Glossary of Terms

 

I've been asked to start including either an FAQ or Extended Glossary that has character definitions and background to help the reader's keep the plethora of characters straight, so this is where I'll maintain that golden source to be included in future books.  If you have suggestions for specific characters you'd like me to include in this master list, please contact me through the website.

 

Actual – Word used to describe the person with the actual call sign.  Team members are associated with a call sign, but an individual specifically assigned that call sign is referred to as call-sign actual.  This is typically, though not always, the team lead of that given unit.

APEX – 25mm high explosive round designed specifically for the J-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

AWR – Allah’s Waiting Room.  Squirters fleeing from a contact situation will typically gather in another structure to regroup.  When an airstrike is called in on said location, it’s typically referred to as AWR.

Balak – Typically a mid-to-high level demon, appearing part dragon, part man, with the head of a great wolf with a squared jaw.

BFT – Blue Force Tracker, a vitally important piece of electronic field equipment identifying friendlies (via IFF – Identify Friend or Foe) and hostiles on a battlefield.

BUD/S – Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training.

Contact – Usually a directional reference to making gunfire and/or explosive contact with hostiles.

Death Blossom – When a Mooj prays and sprays in a contact situation.

Elian – A mostly diaphanous exotic textile material manufactured only by cave elves in the World Below and Between.  Its exact composition is unknown, though it is often sought after by witches for reasons not known to the general public.

Entropy – An element of the Second Law of Thermodynamics describing the linearity of time as it relates to irreversible processes and their increasing levels of entropy versus reversible processes and their constant entropy (aka isentropic processes).

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/thermo2.html

EXFIL – Exfiltrate, to leave or exit/egress a hostile zone of action.

Ferian – A dead language on Perion derived from Aramaic and Latin.

Forkettè – A Perion equivalent of an invocation/elemental specialist on Kaleion.

GCP – Global Consciousness Project (http://noosphere.princeton.edu/).  Research data leveraged in the chapter ‘Presentiment.’

Goat Trail – A fucked-up road, usually dirt, gravel, or mostly rubble from being bombed to dust.

INTSUM – Intelligence Summary.

Lamean – A mage on Kaleion, Graelon, or Terran system. This word is commonly associated with the general ability to cast arcane on Perion.

Looking Glass – The US Airborne Command and Control System in place 24-7-365, intended to provide a real-time, national backup to the NCA and NMCC should those ground-based systems be destroyed or rendered inoperable.  In the event those ground-based systems are destroyed or rendered inoperable, the NCA would transition to the Looking Glass in real time and provide options for an immediate tactical or strategic response at the discretion of US Government Civilian Command and Control (POTUS and the National Security Team).  There are actually several Looking Glass aircraft, but one is airborne at all times of the day and night protecting the United States of America and its interests around the world.

LZ – Landing Zone.

M249/SAW – Fully-automatic-tactical-weapon-carrying member of the Teams.

MCCC - The MCCC is comprised of High-Altitude Electronic Pulse (HEMP) hardened tractor trailers enclosing a secure Command and Control (C2) network operations and communications center. The MCCC platform must be sustained to provide survivable and endurable C2 of strategic and space forces for situation monitoring, tactical warning, force management, force direction, and decision support. In addition, this contract will provide for internal integration among platform network and communication systems, as well as for external integration of these systems with other C2 systems (e.g., MILSATCOM, GCCS, and the like).(Sourced: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=562422c06e7019192fbe943ad51ecaf7&tab=core&_cview=1)

National Command Authority (NCA) – Within the US Government, the NCA represents the lawful and final source for any and all use of military orders, especially as they relate to the US Nuclear Arsenal.

National Military Command Center (NMCC) – Within the US Military, the NMCC has three primary missions: 1) generate Emergency Action Messages directed to the battlefield; 2) provide solution/response options to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in response to attacks on Americans/American interests/assets around the world; 3) provide a strategic watch component monitoring nuclear weaponized activity around the world in real time.

Nuclear Command and Control Systems (NCCS) – The collective infrastructure of assets, systems, resources, and agencies that supports the President of the United States and his military chain of command with the ability to accurately direct the nation’s nuclear forces in real time.  The NCCS includes within its infrastructure other components and systems (ground-based, sea-based, and air-based), which include, but are not limited to, the Looking Glass/NAOC, MCCC, NMCC, NCA, and USSSTRATCOM among others.

OGA – Other Government Agency (i.e. CIA).

Operator – An honored term for a special operations team member in the field.

OPORD – Operational Orders.

PCC – Pre-Combat Check.

PKM – A soviet-era general-purpose machine gun.

PLUGGER – GPS Unit.

POTUS – President of the United States of America.

Raphael – Often depicted holding a staff, Raphael is considered by the three great Terran religions to be the archangel of healing but is also known to bring comfort to the dying and help transition their souls to the afterlife.

Resha – Old Tongue Ferian for The Breaker of Seals, The Destroyer of Men, and thought to be, by some, the Son of God the Creator.

