GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Text in italic green refers to another entry within the Glossary.
AA: An acronym for Anti-Air. A type of weapons system designed for use against aerial targets.
Andromeda Base: Newly constructed Headquarters for Nova Fleet. It controls all administrative functions for the Fleet. It orbits New Centrus.
Army: The Imperial Army is a major branch of the TEF. Army soldiers are usually shipped to battle aboard dedicated troop transports. There are no regular Army soldiers with Nova Fleet, but there is a large contingent of Marines.
Assault Fleet: Standard, large Madron Warship formation.
Assault Shuttle: Type of armed Shuttle designed to carry Marines into combat either in boarding operations, or as part of a planetary assault.
Assault Vessel: Large Warship designed to carry Assault Shuttles and Marines into combat either in boarding operations, or as part of a planetary assault.
AT: An acronym for Anti-Tank. A type of weapons system designed for use against enemy armoured vehicles.
Auto-Mortars: See Mortars.
Battlecruiser: Medium-sized Warship designed to have the same firepower as a Battleship, but with the greater speed of a Cruiser. Such ships normally sacrifice armour-protection to achieve these speeds and are often incapable of engaging larger vessels with parity.
Battleship: Large Warship designed to engage and destroy enemy vessels with heavy weapons.
Battle-Suits: Type of armoured spaceworthy battledress as worn by Regular Army or IMC personnel
Battle-Group Orion: Battle-Group Orion is the main heavy assault force for Nova Fleet and consists of many of the largest warships available. This is usually stationed at Andromeda Base.
Bradley Shipkiller Missile: The Bradley Missile is essentially a miniature Starship, complete with on-board guidance computers, miniature SL-Engines, FTL drive ECM, ECCM and shield generators. The Bradley carries minimal ordnance, but is capable of completely destroying almost any enemy vessel instantaneously. It is fired from its specialised launcher at speeds in excess of SL 30, and "skips" in and out of normal space/Hyperspace to acquire its target before disappearing again to avoid attack. Unlike any type pf manned vessel, the Bradley is uniquely able to utilise its Hyperspace capabilities within a gravity well. It destroys an assigned enemy vessel by materialising from FTL inside the enemy ship and detonating. Near the end of the Madron War, Madron advances in ECM were causing some problems for the Bradley design, and improved versions were subsequently developed for service with the Empire. The latest model is the Bradley TX, and this is the type in service with Nova Fleet.
Bradshaw: Civilian contractor that has many contracts to supply equipment to the TEF. Dryad Class LACs and Fury Class Frigates serving with Nova Fleet use Bradshaw designed indirect fire Energy Torpedo generators.
Brannigan: Military contractor that designs equipment for use aboard Imperial craft.
Brazen: Model of Starfighter engine mounted aboard the Nymph Class Interceptor.
Bulldog: See Strike-Force Bulldog.
Carrier: Type of Warship designed to carry smaller craft, such as Fighters or Shuttles into battle. There are various types of Carrier, Escort Carriers, Light Carriers, Fleet Carriers or Supercarriers. Some Dreadnoughts, Command Ships or Superdreadnoughts can also be designated as Carriers.
Centrus: The political capital and administrative centre of the Terran Empire. Destroyed in 3002 during the Madron Resurgence.
Centrus, Battle of: Main battle of the Madron Resurgence which resulted in the total destruction of the planet.
Comet: A Hover-Tank large enough to be classified as an MBT. Weighing in at 75 Tons, it is capable of speeds of up to 100 km/h. It mounts a 135mm smoothbore gun firing various ammunition types. A secondary mount holds a computer assisted 25mm chain gun in the commander's cupola as well as a two rail Long Arm medium range/altitude AA/AT missile system with one reload per rail. Its front armour is capable of defence against any land based weapon system currently known to the enemy.
Command Ship: Super-heavy Warship designed to operate as the regional Headquarters of a Sector, Fleet or large Task Force.
Corvette: Small Warship similar to a Destroyer. Imperial Corvettes are larger than their Destroyer counterparts, and could equally be described as Heavy Destroyers.
