The Prodigal Sun (43 page)

Hennig:
field lieutenant, COE Intelligence.

Hek’m:
the Olmahoi Caste home-world.

Hetu System:
a territory in the COE.

HFM weapons:
devices that employ pulses of high-frequency microwaves to destroy unshielded electronic components (by the same process as an electromagnetic pulse). Also known as “peace guns.”

Hierocratic Kingdom of Shurdu:
a government in a distant part of the galaxy.

High Humans or High Castes:
superior intelligences that have evolved (Transcended) from the mundane. Enormously long-lived and farseeing, they concentrate on issues quite removed from the rest of the galaxy; indeed, due to their enormous scale, they are the only beings capable of comprehending the galaxy in its entirety. They generally leave mundanes alone, to let them progress (and, ultimately, to Transcend) in their own time. See
Castes
and
Transcendence
.

High Equity Court:
see
COE High Equity Court
.

honor-stands:
the Eckandi equivalent of coffins.

Houghton, Lazaro:
Eckandi gunrunner, now deceased.

Houghton’s Cross:
an abandoned Dominion fort in Behzad’s Wall, Sciacca’s World.

Hurn:
a Caste typified by ritual and complexity. In appearance the Hurn are lean and muscular, averaging greater than Pristine height. They are predisposed toward music and mathematics. Socially they prefer oligarchies with a baroque middle class.

Hutton-Luu System:
a much-disputed system of the COE near its border with the Dato Bloc. See
Sciacca’s World
.

hypershield:
a barrier erected in hyperspace to deflect or inhibit the passage of anything traveling by that medium. Commonly used as a prophylactic against hyperspace weapons. Hypershields operate under a maximum volume constraint; they will only operate as intended under two thousand cubic kilometers.

hyperspace disrupters:
a form of hypershield that actively combats incoming hyperspace weapons, such as flicker-bombs. Unlike anchor points, which “weaken” space, disrupters do the opposite, making it more difficult for anything nearby to emerge from hyperspace.

i-Hurn Uprising:
a civil dispute that broke out between two rival factions of the Hurn Caste.

IDnet:
see
Information Dissemination Network
.

Information Dissemination Network:
a communications network dedicated to the spread of data across the galaxy, although its reach so far extends not much beyond the COE and its neighbors. It acts as a combined news service and medium for gossip. Also known as IDnet.

Intelligence:
see
COE Intelligence
.

Interdiction Wars:
the 13th Millennium conflict between the COE and the Kesh Supreme Union, after which the Commonwealth did not officially exist for two thousand years.

Interventionism:
a movement among High Humans—and some mundanes—that advocates closer links between High and mundane Castes. See
The Crescend
.

Ivy Green Station:
a refueling station in deep space owned by the COE; typically the last port of call before Sciacca’s World.

Jaaf:
a recently Transcended Caste whose home-world, near the COE, was annihilated by the nova of its primary star.

Janek:
tactician, COEA
Midnight.

jarapine:
a swift-footed creature native to Proebis-12.

jezu:
an archaic name for ghost.

Jralevsky Minor:
major outpost and refueling port for the Ethnarch’s Military Presidium.

JW111101000:
see
Box, the
.

Jytte:
transportee, Sciacca Penal Colony.

Kabos:
a star near Ede System that recently went nova.

Kajic, Uri:
captain, DBMP
Ana Vereine.

Kanaga Station:
the geostationary refueling base around Sciacca’s World.

Kesh:
the most primitive of the Castes in the region surrounding the Commonwealth of Empires. The Kesh are typically warlike and predisposed toward violence. In appearance, they tend to be larger than the Pristine average and have mottled, multicolored skin. Their social structure is heavily ritualized, with a strong tribal or family base. They are known for being highly racist.

Kesh Supreme Union:
a now-defunct empire that came into violent contact with the COE during a short-lived outsweep migration.

Klose, Proctor:
captain, COEA
Midnight.

Knagg’s System:
briefly a member system of the COE (4th Millennium), no longer in existence. A religion founded by its government led to the founding of the Ataman Theocracy.

