REFORMER GLOSSARY (2478 AD)
AIs: The creation of artificial intelligences (AIs) by the Terrans, Orions, Gorm, and other known races has never been fully realized until after several catastrophic wars that encouraged significant funding into the area of research. Initially, most projects by these various races were total failures; either the funding wasn't there to allow for a realistic program or the concept were awry, or in the case of the Terran AIs, they went insane at random (their matrices were clearly unstable). Real breakthroughs in this technology came from an irregular place, the Tolats. With a history dating back over 2 million years, the Tolats are an ancient race and had long ago invented the ability to create stable and enormously capable AIs, most of which were built for combat situations and deep research. The alliance with the Reformation Group allowed humans the first glimpse into artificial intelligences, starting with the Second Arachnid War when the Tolats introduced the first combat AIs during the fighting. As the Reformer/Tolat alliance deepened, humanity received its first detailed information on AIs and how to build them. In the following years, Reformers made a fabulous amount of money building and selling AIs, mainly to their military arms, the Fringe Republik, and eventually the PSU. Sales to the PSU were limited to deep research projects and combat AIs built for the juggernaut-class warships. In the Fringe, micronized AI brains were installed on intelligent war drones by the Reformation Group, as well as in smaller unmanned warships during the Second Arachnid War. Significant worries about AIs going “rogue” were abated by the Tolats, who had installed multiple redundancies to prevent such an occurrence. By 2470, human-created AIs were an extremely intricate and flexible set of software instructions running several billion lines of polyplex hypercode arrayed within a virtual four-dimensional quantum matrix, self-maintaining, self-diagnosing, self-modifying, self-replicating within certain rather stringent situational parameters, and most importantly, self-aware. One of the very first AIs developed by humanity was in 2445 at the Bell-Hitachi Naval Research Labs at China Lake, California. The AI (named jokingly “Lucifer”) had written most of his own code himself--again following carefully outlined parameters--and guided his own development with a speed, skill, and depth of understanding impossible for human programmers. Currently, most AIs are military-grade and are designed to command warships, bases, automated weaponry, and other items of war. Warships that are directly controlled by an AI are notoriously difficult to hit (-20%). In addition, most AIs are “concentrated intelligences”, but a some (like “Gabriel” and “Husler” in the Reformation Group) are “distributed intelligences”, able to network a vast array of sensors, weapons, and even vessels to help win battles in its localspace.

Armageddon War: The sudden outbreak of the Armageddon War (2464 to 2466) shocked the Reformation Group and their Tolat allies out of their sleepy isolation and only a hastily thrown together task force stopped the entire area from being overrun by enemy warships (at the planet Leviticus). Later, with Terra a radioactive ball and the Pan-Sentient Union in tatters, the Reformers and the Tolat allies went on to forge a much larger political alliance out of the ashes of the Armageddon War, ultimately encompassing over 100 worlds into the sphere of influence. Today (in 2470 AD) the Reformation Group continues to bring stability and strength to the areas of the former Terran Federation under the benevolent eye of their Tolat allies.

ASBM: A devastating super-advanced long-range Tolat missile, it was used first by Reformers in the Second Arachnid War and is now a regular missile aboard some of the Reformation Navy's largest capital ships. These missiles are typically armed with a gigaton warhead and are only fired by internal ship missile launchers, never on XO racks.

Automated Weaponry: Since they are pacifists, the Reformers use an awful lot of autonomous devices, especially AI-controlled war drones and static defenses such as minefields. Reformers specialize in this sort of weaponry, mainly because of the technology of their Tolat allies. One of these types of weapons (Combat Wasps) were built by the Reformers during the Second Arachnid War; but they were “stupid” weapon drones and were used heavily before AIs were placed on the battlefield. Automated weapons are still used to this day by every galactic nation and are now mainly AI-controlled, and mostly used for system defense.

Balthasar Chain: A heavily populated chain of worlds that came under attack during the Armageddon War. Before the war, the chain was economically and politically dominated by the planets' Ultimo, Kennedy, and the high-population world Uttar Pradesh. Numerous worlds down chain suffered nova bomb attacks by Hre'Daak forces and the entire area was virtually depopulated by the end of 2465. Eventually, the enemy forces were stopped at Balthasar's World in late 2466 by the PSU Navy.

Battle of Jehovah Station, First: When a TFN battleship (TFNS Python) negligently ignited the planet Deuteronomy's atmosphere and killed tens of thousands of Reformer civilians, the Reformation Group rose in rebellion. Normally they wouldn't had have a chance against the economic and military might of the much larger Terran Federation but the rest of the Fringe had already rebelled a few months earlier; this enabled the Reformers to have a fighting chance to finally be free from the secularists on Terra. Because of the sensitive nature of research at the Toricelli R&D Center, the huge capability of the Fleet Yards, the location of the Federation's 'Boneyard' depot, and site of the strategic Deuteronomy Warp Nexus, the TFN quickly moved to occupy the system. It was from this location that the Reformation Group cobbled together its defense against the Federation. Commodore Craig Labuda immediately began laying down both heavy and light fleet units, and crash fielded the Fleet Yard's nearly completed super dreadnoughts. Commodore Labuda also asked the newly discovered Tolat race for technical assistance. Watching a heavily armed neighboring superpower dissolving into chaos alarmed the conservative Tolats, who agreed to Commodore Labuda's request for technical aid. Tolat engineering teams were dispatched to upgrade the Jehovah Yards, and Reformation scientists at the adjacent Toricelli Naval R&D Center. Facing a numerically superior enemy, Admiral Labuda formally asked the Tolat ambassador for support, who agreed to help his new Reformer allies. Although there was only a single Tolat warship in the system (the Ambassador's super dreadnought), the Ambassador agreed and the three Tolat freighters began hastily unloading strange orbital satellites around the station. As the TFN Fleet began transiting the WP the Reformers knew they were badly outnumbered: the enemy armada consisted of five stupendous monitors, ten lethal superdreadnoughts, five assault carriers, eight fleet carriers, eighteen battlecruisers, and eight troopships. The First Battle of Jehovah was fought in close proximity to the Fleet Yards, which took heavy fire until the Tolat ambassadors ship came under attack by TFN fighters. Responding instantly to the fighter strike, the Tolat orbital satellites opened fire on the TFN fighters, destroying scores, and the Tolat superdreadnought began launching fighters of its own: drone fighters which had never before seen. These incredibly agile fighters quickly forced the Terran fighters to break off but not before a half-wrecked TFN battlecruiser actually rammed Jehovah Station, causing severe damage and killing thousands of its personnel. The battle was going very badly for the Reformation forces but at that moment, the Tolat fleet emerged from WP 3 and within a few minutes began engaging the TFN fleet. Three Tolat Juggernauts, the Ngent'l Pla, Ngent'l Zha, and Grys'mos opened fire on the enemy ships from 90 light seconds away, using their advanced multi-stage ASBM missiles. Unable to localize the incoming fire, the Federation fleet began to die as heavy antimatter missiles wiped weapons and whole ships away. In the end, the TFN fleet was nearly decimated; Propochek was killed and the Jehovah Station severely damaged before Commodore Angela Stringer, Propochek's battlecruiser screen commander (and third in command) surrendered. In the end, all that was left of the Terran BG 6.4 was a half-gutted monitor, two badly damaged battlecruisers, and eight troopships. The Reformation Navy won the fight and went on to shepherd the Groups' eventual freedom from the Terran Federation. 

