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            "740": {
                "pageid": 740,
                "ns": 0,
                "title": "Shadows",
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                        "*": "''SHADOWS'' is official fiction that was written by Blake Hutchins for [[Starsiege]].\n\n\n''April 2829 CE, Imperial Standard Reckoning''\n\n''Los Angeles Metrozone, NorthAm Prefecture, Earth''\n\n\n\"A SADDENED DUKE LANCINGS WEATHERS CONFIRMED THE DISCOVERY THAT HIS YOUNGEST SON HARABEC LEADS THE MARTIAN LIBERATION FRONT\u2026.\"\n\n\nThe newsdrone continued to blare, going deeper into the story as it whirred slowly down the street and disappeared into the night\u2019s gloom. Its screens continued to flash: NEWS NET : NEWS NET: NEWS NET\u2026\n\n\nScarf had heard it earlier. It was just past midnight now. \"That shave\u2019s gonna be sorry he messed with Wings. Peterboy gonna cut him a smile now,\" he muttered.\n\n\n\"What?\" Scarf\u2019s partner Zolo, a little bald man with a face half covered by a blotchy red spider web tattoo, just glared at him. \"What the hell you just say?\"\n\n\nScarf sighed. \"I said, the Emperor will make that Harabec shave sorry he ever set foot on Mars and messed with the Imperials, jake?\"\n\n\n\"Shave? Jake?\"\n\n\nScarf resisted the urge to slap this stupid outsider shave. Why\u2019d Goldruger stick them together, anyway? \"\u2018Jake\u2019 means good, OK \u2013 you know? \u2018Shave\u2019 is a guy; \u2018chay\u2019 is \u2018girl.\u2019 \u2018Wings\u2019 is what we call the Imperials. \u2018Cut a smile,\u2019 \u2018squik\u2019 \u2013 that means killin\u2019. You get it now?\"\n\n\nZolo laughed harshly. \"Squik? Sounds like someone stepping on a bug!\"\n\n\n\"Yeah. A bug.\" Scarf hoped he wouldn\u2019t have to explain it again. He was embarrassed to be seen on the street with this chump, but Goldruger had sent Zolo along, so he had to go along with it.\n\n\nThis was a different kind of job for Scarf, and he didn\u2019t want to glitch it. Goldruger was a shaker in the \u2018zone, and you could make it diamond-bright doing his work. Scarf\u2019d run a few errands for Goldruger in the past, little drops and stuff, enough to know that Goldruger was the Man. The money had tasted good then. Tonight\u2019s pay was a lot better. Scarf saw a road up to the skylife. Shakers like Goldruger needed reliable streetjacks who hadn\u2019t fried their brains on Chill or Lace like so many shaves and chays down here in the \u2019Snarl. Scarf thought of his own chay, Siena, and their shaver Tez. He wanted them out of the \u2018zone worse than anything, especially Tez. That meant taking a chance like this when it came his way.\n\n\nHe glanced over to where a couple of grimy forms sprawled nearby like clumps of rags. Lace addicts, from the stink. Scarf could see drool trickling from a drawn, glassy-eyed face; he spat in disgust. Not Tez, he promised himself for about the millionth time. Never. Any child of Scarf\u2019s started taking Lace, he\u2019d turn the key on \u2019em himself. He pushed a white-blond lock back off the vidgogs and made himself breathe slowly. He should have worn a cap or something, probably. Never mind. Just stay chill, he told himself.\n\n\n\"The mark\u2019s definitely moving deeper into the \u2018Snarl.\" Zolo said impatiently. \"Maybe we oughta nail the guy. Just off him and grab his bundle.\"\n\n\nScarf glared. He didn\u2019t have patience for this bugnappy crap. Zolo was supposed to be hardtail, a pro. Sure didn\u2019t act like it. Scarf chilled his voice. \"Goldruger said follow. That\u2019s what we\u2019re doin\u2019. Jake?