Текст книги "Wolf Pack"

Glossary

CULTURAL/POLITICAL TERMS

After the fall of the Star League General Aleksandr Kerensky, commander of the Regular Star League army, led his forces out of the Inner Sphere in what is known as the first Exodus. After making their way beyond the Periphery, more than 1,300 light years away from Terra, Kerensky and his followers settled in a group of marginally habitable star systems near a large globular cluster that hid them from the Inner Sphere. Within fifteen years, Civil War erupted among these exiles, threatening to destroy everything they had worked so hard to build. In a second Exodus, Nicholas Kerensky, son of Aleksandr, led his followers to one of the worlds of the globular cluster to escape the new war. It was there on Strana Mechty that Kerensky first conceived and organized the system that would one day become known as the Clans.

Though Wolf's Dragoons originated among the Clans, they have repudiated their allegiance to the Wolf Clan. Nevertheless many Clan traditions, concepts, and customs still prevail among the Dragoons, as described below.

BLOODNAME

The Clans have approximately 760 Bloodnames. These are the surnames of the 800 warriors who stood with Nicholas Kerensky during the Exodus Civil War. These warriors were the first contributors to the elaborate eugenics program by which the Clans create their elite warrior caste in each generation. A warrior earns the right to bear one of these surnames only if he succeeds in a series of grueling competitions known as the Trial of Bloodright; only twenty-five warriors are permitted to bear any one Bloodname at a given time.

When one of the twenty-five Bloodnamed warriors dies, a Trial is held to determine who will assume that Bloodname. A contender must prove his Bloodname lineage, then win the Trial of Bloodright against the other contenders. Only Bloodnamed warriors may sit on the Clan Councils or are eligible to become a Khan or ilKhan. Clan Bloodnames are determined matrilin-eally, at least after the original generation. Because a warrior can only inherit from his or her female parent, he or she has a claim to only one Bloodname. Forty of the original 800 Bloodnames were eliminated after one of the Clans was annihilated for committing a grievous crime against the Clans as a whole.

BONDSMAN

Clans can keep prisoners taken during combat. These are called bondsmen, and are considered members of the laborer caste, unless and until the capturing Clan releases them or promotes them back to warrior status. A bondsman is bound by honor, not by shackles. Custom dictates that even Bloodnamed warriors captured in combat be held for a time as bondsmen. All bondsmen wear a woven bracelet called a bond-cord. The base color of the -bondcord indicates to which Clan the individual is now bound, and the striping indicates which unit captured him.

CASTES

Clan society is rigidly divided into five castes: warrior, scientist, merchant, technician, and laborer. Each caste has many subcastes, which are based on specialties within a professional field. The warrior caste is based on a systematic eugenics program that uses the genes of prestigious current and past warriors to produce new members of the caste (see Sibko). These products of genetic engineering are known as true-borns. Other castes maintain a quality gene pool by strategic marriages within each caste.

CODEX

The codex is each Clan warrior's personal record. It includes the names of the original Bloodnamed warriors from which a warrior is descended. It also records background information such as the warrior's generation number, Blood House, and codex ID, an alphanumeric code noting the unique aspects of that person's DNA. The codex also contains a record of the warrior's military career. Many Clan warriors wear their codex as a kind of bracelet; Wolf's Dragoons members wear their codex as tags around the neck.

COMSTAR

ComStar, the interstellar communications network, was the brainchild of Jerome Blake, Minister of Communications during the latter years of the Star League. After the League's fall, Blake seized Terra and reorganized what was left of the communications network into a private organization that sold its services to the five Successor Houses for a profit. Since that time, ComStar has also developed into a powerful secret society steeped in mysticism and ritual. Initiates to the quasi-religious ComStar Order commit themselves to lifelong service.

ELEMENTALS

Elementals are the elite, battle-armored infantry of the Clans. These men and women are giants, bred specifically to handle Clan-developed battle armor. The Inner Sphere military has recently captured samples of these battle suits and have developed their own versions, but they do not breed 2.4-meter-tall Elementals to wear and fight in the battle suits.

