Starstruck

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  • Sailor’s Grave, The

    A nautically-themed drinking, eating and entertainment establishment for spacers, famous for its signature cocktail, the Double-Death-Commando, The Sailor’s Grave was owned by ex-proldier, Hero of the Revolution and friend to Cyberforms everywhere, Harry Palmer. The Grave, as the bar was most commonly called, was located on Level 7 of the Vale of Tiers, a mid-priced clutch of levels on Rec Station 97, arguably the most challenging (and by challenging, we mean CHALLENGING) of the 483 (at this printing) Recreation Stations in our Galaxy. The popular pub became famous as the meeting place of the two fem-fighters responsible for the Rec Station Rampage of AE 140. Potential tourists planning a trip to the station may be disappointed to learn that the Sailor’s Grave no longer exists, as such. Shortly before the famous trial of former Brigade Lieutenant Brucilla the Muscle, the Grave was purchased by an unknown entity who renovated and renamed it The Brigader’s Bier, no doubt in an effort to cash in on said Brigader’s notoriety.
    .

    Sailor’s Grave, The A drinking, eating and entertainment establishment, famous for it’s signature cocktail, the Double-Death-Commando

    Sailor’s Grave T-Shirt Design

    Seven Planets

    The popular or “folk name” of United Free Trade Planets, Inc., a division of Crown and Scepter, which is the incorporated Family Bajar. While United Free Trade Planets usually refers to the government of Seven Planets and its various colonies, outer territories, satellite worlds and mining operations, as well as to its import/export business, Seven Planets most often refers to the actual planets involved, though, as of this writing, they number more than seven.

    Shreeguh

    A small flying mammal native to the now nonexistent planet, Shangri-La (see: Incorporated Elysian Republic). The average shreeguh weighs about 8 mili-milos, is about 11 nihlons tall, and looks something like an Amercadian Spaniel with wings. The wings themselves are strong, leathery and covered with tough, grayish scales that resemble human toenails. Shreegae make wonderful pets. The most ferocious member of the Shreeguh family, the Steel-Taloned Shreeguh, has retractable talons in its forepaws. These talons are razor sharp and serve to make the Steel-Taloned Shreeguh a formidable opponent. They are highly prized as watch animals and intensely loyal to their owners. The Steel-Taloned Shreeguh was the official animal of the Incorporated Elysian Republic (which was neither heavenly, nor a republic) and still appears on the family crest of The Bajars of Seven Planets. The Galactic Survey lists the Shreeguh on the endangered species list. There are only about 2,500 of them in existence, most on the planet Mirage.

    Steel-Taloned Shreeguh

    Steel-Taloned Shreeguh

    Shu-Boat

    The planet-side, shoe-shaped, runabout shuttle of Temple of Beauty founder, Verloona Ti. Purchased shortly after the launch of her Temple of Beauty business, this personal vehicle resembles a green high-heeled shoe, green being Miz Ti’s favorite color.

    Siegfried

    1) From middle Old Terran cultures, the Germanic form of Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr), a legendary hero of Norse mythology, 2) The third of the four operas that constitute The Ring of the Nibelung by Old Terran composer, Richard Wagner. 3) The one-name moniker by which “those in the know” in the civilized Multiverse knew Siegfried “McMauMau” Siegfriedson (See: Siegfriedson, Siegfried “McMauMau”).

    Siegfriedson, Siegfried “McMauMau”

