Just a short filler chapter for this one. We'll get back to more Reaper curb stomping in the next chapter. The Wraith the many will be updated next.
Oct 12th, 2913
SR2 Normandy (QEC room)
"I was skeptical of Director Fall's suggestion of an operation on Horizon but it seems you have netted us a ton of intel commander. Combined with the UNIS, we'll be able to find where Cerberus's main base is." Hackett said.
Shepard just nods. It had been a tiring day, one that he wished he could just drown with alcohol.
"Husks, turning Humans and Asari into Husks. Brings back some bad memories." Director Falls sighs. "In anycase, good job in rescuing Miranda Lawson. She's decided to stay with the Normandy to help out."
"Thank you ma'am."
"Using the Sentry Array and working with the tracker, we'll figure out where Cerberous's main base is. However, that will take some time. We'll get back to, finish up any jobs you need and we'll contact you. As for Horizon, the Enyo battlegroup will stay behind to help rebuild the place. They've also taken every bit of data on what Cerberous was doing before demolishing the place with a MOAB strike. Your free to complete what evermissions you want, until we deal with Cerberous again. That's all, Director Falls out." the hologram of the UNIS director disappears, leaving just Admiral Hackett and Shepard.
"Anything else Shepard?" Hackett asked.
"What's the status of allied forces?"
"The Coalition really came through for us. Most of the Reaper fleet assets attacking the Turian Hierarchy have been wiped out. Primarch Victus sends you his thanks for not screwing up another first contact. However a large Reaper force is noted to be inroute to Thessia. Coalition forces are enroute to stop them, the Federation of Free Nations Sky's Gold Flotilla I believe it's name." Hackett reported. "Otherwise, a joint United Nations and COmmonwealth fleet have just saved the Alliance 3rd fleet. The 3rd fleet is being upgraded with weapons more suited to handle the Reapers."
Shepard frowned. "Upgraded? I thought most of our shipyards were destroyed in Sol?"
"Actually the Coalition is bankrolling the whole thing. Apparently they brought two of their juggernauts, the same vessels that brought their diplomats to the Citadel, to upgrade the fleet. About 45% of the Alliance 3rd, along with allied assets attached to the 3rd, have been updated with actual energy shields and energy weapons." Hackett explained.
"Are they handing this technology to us?" Shepard was surprised.
"Yes, though Fleet Admiral Limburn has stressed that this technology is admittedly several centuries out of date. There's only so many upgrades one can do on just Fusion Reactors. Most Coalition ships are apparently powered by Antimatter, Zero-Point energy, or Dark Matter." Hackett elerbates. "Even still, this points us on a more fighting edge with the Reapers."
Shepard nods. Better to not look the gift horse in the mouth. "What about our Homefield allies?"
"The Geth and Quarians are coming along nicely. The Coalition just handed the schematics and resources to them before telling the two to use their own shipyards. Parts of the Geth and Quarian fleets have been updated and are helping allied forces in defending smaller colonies. The Trebia system is free from any Reapers, just the ground troops they have to take care of. Limburn also says that Ross will explain some more when he gets back to the Citadel. He's one of the Supreme Commanders of the Coalition and knows that Coalition forces are numbering in the millions, he's returning to the Citadel to help lead combat operations."
Shepard nods. "Yes sir. What about the Asari, Krogan, and Salarians?"
"Apparently those three have been motivated by the Coalition and have stepped up to the game. They've promised more ships, fleets, and agents. Even the STG, who has been the most reluctant, have promised us several of their dreadnaughts. I'm guessing that once this war is over, they'll be replaced by the Coalition for their expertise, or in the case of Krogan, glad to have someone worthy to fight alongside. More resources for the Crucible and combating the Reapers."
"So all is well?" Shepard asked.
"Better than we were several weeks ago. At this pace, our forces will be able to stand toe to toe with the Reapers on our own. Limburn has also stressed that Sol should be retaken soon, mainly for morale purposes." Hackett continued.
"That's all for now."
"Hacket out." the hologram disappears, the Spectre exits the communications room before heading down to the bar area.
Upon entering the area, he finds Grunt, Garrus, Liara, Tali, Ashley, James, Chris, Taryn, and Javik all talking to each other. Or more specifically, the Crusaders.
"So the 8 of us ended up reaching the bridge of the Great Khan's personnel dreadnought. Mind you, we were still using melee weapons to fulfill a Khanate tradition. The moment we busted into the bridge, Chris here ended up getting into a sword duel with the Khan himself. The space battle around us stopped until he died when said Khan was killed with a knife to the throat" Taryn rambles on.
