Important Terms:

Space Faring Terms:

FTL: Faster than light, i.e. traveling at a speed greater than 3*10^8 m/sec.

Jump – Refers to using a jump drive to enter a temporary pocket dimension that allows FTL travel. Also refers to the space entered during jump.

Jump Drive – A device that uses the unified field theory to warp reality, creating a pocket dimension, which can slip into and out of our own reality via a self-generated wormhole. This allows ships to achieve FTL travel between star systems. Jump drives target a destination by detecting gravity and feeding the gravitic data into a series of equations. The equations are updated regularly and are the only know way to accurately jump between systems. No ships have ever been reported to survive a blind jump.

Spacer – A language made up of words and syntax taken from multiple languages. Originating among the first integrated trynsa and human space crews, spacer is now officially recognized as the Empire’s trade language. Spacer also encompasses an expansive sign language used among star yard crews that cannot always use the crowded radio bands around space station.

Dead Zone – A system that is too far from other systems or has too many bodies with significant gravity to allow accurate navigation with the jump drive. Jumping into a dead zone is a rare hazard inside the empire or the hegemony, but inside the rift many systems are so widely dispersed that it is significant threat.

Rad shields – One of the first creations yielded by the unified field theory, Rad shields provide attenuation of radiation by converting electrical power into a thin but powerful magnetic field. The field is used to funnel highly charged particles, free radicals and other high-energy phenomena into a heavily shielded chamber aboard the ship where further fields are used to contain and safely deenergize them. Rated by the distance from which they can completely attenuate a specific nuclear blast when at nominal operations, all shields can be overcharged for additional short-term protection. Rad shields are used primarily to reduce the risk of space travel, but are also used during battle to attenuate the harmful effects of plasma weaponry, particle accelerators, and nuclear weaponry.

Express – The primary means of interstellar communications. The express consists of a system of courier ships and robotic dispatch units that are equipped with high speed jump drives. These couriers will jump from one system to another, broadcasting news and mail updates as they go. As updates spread through the network they are picked by other in system drones and they spread it in turn. For a small fee messages and data can be sent via the express network. Generally it takes a message one to eight weeks to reach a recipient based on distance, and usually news of an event will spread to the edge of the empire after about six weeks.

Esper Terms:

Esper – A person with paranormal abilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, etc. The abilities are believed to originate from the same type of dimension as that utilized by the jump engine. This belief is due to an esper’s reaction to jump and their ability to “see” jump drives manipulate reality to enter the pocket dimension.

Telepathy – The ability to sense the thoughts of another person, and or project one’s own thoughts to other people.

Empathy – As telepathy, but only emotions are sensed or projected.

Telekinesis – The ability to manipulate matter without physical contact.

Clairvoyance – The ability to see what is happening in another time or place without physically being there or then.

Technical Terms:

Comm., Comms. – A shortened term for anything which is related to communications

Compad – A portable computer, much like the tablet computers of this era, but much these are much thinner and more highly powered. Most models also use sheets of electronic paper to display data, rather than an LCD or plasma screen.

Powered Suits – Any type of exoskeletal support structure that uses powered acutators to assist the user by making them faster, stronger, etc.

Nanotech – Technology using molecular scale machines to build and run systems. enables the creation of super materials such as carbon nanotubes and endursteel.

Endursteel – A special alloy of steel and other metals. Endursteel is "built" atom by atom uing nanotechnology.

Slang and other miscellaneous terms:

Esperfare – a slang term referring to specific jobs that have become the traditional domain of espers alone. These include zero g construction work for telekinetics, FTL interplanetary communications work for telepaths, psychiatric work for empaths, and search and rescue or surveillance work for clairvoyants. Generally not a derogatory term, some people in related fields use it in such a manner because they fear their jobs might next become near esper only positions.

Organizations and factions:

Corsairs – Originally a group of anarchists and tax dodgers that formed circa 400 AU, the corsairs were considered petty criminals mostly to their lack of actual criminal action. Known mostly for their odd looking starships, the corsairs were also known for being able to seemingly disappear from known systems, only to reappear sometime later. When Emperor Alexander offered full pardons and other incentives for anyone willing to explore the rift, the aging corsairs and their families offered their services. They revealed that the ships had been built as giant gravitic sensors, allowing them to target and jump to systems much farther than anyone at the time thought possible. After negotiating with the Emperor for several days, the corsairs set off to explore the rift. The terms of the agreement reached have never been fully disclosed but it is known that the governing councils of the rift have greater autonomy than any other government.
The corsairs have generally settled into the life of explorers, but their rowdier elements still cause enough trouble in the far flung rift settlements that they are still widely regarded as little more than uplifted bandits. The corsairs do not officially rule the rift, but their members make up a majority of its government and they are apparently officially sanctioned as arbiters and deputy police forces in most of the rift territories.Generally known for their love of star travel, corsairs can almost always be recognized by their affection vintage clothing taken form the piratical and naval histories of the various imperial races.
Entry into the corsairs comes by invitation only, usually only to trusted friends or kin. General members receive no official sign of recognition; at most they are given a short message informing them of their entry. Actual education in the history and rules of the society are reserved for formal meetings. The customs and rules of the organization are kept fairly secret, but most assume its something similar to a trade union or political party.
Within the corsairs there is an elite group sometimes referred to as the officers, which are voted in as the leaders and representatives of various factions within the group. These members are given a titanium alloy cutlass to mark their rank. They are not required to serve in an official capacity, nor are they required to remain within the rift. Officers make up about ten percent of the total corsair membership. Their duties are to act as leaders by example and advisers to their community while in the rift, and to act as positive representatives of the corsairs when outside the rift. Many member who have business outside the rift are known to turn down the offer or rarely wear the cutlass that marks their rank, as it may be frowned upon, especially in the conservative heart worlds.

Slaving Guild –

Purifiers –

Star Com –

Homeworlders –

Liberators –

Sentinels of Man –

Starship Weaponry:

Plasma Cannon – A weapon which draws plasma from a nuclear fusion operation into a storage chamber. When fired the stored plasma is accelerated through a magnetic lense arrangement and projected at near light speed towards a target. Used only at close ranges, the plasma beam carries extreme heat and ionizes a contacted surface. The beams do not carry radiation and attenuate over a distance of about 500 km in vacuum.

Chain Gun – A series of magnetic accelerators that are used to launch iridium slugs at extreme velocities towards targets. Chain come in a variety of calibers and may be found in versions small enough to be carried or large enough to e mounted as a capital ship planetary siege weapon. By general convention all slugs used by chain guns are painted with highly reflective coating and are made have an extreme radar cross section. This is to ensure easy cleanup of spent shells after a battle, so that space does not become a random shooting gallery of nearly invisible lethal projectiles. Chain guns are employed both as defensive weapons to shoot down missiles and as offensive close range (.5 –20 km) weapons.

Particle Accelerators – Similar in design to a plasma cannon, the particle accelerator is fed high-energy particles by an integral relativistic velocity collider unit. The high-energy particles are accelerated to relativistic velocities and flung out to decay near or inside of a target. The decay of these particles releases enormous amount of heat, light, and gamma radiation. Generally only military craft are allowed to carry Particle Accelerators. Effective at ranges in excess of 1000 Km.

Missiles – Any unmanned craft that serves as the delivery vehicle for a payload. Missiles range form shoulder mounted anti vehicle explosives to nuclear equipped capital-ship-to-capital-ship missiles. In space warfare, some missiles also use a complex magnetic lense assembly and a small yield nuclear weapon to create a short-lived gamma ray laser. This laser dumps a massive blast of gamma rays along a tightly focused beam at the target. These payloads are referred to as bomb pumped lasers.

Siege Weaponry – Oversized versions of ship-to-ship weaponry employed to defend or attack a planet or similar sized asset. These weapons include multiple kilometer long particle accelerators, starcruiser sized chain guns and transport-sized missiles. Generally does not include the use of long-term effect nuclear weaponry such as full size thermonuclear loads or bomb pumped laser weaponry.

Personal Weaponry:

Pistol – Any type of light single handed weapon firing cartridges that are shorter than those used in rifles. This indcludes semiautonmatic pistols and revolvers. Soem pistols can be modified to fire in a vaccuum, and all are considered extremely dangeorus to use in zero gee.

Shotgun – Refers to a weapon that fires a spread of small pellets rather than a single round. can range from slightly larger than pistol sized to larger than rifles. Considered to be extraordinarily dangerous to use in zero gee, very few spacers will use them and most captains will not allow them aboard ship.

Rifle – A weapon designed to be used with two hands that fires a longer cartridge than a pistol, providing increased power and accuracy. usually only used in gravity environments, as the recoil makes zero gee use particularly diffcult.

Sub Machine Gun – A weapon designed to fire pistol sized rounds at an automatic rate of fire. May be used with one or two hands. These weapons are almost as poorly regarded as shotguns aboard a ship.

Machine gun – Machine guns are designed to fire rifle sized rounds at an automatic rate of fire. These wepaons are considered as impractical as rifles and as dangeorusly stupid as a shotgun by most spacers.

Rail gun – Rifle type wepaons that fire bullets using magnetic accelerators, providing for extreme projectile velocity with reduced recoil. These weapons are limited strictly to military use.

Plasma guns – Similar in design to the starship weapon of the same name, this weapon uses a complex seires of lasers to create the plasma, then projects it out through a magnetic lense. These weapons can only be used by individuals wearing power armor and are strictly banned for civilian use.