Battle of Jehovah Station, Second: The first major battle of the Second Arachnid War, the Reformation Group found itself in a very precarious situation; the newly discovered Bug homeworld had built enormous fleets which had discovered the Group and hurled itself at the Reformers primary military installation, the Deuteronomy System. Luckily the entire star system had been built up as a major staging point and fallback defense area during the previous Terran Civil War and was still heavily armed. Most Reformation Navy warships rushed to the defense of Jehovah Station and the orbital bases were moved to cover the threatened warp point. Two gunboat wings and nearly 80 vessels were on scene when the first Bug attack came through the WP in early 2450 AD. In addition, a small contingent of Tolat warships (three juggernaut-class vessels) were stationed in Deuteronomy at the time and took part in the battle. Reformation forces held during the fight and the Bugs were eventually pushed back past the star system called “Masada”, which became a major staging point for the Reformer and Tolat forces. A second arachnid assault against Deuteronomy occurred during the second phase of the war. But no further Bug attacks took place in this system after that.

Battle of Masada 1, 2, and 3: A series of major battles took place in this strategic star system between the bugs and humans during the Second Arachnid War. After Reformation and Tolat forces captured the system for the second time a distributed intelligence was constructed here, the “Husler” AI. Thousands of sensors and automated weapons were then emplaced in the system before the bug counterattack finally came. Unfortunately the huge bug fleet overwhelmed the defenders and Masada was again lost, but not before Husler did enormous damage to the bug vessels, especially to their massive gunboat fleet. The final battle took place in 2454 when PSU, Tolat, and Reformer warships recaptured the system permanently, pushing forward to destroy the bug homeworld later that year.

Battlepods: These automated weapons were used by the Hre'Daak during the Armageddon War and decimated any opponent that fought against them. Battlepods can move independently of their mothership and can phase in and out of reality, firing their automated weapons at enemy warships with ease due to direct and instantaneous control by a nearby Hre'Daak warship. These pods (most using dis warheads) destroyed hundreds of human and human-allied warships during the Armageddon War and were never countered effectively.

Battlespace Cruisers (CB): A new and radical concept, this Reformation-designed attack cruiser was laid down specifically to intercept missiles and kinetic weapons, and is piloted solely by an AI. It was built with an enormous point defense capability: for coverage of a fleet, not just itself or a local cluster of nearby ships. It was also built with the new spray-on armor in mind, and during the Armageddon War CBs eventually fired black hole point defenders instead of standard point defense missiles and lasers. These unique cruisers were only fielded by the Reformers and were made from the keel up with hyperadvanced Tolat technology and they were commanded solely by a military-grade artificial intelligence (a total of 12 were built in this class).

Boneyard, the: A large repository of outdated ships owned by the Terran Federation Navy (TFN), the Boneyard was the central decommissioning depot for the TFN in the Fringe before the civil war broke out. By the year 2430, the depot had over 200 small vessels awaiting the breakers, which was done at the nearby Jehovah Fleet Yards when a slip became available. After the destruction of Deuteronomy by the TFNS Python, the depot was stripped of its most useful warships, all of which were prepped at the Jehovah Yards. Most of these vessels were annihilated during the First Battle of Jehovah Station and the Boneyard was later shut down as the Reformation Navy continued to use outdated vessels instead of scrapping them.

Britannica: A Corporate World located near the Reformation Group, Britannica is a major trading partner with the Group and has a population of nearly 1 billion people. This heavily populated planet was ignored by Hre'Daak forces as they passed through the system during the Armageddon War; the local military commander refused to engage the enemy. Colonized directly from the Terran island nation of Britain from 2160 to 2305, this planet’s people have a very distinct pattern of speech which makes them well known across the PSU. By 2470 Britannica became an independent world with a significant navy, and an ally to the Reformers.

Cargo Wormhole: First constructed in 2470, this type of artificially-created wormhole is an AI-controlled facility that transports cargo from planet to planet, without using a ship or standard (natural) wormhole. These facilities are immense, the size of a small town and organic lifeforms are unable to transit through the wormhole and survive. Initially it began sending non-biological cargo to various star systems located nearby using an artificially created wormhole. The first prototype was constructed in the New Jerusalem System and has end points in 6 different locations; all chosen by nearby stellar distances in realspace. These systems are Del Rio, Newer Jersey, Dhassa, Golden, the Olympus System, and the Dakota System. Organic lifeforms are not currently able to transit though a cargo wormhole and survive. An experimental Tolat invention.

C-boomers: Designed for planetary strikes and taking out large asteroid fortresses, these refitted warships were AI controlled and featured a huge kinetic spinal mount weapon of enormous destructive power. All c-boomers are generally older warships in the heavy cruiser to battleship range that have been converted to modern military standards and they are totally automated. While smaller warships normally had a difficult time surviving on the super-tech battlefield against the Hre'Daak, these AI vessels could be deployed without the worry of significant human losses. Later versions in this class used a Hypermass Generator as its spinal weapon. Human-built only.

Cczywck: A Corporate World located deep in the Fringe, quantum armor was invented here. The planet is also a major industrial world that was colonized by Polish neo-ethicists; they get along well with their neighbors, the religious Reformers. In 2470 Cczywck joined the Reformation Group as an “associated world”. Population is estimated at 80 million people.

Christ the King-class supermonitors: In response to the Terran Federations' attack on the Reformation Group the shipyards at Jehovah Station began laying down a new ship class: a heavy beam supermonitor. The newly forming Reformation Navy couldn't possibly hope to man more than a small number of these immense vessels so only three were built: RNS King Solomon and the RNS King David, and eventually RNS Christ the King. They were equipped with very advanced variable focus beams (Fvc2) and an impressive array of third generation plasma guns (Pg3). All three vessels in this class were destroyed in the Second Arachnid War and were not replaced due to their heavy personnel demands.

Combat Wasps: These are high-G attack missiles fired from external ordinance (XO)-equipped vessels, bases, and space stations that seek to engage their targets autonomously. Combat wasps come in every size and function, including both attack and defense, and once launched they are fully automated. They carry a multitude of independent submunitions, including beam weapons (energy, laser, and particle), kinetic and fusion warheads, decoy chaff, and electronic-warfare pods. They can also be packed with powerful antimatter warheads that are fed into the XO mounted wasp seconds before launch using a rotary feed from the ships' main magazine. Nearly all of these weapons were removed from service when the AI-controlled “war drones” came into mass production and use during the Armageddon War.

Corporate Worlds: The economic backbone of the Terran Federation, these well-developed worlds are primarily governed by corporate interests and are usually very wealthy planets. Cruel Corporate World interests sparked the political crisis that led up to the Terran Civil War and these planets have tried to cope with the aftermath of that disaster ever since.

Craig Labuda, Admiral: The Reformer Admiral Craig Labuda is a tall, lanky middle aged (49) man who hails from the Reformation Group, the planet Samuel to be exact. He initially began his long career in the TFN Navy nearly three decades ago as a doctor, but was commissioned as an officer after the Biomech conflict. He made his first cruise in the old War Maiden, one of the TFNs older battleships and wrote the famous “On War and New Tactics”, the widely acclaimed treatise of the Arachnid Conflict. A well-known family man of eight children, Admiral Labuda’s career suffered because of this but his ability to fight with distinction in the Fringe regions of the Federation gained him substantial attention from his commanding officers. When a high-ranking official complained to the Skymarshal that Admiral Labuda was racking up a large body count among his own personnel and asked for his dismissal, he replied, “I cannot spare the man, he fights.” Captain Labuda fought gallantly in the Keyhole Campaign and after the Battle of Noffington he became immensely popular, in large part because of his comradeship and the understanding of the ordinary serviceman. He became responsible for the supply and maintenance of all the vessels engaged in the Quest Campaign and was finally given command of his own superdreadnought, TFNS Justin Elzie. He proposed a new design for superdreadnoughts, the Texas-class, which was eventually laid down at Great Ships and his eventual succession to the TFN Admiralty was only a matter of time as his fame for heroism and risk taking won battle after battle. He fought in the First and Second Battle for Jehovah Station and was instrumental in getting the Roughneck-class troopships equipped with SLED3s. He continues to be one of the leading officers of the Reformation Navy to this day and is considered to be its founding father, designing many of the ships in that service and creating many of its military tactics and strategies. 

