Rates:
Naval enlisted personnel who have a specific skill or rating. They rank between ‘ordinary’ mariners and NCOs. Compare PFC.
RCS
Radar Cross-Section. The apparent cross-sectional area of an object at a given wavelength, assuming the object is perfectly conducting sphere (that is, the object re-radiates the intercepted energy isotropically). Very few objects are perfectly conducting spheres, so RCS does not reflect the physical size of the object, but instead is a measure its detectability at a particular wavelength, in a given direction. RCS is expressed in cm2 or m2.
Readiness Conditions:
The set of rules and procedures that define how a warship operates according to the prevailing alert status. The readiness conditions are:
Condition 1: the ship is prepared for imminent combat. All crew members must be at their action stations and have weapons and ammunition ready for immediate use. All sensors and EW systems are at their highest readiness state. The ship is fully secured with all hatches in lockdown and extra security is deployed in key areas (bridge, engineering, CIC, the flight deck and weapons spaces of carriers). Weapons control may be “Hold,” “Tight” or “Free” but usually one of the latter two. (CEF Mariners commonly refer to Condition 1 as “Cocked and Locked”.)
Condition 1-Easy: As Condition 1 but select hatches may be opened to permit food to be brought in, head calls to be made, etc. Crew members must still remain at their action stations except for brief absences authorized by their department head. Weapons control is always “Hold” or “Tight.”
Condition 2: Modified Condition 1. It permits some relaxation among the crew. All action stations are manned but ship is not fully secured, allowing personnel to move between spaces as long as action stations remain adequately manned. The galley can operate to provide hot food. Weapons control is always “Hold” or “Tight.”
Condition 2-Easy: As Condition 2, but less-critical personnel may leave their action stations to get rest, and crew in key positions can be rotated. At least half the ship’s crew is maintained on watch. Weapons control is always “Hold.”
Condition 3: Wartime Cruising. Generally one third of the crew is on watch and key tactical stations are manned, or partly manned (Condition 3-Easy). Weapons are kept in a ‘safe’ condition.
Condition 4: Peacetime Cruising. Normal watch standing; captain and exec are often not on-deck, and OOD is usually in control of the ship. Weapons are unarmed and ‘safed’, and ammunition is stowed.
When a warship is in port and under harbor watch, this is not considered a readiness condition.
Regiment:
Either a title used by some military units, or a specific military formation, as in the ground forces of the New UK, Hesperia, and CEF Marine Corps. In these latter cases, a regiment is made up of two or more battalions, similar to a brigade, and commanded by a colonel in the New UK and Hesperia, and a brigadier in the CEF Marine Corps.
The use of regiments in the Hesperian ground forces (and to a somewhat lesser extent in the New UK) is especially idiosyncratic. In these militaries, the regiment is the fundamental operational and administrative unit. When needed, battalions are simply added to the regiment to make formations that would qualify as a division in other militaries, or even an corps (a term the Hesperians use when two or more of these enlarged regiments are placed under a unified command).
In the Hesperian military, this peculiarity leads to another: the system of dual ranks. Hesperian ground-forces officers hold both a regimental rank (which applies in their regiment) and an “army” rank (that term is still in use there), when serving outside their regiment. While these are the same for most officers, general officer ranks are, with one exception, always “army” ranks.
Thus, a Hesperian major general may be a lieutenant colonel, or even a major, in his regiment. The exception is the rank of field marshal, which is considered to be outside the regimental system. (The commander in chief of the Hesperian ground forces holds the title of Marshal of the Army, but the substantive rank of field marshal. A full discussion of the idiosyncrasies of the Hesperian military is far beyond the scope of this document.)
Regulus:
A critical League nexus, Regulus connects League space with Karelia, Cygnus, the Kepler Junction, and with Maxor space. It also controls the Huygens’s Gap from the League’s side. The CEF Fifth Fleet, which is linked to SOLCOM, is based here.
Rejuvenants:
Persons who have received rejuvenation therapy, an expensive form of immunocyte technology that can only be applied to the small percentage of people with the proper genome. A rejuvenant’s expected lifespan is unknown.
Rejuvenation therapy is delivered in three phases, corresponding to major hormonal shifts. The first phase is administered as close after puberty as possible. Only about 5% can tolerate it at puberty, when it is most effective. Most have to wait until the age of 17 to 21. The second phase usually starts between the ages of 27 and 33. By law, the subject is sterilized when the second phase begins (unless a waiver is granted). The final stage is given when the subject becomes pausal (menopause or andropause). Although these hormonal changes are allowed to occur, except for the last (pausal) stage, physical aging is arrested near “peak” which can vary with the subject from 21 to 35, but is usually around 25 to 30.
Rejuvenation therapy is not without risks. The primary risk it that the implant can trigger a massive autoimmune-type response that is invariably fatal, usually within a few hours. This response is quite rare, but the risk may increase with age and the technology is only 100 years old. Therefore, whether rejuvenation therapy is inherently self-limiting in some way is unknown.
