Colonial Authority

Topic: Lexicon

A Colonial Authority is a corporation that has been delegated key responsibilities of the state within a specific region of space. Colonial Authorities are invariably influential mega-corporations with a significant number of government contracts – so significant that the state has determined that it’s better to keep them happy than it would be to run the risk of pissing them off.

The designation is typically granted to corporations that provide services deemed vital to human health and security, whose assets and income total more than sixty percent of the gross domestic product of the company’s geographical area of operations, and for whom the state (or a major state contractor) is the primary source of revenue.

A rough equivalent would be the East India Company.

The Colonial Authority Corporate Interests And Espionage Act

Topic: Lexicon

A block of corporate-backed legislation that can, under certain specific conditions, extend “enemy of the state” status to persons deemed detrimental to the interests or security of corporations granted Colonial Authority status. The legislation effectively enables Federal peacekeeping forces to arrest, detain or execute any person who commits a crime in Colonial Authority space or against Colonial Authority assets operating outside of Colonial Authority space.

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Executive Order 571.3 (Templar)

Topic: Lexicon

An addendum to Templar law that prohibits any Templar or Templar asset from setting foot on a vaguely described continent in a pocket universe of an undefined planet. Access without escort by either Michael West or the Frater Superior of the order is strictly prohibited, and carries severe penalties.

The vague text of the order (omitting region of space, system, planet, etceteras) is available to any Templar initiate. Templar of rank VII ° or higher are allowed access to a version of the document detailing the region of space, and Templar of VIII ° are issued the full text.

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Jumpnet

Topic: Lexicon

A jumpnet is an alloy mesh that surrounds a spacecraft like a Faraday cage. A Navigator in physical or very close proximity to a jumpnet can transition a spacecraft into or out of Am.

The field amplification effect of the jumpnet medium extends the HRV of any entity that makes contact with it – while this has a profound, civilization-defining benefit for Navigators, contact with a jumpnet mesh also boosts the abilities of telepaths and remote viewers.

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MBO-2

Topic: Lexicon

An object removed from MBO-1 by Aleph Stevens in the early 1960s, MBO-2 is initially assumed to be some sort of flight data recorder. According to Brandon James the enclosure is opaque to conventional medical scanners and emits an unspecified type of low level radiation. Unique for an apparently synthetic artifact, the object emits a measurable high-range Holt-Rischmann field with a short falloff radius.

An attempted psychokinetic “read” of the object by Judas Lang resulted in extensive electromagnetic damage to Helios Orbital and the sudden existence of the Heirotus patent portfolio. The overnight “discovery” of synthetic FTL, mass amplification and mass abstraction technologies along with a lengthy number of other advances quickly transformed the fledgling Heirotus from a tiny academic research project into a titan of the aerospace industry.

Eventually, Lang convinced James to allow for the use of the artifact in classified FTL research, and MBO-2 was subsequently lost in the Epiphany incident of 1968.

PISSPOWERASSCHRIST

Topic: Lexicon

A militantly obscure underground breakbeat industrial “movement” enjoyed by Jason, listened to by Thad and proselytized by Rayne.

A real (joke) “band” with real (joke) music and a real (joke) website.

Standard Date

Topic: Lexicon

The Galactic Standard Date (GSD) is a wide-spread means of time-keeping. While “Standard Date” is the official term, it’s considered “Galactic Standard” by the Fed and its Colonial Authorities and “Federal Standard” by non-Fed states.

The 360-day Standard Year (SY) is based on no specific orbital period or rotational period. Rather, it is officially based on an average of the orbital periods of several human-inhabited planets, with the 25-hour Standard Day based on a rounded average of broadly sampled human biorhythms. Unofficially, there’s 360 ° to a circle and the math from there is just… easier.

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