\"\n\n\nZolo didn\u2019t sound jake about it, but he nodded after a moment. \"Yeah, OK. Sorry.\"\n\n\nScarf clapped Zolo on the shoulder and forced a toothy smile. Then he tightened his trademark silk scarf against the cold and got back to business. \"Heya, mark\u2019s movin\u2019.\"\n\n\nA newsdrone paused overhead, braying a commercial segment. \"TRY ZUPE-KLEEN\u2026GETS ANYTHING OUT OF ANYTHING WITHOUT DAMAGING THE FABRIC!\" Its display flashed up the lime-green Zupe-Kleen logo. Scarf swore to himself that if he ever met the weed who thought up the idea of sending those damn things out over the \u2018Snarl, he\u2019d squik him personally. He resisted the urge to pull out his laser and take a shot. Drones were pretty quick, and some carried stunners. Their programming told them to stun anyone within a hundred meters. That kinda made folk police themselves. In the end, the only drones that got taken out were hit by snipers.\n\n\nOtherwise, you just got used to them.\n\n\nStay tuned, shave, he told himself. Don\u2019t go all bugnappy. Remember why you\u2019re here.\n\n\nThe mark had made a pickup at the wharf earlier, took some kinda kitbag out of a storage cylinder. They\u2019d followed him on the magtube here to Camerone Station. When he got off, they\u2019d gotten off too and pretended to lose a credmark in a falafel autovendor. The mark had headed straight out without paying them any more than passing notice. Scarf and Zolo had given him a few seconds\u2019 lead before following him up chipped ceracrete stairs out onto the street. Graffiti and flashburn scars snarled across the walls. They emerged into darkness broken by a dim holo flickering over some skinpit\u2019s door. The hologram blurred up an image of a woman just beginning to drop her robe before the program abruptly skipped back to the beginning. Scarf scanned the mark heading down the street. They waited by the station entrance to give him some room.\n\n\n\"Clear,\" Zolo said. \"Let\u2019s go.\"\n\n\nThey stepped out after the mark. Scarf\u2019s vidgogs allowed them to track the shave without coming within fifty meters. The infrared option even let them follow someone around corners on cooler nights like tonight when the streets were mostly empty. Tough zone, hereabouts. Their mark was either a little crazy or way tough to be out in it. Scarf\u2019s hand rested on the hard butt of the laspistol hidden his jacket pocket, but what really gave him protection in this area was attitude. He and Zolo jandered along like they owned the streets. Anyone looking would scan he was hardtail. Zolo better stand up jake if pushed. Folk here fed on weakness.\n\n\nHis comm beeped softly on his wrist. Time to report.\n\n\n\"Mark\u2019s hitting 87th block from Camerone,\" he said into the comm. \"Turning right, toward the \u2019Snarl.\"\n\n\n\"Roj. Stay fleece.\" The voice was low and cold, Goldruger. Scarf shivered. Downside to this job was the Man himself. Scarf didn\u2019t know the details, but folk claimed the shave used to be Wings, a Knight or something. Yeah, and they said Goldruger\u2019d done something real bad, got his tail kicked downtown. Whatever it was, Scarf didn\u2019t want to know. Knowing too much could get you squikked.\n\n\nThe mark paused at 87th. There were more folk there, brighter lights. Scarf and Zolo would have to close up the distance. If the mark knew he was being followed, he\u2019d try a dodge there.\n\n\n87th had more police, too, Scarf remembered. \"Hang an eye out for \u2019Lice, heya?\"\n\n\n\"Jake.