The second main risk is that rejuvenation therapy interferes with the ability to regenerate neurons and smooth-muscle tissue in the majority of subjects, and may interfere with some transplants. This can have severe consequences in the event damage to the brain, nerves, heart, etc, as conventional regeneration therapies may prove ineffective.
There have been two generations of rejuvenation therapy. The first could be applied to less that 10% of the population. The second generation approximately doubled this, and increased the effectiveness when administered later. It also supposedly reduced the risk of a fatal reaction, but this newer technology has only been in use for 40 years.
The third generation, currently in development, holds the promise that it might be able to reverse, rather than just halt, senescence, and be applied to older subjects as long as they are prepausal. The percentage of people who might be able to benefit from this new advance is predicted to be quite small (less than 10%) but as the technology matures, it is confidently expected this will grow.
Rephidim:
A planet in a remote system in the Outworlds Border Zone. It was originally settled by Amalekites, who decamped en mass when they came under pressure from the Bannermans and settlers from Outremeria. Currently inhabited by these groups and some Tyrsenians, who arrived in recent years. Nestor Mankho, the terrorist warlord, once declared his own sovereign state there.
The Amalekites settlement was lead by Issakar Jacox Roberts, the great-grandson of the sect’s founder. He built a capitol that was to be the center of their faith, at a place he called Mt Seir (now Svaardo). When they were forced off the planet, a splinter group that maintained Roberts’ teaching was not rigorous enough traveled all the way to Cygnus and tried to settle in Asylum, while the rest opted for the primitive pastoral world of Harkness, where they remain.
RF:
Radio Frequency. A generic term for electromagnetic radiation below the far infrared in frequency.
Rho Ceti Principate:
A star nation on the edge of the Perseid Region, consisting the systems of Mira Ceti and Omicron Ceti.
Rigel Kent:
An uninhabited binary star system, which is the closest system to the Sol: 4.37 light years away. Also know as Alpha Centauri. (Proxima Centauri, an associated red dwarf, 4.24 light years distant, is th
e closest star to Sol.)
Rigel Kent is a fortified CEF base. SOLCOM HQ is based is based there along with Sol Fleet and elements of the Grand Fleet.
Rip:
Rip is a gravity shear phenomenon, identical to that encountered during translation and the ship’s stasis field protects against it in the same way. Astrogation charts record regions of severe rip that are to be avoided, since modern gravitics can’t compensate for accelerations much in excess of 150 hypergees (the acceleration of gravity is RST scaled by the compressive effects of being inside a wormhole).
ROEs:
Rules of Engagement. The rules that define how, when, and where military force may be used, and what kind of force.
Rouge Nanocytes:
Nanocytes used to poison a subject or for other nefarious purposes. They are banned by interstellar treaty but rumors persist of their use.
RST:
Real Space-Time. The three ‘flat’ spatial dimensions plus time that define the ‘normal’ universe. They are a subset of the N-dimensional ‘overspace’ in which the universe exits.
S
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SAARs:
Special Assets Analytic Registry. A comprehensive special-access database of HUMINT, COMINT and related sensitive intelligence assembled by CID. Shared in redacted form on ARGONET.
SAW:
Squad Automatic Weapon (in most Homeworld’s terrestrial forces) or Section Assault Weapon (CEF Marines); a heavy version of an assault rifle with greater magazine capacity, increased range and additional ammunition options: tracer, seeker, incendiary, and grenades. Usually fired from a stand or tripod but can be shoulder fired by some people. Mass usually about 10 to 12 kg. Used in all militaries, though the acronym varies.
In the CEF, the M19-59A and M19-82L weapons are the SAWs currently in use.
Scholiast, the:
The Nedaeman Head of State, chosen from the members of the Synalogue. The Scholiast is addressed in public as the Scholai and his or her given name.
SCO:
Sol Concordat Organization. The entity within the League government that specifically deals with issues within the Solar System. The SCO a remnant of the STO. The name was chosen to reflect the particular and limited authority of the organization.
SECNAV:
The League’s Office of the Secretary of the Navy; informally the Admiralty. The civilian office responsible for all League military functions, units, installations, etc. Analogous to the Secretary of Defense or the Ministry of War in other governments. The Secretary of the Navy is a member of the Plenary Council.
The Secretary of the Navy is assisted by the Undersecretary of the Navy (principal deputy), the Assistant Secretaries of the Navy, the CEF Chief Counsel (who deals with legal and legislative affairs not directly related to military justice), and their staffs.
Other principal members (all CEF officers) are the Judge Advocate General (JAG, who oversees matters relating to the 17 Articles of the Code of Military Justice), the Chief of Research & Development (CRD), the CEF Inspector General (CIG), the Chief Procurement Officer* (CPRO, who oversees all CEF acquisitions and contracts along with the Assistant Secretary for Finance), and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO).
