Hello, the two sections of text below are from some non-narrative chapters I posted on the space battles forum thread for this story. I am posting them here for informational purposes, as they provide valuable context and exposition for some events that will be happening in future chapters. It's entirely optional reading, especially if you're not the type of reader to get hung up on the details, but I figured I'd post it for clarity's sake.
AU Lore Notes: FTL
Hello there, this is not a narrative chapter, I just wanted to explicitly state some things regarding how FTL works within the universe of this story that have thus far only been implied. So, the most typical (but not universal) interpretation of how (non-relay) FTL travel works in the Mass Effect universe amongst the fanbase is that it's basically a star trek warp drive, where ships drop in and out of FTL with relative ease anytime and anywhere. FTL in this story's universe works quite differently. Normally I'd hesitate to deviate like this, but "conventional" FTL is one of the more poorly-defined elements of mass effect's worldbuilding in terms of its uses and limitations, and its use in game is very wishy-washy (sometimes ships jump to FTL at the drop of a hat, other times they inexplicably don't even when it would be advantageous, etc.) so I think it's more or less fair game with regards to how its rules work.
The simplest explanation of how FTL (specifically FTL without a relay) works in this story's universe is that it basically operates off of Stellaris/Oldschool Star Wars Legends rules. That being, if a ship is too close to a significant celestial body/gravity well, then it becomes dangerous to jump to FTL (but, much like Stellaris, it can still be done, just with risk). So, a ship has to fly to the "edge" of system (a largely arbitrary concept in physics, but FTL already breaks the rules so I'm not too broken up about it) in order to safely jump to FTL. There have already been a few instances (which many of you may have already noticed) where these rules have been applied within the narrative. Off the top of my head:
1.) The first part of the "Trade" arc of chapters has the batarians dropping out of FTL outside of the "red line" (if I remember my own words correctly) of the system's star, because getting any closer at FTL would risk damage.
2.) When the rangers and their fleet attack the batarians guarding the secondary relay, they have to drop out far away and slow boat their way through the system.
3.) Almost every instance of ships retreating from battle in this story has them "running for the edge of the system", because - in this story's ruleset - they have to get to the edge before they can safely make a jump.
The "why" and "how" of these rules I'll leave up to the reader's imagination (maybe something to do with the static buildup?) but the actual reasons for these rules are largely narrative/mechanical. For one, I just find battles at sublight speeds to be more interesting. Being limited by the speed of light - within the confines of combat, at least - is a writing environment that suites my personal preferences and nerdisms better. Another reason is that a ruleset like this can help forestall some of the plotholes/awkward questions that can arise from un-restrained FTL rules (Things like "Why don't they just launch FTL missiles at each other?", as an example.)
The reason that I chose to bring this up now is because an upcoming chapter is going to feature these rules more explicitly than they have before, so I just wanted to lay them out clearly in advance to avoid confusion. Thank you all for reading, and look forward to more chapters very soon!
AU Lore Notes: Order of Battle
Hi There, here's another little non-narrative chapter to lay a few implied things out explicitly in preparation for an upcoming chapter. This one's about the "Order of Battle" that I've hinted out throughout the story. Classes of ships and what they are used for are a little more detailed in this story and differ in some ways from canon, and (once again) an upcoming chapter involves ship classes in a narratively meaningful way, so I just wanted to make it clear for everyone. There will be two sections, one for the "normal" order of battle, and one for the human version.
Citadel: The Citadel, and the rest of the explored galaxy by extension, has an order of battle that's a mixture of WWII and Age of Sail metaphors. Their doctrine is more or less the same as it is in canon, with the primary objective in combat being to bring the biggest spinal mounts to bare against the enemy, with every tactic being in support of that goal. The primary difference from canon is that they don't really bother with armor protection all that much, and cruisers are split into three varieties rather than being one generic ship type.