    A freedom fighter and hero of the Rebellion, first husband to Krystals ‘n Things magnate Margaret Medea, and protégé of his wife’s mother, Molly Medea, one of the Rebellion’s most famous leaders. After the overthrow of Pontius Augustus Henry Mohammed Bajar (see: Dictator, the Dread), Siegfriedson, not being the type to stay home by the fire, became involved in a number of smaller planetary and system-wide skirmishes, always siding with the disadvantaged over the Powers that Be. His marriage to Margaret Medea produced two daughters. The eldest, Mary, followed in Daddy’s footsteps, becoming first a fighter in the Rebellion, then a freelance freedom fighter, most notably in the Droid Wars and various battles for Cyberform rights, and is credited as the mind behind the Tri-Clone invasion. Upon her death, Cycle 93 AE, Mary famously left her interest in the Phoebus System’s Mitochondrian Krystal Belt to the Belt’s Miners, a decision that must have made Siegfried proud. Siegfried and Margaret’s second daughter, Molly Younger (AKA Galatia 9), seems to have been a late bloomer (by all accounts deeply affected by her father’s death in 99 AE), but eventually went into the family “business” as a member of the U4F (see: United Federation of Female Freedom Fighters, the). Less famous than the women of this powerful matriarchal clan, Siegfried was, nevertheless, the lynchpin of the family. According to biographer Oriona Pei (see: Rebellion’s Son), his relationships with the contentious Medea females often cast Siegfried as the peaceful eye of the family storm.

    Siegfried Siegfriedson

    Siegfried Siegfriedson

    Siren III, The

    An unattractive (by all accounts) spacefaring pleasure cruiser owned by star-hopping celebutante, Verloona Ti. The Siren III is crafted of a proprietary organic skeen-like substance, powered by a combination Krystal & FUDE drive, and is controlled by a one-of-a-kind Neuro-Organic Refurbished Mesocomputer (NORM®). Most often referred to as an “amorphous blob”, the Siren’s hull surface resembles a crater-pocked moon, or the acne-covered visage of an adolescent humanoid. Its shields, on the other hand, are said to surround the ship with a palpable “aura of goodness” that discourages attacks from members of most sentient races. Those who’ve had the pleasure(sic) of boarding the Siren III often speak of the oddness of the ship’s ambient noise; no electronic beeps, pings, buzzes or hums, instead a throbbing, sobbing, sighing, whispering sort of sound, that is, at first, soothing, later, unsettling. Most unnerving? The fact that the walls sweat.

    Skaatz

    Slang term for Recreation Station Police, or Rec Pols (see: Rec Pols), most likely having to do with their means of transportation.

    Skreebon

    A rather chubby, reddish, pop-eyed lizard native to the deserts of New Wyoming (meaning nearly all of New Wyoming), the flesh of which is considered a delicacy in the Phoebus System and on most inhabited planets of the New Frontier. Warning: A skreebon must be refrigerated immediately upon its demise and should be cooked and eaten within two days. By the third day, it begins to smell like an orddle (See: Orddle) and is unfit for humanoid consumption.

    Song of the Cup

    An Omegazonian drinking song, structured so that the note corresponding to the song’s second-to-last word can be held indefinitely, while a drinker chugs the contents of her (always “her”) drinking vessel.

    Oh, take my cup,
    And fill it up,
    With wine, wine, wine!
    So that the lad,
    Who once looked bad,
    Looks fine, fine, fine!

    A mortar needs a pestle…
    A sheath, a blade you see!
    So, take my cup,
    And fill me up,
    With wine,
    Soooooooo-oh-oh Fine!

    Sore Chum

    1) Archaic (pre-Amercadian). Live Bait. From Chum: small fish thrown into the water by fishermen to attract larger fish. And Sore: To become colorful and stick out. 2) Any green and very innocent individual. Aggressively naive. 3) Hick, nubie, noobie, neck, drome-dome, pie kicker, hayseed, possum-eater, bohunk, homebilly, herkimer, “Just Plain Folks.” 4) Rabbit buyer, ump chay, pigeon, patsy, sucker, mark, blockhead, bonehead, meat-head, dimwit, “Dead from the Neck Up.” 5) Geezer. Any first-time visitor (newly arrived) to Recreation Station 97, the most challenging of the 483 (at this printing) Recreation Stations in our Galaxy.

    Rec Station Sore Chum

    Rec Station Sore Chum

    Upon arrival, each new visitor to the station is given an l.D. brooch printed with the words: “New Visitor, Have a Heart.” This printed entreaty, designed and distributed by Rec Station P.R., serves to identify the Sore Chum to those inhabitants of the Rec who might make best use of him or her. To any of our readers considering a visit to Recreation Station 97, we remind you that the station motto is: “If You Can Dodge it Here, You’ll Dodge it Anywhere!”