Cruiser: Medium-sized multi-purpose Warship. Dependent upon the deployed weaponry, Cruisers can be classed as Light, Medium or Heavy, but essentially, they all fulfill the same tasks.
CSP: An acronym for Combat Space Patrol. Fighters (generally Interceptors) assigned to CSP will ensure the security of the Fleet by patrolling local space. Such craft will usually be outfitted with additional fuel tanks to extend their range and flight time and will operate one flight of 5 ships at a time, whilst the other half of the squadron remains on standby to take over when needed.
Deadbolt: An Imperial design, the Deadbolt missile system is a small, reliable, fully automated system for launching a multitude of missile types. Ships of the Nova Fleet use Flashfire missiles in the Deadbolt system.
Destroyer: Small, fast Warship designed to protect larger vessels or screen Task Forces from attack. See also Escort Cruiser.
Dreadnought: Super-Heavy Warship, akin to a large Battleship which can also operate as the Headquarters of a Task Force. Some Dreadnought classes also act as Carriers.
Earth: The planet from which mankind originated.
ECM: Electronic Counter-Measures.
ECCM: Electronic Counter-Counter-Measures.
EMP: An acronym for Electro-Magnetic Pulse, an effect that arises when a nuclear weapon is detonated which can cause unshielded electronic components to fail. The modern Imperial Navy uses artificially generated EMP waves as weapons against the Madrons. Such weapons usually take the form of small missiles which are programmed to detonate within a set distance from an enemy vessel. EMP weapons are particularly effective against Madron Warships due to their integrated/cybernetic nature, although there is a constant arms race between EMP improvements and anti-EMP defences. Modern EMP weapons can be finely tuned to specifically target specific electronics systems. Due to Madron countermeasures, long-range EMP attacks are impossible, missiles simply cannot reach their targets. As a result, they have to be fired at relatively close ranges and often, the effects only last a short length of time. The Assault Shuttle is the perfect vehicle to mount such a weapon. Some models of EMP missiles automatically scan Madron ECCM transmissions to determine the best frequency and amplitude for the EMP burst, but can also be adjusted remotely from the firing ship or Command Ship.
Emperor: The head of the Terran Empire, all laws are passed in his name and he has absolute authority over the dominions of the Empire. Although the Emperor appears to have limitless powers, he is in fact merely a figurehead, under which a fully-functional democratic government operates.
Empire: See Terran Empire.
Energy Missile: The primary offensive weapon of the Madrons, the Energy Missile is simply a huge projected ball of energy that can rip a target to pieces on impact. A simple weapon to use, it represents the application of pure brute force, although it does take an an enormous amount of energy to produce and a large projector to collate and fire.
Energy Torpedo: An outdated weapons system, similar to an Energy Missile that was a precursor to the more advanced Plasma Bolt system. Energy Torpedoes are now only used in the smallest Imperial Warships such as the Dryad Class LACs and Fury Class Frigates. Not to be confused with a standard Torpedo.
Escort Carrier: Small, fast Carrier designed to carry a limited number of Fighters or Shuttles as an accompaniment to a convoy, patrol or Task Force.
Escort Cruiser: Small, fast Warship designed to protect larger vessels or screen Task Forces from attack. See also Destroyer.
Exclusion Zone: Having finished the construction of Andromeda Base in July 3003, Nova Fleet commanders felt confident that the base could now defend itself with minimal support and they therefore imposed an Exclusion Zone around an area of space that encompassed both the base and the spatial anomaly. It is rigorously defended against any attack.
Fighter: See Starfighter.
Flanker: Model of Starfighter engine mounted aboard the Ganymede Class Strike-Fighter.
Flashfire: Small anti-ship missile capable of being mounted with either nuclear or Laser warheads. It is fully compatible with the Deadbolt launching system.
Fleet Carrier: Large Carrier designed to operate a large number of Fighters or Shuttles and to command a Task Force.
Fraser: See Grand Admiral Fraser.