Crucian Union: A multi-racial empire located near the Pan-Sentient Union and a nominal ally of the PSU. The Crucians declared neutrality as the Armageddon War started, much to the dismay of their allies. Some fighting took place near Union space but overall they were spared much of the destruction that the Hre'Daak wrought. The Reformation Group maintains good relations with the Crucians.

Datasphere: The orbital network around a planet, nearly all technologically-capable worlds have built these vast computer networks for economic and military purposes. During the Armageddon War, Hre'Daak attacks on these systems badly corrupted them, killing millions of people through viral virtual attacks and cyber-attacks against planetary infrastructure.

Dhassa: A jumbo-sized world located in the Balthasar Chain. More than 2 billion people on the planet were saved when they were ignored by Hre'Daak forces that passed through the system. The planetary governor forced the local military commanders to stand down, thus saving the planet. Many "less than religious" Reformers have immigrated to this world. This planet is four times larger than humanity's homeworld but it has a normal Earth gravity.

Dis: A devastating nanotech weapon used solely by the Hre’Daak, these missile warheads dissolved anything they came into contact with; warships, armor, weapons, and even human flesh. The Reformation Group was never able to withstand attacks by dis until the Tolats finally came up with a counter-solution late in the war.

Drake Belgrano: A TFN Commodore, he was killed during the Second Arachnid War defending the Reformation Group against bug attacks; in his honor a class of PSU warships was named after him.

Del Rio Chain: This chain of star systems was colonized mainly from the continent of Asia on Terra, with the entire region being anchored by the Del Rio WP Junction at the far end. It was the location of the Warlord Invasion and most of the area is now part of the Reformation Group as of 2470. Hispanics are the second largest ethnic group in this region of space.

Del Rio WP Junction: A significant warp point nexus, this junction is owned and monitored by the planet Del Rio. Enormously wealthy due to the interstellar traffic that passes through its network (mostly merships), Del Rio is an ally of the Reformation Group.

Deuteronomy System: Site of a conflagration that sparked the rebellion among the Reformation Group population during the Terran Civil War: the Deuteronomy System Disaster. The TFNS Python, a Dire Snake-class battleship under the command of Igor Propochek sparked the detonation of the highly volatile atmosphere of Deuteronomy, eventually killing more than 50,000 people on the planet. The shock of these deaths created a rapidly expanding revolt in the Reformation Group which was a pacifist group of planets located in the Terran “Fringe” area. In the end, the Disaster created a stronger and more powerful group of planets in the region, who were ultimately able to fend off bug attacks during the Second Arachnid War and help defeat the Hre’Daak using very advanced Tolat weapons and tactics.

Drop Capsule: The SLED3 was developed by the Reformation Group and used extensively in combat during the Second Bug War. They are embedded in a delivery system specially built inside assault transports, called drop tubes. This third generation SLED is able to penetrate the atmosphere of a planet for swift deployment as well as ships, orbital bases, space stations, and asteroid forts. Boarding sleds are still unable to penetrate shielded targets.

Eden III: The Reformation Navy's Fleet HQ is located here: it is hidden deep within the Reformation Groups strategic "rear" area for defense.

Steel: A heavily industrialized Corporate World, Steel’s population of 3 billion people was saved when the second Hre’Daak axis was stopped here on the eleventh of May 2466. This planet joined the Reformation Group in 2474 as an “associated power” and is now known for their newly-formed and highly aggressive navy.

Fifth Gunboat Wing (New Jerusalem):  A veteran of both Arachnid Wars, the 5th Wing sent its first gunboats into action in Operation Pesthouse in March of 2363. During that conflict the Wing sent some of its’ gunboats to the rear to protect Admiral Chins’ convoy but they were slaughtered early on in that battle. Nearly the entire Fifth Gunboat Wing was destroyed during Operation Pesthouse, with only 7 total gunboats surviving the return to Proxima Centauris. The Wing regrouped after Pesthouse and fought at the Centauris WP but it was badly battered and fell back to Terranova for repairs and upgrading. It was reactivated during the Second Arachnid War and fought in the Battle for New Jerusalem, also seeing major action during the Deuteronomy Raid. From early on the gunboat squadron was organized in a similar fashion to traditional TFN fighter squadrons, using ground personnel and NCOs in the same way on the ground and aboard ship, the main difference being significantly more down time to rearm a gunboat. The Wing was later equipped with pinnace support and assault shuttle backup when engaged in planetary assault. It was finally stationed in the Noah Trinary System and sustained nearly 100% fatalities at the defense of Esteel during the Armageddon War. 

Forrestal, RNS: A former TFN carrier, it is the longest-serving carrier in the Reformation Fleet and considered "charmed" by its crew and flight teams because it has survived combat nearly untouched for more than 50 years.

Fringe, The: Lightly populated worlds located on the "fringe" of the Terran Federation, these planets (now officially known as the Terran Republik) rebelled after the Corporate Worlds proposed joining with their former enemies (the Khanate of Orion) into a galactic superstate. After a pyrrhic victory in the Terran Civil War, the Fringers created their capital at Beaufort and remained cordial with most other interstellar states. The Fringe Worlds joined the Pan-Sentient Union in trying to fight off the Hre'Daak attack in 2464 and many Fringer warships were destroyed in the process.

Frontier Alliance Worlds (FAW): The FAW are several hundred lightly populated worlds that were colonized directly from the Heart and Corporate Worlds, and Terra itself after the Terran Civil War (TCW). Politically they follow the lead of the new capital planet Urbanos. Garsten Yards is also located here, and the “Frontier”. The FAW is at odds with the New Human League, the Orion Cantons, and occasionally the Reformation Group and constantly has major border skirmishes with the League and Orion raiders. 

Full Goldie/Goldilocks Planet: A world with conditions nearly identical to Earth's (95% or higher on all major categories, including oxygen/nitrogen mix, gravity, and average temperatures). Planets like these do not need significant terraforming since they are so Earth-like. Called “full goldie”.

Golden: Three times the size of Earth, this planet is a Reformer world and is “full goldie”. The Chandler Genetic Institute is located here, and is a major producer of Reformer computer interface headbands. Current population in 2470 is 70 million people, mainly researchers and their families.

Grysmos-class warship: A Tolat class of warships, extremely capable, juggernaut-sized. (TECHNICAL DETAILS RESTRICTED)

Gunboat Wing, 123rd (Jennings): Originally a TFN unit during the Fourth Interstellar War, the 123rd became an important element of the newly forming Reformation Group strategic defense reserve after the/ war ended. Although the 123rd had originally remained a TFN reserve command unit after ISW4, it sided with the rebels and served with honor during the Reformation Groups’ break away from the Terran Federation in 2438. Reformed under the Reformation Group banner, the 123rd initially deployed as a full Wing during the Second Arachnid War but the significant drain of highly qualified pilots to other Wings (including the pressures of expanding the Reformation military and sustaining combat losses of gunboats already in action) severely reduced the available pool of gunboat-trained personnel. In 2453 more gunboats were provided, some other changes made, and the 123rd converted to a forward assault Wing by the summer of that year. Using its’ newfound mobility, the Wing operated all over the Reformation Group and down the Quantico Chain. The Wing remained on active duty and trained numerous gunboat pilots during the Second Arachnid War and finally the Armageddon War. Substantial numbers of 123rd’s gunboats participated in the defense of the Corporate World Esteel, which was at the time a major Reformer trading partner which found itself on the front lines during the Armageddon War. 

