GLOSSARY
Or, the section I was not even thinking to write. After some mails asking not
for the meaning of some words, I decied to put this section on.
This section doesn't want to be a BattleTech encyclopedia; on the net there are
lots of sites having better and more complete explanations of these terms,
though the best way to fully know what I'm talking about is to buy BattleTech
sourcebooks; I reccomend:
* Shattered Sphere
* The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky
* all Field Manuals, but if you want to focus on this particular part of the BT
timeline, Crusader Clans, Warden Clans, Federated Commonwealth and Lyran
Alliance.
For more in-depth info, Classic BattleTech (http://www.classicbattletech.com),
is a very good starting point.
CLICK FOR EXPLANATIONS
RCT: Regimental Combat Team, a tactically flexible regiment specialized in
hard-hitting raids as well as n long engagements.
VTOL: Vertical Take Off and Landing. A plane (like the recent Harriers and
OV-22 Ospreys) capable of taking off and landing without needing an airstrip,
just like an helicopter. In the standard BattleTech rulebook VTOL planes are
low-altitude, low-speed airplanes or helicopters. Not to be confused with STOL
(Short Take Off and Landing) or V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take off and Landing).
ELEMENTAL: among the Clans, there are two thigns called Elemental: the first,
chronologically speaking, was the standard battle armor developed by Clan Wolf
in 2868; it was named in this way because it was able to operate in all
conditions. Secondly, Elementals are the operators of these battle armors,
which are genetically bred to be massive (a typical Elemental pilot is taller
than 2 meters), strong and agile.
OMNI TECHNOLOGY: developed by Clan Coyote in 2854, Omni technology allowed
'Mechs, vehicles and Aerospace Fighters to freely swap electronic equipment and
weapons in matter of hours, allowing a tactical flexibility never seen before.
The Inner Sphere fielded the first OmniMechs in the second half of the 3050s,
reverse-engineering captured Clan 'Mechs.
In the MW4 series Omni technology allows a 'Mech to use any kind of weapon in a
certain slot.
AEROSPACE FIGHTER: highly-sophisticated fighters capable of both space and
atmospheric flights, and also capable of entering atmosphere with no additional
protections. They use a fusion engine like 'Mechs, as well as their same
weapons.
BATCHALL: for the Clans, the ritual in which the attacker and the defender
declare their intentions and their strenght. This allows both sides to avoid
wastes of men and materials, making them choose the minimum necessary to win a
war. When the Clans first invaded the Inner Sphere, Batchall was ordinary, but
after some Inner Sphere commanders decieved the Clans declaring under-strenght
forces, Clans decided to put away this tradition in fights againt Spherian
forces.
POINT: for the Clans, a Point is one 'Mech, or 5 Elementals, or 2 Aerospace
Fighters.
STAR: for the Clans, a formation of 5 Points.
BINARY: for the Clans, two Stars. Combined arms Binary, very often one
Elemental Star and one 'Mech Star, are called Novas. Clans do not use Command
formations aside of Keshik formations, which are however considered fully
operational and independent units, often at Binary or Trinary level.
TRINARY: for the Clans, three Stars. Combined arms Trinaries (2 'Mechs and one
Elemental or fractions thereof, though some Clans have experimented with 'Mechs
and Aerospace Trinaries) are called SuperNovas.
LANCE: in the Inner Sphere, a formation of four 'Mechs, or four vehicles or
four to six Aerospace Fighters.
COMPANY: in the Inner Sphere, three Lances form a Company. Some Companies have
a fourth Lance, designated Command Lance composed by the Company Commander and
his bodyguards or other high ranking officers (Command Lances are more often
found at Battalion, 3 Companies, and Regiment, 3 Battalions, level).
BONDSMEN/BONDSWOMAN: prisoners of war are called Bondsmen (or Bondswomen) in
the Clans; the capturer takes full responsability of his/her bondsmen actions,
and if the captive proves himself worthy, he can be accepted even in the
Warrior Caste of the Clans. Only an handful of captured Inner Sphere
MechWarriors had such an honor: the most notable case is Phelan Kell, which
later became Khan of Clan Wolf.
It is worthy to point out that beign a Bondsmen is not only like being a slave,
but more a process that the Clans use to see if a captured warrior is good
enough to be useful to his new Clan, and between Clan bondsmen do not consider
it a punition.
CASTE SYSTEM: the Clans are organized in five Castes: Warriors, Scientists,
Merchants, Technician and Laboorer, plus a Dark Caste, composed of people
refusing the Clans' way of life. Each individual is put into a Caste after
several trials proving where he is more resourceful and skilled. However, only
Trueborn are usually allowed in the Warrior Caste. If a Trueborn doesn't prove
worthy of its warrior status, he's downgraded into the Caste where he's most
skilled. Freeborns are allowed into the Warrior Caste only if they show great
skill in combat. For example, Jamie Wolf and all original warriors of the
Wolf's Dragoons, except Natasha Kerensky, were freeborn.
TRUEBORN: "products" of the Clans genetic breeding program, which tries to
combine genes from the most skilled warriors of the Clans to generate the
ultimate warrior, are called Trueborns. Each Clan has its own breeding program
and its own gene pool. Often strong bloodlines are object of wars within Clans.