Komazec:
sergeant, DBMP
Ana Vereine.

Lansequenet,
DBMP:
Dato Bloc raider.

Leditschke indicators:
a determination of the information density of a nation with respect to the sum total knowledge of the galaxy.

Lene, Hierocrat Kaatje:
ruler of the Hierocratic Kingdom of Shurdu.

Low Castes:
devolved mundane Humans. These animal-like creatures come in many forms and occupy many niches across the galaxy. Some evolve back up to mundane status, given time and isolation, while others become extinct as a result of the forces that led to their devolution in the first place.

M’taio System:
a system notable for its Caste wars in recent times.

Maii:
Surin epsense adept.

Makaev, Atalia:
second in command, DBMP
Ana Vereine.

Malogorski, Edan:
transportee, Sciacca Penal Colony.

Marauder:
an experimental class of warship developed by the Dato Bloc. See
DBMP
Ana Vereine
.

Marines:
see
COE Armada.

Mbata:
(Mbatan, adj. & sing. n.) a well-regarded Caste known for its peace-loving and familial ways. In appearance the Mbata resemble an ursine species, larger and stronger than the Pristine. Their culture is egalitarian and open to trade.

MiCom:
a common abbreviation for “Military Communications.”

Middle Reaches:
the region of medium stellar density between the Outer Arms and the galactic core.

Midnight
, COEA:
COE Retriever Class frigate.

Military Presidium:
see
Dato Bloc
.

mind-rider:
superseded slang for epsense adept.

Montaban:
the home-world of Ameidio Haid.

mundane Castes:
Castes of Humanity that are essentially similar to the Pristine in terms of size, mental capacity, worldview, etc. Naturally there is a spectrum of types across the mundane Caste— from the highly evolved (some might say near-Transcendent) Olmahoi, through the socially complex Surin and Hurn Castes, to the Eckandar and Pristine Castes with their societies based on trade and empire-building, and beyond, via the earthy Mbata, to the relatively primal Kesh. Mundanes are typically short-lived (a century or so, when allowed to age naturally) and build empires up to four or five thousand systems in size. There is a ceiling of complexity above which mundanes rarely go without Transcending. See
High Humans
and
Batelin Limit
.

Neva:
transportee, Sciacca Penal Colony.

Nisov:
second lieutenant, DBMP
Ana Vereine.

Nkuyan, Jo-en:
first Eupatrid of the COE.

Non-Aligned Realms:
systems near the Commonwealth of Empires allied neither to it nor its neighbors.

Objective Reference Calendar:
a system of date-keeping established by the A-14 Higher Collaboration Network.

Olmahoi:
an exotic Caste that communicates entirely by epsense. Physically the Olmahoi are of similar size to Pristines, but are much stronger; their skin is black, and they possess little in the way of distinguishing features, apart from the epsense organ that dangles like a tentacle from the back of the skull. Their social structure is too complex to explore in detail here. They are renowned fighters, capable of feats of great skill, yet also possess a capacity for peace far in excess of any other Castes associated with the Commonwealth of Empires.

Olmahoi retribution units:
renowned fighters able to combine perfectly their physical and epsense abilities. Also known as “greyboots.”

OPUS:
the mining consortium originally granted rights to Sciacca’s World.

Outer Arms:
the low stellar-density regions of the galaxy between the Middle and Far Reaches.

outsweep migrations:
brief, outward surges by expansionist empires. These usually occur in the crowded environment of the core or Middle Reaches, in an outward direction.

Paladin,
DBMP:
Dato Bloc raider.

Palasian System:
a system of the COE recently quarantined by the COE Armada for reasons unspecified. Due to its lack of habitable or easily terraformable planet, it has never been extensively colonized, but is the home to several Armada bases and a small commercial mining operation.

Pan-Human Finance Trust:
a financial institution spanning the galaxy, although its coverage is patchy in the Outer Arms.

Pan-Rationalist Alliance of Zanshin:
a government in a distant part of the galaxy.

peace guns:
see HFM weapons.