Gunboats: A fast and heavily armed small craft that can pass through a warp point on their own, gunboats were originally created by the insectoid Arachnids and did terrible damage to human and allied warships during the First Arachnid War and Second Arachnid War. The PSU slowly adopted their use, but only in small numbers; the Gorm however enthusiastically embraced them. Even the Reformers readily adopted them since they needed only a small crew to operate the craft. Currently, over a half dozen races now use these fast strike craft, including the Crucians, the FAW, and several of the Orion Cantons. Updated gunboats can still cause extreme damage to smaller warships.

Hacksaw: Hacksaws are enemy AI-controlled combat robots that usually fight hand-to-hand against all organic life forms, including humans. Reformation Marines were forced to fight hacksaws in the Harbinger Campaign of 2475, on the military-moon Atsog.

Han Kao: Colonized from Terra's Asian region and homeworld of the Warlord, this planet is a Fringe world with a small but highly militant society. Bombed from orbit during the invasion to stop the Warlord, its people now lead a mostly agricultural life. Reformer task forces regularly pass through the system, destroying anything in orbit as punishment for the genocide committed by the Warlord and his forces from this world.

Helleye, The: Located near the Reformation Group, the Helleye us similar to the Pistol Star: a massive hypergiant star that is nearly 1,000 times larger than Earth's Sol. Barely held together by its own gravity, the Helleye is very unstable: every few weeks large sheets of matter erupt from the star, breaking free from the gravity of the Helleye. Each of these "sheets" weigh hundreds of times more than Sol. If it were to hypernova, the Helleye would certainly make large swaths of human-occupied space sterile.

Hologhost: The Reformation Navy prefers face-to-face meetings of its top command staffs but during wartime this can be unfeasible. It also can be dangerous to have all your command staff at one location in a combat area, but meetings and coordinating attacks must still be planed and disseminated. Computer-generated “hologhosts” of various ships' captains and command staff can be projected onto a flagship for these meetings instead, especially if a warship is too far distant to physically attend a tactical meeting or planning session.

Irina Rubinova: A famous TFN Admiral who died in 2nd Bug War, Irina was born in Russia on Terra in 2401 AD and she pursued a career in the military. Rising quickly to captain, she excelled at capital warship tactics and fought in several conflicts, most notably against the raiding Tangri. She was killed during the second war with the Bugs; by then she was a PSU admiral and a class of warships were named after her (Wa2 equipped monitors).

Ivy Chain: A wealthy and ecologically friendly string of Fringe worlds located deep within the Terran Federation at the end of the Terran Civil War, the Ivy worlds tried to make a go of it economically but were later assimilated back into the Federation when their economies collapsed under Corporate World pressure. A major war was averted over the whole affair only by the intervention of then-Admiral (and now Skymarshal) Ellen Devore.

Jasper: A planet in the Reformation Group, it is known for its less-than pacificist inhabitants, many of which join the Reformer military. More than 20% of the planets' population has ended up serving in the armed forces of the Group. The headquarters and training center for the Warp Commandos are located here.

Javier Medina: A Commodore within the PSU fleet, Medina commanded the new heavy combat carrier division (CVH) that arrived in Red Rocks just before the Armageddon War started. He was a very experienced and popular officer and died in Red Rocks on January 15th, 2465. He was also a famous Second Bug War commander and was celebrated by the Reformation Group for his valor.

Jehovah Station Fleet Yards: The Jehovah Yards are a massive shipyard facility located in the Reformation Group region that are capable of laying down 40 large warships at the same time. The first Fringe juggernaut-class warships laid down here. This is also the location of the strategic Deuteronomy Warp Point Nexus and Terran Federation “Boneyard”.

Jennings: A planet in the Reformation Group, it was known for its extremely pacifist population, most of whom refused to enter military service (less than 2% of the total population has ever served).

Juggernaut-class warship: The first juggernaut vessel ever built was the Red Dragon-class, which was constructed as the Fringe naval ship Tiamat. It was built at Toricelli Naval Yards in orbit of Deuteronomy and completed on 2466 AD. However, due to the immense maintenance needs of this vessel it was turned over to the PSU almost immediately. The Red Dragon-class fielded an impressive array of new weapons and the strategic speeds of juggernaut-class warships was incredibly slow, allowing only two Red Dragon-class vessels to be finished before fighting ended in the Beijing Chain (the Tiamat and the Bahamut).  Standard tonnage for a juggernaut-sized vessel is 900,000 tons and each has an average of 9,000 crew. Nearly all units in this class are mothballed at Galloway’s World (New Human League) and the Boneyard (Frontier Alliance Worlds). Side note: The Jehovah Yards are currently administered by the Reformation Group and was a joint military/civilian yard under the Terran Federation until the Insurrection. 

Kansastan: Invaded by the Warlord of Han Kao's forces, this initial attack sparked the Warlord Invasion crisis between the Reformation Group and several Asian-dominated worlds in the nearby Del Rio Chain. Kansastan is a breadbasket world that produces enormous amounts of agroproducts.

Killeen System: In 2450 Reformation forces encountered the Bugs again in this system after wiping them out 80 years earlier. Several significant battles took place here. This star system has no habitable worlds.

Kodiak Base: A Frontier base guarding the Kodiak Warp Point Nexus, it was mainly populated by Reformers and was turned over to the Group at the end of the Terran Civil War.

Kyushu: An Asian dominated world in the Del Rio Chain, this planet is heavily populated and supported the Warlord of Han Kao in his bid to create a pocket empire after the Terran Civil War ended. It was the site of the Kyushu Campaign, a series of battles between the Reformers and the Warlord's forces. The Reformation Group won the conflict but serious damage was inflicted on Kyushu during the fight; several of the armed forts orbiting the planet impacted the surface after they were destroyed. The Kyushu System is still interdicted (and heavily patrolled) by Reformer forces to this day.

Leviticus: A Reformation World with a population over 100 million people; Hre'Daak forces were stopped here by allied forces on July 20th, 2465. This planet is a goldilocks world (full goldie).

Li-Po: Another Asian-dominated world in the Del Rio Chain, this planet took part in the uprising known as the Warlord Invasion. Several major battles occurred in this star system, with the habitable world receiving several major kinetic strikes that badly damaged the ecosystem. Reformation warships still patrol the system to this day (2470 AD).

Masada System: A strategic star system located halfway between Bug Space and Reformer Space, it traded hands three separate times before being finally retaken by an enormous PSU fleet in 2454. Used as a staging ground to destroy the SWMBC, it remains a depot and refueling station for Reformer patrols in and around the area. 

Meccanism: The wide-spread religious belief that all Islamic peoples, regardless of location or political loyalty, should follow Muhammad and his appointed heirs on Earth, including the mandatory five times a day prayer to the ancient city of Mecca. One of the more "difficult" religions within Republik space, Meccanism has never grown beyond its early beliefs and remains stagnant, statist, and regressive (especially towards women). This religion is especially popular on low-tech and low-educated worlds. Part of the Meccanist belief system is that all Muslim men should visit Mecca on the planet Terra at least once in their lifetime. 

Mership: Slang for a “merchant ship”, they are almost always civilian-owned.

Missile Pods: Towed behind a warship, these unmanned pods enable a ship to fire a large single-shot of missiles at the enemy, usually overwhelming the defenders point defense and delivering enormous damage with the first volley. Created at the Toricelli Naval Lab, they were used by the Reformation Navy in many battles, including the one for their freedom: the Reformation Rebellion. Several different classes of these pods have been built, each according to its missile type.