"Yeah, but you forgot the part where Ross somehow got an IFV onboard and decimated an entire Khante Battalion. Then he got out with a Shini and duelled some of the Khan's honour guard himself. He's one of the few people to have the title of Meiyo broken, or honored Swordmaster. He's one of the main reasons, along with myself, why a third of the Khanate military surrendered." Chris laugh, reminiscing about good times.
"Primitives. Surrendering because of a tradition. Your people are idiots." Javik grumbles.
"Those traditions are one of the many things that differentiate us from the Reapers or even you. Didn't you Protheans just enslaved everyone along the way?" Chris raised an eyebrow.
"Please, no politics in the break room." Shepard sighs. Both Chris and Taryn, to the surprise of all, stand up and salute. "Commander, Field Marshal Ross and Director Falls have temporarily placed us under your command. We'll accompany you to your next missions."
"At ease, and besides I'm a Specter. You can forgo the formalities." Shepard replies."Actually I wanted to ask you two a question. You mentioned an Operation Beacon of Light on the Enyo. Care to explain?"
Chris takes a moment to think. "Beacon of light, our last major war prior to us coming here. Us, the Commonwealth, Mutual Assistance Pact, and the locals versus a major insurgency, hyper-aggressive wildlife that was categorized as a potential galaxy-wide threat, one immortal, and a bunch of colorful people. Actually, I think Ross and Limburn nearly adopted 16 more children that time. Actually they did end up adopting a bunch of kids," Taryn chuckles at that.
"Well, there's no way you're letting off. Tell us what happened." Ashley encouraged them.
"Right, we need something to drink first?"
An arbitrary amount of time later getting alcohol and tea.
"Around 56 years ago, the tenth UNS fleet was mopping up some remnants of an Ancient empire fleet when their scouts discovered a habitable planet. A science ship was sent in and then we discovered sentient life. However what baffled us was that there were Humans on the planet, and a subspecies. This subspecies would later be called Fanus. Shortly after the discovery, some of us Gen 1 Crusaders were called back into service to 'monitor' the situation." Chris began.
"Gen 1 Crusaders?" Liara asked, confused why the United Nations would call up outdated soldiers back into service.
"There are currently 4 generations of Crusaders. Us gen 1s were augmented during the Third World War, around the 2020s for us. Gen twos were augmented during the Inter-planetary Wars, Late 21st century. However further augmentation was put on hold due to the first gens using children for their augmentation and Gen 2s being extremely expensive. Gen3s were created during the Age of Conflict, though somewhat less augmented compared to the first two generations to save on cost. The 4th gen were not created until the Dust wars and they are just as good as us Gen 1s and 2s, but lacked experience. Ross, Limburn, and the likes of us have hundreds of years of combat experience, so they regularly pick us to lead operations. Back to the story, spiky head." Taryn said.
"Anyways. We started out with some simple recon missions to the planet, just one or two individuals to scout out lands or gather first hand data. But then pretty soon we began to accumulate a reputation for our mass murder of the local wildlife, the Grimm. People began calling our scouts the Emerald Hunters for our green combat gear and so, we stuck to shadows, gathering information. Fast forward a decade or so and then we discover that there was an immortal on the plan-" Chris was then interrupted by Garrus.
"Explain the immortal bit," he asked.
Taryn took a moment to think. "Due to a lack of first-hand knowledge, we can only peace together what we have. The locals have access to the Shroud, a realm of reality where people draw psionic powers from. They call these Auras and Semblances. I'll explain those a bit later. Anyways, the Immortal was named Salem. Well there were two but he's not important yet. Salem had access to several Pylons which allowed her to draw unlimited energy from the Shroud. That wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't controlling the Remnants of what we called the Prethoryn scourge. Anyways, Salem went mad with power and decided to try and wipe out Humanity on the planet. It almost worked, until her Rival, Ozma, came along and stopped her. So before the UN came along, they were stuck in a sort of cold war."
Everyone just looked confused. "Think bad evil woman goes mad with power, decides to kill Humanity off, she fails, and gets stuck in a cold war." Everyone just nods.
"Naturally, learning that there was a crazy woman trying to wipe out Humanity and being that the UNS was 40% Human, the UNAF decided to take some action. Mainly we began to increase combat operations and infiltration jobs while reintroducing Super Heavy Tanks. Actually, Victor's 4th biological son got into the main Huntsmen school, will explain huntsmen later, Beacon Academy and had his Arua unlocked." Chris continues.
