Company:
A tactical military unit consisting of three BattleMech Lances, or for infantry, three platoons with a total of 50 to 100 men. Infantry companies are generally commanded by a Captain.
ComStar:
ComStar, the interstellar communications network, was the brainchild of Jerome Blake, formerly 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 League's communications network into a private organization that sold its services to the five Houses for a profit. Since that time, ComStar has also developed into a powerful, secret society steeped in mysticism and ritual. Initiates to the ComStar Order commit themselves to lifelong service.
Corsair:
The Corsair isa 50-ton, medium-thrust AeroSpace Fighter armed with two medium lasers, four small lasers, and two large lasers. It is especially effective at close range, and its compact laser systems make it one of the better planetary atmospheric fighters.
Crusader:
A heavy BattleMech, weighing 65 tons, with a top speed of 64.8 kph. It is heavily armed even for a 'Mech, mounting a laser, heavy machine gun, and massed LRM batteries in each arm, and SRMs on each leg. The Crusaderis capable of delivering a full spread of 42 missiles at optimum 160-180 meter range, with the potential of crippling or destroying even the mighty BattleMaster.
Dragon:
The Dragonis a well-armed 'Mech whose top speed of 86.4 kph makes it one of the fastest of the heavies. Armed with 24 rounds for its LRM and a whopping 40 rounds for its autocannon, the Dragoncan carry on sustained battles without reloading. Even if ammo does run low, the 'Mech's left-arm and left-torso medium lasers ensure that it has other weapons to fire.
DropShips:
Because JumpShips must generally avoid entering the heart of a solar system and they lie at a considerable distance from the 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 inner inhabited worlds of a system usually requires a normal-space journey of several days or even weeks, depending on the type of star.
The Overlordis the largest military DropShip in common use. It can carry a full-strength battalion of 36 'Mechs, 6 AeroSpace Fighters, 84 men (including Pilots, Techs, astechs, and medical personnel). The Overlordcan also carry whatever infantry or vehicles the battalion owns, and sometimes even some family members.
HyperPulse Generator:
The ComStar communications net is composed of a large number of powerful HyperPulse Generators (HPGs) capable of transmitting and receiving an instantaneous signal across a distance of nearly 50 light years. About 50 of these "A" stations are scattered across the Inner Sphere. "B" stations are capable of communications over a 20- to 30-light-year span, and are located at most inhabited worlds of the Successor States. "A" stations transmit their accumulated messages every 12 to 24 hours; "B" stations much less frequently (two or three times per week).
JagerMech:
This 65-ton 'Mech mounts two light and two medium autocannon and two medium lasers. Its top speed is 64.8 kph.
JumpShips:
Interstellar travel is accomplished via JumpShips, first developed in the 22nd century. These somewhat ungainly vessels are made up of a long thin drive core and a sail resembling an enormous parasol, which can be up to a kilometer wide. The ship is named for its ability to 'jump' instantaneously from one point to another. After making its jump, the ship cannot travel until it has recharged by gathering up more solar energy again.
The JumpShip's enormous sail is constructed from a special metal that absorbs vast quantities of electromagnetic energy from the star it is near. When it has soaked up enough, the sail transfers the energy to the drive core, which converts it into a space-twisting field. An instant later, the ship arrives at the next jump point, across distances of up to 30 light years. This field is known as hyperspace, and its discovery opened to mankind the gateway to the stars.
JumpShips never land on planets, and only rarely travel into the inner parts of a star system. Interplanetary travel is carried out by DropShips, vessels that attach themselves to the JumpShip until arrival at the jump point. Most of the JumpShips currently in service are already centuries old, because the Successor Lords have been able to construct very few new ones. For this reason, there is an unspoken agreement among even these bitter enemies to leave one another's JumpShips alone.
The InvaderClass JumpShips can carry three Drop-Ships. StarLordClass JumpShips can carry six DropShips.
Jump Points:
Jumps are made from either of a Star system's two main jump points. These are located at the system's zenith and nadir, perpendicular to the plane of the system and passing through the gravitational center. These points do not change and are always at the same distance from any world in the plane of the system. Though other jump points do exist in every system, they are rarely used.
At the jump points for major worlds and along key trade routes are space stations where a DropShip can dock or orbit while making arrangements for the next jump if the owners do not possess their own JumpShip, or where they can stop over while their JumpShip recharges.
Lance:
A BattleMech tactical combat group, usually consisting of four 'Mechs.
Laser:
An acronym for "Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation". As a weapon, it 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 employ low-level lasers also.
LRM:
This is an abbreviation for "Long-Range Missile", an indirect-fire missile with a high-explosive warhead. LRMs have a maximum extreme range of several kilometers, but are accurate only between about 150 and 700 meters.
New Avalon Institute of Science (NAIS):
In 3015, Hanse Davion decreed the construction of a new university on New Avalon, capital of the Federated Suns. Known as the New Avalon Institute of Science (NAIS), its purpose is to recover the lost technologies and knowledge of the past. The Institute functions more like a Terran military academy than a public university. Once accepted for admission, students become 'wards' of the ducal government and must commit to ten years' service to the Federated Suns after graduation. Though the course of study is arduous, there is a heavy backlog of candidates. Both House Kurita and House Marik have followed with their own universities, but neither is as well bankrolled or staffed as the NAIS.