\"\n\n\n\"\u2026MASTER CAANON WEATHERS, WILL HEAD THE NEW STRIKEFORCE\u2026\" The newsdrone had followed them up Camerone. Fortunately, it passed them and headed for the crowds on 87th. \"IN OTHER NEWS, POWER CURFEWS WILL PHASE IN NEXT WEEK AS THE TERRAN DEFENSE FORCE GATHERS ITS STRENGTH\u2026\"\n\n\nScarf dropped the gogs\u2019 rez to regular and waited for the \u2018drone to move out into the lights. Then he and Zolo hurried a little to make sure they could keep the tail on. The mark took a right turn and vanished onto 87th. Scarf broke into a run, reaching the corner quickly. Zolo huffed up a second behind him. Warily, they turned onto 87th.\n\n\nThe mark wasn\u2019t too far along, still walking calmly. The street was busy tonight. The staccato beat of maffick pulsed from music boxes perched on cars and in windows. Pleasure chays flashed their pretty, tattooed legs and smiled under the watchful eyes of their bravos. A knot of older shaves warmed themselves by drum fires and shared homecocted liquor. Circles of younger shaves played scatterskittle and laughed when someone got cut on the whirling blades. Red, blonde, and brunette holograms blazed a rainbow of lewd welcome on all sides, inviting folk into the skinpits and nightholes. A block off, Scarf could see the silhouettes of the lascannon mounts on the curtain wall. Beyond the wall, the shiny towers of Center rose up in blue and green spotlights. The glowing spire of the Plaza of Heroes speared into the sky behind them. A gunboat\u2019s running lights blinked red and blue as it hovered by the spire.\n\n\nScarf looked at it all with a familiar ache. A mural near the wall showed a cartoon of the Emperor getting a blood transfusion from a sickly Mars. LITTLE OLD PETER TAKING HIS LITER, the slogan screamed. FREE MARS! The curtain wall was a favorite target for graffiti, but \u2019Snarl folk also told dreamy stories of the imagined glories and luxuries of the \"Skytown\" that lay behind it. Someday, Scarf thought. Someday his shaver and chay would get out. They\u2019d all live out there as a real family someday.\n\n\nBack to business. Scarf and Zolo moved easily through the nightlife. No one seemed interested in the mark, either, which was real strange since he wore uptown clothes for this area. Scarf noted how straight the mark walked, how folk got out of his way like he was Wings or something. Maybe he was Wings. That\u2019d explain why Goldruger just wanted a tail. Cut a red smile on a Wing and Peterboy would send in enough \u2019Lice to turn the key on half the \u2018zone.\n\n\nThe nightlife thinned and the streets darkened again as they entered the outer \u2018Snarl. Scarf motioned Zolo to drop back, and they stuck to the shadows. Gangs and dogpacks hunted these parts of the \u2018Snarl, a maze of abandoned buildings and ruins not completely rebuilt from the last Earthsiege. He dialed up the rez again on the gogs. Time to report to the Man again. He did so, and received the same word as before: Stay on his tail. Find out where he goes.\n\n\nZolo dared a question on his own link. \"What\u2019s this mark carrying, boss?\"\n\n\nScarf froze. \"Zo-\" he began angrily.\n\n\n\"None of your biz,\" came the icy reply. \"Just stay on him. Like fleece.\"\n\n\n\"Heya, boss, null problem here,\" Scarf said quickly. Then he reached out and slapped the back of Zolo\u2019s head hard. \"You shut it,\" he hissed. \"Just shut it. Boss ain\u2019t payin\u2019 for chatter.\"\n\n\nZolo shot an angry look at Scarf, the spiderweb stretching in around a scowl. \"We oughta know what the guy\u2019s got, is all.\"\n\n\n\"No. We just gotta follow.