"Aura?" Liara asked. That was when the Crusaders were glowing.
"Aura, as we know it now, is a permanent connection to the realm the ancients call the Shroud. Every single life form on Remnant, the planet we were operating on, has Aura. Benefits include an organic energy shield, increased healing rates, super speed, and a few other things. Every single Crusader actually has their Aura unlocked, though you don't see Crusaders using thiers a lot due to having both Crusader Augments and Aura multiples calorie consumption and it's expensive to feed everyone. Another benefit of having Aura is a power called semblance. A longer connection to the shroud, a high-stress environment, or being really emotional, unlocks a certain ability within an Aura user. For me, it's the ability to cast lighting (think Dooku's lighting abilities) while Chris's semblance is to hack into certain electronics with his mind." Taryn explained.
"What?" Tali said in disbelief.
"Yup, see." And that was when everyone who had an Omni tool got an electrical shock.
"Like that. Without my neural implant, I can only control basic technologies like light switches but with it, I can control entire drone swarms. Though remember, it's calorie expensive so we don't use our semblances that often." Chris chuckles.
"Well, that's new. What happened next?" Shepard asked, after having recovered from the electric shock.
"Long story short, Ross's son, Former Lieutenant Sydney Ross, now Major Sydney Xiao-Ross of the United Nations Ranger force, got captured by the local insurgencies, the White Fang. They attempted to torture him, which failed because Crusaders were immune to all forms of torture but it pissed off the entire Pact. After 4 weeks, we had to reveal ourselves to the world." Chris continued.
"And by reveal, you mean by dropping two divisions of mechanized infantry and tanks right when one of their cities were about to be overrun by the Grimm, along with hundreds of aircraft, dozens of Crusaders, a 5-KM battle carrier, and a full fleet of maritime warships. After said White Fang 'declared war on the entire UNS, most of the Pact (remember, predecessor to the Coalition) launched a full scale invasion to rid the world of the Grimm." Taryn added. "What was it? Ross tried to land 90 million combat troops with 110 million support, engineering, logistical, and humanitarian personnel but couldn't because the planet was too small? That was the time the Commonwealth reintroduced the concept of super-heavy tanks and finally found an excuse to flex our maritime navy."
Everyone's jaws dropped. "90 Million frontline combat troops?! Where did you get those numbers?" Ashley asked in disbelief. The Alliance, at its peak, had 80 million. And, that wasn't counting the logistical personnel the UN had at its disposal.
"To be fair, a large chunk were chipped in from the Commonwealth of Man, Vissari Planetary Directorate, Lox-Ungrak Union, and the Ztrakphor Parliamentary Kingdom. That and our protectorates added some numbers. The benefits of being the Custodians of the Galaxy, you generally can explain for a major military expansion. Anyways, the whole war itself took 4 more months to complete. Coupling heavy armour units, air power, and maritime supremacy, a joint Crusader and Huntsman force took out Salem. It did leave quite an impact on our galaxy. Besides being one the biggest orbital invasions by us, it gave us a new species, or subspecies depending on how you look at it, a new resource that has given us a major advantage over the Reapers, and a new source of special forces." Taryn took a sip of her tea. "So yah, the Dust War or Operation Beacon of Light in a nutshell" (Future story coming up).
"Spirits, and that's normal for you? Dropping 200 million soldiers to defend a primitive planet from hostile wildlife wasn't overkill?" Garus asked.
"Considering that the Grimm were led by a literal immortal, we follow the UNAF's traditional doctrine of: if it's trying to kill you, apply heavy military force to it." Chris nonchalantly mentions.
"I thought the United Nations was created to maintain peace, not go around provoking wars everywhere." Liara frowned, recalling some data she had in her office.
Chris snorts."Lady, our United Nations was born from the third world war and the following Interplanetary War. The Age of Conflict, the Khanate Crusade, the Unbidden War, the Dust Wars, all of those have forged us into a nation of warriors that stand up to the bullies of the universe."
Liara shakes her head. "How are you still a democratic and xenophilic nation is beyond me."
Chris just shrugs. "Welcome to our galaxy. God help anyone if you piss off a Crusader, especially Ross. He carries a Rocket Launcher/Battering ram mecha weapon to beat the crap out of anyone, along with an M4A1 just in case. Though hopefully, he doesn't have to use it though, he's gonna be on the Citadel."
The Citadel, a meeting room.
Oct 14th, 2913 UNC
A host of officers were meeting together to help plan the war effort. This was led by non-other than Warlord Urdnot Wrex and Primarch Victus. They were just waiting for the new arrival and the representative of the Coalition.
