THE WEAPONS
M-8 Avenger
The most widely produced assault rifle in the galaxy in the pre-Reaper War era, the M-8 Avenger combined rugged versatility with reliability and relatively good accuracy. The weapon was developed in the early 2170s by the human consortium of Baur Arms, Voss Munitions and Kalashnikov Concern from the M-7 Lancer design of the First Contact War era. It was designed as the answer to the infantry wave tactics of the batarians, which humanity had encountered during the brief war after the Battle of Mindoir. Its effective function and use of thermal clips drew the attention of the galaxy. The design was licensed for export by Elkoss Combine, which sold it by the hundreds of millions to almost every military and police unit in Citadel space. Illegal copies found their way to mercenaries and pirates of all colours, and the Batarian government began churning out millions of examples to arm its huge conscript armies. By 2176, both the Systems Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony were using the weapon as standard-issue, both manufacturing their own versions with minor differences. Pirate forces under Haliat's control also had many examples of the weapon.
Firing eight hundred and fifty rounds a minute with moderate recoil and accuracy drop off, the weapon can project forty rounds before a fresh heat sink is required and was compatible with every form of ammunition modification in existence at the time. This was a considerable upgrade from the previous designs that required their weapons to cool off after firing, which reduced rate of fire. The system also placed a greater logistical burden on the armies, but this was justified. With the increasing prevalence of thermal clip weapons on the battlefield and the ease of building the clips themselves, the weapon's tradeoff between performance and resource requirements was heavily weighted in the former's favour.
During the Battle of Elysium, the Avenger would perform admirably in the hands of all combatants, human, batarian and pirate. Its user friendly nature would enable the batarian conscripts to fight far more effectively against the far lower numbers of Alliance infantrymen than would have otherwise been possible. In the hands of the soldiers of Task Force Wizna, the weapon was truly to be feared, as the better coordinated human forces were capable of handling the massed charges the batarians favoured as well as effectively suppressing mercenary attacks.
Alliance: Rorsch Kz73
The Rorsch Kz73 was an anti-aircraft weapon emplacement, consisting of a dual-barrel mass-accelerator system and a guided missile system. Based on the pre-mass effect Kz27, the weapon design had been resurrected and updated in the aftermath of Mindoir. It was decided that reliance on fighters alone to provide AA cover was insufficient for colonial defence, not to mention expensive for colonial taxpayers. When the Alliance held a design competition to create a cheap, effective anti-aircraft weapon that could be deployed on the ground or mounted on light vehicles, Rorsch won with their Kz73.
Its primary armament consists of two mass-accelerators following the railgun design found in both the Rorsch anti-material rifle series and the Mk8 anti-tank railgun emplacement, modified for more rapid fire and capable of shooting both proximity fused AA rounds and tungsten armour piercing rounds. Combined with a long range EMP missile system and a sophisticated target acquisition suite, the weapon shreds shuttles, gunships and even fighters provided they are travelling low enough to acquire. It was also used against enemy infantry to horrific effect on many battlefields.
The weapon would be deployed in significant numbers on Elysium, particularly around the major cities and the Alliance bases. The batarians' ability to land troops near these locations would be severely curtailed, pushing them to disembark only in areas where the Alliance forces were waiting for them. Although very few were involved in the majority of the fighting on the colony itself, its presence in numbers dicatated where the battle was fought and those that did see combat were a key piece in the Alliance victory to come. The approaches to landing zones would become hunting grounds for the gunners of the Kz73, causing huge casualties to the batarians before they could fight back.
Alliance: Combat Drones
Another lesson learned from the devastating raid on Mindoir was the utility of combat drones to help tip the odds against superior numbers. While most species embraced the drone as a key piece of military hardware, none embraced the technology more enthusiastically than humanity. As human law distinguished clearly between police and military, and with military service in all forms encompassing just 3% of the total human population, the Alliance needed effective ways to overcome the numerical advantage that any enemy would have in ground fighting. Ever more effective combat drones were the answer, and by 2176, every Alliance Army squad would have a flock of three drones with them. Command and control was strictly in the hands of the human operator and autonomous action severely limited, both measures due to fears of AIs.