Fighters: A largely supportive craft, whose primary reason for existing is to prevent enemy fighters from becoming a threat. Extremely dangerous if left unchecked, but the effectiveness of point defense in-universe means that they are relatively easily "checked". Attacking an organized formation with overlapping VI-aimed PD is tantamount to suicide. Thus, in combat they serve as a sort of reserve unit, loitering around their fleet playing linebacker, waiting for the opportune moment to use their torpedoes to the greatest possible effect.
Frigates: The smallest class of "seaworthy" (as in, able to sustain itself on a lengthy voyage at FTL) ship. Much like frigates in real life historical ocean going navies, they exist more for economic reasons than tactical ones, with their primary utility being their numbers. In a galaxy with so much instability, power projection is king. A frigate that you actually have is better than the cruiser you don't have, even if that hypothetical cruiser would be more capable. In combat they manage to be a relevant threat thanks to disrupter torpedoes.
Destroyers: Much like the initial purpose of their real-life namesake, destroyers exist to kill the smaller ships that would otherwise be a threat to the big ones. They're the proverbial big fish in the small pond, but they get swept aside by anything bigger than them as their extensive guns and point defenses come at the expense of a reduced torpedo armament.
Light Cruisers: Capital ship on a budget, with all that entails. They serve as flagships for small formations of ships, or as escorts for the largest ships. Both of these scenarios make them a big target for torpedo attacks, so they have a proportionally much more substantial point defense grid than other ships. As a flagship in a small formation, this enables them to fend for themselves without escorts, allowing their subordinate ships to get into the thick of it without having to worry about their flagship. As an escort, this makes them an excellent last line of defense for the heaviest ships, for any threats that might manage to break through the destroyer and frigate screens.
Standard Cruisers: As the codex so succinctly put it, these are the "poor bloody infantry". The baseline, the..."standard", if you will. I imagine these as being the jack-of-all-trades. Need an artillery battery? Sure, but it's no dreadnought. Need fighter coverage? It can get the job done, but it's the smallest class of ship with a fighter bay, so it's not carrying them in particularly impressive amounts. Need to test a new weapons system/tactic? This is the best place to do it, as they have the most modularity incorporated into their design. In combat, these are the meat of the fleet. They take hits, and they give them, and there's no need to be shy with them because if they get sunk it's not going to cost an amount equal to the annual budget of a small country like with larger ships.
Heavy Cruiser: Much like their real-world namesakes, these are essentially just dreadnoughts on a budget. They can do almost anything a dreadnought can, just not as well. They carry a good amount of fighters but not a whole wing's worth like a dreadnought, they have a substantial spinal mount but not enough to level a continent like a dreadnought, they are heavily shielded but not as much as a dreadnought, and so on. The only thing they have on dreadnoughts is the fact that they are faster (because of how mass effect fields apparently work), but that's about it. But, much like the frigate, the Heavy Cruiser you have is better than the Dreadnought you don't have.
Dreadnought: This ship probably takes the biggest departure from its real world namesake out of all of the ships, because whereas the Dreadnought was a highly specialized artillery ship that was revolutionary because of its design having all heavy guns of the same caliber, the dreadnoughts of this story have one singular very powerful artillery cannon and then a host of broadside secondary cannons. Ironically, this variable caliber of its guns makes it more like a pre-Dreadnought battleship. However, we will take a left turn from history and into Star Wars, because it's also got a massive hangar bay in addition to its guns. They're basically Imperial Star Destroyers: The ultimate expression of authority and a universal tool of power projection, but with a price tag that's a lot harder to meet when you don't have a quadrillion-being economy like Star Wars.
