HeK Quad Shotgun

The HeK 1300M Portable Anti-Aircraft Weapons System is a krogan made shotgun.

History
A Relic from both the Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellions as well as being one of the few non-human gunpowder-based weapons in operation today, the HeK was initially designed by the Salarians for Krogan footsoldiers to take down Rachni flyers. As per Krogan Warlord Urdnot Jarrod's specifications, the HeK is durable, easy to maintain, requires little marksmanship, and is very, very powerful. After a short development cycle with input from veteran Krogan troopers, the 1300M was born. It only took one week for the Krogan to embrace it as an anti-personnel weapon, due to its reliability, power, and ability to inflict large, aggravated wounds against the larger Rachni warforms. It also apparently made for an ideal, if improvised, mortar.

The weapon was put into full production after a month, at first assigned to elite shock troopers then made available to lower-ranking soldiers as more became available. During the Krogan Rebellions, the weapon was feared due to its ability to clear an entire room in a single shot, thanks to a smart-choke modification that could widen the spread to 80 degrees, which is the primary reason why Asari Huntress cadres function in small groups today.

After the defeat of the Krogan clans, millions of HeK shotguns were scrapped and the plans for their construction deleted from every Krogan database. Today, only a hundred 1300Ms are known to exist. Owners, usually Krogan warlords and mercenaries, prize these antiques to the point of almost never using them, and lavishly decorate them with precious metals, clan sigils, animal bones (such as teeth and claws), and sometimes even jewels.

After the Ascencion of the krogan to the Systems Alliance, the 1300M's schematics were reconstructed and improved into the HeK 1350M.

Description
The HeK resembles an oversized, four-barreled hunting shotgun, with each barrel being 0.82 meters long and 54mm wide. Although the HeK is for all intents and purposes a low-tech weapon, its interior does feature some electronics, required to handle the weapon's stacked ammunition system. It has no recoil compensation system whatsoever, which means few unaugmented non-krogan are capable of wielding this weapon.

Each barrel contains a tube-shaped cartridge that takes up half of the barrel, and each cartridge contains three charges. In turn, each charge is made of 100ml of explosives and a packet of 60 flechettes. Ammunition is easy to make, provided one has a mini-fabricator and the necessary materials. In a pinch, one can use shrapnel, junk, and household chemicals.