Emperor Chang had retired from the USMC at the rank of Major General after twenty-five years' service, and thought it only fitting that the ITMC--a great majority of whose first officers and NCOs came from the USMC--continue the history and traditions he thought invaluable. He also instituted a new tradition at that time: at 1000 hours, Palace Standard Time, on 10 November of every year, the Sovereign @self publishes the Birthday Article to every Marine post and shipboard detachment. While there have been many changes, the ITMC retains things like the dress blue uniform and Marine Emblem which make its lineal descent from the USMC obvious. The dress blue uniform (with the USMC male version used by both sexes) is essentially unchanged; the ITMC Emblem substitutes the Imperial stylized globe for the USMC's Terran Western hemisphere. (For non-humans, there are uniform variations based on physical structure; Traiti, for instance, do not wear headgear except for protection, and the Irschchans, since 2569, wear a kilt version of any Imperial uniform.) MARSTON, Dan: Dana Manfredi/DruAlanna's pen name when writing historical fiction. MEDALERT TEAM: An emergency medical response team led by a physician, whenever possible a trauma specialist. MEDART, James Kieran: RJT-6743-5197 (14 Aug 2494-28 Mar 2669) Imperial Ranger, 2515-2669. Led rescue of Yonar Colony, his first solo mission, 2518. Negotiated with the cloudcats to obtain human/Irschchan settlements on Ondrian in exchange for the privilege of travel on Imperial ships, 2532. Called Mjolnir Conference, 2542, which resulted in the end of the Sandeman War and the creation of Subsector 5-D, Sandeman. Recruited Ranger Corina Losinj, then helped her stop White Order revolt, 2569; en route from Irschcha to Terra on this mission, the two discovered and began to train his latent Talent. To Ranger Losinj's surprise, this included healing, an aspect that had not appeared on Irschcha. Had Medart not been selected as a Ranger, he planned to specialize in xenoanthropology, and has in a sense done so, though not formally. His interest in the variety of cultures humans and non-humans alike can develop has led him to study and visit as many as his assignments allow; while he is not totally familiar with all the cultures in the Empire, he is the Ranger normally called on when there is an inter-cultural problem. MEERCLAR, Subsector 9-F: No. systems: 111 Sector: Ursa with 3 inhabited planets: 5 Ruled by: with 2 inhabited planets: 12 with 1 inhabited planet: 28 MELGARIE, Jord: HPUJE-7895-2835 (? 2518-20 Nov 2572) Found 18 Jun 2518 by Subsector 6-G Rescue Service, alone in an escape capsule from which all identification had been removed. He appeared to be approximately four months old, and medical tests showed him to have been a subject of major genetic engineering (which explained the lack of identification, if not the abandonment).