\" Scarf stared hard at the weed, willing him to back off. Scarf was definitely gonna have a talk with Goldruger once this was done.\n\n\nZolo sighed a moment later and looked away. \"Jake by me.\"\n\n\nThey hurried a little to catch up. The streets got darker and Zolo got more bugnappy as they continued following. The mark kept up with his straight arrow stride, didn\u2019t look even a little nervous. Scarf was sure now they were after Wings, and the certainty spurred him to greater levels of caution. They crouched behind a low wall and watched the mark walk up to an access conduit leading to old magtube tunnels. He paused and looked around. Scarf and Zolo ducked down.\n\n\n\"You figure he\u2019s trying to shake us?\" Zolo asked.\n\n\n\"Nah. Looks like he\u2019s home.\" Scarf clicked his comm. Nothing but static. Jammed. \"Damn,\" he breathed. He slid his head up and peeked.\n\n\nThe mark was gone.\n\n\n\"Ahh, crap!\" No way was Scarf gonna let Goldruger down. \"Come on!\" He darted out toward the conduit. Zolo hissed then scrambled after him in a rattle of pebbles. The two moved as quietly as they could up to where they\u2019d last seen the mark, and Scarf pressed his ear against the cold metal of the door. Their breath frosted the air. It was colder out here. A slight wind had picked up.\n\n\n\"Don\u2019t hear nothin\u2019,\" he whispered in response to Zolo\u2019s round eyes.\n\n\n\"Maybe we oughta go.\"\n\n\n\"Null, shave. We check to see if there\u2019s another way down. They used to build these in pairs.\" Scarf tried the comm again, but it was still glitched up. \"Come on. We spot this as the mark\u2019s home, then we can dodge out.\"\n\n\nA brief search turned up a second access a short distance away. The door was stuck, but a nearby metal strut and a little jointspray from a can Scarf always carried loosened things up enough for them to pry a small opening.\n\n\n\"You go first,\" Zolo said, a quaver in his voice.\n\n\n\"That\u2019s jake,\" Scarf was a little scared too, but a hardtail wouldn\u2019t show any of that to a weed like Zolo. Besides, there was always Siena and Tez to think of. Helped to remember what a shave worked for. He squeezed into the access conduit and dialed his gogs for lo-lite. The shaft had rungs in the side, leading down into the shadows. Scarf began to descend slowly, testing each rung before putting his full weight on the metaplas.\n\n\nBelow him waited a blanket of darkness. To his surprise, he heard Zolo fumble into the shaft above him and prayed silently that the weed didn\u2019t slip. A few pebbles showered him, but that was all.\n\n\nThe shaft wasn\u2019t too deep. Scarf lowered himself carefully onto the tunnel floor. No power lines that he could spot, but there was a light down the tunnel in the direction where the mark went down. The gogs were doing their job, and Scarf was stone grateful to have \u2019em.\n\n\n\"Hey!\" Zolo whispered from above. \"Where\u2019s the ground?\" Silently, Scarf reached up and helped the little man down.\n\n\n\"I\u2019ll lead, shave,\" Scarf breathed. \"You hold to my jacket and follow, jake?\"\n\n\n\"Yeah, yeah. Jake.\"\n\n\n\"We just spot the mark and then boost outta here.\"\n\n\n\"That\u2019s definitely jake, shave.\" Zolo let out a quiet, nervous laugh. \"Jake-jake-jake.\"\n\n\nScarf wished he\u2019d never bothered to teach streetslang to this weed.\n\n\nThey crept forward, toward the light. Scarf forced himself to take deep, slow breaths. He could feel the sweat wet his back. He guessed Zolo was about to lose his cool completely.\n\n\n\"What was that?\" Zolo hissed.\n\n\nScarf clapped a hand over the other\u2019s mouth. \"Wait here. I\u2019ll check things out and get back.