On Tibanna gas/blaster ammo
Everything I've read on the subject suggests that blasters require two 'clips,' so to speak. Blaster power packs are energy cells that provide the necessary 'umph' for the blaster to work (much like gunpowder propels bullets in modern arms). The blaster gas packs provide the actual ammunition for the gun and are analogous to bullets themselves (it's not my intention to suggest that blasters fire projectiles as has been proposed, merely to draw analogy for the sake of visualization). I think it's the EGTW&T that states this (not sure how highly revered as a source that is around these parts...the general opinion on EGT-anything seems pretty low), but I'm fairly certain I've read it elsewhere.
I apologize for being so vague, but my SW library is at 'home' in CT whereas I'm here at school/work in Boston. I'm gradually trying to transport stuff up here in preparation from a more permanent move to Boston this summer. Books are not as high on the list as computer stuff, however, so they're still absent and I have only my memory, the internet, and the movies to rely on presently.
Not as if this really corroborates anything, given the general sentiment towards role-playing material, but the WotC role-playing material does support the blaster gas-as-ammo and blasteer pack-as-power cell idea put forth in the EGTW&T.
I realize I'm opening a new can of worms without assuring that the first one has been dealt with, but if we put forth the idea that blaster/turbolaser/superlaser technology is all fundamentally the same, then analyzing the superlaser might help in figuring out the blaster's functional nature. I realize the invisible beam theory is rather popular and seems to be rabidly guarded, but I put forth this image and the following conjecture:
This is, obviously, one of the frames from the tributary beam formation sequence in ANH. We observe that, when emitting from their nozzles/ports/insert term of choice, the tributary beams and the final superlaser beam itself is vibrantly green. The only indication of green in this frame, however, is the ethereal green column around the vibrant orange thin central column. It is my hypothesis that the orange central column is actually the functional part of the weapon, with the green field providing the color and perhaps containment/path for the beam.
Allow me to digress for a moment to address some rebuttals that I anticipate will arise. First is the fact that we see turbolasers and blasters affect objects before the visible component of the beam actually strikes the object. Consider: the superlaser tributary beams are enormous when they are finally emitted. Yet here we clearly see the orange central column does not appear to be significantly larger than a human head (granted, there may be significant issues of perspective involved here which could seriously skew this sense of scale, but the beam should scale consistently with itself, which is what's important). The large outer sheath, on the other hand, appears to be at least as large, if not larger than a full human. Given the vibrancy of the beam that we later see (a distinctively green vibrancy), I would put forth that the orange component that I suggest does the damage is not invisible so much as it is merely too small to be seen in scale with everything around it.
Consider this principle on a turbolaser scale, which is obviously much smaller than that of a superlaser. The visible beam component is actually quite narrow to begin with. If you consider, then, that the inner damaging core will scale poroportionally as well, then it may in fact become so fine as to be rendered invisible (although close enough examination would show it to be there, were one able to survive so close to such a blast) from any appreciable distance. This would allow this component to travel ahead of the visible component of the beam without actually requiring that it be invisible.
This proposition necessarily includes the idea that one is able to project columnar fields of containment from some form of source that will benefit from travelling down the length of a barrell (perhaps to accelerate the damaging component of the beam) and that these columnar fields will manifest an ethereal green glow. This glow may result in interaction with stray particulate matter from the damaging portion of the beam. The notion that the beam is composed of particulate matter is also included in this proposition, which is also in serious dispute at the moment.
I apologize if this suggestion does not take into account EU material. As I outlined above, I do not have easy access to any published material other than my WotC RPG sourcebooks at the moment, so I am unable to reconcile this with other passages. If you will look past this oversight on my part and, instead, provide for me contradictory scenarios to this theory, I will be more than happy to attempt to discuss them as best I can.
In summary: I propose a tibanna gas-based particle beam weapon that travels at approximately 40,000-80,000 km/s sheathed in a projected containment field which provides to the beam its glow, due to interaction with the particles in the particle beam, which is the damaging component and rendered invisible at appreciable distance due to its narrow dimensions. This theory is based exclusively on visual evidence, published material of apparently questionable validity, and personal conjecture. It does not include calculations of any kind and is intended only as an idea for discussion rather than an absolute conclusion.
EDIT Just thought of another idea regarding the green shaft. It could actually
be some form of laser, since lasers can in fact impart momentum. Perhaps it is the laser doing the propulsing in this instance, and its interaction with the orange particle field is what creates the green glow in the column. The explanation for why the laser seems to terminate when the superlaser tributaries form could have something to do with a counter-EM field holding the particle beam in place (thus rendering the laser invisible against the backdrop of space once again when it no longer has a particle stream to reflect off of). The final superlaser is then fired (the central point in the dish serving as an emission point for the final propulsing laser), which conducts the accumulated particle 'field' towards the intended target. This removes the need to have columnar electromagnetic fields, which to my knowledge is impossible, and also retains the use of a laser as both part of the mechanism and as part of the weapon (since the laser will still contribute to the damage).
I go to school at Northeastern University near the Fens.
