Barracks Emperors: Collective term describing the succession of emperors springing from military backgrounds (and usually seizing the throne by force) during the Civil War.
See Emperors of the Flag. -ld IE

Basin: Basic geographic feature on the surface of Darrian (0627 Spinward Marches). Darrian has five isolated seas, each totally unconnected to the others. Each sea drains a basin; each basin is effectively an independent ecology. -ld D

Battle of Two Suns, 1084: The final battle between Imperial forces and the barbarians in the Fourth Frontier war. Losses on both sides were heavy, but the Imperium held the field and the barbarians were unable to continue their advance due to their lengthening supply lines. Had the battle gone the other way, the loss of both Yres (1802 Spinward Marches) and Menorb (1803 Spinward Marches) (the encounter occuring midway between those two locations) would have forced the evacuation of Efate (1705 Spinward Marches) and meant collapse of the entire coreward end of the Regina subsector.
The battlefield is still posted as a dangerous area, littered with debris, and avoided by interstellar transportation. -ld Kin

"Behind the Claw": A slang term used by inhabitants of the Spinward Marches, Deneb, and Trojan Reach Sectors to refer to these areas. The term derives from a supposed resemblance between a claw and the Great Rift, as seen on maps of the Imperium. Inhabitants of this region feel a certain pride in this designation, and it is used to imply that they share a camaraderie and common interest. The name was once used as the title of a popular news magazine with a circulation area encompassing the three sectors named above. The term is rarely used by inhabitants of other areas of the Imperium.
The entire area "behind the claw" is now part of the Domain of Deneb. -ld IE

Bellham (1838 Core D989620-7): The inhabitants of Bellham (which some Solomani call Bedlam) are the only humans of the Imperium who intuitively understand the K'kree herd instinct, because their planetary culture allows no privacy at all. A desire to be alone for any purpose whatsoever is looked on as pathological.
The climate is subtropical year-round in the settled areas, which encourages the free-style architecture, without walls or doors, which the inhabitants prefer. Visitors naturally find this very trying and usually retreat to their ships when they wish to have privacy. But even stranger than the absence of walls and doors in the architecture is the absence of discretion in speech. Bellhamites are taught from birth to say anything and everything that they are thinking or feeling. Not only is a gathering of Bellhamites cacophonous, but tact is virtually unknown.
This culture has not made Bellhamites popular away from their own world, either, but they care very little about that. Few Bellhamites understand the concept of tact. Apparently conditioned by the barrage from their fellow citizens, Bellhamites seem to have very "thick skins" and often fail to notice other people's hurt feelings.
The tech level of Bellham has been steadily decreasing since it was first catalogued. Some researchers maintain that privacy is a necessity for creative thought and warn that Bellham will continue to go downhill if a new cultural influence does not gain ascendancy. -core TD 10

Belt Mining: The process of extracting useful minerals and other substances from asteroids. Asteroids fall into three basic categories, each of which is different in nature and value.
Nickel-iron asteroids are reasonably dense, high-grade sources of metal of most value to the manufacturing industry; large asteroids can be sold to local shipbuilding concerns as planetoid starship hulls.
Carbonaceous asteroids are the most common planetoids and have the lowest value of all asteroids in most marketplaces. These stony chunks have the most value in systems where space colonies and large stations can make use of the variety of the useful elements - carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and so on - that can be extracted from them.
Ice chunks are made up of various frozen volatiles, including methane, water, and the like. These "dirty snowballs" are a source of hydrogen fuel and hence support an entire specialty of "ice miners" who seek them out. In systems where gas giants cannot be used for one reason or another, a starport or space station may pay reasonably good money for ice chunks, though they will never make a belter rich.
None of these three categories of asteroid is particularly valuable, and few belters ever made a fortune strictly from discovering and mining any of these. In point of fact, there are other things to be found. Many asteroids. most particularly nickel-iron rocks, contain varying amounts of the valuable minerals, platinum, iridium, and so forth, and sometimes radioactives. Occasionally an asteroid will be discovered with an unusual configuration that makes it valuable for scientific or even aesthetic purposes. And, finally, there are artifacts, which take in the entire gamut from the flotsam of a week-old wreck to a trove left by the Ancients, and which vary in value accordingly. -ld IE

Belter: Strictly speaking, one who practices the profession of asteroid prospector and miner, usually working alone or with a small number of partners. Loosely, any resident of an asteroid belt (including citizens of civilized belts such as Glisten, some of whom have never been in a spaceship). -ld IE

Bilstein Yards: The Bilstein company of Glisten (Spinward Marches/Glisten) has achieved a high reputation for specialist starships of nonstreamlined types. Though constructing on a small scale compared to builders like Ling Standard, Bilstein vessels are sought after due to their attention to customers' special requirements.
Bilstein is the main supplier of private yachts to the March nobility, and this provides the bulk of their output. Occasionally, however, a class of vessels such as the Leviathan merchant cruisers are turned out, and several powered planetoid types have also been constructed.
Since Strephon's murder, Bilstein has begun retooling its lines to produce a series of planetoid warships to defend the Domain of Deneb from outside intruders. -ld IE

