Radio voice

Radio voice is the fixed way military ships word a call, using short set words called prowords so that every listener reads the same meaning from the same sound.

16 numbers, 0 with an outside source

A0 numbers at grade A
B0 numbers at grade B
C0 numbers at grade C
D0 numbers at grade D
E16 numbers at grade E

Functionality

Values

16 numbers: 16 E

Each value is read from the game code. Sort by any column heading, or filter by grade or by a word.

Numbers the game runs for radio voice
Quantity	Value	Grade	Source	Why this value
The register each flag speaks in	Earth TACTICAL, Mars TACTICAL, The Outer Guild GUILD, The Unclaimed UNCLAIMED register	EAuthored	ACP 125(G), Communications Instructions: Radiotelephone Procedures, What the document says	ACP 125 gives the allied procedure voice and says nothing about which faction speaks it. Which flag speaks which register is a setting choice. The sources are silent on this figure.
How hard each register is to read without cracking its channel	TACTICAL 55, GUILD 30, UNCLAIMED 0 encryption points	EAuthored	No source recorded	No source gives how hard a channel is to read. The values rank how disciplined each register is. The sources are silent on this figure.
Chance a unit speaks about each kind of event	ENGAGING 0.25, HIT 0.35, LOWPOWER 0.5, LOWAMMO 0.85, BREAKINGOFF 1, KILL 0.6, DYING 1, TAUNT 0.2, PLEADING 0.75, STANDDOWN 0.45, ORDERS 0.3, COVERING 0.18, PRESSING 0.18, RECOMMEND 0.22 fraction	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that chatter reads as overheard texture and not as a log. No source gives how often a unit speaks.
Most radio lines printed in one round	1 lines	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a busy combat screen stays inside its row budget.
Speaker hull share below which the line is garbled	0.5 fraction	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a damaged speaker garbles first. No source ties voice clarity to hull damage.
Speaker hull share below which the line is lost	0.2 fraction	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a badly damaged speaker goes silent. No source ties voice loss to hull damage.
Sensor rating that buys back one step of clarity	20 sensor rating	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a good sensor suite buys back one step of clarity. No source gives it.
Tries to crack a channel, the last of which always works	3 tries	EAuthored	No source recorded	A game rule that bounds the cost of cracking a channel, so the captain knows the cost before committing.
Base chance of a crack, before sensors, Communications and encryption	25 percent	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen for play. No source gives a chance of reading an enemy channel.
Crack chance added per sensor rating point	1.2 percent points	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a sensor suite, which hears the enemy at all, helps a crack.
Crack chance added per point of Communications competence	1.5 percent points	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen to match the per-skill bonus of every other department in the game.
The four stand-down hails of the TACTICAL register	UNKNOWN STATION, THIS IS {name}. CUT YOUR DRIVE AND STAND DOWN., YOU ARE FIRING ON A COMMISSIONED PATROL. STAND DOWN NOW., LAST WARNING. POWER DOWN OR WE FINISH THIS., STAND DOWN AND YOU WILL BE TAKEN IN. KEEP FIRING AND YOU WILL NOT. lines	EAuthored	ACP 125(G), Communications Instructions: Radiotelephone Procedures, Paragraphs 520, 522, 536 and 901	ACP 125 paragraphs 520 and 522 fix a call as called station, THIS IS, calling station. Only one of the four hails follows that order, and the wording is authored.
The four opening engagement calls of the TACTICAL register	TALLY {count}, HIGH AND RIGHT. ENGAGING., {enemy} IS MINE. COMMITTING., CONTACT {count}. WEAPONS FREE., MOVING TO INTERCEPT. STAND BY. lines	EAuthored	ACP 125(G), Communications Instructions: Radiotelephone Procedures, Where the source is silent	TALLY, WEAPONS FREE and similar words do not appear in ACP 125, which sends the reader to ATP-01. The lines are authored and unverified. The sources are silent on this figure.
What the captain's own net is worth breaking into, with no Communications hands	20 encryption points	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that a hull with no Communications hands transmits in plain voice and a raider can read it. No source ranks how hard a channel is to read.
Encryption added to the captain's net per point of Communications competence	2 encryption points per competence point	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen so that the captain's net follows the same rule as an enemy net: more skilled hands make it harder to read.
Share of a shared firing solution that survives once the enemy has cracked the captain's net	0.5 multiplier	EAuthored	No source recorded	Chosen as the mirror of the captain's own crack: the enemy anticipates which contact the wing works, so the shared solution loses value. No source gives what a read channel is worth.

Real-world basis

8 points

A voice call names the station called first, then the proword THIS IS, then the calling station, then OVER.
THIS IS means the transmission comes from the station whose callsign follows.
Once both sides know who is talking, the called station may be dropped from the call, and a reply may drop THIS IS too.
Every transmission ends with OVER if a reply is expected, or OUT if none is expected.
UNKNOWN STATION is the proword for a caller who does not know the callsign of the station being called.
WAIT is a pause of up to five seconds, and STANDBY does not mean wait, since it announces that a delayed message is about to take effect.
Enemy contact reports use the basic procedure with changes from chapter 9, and brevity codes are lists that shorten stock sentences.
The publication prints its prowords and its example calls in capital letters.

Game and reality differences

6 points

Only one TACTICAL line follows the full call grammar: the stand-down hail. The other lines carry no THIS IS, OVER or OUT, because the pool is overheard texture that changes no roll.
The doctrine lines open with the mate being called, as in {mate}, TIGHTEN THE SCREEN. That matches the called-station-first order of paragraph 520, so it is not a departure.
The line MOVING TO INTERCEPT. STAND BY. uses the two words as common speech, while ACP 125 gives STANDBY a narrow meaning of its own. This is a small departure with no stated reason in the game.
Caps for the TACTICAL register: the game keeps the state navies' radio voice in capitals and the Guild's in lowercase, by coldweld's decision of 2026-09-22.
Earth and Mars speak TACTICAL, the Outer Guild speaks as a working crew, and the Unclaimed have no procedure. This is a setting choice and the sources do not cover it.
Cracking a channel in three tries with the last always working is a game rule, so a captain knows the cost before committing.

Source absences

6 points

ACP 125 does not cover the following:
1. TALLY, SPLASH, HIGH AND RIGHT, and WEAPONS FREE. These are brevity and fire control words, and ACP 125 points to ATP-01. Lines that use them are unverified, not wrong.
2. Meaning of each word in a gun fight. ACP 125 is the grammar of a call, not the vocabulary of an engagement.
3. Call to a hull with no radio name, beyond UNKNOWN STATION.
4. Civil distress calls such as MAYDAY. The radio pool has none either.
Atomic Rockets does not cover the following:
1. Radio procedure. A search of the mirror for proword finds no page.
Not read for this page:
1. The original ACP 125. It was read through its shelf page.

Sources

2 documents

ACP 125(G), Communications Instructions: Radiotelephone Procedures, Paragraphs 520, 522, 536 and 901, Annex A to chapter 3, chapter 7 example C: Called station, THIS IS, calling station, OVER (520, 522). Every transmission ends in OVER or OUT (536). UNKNOWN STATION and the WAIT and STANDBY rules are in the proword list of Annex A. Contact reports follow chapter 9, with details in ATP-01, which is not on the shelf (901). "the end of my transmission to you and no answer is required or expected" (all uses)
Design notes: comms, _opensbycallingitself: The game's own record: the hostile hail was changed to UNKNOWN STATION, THIS IS {name} to follow paragraphs 520 and 522, and the speaker prefix check accepts THIS IS within 40 characters so the speaker is not printed twice. (all uses)