The main organizations under SECNAV are:
The Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
Naval Star Systems Command (NAVSTARSYSCOM or NAVSTAR): responsible for the design, construction (or acquisition), maintenance and repair of all vessels (starships, small craft, and fighters) and CEF facilities (including space stations).
Naval Engineering Command (NAVEC): responsible for the development and acquisition of propulsion systems, both sublight and gravitic.
Naval Survey Command (NAVSUR): conducts astrographic surveys of uncharted or poorly known regions.
Command Logistics Directorate: Previously, the Bureau of Supply (BuSup). Some officers from the Meridies call it the Victualling Office. Mariners like to refer to it by a play on the previous name: BuSuck. (NAVSEC officially denies that this has anything to do with the name change.)
Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd): responsible for the development and acquisition of all CEF weapon systems and related sensors etc.
Bureau of Naval Personnel (BuNavPers): responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, lodging, mobilizing and demobilizing, salary and benefits for military personnel in the CEF. (The name is a holdover. Shortening the name to Bureau of Personnel or BuPers—pronounced boopers—led to objections.)
Bureau of Navigation & Astrogation (BuNav): responsible for maintaining all charts, navigation aids, training pilots (not to be confused with flight officers), and other aspects of navigation (in-system) and astrogation (interstellar).
Bureau of Health and Medicine (BuMed).
Bureau of Research & Development (BuRad).
The CEF Academy.
* Referring to this officer as The Chief Pimp is subject to severe punishment.
Seconded:
Being detached from one’s regular unit and sent on temporary assignment to another. A term generally applied only to officers. Enlisted personal are said to be on temporary duty or TDY.
Section:
The preferred term for a squad in the CEF Marine Corps. The CEF Marines organize their sections into fireteams. See also CATs.
SIG:
Sector Intelligence Group. The CEF intelligence organization in each League Homeworld sector. The SIG is directly under the sector CinC, not ONI. Preceded by the sector abbreviation: e.g. PLESIG for Pleiades Sector Intelligence Group.
SIGINT:
Any intelligence derived from signals. Includes COMINT and ELINT.
Signal Lieutenant (CEF):
A billet only found on major capital ships (light cruisers and up).The Signal Lieutenant monitors all communications, and encodes, decodes, transmits and receives tactical messages. As a watch stander, s/he acts as the Conning Officer's assistant, tracking contacts and coordinating with the CIC sensor section. The Signal Lieutenant also oversees the Signals Department, consisting of the Comms and IT sections.
Note: Whoever is standing watch from the Comms Section is called the Signal Lieutenant, regardless of their rank. (IT personnel do not stand watch.) On light capital ships, these functions are the responsibility of the Conning Officer.
SITREP:
A periodic report of the current tactical situation supplied to COs and commands. Who is responsible for producing a SITREP and how it is presented varies by service. In the CEF marines, for example, SITREPs follow a specific format, defining by a template that is filled in, and is the responsibility of the unit XO. Many militaries use this approach.
In the CEF Navy, the TAO is responsible for producing SITREPs. There is no specific template, but SITREPs are expected to conform to an accepted style.
In the Halith Navy, SITREPs are viewed as a staff product and are produced by the staff operations officer. If the command is not afforded a staff, the exec is responsible.
Skeer:
A phenomenon encountered during hyperlight travel that is caused by gravity-wave phase shifts, most commonly from non-isotropic rotating mass distributions in a star system. These phase shifts are undetectable in RST; it is the compressive effects that wormholes have on gravity waves that make them felt. Binaries and other partnered star systems, especially those with a neutron star, produce the worst skeer.
Unlike rip, skeer is not usually threat to ships, but has been tentatively implicated in some software anomalies, a few of which have resulted in translation failures.
Skye:
A New UK colony known for its lax regulations, making it a favored trade center.
Slave Federations:
The (generally) loosely organized slaver groups that formed in the late stages of the Formation Wars, when interstellar civilization collapsed and human labor became critically valuable. Once widespread, they also tended to be unstable and most were destroyed in the ‘Slaver Wars’ that were actually the final
stage of the Formation Wars. The Bannermans and the Tyrsenians are among the surviving remnants of these federations.
SOC:
Senior Officer Commanding. The CO of a detachment, such as the commodore of a task group or a senior captain of a detached squadron. Never used to refer to fleet commanders or commanders-in-chief.
SOCOM:
Special Operation Command. An sector-level administrative unit that controls the special operations forces therein. Always preceded by the sector abbreviation: PLE-SOCOM.
SOFOR:
Special Operations Force. Applied to any of several types of elite military units tasked with covert, intelligence-gathering, or extreme-risk operations. Organized under a SOCOM. CATs are a type of CEF SOFOR unit.
Sol Local Group :
Sol plus the Homeworlds of Antigua (Fomalhaut 2-IV), Phaedra (Vega 3-II), and New California (Procyon 3-II), and their associated Tier-1 colonies. These planets were included in the STO, the direct forerunner to the League. (The names refer to the major guide star for which a region is named. The Arabic number indicates the star in the region; Roman numerals, the planet within that system.)
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