Hesperia:
A powerful League Homeworld located in the Meridies Cluster, along with Messier and New Meridies. A constitutional monarchy known for its military prowess. The Royal Hesperian Marine Corps is considered to be the League’s most elite.
Hestia:
A poor and sparsely populated League Homeworld located in the Pleiades Cluster, along with Galatea and Nedaema. Famous for its spectacular landscape, the economy is based almost entirely on tourism. Also noted for scrupulously protecting privacy, a rarity on League Homeworlds.
Hive:
A subunit of a cloud, defined by its virtual, not physical, relationship to the cloud.
Home Fleet(s):
A generic name for the main naval formation(s) attached to a planetary or system government. More specially used for the navies of the League’s Homeworlds.
Homeworlds:
The 13 original charter worlds of the Nereidian League. Homeworlds have rights not extended to colonies, such as veto in the Grand Senate, being represented by two grand senators instead of one, and unique privileges with respect to establishing colonies. The League uses the term as a proper noun.
The League Homeworlds are:
Sol: Terra, Mars, Venus, the Belt
Meridies Cluster: Hesperia, Messier, New Meridies
Fomalhaut: Antigua, Phaedra
Pleiades Cluster: Nedaema, Galatea, Hestia
Procyon: New California.
Other polities (e.g. Halith, the Bannerman Confederacy, the Sultanate of Andaman and Nicobar, and the New United Kingdom of Friesia & New Caledonia) have their own proper nouns for their principal worlds or star systems. Compare core systems.
HQ:
Headquarters
HUD:
Heads-Up Display. A display that shows information to an operator on a screen so that they do not need to take their eyes what they are otherwise doing. Mostly used in vehicles and air- and spacecraft of all kinds, but also in combat helmets.
HUMINT:
Intelligence derived from any human sources, not just spies.
Huygens’ Gap:
A transit route between Illyria, in Halith space, and the major League nexus at Regulus. The Gap is a ‘thin’ route, owing to passing between two major gravitational exclusion zones created by Rigel and Betelgeuse. This restricts the mass that can be moved through it and causes unpredictable delays. For this reason, the Gap is little used, except by small fast ships, such as diplomatic couriers and packet ships.
Hydra Region:
A vast region roughly bounded by Halith space, Bannerman and Tyrsenian space, and the outlying parts of the League. Once heavily populated, it was the major zone of conflict during the Formation Wars, and was almost completely devastated. After the nominal end of that conflict, it continued to be fought over by the slave federations that formed in the latter stages of the war, and slavers still flock there to prey on the surviving settlements, many of which remain in an early industrial or preindustrial state, and are thus defenseless.
The region is inhospitable to modern FTL technology; this has prevented its resettlement and relegated it to a lawless backwater. Lost settlements continue to be discovered there.
I
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I&W:
Indications & Warning. Means and methods to detect an impending attack.
IADS:
Integrated Area-Defense System.
IFF:
Identification, Friend or Foe. Systems or procedures used to determine if an entity is friendly or hostile, usually by means of an active challenge. (Verbal phrases and special calls are the earliest form of IIF, used since prehistoric times.)
Modern IFF systems are based on coded electronic signals, passive signature recognition, and special procedures (such as adhering to particular flight path). They are implemented on all military systems from major installations to individual soldier’s combat armor.
Civil OTC systems, air-traffic control systems, and port authorities use IFF systems as well.
IHS:
Imperial Halith Ship.
Ilmatar Neoforming:
The first company founded by the Huron family. Initially a small habitat builder, it became a major terraforming company by leveraging immunocyte technology, the development of which it heavily supported.
Immunocytes:
Nanotech implants that work with their host’s immune system to prevent disease. Immunocytes function as a hive-mind controlled by the liver. Based on the work of Dr. Ivan Osorio, which was heavily supported by Ilmatar Neoforming. Compare proactive vaccines.
Interstellar Space:
The region of space outside a star system’s sovereign control, somewhat analogous to the high seas of old Earth. This is a politically defined boundary. (Heliopause is usually taken as the physical boundary between a star system and the interstellar medium.) For example, the STO, before it expanded—and later Sol—considered Rigel Kent to be within its sovereign territory and thus not interstellar space, although it is 4.37 light years away. (Currently, the SCO considers its sovereign space to end at Proxima Centauri, 4.24 light years from Sol.) Halith takes an even more expansive view.
(Note: In star systems where multiple governments do not cooperate to control their home system, the legal definitions of interstellar space have been applied within the system, though not the name.)
