Codex Entry: Asari Republican Navy TOE
One of the oldest starfaring civilizations, the Asari Navy is a pale shadow of its former self, but at the twilight of the Republic, each ship and each sailor is perhaps at her deadliest level yet.
Asari ships have a distinct hull format with multiple fin-like stabilizers; frigates tend to have two; one on each broadside, cruisers three, including a ventral 'fin', and dreadnoughts four, adding a dorsal stabilizer.
|Combat Spacecraft
Monoskopos (Fighter)
Approx 30m long, 18m wide
Unsurprisingly, the Asari disdain single-pilot fighter craft more than any other race, as the attrition rates for non-Protoss fighter craft is extremely high, and the Council races drone technology is decades, if not more, behind Human/Terran tech due to post-Geth Rebellion laws and attitudes.
Even with the resurgent wave of nationalism across Asari space, few volunteers want to become a fighter pilot - and Asari Admirals themselves believe that investing their limited industrial capacity into building fighters for rookie pilots is an absolute waste.
However, the (depressingly few) survivors of the Asari fighter corps after the Fall of Thessia are probably the most experienced pilots in the galaxy, rivaled only by Protoss.
Many of them have fought pirates, rogues, Batarians, Terrans, and the Zerg - and are still alive to tell the tale. Almost every single one of them a multiple-ace, some of them with hundreds of kills to their name, these elite pilots are determined to defend the remnants of the Republic the best way they can - even if it means their deaths.
Having less than a hundred fighters remaining, the Asari state has armored them in Silaris - very thin plates of Silaris - which increases their survivability against laser fire by an order of magnitude - and fitted them with the most advanced fighter-sized barriers they can build.
These remaining squadrons are given the duty of protecting the few surviving Asari dreadnoughts.
Novitiate (Frigate)
Approx 150m long, 60m wide
The stereotypical example of an Council warship, the Novitiate frigate is moderately framed, moderately armored, equipped with good barriers, a spinal Mass Effect accelerator, torpedo bays and broadside missile weapons.
The long-lived, pacifistic Asari traditionally disdained military service and even those who joined the military did not want to be in a relatively fragile ship. Thus, for different reasons than the Turian Hierarchy, the Asari Republic's fleet reached a similar force composition - one frigate per cruiser or less.
This ratio means that just like Turian Fleet, the fact their Frigates do not carry a Warp Core is only a small annoyance - the Asari simply equip their cruisers with a larger than necessary Warp Core and have their frigates attach themselves to a cruiser before jumping.
Shining Path (Cruiser)
Approx 420m long, 180m wide
The oldest Council 'design' still in active service today, the Shining Path class cruisers first served over fifteen centuries ago; each ship custom built by Asari shipwrights. It speaks volumes of the state of the technological plateau facing Element Zero based civilizations that a 1,500 year old hull could still be used, even with refits every generation or so.
The oldest ships proudly bear marks from the Rachni Wars and the Krogan rebellion, and have fought practically every opponent in the galaxy. Despite the best attempts of the Turians and Salarians to obsolete the archaic cruiser design, the Asari stubbornly retained it as their primary cruiser.
Within a few centuries, directing the construction of a Shining Path became the traditional rite of passage for Asari matron-journeywoman seeking to earn the badge of a matriarch-master.
The Zerg, however, did what neither the Salarians, Rachni, Krogans, Turians, Batarians, nor the Protoss and Terrans could achieve - they ended this proud, millennia old tradition. The age of handcrafted warships is over.
Although its chassis is about average in frame weight, the ship is more durable than expected due to high quality of each component and the attention to detail in fitting said components. Add in superior barriers, and it is easy to see how so many ancient cruisers survived for such a long time, building up such a reputation.
The remaining cruisers have been refitted with a fusion reactor and Warp Core, but their ammunition and supply storage were reduced to make space, and the crews complain of crampedness. Due to limited Asari Remnant industrial capacity, further refits are unlikely.
Justicar (Heavy Cruiser)
Approx 599m long, 280m wide
The Asari, traditionally iconoclastic and often pretentious, refused to call the jewel of their fleet by an mundane name like "Heavy Cruiser" - they elected to be different and and designate their Justicar-class vessels as "Assault Cruisers".
Although slightly larger than the Turian Victrix-class Heavy Cruisers, the Justicar retains a single-barreled spinal accelerator. Unlike other Asari designs, their Assault Cruiser completely omits broadside accelerators, and mounts medium-short range torpedo racks in their place. Most distinctively, the Justicar is the only ship design completely plated with Silaris.
The unmistakable black nanocomposite armor renders the Justicar extremely resilient to enemy weapons fire. Combined with heavy barriers and an powerful drive, the Justicar is designed to charge straight into the middle of an enemy wall of battle, employing its high burst (if slow-reloading) medium and close range weaponry to blast a hole into the enemy formation.
Assault Cruiser squadrons were typically assigned towards leading a column of less well protected Asari cruisers and frigates whom then exploit the weakness created by the Justicars to (hopefully) shatter the formation.
The exemplar of Asari's favorite tactics, exploiting superior survivability and mobility, Assault Cruiser command became so prestigious that elite captains in the Asari navy often chose to command an Justicar over a dreadnought! Although this jousting form of combat proved ineffective against the Zerg, due to the sheer quantities of hostile bioforms, the Terrans, due to the raw power of Yamato fire and barrier-ignoring lasers, and the Protoss, due to being Protoss, the combination of high mobility, advanced armor and powerful barriers meant the Asari's Assault Cruisers still took the least casualties out of the entire Asari Navy.
This was greatly helped by the fact that none of the Justicars were assigned to the ill-fated Koprulu Campaign, mostly because the Republic desired to keep the secrets of Silaris out of Turian/Salarian hands and concentrated most of their Assault Cruisers around their home fleet.