Freighter: Large Starship or Warship designed to carry supplies. Nova Fleet has specific Freighters set aside as Collier vessels for refuelling purposes, or as mobile ammunition stores.
Freight Shuttle: Type of Shuttle designed to ferry supplies from one Starship, base or planet to another.
Frigate: Small, fast Warship designed for patrol or escort purposes.
FTL Speed: Faster Than Light (FTL) speed has been possible since the discovery of Hyperspace. Accessing Hyperspace is only possible through the use of a dedicated FTL drive. This is actually a very small but complex piece of equipment that opens a dimensional rift in space and allows a ship to enter a higher dimension where the standard SL engine will then power the ship through its journey. However it is only possible to enter or leave Hyperspace outside the gravity well of a star, planet or other large astronomical object due to immense hull stresses that would otherwise instantly kill any crewmember aboard (this limitation does not apply to unmanned FTL missile systems such as the Bradley which are built to withstand such issues and which do not have to concern themselves with keeping crewmembers alive). Therefore, to enter Hyperspace, ships must leave the gravity well of the solar system that they are currently in (this may vary from between 100 to 200 astronomical units from the primary star) in order to make the jump. They then enter Hyperspace and can zip between stars in a matter of days. There is only one speed in FTL, and that is one light year per hour. During a Hyperspace journey, sensors scanners or weapons do not work. It is therefore impossible to fight a battle or even see anything outside the ship whilst one is travelling FTL. A ship will need a skilled navigator or very powerful computer to correctly calculate an FTL jump. A jump failure (perhaps one caused by a mis-aligned or damaged 'generator') can lead to a 'failed jump' with various nasty results. These may vary from a very short jump (100,000 miles) to being lost forever in Hyperspace. Generally speaking, long-distance journeys will be made in several stages, one jump at a time. In addition to the limitations imposed by a gravity well, making an FTL jump during a battle is very risky, it takes at least ten minutes for an FTL drive to power up, and a lot of power must be diverted from the ship's engines to commence the jump. Shields will be non-functional and energy weapons powered down (missiles can still be used though - but the Madrons use energy missiles, so they are unable to fight at all). As a result, it's NOT advisable or desirable to simply jump to Hyperspace to get away from a battle, a ship will not survive. In addition, once an FTL jump has been completed, it takes five minutes for a ship's sensors to recalibrate to their new surroundings, thus it's also not possible to simply FLT jump right on top of an enemy base - a force attempting this would be slaughtered. As a result, most FTL jumps are made to the edge of a system where conventional drive will then power the ships to their ultimate destination, or to battle.
Grand Admiral Fraser: Supreme Commander of Nova Fleet.
Graser: Graser is short for Graviton Laser. It describes an intense Laser beam that uses artificially generated gravity waves to tightly focus the beam and project it over a longer distance than would normally be possible. Grasers are more powerful than other types of Lasers, but require greater energy to produce.
GraveDigger: A small anti-matter missile intended for use against enemy Fighter craft.
Gunship: Small but heavily armed Warship designed to inflict massive damage at close range and for limited cost.
Home Fleet: The fleet that pursued the Madrons through the spatial anomaly, now redesignated Nova Fleet to reflect their current situation and location.
Hospital Ship: Large Starship or Warship designed to provide emergency facilities for casualties sustained during battle.
Hover-Tank: An armoured vehicle that uses antigravity lifters to hover off of the ground at a maximum height of two feet.
HPG: An acronym for Heavy Plasma Gun, a portable weapon designed for handheld use within an IMC Platoon. Somewhat power-intensive, regular Squad members will carry additional powerpacks as well as the operator.
Hyperspace: A higher dimension where the normal physical laws of our universe do not apply. Co-ordinates in Hyperspace are equivalent to those in our "normal" universe, but space is compressed and it is therefore a correspondingly "smaller" dimension. Normal Sub-light travel in Hyperspace is therefore much "faster" than it is in real space. The practical upshot of this is that if a ship enters Hyperspace at one location, and leaves it at another, the corresponding distance travelled in real-space makes it seem as if the ship has travelled Faster Than Light. See FTL.
