Alaria is actually a large (roughly Mars-sized) moon orbiting one of two gas-giant Xerces, in the Solara star system locked within the core of a VAST nebulae. The system's primary is now a white-dwarf, named Solara, a former red-giant so faint as to be completely invisible from the Earth, an entire Quadrant away.
Alaria is a living earth-like 'planet' or 'satellite' which exists within a huge--iron rich--nebulae, far from Terra. The other details are unimportant to story, but here's how I came up with them:
Hubble described a type of nebulae, which he unfortunately named a "planetary nebulae" which he thought (from observing them in the 1890s) were gas-clouds the size of planets. Modern tech revealed that they are actually the size of large solar systems, as they are the result of stars (usually red-dwarfs) which died without having the mass to implode, casting off huge gas clouds which tend to remain in nebula form an average of 10k years. This, BTW, is exactly where our own star is headed, in about 4 million years.
Humanity found this world after the stellar event, and though Alaria is within the expanded nebulae, it did not perish in the event. This is one reason I changed it to a satellite of a large gas-giant; this allows Alaria to be far enough out from the source of the event to have not been consumed by it. Alaria's light now comes from the low-levels of bright nebulaic clouds it passes through 100% of its life (no night, no bright day), and its gas-giant's gravitational forces allow for its innate heat (similar to Io, but with 40 times the mass, not as disruptive to life conditions).
Before later cracking zero-point-energy, Alaria's first energy source is the action of the planet moving through the nebulae itself, which creates a huge amount of energy, which was harnessed through orbital MHD generators, transmitted by laser to planet-side power-plants.
Pew-Pew: Warfare in Nightsong:
In the Solara Nebulae, warfare evolved. The eternal battle between offense and defense ultimately fell mainly on the side of offense. Much like plate-metal armor rose to be the end-all of defense, then fell to rust with the invention of the gun, so to went "combat shields" for ships. Once rail-guns that could throw pucks a significant percentage of CA (speed of light average) could punch right through energy shields, and laser weapons could overload a shield array in a single shot, shield arrays became heavy, useless hardware, and fell out of use.
Missiles--as well--became almost useless, space-hungry, heavy relics. They could be jammed, overridden, detonated, even turned back upon their launcher. So now almost no-one employs them. The exceptions being the pseudo-military which stocks them for "bombing" of pirate installations and other ground targets, and a few pirate groups who use whatever they can buy or build.
Shields and force-field technologies should not be equated, however. In at least one instance, a freighter was known to cut an approaching pirate-ship in two using a judiciously applied, EXTREMELY thin force field.
So, now, we have rich corporate militias which use mainly high-powered laser weapons in space, as well as neutronium torus accelerated 'Gauss' weapons. Space-based installations such as even the smallest starship, can have zero-point-energy devices (ZPED).
Ground units smaller than 50 tonne MACHs are to small to carry ZPEDs, relying on chemical power or less often batteries. On land, short range micro-missiles, grenades, mass-drivers, fusion-plasma-flamers, and the occasional laser mounted onto a MACH (battle MACHine). On the more destructive end plasma-pistols create an expensive class of hand-gun commonly called blasters. The physics of how these work would preclude them from being made on a larger scale, even a rife-sized round would create so much heat as to melt the weapon instantly.
On board ships especially (and in higher-society where an insult may mean one's death) swords are popular. In duels, they may be plain old fashioned metal swords. Although the best of these have power-cells in their grips, powering mono-molecular edges, and/or shock-stun capabilities. Pirates created a type of weapon called a fusion-sword. It's not what you think; there ARE NO lightsabers! A fusion-sword is a powered grip or hilt which uses programmed magnetics to lock a thousand sharp shards of ferrous-metal together (sometimes in motion patterns) creating a wicked serrated blade, or even a 'chain-saw' effect. Fusion-swords can look like nothing more than a pile of metallic decorations one might wear on new-age sparkly-garments or armor, then--when activated--form blades seemingly from nowhere.
Much like in the SW universe, sword-fights are a rather conman occurrence in my plot-line.
All others, such as space-weaponry, evolves. I considered at one point going with missiles over rails-guns. PPCs over lasers. Kind of irrelevant, just that shields have fallen out of use (in this particular isolated part of space).
Alarian corvettes (at least the Royal variety) have tractor beam capability...which with ZPEDs should be no issue. A form of 'cloak' at least one that can change the way a ship looks (I'm a rock, I'm a freighter, I'm an ancient sailing-ship, I'm a space-dragon). Alarians (esp the Royalty) are known for their hubris, they can afford it.
Non-Alarian powers:
Terrans are unsophisticated barbarians, according to the Alarians. Whilst Alarians have moved BEYOND energy-shields, Terrans likely never got back UP to them, at least-wise of any useful statistics. They tend to use missiles, and much lower powered rail canon (not having neutronium stabilizing force-fields available, only old-school magnetic Gauss guns). Lasers available to Terran ships would be shrugged off by superior Alarian mono-crystalline titanium hulls. Terran cruisers are known for their clunky thick steel armor.
OLD EMPIRE TECH is different entirely. The Dreadnoughts took with them unlimited power. Plasma blades five miles long that could shred fleets (there's your lightsaber, but on the space-battle size scale), dimension-phasing shielding making mass and energy attacks pass harmlessly through the ship, tractor-beams and God Only Knows What-else.