Newer Jersey: A major Corporate World trading partner, of the Reformation Group, its inhabitants were sympathetic to the Fringer cause and stalled Admiral Propochek's forces in their system at the outbreak of the Terran Civil War. After the Armageddon War concluded, Newer Jersey went on to join the Group as an “associated power” in 2468. 

New Beijing Chain: A new sector of space was opened up after the destruction of the Arachnids. This chain was initially impassable at first (cut off by a black hole at BH-31) but successive probes found an asteroid belt was the culprit and it was cleared. Heavy colonization directly from Terra and Alpha Centauri allowed a population growth unseen in previous colonization waves but the area came under attack during the Armageddon War and many worlds were depopulated or badly damaged during the fighting. New Beijing itself suffered a massive and devastating nova bomb attack which wiped out all the defenders in late 2465, killing millions of inhabitants within the system.

New Human League (the League): This interstellar nation was formed out of the ashes of the Armageddon War. With both capital worlds of the PSU destroyed, many worlds began fighting one another over the course of the war, with some deciding to become independent. Dozens and then hundreds of worlds rallied around the high-population world Galloway's World and became the New Human League. Nearby powers like the FAW, the Terran Republik, and the Reformation Group have come in conflict with League forces following the aftermath of the Armageddon War. The League contains all of the Heart Worlds and many Corporate Worlds. It has been highly aggressive in trying to reclaim significant portions of the former Terran Federation, resulting in conflict with its neighbors. The League, in the aftermath of the chaos of the War, has suffered numerous Orion raids and conflicts.

New Idaho: A colony world that rebelled during the Terran Civil War, this planet has 40 million colonists; it was by-passed by Hre’Daak forces during the Armageddon War. It is also the location of a secret high-tech naval repair yard built by the PSU. Admiral Wang Yi fled here after the Battle of Red Rocks for repair and re-supply. Many Reformer colonists live here.

New Jerusalem: Capital of the Reformation Group and a major technoeconomic world with a population of 200 million people. It was threatened by Hre’Daak forces during the Armageddon War and was barely saved from destruction, by timely Tolat intervention. New Jerusalem is a “full goldie” world.

New Testament-class SM: Built at the Jehovah Yards, these six stupendous vessels were all heavily armed with missiles (Wc and Wa2). All warships in this class were destroyed in the Second Arachnid War and only three were rebuilt: the Romans, Galatians, and the Revelation.

Noah Trinary System: A fabulously large solar system, the Noah Trinary System has three stars with a human habitable planet around each of them. Discovered by a Reformer scout Albert Noah-Graves, all three planets were colonized by the Group in 2307 AD. At the time, Terran Federation did not care about the discovery of the system because the first habitable planet was a nearly complete waterworld, a real dog when it came to colonization. Sadly the second planet was a steamy jungle planet that was a real hellhole. The third world was mostly a iceworld, again not one of the best worlds to colonize. However, all three were capable of supporting human life and all three had significant mineral resources that was badly needed by the Group. Within 50 years the system rapidly grew into a major industrial powerhouse. During the Armageddon War, the Noah Trinary System was ignored by Hre'Daak forces when they transited through the system. The planets had no defenses at the time other than a light Reformer task force under the command of Commodore Derek MacMillian-Dodd, who refused combat and was later sacked for that decision. Current population of the system in 2470 is 300 million people.

Norfolk Station: Located in a large asteroid belt in a blue supergiant system, this military outpost was built to resupply and repair the Terran Federation Navy in and around the Reformation Group area. It was also designed as depot to strike against the Group in case they ever rebelled against Terra; Reformers had always openly decried “high-handed foreign influence” from humanity's homeworld. The base was handed over to the Reformers after the Terran Civil War in 2444. It can house up to 600,000 people and nearly 30 small warships (or 6 large ones). Current commanding officer (in 2470) is Commodore Uriah Jacobsen III. 

Nova Bombs: A horrific weapon built by the Hre'Daak, these weapons were able to induce a star to go nova. Numerous nova bombs were used against both military and civilian targets during the Armageddon War, but luckily none were used against Reformer systems during that conflict. No known race was able to duplicate this weapon, even after the war ended.

Obligatory Service Term (OST): A two-year conscription system all Reformer citizens must participate in. Eligibility starts at age sixteen; one must be enrolled before age twenty. Failure to comply is punishable by having a permanent reduction of citizenship status; to Status Two, a grievous society rating within the Group. In addition to possible military service, non-military service is allowed as well (with the majority of Reformers taking this option). The OST was only instituted after the Reformation Group broke away from the Terran Federation and realized it did not (and could never) gain enough military personnel to field even a small warfleet without enforcing such a measure.

Olympus Affair: A political crisis within the Pan-Sentient Union that erupted in 2459 when a star system with eight stars and eight habitable planets was found by a human scout near the Frontier. Claiming the worlds for humans, scout Nicholas Andoya initiated a significant political blunder which was only overcome when human leaders in the PSU Congress finally offered up half of the new worlds to the Orions’ for colonization.

Olympus System: Located near the Reformation Group, the Olympus System is a distant double binary system with eight stars and eight habitable planets and now has 850 million colonists (a major colonization zone for the PSU). After the Armageddon War concluded, this fabulous star system went on to become a major trading partner with the Reformation Group, mainly for Tolat technological goods. In 3480 it became an “associated power” of the Group and a major military force in the Fringe area. The eight planets names are: Yennara, Lemmner, Bosphi, Arretria, Chatalia, Dultiphar, Hetharri, and Hankow.

Omega: A jumbo-sized Earth-like planet, Omega has a population of over 100 million people and is a breadbasket world, producing enormous amounts of food for neighboring planets. Omega is five times larger than Terra but it has very few metals in its crust; standard gravity is a little over 1G. NOTE: most worlds of this size are not habitable for humans due to their high gravity.

Omega Protocol: A top secret military order that requires Reformation naval ships to physically ram an enemy ship: only used in the worst possible battles. Its implementation is only theoretical since no Reformer combat situation has ever been so dire to test the order. All ship captains in the Reformation Navy know about this ultimate order. Admirals and task force commanders may ask for volunteers to ram using the Omega protocol, but they can also order certain ships to do so if necessary.

Oriskany, RNS: A Roughneck-class troopship, it was destroyed in the Killeen System and sparked the beginning of the Second Arachnid War. A Reformer military ship; six of these auxiliaries were built in this class. It was designed to rapid-fire a large number of SLEDs very quickly from the ship.

Pan-Sentient Union: A huge super-state that combined the Terran Federation and the Khanate of Orion into one large multi-racial empire. The creation of the PSU sparked the Terran Civil War, and ten years of destructive fighting. At the outbreak of the Armageddon War, the PSU was the largest and most powerful state in the known galaxy. 

Phase Technology: A unique and devastating threat, phase weaponry was used to annihilate most of humanity’s warships in the Red Rocks System. These weapons phase in and out of reality, making them almost impossible to hit. Humanity later adopted these weapons to defend themselves against further Hre’Daak attacks.

Pike System: A triple-star system with over 80 planets, Pike has several fabulously wealthy mineral-rich asteroids belts (3 immense belts) and is the location of the Pike Wormhole Nexus. It’s also the site of construction of humanity's first Bishop Ring. There are no habitable worlds located here nor any terraformable ones either, thus dozens of wheelworlds, cylworlds, rings, toroider habs, toroids, and orbital cols have been constructed over the last 200 years. Pike itself is a red supergiant with a green stellar companion (Payne), and a distant red dwarf (the Prayer System). Allied with the Reformation Group, it became an “associate member” in 2480 AD and has a significant military fleet, and hundreds of merships (mostly under mostly civilian control). 