IMC: Imperial Marine Corps. See Marines.
IMEF: An acronym for Imperial Marine Expeditionary Force, the operational name used for all IMC operations on enemy bases and planets. A self-sufficient all arms combat formation designed primarily for planetary assaults, it is not intended for heavy long term deployment.
Imperial Marine Corps: See Marines.
Imperial Navy: The senior service of the TEF, charged with protecting the Terran Empire from internal or external threats. It is well-funded, following 300 years of war and is the most technically advanced Navy known to mankind. It has ships numbering in the tens of thousands across the galaxy.
Interceptor: Small short-range Fighter craft designed for defence of a Warship or Task Force and for engaging enemy Fighters or assault/torpedo craft. Excellent in a dogfighting role.
LAAW Rocket Launcher: A short ranged (1000 metre) shoulder fired AA/AT laser guided rocket launcher. It is man-portable, single man operated but the gunner cannot usually carry more than 3 rounds plus his own kit. Additional rounds are carried by other fire team members.
LAC: Light Attack Craft. Small Warship designed for patrol purposes, or, if ferried into battle aboard a larger Warship, as an attacking vessel in swarms to overwhelm enemy Point Defence.
Laser: Originally an acronym for Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Over the centuries, and particularly since space travel became an everyday occurrence, the term has become to mean a directed energy beam, as might be mounted aboard a Warship. Modern Lasers are large weapons firing powerful beams over enormous distances. There are many different types of Laser weapon.
Long Arm: A medium range/altitude AA/AT weapons system.
Madron: The Madrons are a highly intelligent and extremely belligerent race of aggressive, cybernetically enhanced, reptilian bipeds. They stand approximately five feet in height on muscular, powerful legs and are generally augmented with cybernetics from around the age of 5 years old. They have an ability to control their Warships by neural interfaces that plug straight into their modified brains and are adept military strategists. Their one weakness is that the combination of their utter hatred for all other species, intertwined with centuries of genetic and cybernetic modification to their minds has a tendency to dull creative thought. This means that when they are met with fresh methods of warfare they tend, as a race, to be reactive and not pro-active in altering their own methods to compensate. Apart from a few instances, they appear to have no desire to change their established methods other than to upgrade their vessels every few decades.
Madron Resurgence: The shocking re-appearance of the Madrons in the Milky Way Galaxy which resulted in a decisive battle in October 3002.
Madron War: Vast galactic conflict between the Terran Empire and the Madrons that lasted from 2645-2971. It resulted in a Madron defeat, but at a heavy cost to the Terrans.
Main Battle Tank: See MBT.
Marines: The Imperial Marine Corps is a major branch of the TEF. It consists of elite, space-going specialist soldiers assigned to Warships for the purpose of engaging in boarding actions or planetary assault missions. Marines are also responsible for shipboard security. With access to top of the range specialist equipment, they have long traditions dating back centuries and are renowned as tough fighters. They swear an oath of allegiance to the Emperor and the Empire.
Marissa Prime, Battle Of: First battle of the Madron War.
Mars, Battle Of: The final battle of the Madron War.
MBT: An acronym for Main Battle Tank. MBTs are used by the regular Army and the IMC. The current model of MBT in service with the Marines assigned to Nova Fleet is the Comet Hover-Tank. MBTs are used in ground assault missions and are carried underslung beneath Assault Shuttles or on board large Freight Shuttles.
McLean Shield Generator: A small, powerful and reliable automated shield generator that is mounted aboard modern Imperial Warships.
Milky Way: The name of the home galaxy of the Terran Empire. Until the discovery of Nova Sector, no Terran had ever left their home galaxy.
Missile: Long-range projectile designed to carry a warhead to an enemy target and destroy, damage or incapacitate it. Imperial vessels use specially constructed mechanically propelled missiles, some of which could almost be described as miniature Starships. Madron vessels use Energy Missiles which are entirely different and more akin to Plasma Bolts. Torpedoes are shorter-range missiles with homing capabilities.
