by M. D. Cooper
EMP – Electro Magnetic Pulses are waves of electromagnetic energy that can disable or destroy electronic equipment. Because so many people have electronic components in their bodies, or share their minds with AI, they are susceptible to extreme damage from an EMP. Ensuring that human/machine interfaces are hardened against EMPs is of paramount importance.
Fission – Fission is a nuclear reaction where an atom is split apart. Fission reactions are simple to achieve with heavier, unstable elements such as Uranium or Plutonium. In closed systems with extreme heat and pressure it is possible to split atoms of much more stable elements, such as Helium. Fission of heavier elements typically produces less power and far more waste matter and radiation than Fusion.
Ford-Svaiter Mirror – This technology was first theorized in the late twentieth century and involves using mirror that focus quantum energy fluctuations and create negative energy. An array of these mirrors would create a wormhole. A ship would then have a mirror mounted on it, and that ship’s mirror would extend the wormhole to its destination.
This method of FTL is nearly instantaneous, though it takes tremendous amounts of energy to achieve.
FTL (Faster Than Light) – Refers to any mode of travel where a ship or object is able to travel faster than the speed of light (c). According to Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.
Fusion – Fusion is a nuclear reaction where atoms of one type (Hydrogen for example) are fused into atoms of another type (Helium in the case of Hydrogen fusion). Fusion was first discovered and tested in the H-Bombs (Hydrogen bombs) of the twentieth century. Fusion reactors are also used as the most common source of ship power from roughly the twenty fourth century on.
g (gee, gees, g-force) – Represented as a lower-case g in italics, this symbol stands for gravity. On earth, at sea-level, the human body experiences 1g. A human sitting in a wheeled dragster race-car will achieve 4.2gs of horizontal g-force. Arial fighter jets will impose g-forces of 7-12gs on their pilots. Humans will often lose consciousness around 10gs. Unmodified humans will suffer serious injury or death at over 50gs. Starships will often impose burns as high as 20gs and provide special couches or beds for their passengers during such maneuvers. Modified starfighter pilots can withstand g-forces as high as 70gs.
Graviton – These are small massless particles that are emitted from objects with large mass, or by special generators capable of creating them without large masses. There are also negatively charged gravitons which push instead of pull. These are used in shielding systems in the form of Gravitational Waves. The GSS Intrepid uses a new system of channeled gravitons to create the artificial gravity in the crew areas of the ship.
Heliopause – The point where a star’s solar wind stops relative to the interstellar medium. Though gravitational influences may stretch beyond this point, and some stellar objects, including the Oort cloud, typically lie beyond this point as well.
Heliosphere – The region of space contained within a star’s heliopause. Despite the name, these are rarely spheres as most star’s heliospheres are shaped like elongated water droplets as they race through the interstellar medium.
Helium-3 – This is a stable, non-radioactive isotope of Helium, produced by T3 Hydrogen decay, and is used in nuclear fusion reactors. The nucleus of the Helium-3 atom contains two protons, but only one neutron as opposed to the two neutrons in regular Helium. Helium-3 Can also be created by nuclear reactions that create Lithium-4 which decays into Helium-3.
HUD – Stands for Heads Up Display. It refers to any type of display where information about surroundings and other data is directly overlaid on a person’s vision.
Link – Refers to an internal connection to computer networks. This connection is inside of a person and directly connects their brain to what is essentially the Internet in the fourth millennia. Methods of accessing the Link vary between retinal overlays to direct mental insertion of data.
Maglev – A shorthand term for magnetic levitation. First used commercially in 1984, most modern public transportation uses maglev to move vehicles without the friction caused by axles, rails, and wheels. The magnetic field is used to both support the vehicle and accelerate it. The acceleration and braking is provided by linear induction motors which act on the magnetic field provided by the maglev ‘rail’. Maglev trains can achieve speeds of over one thousand kilometers per hour with very smooth and even acceleration.
MDC (molecular decoupler) – These devices are uses to break molecules bonds to one another. This technology was first discovered in the early nineteenth century—by running electric current through water, William Nicholson was able to break water into its hydrogen and oxygen components. Over the following centuries this process was used to discover new elements such as potassium and sodium. When humanity began to terraform planets the technology behind electrostatic projectors was used to perform a type of electrolysis on the crust of a planet. The result was a device that could break apart solid objects. MDC’s are massive, most over a hundred kilometers long and require tremendous energy to operate.
Mj – Refers to the mass of the planet Jupiter as of the year 2103. If something is said to have 9MJ that means it has nine times the mass of Jupiter.
Nano (nanoprobes, nanobots, etc…) – Refers to very small technology or robots. Something that is nanoscopic in size is one thousand times smaller than something that is microscopic in size.
Pico (picotech, picobots, etc…) – Refers to technology on a pico-scale—one thousand times smaller than nanotech.