"Do we really need Field Marshal Ross? I'm worried about his excessive use of heavy weapons." one of the Asari Matriarchs asked.
Wrex snorts. "All of which is pointed at the Reapers. Heavy weapons are something we can use."
"Besides, Ross is one of the few Coalition personnel who has fought alongside a major coalition in three galaxy-spanning wars. We could use his experience and expertise." Victus added.
"One of his nicknames, along with Admiral Limburn, is the Couple of Mass Destruction. They came to this galaxy with thousands of heavily armed warships. His first resort is usually a tank division and massed mechanized assault. Along with the words of small enemy force and tank division go well together for him. There's also the point of his willingness to bomb something to the stone age and run it over with more tanks." a Salarian adds.
"Ha! I like him already. Shows he's prepared." Wrex chuckles.
"He's a frontline general. He's seen plenty of action, full-on combat mind you, than most of us combined. If the reports are accurate, he was leading armies bigger than entire nations while most of us were children. We need him, at the very least for advice." Victus countered.
That was when gunfire roared in the Presidium and everyone was startled, except Wrex. "Oh great, what now? Another Cerberus coup?"
And then a massive explosion rocked the building a few minutes later, prompting everyone to dive for cover. The explosion was followed by the fire of Chemical propelled weapons. Vicus activated his comms. "C-Sec, Report!"
"(Comms) Cerberus Remnant forces snuck up on Field Marshal Ross. They tried to capture him but he just massacred them with some sort of shifting weapon that turned into a battering ram. He's leading a C-Sec counterattack now. Wait….Oh, spirits he has a rocket launcher! That battering ram just turned into a Rocket Launcher!"
"Well, we at least know what caused that explosion. Wrex?" Everyone turned, only to find the Krogan missing.
"Oh goddess, I don't think we're going to have a Citadel after this." an Asari grumbles.
Meanwhile, Wrex decided to do an investigation himself. And by investigation, he meant getting his shock gun out and running to join the fight. He found Ross in combat armour (refer to the UN armour used in the last chapter but with forest camo) dragging a wounded Turian into cover while returning fire with an old M4 with one hand.
Play Music: (7 Nations Army) (PS, i don't own this music).
"Urdnot Wrex! Glad to see you. Cerberus has snipers in the building, keeping us pinned." Ross gestured to a two-story building with gunfire coming out of it.
"Worried about getting your uniform scuffed?" Wrex jokes.
"Nope, worried about these poor mortal C-sec officers being shot." pointing at the squad of officers taking cover beside him. "Either way, I had to kill 13 Cerberus idiots on the street (points to a bunch of dead Cerberus troopers on the ground) and there's about a platoon of them in that building. We need to take them out before bystanders get in the crossfire. I cover, you run in and kill them all, clear?"
"Like that plan, but I'm sure that pop gun of yours isn't going to do much." Wrex referred to the M4 carbine in Victor's hands. "And C-Sec wouldn't want any property damage."
"I got just the thing." That was when a black portal opened up and before anyone could react, Ross pulled out a Heavy Machine Gun (Think the Chopper LMG from Call of Duty but bigger). For a 2.2 meter tall supersoldier, it looked perfectly sized in his hands, "This good for you?"
Wrex laughs. "On your go mister. Better than butting heads with the Council."
"Right, on three. THREE!" Ross stands up, points the hulking weapons at the Cerberus position and fires. The somewhat unfamiliar percussive banging of the machine gun lets loose a stream of bullets at the Cerberus position. Shouts of surprise followed the wrecking of the balcony of the building. What cover Cerberus had disappeared.
Wrex runs in with a Krogan war cry as he rams through the store entrance Cerberus was using a firing position. Not expecting a Krogan, the troopers are taken by surprise.
After 30 secs of headbutting Cerberus troopers in a state of unconsciousness, Wrex comes face to face with two Cerberus Guardians. Ross and the C-Sec officers catch up.
"Ah, two idiots who think they can stand up to a Krogan. Mind I take this good sir?" Ross asked, transforming his Rocket Launcher into a battering ram.
"Suit yourself." Wrex shrugs. What no one expected was Ross to disappear in a flash and in less than half a second, appear in front of the Cerberus Guardians.
The first one had almost no time to react when Ross used his battering ram to knock the shield away and smash said ram into the helmet. The head of the Guardian explodes into the blood as the body is flung into the back wall.