Port Parvati:
the capital and sole large city of Sciacca’s World. Its landing field is the only official route on and off the planet.

Pristine Caste:
the form of Humanity that most closely resembles the original race that evolved an unknown time ago on an unknown planet somewhere in the galaxy. The Pristine Human genome, handed down from antiquity and regarded with near veneration, is stored in innumerable places among the civilized worlds. Pristines themselves, however are accorded no special status.

Proebis-12:
the home of the swift-footed jarapine.

qacina:
a name for ghost in the Dominion language.

Quyrend System:
a system of the COE; also a major node in the COE’s Information Dissemination Network (IDnet).

rapeworm:
a life-form indigenous to Sciacca’s World.

Rasia:
transportee, Sciacca Penal Colony.

reave:
see epsense.

Rehlaender:
presiding judge, High Equity Court.

Retriever Class Frigate:
a class of frigate built prior to the Ataman Wars.

Riem-Perez horizon:
the technical name for the boundary cast by a hypershield.

Roche, Morgan:
Commander, COE Intelligence.

Rufo, Linegar:
renowned xenoarchaeologist; see
Galine Four
.

Sabra:
transportee, Sciacca Penal Colony.

Sciacca’s World:
the only habitable world of the Hutton-Luu System; once an agricultural planet of the Dominion, now a desert penal colony of the COE (Sciacca Penal Colony). Its ring of moonlets—the Soul—is owned and mined by DAOC Inc.

Scion War:
the war in which the Sol Apotheosis Movement met its downfall at the hands of the Dominion, the Ataman Theocracy, and the Commonwealth of Empires, among others. The war was brought to an end in the 37th Millennium (‘577 EN) when the leader of the combined military forces ordered an attack on the headquarters of the Movement, provoking their explosive suicide. See
Sol Apotheosis Movement
.

scutter:
a small, swift spacegoing vessel with many uses, both military and civilian; also known as a “singleship.”

Secession War:
the conflict of ‘837 EN in which the Dato Bloc achieved its independence from the COE.

Second Ataman War:
despite overextending its resources during the First Ataman War, the Ataman Theocracy remained aggressively expansionist until ‘442 EN, when attempts to annex neighboring systems belonging to the COE provoked a fierce retaliatory response. This time, the Commonwealth did not stop with surrender, but fought until it forced the Theocracy to submit completely and eventually adopted it as a province.

shelaigh:
another word for ghost.

Shem:
the original capital system of the COE.

Siegl-K:
a brand of powered combat armor discontinued in ‘895 EN.

slow-jump:
a common alternative to the anchor drive that utilizes similar technology. Most ships with an anchor drive can slow-jump if necessary. It is essentially a jump through hyperspace from any point in real space. A certain degree of kinetic energy is required before translation can be achieved, so ships must accelerate for some time beforehand. Even then, the hyperspace jump is short-lived, and the vessel emerges soon after (typically less than a light-year away from its departure point) with significantly less kinetic energy. The process must be repeated from scratch if another slow-jump is required. As a means of crossing interstellar space, it is inefficient and time-consuming, hence its name. Slow-jumping becomes increasingly nonviable closer to a gravity well, but more efficient as mass (of the traveling object) decreases.

Sol Apotheosis Movement:
a quasi-religious organization devoted to the pursuit of Transcendence via genetic manipulation and biomodification that reached its peak and was destroyed in the 37th Millennium. Its fanatical followers were a source of unrest for decades, until an alliance formed among their neighbors dedicated to putting a stop to them. In ‘577 EN, at the climax of the Scion War, a flotilla of allied forces encircled their base, which the Movement destroyed in order to prevent its capture. The resulting explosion annihilated them as well, of course, but also decimated the flotilla. Of the four stations involved in the battle, only one survived, and that was severely damaged. So embarrassed was the alliance that the leaders of the day ordered the event stricken from history. They even closed the anchor point leading to the system to prevent anyone learning what occurred there. Nothing survived of the base, and the rest of the system is an unsalvageable ruin.