Missile Cruiser: Large Warship designed to launch massive numbers of missiles at an enemy target.
Mortars: Short-range artillery system used by troops serving with the Imperial Army and the IMC. Standard equipment includes 60, 81 and 120mm Auto-Mortars. Auto-Mortars are similar to standard mortars but are fed from 4 round 'clips'. This rapid fire is necessary due to the use of ground tracking radar that can backtrack the location of the launch and lay counter battery fire. All mortars are self propelled due to the need to "shoot and scoot".
Morvox: The Morvox is a mass-produced modular integrated engine and weapon system that was commissioned by the Imperial Navy after the Madron War specifically to form the core element of a new breed of Warship so that the fleet could be swiftly rebuilt after that titanic conflict. Uniquely capable of being mounted in series or in parallel, the unit is easy to maintain and easily replaceable if it should become damaged.
New Centrus: The adopted home planet of Nova Fleet, a planet rich in minerals and capable of supporting humanoid life, the existing Madron defences and population were "removed" and the facilities taken over. Andromeda Base was built in its orbit.
New Sarum: Central training area on New Centrus for the Marines and Space Legion troops attached to Nova Fleet. The "New Sarum" complex sits on the southernmost continent of "New Centrus" and following its establishment, major groundworks were undertaken in some of the remaining areas of this enormous landmass. The entire continent has since been set aside as a training area for troops. Airspace and orbitspace above the continent is strictly controlled and permission must be sought before entering the defined regions. Failure to observe this instruction may result in bodily injury or death because exercises are constantly underway in some areas of the continent. This area was chosen as it contains many types of terrain, arctic-type, desert, jungle, rainforest, swamp, grassland, coastal and a few offlying islands. Types of terrain that were not already evident were created - such as a large mountain range to the south-east of the landmass and a massive inland sea. The continent also has a number of abandoned Madron facilities and cities that are useful for urban combat training. The entire continent is essentially a one-stop shop for military exercises of all kinds.
Nova City: Capital city on New Centrus.
Nova Fleet: See Home Fleet.
Nova Sector: The term Nova Sector was originally used to define the area of space in which the Home Fleet found itself after transit from Imperial space. It was originally assumed that the spatial anomaly through which the battered Madron Fleet had escaped simply led to a hitherto unknown sector of the Terran galaxy. However, not long after the completion of the journey, it soon became apparent that the Home Fleet was in a completely new galaxy, one that lay billions of light years away from its own. It took some time for Terran science teams to calculate that the galaxy they now occupied was one that had been identified several hundred years previously by Terran astronomers on Earth itself. The galaxy had never been named, simply numbered as 2765, and the information filed. The term "Nova Sector" has since come to represent the entire Galaxy, and as such is something of a misnomer since the "Sector" itself covers many hundreds of standard "Sectors".
ONI: Office of Naval Intelligence. Branch of the Imperial Navy dedicated to acquiring and interpreting intelligence on enemy activities and intentions.
Orion: See Battle-Group Orion.
Personnel Shuttle: Type of Shuttle designed to ferry personnel from one Starship, base or planet to another.
Plasma Bolt: The primary assault weapon of the modern day Imperial Navy, the Plasma Bolt is a long-range, more advanced energy torpedo generated from a focussing generator which collates and cocoons pure anti-matter plasma energy in a protective shell of neutral atoms. Unlike Madron Energy Missiles, Imperial Plasma Bolt technology has reached the stage where a Plasma Bolt can be designed to degrade (and thus explode) at a set distance from the firing ship, on contact with an enemy vessel, and can also be "tuned" to attack energy shields or a ship's hull for maximum effect.
Plasma Gun: Small, powerful weapon that fires burst of pure plasma energy. Usually mounted aboard a Starship or Shuttle, portable versions have been developed such as the HPG and Plasma Rifle.
Plasma Rifle: A small, handheld type of Plasma Gun used by Marines aboard Imperial Starships for defence purposes or for space-based combat when wearing Battle-Suits where they are particularly useful due to their complete lack of recoil. However, because of intensive power requirements, Plasma Rifles are not used for boarding operations or for planetary assault.
