Nyctaeus, if you can find that quote where the Terrans were surprised that the first jump node they discovered led to Delta Serpentis rather than Alpha Centauri, let me know where it is so I can see it for myself. I've never heard of anything like that and want to confirm its canonicity for myself.
That said, I'd like to refocus the discussion on the original topic, namely how the GTVA would name newly discovered star systems that haven't been explored for the simple reason that they're too far away from our own galaxy to have been actually observed yet. The nature of subspace can be discussed in another thread if anyone here wishes to create a thread for it.
I like Nightmare's suggestion that stars can be given original names if they're in a different galaxy. I also like 0rph3u5' suggestion about a catabasis-themed list, which seems particularly appropriate for a taskforce deliberately going into hostile territory, especially when the enemy are named "the Destroyers." The story of FS1 and FS2 is about the Terrans and the Vasudans fighting on the defensive, trying to hold the line against the Shivans and only barely succeeding at great cost.
Devil and the Deep Blue involves the GTVA taking the risk of willfully descending into hell/the underworld because the alternative of doing nothing is far worse in the long run. Maybe naming the star systems in Shivan space after the different underworlds in human mythology might not be great for morale, but then again, the GTVA is
not going to be naming those places with names like "
Happy Fun Sunshine Land."
Nyctaeus mentioning that by 2367, we'll (likely) have advanced enough in astronomy and AI to be able to categorize all stars in the known universe so the Shivan star systems will have traditional names is intriguing. Then again, I don't want to use
Bayer's Greek letter system, nor the
Flamsteed numbers, nor even the
IAU List of Star Names. The reason for this is that using these naming conventions feels too "familiar" for a descent into the unknown/"underworld." It sort of ruins the mood if you go into unexplored enemy territory and you see and recognize recognizable landmarks (or the stellar equivalent, anyway) such as stars that have already been discovered, categorized and named centuries before.
Therefore, it makes more sense for the GTVA taskforce to name these new star systems as they go; the sense of menace one gets from having to maneuver away from the enemy while in hostile (as well as unexplored) territory won't be diminished if the nearby stars are so unfamiliar as to not even have names.
I'm basically thinking of The Hero's Journey: DatDB is nothing less than a story of the GTVA knowingly descending into the Abyss to stop the Shivans and save their homes. Granted, they
tried to do that in FS2, only to find out just how outclassed they were. Brute force with the Colossus didn't work, so this time the GTVA has no choice but to descend into the Abyss
again and rely on guile instead.
