for Memoria - A huge battle fought all across the solar system during
the first invasion. The battle was won in a few hours with several years spent
cleaning up the surviving Skrav forces.

Biomass – Organic compound that grows inside starships producing oxygen
and the various chemicals used to keep humans (or aliens) breathing.
Biorigging – Using organic compounds to mesh together an object or
weapon.

Black Sun – A second splinter group from ‘The Order’ that believed in
harnessing the power of the nexus for world control. Unlike most of ‘The
Order’ and ‘Sons of Sol’ the Black Suns believed the nexus was created by
the occult via ancient demons and sorcery. During World War II they allied
themselves with the Nazis while the rest of ‘The Order’ and ‘Sons of Sol’
allied themselves with the Allies specifically The United States and various
European Nations.

Caretakers – Genetically altered humans that are capable of living in the
vacuum of space. They maintain the outer hull of human starships.

Chev – Genetically altered animal (possibly a cow/whale hybrid) that
regenerates parts of it’s body in minutes. The primary food source onboard
starships.

Consul – Meeting of Elders
Cryosleep – see
Stasis

Crystal cells - Part of the creatures found inside the immer. They allow
creatures such as leviathans to move freely in their dimension. They are also
found inside pieces of the nexus, Skrav starships (scattered) and creatures on
Errikus. These cells breakdown rapidly and mutate while they are inside our
reality.

Cyphers - The name given to the sub species of humans that make up the
elder’s shadow forces as well as Balkava’s deathsquad.

Deep Sleep – see
Stasis
Deserters – see
Remnants
.

Drok – The
first humanoid alien race encountered in deep space. Their
culture was once very similar to that of Vikings on Earth. The Skrav
destroyed their world when humans tried to set up a small colony on their
home world. They have since adapted and become constant companions to
humans.

Dyson Sphere - In ‘Pull’ humanity is slowly beginning the construction of a
Dyson Sphere around the sun. A project that would involve building a series
of artificial structures that consist of solar-power stations creating a Dyson
Swarm around the sun.

Earth – The original home of humans.

Eden-2 – A colony settled by the Trinity only a few thousand years after the
human race left Earth. Thousands onboard the three human ships slept in
stasis while the population on the colony grew into the millions. Eden-2 saw
the rise and fall of several political systems and even it’s own dynasty.
Eventually the population was wiped out by the Skrav and the Trinity
continued on their journey with only a handful of survivors from the surface.

Eden-3 – The paradise believe to be inside the void.
Eek – Humanoid alien race that is constantly trading with and exploring
various worlds. The Eek believe their society to be a utopia and try and share
their ideals and culture with as many worlds as possible.

Eel – Wormlike creature created on the Trepp home world.

Elders – The leaders in charge of human starships. They are considered the
lawmakers, judge, jury, and even executioners. Many are veterans who have
excelled in combat while others become Elders by living to an old age.

Erebus – The largest of the three ships that acts as the main hub between the
three. It is the size of New York City and can house over a hundred thousand
people in closed quarters. It was the first under construction and last to
become completed.

Errikus – A backwater world and colony created by the alien race known as
the Eek that is the last habitable world before ‘the black’ and what was
theorized to be the void. Beyond Errikus was the wild of space were no
species had travelled before. Errikus was a tourist attraction that housed a
massive spaceport and several exotic zoos and embassies. Errikus is known
for producing and trading the biomass that is found inside most starships.

FTL – Faster then light travel (warp drives)

Guardians – Also known as human caretakers they watched over children
whether it was onboard a starship or one the surface of a planet. It was their
job to teach and train young minds.

Guns – Many guns are both energy and projectile based.
Hammer of God – A technique used by the Aelita to kill the leviathan in
which it positioned itself above the surface of Errikus but still below the
atmosphere using it’s ion engines to create upward thrust. From there it fired
a heavy energy blast into the ground wiping away anything below.

Hellbeast - A massive reptile like creature found on Errikus.
Immer – A pocket dimension that exists on top of our own were point A and
point B are closer together then in real space. Also known as hyperspace.
Ion Drive – Electronic propulsion used for spacecraft. Also known as
‘Impulse Drive’
Jump Drives – Theoretical. Create wormholes. It is rumored that this is how
certain exotic ships travel.
Kava – A bitter drink found in the Western Pacific. It has sedative and
anesthetic properties which many people find intoxicating.

Kreios – A planet that sits at the beginning of the Kreios Expanse an area of
space dominated by war and controlled by various alien politics. The territory
inside the expanse is constantly being fought over by Eek, Skrav, and several
other species.

Lagrange Points - Areas where the combined gravitational pull of two large
masses provides precisely the centripetal force required to orbit with them.

Leviathan – A massive alien creature from the immer that can grow as big as
a planet though most are the size of small starships. It is genuinely called a
‘space whale’. If one crosses into real space it’s body adapts taking on the
features of all the carbon based and life forms it comes into contact with.

Luna - The moon
Monitor – A highly intelligent mass of minds and faces that all connect to
each other inside one body.

Myra – Once a proud alien race they were nearly wiped away by the Skrav.
Many have found themselves stranded on various worlds including Errikus
were they have become beggars and homeless. Others that work to apply
themselves more usually find themselves working for Pok in shops.