The most common drones were equipped with anti-grav propulsion, an advanced sensor suite and either a machinegun or a rocket launcher. With the development of cost-effective personal kinetic barriers, they also had shielding, allowing them to take on the riskiest roles and freeing up the organic members of their squads to deliver the decisive blows. They excelled in a defensive setting, as dozens of drones were linked to squadrons and allowed bases to be defended with a mere fraction of the personnel that would have otherwise been required. This was key to the deception that Orzeski wished to play on the batarians, an idea taken straight from the playbook of General de Santos.
On Elysium, combat drones would go a long way towards compensating for batarian numbers, as well as adding much needed mobile firepower to infantry units that might not otherwise have had it. The batarians' deficiency in AI/VI technology would show, as they found themselves unable to hack their opponents' drones. Many conscripts would die to the weapons. Even more would die at the hands of their controllers, as the robotic fighters sowed chaos in the ranks that was easily exploited.
Alliance: Mk7 Disruptor Torpedo
The Mark 7 Disruptor Torpedo is an anti-ship weapon used by the ships and fighters of the Systems Alliance Navy, deployed using the Extremely Advanced Long-range Torpedo (EXALT) launcher system. It represented the next generation of torpedo technology in 2176, encompassing several improvements on previous torpedo designs. Unlike previous designs, it had two subclasses; a single warhead design for use against large, heavily shielded targets, and a multiple independent vehicle design for use against numerous smaller vessels or larger ships with more capable point defence weaponry. Both would close to range with their targets and create large unstable mass effect fields, ripping enemy hulls with gravitational forces and disrupting enemy kinetic barriers.
Like all EXALT weapons, the Mark 7 is a multi-stage device. First, the torpedo would be propelled from its mothership by a specialised mass-accelerator, an innovation that humanity brought onto the galactic stage during the First Contact War. This provides a huge boost to the range at which the torpedo could be deployed, turning what was previously a knife-fight distance weapon into one that could match the range of cruiser guns. Once at a safe distance, the torpedo's own thrusters fire, and the attack stage begins.
The Mark 7's first improvement was to the use of mass effect fields during transit. Previous designs had the weapon's core inactivated until near impact, when the torpedo's mass would be drastically increased to bypass shields. The Mark 7's core decreased its mass in transit, greatly increasing the speed of the weapon and allowing a much greater survivability against GARDIAN defences. This would then reverse on final approach, increasing the weapon's mass to penetrate kinetic barriers.
The Mark 7 also had significant improvements to its guidance systems over other designs. Multiple torpedoes fired together act in concert, sharing target information if fired for autonomous target tracking. This insures that if one torpedo hits, it is extremely likely that the others in a salvo will as well. The torpedoes can also target ships via designation from supporting vessels, utilising FTL comms to overcome the relativistic speed limit of light. This can be done through feeding the weapons LADAR, RADAR, and/or thermal imaging data, further increasing the range.
The combination of warhead variety, increased speed, improved targeting capabilities and coordinated attack was to prove a deadly one for the batarians. The success of the improved weapon design would catch the interest of the rest of the galaxy in the aftermath of the battle. The rest of the galaxy had been using EXALT weaponry since the early 2160s, but the Mark 7's improvements raised serious questions about the continued viability of mass-accelerator weapons as the primary choice for navies. However, the torpedo did not replace the cannon for reasons of simple logistics. Torpedoes are a single use weapon, have a high per-unit cost and ships can only carry a limited number of them, requiring resupply after engagements. Its advantages far outweighed its disadvantages however, and the weapon gave a huge edge to the Alliance in the course of the war, starting with Elysium.
Alliance: Agincourt-class Frigate
While history often recalls dreadnoughts and carriers as battle winning instruments, Elysium's naval engagements were the triumph of a much more humble vessel; the Agincourt-class frigate. First commissioned in 2169, the class was the workhorse of the Alliance fleets, operating in wolfpacks of three to eight ships, they often proved themselves to be just as effective as cruiser patrol groups in carrying out their objectives as the war progressed. Elysium was no exception. While the capital ships played their part, most batarian vessels destroyed, crippled or surrendered during the battle would fall to frigates.