After a series of accidents that nearly consumed an entire dwarf world, picotech research was banned in the Sol system.
Railgun – Railguns fire physical rounds, usually small pellets at speeds up to 10 kilometers per second by pushing the round through the barrel via a magnetic field. The concept is similar to that of a maglev train, but to move a smaller object much faster. Railguns were first conceived of in 1918 and the first actual magnetic particle accelerator was built in 1950. Originally railguns were massive, sometimes kilometers in size. By the twenty-second century reliable versions as small as a conventional rifle had been created.
Larger versions take the form of orbital railgun platforms which can fire sabot rounds or grapeshot at speeds over a hundred-thousand-kilometers per second.
Ramscoop – A type of starship fuel collection system and engine. They are sometimes also referred to as Bussard ramscoops or ramjets. Ramscoops were considered impractical due to the scarcity of interstellar hydrogen until electrostatic scoops were created that can capture atoms at a much more distant range and funnel them into a starship’s engine.
Scattered Disc – Beyond a star system’s EK Belt lies a region filled with comets, asteroids, and dwarf worlds. In the Sol System, this region begins roughly 50 AU from Sol and extends to the edge of the Oort cloud. While it contains the least mass of a system, a system’s scattered disc typically contains hundreds of dwarf planets and fills an area nearly half a cubic light year.
Stasis – Early stasis systems were invented in the year 2541 as a method of ‘cryogenically’ freezing organic matter without using extreme cold (or lack of energy) to do so. The effect is similar in that all atomic motion is ceased, but not by the removal of energy by gradual cooling, but by removing the ability of the surrounding space to accept that energy and motion. There are varying degrees of effectiveness of stasis systems. The FGT and other groups possess the ability to put entire planets in stasis, while other groups only have the technology to put small items, such as people, into stasis. Personal stasis is often still referred to as cryostasis, though there is no cryogenic process involved.
Tritium – T3 (3H) is an isotope of hydrogen where the nucleus of the atom is made up of one proton and two neutrons as opposed to just a single proton and no neutrons in regular hydrogen (protium). T3 is radioactive and has a half-life of 12.32 years. It decays into Helium-3 through this process.
v – Represented
as a lower case v in italics, this symbol stands for velocity. If a ship is increasing its speed it will be said that it is increasing v.
Van Allen belts – A radiation belt of energetic charged particles that is held in place around a magnetized planet, such as the Earth, by the planet's magnetic field. The Earth has two such belts and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The discovery of the belts is credited to James Van Allen, and as a result the Earth's belts are known as the Van Allen belts.
Vector – Vectors used are spatial vectors. Vector refers to both direction and rate of travel (speed or magnitude). Vector can be changed (direction) and increased (speed or magnitude).
GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS
FGT – The Future Generation Terraformers is a program started in 2352 with the purpose of terraforming worlds in advance of colony ships being sent to the worlds. Because terraforming of a world could take hundreds of years the FGT ships arrive and begin the process.
Once the world(s) being terraformed reached stage 3, a message was sent back to the Sol system with an ‘open’ date for the world(s) being terraformed. The GSS then handles the colony assignment.
A decade after the Destiny Ascendant left the Sol system in 3728 the FGT program was discontinued by the SolGov, making it the last FGT ship to leave. Because the FGT ships are all self-sustaining none of them came home after the program was discontinued—most of the ship’s crews had spent generations in space and had no reason to return to Sol.
After the discontinuation FGT ships continued on their primary mission of terraforming worlds, but only communicated with the GSS and only when they had worlds completed.
GSS – The Generational Space Service is a quasi-federal organization that handles the assignment of colony worlds. In some cases, it also handles the construction of the colony ships.
After the discontinuation of federal support and funding for the FGT project in 3738, the GSS became self-funded, by charging for the right to gain access to a colony world. While the SSF no longer funded the GSS the government supported the GSS’s position and passed law ensuring that all colony assignment continued to be distributed via the GSS.
Hand, The – The Hand is the common name of the Inner Stars Clandestine Uplift Operations. This bureau is responsible for managing ad controlling the stability, and spread of technology within the Inner Stars. It operates exclusively under the direction of President Tomlinson.
ISF – The Intrepid Space force is the name of the ISS Intrepid’s fleet from the time the colony charter was put into effect near Kapteyn’s Star until landfall at New Canaan. After that time, it became the official name of the New Canaan military.
ISS – Designation given to ships in the ISF, which stands for Intrepid Space Ship. This is similar to ancient navies, such as the US Navy’s use of USS to stand for United States Ship, or Britain’s HMS, which stands for His/Her Majesty’s Ship.
Orion Guard – The Orion Guard is the name of the Orion Freedom Alliance’s military. Within the Transcend, the term is often used to refer to the entire OFA, not just its military.
