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to T-Rob’s Sci-Fi Guide
A Guide to the heroes, villains, aliens, places, items and
adventures of sci-fi
Compiled by T. Rob Brown
S
- Salos, Battle of: The Earth Alliance’s decisive victory
during the war against the Dilgar. Afterward, the remaining Dilgar fled and
the notorious warmaster Jha’dur disappeared. (DEATHWALKER) [BAB5]
- Sandcrawler: General term for machinery designed to
operate on Arrakis’ surface in collecting spice melange. [DUNE]
- Sandworm (also known as Shai-Hulud): Sandworm of Arrakis.
Sandworms grow to enormous length. Some are 1,500 feet long and 125 feet high
-- they live to great age, unless drowned in water, which is poisonous to
them. [DUNE]
- Sapho (Sa-foe): High-energy liquid extracted from roots.
Commonly used by Mentats who claim it amplifies mental powers. Users develop
ruby stains on mouth and lips. [DUNE]
- Sardaukar (Sar-da-kar): The soldier-fanatics of the
Padishah Emperor. They are men from an environmental background of such ferocity
that it killed six of 13 persons before the age of 11. Their military training
ephasized ruthlessness and a near-suicidal disregard for personal safety.
[DUNE]
- Scar: A biomechanical Cylon Raider capable
of fast hyperlight jumps and utilizing tactical nukes and armor-piercing kinetics.
This 29.34-foot-long ship had no crew because it was a form of artificial
intelligence space fighter. During the initial surprise attack on the 12 Colonies
of Kobol, Cylon Raiders didn’t need to be clever, most of their targets were
rendered helpless by Cylon viruses. Since then, humanity has learned more
about the Cylons, and hundreds of Raiders have fallen before the vastly-outnumbered
Colonial Vipers. Scar is one of the Raiders that has survied. Fast,
intelligent and with an ever-growing database of human tactics, it is a master
of luring Viper pilots into tactically-submissive situations and blowing them
out of space. As its kill count rises, and it continues to avoid destruction,
the Battlestar Galactica’s fighter squadron faces more and more empty
seats in its ready room. [BG]
- SGC: Acronym for Stargate Command. The SGC is located
in the underground U.S. Air Force base in Cheyenne Mountain. [SG1, SGA]
- Shai-Hulud (Shy-Hoo-lood): Another name for the sandworm
of Arrakis. [DUNE]
- Sietch (Seetch): Fremen term designating any cave warren
inhabited by one of their tribal communities. The term means "place of
assembly in time of danger." [DUNE]
- Snake Eyes: The code name of the G.I.Joe ninja, Grade
E-5. His file name and social security number are classified, as well as his
place of birth. His primary military speciality is infantry. His secondary
military speciality is hand-to-hand combat instructor. Snake Eyes is proficient
in 12 different unarmed fighting systems (Karate, Kung-Fu, Jujitsu) and is
highly skilled in the use of edged weapons. He has received extensive training
in mountaineering; underwater demolitions; jungle, desert, and arctic survival;
and some form of holistic medicine. Qualified Expert: All NATO and Warsaw
Pact small arms. "The man is a total mystery, but he’s real good at his
job, heck, he’s the best." He is the team’s most highly-skilled ninja
and has only one opponent capable of putting him to the test: Storm Shadow,
the top ninja in Cobra. Snake Eyes does the impossible because he believes
nothing is impossible, such as infiltrating and escaping from a heavily-guarded
Cobra facility. While his goal is to free a captured G.I.Joe team member,
does he also leap at the opportunity to battle his ninja nemesis, Storm Shadow?
Their matching arm tattoos speak of a mysterious connection between these
two martial arts masters. Duke: "You never know what he’s thinking, but
you always know that when your back’s against the wall, he’ll be there to
stand and fight beside you, all the way." He served in Long Range Recon
Patrols in Southeast Asia. Left the service to study mystic martial arts with
the same Ninja family that produced Storm Shadow. Snake Eyes was living an
ascetic existence alone in the High Sierras with a pet wolf named Timber when
he was recruited for the G.I.Joe team. "Snake Eyes was tempered on the
anvil of life until he was as dangerous as a razor-edged sword, flailing in
the dark. The G.I.Joe team sheathed that sword and harnessed its deadly energy
but even they are wont to forget that even within the safety of its scabbard,
the blade retains its cutting edge." [GIJ]
- stargate: A portal, part of a vast network for interplanetary
travel (primarily within the Milky Way galaxy), built at least 3 million years
ago by an advanced race known as the Ancients. The gate’s inner ring is inscribed
with 39 symbols, or glyphs, which do not look too dissimilar to Egyptian heiroglyphs,
depicting various star constellations as seen from the world where the gate
was originally located. These glyphs actually represents points in space that
can be "dialed" to open a stable wormhole between two worlds. To
activate the gate, the inner ring rotates, locking the chevrons in sequence.
Gate addresses normally use seven symbols but certain distant worlds beyond
the known network can be reached using an eighth symbol and additional power.
In the Pegasus galaxy, where the lost city of Atlantis was found, the gates
are more advanced and contain vastly-different lighted symbols that point
to locations within that galaxy. The gates are made of naquadah, weigh 64,000
pounds, and are nearly indestructible. Chaapa’ai is the name used to refer
to the stargate in the language of the Goa’uld. See wormhole physics. [SG,
SG1, SGA]
- stargate, beta: The first stargate on Earth was placed
in Antarctica before the glacier enveloped the continent. This gate was discovered
buried deep in an Antarctic crevasse about 50 miles outside of McMurdo Station.