The ships had been continually retrofitted, particularly after the signing of the Human-Quarian Accords, which brought many technical advances to humanity's fleets. Armed with GARDIAN point defence lasers, a spinal mass-accelerator, six EXALT launchers, and a set of decoy and ECM capabilities, the ships completely outclassed any of the batarian frigate classes in service. Beyond their technical capabilities, the Alliance also possessed a significant advantage in the skills of the crews piloting their frigates. The choreographic-perfect command and control of their squadrons would become famous, and was hard won through constant drilling of their crews in VR and space exercises.
Hundreds of the vessels would participate in the battle and its aftermath, and they would account for almost three times their number of enemy vessels, with a huge victory-to-loss ratio. Their prey ranged in size from small cargo haulers to the largest enemy vessels in orbit. The success completely vindicated the Alliance Navy's doctrine of separating out cruisers and frigates into separate squadrons with sufficient fighter coverage, allowing both to operate in their most effective manner independent of one another. The Agincourt-class would continue in service throughout the Second Verge War right until the end of the Reaper War, when the advent of the stealth frigate would see them replaced.
Hegemony: Verush Heavy Tank
Named for the famous batarian monarch, the Verush Heavy is the main battle tank of the Hegemony and the primary opponent of the Alliance's M-40 Orca throughout the Verge Conflict. Developed before humanity's contact with the rest of the galaxy, the tank displays similar design principles to its rival; heavy armour, heavily armed, shields capable of taking heavy hits. Despite this, the vehicle operates very differently both in terms of its role and its equipment. After 2157, the Batarian Hegemony produced the weapon in huge numbers, following the doctrine established centuries earlier in the aftermath of the Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellions.
Its armament relies on simplicity and reliability to get the job done, foregoing the advanced features seen on the Orca or the turian Jiris Fighting Vehicle in favour of raw firepower. The Verush's main weapon battery consists of dual 105mm mass-accelerators mounted on both sides of a remotely controlled turret, linked to a fast automatic reload system and sensor equipment. This weapon is capable of rapid fire and doubles as a formidable anti-aircraft weapon due to its high vertical traverse. An alternate weapon load existed, mounting long range anti-tank missile launchers, but this version was deployed only in very small numbers for the Elysium campaign, under the command of the External Forces. In addition to its primary weapon, the Verush mounted a coaxial heavy machinegun for anti-infantry combat. Its defences included kinetic barriers, thick composite armour, and smoke/decoy launchers. The tank's lack of an active defence system and fewer anti-personnel weapons made it more vulnerable to missile-wielding foot troops and walkers. Batarian commanders made up for this downfall by having an infantry squad attached to each tank, often riding on top until fighting started.
Many of the tanks would be destroyed before being able to land, but the Verush would still outnumber its Alliance foes in the first twenty four hours of the battle. Armoured warfare would come to characterise the fighting outside of the urban centres, despite Elysium's rugged terrain. The Verush would prove itself up to the task, and the weapon would claim many kills in the offensives against the population centres. Alliance tank crews came to greatly respect its capabilities, developing specific tactics to deal with its high rate of fire at closer ranges on the fly. Elysium would not be the only battlefield where the Orca and the Verush would meet in great numbers, but it would be the largest clash, as batarian transportation capabilities were greatly reduced by the naval action to come.
Mercenaries: Asari Huntresses
By 2176, Elanos Haliat's empire was extensive, outstripping the scope of some of the minor Citadel species' own territories. Pirates gaining this level of territory was not unusual, but they usually collapsed into infighting soon afterwards. Haliat's success was rooted in the stability his rule brought to systems under his control. Using more or less standard turian ideas, as well as a mix of batarian and turian brutality, the Overlord of Altakiril reigned more like the leader of a state than a pirate. As such, he offered an attractive place for many kinds of people, for those looking for somewhere to do less-than-legal business, to seek their fortunes or for a second chance. It was a land of opportunity, albeit at someone else's expense. The asari were no less attracted to such opportunities than any other species, and Haliat's empire saw an influx maidens and matrons alike. Among these were many with military experience looking to cash-in, or those who would never be at the top of asari society but wished to be at the top of something.