The second Guardian had a split second to fire his pistol, but that simply ricocheted off Ross his armour. Soon, said Guardian's chest exploded with the battering ram in his chest before Ross kicked the body away.
Everyone just looked in shock at how quickly the supposed armchair general dispatched two Cerberus heavies. Ross just looks at them and shrugs."Come on, let's clear the building."
2 minutes later of cleaning up the remaining Cerberus soldiers and 8 minutes of talking to C-Sec later.
"I thought the Citadel is the Capital of all of your space. How the hell are there still Cerberus forces on the station?" Ross grumbled as both he and Wrex entered the building where the military summit was being held.
"Blame the Reapers. Not enough C-Sec bodies to go around, too many refugees." Wrex shrugs. "Though not going to lie, I thought the Coalition was lying about you having a quad and willing to jump into battle."
Ross raises an eyebrow. "Warlord Wrex, I am 900 years old and I have pretty much seen every type of conflict in my galaxy. Besides, being a Field Marshal usually comes with assassination attempts during wartime. I think the number's risen to like, 629 attempts on me and Limburn's life. Though only one attempt on my family and I collapsed an entire nation. Pretty soon, everyone learned not to fuck with my family."
Wrex laughs. "We'll make you an honorary Krogan in no time!"
"Well, maybe that will be enough to get me back on the field. Didn't like leaving the 2309th under General Lightmaster's command." Ross sighs. He really didn't want to leave behind his division.
The two enter the meeting room, with most of the occupants just staring at the pair. Both Wrex and Ross look confused.
Victus coughs."Not to be rude to you two, but can please come back not drenched in blood?" Wrex and Ross looked at each other, suddenly realizing that yes, they were covered in Human blood.
"I'll go find a hose." Wrex grumbles and the two walk out. "Welps."
Victus sighed in relief. He wasn't sure if the appearance of the Coalition made things easier or harder for him. He remembered Shepard's report which boiled down to: "Discovered massacred Reaper Forces in Pax System. Also encountered a Large Alien force from another galaxy, including more Humans. Heavy naval force located, including a 40KM warship. Briefly taken hostage before being released. Send Alcohol please."
Palaven, outskirts of New Cirilis (I would like to add that I am getting the Palaven city names from Cerberus Daily News Wiki if you wanted to know)
United Nations 394th Armor Regiment.
Allied Command Vehicle
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, another major operation was being undertaken.
Major Badros (promoted while we were with Shepard) watched in awe as several Templar Mechs and Liberator tanks rumbled down a street to the rally point, along with dozens of LAV50-Valkyrie IFVs. Another regiment of Coalition armour had landed and they were poised to take back another city. Combined with Turian tanks and APCs saw one of the largest mobilizations of ground troops in the theatre.
Being tapped on the shoulder, Badros turned to see a UN major requesting his presence. Turning towards the Command Vehicle. There, Colonel Chiang, a Human with Asian features, along with a dozen other officers of a number of species he couldn't name.
"Major Badros, welcome to the front. We've got dozens of Reaper destroyers that decided to take shelter in the city itself. They're also using several slave camps as organic meat shields so bombing them from the sky is a bit out of the pot. Thus, General Lightmaster has ordered several armour units to clear them out." Colonel Chiang said. "We're pairing up with the Commonwealth 3903rd Heavy Armor Regiment to clear them out."
A couple of officers whistle. "3903rd Armor? From the 34th armour division? That's slightly overkilling."
Chiang chuckles. "I'm pretty sure sending house-sized tanks against anything is overkill but not that we're complaining. Their job is to clear out Reaper destroyers while it's our job to screen them. My tanks, mechs, and IFVs will screen the main advance. Captain Badros, our representative from the Turian 25th Legion, will be our guides, interpreters, and infantry support."
"House-sized tanks?" Badros asked, confused. The UN Liberator Main battle tanks were already fearsome beasts.
At that moment, the ground shook and then shook again. Badros leaned out of the command vehicle and looked in shock as two massive armoured vehicles were dropped from heavy transport aircraft. They were quad tracked, twin barrelled, massive war beasts.
"CSHT-3 Manticore Super Heavy tanks. 2 150 mm-Gauss Cannons, twin Blue-pulse laser cannons for anti-air and anti-personnel purposes, 2 belt-fed grenade launchers on the side, and a laser designator to call in air support or rangefinding. All protected under half a meter of Durasteel-Titanium alloy armour, a heavy deflector shield generator, a nano-machine armour generator that helps repair the tank, heavy ECM, and crystalline heavy platting. All powered by a Dust-Fusion Hybrid engine." Chiang smiled. Meanwhile, everyone who wasn't a part of the Coalition jaws dropped. These things were bigger than the Krogan's Tomkah APCs.
"Spirits, what are you people fighting all the time?" Badros asked while watching the tanks rumble forward.
"Well, the Commonwealth decided that there's no such thing as overkill like the UN, though they decided to take it to a next level. That tank can shoot frigates and corvettes out of the sky, lay waste to fortresses on its own, and demolish Grimm swarms on its own. IF that thing doesn't kill the Reapers, nothing short of a MOAB will do."
As it shows his point, one of the Manticore tanks leaves the camp and thunderous BOOM! Could be heard. Everyone watches in awe as a rail light slams into a careless Reaper Destroyer, barreling through its weakened Kinetic barriers, and emerges out of the other side of the destroyer before hitting another one. Two Reaper Destroyers fall to the ground before exploding.
Everyone just stares in shock before a number of Coalition soldiers start yelling: "Tanks beat everything!" and begin cheering. Meanwhile, the Council soldiers look in awe as the Manticore tanks line up for another shot.
"The main disadvantage of Mass Effect technology. The closer to the ground of a planetoid, the more power that is dedicated to making sure the Reapers don't collapse in on themselves. That means weaker Kinetic Barriers, which allows our tanks to gun them down. Besides, even ship-based Kinetic Barriers or shields can't stop an Ultra-dense Depleted Uranium Round going at Mach 9." Chiang smiles.
Badros shakes his head. What in the ancestors were these new Humans fighting that required massive war machines?
United Nations Allied Force database…..: Overall Strategic Doctrine.
Being the largest military force of the Coalition, the United Nations Allied Force has to contend with a large variety of enemies, ranging from other galactic powers to swarms of bio hazards. Thus the current UN space doctrine is to open up as many fronts as possible using all available forces and crush them with overwhelming force and numbers. United Nations Space Forces utilize jump drives to jump deep into enemy lines, inflict heavy damage, and force the redirection of enemy forces to incursions. Offensive based fleets are divided into traditional frontline fleets meant to brawl with the enemy main force while smaller assault fleets (typically built around light carriers and missile cruisers with a large assortment of escort ships) jump deep into enemy lines to destroy reinforcement fleets, troop conveys, supply stations, and open up a new front in the back of an enemies line. It helps that the UNAF has the largest military and 15% is always kept in a reactionary assault force.
The UN doctrine on the ground is almost identical on a planet's surface: fight the enemy on many fronts to divide their attention using heavy weapon systems and combined arms. Not only does the UNAF operate the largest force of armour vehicles, artillery platforms, mechanized infantry units, and other planetary assets, but they are one of the few nations to operate a vast Maritime fleet of warships. The Maritime fleet allows UN forces to fight many fronts on land, on the sea, and in the skies on more habitable worlds. The maritime fleet also allows for aero-space assets to rearm and refuel on combat missions, reducing the need for traditional airstrips or having aircraft land on space-borne carriers. Another advantage The maritime fleet provides is allowing naval vessels to provide local fire support, ensuring allied forces have access to plenty of explosive firepowers.
Interestingly enough, despite being one of the most advanced space-faring nations, the United Nations still prefers to go with a:"if something isn't broken, don't fix it" attitude for weapons technology. They still use chemical propelled weapons (though these are used in conjunction with magnetic rails), heavy missile and kinetic batteries on their starship (most other nations usually go with more energy-based weapons), maritime areo-space carriers, and maritime battleships. Most of the current weapon systems used by the UN (and to a certain degree, the Commonwealth of Man) can trace their lineage to weapons used by the UN aligned nations of the third world war (E.G the A89 shares the same name as the A10 and is the same concept, the Liberator MBT traces its roots to German and American tanks, the maritime fleet are simply futuristic designs of their 21st-century counterparts, M3 line of rifles to European bullpup designs, etc).
There are several reasons, however, one overall factor being that it is really expensive to replace reliable designs with newer models (and the UNAF being really large), tradition (note that the Crusaders have a tendency to break our weapons dating back to hundreds of years ago), knowing it works (lasers leave a giant red light streak, so do mass accelerators. Do you want your enemy to know your location in a long-range firefight?), and training. Another major factor is that the United Nations often integrates new spacefaring species into its ranks (as in new species that just become space-faring into the nation peacefully, no conquest) and it's easier to train them with weapons more familiar to them. Besides, shields or not, most things die when they get hit with a bullet going at Mach 8.