Pilgrim System: A major Reformation world, the system sports over 200 million colonists. During the Armageddon War it was ignored by Hre’Daak forces. Natives are known as “Pilgrims” and often wear a tattoo of the Cross on their foreheads; some few are religious fanatics and terrorists, attacking the “godless atheists” of the League and the FAW.

Propochek, Admiral: A corrupt Terran Federation admiral, his actions in the Fringe sparked the Reformation Rebellion. His incompetence caused the destruction of the highly flammable atmosphere on the planet Deuteronomy, killing more than 50,000 Reformer colonists. After fleeing justice, he returned with a TFN battlefleet to re-assert control of the entire area and was killed in battle in 2438.

Python, TFNS: A Dire Snake-class battleship, this vessel was Admiral Propochek's command ship and was destroyed in the First Battle of Jehovah Station. It was this vessel that ignited the planet Deuteronomy's atmosphere, creating the revolt within the Reformation Group. The vessel was later destroyed in combat during the Reformation Rebellion and the name was later quietly retired from service by the PSU Navy.

Quantico Chain: A neighboring chain of planets and warp point nexii. It is the location of the prisonworlds Hooper and Hardtack, and the Quantico Warp Nexus. Mainly colonized by Terra, its inhabitants are mostly Japanese, Taiwanese, and Melanesian. Quanitco itself is a heavily armed star system and associated with the Reformation Group in 2470.

Reformation Group: The Reformation Group is a mid-sized Fringe polity cut off from the rest of the Terran Republik. Initially settled by religious pacifists, the region is lightly populated and has faced several attacks by outside powers, all of which have been beaten back. The Reformation Group is strongly allied with the crab-like Tolat race, which possesses extremely advanced technology. The capital of the Group (New Jerusalem) has the largest concentration of population in the region, is just over 150 million people (a very small population in this section of the galaxy). The Deuteronomy System, at 50,000 people, is the other end of the spectrum. After the disaster that depopulated that planet, most civilian survivors in the orbital stations and moon bases were moved to more secure locations within the Group while military forces still occupied the strategically important Toricelli Naval R&D Center. Also located in the Deuteronomy System, the Toricelli Center was the site of the Boneyard, the long-term storage facility set up to hold out-of-date warships (for refitting or scrapping) and the vitally strategic Jehovah Station Fleet Yards. During the Arachnid War the Terran Federations’ first monitors were laid down at the Yards (the TFNS Horatio Spruance and TFNS Thomas Anderson) as well as the leading units in the Minerva Waldeck-class MT/V (the TFNS Antonio Lopez) at the start of the Terran Civil War the first Fringer heavy capital ships were laid down here as well; the RNS King Solomon and the RNS King David (both Christ the King-class supermonitors). Finally, Deuteronomy is the site of the First and Second Battle for Deuteronomy and the location of initial contact with the crab-like Tolat race. The planet Deuteronomy was (accidentally?) depopulated by Federation forces during the brutal fighting of the Terran Civil War when a Federation battleship ignited the planets' volatile atmosphere, an event which sparked the uprising in this region.

Reformation Group Rebellion: This Fringe polity was colonized directly from Terra during the 2220s and reached a population of over 500 million people by the time the Reformation Group Rebellion broke out, which occurred in 2438. At that time the entire Fringe Worlds also attempted a breakaway from the Terran Federation as well, sparking the much larger Terran Civil War. Cut off from the rest of the Fringe by warpoints dominated by the Federation, the religious-minded patriots of the Reformation Group declared independence after a TFN battleship (TNS Python) negligently ignited the planet Deuteronomy's atmosphere, killing over 50,0000 Reformation citizens. The main battle took place in the Deuteronomy System and is known as the First Battle of Jehovah Station. It was commanded on the Reformation side by Admiral Craig Labuda, who won the fight against a much larger Federation armada after a desperate action surrounding the Jehovah Fleet Yards. Tolat intervention helped the Reformer cause and the Group won its freedom in the end.

Reformation Navy: Since its foundation (in the 2200s), the Reformation Group has always had military personnel problems, being unable to man any sort of large warship due to the low population of the Group and the pacificist nature of its citizens. In fact, less than a dozen Reformers ever joined the TFN Navy until the outbreak of the Terran Civil War, which sparked outrage in the hearts and minds of the general Reformer population. The Reformation Navy (RN) has heavily used automated weaponry and small craft to help balance out this problem, but in the face of vast offensive forces like the Arachnids or the Hre'Daak, they had started fielding a few much larger warships, including New Textament-class supermonitors (total of 6 built) and three Christ the King-class supermonitors. Working with the Tolats, the Reformation Group was able to field the first juggernauts during the Armageddon War but not in enough time or numbers to matter significantly. Today, the Reformation Navy comprises of mostly carriers, battlecruisers, and a few capital ships located at strategic points within the Groups' space. Current head of service is Reformation Skymarshal Alexander Jones. Major Reformer military bases are in the following locations:
Deuteronomy System (Jehovah Shipyards)
Kodiak Base
Leviticus Base
Newport Naval Base
New Jerusalem Shipyards
The Noah Trinary System
The RN has continually had problems manning a significant fleet, so it turned rather quickly to automated defenses like combat wasps, unmanned fighters, and drones. Surprisingly the RN has never had a problem with funding and manning its non-combat auxiliary ships and has fielded a wide array of tankers, supply ships, troop transports, assault ships, tugs, mobile space docks, and hospital ships.

Renaldo Chavarra: A TFN fleet captain who died during the 2nd Bug War, he was known for his renowned bravery during several impossible combat situations; a supermonitor class was named after him (Fvc equipped).

Rim Federation (Rim): A small human polity located near Orion-space, it was a former region of the Terran Federation but was cut off from contact with humanity's homeworld during the Terran Civil War. The Rim fought hard against the Terran Republik but was unable to regain contact with Earth and became a separate nation at the end of that conflict. The Rim also engaged in substantial fighting during the Armageddon War in support of the Pan-Sentient Union, especially in the defense of Alpha Centauri in 2466. In the aftermath of that devastating war the Rim has been raided by Orions and but has now rebuilt much of its fleet, thwarting most outside attacks.

Roughneck-class troopship: After the conflict with the Warlord, the Reformation Group realized it badly needed auxiliary military vessels to engage in more asymmetrical wars. The Roughneck's were built from the keel up as a troopship, capable of holding up to 2,000 troops plus the ship’s crew. This military-grade troopship is unique in that it is equipped with SLED3s, fired out of two dozen custom-designed launch tubes. These SLEDs are capable of boarding warships or delivering troops to the surface of a moon, asteroid, base, or even planet. A total of six were built before the outbreak of the Second Arachnid War; three were lost during that conflict. Ships in this class were the Oriskany, Iwo Jima, Belleau Wood, Kearsarge, Bataan, and the Tarawa. Boarding sleds are still unable to penetrate shielded targets.

Samuel: This Reformer planet is an earth-prime world, also known as a full goldie (a “goldilocks” planet). Samuel is a Reformation Navy retirement world set up specifically for career officers who retire from the RN. Population in 2470 is currently 80 million people. It is connected directly to the Deuteronomy System a via warp point in the outermost part of the system. Nearby Reformer worlds are New Hope and Solace.

Second Arachnid War: After the Fourth Interstellar War, a single system (The System Which Must Be Concealed) escaped detection and during an eighty year lull grew to threatening size. The local Fringe world polity (the Reformation Group) discovered the new bugs and began the Second Arachnid War. Outclassed and outgunned, the Reformers eventually called in the Pan-Sentient Union for help late in the war. These combined forces crushed the remaining bug forces and ended the conflict (which lasted from 2450 to 2454).