Nexus – An ancient alien element that looks like a piece of black rock that
lets certain individuals see into the past, present, and future through someone
else’s eyes. The outer shell of the nexus is harder then a diamond and can only
be cut by another piece or a special Skrav sword that shares many of the
same elements. Simply moving away or not touching the object can block the
effects of the nexus.

Orbital – Massive structures built in space that can be as large as planets and
house billions of individuals.

Pok – Alien creatures that are a cross between a dog, a lizard, and a dwarf.
They consider themselves partners with the Eek and have set up many stores
and merchandise shops on every world they encounter. They are excellent at
fixing things and many of their kind are mechanics that help build and
develop alien starships.

Praxis – A prototype starship based on a combination of Skrav and human
technology.
Post-Human – By the time of Sev’s birth humans have adapted to living
onboard starships and many are considered to be post human compared to

humans that were alive during the 24th century and earlier time periods.

Remnants – also called
Runners
,
deserters,
humans that fled the Trinity to start
a new life on their own. Usually they augmented their bodies in ways that
made them look less human either via cybernetics or by augmenting their
physical features with alien biological ones.

Runners – see
Remnants
Seraphim – see
Leviathan
Skimmer – Also known as a hover cycle. A one/two man craft that would
hover several feet off the ground and could reach speeds up to 300 mph.
Sol System - The solar system home to the Earth. (Our home)

Sons of Sol – Also known as ‘The Order’ was originally a part of the Templar
order that split once a group of Templars recovered the nexus. They believed
that it was inevitable that the human race would be destroyed by the Skrav or
other alien forces and that the best plan of action was to voyage into deep
space toward an area of space called ‘The Void’. For many the ideas set down
by the ‘Sons of Sol’ are a religion or cult mentality. The ‘Sons of Sol’ are also
responsible for funding and developing various weapons technology and
creating the Trinity and Praxis. Founded by Ren Kiryu, who changed his
name to Narville after leaving behind the military.

Starships –
also called Spaceships,
massive space fairing vessels that travel by
ion drives, warp drives, or via the immer using an engine called the
immersion core. Many alien starships are considered exot (short for exotic)
and travel by means humans can’t comprehend. There are also dropships,
which are smaller and only hold small crews as well as fighters, which can
fight both in space and below orbit but only have one pilot.
Stasis – Also known as the deep sleep or cryosleep. In stasis the body of the
individual is frozen in a liquid gel. The cells of the body are slowed to an
amount of time so slow they could stay inside stasis for thousands of years.
While in stasis the brain activity is present but the individual is in such a deep
sleep (REM) they can’t wake up and almost never remember their dreams.

Swords – Many different alien races including humans use swords. The Drok
and Skrav in particular cut their swords from the bone of massive creatures.
The Skrav in particular have created swords that have similar features to the
nexus element even being capable of cutting it. Swords (and daggers) are
used as a backup weapon by most soldiers.

The Collapse – The Destruction of the Sol System

The Order - Formed out of the remnants of the Knight’s Templar. The Order
vowed to watch over and keep the nexus safe from those that might use its
power to see into the future for greed.

The Purge – The Destruction of Errikus
The Scourge – Clones created onboard the Aelita. Mentally unstable.

The Void – A place hidden amongst the stars that can’t be seen via long-range
scanners or the human eye. Many believe it is only a myth while others that
have seen it inside the nexus call it a paradise (though a few have called it a
frozen hell)

Terra Vesp – Small rodent like creatures found on orbitals and various worlds
used to pick away trash.

Ter – also called Terre, terra or Terran, a word used in reference to the
human race mostly by other alien species.
Tick – An insect like creature about three-four feet tall that came off the
leviathan. They attach themselves to a host feeding off their life force and
bodily fluids turning them into zombies. They are a creature that comes from
the immer.

Trepp – An alien race that looks like a cross between human and reptile. They
are slaves to the Skrav who conquered their home world centuries earlier. In
a way they are to the Skrav as the Drok are to humans.

Trinity – Three massive human starships constructed between the 22nd and
24th century reverse engineered from Skrav technology. The ships are the

Erebus, the Aelita, and the Tritan. Each ship is made up of several hundred
corridors which house the crew inside, there are also numerous stasis
chambers and hangars that house dropships and air/space fighters. Other
layers inside the ships include the mess, storage rooms, prison, medical bay,
drive shaft, drone control rooms, various ‘memorial halls’, elder chambers,
and safe rooms called bunkers or vaults. Each ship is armed with laser and
plasma canons, automated turrets, ion canons, and grid bombs.

Tritan – The smallest of the Trinity, the Tritan was more of a scout ship. It
could only hold a few thousand people in and out of stasis. The Tritan was the
first of the Trinity to be completed. It held and trained the most elite human
soldiers who were the first into battle.

User – Also called a Seer and Oracle. Human (and Skrav) individuals that
can see into the past, present, and future. By the time of Sev’s birth users are
genetically modified as the human genome has become too different for users
to be born naturally without modification.

rebuilt the other is ready for use.

Wormholes - Theoretically tearing a hole from point A to point B travel
would be instantaneous travel. Other theories suggest they tear a hole from
one universe to the next so the point B you end up in is a different universe
(this could be a subtle change you may never see or something significant)