    Soul Key

    During the cycles of the Droid Wars, the galaxy’s endangered android population became worried about the precarious position of the souls of the humans who had come to their aid and were therefore more likely to cease their existence. Unlike the droids, these humans were singular beings and had no other members of a line with which to share soul. (See: Soul Sharing) When the human went, the soul went, at least as far as the droids could see. So, a rather large Andromediconian faction of droid society had a 7-channel summit, lasting about 37 ribecs, to decide what might be done about this. The idea of a soul key, an implanted device that would attract, capture and hold the soul, or “field of selfness” of the human upon occasion of their death was put forward, seconded, voted on and accepted. Being Andromedicones, they quickly designed and produced the devices and had them ritually implanted in their human friends. The purpose of the ritual was to ensure that the aforementioned humans would go along with the idea that a droid-conceived and manufactured device be implanted under the skin of their dominant arm. They were being reverenced, after all. It was generally thought among the humans who received them that the keys were merely symbolic: small, private trophies of sorts. Soul keys were and are treated as badges of honor. Whether or not they function as soul catchers is still up for grabs.

    Soul Sharing

    The idea that all members of an android line share the same field of selfness, or soul. This would mean that, even though each individual unit is capable of moving independently of the others, it is, in truth, only a mobile bit of the greater being. An android, or so it is said, cannot conceive of an individual death, so long as others of its line continue to live. The loss of a few units would have no more importance to the line than, say, the sloughing off of a few skin cells would have for most sentients. In her best selling novel, The Prince and the Pleasure Droid, Hugo Award winning author, Ronnie Lee Ellis, has her young hero melt down all but one member in a line of pleasure droids. According to Miz Ellis, as each individual unit is terminated, its (partial) soul or field of selfness does not disperse, but is passed along to the surviving members, thus making each fraction or “slice” of the group soul larger. If only one member survives, this unit becomes “Holder of Souls” for the line, an awesome thing indeed.

    A line of Erotica Ann Droids.

    Soul Sharing Erotica Ann Droids

    In the novel by Miz Ellis, the Soul Holder becomes capable of autonomous action, escapes her life of slavery, is made leader of a powerful religious movement, and has a hand in deciding the Fate of the Free Universe. The Prince and the Pleasure Droid is, of course, purely speculative. However, its release in Cycle 99 AE caused an unprecedented furor in the android community. It seems that, prior to the publication of the novel, no android had ever seriously considered the possibility that every other member of its line would be destroyed and, android communication being what it is, every droid in the galaxy shared what amounted to a collective moment of clarity. They thought, “I could cease to exist.” They thought it for the first time, at the same time. Then they put all of their communications channels to work analyzing the problem. Droid performance was impaired all over the galaxy for nearly a rigon. The result of all this talking was summed up by philosopher rogue, A1 10 (see: Stark Verse), in his famous essay, The Free Universe: Is it? …
    Rise
    we
    die,
    we die,
    he said.
    Who cares?
    Cares who?

    Space Sabre Hyon Beams

    The “meat and potatoes” of the vacuum-based warfare arsenal, Space Sabre Hyon Beams come standard on Brigade Tigers and starter-fighters of every model and make. While there certainly are more powerful beams (see: Mark 7 Dreadnaught Planet-Splitter), and beams that allow you to target with greater precision (see: Atomo-Torch Particle Blaster), when you’re not sure what to fire, you’re fairly safe firing a space sabre.

    Spandec

    1) An elastic or expandable unit of time. 2) A measure of subjective time, always longer than a moment and never longer than three malton units.