Haliat had recognised the value of these individuals quickly, not least out of a fear that their talents would be snapped up by Aria T'loak and other rivals. Asari made up nearly a third of the pirate lord's permanent combat troops, and fully half of his command staff. He knew that his own people's rigid combat doctrines were unsuitable for a minor galactic power, but the asari's style of fighting was ideal for the same. This extended from grand strategy all the way to the tactical level, with asari huntresses leading turian combat troops into battle alongside specialised biotic squads made up of maidens looking for glory and treasure. The proportion of these troops and commanders relative to the rest of the mercenary forces was lowered by the mass recruitment campaign the Overlord had undertaken to pursue the campaign, but he was careful to keep the units together.
On Elysium, the asari were entirely underestimated by the Alliance, their reckoning of Haliat's mercenaries completely off the mark due to the presence of these unique soldiers. Aside from their biotic powers, which were considerable to say the least, they possessed decades or even centuries of combat experience. This combination was a truly frightening weapon. Furthermore, they never resorted to the blunt massed attacks that the batarians would rely upon, often using their allies' assaults as distractions to pierce the Alliance lines. Asari-commanded mercenary units would provide the humans with their most fearful moment in the battle, nearly throwing the entire Alliance plan for the ground war into disarray. Ultimately, it would not be enough to save the invasion from defeat, but it came close enough to doing so that the batarian-pirate alliance would survive the battle.
Hegemony: Hensa-Class Heavy Cruiser
The Hensa-class heavy cruiser was the cornerstone of the Batarian Navy, providing the core of its battle fleets both in terms of cannon and fighter cover. When first conceived in the late 2150s, the Hensa was intended to be a sub-dreadnought design that would maximise firepower and defensive capability right up to the limits provided for by the Treaty of Farixen. It was to replace the fragile and underpowered cruiser designs that the batarians had relied on before, and was the Hegemony's first conceptual foray into naval quality over quantity. As such, it was a major break from batarian tradition to the extent that it established a new tradition. Its defensive and offensive capabilities were such that it would remain a perfectly viable weapon for many years, even up until the minor conflicts after the Reaper War, with one Alliance Admiral describing the vessels as "horrendously over-engineered flying bricks" at a naval strategy conference before the Second Verge War.
With the introduction of the galaxy to humanity and the carrier to naval warfare, the Hensa-class ships were extensively retrofitted to carry fighters, to compensate for the Hegemony's lack of enthusiasm for large carrier classes. This was extremely cost-efficient compared to designing and building carriers like the Alliance was fond of, but came at the expense of lower operational capability for the fighters themselves. The ships were incapable of resupplying or repairing fighters, relying on supply vessels to carry the necessary parts and supplies. This restricted long range operations with fighters, a negative that the batarians counteracted by forming cruisers into fleet clusters with frigates. However, considered as a heavy cruiser alone, it was an excellent machine. It outclassed the Alliance's older New York-class, while being only barely outdone by the newer Belfast-class that entered service a year before Elysium.
In 2176, all batarian fleets consisted mostly of Hensa-class heavy cruisers, supported by frigates and resupply vessels. The Hensa mounts three main spiral guns, and thirteen broadside cannon per side of the ship, making it a formidable weapon in both long-range artillery duels and closer assaults such as engagements in planetary orbit. In addition to these, the class often sported externally mounted EXALT launchers, reverse engineered from examples captured during the early years of the Verge Conflict. However, by the time of the battle of Elysium, batarian torpedo designs were hopelessly obsolete. The role the Hensa-class would play in the fighting was to buy time, and in this it succeeded. Without the ship, batarian losses would have been total on both the ground and in space.