The Clans' gentic program produces MechWarriors ("normal" men and women),
Elementals (bred to man the Elemental battle armors) and Aerospace Pilots
(small, with enlarged head to favor quick-thinking and improved reactions).
FREEBORN: a human born outside the Clans' genetic breeding program. They are
looked as inferior beings by most Trueborns.
WARDEN/CRUSADER: two line of thought in the Clans: Wardens think they must not
interfere with the Inner Sphere affairs and protect it from outside threaths,
while Crusaders think that the Inner Sphere needs guidance from the Clans. In
3050, the Crusaders won a long battle and started the invasion, which has the
goal to conquer Terra, former seat of the Star League and then all the Inner
Sphere.
FREEBIRTH: an ephiteh used by Clan warriors to scorn their opposition. It might
have no effect on Inner Sphere warriors, but among the Clans is one of the
strongest insults someone can made.
LOST TECH: everything that the Great Houses lost the possibility to manufacture
because of the Kerensky exodus and the Succession Wars is referred as lost
tech. This includes civilian technologies as well as military ones. Once the
Clans invaded, ComStar openened its archives and the Wolf's Dragoons offered
blueprints for a variety of these things, there's little meaning in calling
them Lost Tech.
Before these events, Great Houses were able to gather these advanced
technologies by finding Star League depots.
FEDERATED COMMONWEALTH: union of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth,
the FedCom was probably the strongest Great House of the Inner Sphere, but when
Katherine Steiner (who renamed herself Katrina after his grandmother), sister
of Victor-Ian Steiner Davion, hero of the Clan wars, seceded th old Lyran part,
a savage civil war erupted.
LYRAN ALLIANCE: the name Katrina Steiner gave to the Lyran part of the FedCom
after the secession.
STAR LEAGUE: always referred as the highest point of evolution of mankind, the
Star League was able to bring as relative peace in the Inner Sphere, but
Stephan Amaris, called the Usurper, killed the regent First Lord, the young
Richard Cameron, a terrible war erupted: General Alexandr Kerensky led the
loyalist Star League Defense Force to kill the Usurper, and succeded. However,
the Great Houses all wanted the power of the First Lord, causing Kerensky and
most of the SLDF to leave (Alexandr' son, Nicholas then formed the Clans far
away from the Inner Sphere): the Houses waged war, destroying almost every
technological improvement made by the Star League.
Later one, when the Clans invaded, the Great Houses put their rivalries away
(but not totally) and reformed a new Star League.
GREAT HOUSES: five bloodlines commanding the Inner Sphere: the Kurita bloodline
rules the Draconis Combine, the Liao family the Capellan Confederation, the
Marik bloodline the Free Worlds League, the Steiner the Lyran Commonwealth and
the Davion the Federated Suns (the latter bloodlines then united and rule over
the Federated Commonwealth). Minor nobility families exist, as well as
Periphery (territories at the border of know space, the Inner Sphere) States
not under the control of any Great House, but those five have the greatests
powers.
SUCCESSION WARS: after General Kerensky left the Inner Sphere, the Great Houses
staged a series of wars (four, to be accurate, but the technological loss was
"complete" just after the second) that made unavailable almost all advanced
equipment developed during the Star League.
COMSTAR: until the 3050s, Comstar was the only organization able to operate the
HyperPulse Generators (HPGs), machineries that enable interstellar
communications. Comstar, after the fall of the Star League began to be
considered as a quasi-religion organization, and the Successor States little
know of its organization. After the Clan Invasion Comstar opened its technical
expertise and its archives, maximizing the technological reprise. However, part
of Comstar disagreed with that, and seceded to form the Word of Blake, an
organization very similar to the original Comstar. In these days, Comstar
remains a stable information network and primary administrator of HPGs.
Both Comstar and Word of Blake have a great army, armed by top-notch weapons
and technologies.
C-BILLS: the universal money used throughout the Inner Sphere; it has the same
value on ever planet and in every State. The name is probably a contraption of
"Cosmo Bills".
TRIAL OF POSITION: the Trial of Position, in which a cadet attempts to test
out of his or her sibko, is the first official Trial that a Clan warrior faces.
A Trial of Position may be required again at any time during a warrior's career
whenever his or her ability to command is in question.
TRIAL OF POSSESION: This Trial is the most common,,used to decide anything from
a difference of opinion to claims over a warrior's DNA. It always begin with a
Batchall. Combat rarely exceeds Cluster (a group of various Trinaries or
Binaries) scale engagements.
SIBKO: all Trueborn warriors are raised in Sibkos (Sibling Companies), a group
of children that train together until their first Trial of Position (which is
held when the cadet is 20 years old); usually, only the 10% of the sibko tests
out as a Clan MechWarrior, Elemental or Aerospace Pilot. Cadets that failed to
qualify can be sent to other Castes or given a second chance, depending on each
Clan.
KHAN: the highest rank in any Clan, the Khan usually is the best warrior is his
or her Clan.
AFFC: Armored Forces of the Federated Commonwealth
AFFS: Armored Forces of the Federated Suns
LAAF: Lyran Alliance Armored Forces
DCMS: Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery