List of Planets in The Honorverse - M

M

MacGregor

Mentioned in Ashes of Victory, Ch. 39.

Manticore (planet)

the third planet of Manticore A (Manticore-A III), one of the binary stars of the Manticore system, and one of two habitable planets of that star system. Manticore is a temperate planet with an exceptionally mild climate and surface gravitation 1.01 G. Manticore is the capital planet of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. The capital city is Landing City. It has one moon, Thorson. Although it is much like Old Earth, long years (1 terran year (T-year) equals approximately 0.6 Manticore year) and extended seasons required only small adjustments compared to the indigenous disease it harbored. This plague had killed over 60% of the first group of colonists (almost 90% of those born on Old Earth). HMSS Hephaestus, one of the Royal Navy's shipyards, is in permanent orbit around the planet. As well as HMS Unconqurered, the only ship commanded by both Ellen D'Orville and Edward Saganami, now restored and in permanent commission.

Manticore (star system)

a binary star system, with three habitable planets. The primary, Manticore A has two habitable planets, Manticore and Sphinx. The secondary, Manticore B has one habitable planet, Gryphon. The star system is the capital system of the Star Empire of Manticore. The Manticore Wormhole Junction is situated in the system.

Manticore Wormhole Junction

the largest known wormhole junction. It is connected to the wormhole terminuses of Beowulf, Gregor, Matapan, Lynx, Medusa/Basilisk and Trevor's Star.

Manticore Quadrant

an organization division in the Star Empire of Manticore. It consists of the home system of Manticore, the Manticore Wormhole Junction; the Basilisk star system, planet Medusa, and Medusa wormhole terminus; the planet San Martin, Trevor's Star system, and the Trevor's Star wormhole terminus; the Gregor wormhole terminus; and the Lynx System, planet Lynx, Lynx Wormhole Terminus, and Lynx Wormhole Terminus system.

Manticore; Star Kingdom of

The Star Kingdom of Manticore (SKM) is the core of the Star Empire of Manticore, and consists of the Manticore Quadrant, and other parts of the Star Empire which are not parts of other quadrants.

Manticore; Star Empire of

The Star Empire of Manticore (SEM) is a star nation. It consists of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and the Talbott Quadrant. The fictional politics of the star nation expect that a Silesia Quadrant will be carved out of the Star Kingdom.

Manticore Alliance

an alliance of star nations, allied to fight the common threat of the People's Republic of Haven. The central member of the alliance, and principal military is the Star Empire of Manticore. Since its formation, several nations have joined it, and one has left it. Current members include Alizon, the Andermani Empire, Grayson, Manticore, Sidemore and Zanzibar. Former members include Erewhon. Masada is an occupied polity under the control of the alliance.

Marsh System

See Sidemore

Masada

Located in the Endicott Star System, it is home to a society of religious fanatics dedicated to the eventual conquering of the planet Grayson. Masada first appeared in The Honor of the Queen, and has played a role in a number of the later books. Their name is a reference to the fortress of Masada where the Sacarii made their last stand against the Romans. The Masadans are former inhabitants of the planet Grayson who were exiled after a bitter 14 Terran-year Civil War which ravaged the planet. The forefathers of the Masadans, who called themselves the "Faithful", opposed the Church of Humanity Unchained's revised doctrine on technology that contrasted with Rev. Austin Grayson's original dictum that technology was evil, and sought to take control of Grayson's government. Their attempted coup, led by Steadholder Bancroft, caused the deaths of Protector John Mayhew II and fifty-three Moderate Steadholders and their heirs, but they failed to kill John's son and heir Benjamin. Benjamin escaped to another Steading and led the resistance against the Faithful. Steadholder Bancroft's wife Barbara revealed the existence of a Faithful doomsday weapon to the Moderates, leading to a final offensive and a treaty between the Moderates and the Faithful. Barbara Bancroft is revered in Grayson as a heroine and is known as the Mother of Grayson, but to Masadans she became "The Harlot of Satan", the ultimate symbol of evil and the responsible of the "Second Fall of Man". Several chemical-powered (non-impeller) sublight ships were loaded with the surviving Faithful and departed for the nearby Endicott System, where they founded the colony of Masada. Ironically, Masada is a more hospitable world than Grayson, but Masadans vowed to reconquer Grayson from the hands of the "Apostate". The Masadan theocracy allied with the People's Republic of Haven, in an attempt to conquer their moderate neighbors. The first attacks crippled the Grayson Navy (and destroyed a Manticoran destroyer). Masada's military offensive was due to be followed by a (failed) coup d'état by Protector Benjamin's cousin Jared Mayhew, known as "Maccabeus". A series of joint Manticore-Grayson counterstrikes destroyed the Masadan fleet and advanced bases before the Masadans turned on the Havenites and seized control of the Havenite battlecruiser PNS Saladin (or Thunder of God, as the Masadans called her). Thunder of God's destruction by Honor Harrington's squadron marked the end of the last Grayson-Masada War, as a task force led by Admiral Hamish Alexander invaded and seized Masada. In later novels it became known that Masada was placed under a Manticoran protectorate. The planet is under Manticoran military administration, led by General Marcel. Due to the Masadans' distaste for the Manticorans' relatively secular society (especially the total equality of the sexes), the planet is in a constant state of violence, forcing the Manticoran occupation to declare martial law. Although most of the women did not welcome the change in their legal status that the Manticoran occupation brought, a number of them have taken the opportunity to take revenge against the men who oppressed them. The most famous of these was the gruesome but "artistic" murder of former Elder Simonds by his wives; it should be noted that not all of Simonds' body parts have been accounted for. A joint Manticore-Grayson fleet squadron pickets the Endicott System. Masada has shown a history of off-world terrorism. A group of Masadan terrorists (unknowingly in Havenite pay) was responsible for the destruction of the Manticoran royal yacht HMS Queen Adrienne, resulting in the deaths of Manticore's Prime Minister Allen Summervale, Earl Gold Peak (Manticore's Foreign Secretary), the Chancellor of Grayson, Henry Prestwick and many other major figures of both Grayson and Manticoran governments. Another Masadan terrorist group was responsible for the attempted—and failed—kidnapping of Ruth Winton, a member of the Manticoran royal family whose father was a Masadan privateer, on The Wages of Sin space station in Erewhon orbit. In addition, Masadans often find their ways onto the crews of pirate vessels.