FREEBORN/FREEBIRTH

An individual conceived and born by natural means is freeborn. Because the Clans value their eugenics program so highly, a freeborn is automatically assumed to have little potential.

Freebirth is an epithet used by trueborn members of the Clan warrior caste, generally expressing disgust or frustration. If a trueborn warrior refers to another trueborn as a freebirth, it is a mortal insult.

HONOR ROAD

Clan society is a warrior's society in which honor is a key important concept defining behavior and obligations. Honor road is a Clan code of conduct that is analogous to the Japanese bushido,the way of the warrior.

HONORNAME

Among Wolf's Dragoons an Honorname is analogous to a Clan Bloodname (see above). The surnames descend from the warriors who originally arrived with Jaime and Joshua Wolf when the Dragoons came to the Inner Sphere on an extended intelligence mission for Clan Wolf. To be eligible to compete for an Honorname, a Dragoon must be of the proper ageframe and neither under disciplinary ban, nor the holder of another Honorname. In contrast to the Clans, only one individual in each ageframe, or generation, has the right to bear a particular Honorname. All eligible Dragoons with a known genetic link to the Honorname bloodline are honorbound to compete in the Honor-name Trial. It is unusual for an individual to lose the right to bear an Honorname he/she has won, but it could happen as a result of a particularly heinous crime or breach of honor.

INNER SPHERE

The Inner Sphere was the term originally applied to the star empires that joined together to form the Star League in the mid-2700s. The states, kingdoms, and pirate domains just beyond the Inner Sphere are known as the Periphery, the great unknown. When Aleksandr Kerensky led his exiles out from the Inner Sphere, they traveled even beyond the Periphery in search of a life that would remove them irrevocably from the destructive wars of the Inner Sphere.

JUMPSHIPS AND DROPSHIPS

JumpShip

Interstellar travel is accomplished via JumpShips, first developed in the twenty-second century. These somewhat ungainly vessels consist of a long, thin drive core and a sail resembling an enormous parasol, which can extend up to a kilometer in width. The ship is named for its ability to "jump" instantaneously across vast distances—up to thirty light years per jump. Before it can make another jump, however, the ship must recharge its interstellar drives by gathering up more solar energy. This can take up to a week.

The JumpShip's enormous sail is constructed from a special metal that absorbs vast quantities of electromagnetic energy from the nearest star. When it has soaked up enough energy, the sail transfers it to the drive core, which converts it into a space-twisting field. An instant later, the ship arrives at the next jump point, a distance of up to thirty light years. This field is known as hyperspace, and its discovery opened to mankind the gateway to the stars.

JumpShips never land on planets. Interplanetary travel is carried out by DropShips, vessels that are attached to the JumpShip until arrival at the jump point.

DropShip

Because interstellar JumpShips must avoid entering the heart of a solar system, they must "dock" in space at a considerable distance from a system's inhabited worlds. DropShips were developed for interplanetary travel. As the name implies, a DropShip is attached to hardpoints on the JumpShip's drive core, later to be dropped from the parent vessel after in-system entry. Though incapable of FTL travel, DropShips are highly maneuverable, well-armed, and sufficiently aerodynamic to take off from and land on a planetary surface. The journey from the jump point to the inhabited worlds of a system usually requires a normal-space journey of several days or weeks, depending on the type of star.

KHAN

Each Clan elects two leaders, or Khans. One serves as the Clan's senior military commander and bureaucratic administrator. The Second Khan's position is less well-defined. He or she is second-in-command, carrying out duties assigned by the first Khan. In times of great internal or external threat, or when a coordinated effort is required of all Clans, an ilKhan is chosen to serve as the supreme ruler of the Clans.

LOREMASTER

The Loremaster is the keeper of Clan laws and history. The position is honorable and politically powerful. The Loremaster plays a key role in inquiries and trials, where he is often assigned the role of Advocate or Interrogator.