\" Better to go ahead alone. Zolo would get them both squikked. He wished he\u2019d found another shave to come with him, but Zolo had seemed hardtail enough\u2026\n\n\nForget it. You\u2019re wastin\u2019 time, he told himself. Just get the job done and you can go home. Never need to work with Zolo again. In the meantime, Zolo was so glad to stay put, it was embarrassing. Scarf curled his lip. What a spoonbrain!\n\n\nEasing himself forward, he made his way to where the light was. He didn\u2019t scan any sign of sensors. Sticking to the shadow, he adjusted the gogs and slid along the wall to get a better look.\n\n\nIt was weird. Just a few chairs, a table, and a bunch of tools laid on a stained towel. Suddenly Scarf got really, really scared. The mark was there, all right, a muscular shave in the company of a stone cute chay who also wore a suit. They each sat motionless on chairs, eyes open and staring. The kitbag lay on the table. That wasn\u2019t what got to Scarf, though.\n\n\nIt was the wire linking the two people, running from sockets in their heads. It was the way they blinked at exactly the same time. It was the emptiness in their faces.\n\n\nHe began to back away, slowly. But then he heard a scream wail out behind him. Zolo.\n\n\nScarf turned and ran. He stumbled and fell almost immediately. He couldn\u2019t see right- The gogs! He dialed them up and struggled to his feet. Zolo didn\u2019t scream again. Scarf saw someone moving up ahead.\n\n\nThe laspistol was in his hand, and he snapped off a couple of shots. The crack of the superheated air sounded loud in the tunnel. He made a few more steps before the shrill of a stunner struck him into oblivion.\n\n\n<nowiki>* * *</nowiki>\n\n\nScarf had been stunned once before, so the headache when he woke was no surprise. The paralysis, on the other hand, was definitely new. He couldn\u2019t move hand or foot. He kept his eyes closed, tried to think despite the panic that welled up in him.\n\n\n\"You are\u2026awake,\" a deep voice stated. \"Do not\u2026try\u2026to deceive us.\"\n\n\nScarf found he could open his eyes, so he did open them a crack. He saw what looked like tunnel roof, a blaze of glowlight that threatened to split his brain open. In spite of himself, he groaned.\n\n\n\"You can move your\u2026mouth. Your\u2026eyes,\" the voice continued. A shadow bent over him, and a rough thumb peeled up his eyelid. \"You are\u2026unhurt.\"\n\n\nThe fear slapped words into Scarf\u2019s mouth. They sounded dry and raspy. \"Why can\u2019t I move, shake?\"\n\n\n\"You cannot move\u2026due to the\u2026effects\u2026of selective neural blocks. The use of\u2026this particular\u2026chemical\u2026does not cause shaking.\"\n\n\nA feminine voice interjected. \"The human did not query regarding shaking. \u2018Shake\u2019 is a form of address denoting recognition of a superior in the social hierarchy.\"\n\n\n\"Ah. Yet\u2026I\u2026am not part of his\u2026congregation.\"\n\n\n\"It is true that you do not belong to his\u2026sect tree. He nevertheless\u2026recognizes you as\u2026superior.\"\n\n\nScarf couldn\u2019t stand it. \"What the frix you talking about? Unblock me, shave! I won\u2019t tell nobody you\u2019re here.\"\n\n\nDeep voice said, \"The\u2026animal\u2026runs a\u2026survival program.\"\n\n\nThe chay responded. \"You must learn to further utilize\u2026human idioms and paralinguistics if you yourself are to survive.\" A pretty face empty of expression loomed into Scarf\u2019s view. The headache still throbbed, but not so much that he couldn\u2019t spot the exact moment when her mask suddenly softened and became utterly natural. It was like she flipped a switch.