Pleana Corporation: Civilian corporation that has many contracts to supply equipment to the TEF. Dryad Class LACs and Fury Class Frigates serving with Nova Fleet use Pleana Corporation Sub-Light drives.
Point Defence: The ability to deflect or destroy incoming missiles, energy weapons or Fighters to avoid damage to Warships. Point Defence usually takes the form of dedicated Laser clusters on a ship's hull that are controlled exclusively by computer. Such computers can automatically prioritise and attack the most dangerous targets. Imperial vessels can link their Point Defence computers to more effectively cover an area and ensure that no target is left untracked, and that multiple Lasers are not firing at the same incoming target, making them more effective all round. The term Point Defence also encompasses local fighter cover.
Probeship: Small, fast, lightly-armed long-range Warship designed to scout unexplored or enemy territory and report back. See also Scoutship.
Rapid Reaction Forces 1 and 2: Part of Nova Fleet, two Rapid Reaction Forces guard the borders of the Exclusion Zone against attack, these consist of faster, smaller vessels which act in an interception role.
Rapier: A modern, but smaller type of standalone Plasma Bolt Generator as used aboard the Fury Class Frigate.
Science Vessel: A type of Starship or Warship designed to acquire knowledge through the research and investigation of planets, stars and other astronomical objects in the universe.
Scimitar: An older and smaller type of Plasma Bolt Generator as used aboard the many Imperial Warships serving with Nova Fleet.
Scoutship: Small, fast, lightly-armed long-range Warship designed to scout unexplored or enemy territory and report back. See also Probeship.
Shamrock: Type of mortar used by the TEF.
Shields: The main defense of any Imperial ship are its shields. Shields are essentially projected energy waves that emanate from a fixed point on the ship. They radiate out from that point and curve back around to the generator in all directions to form a charged sphere of electrons around the ship's hull. It is the job of the shields to absorb impact or energy damage directed at the vessel. Shield generators will however suffer if a large amount of firepower is directed towards the parent vessel as they will receive feedback that can degrade the power systems. Shields can be strengthened in certain areas (eg: fore or aft) to protect more vulnerable areas of a vessel and can also be drawn in closer to provide greater protection if energy levels are low or if the shield generators are taking too much damage, this essentially reduces the strain on the generator. Shields are rated in "cycles" - a shield cycle is simply the number of times the shield charges during one second. Thus, a shield rated at 32,000 Cycles charges 32,000 times a second. The cycle rate is determined by how much power is available to the system. A larger ship, or one with more excess power from the engines, will be able to mount a shield with a higher cycle rate. The higher the cycle rate, the less chance there is of anything slipping through the shields to directly damage the ship, which makes for a more effective shield.
Shuttle: Slow moving small spacegoing craft usually based aboard a larger Starship. There are different varieties of Shuttlecraft, such as Assault Shuttles, Personnel Shuttles and Freight Shuttles.
SLR: An acronym for Self-Loading Rifle. The standard SLR in use with the Imperial Army and the IMC is an 8mm self loading rifle with 100 rounds of caseless ammunition. A standard load of 6 magazines is carried by each Marine. It has a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute on full auto' and is capable of single, 3 round burst or full auto fire. It also comes equipped with 40mm grenade launcher as standard.
SL Speed: Relativistic speed is defined in the Sub-Light (SL) index. All vessels, from Fighters to warships are equipped with SL engines. It is impossible to travel FTL using standard SL rated engines, but the faster a ship goes, the greater the relativistic problems the ship will encounter. This is not generally a problem during battle or unless ship is travelling at a high SL speed for more than a few hours, but for this reason, it's preferable to use FTL drives if one is travelling from A to B for an extended period of time, or a crew could find itself some days out of kilter when they arrive. Smaller ships, such as embarked craft or LACs cannot travel FTL due to the stresses placed on the hull and the crew inside and they must be ferried from place to place. Thus, it is impossible to send a Fighter wing on a strike in this fashion, they need a Carrier to get them there. These limitations do not apply to weaponry systems such as the Bradley Shipkiller Missile - since they do not have a crew, they are freed from concerns of keeping the operator alive, and thus not only does the Bradley achieve a high SL speed, it is also capable of full FTL travel.
