Bakufu Mountains, Saunders Q2
A series of mountain ranges in the north continent of Saunders III, running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the continent. They extend for more than 5,000 kilometres, are spectacularly beautiful and are the home to the famous Bakufu Dragons - giant flying reptilian raptors with a wingspan of up to 10 metres. [picture]

Baldar, Battle of (3197.396). Battle against the Exterminators in Quadrant 7. A Martian fleet under Admiral Kim Stanley-Robinson engaged two ESBs and managed to drive the attackers off.

Banderas Act. The Banderas Act was passed during Councillor Banderas' tenure as Mayor of New Jack City, Marti, and mandated the possession (though not necessarily carrying) of a personal sidearm by all Martian citizens of voting age on-planet, as a response to the wave of street crime then disfiguring the city. Street crime did sharply diminish in the wake of the law, although levels of gun-related homicide soared for a time to record levels. Nevertheless, Banderas' slogan - An Armed Society is a Polite Society - did strike a chord with the frontier mentality of the Martian worlds in Q5 and was part of her successful bid for Q5 Supreme Councillor in 2296.

Banderas, Antoinette. Outspoken Martian Senator in Quadrant 0 picture

Bates, Treaty of. A major interstellar treaty in which the navigational and administrative boundaries fo human space were established. Under this treaty, the grid system was agreed, as was the definition of Quadrants and Sectors.

Battleship:  The largest class of interstellar warship - this has the maximum power and weaponry packed into its maximum-sized HSD field envelope.  A key capital ship.

Beelzebub: Esteeler Colony in Q2.

BEM. Lit. Bug Eyed Martian. A slang term of abuse. Based on an obscure reference to literary classics of pre-interstellar Earth, this is a general term of abuse applied to those born on New Mars or Old Mars. Often generally applied to anyone from the Mars Association of Free Colonies. Martians tend not to be too worried about terms of abuse as they will usually be quite happy to reply in kind and at length - regarding an exchange of obscenities as being perfectly acceptable social intercourse.

Benny. A colony with many difficulties in maintaining its economy, partly due to the high incidents of accidents and the wide belief that the system is 'unlucky'. This isn't enough to deter the hardy Bennies, who don;t know th emeaning of the word 'failure'. (Largely due to low levels of literacy. One of the founder members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.

Berserkers:  A term sometimes used by the  media tabloids to incorrectly describe the Exterminators.

Berserker Strike. A superheavy atomic metal band orignally from Gorilla, Q0. Controversial Universe-wide because of their alleged 'Berserker-loving' lyrics and alleged general defeatist ethos. Their massive hit 'We're All Going To Die in a Plasma Holocaust' has been banned on 256 worlds.

Boldy Go, Operation: The greatest expedition in human history set of at the beginning of 3203 in search of the previously unknown alien civilisation, believed to exist some 750 parsecs from human space. Evidence for this civilisation comes from 2000 year old transmission detected as a result of the ESS Odyssey mission to the Galactic Centre. This expedition consists of hundreds of naval personnel and scientists from all nations, in several ships. It is not expected to reach the putative civilisation until the middle of 3205 and will not return to human space until 3207 at the latest.

Binni: A colony in Quadrant 0. A recent civil war between local colonials over control of the planet ended in 3202, and the world is now suffering only residual unrest and has joined the Martian Union.. Map here.

BRAINIAC. A tactical computer optimised for combat operations against Exterminators. A couple of these units were issued to the GFA fleet in Quadrant 5, but it has never been used in action, to date.

'Bubble Gum' Dispenser:  A specialised type of Heavy Missile warhead that deploys a temporary area denial obstacle in space battles.

Buma Robots:  A type of illegal Moriarty Class AI combat robots.  Terrifyingly effective in combat they can be beaten, but usually only at a terrible cost in life and property damage.  There are currently no known Buma Robots in existence, since they were banned by the various Stickney Treaty protocols.

Burwasher, Admiral AB.  Former Supreme commander of human fleets in Quadrant 7 and a much decorated and heroic admiral. WInner of many batles against the Exterminators. Currently commander of the Intervention Fleets under the Sumpreme Human Command structure.