Part 29 (1/2)

Standard The official language of the Union; also, the official language or a widely used second language on virtually every non-Union human world. Standard is derived mostly from the English that was the most widely spoken second language on Earth and was the language of international science, commerce, s.h.i.+pping, and aviation when human beings first traveled to the stars in the late twenty-first and early twenty-second centuries.

SWACS s.p.a.ce warning and control system. An integrated sensor, computer, and command/communications/control suite placed on various s.p.a.cecraft to provide an exceptionally high level of sensor coverage and detail and to coordinate the defense against attacking vessels.

Talon The primary antis.h.i.+p missile carried by Union wars.h.i.+ps. Manufactured by Raytheon-Hughes s.p.a.ce Combat Systems, the Talon is an extremely fast, stealthy, and agile missile with both pa.s.sive and active multimodal sensor homing and a 5150 kiloton variable-yield fusion warhead. The Talon is designed to elude and penetrate enemy countermeasures and point defense systems; use its on board artificial intelligence and high-resolution active sensors to find a ”soft spot” on the enemy s.h.i.+p; and then detonate its warhead in a location designed to inflict the most damage. One Talon is capable of obliterating s.h.i.+ps up to frigate size and of putting s.h.i.+ps up to heavy cruiser size out of commission. Against most targets with functioning point defense systems, the Talon is a better choice than the heavier Raven (see).

TDY Temporary duty.

TEMPCOM Temporary command.

Terran Union The common name for the Union of Earth and Terran Settled Worlds, a Federal Const.i.tutional Republic consisting of Earth and (as of January 2315) 518 of the total 611 worlds known to be settled by human beings. Often simply referred to as the ”Union.” Formed in 2155 upon the collapse of the Earth and Colonial Confederation (commonly referred to as the ”Earth Confederation” or simply the ”Confederation”) resulting from the Revolt of the Estates, which began in 2154. The territorial s.p.a.ce controlled by the Union has an ellipsoidal shape (roughly like that of a watermelon) 2500 light-years long and 800 light-years wide, aligned lengthwise through the Orion-Cygnus arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Population: approximately 205 billion. With the possible exception of the Krag Hegemony, the Union is the most populous and largest political ent.i.ty in Known s.p.a.ce.

TF Task force. A group of wars.h.i.+ps a.s.sembled for a particular mission or ”task.”

type When applied to wars.h.i.+ps, this term refers to the general category and function of the vessel, as opposed to its cla.s.s, which refers to a specific design or production run of vessels within a type. The most common types of wars.h.i.+p, in decreasing order of size, are carrier, battles.h.i.+p, battlecruiser, cruiser, frigate, destroyer, corvette, and patrol vessel. There are, of course, other types of naval vessel that are not categorized as wars.h.i.+ps, including tanker, tender, tug, hospital s.h.i.+p, troop carrier, landing s.h.i.+p, cargo vessel, and so on.

UESF United Earth s.p.a.ce Forces. The international military arm formed in 2034 by United States and Canada, the European Union, and the Chinaj.a.pan Alliance to retake the Earth's moon from the Ning-Braha who had occupied it, presumably as a prelude to a planned invasion of Earth. The UESF is the inst.i.tutional successor of the armies, navies, and air forces of the founding powers, but drew its personnel primarily from their navies and air forces and drew its command structure, regulations, traditions, and other inst.i.tutional foundations mainly from their ”salt.w.a.ter navies.” The Ning-Braha technology captured by the UESF in this campaign was the catalyst for mankind's colonization of the stars.

Union See Terran Union.

UNREP UNderway REPlenishment.

USNGS (Uniform Sierra Nebula Galaxy Sierra) Union s.p.a.ce Navy Galactic Survey. The most important star catalog in Known s.p.a.ce-used universally by the Union s.p.a.ce Navy as well as by the Union Merchant Naval Service, most human navigators even outside of the Union, and many alien species.

watch The period of time that a member of the crew who is designated as a ”watch stander” mans his a.s.signed ”watch station.” Also, the designation of the section of the crew to which the watch stander belongs. On Union wars.h.i.+ps, there are three watches, usually known as Blue, Gold, and White. They stand watch on the following schedule: First Watch: 20000000 (1 Blue) (2 Gold) (3 White).

Middle Watch: 00000400 (1 Gold) (2 White) (3 Blue).

Morning Watch: 04000800 (1 White) (2 Blue (3 Gold) Forenoon Watch: 08001200 (1 Blue) (2 Gold) (3 White).

Afternoon Watch: 12001600 (1 Gold) (2 White) (3 Blue) First Dog Watch: 16001800 (1 White) (2 Blue) (3 Gold) Second Dog Watch: 18002000 (1Blue) (2 Gold) (3 White).

The captain and the XO do not stand a watch. Rather, all officers other than the CO, XO, and the CMO serve as Officer of the Deck, serving as the officer in charge of minute-to-minute operations in CIC when neither the CO nor the XO is in CIC. Officers of the Deck stand watch for eight hour s.h.i.+fts on a rotating basis.

XO Executive officer. The second in command of any wars.h.i.+p.

Z (when appended to a time notation) Zulu Time. Standard Union Coordinated Time. So that all USN vessels can conduct coordinated operations, they all operate on Zulu Time, which is, for all intents and purposes, the same as Greenwich Mean Time-mean solar time as measured from the Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, on Earth in the Sol system.

Zhou Matrix A standard fleet static defensive formation in which s.h.i.+ps are arrayed in a plane perpendicular to the threat axis with more powerful s.h.i.+ps interspersed with less powerful ones to provide mutual fire support and to avoid giving the enemy a ”weak zone” to exploit. Named for Rear Admiral Zhou Chou Dong, who first proposed it in a lecture on hypothetical future s.p.a.ce combat tactics in the former People's Republic of China in 2022. The Zhou Matrix can also be used offensively as the ”anvil” portion of the ”hammer and anvil” formation invented by Admiral Kathleen ”Killer Kate” Phillips at the Battle of Sirius B on 22 August 2164.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

To some degree, every book is a distillation of everything an author has learned and experienced in his lifetime. Naturally, that legacy cannot be articulated in a few paragraphs. There are, however, a few individuals whose contribution to my learning and experiences is so related to the contents of this volume that they deserve particular recognition.