Matapan

Maya Sector

an outlying section of the Solarian League. The included solar systems are : Maya (and planet Smoking Frog), Sprague, Poul, Randal, Edwin, Robert, Murray and Isaac. The main planet is Smoking Frog. Many of the sector's inhabitants came from the planet Kemal. The Maya Sector is near Erewhon, and it has ties to the freed genetic slaves of Torch. The governor of the sector is Oravil Barregos, appointed by the Office of Frontier Security. Barregos has political ambitions, as yet undeclared, that might include independence.

Medusa

the habitable planet orbiting the star Basilisk. It is the setting for some of the action in the novel On Basilisk Station. Discovered when one of the terminals of the Manticore Junction is found, the system is annexed by the Star Kingdom of Manticore, but the planet is a protectorate because of the non-human sentient species, the Medusans, or "Stilties," as they are informally called. The protectorate is administered by a Resident Commissioner and policed by the Native Protection Agency. Dame Estelle Matsuko is the Resident Commissioner for this .85g planet. Medusa has long been a bone of contention in Manticoran politics. The Liberal party decried the annexation as imperialist, and expressed great concern that the native population would be exploited by Manticore. The Conservative Association opposed the annexation as a step onto the path of "foreign adventurism". The Progressive party was opposed because their fears that the annexation would antagonize the People's Republic of Haven. The original Act of Annexation, in an attempt to address these issues, severely limited the scope of powers given to the Medusan territorial government. The biggest limitation was the renunciation of sovereignty over Medusa itself; the protectorate, strictly speaking, was established over the Medusans themselves. As such, the Resident Commissioner's office and the NPA had the authority to take measures to prevent the exploitation of the native population, but did not have the authority to restrict access to the planet itself. From a legal standpoint, it could even be argued that Manticore's territorial claim over the planet was meaningless, since it had no sovereignty. Before the events of On Basilisk Station, this was the legal opinion of the People's Republic of Haven. Another limitation of the Act of Annexation was the restriction on Manticore's military presence in the region. No permanent military installations were allowed, and mobile units were to be kept to the minimum required to maintain order. This restriction caused the Royal Manticoran Navy to conclude that if they were forbidden from keeping a force on station strong enough to repel an attack, there was no point in investing any more ships in the area than were necessary. The Admiralty responsible for formulating the doctrine for the Basilisk picket saw the ships placed there as advance scouts, the destruction of which would call for a response from the Manticoran Home Fleet. It is the center of a plot by the Havenites to end Manticore's administration over the system by engineering a native revolt. This plot failed due to the actions of the light cruiser HMS Fearless and her commander, Commander Honor Harrington. Following this, it is annexed completely by the Star Kingdom, and Haven is severely penalized for their actions. The Navy's presence on Medusa and the Basilisk system is beefed up after this incident, but the system becomes a battlefield during the later stages of the Haven-Manticore war, when a Havenite task force led by Admiral Javier Giscard staged a raid that succeeded in devastating Medusa's space industry (Echoes of Honor). The Royal Navy's later Medusa-class of superdreadnoughts is named after the planet.

Melungeon

a vacation resort visited by wealthy Manticorians for wild hunting in the short story A Grand Tour by David Drake in the anthology More Than Honor.

Meyerdahl

A heavy gravity planet from which some of the invited colonists to the Star Kingdom Of Manticore came in the period after the plague which killed most of Manticore's original colonists from Earth. Some inhabitants of Meyerdahl had genetic modifications to adapt to its higher gravity and they were well suited to the high gravity Manticoran planet, Sphinx. Among those Sphinxian immigrants were Honor Harrington's ancestors, including Stephanie Harrignton who first discovered treecats, and became the human side of the first human-treecat bond.

Mesa

a fictional star nation, star system, and planet. It is a single star system polity, entirely enclosed within the Solarian League. It was founded by a group of renegade Beowulfans who rejected the Beowulf code. Mesa is also the main basis for Manpower Incorporated, the company that manufactures genetically engineered human slaves.

Mfecane

See Ndebele

Midgard Federation

Midsummer

Monica

a star system, planet, star nation, and sector in the Verge of the Solarian League. It served as a proxy for the Solarian League's Office of Frontier Security.

Montana