\n\n\n\"You okay, shave?\" she cooed.\n\n\n\"Heya, chay, I\u2019ve been better. You gonna let me boost?\"\n\n\n\"Maybe.\" She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Her breath smelled all minty. \"Once you tell us what you know.\"\n\n\n\"I got any choice?\"\n\n\nShe dimpled. \"Not really. You wanna think about it?\"\n\n\n\"Where\u2019s Zolo? The other shave?\"\n\n\nShe shook her head, smiled. \"He\u2019s froze, shave. Your las squikked him.\"\n\n\nScarf felt sick.\n\n\n\"Yeah.\" Her face held sympathy. She squeezed his limp hand. Her fingers felt warm and soft. He could feel everything, just couldn\u2019t move. The fear jumped right back into his mouth.\n\n\n\"What you wanna know?\" The headache scattered his concentration. Scarf fought to think. How could he convince them to let him go? All thought of pleasing Goldruger was gone at this point. Scarf wanted more than anything to see his chay and shaver again. \"I\u2019ll tell you jake if you let me go.\"\n\n\nDeep Voice cut in from where Scarf couldn\u2019t see him. \"Who sent you?\"\n\n\n\"A shave called Goldruger.\"\n\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\nA familiar broadcast sounded faintly from somewhere, its hearty voice hollowed by the tunnels. \"\u2026 EWS NET: NEWS NET\u2026 A SADDENED DUKE LANCINGS WEATHERS CONFIRMED THE DISCOVERY THAT HIS YOUNGEST SON HARABEC LEADS THE MARTIAN LIBERATION FRONT\u2026\"\n\n\nScarf tried unsuccessfully to shrug. \"He wanted what you have in the bag, I guess.\"\n\n\nThe chay watched him intently. It reminded him of someone looking at a bug just before they pull the legs off.\n\n\n\"Answer carefully, shave,\" she whispered. \"\u2019Cause if you don\u2019t tell us the truth, it\u2019s gonna hurt a lot.\"\n\n\nHe managed a scruff of a laugh. \"I believe it. I ain\u2019t lyin\u2019, chay. I don\u2019t have a glitchin\u2019 idea what\u2019s in the bag. Maybe drugs? Maybe some kinda weapon?\"\n\n\n\"It queries after\u2026secure data, Nine,\" Deep Voice said.\n\n\n\"Call me Linda. Get used to the identification. You\u2019re Merios,\" the chay said.\n\n\n\"We should not use these\u2026designations\u2026in front of the animal.\"\n\n\n\"No matter.\" She smiled down at Scarf. The mouth was warm, but her eyes were stone cold. \"He won\u2019t tell anyone.\"\n\n\nScarf didn\u2019t like the implications there. He felt the tears start to build, but he kept them back. He was a hardtail, a frixin\u2019 hardtail\u2026\n\n\n\"\u2026THE EMPEROR HAS AGREED TO SEND A STRIKEFORCE OF IMPERIAL KNIGHTS TO MARS TO FERRET OUT THE TRAITOR\u2026\"\n\n\nDeep Voice paused. \"The animals are careless with their data.\"\n\n\n\"So much is trivial,\" the chay said, her eyes still drilling into Scarf. \"It is harder than you might conceive to accumulate useful datastrings.\"\n\n\n\"Giver-of-Will designed the Emperor\u2019s brain, made the conversion. The Emperor unit has consequently proven to be efficient. Shall I place the tools here?\"\n\n\n\"Yes,\" a third voice, a reedy one, replied.\n\n\nSomething clinked, and the chay commented, \"The animal grows agitated.\"\n\n\nHer face withdrew, and Scarf stared hard at the ceiling, suddenly filled with horrifying realization. \"What are you?\" he asked shakily. \"You ain\u2019t normal folk.\"\n\n\n\"It should be\u2026apparent\u2026even to your limited\u2026animal mind,\" Deep Voice intoned.\n\n\n\"You\u2019re\u2026Cybrids?\"\n\n\n\"Yes,\" the chay said from somewhere to his left. Soft hands touched his temples.\n\n\n\"But you\u2019re people!\"\n\n\n\"We are organic intrusion and surveillance units.