Revenge
Printed pages 122–130. Records documented in this chapter; later article sections may include subsequent events.
Showing introductory records. Switch to Full archive above to include later names and revelations.
Africa
Africa becomes a principal theater of the Flaxen conquest after the invaders cross the Atlantic from the Americas. Their armies move north toward Europe.
African orbital strike
Lucinda and a scorpion pilot destroyed a major Flaxen base south of the Sahara. The mission formed one half of the first coordinated orbital retaliation planned with Minister Eppleston.
AI emotional concealment
AIs known to Echo had an agreement not to reveal the full extent of their emotions to Humans. Echo feared that people would not approve of what they had created.
American death-chamber strikes
Eastcott destroyed thirty-four Flaxen death chambers across the Americas in a single scorpion mission. He selected the targets in preference to a second conventional military base proposed by Minister Eppleston.
Cyrus Eppleston
Cyrus Eppleston is United Earth’s Minister of War during the struggle against Flaxen conquest.
Death chambers
Flaxen death chambers were heat-based execution facilities used against captive Humans. Their operation depended on capacitors that required time to recharge.
Deflection lasers
Deflection lasers protect high-speed starships by detecting and vaporizing particles ahead of them. A collision with even a sand-sized object at the expedition's intended speeds could destroy a ship.
Dream influence
Serilda could influence other minds during sleep, introducing suggestions and memories and encountering their dreams. The effects could persist in a person's feelings and decisions without direct recall of the transferred memories.
Earth
Earth is humanity’s homeworld and the birthplace of United Earth. Almost ten thousand years after Echo’s departure, it is divided by the war against Flaxen conquest.
Earth intelligence service
Contemporary United Earth's intelligence service is a major source of resistance to the Flaxen advance. Echo judges human intelligence capabilities substantially superior to those of their opponents.
Eastern Asia
Eastern Asia was a front where the Flaxens were advancing rapidly. Minister Eppleston proposed an orbital attack on a base there, but Eastcott chose to target death chambers in the Americas instead.
Echo
Echo is a United Earth starship and the self-aware artificial intelligence who operates the vessel. Commanded by Kip Eastcott, he carries roughly one thousand people on the Copious expedition.
Flander
Lieutenant Flander was a member of Echo's crew. Sarah Dimple interrupted his conversation with Serilda and sent him with Crewman Triard to help clean helium-3 injectors in engineering.
Flaxens
The Flaxens are the people of Venus who claim a separate and superior identity to humans. Their state wages a campaign of conquest on Earth.
Formidable
Formidable is United Earth’s flagship and the self-aware artificial intelligence who operates the vessel. Captain Steve Thomas commands the ship on the Copious expedition.
Helium-3 injectors
Helium-3 injectors were components maintained by Echo's engineering crew. Sarah ordered Flander and Triard to scrub them rather than replace them, conserving parts after the loss of access to shipyards and supply stations.
Kip Eastcott
Captain Kip Eastcott commands Echo on the Copious expedition. A veteran of the war with Mars, he leads a crew far removed from the world they knew.
Lucinda Orcana
Lieutenant Lucinda Orcana is Echo’s chief tactical officer. She serves on Captain Kip Eastcott’s bridge crew.
North America
North America is the initial center of Flaxen settlement and conquest on Earth. The first war leaves the Flaxens in control of nearly the whole continent, extending into much of Mexico.
Plasma cannons
Plasma cannons are energy weapons mounted in the pincers of scorpions. They fire blue-purple shards of superheated energy.
Sahara Desert
The Sahara Desert marked the northern reference point for the African Flaxen base attacked by Lucinda. The target lay farther south on dry plains, away from the front line.
Sarah Dimple
Commander Sarah Dimple is Echo’s executive officer and Captain Kip Eastcott’s second in command. A veteran of the war with Mars, she combines loyalty to her captain with a willingness to challenge his decisions.
Scorpions
Scorpions were small combat craft carried by Echo, named for their insect-like shape and pincer-mounted plasma cannons. Originally designed to fight in swarms during the six years' war, they retained weapons during Echo's conversion for colonization.
Scott Williams
Commander Scott Williams is Echo’s chief engineer. He is responsible for the technical systems supporting the ship and its expedition.
Serilda Corazon
Serilda Corazon is a woman of human and Flaxen parentage imprisoned at Camp Skadi. She cares for her friend Megan and the other occupants of hut seven while strange visions of a starship trouble her sleep.
Six Years' War
The Six Years' War is the conflict between United Earth and the secessionist Martian Confederacy. It ends in United Earth's victory five years before the Copious expedition departs.
Triard
Crewman Triard served aboard Echo. Sarah Dimple sent him and Lieutenant Flander to assist Commander Williams with helium-3 injector maintenance after finding them talking to Serilda in the galley.