TSF – The Transcend Space Force is the overarching military of the Transcend Interstellar Alliance. It also shares an acronym with the ancient Terran Space Force.
PLACES
Airtha – This world-construct is the capital of the Transcend Interstellar Alliance. The construct consists of a white dwarf star which has had much of its mass removed to form a solid carbon ring around the star. The star is roughly the size of Saturn, and the ring wraps around it, creating a habitable surface.
The star has cooled, and now produces a yellow-orange light.
Ascella – Double star system on the spinward side of the Corona Australis star-forming region. It is located only 410 light years from Sol, and is the location of a major Transcend watchpoint.
AST – A colloquial name for the Hegemony of Worlds, it refers to the first three member systems of the Hegemony: Alpha Centuari, Sol, and Tau Ceti. It the name fell out of internal use in the Hegemony after Alpha Centuari was officially renamed Rigel Kentaurus. Many people outside of the AST still use the term, as well as refer to Alpha Centauri by its original name.
Bollam’s World – Bollam’s World is the name of the fourth planet from 82 Eridani, in the Bollam’s World System.
Bollam’s World System (58 Eridani) – Independent system known as “Bollam’s World”. The system was settled in 5123 by the colonists of the GSS Yewing which left Sirius in the year 3814.
Carthage – Third world of the New Canaan system, Carthage is the capital world of the system, with both the planetary capital, and the system capital situated in the city of Landfall.
Chittering Hawk – An interstellar trading hub in the Virginis system with shady reputation.
Cradle, the – This is the name given to the M25 star cluster. The name was given by the inhabitants of other Transcend star-systems on the anti-spinward side of the cluster based on how it appears from those locations.
The Cradle contains over two-thousand stars, which very bright when viewed from New Canaan’s world’s night skies (in the right seasons).
Grey Wolf – A white dwarf star (actual color is a dimmer white-blue color which can look grey with certain viewing apparatuses. This star is located seventy light-years coreward of Sol, and is a base of forward operations for the Transcend Space Force.
Later, after the technique was refined with Airtha, dwarf star mining began, and the star is slowly being torn apart for raw resources (primarily carbon and oxygen).
Herschel – An agrarian world in the Krugenland system. This system is located over seven-thousand light years from Sol within the coreward fringe of the Perseus Arm of the galaxy.
The planet was settled in the year 7242 by refugees from the great Pleiades Diaspora.
Hegemony of Worlds – The Hegemony of Worlds was formed in the wake of the initial bout of FTL wars.
Even though Sol was decimated by Sirian fleets in 4754, it was able to rebuild quickly, and re-establish itself as a regional power. In 4775 Sol launched an assault on Alpha Centuari. This move was made with the knowledge that they were running low on raw resources, and Alpha Centuari still had entire worlds which were untapped. The war was short and brutal, and in 4782, Alpha Centuari was firmly under the control of Sol.
In 4801 Sol launched an assault on Sirius from both Sol and Alpha Centuari and tool the Sirian system in less than a year.
After that victory, diplomatic missions to Tau Ceti brought that system into the fold, and Alpha Centuari was given full member status along with Sol and Tau Ceti. The official date for the formation of The Hegemony of Worlds is 4805, though the final ratification was not signed until 4807.
Through the centuries, the Hegemony expanded its borders until nearly all stars within fifty light years were under its control. Counting detached objects, and brown dwarfs, as well as multi-state star systems, the number of member states in the hegemony, as of 8927, is 215.
The capital of the Hegemony has always been in Sol, though the specific location of the seat of power has moved. Initially it was on Nibiru, then later it moved to Makemake, and then to the rebuilt Cho.
In 8900, to celebrate the reconstruction of the Earth and High Terra, President Uriel moved the capital of the Hegemony of Worlds to High Terra, in the very buildings that were the seat of power for the ancient Terran Hegemony.
The move did not sit well with many of the power-elite within the Sol System, but the members of the Hegemony at large responded positively to the decision.
High Terra – The second planetary ring ever created (completed in 2519 some two hundred years after Mars 1), High Terra was the seat of power for the ancient Terran Hegemony, and seat of the Sol Space Federation government for over a thousand years.
During the Third Solar War, the Jovian Space Force decimated Luna, Earth, and High Terra, leaving all three as radioactive wastelands.
High Terra lay abandoned for nearly five millennia, and though
several attempts were made to restore it, all ran out of funding until President Uriel of the Hegemony of Words commissioned the rebuilding of both the High Terra ring and the planet Earth.
During the time when the ring was abandoned, it was often used as a base of operations for pirates and fringe cults. The Jovians, and later the Hegemony of Worlds often sent in their militaries to clear it out, and to ensure the ring remained stable and did not degrade and fall apart.