Space Legion: Branch of the TEF responsible for security and defence.
Spatial Anomaly: After the Madron fleet was defeated following the Madron Resurgence of 3002, the surviving Warships fled and escaped through a previously undiscovered spatial anomaly. A permanent detachment of one Heavy Cruiser or two Corvettes keeps watch over the location of the spatial anomaly, which is also mined and seeded with robotic gun platforms.
Speed: See under SL and FTL.
Starfighter: Small one or two-man craft designed for space combat either as an Interceptor or as a Strike-Fighter.
Starship: A manned spacegoing vessel.
Starstreak Missile Carrier: A heavy AA/AT missile system that uses the dual threat 'Starstreak' missile system. The fire control system can track six targets and engage three at the same time. The carrier has six launch rails and 4 reloads per rail and it has a land speed of some 80 km/h on firm ground.
Strike Cruiser: Large Warship designed to swiftly attack enemy vessels at close range using energy weapons and with maximum effect.
Strike-Fighter: One or two-man Fighter craft designed for attacking enemy capital ships. Has limited dogfighting capabilities.
Strike-Force Bulldog: The newly formed Strike Force Bulldog consists of two Fleet Carriers and assorted support vessels and is the main Fighter strike wing for Nova Fleet.
Sub-Light: See SL.
Superdreadnought: Massive Warship, akin to a large Battleship which can also operate as the regional Headquarters of a Sector, Fleet or large Task Force. Some Superdreadnought classes also act as Carriers.
TEF: An acronym, short for Terran Empire Forces, the collective name for the military wing of the Terran Empire.
Terran: The collective name for mankind.
Terran Empire: The Terran Empire was founded from Earth in the year 2352 as a way of bringing together the disparate warring factions of mankind that had been engaged in internecine warfare shortly after the first space colonies were founded. Although ruled by an Emperor, there is, nonetheless a full democratic system operating beneath the monarch who is essentially a figurehead, albeit one who unites the many factions of man. Until recently, the capital world of the Empire was Centrus, a planet situated within the central region of the Milky Way galaxy.
Thunderbolt: Type of AA/AT missile launcher used by the TEF.
Torpedo: A short-range homing missile optimised for anti-shipping strikes.
Troop Transport/Troop Carrier: Type of Warship intended to ferry large numbers of soldiers into a combat zone.
VMA:
Designation
for IMC
attack Fighter
Squadrons.
Essentially, they are pure attack units. Their primary mission is to provide
direct close support for Terran
Marines, whether they be
boarding enemy vessels, or making surface assaults on enemy facilities. These
craft will use their mini-Grasers
for self defense against enemy Fighters, and other craft. Squadrons within
Nova Fleet
use GraveDigger
and EMP
missiles
as their main armament, providing a powerful force against the enemies of the
Terran
Empire.
VMSA:
Designation for IMC
Strike/Attack Fighter
Squadron. VMSA Squadrons are outfitted for both ship-to-ship
and ship-to-ground assaults. These multi-role fighters are used primarily for
space/air supremacy for
IMC
forces, as well as close-in support for troops or Assault
Shuttles when necessary.
Due to the balanced mix of weaponry, these units are not suited for close in
work against enemy vessels, or prolonged close support missions.
Warship: Generic term for any large, armed space-going military vessel with a crew of more than ten and designed for space combat.
Wormhole: See Spatial Anomaly.
X-Ray Laser: The X-Ray Laser is a short-range weapon primarily used for defence. Invisible to the naked eye, X-Ray Lasers require relatively low power output to produce and are usually generated by controlled nuclear fission from mounted assemblies. Smaller X-Ray Lasers are excellent weapons for use in Point Defence systems against Starfighters.