The years of 1640 to 1648 are most notably remembered for years of meaningless bloodshed, loss of life, and destruction of thousands of miles of land by chemical weapons, artillery, and powerful magical spells. All nations involved in the infamous war, now called the Aquarius Conflict, sought to break the front lines of the other side that bound them to the trenches for years on end. Technology had to advance to break the stalemate and over the course of the war each nation would develop new automatic weapons for fighting in close quarters combat.

Blackreaver Kingdom:

Justacier M.2: The Justacier M.2 was an early attempt at Blackreaver trying to refine the Rivirian Order’s PAR-43A which could only fire 8 rifle rounds before needing to reload. The Justacier reduced the ammo size and weight of the weapon, going for a more sleek look such as that of a Revolver. Its downside though was that it it only held 20(+1) rounds that would be fired at upwards of 1300 rounds per minute, leading to issues of ammo consumption and requiring the user reload often.

Vurvick Automatica M.2: The Vurvick Automatica was developed by the Vurvick Arm’s Company who handled the manufacturing of Blackreaver’s standard issue rifle. Firing at 450 RPM, the weapon, while lacking a stock, was a moderately controllable firearm in close-quarters combat due to its heavier barrel. The M.2 Model would eventually receive an attachable stock but not before it had been used by thousands of soldiers jumping into enemy trenches.

The Rivirian Order:

PAR-43A: The first ever militarized attempt at a compact automatic weapon. With the design philosophy of dropping a soldier directly into a trench and something compact to fight with, the PAR-43A set the gears in motion of what was to come from the future of the war. It would also begin the Rivirian Ministry of War’s project to actively upgrade and make changes to the weapon as results came in from the frontline in which a large list of nearly 18 different models total by the end of the war.

PAW-43/45M: While the weapon would see continued upgrades from the Rivirian Ministry of War until the war’s end in 1648, the design that would see the most use was the 43/35 M Model. The weapon fired at 600 RPM and was featured prominently in Rivirian Shock Squadrons that would actively attack Cydonian trenches at given opportunities. Post-war, this weapon would become a favorite of local militias around the Aquarius Continent in the rebuilding era.

Empire of Stratusfall:

Westernsmith Alexatov M.43 RF: Using parts from existing Spader M.95 Rifles, the Alexatov M.63 was originally built as a semi-automatic rifle for airship raids and downed pilots. Eventually, the receiver would be altered slightly to allow for automatic weapon fire as well as having the barrel reduced in sized by several centimeters. It would also be given a 25-round stick magazine that would be mounted to the left of the rifle. For the remainder of the war, this would be the chosen use of compact automatic weapons by Stratusfall even as more designs would come out and be used on the Airbourne Front.

Kingdom of Al’Mod:

Yongson Automatic D.45: Developed as a late-war weapon, the YongSon D.45 was supposed to be the answer to rival Blackreaver’s Vurvick Automatica that was being used to great effect in the Southern Front. The weapon itself would see a plethora of developmental issues, and only a batch of less than 1,000 would ever get deployed before the surrender of Al’Modian Kingdom in 1645. A modified version would come out several years later and be actively used in the military of other Southern Aquarius armies.

Federation of Cydonia:

Stratzin Automatic Raider A mass developmental and manufacturing job created by the Cidon Government, the weapon was sped through the developmental period in the summer of 1642 and was finalized that winter. Once approved, it was thrown into mass-manufacturing and only accomplished 14,000 of the 20,000 needed by the Spring of 1643 in order to prepare for the massive offensive that was to take place. It would cement the designs of the future weapons on the battlefield after the Cydonians managed to push the entire Northern Front hundreds of miles North. It would be the inspiration for the Yongson, the Vurvick, and the PAW collection.