    Spivey, Scooter Jean

    Born in the low Acadian parishes of central Amercadia, Scooter Jean Spivey, AKA Lady Scooter Jean, Maiden Priestess of Phoebus, began life inauspiciously as a fish wrangler’s kid. At about age 5, she joined a local Wing of the Chickadee Guides and then, at age 7, blasted off into the wider Multiverse as a member of Moulting Wing. When the usual series of random and/or ill-fated events (depending on your point of view) took the wing to Rec Station 97, landing them there smack-in-the-middle of the terrifying Guide-Nappings of AE 140, Scooter’s wing-mates, Glynde and Sneaker, were “disappeared” by a mysterious woman in green. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!) Rescued from a similar fate by none other than Glorianna of Phoebus, Scooter started happily down the path to Priestesshood. The wildly successful Ordering AnarchEra is her second book, the first being her memoir, Snatched into the Light.

    Star Mother

    An Omegazonian triple Goddess, worshiped by tribeswomen on Omega 6 (See: Omega 6),  that is strikingly similar to Orakian and Pre-Amercadian (Old Terran) lunar deities (or deity, as they are claimed to be aspects of the same One Goddess). This is more than a little strange, as the Omega Disque has no moon. Legend has it that Trivia, Priestess of the Mother, walked down to Omega 6 on a tiny beam of starlight, bringing word of the Star Mother’s love to her women. Many generations later (or so legend has it), on the spot where said beam of starlight first touched the soil of the Omega Disque, either a) the mother descended to the disque and instantly gave birth to her Maiden-Daughter, or b) a seed of fire was planted in the fertile ground and quickly grew into a stalk of grain, which transformed into the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, depending on which (if any) version of the myth you ascribe to. Opinion as to which version is the correct version is fairly evenly split among the Omegazons (See: Omegazons), with Harvest games deciding which of the two versions will be the “official” version for that particular cycle. These much-beloved games include archery, swordplay and drinking contests. Whether born or grown, the Star Maiden (also called by her titles; Star Seed, Bow Bringer, Brew Swiller), eventually ascended into the void to take her place by her Mother’s side, shining in the night sky, though she is said to make the occasional visit home. The Hag, or third aspect of the Star Mother, manifests as an Elder of the Tribe, who is given the job of presiding over of funerary rites.

    Stark Verse

    An extremely spare or “stark” form of poetry, popular as a form of expression among those of the cybernetic persuasion, which always follows the rule: Seven lines, one syllable per line, except for line five, which is always the two syllable question/statement, “Who Cares (?)” Example:

    you!
    we
    die.
    yes.
    who cares?
    i
    can’t

    Al 10, the Andromedicone rogue philosopher who is said to have first popularized the form, and is rumored to have invented it, says of stark verse, “It is the sound of android thought slapping human flesh.”

    Sunshot Particle Blaster®, The

    A small, hand-held, directed-energy weapon. Punch, melt and vaporize settings come standard, though “punch” is something of a misnomer. The word “obliterate” is more descriptive of the setting. Early models of the Sunshot came with a “stun” setting, though this setting was later dropped, thanks to a complete lack of interest on the part of Sunshot users. Kindhearted souls may customize their Sunshot, purchasing “stun” as an add-on. The weapon is very pricy; the hole it puts in your wallet being an order of magnitude larger than the hole it puts in anything else.

    Sweet Nothings ®

    A top-of-the-line tracking device, part of the Whispering Jenny ® line from Spybot Gadgets, Ltd. Until recently, the Sweet Nothings ® was said to have been best described by its very first advertising campaign: “We shot it into the heart of a star, we pounded it with a plasma hammer, we dropped it down a mini-black hole! Nothing, no, nothing, can stop Sweet Nothings from whispering into your ear!” And it was true, for the most part. None of the things listed in the ad could keep a Sweet Nothings device from whispering into its owner’s ear.  But any humanoid with a will, an average IQ and a screwdriver could.

    Synthesized Imitation Powdered Egg Substitute ®

    The second largest export of Amercadia and a key ingredient in the first largest, Kansas Korn Kakes, a staple of the Amercadian Space Brigader’s diet. Synthesized Imitation Powdered Egg Substitute ® both feeds the Brigade and pays for its warriors and weapons.