Resident Identity Code Checksum – This site is designed to provide valid checksum resident identity codes for Chinese male and females.  https://code-complete.com/chinaid/validids.php

Retrocausality – the concept of influencing the past from the future through communication mechanisms that cut across timelines, usually by nonlocality principles or to explain nonlocality behaviors.  https://phys.org/news/2017-07-physicists-retrocausal-quantum-theory-future.html

Rose Silk – On Perion, some silk worms feed only on the nectar of roses.  Their silk is often referred to as rose silk.

RPG – Rocket Propelled Grenade.

Sandbox – Operating in a theater of war associated with the middle east or Persian empire lands.

Shofar – A ram's-horn trumpet used by ancient Jews in religious ceremonies and in combat.

Squirter – A hostile leaving the contact zone expeditiously to avoid certain death at the hands of an Operator.

SRR – British Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

Telomere – A telomere is a region of repetitive nucleotide sequences at each end of a chromosome, which protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration or from fusion with neighboring chromosomes. Its name is derived from the Greek nouns telos (τέλος) 'end' and merοs (μέρος, root: μερ-) 'part.' (Sourced: from www.wikipedia.org).  Unsourced: The telomere essentially shrinks with age, thus providing a mechanism by which we can determine biological age.  For more information, go to www.teloyears.com.

The Halls of Aaramus – Created by an immeasurably powerful lich known as Aaramus. This plane of existence is time neutral, and the normal laws of physics are suspended here, as it is created out of space that does not exist in the normal/known universe; it is extra-dimensional. As such, travel here is incredibly dangerous, as one is held hostage to the rules of physics, magic, and technology allowed by Aaramus, which are dynamic to his will.  Portal /Gate entry into the Halls of Aaramus is allowed, but Portal /Gate exit typically is not, at least not without the expressed permission of Aaramus himself.

The Seeds of Humanity:

Kaleion – The homeworld of Damon, Kellen, Illirian, Goldenbow, and several other characters.  This world is one of the Seeds of Humanity, with twin moons, developed into an agrarian and magical society.

Perion – The homeworld of Talemar, Radin, Brigance Fireheart, and several other characters.  This world is one of the seeds of Humanity, with twin moons, developed into an agrarian and magical society.

The Terran System – Also known as Earth. This is the homeworld to Michelle, Lawna, Michael, and several other characters.  This world developed into a mostly technological society, though some belief in magic and witchcraft still exists, allowing some operational and effective use of same.

Graelon – One of the five homeworlds of the seeds of Humanity, Graelon is a mostly technical society where magic and witchcraft still work to a limited to degree.  It is the homeworld most closely associated and comparable with the Terran system.  Their technology allowed them to colonize outposts where magic was more freely accepted, to disastrous outcomes in some cases.

Setinon – Possibly the oldest home of Humanity and the original seed of the Human race, Setinon is an entirely technical and highly advanced society capable of controlling planetary weather, FTL travel, and using energy directly from a star—also known as Helium 3.

The Void – Also known as the Nether, no one knows who, when, or why the Void was created, but it is a highly dangerous place home to souls lost between death and destiny.  Large asteroids perilously collide with one another on a regular basis, making the entire Void an unstable place to visit.  Portal /Gate entry and exit is allowed, but strongly ill-advised.

The World Below and Between – Created by unknown entities, this gateway between worlds that house the seeds of Humanity allows those who understand its navigational systems to traverse great distances in a very short period of time.  Those who do not understand are permanently lost.  Portal /Gate entry into the World Below and Between is permitted, but Portal /Gate exit is not.  This plane of existence is time neutral.

Timeline – The timeline and location markers provided throughout the novel are intended to help the reader navigate the story.  Here is a rough guideline to follow when reading these markers:

A Very Long Time Ago – More than a thousand years in the past.

A Long Time Ago – Up to one thousand years in the past.  The major delineation between A Very Long Time ago and A Long Time Ago is the union between Damon and Dallia.

Present Day – Within a few months, weeks, and hours of the “now” in the timeline.

Near Future – Within the next two to five years of the “now” in the timeline.

Uriel – The Book of Enoch declares the archangel Uriel is ‘the Light of God.’  Some traditions recognize Uriel as Patron Saint of the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Some believe he guards the consciousness of Jesus Christ.

U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) - USSTRATCOM combines the synergy of the U.S. legacy nuclear command and control mission with responsibility for space operations; global strike; global missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR), and combating weapons of mass destruction. This dynamic command gives national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly. (Sourced: http://www.stratcom.mil/About/)

Washington’s Driver – A pseudo-derogatory and somewhat friendly term for a very senior Operator (i.e. He’s old enough to be George Washington’s driver).

Wave-Particle Duality – In experimental physics, and as evidenced by the two-slit experiment, the observation that photons behave as a wave when not observed and as a particle when observed.  In other words, photon particles can behave both as a fermion and as a boson.  This is the essence of the Uncertainty Principle.