Slaughter of Alpha Centauri: When the unstoppable Hre'Daak attacks reached Alpha Centauri, it sparked panic within the human government on neighboring Terra. Weak military reinforcements reached the system but were unable to stop the enemy from badly damaging the inhabited planets and wrecking the entire systems’ economic infrastructure. Four separate human fleets were slaughtered in Alpha Centauri before the Hre'Daak finally warped out to Terra, annihilating humanity's homeworld. Reformation forces were rushed to this system to defend Terra but were crushed by the enemy.

SLED3 technology: Developed initially by an alien race (the Thebans), SLEDs was never significantly adopted by any other naval service (except the Gorm) until the Reformation Group revised and updated them in the 2440s. They are a quick and effective way to board enemy ships, bases, and asteroid forts; the Reformer SLEDs also have the ability to assault planetary targets as well. They were built into the Roughneck-class troopship and (later) the Mauna Loa-class assault cruisers. SLEDs more common name is “boarding torpedoes”.

Solitudo: This planet is a jumbo-sized world with hardly any metals buts its size gives it the ability to support tens of billions of people. Colonized by the Reformation Group in 2245, Solitudo is literally ten times the size of Earth, but with a potassium core that makes the gravity on the planet just a little over 1G. Current population in 2470 is 110 million people, most of whom are involved in high-end data processing, organic computers, and AI development and construction. Automated farming techniques enables Solitudo to export a tremendous amount of foodstuffs to the rest of the Group and beyond.

Supermonitors: At the beginning of the Armageddon War, supermonitors were the Pan-Sentient Unions' largest warship design. Only thirty had been constructed in the Terran-half of the PSU before that dreadful war broke out and they were enormously large (300 hull spaces in size). Being the newest capital warships in the PSU fleet, the various classes of supermonitors had the most advanced defensive suite known to man: quantum armor, phased shields, damage-control nanobots, etc. Most construction of these ships took place at Galloway's World, Great Ships, and the large Garsten Yards in the newly formed Terran "Frontier". Unfortunately, their engine speeds were so slow that it literally took months to redeploy to the combat zone (in the case of PSNS Resolute eight months of travel time to Red Rocks from Zephrain). These slow strategic speeds crippled heavy fleet unit movements across the PSU and in the aftermath of the war caused a great deal of in-fighting among the political and  military factions over their use and their initial deployment. Reformer supermonitor classes are the Christ the King-class (beam heavy) and the New Testament-class (missile heavy).

System Which Must Be Concealed (SWMBC): An immense star system with three habitable worlds and four large asteroid belts, the SWMBC was colonized directly from Home Hive 2 in the latter part of the First Arachnid War, when the bugs realized they were losing that conflict. Hidden behind a close warp point, this colony was started to ensure the survival of the bug race. With the destruction of all Home Hive worlds and the entire Omnivoracity, the SWMBC hid for nearly 80 years until the Reformation Navy stumbled up it in 2450. By then a huge fleet of warships and thousands of gunboats had been built, which was ruthlessly launched at the Reformers. The bugs eventually lost this conflict and a joint PSU/Tolat/Reformer fleet annihilated the entire system after a brutal 4 year fight. Reformers still aggressively patrol the system to this day, searching for any further signs of the bugs.

Techno-Recency: A term for how technically updated a warship is. In the Reformation Navy, all vessels are classified with this techno-standard. Class 1 (brand spanking new), Class 2 (moderately useful), and Class 3 (grossly outdated). Also known as a TR Rating.

Technofossil: Located in the outer regions of the Fringe are the fossilized remains of a dozen different alien cultures. Most of these items are technological in form and some are very advanced. These sorts of technofossils can be very dangerous and are usually turned over to specialists in the Republik or the Reformation Group when found. In fact, a recent technofossil find almost destroyed the entire Reformation Group when a lethal planetary-wide nanite swarm operated by an ancient AI was awoken in the Beta Lemnoris system and began to rapidly spread. Luckily it was disabled by Tolat intervention.

Temporal Shielding: An impressive super-technology possessed by the Hre'Daak, these formidable shields shop virtually all mass-less and near mass-less weapons like lasers and force beams from striking a ship. All Hre'Daak vessels have this and several other forms of shielding, including nuclear dampeners and antimatter suppressors. This field extends outwards for 100 meters from an enemy ship and can be enabled indefinitely, however primary beams oddly can still punch through this energy barrier.

Terran Civil War: A brutal conflict which lasted from 2438 to 2444, the rebellion was sparked by the amalgamation of the alien "Orions" into a new super-state, the Pan-Sentient Union. Many low-population "Fringe Worlds" located on the periphery of the Terran Federation rebelled and began a vicious six year conflict. In the end, the Fringe won it's freedom but the massive civilian deaths across the Terran Federation crippled future relations among the many human and alien states in the region. Most nearby states officially (and wisely) sat out the conflict, including the Khanate of Orion. 

Terran Republik: Also known as “the Fringe Worlds”, this interstellar nation broke away from the Terran Federation in a devastating civil war that left tens of millions dead on both sides. The creation of the Republik cut off “the Rim” from the rest of the Federation, forcing it to become its own polity; its located between the Republik and Orion space. After the Terran Civil War (TCW) the Republik rebuilt most of its armed forces and focused on larger classes of vessels for combat, mainly superdreadnoughts, attack carriers, and supermonitors. When the Armageddon War broke out, the Republik stood by the newly-formed human/Orion Pan-Sentient Union (the PSU). Militarily the war was a disaster for all sides, including the Republik. After that conflict ended the Republik went on to create a much larger union of planets from the ashes of the former PSU. In 2470 the Terran Republik had 684 worlds, its capital was at Beaufort, and its armed forces numbered over 2 million personnel. The TR has excellent relations with the Crucians, the Reformers, and the Rao; relations with the FAW and the League are very poor, and is openly hostile with the new raiding Orion Cantons. The Republik's largest naval base is located at Novaya Rodina, a vast and critically important warp point nexus. Authors note: the use of the word Republik is being used to help with any confusion between the Terran Rim, the Terran Federation, and the Terran Republic (they all look and sound too similar).

Tiamat, TFNS: Built at the Jehovah Station Fleet Yards, the TFNS Tiamat (a Red Dragon-class juggernaut) was only one of two ships of the juggernaut-class to be completed before the war ended because of their immense size and long construction time. The Red Dragon-class weighed in at 900,000 tons and has 9,000 personnel. This vessel was built with joint funds from the Reformation Group and the Pan-Sentient Union, and once fielded it was almost immediately turned over to the PSU due to its enormous maintenance costs. Later, the Tiamat was lost in 2468 and was discovered to have traveled nearly halfway across the galaxy in its six-year search for home. The ship and its crew discovered numerous races and many amazing technologies during its journey.

Tolats: An ancient race, the Tolats have genetically engineered themselves into a more hardy race, one which is capable of breathing chlorine, methane, hydrogen, helium, and a number of other gases besides oxygen, as well as surviving in vacuum. They also have the ability to not breathe for long periods of time, if necessary. Tolats do not suffer illness and all injuries repair themselves quickly and they can eat just about anything made of organic molecules, including all animal and vegetable matter or by-products, even petroleum. Tolat space is small but highly developed, with their military hardware being the most advanced among all the known races. Their history goes back over 2 million years and they are allied with the human-based Reformation Group.

Tollbooths: Also known as Kerr-Tipler objects, non-catastrophic singularities, or portal arrays, these cylinders spin at unimaginable speeds and create a transit tube from one array to another (the Skyway located in the Rishii Maze). These tollbooths are usually located on habitable planets and were built by the long-dead Builder race: the Maze is spread out over several dozen worlds in the Fringer region. The most numerous race inhabiting the Rishii Maze is the Rishii, but several other races are located there as well, including the empathic Mehirans, the Friendlies, the Markabb, and the “Elves”. Many different kinds of vehicles travel the Skyway, trading goods across the worlds within the Maze. The Roadbuilders left their super-advanced automated robots which maintain the Skyway: the Skyway itself is what is left of their legacy.

Toricelli Naval R&D Center: One of the best military research and development centers in the Terran Federation, the Toricelli naval labs initially specialized in missile weaponry and later, under the auspices of the Reformation Group, both SLED and gunboat technology were developed here. This R&D center was handed over to the Reformers after the Terran Civil War ended, with most of the researchers leaving for the Inner Worlds but it was restaffed by Reformer scientists. Significant weapons invented here: they were the Heavy Capital Missile, missile pods, intelligent war drones, SLED3, and the Reformer Havoc-class gunboat. 

Travelling World: A huge starship (moving at sublight speeds and usually kilometers long) fully self-contained and ecologically stable that travels between the stars, most likely looking for a habitable world or new home to colonize. An example of this type of generation-ship is the Snee Interstellar Fleet of 14 vessels which arrived at the Reformation world of Communion in 2475 AD from a nearby star (the Snee have since been relocated to the Okinawa Chain).

Violence Specialists: aka Marines, officially called violence specialists in the Reformation Group.

War Drones: A new breed of intelligent drones. At the beginning of the Armageddon War, war drones were (on the whole) merely AI tele-operated robots: welders and other designs of maintenance bots, probes carrying sensor arrays, security drones that remained wired into the complexes of ships AIs controlled, or other discrete versions for various security/police applications. Some drones did have some autonomy, but few could truly be classified as AI for they were merely extensions of an AI: hands, eyes and guns. During the Armageddon War, however, it became necessary to give these drones greater and greater autonomy, since the many high-energy weapons employed in that conflict tended to fracture comlinks between AI and its tele-operated drone. Initially the new versions were sub-AI that were able to implement complex programs, but it soon becoming evident that artificial intelligence was the one big advantage the PSU had over the Hre'Daak, war drones were given complete autonomy and full consciousness. They became fully AI, with all that implied. The first of these drones were quite simple – an armored shell, weapons, brain, and drive system – and they were quite effective but casualties were high and production needed to be maintained at a frenetic level. Quality control suffered and AI drones that in peacetime would have needed substantial adjustments, were sent to the front. Those that did well and survived, were copied, though errors continued. This whole scenario acted as a fast evolutionary process in the development of AI war drones. The inevitable result being that towards the end of the war they were mostly crafty, belligerent, and very good at killing things and blowing things up. It is of course axiomatic that the soldier returning from war cannot easily settle into civilian life. So it was with the drones, and many unfortunate incidents after the war led to a great distrust of such entities. The manufacture of them ceased and AIs returned to the use of telefactors or drones loaded with their own subminds which could be easily resubsumed. Many drones found niches in Fringer society, many left it to find their fortunes elsewhere, many other simply turned themselves off after the war ended.

Warlord of Han Kao: A mass murderer with delusions of grandeur, he was the leader of the Asian world Han Kao and was a militant Asian supremacist. The military actions he ordered started a conflict with the Reformation Group shortly after the end of the Terran Civil War in which millions of civilians perished. The Warlord lost the war and reportedly killed himself as Reformer commandos homed in on his last hideout, on Liaoning. This conflict was eventually called the Warlord Invasion by historians but unfortunately they were never able to discover his real name.

Warp Commandos: Created by the Pan-Sentient Union just before the outbreak of the Armageddon War, these specialized warfighters can transit through an active wormhole without the benefit of a ship, mainly to infiltrate enemy vessels, facilities, or bases and destroy critical systems, facilities, or assassinate key personnel. They were used effectively several times during that stupendous conflict and remain one of the most closely-held secret programs in the League, the successor state to the PSU. Reportedly the details of the warp commandos were leaked to the Reformation Group, but that has not been substantiated. This warp system is emplaced upon a large mobile vessel and able to move in and out of the battlefront; in the Battle for Hamyang this warship was the PSUN Omega, a specialized supermonitor that was destroyed in the same battle.

Warp Point Junctions: A Warp Point Junction (or nexus) differs from standard warp point nexii in that a large number of warp points are affiliated with the parent star. The number of warp points vary from system to system and their locations are always randomized, making defense of such junctions difficult at best. Orbital forts and asteroid fortresses are generally towed to the warp points by military or commercial tugs and left on station, defending against any incoming attackers. Both a strategic asset and liability, Warp Point Junctions within the Terran Federation are usually very heavily defended. The Novaya Rodina Warp Point Junction (located in the Terran Republik) is one of the most famous of these anomalies.

Warp Rating: When a living being enters a “wormhole” it is usually encased in a warship or other type of vessel, which surrounds and protects the body and mind of a person travelling in that odd dimension but anyone sent directly into that space without benefit of such protection are in extreme danger, and its side effects are always devastating: usually instant death or insanity for any living being. However, humans have a certain ability to endure entering the warped space of a wormhole, ranging from 1 (can only endure warp travel while sedated or unconscious) to 4 (can enter warp in a sealed suit and survive). Less than ten percent of most starfaring species (the average is closer to five percent) are able to enter warp space like this. Humans, for reasons not yet understood, are an extraordinary exception, with fifty percent of their population rated at level 1 or higher. Warp “commandos” were created by the PSU as an ultra-secret military program just before the outbreak of the Armageddon War. They were used in combat several times during that conflict, initially at the Battle of Hamyang, where they were able to board the Hre'Daak mother ship and disrupt it for a time. 

Wolfhound-D class carriers: Built by the Terran Federation, this class of warship was an aerospace carrier that was heavily used in several major human conflicts, most notably in the Terran Civil War. More than 80 of these vessels were built in this class, with slightly over half lost on combat duty. When the new advanced attack carriers (CVA) were introduced in the Terran Federation the Wolfhound-class were mostly mothballed and left to age away their rest of their useful lives in military depots located across the Federation. When the Reformation Group rebelled in 2438 it was able to capture the nearby Boneyard and all its decommissioned warships, including six older Wolfhounds: the Wasp, Hornet, Lexington, Saratoga, Enterprise, and Yorktown. They were immediately sent to the Jehovah Station and updated, adding a new advanced cloaking device to the vessel as well as spray-on armor, upgrading it to the D-class. These newly modified vessels were commanded by Admiral Craig Labuda during the First Battle for Jehovah Station, a conflict with the Reformers won but at heavy cost. After that, the Wolfhound's were permanently stationed in Deuteronomy to cover the warp points and protect the vastly productive Jehovah Fleet Yards. Several of these carriers were lost in combat during the Second Arachnid War and the entire class was scrapped or mothballed after the Armageddon War ended. Two of these Reformer vessels took part in the Slaughter of Alpha Centauri, the desperate defense of humanity's homeworld against the Hre'Daak. Both the “Lady Lex” and the Yorktown were destroyed in that battle.

Wynter: A single-sex (men only) world located in near the Reformation Group, Wynter is a very advanced technoeconomy that is heavily glaciated and is actively involved in high-tech trade with its neighbors. This trade is mainly in the area of genetic engineering; crops, cloning of animals, men-only ectogenesis chambers, and cloned body parts. The population of Wynter is just 67 million people but the planet is held in contempt by most other worlds, especially the religious Reformers who view their lifestyle as an abomination to God. Calling someone a “Wynterman” is a deadly insult in the Fringe; its slang for being a “homo” (less than a man). Most Wyntermen have also been genetically altered and make fantastically deadly combat soldiers, boarding marines, and elite commandos.

Xenoengineer: A scientist specializing in utilizing alien technologies, usually very advanced ones. The Reformation Group has six teams of these specialists on 24/7 standby in case a high-tech discovery is made in Reformer space.