ISO Standard Human Spaceship: They’re “realistic” designs, involving designing for microgravity, with nuclear engines out on the end of long trusses and no particular need to worry about aerodynamics or putting all your machinery inside the pressure hull, but — 1. They’re not painted grey or left as uncolored
For anyone wondering about the origin of this particular evocative phrase for those regrettable times when one must intervene with the hardware personally, it dates back to those wonderful round-about-the-Industrial-Revolution-equivalent days, when life was steampunk only without the punk, and when computation was done and equipment was run by twelve
“Listen up, girder monkeys! Your job for today is to put the bridge in the Starwing-class courier floatin’ behind us. My job for today is to make sure you do it right.” “Now, you are asking yourselves why the admins here at Islien have decided in their wisdom to put
In Working Order: Usually averted (except in cases where the artifacts include what are, functionally, people), despite Ragnarok Proofing – most elder-race artifacts are found after time periods adequate for even vigorous Ragnarok Proofing to have been overtaken by entropy, or overwhelmed by whatever was responsible for said species not being
Ragnarok Proofing: Played straight. Apart from being better built in the first place (after all, when you can expect to live for something on the far side of a thousand years, you don’t go around building houses that will only last mere decades or centuries – and much the same
WARNING: AIRLOCK SAFETY PROCEDURES 1. Personnel must wear vacuum suits before exiting the starship if so indicated by crimson-caution telltales. (Any exceptions must possess “vacuum-capable” endorsement countersigned by Environmental Systems Engineer.) Follow instructions posted in airlock chamber. 2. In an emergency, caution enforcement system may be disabled by opening emergency
Invocation: Yeah, for quite a few people – mostly the “freelance adventurer” type that causes so much trouble in the Galaxy. But Rule of Cool is in effect in-universe – that’s just melodrama, (or, if you prefer, pretension). Whatever tech they’re using to hero it up would work just fine
“Anjeä SysCon, this is VS Ardent Voyager, gated in-system from Loxix, identifying. Over.” “Ardent Voyager, Anjeä SysCon, we have you arriving at 5173-09-14:7-51-11; squawk ident. Welcome to Imperial space, please specify your intentions. Over.” “Anjeä SysCon, Ardent Voyager. Request through-clearance for immediate transit to Conclave System, minimum delta transfers.
Invisible Aliens: The youth of the current galactic culture of the Associated Worlds does seem to call for some sort of Fermi Paradox explanation, especially considering the relative dearth of elder races, and the archaeological evidence of older species still, including much, much older species. If you happen to find
For the most part, it doesn’t matter when you travel to see any of these by either the galactic or the local calendar. The Twin Worlds, the Shells of ThalĂär, and the rest offer their spectacle to the curious eye at any time. EliĂ©ra is the exception that proves
Invisibility Cloak: Well, true invisibility cloaks don’t exist for essentially the same reasons that you can’t have Stealth In Space for fear of roasting yourself, plus the double-blind effect. But the ambioptic transceiver, a rather nifty piece of quantum nanotech for simultaneously transmitting and receiving photons across a
Intrepid Merchant: The entire culture associated with free traders in space; in the more advanced parts of the stargate plexus, there are enough crumbs dropped by the big shipping firms for them to get along by picking them up, and in its farther and less developed reaches, mail contracts, small