Bingnam: Little, furry mammal native to Morninglori (1216 Deneb). Usually considered to be very cute, this little animal can be tamed and carried around in a pocket or on the shoulder. -cam MS

Black Globe Generator: A rudimentary force screen generator producing a characteristic black globe surrounding its mechanism. Matter is unable to penetrate the surface of the screen, and energy impinging on the screen is absorbed within the mechanism. When the screen is dropped, the energy is then radiated away as heat.
The generator has several disadvantages, primarily the lack of any contact through the screen (which calls for inertial navigation and absolutely no maneuver while the screen is up) and the danger that the generator will overload with absorbed energy (the resulting explosion effectively transfers the energy which it has absorbed to the interior of the ship. -ld Kin

Bloodwell: Merchant trader in the 1000 ton class belonging to the Oberlindes Lines and generally assigned to the Regina (1910 Spinward Marches) to Pandrin (2240 Gvurrdon) run. Lost with all hands and passengers to Imperial naval action 347-1105 when mistakenly identified as hostile. -ld TP

Bogustin (1323 Core A3105AC-F): Vincent V'cabi was hired in 958 by Harton Corporation to head up a colony on Bogustin. The colonists built a giant orbital complex, and spends much of its time in a total terraforming project to make the world itself inhabitable. Forty years after the colony was founded, Harton went bankrupt, and V'cabi proclaimed himself as V'cabi I. Now 198 years old, thanks to anagathics and good Vilani bloodlines, and still rules the world. His doting population is gearing up for the bicentennial celebration of the government. Bogustin Studios is well-known for its fine holographic entertainment programs, many of which are computer generated. -core TD 10

Bolar: Light alcoholic beverage containing carbonic acid common in Massilia sector. -cam MS

Bootean Federation: Member state of the Solomani Confederation. One of Terra's first major colonization efforts, the worlds of the rich Near Bootes Cluster prospered throughout the Rule of Man. Even when the Long Night fell, the 18 worlds of the Near Bootes Union survived almost unscathed. By Dawn, the Union was a major political and economic power. When the Solomani Autonomous Region was established, many Union officials stepped forward to take key positions in the new government. The Union became the Federation, and one of its Chairmen, Karl Scott, co-authored the Charter.
Where in earlier times the Booteans led Confederation politics, more recently they have opposed Party policy and growing SolSec power. Large segments of the Federation leadership endorse the Reform Movement, even going so far as to grant membership to the aliens of Labrys. In 5630 AD, two Booteans - Joshua Dahvin and Kathleen Ryan-Cox - became High Councilors despite right-wing efforts to block their appointment. The two have boldly spoken out in an effort to temper Party aggressiveness with typical Bootean tolerance. -sta S&A

Border Worlds Confederation: Established as an Imperial client-state from occupied worlds along the Imperial/Sword World border in 1111, the Border Worlds is a federation tightly controlled by its capital at Beater (1424 Spinward Marches). Due to its nature, the Border Worlds has been a hotbed of Domain/Sword World tensions. -dod MTJ 1

Borlund (1406 Deneb E454AAA-9): This world's 70 billion inhabitants are governed by an extremely popular dictator, known as Thabian, and his Council of Seven Lights. Strong customs against breach of privacy and against the use of force keep crowded conditions from becoming maddening. -den TD 19

Boskone (1214 Solomani Rim E00016A-E): The Boskone belts are owned by Ludmilla (1216 Solomani Rim A45689D-E), but the belt's appeal is not its mineral value for it has none. Its planetoids are all carbonaceous and ice fragments - useless for mining.
But, some of the fragments are big enough to accommodate major habitat construction, and it is reported that Ludmilla claimed the system for "scientific research". Just what they are researching is not public knowledge. -sr TD 13

Boyr: One of the five basins on Darrian (0627 Spinward Marches). -ld D

Bremen (1818 Gateway B693632-A): Sub-capital of the Plavian League and location ot the large, powerful Bremen Naval Base. -gat MTJ 4

Bridled Steed: Taking its subject from the horned-horse of Terran mythology, the "Bridled Steed", an emergent unicorn, is a constellation spanning the Chronor and Jewell subsectors. Archduke Norris' family has always used the image as a symbol of its own holdings in the Spinward Marches. When Norris required a symbol to represent the Domain of Deneb, the unicorn seemed a natural choice. -dod MTJ 1

Brzk: Arcduke of Antares. As the pinnacle of power in the Domain of Antares, Archduke Brzk of Antares has received attention for his handling of the disorder during the Rebellion. He considered himself a candidate for the throne until 1118, when he decided the Moot would never ratify a nonhuman as emperor. -emp IE
Archduke of Antares. Brzk's great- (to the eighth) grandfather, Admiral Soegz, was a loyal supporter of Arbellatra in the final years of the Civil War. -ld IE