Appendix B
Slang and Jargon Glossary

Slang and Jargon - General

Belt - the Asteroid Belt
Blackout - an indeterminate period before the Union's founding for which no record survives
cryo - cryogenics
ECIS - Earth Central Intelligence Service
EVA - extra-vehicular activity
Fed - 1) the Federal Police or a Federal Police officer, 2) the government or any government official
Founders' Day - the anniversary of the Union's founding; 11 Jan
gates - the hyperspace gates
gim - one gigameter, i.e. one million kilometers
Icebox - the federal prison complex on Pluto
IR - infra-red
kip - kilopascal
klick - kilometer
kps - kilometers per second
MinDef - Ministry of Defense
PMC - private military company/contractor
prefab - prefabricated
SECNAV - Secretary of the Navy
Standard - the common name for International Standardized English
Tita - Titania
UST - Universal Standard Time

Slang and Jargon - Military

A school - occupational specialty training for Naval enlisted personnel following boot camp
ACID - Army Criminal Investigation Division
ACU - the shortened abbreviation for the standard field dress of Army personnel, the Adaptive Camouflage Combat Uniform
AFOSI - Air Force Office of Special Investigations
Airhead - Air Force personnel (N)
ARO - Assistant Reactor Officer
bandit - hostile radar contact
berth - living space onboard a ship
bird - originally aircraft but later applied to superlight spacecraft as well
BLT - battalion landing team
boot - a new recruit, either a trainee or junior enlisted who has recently completed training (MC)
bulkhead - a wall in a ship
CAG - commander, air group; Carrier Air Group (common parlance, though the official designation is 'Carrier Air Wing' with the more cumbersome initials 'CVW')
casevac - casualty evacuation
Chair Force - the Air Force
Charlie Foxtrot - clusterfuck
Class A's - the Army green service dress uniform
Class Six - a store or section of a store where alcohol is sold on a military post; from the old US Army supply classification for personal items
CMAA - Chief Master-at-Arms
CO - commanding officer
commo - communications
comms - communications
companionway - ladders connecting the decks of a ship; generally only used in emergency situations when personnel lifts are inoperable
compartment - a room on a ship
CPO - chief petty officer
CS - combat systems
DC - Damage Control
DCAG - deputy commander, air group
deck - the floor of a ship
DFAC - dining facility
DIVO - division officer
E Division - Electrical Division
ECCM - electronic counter-countermeasures
ECM - electronic countermeasures
EM - electrical maintenance
EMCON - emissions control
EO - the administrative division charged with handling issues related to racial, sexual, religious and other forms of discrimination and harassment; from 'equal opportunity'
ESS Desktop - a desk job in port (N)
EW - electronic warfare
Five-Bravo - SFPS Mark Vb
flag officer - Naval officers ranked O-7 and up
FPCON - Force Protection Condition
greenback - Army personnel (N, MC)
Gunny - gunnery sergeant (MC)
HHD - headquarters and headquarters detachment
HUD - heads-up display
hyokko - a rookie pilot (N)
Impy - Empyrean
intel - intelligence
Kasfey - KSFE
keel - a figurative term for the underside of a spaceborne warship; from the ventral spine of a typical maritime ship
KSFE - Kadokawa Space-folding Engine
lav - lavatory
leatherneck - Marine
LCPO - leading chief petty officer
light division - traditionally a lightly armed infantry division, it can also be used to refer to divisions with personnel numbers below the average for a unit of that tier
LPO - leading petty officer
LT - lieutenant
MA - Master-at-Arms
Mast - Captain's Mast or Admiral's Mast; non-judicial punishment (N)
medevac - medical evacuation
MEF - Marine Expeditionary Force
MEU - Marine Expeditionary Unit
Midshipman's Cruise - a six-month period of service aboard an active duty warships for third-year midshipmen to prepare them for their entry into active duty
MP - military police
NCO - non-commissioned officer
NIS - Naval Investigative Service
nugget - a rookie pilot (N)
O - officer
Officers' Country - living spaces for officers on a warship
OG - Orbital Guard
old man - the most senior officer aboard a ship; often used for the captain
ONI - Office of Naval Intelligence
OOD - Officer of the Deck
OpSec - operational security
passageway - a corridor on a ship
rack - a bunk or bed (N, MC)
REMF - rear echelon motherfucker; non-combat personnel
S-1 - the staff division for administration and personnel at the brigade-level and below (A, MC)
S-4 - the staff division for supply at the brigade-level and below (A, MC)
SAR - search and rescue
SF - Special Forces
Shelly - Sheolite
SIGINT - signals intelligence
SITREP - situation report
Six-Delta - SFPS Mark VId
Skipper - the captain of a ship
sound off - respond (loudly under most circumstances)
SP - Security Police (AF)
squid - Naval personnel
stateroom - an officer's quarters onboard a ship
SupCom - Supreme Command
tenderwing - a rookie pilot
Tico - ESS Ticonderoga
torp - torpedo
TS - top secret
VF - fighter squadron (N)
VRC - carrier fleet logistics support squadron (N)
wardroom - the messing space for officers on a Navy ship
weapons free - brevity code to fire at the operator's discretion in accordance with rules of engagement
weapons hold - brevity code to hold fire except for self-defense purposes
Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot - "What the fuck?"
XO - executive officer
Zash - an IT-8 Wakizashi