IO:
Information Operations. The full-spectrum of operations that can be conducted against an adversary’s information infrastructure, decision-making process and factors that affect it (e.g. public opinion, etc.). Also includes all measures to defend against such operations. Includes IW, but is broader by virtue of including methods that are used absent hostilities.
Halith does not embrace the term IO, considering it all to be warfare, thus IW.
Iona:
A rich and increasingly powerful former League colony between Antares and the Crucis Sector. Fiercely independent and violently anti-slavery, it is antagonistic toward the Sultanate, with whom it shares a border zone.
This antagonism has led to increased friction between Iona and the League, which is abetted by some League merchant houses who suffer from Ionian competition.
IPS:
Ionian Planetary Security. Iona’s state police force and investigative agency. A civil organization, in contrast to ISS.
Note: IPS can also refer to Interplanetary Security forces: non-hypercapable police forces, synonymous with In-System Security forces (ISS).
IRIS:
Imperial Research & Intelligence Service. Halith’s foreign intelligence service. Compare the League’s CID.
ISS:
Ionian System Security. Primarily an intelligence agency despite the name, responsible for foreign intelligence (collection and analysis) and counter-espionage. ISS is also responsible for anti-smuggling operations. Although autonomous, it is legally considered a branch of the military. It’s cooperation with IPS is heavily constrained by Iona’s constitution.
Note: ISS can also refer to In-System Security forces: non-hypercapable police forces, synonymous with Interplanetary Security forces (IPS).
IT:
Information Technology.
IW:
Information Warfare. Operations to deny, degrade, or deceive the enemy’s decision-making process in wartime, to include everything from cloud, hive, and network attack to active deception, info interdiction, and psychological operations, along with measures to defend against these.
J
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Janin Station:
Located in Tau Verde, it is the home port of the Halith Imperial Navy’s Kerberos Fleet. The second-largest free structure ever built, after Kazanian Station (which orbits the Halith prime world of Halith Evandor).
JCS:
Joint Chiefs of Staff. This a League body, consisting of the CinCs of the all the Homeworld’s militaries (or their designated representative) and the CNO of the CEF. Intended to facilitate coopera
tion among all the militaries within the League, it is primarily a political, not operational, body. The chairman of the JCS is appointed by the Speaker of the Grand Senate.
Jig:
An informal (slang) term in most League militaries (as well as the CEF) for a lieutenant junior grade, usually written lieutenant-jg.
K
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Karelia:
The Karelian Republic, a star civilization in the Perseid Region. It consists of Karelia, Pohjola, Ilmatar, and Tuonela. Extremely antagonistic toward Halith, going back to before the Formation Wars. An important League ally.
The original settlers of Karelia were mainly of Finnish, Polish, Avar, and Scandinavian origin. They have retained much of their distinctive culture. Among themselves, they continue to speak a language that is primarily Finnish but includes many Polish words and phrases, and some Avar. They are (along with Antigua) one of the few societies to have retained a distinctive language.
Karelia is vulnerable to isolation because there are only four main transit lanes into the region: one is effectively controlled by Halith, one by Maxor; one by Miranda, and the last by the major League nexus at Regulus. The Miranda junction controls Karelia’s access to Kepler, making it particularly important.
Karelia has fought a number of wars with Halith and one of its related states, Syrdar. Halith has always coveted Karelia, for although the republic is not especially rich, it produces some excellent technology and occupies a favorable position from Halith’s point of view. It also presents a constant threat to Halith, having a small but extremely capable military. Halith has suffered a number of military embarrassments at the hands of the Karelians and although they have managed to occupy the republic at one time or another, they have never been able to hold it. Conquering Karelia is thus a point of pride, and it is spurred by the fact that most Karelians have Polish or Finnish roots, as do many of the people of Halith. There is therefore a degree of cultural affinity and a general feeling among Halith aristocrats that Karelia ‘belongs’ with Halith.
For their part, many Karelians hate Halith with a religious intensity and seek nothing less than its total destruction, while others wish for a more reasonable accommodation. This causes significant tension in Karelia society, which erupted in civil war during the aftermath of the Formation Wars.
The most recent Halith invasion of Karelia was the proximate cause of LH-1.
Kepler Junction:
One of the most important transit junctions in charted space. It is a key nexus connecting Cygnus, Deneb, the Cepheus region, and the Perseid region. It is especially important to the New UK, the Terebellum Empire, Karelia, Halith, and the Rho Ceti Principate, but the League and the Sultanate also depend on it to a large extent.
Kiloklicks:
1,000 kilometers. Also megameters (1 million). The CEF uses the term Megs.
Kips:
Kilometers per second; used for relative velocity.
