Authority Equals Asskicking: Pay keen attention to the ranking insigna on a Dagger's uniform. It's directly proportional to how badly they can kick your ass.
BFG: Standard-issue Order firearms are usually this, in comparison to current real-world service guns. They use a potassium-based, high-explosive propellant (as opposed to low-explosive smokeless powder used in current guns), giving them both reddish muzzle flares and impressive volume.
Deflector Shields: In the form of electromagnetic emitters placed strategically throughout a suit of Powered Armor or vehicle.
Earth-that-Was: Subverted.The Order is constantly accepting immigrants and recruits from Earth into it's colonies. Because of this, the Earth's population is steadily dwindling and the environment is actually on the recovery. The eventual result of this is that Earth really will become as it was, a verdant paradise, before the rise of human civilization. Due to their longevity, many Daggers will be around to witness this.
Eat the Rich: World War III proved to be the final act of Republican America's reign, and cost its people untold billions, thanks to the Order's policy of targeting materiel instead of personnel. The armies returned home with broken weapons, angrily accusing their masters of pitting them against an unbeatable foe for their own gain. Their open resentment gave spark to the fuel of simmering public tension and the destroyed economy, and the Anti-Wealth Riots began. When the dust settled, the little man controlled the West- under soft-spoken, Vermont-born, blue-collar worker President Robert Springs, a personal friend of Lord Dagger.
Faster-than-Light Travel: Of the "portal" variety. Thanks to the Kearndy-Brand Transpace Field Distortion Device, or "warp drive", ships may enter warp space, which is proportionately much smaller then "real" space. There is a danger zone around planets and other stellar bodies, which cast "mass shadows" in the warp not unlike those in Star Wars.
Free-Love Future: Communal living is standard practice among the Order. This arose largely from that. Lord Dagger espouses it.
Gatling Good: Man-portable, vehicle-mounted, mech-mounted in groups... the Order is not short on rotary guns.
Good Is Not Nice: The Sons of the Dagger's core objective is to strike down the forces of evil wherever they appear, whether it be with blade, bullet or bare hands. They constantly seeks to better the standards of living for the human race, and represents us in extending offers of friendship and partnership to other races. Anyone who actively subverts or goes against those goals is in for a world of pain.
Long Runners: This setting has existed in some form since 1997.
Hell-Bent for Leather: Order uniform jackets and coats, as well as other articles if desired, are made of a synthetic leather substitute. Off-duty wear varies wildly, of course.
Late to the Party: On a grand scale: Humanity has arrived on the galactic scene to find themselves the last great military power, with the other races battered and drained after untold eons of warfare, or only now coming into their own.
LEGO Genetics: The key element of induction to The Order involves a horrendously complicated genetic modification process that entails the alteration and replacement of many genes with superior variants. The result is a Super Soldier with most of the elements of the Flying Brick power set, with immunity to aging and disease.
Multinational Team: Members of the Order come from all over the world- and other worlds, besides.
The Men First: Always. To do otherwise would be unthinkable.
The Musketeer: Every Order soldier carries a melee weapon of choice in addition to their service firearm. It's typically a sword, but depends entirely on the preference of the individual trooper.
Nice Hat: The standard issue officer's peaked cap, but other examples crop up amongst personal attire.
Minovsky Physics: Two: Brand particles, when agitated, most often with a particle accelerator called a Pulse-Wave Generator, give off enormous amounts of electrical energy. Vorvick particles are used to treat metal such as steel or titanium in a zero-gravity, high-heat environment to create Determinite,a nigh-indestructible material, used in everything from simple bolts and screws to spacecraft armor plating.
Nakama: The entire Order is ostensibly this, but obviously smaller examples exist.
Nuclear Weapons Taboo: In-universe. After World War Three, the Order demanded that all nuclear-armed nations surrender their weapons before being allowed to join the Citizens of Earth League, the new United Nations. These were subsequently dismantled and disposed of by being sent spiraling into the sun. A global ban on nuclear weapons remains in effect.
One World Order: Averted in the case of Earth itself. The Order long ago decided that it was impossible, even for them, to unite the disparate nations of Earth without much bloodshed. Therefore, they left it the patchwork it always has been. This is played straight in the case of just about every planet the SOTD has colonized. Anyone who leaves earth to settle on one of these worlds then lives as a citizen of the The Order's steadily expanding galactic domain, to such an extent that as far as anyone else knows, The Order IS humanity.
A few planets (Like Mars) are independent of both Order and Earth nation authority, though how successful they are in maintaining such and defending themselves from extra-planetary threats usually depends on their rapport with The Order. Most such worlds allow The Order to maintain a garrison, for this reason.
Travel Cool: Every Order vehicle is designed to meet every qualification imaginable, fusing battlefield superiority, bleeding-edge technology and sheer style. They typically come with an Everything Sensor, Deflector Shields, dedicated comm. hubs for efficient communications, and redundant components for all critical systems.
Cool Car: Many members of the Order keep a personal vehicle that they customize and arm to the teeth. First prize probably goes to the Mastadon, an obnoxiously over-designed vehicle that serves as Lord Dagger's personal transport.
Powered Armor: Depending on their battlefield role, every Dagger is issued a custom-fitted suit of powered armor made of Determinate plating over a flexible bodysuit that incorporates the same material in its weaving. Suits typically include an Everything Sensor, Instantaneous peer-to-peer communication, an internal climate control system to ensure comfort, magnetic clamps to enable Sticks to the Back, Deflector Shields and Stat-O-Vision.
Proud Warrior Race: Straighter examples exist among the alien races, but in general, The Order embraces strength and battle prowess, in deference to the old world's emphasis on personal wealth and interpersonal guile and deception. However, other values include compassion, generosity, knowledge, wisdom, honesty, forethought, and virility of mind, spirit and body.
Sword and Gun: Look for the commonplace machine pistol/sword combo.
United Nations: A Fictional Counterpart: The Citizens of Earth League, formed in response to the failure of the UN to prevent World War Three. It largely performs the same things as it's predecessor, with a few key additions. Any member nation is officialy under the protection of The Order and any member nation that attacks another is subject to censure and sanction in CEL and retaliatory attack by the The Order. This threat has largely rid the Earth of armed conflict, though debate and lingering hatreds remain. They also enforce the global ban on nuclear weapons.
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