OATHMASTER

The Oathmaster is the honor guard for any official Clan ceremony. The position is similar to that of an Inner Sphere sergeant-at-arms, but it carries a greater degree of respect. The Oathmaster administers all oaths, and the Loremaster records them. The position of Oathmaster is usually held by the oldest Blood-named warrior in a Clan (if he or she desires the honor), and is one of the few positions not decided by combat.

PERIPHERY

Beyond the borders of the Inner Sphere is the Periphery, the edge of the vast domain of known and unknown worlds stretching endlessly into interstellar night. Once populated by colonies from Terra, the worlds of the Periphery were devastated technologically, politically, and economically by the fall of the Star League. At present, the Periphery is the refuge of piratical Bandit Kings, privateers, and outcasts from the Inner Sphere.

QUIAFF/QUINEG

These Clan expressions are placed at the end of rhetorical questions. If an affirmative answer is expected, quiaffis used. If the speaker expects a negative answer, quinegis the proper closure.

REMEMBRANCE, THE

The Remembranceis an ongoing heroic saga detailing Clan history from the time of the Exodus from the Inner Sphere to the present day. The Remembranceis continually expanded to include contemporary events. Each Clan has a slightly different version reflecting its own opinions and experiences. All Clan warriors can quote whole verses of this marvelous epic from memory, and it is common to see passages from the book lovingly painted on the sides of OmniMechs, fighters, and even battle armor.

SEYLA

This word is the ritual response voiced in unison by those witnessing solemn Clan ceremonies, rituals, and other important gatherings. No one is sure of the origin or exact meaning of the word, but it is uttered only with the greatest reverence and awe.

SIBKO

A sibko consists of a group of children produced from the same male and female geneparents in the Clan's eugenics program to create its warrior caste. The members of the sibko are raised together, then begin to undergo constant testing. Those who fail are transferred to one of the lower castes. A sibko consists of approximately twenty members, but usually only four or five remain at the time of the final test to become Clan warriors, the Trial of Position. These tests and other adversities may bind the surviving "sibkin" together.

STAR LEAGUE

The Star League was formed in 2571 in an attempt to peacefully ally the major star empires of human-occupied space, or the Inner Sphere. The League prospered for almost 200 years, until civil war broke out in 2751. The League was eventually destroyed when the ruling body, known as the High Council, disbanded in the midst of a struggle for power. Each of the Great House leaders then declared him or herself First Lord of the Star League, and within months, war had engulfed the Inner Sphere. This conflict continues to the present day, almost three centuries later. This era of continuous war is now known simply as the Succession Wars.

SUCCESSOR STATES

After the fall of the Star League, the remaining members of the High Council each asserted his or her right to become First Lord of the Star League. Their star empires became known as the Successor States and the rulers as the Successor Lords. The Clan invasion has temporarily interrupted the centuries of war—the Succession Wars—that first began in 2786. The battleground of these wars is the vast Inner Sphere, which is composed of all the star systems once occupied by the Star League's member-states. The Successor Lords have temporarily put aside their differences in order to meet the threat of a common foe, the Clans.

TRIAL OF BLOODRIGHT

A series of one-on-one, single-elimination contests determines who wins the right to use a Bloodname. Each current Bloodnamed warrior in that Bloodname's House nominates one candidate. The head of the House nominates additional candidates to fill thirty-one slots. The thirty-second slot is fought for by those who qualify for the Bloodname but who were not nominated.

The nature of the combat is determined by "coining." Each combatant places his personal medallion, a dogids,into the "Well of Decision." An Oathmaster or Loremaster releases the coins simultaneously, so that only chance determines which coin falls first to the bottom of the well. The warrior whose coin lands on top chooses the manner of combat ('Mech versus 'Mech, barehanded, 'Mech versus Elemental, and so forth). The other warrior chooses the venue of the contest. Though these Bloodname duels need not be to the death, the fierce combat and the intensity of the combatants often leave the losing candidate mortally wounded or dead.