Slang and Jargon - The Empyrean

Age of Rakia - the second period of the Empyrean's history, characterized by rapid population growth and substantial military buildup
Age of Shehakim - the current period of the Empyrean's history, characterized by its war against the 'Amalekites', i.e. the Union
Age of Vilon - the first period of the Empyrean's history, a turbulent time where the Shekinah's rule was established
Amalek - the Empyrean name of the Earth Union
Amalekites - the Empyrean name for citizens of the Earth Union
Arabot - the promised level of ascension of full union with God; a rendering of 'Araboth', the Seventh Heaven
arrow - the Empyrean nickname for their drones
ascended - to be elevated beyond the current level of existence
Behemoth - the Empyrean name for the Ticonderoga
Bene Elohim - the lowest-ranking soldier in the Tsebaot; from the second lowest order in the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
Elim - the junior officers of the Tsebaot; from the fourth lowest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
Elohim - the Empyrean equivalent of NCOs; from the third lowest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
Erelim - the supreme military commanders of the Empyrean, charged with the defense of the Shehakim itself; from the second highest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
greater sword of light - a medium or heavy laser array; used to distinguish from the handheld laser blasters
Hayyot - the priest-magistrates charged with the day-to-day governance of the Twelve Tribes; a rendering of 'Hayyoth', from the fourth highest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
Ishim - the common citizen of the Empyrean; from the lowest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
lesser sword of light - a handheld laser blaster or light laser array; used to distinguish from the medium and heavy laser arrays
Kodesh Hakodashim - the inner sanctum of Selene 03 where the Malachim receive revelations from the Shekinah; a rendering of 'qodes haqqodasim', the holy of holies
Leviathan - the Empyrean name for the Sheolite flagship Hades
Malachim - the princes of the Twelve Tribes and nominal rulers of the Empyrean; from the highest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
mitzvah - commandment, namely a divine commandment
Rakia - the name of Selene 03 during the Age of Rakia; a rendering of 'Raqia', the Second Heaven
Seraphim - the commanders of the Empyrean's seven expeditionary fleets; from the third highest order of the Zohar's angelic hierarchy
Shehakim - the Empyrean name for Selene 03; a rendering of 'Shehaqim', the Third Heaven
son of earth - an epithet of contempt for an outcast from Empyrean society
Sons of Amalek - another rendering of 'Amalekites' that often shows up in Empyrean speech
sword of light - a laser
Tempter - the Empyrean name for Satan
The Chosen - a term for all the citizens of the Empyrean
The One - the common Empyrean euphemism for God
tsaraat - a form of spiritual corruption that manifests physically and must be purged through careful inspection by the Hayyot; a rendering of 'tzaraath', a somewhat uncertain condition or group of conditions that have been interpreted from leprosy to mildew and may in fact be a catch-all label
Tsebaot - the armed forces of the Empyrean; a rendering of 'Sabaoth', the heavenly host
Vilon - the name for Selene 03 during the Age of Vilon; from the name of the First Heaven