The United Nations: In addition to a more primitive technology base, the United Nations Space Force had a completely different mission from the other navies of the galaxy. Whereas their contemporaries had millennia of history and extensive knowledge of their potential foes to build their doctrine off of, the Space Force was starting from scratch and completely in the dark with regards to what it might actually be facing in combat. With little pre-existing knowledge to build off of, they settled for proven methods: heavy armor and raw firepower. The UN has never had to fight a war on the massive scale like the Rachni wars or the Krogan Rebellions, so they still largely believe in quality over quantity. So, ships are outfitted with expensive and logistically challenging guided munitions, and are protected by a heavy armor "skirt" that gives them a spindle-like shape and an above-average emphasis on structural integrity relative to their contemporaries. Their emphasis on nuclear firepower comes primarily from the speculative nature of their tactics: They really had no idea what enemy they might end up facing, but if it can't be killed with a generous application of nuclear warheads, they're probably doomed anyway.
Interceptors: While the Space Force has no fighters (Drive cores don't grow on trees, you know!), Interceptors have made for a useful stopgap. While they are comparable in size to frigates (albeit smaller), they actually serve a completely different role. Whereas frigates are economic, interceptors are extravagant, with an oversized drive core and unique weapons system in the form of their kinetic swarmer missiles. They were designed as a high-speed scouting and patrol craft, intended to rapidly deploy rangers to a trouble zone wherever needed. In combat, they fill the role of heavy torpedo bomber that is usually reserved for contemporary frigates, as they're one of the only human ships that can actually keep up with (and even outrun) alien ships of comparable size.
Frigates: Human frigates are quite similar to Citadel frigates, in that their primary utility is their low cost. However, their designers did not skimp on armor or weapons. Human frigates have a silo full of Prince-class missiles with directional nuclear warheads, as well as two King-class bomb-pumped laser missiles, but their low speed relative to their contemporaries means that they tend to serve in the escorting role rather than in the offensive role, with their missiles being used primarily to supplement the complements of their larger colleagues.
Destroyers: Almost identical to Citadel destroyers in terms of its role, except just like the human frigate, its missile complement is typically just added to the fleet's collective swarm rather than being used as a strike weapon like disrupter torpedoes would be.
Cruisers: Whereas Citadel cruisers are relatively expendable, human cruisers are highly valued ships, who sit somewhere between a Citadel standard cruiser and a Citadel heavy cruiser in terms of size and firepower. Prior to the war, Space Force cruisers were the heaviest tool of power projection available to the United Nations. Their kinetic battery was unrivalled, they carried a vast missile complement, more than enough to deal with any conceivable pre-first contact threat. While they of course have no fighter bay, they did carry a substantial ranger complement, enough to single-handedly occupy entire frontier colonies or pirate bases, or to conduct peace-keeping missions in colonial member-nations. This extra power owed to their more extensive mission profile makes them effectively superior to most contemporary cruisers. They can defeat a standard cruiser or smaller with just their kinetic battery, and if they somehow managed to encounter an unescorted heavy cruiser or dreadnought their missile complement gives them a not-insignificant chance of victory.
Arsenal Ship: Whereas other Space Force ships also have a peace-keeping role incorporated into their design, the Arsenal Ship is a class designed exclusively with combatting alien threats in mind. It has a missile battery comparable to a significant portion of the rest of the fleet combined, a spinal mount capable of one-shotting anything smaller than a standard cruiser, an extensive targeting and sensors array, and is the only ship capable of carry the incredibly powerful Emperor-class missile system, a bomb-pumped laser powerful enough to kill a dreadnought. Its main drawback is its massive cost, its relative helplessness without significant escort, and its anemic speed. Most of its construction cost comes from its size, as it is far larger than even contemporary dreadnoughts, with a hugely powerful drive core to go with it.
Space Force doctrine has Arsenal Ships as command and control ships, intended to serve as flagships for a formation of 1000 ships, with an eventual end goal of having a 3000 ship Space Force divided into three fleets of a 1000 ships, each headed by an Arsenal ship. Unfortunately for humanity, the relay incident occurred before the Space Force could finish its building program, and so the organization is - operationally speaking - technically fighting at a third of its planned strength. While a second one has been under construction since before first contact, it is unlikely to be finished before the batarian invasion.