With their industry shattered however, the Asari have prioritized their highly effective Assault Cruiser programme above almost everything else. With the completion of the Destiny Resurgent, the only ships the Republic Remnants willing to build are Justicars.
Priestess (Dreadnought)
Approx 850m long, 200m wide
Like the Shining Path-class cruisers, the Priestess-Class dreadnought originated prior to the Rachni Wars, although the sole survivor, the Grace of Thessia was constructed during the Krogan Rebellions, and 'only' has a millenia of service history.
The Grace of Thessia is the sole surviving conventional (single-barreled) dreadnought of the Asari navy, as they prioritized saving the modern dual-barreled DNs.
However, the Asari Republic needs every ship it can get its hands on, and invested industrial resources into giving the last Priestess-class with a Warp Core and fusion reactor. Like other Asari dreadnoughts, the Grace of Thessia has had its prow armor reinforced with Silaris layers once the Daedalus program revealed the Dominion could construct long range Yamato-centric warships.
Athame (Dreadnought)
Approx 1250m long, 300m wide
Engineering a single barreled dreadnought when you need to place a giant eezo core as close to the center of your ship as possible is not an easy task. Doing it with two is much harder. It is therefore impressive that the Asari got it right on the first try with the Athame-class dreadnought.
The first mass-production vessel (if Asari hand-built designs could ever be called "mass-production") to feature 1.2km mass accelerator guns, the Athame-class dreadnoughts featured greatly extended effective range and increased firepower compared to conventional dreadnoughts - and with dual barrels, double the rate of fire.
Unlike the Destiny Ascension, the Athame-class did not feature diplomatic decks and other extraneous systems, and so its oversized Mass Effect core (common on practically all Asari designs) meant it could turn just as fast as single-barrel Salarian or Turian designs.
The fact the Asari ship count was not the highest did not matter to the average citizen - for their vessels were definitely the best (in their heads, at least) in every way possible, and these feelings were only intensified after the commissioning of the Destiny Ascension and the following Athame-class dreadnoughts.
While the Assault Cruisers are the mailed fist of the Asari Navy, it is its Athame-class that form the core of its heavy firepower - recognizing this, the Asari devoted every effort into keeping these ships alive; nine of these dreadnoughts have survived, including the lead ship, the Athame's Wrath.
Following the reveal of the Daedalus, each Athame-class dreadnought has been equipped with frontal Silaris armor, in addition to Warp core, and a squadron of Monoskopos fighters for close-defense.
Destiny Resurgent (Superdreadnought)
Approx 2500m long, 600m wide
A monstrous, quadruple-barreled design, the Destiny Resurgent is actually narrower than the Destiny Ascension and thus contains less volume. Unlike the previous Asari flagship, what volume it does have is completely devoted to combat purposes.
Compromises were forced by the limited hull volume and need for an even more outrageous flagship after the loss of the Destiny Ascension, in a complete reversal of the former ship's practice of affording all crew a degree of leisure and space, crew quarters have been squeezed down to Dominion-like bunk beds, and even the officer quarters are cramped.
During its construction, the Asari Republic attempted to negotiate with the Salarian Union for their micro-jump drive technology; the Union replied that the only item they were willing to consider of value would be the secret of Silaris fabrication. As the proud Asari Remnants were unwilling to give up their last edge of superiority, the Destiny Resurgent is only a dual-drive ship; Warp and Mass Effect.
Where Salarian dual-barreled dreadnoughts use a Over/Under configuration and Turian/Asari double-barreled ships use an Side by Side configuration to allow placement of the Eezo Core in the center, these designs would be implausible for a quadruple barreled ship without greatly increasing its hull volume. Thus, the ship mounts its quadruple 2km Mass Effect cannon suspended in a single stabilized carriage along the centerline.
The arrangement increases accuracy and reduces recoil, but also forces the placement of the Eezo core backwards, away from the center of the vessel. As such, it is one of the least nimble and most ungainly Asari ships in existence.
Furthermore, armoring the forwards arc proved difficult due to the need to allow the free-floated, suspended weapons carriage to move, and so there are significant gaps in the Silaris plate.
Another trade-off is the fact its 2000m guns are the same caliber and use the same shells as 1200m accelerators; forced due to logistics demands. Although each shot is nearly twice as powerful as that of a 1200m weapon and the range significantly higher, their raw stopping power is not as great as it could have been with higher caliber ammunition.
Despite all these issues, the Destiny Resurgent is one of the most powerful, longest ranged non-Protoss warships in existence - as fitting its status, it has been assigned six squadrons of Monoskopos fighters for defense.
-]|[-
/UED Case Black Clearance Acknowledged
WARNING: EYES ONLY – UNAUTHORIZED PERUSAL OF DATA WITHIN IS PUNISHABLE BY TOTAL FAMILIAL PURGING
To: V. Adm Alexei Stukov
From: Dr. Schrader
We have hit jackpot, sir.
Ostracized by the large Umojan-Asari community, many 'purebloods' have settled in Dominion space. Dissection has revealed neural structures more conducive to psionics than baseline Asari.
After extensive research, including psionic readings, foetal dissection & genetic analysis, and of course, Culexus device testing against both baseline and pureblood specimens, I hypothesize that active Ardat-Yakshi genotypes are almost certainly even more potent than even pureblood Asari in psionic ability, in addition to possibly stronger biotic power.
The potential for research and experimentation is limitless - I recommend we make it a priority to capture samples as soon as possible.
While we can probably grow our own mature specimens with forced 'pureblood' breeding, these blue xenos take too long to mature for us to obtain results before decades pass - unacceptable.
Yours truly,
Dr. Schrader
Head Scientist, DSS Gagarin