\" She laughed musically. \"Spies, in your terminology. We use the same hardware as your Emperor.\"\n\n\nScarf was dumbfounded. \"You\u2019re Immortal, like the Emperor?\"\n\n\n\"That\u2019s an illogical term. We\u2019re Cybrids.\"\n\n\nThe reedy voice intruded. \"The brain is now prepped. Shall we use this candidate?\"\n\n\n\"DON\u2019T LET HEADACHES RUIN YOUR DAY!\" The newsdrone chuckled. \"TAKE IMPERIAL STRENGTH MEDERIPIL!\"\n\n\n\"I see no logical reason not to,\" the chay said. \"The procedure does not take long?\"\n\n\n\"No,\" said Reedy Voice. \"The transfer package operates via nano-surgeons. They are efficient. The neural blocks will keep the autonomic nervous system operating intact throughout the transfer and will also prevent the loss of organic integrity to \u2018shock.\u2019\"\n\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" Scarf croaked. \"Some kinda operation?\" He bit his tongue. What was this? He was hardtail. He wouldn\u2019t beg, damn it!\n\n\nThe chay\u2019s face appeared again. \"Yes. You see, our Master created the technology that your Emperor used to become immortal, the artificial brain. We use that same technology to insert Cybrid minds in human bodies.\" She dimpled again. \"Your body will be quite a useful addition to our hub.\"\n\n\nA shrill whine cut the air, came closer. Closer. A brush of air tugged at Scarf\u2019s skin.\n\n\nPanic blasted through Scarf at last, and he screamed. \"Nooo! Don\u2019t do it! Don\u2019t-\"\n\n\n\"DO YOU SUFFER FROM AN ANNOYING SKIN CONDITION?\" The newsdrone\u2019s voice faded cheerily into the distance. \"USE BIO-SKIN!\"\n\n\n==References==\n[http://library.theexiled.pwnageservers.com/file.php?id=2932 Starsiege Writers' Guide]\n\n[[Category:Earthsiege]]\n[[Category:Official Fiction]]\n[[Category:Starsiege Fiction]]"
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            "251": {
                "pageid": 251,
                "ns": 0,
                "title": "Slang",
                "revisions": [
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                        "*": "''N.B.: All the usual swearwords and slang terms are part of the TRIBES Universe. However, the Tribes of Man have their own particular slang and cusswords for those who wish to avoid \"real world\" swearing.''\n\n\n'''Ayia''': Emphasis word, usually added at the end of a sentence. (\u201c''Should be easy, ayia?''\u201d) Also used as an exclamation. (\u201c''Ayia! They\u2019ve got us pinned!''\u201d) Also an affirmation, like sure, OK, yeah. (\u201c''Ayia, I can do that.''\u201d)\n\n'''Battle-rattle''': Powered armor.\n\n'''Bitch, The''': Vulgar term for the Great Wolf. Strangely enough, it\u2019s a uniquely Starwolf term rarely used by other tribes.\n\n'''Bleed, The''': Slang term for the \u201ccommand circuit\u201d used in powered armors.\n\n'''Butchers, butcherboys''': Blood Eagle.\n\n'''Carps, crabs, redboots, stickers''': Blood Eagle security (''Order of the Cardinal Spear'').\n\n'''Catchers''': Counter-Intel or border security agents with the power to arrest.\n\n'''CC''': Command Circuit, also term for \u201cRoger, acknowledged.\u201d\n\n'''Clunkers''': Hercs.\n\n'''Cube, cubed''': Cool, or a lot. (\u201c''That\u2019s totally cube.''\u201d \u201c''There were butcherboys cubed all over the plaza.''\u201d)Comes from the mathematical term to cube a property, e.g., 2<sup>3</sup>.\n\n'''Cube that''': Affirmation, sure, OK, absolutely.\n\n'''Cut an eagle''': Finish things with finality.\n\n'''Gate''': To use a jumpgate.\n\n'''Hop, Hopper''': Medium (hoplite) armor. Also used to mean movement in armor using the on-board jets, e.g., \u201c''Ferox, you and Chill hop over to the ridgeline and scan the far side.''