by Myke Cole
Butter-Bar—A second lieutenant in land- or air-based service, or an ensign in maritime service. The lowest commissioned officer rank in the United States military.
CAC—Common Access Card. A government identification card used across all five branches of the US military.
Carbine—A shortened, lighter version of the traditional assault rifle used by infantry. It is better suited for tight spaces common in urban operations.
CO—Commanding Officer.
Comms—Communications.
Coven—Replaces a squad for organizational purposes when magic-using soldiers are concerned. A conventional squad contains four to ten soldiers led by a staff sergeant. A Coven contains four to five SOC Sorcerers, led by a captain. Training Covens are led by a warrant officer.
CSH—Combat Support Hospital. Pronounced “Cash.” A field hospital, successor to the MASH units of TV fame.
DFAC—Dining Facility.
Druid—Selfer slang for a Terramancer.
EC—European Caliphate. The political entity, operating under strict Islamic Sharia law, which now encompasses the former European Union.
Elementalist—A person practicing the prohibited school of Sentient Elemental Conjuration. This is the act of imbu-ing Elementals with self-awareness. This is different from automatons—Elementals with no thought, who are entirely dependent on the sorcerer for command and control.
FOB—Forward Operating Base.
GIMAC—Gate-Integrated Modern Army Combatives—MAC integrated with Portamancy. Also known as “gate-fu.” See MAC definition below.
Go Dynamic—Command given to assault a target without regard to stealth.
Go Nova—When a magic user is overwhelmed by the current of their own magical power. This results in a painful death similar to burning. A person who has “gone nova” is sometimes referred to as a “magic sink.”
Healer—A Physiomancer. They are sometimes also referred to as “Renders” in deference to their ability to damage flesh as well as repair it. Offensive Physiomancy is prohibited under the Geneva Convention’s magical amendment. Offensive use of Physiomancy is also known as “Rending.”
Helo—Helicopter.
Hooch—Living quarters. Can also be used as a verb. “You’ll hooch here.”
Hot—Under fire. Usually refers to an arrival under fire. A “hot LZ” would be landing an aircraft under fire. Also refers to a state of military readiness where personnel are prepared for immediate action.
Indig—Indigenous.
Indirect Fire—Sometimes shortened to simply “Indirect.” An attack, either magical or conventional, aimed without relying on direct line of sight to the target. This usually refers to artillery, rocket, or mortar fire, but also Pyromantic flame strikes and Aeromantic lightning attacks.
IO—Information Operations.
JAG—Judge Advocate General. The legal branch of any of the United States armed services.
KIA—Killed in Action.
Kiowa—A light reconnaissance helicopter.
Klick—A kilometer or kilometers per hour.
Latent—Any individual who possesses magical ability, detected or otherwise.
Little Bird—A small helicopter usually used to insert/extract commandos.
Logs—Logistics.
LSA—Logistical Staging Area.
LZ—Landing Zone.
MAC—Modern Army Combatives. A martial art unique to the United States Army, based on Brazilian Jiujitsu.
Manifest—The act of realizing one’s Latency and displaying magical ability. Latent people Manifest at various times in their lives—some at birth, some on their deathbed, and at all times in between. Nobody knows why it occurs when it does.
Minigun—A crew-served multibarrel machine gun with a high rate of fire, employing Gatling-style rotating barrels and an external power source.
MP—Military Police.
MWR—Morale, Welfare, and Recreation center.
NIH—National Institute of Health. Among many other services, NIH runs a Monitoring/Suppression program for those Latents who refuse to join the military but don’t want to become Selfers. Participants are monitored continuously and have virtually no privacy. Most are treated as social pariahs.
NODs—Night Observation Devices.
Normals—Selfer slang for those who are not Latent. The term is respectful. The term ‘human’ is sometimes substituted in derogatory fashion.
Novice—SOC Sorcerers still in training, before they graduate SAOLCC.
OC—Officers’ Club.
On my six—Directly behind the speaker.
Outside the Wire—Area beyond the secure perimeter of a military facility.
Probes—Short for “Prohibited.” Those Latents who Manifest in a school of prohibited magic such as Negramancy, Portamancy, Necromancy, or Sentient Elemental Conjuration.
PSYOPS—Psychological Operations.
PX—Post Exchange. A store selling a variety of goods located on a military facility.
Reading—Slang for the military practice of using Rump Latents to “read” the currents of other Latent individuals in an effort to discover their magic-using status.
Rending—Offensive use of Physiomantic magic. See Healer definition above.
ROE—Rules of Engagement. The conditions under which members of the military and law-enforcement communities are permitted to employ deadly force.
Rump Latency—A person who Manifests magical ability that is too slight to be of any real use. Such a person can only use magic to a very slight degree but can feel the magical tide in another person. Rump Latents are not commissioned as full SOC officers but make up a small percentage of the enlisted and warrant-officer support in the corps.
SAOLCC—Sorcerer’s Apprentice/Officer Leadership Combined Course. Basic training for SOC Sorcerers. This rigorous training regimen teaches Latent soldiers the basics of magic use/control while simultaneously preparing them for their duties as officers in the US Army.
School—A particular kind of magic, usually associated with a mutable element (earth, air, fire, water, flesh, etc.). Latent individuals only Manifest in one school.
Seabee—Colloquial pronunciation of “CB”—construction battalions of the United States Navy.
Selfers—Latent individuals who elect to flee authority and use their magical abilities unsupervised. Selfers are usually tracked down and killed.
SF/SOF—Special Forces or Special Operations Forces. Used interchangeably.
SOC—Supernatural Operations Corps. Not to be confused with Special Operations Command (or SOCOM, under whose auspices the Supernatural Operations Corps falls). The SOC is the corps of the US Army responsible for all magical use. The SOC is a joint corps, which means it handles magic use for all US armed services to include the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard (though the Army is the executive agent). The Marine Corps does not participate in the SOC and runs its own Suppression Lances.
Sorcerer—A SOC magical operator—an officer of the SOC who employs magic as his primary military specialty. The term is also used to refer to those contractors certified to use magic in support of SOC operations.
Stryker—An armored combat land vehicle.
Suppression—The act of using one’s own magical current to block that of another. This is typically a one-to-one ratio. The strength of a Suppressor’s Latency must exceed that of the individual he is seeking to Suppress.
Suppression Lance—A US Marine Corps unit that employs a Suppressing officer to block the magical abilities of the riflemen in the unit.
Tar Baby—SOC Slang for elemental automatons. See Elementalist definition above.
TOC—Tactical Operations Center.
UCMJ—Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Whispering—Terramantic magic used to control the actions of animals. This is prohibited by the US Code. SOC Terramancers are not permitted to Whisper.
WIA—Wounded in Action.
Witch—Selfer slang for a Negramancer. Male Negramancers are sometimes called
Warlocks.
