The Neutron laser reigned as the premier ship-to-ship weapon for over two millennia, and with good reason. Projecting beams tuned to the exact wavelength necessary to vibrate neutrons from the nuclei of any atoms they touch, they rapidly tear said atoms apart in dramatically violent fashion. The thermal shock, disincorporation, and lingering radioactivity that result make the neutron laser a brutally effective weapon. What makes them invaluable, however is their scalability: a properly calibrated neutron laser of sufficient capacity is capable of causing anything from a mild, yet itchy, sunburn to a multi-megaton thermonuclear explosion.

The underlying principles were first discovered by Intoan researchers, as found in the Starlight Documents. However, Lanian technicians, working for the Almnetic Empire, were the first to create a working model, in 3191 s.y.v.p.. The Empire was the first to mount them aboard their star cruisers, but the technology rapidly spread to navies galaxy-wide. Although militaristic civilizations continue to issue miniaturized versions as personal sidearms to this day, the grand age of fleet vs fleet laser battles ended after the first practical shields were demonstrated at the Science Confidence Exhibition.

—Col. Marthius Tholosar