\u201d\n\n'''Hunchin\u2019''': Cussword. Vulgar, vaguely sexual epithet used as an adjective/adverb.\n\n'''Hypercast''': A reference to the radio arrays that beam signals through jumpgates, the most common form of interstellar communication. Also called \u201chype,\u201d as in \u201c''we hyped the message to Bira Marduk.''\u201d\n\n'''Jimmies, the Juma, pathcops, pure-pukes''': Diamond Sword security (from Junshin-Masamichi, the \u201cCorrect Path to Purity.\u201d).\n\n'''Lac''': (1) Short for \u201cNeolac,\u201d the dialect of Cantonese-influenced Anglic spoken in the wilderzone. (2) A vaguely great number, such as \u201ca lac of sheks.\u201d\n\n'''Lice''': General term for Imperial military. Said to be an ancient insult.\n\n'''Mock the wolf to her face''': Do something foolish.\n\n'''Newblood''': Newbie warrior.\n\n'''Pop''': Kill.\n\n'''Popjell''': What's left of a body after a mortar or direct spinfusor hit.\n\n'''Q-Reed''': FTL communication device, the \u201cquantum reed.\u201d Also \u201csquirt.\u201d\n\n'''Scan''': OK, to check stuff out, to understand, e.g., \u201c''I scan you, brother'',\u201d or \u201c''It scans fine'',\u201d or just \u201c''Scan''.\u201d\n\n'''Scrof, scroffing''': General-purpose swearword. Comes from skin pustules some settlers got from alien microorganisms.\n\n'''Sharp''': Good, ready, prepared. Originally \"''when the knife is sharp enough, you cut'',\" this expression has shortened drastically. Sometimes used as an mild cussword.\n\n'''Sheks''': Money, cash. From \u201cshekels,\u201d the unit of currency used in the wilderzone.\n\n'''Shell''': Powered armor. Also known as \u201c''hardshell'',\u201d \u201c''armor'',\u201d or simply \u201c''suit''.\u201d\n\n'''Skads, SVD, the Clap''': Starwolf security (from ''Skaduvarg Directorate''). Skaduvarg means \u201cShadow Wolf\u201d in an Old Terran dialect. However, some say it stands for \u201cSecurity and Counter-Intel Directorate and Variance Guardians.\u201d\n\n'''Slug''': Heavy (myrmidon armor).\n\n'''Slide, spin''': To travel to another star.\n\n'''Squik''': Kill. An ancient term said to have been coined by Harabec himself. That's why it's still around. Also a universal swearword.\n\n'''Starkissin\u2019''': Cussword. Mild, the equivalent to \u201cdarn.\u201d Bad, lousy, or awesome, depending on context. Also sometimes used as a mild emphasis.\n\n'''Stinksuit''': The skintight layer of entek-impregnated clothing commonly worn under a powered armor to recycle bodily fluids and prevent chafing.\n\n'''String, stringing''': To travel the Hyperweb\u2019s \u201cstrings.\u201d Usually used by tribal stringers. Also known as \u201cthreading.\u201d\n\n'''Synner(s)''': Synthrall(s).\n\n'''Talking to a sword''': Doing something pointless.\n\n'''Threadbare''': Isolated, no way out, not many options. (\u201c''Situation\u2019s threadbare, sir!''\u201d)\n\n'''Tin, tinny''': Light (peltast) armor.\n\n'''When Phoenix wakes''': When Hell freezes over. With more devout tribes, however, this means \u201cwhen the reckoning comes.\u201d\n\n'''Wings, EGV, the Vuur, e-gees, flappers, hotbirds''': Children of Phoenix security (from ''Er\u00e9nyr Gondanokos Vuur''). The name is said to mean \u201cBright Guardians of Virtue.\u201d The nickname \u201cwings\u201d comes from the winged badges carried by EGV personnel.\n\n\n== References ==\n[http://library.theexiled.pwnageservers.com/file.php?id=2895 Guide to the Tribes Universe]\n\n[[Category:Tribes]]\n[[Category:Official Fiction]]"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}