It was referred to as the beta stargate, however evidence suggests it was
in fact the original stargate on Earth, predating the Antarctic glacier. Although
the beta stargate was officially decommissioned, it was secretly used by rogue
NID teams for covert offworld missions before being sealed and returned to
Area 51. When SG-1 became trapped aboard Thor’s Asgard ship, they transported
the alpha gate from the SGC aboard the ship to make their escape. The gate
was lost when the ship crashed into the Pacific, but was recovered by the
Russians and used breifly from their facility in Siberia. The beta gate was
moved from storage to the SGC and remained in use until Anubis used an off-world
weapon that threatened to detonate the gate and destroy Earth. The beta gate
was removed from the SGC, launched into space on the X-302, and sent into
a hyperspace window where it exploded more than 3 million miles away. Through
a negotiated agreement with the Russians, the original alpha stargate was
returned to the SGC. See stargate, alpha. [SG1]
- stargate, alpha: Earth’s second stargate located in
Giza was buried during an uprising of the ancient Egyptians, and there it
remained for 5,000 years. In 1928, the stargate was recovered from beneath
the sands of Egypt. Dr. Langford led the team which later conducted experiments
on the artifact, but when the gate was activated manually in 1945 and Ernest
Littlefield was lost through the portal, the program was abruptly shut down.
By 1969, the gate was all but forgotten until Catherine Langford resumed her
father’s research. The stargate was moved to Cheyenne Mountain where its successful
activation led to the first stargate mission to Abydos. More than a year later,
in 1997, the stargate had once again been abandoned until the arrival of Apophis
through the gate prompted the President to establish Stargate Command. Later,
the alpha stargate was lost in a ship crash in the Pacific and recovered by
the Russians who used it breifly in Siberia. Through a negotiated agreement
with the Russians, the original alpha stargate was returned to the SGC. See
stargate, beta. [SG, SG1, SGA]
- stargate, simple: Despite the extraordinary complexity
of stargate technology, it is possible to build a simple stargate that will
dial only once, using materials available online, indluding 100 pounds of
pure raw titanium, 200 feet of fiber-optic cable, seven 100,000-watt industrial-strength
capacitors -- and a toaster. Orlin built a makeshift stargate. [SG1]
- Stillsuit: Body-enclosing garment invented on Arrakis
and used by the Fremen. Its fabric is a micro-sandwich which catches and filters
moisture from body wastes. The reclaimed moisture is made available by a tube
from catchpockets in the suite. On Arrakis, water is life. [DUNE]
- Storm Shadow: The main Cobra Ninja, his name is classified.
His primary military speciality is sabotage and his secondary military speciality
is intelligence. His birthplace is also classified. Storm Shadow can trace
his family history through 30 generations of ninjas. He can scale sheer walls
with bare hands and feet, move with blinding speed, and endure unspeakable
hardship and pain. He’s a qualified expert in long bow; Samurai sword; throwing
stars; nunchaku sticks; and 8th degree black belt in five martial arts. "The
great Ninja clans disappeared 100 years ago. If they were wiped out, nobody
took the credit for it and if they’re still around -- who are they working
for?" Storm Shadow serves Combra Commander, and bringing him a prize
like the G.I.Joe team’s Scarlett will surely please the head snake. But the
Cobra Ninja may also have another agenda: did he choose Scarlett because it
was sure to bring his enemy, Snake Eyes, right to him? Storm Shadow has mastered
several martial arts disciplines, making him the only one who can truly challenge
the G.I.Joe team’s jop ninja. But it’s more than just a contest to see who
is the better ninja: the matching symbols on their arms reveal a hidden connection
that haunts them to this day. "He may escape from me now, but one day
when our swords cross, I’ll make sure he doesn’t walk away from that duel."
Storm Shadow served with Snake Eyes in Southeast Asia before both studied
the secret art of Ninjitsu with the family of Storm Shadow, a ninja clan that
could trace its history back through 30 generations of ninjas. Unhinged by
the murder of his uncle and mentor, he infiltrated Cobra seeking revenge,
but found vengeance to be a poor substitute for life. Now, in semi-retirement
at a remote mountain hideaway, he occassionally takes on a special mission
or two -- if Snake Eyes asks him nicely. "A ninja is a silent wraith
with a razor-edged blade in one hand and a scaling-grapple in the other. Ninjas
can penetrate the most sophisticated defense and leave without a trace. They
are mystic swordsmen, spies, acrobats, quick-change artists, and conjurers.
Most people will tell you that ninjas don’t exist. That’s exactly what the
ninjas want you to believe." [GIJ]
- Sun, Aeryn: A Peacekeeper pilot who was "irreversably
contaminated" and forced to become a renegade. She became part of the
crew of Moya, a living ship. Later, she developed a romantic relationship
with crewmate John Crichton of Earth. Eventually, they were married and had
a baby together. (Played by Claudia Black.) [FAR]
- Suspensor belt: Worn by the Baron Harkonnen, who is
so grossly fat he cannot walk. Within limits, it nullifies gravity, permitting
the Baron to float through the air. [DUNE]
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