Encyclopedia Solarica



The ES Encyclopedia supplies an ever-growing body of short articles and descriptions of people, places and things that inhabit the world of The Eylau Sequence. It is a great help to those wishing for a better understanding of the background to current Eylau Sequence short stories and gaming. If there is a favorite entry that you would like to see added, please let us know.

A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z

Mace — The EU12 "Mace" was built as a follow-on to the older EU3 "Pike". Built at the Caffarelli plant in Ragusa, the Mace is a general purpose medium combat vehicle.

Malta — The capital of the Mediterranean States and home to its largest cities, the island of Malta was for a thousand years a rather isolated city-state, its rather unexciting existence punctuated occasionally by regional wars which swept to its doorstep. At the onset of the glacial, Malta became the place of choice for several key European governments as they prepared for the probable after-effects of comet Evers-Patel. The resulting underground cities are by now of considerable proportions and comprise a large part of the suburban housing and commercial areas on the island. From its original pre-glacial population density of about 1,000 per square kilometer, Malta now supports well over 7500 people per square kilometer.

MBT — The acronym for Main Battle Tank. Main battle tanks are unmanned heavy ground combat vehicles which make up the backbone of many front-line formations. Their combination of relative mobility, economy and survivability continue to make them an attractive component in the armed forces of many nations. As in other eras, MBT designs vary greatly depending on level of sophistication, specialty and intended use.

Mediterranean States — Known more widely as the " Med States," the Mediterranean States span various areas of high ground across the central Mediterranean Sea, mostly along the central coast of North Africa and on several strategic islands such as Malta, which is also the capital. The Med States are opening sympathetic with Australia, although the later is by far the more powerful of the two.

MGV — The acronym for Miniature Ground Vehicle. MGVs are combat vehicles averaging roughly one to five millimeters in length. They serve as operational links between nanoscale smart chemicals and larger centimeter and meter scale combat vehicles. MGVs may themselves be used as weapons, or they may be used to overcome MGV defenses to facilitate precision delivery of nanoscale weapons. They are also used for intelligence collection, sabotage, assassination and a host of other tasks which might require mobility and delivery options at microscopic levels.

A typical MGV does not commonly have an on-board power source, it instead contains power transducers which draw from external sources. They can however, carry on-board batteries for independent power supply over short periods. There are usually several sets of external sensors placed at key points around the hull of the vehicle, and for most combat vehicles a weapon system of some sort will figure prominently, usually along the centerline of the hull.

A prominent aspect of MGV operation is the lev-drive system, which holds the vehicle in place slightly above ambient surface level, and which also impels the vehicle forward. There is a frictional relationship between the MGV, the lev-drive and the supporting surface. The resulting reaction mass allows MGVs to carry surprisingly powerful kinetic weapons, at least by those countries who care to pay for such weapons at reduced scales.

Below a diagram of a typical MGV unit (In this case and Australian heavy combat MGV). Combat vehicles do not usually have the antennae ports required by many network units, and not all network units employ open ports (The Californian L72 Skink does not). The Med States and Australia are currently the only nations whose MGV units have "collar shields." Californian units are more heavily armored and have curved profiles. Selangor vehicles are vaguely similar to Med States/Australian units being somewhat more angular and possessing large (and less efficient) sensor "eyes."