KKHR Control Group:
An interstellar conglomerate controlled by the Huron family, who own a full 55% of the corporation’s stock. One of the largest business enterprises, it was formed by the amalgamation of Ilmatar Neoforming, Prometheus Development Corp, Q3MM and Millennium Industries and now controls over 50 companies.
Klicks:
Kilometers.
L
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League-Halith Wars:
The first war between the League and Halith (LH-1) began in ‘05. The proximate cause was tension arising from the Halith invasion of Karelia, which occurred 16 years earlier. It ended 15 years later, after the Battle of Anson’s Deep, a signal League victory, destroyed much the Halith combined fleet. However, the debacle at Novaya Zemlya ten months later forced the League to abandon its demands for an unconditional surrender and accept a negotiated settlement.
Letter of Marque:
A license granted by a government to a private party that allows them to make war on an enemy. A Letter of Marque stipulates how, when, where and under what circumstances the licensee can attack an enemy (most often enemy shipping), and specifically who are considered enemies. Holding a Letter of Marque prevents the bearer from being tried as a pirate in the event of capture. See privateer.
Lictors:
Attendants to royalty or high officials in the Larate. The terms originated in Ancient Rome.
Line officers:
Military officers in the chain (line) of command. Compare staff officers.
Linked Command System:
A divided command structure implemented in the CEF that, along with fixed rotation of the most senior officers, was intended to prevent any Homeworld block from dominating the CEF to achieve the status of a hegemon.
The Linked Command System operates by linking a fleet command based in a colonial sector to a corresponding Homeworld sector command. Originally, the CinC of the Homeworld sector had only administrative authority over the linked fleet; operationally, the fleet reported to CNO. Fleet COs, sector CinCs, and CNO were all rotated according to a strict protocol. It was believed that these two measures would prevent the accumulation of power within the CEF.
Although the Linked Command System arguable achieved this narrow goal, it did not prevent Sol from eventually dominating the League, and it introduced serious inefficiencies. The system was therefore modified as part of the reforms instituted during the run up to LH-1, by giving sector CinCs operational, as well as administrative, control over the linked fleets. (The rotation policy was abandoned at the same time.) While not ideal, this did solve the worst of the divided command problem.
The Linked Command System remains a contentious issue within the League. The Belt, in particular, would like to see it abolished, as would Terra (though to a lesser degree), and the fleet commands elevated to the same level as the Homeworld sector commands. Seventh Fleet command, assigned to Cygnus Sector already has this status, setting a precedent.
The Meridies vehemently defends the system, and considers proposals to end it an attack on its position. This is largely correct, because the Meridies’ linked fleet command is based in Eltanin, and elevating it to the level of sector command would seriously weaken the Meridies by making Eltanin, on which the Meridies depends for a large amount of its economic output, de facto independent.
It is no accident that the Belt, pushing for abolition of the system in the name of military efficiency and colonial rights, has a long history of mutual enmity with the Meridies. So far, the Pleiades has supported the Meridies position, as it does not want to lose control of its linked command in Crucis, and Terra has not felt strongly enough to press the issue. This situation, it is generally felt, cannot last. (See the CEF history for additional detail.)
Lixae:
Originally, lixae (singular: lixa) was a general term for contractors licensed by the Halith military to provide goods and services unrelated to armaments. For example, lixae often managed clubs and social facilities in Halith military bases.
The Halith military employs a great deal of slave labor (called ‘guest labor’), for functions such as construction (especially in hazardous conditions), but also as military servants (personal servants for officers, and platoon servants for the rank and file). This includes women forced to provide sexual services to military units. Lixae handled the supply of these slaves, and over time, lixae came to mean specifically contractors who provided slave labor for the military.
The lixae have their own specialized logistical systems for transporting, feeding and housing slaves. These are known as vectura networks. (Compare sutlers.)
LMAC:
Light Missile Attack Craft. A small craft with a crew of four to six that carries up to 24 missiles, internally and in external launchers, or (especially in the CEF) 8 torpedoes. (In this case the M is said to stand for multipurpose.) Lack of maneuverability compared to fighters has relegated them mainly to planetary defense roles. Also used as patrol assets, especially by planetary governments.
LSS
:
League Star Ship.
Lunar 1:
The main CEF base, collocated with Terran Home Fleet HQs, at Tycho Prime on Luna. A number of major commands are located there, such as Naval Star Systems Command, Naval Engineering Command, and Naval Survey Command (see SECNAV), as well as the CGHQ Main Annex and the ONI Main Annex.
M
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Loralynn Kennakris 2: The Morning Which Breaks Page 62