Esoteric Weapon

Esoteric weapons are weapons, typically from ancient times, whose functions are poorly understood by the modern galactic community.

Hard light
Hard light weapons are ancient energy weapons which use solid light. Though they possess both a battery pack and heat sinks like a traditional energy weapon as well as components similar to those found in both laser and particle weapons, how light is converted into a solid is not known. A popular theory is that hard light weapons cheat quantum mechanics to force light to behave solely as a particle. Curiously, though the projectile has been confirmed to be light, it does not quite reach light speed like a normal laser weapon, which is theorized to be a byproduct of the process which converts the bolt into a solid.

Though it is possible to replicate surviving hard light technology, though to do so is exuberantly expensive and time consuming as even a single mistake can cause the weapon to either not function at all or malfunction with potentially catastrophic consequences. Thus far, only a few infantry firearms have been successfully replicated. They make up for this limitation with firepower. They are widely regarded as some of the most powerful energy weapons available -excluding antimatter- surpassing all other categories in terms of armor penetration and only falling behind pure electricity against shielding. This has made them a valuable prize for nations and organizations alike. To own one is considered to be a symbol of both prestige and power.

Void
A Void weapon is any weapon originating from the Void, a dimension in which the laws of physics are alien to those of real-space. Currently, only one such example exists in the known galaxy, that being the Rach Hellbat.

The Hellbat's main guns are comprised of four rods which, after a few seconds of charging, produce glowing white 'orbs' comprised of an unknown energy which incinerates biomass and causes matter to vanish upon contact. While the Rach are capable of producing the weapon, they have no understanding of how it actually works; the Rach stole the designs from aliens residing within the Void and only successfully replicated them after twenty-two unsuccessful attempts. Several theories have been proposed to explain how they function. One such theory postulates that they utilize a process dubbed paraspacial transience, a process in which matter is transported out of 3d space and into a 4d plane upon contact with the orb. Though a popular theory, whether or not it is true remains a matter of fierce debate.

It should be noted that despite their abnormal nature, the guns themselves are not any more effective than other equivalent energy weapons, namely plasma or particle guns.