TRIAL OF GRIEVANCE

When two warriors cannot resolve a dispute on their own or with the aid of their superiors, the parties may call for a Trial of Grievance. A Circle of Equals is defined, and no one but the opponents may enter the Circle unless invited. Leaving the Circle before the contest is ended is a shameful defeat. All such trials are defined as to the death, but they usually end before either party is killed.

TRIAL OF POSITION

The Trial of Position determines whether a candidate will qualify as a warrior in the Clans. To qualify, the candidate must defeat at least one of three successive opponents. If he defeats two, or all three, he is immediately ranked as an officer in his Clan. If he fails to defeat any of his opponents, he is relegated to a lower caste.

TRIAL OF REFUSAL

The Clan councils and the Grand Council vote on issues and laws that affect the community. Unlike Inner Sphere legislation, however, any decision can be challenged and reversed by a Trial of Refusal. This trial allows the losing side to demand the issue be settled by combat.

The forces used in the Trail of Refusal are determined on a pro-rated basis. The faction rejecting the decision declares what forces they will use. The side defending the decision (the attacker) can field a force equal to the ratio of winning to losing votes. For example, if the contested vote carried by a three-to-one margin, the attacking forces can field a force three times the size of the force challenging the decision. Bidding usually results in a smaller attacking force, however.

TRUEBORN/TRUEBIRTH

A trueborn is a product of the warrior caste's eugenics program.

MILITARY/POLITICAL TERMS

AUTOCANNON

An autocannon is a rapid-firing, auto-loading weapon that fires high-speed streams of high-explosive, armor-piercing shells.

BATTLEMECH

BattleMechs are the most powerful war machines ever built. First developed by Terran scientists and engineers, these huge, man-shaped vehicles are faster, more mobile, better-armored, and more heavily armed than any twentieth-century tank. Ten to twelve meters tall and equipped with particle projection cannons, lasers, rapid-fire autocannon, and missiles, they pack enough firepower to flatten anything but another BattleMech. A small fusion reactor provides virtually unlimited power, and BattleMechs can be adapted to fight in environments ranging from sun-baked deserts to subzero arctic icefields.

BATTALION

A battalion is a tactical military unit usually consisting of three companies.

BINARY

A Binary consists of two Stars and is roughly equivalent to an Inner Sphere company.

CLUSTER

A Cluster is a Clan-style military unit that consists of three to five Trinaries and is the rough equivalent of an Inner Sphere battalion.

COMPANY

A company is a military tactical unit consisting of three BattleMech lances or, for infantry, three platoons with a total of 50 to 100 men. Companies are generally commanded by a captain.

GALAXY

A Galaxy is a Clan-style military unit composed of three to five Clusters. It is the equivalent of an Inner Sphere regiment.

LANCE

A lance is a BattleMech tactical combat group, usually consisting of four 'Mechs.

LASER

Laser is an acronym for "Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation." When used as a weapon, the laser damages the target by concentrating extreme heat on a small area. BattleMech lasers are designated as small, medium, and large. Lasers are also available as shoulder-fired weapons operating from a portable backpack power unit. Certain range-finders and targeting equipment also employ low-level lasers.

LRM

This is an abbreviation for Long-Range Missile, an indirect-fire missile with a high-explosive warhead.

PLATOON

A platoon is a tactical military unit typically consisting of approximately twenty-eight men, commanded by a lieutenant or a platoon sergeant. A platoon may be divided into two sections.

POINT

A Point is a Clan-style military unit consisting of one 'Mech or five armored infantry.

PPC

This abbreviation stands for Particle Projection Cannon, a magnetic accelerator firing high-energy proton or ion bolts, causing damage through both impact and high temperature. PPCs are among the most effective weapons available to BattleMechs.

REGIMENT

A regiment is a military unit consisting of two to four battalions, each consisting of three or four companies. A regiment is commanded by a colonel.

SRM

This is the abbreviation for Short-Range Missiles, direct-trajectory missiles with high-explosive or armor-piercing explosive warheads. They have a range of less than 1 kilometer, and are accurate only at ranges of less than 300 meters. They are more powerful, however, than LRMs.